"Way Out West"

On 1966's Way Out West, legendary entertainer Mae West rocks and rolls to an especially selected repertoire of the latest rock'n'roll hits (The Beatles, The Guess Who and Percy Sledge among others.), backed by the dynamic young group Somebody's Chyldren (creating energetic, raw garage rock raveups).

Her voice is torrid. Her beat is sensational. Her rhythm is like no other rhythm in the business. When she sings these emotional lyrics, they take on deep and feelingful meaning.(from the album's liner notes)
I discovered this gem over at WFMU's Beware of the Blog - a must-visit for music fans.

Listen to the whole album here.

Track Listings:

Treat Him Right

When a Man Loves a Woman

You Turn Me On

Shakin All Over

If You Gotta Go

Lover, Please Don't Fight

Day Tripper

Nervous

Twist and Shout

Boom Boom

Mae Day

(download album here)

The album is quite campy, and perhaps a bit cheesy, but not so much as Burt Ward's 1966 single

Boy Wonder I Love You, a children's record released at the height of Batmania.
It features Burt reading "fan letters" over the musical backing of...The Mothers of Invention. Frank Zappa even wrote and arranged the song, as well as conducting what would come to be known as The Boy Wonder Sessions.




But wait! There's more.

I've saved the best for last.
In 1966, a toy company in Newark, New Jersey released a children's record called Batman and Robin to cash in on the popular t.v. series.
The music on the LP was credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale," but in fact the band was one of the greatest uncredited session combos of all time, including the core of Sun Ra's Arkestra and Al Kooper's Blues Project.
All the tracks were based on public domain items like Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53, the horn theme from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the love theme from Romeo and Juliet, and generic rock riffs.

RIP Eartha

Singer and actress Eartha Kitt has died.She was 81.

Eartha Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008)

Semper Fi

This week's installment of Sunday Morning 78's And Such pays tribute to the U.S.M.C.

This past Monday (11/10/08) was the 233rd anniversary of the formation of the US Marine Corps.

To honor this milestone, here are three recordings by The United States Marine Band (1890)

"Semper Fidelis"



"The Thunderer March"



and "Washington Post March"

Hiram King Williams

... aka Luke the Drifter was born on this date in 1923.

He was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29.

'nuff said."I'm gonna find me a river, one that's cold as ice.
And when I find me that river, lord I'm gonna pay the price, oh lord!
I'm goin' down in it three times, but lord I'm only comin' up twice.
Shes long gone, and now I'm lonesome blue."

Don't forget The Opry Has Sinned!

I hope you enjoyed the videos.

Here It Is! - Episode 10

This is the final episode in PART 1.

NEVER FEAR! Italian Spiderman will be back in PART 2 SOON!! So keep posted.

Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 10

Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...

Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 9


STAY TUNED FOR FINAL EPISODE OF PART 1 – NEXT WEEK JULY 24

More links for Italian Spiderman.

"Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!"

Jackie Gleason trips out on LSD in this clip from 1968's Skidoo .




The film starred Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Mickey Rooney, Peter Lawford, Richard Kiel, Slim Pickens, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Caesar Romero, George Raft, Arnold Stang, Harry Nilsson (Nilsson also composed the soundtrack), and many others!
A cult-classic, Skidoo was directed by Otto Preminger who was experimenting with LSD (along with Groucho Marx) during the film-making.

Watch the movie (97 min.) at Google Video.

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be,

... you can survive it."~ Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby; comedian, actor, and activist is 71 years old today.



... and before the white folks say "I is racist", allow me to point out that funny-man Milton Berle (1908-2002) was also born on this date.


Did you know Uncle Miltie also played a villain on T.V.'s Batman?

The Saga Continues, Here's Episode #8 !

Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 8

Italian Spiderman - Episode #7

The Saga Continues.
Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 7

Italian Spiderman

The Italian Spiderman saga continues.
Here are episodes #5 & #6.
Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 5

Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 6

Italian Spiderman:update

I have to admit , I've slacked-off a bit.
Allow me to bring us all back up to speed on the Italian Spiderman saga.
Here are episodes 2,3, and 4. Click here if you missed episode 1

, ,
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EP - JUNE 19

Visit the Alrugo Entertainment website.

Italian Spiderman!!!

It's here!!
ALRUGO Entertainment presents the first episode of The Italian Spiderman Movie. The Italian Spiderman Movie will be brought to you in 10 weekly installments so stay tuned for more Spiderman action!!

Hope I Die Before I Get Old?

Pete Townshend is 63 years old today!
The award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, song writer, and composer is most famous for his work with The Who.
The Who was one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, and recognized as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time.
"The people at Woodstock really were a bunch of hypocrites claiming a cosmic revolution simply because they took over a field, broke down some fences, imbibed bad acid and then tried to run out without paying the band."~Pete Townshend

Italian Spiderman Update

Part one of the full Italian Spiderman movie will hit the net MAY 22!!!

The full movie will be posted in weekly installments, beginning MAY 22 on Youtube, Myspace and Yahoo,so slip on your excitement gloves!

Keep posted!

Italian Spiderman

THE ITALIAN SPIDERMAN STORY

Alrugo Entertainment was founded in 1961 in Palermo, Italy by Orange Farming mogul Alfonso Alrugo. After collecting huge wealth in the citrus trade Alfonso decided to start a film production company that produced films that he felt "did the job". Alfonso was very supportive of up and coming practitioners and helped to nurture the blossoming career's of a spate of Italian Directors like Gianfranco Gatti, Massimilliano Buonatempi, Carlo Zoffa and of course Giacomo Dentibiachi. Alrugo Entertainment began producing low budget, nudie cutie pictures such as Busto Busto (1961) and Sex Cops II (1962). During this period, Alfonso was to discover two men who would play a large role in the next part of his life, director Gianfraco Gatti and Actor Franco Franchetti. In 1964 Alrugo went into production of Gatti's Opus, Italian Spiderman. Spiderman was a heavily adapted and abridged interpretation of a novel Gatti had read during a summer in Moldova entitled 'Death Wears a Hat'. When applying for the option, however the Author felt Italian Spiderman held such little resemblance to his work that payment was not necessary and felt that his name should be distanced as far a s possible form the production. After three years of turbulent production and about 15 million dollars later (a sum unheard of for any production of the time) Italian Spiderman was finally completed in 1968. Even though Alrugo had survived the epic production period, a venture that Gatti described as "Opening the gates of hell" the company was in debt. There was no money left to distribute the picture, Alfonso pulled every last favour he had during the production process. In a desperate attempt to show Italian Spiderman to the world, Alfonso sent the only existing print across the atlantic on a cargo ship to a distributer friend of his in New York, the ship however, never reached it's destination. in the summer of 1969, Alfonso Alrugo closed the gates to Alrugo Entertainment and donned his orange picking glove once more. Gianfranco Gatti went on to direct hard core pornography and Franco Francheti died in a spear fishing accident. On Alfonso Alrugo's dying wishes, his two sons Vivaldi and Verdi Alrugo led an expeditioan to scour the Atlantic for the cargo ship carrying the only existing print of Italian Spiderman. On the 9th of January 2006, after four years at sea, they discovered the sunken vessle with the cans intact inside. In the excitement of this amazing discovery, Vivaldi and Verdi re-opened Alrugo Entertainment and spent two years restoring the full length print of Italian Spiderman from it's water grave. Vivaldi and Verdi believe that the internet is the best device to expose Italian SPiderman to the world. In November 07, they uploaded the Theatrical Trailer and in 2008, ten remastered excerpts form the feature will be roadcast for free over myspace, youtube, yahoo and other video hosting websites. Hopefully through the internet, the world will now have a chance to behold Alfonso Alrugo's dream, Italian Spiderman.

Watch the trailer!
Ya gotta love that theme song!