Friday, April 30, 2021

SO LONG, JOHNNY CRAWFORD...

To a generation of television viewers, you were (and always will be) Mark McCain, son of Chuck Conner's noble and stalwart Lucas on the Rifleman.

Of course, you can be found in so many other productions of the big and small screen: El Dorado; Indian Paint; the Big Valley; the Lone Ranger; Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre; the Gambler: Luck of the Drawthe Mickey Mouse Club; Hawaii Five-0, Little House on the Prairiethe Loretta Young Showthe Donna Reed Show; Mr. Novak; Mister Ed; the Naked Ape; the Restless One; and the short-film masterpiece, the Resurrection of Broncho Billy.

Some fail to realize you were also an outstanding singer and your tune, "You're Nose is Gonna Grow" remains one of my all-time, quirky favorites. 

I'm gonna miss you big-time, Johnny Crawford, but I'll always take immense comfort in your presence whenever I revisit your pleasing body of work. 

Thursday, April 29, 2021

FAREWELL, MAY WYNN...

Most know you from the engaging Caine Mutiny, but you also starred in an array of other significant melodramas.

There's Tony Sutton's Gal; Hong Kong Affair; and They Rode West, in which you teamed with your spouse, Jack (Maverick) Kelly. In addition, there's the Man is Armed; the Violent Men; the White Sparrow; Dreamboatthe Farmer Take a Wife; O'Henry's Full HouseTreasure of the Golden Condor; and the ghastly, cave-based chiller, Unknown Terror (one of the few films ever to scare the heck outta me).  

On television you guest starred on the Bob Cummings ShowPerry Mason; Man with a Camera; State Trooper; the Millionaire; Shotgun Slade; the Restless Gun; and held a recurring role as Liz Clark on Jack Webb's Noah's Ark.

You were also a heartthrob who more than matched any top-echelon pin-up, Ms. Wynn: glamorous, graceful and eternal, an angel not only of the cinema but now and forever of Heaven.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

K. MARSHALL FLICKER & MEW: A HIP-HOP CHARACTERIZATION BY B. HASEMEYER

My ol' pal, B. Hasemeyer, aka Draven Undercrow/Daniel Pruett, has released an emotional album for the hip-hop/alley-cat sector: MewIt's special for creating not only an atmospheric backdrop, but a multidimensional, musical characterization named K. Marshall Flicker.

"Enter the Dragon" is the introductory entry. Contrary to what one might presume, it's not a Bruce Lee homage, but instead layers Flicker's advent into the arduous, rap scene. 

In the sprawling and hip opening track, we taste the courage required to step into such a vast and competitive format, but it's not so much the record business that proves daunting to the narrator. He's dealing with life in its own perilous right, spewing the sounds of a man who's done wrong and wants to do right, despite the obstacles that await. Will he go from start to finish without hassle or defeat? That's the questioning gist of the composition and in many respects, the album's defining theme. 

"Catzting" continues Flicker's earthy path, with a crisp shuffling that's so inspired that one might make it a personal theme song. It's purely Flicker's, however, but in listening one does come to understand the character enough to embrace (to mouth) his woeful words. 

"Hot Car or Crap", accompanied by "homebrew beats my Modwump", is a whole other affair: not that it's unidentifiable, but Hasemeyer (Flicker)'s tone, his bopping flow to be exact, is ultra-tense and scary. It alludes to a dangerous act, a criminal stunt and its ensuing lament. All the same, one can't help but go along for the ride, for our anti-hero's mesmerizing mumbles prove too empathetic to evade. 

"Hidden Human Bio-tech" ("Underwater Breathing") is cut from the same, shaky cloth: a sardonic piece that denounces the upper crust, while combating a system that smothers and chokes; but when it comes to a sorrowful soul like Flicker, there's always an urge to strike back, to keep one's head above water, even if one's forever submerged. 

"Honey", on the other hand", brings it all back, with a smooth, placebo-induced thump that's comparable to "Catxing'"s. The tune grants a chance to relax and escape, to truly breathe, even if suppression intrudes. The melody is numbing and cool, but doesn't once shed the prior entries' austerity; if anything, one could argue, it creates more.

"Too Many Sleep Cycles", with music by Belial Pelligrim, is next in line, so captivating in its sorrowful vocalization that it'll freeze the spine and shattered it at the same time.  

Its woebegone roughness bleeds into "All Hail King Lorenzo" ("King of the Cat"), which through its discordant display, portrays the epitome of street life (cruel but more so euphoric) through a series of rude rifts. 

However, this stance propels a sense of false balance, and Hasemeyer/Flicker conveys it with utmost, funky sway in "For the Devil". The musical yo-yo bounces and twirls, buzzing like a bee with every cradling chord. It's a composition that pounds with snide irreverence, abetted by awkward surrender: an anthem for anyone who's ever wished to beat the odds, to never give up and above all, live: the personification of Flicker and those who've lost all they've ever gained.

As a last cry. one then stumbles into a court of kingpin imprisonment with the provocative "Looping Charlie". It's an ideal epilogue that paves the way for big-time disappointment and more so the art of coming full circle: an ingenious nomadic carol on all predestined counts. 

Mew is an experimental masterpiece: unorthodox and doleful, guilt-ridden and rebellious; and it all gels because it stems from Flicker's big heart.  

Hasemeyer's intrinsic study can be heard at 

https://blackboxrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/mew?fbclid=IwAR2XGxMOVohrzh9mq1kZlni6-cgz6np1pTyM-bMKeK-aE_sOC4YMFKshp3o

PIN-UP TIME: STUNNING SAMANTHA FISH

AIRSHIP 27 PODCAST (APRIL '21): READY FOR LIFTOFF

To bid April adieu, Airship 27's prestigious, publishing duo, Ron Fortier and Rob Davis, soar high with a fresh, prodigious podcast. 

And what New Pulp wonders do our magnanimous hosts unfurl, you ask? Why none other than quality overviews of such hip releases as the Masked Rider, Vol 3; Fred Adams Jr's vampire-pirate epic, Fangs of the Sea; and Teel James Glenn's Destroyer-ish Jon Shadows: Killing Shadows. (Paperback editions of the aforementioned are now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)

The gents also cover a new Doc Atlas adventure (and the intended re-releases of the hero's previous installments) and Ron's wondrous journey into Gene Roddenberry turf with Xander in Lost Universe, a comic based on the Great Bird of the Galaxy's unsold pilot.  

All loyal airmen should report for details at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aErzWUXMx0U

Thursday, April 22, 2021

FAREWELL, TEMPEST STORM...

You stirred a sultry storm in many libidos, crashing through the opposition, no matter how large and unjust such dared to grow upon your drop-dead gorgeous wake. 

That's why your legend held weight among other legends, why it can't be erased, diminished or besmirched, though the narrowminded will try.

We need more like you, Tempest Storm, but among your statuesque sort, there will only ever be one as important as you, only one who can ever show all others why the artistic tease of burlesque must (and will) live on. 

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

MAIN ENTERPRISES' BRAIN FREEZE #7: A SWORD & SORCERY SALUTE

Main Enterprises' Brain Freeze #7 has just hit print, and it's a grandiose one for sure: a sword-and-sorcery/fantasy/adventure tribute, no less. Wow, oh wow! 

The spectacular ingredients are designed to make one feel exceptionally barbaric and brawny, with awe-inspiring creations by Main's faithful regulars: Rick McCollum (who created the above, stupendous cover); Troy David Boyle; Guido Rosas; Verl Holt Bond; John Lambert; Wayne Judge; Jacob Dubi; Mike Maloney; Brad Foster; Link Huller; Kevin Duncan; Mark Haines; and Robert J. Sodaro. 

In connection to the aforementioned, Brad Orlich supplies the epic "Arnza: Well of the Warlock"; Verl Holt Bond offers the uncompromising "Undefeated"; Wayne Judge bestows the hard-hitting "Of Portents & Dreams" (with illustrations by Jacob Dubi); Link Huller summons the magical "Demons, Diamonds and Daggers" (with imagery by Kevin Duncan); and Rick McCollum unleashes the relentless "I'm in Love with Attila the Hun"! Great, fierce fun from start to finish!

Jim Main is a master at fashioning thematic compilations. With each and every periodical he produces, satisfaction is guaranteed. Brain Freeze #7 is no exception: a treasure that all serious adventure aficionados will relish for years. 

Purchase a copy of the mighty Brain Freeze #7 by submitting a check of $5.50, made out to Jim Main; 130 Wellsville Av (Back of House); New Milford, CT 06776.  

Monday, April 19, 2021

NEMURI NO HANA: EP03

 

The prolific recording company, Musica Orizzontale has release a new creation from the mind-expanding, electronic group, nemuri no hana. The submission is called ep03 and consists of four epic selections, each tuned and well sparked in their variances. 

If the truth be known, ep03's titles are buffered by equations that, for the sake of my humble keyboard, cannot convey their accurate denotation, but I will nevertheless reference nemur no hana's creative formulas through the artists' key words.

The first concoction is a matter of "proiezione", which hurls an upbeat projection. The extrapolating sounds are sometimes jazzy, at other times waltz-like. On the whole, its notes bring to mind the merry-go-rounding moment from Strangers on a Train where catastrophe could strike, but the situation instead culminates in a huge sigh of relief. 

The second track rides on the somber waves of "angloturia", implying a Moonbase Alpha heist: stealthy and forbidding, but fresh and snappy throughout its the astral flight. 

With "in sala", the listener is placed on a synthetic horse. That's because its tonality gallops like a western, albeit one full of android charm. Think of Yul Brynner's Gunslinger switched to a chipper mode, and one will get an idea of the tune's catchy, hybrid beat. 

The concluding track, "postgressone 3Kinemala31" is a Logan's Run sort of thing, alluding to the movie's brief but noted, psychedelic orgy. That makes this one rather sexy, and because of its effervescent stream, a perfect way to call it a day.

Ep03 is steered to prompt one's imaginative center: an exceptional event from exceptional, musical scientists, who aren't afraid to experiment with daring, high-tech melodies. 

Hook up at 

https://musicaorizzontale.bandcamp.com/album/mo9-ep03