A B C Delicious
I love cereal. Dan Goodsell of the wonderful A Sampler Of Things shared some vintage boxes of Alpha Bits from 1961-72. Yum. Alpha Bits has always been one of my long time favorites, but Post doesn’t seem to stock them in stores anymore. My local Safeway carries many inferior Post cereal brands (like the super-sweet Pebbles cereals), but never Alpha Bits. Seriously, what is up with that? I want my Alpha Bits, dammit!
Frosting in a Can?
I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to this Betty Crocker frosting commercial featuring a pre-Knots Landing Joan Van Ark. It’s very 1973 housewifey. The person who uploaded this to YouTube, Larynxa, has a bunch of other ’70s commercials and groovy early Sesame Street segments there for all to enjoy.
Tales from the Hundred Crayon Wood
The Storybook Series: Winnie The Pooh is a current L.A. art show that I’d so love to see in person. Children’s drawings of scenes from a Winnie the Pooh story were hung alongside interpretations of those drawings by adult artists. The results are both funny and whimsical, although it’s interesting how the Disneyfied Pooh characters are so indoctrinated in these children (via Cartoon Brew).
Beautiful Boxes
The folks at Criterion designed a nifty package for their edition of the low budget monster movie Equinox. At first I thought Charles Burns drew the art, but it looks like it was appropriated off the movie’s poster art (or maybe a bitchin’ back issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland). The type treatment is very effective. Man, it would be a dream come true to design stuff for them.
Dazed and Confused is another recent Criterion title that got a great box design. The DVD packaging was made to look like a 1970s high school notebook covered in doodles — perfect. I remember, when that movie came out, being disappointed that whoever designed the poster used Emigré’s Template Gothic for the title font. A hip choice back in 1993, but utterly wrong for that film!
I’ll Plant My Own Tree
My reviews of the Valley of the Dolls and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls DVDs have been posted at Mindjack Film. The writeup is my happening and it freaks me out.
Since doing that I’ve become sort of obsessed with Dory and Andre Previn’s song “I’ll Plant My Own Tree”, which Susan Hayward memorably performed in the original Valley of the Dolls. The new issue of Entertainment Weekly calls it the world’s worst song — obviously they don’t know about Lil’ Markie’s “Diary of an Unborn Child”. Personally, this “Tree” invigorates me into making wild drag queen poses with my arms all akimbo every time I hear it. All told, I’ve found that versions of the song were recorded by Judy Garland (originally cast in Hayward’s part), Margaret Whiting (dubbing Hayward in the film), Eileen Wilson (when Whiting couldn’t appear on the soundtrack LP for contractual reasons, Wilson stepped in), and Valley stars Patty Duke and Tony Scotti. If anybody might possibly know of other recordings, I’d love to hear of them!
Love, Peace and Op Art Minis
I came across a couple of deliciously mod music performances from YouTube to share here. First off, how groovy are The 5th Dimenion doing “Paper Cup”? Bedazzled uploaded this video a few months back. Love the choreography and their vivid red, white and blue outfits. This Jimmy Webb tune peaked at #34 in late 1967.
Our second clip is cool, real cool — singing duo Jackie & Roy performing “The Word”. Jackie Cain and Roy Kral are special faves of mine, the epitomy of a certain kind of swanky jazzy hipster supper club ’60s vocalese. This particular number is atypical for them (pop/rock covers weren’t their usual bag), but they acquaint themselves with The Beatles pretty well. And I didn’t know that Roy played keyboards until seeing this clip! Check them out.
Blah Blah Blah
Got a few chuckles reading through the a.v. club’s 15 People You Meet Listening To DVD Commentaries. I especially recognize the Scholar, the Narrator, and (having attempted not one but two Vincent Sherman yak tracks) the Doddering Old Man.
Gruesome Twosome: Back Door Brill Edition
Eydie Gorme: “Don’t Try to Fight It Baby”
Columbia Records single, 1963
Andy Williams: “Wrong For Each Other”
Columbia Records single, 1964 | BUY
Wanna know about the brilliance of the Brill Building Era? Even the relatively obscure songs from that special time and place serve as gems of melody and rhythm. These two singles were written for performers normally associated with more adult-oriented material, namely Eydie Gorme and Andy Williams. Carole King and Jack Keller’s sprightly “Don’t Try to Fight It, Baby” gave Gorme another appealing samba-ish hit in the “Blame It On The Bossa Nova” mold. Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman composed “Wrong for Each Other” for Williams in an attempt to recapture the success of their “Can’t Get Used to Losing You”, but the song’s dark lyrics and oddly shifting time signatures ensured only a modest chart showing in 1964. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool — who knew that Andy Williams of all people could sound so suicidal?
Mom Always Said Not to Share Music in the House
Mondo Daddykin comes through again, offering just about everything The Brady Bunch ever recorded for download. This includes the Sunshine Day CD comp, all four studio albums, and various solo and TV-only recordings. I said it here before and I’ll say it again — their Phonographic Album LP from 1973 is a pretty darn great collection of tunes. You just can’t beat the Brady kids singing “Summer Breeze,” and the fuzz guitar solo on “I Want You to Want Me” rocks!
Above and Beyond the Valley
File it under the Kitsch A-Go-Go department: 20th Century Fox recently sent me their deluxe DVDs of Valley of the Dolls and its non-sequel, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I’ll be posting a more complete review of these at Mindjack Film pretty soon, but overall I think Fox did an excellent job for a pair of films that have had little more than a mid-level (but very enthusiastic) cult audience. The movies are both unintentionally hilarious camp classics, for sure, but these DVDs also manage to place them within the context of the very different times they were made. Say what you will about Valley’s horrid script and leaden direction, the movie remains totally watchable (and re-watchable) due to its swanky ’60s aesthetics. I love all the fashions, the crazy-cheesy musical numbers and montages, the kickass furniture (including a George Nelson coconut chair and a Bertoia diamond chair upholstered in fire engine red). I almost forgot how unbelievably lousy Patty Duke was as Neely O’Hara, but Barbara Parkins and Sharon Tate both give surprisingly decent performances as, respectively, starchy Anne Wells and sexy Jennifer North. The picture quality was pretty nice, although I noticed a little dust on the screen. And I loved seeing the widescreen image of Susan Hayward lip-synching “I’ll Plant My Own Tree” inside a crazy-ass spinning mobile.
As nice as the extras on Valley were, the overall package on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls winds up being even more impressive. The producers managed to snag not only most of the cast members, but screenwriter Roger Ebert also chimes in for the DVD’s requisite making-of docs. All involved have fond memories of working with boob-obsessed director Russ Meyer on his first big budget studio film, which is nice since I gathered that the original Valley wasn’t too pleasant an experience. Where Valley trafficked in a more upscale look, Beyond goes all out for a wild and wooly “hippies gone crazy” feeling that practically screams 1970. Even the slow spots are fun. Though the film is very dated with Ebert’s slang-heavy script and the storyline of a girl rock group trio, it actually holds up pretty well thanks to Meyer’s rapid-fire pacing and an energetic cast of unknowns. One thing I never noticed before is how actress Dolly Read’s British accent occasionally peeks through her performance — especially in scenes where she’s supposed to be angry. Also, the decor in this film has to be seen to be believed. I loved the different styles in the main trio’s apartments: Kelly (Read) has a way-out pad filled with plastic furnishings and op-art colors, while Casey (Cynthia Myers) lives in a relatively subdued abode of gold and Asian accents, and the home of “soul sister” Pet (Marcia McBroom) sports a pukey neo-Colonial look which might have been pilfered from the set of Bewitched. Yuck. I haven’t even mentioned The Carrie Nations’ weird and wonderful musical performances. Anyways — good DVDs, look out for the more complete reviews coming soon.
Give Me Back My Name
When I started this weblog nearly six years ago, I never thought anybody else would ever use the name “scrubbles” for anything — it’s too strange. Guess I was too naïve. Meet the new bane of my existence: a videogame called Scrubbles. Not to be confused with Scrubbles Cleaning and Restoration in lovely Noblesville, Indiana. This game is only available on Windows — so you know it has no affiliation with scrubbles.net. Cute graphics, however:
Hated It Then, Totally Dig It Now
Fess-up time. I just finished compiling a mix CD called Hit Factory: The Stock Aitken Waterman Years, 18 songs by the most critically derided dance-pop production team that ever was. SAW were huge in the UK (not so much in the US) around 1987-90. The trio is best known for sugary, synth-heavy confections produced for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Bananarama. Back then, I was indifferent to that sort of thing — it was just another ingredient in the soufflé of post-Madonna dance pop. I enjoyed Erasure and Dead Or Alive (another SAW client), but most of my musical interests lied in darker, more rock-oriented stuff.
Now, on the other hand, I find myself fascinated by their work — and it’s pretty damn brilliant. I can groove to Boy Krazy’s “That’s What Love Can Do” without shame. The dense layering of synths and catchy melodic thrust in their music can be enjoyed without irony. Working on this mix made me realize that they also delved into more hardcore dance-clubby material, like Lonnie Gordon’s “Happening All Over Again” and Divine’s “You Think You’re a Man” (yes, the Hairspray star was an early SAW collaborator). Then again, maybe it helps that much of those overseas smashes they did flew under America’s radar back then. Therefore it sounds fresher, at least to my ears.
Anyway, I wanted to ask you, dear readers, if you have anything to share under the “hated it then, totally dig it now” category. It can be music, movies, TV, whatever. Do you secretly covet Full House repeats? Are there undiscovered gems in the cinematic efforts of Michael J. Fox? Let me know!
Computers and Books and Toys, Oh My
I’ve been asked to contribute to the spiffy new group weblog On My Desk, in which creative professionals share photos of their workspaces. Here’s my entry. Not very fancy or high tech, but it suits me OK.
Auntie Meme
Christopher tagged me with a meme. I won’t tag it forward, but here are the results for the date of October 8.
The instructions:
1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. One holiday or observance (if any).
Events
1. Great Chicago Fire is ignited (1871).
2. Radio show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts (1944).
3. Martha Stewart enters prison (2004).
Birthdays
1. Argeninian President, Juan Perón (1895).
2. Christopher’s imaginary boyfriend, Matt Damon (1970).
Death
1. Guy with large signature, John Hancock (1793).
Holiday or Observance
Citrouille (Pumpkin) Day in France.
TV Boneyard
I get jazzed whenever I find out about forgotten clips from not-so-classic old TV shows, as two of my favorite pop culture bloggers have recently done. Jaime Weinman of Something Old, Nothing New wrote about the opening credits of a short-lived 1979 sitcom called Out of the Blue. The sequence is very ABC sitcommy with its outdoor vignettes of the family playing around, the names typeset in Bauhaus, and Charles Fox’s ingratiating theme song (cute, but not up to the standards of his excellent Angie theme). I don’t remember this show at all; strange considering that I spent every waking moment of 1979 sitting in front of the tube — the way most ten-year-olds do, right?
Moving on to something that I do remember (somewhat), Mark Evanier of News from Me recently posted about a longish but impressive dance sequence from the 1985 special Night of 100 Stars. As Evanier points out, much of these specials consisted merely of the stars walking across the stage while the audience applauded (hey, we had lower entertainment standards back in the ’80s). That’s probably why now nobody seems to remember them. Back then, however, it was a huge deal, especially the original 100 Stars telecast from 1982. I recall that the highlight on that one was a gorgeous, monochromatic fashion show scored to that “Hooked On Classics” song. If anything cries out for a fancy schmancy DVD reissue, it’s that!
