Pop Culture Safari!

Music new releases March 5, 2013

Click the links to order discounted CDs, LPs or downloads from Amazon.

People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix

Close to the Edge SACD by Yes

Are You Experienced (UK Sequence & Art - 200 gram mono Viny) by Jimi Hendrix

Are You Experienced (200 gram Mono Vinyl) by Jimi Hendrix

Axis: Bold As Love (200 gram mono Vinyl) by Jimi Hendrix

Born to Be Together: The Songs of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil

Radio Gold: Special Bigger in Britain Edition

Japanese Pop Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-69

Rock by the Everly Brothers

DVD and Blu-Ray new releases March 5, 2013

Click the links to order discounted DVDs or Blu-Rays from Amazon.

Wreck-It Ralph

The Great Spy Chase

Peter Gunn - Season One

Comic art: Judo tricks by Black Cat by Lee Elias

Original art rom Black Cat #8.

Beatle bits: Site for Lewisohn bio up; Freda Kelly interview

The official website and Twitter feed for author Mark Lewisohn's long-awaited (understatement?) mega-biography of Beatles are up-and-running. Not much to see, yet, but at least we know where to look.

The bio, "The Beatles: All These Years." is being published in three big installments, with the first one, "Tune In," due out in October.

This first 800-page volume brings us just up to the pre-fame years. Seems like overkill, but Beatles fans will likely want to read it all based on Lewisohn's excellent chronologies of the band's live and studio work and other activties.

There will reportedy be even longer versions of each installment, which Lewisohn has dubbed "directors cut" editions. We'll keep you updated on the specifics.

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The Independent has an interview with Freda Kelly, who ran the Beatles' official fan club throughout the group's existence. She even got mentioned on one of their fan club Christmas records.

Now a grandmother in her late sixties, Ms Kelly beams as she remembers having "crushes" on each of the Fab Four. But did things go any further than that? Speaking in a new documentary, Good Ol' Freda, named after a dedication by The Beatles on one of their records, she laughs: "No!" Then she quickly adds: "Pass. There are stories but I don't want anybody's hair falling out or turning curly. That's personal!"

Video find: Cliff Edwards, Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians (1937) - Pacific Paradise

BBC teases debut of Doctor Who's new season

From the press release:

Doctor Who is to return to BBC One on 30 March in a modern day urban thriller announced today as 'The Bells of St John', as the first official image is revealed giving fans a sneak peak at what to expect from the epic new series.

Written by Steven Moffat, 'The Bells of St John' will mark the official introduction of the Doctor's newest companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Having already made two appearances last year, the opening episode will be the first time fans get to see the Clara that will accompany the Doctor across the series' eight adventures.

Set in London against the backdrop of new and old iconic landmarks, The Shard and Westminster Bridge, 'The Bells of St John' will also establish a new nemesis, the Spoonheads, who will battle the Doctor as he discovers something sinister is lurking in the Wi-Fi.
Steven Moffat, executive producer and lead writer, said:

"It's the 50th year of Doctor Who and look what's going on! We're up in the sky and under the sea! We're running round the rings of an alien world and then a haunted house. There's new Cybermen, new Ice Warriors and a never before attempted journey to the centre of the TARDIS. And in the finale, the Doctor's greatest secret will at last be revealed! If this wasn't already our most exciting year it would be anyway!"

Featuring a movie a week from a ghost story to an underwater siege to a period drama, the new series will also introduce new monsters, as well as bringing back fan favourites the Ice Warriors and Cybermen.

Meanwhile the series' stellar list of guest stars include: Celia Imrie; Richard E Grant; Warwick Davis, Jessica Raine; Dougray Scott and Tamzin Outhwaite, as well as for the first time on screen together, mother and daughter Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling.

Pop culture roundup

The 1954 publication of Frederic Wertham's "Seduction of the Innocent" wasn't the first public attack on comics, comics historian Barry Pearl notes. Check out his post about a 1948 magazine article by Wertham accusing comics of ruining the minds of America's youth -- plus a 1911(!) letter to the New York Times accusing the Sunday comics pages of doing the same. Is this why the Times doesn't publish funnies?

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An artist is turning his obsession with the Beatles' "White Album" into a project.

Pursuing an interest in exhaustive cataloguing, Chang has collected over 650 first-pressings of the Beatles’ White Album. He considers the serialized first-press, an edition running in excess of 3 million, to be the ultimate collector’s item, and aims to amass as many copies as possible. Over the course of his Session, Chang will create an archive, listening library, and anti-store to house and grow his collection of the Beatles’ iconic record.

Chang will create a record store that stocks only White Albums. But rather than selling the albums, he will buy more from anyone willing to part with an original pressing in any condition.

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Hong Kong's Disneyland is adding an area dedicated to Marvel Superheroes.

The addition of Marvel in Hong Kong will be the first of its kind of any Disney resort, and could be a big draw for mainland Chinese tourists after the success of several Hollywood smash-hits that featured Marvel characters. Marvel superheroes could also attract older and more affluent visitors, as opposed to the younger audiences that the traditional Disney characters target.

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David Crosby is auctioning off some of his stuff, including that groovy cap he wore while a member of the Byrds.

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DC Comics is backtracking on its idiotic "WTF Month" promotional scheme.

Co-Publisher Dan DiDio told attendees at last week’s ComicsPRO annual meeting the “WTF Certified” logo won’t appear on any of the comics released in April, “because we don’t need it.” According to an unnamed retailer, DiDio said there’s already awareness of the event among store owners and readers.

One wonders what might happen if grownups instead of frat boys were put in charge of the Big Two comics companies.

Video finds: The Cliff Ewards Story

A short documentary about the entertainer who voiced Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinocchio and had a raft of 20s and 30s musical hits as Ukulele Ike.

Trailer for new album by James Hunter

I like the retro soul of James Hunter's previous couple LPs. New one is out this week.

Hear Jimi Hendrix's People, Hell and Angels album

People, Hell and Angels, a new collection of previously unissued Jimi Hendrix recordings is now streaming via NPR.

The album is out March 5.

Pop stuff: What I'm reading, watching, hearing, etc.

Alex Toth's Zorro: The Complete Dell Comics Adventures

If you've read much about Toth, you knew he was an opinionated cuss and very critical of comics and comic art -- including his own.

One of his biggest frustrations with comic book stories, and the Zorro scripts he was given at Dell in particular, was that they tended to place words over image. Toth felt that, in a visual medium, pictures should drive the story, not words.

In these stories, which should be a perfect match for Toth's love of swashbuckling adventure and his ability to put beautiful, flowing action on the comics page, you can't help but relate to his frustration.

We should be getting big panels of Zorro sword-fighting up and down staircases, swinging into action. leaping off balconies and running across moonlit rooftops. Instead, we get page after page crammed with six panels of talking heads practically crouching under crowded word balloons.

Part of this is a product of the time, the late 1950s, when comics tended to be word driven and pictures came in second. Dell's editors didn't appreciate the caliber of artist they had on hand. If only they'd let Toth follow through on his desire to cut some of the words and move forward more of the story with his visuals, which there's no question he could have done.

So, as much as people tend to praise Toth and his work on this series, in my view it's not the artist presented at his best. It's not even that entertaining of a read. Occasionally, there a nice plot twist or a funny scene. But I kept thinking how much better it could be.

Speaking of which, the production values in this new color edition from Hermes Press is taking some hits in online customer reviews. Some folks prefer the black and white/gray-scale version published by Image Comics in 2001. I missed that one, though it's still available and I may need to pick it up. Toth's art looks very good in black and white -- he was a master at balancing the two tones. The Hermes edition reviewed here looked ok to me, but there's no question that the colors, "remastered" from scanned art, overpowers the line art and images are somewhat murky and blurred in spots.

If you love Toth, there's no question you'll want to see these stories in one form or another. But be prepared to be a little underwhelmed. The stories here don't compare with much of his other work, including the great Zorro pin-ups and stand-alone illustrations he did throughout his career just for fun. In these, at least, he had room to let his imagination, and Zorro's cape, flow.