First there was Knight Rider, then there was Airwolf, but then came STREET HAWK! Airing for 13 episodes on ABC in 1985, the series showed us what it would be like to ride a motorcycle at 300 mph and stop on a dime. Melinda and Aaron give you the backstory of the show’s production, and walk you through the extra-long Pilot episode, so even if you’ve never see it, you can say you have experienced: Street Hawk!
Kids born before the 90s remember the delight of that first holiday special coming on at night. You’d gather in front of the giant television with the rest of your family and actually enjoy a cartoon with your parents - one of the few times that happened for many of us! While there are a ton of well-known and much loved Christmas specials, it’s Halloween that really kicks off the season. However, most people could probably only name one, maybe two Halloween specials. In this episode, we watched TEN Halloween specials spanning from 1966 to 1993. We’ll let you know which ones are hidden gems and which ones are best forgotten.
1966: It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
1978: The Devil and Daniel Mouse
1978: Halloween is Grinch Night
1978: Witch's Night Out (on Amazon Prime)
1981: The Crown of Bogg
1984: Which Witch is Which? (Chucklewood Critters)
1985: Garfield's Halloween Adventure
1987: The Monster's Ring
1988: The Canterville Ghost (animated)
1992: The Halloween Tree
References:
Leach-Rankin Halloween Special ‘Witch’s Night Out’ Celebrates 40th Anniversary
All Aboard the Paraphernalia Wagon: Revisiting Dr. Seuss’s ‘Grinch Night’ Halloween Special
Do You Remember The 1981 HBO Halloween Special ‘The Crown of Bogg’?
Yes, that’s Skippy from Family Ties. And yes, he rocks.
This week we are joined by Thrash It Out podcast host, Brian LeTendre, to discuss the 1986 film, Trick or Treat. If you were a metalhead in the 80s then this movie will more than likely bring back great memories for you, as it does for Melinda and Brian! We give our thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the movie and learn some details about the production and the killer soundtrack by Fastway.
This lovely artwork was done by Jimmy Cauty from the KLF. No, I’m not kidding. You’re welcome.
Melinda and Aaron return after their break for DragonCon to discuss one of their mutually favorite properties: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. We’re talking Rankin-Bass, Ralph Bakshi, Peter Jackson, and video games - so settle in with some lembas bread and a nice bottle of the Old Winyard with us!
P.S. We missed you all and we’re super happy to be back! Please look out for new episodes every other Tuesday on our new bi-weekly schedule.
This still looks like Drummond is seriously considering taking a bite out of Cauty's ear. We may have been loopy, but this caused us to laugh a LOT and consider what foods would have "ear consistency." Please leave your ideas in the comments!
What's that you say? You're not particularly into early 90s house/ dance music? You think it's all super lame? Or perhaps you think, "Oh, yeah!! I remember that song '3 AM Eternal.' Junior high school ruled." Let us be the ones to tell you - there is SO much more to this story.
The KLF are known for their popular dance songs "3 AM Eternal," "What Time is Love," and "Justified and Ancient." You may also know them for their novelty pop song done under the band name "The Timelords," called "Doctorin' the Tardis." What you may NOT know is that they gave a big middle finger to the British music industry with an outrageous display at the 1992 Brit awards, deleted their entire music catalog, and burned a million quid. Why, you ask? The answer will take us deep into discordian thought - you may never see the world quite the same way again.
We have a lot of reference links and photos for you this time - so please enjoy.
References:
Inside the Resurgence of Discordianism – the Chaotic, LSD-Fuelled Anti-Religion - Vice article that details the birth of Discordianism
Principia Discordia - Website devoted to bringing the Principia to the masses.
All You need Is Love - Song by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The Jams)
Tammy Wynette and the KLF - 1992 article on her collaboration with KLF
KLF - the making of Justified & Ancient and America: What time is love? - Ever wonder what it is really like on the set of a music video? It's bizarre.
Compilation videos - The Yeah Fraggle Yeah video is missing its part 1, so I include a different video series that covers that section, along with parts 2-4 of the YFY compilation mentioned in the podcast
The Klf: (K Foundation) - Burn A Million Quid (Part 1 of 5) - Part 1 of a separate series, also good
Why did The K Foundation burn a million quid? (part 2 of 4) - Parts 3 and 4 should be in the Up Next selections
Return of the KLF: ‘They were agents of chaos. Now the world they anticipated is here’
WASP Live in the Raw - Brian's first "Explicit Lyrics, Parental Advisory" album.
This week we are joined by Thrash It Out podcast host, Brian LeTendre, to talk metal - and in particular to talk about how long-time metal fans feel when their favorite band takes their music in a new direction. Brian discusses the Hysteria album by Def Leppard and the Promised Land album by Queensrÿche. Melinda discusses the infamous "Black Album" by Metallica. Aaron listens to the woe with patience. If you've ever been through a bad band breakup when that sound you love was lost forever, you will definitely appreciate this discussion. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll possibly be offended... but you can still probably relate.
Check out Brian's podcasts! If you love metal, or are just interested in learning more about it, we highly recommend them!!
Thrash It Out - Where he is joined by Antony Johnston (yes, the guy who created Wasteland!) and they listen to a heavy metal album, and then argue about it.
Power Chords Podcast - Brian and Matt Herring discuss rock and metal, and they talk about their favorite bands from the 70s through the 90s. Rock and metal nostalgia from 2 guys who clearly love music!
References:
Video: Metallica Mixer Explains Missing Bass on 'And Justice for All' - Ever wonder why "And Justice For All" had no bass? Wonder no more.
Def Leppard, Ring of Fire - The best Hysteria era song you've probably never heard!
Moonlighting, the 1985 ABC show that spawned the career of Bruce Willis and featured Cybill Shepherd, was unlike most other shows in the 80s. With its regular nods to classic cinema and constantly breaking the 4th wall, it made the romantic-comedy detective show format truly innovative. Melinda and Aaron discuss the pilot episode, as well as if there is truly such a thing as the "Moonlighting Effect."
Please enjoy some stills as reference for the discussion.
We've all heard of Batman, and most of us know his creator as Bob Kane... but as the 2017 documentary directed by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce, "Batman and Bill," makes clear, there is a lot more to the story. Partially based on the 2012 book, "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman" by Marc Tyler Nobleman, the film (available on Hulu) provides a ton of first-hand evidence showing that Bill Finger was actually the key creator of all the most memorable parts of the character. Note: Documentary SPOILERS in this podcast!!! Melinda and Aaron speak with comic book expert Michael Bailey (The Fortress of Baileytude podcast) to discuss Bill Finger's contributions to Batman, and why so many comic book creators from the 30s didn't get the credit they deserved.
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
The Terrible 25 of Pre-Code Comic Book Horror
Seduction of the Innocents and the Attack on Comic Books
Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon
The Golden Age of Comic Fandom
The Batcave Companion – check out the chapter – the Ghosts of Gotham
Tales of the Dark Knight: Batman's First Fifty Years 1939-1989
The Official Batman Batbook - 1986 publication
Batman from the 30s to the 70s (comic books, from the 30s to the 70s)
SUPERMAN From the Thirties to the Seventies.
Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics
Melinda and Aaron go back to the first episode of MacGyver to see how it holds up - and have a hilarious time! We take you through a play by play of the first episode of the iconic seven season show of the 80s, with a few fun facts about the series thrown in for good measure.
With the recent news of Billy Mitchell having his records revoked, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the story of the battle for the high score in Donkey Kong, and the insanity surrounding this entire story. Melinda and Aaron take you back through the fight for the title, as detailed in the 2007 documentary, "King of Kong," and tell you what was left out. We also discuss the current status as of May 2018.
Oh, so many references:
‘King of Kong’s’ Steve Wiebe Speaks Out After High Score Controversy (EXCLUSIVE)
Former World Record Donkey Kong Score Now In Dispute
Billy Mitchell loses Regular Show lawsuit, doesn’t care as long as he’s trending
The Donkey Kong World Record: The Real History, From 1982 to Today
Billy Mitchell Breaks Silence About Donkey Kong High Score Controversy
Interview with Steve Wiebe of ‘The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters’ (Part 1)
Michael French joins us to talk about the original script for Revenge of the Jedi - in which the "Sanctuary Moon" of Endor had an actual meaning, Leia was not Luke's sister, and Han Solo was slated to have a heroic death. Listen and imagine what might have been...
Has modern "Fandom" turned into Sports culture? Is Marvel vs. DC the trendy geek version of... the red and white sports-ball team vs the orange and blue one? If so, how did it get this way? What does it mean for the non-sports fans in the room, who miss the content that came with obscurity? We answer this, and so much more.
Melinda and Michael discuss Tomb Raider, from the 1996 original video game to the 2018 movie. Warning - Spoilers ahead.
Aaron & Melinda each pick a news event from the 80s and discuss. On the table for discussion: a nuclear disaster and proposed music censorship. Don't you miss the 80s?
Chernobyl's Elephant's Foot
6:48 - Aaron - Chernobyl - April of 1986 saw a catastrophic nuclear disaster in Ukraine, then part of the USSR. Aaron gives us more information on what actually happened and some notable facts you may not have heard about.
26:46 – Melinda - PMRC Senate Hearings - occurring on September 19, 1985, these hearings sought to begin labeling music based on lyrical content for the alleged purpose of allowing parents to control their kids' music. Melinda tells us how that went.
Dee Snider, giving our buddy Al Gore what for.
The 85 PMRC Avengers - John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa
Suggested Reading
Elephant’s Foot – article here: http://nautil.us/blog/chernobyls-hot-mess-the-elephants-foot-is-still-lethal
Seclusion Zone - http://mentalfloss.com/article/78779/12-facts-about-chernobyls-exclusion-zone-30-years-after-disaster
Documentary about the people who returned to live in their villages inside the seclusion zone: http://thebabushkasofchernobyl.com//
Top Gear Episode “Ukraine Road Trip” http://topgear.wikia.com/wiki/Ukraine_Road_Trip
Lovely photographs of other abandoned places: https://blazepress.com/2014/07/38-haunted-abandoned-places-earth/
Russian Radar Array outside of Chernobyl/ Russian Woodpecker: http://www.newsweek.com/hunt-russian-woodpecker-246670
Where are they now? https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/pmrcs-filthy-15-where-are-they-now-20150917
The PMRC Hearing (Full) - Tipper Gore VS. Explicit Content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d65BxvSNa2o
We bring it back to metal with a discussion of Queensrÿche's 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime. It usually makes the top 10 of all metal concept albums, and was a staple for most metal fans growing up in the 80s. As a long-time fan, Melinda walks you through the details and Aaron provides his insights as a new listener. If you don't remember, you will now.
11:10 – Album plot overview
20:05 – Track by track deconstruction – I Remember Now
21:38 – Anarchy X
22:24 – Revolution Calling
25:34 – Operation: Mindcrime
27:56 – Speak
34:04 – Spreading the Disease
38:28 – The Mission
43:38 – Suite Sister Mary
50:33 – The Needle Lies
52:09 – Electric Requiem
54:14 – Breaking the Silence/ I Don’t Believe in Love
55:09 – Waiting for 22
59:40 – My empty Room
1:01:10 – Eyes of a Stranger, Messages from this album
1:08:20 – Live Performances – Operation: LiveCrime and Mindcrime at the Moore
1:17:05 - Band Breakup and Lawsuit
Cassette Tape Track listing, which shows that Suite Sister Mary was part of Side 1 on this version
The best things come in threes - comedic timing, fairy tale characters, and ancient gods. Unfortunately that isn't always the case with movie series. Our goal: pick 3 part 3 films from a franchise that we love or love to hate... and discuss. You'll never guess what we picked...
Smurfs: communist woman haters or adorable 80s icons? Probably a little of both. From comics to cartoons, cereal to figurines, Italian villages and Smurf cosplayers, we give you a full overview of Smurfs.
Original Smurfs in Johan and Peewit in 1958
Júzcar, Spain - Smurf Village
The Smurfs movie could only have been improved by the addition of Neil deGrasse Tyson.
How different is David Lynch's 1984 movie Dune from the 1965 book by Frank Herbert? What is it like to watch it for the first time in 2018? We will tell you all this and more in this podcast. Melinda and Michael provide movie synopses, and Aaron explains what it all means.
22:55 Michael's synopsis
46:00 - Melinda synopsis
We interview two lifelong Star Wars fans - Tom Berges from igrewupstarwars.com and Michael French from RetroBlasting - about what it was like to live through "The Dark Times," i.e. the years between 1983 (release of Return of the Jedi) and 1997 (The Star Wars Special Edition theatrical release). How did they keep hope alive, and what was it like to be a Star Wars fan when most people had moved on to girls, Nirvana, and fast cars?
The Noid, McDonald's Mac Tonight, Max Headroom, and Spuds MacKenzie are just a few of the bizarre mascots we discuss this week, including their little-known backstories.
