retro-the-best....: Nov 28, 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Retro: Kimmer

SO SAD.. ACTOR LESLIE NIELSEN DIED TODAY
THE ROCKETS TORE THE PACKED HOUSE DOWN
ON THE AIR MONDAY LARRY NEWMAN: DICK WAGNER AND STEVE HUNTER

SO SAD.. ACTOR LESLIE NIELSEN DIED TODAY

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 06:40 PM PST

Leslie Nielsen Feb 11 1926-Nov 28 2010

So sad to write this story that one of my favorite actors passed away today. Hard to believe that Leslie Nielsen was really 84 years old. Leslie seemed perpetually young too me. His energy was so light and full of great humor. Leslie had a very long and prolific career. He made over 100 films, 1,500 television programs, and portrayed over 220 characters.

Leslie Nielsen started out in Hollywood as a very serious actor. In fact he was down right terrifying in some of the films where he played the heavy. Then came the movie Airplane! where Leslie played the dead pan doctor. He was hysterically funny and the audience was not expecting him to be so funny! After that his career exploded and he became ultra famous as one of the best comic actor/comedians of our time. He was so darn funny!

Next came Naked Gun and the rest they say is comic history.

Leslie Nielsen

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Leslie Nielsen, who went from drama to inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in "Airplane!" and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" comedies, has died. He was 84.

His agent John S. Kelly says Nielsen died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale where he was being treated for pneumonia.

The Canadian-born Nielsen came to Hollywood in the mid-1950s after performing in 150 live television dramas in New York. With a handsome face, blond hair and 6-foot-2 height, he seemed ideal for a movie leading man.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of a Canadian Mounted Policeman, Nielsen spent his earliest years living near the Arctic Circle, and later served as an aerial gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He quickly became known as a serious actor, although behind the camera he was a prankster. That was an aspect of his personality never exploited, however, until "Airplane!" was released in 1980 and became a huge hit. Thank you for all the laughter...RIP Mr. Nielsen we miss you already...

Leslie Nielsen's films of the 1960's
Four Rode Out (1969)
Change of Mind (1969) .... Sheriff Webb
How to Commit Marriage (1969) .... Phil Fletcher
How to Steal the World (1968) .... General Maximilian Harmon
Dayton's Devils (1968) .... Frank Dayton
Rosie! (1968) .... Cabot
Counterpoint (1968) .... Victor Rice
Reluctant Astronaut, The (1967) .... Major Fred Gifford
Gunfight in Abilene (1967) .... Grant Evers
Beau Geste (1966) .... Lieutenant De Ruse
Plainsman, The (1966) .... Colonel George Armstrong Custer
Dark Intruder (1965) .... Brett Kingsford
Harlow (1965/I) .... Richard Manley
Night Train to Paris (1964) .... Alan Holiday

THE ROCKETS TORE THE PACKED HOUSE DOWN

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 12:17 PM PST

Sadly I had to miss this ground breaking show last night! But luckily Rachelle was on hand with her camera! So enjoy The Rockets!

photographer Rachelle Grabowski and Kay Hoffman Goluska

From Jon Campbell:

"The show was incredible--well worth the trip from Fort Worth! For real, the new stuff is great, Bee was as fantastic as ever, Edwards fits like a glove, the rest of the band works and McCarty did the best Oh Well yet (I mean, the best I've ever heard from him at all and he does the best overall anyway). the band was tight, the stage and lights were impressive as hell and the whole place ROCKED!!! Doing MotorCity music, not "Totally" their own for encores was pure DETROIT class--INCREDIBLE SHOW! Yep, and now I gotta get back on down to Texas...damn..."

Sweet shot of Jim and Andrea photo:Rachelle Grabowski

Great shot of Jim McCarty photo:Rachelle Grabowski

Jim Edward with Marvelous Marvin photo:Rachelle Grabowski

Jim McCarty and Jim Edwards photo:Rachelle Grabowski

Johnny Bee / the lovely Andrea Edwards photo: Rachelle Grabowski

Here are a bunch of great shots from last night! Rachelle Grabowski, Andrea Edwards, Larry H Leitner and may other fotog's as well! Enjoy is isn't the same as being there but kinda feels like that!

ON THE AIR MONDAY LARRY NEWMAN: DICK WAGNER AND STEVE HUNTER

Posted: 28 Nov 2010 09:22 AM PST

Dick Wagner and The Frost

Hey gang there is going to be a great live Larry Newman radio interview tomorrow night! His guests will be rock legends Dick Wagner of Frost and many more... and fantastic Steve "The Deacon" Hunter fabulous guitarist with early Alice Cooper, Mitch Ryder/Detroit, Lou Reed, and guitar partner with Dick Wagner. What a duo!!! Can't wait for this show!

"Dick Wagner 8pm, Steve Hunter 9pm"

Here is where you can listen:

From Larry: Monday Nov 29th I will be interviewing Rock n Roll Animals Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner on my program on WSCA-FM tune in as we stream live: http://www.wscafm.org/

Formed in Detroit in 1967 - first as the New Bossmen, then Dick Wagner and the Frosts, the band included leader Dick Wagner (vocals/guitar, Donny Hartman (vocals/guitar), Jack Smolski (bass) and Bob Rigg (drums). They released two singles. By the next year, Gordy Garris had replaced Smolski on bass/vocals, for its 1969 debut LP, Frost Music.

The Frost's sound combined rock, psychedelia, catchy pop-chorus hooks and the occasional ballad. Some say they sounded a lot like The Beatles. Their songs about dysfunction ("The Family"), unfulfilled dreams ("A Long Way Down From Mobile"), groupies ("Little Susie Singer") and stadium rockers ("Take My Hand/Mystery Man")were way before their time. Their songs weren't just about teenage love affairs. They were a powerful live group,I saw them play a many times around Ann Arbor. We never went to get a drink when Frost was onstage. Didn't want to miss a note. Still don't...

Frost @ Fillmore West

Sadly, the Frost never made it big nationally like many other great Michigan bands. Some say their record label was to blame, but back in the day promoting rock n roll bands was in it's infancy. Unfortunately thousands of bands fell by the wayside due to ineffective promoters, poor choices too by agents, managers, and often the bands themselves. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. I wish I had been able to promote rock n roll during that time but I was sitting in class in the third grade...

Dick Wagner and Alice Cooper

By 1972 The Frost was gone just like the amazing MC5 and sadly many many other phenomenal Michigan bands. Dick Wagner went on to play with tons of other bands like Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Kiss, Aerosmith, Peter Gabriel, Meatloaf, Nils Lofgren, Air Supply, and is still playing to this day.

This video is beautiful listen to this... I feel so sorry for kids today. They will never know what it was like to hear this type of music live. I am so lucky... Hey why didn't I ever take a camera back then!!! What was I thinking!

Dick Wagner's Website
Dick Wagner Myspace
Dick Wagner You Tube
Dick Wagner Facebook
Dick Wagner I94 Barman Interview

Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner with Alice sans makeup...

If you listened to the radio in the 70's at all you heard Steve : The Deacon" Hunter. He was everywhere! One of the very finest guitarists in rock history. I must have twenty records that feature his amazing music. The Deacon didn't appear to be a media hound, just an unbelievable musician that loved his craft or so it seemed to me. Don't know much about him? I think that was on purpose. The glare of music celebrity hit Alice Cooper (Vince Furnier) his band not so much.

The Deacon and Mitch Ryder

Back to The Deacon:

Born in Decatur,Illinois, Steve "The Deacon or Decatur Gator" Hunter first gained
success with Mitch Ryder's DETROIT (with my friend the great Bass Player Ron Cooke. They released the legendary "Detroit with Mitch Ryder" LP in 1971 & "Get Out The Vote-Live" recorded in 1972.

Read a great story and biography of The deacon on All Music

Steve Hunter released two solo albums, Swept Away in 1977 and The Deacon in 1987. He reunited with Dick Wagner for some shows in Saginaw, MI. Hunter appeared in Lou Reed and Bob Ezrin's stage production of the Berlin album with performances at New York's Arts at St. Ann's in December 2006 and dates in Sydney, Australia, in January 2007.

Bet you didn't know:

Steve won an Emmy for his contribution to 'The Boys Of Christ Child House' video in 2009.

Steve composed "Camelia" an instrumental performed by the Rose Band, included on the Bette Midler film "The Rose" for the soundtrack album. Be sure to check out Dick and Steve's websites for the discographies and other accomplishments, they really are amazing musicians!

Steve Hunter's Website
Steve Hunter Myspace
Steve Hunter Facebook

So don't forget to tune in tomorrow night at 8pm Eastern Time for Larry Newman's show!

[New post] Batman: Arkham City video game on its way

Batman: Arkham City video game on its way

dailypop | November 28, 2010 at 10:49 pm | Tags: batman arkham asylum, video games superhero comic book | Categories: Batman | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-28e

Via the astounding Bat-Blog comes this preview image for the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Taking credit for Batman's insane heroics from the first game, Arkham Asylum's chief warden gets recognition from the mayor of Gotham City. With some investigation, Arkham Asylum is then deemed unable to contain Batman's enemies. The solution to this problem is simple. Stick all of the villains in the worst part of Gotham, put a gigantic security wall around the perimeter and let the criminals go nuts on each other!! Yet instead, all of the villains get together and form a society, to "killllll the Bat."

This game's environment is almost five times times larger than the original. Batman can swing and glide throughout this destitute part of Gotham. He will even have to face some of the key villains of Arkham City: Joker, Two-Face and also a lone gang, the Outcasts (slightly connected to the Riddler).

(summary from Rip-Ten)

More at the Bat-Blog:

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[New post] Superman/Batman Apocalypse- review

Superman/Batman Apocalypse- review

dailypop | November 27, 2010 at 6:36 am | Tags: Superman Batman dc comics animated, Superman/Batman Apocalypse | Categories: Batman, cartoons, Superman | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-283

Based on the Superman/Batman comic book series by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner, Superman/Batman Apocalypse is the first of the DC Animated films that is actually a sequel. Following the events Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, this project pays homage to the style of the late Michael Turner in much the same way that Public Enemies took up the distinctive visual style of Ed McGuinness. The Superman/Batman Apocalypse comic re-introduced Supergirl, a character that has been plagued by DC Editorial since 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths killed her off.

A delightfully innocent creation of Otto Binder and Al Plastino in 1959, Supergirl was the man of steel's cousin from the Kryptonian metropolis Argo City which had somehow survived Krypton's demise only to find a new destruction from kryptonite meteors. Supergirl was an immensely popular character, but as DC Comics found itself losing readers to Marvel Comics and independent markets, they became determined to reverse their image as a publisher of fanciful material and decided to make specific changes to their comics including the reduction of Kryptonian survivors from many to one. There was a massive house cleaning project that altered the landscape of the DC Universe, killing off many beloved creations including Supergirl. In the revised continuity, Kal-el was the sole survivor of the doomed planet Krypton and Supergirl was no more.

In the years that followed, other writers attempted to bring Supergirl back into the DCU and somehow adhere to the rule of only one Kryptonian survivor. The result was a tangled mess of ideas that ultimately resulted in several new characters who were removed from comics one after the other until DC decided to modernize the initial Binder/Plastino concept. This may sound incredibly complicated (because it is) and it is important to understand the complexities of this character as the Superman/Batman Apocalypse animated movie attempts to summarize them into one story.

It's overly complicated, but given its many challenges Superman/Batman Apocalypse is a great film. To begin with, Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy are back as the voices of Superman and Batman. I am hoping that if any other Superman/Batman animated films are made, this pairing is repeated as it makes for a feeling of continuity. The inclusion of Wonder Woman feels like far too much at first but in the end makes for perhaps the amazonian's finest animated outing to date. Like Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, the biggest strength of the Apocalypse film is the incredible action sequences. From the army pf Doomsday clones to the amazing three-pronged assault of Apocalypse itself, this animated feature has action to spare.

Newcomer Summer Glau as the voice of Supergirl is a little awkward but given the challenges that she faces, the actress does manage to carve out a compelling character for herself. By contrast Andre Bauer as Darkseid is just no comparison to Michael Ironside who voiced the villain in the Superman and Justice League cartoons.

If you are a fan of the Batman, Superman and Justice League animated films, make sure to check this one out.

http://p.castfire.com/B3i2Z/video/419324/trailers-ws_2010-09-20-080524.2093.flv

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[New post] Batman mastermind Bill Finger

Batman mastermind Bill Finger

dailypop | November 26, 2010 at 9:32 am | Tags: b-movie classics, Batman, bob kane, DC Comics, green slime | Categories: Batman | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-27X

Bob Kane is recognized as the creator of Batman, but lesser known writer Bill Finger is responsible for much of the dark knight's world from the villains to much of the classic adventures.

Finger wrote Batman tales uncredited but has recently been brought into the spotlight by devoted Batfans online and in print. Kane was a wily and charismatic businessman during Batman's early years, drafting in other talented folks he met as he rose to prominence in the field. One of those creators was Bill Finger, a young artist who saw the first glimpses of the character who would become Batman. Many of the key components of Batman were in place in these images, but Finger offered up suggestions such as naming the character's alter-ego after Robert the Bruce, borrowing the cowl design from Lee Falk's the Phantom, etc.

Bill Finger passed away in 1974, but fans are still talking about his amazing talent and contribution to the world of comic books.

Here are a couple of fascinating reads on the man now recognized as the co-creator of Batman:

The Many Faces of Batman

(See more faces of Batman here: http://batmanimagesgallery.com/)

Some Batmaniacs believe that only one obstacle stood between Bill Finger and official co-credit for Batman alongside Bob Kane: Bob Kane. The Bobstacle.

Others might argue that there is another villain in the saga of Bill Finger: Bill Finger. The Billain.

The man with so strong an imagination and so weak an ability to lay claim to it.

In this sense, he was his own archenemy.

To be clear, Finger did publicly reveal his role in the creation of Batman, and I believe it took courage for him to do so. Sure enough, when he did, Kane wrote an open letter excoriating Finger for his long-overdue honesty. This was in 1965, at which point Finger had been hiding in the Batcave, so to speak, for more than twenty-five years. (Clarification: Finger's personal network and other comics creators had known of his Batman work, but fans didn't.) From then on, Finger did publicly take credit for his ideas (while also crediting Kane and others for their contributions).

But what Finger did not do is take a stand against Kane. He took credit but did not demand credit.

Or, to be more accurate, if he ever did do this, there's no known record of it. (I do have one personal letter that Finger wrote—to be fully shared here as we near publication—in which he claims he spoke firmly to Kane to correct errors of memory, but that doesn't mean he actually did it; even if he did, it didn't improve his overall station.)

But it was neither the Billain nor the Bobstacle who first publicly linked Finger to Batman. That distinction goes to editor Julie Schwartz. In the letter column of Detective Comics #327 (5/64), Schwartz wrote that Finger had "written most of the classic Batman adventures for the past two decades."

(Read more here at Marc Tyler Nobleman's blog, author of "Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman" http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2010/11/bobstacle-and-billain.html)

But don't think that Bill Finger was only active in print, he also tried his hand at writing for the big screen as this reviewer found in his piece on the B-Movie classic, The Green Slime:

John Carpenter, Ridley Scott and George Lucas might have to cite The Green Slime as an influence on their work if this release from the Warner Archive catches on. An American production filmed entirely in Japan with an all Caucasian cast, The Green Slime is not only a ridiculously bad movie, it's also ridiculously entertaining. Contributing to the screenplay is Bill Finger, the forgotten co-creator of Batman and Charles Sinclair (the duo also co-wrote for several television series including 77 Sunset Strip and the Adam West Batman series).

The film is played dead serious by the cast which includes Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi, Richard Jaeckel, Bud Widom and Ted Gunther and as a result, is unintentionally hilarious. If you like rubber monsters running amok and pure entertainment, The Green Slime is not only a must see, it's a must have. Highly recommended.

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