Pick Up the Pieces on Your Way Out

When you go around the bend, don't forget the return trip ... that's all I'm sayin'.

01 - I'm Being Followed - The Novels - 1980  (3:01)

02 - Electro-Shock - Fleshapoids - 1979  (2:20)

03 - Dream Police - Cheap Trick - 1979  (3:49)

04 - Lobotomy - The Sharks - 1979  (2:55)

05 - Fruit Flies - The Three Johns - 1981  (3:18)

06 - Madness - The Vylies - 1984  (1:54)

07 - Sounds of Laughter - TSOL (True Sounds of Liberty) - 1981  (3:24)

08 - The Incredibly Blue Moustache of Mr Tinselteeth - Eyeball - 1988  (3:36)

09 - Pretend You're Not Crazy - Phobia - 1979  (2:57)

10 - Insanity - 0:30 Second Flash - 1981  (2:02)

11 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Fear Condition - 1986  (4:26)

12 - Better Off Crazy - Skrewdriver - 1978  (2:05)

13 - Thinking Naturally - Lowlife - 1979  (2:17)

14 - Paranoid Nightdream - Momos - 1972  (2:26)

15 - Straitjacket - Dog Detachment - 1983  (2:40)

16 - Sanity - Bad Religion - 1989  (2:46)

17 - Brainwashing Time - The Spizzles - 1981  (4:15)

18 - Noises - The Reptiles - 1983  (2:33)

19 - I'm Paranoid - Bad Checks - 1982  (2:53)

20 - Bugboy - The Units - 1980  (2:15)

21 - Insanity - The Freeze - 1985  (2:08)

22 - Neurotic - Pop Stress - 1981  (3:42)

23 - In the Echo Chamber - The Hoodoo Gurus - 1984  (3:37)

24 - Crackin' Up - Saigon - 1982  (4:28)

25 - We're All Crazy - The Crabs - 1980  (2:43)

Hope you can keep your sense of humor in that straitjacket!

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

Assuming you get out on good behavior, I'll see you on Monday.

  

Can You See Ahead?

These songs from the 1970s and 80s may help!

01 - The End - Wrong Kind of Stone Age - 1987  (1:40)

02 - Clones All Think Alike - Mike Gould and the Gene Pool Band - 1981  (3:42)

03 - Modern Living - Experimental Products - 1982  (5:42)

04 - Computer - The Allies - 1979  (4:28)

05 - Lose Control - Stocking Heads - 1983  (2:20)

06 - Android Police - Pompeii 99 - 1982  (3:01)

07 - The Machine Wants to Know - The Aliens - 1980  (3:27)

08 - Century of Machines - The Conservatives - 1983  (3:30)

09 - Science Gone Too Far - The Dictators - 1977  (3:27)

10 - Dream Machines - Sons of Heroes - 1983  (3:28)

11 - Watchman, Walkman, Thinkman - Rupert Hine - 1988  (4:50)

12 - The Shape of Things to Come - The Diodes - 1977  (2:18)

13 - 21st Century Man - DL Byron - 1980  (2:55)

14 - I'm Mechanical - Subjects - 1982  (3:15)

15 - Machine - Satellite Spies - 1986  (3:28)

16 - Clones - The Waitresses - 1978  (2:28)

17 - Take Your Brain Out for a Walk - Tagmemics - 1980  (3:02)

18 - Ms Machine - Times - 1983  (5:59)

19 - Instant Knowledge - The Asteroids - 1978  (3:11)

20 - Do It for Science - New Marines - 1982  (3:23)

21 - Transformer Man - Neil Young - 1982  (3:18)

Now that you've had some visions of the future, get out there and make it a good one!

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

See you on Thursday.  Until then, keep your heads in the clouds and watch out for flying cars!

  

Right Now!

That's how soon you can experience some new favorites!

01 - Right Now - Runaways - 1976  (3:33)

02 - The Empire Strikes Back (Medley) - Meco - 1980  (3:01)

03 - Breakfast Cereal Deviant - The Undead - 2002  (1:47)

04 - It's No Game (Pt 1) - David Bowie - 1980  (4:40)

05 - At the Dance - Jezebel & the Nudes - 1983  (3:54)

06 - Radical Attitude - Epicycle - 1979  (2:18)

07 - Your Love Is Like a Ballistic Missile - Roses Are Red - 1979  (3:04)

08 - Love Canal - The Vores - 1978  (3:26)

19 - Ain't That Peculiar - Fanny - 1972  (4:03)

10 - Living on Dreams - Vice Squad - 1981  (2:49)

11 - Paint by Number Heart - Martha and the Muffins - 1980  (3:45)

12 - Sometimes I (live) - The Plasmatics - 1979  (3:55)

13 - Explosive Decompression - The Maps - 1979  (1:51)

14 - The Wicked Name - House and Gardens - 1985  (4:12)

15 - Identity - X-Ray Spex - 1979  (2:19)

16 - Final Kiss of Love - West and Byrd - 1988  (4:25)

17 - More Suicides Please - The Thought Criminals - 1979  (2:32)

18 - Big Chain - The Flamingo Group - 1971  (2:30)

19 - Heads Are Gonna Roll - Straight Lines - 1980  (3:09)

20 - Happey Valley - pragVEC - 1980  (3:32)

21 - Betty Lou's Got a New Tattoo - The Creep - 1964  (1:59)

22 - New Maiden - Metal Boys featuring China - 1980  (2:45)

23 - Radio Dream (The Last Song) - The Orchids - 1979  (1:51)

24 - Audio, Audio - The Classics - 1979  (2:43)

25 - All Wound Up - Phobia - 1979  (2:08)

You too can be a Breakfast Cereal Deviant, and dabble in your Paint by Number Heart!  And, yes, #21 is spelt "Happey" -- and yes, #22 is a parody of "Betty Lou's Got a New Pair of Shoes."

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

Surely you too can find a new favorite here?  You have until Monday and our next comp!
 

You Too Can Be Hip!

Yup, with this crackling selection of songs from the 1980s, all of which have two-word titles!

01 - It's Hip - The Terraplanes - 1981(2:40)

02 - Moja Mama - Videosex - 1983  (3:47)

03 - Bubble Gum - The Chichlids - 1980  (1:53)

04 - Electric Shadows - The Silence - 1985  (4:08)

05 - Savoir Faire - Family Fodder - 1980  (3:15)

06 - Callous World - Ester Zoobes - 1981  (3:12)

07 - In Egypt - Dik Dik Dimorphic - 1985  (3:39)

08 - Private World - The Vels - 1983  (4:36)

09 - Western Laughter - The Fatal Charm - 1980  (3:28)

10 - Elaborate Dummy - Portray Heads - 1984  (3:51)

11 - After Today - Elisa Waut - 1988  (3:09)

12 - Fun Wars - Dead Katts - 1982  (2:22)

13 - Permanent Damage - Suzanne Fellini - 1980  (3:16)

14 - Snake Handler - L7 - 1988  (2:27)

15 - Paper Dolls - IQU - 1984  (4:34)

16 - So Hard - Personal Effects - 1982  (3:25)

17 - Zero Gravity - IQ Zero - 1981  (3:07)

18 - No Romance - The Whisper Mode - 1985  (3:26)

19 - Sixties Flix - Action Pact - 1984  (1:54)

20 - Shut Up - Graduate - 1980  (2:53)

21 - After All - Midnite Lunch - 1983  (2:19)

22 - Hello Hello - The Keys - 1981  (3:31)

23 - Once Over - Burning Rome - 1982  (3:24)

24 - Trash City - Transvision Vamp - 1988  (5:10)

You can thank me after your spinning brain resettles.

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

See ya Thursday for another glistening listening!

  

Welcome to the MUSICAL MONTH OF MAY 2025

Yup, a new music comp every Monday and Thursday, mi compadres.

We'll commence with a celebration of Walpurgisnacht.

Many of these selections feature Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," but not all.

01 - St John's Night on a Bare Mountain (Original Version) - Mussorgsky - Ukraine NSO - 1867  (12:48)

02 - Night on Bald Mountain (Full Metal Cover) - Mussorgsky - arr John Parrish - 2016  (10:35)

03 - Walpurgis Night Allegretto - Gounod - 1859  (1:26)

04 - Night on Bald Mountain - Mussorgsky - Mint Julep Jazz Band - 2015  (4:08)

05 - Dorothy's Rescue (Extended Version) - Mussorgsky - arr Herbert Stothart - 1939  (3:10)

06 - Die erste Walpurgisnacht - Overture (edit) - Mendelssohn - 1831  (6:34)

07 - Walpurgis Night - The Coffinshakers - 2007  (3:27)

08 - Night on Bald Mountain (Piano Solo) - Mussorgsky - arr Andrew Ray - 2012  (8:11)

09 - Walpurgis - François Rabbath - 1963  (3:19)

10 - La nuit de Walpurgis - Overture - Charles-Marie Widor - 1887  (10:13)

11 - From the Bohemian Forest - Walpurgis Night - Dvořák - 1883  (3:58)

12 - A Night on Bare Mountain - Mussorgsky - arr Leibowitz - 1962  (10:36)

You should find and listen to the entirety of Mendelssohn's cantata, Die erste Walpurgisnacht.  Among other things, it's a poke at rabid so-called Christians who see the devil everywhere.

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

See you on Monday, fellow revelers!

  

Bumper Sticker Smoking a Cigar

With all the talk about how great AI is in generating images on command, I decided to try it.  I tried to come up with something silly to challenge the magic of AI.  So I came up with, let's see, how about ... 

A BUMPER STICKER SMOKING A CIGAR

... and here are the AI results:

This is from "AIEase."  Cigar, yes.  Bumper sticker?  Nah ... I suppose the brown image is supposed to be a license plate, which is NOT a bumper sticker.  PS ... note the anti-vaping ad on the far right!  Was it prompted by my mention of a cigar and smoking???

The above is from Dezgo.  Another miss.

The above, from Artguru, seems to have two cigars.

Another license plate, from DeepAI.

All I know is, the AI at Perchance has a dirty mind and anime girls on the brain!  No bumper stickers or license plates in sight.

This amateurish illo is drawn ENTIRELY from shapes from Microsoft Publisher.  It's a line-drawing attempt at what I thought the magic of generative AI could provide.  IMO these attempts at image generation from text failed miserably.

See you on Thursday, May 1, for this year's MUSICAL MONTH OF MAY, with new music comps all month long --- starting with a special Walpurgisnacht concoction!  See ya then!

  

Soap Shapes Number Two

Ok, when I get a lot of soap scraps, I mash them all together and use the result as a new bar of soap, after soaking the mess for a day or two to make it squishy.

This means that Some funny shapes happen.

After a few days of this one compound, I set it down and looked twice.  I said, "Hmmm."

Suddenly I was hungry for barbecue!

Does this closeup make it plainer?

See you on Monday, my carnovorean compadres!

  

The Amazing Heroes Hoax Contest! – Part 2

Part 1 here.

To refresh your memory, here is the article from the April 1, 1985 Amazing Heroes.

Welcome back, fellow Super Sillies!

“The Man with Superman’s Heart” is an actual tale, the cover story for World’s Finest #189.  I covered it in a 2020 Super Blog post.

“The Secret of Silver Kryptonite” is the cover story for Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #70, cover-dated July 1963.

Almost certainly inspired by then-current Paul-is-dead rumors, “Dead … Till Proven Alive” led off Batman #222, cover-dated June 1970. 

“The Ransom of Superman” is another tale from Jimmy Olsen, issue 81, cover-dated December 1964.

The final story mentioned in this article, “Lois and Lana Join Forces,” is the SECOND fake story.  However, it’s modeled on an actual team-up in an issue of Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane from 1964.  Issue 52 narrated the two gals’ alliance against Illena, a temptress from the planet Kronal.  What’s really creepy is who Illena REALLY is.

And who would’ve thought that ANYBODY would keep Medusa’s head for thousands of years as a keepsake?

And, my friends, the April Foolery ain’t done yet!

The name of the magazine is not Monolithic Heroes!

Well, my friends, how did YOUR brain fare with this April Fool’s quiz on DC history?

See you on Thursday!