The Fallout Follies

Here is another compilation of nuclear songs. This batch, unlike some of the previous ones and unlike some of the ones to come, have a decidedly pessimistic tone, hence the slightly mnore black-humor cover art.

Here are the tracks:

1 - Talking Atom Pete Seeger 1947
2 - The Fall of the Planet Earth The Moonbillies 1960
3 - Talkin' World War III Blues Bob Dylan 1963
4 - Mushroom Clouds Love 1966
5 - Handsome Johnny Richie Havens 1967
6 - Thank Christ For The Bomb (edit) Groundhogs 1970
7 - King Of The World Steely Dan 1973
8 - Atom Satillite Del Byzanteens 1979
9 - Face The Fire Dan Fogelberg 1979
10 - Uh-Oh Plutonium Anne Waldman 1982
11 - Two Suns In The Sunset Pink Floyd 1983
12 - I Hate You (from STAR TREK IV) Edge of Ettiquette 1986
13 - After the War Gary Moore 1989
14 - The Bomb Song Corey Dwyer 1990
15 - Enola Gay Utah Phillips 1991
16 - Hot Frogs on the Loose Frank Small 1993
17 - Duct Tape John McCutcheon 2004
18 - Feed the Bomb Project Bluebird 2009
19 - Whistling in the Nuclear Wind Karl W Mahlmann 2011
20 - bonus track



And here is the link:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X8CX086L

45s & Favorites, Disc 2

You might have to be "of a certain age" to smile with fondness at these songs. They are 45s I bought as they came out (yes, I am THAT OLD) or loved to listen to if they came on the radio.

Some are dubs of the actual 45 rpm, others are better recordings found elsewhere.



Here are the tracks:

1970

1 Mississippi Queen Mountain

2 Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy/Mr Bojangles Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

3 We Gotta Get You a Woman Todd Rundgren

1971

4 That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be Carly Simon

5 Walk Away James Gang

6 Tiny Dancer Elton John

7 Hocus Pocus Focus

8 Behind Blue Eyes The Who

1972

9 School's Out Alice Cooper

10 Rock And Roll Part 1 & 2 Gary Glitter

11 A Piece of Paper Gladstone

12 Back Off Boogaloo Ringo Starr

13 Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) Stevie Wonder

14 Give Ireland Back to the Irish - instrumental - (Version) Wings

15 Early 1970 Ringo Starr

16 Mary Had a Little Lamb Wings

1973

17 You Light Up My Life Carole King

18 Back When My Hair Was Short -single version Gunhill Road

19 Rocky Mountain Way Joe Walsh

20 Under the Boardwalk Rickie Lee Jones - 1983

21 It's the Real Thing The New Seekers - 1971





Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OVQ56XPK





And if you're wondering why you had The New Seekers singing Coke songs, it's because I picked up a freebie record at a record shop that had two 30-second Coke songs on one side and a minute-long Coke song on the other. This was in 1971. So I included the songs as a gentle reminder that this great music was brought to you by . . .



The Free Enterprise system.



I am really in love with the Carole King song included here. It has NOTHING to do with the cloying Debbie Boone whine. Carole King's song really resonated with me (and still does) -- I feel this kind of gratefulness for my wonderful wife. "I didn't know how good life could be / Until you gave your love to me." Mawkish? Maybe. True? ABSOLUTELY!



In the original issue of "Mr Bojangles" on 45 rpm, one side had only the song. The other side of the single had the version "Uncle Charlie / Bojangles" given here. It was lots of fun to play this on a jukebox and watch people's faces as Teddy the dog howled, and then the familiar guitar into to "Bojangles" kicked in, and all was semi-understood.

Rest of the Leapfrog

Another Comment on the Smallville Finale

No, I haven't made a comment before.  But just about everybody else has!  One online survey of fans had an option, "Better than I thought it would be."  Well, I guess that's how I felt too, overall.

Kudos to the producers for bringing in John Schneider. Thank you.  And, with only twenty minutes or so left, to hell with the whole "no flights or tights" thing.  And triple thanks for keeping Lana OUT of it.

...change of thought ...
On December 7, 1979, Joyce and I were in line to enter the first showing of STAR TREK: The Motion Picture.  The guy next to us kept saying to his wife, "I've waited TEN YEARS for this."

Me, too!  In the last fifteen minutes we finally got to see Clark be Superman.  I think it worked pretty well.  I won't quibble about Ollie's magic disintegrator arrows, or how Superman's identity is safe in a world where a SMALLVILLE comic is published, but...here it comes ... I had this one small, niggling observation.

I will accept the magickally-assisted rebirth of Lex Luthor and the possession of Lionel Luthor's shell by a demon we called Darkseid.  I believe a man can fly.

My question is, why wasn't EVERYONE ELSE flying, due to a planet-sized gravitational pull, only a hundred miles or so above the Earth?  You know, they all say that the Rings of Saturn may have been caused by a Saturnian moon that was pulled apart by gravitational forces.

Well, what about a couple of PLANETS closer than Paul Newman's rimshot in The Hustler?

I'm just sayin'.

PS I DO like it that this Superman can push around planets!  Of course, we'll never see him again, but this was, overall, a good way to try and get from the creepiness of Smallville to the lighter world of Superman.

Bizarro Not Leap the frog!

Here's a pretty cute story from the Leapfrog Superman module.

Me not like this story.  You not like it either!

Records from Regulus

In our never-ending battle to share records from the popular culture to the topic of Flying Saucers and the Space Race, we bring you Records from Regulus.

Here are the tracks:
1 Man from Mars Ferrante and Teicher 1955


2 Those Funny Little Saucers in the Sky Dr Danny Hart of the Church of Soul-Truth 1958

3 Take Me to Your Leader Cha Cha Cha Sam Space and the Cadettes 1958

4 What Do You Hear from the Red Planet Conried-Pearce 1959

5 The Girl from the Fourth Dimension Sheldon Allman 1960

6 Space Mice Walter Brennan 1960

7 Sky Men Geoff Goddard 1963

8 Hootenanny on Mars Randy Starr and the Merry Martians 1964

9 You Came from Outer Space The Kirby Stone Four 1964

10 Mr Spaceman The Byrds 1966

11 The Invaders Are Here Mike Adkins 1967

12 Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band 1968

13 Space Oddity David Bowie 1969

14 It Came Out of the Sky Creedence Clearwater Revival 1970

15 Space Buggy Asleep At The Wheel 1973

16 I've Seen the Saucers Elton John 1974

17 Flying Saucer Attack The Rezillos 1977

18 The Flying Saucer Man and the Truck Driver Red Simpson 1979

19 Thing from Another World Marlin Wallace 1981

20 Rocket Ship Kathy McCarty 1988

21 I Saw Elvis in a U.F.O. Ray Stevens 1989

22 Humans From Earth T-Bone Burnett 1991

23 Background Background 2000

24 I Want an Alien for Christmas Fountains of Wayne 2005

25 Heck, I'd Go Maria Muldaur 2006

26 Flying Saucer U F O with Dee Dee Bridgewater 2006


I must say that this is some fun stuff, and I hope you like it.


Here is the link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LTYSBH70

Sharing a list of Movies

Today I got a plug from Sofas and Sectionals.  It may be a plug, but it's an interesting list of Superhero Movies:

http://www.sofasandsectionals.com/superhero-movies-we-want-to-see

Read and enjoy.  Is Namor really going to be a big draw?

Get the Scoop

These are five middle pages from Leapfrog's Superman learning module.

Next, a Bizarre story

Read All About It!

In this story from the Leapfrog book, we learn about a poor schlub who wishes he could he powerful like Superman.  Hmm, sounds like me!

See you again soon!

Super Leapfrogging

As you might have imagined, the "Leapfrog Learning System" had a Superman module!  This week I'll share it with you.  There are a few pages that won;t mean anything without the toy, but there are two separate kind-of-cute stories, and in the interests of completeness I'll share the whole thing.

(I don't know if I would like Lois giving MY five-year-old such a come-hither look as seen on the page above.)

In a couple of days, the first story.

Buying No More Superman Comics

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/04/27/superman-renounces-us-citizenship/

Well, you might not have know this but I have been buying comics even nowadays, basically the DC-Superman lines.

Action Comics #900 is the last comic book I plan on buying for a while.  Because Superman renouncing his US citizenship is something I don't like.  That is, I don't like the editorial policy reflected here.  That's the "Blame America First" policy, if you didn't know.

The basic values of Truth, Justice, and the America Way are the best goals of any country.  While there is a heck of a lot wrong with some of the things around here, the only worse country is ALL THE REST OF THEM.

Superman, as a comics/cultural character, will always be American, in the best sense.  It's a shame that his creators seem to be focusing on America's failures and not using Superman as a tool to point them out, while believing that we can be better if we only LIVE UP to our ideals, like fair play and personal responsibility.

Saying, "I'm going to take my cape and run away" is NOT the Superman who, like Abraham Lincoln, "belongs to the ages."

Strange Critters

Here we have a small assortment of books dealing with Alien Animals.

Clark & Coleman have produced a couple of books.  Usually they lead around to a theory that these critters aren't run-of-the-mill flesh and blood animals that are always here.  The beasties are examples of bleedover from another realm whose manifestations here, on OUR plane, have a supernatural appearance.

In this book, Holiday likes to find older antecedents comparable to today's reports.

Warren Smith, a pseudonymous author, jumps right into the mystical realms, asking breathlessly "Coud it be???" that so-and-so could be true.

This other book by Holiday, specifically about Nessie, says that she really exists, but is also a "magickal" creature from the Goblin Realms.

Goin' Fission! - a new compilation

With great power comes great responsibility. With atomic power comes greater responsibility. No one can predict an earthquake and tsunami is going to wipe out your reactors. And if such a thing happens, then there are plenty of doom-sayers who are going to crow, "I told you something bad was going to happen."



Well, some of these people are crooning in tune, and you can listen to them here in this latest compilation of mine.




Here are the songs:

1 Jesus Is the First Line of Defense Pilgrim Travellers 1951
2 Atomic Kisses Earney Vandagriff 1955
3 Hydrogen Bomb The Laurels 1961
4 The War Drags On Mick Softley 1965
5 Atom and Evil General Electric 1966
6 Please Don't Drop That H-Bomb on Me Country Joe & The Fish 1967
7 Wooden Ships Jefferson Airplane 1969
8 Political Science Randy Newman 1972
9 Nuclear Babies Oingo Boingo 1980
10 Let's All Make a Bomb Heaven 17 1981
11 Run Like a Villain Iggy Pop 1982
12 World Suicide Defuser 1983
13 Uranium Rock The Cramps 1983
14 Surfin' USSR Ray Stevens 1988
15 The Bomb Lifesavers Underground 1992
16 Atomic Power Uncle Tupelo 1994
17 The Bomb Inside the Bomb We Are Scientists 2002
18 Nuclear Blues Frances Plante-Scott 2004
19 Bomb.Repeat.Bomb.1954 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists 2007
20 Atomic Bomb Brian Butler 2008
21 Atom and Evil song Heaven and Hell 2009
22 Atom Bomb Blues The Naptown Jug Busters 2009







And here is the link:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T131NP70

Such Secrets Have Never Been Told

... until now.

Since the 1980s, breathless books like these have been released by Abelard Publications, each spreading the same kinds of ideas put forth by William Cooper in Behold a Pale Horse .

According to this tale and its variations, we (the USA) captured the crew of one or more downed alien vessels in the 1940s or 1950s, and were able to keep them alive and then to negotiate with their race of extraterrestrials.

The idea is that the government of the USA, perhaps in collusion with other world powers, agreed that the aliens could kidnap and experiment on Earth citizens.  In return, the guys from Kwatloo were supposed to give us some wonderful access to fancy alien technologies.

This led to several underground bases staffed by mixed human/alien crews, and indeed a hybrid race of the worst of both worlds.

Then, so the story goes, the aliens pulled a double-cross on us by kidnaping (and doing worse than that) to many more people than agreed to.  Also their vaunted technology has lost some of its vaunt.

Supposedly, these kinds of disagreements led to a shootin' match in an underground base around (or BELOW) Dulce, New Mexico.

Other breathless revelations have included various suggestions that the biologies of pigs, or cows, are similiar enough to human in some ways, that secret government experiments on cattle have been performed as part of some strange weapons program, probably involving germ warfare.

You can make of tales like these what you will.  I think it's a bunch of malarkey.  For fifty years or more, folks interested in mysteries like these -- a group that includes me! -- have been strung along by hints of cover-ups that will soon be revealed.  The big governmental information cave-in will be any year now . . .

And it's been just around that event horizon for half a century.  It's not any closer, because it's the tantalizing hints of "possible maybes" that sells books and lecture tours, and videos.

See you again soon.  Any comments?

The Mirror Master and Alpha

In another TV angle on the Flash's classic Rogue's Gallery, we have the episode "Done with Mirrors," reflecting a new take ("reflecting" -- get it?) on the Mirror Master, with holograms.

Then we have the pet android, Alpha, who doesn't want to be a government assassin.  Now, no offense to the actress Claire Stansfield, who plays Alpha, but the TV Guide ad is pushing it a little bit.  Alpha is exotic, fascinating, but not gorgeous.  She's a lot better than that.

Captain Cold and the Clone Wars

The guy who plays Captain Cold, Michael Champion, does a pretty chilling job of playing a cold-hearted killer.

And the next episode, cleverly titled "Twin Streaks," is a pretty fun look at a really improbable scenario.  Like the Talosians who didn't mean to be evil, the clone of Barry isn't intentionally destructive -- he just wasn't raised right.  He's depraved on account of he's deprived, Officer Krupke!

The Trickster and More Twisted Fun

Man, how could it get any more fun than this?  Megan, the lawyer who discovered Barry's identity while falling for him, is being stalked by a wacko who decides that getting his own costume will make him irresistable.  And thus is born ... THE TRICKSTER!

Read the caption in the ad above.  Now, really -- How can you resist anything involving an EVIL SCHEME !?!?

Then we have some really, really, really superspeed running, ending up a decade in the future.  Where, after the Flash's disappearance, bad-guy Pike moved in and took over.  Talk about always winter and never Christmas!

Mext we have "Deadly Nightshade," where Central City's first vigilante has his identity stolen (twenty years ahead of you or me) and has to reclaim his name, with the Scarlet Speedster's help.

Plus, kudos to the headline department.  "Trias by Fury!" -- doesn't it just give you the chills?

More Flash Listings

Here are the synopses for episodes 4, 8, and 9, "Watching the Detectives," "Shroud of Death," and "Ghost in the Machine," the latter of which introduced us to the wonderful character of "The Nightshade," Central City's FIRST vigilante.  Shades of the Minutemen!