SOUNDSCAPES - Sounds For Slackers, Vol. 1 (2002)

 

Okay, on the surface, this is a CD of audio for you to use to get out of work, and is meant to supply you with the background audio to more realistically pull off that endeavor...at least, that's the joke.  Once you start listening to it, and you hear "Dr. Sarah Bellum" being paged in the hospital background noise track, you will know you've been had.  

Still, it does have its moments.  I enjoyed the "I'm On An Important Conference Call" track, which is a pretty good satirization of OFFICE SPACE-era teleconference politics.  And hey, maybe you can use it in the spirit in which it's intended, and get out of work today! Enjoy!

LINK:  Soundscapes: Sounds For Slackers, Vol. 1

Godzilla vs. The Thing Double Feature Ad Slick poster (American International, 1964)

 

When GODZILLA vs. THE THING was released in the United States in 1964, it was included in a double-feature (as several Godzilla films were) with VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE (a U.S. dub of a slick Czechoslovakian space-opera film called IKARIE SB-1 from the year before*).  I was lucky enough to track down a dead-mint set of ad slicks for that double-feature, which came in the form of a large, poster-sized sheet measuring 21 by 27.5 inches. 

It's certainly too big to scan, so I did my best to get some decent photos.  You'll notice that at the top, there's a giant "SPECIAL SOCK COMBO ADS" headline...which at first struck me as VARIETY-type hyperbole ("boffo socko" and all that), but upon reflection, I think it's just a typo.  After all, the ads bear the title of "Double Shock Show," so that must be what was intended.

One of the ads is strangely upside-down, as well! 

Here is one of the small ads from the bottom of the sheet.  The stark artwork pairs very well with the EC Comics-type astronauts and flying saucers, and just makes for some sharp-looking ads.  These ads make me want to watch both of these films again...so, you could say they still do their job very well, all these years later.  

At the risk of repeating myself, nothing today holds a candle to this!

__________________________

*NOTE: I forgot to mention that you should see the original version of this amazing film, and not the U.S. dub discussed here, because the ending is completely changed to be as absurd as that of WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET.  So there's something to think about.

SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE COMICS (Reprise, 1966)

 

Let's get started on what will be a large group of exclusive offerings that can be found nowhere else but this blog! Well, as far as I can tell, but I assure you, there are some genuine rarities coming up, including some audio, some Godzilla-related items otherwise thought lost to time, and probably some goofy crap that may leave you wondering what's going on or where the exit is.

This first item is a super-rare LP from 1966 that eluded me for years and seems to be nowhere...but it's here now.  Once I obtained it, I realized why it's so rare:  quite simply, it's not very good! It has a real problem of not knowing what to be.  It looks like it began as a tribute to what we now call OTR (Old-Time Radio), then quickly jumped on the Superhero bandwagon as the cover shows you (seeing the year of 1966 should have been your first clue), and then somehow decided to attempt to be satire...or parody...or comedy...or something. 

It's a little hard to be comedic when you are trying to capture the young BATMAN television audience, and at the same time alluding to defunct oddities like whatever "Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy" is, AND mixing those misguided tributes with original "satirical" creations that aren't funny at all ("Captain Gorgeous" and "Wonder Mother" for starters).  I mean, "Wonder Mother" could almost be a straight Wonder Woman feature, but sounds like at the last minute, somebody decided to make it "funny."  Don't tell me they chickened out of featuring DC characters, because Batman and Superman are right there in the track listing...except while the Batman theme is a solid, and very rare version (don't worry, it's already been added to our collection of Batman TV Themes), they took the great Sammy Timberg Fleischer Superman theme and used it for a weak pantomime bit about a super weakling called "Pantywaist" that was already not funny even by 1966 standards.

The schizophrenia continues, because even though the track is listed as "The Green Hornet," it's in reality a send-up titled "The Green Hairnet" [groan].  Which is followed by a completely straight-faced tribute to Little Orphan Annie.  And it continues from there.  It's like three different potential albums collided in a hurricane, and left us with this one.

Besides the Batman theme, this LP does have a few other good things going for it.  I should point out that the music was competently provided by the Jimmy Bowen Orchestra and Chorus, and that there are some familiar voices to enjoy, such as the great Gary Owens and the great Bob Arbogast.  So, enjoy this tribute to the golden age of radio...I mean, this pastiche of colorful superhero camp...wait, no, I mean, this collection of original hilarious satirical creations.  I give up.

LINK:  Sunday Morning With the Comics (1966)

SON OF GODZILLA - TV Master Tape is BACK for a Limited Time!

TAKEN DOWN AGAIN, DUE TO LACK OF SPACE!

One of the better times of the year is fast approaching, and we are going to have several exclusives in the near future to celebrate what we are referring to while laughing as "Spooky Month."  This term comes from the influx of Engrish Aliexpress-type junk permeating Ebay now, where I saw the following description:

And so, "Spooky Month" has stuck.  So, let's start early this year! Anyhow, we've got a handful of items coming up that have never been anywhere on the Internets before, so stay tuned.  For now, enjoy a repeat posting of a DVD conversion of my SON OF GODZILLA original TV Station 1" Master Tape!

I have re-activated the link at the original post, which also contains info and artwork, due to popular request! Enjoy!

SMOG MONSTER Video Store Poster! (Orion Home Video, 1989)

 

It's always a little difficult to get a good photo of a rolled poster, but here is a pristine, unused example of the video store poster for the great 1989 promotion by Orion Home Video! It measures 27 x 41" and is the size of a standard one-sheet movie poster (which is nice because sometimes, video store posters are smaller).

This of course was the promotion that not only brought the AIP dub of GODZILLA vs. THE SMOG MONSTER to our homes (this videotape and/or its accompanying laserdisc continue to be the source of the audio for fan restorations, all these years later), but also MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET (which we now know as GAPPA), YONGARY (a Korean kaiju clone), and THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (who we now know as the fun-to-say Guilala).  Not too long ago, I also shared a dealer postcard from this promotion, which you can see here.

I can completely understand Toho trying to streamline kaiju names, and get down to only the "official" dubs that they support, but I wish they would still make our original American audio tracks available.  It doesn't mean they have to be erased from history, because after all, they happened, and are much-beloved.  Maybe this could possibly happen...Recently, Toho began sharing episodes of the Hanna-Barbera animated GODZILLA series from the 70's on their English YouTube channel, and I certainly never thought we'd see that day.