Yep, before he was The Saint, before he was Beau Maverick, before he pretended to be James Bond, he was Ivanhoe, complete with a rousing theme song. See for yourself . . .
YouTube Theater: Roger Moore in IVANHOE (Episode 1)
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Hear it here: PONDEROSA PARTY TIME! (1962)
This 1962 LP was, I believe, the first appearance of any of the Bonanza gang on record. They followed up with a similar effort called "Christmas on the Ponderosa." Lorne Greene went on to record several albums of his own. Pernell Roberts did an album of folk songs. Dan Blocker released two talkers, one on his own called "Tales for Young 'Uns," and another with singer/actor John Mitchum (brother of Robert). Michael Landon did a couple of singles as an attempted teen idol. Some reviewers think this album is silly. I found it better than expected. You Be Da Judge.
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Pulp Gallery: DOC SAVAGE (1936)
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ELLERY QUEEN Comics: "The Chain Letter Murders" (1952)
The cover above is by the great Norman Saunders.
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Hear it Here: The Sounds of the SILLY SURFERS and the WEIRD-OHS (1964)
In 1963, inspired by Revel''s success with a model kit of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's; Rat Fink, the Hawk Model Company began its line of Weird-Ohs and Silly Surfers. And after Allan Sherman recorded a song about Rat Fink, Hawk answered with a whole album of tunes about their own characters. This is, as it says on the label, "Music to Make Models By." The music on Side A, the album jacket says, is performed by "The Silly Surfers with Shary Richards, and Side B is credited to "The Weird-Ohs with Shary Richards." Surprisingly, some of these songs don't stink. Give them a a listen and see.
Near as I can tell, Hawk never issued models of "Cowabunga Surf's Up" or "Gremmie Out of Control." Did they ever intend to? Beats me. Here are pics I grabbed off the 'net of the others. As you'll see, the skill and imagination of each individual modeler has a big impact on the result.
Woodie on a Surfari
Beach Bunny Catchin' Rays
Hodad Makin' the Scene with a Six-Pack
Hot-Dogger Hangin' Ten
Digger
Drag Hag
Endsville Eddie
Huey's Hut Rod
Daddy
Davey
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Paperback Gallery: FRANK FRAZETTA
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Forgotten Books: CODE NAME GADGET by Peter Rabe (1967)
This third and final book in the Manny DeWitt series looks more like a spy novel than the first two. This was 1967, spies were big, and I have to think Gold Medal was wishing this was a spy book and wanted would-be buyers to think so. And yeah, there are some spooks in it, sniffing around after the "gadget" of the title, but Our Man Manny is definitely not a spy. He doesn't think like one, doesn't act like one, and doesn't narrate his adventures like one.
DeWitt thinks, acts and narrates like no one I've encountered before. He's a lawyer who is amused with life, but perpetually annoyed with the people and problems it throws at him. That amusement manifests itself in a lot of wry, clever and nicely crafted narration. As for the people who annoy him most, the chauffeur/smart ass dwarf in The Spy Who Was Three Feet Tall and the pilot/chauffeur/lecher in this novel, they annoyed me too. And his problems? They are in due in large part to his boss (another annoying character), who withholds vital information when sending him on assignments, for no reason other than eccentricity. DeWitt's sidekick in this one reminds me of the perpetually drunk guys who both assist and annoy Rex McBride and other Cleve F. Adams heroes. The difference is that Adams was able to rein them in, so that they annoyed only the hero.
On the plus side, DeWitt's adventures take him to many interesting locales (in this case Honduras, Ireland, London, New York, Chicago and Tennessee), and Rabe's prose is consistently fine. If you're in the right frame of mind for DeWitt's attitude and humor, and have the patience to let the story unfold, you might find this to be a great read.
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BORDER PATROL: Hoppy with George Reeves and Robert Mitchum (1943)
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Hear it here: THE LEGEND OF CUSTER'S LAST STAND (1967)
Here's another old LP that's been hanging around the house for a coon's age without getting a listen. Until now. It's a you-are-there dramatization of what might have gone down at the Little Old Big Horn, suitably bowdlerized for us kids. Cap'n Bob will dig it. Gobe won't. Will you? I have the "True Action Adventure" treatment of The Alamo, too. Watch this space.
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Comic Gallery: COWGIRL ROMANCES 4,5,6 (1951)
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The Battle of DAVY CROCKETT, Round 1: Bill Hayes vs. Tennessee Ernie Ford
Four versions of this tune (one of my two favorite songs) reached the top ten in 1955. Bill Hayes made it to #1, while Tennessee Ernie peaked at #5. The others were by Fess Parker and Mac Wiseman (we'll be hearing them later).
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Forgotten Books: DEATH TAKES AN OPTION by Neil MacNeil (aka W.T. Ballard)
In 1958, with Death Takes an Option, Ballard began a new series starring the private detective team of Tony Costaine and Bert McCall. And for reasons unknown (at least to me), he chose to write under the pen name Neil MacNeil.
While Costaine is your stock hardboiled P.I., being smart, tough, handsome, and flexible in the morality department, McCall is a free-spirited giant who talks like a hipster. He calls Costaine "Dad" (as in "Daddy-o"), and sums up philosophy with the line, "Three things I don't dig. Finks, falsies and fags."
This being 1958, Ballard wasn't worried about offending the LGBTQ community, and an effeminate thug and his partner are referred to as "Rosebud,""blond queen,""daisies" and "girls." There's also plenty for women to object to. Meeting the secretary Costaine is assigned, he immediately addresses her as "Kitten,""honey" and "sweet." There are also naked ladies in this book - and naked men, too - none of whom show the slightest inhibition.
The Costaine and McCall series continued for four more books, pictured here. In a 1979 interview conducted by Steve Mertz (you can read the whole thing HERE), Ballard said this about the series:
I developed the idea and editor Dick Carrol was enthusiastic. Then he died and Knox Burger took over. Burger was wary of the MacNeil byline because he knew the real Neil MacNeil of Washington. D.C., and my use embarrassed him although it was an honest family name for me. Knox did his best to kill the series. However, the books were popular and went back into reprint over which Knox had no control. It dragged on until Knox felt it was safe and then did kill both the nom and the series. I had no recourse. Knox left the house soon afterward, but the series was gone.
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YouTube Theater: The CAPTAIN AMERICA you don't want to see! (1990)
This film was planned as a theatrical release in 1990, but was so bad it was delayed two years and then released direct to video. Still it has folks like Darren McGavin, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox in it, so how bad can it be? Well, it has Billy Mumy in it, too. You've been warned.
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Comic Gallery: THE SHADOW STRIKES! 1-4 (1989)
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Pulp Gallery: DUSTY AYRES and his BATTLE BIRDS 10,11,12 (1935)
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E.C. Gallery: INTERNATIONAL COMICS (1947)
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The Battle of DAVY CROCKETT, Round 2: Fess Parker vs. Mac Wiseman
Two more of the many BODC releases of 1955. Fess Parker recorded the ballad at least four times, but this was the first released. His was the second biggest seller of the year, following Bill Hayes'. We'll hear Fess's other efforts further down the road. Mac Wiseman recorded another (and much smoother) version later, too.
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RAYMOND CHANDLER British Dust Jackets (Part 2)
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Forgotten Books: A NOOSE FOR THE DESPERADO by Clifton Adams (1951)
It's now a month later. Tall is on his own now, and resigned to his fate. He hardly ever thinks of that little gal and that little Texas town anymore, except when he's forced to.
In the first book, Tall was riding all over creation, learning things and regretting things and killing people dead. But this time, except for a few forays into the desert, takes place in the little border town of Ocotillo, Texas, where all the habitants, aside from the ruling class of gringo outlaws, appears to be Mexican (or, in today's jargon, undocumented aliens).
The Boss of Ocotillo has a sweet racket. Granting refuge to wanted badmen (hence the presence of Tall Cameron) gets him a large and vicious gang ready to do his bidding - which is to ambush, rob and murder smugglers bringing stuff up from Mexico.
Tall, being a basically good guy, doesn't like it much, but has little choice. To make things tougher on him, he meets a rundown drunk who serves as his conscience, and a wide-eyed young Texan who idolizes him. Unlike Tall, this kid still has a chance to return to his gal and his law-abiding life.
He also meets a hellcat in the form of a hot young senorita. This femme fatale situation seems to be the typical Gold Medal temptress who leads the protagonist to his doom, but Adams twist expectations by giving Tall the determination to fend her off and use her for his own purposes.
While I enjoyed Desperado, I liked this one even better. That's likely because all the coming-of-age and apprentice-outlaw business was out of the way, and Tall could get right down to the tough stuff. It's also more cinematic. I felt like I was reading a movie. Desperado was made into a film, so why not this one? Attention filmmakers: It ain't too late!
This book is full of great hard-boiled lines. Some samples:
His lips were red and raw-looking, like an incision in a piece of liver.
Anger swarmed all over me like a prairie fire.
Looking into his eyes were like looking into the windows of a deserted house.
Bama's eyes were twin, silent screams for whisky.
Their heads turned toward the door as if they had been jerked on a string.
He looked about as excited as a dead armadillo.
His eyes popped out as if they had been punched from behind with a pool cue.
He was traveling the road to hell on a fast horse.
Somebody had gone to Austin and brought the capitol building to Arizona and tied it on my back.
He couldn't have been more pleased if I had handed him Texas with a fence around it.
Made me wish Adams had written more adventures of Tall Cameron. But he didn't. There are only these two, and they're available now from Stark House.
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YouTube Theater: GUNSMOKE Episode 2 - "Hot Spell"
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More Pages to Explore .....
