Riders Radio Theater-February, 1998

The only actual radio show I have ever been privileged to see live (besides the trivia shows I actually appeared on and/or hosted or Convention podcasts) was RIDERS RADIO THEATER. On February 13th, 1998, friend and former employee Ginny (still a Facebook bud today) got tickets for my wife, myself and 16 month old bookdave to accompany her to a taping of two episodes of RIDERS RADIO THEATER, the syndicated modern day musical comedy adventure series starring the western retro group Riders in the Sky.

The taping was at Cincinnati's venerable Emery Theater. That was my final visit to the great old, vintage theater where I had spent many a Sunday afternoon in the seventies falling in love with the likes of Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Claudette Colbert in their classic film revival series.

The series was put on by WVXU, the now legendary college station here which was also where I made my radio debut in 1980. That debut was on the weekly Trivia episode of LIVELINE, a talk show hosted by Larry Ashcraft which is now recognized as the city's first modern day talk radio program.

Along with Jim "Doc" King, the man whose weekly Friday night radio presentations of classic OTR programs stoked my interest there in the late seventies, Larry was one of the folks behind the Riders show. In fact, early on he had offered me passes to see it but for some reason, I had never taken him up on it. By the time we did see it, the series had been running for nearly a decade.

Larry, who passed away in 2000, was an interesting character. He was a large, friendly man highly respected for many years in the field of amateur, ham radio. In the 1960's, however, he had served two stints in Vietnam and was reportedly involved in attempts to clear out the village of My Lai before the legendary massacre there. He was later an interpreter to President Johnson. He had attended Xavier University in the mid-seventies after that already eventful life and volunteered for the fledgeling radio station there. Eventually he would serve as news director, development director, program host and director of community relations and special projects...including RIDERS RADIO THEATER. (The first day we met, he offered to drive me home and during the trip became quite inappropriate--especially considering we had just met-- but that's another story entirely. After that, though, I took the bus when I was on his show).

On the night of the shows, we had good seats only a few rows back from the stage. David had grown up hearing the series in the car and around the house. It consisted of Ranger Doug ("The idol of American Youth"), Too Slim, Woody Paul, Joey the Cow Polka King and Texas Bix Bender ("the voice that sold a million baby chicks over border radio.") They sang like the Sons of the Pioneers, had serial adventures that crossed cowboy heroes like Roy and Gene with MAD magazine humor and wowed radio audiences in countries around the world throughout the nineties.

The stage was set up as if for a play only with microphones at the footlights. There were backdrops and scenery and costumes all around and yet most of the show other than the musical parts was done like the radio broadcast it was. At one point during the second taping, Ranger Doug was alone at center stage playing a soft guitar and singing when suddenly young bookdave--who had been drifting off to sleep a bit earlier--joined in. The acoustics being what they were, his surprisingly melodic harmony attracted the attention of the audience, many of whom looked our way as we tried to quiet him down. Ranger Doug glanced down his big toothy smile and nodded as if to say, "Let him sing," so we did. Sadly, when the episode aired a month or two later you couldn't hear the slightest trace of the boy in the song. Sigh.

Overall, though, a delightful and fun evening with a delightful and fun group. As I said, I knew people. I could have gone much earlier and I could have gone a lot...but I only went that once, and that made it very special!

Freelancing

In lieu of a real job in this current mess we call an economy, I have taken to the world of freelancing--a world I like very much in spite of its uncertainties. The problem is that you get a gig and then before you even fulfill your part of the deal you have to be off soliciting for your next one.

What exactly am I doing? I'm currently proofreading an 800 page pop culture book. In recent weeks, I've been researching and ghostwriting on an exciting upcoming project. I've done more transcriptions recently also and am in the process of learning to do pronunciation proofing for a likely paying gig in that field sooner than later. I'm even working on a writing project of my own for which I have high hopes.

At this point, though, I've been paid for all of the projects I've done or am doing. If you are an author or publisher reading this and you need any of the above-mentioned or other behind-the-scenes work done soon, please contact me. I have hourly rates but I've found that most folks prefer to pay by the project and that's okay with me. References can be provided. If you read this blog, you KNOW I know my pop culture so if your project is about movies, TV, comics, radio or cartoons...you need Booksteve!

In the meantime, any donations you would care to make over on the right toward the continuance of this and/or my other blogs would, as always, be greatly appreciated! Especially until I get my next paying freelance job! Thanks in advance. Tomorrow, we will return to your regular fun pop stuff!

The Kip Tapes

The Kip Tapes

They were never available in stores but the Kip Tapes were an underground hit nonetheless. Kip King died in July of this year after a long series of health issues. The week that he died, I had just gotten hold of the Kip Tapes.

Kip King was the quintessential comedian’s comedian. Although never well known to the general public, he appeared in scores of television series from the mid-fifties on and in films, especially with his son, Chris Kattan, right up until he began his long hospital stay. He was a respected teacher, mentor to many over the years and friend to a host of other well-known comic performers. Comedian/actor Taylor Negron, in speaking of Kip’s passing, noted, “We all must be funnier now to make up for the loss.”

Actress Laraine Newman, the funniest of the original Not Ready For Primetime Players ladies, was not in the Groundlings at the same time as Kip but remembers him well. Laraine wrote that “…somewhat recently, I saw him and Sandy Helberg do their Mr. Bojangles routine, a bit that had me laughing so hard I almost suffocated. There were two things going on at the same time that were equally powerful. Sandy's ancient and palsied tap dancer and Kip's sweet, sincere expression as he sang the song. It was just so wrong and so devilish. There was a wink in his eye, to be sure, but that just added to the lightness of his touch when doing this particular thing. It was probably the least broad thing I'd ever seen him do.”

Laraine’s sister, musician, writer and TV producer Tracy Newman, had been Kip’s co-conspirator on the Kip Tapes. Tracy recalled for me how they came about in the first place. “It was approximately 1982. Around that time, Kip worked for Jesse Jackson at Operation Push. He was on the phone in a “boiler room” early each morning, selling advertising space for black periodicals to businesses in the south. He had a script to follow, but of course he veered from it and went off on tangents. Kip was a New York Jew, but for this job, he was usually a black man named Dr. Richard Anderson. When John Paragon (later a fellow Groundling) started working there, Kip was his mentor because Kip was so successful at the job. John put a cassette tape recorder on Kip’s desk and taped many of his conversations, all of which were simply hilarious. “The black community is like the sky... it’s all around you.” After I heard these rough tapes, I invited Kip to my house every Saturday for several months to place crank phone calls which I recorded properly... I bugged my phone and circled ads in various free papers for Kip to answer. The ads were things like “Last Chance For a Mule,” or “Found Dirt Bike,” or “Get what you want when you want it.” Kip would dial the number and depending on the sound of the voice answering on the other end, he would decide who he was. Like when he called Brentwood (LA) answering an ad seeking a fourth for bridge — the woman who picked up the phone had a slight southern accent, so he became a black man from South Central LA, named Dwight Fiscuss. The minute she heard his voice, you knew she didn’t want him playing cards in her home. I recorded many of these calls, then went into a studio and edited them down to six of my favorites. We wanted to put them out on a record, but we needed the “victims” to sign releases. Neither Kip nor I had the nerve to call them and tell them that they were on the other end of a crank call. So, the tapes became kind of an underground treasure. Very funny but maybe too risky to sell. The six calls are: Last Chance For a Mule, Bridge, Get What You Want, Free Cat, Ski Suit and Dirt Bike.”

Laraine added that she heard the tapes when her sister would play them for her. She said that what she really remembers is Kip’s laugh. “There will never be a laugh like that again.”

The Ballad of John and Yoko

As is being widely covered in the news today, October 9th is birthday to both John Lennon and son Sean. John Lennon, one of THE pivotal figures of the late 20th century, would have been 70 years old had he not ascended into legend far too soon.

As has been noted here many times, we have nearly a whole bookcase of Beatles-related books here at the Library. One of my favorites of the many on John is the ROLLING STONE compilation entitled THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO.

THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO came out in 1982 and collected most (or perhaps all) of that venerable rock magazine's many articles, reviews and interviews with the former Chief Beatle. There are also a few new remembrances and a collection of color stills from Annie Leibovitz's award-winning final photo session.

My main issue with this naturally bittersweet volume is that there is little context given on the reprinted material. Since John would often change his views on everything from individual songs to political movements and certainly friends and enemies dependent on his involvement at any given time with certain substances or sycophantic advisors, it would have been nice to know where he was in his life when he was saying what he was saying in any given article.

Taken for what's there, though, as opposed to what isn't, one is left with a complex portrait of a complicated, conflicted man on a personal journey of discovery...and the very real feeling that he was coming out ahead in the end. Isn't that what we all want out of life, really?

Movies That Fell Through the Cracks # 62

***Spoiler*** Rosebud...was the sled. That said, apparently director Otto Preminger was attempting to change our cinematic perceptions when he made a picture in 1975 entitled ROSEBUD. Needless to say, there was no relation. In this film, Rosebud is a yacht. So one Rosebud is associated with what is often called the best film ever, the other with what could conceivably be a candidate for the worst film ever.

Legendary actor Peter O'Toole toplines as a British intermediary working with the CIA to rescue 5 kidnapped daughters of important men. At various times in his career, this might have been a casting coup but not here--O'Toole's equally legendary alcohol, substance abuse and overall health problems have clearly taken their toll and to say the sickly looking actor walks though his performance is being kind as he can barely stand up at all.

Another who should have known better was Sir (but not yet) Richard Attenborough, later of JURASSIC PARK fame. Beyond that, the cast features veteran Peter Lawford, himself reportedly in a spiral of self-abuse around that time and John Lindsay, the former mayor of New York City. Much was made at the time of the acting debut of the Mayor with the movie star looks. Unfortunately, he did not have the least bit of movie star talent! American TV and stage actor Cliff Gorman and international stars Raf Vallone and Claude Dauphin round out the male cast.

For the most part, the women are the kidnap victims here. Most interesting to note are SEX AND THE CITY's Kim Cattrell in a very early appearance and DOCTOR WHO's second Romana, Lalla Ward.

Based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway's daughter and with a script by Preminger's son with ecdysiast (and later talk show hostess) Gypsy Rose Lee, ROSEBUD is long, slow, dull, badly cast, badly acted and, from the man who had then only recently brought you the so-bad-it's-become-a-belated-classic, SKIDOO, badly directed.

Otto Preminger was, of course, the man behind such classics as EXODUS, RIVER OF NO RETURN, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM and the cinematic masterpiece that is LAURA. Clearly, he knew how to direct a movie. He was also, however, one of three actors to portray Mister Freeze on BATMAN. Sadly, I think THAT was the Preminger who brought us ROSEBUD.

Bruce Lee: Life and Legend

Bruce Lee would have been 70 this year. Almost immediately after his untimely death in July of 1973 he was elevated to superstar--and nearly Godlike--status throughout the world. Many years before the bio-flick DRAGON, we were all told to expect an authorized biographical picture to be entitled BRUCE LEE: LIFE AND LEGEND. Nothing ever came of it. Here, though, is a still of Bruce's widow Linda, supposedly perusing the script of that proposed film along with it's intended star, one Alex Kwon. Quite frankly, Alex looks a little too "gosh-wow" to have been Bruce but...who knows?

George Gladir Gets the Finger-2009

I've recently had the great pleasure of speaking with veteran Archie and CRACKED writer George Gladir a number of times. Here's Mark Evanier and Paul Dini presenting George the Bill Finger Award last year.