R.I.P. Peter O'Toole

Early on he looked like a traditional handsome leading man type but over the years he developed into one of the quirkiest stars ever, turning in amazing performances in absolute trash and blockbusters alike. R.I.P.

The Goodies that Got Away

I was always intrigued by THE GOODIES, a UK series in the Python mold that never aired in the Cincinnati market. At one point, I recall reading that a man in England literally died from laughing so hard at an episode of THE GOODIES!

Back around 1990, I spotted the above British book in a local used bookstore here in Northern Kentucky with a $20 price tag. I offered the store owner $10 for it, explaining the unlikelihood of him finding anyone else around who would ever even know who The Goodies were!

Often in independent used bookstores, one could dicker over prices like that. I had been doing it since I was a teenager. But in this case, the store's owner would hear none of it. He laughed at me. I attempted to explain that the book would most likely just sit there for years untouched. He explained that he had paid $10 for it so he would only settle for $20. I explained that getting his money back would be better than having it sit there rotting for ten years.

Oddly enough, the store closed soon after that. But the books stayed there. I'm told that, at least for awhile, they would open by appointment only on weekends. I never bothered. But sometimes I'd look through the window...and THE GOODIES ANNUAL just sat there...and sat there...and sat there...for more than TEN YEARS!!

Then one day, all the books were gone. No idea where they went. The storefront sat empty for a while and then it turned into offices. They never even bothered to take down the word "Books" on the side of the building. 

I found some episodes of THE GOODIES on VHS not long afterwards and in more recent years on YouTube. Sometimes I still look back though at The Goodies that got away.

Sport Short Ad by George Roussos-1941

Here's a nice looking shoe ad by the oft-maligned George "Inky" Roussos.

Help For Bob Kahan

If you're in the mood --and in a  position--to help folks during the holiday season, how about a few dollars for sometime DC editor Bob Kahan who, after being affected by the downturn in the economy, is about to be put out of his apartment of 20 years.  See here for details:

http://www.gofundme.com/5pvu3o

The Batman Archives

Martin Grams pointed me toward this nifty new website for the true hardcore fan of the 1966 BATMAN TV series. All kinds of behind the scenes material you have never seen anywhere else--and not just on BATMAN but also on THE GREEN HORNET and the infamous attempt at a 1967 WONDER WOMAN pilot!

My personal favorite is an internal Standards and Practices memo (the censors) that seems to indicate that Pussycat, played on one 2 part Catwoman episode by singer Lesley Gore, was actually meant to be Poison Ivy! As a longtime proponent of the fact that the latter character--who made her own 2 part comics debut early in the Batmania era and appeared prominently in the newspaper strip--was made to be a TV villain but never was, this seems to prove me right!

Check out the site yourself but I warn you--hours and hours of geeky details!

http://www.batmantelevisionseries.com

Booksteve Reviews: Buck 'Em! The Autobiography of Buck Owens

I have a great respect for country music but I'm not a huge fan of it. But there are some notable exceptions to that and one of them is the late Buck Owens.

I first heard Buck Owens when his song "Tiger By the Tail" was all the rage in the mid-sixties. He used to play the song on his half hour syndicated music show that played here late on Saturday afternoons so I'd watch fairly often hoping to catch it.

Then he went on HEE HAW doing music, comedy and hosting which apparently built his reputation and his bank account while actually hurting his career!

All of that and much more can be found in some detail in BUCK 'EM! THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BUCK OWENS. This was one of those cases where a celebrity passed leaving their autobiography unfinished and an author--in this case one Randy Poe who never even met Buck--assembled this finished version from hours and hours of random tape-recorded reminiscences from Buck.

It's a fascinating story, of course. The story of Buck Owens is of necessity also the story of the creation of the Bakersfield Sound and also very much the story of the ill-fated singer, guitarist and fiddler Don Rich with whom, in Buck's words, he often felt "joined at the hip."

Buck's unique sound was co-created with Don Rich who harmonized instinctively and learned to play guitar like Buck before actually surpassing him and teaching the teacher. His death in an accident in the early seventies casts a major shadow over the remainder of Owens' life and career.

But what a career it was! Buck was a pioneering presence in country music in that he eschewed the Nashville traditions. His sound influenced other country singers as well as rock groups including the Beatles who covered his first # 1 hit record, "Act Naturally" with Ringo on vocals. Years later, Buck and Ringo dueted on a version of the song!

Unlike many of these posthumous biographies, Randy Poe didn't spend a lot of time rewriting or ghostwriting segments. He just pieced them together in a roughly chronological order. He says as much in his introduction but it's quite noticeable even if he hadn't. The book is NOT well-written and is sadly lacking in the additional detail an actual collaborator might have brought out. That said, it reads EXACTLY like Buck is there and talking directly to you! He digresses, he revisits thoughts, he uses improper grammar sometimes. You literally get what is essentially a transcription of his thoughts, memories and the words on those tapes.

He doesn't pull any punches, either, especially for himself, admitting to frailties and failings (mostly with women) that others might have glossed over in their "official" stories. He corrects a lot of rumors, too, as well as pointing out that sometimes his memories were different from those of other people who were present in his life. HIS are correct, he says, and you can just almost see him smile as he said it.

So like I said, I'm not much of a country music fan. If you ARE, then throw on a CD of Buckaroos music and settle back with this one on these cold winter nights. I'm often disappointed in my favorites when I read their autobiographies but in this case, I like Buck Owens more than ever!

R.I.P. John Lennon--It Was 33 Years Ago Today