WFMU's Beware of the Blog

The Five-String Mob Vs. the Monster of Loch Trevor

Today we present another large dose of Jack Kirby magic, deep in the middle of the fantastic Fourth World saga, where we remembered a story with a slightly musical edge.

There are loads of guest stars and a tangled plot-line weaving into and out of today's tale, but you can also enjoy it simply as a nutty installment of Jimmy Olsen from December 1971, when Kirby was trying out four books worth of wild concepts, with no end in sight.

Long-hairs, rock music and youth culture usually get a poor treatment in comic books, and I wish I could say that Mr. Kirby treated "hippie" culture any better (since it was pretty moribund and co-opted at this time, it is a very moot point) than his peers, but he did give it a good try. His books certainly went much further out beyond the more common stereotypes to become nearly psychedelic on their own.

In this week's presentation we'll also briefly notice some "real" people used as models for Kirby characters, to whit: six comic book fans whom he was friendly with, and silent-movie-era actor James Finlayson (?!).

So strap in and join us after the jump for this extra-wild ride in the latest installment of the WFMU Comic Supplement!

Greetings from the San Fernando Valley, 1965: An Audio Letter (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 64) (MP3's)

In my vast collection of reel to reel tapes, there are dozens, perhaps even a few hundred, audio letters. I've shared several of them here over the years, and today, here's an admittedly mundane one as another example of the sort of "day in the life" quality that these tapes present. 

The one thing I do find sort of fascinating about this particular tape is the woman's accent. It sounds close in certain ways to Jack Nicholson's drawl, without being quite the same, and she also has a way of adding a pause in the middle of a word after certain vowel sounds, especially "O", essentially adding another syllable as a result. 

This is just life as she knew it in the mid 1960's - wondering about the effectiveness of those new Teflon pans, theater shows she and her husband had gone to at the local theater, sharing her life and asking about that of the person receiving the tape. 

The woman making the tape mentions her difficulty in using reel to reel tape recorders a few times, and, in fact, I've had to boost the sound quite a bit in some sections of the recording, as she left the volume far too low for nearly half of the recording. This accounts for the changes in sound quality that take place. After using the entire length of side one of the tape, she turned it over and recorded for a few more minutes on the flip side. 

This tape is from 1965.. She mentions that it is June 20th (coincidentally, my birthday!), and that it was Father's Day. The mention of the increasing numbers of soldiers being sent to Vietnam makes this the only likely year in which Father's Day was on June 20th. In addition, she mentions going to see Buddy Ebsen in "Paint Your Wagon" at the Valley Theater, which I've been able to confirm took place at a theater by that name in Woodland Hills, CA, the same week this tape was recorded. This also places the speaker somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. 

Unknown - Audio Letter from the San Fernando Valley Side One (MP3)

Unknown - Audio Letter from the San Fernando Valley Side Two (MP3)

Tape Box (JPG)

Stanford's Spring Sing '68: "The Rights of Spring" (MP3's)

First, I wanted to point out to anyone who read my previous post, about the mysterious rock and roll songs, thall ALL of them have been identified. The updated post can be found here. And now, on with the countdown: 

I was lucky enough to come across this album last year, the locally produced soundtrack to a show held at Stanford in 1968, and titled "Spring Sing: 'The Rights of Spring'". In different ways, this album is entertaining, eye-opening and not much short of astonishing. 

I was only seven in the spring of 1968, but with the history I'm aware of, it seems likely to me that, aside from perhaps the first three weeks of that season, it was not a very happy, lighthearted spring season. No doubt the murder of Dr. King on April 4 of that year more than took the wind out of the country's sails. 

And yet here we have the recorded evidence of a celebratory college show, held at Stanford that Spring. My strong guess is that it took place after Dr. King's death and most likely after the most extreme of the reactions and fallout from that event (given that most schools hold an even of this type close to the end of the semester), and if that's the case, I find the lighthearted nature of much of this material more than a little surprising. The bottom line is that I found myself listening to this album just short of shocked at how little it seems to reflect the issues of the day. 

Well, now, not all issues. The first track, "We've Got Trouble" contains some biting words about the privilege of being White, and makes several jabs at this and related issues, so clearly the problems of the day were not unknown to these young people. 

The other issue touched on, though, in several tracks, is the relationship between the sexes on campus. While the soon-to-be coming of co-ed dorms is excitedly mentioned multiple times, I was more taken with the tracks which casually, with attempted good humor and complete acceptance, make light of the possibility of co-eds getting drunk and being taken advantage of, or just in general the question of when and how will the lovely young lady get home. And this occurs without critical comment in songs by both men and women's groups on the album. Looked at through today's lens, I can't imagine that these songs would have made it into the show in these forms, or that if they somehow did, heads wouldn't have rolled the next day. 

That's not to say that this album is a horror of unabashed sexism and cluelessness, just that nearly half the time, there seems to be only one thought on the performers' minds, and it is expressed in a way that I don't think would fly today. There are plenty of nice moments, funny moments and enjoyable musical moments here. On the other hand, there are a few straight numbers, uniformly dull and uninspired (one is labeled "Renditions of Simon and Garfunkel", but could have just as well be labeled "Sounds of Silence" as that's all it is). 

A few other notes: The track "My Lord and Master" is the second track on side two, as indicated on the label, and not the fourth track, as indicated on the cover. And there is no mention of the little speech the ends the album, on the cover or the label. What's odd here is that the person speaking seems to be introducing the next act as he finishes speaking, except that.... that's where the album ends! 

1.) Jordan/El Capitan – We've Got Trouble (MP3)

2.) Business School – Goodnight Little Girl/I Should Have Known Better/ Goin’ to Live with God (MP3)

3.) Lathrop - The Simple Joys (MP3)

4.) Delta Upsilon - Renditions of Simon & Garfunkel (MP3)

5.) Alpha Delta Phi – I've Been Waiting For Spring (MP3)

6.) Fremont - Getting the Cure (MP3)

7.) Soto - My Lord and Master (MP3)

8.) Kappa Sigma/Roth - The Wrongs of Spring (MP3)

9.) Roble - Death of the Roble Dollie (MP3)

10.) El Toro - Conception of Stanford (Blown By the Winds of Freedom (MP3)

11.) Unknown - Announcement at End of Album (MP3)

Here are the covers and the labels: 

Stanford Label A-Side (JPG)  |  Stanford Label B-Side (JPG)  

Stanford Front Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover (JPG)  |  Stanford Back Cover Close Up (JPG)

Comments can be sent to [email protected]