DVD Review: Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s Volume 2

Sitting down in front of the DVD player, giant cereal bowl in hand to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s Volume 2 is a very different thing than watching the simultaneously released 1960s collection. Although both rely heavily on Hanna-Barbera produced programs, the product HB were creating had changed dramatically.

Kooky animal characters such as Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, and Augie Doggie were pretty much over, as the studio’s emphasis became focused on action-adventure cartoons. Of the 12 shows contained on this 2 DVD set, half fall into the adventure genre. Things had gotten much more serious in cartoon-land, even Yogi Bear had sobered up.

The 1970s Volume 2 set contains quite a number of pilots. The first episodes of The New Adventures Of Gilligan, Sealab 2020, Yogi’s Gang, Valley Of The Dinosaurs, and Inch High Private Eye are all featured.

The Valley Of The Dinosaurs episode “Forbidden Fruit” is a prime example of the action-adventure field in animation. It is sort of a Swiss Family Robinson in prehistoric times. The Butler family somehow fell into a whirlpool in the Amazon which transported them to a land that time forgot. Thankfully, there are some friendly cavemen to help them hide from the dinosaurs.

It seems as if the live action TV stars of the 1960s were having a rough time of it in the 1970s. The New Adventures Of Gilligan features the voices of Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jim Backus, and Natalie Shafer. The New Adventures Of Batman has both Adam West and Boy Wonder Burt Ward intoning their animated alter-egos.

The strangest aspect of all though has to be the new “socially-conscious” trend that took place in the early 70s cartoons. As a kid, I had no idea of the messages in some of these, but as an adult I find the indoctrination somewhat startling.

The short-lived Sealab 2020 is interesting as it equates exploration of the oceans with that of space. The explorers are even called “Oceanauts.” The first episode “Deep Threat” from 1972 concerns itself with nuclear waste being dumped in the oceans. A serious concern to be certain, but one for six year-olds to worry about?

Even more bizarre is Yogi’s Gang. Another first episode, “Mr. Bigot” is possibly the strangest Hanna-Barbera cartoon I have ever seen. Yogi has built an ark, like Noah’s I guess, but it flies. Yup, it has a propeller that is powered by Magilla Gorilla running on a treadmill. A very PC touch.

Populating the ark are all the 60s H-B gang: Atom Ant, Ricochet Rabbit, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss and the rest. This episode is titled “Mr. Bigot.” Yes, there is a villain out there with a “Bigot-Gun” set to turn all of mankind into hate-mongers. When the formerly friendly Mr. Cheerful gets zapped, and turns on the gang, Yogi springs into action. Good guys that they are, the animals turn the other cheek and bake him a cake.

As Snagglepuss should have said: “Heavens to Mergatroyd!” What kind of a lesson is this? It took a quick trip to the menu bar and an episode of the always reliable Bugs Bunny/ Road Runner Hour to cleanse my mental palette.

Then there is the Banana Splits Adventure Hour. This is a glorious mess of live action, cartoons, and music. For some reason The Splits’ antics still crack me up. The live action Danger Island serial cliff-hanger is a little odd, as it is just literally cut with scissors in the middle of a scene. There is no method to it at all. Just snip, and no word about tuning in for the next episode or anything.

The Banana Splits song “Soul” is the best part. Filmed in that super-cheesy Hollywood version of psychedelia, the video for “Soul” is great. The singer even gets in name-checks of Otis Redding and Ray Charles, for the hip kindergartner in the crowd.

The only bonus feature included is titled “The Power Of Shazzan.” This is a five-minute documentary on the short-lived Hanna-Barbera show, mainly featuring interviews with people associated with its production.

Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s Volume 2 is fun. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of what a truly bent decade it actually was.

Book Review: Elton John: The Bitch Is Back by Mark Bego

Elton John: The Bitch Is Back certainly is an appropriate title for a book purporting to capture: “The passion, the outlandishness, and the complexity of Elton John’s life.”

Sir Elton has lived a few lifetimes in his 62 years, the past 40 of which have been in the public eye. Author Mark Bego spends a few token pages on Elton’s youth, when he was called Reginald Dwight. The seminal event for the young man was his parents’ divorce. Reg embraced his mother and new stepfather immediately, leaving his biological father out in the cold, basically for the rest of his life.

The story picks up steam when he joins a group called Bluesology, who went on to become Long John Baldry’s back-up band. As any music fan knows though, the real break came when he met Bernie Taupin. One of the more interesting revelations in the book was how Elton wrote the music to Bernie’s lyrics. Taupin would hand him the words, and Elton would compose the music right there on the spot. I don’t care what anyone thinks of Elton John, the ability to write like that shows an amazing talent.

The run Elton went on in the early 1970’s was unprecedented. Seven consecutive number one albums, including the very first one to debut at number one on Billboard. The only band that had enjoyed such sustained success before him were The Beatles. Now that is some heady company to be keeping.

Elton’s cocaine and alcohol abuse became big news in the 1980’s, but it had started long before. Bego traces the end of the “Elton-mania” era to drug use, and serious depression, despite all of the success. The Blue Moves LP was aptly titled.

The first two-thirds of The Bitch Is Back concerns itself with what most people consider the “classic” Elton John period, from 1970-76. From there, things go sideways in every manner imaginable. There was his infamous first wedding, to a woman no less, that eventually cost him 45 million dollars.

The drugs continued, his sexual appetites morphed into addiction, and the records became pretty spotty affairs. Elton became close to many of the rich and famous, most notably the Royal Family. But so much of this is either sad tabloid fodder, or breathless celebrity gossip. Honestly, the last hundred or so pages of The Bitch Is Back are a bit tedious. For all of his success with The Lion King or Aida, I just miss the fun Elton of “Bennie And The Jets,” or as The Pinball Wizard in Tommy.

I think the author does too, because the past ten years especially are pretty much phoned in. Here’s an example: “Throughout 2001 Elton was kept busy with solo tour dates and his ongoing Face To Face tour with Billy Joel.”

A couple of pages later comes this: “His 48th album Peachtree Road, was one of Elton’s main focuses in 2004.”

The dry prose reflects the subject. Elton John is now simply a product, a cash cow on tour with the occasional new record release. Once in a while he manages to generate some humorous headlines. His diva flap with Tina Turner is the best recent one.

I’m happy he’s clean and sober, and apparently found his one true love, but Elton John is and has been pretty boring for a long time. Then again, I’m just an old guy who as a kid in the sixth grade bought Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy the day it came out. I have only done that a couple of times in my life since.

So that early ‘70’s version of The Captain remains indelible for me. The good news is that the author seems to feel the same way. It is no coincidence that so much of the book is devoted to those years. Obviously he had to report on Elton’s life since 1976 though, and to be fair there were some pretty good songs, and some very juicy incidents to report on.

You can’t fault the author for the direction his subject chose to go in. Mark Bego did an outstanding job with Elton John: The Bitch Is Back. It is the most up to date an Elton John bio out there right now, and a fine read as well.

Music Review: Grant Hart - Hot Wax

When Hüsker Dü split due to mounting tensions within the band, the future of Grant Hart seemed somewhat cloudy. He was suffering from some very public addictions, and things seemed a little sketchy for him at first. Thankfully, he was able to get clean, and go on to form the excellent Nova Mob.

The nine tracks that make up Hot Wax seem to have been recorded under a number of different circumstances. There are two producers listed, and the sound quality varies wildly from track to track. As a whole though, the record hangs together in a remarkably cohesive fashion.

Hot Wax opens up with “You’re The Reflection Of The Moon On The Water,” which is a garage-band extravaganza. There is a great vintage organ sound on it, similar to that of the legendary Them’s “Gloria.” It is a great way to kick off a record.

The garage band vintage organ echo continues on a number of tracks, including, “Charles Hollis Jones,” and “Sailor Jack.” Actually, “Sailor Jack” is sort of an unholy spawn of The Beach Boys and Question Mark And The Mysterians.

I have always been hard pressed to describe Hart’s voice, as he uses different inflections depending on the song. But on Hot Wax, there is a notable similarity to that of David Bowie, certainly of the way he intones “Changes.” A quick listen to “School Buses Are For Children,” and “My Regrets,” will confirm this.

One of Hüsker Dü’s all-time greatest songs is “Diane,” off Metal Circus. Grant Hart wrote it, and it shows off his way with a melody spectacularly. He still has the gift, as “California Zephyr” shows. This is sort of a Big Star meets the Dü kind of tune.

I’m not really sure what all the Greek mythological references are about, but they are here. The title of the album, Hot Wax is illustrated on the cover not with a melting LP or something similar. Rather, it features a rendering of Icarus flying too close to the sun. If you remember, the wings Icarus flew on were made of wax, and his flight melted them.

There is also a song here titled “Narcissus, Narcissus,” a mid-tempo rocker that sounds like a kiss-off to an ex-lover.

Twenty years after the demise of Hüsker Dü, one of the great American bands of all time as far as I am concerned, it is really great to hear one of the principles back at it.

Hot Wax is in its own way the perfect summation of what Grant Hart has always been known for. Great punk, great pop, and wildly provocative lyrics are what this record is all about. It really does have merit for those who exist outside of the Dü-obsessed like myself.

Hot Wax is a pretty good record from someone I had kind of given up on. It may not be Hüsker Dü, but for now, it will do.

Music Review: Sachal Vasandani - We Move

Once upon a time there were giants in the field of jazz vocalists. The list is long, and includes such names as Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, and Nat “King” Cole, for starters. It has been a dying art for many years though, as all-instrumental music has pretty much replaced the vocalists of old. Besides Harry Connick Jr. I really cannot think of anyone else today who qualifies as a classic jazz singer.

That is until I discovered Sachal Vasandani. We Move is his second outing, on the Mack Avenue label. It definitely evokes images of the classic era of this type of music.

Opening with “Escape/There’s A Small Hotel,” Sachal and his trio set the pace for the high-quality hour of music to follow. It opens up with the quietly insistent sound of Quincy Davis’ drums, followed after a few bars by David Wong’s bass, and Jeb Patton’s cocktail-ish sounding piano. Right off the bat you realize that Sachal has put together a top-flight trio to accompany him.

This is nowhere more evident than on their cover of Thelonius Monk’s classic, “Monk’s Dream.” The song contains some great solos by Patton and Wong. Sachal delivers the lyrics in a pretty straightforward manner, reminiscent of Connick Jr.

Drummer Quincy Davis is great throughout, but his real shining moment comes on “I’d Let You Know.” As the song builds toward its crescendo, Davis just lets fly. You imagine him grinning ear to ear as he takes full advantage of the opportunity.

Sachal Vasandani’s voice is a little difficult to describe, just because it is so unique. There were more than a couple times I was reminded of the early Seventies singer-songwriter Jesse Colin Young. Which by the way, is meant as a compliment, I have always liked JCY.

Sachal flexes his vocal chops most effectively in the scatting style during “By The River St. Marie.” He gets pretty soulful in a couple of cuts as well, listen to “Heartbeat,” and “Travelin’ Light.”

To tell the truth, there is not a bad track to be found on We Move. It is refreshing to hear a relative newcomer to the scene with such style. I will be looking forward to hearing a lot more from Sachal Vasandani.

DVD Review: Virtual JFK - Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived

There has long been a sub-genre in science fiction called alternate history. The premise is pretty simple. For example, what kind of world would we live in today, had the Axis Powers been victorious in World War II?

The Virtual JFK - Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived DVD presents a “what if” scenario with Kennedy not being shot in Dallas. Narrator Professor James G. Blight prefers the term virtual history, which is pretty much a synonym to alternate history, minus the dreaded science fiction associations.

To prove his thesis, the Professor presents six events that occurred during Kennedy’s three years in office. Each could have escalated to war pretty easily, considering the heat of the Cold War at the time. In each instance, stock black and white footage is shown, most of it pretty grainy. Kennedy was able maneuver out of each confrontation without them becoming any more belligerent.

The six crises Blight cites as evidence are The Bay of Pigs, The Laos Crises, The Berlin Wall, The Showdown over Vietnam, The Cuban Missile Crises, and finally his attempts to quietly withdraw from Vietnam just 80 days prior to his assassination.

A huge amount of footage comes from press conferences, and are almost all grainy black and white, like the newsreels. The press conferences are interesting in themselves however, as we are able to see Kennedy charming the press with his humor, while deflecting most of the serious questions.

Professor Blight sums up his conclusions with this quote “It is almost inevitable that he (JFK) would not have had that war in Vietnam.”

The raw numbers themselves are pretty sobering. When Kennedy assumed office in 1961, there were approximately 3,000 US troops in Vietnam. Under LBJ in 1967, 8,000 soldiers had been killed in Vietnam. The figure jumped to 19,000 dead in 1968, the year Johnson bowed out of the Presidency.

The bonus features are interesting in that they all feature Johnson, rather than Kennedy. There is an eight minute statement concerning the resumption of bombing in Vietnam, for 1966. There is a 15 minute excerpt from Johnson’s 1967 State Of The Union address, which concerns Vietnam. And from 1968, there is a 15 minute statement to the country about the differences between North and South Vietnam. All of these segments are in black and white.

If Kennedy had lived, Vietnam may not have gone the way it did. In fact I am pretty certain Kennedy would have handled things differently than Johnson did. But really, so what? No amount of speculation can change what actually occurred.

The Virtual JFK - Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived DVD presents an intriguing hypothesis. If nothing else, it is always good for a little banter alongside the many other Kennedy conspiracies, allegations, and legends we have come to know over the years.

DVD Review: Roxy Music - More Than This

“Imagine you’re a teenager in the north side of Dublin and some aliens arrive on Top Of The Pops,” says Bono, by way of introducing the new DVD: Roxy Music - More Than This.
This is the best documentary I have seen on the influential 1970’s band, and it features interviews with not only Bono, but also Brian Eno, Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Jones, and a host of others. The live footage is excellent, all of it is taken from TV shows, and later videos, and is of uniformly excellent quality.

Roxy’s original configuration included Brian Eno, who appeared on the first two albums. One of the more interesting tidbits Eno mentions in his interview is that he feels the band’s finest recording was Stranded. This was their third LP, and the first without him.

A huge part of the band’s early appeal was their look. Bryan Ferry, the suave sophisticate, surrounded by his wildly flamboyant band. When Eno left, Eddie Jobson joined, complete with his amazing glass violin. Another Roxy Music trademark were the models gracing their album covers.

Beginning with the first, Roxy Music, and its Vargas inspired Fifties look, through Jerry Hall’s decadent mermaid of Siren, the early Roxy records had a look all their own. When the single from Siren, “Love Is The Drug” failed to take off in America, the band went on a three year hiatus.

At the time, nobody was sure if Roxy Music were over or not. In 1978 with the release of Manifesto, one thing was clear. The experimentation of their first era was over. “Dance Away” from Manifesto clearly points the way to their final triumph of Avalon.

The stories, interviews, and live segments move the documentary along rapidly. Like the band itself, this DVD is never boring. The bonus features are pretty good as well. The first section features extended interviews with most of the participants in the documentary section. They discuss the album covers in particular detail. The interviewees also dissect the roles various members of the band played in shaping the whole.

The final 15 or so minutes is what fans will be looking forward to the most though. From a London concert in 2006, Roxy Music are shown playing “Both Ends Burning,” “Editions Of You,” and “Do The Strand.”

For anyone interested in the history of one of seventies most inscrutable bands, Roxy Music - More Than This is an excellent addition to the DVD collection.

Book Review: Revolution In Seattle by Harvey O'Connor

“A toast, to the 47 states of the Union, and to the Soviet of Washington,” Postmaster General James A. Farley (1936).

Drummer Bill Reiflin, who is probably best known for his work with Ministry, spent many years in Seattle. He once called it: “A small island, surrounded by rednecks.” I have lived in the Northwest all of my life, and would tend to agree with Reiflin’s assessment. After reading Harvey O’Connor’s memoirs Revolution In Seattle though, I realized that things were once very, very different around here.

Revolution In Seattle was originally published in 1964. It concerns the only General Strike ever held in the United States, which occurred in Seattle in 1919. It is kind of a strange that the reprint is out 45 years after the original, which was published 45 years after the Strike.

Could anyone imagine pulling off a general strike in 2009? The very idea seems absolutely ludicrous. But 90 years ago in Seattle, it happened. The strike itself lasted for five days, and was pretty uneventful. People mainly stayed home to wait it out, while high level meetings were held to get the city back to work.

Far more interesting are the events that led up to the strike. O’Connor was there, and was able to talk to many who were still alive from the era as well. What emerges is a picture of capitalism run amok in the backwater region of the United States. Loggers in particular were doing extremely dangerous work 10-12 hours per day, with meager rations, for very little pay.

The I.W.W. and AFL found great success in an area full of frustrated workers and indifferent, if not openly hostile, management. Tensions had been building since the 1890s. There were ongoing labor battles, resistance to the Draft and WWI, and the rise of Bolshevism among many other factors that led up to the strike.

O’Connor is sympathetic to the strike, which was nonviolent, and basically shut down all nonessential activities in the city. Power stayed on, and select food stores stayed open, but that was it for five days. The strike was called in support of the shipyard workers, who were being especially mistreated at the time.

The aftermath of the strike was a bloody one in the (truly) redneck town of Centralia. There members of the I.W.W. or Wobblies as they were called, were lynched. One man was even castrated before being hanged. The pro-management forces such as the newspapers and court systems were clearly against the union man. Some things never change.

According to O’Connor, much of what the left were trying to achieve for labor came about with Roosevelt’s New Deal. Rules were made that even the most antagonistic employers had to follow, like it or not. O’Connor briefly brings the history of radicalism up to date (1964), focusing mainly on the McCarthy hearings of the early 1950s.

Revolution In Seattle is a fascinating story. It was such a different world 90 years ago in so many ways. The naked brutality of those days is gone for good. It most certainly remains in covert ways, but at least you won‘t get your face bashed in. The power of labor remains a force, but a dormant one. The scandals of Hoffa and others have de-fanged this once fearless group.

It is incredible to read how things were back then. Going on strike could literally get you killed. And there would be no prosecution. Just organizing the workers could get you killed even. There are many stories like these in Revolution In Seattle.

After reading this book, the WTO riots of 2000 start to make a lot more sense. If they were to happen anywhere, they needed to happen where the General Strike once did. Revolution In Seattle is full of men and women so committed that some gave their lives in support of better working conditions.

What a contrast to today’s Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan-obsessed world. Our current national mood is infantile in comparison to the one described in this book. Revolution In Seattle is well worth putting the clicker down for, and actually reading.