Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Well, there's a coincidence. Right now, all true Royal lovers are getting excited about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee which I think means she's sold over half a million records.
However, forty years ago, this month, she was celebrating her Pearl Jubilee, which I don't remember getting quite so much attention.
However, what was getting attention was the UK singles chart.
That's because the Jam had done it again, smashing their way straight in at Number One, with the double A-Side Town Called Malice/Precious.
This gave them their third Number One and was their second 45 to have entered the chart at the very top.
Over on the British album chart, things were sounding rather less angry, with Barbra Streisand's Love Songs holding onto pole position.
I, of course, approve highly of Town Called Malice - even if Precious was never my cup of tea - and these are the other singles on that week's UK hit parade that I dig:
Golden Brown - the Stranglers
The Model/Computer Love - Kraftwerk
The Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz
Being Boiled - the Human League
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - Soft Cell
I Could Be Happy - Altered Images
Don't You Want Me? - the Human League
It Must Be Love - Madness
Tainted Love - Soft Cell.
For those who want to investigate that week's singles chart further, it can be found by clicking here.
While the accompanying album chart may be found here.
The comic that can't stop giving us classics turns its sights on Jules Verne's The First Men in the Moon, the original of which I've never read although I've seen the film.
In truth, it's not one of my favourite Harryhausen flicks. The second half's fine but the first seems to drag on forever, with it taking far too long for our protagonists to reach the moon which is the place we all want to be.
Regardless, this version's brought to us by the typewriter of Don McGregor and the pencil of
Rudy Mesina.
However, Spider-Man'll soon put a stop to those plans.
However, that's not what's really exciting about this issue.
What's exciting is we've the chance to win ten Spider-Man lampshades. What kind of madman wouldn't want those in their house?
Granted, the Gold Bug probably wouldn't but that just means there's more left over for the rest of us.
And, if that's not excitement enough, we're also promised Spidey TV cartoon news!
Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, Thor must tangle with the might of Hyperion.
I don't think I've ever read this tale but it seems the thunder god travels to Hyperion's world where he and the Squadron Supreme must battle the evil Hyperion and Emil Burbank.
When it comes to the star of the comic, it would appear Cap's out to rescue Peggy Carter from the menace of the Manipulator.
And, just to top it all off, we're given a free X-Men colour poster, as drawn by Mick Austin.
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29 comments:
Always enjoyed Marvel's Classic Comics, especially the sci-fi issues. Not only were they entertaining, but they made high school book reports a breeze. They were alot more fun to read than Cliff Notes.
The film FIRST MEN ON THE MOON was a staple on a local TV station's Saturday afternoon monster movie show in the early 70's. I swear they only had maybe 20 titles in rotation. I'd still watch them over & over, though.
Gold Bug is probably on my list of least favorite villains. Right there with Big Wheel & Rocket Racer. Heck, even the Looter is a better bad guy.
The appearances of Marvel's JLA homage, the Squadron Supreme/Sinister, was always a bonus. I do have a number of questions concerning their existence. Did the Grandmaster create/assemble the evil version? Was there only one version of Nighthawk? I could go on & on, but I should just do some research.
Dumb question of the day...
USA dudes - were you really familiar with the JAM? I mean, I'd always heard of them but don't know their songs. How can this be? I listed to the Town Called Malice and Precious STEVE references above but I swear I never heard those tunes.
But as far as the goes, I never heard of the first 6 songs of the 9 in the rest of STEVE's list. Geeze. The last 3 were quite well played here though.
And... I won't mention the Stranglers which I only heard of here at SDC a few years ago and really enjoyed "GOLDEN BROWN" until my bubble burst.
Guess I'll just kick back now and listen to Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans 1814" LOL.
Charlie-
The Jam are alright. I believe I had their first US album. I liked them better than the Clash. I'd like to pick up a greatest hits or anthology.
Hey KD!
As I reflect on the songs STEVE has listed above I really appreciate what an explosion of music the Brits produced. So many groups, so many great tunes.
No wonder it was touted as the Second British Invasion.
And oddly enough, the Spidey Cartoon Comic harkens to the great jazzy sound the original Spidey cartoon had. Honestly, if it was not for that jazzy soundtrack I don't think the Spidey cartoon would have had half the following.
SEAN - FYI I did reply to you. If you don't see it, check the "junk" LOL.
Yeah, K.D., it was Grandmaster who assembled the Squadron Sinister. He used them as pawns in a cosmic chess game against Kang. I don't think he created them, he just assembled them. But that was their first appearance. Basically an evil Justice League vs. the Avengers. It was a pretty good storyline, actually. Typical Roy Thomas; throw everything into a story arc INCLUDING the kitchen sink. Even the Invaders showed up! It was great.
Then the Squadron Supreme comes along some years and it gets a bit confusing. They're from an alternate Earth. If Hyperion showed up on a cover, you didn't know which version you were getting until you read the darn comic.
I remember Emil Burbank. He was sorta the Lex Luthor on the Squadron Supreme's Earth.
What I wonder is, how the heck did they come up with "Burbank"?
I keep thinking of Burbank Studios, which used to put out a lotta T.V. shows back in the day. Maybe some writer was sitting there one night in front of a typewriter thinking, "What am I gonna call this guy? Something like Luthor" and then he hears on the boob tube, "Live from Burbank Studios, heeeeres Johnny!"
The writer takes a hit on a doobie and says "Screw it; I'll call him Burbank."
Thus are legends born.
M.P.
The 1982 singles chart includes 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' by Tight Fit, on its' way to #1 in a few weeks!
Steve, have you seen the BBC version of 'First Men In The Moon' starring Mark Gatiss and Rory Kinnear?
M.P-
I recall the intro for Laugh-In announced that it was produced in Burbank. Constantly.
M.P. :
Might be a stretch, but I wonder if ‘Emil Burbank’ is a kinda sideways nod to the DC character he’s basically a stand-in for? In the ‘Real World’, LUTHER Burbank was a somewhat famous botanist / agricultural scientist. It just might be the kind of ‘clever clever’ allusion that former school teacher Roy Thomas could have come up with…
Charlie:
‘A Town Called Malice’ has gotten a fair amount of airplay on ‘Alternative’ and ‘Classic Rock’ stations over the years here in Southern California. I’ve heard it enough times that i can quote snatches of lyrics from memory (‘Stop apologizing for things you’ve never done …. Blah blah blah…it’s up to us to change a town called Malice’). I still hear it occasionally on the radio machine. According to Wikipedia, it was the only single by The Jam to have had any kind of chart success in the USA — it peaked at #31 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1982.
b.t.
b.t.-
I was unaware of this "Luthor Burbank."
Looking at it now, your explanation makes a lot more sense than mine did!
You're probably right.
It's weird that a botanist would get a super-villain named after him.
...Unless he was an insane botanist who was trying to create plant-people to conquer the world.
M.P.
...I mean, um, LUTHER Burbank. My bad!
That is a good name for a villain, though.
M.P.
Colin, I'm afraid I haven't seen that BBC version of The First Men in the Moon. I didn't even know it existed.
KUMPSTER -I too recall from Laugh IN the blurb about "Burbank" but I can't recall if it was at the beginning or end of the show. That was a weird show... But to this day "Very interesting, but shtoopid!" lives on among us older farts.
The first clip is the basic phrase, the second is funny but shocks me the character is wearing a SS helmet (!), the third has Tiny Tim as a German storm trooper. What a hoot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTd_73Slj3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SVSak1oBCw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmeA17PGNc
b.t. - Thanks for the Jam info. Yet another classic example of that Atlantic Ocean getting in the way!
Under the authority vested in me as a participant at SDC I henceforth declare that any group that charted #1 in the UK has to be well known in the USA as well!!!
There! That should stop this malarkey!!!
My favourite Jam song is 'Going Underground' which entered the UK singles chart at #1 in March 1980 - it was the first song to go straight in at #1 since Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' in 1973.
Steve, according to Wikipedia the BBC's 'First Men In The Moon' was originally broadcast in October 2010 but I first saw it about three years ago.
To answer your question Charlie, no I don’t recall listening to Jam’s music but faintly recall their name.
I listened to them before posting, definitely the 2nd invasion sound, I’m going to eat them up.
Thanks to all for enlightening me.
Regarding Artie Johnson’s “stoooopid”, I can still be heard quoting that at the appropriate moment though 98% of those that hear it have no clue to the reference.
Anybody else see that old Night Gallery episode where Artie Johnson plays a ruthlessly ambitious and amoral radio DJ whose soul is taken by the Devil?
...At least that is what I think happened. The whole thing was a bit ambiguous.
Apparently, Artie could play a bad guy when he wanted to.
M.P.
Oops, rather late to this party.
Steve- thanks for sharing that link to the UK charts! Probably good that I didn't see it back in 82. It might have been enough to drive me to drop my US citizenship and move to the UK! Of course depending upon the outcome of the next election cycle here, maybe I'd best keep that option open...
Charlie- I was familiar with the Jam, but had/have none of their material. Might watch for it; I'm currently on a cd buying binge. Vintage cds are still dirt cheap, though there is increasing talk of a cd revival such as vinyl has enjoyed.
And good call on the jazzy score for the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon! Fabulous music, both the original and the later seasons. The 1968 and 1969 episodes featured incidental music by KPM artists such as Syd Dale and Johnny Hawksworth...thank God for YouTube...
M.P. —
As for Artie Johnson effectively playing bad guys when he wanted to: he was GREAT as Virmin Vunderbar on JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED. He even got to do the ‘VERRRRY interestink’ bit :)
b.t.
b.t.-
I'm a huge fan of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED. I've got it on dvd.
I didn't know that about Artie.
My favorite character was Green Arrow. He's a grumpy, cynical old liberal.
I get where he's coming from.
His team-up with Supergirl and the Question, that was classic.
Boy, that sure was a wonderful series.
M.P.
M.P Justice League Unlimited was a brilliant cartoon and a real treat comic book geeks . DC publish a monthly comic Justice League Infinity that links to the cartoon series that's worth picking up.
Wow. Sounds like you gents recommend Justice league Unlimited. I am totally unfamiliar with it. Just curious if you guys watched the Spider-Man cartoon from the late 1990s or perhaps early 2000s. I found that to be very very satisfying as it seemed to adhere toThe actual Spider-Man comics versus “new material.”
Also, about that time, marvel at a series retelling the first 20 or 30 issues of Spider-Man. It was also quite good and that it provided additional insight or details to the first 20 or 30 Spider-Man’s by Steve Ditko, but did not seem to stray from the official storylines. I wish I could remember who did those because I’d be interested in reading them again for sure.
Well, Charlie is late to the “dark Knight “party but you can’t say he didn’t show up! I finally saw that movie last night. While I did find it entertaining, I have to say that I’ve grown wary of the invincible psychopath storyline. The sensitive CharlieHas trouble watching two hours of senseless murdering by psychopaths. I do have to say though, that it was a very thoughtful piece in the movie where the ship full of criminals decide to not to blow up the ship full of “innocent victims. “
Charlie:
Maybe you’re thinking of the UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN series by Kurt Busiek? Not exactly a re-telling of the Lee/ Ditko stories, they were new stories that took place in the same time period but were carefully designed to not contradict the continuity. I haven’t read the series myself, but have heard very good things about it.
And as for the ‘invincible psychopath’ aspects of THE DARK KNIGHT, there’s that entire sequence where the Joker gets caught, roughed up by Batman at the Police station and then makes his escape by blowing up one of his henchmen in the holding cells. When you stop to think about how many steps ahead of everyone he’d have to be to pull that off, it’s undeniably impressive. Somehow, he knew that Batman was gonna capture him, and he also knew that the henchman would also get caught and kept on the same floor in the same building, and had the foresight to sew a telephone IED bomb into his gut ahead of time (without the poor sap knowing about it until just before he went kablooey). I mean, that’s some crazy-ass three-dimensional chess right there! Or maybe Joker just has some hitherto unknown Dead Zone-y precognition abilities or something.
b.t.
We’ll Charlie, there was Spider-Man Chapter One by Byrne.
It retold the first dozen stories mixing current looks with original. Like using Electro’s “new” uniform but using Daredevil’s original yellow and scarlet costume. I thought it was cool read.
B.t.- "Untold Tales of Spider-Man " was a terrific series! One of a very few comics I bought during the 90s. Still have them all. Stories were a lot of fun, and Busiek did a fine job of capturing the spirit of the Lee/Ditko era. I would recommend them to anyone. And incidentally, the first "Untold Tales " annual is one of my all time favorite comics EVER.
I'm a bit intrigued by this new Batman movie. I dunno about Patterson; I'm hoping Bruce Wayne isn't some emo punk with a weird hair-cut, reveling in his inner turmoil. Yeesh.
But I find the casting of Penguin and the Riddler promising.
Am I mistaken, or did I see that they made Batman's cowl separate from the rest of the costume? So he could turn his head? That's what it looked like in the previews.
That was always weird in the movies. If Bats wanted to look to the side he had to turn his whole body.
b.t.-
In Miller's The Dark Knight Returns it's hinted a couple of times that the Joker might be supernatural.
Batman describes the final death of the Joker: "Whatever's in him rustles as it leaves."
M.P.
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