Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Have you ever felt an uncontrollable urge to tie a yellow ribbon round an old oak tree?
If so, your name's probably Tony Orlando and, this week, in 1973, you were celebrating because it was the week in which you and your band Dawn hit the UK Number One spot with a song about tree bondage.
Why the ribbon-tying was going on has always been open to debate. Was he a convict returning home from prison? Was he a soldier returning home from conflict? Was he just some bloke who always took a really long time to get home from work, leading to a distinctly sarcastic response from his partner?
Not having listened to the song in decades, I can furnish no answers.
Over on the British album chart, there was no such joy for Tony or for Dawn. On that chart, the top spot was still being held by Led Zeppelin's Houses of The Holy.
Back in the present, a disgraced matador's turned criminal, in order to unleash vengeance upon humanity. Matt Murdock, meanwhile, is still dithering over whether to tell Karen Page that he loves her.
Also in the present, the Fantastic Four continue to confront a Puppet-Master-controlled Sub-Mariner.
But this issue contains an oddity. Not only does it feature the mag's three usual strips, it also contains a fourth.
That fourth is the Lee/Ditko thriller I Used to Be... Human! in which a space pilot's stranded on a planet where the only available food turns the eater into one of the planet's hideous natives.
How will he ever get out of this mess?
If he has any sense, he'll get out of it by leaping onto his Chopper bike and riding off. All children of the 1970s know that ownership of a Chopper bike is the cure for all life's ills.
And guess what? If you can't afford to buy one, it doesn't matter because, thanks to this week's Mighty World of Marvel, you can actually win one!
It's trouble-times-six for Spider-Man, as his deadliest enemies have ganged together to take him on.
And, to assist them, they've abducted Betty Brant and Aunt May to force him to fight them.
Bizarrely, though, May's too dim to realise she's been abducted and is very impressed with the good manners and charm of Dr Octopus.
Speaking of Aunt May, isn't there an issue of Amazing Spider-Man in which it's revealed she's a big fan of Tony Orlando and Dawn?
Elsewhere, Thor's gone in search of his hammer whose disappearance is down to Loki.
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22 comments:
I've seen some of the panels in this week's SMCW with the X–Man robots. Not only have any references to the X–Men been rewritten but someone's been in and changed all the faces on the robots!
And in ASM #160, Mary Jane brings Aunt May a magazine, telling herrsche can read all about Tony Orlando and Dawn. But May,s not impressed and says that she's more interested in Donny & Marie Osmond.
Dangermash, thanks for the MJ/Aunt May/Tony Orlando clarification. I knew there'd been some mention of him somewhere.
I knew reading the post that dangermash would know that, and be in the comments with the details, Steve.
-sean
I admit I had to Google the Dawn reference but I do still have pdfs of ASM 1–500 close to hand so that I could check out exactly what happened in the issue.
I looked up Tony Orlando on the wiki. Apparently he danced to 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon...' with Betty Ford at the '76 Republican convention, which seen as a snub to Nancy Reagan so supposedly helped Ronnie lose the nomination.
And I thought the British had a mad electoral system.
-sean
The Marvel Comics app is closing on June 2nd which is a pity because it was a handy way to see all the latest Marvel comics (it was thanks to the app that I knew Planet Of The Apes had returned to Marvel). Sad news but c'est la vie...
Bye, bye Dominic Raab!
Charlie is inclined to think that the line, “I’m coming home. I’ve done my time “refers to being released from jail. Typically, over here, “doing time” refers to jail time.
On the other hand, yellow ribbons are primarily associated with returning from military duty.
Ohhh what a tangled web Tony O and Dawn wove!
Also, it is hard to believe that 50 years ago in a hotel in Paris, Paul McCartney took his daughter to the room Donny Osmond was staying in (concert in Paris for the Osmonds) and asked for Danny’s autograph.
Paul then asked if Danny and the family would be performing “a lad from Liverpool” which, as we know from Steve does Comics, was burning up the pop charts 50 years ago in the United Kingdom.
Donny Osmond said that he really regretted not asking Paul for his autograph at the same time, L O L, but he was surprised by the whole thing in the first place.
Those are some right proper golden age comic book covers! Love it!
I too always assumed that 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree' was referring to someone coming home after spending time in prison.
Pretty sure that songs about a prisoner as well.
Charlie, hard to believe anyone as famous as Paul McCartney asking for anyone's autograph! Was that song "A lad from Liverpool" a chart hit or was it "Long haired lover from Liverpool." as seemingly, there are songs with both titles.
MCSCOTTY!
Well it was the song Li’l Jimmy Osmond rocked the UK charts with in late 72-73. Paul asked for the autograph of Donny because of his step daughter really liking the Osmonds. And since both families were staying in the same hotel in Paris…
I was just reading a 750 page book on McCartney this past month called McCartney Legacy Volume 1: 1969 - 1973 and this anecdote was in it.
I’m going to assume Paul’s daughter was gaga over Donny’s hits not li’l Jimmy’s since I am from the same era and have no recollection of Jimmy’s hits.
But, Paul being Paul and often a show-tune type of writer probably had a like / interest in Jimmy’s “Liverpool “ hit of that year and asked Donny about it?
Btw… the book is really a deep dive on Beatles breakup and Paul going solo. I never knew he had to litigate against the other 3 to legally dissolve the Beatles.
Charlie had never heard of the Jimmy Osmond classic until recently so we can't blame him for getting the title wrong.
COLIN - You are spot on! Indeed, Charlie was not even sure of the existence of JIMMY OSMOND until SDC elevated him to a topic of conversation a few months ago!
Charlie always had in his mind that Jimmy was a "plot device" to the OSMOND CARTOON 50 years ago, sort of like HERBIE (?) to the FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon decades ago.
Both the JACKSON FIVE and THE OSMONDS had Saturday morning cartoons running in the same forking time slot!
Hmmm... wonder if PAUL MCCARTNEY effort asked for Jack-o's autograph, lol???
Charlie - So, basically, Jimmy was to provide light comic relief, in between the serious business of the Osmonds making music or fighting against evil! Like Twiki, in Buck Rogers; or perhaps R2D2, in Star Wars - & Moe, in the Space Sentinels! Also, I think the record company knew Jimmy appealed to the maternal instincts of housewives, with spending money.
Phillip
UK Gents - Sorry to hear of the passing of Barry Humphries / Dame Edna. One of my funniest memories visiting my brother in London was seeing Dame Edna in 1987!
Charlie, Barry Humphries was Australian - did you think he was British?
Barry Humphries was one of the celebrities I share a birthday with - others include Ed Sheeran, Rory Kinnear, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paris Hilton.
Phil, I don't remember the Space Sentinels or Moe at all, but I do remember 7-Zark-7 in Battle Of The Planets.
Colin - I watched Battle of the Planets, but preferred the Space Sentinels, it being more like Marvel. One episode - the Anubis one, perhaps? - was written by Don Glut, who also wrote Captain America, for Marvel (so, my impression was hardly surprising!) Also, the Space Sentinels had a villain named Morpheus, who combined the powers of all 3 Sentinels. He was the Super Skrull, in all but name! Actually, Morpheus could have been Don Glut's writing (I forget.) As a little kid, I thought superheroes, etc, were very 'grown up', and took them very seriously, but Marc, etc, in Battle in the Planets were drawn with very big eyes - Manga-style - which made them look very young, somehow. To me, Marshall Rogers' eyes are too 'cartoonish', too - sometimes - yet, strangely - Pat Broderick's 'big eyed' characters, particularly in Captain Marvel, don't bother me. All the Space Sentinels stuff about pyramid power & Anubis, tapped into my interest in Marvel's the Sphinx, in Nova! Finally, the Space Sentinels was certainly decades ahead of its time, in terms of diversity!
Phillip
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