Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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If it's true that, as Paul Young once told me, everything must change, there was little evidence of that atop the UK single and album charts of exactly fifty years ago, with ABBA's Waterloo and the Carpenters' The Singles 1969-1973 retaining their respective holds on their respective Number One slots.
Obviously, one is a lover of all things ABBA but other tracks I approved of on that week's UK Hit Parade chart were:
Sugar Baby Love - the Rubettes
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
Everyday - Slade
This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us - Sparks
Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley and his Comets
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Genesis
There's a Ghost in My House - R. Dean Taylor
Emma - Hot Chocolate
I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles
America - David Essex
And, as far as I can remember, he doesn't do much of a job of combating it, as Absorby wins the fight...
...only to lose the battle with gravity when he discovers that trying to hold up a mountain, using the absorbed strength of an unconscious Bruce Banner, is what some might call a, "tactical error."
Lovers of Daredevil will be devastated to discover his strip is once more absent from this comic.
But they'll be delighted to discover it's because he's present in the Fantastic Four's strip!
You guessed it, tiger, it's the one in which, after being nuked by the Frightful Four, the team have lost their super-powers, and Doctor Doom takes advantage of it by seizing control of the Baxter Building.
Fortunately, Daredevil's on hand to assist the heroes in their quest to remove their armour-clad squatter.
Inside, Jim Starlin may have departed the strip but we don't have too much to complain about because Paul Gulacy takes his place, as Shang-Chi finally agrees to assist Sir Denis Nayland Smith in his war against his own father.
That's Shang-Chi's father. Not Sir Denis Nayland Smith's. Waging war on Sir Denis' father would be a total waste of time when there's a Fu Manchu to be stopped.
Elsewhere, the Avengers find themselves up against the Living Laser who you wouldn't have thought would be much of a challenge for them but, no doubt, they'll make a right old Horlicks of trying to thwart him.
But what's this? He's decided the best way to make the Wasp fall in love with him is to kill her boyfriend? That well known way of winning over a woman?
Having said that, didn't Yellowjacket win her over by claiming to have killed her boyfriend?
And it worked for him.
Meanwhile, it's all kicking off and bowing out in Dr Strange's strip when Dormammu and Eternity decide to have a punch-up in what I think may be Steve Ditko's last story on the strip.
Can the universe survive such a clash?
And can the strip survive such a departure?
Can it be? Has the Vulture finally defeated Spider-Man?
Not as far as I can remember but he does flee the scene, leaving Spider-Man to spend some valuable, "Me Time," being unconscious.
Meanwhile, the Melter's still causing trouble at Tony Stark's factory - and it seems our hero's helpless to stop him.
However, the villain hasn't counted on one thing. Iron Man's ability to whip up some armour that's so aluminium that the Melter's gun is incapable of harming it.
And, at last, he finally manages it!
But, now, it looks like he's going to have to rescue Jane Foster who's having all sorts of problems with her flatmate from space.
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42 comments:
I'm now going to listen to all the songs above that I've listed as liking, to see if I do really like them or if my memory is playing tricks on me.
So far, I can report that listening to the Rubettes' Sugar Baby Love, for the first time since 1974, is a life-changing experience.
A number of unconnected comments:
In Livu g Laser's defence, killing the boyfriend did work out for James Bond with that Russian spy played by Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me.
I believe this week's SMCW features the debut of Mary Jane's "ginchy new hairdo". Sometime soon we'll see her walking the streets provocatively dressed. And then there's that sudden gap of about 20 issues before she returns with the old hairdo. As if Stan suddenly cottoned on to Jazzy John suggesting MJ was on the game and quickly shut it down, not bringing her back until everyone had forgotten how things had been moving.
And this week's Spider–Man strip is only the first part of the second of two US comics with the Vulture fight, so he's not defeated until next week. Vulture manages to escape with his dinged power pack but the next we hear of him in the Conway/Andru years, he's in prison so someone must have caught him behind the scenes.
Good to see The Wombles in the charts. A mate at Uni had The Remember You're A Womble album on vinyl and it proved popular. We'd put in requests for Remember You're A Womble at discos and would all be up there throwing shapes. Playing air saxophone along with Madam Cholet. Sometimes the DJ would say he didn't have RYAW but would have played it if he did. That's when one of us would hand him a recording on a cassette and hold him to his word.
I’ve never heard ‘Sugar Baby Love’ before. And now I have.
Seems like Paul Gulacy’s MOKF debut was actually published in the UK AVENGERS mag before we saw it here in the States? Or is this some ‘On Sale Date Vs. Cover Date’ time-warp paradox thingie?
b.t.
Steve, as usual your list omits some total classics such as...
The Cat Crept In - Mud
The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
Jambalaya (On The Bayou) - Carpenters
The Most Beautiful Girl - Charlie Rich
A Walking Miracle - Limmie & The Family Cookin'
You Are Everything - Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye...
...and last but not least Shang-A-Lang - Bay City Rollers, their first Top 10 hit!
We sang shang-a-lang
And we ran with the gang...
I love that Charlie Rich song. Also love the famous YouTube clip of Charlie drunk off his ass at the CMA’s, burning the slip of paper announcing John Denver as the Country Musician Of The Year.
b.t.
Honestly, Steve, no offence intended but sometimes I don't understand you at all - how do you get anywhere with the ladies if you don't kill their boyfriends?
Its the only thing they understand, apart from shopping and going to the hairdressers. Did you learn nothing about women from reading Stan Lee stories as a youngster?
Anyway, thats a terrible Avengers story. And the artwork by Dashing Don Heck doesn't help. At all.
On the plus side though, at least in that Dr Strange story the white haired chick from the Dark Dimension finally gets a name, Clea. You are correct about it being Sturdy Steve's final episode, and he really pulled out all the stops.
b.t., re: MOKF #18. The cover date was June, but the actual on sale one would have been earlier (March 26th according to Mike's World) so in the US you could have read it before the Avengers UK reprint. But British readers buying an import copy - assuming it was distributed here - would have got it a month or so later. Hope that clarifies the situation.
When I read that Shang Chi story, it was the first time I encountered the word 'dacoit'.
-sean
This is still before my jumping on point with comics, however the covers are becoming recognizable either from future jumble sales or possibly young DW had started to notice these wonders in the local newsagent. I recall the Avengers weekly covers rotating between Avengers and MOKF, with the occasional Doctor Strange. However, the past half dozen have been MOKF, with differing quality. Seems harsh. I know Kung Fu was wildly popular at this time but superheroes and martial arts still seem like odd bedfellows. If the timing had worked slightly better we may have seen Planet of the Apes and MOKF under the same banner. Obviously with Dazzler as regular back up.
DW
DM
I missed MJ’s new do, but a quick google suggests it was an odd development. Was that style ever fashionable? Surely the long straight look was bang on the late 60s early 70s, when those stores were created.
DW
The only one of those singles you mentioned that I approve of, Steve, is 'I Can't Stand the Rain' by the brilliant Ann Peebles. I guess the Hot Chocolate record is ok, but otherwise...
Well, given my fairly poor recollection of the others it seemed only fair to listen again before dismissing them as crap. I got as far as the Rubettes - who I only vaguely recalled more from a reference to their flat caps in the Goodies 'Ecky Thump' episode than anything else - and realized 'Sugar Baby Love' was even worse than I thought. Not so much life-changing as soul-destroying.
Over on the albums chart the only record that really appeals to me is 'Phaedra' by German space cadets Tangerine Dream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQ0dd7B_FU
I think it was the first hit lp after 'Tubular Bells' from well known hot air balloonist Sir Richard Branson's (then) new record label Virgin, as he invested the money he made out of Mike Oldfield flooding Britain with far out Euro-prog in the mid-70s. Until he signed the Sex Pistols.
-sean
Sean, I must confess that, relistening to the Ann Peebles track, last night, my first thought was, "It's not as good as Eruption's version of it."
Charlie knows he will toil today listening to some USA pop chart hits from 50 years ago.
THE STREAK is # 1 this week. Haven't heard it since, lol! Did this get airplay in the UK? Seems doubtful.
THE ENTERTAINER was #3. I'm sure both sides of the pond know this given the successful movie. Have to wonder if every kid taking piano lessons in the UK learned it like here, at that time?
The LOCO-MOTION is #4 by GRAND FUNK! Again, very enjoyable tune for April - May along with COME AND GET YOUR LOVE and HOOKED ON A FEELING which are still Top 25. Anyone else ever assume GRAND FUNK was the same as Grand Funk RAILROAD... Like THE WHO and THE GUESS WHO? (When you were a tot, not now!)
Sooooo many super tunes creeping up the US charts 50 years ago. Like RED said a few weeks ago, it is actually sort of surreal!
My surreal fav this week would be "MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS" at #8!
And rounding the corner and catching up is DONT YOU WORRY ABOUT A THING (Charlie always called it CHEVERE) by STEVIE WONDER!
MARY JANE... As far as Sentimental CHARLES is concerned canonical SPIDEY ended with the death of Gwen.
However before that universe-ending event, all of MJ's appearances are legit! Big time!
And she did provide a bit of school-boy fantasy while Gwen was still alive. MJ allowed the mind to wander whereas Gwen-Peter was stuck in the moral morass of his double identity.
Too bad they didn't keep the two dames around. Eventually they would have been matured and could have gone dress shopping, gotten coifs, and eaten bon-bons together while reading Cosmo.
Charlie, that top 40 on Billboard was pure dynamite this (that) week! I fully agree with your selections as fine representatives of the pop magic available then. I would add:
Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, and T.S.O.P. by MFSB - two great , and totally differing, instrumentals. Whatever happened to the days when you could count on a few wordless hits in any given year?
Band on the Run by Wings- excellent song from an excellent album.
For the Love of Money by the Ojays- love that cash register ringing percussion.
Steve- although I've never heard (yet) Ann Peebles, I agree with you on the quality of Eruptions' "I Can't Stand the Rain". Very catchy...
Oh, and to add a bit to the discussion of Mary Jane Watson: anyone else wish we'd gotten to see Steve Ditko's version in entirety? The Sturdy One only showed her a couple times , mostly hidden. Romita's MJ is the gold standard, but it would have been interesting to see what Steve would have done. Maybe there's a clue in his rendition of Gwen...
Charlie, 'The Streak' reached No.1 in the UK so it definitely got airplay!
'The Streak' may have got to #1 but I don't recall it. Mind you, I'd kind of forgotten about the craze for streaking in the 70s too. Even though the first streak at a football game was at Highbury, a fact this feature recently missed an opportunity to mention as it was in March 1974.
http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?p=7050
Steve, I will have to differ with you on the relative merits of Ann Peebles and Eruption.
Going back to your approval list, I realized I did not recall 'America' by David Essex at all, and only had a vague idea of the Cockney Rebel one, so thought I should at least check them too.
They're both disappointingly bland. David Essex in particular usually at least had a some personal charm coming through on his records, but that seems to be missing and 'America' is very by the numbers, as if an AI had been instructed to create 'a David Essex track from 1974'.
Obviously I wasn't about to listen to Genesis willingly.
-sean
This coming Sunday (May 12th) is exactly 100 years since the birth of comedy legend Tony Hancock!
BBC4 is showing four episodes of Hancock's Half Hour including 'The Blood Donor' which I watched on YouTube only a few weeks ago but the famous line "A pint, that's very nearly an armful" was omitted (for copyright reasons apparently) so hopefully it'll be restored in the BBC's broadcast!
I remember a play on Radio 4 in which Tony Hancock looks back on his life as he prepares to commit suicide and I'd hoped the BBC would repeat that play during this weekend but no such luck.
Charlie:
Grand Funk and Grand Funk Railroad were the same band. They were, you might say, the Nickleback of their day. Music critics despised them, no one I knew would admit to liking their records but they sure sold a ton of them. I thought some of their singles were okay, myself.
I heartily endorse the tunes you (and Redartz) mention. The 1974 Top 100 charts continue to be jam-packed with magical music memories.
b.t.
Steve, like Sean I listened to 'America' by David Essex as I'd never heard of it before.
By coincidence only yesterday I was listening to 'Tahiti' which was David Essex's final Top 10 hit I think.
My four favourite David Essex songs in no particular order:
A Winter's Tale
Silver Dream Machine
Oh, What A Circus
Tahiti
Together now in Tahiti
After sailing the stormy sea...
God knows why it even occurred to Jazzy Johnny to give MJ that short curly hair-do. I’ve been trying to think if there was a popular singer or actress who had a similar look, that might have inspired him. Closest match I’ve come up with is Angela Scoular
in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, but that was in 1969 so it doesn’t work.
b.t.
Bt, I've always wondered if Jazzy John's new look for MJ was inspired by Linda Thorson in The Avengers, in the same way Diana Rigg inspired him to redesign the Black Widow?
b.t. - Perhaps Tiffany Case's hairdo ('Diamonds Are Forever') provides the inspiration.
"You just killed James Bond!" (see 2:51 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi9XmlQxbnM
Not a match, but a similarity.
Phillip
Colin, don't know about that David Essex top four (no 'Rock On'...?!?)
I guess 'Oh What a Circus' is ok, as despite being from a Lloyd-Webber musical Essex is quite good at channelling Che Guevara. Hardly surprising really, as they were both Irish migrants.
Even if Essex is also a Hammer, whereas I assume Che was an Arsenal man like Fidel Castro.
-sean
On Sunday afternoon at 3pm on Radio 4 there's an adaptation of 'The Man Who Fell To Earth' based on the original novel apparently. I must admit I didn't know the Bowie film was based on a novel of the same name.
b.t.-
C'mon, dude. You're not comparing Grand Funk Railroad to Nickelback?
Okay, maybe in terms of being criticized, I can see that, but...
The Railroad rocks, man.
They gave America the hard rock sound we needed after Vietnam and Watergate.
M.P.
What are we to make of the Eurovision grand final contestants? Do any of the countries particularly peak your interest? Is Armenia the dark horse of 2024?
M.P. : I’ve never actually heard a Nickleback song, I know them only as a punchline — shorthand for the band everyone supposedly thinks is awful. Grand Funk was pretty much the same back in the day, though I could never quite understand why. Bands like BTO and Foghat were mining a similar musical vein but didn’t receive anywhere near the level of contempt and disdain that Grand Funk inspired. It was weird. And like I said before, I did like some of their singles myself.
b.t.
Anon, I can tell you that the Dutch aren't going to win Eurovision. The excitement has started early this year, as they're out of the final already in a first ever disqualification
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/may/11/netherlands-eurovision-entry-disqualified-from-song-contest
-sean
Joining the BT - MP discussion... Charlie did not know GF / GFR were controversial at all. Indeed, Charlie did not know they were the same band (though Charlie does know the WHO and GUESS WHO are not the same!)
Anyhow, Charlie sees no obvious transition from "We're an American Band" to "Do the Loco-Motion?"
O/wise Charlie is grooving right now to CHICAGO'S OWN WXRT streaming b/c the "saturday morning flashback" is 1981 and the GO GOs are front and center with '"WE'VE GOT THE BEAT!"
Anyone read a good comic book lately??? Old / new??? Anyone...?
Oh Goodee! WXRT FLASHBACK is playing WHO now. ANOTHER TRICKY DAY!
Nice transition from GO GOs to WHO! Back when music was music.
Back when a "Nickelbag" was $5 of weed in a plastic sandwich bag, that could land you in jail, and not a music group!
Charlie, the first time I heard - or rather read - the expression 'dime bag', being aware a dime was 10c my first reaction was wow, drugs are really cheap in the US...
-sean
Charlie, I haven’t read ANY comics, good or bad, in the last week or so. But I have, just a few minutes ago, listened to a Nickleback song. It sounded like ‘Generic 90s Grunge Metal’ to me. It wasn’t horrible but it didn’t make me want to explore any more of their back catalog either.
b.t.
Charlie - I re-read Super Spidey & Cap B # 248, re: a possible future Speak Your Brian topic, a couple of days ago. I've been on a long walk, this pm (a nice sunny day), to exercise more. Hope Chicago's not grey today, offering possibilities. I'm miffed at missing last night's Northern Lights, particularly as I woke up at 3.45am, and could have looked. According to the media, an inferior second chance may happen tonight, but it's hazy cloud now - not clear skies - so I'm not getting my hopes up!
Phillip
Are you not northern enough, Phillip?
-sean
You can never be Northern enough, Sean!
Phillip
Phillip - We are having a beautiful day in Chicagoland. Mid-60s, sunny, breezy. Glad to see someone around here read a comic this past week. Charlie realized he missed FREE COMIC BOOK day and is jealous of REDARTZ.
Speaking of STREAKING, I now recall my friend Quinn streaking through our local McDonalds in Indiana around 1977. He was arrested and lost his full-ride scholarship to Indiana University for baseball. Ouch.
About as dumb as my cousin loosing what surely would have been a scholarship for baseball as well, his senior year of high school. Of all the stupid things, he was caught, literally, "smoking in the boys room."
Cultures are strange. Not that many years later Charlie was in the ENGLISH GARDENS in MUNICH swimming naked in the Isar river in the summer and nobody looked twice. (Well... the water comes from glaciers so it was really really cold.)
That's Germany though, Charlie. The Germans are quite big on going naked.
-sean
I didn't watch Eurovision but the UK came 18th according to Radio 4's midnight news.
They are rather blatant, Sean.
I noticed that about them.
They'll have a porno shop right next to a grocery store.
I saw 'em do it!
M.P.
M.P., if you're staying for a while somewhere with a beach anywhere in southern Europe you are likely to see quite a lot of Germans. In every sense of the expression.
Thats an observation btw, not a complaint. I like Germans.
Colin, I saw a bit of Eurovision last night. "Royaume Unis - nul point!" Well, from the public at least.
Mind you, they gave Israel and Ukraine loads of points, so it may well not have much to do with the song. Maybe the Brits should get into a war before next year's contest, if they want to do better?
-sean
Charlie- I have read a comic this week,one courtesy of Free Comic Book Day: "Jonny Quest" from Dynamite Comics. Apparently a new series they are starting up, this was a preview; it was pretty good and the art was a nice blend of contemporary and retro. I will probably give the series a go. Also, the book included a preview of another upcoming Dynamite series: Space Ghost. Also looked interesting.
There really isn't much from Marvel or DC that currently interests me, so I look at indies, vintage back issues and 'kids' comics (one of the best comics I've read in recent years was "Scooby Doo Team-Up", a lot of fun).
Phillip- I too missed out on the first night of the Aurora, but went out last night for a look. Living near Louisville, there was a twin challenge of light pollution and a southern location. I didn't see anything , but had read recommendations that you can get results using your smartphone camera in Night Mode. I tried that, and did get some images of a pink aurora over our town. Not nearly as striking as some photos I've seen on Facebook, but still kinda cool...
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