SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979) . . .in the Wayback Machine

You could've knocked me over with a feather when I found out about Code Red's blu ray release of SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT. 

Here's a movie I never expected to see an actual legitimate release; up until now all that was available was an atrociously faded and scratched print on youtuber.  And here we have it, not only in a semi-gorgeous uncut print but with a previously-excised entire sequence restored; this is a horror anthology film with several individual stories enclosed with a lengthy wraparound. 

This is no long-lost gem but it's not terrible either - I've seen both descriptions of the film.  It is, in fact, an OK horror anthology that looks pretty good in this print.  It is professionally shot and features sometimes good performances.  And it came out only a year after John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and before FRIDAY THE 13TH and the string of other 80's "cabin in the woods" horror films to follow.  10 college kids (5 couples) head up to a deserted old cabin in the woods that is supposed to be haunted and where an entire family disappeared.  While there, they scare each other by telling "urban legend" scary stories.  An interesting choice is to have the same actors play the characters in the stories they're telling; a device that was present in the original script but I'm sure was also there to save on rustling up a bunch of other actors.  Still, it's the only time I've seen this done and it's a really interesting device. 

The famous "The Hook" urban legend is mentioned but not re-enacted; however others including the dead boyfriend swinging back and forth across the car roof and the fraternity initiates spending a night inside a haunted abandoned hotel are represented.  The actual scary stories, as they play out, may be just a little on the underwhelming side but they are acted and shot professionally.  Oh yeah, and there's even a recognizable actor in it:  William Ragsdale [FRIGHT NIGHT], looking about 16 years old, has a scene as a backwoods gas station attendant!  All in all, the movie holds up a little better than I expected and holds a special little place in my heart.

So let me explain a little about my relationship with SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT.  I had seen this movie before.  A long long time ago in about 1981.  As a kid only a little younger that William Ragsdale in the movie, I was in the initial world-expanding year of cable TV. 

Our family was in the first year of having cable which totally changed my world.  Those of you too young cannot possibly imagine what a huge innovation cable TV (and video tape, of course) had on those of us who grew up without them.  Up until then, we were at the mercy of TV programmers on three network channels and about 3 UHF channels; if they didn't broadcast a movie, it was gone.  And they were NEVER uncut and uncensored.  That's where the pay cable channels like HBO came in.  At this time in 1981, HBO wasn't 24 hour; it only came on the air around 3 in the afternoon until about midnight or so.  I remember turning on HBO and seeing the text scroll on a blue background telling what the 3 or 4 movies would be showing on HBO that day.  Can you believe it?!?!?  

Anyway, it was not HBO I have to thank for showing me SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT; it was PRISM.  Who remembers PRISM???  A sorta lower-rent HBO-like local pay channel which showed movies as well as (if I recall correctly) Philadelphia Phillies and Flyers games.  Well this cable TV thing was new and novel and I pretty much watched anything that was on it over and over.  And PRISM played SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT.  This was before I even had a VCR so I actually put my little Radio Shack tape recorder up to the TV speaker and recorded the cool theme music from the movie's end credits. 

Years later, I came across the tape but had no idea where I got that cool music; I had forgotten the name of this dimly-remembered film.  For decades I was trying to find the name of the film I had seen on PRISM all those years before.  It was probably only in the last ten years or so that I discovered it was SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT . . . but it was unavailable.  Except when I discovered later that atrociously damaged print available on youtubers.  So, while SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT is no long-lost gem of a horror movie -- to me it's a nostalgic little gem which is actually not too bad of a watch.  It's competently made and has a late-70's do-it-yourself charm to it of which I'm rather fond.

AND SO BEGINS THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN

WELCOME, FOOLISH MORTALS . . . TO THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN. 

As I've often said before, Halloween for me is a state of mind and exists 365 days of the year; the actual 31st of October is more like a formality.  But since that day is the nexus around which all our spooky gallivanting will circle, I'd like to start off with a little nostalgia from the misty past of my childhood.  And many of these childhood memories tend to focus around my grandparents' huge old Victorian house in Pennsauken where I would usually stay weekends.  For years, my grandfather would take me to the Pennsauken Mart where there was a store which sold tons of comic books (with the covers torn off) for something like "five for a dime" or some ridiculous price like that.  This is where I first developed an addiction to comic books - specifically DC and Marvel superhero comics.  However, years before this, when I was very small, the first comix I read were things like ARCHIE, MAD HOUSE GLADS, Disney and Looney Tunes funny animal comics, Gold Key/Whitman comics (like my beloved OCCULT FILES OF DR. SPEKTOR) and those Charlton horror comics - many of the titles you will see below in this vintage advert.

Many of these comic books I would get when my grandmother and I would walk all the way down Westfield Avenue to Thor's drugstore.  It was here I also picked up my treasured Black Jack gum and those "You'll Die Laughing" horror trading cards (which I just may be posting some of shortly).  My cousin Loran and I used to joke about the short-lived Charlton comic book HAUNTED LOVE which combined romance comics with the hugely popular gothic horror genre spurred on by the success of the DARK SHADOWS TV show.  Years later, we both obtained copies of HAUNTED LOVE #1 and it was a coup, I can tell you!  There is just something extremely nostalgic which gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling about those old Charlton horror comics (and the Gold Key/Whitman ones too, I might add).  You either know what I'm talking about or you'll NEVER know.  I can't explain it.  You just had to be there.  But, if I can get my meager faculties together, I just might be able to post an entire story from one of those issues - in fact, one of my favourite horror comic stories of all time which appeared in Charlton's GHOSTLY HAUNTS mag.  Stay tuned to this Halloween Countdown for further developments. . .

HOLY SAINTED DEAR AUNT EDNA!!!! As someone who constantly lives in the past (Hiya Cheeks!), I am wont to remember vivid details of everything from the blackberry bushes in my neighbours back yard to Thor's drug store on Westfield Avenue where I bought a "Peanuts" paperback in 1974. So, its quite unusual for me to be taken completely by surprise with some beloved childhood artifact of which I had totally forgotten. But this is what happened today when I happened to stumble across a photo online of something I had and loved as a child but never remembered until now. It is the CASTLE DRACULA FUN HOUSE Colorforms Set which I had for years and somehow completely disappeared on me! I know I never would've given it up so I'm at a loss as to how it's no longer in my possession (and how I'd forgotten it all these years later). As a kid, I always loved Colorforms. If you don't know what they are, you probably need to consult the oracle. But basically they were a boxed collection of stickers made out of plastic (seen here) which you would peel off the black "tray" or "holder" and stick to the special boards included which had appropriate scenery on them (seen here) but they wouldn't stick to anything else. I even remember this aspect -- if you look at the coffin and the door you may notice they are designed to open so you can put a figure inside. Sweet! These were not stickers in the sense that we think of stickers today. Gosh, I don't know how to really explain them so they make any sense if'n you've no idea what Colorforms are. Do they even still make Colorforms??? Ah, you know what? It looks like they STILL MAKE 'EM! Wow, who knew?!?!! But anyway, when I unsuspectingly came across a photo of the front cover of CASTLE DRACULA FUN HOUSE, an intense wave of recognition and nostalgia wholloped into me as the memories came flooding back. A quick search of the oracle didn't being up much concerning this toy but I did manage to find these glorious photos which I shamefacedly admit to having hijacked from a blog called tracystoys.blogspot.com. I hope she will forgive me but these are the only images I can find of this long-lost and now much-lamented missing toy from my past. Go over to Tracy's Toys and read her amusing story of tracking down the colorforms set and her nerve-wracking odyssey trying to bid for each part of the set individually on ebay. Another painful point about my rediscovery is that this set apparently is considered one of the best Colorforms sets ever made and goes for a pretty penny on ebay etc. As Charlie Brown would say: "ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" But at least I can look at these photos and remember when. And what a perfect time for me to rediscover CASTLE DRACULA FUN HOUSE Colorforms then smack dab in the middle of the Halloween Countdown. This kinda thing is what doing this is all about!

WEEKENDS ON WESTFIELD: A WADDLE DOWN MEMORY LANE. As a child, my weekends were usually spent at my grandparents humongous Victorian house on Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken. I really don't know how many storeys to say it was huge. The basement at one time contained a public bar which had been known to serve a well-known gangster or two who crossed the river from Philadelphia in the 1940's; yes, you would recognize their names if you heard them. Even in my youth during the 1970's the bar was still there in the basement. Above was the ground floor (where my grandparents lived) which also featured a huge enclosed front porch. One storey up was another floor which functioned as a separate apartment for my great grandfather (the owner of the house). Then above that was ANOTHER floor reached by a winding stairs quite like the secret staircase found in the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts; this led to a floor where my mother had had her room as a teenager. From the top windows you could see the river and Philadelphia.

My grandparents' house was literally two doors away from the borderline between Pennsauken and Camden; and only several blocks away from the site of Howard Unruh's "murder walk" in the 1940's when he became America's first serial killer to take a gun and start shooting random people. My great aunt and uncle once owned the store beneath Howard Unruh's apartment and allowed him to use a shortcut through their garden gate to reach his abode. When they sold the building, the new owners refused to let Unruh use this shortcut; the new owners were among Unruh's first shooting victims. As a child in the early 70's, Camden had not yet become the worst city in New Jersey. I was still able to walk the several blocks from Pennsauken with my grandmother and frequent an old-fashioned candy store that still existed in Camden; the kind with loose candy weighed and given to you in little white paper bags.

The aforementioned basement/bar of the house was naturally almost entirely below ground; only one small window waaaaaaay at the top of the wall (at ground level outside) let in a little light (and a glimpse of the grass above). It was generally too cold to be down there in winter but in warm weather (and especially in the summer) it was delightfully cool and dark. One of those old-fashioned art deco metal electric fans would rotate to and fro as my grandfather (Buster . . .his nickname) and I watched old horror movies like DRACULA on the black and white television positioned in front of an old green couch. The smoke from his occasional cigar would be scattered by the wind from the rotating fan. In a separate room behind the bar area was a laundry room and behind that was the hot water heater etc. In this narrow space between the wall and the water heater could be found a secret art gallery -- a sort of Lascaux cave from my mother's girlhood and teenage years when she would draw in coloured pencil figures of ladies wearing the 50's fashions of the day.

Some mornings my grandmother and I would walk the long length of Westfield Avenue (many many city blocks) towards the destination of Thor's Drug Store. At Thor's I would find my favourite Black Jack gum, new Justice League of America comic books on the rack, possibly a couple packs of Wacky Packs or You'll Die Laughing bubble gum cards which featured stills from classic B&W monster movies with a silly caption and a joke on the back. Along the way we'd pass the grand old-style movie palace the Walt Whitman Theatre; built by my great grandfather the architect. It was here that I remember The Exorcist was playing first run when it came out in 1973 (I was too young) and here also that I met Moe Howard of the Three Stooges on a theatrical tour he made shortly before his death.

Early afternoons on the weekend would generally involve my grandfather taking me to the holy grail of the Pennsauken Mart. This poor people's paradise was a wonderland to a little kid; sadly it was closed and torn down only a few years ago. In my grandfather's old clunker we parked in the parking lot and entered that long, dark hallway leading to the interior of the mart; passing the tattoo parlour where over a decade later I would sit watching my best friend get a Bat-Signal tattoo! Once inside the mart proper, I would make for the Mecca of the trip: the shop that sold all those comic books with the covers torn off. They would also have tables of paperback books (some with the covers torn off and some not) and, behind the cash register, a few actual comic books WITH covers on 'em and in plastic mylar bags. As far as I can remember, the first actual bagged and boarded comic book back issue I ever bought was right here at the Pennsauken Mart: FANTASTIC FOUR #91 . Among those paperbacks would be many of those Mad Magazine reprints in paperback form as well as The Partridge Family series of mystery thrillers (I kid you not) like TERROR BY NIGHT, THE HAUNTED HALL and MARKED FOR DANGER; all written by the bard of pre-pubescents Vic Crume. I still have 'em! Of course, I would always be thrilled if they had one of those RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT paperback books to snatch up immediately. Oh yeah, and CRACKED MAZAGINE (no, that's NOT a typo) was another favourite; MAD MAGAZINE too! If I was lucky they would also have an issue or two of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND to buy as well as many of those classic Marvel black & white horror comics (magazine size with the covers still on 'em) like VAMPIRE TALES (with my favourite Morbius the Living Vampire), DRACULA LIVES or MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES.

Next to the "comic book" store was a little place that sold Italian water ice, popcorn and funnel cakes. However, we could come back to that later because, after the comix, it was imperative to head about halfway down the mart concourse to the Listening Booth record store where I picked up some records (no cds in those days, sorry know-nothing tots). I would buy both 33 1/3rds and 45's. It was there that I bought such LPs as CHRISTMAS WITH THE CHIPMUNKS, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, BATMAN, 4 MORE ADVENTURES OF BUGS BUNNY, CASPER'S HAUNTED HOUSE TALES and who knows what else. At the same time, I would buy the latest 45's representing the big hits of the day: Ringo Starr's "No No No/Skokiaan", Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way", The Bee Gee's "Jive Talkin'", "The Penalty Box" by Dave Schultz of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team (yes that was a BIG hit song!), Sailcat's "Motorcycle Mama" and many more. I still remember 'em because I've still got those same 45's!

After this, my grandfather would usually stop in the Beef & Ale taproom to get his beer. Yes, he was a drinker. During this time, I would sit next to him at the bar and thumb through my loot: comic books from DC and Marvel as well as my beloved "THE OCCULT FILES OF DR. SPEKTOR", RICHIE RICH & JACKIE JOKERS, MAD HOUSE GLADS, PLOP!, GHOSTLY HAUNTS, and BORIS KARLOFF'S TALES OF MYSTERY. After going up one side of the mart and down the other (possibly grabbing a slice of pizza on the way), it would be time to go back to Westfield Avenue where I would lovingly linger over all my loot! On Sunday, it would also be time to root through the Philadelphia Bulletin for the kid's activity pages and Sunday funnies. That night, after bathtime, the TV would feature MARY TYLER MOORE and THE BOB NEWHART SHOW before it would be time for bed. In summer, I would sleep on the enclosed front porch's pullout bed. All the windows would be up and the screens provided cool breezes and street sounds (sorry again, know-nothing tots, but there wasn't air conditioning either). As I'd flip through an AQUAMAN comic using only the outside street lights for illumination, I would drift off to sleep.

I often find myself back in that house on Westfield Avenue in a dream and, upon awakening, find myself filled with equal parts joy and pain since those days are gone and so is my grandfather and so is that house. Upon the death of my great grandfather, his will stated that the house must be sold and my grandparents moved out into Camelot apartments only a block away from my house in Marlton. That was 1978 and by January 1981 my grandfather was also gone; done in by the booze he consumed his entire adult life. The legend goes that that huge house on Westfield Avenue was split up into separate dwellings and eventually became a house of ill repute. Sometime in the 1990's, it was demolished entirely and now only exists in my dreams. The beautiful Walt Whitman theatre was demolished sometime in the early 1980's and the Pennsauken Mart, as mentioned before, was torn day a couple years ago. If you wait long enough, everything is torn down eventually. But I am so grateful that I can still get to visit that house as it used to be when the simple days of childhood cast that rosy glow over everything and made you believe that they were the good old days even when you were living through them. I can truly say that at that time I was almost always completely happy. That's a valuable thing to carry with you throughout your life.

1974 is calling! I don't know why. Something about the year 1974 lately has been badgering at my brain and I think the only way to exorcize it is to blog it. Maybe that will lay the ghost of 1974 to rest so it will stop popping up in my everyday life time after time after time. In the last week or so, the year 1974 has continually popped up constantly -- so it must be trying to tell me something. Now, 1974 was a good year for me. Being a kid and all. It was coming home from school to watch The Three Stooges and episodes of "The Mothers-In-Law" among many others. This was on the black and white TV I had in my room. You know, the one you had to reach over and turn the dial to change the channel. And what channels there were: 3 main ones (once known as VHF -- they were 3, 6 and 10), 3 local ones (once known as good ole UHF -- they were 17, 29 and 48), two public TV channels (WHYY-12 and NJN 23 the New Jersey Network). That was it, pal. Of course, late at night you MIGHT be able to just tune in an extremely snowy glimpse of a New York channel like Channel 9 or 11. Then there were weekends at my grandparents Westfield Avenue humongo house (5 storeys including the basement which once had been a Speakeasy during Prohibition -- but that's another story).

So what happened in 1974. Besides my being in the third grade, that is. Well, there was that whole Watergate thing. That was fun. The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst and made her help them in a stick-up. There was the energy crisis and the oil embargo. ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo". Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record with # 715. Stephen King published his first novel: "CARRIE". Formal impeachment hearings are opened for President Nixon who later becomes the first president to resign from office. Helmut Schmidt was elected West German chancellor. Valery Giscard d'Estaing is elected French president after the death of Georges Pompidou. The Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup. The first UPC code is scanned in Troy, Ohio in the sale of a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum. Juan Peron died and his wife Eva "Evita" Peron becomes President of Argentina. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed. Harold Wilson wins the second election of the year in the UK. Newly-sworn-in President Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon for any wrongdoing he done did as President. It's what's known as a presidential do-over!

WHO WAS BORN IN 1974???:

• Kate Moss, fashion model
• Christian Bale, actor
• Seth Green, actor
• D'Angelo, singer

• Robbie Williams, singer
• Victoria Beckham, singer
• Penelope Cruz, actress
• Jewel, singer
• Alanis Morissette, singer
• Steve-O, jackass
• Hilary Swank, actress
• Xzibit, rapper
• Jimmy Fallon, comedian
• Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR driver

• Shaggy 2 Dope, rapper
• Joaquin Phoeniz, actor
• Leonardo DiCaprio, actor
• Meg White, drummer
• Duff Goldman, celebrity chef

• Fairuza Balk, actress
• Jerry O'Connell, actor

• Pablo Francisco, comedian

WHO DIED IN 1974???:

• Tex Ritter, singer/actor
• Samuel Goldwyn, movie mogul
• Harry Ruby, songwriter
• Chet Huntley, TV news anchor
• Georges Pompidou, French President
• Bud Abbott, comedian

• Agnes Moorehead, actress
• Duke Ellington, musician
• Darius Milhaud, composer
• Frank Sutton, actor
• Juan Peron, President of Argentina
• Earl Warren, Supreme Court Justice
• Joe Flynn, actor
• Cass Elliot, singer
• Charles Lindbergh, aviator
• Ed Sullivan, TV host
• David Oistrakh, violinist
• Vittorio DeSica, director

• Nick Drake, singer

• Jack Benny, comedian
• Edward Platt, actor
• Donald Crisp, actor
• Ilona Massey, actress
• Olga Baclanova, actress
• Walter Brennan, actor
• Johnny Mack Brown, actor
• Richard Long, actor
• Anatole Litvak, director
• Dorothy Fields, songwriter
• Candy Darling, actor
• Anton Grot, art director
• Clay Shaw, businessman
• Hubbell Robinson, producer
• Ivory Joe Hunter, singer
• Otto Kruger, actor
• Jane Ace, comedian

THE MOVIES OF 1974:

• The Towering Inferno
• Blazing Saddles
• Young Frankenstein
• Earthquake
• The Trial of Billy Jack
• The Godfather Part II
• Airport 1975
• The Longest Yard
• The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
• Murder On the Orient Express
• Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
• The Beast Must Die
• Benji

• Chinatown
• F For Fake
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
• The Great Gatsby
• Herbie Rides Again
• The Man with the Golden Gun
• Son of Dracula
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• That's Entertainment!
• The Three Musketeers
• A Woman Under the Influence
• Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too
• Zardoz
• Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter

• Foxy Brown
• Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
• Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
• Madhouse
• The Missiles of October
• Let Sleeping Corpses Lie aka The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue
• Phantom of the Paradise
• Sugar Hill

THE ALBUMS WE LISTENED TO IN 1974:

• 461 Ocean Boulevard - Eric Clapton

• Apostrophe - Frank Zappa
• Autobahn - Kraftwerk
• Bad Company - Bad Company

• Caribou - Elton John
• Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
• Crime of the Century - Supertramp
• Dark Horse - George Harrison
• Diamond Dogs - David Bowie
• Eldorado - Electric Light Orchestra
• Fine and Mellow - Ella Fitzgerald
• Fulfillingness' First Finale - Stevie Wonder
• Good Old Boys - Randy Newman
• Greatest Hits - Alice Cooper
• Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons
• The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits
• Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno
• Hergest Ridge - Mike Oldfield
• It's Only Rock 'n' Roll - The Rolling Stones
• Jolene - Dolly Parton
• Kansas - Kansas
• Late For the Sky - Jackson Browne
• The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis
• Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell
• Natty Dread - Bob Marley
• Nightlife - Thin Lizzy
• #1 Record - Big Star
• On the Border - The Eagles
• Past, Present and Future - Al Stewart
• Perfect Angel - Minnie Riperton
• Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan
• Queen II - Queen
• Rush - Rush
• Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Sheer Heart Attack - Queen
• The Singles: 1969-1973 - The Carpenters
• Standing on the Verge of Getting It On - Funkadelic
• Streetlife Serenade - Billy Joel
• Up For the Down Stroke - Parliament
• War Child - Jethro Tull
• Waterloo - ABBA
• What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits - The Doobie Brothers

THE SONGS OF 1974:

• The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies
• Already Gone - The Eagles
• American Tune - Paul Simon
• Another Saturday Night - Cat Stevens
• At My Window - Townes Van Zandt
• Aubrey - Bread
• Back of a Car - Big Star
• Bad Company - Bad Company
• Band On the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Beach Baby - First Class
• Best of My Love - The Eagles
• Billy, Don't Be A Hero - Paper Lace
• The Bitch Is Back - Elton John
• Black Eyed Dog - Nick Drake
• Black Water - The Doobie Brothers
• Boogie On, Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
• The Bottle - Gil Scott-Heron
• Bungle in the Jungle - Jethro Tull
• The Candy Man - Sammy Davis Jr.
• Can't Get Enough - Bad Company
• Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe - Barry White
• Can't Get It Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra
• Captain Jack - Billy Joel
• Cats in the Cradle - Harry Chapin
• The Cockroach that Ate Cincinatti - Rose & the Arrangement
• Dancing Machine - The Jackson 5
• Dark Lady - Cher
• Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro
• Doctor's Orders - Carol Douglas
• Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John
• Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Stevie Wonder
• A Dream Goes On Forever - Todd Rundgren
• Earache My Eye - Cheech & Chong
• Fire - Ohio Players
• Free Man in Paris - Joni Mitchell
• Haven't Got Time for the Pain - Carly Simon
• Heartless - Heart
• Help Me - Joni Mitchell
• Hollywood Swinging - Kool & the Gang
• Honey, Honey - ABBA
• How Long - Ace
• I Feel Love - Charlie Rich
• I Honestly Love You - Olivia Newton-John
• I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton
• It Ain't No Use - Stevie Wonder
• It's Only Rock 'n' Roll - The Rolling Stones
• Jet - Paul McCartney & Wings
• Jungle Boogie - Kool & the Gang
• Killer Queen - Queen
• Kinsiona - Franco & OK Jazz
• Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
• Let It Ride - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) - Reunion
• Lively Up Yourself - Bob Marley
• The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk Railroad
• Long Tall Glasses - Leo Sayer
• Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman
• The Love I Lost - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
• Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra
• Machine Gun - The Commodores
• Magic - Pilot
• Midnight at the Oasis - Maria Muldaur
• The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
• No No Song/Skokiaan - Ringo Starr
• Nothing From Nothing - Billy Preston
• Oh Very Young - Cat Stevens
• The Payback - James Brown
• Pieces of a Man - Gil Scott-Heron
• Ragged Old Flag - Johnny Cash
• Ready For Love - Bad Company
• Rebel Rebel - David Bowie
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scot-Heron
• Rikki Don't Lose That Number - Steely Dan
• Roads To Moscow - Al Stewart
• Rock On - David Essex
• Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
• September Gurls - Big Star
• The Show Must Go On - Three Dog Night
• Smokin' in the Boys Room - Brownsville Station
• Some Kind of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
• Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon
• The Streak - Ray Stevens
• Summer Madness - Kool & the Gang
• Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
• Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Takin' Care of Business - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• Tell Me Something Good - Rufus & Chaka Khan
• Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) - Bob Marley
• Tin Man - America
• Waterloo - ABBA
• Whatever Gets You Through the Night - John Lennon featuring Elton John
• Who Do You Think You Are? - Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods
• Will It Go Round in Circles - Billy Preston
• Wishing You Were Here - Chicago
• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder
• You're the First, the Last, My Everything - Barry White

WHAT WAS ON TV IN 1974:

• Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Tattletales
• Doctor Who
• The Match Game
• Good Times
• Happy Days
• All in the Family
• Land of the Lost
• Rhoda
• Chico and the Man
• The Rockford Files
• The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
• The Carol Burnett Show
• Mary Tyler Moore
• Hee Haw
• Sesame Street
• The Benny Hill Show
• The Odd Couple
• The Electric Company
• Columbo
• Old Grey Whistle Test
• Soul Train
• Are You Being Served?
• Emergency
• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
• Kung Fu
• Maude
• M*A*S*H*
• Sanford and Son
• The Bob Newhart Show
• Kojak
• Last of the Summer Wine
• Schoolhouse Rock
• The Six Million Dollar Man
• Love American Style
• The Brady Bunch
• Here's Lucy
• The Partridge Family
• The Dean Martin Show
• The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
• The Flip Wilson Show
• Star Trek: The Animated Series
• The Newlywed Game

Well, I certainly hope this careening down memory lane was a nostalgic blast for you (even if you weren't around the first time). And here's hoping the year of 1974 will now stop tormenting me and leave me alone -- perhaps giving 1985 a chance. Now, if only I could find my Pet Rock and my Invisible Dog on a Leash...

MYTHICAL KINGS & IGUANAS. Here's a 1971 album I somehow got a-hold of as a kid. Probably out of my parents' record collection. It's by Dory Previn (who's got one hell of a biography, let me tell you. . .but we'll get to that a little later). This album was extremely odd and darkly fascinating to my young teenage brain. I literally haven't heard these songs for at least 15 years; mainly because it's been buried in my seldom-listened-to-anymore LPs and hadn't been released on cd. At least that's what I thought. Somehow, apropos of nothing, I searched for it and found out that it WAS available on cd. So I ordered it. And it came today. I've been listening to it on my computer at work. Now for those of you who don't know, I'm the guy who comes in later and stays after everyone else has pretty much gone home. So I've been listening to this album uninterrupted and it's been giving me this really strange, indescribable feeling. I hadn't heard the album for so long that I couldn't have sung them to you if I tried. But as each song on the cd played, I immediately recalled the melody and the words. I also realized that the record must've had quite a pronounced influence on my impressionable ears because it probably was critical in developing my later take on depression. Listening now, I can really relate to Dory Previn's attitude.

Dory Previn, as I said, had a REALLY interesting life. Her father fought in the trenches during World War I and was apparently gassed. His behaviour towards his daughter was, shall we say, erratic. He first rejected her but then changed his mind when her singing and dancing talents emerged. However, when Dory's sister was born the father's paranoia caused him to doubt she was his. One day in their New Jersey home, the father held the entire family at gunpoint and then literally boarded them up inside the living room for several months. It's not clear exactly how they eventually gained their release but Dory ran away from home at age 16. Who can blame her!?! Dory eventually became a staff lyric writer at MGM where she met and married famed film composer Andre Previn. Dory's lyric-writing would eventually earn her Academy Award nominations (including the soundtrack for VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) and an Emmy award. Sadly, Andre Previn would leave Dory and the marriage for Mia Farrow. Dory Previn retreated from life for a while and only held onto her sanity through "the cathartic process of songwriting, unburdening fears and anxieties in words and melody". She was institutionalized for a while and subjected to electro-shock therapy. She eventually emerged and United Artists signed Dory in 1970 and she produced several "singer-songwriter" albums. One of which was 1971's "MYTHICAL KINGS & IGUANAS" which made some impression on me when I heard it much later in the early 80's.

Dory Previn is both Irish and Roman Catholic which provides the one-two punch characteristics of morbid depression and misplaced guilt. No wonder I found her songs oddly fascinating. The rather nice cd liner notes by Paul Pelletier (which I quoted earlier) succinctly sum up the experience of listening to Dory Previn's songs and, for that reason, I'd like to quote him here:

• "Appreciating Dory Previn songs proved a dilemma, a conflict of simple enjoyment versus the deeper awareness of something often disturbing, striking an uncomfortable chord within of recognition. From song to song, wants and needs rawly declared, love and relationships ruthlessly exposed, cynicism poetically expressed, the scaring of devotion by experience. Unfolding on vinyl was the trauma of an articulate woman voicing an emotional biography which could be shared by others, not just from a female perspective but experiences common to all. From an afflicted childhood to the despair of a love ripped asunder, Miss Previn was forging a path to stability by an outpouring of song crafted with the perfection of a master."

Wow, I think he nailed it. Dory Previn's songs are oddly powerful without being strident or whiney. There is also QUITE a fixation with suicide which, owing to the fact that Dory Previn is still with us, she exorcized in her lyrics and not in real life.

Dory Previn, in fact, actually has a myspace page and her influences are listed as: "Rudolph Valentino, God, pink turkey, Daddy, Shirley Temple doll, Ally (sic) McGraw, Peg Entwhistle..." This also sounds pretty spot on -- the Peg Entwhistle thing especially. You may recall a few months ago I mentioned it was Peg Entwhistle's birthday: the failed starlet who leapt to her death off the Hollywood sign. Before I had ever heard of Ms. Entwhistle, I had listened to Dory Previn's song "Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign" which deals with the same subject and in which Previn sings: "Sometimes I have this dream/When the time comes for me to go/I will climb that hill/And I'll hang myself/From the second or third letter "o"." Probably the thing that this album influenced the most in my is my morbid sense of humour; because while Previn sings about things like suicide, loneliness and cruelty she sings it all very softly and calmly with quite a sense of humour. Sure, life sucks but at least it provides ironic poetry. In the song "Her Mother's Daughter" Dory sings of a girl whose father dies and whose mother insists that she never leave her alone; consequently she is never allowed to marry as she "listens in on other people's joys and looks longingly at all the passing boys". At least the girl gets to have some fun imagining how she will murder her mother. But of course, she never actually does. And in the song "Angels and Devils The Following Day" she tells us how she loved two men equally -- one a sensitive artist and one a coarse truck driver who bruised her. She then warns us not to judge too quickly since it was the sensitive artist who suffered from guilt the morning after while the cursing truck driver would wake up with a smile. "The blow to my soul/by fear and taboos/cut deeper far than a bodily bruise/and the one who was gentle/hurt me much more/than the one who was rough/and made love on the floor". Previn's lyrics never quite pan out the way you expect them.

"MYTHICAL KINGS & IGUANAS" is a fascinating listen; fascinating enough for me to remember it all these years later and finally seek out the cd reissue (which also includes Dory Previn's next album "Reflections In A Mud Puddle" on the same cd -- which features the remarkably creepy song "DOPPLEGANGER"). And I think the album had more of an impact on my skewed world view than I'd realized. Sadly, in recent years she has suffered from a series of strokes which had affected her eyesight. I naturally wish her all the best. But neither I nor Dory Previn really put much stock in happy endings. And that's just one more reason her songs have a particular resonance for me.

• "Whatever you give me
• I'll take as it comes
• Discarding self-pity
• I'll manage with crumbs
• I'll settle for moments
• I won't ask for life"

NO ONE COULD REALLY CALL ME A STEPHEN KING FAN. I've read a grand total of 4 books by the man: two short story collections ("Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew"), one non-fiction work ("Dance Macabre") and one horror novel. More on that in a minute. I didn't really like one short story collection (Night Shift) but I liked the other (the novella "The Mist" and "Survivor Type" favourites). "Dance Macabre" was an extremely interesting and entertaining book musing on the horror genre and I'd highly recommend it to anybody. The one, sole horror novel I've read by the man is "Salem's Lot". I am of the unshakeable opinion that horror works best in the short story format and cannot usually be sustained at novel length. But "Salem's Lot", in my humble, is one of the best horror novels I've ever read. Now, I was lucky enough to read the book in freshman year for my English book report. Yeah, I know. You don't USUALLY get that lucky. But I did. One small anecdote here: I was reading "Salem's Lot" in my living room on a windy September night. At the time we had pretty high bushes in front of the living room windows. Well, naturally I was reading the part where the little vampire boy is scratching his fingernails Danny Glick's window when OF COURSE the wind outside my house decided to cause the branches of the bushes to scrape against my living room windows! Talk about a major chill up and down my spine. I'll never forget it. But that's the book and I'm not here to talk about that. It's the made-for-TV mini-series I'm here about.

Luckily for me, right after I had finished reading the book, the 1979 Tobe Hooper mini-series of "Salem's Lot" was broadcast for the first time. I couldn't wait. Now, in the years since it has been pretty much an iron-clad certainty that every movie made from Stephen King's horror novels isn't very good. And the only ones that were ANY good at all came early: Brian DePalma's pretty good "Carrie" or Stanley Kubrick's reworking of "The Shining". Everything else. . .well, let's just say I'm not much of a fan of "Christine", OK? Now, this doesn't go for the non-horror films such as "Stand By Me", "The Green Mile", "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Misery" (yes, I consider that a thriller/satire and not a horror film); these are usually pretty good. I'm talking about the likes of "Maximum Overdrive", "The Lawnmower Man" and "Sleepwalkers" for cripes sake. Not exactly a successful track record. But I would say the hands down BEST filmic adaptation of Stephen King's horror stuff would have to be this "Salem's Lot" mini-series (and not the execrable new Salem's Lot mini-series of a couple years ago, naturally). There's really nothing else that can touch it ("Stephen King's It" was good but fell apart at the end). And keep in mind I'm NOT talking about the butchered cut-down theatrical version but the full length 3 hour + mini-series! The "cut" version shouldn't happen to a dog. Not even Faithful.

Does anybody really need to hear the plot for this??? The quiet little Maine town of Salem's Lot is home to the spooky/probably haunted Marsden House. Writer Ben Mears returns after his wife dies and soon discovers a master vampire has taken up residence and begins vampirizing the whole town. It's the way Stephen King deftly handles this basic plot that makes the book so good. And all that is translated quite faithfully to this flick.

Say what you want about "Poltergeist" but with "Salem's Lot" Tobe Hooper proved something, I think. And talk about a dream cast: David Soul as Ben Mears. David Soul, fer cripes sake!!! Who'da thunk it?!?! But he's absolutely perfect. The same can almost be said for Lance Kerwin as Mark Petrie; the only thing HE was known for before this was that silly TV show James at 15. . .and 16. . .and. . .! Then there's Bonnie Bedelia -- not exactly your top film star but memorable in the well-received "Heart Like a Wheel" or even as Bruce Willis' missus in the Die Hard movies. I mean, these three you'd NEVER think of using to head up your cast for a Stephen King TV mini-series but here they are. And I like 'em in this. Then, of course, there's the rest of the wonderful cast beginning with venerable James Mason who is perfection as the evil Renfield-like henchman Straker. Alternately evil and humourous (and usually both), Mason's line deliveries are choice. Particularly when he is informed that the town sheriff is ALWAYS on duty, Mason snidely remarks that that fact makes him feel all "safe and snug". The big boss vampire Mr. Barlow is an updated version of Max Shreck's Nosferatu and I think the make up works extremely well; truly terrifying. Barlow is played (also perfectly) by veteran spooky character actor Reggie Nalder (who appeared in 2 very good episodes of Boris Karloff's Thriller as well as an episode of Star Trek).

Then there's the rest of the ensemble -- PACKED with great people. Old Hollywood is represented by such former stars as Lew Ayres (I'll always remember him as Katharine Hepburn's brother in "Holiday"), film noir siren Marie Windsor (Cat Women of the Moon, The Killing, Force of Evil), and squirrely character actor Elisha Cook Jr. (in everything from "The Maltese Falcon" to "Blacula"). Add to these more contemporary character actors like tragic Ed Flanders (best known for St. Elsewhere but also "The Legend of Lizzie Borden", "The Exorcist III", "Bye Bye Love" and. . .yes. . ."The Ninth Configuration"), George Dzundza (who is pretty amazing here as the cuckolded husband Cully holding a shotgun on Fred Willard (who started out as Martin Mull's sidekick and went on to more movies and TV than I can name), twitchy character actor Geoffrey Lewis who is also superb here as Mike Ryerson ("LOOK at me, teachaaaaaahhhhhh!"), Kenneth McMillan ("Chilly Scenes of Winter") as cowardly Constable Parkins Gillespie, TV veteran Barbara Babcock as Lance Kerwin's mom, young Brad Savage (all over Disney movies like "Return From Witch Mountain", "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and "No Deposit No Return" for a few years) as doomed Danny Glick. I won't try your patience with any more cast members but they are all uniformly excellent.

Favourite scenes? The whole film is pretty much one favourite scene after another. The pre-credit sequence in Guatemala with David Soul, Lance Kerwin and the glowing holy water ("Another one has found us!" "We have to go further."). David Soul's well-modulated recollection of his scary experience in the Marsden House to Lew Ayres. Danny Glick's vampiric younger brother scratching at the window. Mrs. Glick awakening as a vampire ("Where are you, Danny darling?") and David Soul's cross made from tongue depressors. Crockett and Boom Boom Bonnie getting caught by Cully. Ned and Mike transporting the "crate" to the Marsden House. James Mason carrying the plastic-wrapped bundle into the basement and unwrapping it to find Ralphie Glick inside. Geoffrey Lewis (with his glowing eyes) in the rocking chair taunting Lew Ayres into a heart attack. The confrontation in the kitchen between Barlow and the priest. The vampires crawling up behind an unsuspecting Lance Kerwin in the root cellar. Oh come on, I can't list them all. You've seen the movie. Or have you? You really should you know. I know you'll enjoy Mr. Barlow. And he'll enjoy you!