TRICK OR TREAT WITH JEAN SHEPHERD

 WE ALL KNOW JEAN SHEPHERD FROM THE MOVIE "A CHRISTMAS STORY", OF COURSE, BUT DO WE KNOW FOR DECADES HE HOSTED A TALK RADIO SHOW ON WOR IN NEW YORK CITY? 

I was just listening to one of those shows from October 31st, 1972 entitled "TRICK OR TREAT" and, around the half hour mark, he reads a few Halloween poems.  Jean's engineer has a spooky, windy sound effect going in the background as he launches into his poems and they're really great.  I wasn't previously familiar with either one of them before I just listened to this recording of Jean Shepherd's 1972 Halloween show.  You can give it a listen on youtuberz right here and the poems start around the 28 minute mark.  This first one is a poem called "HALLOWEEN" by Marnie Pomeroy:

Who raps at my window?
Who in a white sheet
Runs across the midnight lawn
Without the sound of feet?

What moon grows in the East
So huge and dusky red?
Who howls from the chill within the hill
Where the farmer's hound lies dead?

The dry leaves twist and rattle
Alive in an evil spell.
Down by the pond the man who drowned
Tolls a wavering bell.

The wind has hardly wakened,
Yet flapping through the air
Fly shapes with wings and bony things
And forms with jagged hair.

Who blows at my candle?
Whose fiery grin and eyes
Behind me pass in the looking glass
And make my gooseflesh rise?

Who moved in that shadow?
Who rustles unseen?
With the dark so deep I dare not sleep
All night on Halloween.

And the next poem was "HALLOWE'EN INDIGNATION MEETING" by Margaret Fishback:

A sulky witch and a surly cat
And a scowly owl and a skeleton sat
With a grouchy ghost and a waspish bat,
And angrily snarled and chewed the fat.

It seems they were all upset and riled
That they couldn't frighten the Modern Child,
Who was much too knowing and much too wild
And considered Hallowe'en spooks too mild.

Said the witch, "They call this the human race,
Yet the kiddies inhabit Outer Space;
They bob for comets, and eat ice cream
From flying saucers, to get up steam!"

"I'm a shade of my former self," said the skeleton.
"I shiver and shake like so much gelatine,
Indeed I'm a pitiful sight to see--
I'm scareder of kids than they are of me!"

HARDCORE HISTORY

ALWAYS A DAY LATE & A DOLLAR SHORT, I THOUGHT I'D LISTEN TO A MASSIVE PODCAST ON THE FIRST WORLD WAR A YEAR AFTER IT'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY.  So I'm not a follower!  Whatevs!  

Anyway, as I sit here suffering through a terrible cold during a particularly trying time in my personal life as well as an extremely difficult time at work (resulting in my being the only person now working on 3rd shift), I have found myself totally engrossed in this thing called DAN CARLIN'S HARDCORE HISTORY.  I'm sure many of you already know about this history podcast but, as I say, I'm not first out of the gate here.  Dan Carlin, former radio host, son of Academy Award-nominated actress Lynn Carlin and unabashed history nut, has been doing a history podcast for about a decade now called HARDCORE HISTORY which I must say makes for absorbing listening.  Carlin, not an official historian himself, is more of a storyteller and that's what makes his history podcast refreshing, interesting and entertaining.  He takes a particular topic of historical interest and speaks about it as if he's telling a story around a campfire; and that's exactly what hiSTORY is supposed to be.  Carlin has a B.A. in history as do I and I think we both became fascinated in history early on for the exact same reason:  it's full of incredible interesting stories!

Now, when he started HARDCORE HISTORY, Carlin's podcast would last about a half hour but nowadays he frequently takes a topic and spends 3-4 hours talking about it.  And that's not including his series in which he takes a particular subject and does a multi-part podcast on it with each part a few hours long.  Now, you'd think that would be an enormous trudge but instead listening seems to fly by.  This is because at no time does this sound like a "history lecture"; instead, Carlin sounds as if he's speaking to you one on one and not as if he's standing at a lectern at the front of a classroom.  For example, the First World War series Carlin has just finished last month is called BLUEPRINT FOR ARMAGEDDON; it's in six parts (each part about 4 hours long) and it's immensely compelling to hear.  Carlin does an enormous amount of research to prepare for these podcasts (which he releases about once every three months) and this current series on the First World War he began at the end of 2013.  I don't really know if he writes out a full script ahead of time but it sure doesn't sound like it; it sounds like he's speaking off the top of his head and the podcast is conversational and, as I said before, in the best tradition of the storyteller who can grab the listener's interest and never let go.  The First World War is certainly not unexplored territory for me but BLUEPRINT FOR ARMAGEDDON brings it to life more completely than any book or movie I've previously encountered. 

And for such a complicated and intertwined narrative, Carlin makes it all incredibly understandable as well.  I'm told he does a "current events" podcast called COMMON SENSE as well but I haven't heard that.  I have, though, heard quite a few HARDCORE HISTORY episodes and I've found them all just as absorbing.  On Dan Carlin's website, you can listen to the last year or so's episodes FOR FREE and get the older ones for a small price; the older episodes are available on iTunes for a slightly more expensive price tag.  I can particularly recommend the episodes STEPPE STORIES (about the nomadic warriors of the Steppes), JUDGMENT AT NINEVEH (about the downfall of the brutal Assyrian Empire) and THE AMERICAN PERIL (about the Spanish-American War) and PROPHETS OF DOOM (about the bizarre and freaky 16th century Anabaptist takeover of the town of Munster) which you can still listen to for free!  And after BLUEPRINT FOR ARMAGEDDON, I plan on listening to Carlin's previous multi-part epic tale of THE WRATH OF THE KHANS (also available for free).  If you're the slightest bit interested in history, you owe it to yourselt to give DAN CARLIN'S HARDCORE HISTORY a listen. 

VINCENT PRICE ON A DESERT ISLAND

ON MONDAY, THE 14TH OF JULY 1969, VINCENT PRICE WAS THE GUEST ON THE VENERABLE BBC RADIO PROGRAMME "DESERT ISLAND DISCS". 

Sadly . . . criminally . . . the episode no longer exists other than a four-and-a-half minute clip.  As part of our ongoing Countdown to Halloween (and because Vinnie has been absent for most of it), I thought I'd let you know what records Vinnie would take with him when the BBC marooned him on a desert island.  If you're not familiar with the 70+ year old BBC Radio programme, DESERT ISLAND DISCS is an institution which invites a guest on the show to talk about their life as well as to choose 8 discs which they would choose to have with them if they were marooned on a desert island with a hand-cranked record player.  In 1969, Vincent Price chose the following 8 discs:

1. Claude Debussy:  L'isle Joyeuse.  Soloist:  Walter Gieseking
2. Robert Schumann:  Frauenliebe und -Leben.  Soloists:  Kathleen Ferrier, John Newmark
3. Ludwig van Beethoven:  Zärtliche Liebe (Tender Love) (Ich liebe dich).  Soloists: Kirsten Flagstad, Edwin Macarthur
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt:  Human Rights (Speech)
5. William Shakespeare:  Fear No More the Heat O' the Sun (from Cymbeline).  Artist:  Sir John Gielgud
6. America the Beautiful.  Artist:  Vincent Price.
7. Nature Boy.  Artist:  Nat King Cole.
8. T.S. Eliot:  The Cocktail Party.  Artist:  Sir Alec Guinness
    

SUNDAY MORNING HALLOWEEN HANGOVER

LAST MONTH A TERRIFIC RADIO SHOW CALLED "SUNDAY MORNING HANGOVER" WENT OFF THE AIR AFTER OVER A DECADE. 

The host, Rev. Marc Time, sited personal and financial reasons why he could no longer continue the award-winning radio programme.  The good reverend put on a highly entertaining show of music old and new which many would label "eclectic"; i.e. following a Flaming Lips song with Rosemary Clooney.  However, that's kinda what I do so I was definitely in sync with his radio show and it will be sorely missed.  Hopefully one day Rev. Marc Time will return to the airwaves.  However, luckily there are quite a few episodes available for a free listen over at archive.org.  And since it's the Halloween Countdown, I thought I'd pay tribute to the late, lamented "SUNDAY MORNING HANGOVER" show by posting a link to one of the Halloween shows.  Just click this link and it'll take you over to the Internet Archive for two hours of Halloween listening fun!  FYI here is a playlist:

10:00AM Roxy Music "The Bogus Man" from For Your Pleasure (CD, Album, 2000) on Virgin, UK)

10:03AM Korla Pandit "Kartikeya" from Plays Music of the Exotic East (Vinyl, Album, World) on Fantasy Red Vinyl

10:06AM The Shaggs "It's Halloween" from Halloween Classics: The Evil, The Demented, and The Just Plain Weird (2007) on Legacy Recordings

10:09AM Pressman "Witch Doctor Head Shrinker's Kit" from Marc Time Library

10:12AM The Who "Boris The Spider" from The Who: Thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Box Set) (1994) on Polydor

10:15AM A.I.P "Werewolves On Wheels Trailer" from Marc Time Library

10:18AM The Cramps "Human Fly" from ...Off the Bone (1979) on IRS CATALOG

10:21AM TV Themes "The Addams Family" from 100 Greatest TV Themes (Re-Recorded Versions)

10:24AM The Damned "Curtain Call" from The Black Album (CD)

10:27AM Korla Pandit "Speak To Me Of Love" from Speak to Me of Love (Vinyl) on Fantasy Blue Vinyl

10:30AM The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown "Fire" from The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

10:33AM Screaming Jay Hawkins "Constipation Blues" from Halloween Presents a Frightful Party (2009) on Horizons & Resolutions

10:36AM KidzTown "Dr. Who (Theme)" from Favorite TV Themes (2009) on Ba-Ba Music

10:39AM Angelo Badalamenti "Fats Revisited" from Lost Highway (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (1997) on Interscope (US)

10:42AM Amazing Criswell "Someone Walked Over My Grave" from Marc Time Library

11:00AM Kevin Ayers "Song from the Bottom of a Well" from Whatevershebringswesing (CD, Album, Acoustic/Folk, 2003) on Harvest (UK)

11:03AM Warner Bros Cartoon "# 1 Dog" from Marc Time Library

11:06AM Frankie Stein and His Ghouls "Frog Frug" from Ghoul Music / Shock Terror Fear (2005) on Groovy Grinds

11:09AM British Movie "Devil Girl From Mars Trailer" from Marc Time Library

11:12AM Original Soundtrack "In Heaven (Everything is Fine)" from Eraserhead (CD) — written by Peter Ivers

11:15AM Frankie Stein and His Ghouls "A TASTE of POISON (Surf)" from Ghoul Music / Shock Terror Fear (2005) on Groovy Grinds

11:18AM Bernard Hermann "Psycho Shower Scene" from I Solisti Italiani On Cinema (1996) on Denon Request

11:21AM Julee Cruise "The World Spins" from Floating Into the Night (CD, Album, Private, 1989) on Warner Catalog and O/H

11:24AM Frankie Stein and His Ghouls "WHO'S AFRAID of WEERDO WOLF (Watusi)" from Ghoul Music / Shock Terror Fear (2005) on Groovy Grinds

11:27AM Schwump "Aphids in the Hall" from 45 on Schwump — with the Residents

11:30AM Fred Schneider "Monster (Album Version)" from Fred Schneider & the Shake Society (2005) on Rhino/Warner Bros., USA)

11:33AM OST "Yellow Alert" from The Prisoner TV Show

11:36AM OST "Overture and Theme to" from Ed Wood

11:39AM Betty Boop(Mae Questal) "Helle's Belle's" from Marc Times Cartoon Archives

11:42AM Tortura "Spanking on the Keys" from Marc Time Erotic Archives

11:45AM Roky Erickson and The Aliens "Don't Shake Me Lucifer" from 45 (CD, Comp, 1998) on Rhino (USA)

11:48AM Herman Munster "Herman Speaks" from The Munsters

11:51AM Frankie Stein and His Ghouls "ANKLE TWIST (Twist)" from Ghoul Music / Shock Terror Fear (2005) on Groovy Grinds

11:52AM The Electric Prunes "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" from I Had Too Much to Dream (2005) on Rhino/Warner Bros, USA)

11:55AM Lon Cheney Jr "Spider Baby" from Scary as Hell

11:56AM Roxy Music "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" from For Your Pleasure (Remastered) (2003) on Virgin, UK)

11:57AM Dracula "I Want to Bite Your Hand" from I Want to Bite Your Hand (Single)

11:58AM Rebekah Del Rio "llorando (crying)" from Mulholland Drive: Original Motion Picture Score (CD, Album, 2001) on Milan Records

COLLIER AT LARGE

I was saddened to belatedly hear of the death of radio interviewer Ralph Collier who died January 31st of this year at the age of 91. 

During my college years, I loved listening to the local classical music station WFLN-FM (now long defunct leaving our radio market without a single classical music radio station ever since) and one of my favourite shows was Ralph Collier's noon-time interview show.  For two decades until 1988, Collier hosted the half hour-long interview programme "Collier At Large" which he often broadcast from the Campbell Soup Tureen Museum (of which he was President from 1975 to 1990).  While he did interview celebrities from Fred Astaire to Charlton Heston, my favourite shows were the ones where he interviewed authors who were a lot lesser known but often much more interesting. On one of my favourite episodes, Collier took a mobile microphone and went on a walking tour of Old City Philadelphia (and I'm lucky enough to have recorded the show and I still have it) during which historic architecture was pointed out and discussed. Sadly, I've only got a handful of shows recorded and I don't know of any other place which has them preserved.  As an example of the ecclectic subject matter Collier At Large routinely provided, I can list the shows I've luckily managed to record and hang onto all these years.  The shows I taped range approximately from the years 1983-1985 and included (besides the Philadelphia Walking Tour show previously mentioned) an interview of Robert J. Serling (Rod Serling's brother) on his book "HOWARD HUGHES' AIRLINE" discussing the magnate and his ties to aviation and TWA, Mary Previte (who as a child was held in a Japanese concentration camp for three years during World War II), Michael Thomas (author of a financial thriller called "HARD MONEY"), crime historian Dr. Mark Haller on bootlegging in Philadelphia and Dr. J.J. Wilhelm on the traitorous poet Ezra Pound.  As fate would have it, however, only just today I stumbled across an old, mouldering cassette tape containing another episode I never knew I had in which Collier interviews Scott Turow on the then-just-published novel "PRESUMED INNOCENT".  Ralph Collier's interviews were always fascinating (even when I wasn't particularly interested in the subject) and I couldn't let the passing of someone who provided me with many, many hours of absorbing listening to go by without my marking it with a little tribute to an interviewer and a radio show which I sorely miss.

As a temporary treat, I've posted two episodes of COLLIER AT LARGE over there in the box at the right:  the "Walking Tour of Phila." and "Ezra Pound:  American Traitor" episodes to give you a flavour of the show.  It shares the box with the Douglas Adams "Biscuit Story" above so give both a listen . . . while they last!