Whatever your opinion of Bob Crane, I always had a big respect for the man. He started out as a musician before becoming a DJ and then eventually a gigantic television star. His musical venture into percussion put him into some of the same symphonies that I have had the pleasure of working in as well. It's not surprising that his love for music continued well after his fame from "Hogan's Heroes".In 1966, Bob Crane released an album as a result of his affiliation with the television series:"The Funny Side of TV". The record is a crazy mixture of instrumental big-band renditions of television themes with Crane's drum kit high in the mix. Add to that some brief skits, one-liners, and Crane's comedy monologues. Some of the jokes are pretty funny, from Crane's improbable reading of cast members on "Theme from 'Thursday Night at the Movies'" to his ridiculous sendup of Candid Camera. As you might expect, Crane performs the theme from Hogan's Heroes along with themes from F Troop, My Three Sons, Get Smart, and other shows of the day. Crane received assistance from big-name arrangers such as Sid Feller, Ernie Freeman, and Stu Phillips (who also produced), and some of his Hogan's Heroes co-stars posed for the cover photo even though they do not appear on the album. Here is that album for you now! Enjoy!
Continuing on our Trek through Star Trek, we find a great listen with the incredible vocal stylings of Leonard Nimoy. Probably the most famous Nimoy song is The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. But there are others that are just as good if not better. My favorite happens to be the Spock infused, "Highly Illogical". That and many more appear on the classic album, "Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space". Instead of heading to outer space to hear this, you can do it right here at The World of Wonder. Enjoy!
Continuing on with my Star Trek related posts, I re-upped one of my favorite albums of all time. Way back in the early days of the World of Wonder, I posted this album with this description:
This was one of my favorite albums as a kid and it still holds a giant place in my heart today! It's Jeff Wayne's Space Shuttle playing The Theme From Star Trek and The Planet of The Apes. It features funky versions of these tunes as well as the themes from Batman and Superman and a few original tunes that have titles such as "The Ape Planet" and "Beyond The Outer Limits".
As a kid, this was constantly on my turntable and whenever I put it on to this day, it makes me smile. Here it is for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Received this e-mail a few days ago from Kenneth Johnson, the man behind such great television shows as the original V, the Bionic Woman and most importantly, The Incredible Hulk:
Dear Rich... Recently I had the privlegde of hearing your song, Tattered Clothing. I thought it was both fun and poignant (not unlike our old show). It's wonderful to know that you were such a fan of The Hulk. We certainly labored to make each episode as meaningful and substantive as possible. Our largest audience was actually adults. Working with Bix and Lou was always a treat. We all cared a lot. I'm glad it impacted on you so favorably. And that it inspired you to write the cool song. It reminds me that in one of the episodes I wrote this line for Bix -- after he had awakened yet again in tattered clothing: "...I have got to get some shirts that stretch." Thanks again for taking the time to write the song. It's great to hear that my work captured your imagination.
All the best...
Kenny
Needless to say, I am very flattered and pretty excited. If you have no idea what I am talking about then here's the scoop:
In January of last year I released the single, "Tattered Clothing". I wrote the song about 6 years ago and recorded it in various cities over the last year of the Avenue Q Tour. It features some great playing by some great players. It is an ode to the 70s television classic, "The Incredible Hulk". It is available on I-Tunes & Amazon All proceeds from the sale of this single will go to The Richard S Dart Memorial Arts Scholarship.
Today we have a special treat in our Advent Calendar. It's an original post that I guarantee you will not find anywhere else! It's the Laverne and Shirley Christmas Album! What's that? You say you never heard of it? Because it never existed until now! In the second season of Laverne and Shirley, the team of Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams did their obligatory Christmas episode entitled, "Christmas Eve At The Booby Hatch". It revolved around Carmine asking everyone if they would help out and perform in a talent show at a hospital on Christmas Eve. They all agree only to find that the hospital in question was a psych ward. Hilarity ensues. The great part of this special is the talent show itself. I was originally going to just rip the Lenny and The Squigtones number from the show and post that. However, I realized two things: 1) the other performances in the show were just as worth having & 2) the show could actually work as an old time radio show. It follows the same story that a lot of the Old Time Radio shows used. I had to make a few snips here and there to take out some of the physical comedy that didn't read without the video but all in all, the show works as an audio play. Here for you now, on this special 14th day of our Advent Calendar is "The Laverne and Shirley Christmas Album". Enjoy!
For more sit-com holiday goodies, head over to Check The Cool Wax! He's got some great audio clips from classic holiday episodes! Tell him the Dartman sent you!
The latest of the Podcasts for your listening pleasure! This time around we get to hear the likes of Tommy James, The Maggies, David Cassidy, Sugarloaf, Elsa Lanchester, They Might Be Giants, James Earl Jones and more! Enjoy!
My son is heavily into Sesame Street. As is the norm, his favorite is Elmo but he does have a fondness for Bert and Ernie, Big Bird and Grover. It pleases me immensely that all of these Sesame Street records that I have collected over the years can actually have a purpose. I play them for him regularly and he even has his own little i-pod with a giant collection of the albums on it. Yesterday we took a listen to a rare gem, "Sesame Street Fever". It was, disco-y but it was still cool since it was the Muppets. I mean, when Henson was alive, the Muppets could do no wrong. (Since his death, they have gone wrong numerous times but that's another post). Anyway, it made me think that there was a rash of disco-related cash ins when the dance fever craze became a sensation. Over the next few days we'll take a look at how that sensation affected the children's market. Today, obviously, we are focusing on Sesame Street Fever. This album came out in 1978 and features disco interpretations of familiar Sesame Street hits. The album's title and cover is an obvious and quite frankly, a hilarious send up of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. And speaking of Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees' own Robin Gibb appears as a guest vocalist and can also be heard in conversation with Cookie Monster during the introduction to "C is for Cookie". Believe it or not but this album reached #75 on Billboard's album chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA. This album was even nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children, but lost to another Henson production; the first cast album from The Muppet Show. As with all disco stuff, once the novelty wears off, you are pretty much done with it. Thankfully, this album is so short that the novelty wears off about the same time the record ends. Here for you now is Sesame Street Fever. Enjoy!
Here is a great episode from the first season of The Bionic Woman. We need more shows like this again! (Not to mention that we need these shows on DVD!) Enjoy!
The Vivino family is a big name in show business. Guitarist, Jimmy Vivino, is an amazing guitar player who has helmed the Max Weinberg 7 since the beginning of Conan O'Brien's late night career. His brother Jerry is the saxophonist of the group. Both of the brothers have played with some serious names over the years and have done tons of sessions.You probably have recordings with them on it and don't even know it. I once heard that the Vivino brothers "owned" the New York music scene. Besides Jimmy and Jerry, there is another brother in show business. He is also a musician as well as an accomplished actor. His most famous film role was that of disc jockey, Eddie Kirk in "Good Morning Vietnam". However, millions of faithful television viewers in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, he is better known for his starring role in the cult hit, "The Uncle Floyd Show". For those of you who don't know, The Uncle Floyd Show aired in the New Jersey and New York market from 1974 to 1998. It was touted as a children's show but it soon became apparent that it was more of a parody of a children's show. Much of the humor had a twist aimed at adults in the style of Soupy Sales and Pee Wee Herman. The show featured slapstick comedy, puppetry, some audience participation, and piano music. Floyd's puppet sidekick was named Oogie. The first cast members were Pat Cupo and Bob D. Caterino. Later members were Scott Gordon , Craig "Mugsy" Calam, "Netto", Jim Monaco, "Looney" Skip Rooney, Charlie Stoddard and Artie Delmar. I remember coming across this odd show at my grandparents house. At the time, they had cable TV and we did not. Whenever I was at their house (which was a lot) I waited patiently for the show to come on and then would watch in awe. I was pretty sure I was watching a television revolution. My father and grandfather watched it with a few times and were laughing at a lot of the stuff I was but also at other parts that I wasn't sure why. One of my favorite parts of the show was when the cast would start breaking up and laughing at the bits that they were doing. Add to this, a roster of celebrity guests and you have the recipe for classic television viewing. There is a video compilation that was released on DVD a few years back that I have been meaning to purchase. Until then, I will have to settle for these video files from The Uncle Floyd Show!!!
Helpful Harry
Alfred The Astrologer
Tiny Tim Guest Spot
J Nelson Contempt
Dee Dee Ramone Guest Spot
(I originally had the long out of print Uncle Floyd Album up for sharing here but there were some complaints from people involved with the Uncle Floyd Show so I took it down. The World of Wonder does not intend to upset anyone so that's why I took it down.)
Today marks the release of my new single, "Tattered Clothing". I wrote the song about 5 years ago and recorded it in various cities over the last year of the Avenue Q Tour. It features some great playing by some great players. It is an ode to the 70s television classic, "The Incredible Hulk". It is available on I-Tunes & Amazon and will soon be available on Rhapsody, Napster, emusic and Lime Wire. All proceeds from the sale of this single will go to The Richard S Dart Memorial Arts Scholarship.
This month, Dartman's World of Wonder starts it's fifth year! I am truly amazed that it has been that long since I first decided to share all of my wonderful artifacts from pop culture with the world. What's even more amazing is that with each year, the World of Wonder gains more and more followers and fans and I am truly honored and surprised at all of it. To kick off this fifth year, I am posting an album from one of my all time favorite artists, the great Ernie Kovacs. "The Best of Ernie Kovacs" was not released in Ernie's lifetime but came about in the seventies as an audio remembrance of the great television pioneer. It features some of the greatest bits from the long running "Ernie Kovacs Show" as well as some of the great music used on the show as well. (most of the music would eventually see the light of day on a CD compilation released in the 90s). I was incredibly happy to find this album at the college radio station that I worked at back in my academic years and was even happier to relieve the station of it when they decided to go to an all CD format and get rid of their records. I now get to share that album with you! Here is "The Best of Ernie Kovacs". Enjoy!
Back in the 60s, Hanna Barberra released a series of records for children featuring their roster of cartoon characters in all new adventures and telling stories. I have always loved these records and now that I have a child of my own, they are in regular rotation during feeding time. The other day, I happened to put one on that I had long forgotten about featuring the characters Super Snooper and Blabber Mouth. These characters were part of the lesser known crew of HB animation and were featured during segments of Quick Draw McGraw. They are a pair of cat and mouse detectives both voiced by the incomprable, Daws Butler. Snooper is more or less the one in command whenever the pair takes on a case while Blabber Mouse follows whatever orders Snooper gives him. For this album, Super Snooper and Blabbermouth investigate a party is going on at a house occupied by The Gruesome Family (yes, the ones from The Flintstones). Also in attendance are Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Wolf Man. It's a great story and fits perfectly in with our Halloween countdown! Here is "Monster Shindig With Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse". Enjoy!
In case you didn't hear, Vic Mizzy, the genius composer who brought us The Theme From the Addams Family has passed away. He died on Monday. In his honor, I am reposting last year's "Addams Family Megapost" plus I am posting the 1977 Addams Family Renuion Show in it's entirety. Enjoy!
I love the Addams Family. I own the complete series on DVD and can watch it over and over again and still find it entertaining. Back in college, my girlfriend at the time gave me a giant book of the original Chas Addams comics that the show was based on and I found a whole new appreciation for the Addams Family. I've seen the films from the 90s and I liked them, but don't really put them in the same category as the original series. To me, that is the quintessential Addams Family and it will never be beat. Did you know that in 1977, they tried to regroup the Addams Family and put it back on the air in a whole new show? It's true! On Halloween, 1977, a television special named "Halloween With The New Addams Family" premiered as a test to see if it would be as well recieved as the original series running in syndication.The original cast was brought together once again to reprise their roles. The only exception was Blossom Rock (Grandma-ma) who didn't appear due to an illness. The feature was such an abysmal failure that the new series was cancelled before it even started. And speaking of Ted Cassidy, did you know that he released a single as Lurch simply titled, "The Lurch"? The producers thought that they would add to the show's success by putting out a record that would start a new dance craze. The problem was that the song didn't tell you how to do the dance. There was never any reference to the dance in the show and the song went unnoticed. Some more interesting tidbits about Ted Cassidy; he played two roles on The Addams Family. Of course, we all know him as Lurch, but he also played "Thing". He also was the voice-over in the opening to "The Incredible Hulk". It would prove to be one of the last things he did before his untimely death in 1979. When The New Scooby Doo Movies came out in the seventies, The Addams Family were featured in not one, but two episodes, complete with the actual voices of John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Ted Cassidy and Jackie Coogan. The success of these appearances prompted Hanna-Barbera to put out an Addams Family cartoon a year later. However, Astin and Jones would not return. The cartoon appearances are significant in Addams culture because the family was drawn to the specifications of the original cartoons by Charles Addams, rather than how they appeared on their television series. The Addams Family continues to pop up all over and even as you read this, there is a musical being put together for the Broadway stage. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth have accepted the offered rolls of Gomez and Mortica Addams in the upcoming musical of the Addams Family that's set for 2009/2010. Here's one musician who hopes that he may end up playing drums for that production. Let's all keep our fingers crossed! In the meantime, here's a batch of Addams goodness for you: The original 1965 soundtrack to the television series by Vic Mizzy; The Ted Cassidy single, "The Lurch", complete with it's flipside, "Wesley" and the original picture sleeve; The bootleg soundtrack from the 1977 Halloween special and the entire first episode in which the Addams' appeared in The New Scooby Doo Movies! Enjoy!
As we near the end of "A Month of Monkees" here at the World of Wonder, I can't help but feel a sense of great accomplishment that I was able to do an entire month of posts featuring the Monkees without having to resort to re-posting any of the Monkees items that I have posted in the past. Every single day during this month, I featured (and will until the 12th) a brand new never before posted item. However, I could not let this month go by without giving the past posts a nod as well. Here are some Monkees items that I have posted in the past for you to enjoy just in case you missed them or have misplaced them! Enjoy!
In case you haven't heard, Bernie Hamilton passed away on Tuesday. If you are wondering who he is, he was best known as Captain Dobey on Starsky and Hutch. To mark his passing, I'm reposting the soundtrack music from the show that I shared with you all back in September. We'll miss you, Capn'.
I love the Addams Family. I own the complete series on DVD and can watch it over and over again and still find it entertaining. Back in college, my girlfriend at the time gave me a giant book of the original Chas Addams comics that the show was based on and I found a whole new appreciation for the Addams Family. I've seen the films from the 90s and I liked them, but don't really put them in the same category as the original series. To me, that is the quintessential Addams Family and it will never be beat. Did you know that in 1977, they tried to regroup the Addams Family and put it back on the air in a whole new show? It's true! On Halloween, 1977, a television special named "Halloween With The New Addams Family" premiered as a test to see if it would be as well recieved as the original series running in syndication.The original cast was brought together once again to reprise their roles. The only exception was Blossom Rock (Grandma-ma) who didn't appear due to an illness. The feature was such an abysmal failure that the new series was cancelled before it even started. And speaking of Ted Cassidy, did you know that he released a single as Lurch simply titled, "The Lurch"? The producers thought that they would add to the show's success by putting out a record that would start a new dance craze. The problem was that the song didn't tell you how to do the dance. There was never any reference to the dance in the show and the song went unnoticed. Some more interesting tidbits about Ted Cassidy; he played two roles on The Addams Family. Of course, we all know him as Lurch, but he also played "Thing". He also was the voice-over in the opening to "The Incredible Hulk". It would prove to be one of the last things he did before his untimely death in 1979. When The New Scooby Doo Movies came out in the seventies, The Addams Family were featured in not one, but two episodes, complete with the actual voices of John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Ted Cassidy and Jackie Coogan. The success of these appearances prompted Hanna-Barbera to put out an Addams Family cartoon a year later. However, Astin and Jones would not return. The cartoon appearances are significant in Addams culture because the family was drawn to the specifications of the original cartoons by Charles Addams, rather than how they appeared on their television series. The Addams Family continues to pop up all over and even as you read this, there is a musical being put together for the Broadway stage. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth have accepted the offered rolls of Gomez and Mortica Addams in the upcoming musical of the Addams Family that's set for 2009/2010. Here's one musician who hopes that he may end up playing drums for that production. Let's all keep our fingers crossed! In the meantime, here's a batch of Addams goodness for you: The original 1965 soundtrack to the television series by Vic Mizzy; The Ted Cassidy single, "The Lurch", complete with it's flipside, "Wednesday" and the original picture sleeve; The bootleg soundtrack from the 1977 Halloween special Enjoy!
For even more Addams Family goodness, head over to The Addams Family Archive or you can just scroll down a few posts and watch the Halloween episode from season 1!
I thought I would return to the world of television soundtracks with two re-posts from 2006.
Today I am posting an awesome super groovy album from the Kaptain Kool & The Kongs Saturday Morning Show! I've owned this album from the day it came out and absolutely love it! It's another story record that features the actual show on record. This album features comedy bits from Kaptain Kool and the Kongs along with episodes of Wonderbug, Magic Mongo and Bigfoot and Wildboy. This is great for reliving those glorious days of Saturday mornings of yesteryear! Enjoy!
Here is the Kaptain Kool and The Kongs album that features actual music as oppossed to the story album I posted above. It's you typical 70s bubblegum but it's pretty darn cool! Here it is your your enjoyment!
