Podcasts about Harvey Pekar

Toby Radloff  is a former file clerk and actor who became a minor celebrity owing to his appearances in Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic book series American Splendor. Radloff has a distinctive manner of speech and quirky mannerisms.He is a self-proclaimed "Genuine Nerd". Career Radloff met Pekar in 1980 when Radloff was hired at Cleveland's Veterans Administration Hospital, and shortly became a recurring character in American Splendor. Television profiles of Pekar at work at the VA Hospital, in which Radloff appeared, led to Radloff being featured as a "special correspondent" in a few short comedic pieces on MTV in the late 1980s about Cleveland and White Castle hamburgers (a particular favorite of Radloff's).Radloff was also a frequent guest on a local Cleveland cable access show, The Eddie Marshall Show. Radloff is a huge admirer of the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, which he estimated in 2003 to have seen at least 25 times; his enthusiasm for the film was documented in the American Splendor comic (and in a number of scenes in the American Splendor film). Radloff's public persona as a "Genuine Nerd", cemented by his appearances on MTV, led to his starring roles as Harold Kunkle in the comedy horror film Killer Nerd (1991) and its sequel Bride of Killer Nerd (1992) Toby's Info toby.radloff https://www.waynealanharold.com     C-Level Pete Francis Tickets June 13th Winchester Lakewood OH

Jordan Peterson sits down with author, podcaster, and notorious troll, Michael Malice. They discuss the motivations behind deep and totalitarian evil, how the margins of society operate within the anarchist framework, and the effect of counterproductive moralizing on psychological and political behavior. Michael Malice is the author of “Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il” and “The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics, The White Pill,” and  organizer of “The Anarchist Handbook.” He is also the subject of the graphic novel “Ego & Hubris,” written by the late Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame. He is the host of the podcast, “YOUR WELCOME.” Malice has co-authored books with several prominent personalities, including “Made in America” (the New York Times best-selling autobiography of UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes), “Concierge Confidential” (one of NPR's top 5 celebrity books of the year) and “Black Man, White House” (comedian D. L. Hughley's satirical look at the Obama years, also a New York Times bestseller). He is also the founding editor of “Overheard in New York.” This episode was filmed on January 6th, 2024.  | Links | For Michael Malice: On X https://x.com/michaelmalice?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michaelmalice/?hl=en On YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5tj5QCpJKIl-KIa4Gib5Xw “The White Pill: A Tale of Good and Evil” (book) https://a.co/d/7OwgieQ 

André chats with a fellow Canadian east coaster from a provinces or two north known as "The Godfather of Newfoundland Comics".  Wallace Ryan, an artist and lifelong fan of all things comic-centric, has been at the heart of local comic culture since the mid-1980s, with a passion for larger-than-life characters and compelling stories that leap off the page dating back even further. His journey took him to the Ontario College of Art and Design, where the self-described “art-punk” honed his craft through stints in Toronto and New York City before returning to his roots in Newfoundland. Over the years, Ryan has worked on projects like the collaborative graphic novel Nobody is in Control, his personal passion project The Narrow Way, and Pure Comix, a homegrown celebration of graphic literature launched in 2019. Wallace talks about his time pitching his work to Archie Goodwin at Marvel Comics, attending art school with some other Canadian comics greats, finding inspiration from Harvey Pekar and living in the a house older than Canada!Support the show

Massacre Radio with Membersonly Dave is back at it with Episode 45! This week Dave is joined by the newly retired Toby Radloff - Cleveland's own “Genuine Nerd!” Dave opens the lid on Toby's love of White Castle, growing up a “genuine nerd,” handling bullies with a hammer, and ultimately meeting American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar and all the Cleveland area talk you crave! Toby gets real about how his autism affected his public perception during his time working for MTV and making the cult classic Killer Nerd! And of course they dive into his time vying for a spot in Howard Stern's illustrious Wack Pack! It's always a wild time on Massacre Radio and you can get in on the action by calling the Massacre Radio hotline at 440-941-8585! Mother Goose? Membersonly Dave fucked her, only on WKMA Cleveland - an HD2 station!Don't forget to check out. . .https://x.com/GenuineNerd2https://www.instagram.com/toby.radloff/https://www.facebook.com/toby.radloffMembersonly Dave on Twitter and Instagram, @membersonlydave

In episode 26 of Locust Radio, Adam Turl is joined by Omnia Sol – a comic, video, and sound artist in Chicago. This episode is part of a series of interviews of current and former Locust Collective members and contributors. This series is being conducted as research for a future book by Adam Turl on the conceptual and aesthetic strategies of the collective in the context of a cybernetic Anthropocene. The featured closing music / sound art, “Overview” and “Wilhelmina,” are from Omnia Sol's forthcoming vs. Megalon. Check out their bandcamp. Locust Radio hosts include Adam Turl, Laura Fair-Schulz, and Tish Turl. Producers include Alexander Billet, Omnia Sol, and Adam Turl. Related texts and topics: Arte Povera; Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1936); Michael Betancourt, Glitch Art in Theory and Practice (2017); William Blake; Claire Bishop, Disordered Attention: How We Look at Art and Performance Today (2024); Stan Brakhage ; Bertolt Brecht - see also Brecht, “A Short Organum for the Theater” (1948);  Cybernetic Culture Research Unit; Mark Fisher, “Acid Communism (Unfinished Introduction)”; Ben Davis, Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy (2022); Scott Dikkers, Jim's Journal (comic by the co-founder of the Onion); Dollar Art House; Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (2009); Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures (2014); Mark Fisher, K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher (2019); Flicker Films; Fully Automated Luxury (Gay) Space Communism; Glitch Art; Jean-Luc Godard; Grand Upright Music, Ltd. vs. Warner Brothers Records (Biz Markie) (1991); William Hogarth; Tamara Kneese, Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond (2023); Holly Lewis, “Toward AI Realism,” Spectre (2024); Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (1848); Nam June Paik and TV Buddha; Harvey Pekar (comic artist); Gregory Sholette, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (2010); Grafton Tanner, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts (2016); TOSAS (The Omnia Sol Art Show); Nat Turner; Wildstyle and Style Wars (1983 film); YOVOZAL, “My Thoughts about AI and art,” YouTube video (2024)

Ed Piskor døde ved selvmord 1. april i år. Vi markerer hans bortgang ved en læsning af hans hovedværk Hip Hop Family Tree – en dokumentarisk fortælling om hip hop-kulturens og -musikkens opståen og tidlige udvikling i New York og hinsides, der sammenfletter fakta og mytologi, det dokumenterede og det forestillede. Det gør vi i fællesskab med hip hop-historiker Peter Trier Aagard, alias PTA.   Vi undersøger, hvad det er for et portræt at hip hop-kulturen og dens nøgleaktører, som Piskor tegner i den desværre uafsluttede serie på fire bind, der udkom mellem 2012 og 2016. Vi analyserer, de rekonstruktioner af halvfjerdsernes Bronx, han tegner frem, hvordan hans kærlighed til kulturen men også hans generelle nørdethed informerer det samlede billede. Vi analyserer udvalgte sekvenser—først og fremmest den legendariske battle mellem Busy Bee Starski og Kool Moe Dee i december 1981 – for at forstå, hvordan han i tegneserieform iscenesætter musikken og menneskene bag.   Og så opridser vi samtidig et portræt af Piskor selv og hans intense, tragisk afsluttede tyveårige karriere. Vi runder opvæksten i Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania og hans tidlige samarbejde med undergrundslegenden Harvey Pekar og berører kort hans egne større arbejder, fra Wizzywig (2009–11) over X-Men Grand Design (2018–19) til Red Room (2021–24) og ikke mindst YouTube-kanalen Cartoonist Kayfabe, der gjorde ham og kollegaen Jim Rugg til household names i den globale tegneseriekultur. Vi når også omkring hans tid som underviser på The Animation Workshop i Viborg via input fra studieleder på Grafisk fortælling Peter Dyring Olsen.   Til sidst diskuterer vi også de anklager om krænkende adfærd fra to unge kvinder, der tidligere i år førte til en shitstorm på sociale medier, der tydeligvis påvirkede hans beslutning om at tage sit eget liv. Vores påstand er – tragedien og dens årsager uanset – at værket, og særligt Hip Hop Family Tree, står tilbage som et blivende, vitalt udsagn om en subkultur, der er blevet global massekultur.

Queens Comic Podcast episode 34 is live, so get down on it! This week Billy and Ian go over the use of AI in comic art and why it stinks, some super cool pieces of original art that Billy got his hands on, last weekend's Royal Collectibles Parking Lot Con and recent pick ups including a few issues of Harvey Pekar's excellent American Splendor, some signed books that Billy snagged on the cheap, the final issue of Jeff Lemiere's Fish Flies, the new sixth edition of the E.C. Fan-Addict fanzine featuring some gorgeous Graham Ingels paintings and the Bone Omnibus! And if you haven't already, follow us on the socials! We're the coolest. Follow us on Instagram @queenscomicpodcast / @queenscomicparty Follow us on Twitter/X @queenscomicpod Check us out on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@queenscomicpodcast Or hit up our website at http://www.queenscomicparty.com

We are excited to have James Renner as our special guest on True Crime Broads: James Renner is mostly known for his true-crime journalism. As a reporter for Cleveland Scene, he uncovered new clues and suspects in the cold-case murder of Amy Mihaljevic (⁠http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/30/tech/crowdsourced-cold-cases-james-renner-amy-mihaljevic-feat/⁠). His work led to the successful closure of the Tina Harmon case (⁠http://www.indeonline.com/article/20081126/NEWS/311269903⁠) in 2009. He spent months researching the Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus abductions when the girls were still missing and is haunted by the fact that he had Castro's name in his notes (⁠http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1614-i-hunt-serial-killers-6-insane-realities-my-life.html⁠). His true crime writing has been featured in the Best American Crime Reporting anthology. His selection was the first true crime article to use a dream sequence as a narrative device. Renner has always been interested in filmmaking, as well. In 2004, Renner directed a short film based on the Stephen King story, All That You Love Will Be Carried Away. King sold him the rights for $1. The movie starred Joe Bob Briggs and the late-great Harvey Pekar. It premiered at the 2005 Montreal World Film Festival.Later that same year, Renner directed a documentary about the influence of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye (⁠https://jamesrenner.com/?page_id=399&=1⁠). The adventure culminated in a short meeting between Renner and the reclusive author at his home in New Hampshire.In 2012, Renner's debut novel – The Man from Primrose Lane (⁠https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-man-from-primrose-lane-by-james-renner/2012/03/06/gIQAf4bCLS_story.html⁠)– was published by Sarah Crichton Books. Set in Northeast Ohio, The Man from Primrose Lane blends mystery with scifi in a very unique structure.  The story is currently being adapted for television.Renner's second novel, The Great Forgetting (⁠http://www.fsgbookkeeping.com/the-sweet-spot/⁠), is a “love letter to conspiracy thrillers.”A new work of nonfiction, True Crime Addict (⁠https://jamesrenner.com/?p=701&=1⁠), was published in May by Thomas Dunne Books. The New York Times Sunday Book Review  (⁠http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/books/review/true-crime-addict-james-renner-and-more.html⁠)called it “shamelessly entertaining.”James Renner is also the founder of The Porchlight Project (⁠https://porchlightonline.org/⁠), a nonprofit that raises money for new DNA testing of cold cases in Ohio. In 2020, an arrest was made in their first case – the unsolved murder of Barbara Blatnik (⁠https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200506/cleveland-man-arrested-in-1987-murder-of-teen-whose-body-was-found-near-blossom-music-center⁠) – thanks to their funding of genetic genealogy. James lives in Akron with his wife and children and can be found online at ⁠Jamesrenner.com⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/truecrimebroads/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/truecrimebroads/support

Send us a Text Message.If you don't know Rick Parker, you don't know funny. Over a four decade career, the man has done just about everything in the comic book and cartoonimg world, starting as a letterer for Marvel in the late 70s. Rick is perhaps best known (in comics) for his art on the Beavis and Butt-Head comic that Marvel produced in the mid-90s. He's also worked with Harvey Pekar, done graphic novel parody projects for the Papercutz imprint, has created gallery-worthy fine art, and has been published in such illustrious outlets as The New York Times, The Village Voice, Time magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and Life magazine.You can follow Rick on Instagram @rickparkerart._________________Check out a video version of this episode on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits.If you like this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And if you really like this podcast, support what we do as a member of the Dollar Bin Boosters: buzzsprout.com/1817176/support.Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on X._____________________Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing. Check out their fine publications at twomorrows.com.Past Present FeatureA filmmaker appreciation podcast hosted by Emmy-winning director...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.

In this engaging episode, host Rob Lee sits down with the talented Frank Lawson a.k.a. South Side Frank, a renowned illustrator and cartoonist celebrated for his distinctive absurd realism. They chat about Frank's journey in the art world, his inspirations, and his drive to infuse his creations with meaningful messages. Frank opens up about artists he looks up to and gives us a peek into the local comic scene. The conversation takes a thoughtful turn as they address real-world issues like gentrification and the rising cost of living. Frank recounts his foray into digital art amid the pandemic and talks about "Poctober," his initiative to spotlight black punk artists. They discuss the power of embracing individuality in art and the cathartic power of creative expression. Wrapping up, Frank dives into the world of misunderstood villains and shares details about his sketchbook, which fans can find on his website.Episode Highlights:Welcome to the show (00:00:10) Host Rob Lee kicks off the podcast, warmly welcoming listeners and introducing today's guest, the talented illustrator and cartoonist, South Side Frank.Art as a calling (00:03:35) Frank opens up about his deep-rooted love for art and the journey that led him to become the artist he is today.Childhood inspirations (00:06:50) Frank fondly recalls the early influences on his creativity, from his father's artwork to his fascination with television and cartoons.Mentors and muses (00:12:53) Frank reflects on the profound impact that artist Dawud Anyabwile had on his work and discusses the significance of representation in the arts.Broadening Horizons (00:16:36) Frank recounts his eye-opening encounters with underground comics and the lasting influence of trailblazers like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar.Defining "absurd realism" (00:34:22) Frank explains his distinctive artistic style, "absurd realism," which captures his view of the world peppered with pop culture nods.Digital evolution (00:39:13) Frank describes his transition to digital art-making on the iPad, a change accelerated by the pandemic's constraints.Envisioning the future (00:56:20) Potential reimaginings of childhood cartoons like "Pole Position" and "Robotech" are pondered, along with the power of bringing such ideas to life.Key Takeaways:1. Embrace your unique artistic style to make a statement and stand out in the creative world.2. Recognize the influence of societal issues, such as gentrification, on local art scenes and artists' lives.3. Discover the therapeutic power of creativity in navigating challenging times like the pandemic.4. Explore the perspectives of misunderstood characters to add depth and complexity to your work.Website and Socials:southsidefrank.comInstagram: southsidefrank_0.2If you loved diving into the world of absurd realism with South Side Frank and enjoyed our conversation on everything from the therapeutic power of art to the nuances of punk culture, then don't miss out on the chance to explore more of Frank's incredible work. Head over to his website to check out his sketchbook and follow him on social media to stay updated on his latest projects. Your support means the world to artists like Frank, so please take a moment to rate and review this episode, letting us know your thoughts. And if you want to help keep these insightful conversations coming, consider supporting our Patreon. Your contribution helps us continue to bring unique voices and stories to the forefront. Thank you for listening, and thank you for your support! This program is supported (in part) by a grant from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. If you have a story about art, culture, or community, share it with us at rob@thetruthinthisart.com for a chance to be featured on 'The Truth In This Art' podcast.Follow The Truth In This Art on Twitter, Threads, IG, and Facebook @truthinthisart Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard.Episode illustration by Alley Kid Art.About "The Truth In This Art""The Truth In This Art," hosted by Rob Lee, is a podcast that explores the essence of creativity and its community impact, amplifying artists' voices and their profound stories.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram Support the show:Merch from Redbubble | Make a Donation  ★ Support this podcast ★

In the wake of the news that Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has cancer, author S.L. (Sandi) Wisenberg joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the control that public—and private—figures should have over the disclosure of their diagnoses. Wisenberg, who survived breast cancer, and Terrell, who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, name books they have read that have helped them discover humor in their journey from testing to treatment, and reflect on the challenging nuances of what it means to have cancer. They talk about how and when they decided to tell their loved ones, friends, and students about their condition. Wisenberg reads from her 2009 book The Adventures of Cancer Bitch, which will be reissued in paperback in October. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf and Jasmine Shackleford. S.L. (Sandi) Wisenberg The Adventures of Cancer Bitch The Sweetheart Is In Holocaust Girls The Wandering Womb Others: “Princess of Wales Apologizes, Saying She Edited Image,” by Mark Landler and Lauren Leatherby | The New York Times Kate Middleton announces her cancer diagnosis | NBC News  Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors by Evan Handler Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics by Miriam Engelberg Memoir of a Debulked Woman by Susan Gubar Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book by Susan Love Señor Wences American Splendor Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje  Dick York Nora Ephron Carl Bernstein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Interview with Gary & Laura Dumm Gary is a life-long Clevelander. Gary's mom helped teach him to read using comic books as a kid, so they're kind of in his blood! He attended Cuyahoga Community College in the sixties where he took classes in painting and printmaking. He married Laura in 1971, and they started a life of artistic collaboration as well as creating their own art. In 1974 Gary met author Harvey Pekar through a friend of Laura's who worked with Harvey, and began a 30+ year association drawing comics art for his ground-breaking autobiographical comic book “American Splendor”, and Laura added color as needed. Many other comics projects and art show exhibitions have followed for this husband-and-wife team.  Laura has had solo art shows, as well as exhibiting with Gary in numerous group shows. They have worked on many publications, independent comic books and graphic novels. They have even co-curated a couple of successful art shows in Cleveland that extolled the virtues and importance of their city's current and storied comics' history.,     Laura was born, raised and still resides in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a self taught artist who was lucky enough to have gone to a high school (West Tech) that was trying out a new program called “Specialized Art Class” with 6 periods of art a day. Basically a college education for 3 years. She married cartoonist/artist Gary Dumm in 1971. In 1986, after working for various magazine publications, she made the decision to become a freelance graphic artist/illustrator and started her own graphic art business to pay the bills. In 2009 she retired to be a full time painter. First and foremost she is a painter. “I'm a typical Gemini, I need change. I have never worried about having a signature style, painting the same way over and over is a bit boring to me.” For example, from 2008 to 2011, she was painting people/animals in abstract quilt like patterns, paying homage to the women who created quilts as a way to express themselves as well as keeping their families warm. In 2014 she changed to a more realistic pop art style. The one constant in her work is always bright color palette. Gary & Laura Dumm's Info https://www.dummart.com  

Michael Malice is a Ukrainian-American anarchist, author, and podcaster. His books include Dear Reader, The New Right, The Anarchist Handbook and, most recently, The White Pill. He is the host of video podcast "YOUR WELCOME" and was the subject of Harvey Pekar's 2006 biography Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story. Check out our last interview with Michael here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQJy_7C8Gts&t=2109s SPONSORED BY: MUDWTR. Save $20, get a free sample of creamer AND a free frother when you visit https://mudwtr.com/triggernometry SPONSOR: https://GETSUPERBEETS.COM Use Promo Code: TRIG to get a free 30-day supply + 15% off your first order Join our exclusive TRIGGERnometry community on Locals! https://triggernometry.locals.com/ OR Support TRIGGERnometry Here: Bitcoin: bc1qm6vvhduc6s3rvy8u76sllmrfpynfv94qw8p8d5 Music by: Music by: Xentric | info@xentricapc.com | https://www.xentricapc.com/ YouTube: @xentricapc Buy Merch Here: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/shop/ Advertise on TRIGGERnometry: marketing@triggerpod.co.uk Join the Mailing List: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/#mailinglist Find TRIGGERnometry on Social Media: https://twitter.com/triggerpod https://www.facebook.com/triggerpod/ https://www.instagram.com/triggerpod/ About TRIGGERnometry: Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@francisjfoster) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down in-person with author and podcaster, Michael Malice. They discuss his latest book, “The White Pill.” From this they explore the philosophy of Ayn Rand, anarchism, the history and rebranded atrocities of Czarist Russia, and why utopian visions cyclically entice generations of people, despite leaving each one devastated for their commitment. Michael Malice is the author of “Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il” and The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics,” “The White Pill,” and organizer of “The Anarchist Handbook.” He is also the subject of the graphic novel “Ego & Hubris,” written by the late Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame. He is the host of “YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice. Malice has co-authored books with several prominent personalities, including “Made in America” (the New York Times best selling autobiography of UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes), “Concierge Confidential” (one of NPR's top 5 celebrity books of the year), and “Black Man, White House” (comedian D. L. Hughley's satirical look at the Obama years, a New York Times best seller). He is also the founding editor of “Overheard in New York.”  - Links - For Michael Malice: The White Pill (Book) https://www.amazon.com/White-Pill-Tale-Good-Evil/dp/B0BNZ7XZ5T/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1703176917&sr=1-1 On X twitter.com/michaelmalice On Locals Malice.locals.com On Youtube https://www.youtube.com/michaelmaliceofficial 

This week we take ourselves to our breaking point in a literary review of the 2006 graphic novel Ego and Hubris by Harvey Pekar. The subject of the book is Michael "Malice" Krechmer, a loathsome zionist goblin that will be familiar to members and former members of the liberty movement. Don't forget to join our Telegram channel at T.me/historyhomos and to join our group chat at T.me/historyhomoschat The video version of the show is available on Youtube, bitchute, odysee. For weekly premium episodes or to contribute to the show subscribe to our channel at www.rokfin.com/historyhomos Any questions comments concerns or T-shirt/sticker requests can be leveled at historyhomos@gmail.com Later homos --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historyhomos/support

Brooklyn's own Dean Haspiel joins us for a spell, pontificating on his career and recent work. If you're not familiar with this independent creator, he cut his teeth at Upstart Associates, assisting the likes of past guests Howard Chaykin, Walter Simonson, and Bill Sienkiewicz with some of their most acclaimed projects. His first major work was the anthology Keyhole, where he introduced one of his longest running characters, Billy Dogma. Dean collaborated with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor and The Quitter and with writer Jonathan Ames on The Alcoholic and the HBO series Bored to Death. He is also a big proponent of webcomics, having worked in the medium since its inception, and creating the acclaimed The Red Hook series.Most recently, Dean's taken to Kickstarter to crowdfund two books, Covid Cop and Billy Dogma, both of which you can purchase here:etsy.com/shop/deanhaspiel. You can follow Dean on X @deanhaspiel and on Instagram @deanhaspiel_art._____________________Check out a video version of this episode on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits.If you like this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And if you really like this podcast, support what we do as a member of the Dollar Bin Boosters: buzzsprout.com/1817176/support.Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on X._____________________Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing. Check out their fine publications at twomorrows.com.Support the show

This week Amir and Jason decided to have some fun and do a quick episode talking about some of the fantastic comics they've read recently. They delve deep into some great names, including Harvey Pekar, Michel Fiffe, Joe Matt, Richard Corben and many others... we'd love to hear what you think about these recommendations and others you might have for us... please share in comments! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/classiccomics/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/classiccomics/support

Welcome back to Make Mine Paperback! PolitiComix continues! Our October of political comics focuses on comics that make political statements. Graham's selection for the month hits close to home with Harvey Pekar's Cleveland. A lifelong Cleveland resident, Harvey Pekar pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic. In a month full of books with big political messages, this week we focus on the politics of the everyday with a book that relates more closely to politics as the way that people living in groups make decisions. Come celebrate the ordinary with us! This week's comic: Harvey Pekar's Cleveland Written by: Harvey Pekar Art by: Joseph Remnant Follow Us! Instagram: https://Instagram.com/makeminepaperback X: https://twitter.com/MakeMinePprbck

In this episode of ATPT, we are joined by xlilpoundcake, a Pokemon Trainer from Cleveland, Ohio and self-proclaimed "Wayfarer Neckbeard." Prepare to be inspired as we explore her journey through the world of Pokémon and the story it has woven. xlilpoundcake shares the enchanting tale of how she met her partner, a story that intertwines with the adventures of Pokémon GO. Discover how the game served as a catalyst for their connection, turning chance encounters into lasting bonds.However, the Pokemon love doesn't stop there! xlilpoundcake reveals how Pokemon GO led her to adopting two adorable cats. Learn how these furry friends have become an integral part of her Pokémon journey, adding an extra layer of joy to her adventures.As a professor, xlilpoundcake immersed in the vibrant Pokémon GO community through Raiding and Community Day, forging friendships that transcended the digital realm. She offers a unique perspective on how the game can unite people from diverse backgrounds and create a sense of belonging, even in the bustling city of Cleveland.Finally, xlilpoundcake delves into the cultural tapestry of Cleveland, Ohio and how she learned about it through Wayfarer. Hear about the local gems, traditions, and hidden treasures that make this city a unique and captivating place for Pokémon Trainers and residents alike.Trainer's Eye is a series where the stories are real and people still play this game. From PVP to Shiny Hunting, each person's Pokemon GO journey is unique and we dive into each journey here on As The Pokeball Turns!SourcesOpening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from PixabayConnect with xlilpoundcake: TwitterSupport the showConnect with David Hernandez: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Linktree E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com

All music used with permission by Birth.   Heist - Smith The Round One - Menary Daily Scratch - Smith Song 4 - Smith Ninja Wolf Cobra Robot (With a Robe and a Soft Vest - Smith   Birth got their start here in Cleveland in 1999, but after many years of performing, recording, and developing their sound into an expansive musical language that was well received here in Northeast Ohio the band went on a long hiatus. When they reunited a few years ago, they found their music has evolved from youthful, unrestrained, often "sensationalized" displays of prodigious outbursts on their instruments, to a hybrid of powerful, yet highly sensitive improvisation and composition. A favorite of Cleveland jazz writer and folk icon Harvey Pekar, their music lead Harvey to proclaim that birth was "So good that it's scary." You be the judge. Featuring Jeremy Bleich on bass, Joe Tomino on drums and Joshua Smith on Saxophones, and from a June 12th, 2022 performance – it's Birth – Live at the Bop Stop. Live at the Bop Stop is made possible by the Music Settlement – serving Northeast Ohio by offering music instruction – music therapy and early childhood education since 1912. The Music Settlement's mission is to welcome all to our music and arts community to learn – create – inspire – and heal.   This program is recorded at the Robert Conrad Studios at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, Ohio and the studios of KUNV in Las Vegas, Nevada. Additional production at the Bop Stop is provided by Graham Rosen. Editing for WOBC,WNPA and the Public Radio Exchange is provided by Dr. Pete Naegele - and for our podcast and other radio affiliates by Shawn Gilbert at Gilazar Media.     The executive producer is Daniel Peck – with additional consulting production by Bryan Kennard and Gabe Pollack.   For extended versions of all of our shows –our Live at the Bop Stop podcast can be found on your favorite podcast app or visit our website at www.themusicsettlement.org and click the Bop Stop link.   Want to Support The Bop Stop?  Donate here!   Contact us here  

Swamp Thing Conspiracy WriterGet M A D with Chris Graves 4-14-2023 Jonathan VankinGM #39On this episode of "Get M.A.D." I had the great opportunity to talk with Mr. Jonathan Vankin!JONATHAN VANKIN is a journalist, author, comic book writer, and screenwriter. His work has received numerous awards and honors, and his books have been translated into nearly 20 languages.He has won three New England Press Association awards. His screenplay Stay Forever was twice picked as a finalist in the Sundance Writers Lab selections. The Big Book of Bad was nominated for the comic book Eisner Award and his superhero comics debut, The Search For Swamp Thing, became one of DC Comics' bestselling titles.Vankin's first book, Conspiracies, Cover-Ups, and Crimes, was the first comprehensive, journalistic investigation of America's conspiracy-theory underground, foreshadowing the current state of sociopolitical affairs by two decades. That book and its follow-up, the Greatest Conspiracies series co-authored with John Whalen, went on to become the most influential books on the subject and led to Vankin's numerous media appearances on such networks as CNN, CNBC, FOX, the BBC, and CBC as well as hundreds of radio stations.In 2005, he published The World's Greatest Conspiracies, the fifth installment in the Greatest Conspiracies franchise. He also wrote the graphic novels Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights, and (with Arnold Pander) Tasty Bullet. His other books include, Based on a True Story (But With More Car Crashes) and The Big Book of Scandal. He wrote the DC/Vertigo Comics series The Witching and an episode of the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.He co-wrote the book to the musical FOREVER DUSTY, based on the life story of legendary British pop star Dusty Springfield, which ran in 2012-2013 Off-Broadway at New World Stages.As a Senior Editor at DC/Vertigo Comics from 2004 to 2011, he was behind such series as The Exterminators (optioned by Showtime), Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and Testament (by controversial media critic Douglas Rushkoff), as well as the graphic novels The Quitter written by Harvey Pekar, The Alcoholic written by Jonathan Ames and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by writer/artist Sarah Glidden, among many others.He was the news editor of Metro, Silicon Valley's alternative weekly newspaper where he won a Bay Area Project Censored award. Subsequently, he spent time as a sportswriter/editor at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Salon, L.A. Weekly, and numerous others. ​He was commissioned by French production company Des Films to pen the screenplay Dragon's Fin Soup, which he completed with Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins) attached to direct. He has also taught creative writing to incarcerated youth in the Los Angeles area as part of the Spoken Interludes Next program, which he counts as perhaps the most memorable experience of his career.Mr. Vankin's social media & websites:https://twitter.com/jonvankinhttps://www.facebook.com/jvankinhttp://www.jonathanvankin.net/http://www.foreverdusty.com/https://web.archive.org/web/20050303171340/http://www.conspire.com/https://web.archive.org/web/20170708184136/http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=401https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jonathan-Vankin/author/B000AP862E?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=truehttps://www.amazon.com/Conspiracies-Cover-Ups-Crimes-Jonathan-Vankin/dp/1881532097/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=kqRrz&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=133-0171567-7502653&pd_rd_wg=YUv3z&pd_rd_r=d0461810-5bdc-4d2e-ac27-072ac1bedc7c&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dskhttps://www.amazon.com/Brightest-Day-Aftermath-Search-Swamp/dp/B00586L2YYHarvey Pekar Collection on Letterman, 1986-1994https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biOodnioY8cEverything Chris Graves can be found on his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/cgravesmassguyPayPal:http://paypal.me/SirhcSevargGet Mad Archives:https://ochelli.com/category/get-m-a-d-with-chris-graves/ Ochelli Link Treehttps://linktr.ee/chuckochelliYOUR HELP TO KEEP US GOING IS CRITICAL: https://ochelli.com/donate/Uncle – Age of Transitions – T-shirts Aaron's Book and MORE: https://theageoftransitions.com/category/support-the-podcasts/Do you have a project, business, or message To PromoteBe Heard on The Ochelli Effect - The Age of Transitions - Get M A D with Chris Graves - Uncle The Podcast or The Whole Network. Rates Start at $50.Get In TouchE-mail ads@ochelli.com NETWORK:Rokfin https://rokfin.com/ChuckOchelliBitchute Channel: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/oxL96KiJtQLP/Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ochelliLIVE LISTENING OPTIONS:OCHELLI.COM https://ochelli.com/listen-live/ RADDIO https://raddio.net/324242-ochellicom/ ZENO https://zeno.fm/radio/ochelli-radio/ TUNEIN http://tun.in/sfxkx

If These Walls Could Talk with Wendy Stuart & Tym MossHosts: WENDY STUART & TYM MOSSSpecial guest: JOHN PIETAROWednesday, August 24th 2pm ESTLIVE from PANGEA Restaurant, NYCWatch LIVE on YouTube at Wendy Stuart TVJOHN PIETARO is a writer, poet, spoken word artist and musician from Brooklyn, NY. Pietaro's latest work is the poetry/fiction collection A Bleeding in Black Leather (MD: Uncollected Press, 2022). In 2020, his The Mercer Stands Burning: Night Poems was published by Atmosphere Press, and in 2019 poetry chapbook Smoke Rings was launched. Earlier, Pietaro penned contemporary proletarian fiction collection Night People & Other Tales of Working New York (2013) and contributed a chapter to Paul Buhle and Harvey Pekar's SDS: A Graphic History (NY: Hill & Wang 2007). He also wrote multiple entries for the upcoming edition of The Encyclopedia of the American Left (Verso) and is deep into first novel Of Seconds and Shadows. Columnist/critic of The NYC Jazz Record, Pietaro is a contributing arts reporter to PleaseKillMe, The Wire (UK), Z, Sensitive Skin, AllAboutJazz, The Nation, The Village Sun, Counter Punch, People's World, TruthOut and others, and his poetry or fiction has appeared in numerous international anthologies and journals. He was also among the honorees at the New York Press Association 2021 "Better Newspaper" awards ceremony for his obit of drummer Deep Pop in The Village Sun. Pietaro founded the annual BRECHT LIVES! Festival (NYC), hosts radio shows 'Beneath the Underground' (WFMU) and 'Jazz Just After Dark' (makerparkradio.nyc), and fronts post-punk jazz/poetry ensemble the Red Microphone, recording artists of the ESP-Disk label. The band's latest album, A Bleeding in Black Leather will drop August 2022. And I Became of the Dark was released in May 2021, and previously the Red Microphone collaborated with poet/activist Amina Baraka for Amina Baraka & the Red Microphone (ESP-Disk, 2017). Ms. Baraka also performed Pietaro's "Her Side of the Road" as a dramatic reading in 2018. A guest speaker at Left Forum and the Vision Festival, Pietaro has been featured at Boog City Festival, The International Human Rights Arts Festival, Great Weather for Media's Spoken Word Sundays, People's Music Network Festival, Workers United Film Festival, UpSurge JazzPoetry Festival and many other readings. He's been the subject of interviews by Word City Lit, Levure Litteraire , l'Unita, WBAI-FM, WDST-FM and others. Pietaro has collaborated with Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Amina Baraka, Karl Berger, Steve Dalachinsky, Nora Guthrie, Erika Dagnino, Ras Moshe, historian Paul Buhle, record producers Ivan Julian and Kramer, among many others. Who else but hosts Wendy Stuart and Tym Moss could “spill the tea” on their weekly show “If These Walls Could Talk” live from Pangea Restaurant on the Lower Eastside of NYC, with their unique style, of honest, and emotional interviews, sharing the fascinating backstories of celebrities, entertainers, recording artists, writers and artists and bringing their audience along for a fantastic ride. Wendy Stuart is an author, celebrity interviewer, model, filmmaker and hosts “Pandemic Cooking With Wendy,” a popular Youtube comedic cooking show born in the era of Covid-19, and TriVersity Talk, a weekly web series with featured guests discussing their lives, activism and pressing issues in the LGBTQ Community. Tym Moss is a popular NYC singer, actor, and radio/tv host who recently starred in the hit indie film “JUNK” to critical acclaim.

SPONSORED BY: Manscaped. Get 20% off and free shipping when you use the code TRIGGER20 at https://www.manscaped.com SPONSORED BY: easyDNS - domain name registrar provider and web host. Use special code: TRIGGERED for 50% off when you visit https://easydns.com/triggered/ Michael Malice is the author of many books including Dear Reader, The New Right, The Anarchist Handbook and, most recently, The White Pill. He is the host of video podcast "YOUR WELCOME" and was the subject of Harvey Pekar's 2006 biography Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story. Check out our first interview with Michael here: https://youtu.be/uoeJkNX89jo Join our exclusive TRIGGERnometry community on Locals! https://triggernometry.locals.com/ OR Support TRIGGERnometry Here: https://www.subscribestar.com/triggernometry https://www.patreon.com/triggerpod Bitcoin: bc1qm6vvhduc6s3rvy8u76sllmrfpynfv94qw8p8d5 Music by: Music by: Xentric | info@xentricapc.com | https://www.xentricapc.com/ YouTube:  @xentricapc   Buy Merch Here: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/shop/ Advertise on TRIGGERnometry: marketing@triggerpod.co.uk Join the Mailing List: https://www.triggerpod.co.uk/sign-up/ Find TRIGGERnometry on Social Media:  https://twitter.com/triggerpod https://www.facebook.com/triggerpod/ https://www.instagram.com/triggerpod/ About TRIGGERnometry:  Stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin (@konstantinkisin) and Francis Foster (@francisjfoster) make sense of politics, economics, free speech, AI, drug policy and WW3 with the help of presidential advisors, renowned economists, award-winning journalists, controversial writers, leading scientists and notorious comedians. 00:00 Intro  01:38 Michael's Thinking Behind ‘The White Pill' 05:04 Was Society Not Educated Enough on Communism? 11:52 The West's Obsession with Comparing Today's Issues with Past Atrocities 20:45 Our Distrust in Modern Media 23:39 Sponsor Message: Manscaped 25:00 Identifying Today's Problems & Fighting Against Them 28:43 Why We Mustn't Be Cynical  37:13 Are People Buying into Systems Too Easily? 40:01 Sponsor Message: EasyDNS 41:05 What's Wrong with the Education System Today? 43:41 Our Need for Hope and Positive Change 53:57 What's the One Thing We're Not Talking About?

Support the Delingpod's existence by joining James' Locals: https://jamesdelingpole.locals.com/ Hunter and Gather are a real food and supplements brand, simplifying optimal healthy living for all through a great tasting, award-winning range of products all free from gluten, refined sugar, and inflammatory seed oils. Head to hunterandgatherfoods.com and use code TDP10 for a 10% discount off your order. James is joined by Michael Malice today to discuss his new book 'The White Pill' and other current affairs. You can buy his book at this link: whitepillbook.com and follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/michaelmalice Michael is the author of Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Iland The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics, and organizer of The Anarchist Handbook. He is also the subject of the graphic novel Ego & Hubris, written by the late Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame. He is the host of “YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice. Malice has co-authored books with several prominent personalities, including Made in America (the New York Times best selling autobiography of UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes), Concierge Confidential (one of NPR's top 5 celebrity books of the year) and Black Man, White House (comedian D. L. Hughley's satirical look at the Obama years, also a New York Times best seller). He is also the founding editor of “Overheard in New York.”    Freedom isn't free - James needs your support to continue creating The Delingpod. There are many ways you can show your support to James: Join the James Delingpole Community as a paid supporter at: jamesdelingpole.locals.com Support James monthly at: subscribestar.com/jamesdelingpole Support James' Writing at: substack.com/jamesdelingpole www.delingpoleworld.com Buy James a Coffee at: buymeacoffee.com/jamesdelingpole   Find full episodes of The Delingpod for free (and leave a 5-star rating) on: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-delingpod-the-james-delingpole-podcast/id1449753062 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7bdfnyRzzeQsAZQ6OT9e7G?si=a21dc71c7a144f48 Podbean: delingpole.podbean.com Odysee: https://odysee.com/@JamesDelingpoleChannel:0 Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/JamesDelingpole BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Zxu5yMwNWTbs/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheJamesDelingpoleChannel   Follow James on Social Media: Twitter: twitter.com/jamesdelingpole Instagram: instagram.com/delingpodclips GETTR: gettr.com/jamesdelingpole Telegram: https://t.me/+dAx_7JX7WQlwYzVk

In the 2016 article “The Case For American Secession”, Michael Malice argued for a dissolution of the United States, which he says “has spent very few years truly unified”. The idea of a “National Divorce” has only gained more prominence with recent statements by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who suggests dividing the country into Republican “red” states and Democratic “blue” states. But breaking apart the USA would be unconstitutional. Would splitting the USA across ideological lines help or harm the future of the country? ABOUT MICHAEL MALICE Michael Malice is the author of Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il and The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics, and organizer of The Anarchist Handbook. He is also the subject of the graphic novel Ego & Hubris, written by the late Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame. He is the host of “YOUR WELCOME” with Michael Malice. Malice has co-authored books with several prominent personalities, including Made in America (the New York Times best selling autobiography of UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes), Concierge Confidential (one of NPR's top 5 celebrity books of the year) and Black Man, White House (comedian D. L. Hughley's satirical look at the Obama years, also a New York Times best seller). He is also the founding editor of “Overheard in New York.” 「 SPONSORED BY 」 • BIRCH GOLD - Don't let your savings lose value. You can own physical gold and silver in a tax-sheltered retirement account, and Birch Gold will help you do it. Claim your free, no obligation info kit from Birch Gold at https://birchgold.com/drew • GENUCEL - Using a proprietary base formulated by a pharmacist, Genucel has created skincare that can dramatically improve the appearance of facial redness and under-eye puffiness. Genucel uses clinical levels of botanical extracts in their cruelty-free, natural, made-in-the-USA line of products. Get 10% off with promo code DREW at https://genucel.com/drew 「 MEDICAL NOTE 」 The CDC states that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and reduce your risk of severe illness. Hundreds of millions of people have received a COVID-19 vaccine, and serious adverse reactions are uncommon. Dr. Drew is a board-certified physician and Dr. Kelly Victory is a board-certified emergency specialist. Portions of this program will examine countervailing views on important medical issues. You should always consult your personal physician before making any decisions about your health.  「 ABOUT the SHOW 」 Ask Dr. Drew is produced by Kaleb Nation (https://kalebnation.com) and Susan Pinsky (https://twitter.com/firstladyoflove). This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 「 GEAR PROVIDED BY 」 • BLUE MICS - Find your best sound at https://drdrew.com/blue • ELGATO - See how Elgato's lights transformed Dr. Drew's set: https://drdrew.com/sponsors/elgato/ 「 ABOUT DR. DREW 」 For over 30 years, Dr. Drew has answered questions and offered guidance to millions through popular shows like Celebrity Rehab (VH1), Dr. Drew On Call (HLN), Teen Mom OG (MTV), and the iconic radio show Loveline. Now, Dr. Drew is opening his phone lines to the world by streaming LIVE from his home studio. Watch all of Dr. Drew's latest shows at https://drdrew.tv Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvey Pekar talks American Splendor, Sister Mary Assumpta represents the Cleveland Indians, Cats on Holiday play and Laura Taxel of Ethnic Eats presents Gilda & Carla Carnecelli from the Palazzo on Detroit Ave----

The full text of this podcast can be found in the transcript of this edition or at the following link:https://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/2022/11/seek-simplicity-and-distrust-it.htmlPlease feel to post any comments you have about this episode there.Music, "New Heaven", written by Andrew J. Brown and played by Chris Ingham (piano), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Russ Morgan (drums) and Andrew J. Brown (double bass) Thanks for listening. Just to note that all the texts of these podcasts are available on my blog. You'll also find there a brief biography, info about my career as a musician, & some photography. Feel free to drop by & say hello. Email: caute.brown@gmail.com

On this episode of the Criterion CULT Film Podcast we discuss Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru. After we review American Splendor about underground comics writer Harvey Pekar.  

Ever heard of Howard the Duck? Of course you have! It just so happens that today's guest, Val Mayerik, co-created that filthy foul way back in 1973 while working on Man-Thing stories for Marvel's Adventure into Fear comic. While Howard eventually took on a life of his own, Val continued with Man-Thing, a bunch of other supernatural books, and some jungle adventures with Ka-Zar. After forming Upstart Associates with Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, and Jim Starlin, he returned to Howard the Duck with a few issues of the comic book and the short lived comic strip. Val's also contributed art to several card games, including Magic: The Gathering, advertising storyboards, and a bunch of indie comics including Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. It's a weird and wild career, so listen up!_______________________________If you liked this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And tell your friends!Looking for more ways to express your undying DBB love and devotion? Email us at dollarbinbandits@gmail.com. Follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook and Instagram, and @DBBandits on Twitter. 

Ian and David reminisce about the odd, audacious indie scene of the 90s with a look at Owen Kline's Funny Pages!This biting black comedy stars Daniel Zolghadri as Robert, a teenage artist who drops out of high school to pursue a career in comics. While temping for a public defender, Daniel meets Wallace (Matthew Maher), a former color separator for Image Comics who wants nothing to do with the awkward, starry-eyed kid asking him for pointers.In this spoiler-lite conversation, the guys indulge their inner (and, frankly, outer) comics geeks while heaping praise on this hard-to-watch gem, which feels plucked straight out of the pre-millennial arthouse scene--or the grotesquely liberating autobiographical comix of underground pioneers like R. Crumb and Harvey Pekar.Funny Pages is now playing in select theatres and is available On Demand.Show Links:Watch the Funny Pages trailer.Follow David's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.Chicagoans! Catch Funny Pages starting this weekend at the historic Music Box Theatre!Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

In this episode of the Crack House Chronicles, Donnie and Dale are pleased to have special guest James Renner on the show to discuss the murder of Lisa Pruett. James Renner is mostly known for his true-crime journalism. As a reporter for Cleveland Scene, he uncovered new clues and suspects in the cold-case murder of Amy Mihaljevic. His work led to the successful closure of the Tina Harmon case in 2009. He spent months researching the Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus abductions when the girls were still missing and is haunted by the fact that he had Castro's name in his notes. His true crime writing has been featured in the Best American Crime Reporting anthology. His selection was the first true crime article to use a dream sequence as a narrative device. Renner has always been interested in filmmaking, as well. In 2004, Renner directed a short film based on the Stephen King story, All That You Love Will Be Carried Away. King sold him the rights for $1. The movie starred Joe Bob Briggs and the late-great Harvey Pekar. It premiered at the 2005 Montreal World Film Festival. Later that same year, Renner directed a documentary about the influence of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The adventure culminated in a short meeting between Renner and the reclusive author at his home in New Hampshire. In 2012, Renner's debut novel – The Man from Primrose Lane – was published by Sarah Crichton Books. Set in Northeast Ohio, The Man from Primrose Lane blends mystery with scifi in a very unique structure.  The story is currently being adapted for television. Renner's second novel, The Great Forgetting, is a “love letter to conspiracy thrillers.” A new work of nonfiction, True Crime Addict, was published in May by Thomas Dunne Books. The New York Times Sunday Book Review called it “shamelessly entertaining.” James Renner is also the founder of The Porchlight Project, a nonprofit that raises money for new DNA testing of cold cases in Ohio. In 2020, an arrest was made in their first case – the unsolved murder of Barbara Blatnik – thanks to their funding of genetic genealogy.    

The musician and owner of More Fun Comics, DC Harbold teamed up with artist/animator Carlos Mendieta to create a “Clerks” meets “American Splendor”-style comic book series, “Counter Culture,” based on hilarious customer interactions and goings-on in the store. DC’s been collecting the exchanges on social media for years, and now Carlos has brought them to 2D life, with the first issue soon to be released. Tonight they join the Troubled Men for a four-way on art, commerce, and which shoes to shop in. See you in the funny papers. Topics include festival season, an Easter parade, a Billy Nungesser break-in, “Fat City,” “Under the Volcano,” a time change, comic inspiration, cartoon illustration, Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Xanadu Comics, Paul Giamatti, Robert Crumb, swinger parents, Ringling College of Art, clown camp, computer animation, Austin, Rio Hackford RIP, Doctor a’ Go-Go, the Matador, following Dave Attell, an impounded car, Gilbert Gottfried RIP, nerd culture, collectors vs. hoarders, sales ESP, rare comics, a Jim Mahfood cover, a first edition, “Suspicious Minds” a la Shatner, and much more. Intro music: Styler/Coman Break music: "Back In the Old Black" by Bipolaroid Outro music: "In My Cave" from "Back In the Old Black" by Bipolaroid Support the podcast: Paypal or Venmo Join the Patreon page here. Shop for Troubled Men’s Wear here. Subscribe, review, and rate (5 stars) on Apple Podcasts or any podcast source. Follow on social media, share with friends, and spread the Troubled Word. Troubled Men Podcast Facebook Troubled Men Podcast Instagram Iguanas Tour Dates René Coman Facebook DC Harbold Facebook More Fun Comics Facebook Carlos Mendieta Facebook Carlos Mendieta Homepage

We kick off True Stories, a series on autobiographical and nonfiction comics, with a look at Harvey Pekar's American Splendor! While not the first comics work to chronicle the real-life exploits of its creator, American Splendor broke ground as an ongoing series that told an impressively diverse range of stories within the confines of an autobiographical, slice-of-life title. Along the way, it also made him a minor celebrity—first through a series of appearances on Late Night With David Letterman and later via a 2003 feature film starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey. From observational musings about everyday moments to warts-and-all depictions of Pekar's obsessions, grudges and personal foibles, American Splendor helped to redefine what comics could be and do. But is that enough to help it survive on those mean streets known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode! “You're doing a bit!” “This guy's a huge JERK!” What can Wallace Shawn do for ME?!! American Splendor, Crumb and Ghost World Our Cancer Year Join us in two weeks as True Stories continues with Lynda Barry's emphatically punctuated One! Hundred! Demons! Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!

Today marks the debut of the new Moon Knight series on Disney+, and to mark the occasion, we're diving into the career of everyone's favorite multiple-personality Avenger with a look at a few different eras of Moon Knight comics, published by Marvel Comics. First, we review 1980's Moon Knight #1  Doug Moench and Bill Sinkiewicz, followed by a two-part team-up with the Werewolf By Night in Moon Knight #29-30! Then it's a look at 2011's 12-issue run by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, and we wrap up with the mysterious Mr. Knight as depicted by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey. Join us as we ask the burning questions: Why hasn't the Fist of Khonshu broken into the A-list of Marvel heroes? And can any of these stories break into that subterranean tomb of the comic-book gods known as ... The Comics Canon? In This Episode! The worst Moon Knight premise EVER A note about Warren Ellis The Midnight Mission and Lunatic Makhno: Ukranian Freedom Fighter Doc Savage Vol. 2 (1975-77) The Shadow: Blood and Judgment Synchronic Once Upon a Monster of the Week Join us in two weeks as we kick off True Stories, a new miniseries, with a look at selected works from Harvey Pekar's American Splendor! Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook! And as always, thanks for listening!

Episode one hundred and thirty-nine of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Eight Miles High” by the Byrds, and the influence of jazz and Indian music on psychedelic rock. This is a long one... Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this time, as there were multiple artists with too many songs. Information on John Coltrane came from Coltrane by Ben Ratliffe, while information on Ravi Shankar came from Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar by Oliver Craske. For information on the Byrds, I relied mostly on Timeless Flight Revisited by Johnny Rogan, with some information from Chris Hillman's autobiography. This dissertation looks at the influence of Slonimsky on Coltrane. All Coltrane's music is worth getting, but this 5-CD set containing Impressions is the most relevant cheap selection of his material for these purposes. This collection has the Shankar material released in the West up to 1962. And this three-CD set is a reasonable way of getting most of the Byrds' important recordings. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript This episode is the second part of a loose trilogy of episodes set in LA in 1966. We're going to be spending a *lot* of time around LA and Hollywood for the next few months -- seven of the next thirteen episodes are based there, and there'll be more after that. But it's going to take a while to get there. This is going to be an absurdly long episode, because in order to get to LA in 1966 again, we're going to have to start off in the 1940s in New York, and take a brief detour to India. Because in order to explain this: [Excerpt: The Byrds, "Eight Miles High"] We're first going to have to explain this: [Excerpt: John Coltrane, "India (#3)"] Before we begin this, I just want to say something. This episode runs long, and covers a *lot* of musical ground, and as part of that it covers several of the most important musicians of the twentieth century -- but musicians in the fields of jazz, which is a music I know something about, but am not an expert in, and Hindustani classical music, which is very much not even close to my area of expertise. It also contains a chunk of music theory, which again, I know a little about -- but only really enough to know how much I don't know. I am going to try to get the information about these musicians right, but I want to emphasise that at times I will be straying *vastly* out of my lane, in ways that may well seem like they're minimising these musicians. I am trying to give just enough information about them to tell the story, and I would urge anyone who becomes interested in the music I talk about in the early parts of this episode to go out and find more expert sources to fill in the gap. And conversely, if you know more about these musics than I do, please forgive any inaccuracies. I am going to do my best to get all of this right, because accuracy is important, but I suspect that every single sentence in the first hour or so of this episode could be footnoted with something pointing out all the places where what I've said is only somewhat true. Also, I apologise if I mispronounce any names or words in this episode, though I've tried my best to get it right -- I've been unable to find recordings of some words and names being spoken, while with others I've heard multiple versions. To tell today's story, we're going to have to go right back to some things we looked at in the first episode, on "Flying Home". For those of you who don't remember -- which is fair enough, since that episode was more than three years ago -- in that episode we looked at a jazz record by the Benny Goodman Sextet, which was one of the earliest popular recordings to feature electric guitar: [Excerpt: The Benny Goodman Sextet, "Flying Home"] Now, we talked about quite a lot of things in that episode which have played out in later episodes, but one thing we only mentioned in passing, there or later, was a style of music called bebop. We did talk about how Charlie Christian, the guitarist on that record, was one of the innovators of that style, but we didn't really go into what it was properly. Indeed, I deliberately did not mention in that episode something that I was saving until now, because we actually heard *two* hugely influential bebop musicians in that episode,  and I was leaving the other one to talk about here. In that episode we saw how Lionel Hampton, the Benny Goodman band's vibraphone player, went on to form his own band, and how that band became one of the foundational influences for the genres that became known as jump blues and R&B. And we especially noted the saxophone solo on Hampton's remake of "Flying Home", played by Illinois Jacquet: [Excerpt: Lionel Hampton, "Flying Home"] We mentioned in that episode how Illinois Jacquet's saxophone solo there set the template for all tenor sax playing in R&B and rock and roll music for decades to come -- his honking style became quite simply how you play rock and roll or R&B saxophone, and without that solo you don't have any of the records by Fats Domino, Little Richard, the Coasters, or a dozen other acts that we discussed. But what we didn't look at in that episode is that that is a big band record, so of course there is more than just one saxophone player on it. And one of the other saxophone players on that recording is Dexter Gordon, a musician who was originally from LA. Those of you with long memories will remember that back in the first year or so of the podcast we talked a lot about the music programme at Jefferson High School in LA, and about Samuel Browne, the music teacher whose music programme gave the world the Coasters, the Penguins, the Platters, Etta James, Art Farmer, Richard Berry, Big Jay McNeely, Barry White, and more other important musicians than I can possibly name here. Gordon was yet another of Browne's students -- one who Browne regularly gave detention to, just to make him practice his scales. Gordon didn't get much chance to shine in the Lionel Hampton band, because he was only second tenor, with Jacquet taking many of the solos. But he was learning from playing in a band with Jacquet, and while Gordon didn't ever develop a honk like Jacquet's, he did adopt some of Jacquet's full tone in his own sound. There aren't many recordings of Gordon playing solos in his early years, because they coincided with the American Federation of Musicians' recording strike that we talked about in those early episodes, but he did record a few sessions in 1943 for a label small enough not to be covered by the ban, and you can hear something of Jacquet's tone in those recordings, along with the influence of Lester Young, who influenced all tenor sax players at this time: [Excerpt: Nat "King" Cole with Dexter Gordon, "I've Found a New Baby"] The piano player on that session, incidentally, is Nat "King" Cole, when he was still one of the most respected jazz pianists on the scene, before he switched primarily to vocals. And Gordon took this Jacquet-influenced tone, and used it to become the second great saxophone hero of bebop music, after Charlie Parker -- and the first great tenor sax hero of the music. I've mentioned bebop before on several occasions, but never really got into it in detail. It was a style that developed in New York in the mid to late forties, and a lot of the earliest examples of it went unrecorded thanks to that musicians' strike, but the style emphasised small groups improvising together, and expanding their sense of melody and harmony. The music prized virtuosity and musical intelligence over everything else, and was fast and jittery-sounding. The musicians would go on long, extended, improvisations, incorporating ideas both from the blues and from the modern classical music of people like Bartok and Stravinsky, which challenged conventional tonality. In particular, one aspect which became prominent in bebop music was a type of scale known as the bebop scale. In most of the music we've looked at in this podcast to this point, the scales used have been seven-note scales -- do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti- which make an octave with a second, higher, do tone. So in the scale of C major we have C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and then another C: [demonstrates] Bebop scales, on the other hand, would generally have an extra note in, making an eight-note scale, by adding in what is called a chromatic passing note. For example, a typical bebop C major scale might add in the note G#, so the scale would go C,D,E,F,G,G#, A, B, C: [demonstrates] You'd play this extra note for the most part, when moving between the two notes it's between, so in that scale you'd mostly use it when moving from G to A, or from A to G. Now I'm far from a bebop player, so this won't sound like bebop, but I can demonstrate the kind of thing if I first noodle a little scalar melody in the key of C major: [demonstrates] And then play the same thing, but adding in a G# every time I go between the G and the A in either direction: [demonstrates] That is not bebop music, but I hope you can see what a difference that chromatic passing tone makes to the melody. But again, that's not bebop, because I'm not a bebop player. Dexter Gordon, though, *was* a bebop player. He moved to New York while playing with Louis Armstrong's band, and soon became part of the bebop scene, which at the time centred around Charlie Christian, the trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie, and the alto sax player Charlie Parker, sometimes nicknamed "bird" or "Yardbird", who is often regarded as the greatest of them all. Gillespie, Parker, and Gordon also played in Billy Eckstine's big band, which gave many of the leading bebop musicians the opportunity to play in what was still the most popular idiom at the time -- you can hear Gordon have a saxophone battle with Gene Ammons on "Blowing the Blues Away" in a lineup of the band that also included Art Blakey on drums and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet: [Excerpt: Billy Eckstine, "Blowing the Blues Away"] But Gordon was soon leading his own small band sessions, and making records for labels like Savoy, on which you can definitely hear the influence of Illinois Jacquet on his tone, even as he's playing music that's more melodically experimental by far than the jump band music of the Hampton band: [Excerpt: Dexter Gordon, "Dexter Digs In"] Basically, in the late 1940s, if you were wanting to play bebop on the saxophone, you had two models to follow -- Charlie Parker, the great alto saxophonist with his angular, atonal, melodic sense and fast, virtuosic, playing, or Dexter Gordon, the tenor saxophonist, whose style had more R&B grease and wit to it, who would quote popular melodies in his own improvisations. And John Coltrane followed both. Coltrane's first instrument was the alto sax, and when he was primarily an alto player he would copy Charlie Parker's style. When he switched to being primarily a tenor player -- though he would always continue playing both instruments, and later in his career would also play soprano sax -- he took up much of Gordon's mellower tone, though he was also influenced by other tenor players, like Lester Young, the great player with Count Basie's band, and Johnny Hodges, who played with Duke Ellington. Now, it is important to note here that John Coltrane is a very, very, big deal. Depending on your opinion of Ornette Coleman's playing, Coltrane is by most accounts either the last or penultimate truly great innovator in jazz saxophone, and arguably the single foremost figure in the music in the last half of the twentieth century. In this podcast I'm only able to tell you enough about him to give you the information you need to understand the material about the Byrds, but were I to do a similar history of jazz in five hundred songs, Coltrane would have a similar position to someone like the Beatles -- he's such a major figure that he is literally venerated as a saint by the African Orthodox Church, and a couple of other Episcopal churches have at least made the case for his sainthood. So anything I say here about him is not even beginning to scratch the surface of his towering importance to jazz music, but it will, I hope, give some idea of his importance to the development of the Byrds -- a group of whom he was almost certainly totally unaware. Coltrane started out playing as a teenager, and his earliest recordings were when he was nineteen and in the armed forces, just after the end of World War II. At that time, he was very much a beginner, although a talented one, and on his early amateur recordings you can hear him trying to imitate Parker without really knowing what it was that Parker was doing that made him so great. But as well as having some natural talent, he had one big attribute that made him stand out -- his utter devotion to his music. He was so uninterested in anything other than mastering his instrument that one day a friend was telling him about a baseball game he'd watched, and all Coltrane could do was ask in confusion "Who's Willie Mays?" Coltrane would regularly practice his saxophone until his reed was red with blood, but he would also study other musicians. And not just in jazz. He knew that Charlie Parker had intensely studied Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, and so Coltrane would study that too: [Excerpt: Stravinsky, "Firebird Suite"] Coltrane joined the band of Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, who was one of those figures like Johnny Otis, with whom Vinson would later perform for many years, who straddled the worlds of jazz and R&B. Vinson was a blues shouter in the style of Big Joe Turner, but he was also a bebop sax player, and what he wanted was a tenor sax player who could play tenor the way Charlie Parker played alto, but do it in an R&B setting. Coltrane switched from alto to tenor, and spent a year or so playing with Vinson's band. No recordings exist of Coltrane with Vinson that I'm aware of, but you can get an idea of what he sounded like from his next band. By this point, Dizzy Gillespie had graduated from small bebop groups to leading a big band, and he got Coltrane in as one of his alto players, though Coltrane would often also play tenor with Gillespie, as on this recording from 1951, which has Coltrane on tenor, Gillespie on trumpet, with Kenny Burrell and two of the future Modern Jazz Quartet, Milt Jackson and Percy Heath, showing that the roots of modern jazz were not very far at all from the roots of rock and roll: [Excerpt: Dizzy Gillespie, "We Love to Boogie"] After leaving Gillespie's band, Coltrane played with a lot of important musicians over the next four or five years, like Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic, and Jimmy Smith, and occasionally sat in with Miles Davis, but at this point he was still not a major musician in the genre. He was a competent, working, sideman, but he was also struggling with alcohol and heroin, and hadn't really found his own voice. But then Miles Davis asked Coltrane to join his band full-time. Coltrane was actually Davis' second choice -- he really wanted Sonny Rollins, who was widely considered the best new tenor player around, but he was eventually persuaded to take Coltrane. During his first period with Davis, Coltrane grew rapidly as a musician, and also played on a *lot* of other people's sessions. In a three year period Coltrane went from Davis to Thelonius Monk's group then back to Davis' group, and also recorded as both a sideman and a band leader on a ton of sessions. You can get a box set of his recordings from May 1956 through December 1958 that comes to nineteen CDs -- and that's not counting the recordings with Miles Davis, which aren't included on that set. Unsurprisingly, just through playing this much, Coltrane had grown enormously as a player, and he was particularly fascinated by harmonics, playing with the notes of a chord, in arpeggios, and pushing music to its harmonic limits, as you can hear in his solo on Davis' "Straight, No Chaser", which pushes the limits of the jazz solo as far as they'd gone to that point: [Excerpt: Miles Davis, "Straight, No Chaser"] But on the same album as that, "Milestones", we also have the first appearance of a new style, modal jazz. Now, to explain this, we have to go back to the scales again. We looked at the normal Western scale, do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do, but you can start a scale on any of those notes, and which note you start on creates what is called a different mode. The modes are given Greek names, and each mode has a different feel to it. If you start on do, we call this the major scale or the Ionian mode. This is the normal scale we heard before -- C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C: [demonstrates] Most music – about seventy percent of the melodies you're likely to have heard, uses that mode. If you start on re, it would go re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do-re, or D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D, the Dorian mode: [demonstrates] Melodies with this mode tend to have a sort of wistful feel, like "Scarborough Fair": [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "Scarborough Fair"] or many of George Harrison's songs: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I Me Mine"] Starting on mi, you have the Phrygian mode, mi-fa-so-la-ti-do-re-mi: [demonstrates] The Phrygian mode is not especially widely used, but does turn up in some popular works like Barber's Adagio for Strings: [Excerpt: Barber, "Adagio for Strings"] Then there's the Lydian mode, fa-so-la-ti-do-re-mi-fa: [demonstrates] This mode isn't used much at all in pop music -- the most prominent example I can think of is "Pretty Ballerina" by the Left Banke: [Excerpt: The Left Banke, "Pretty Ballerina"] Starting on so, we have so-la-ti-do-re-mi-fa-so -- the Mixolydian mode: [demonstrates] That mode has a sort of bluesy or folky tone to it, and you also find it in a lot of traditional tunes, like "She Moves Through the Fair": [Excerpt: Davey Graham, "She Moved Thru' The Bizarre/Blue Raga"] And in things like "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Norwegian Wood"] Though that goes into Dorian for the middle section. Starting on la, we have the Aeolian mode, which is also known as the natural minor scale, and is often just talked about as “the minor scale”: [demonstrates] That's obviously used in innumerable songs, for example "Losing My Religion" by REM: [Excerpt: REM, "Losing My Religion"] And finally you have the Locrian mode ti-do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti: [demonstrates] That basically doesn't get used, unless someone wants to show off that they know the Locrian mode. The only vaguely familiar example I can think of is "Army of Me" by Bjork: [Excerpt: Bjork, "Army of Me"] I hope that brief excursion through the seven most common modes in Western diatonic music gives you some idea of the difference that musical modes can make to a piece. Anyway, as I was saying, on the "Milestones" album, we get some of the first examples of a form that became known as modal jazz. Now, the ideas of modal jazz had been around for a few years at that point -- oddly, it seems to be one of the first types of popular music to have existed in theory before existing in practice. George Russell, an acquaintance of Davis who was a self-taught music theorist, had written a book in 1953 titled The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. That book argues that rather than looking at the diatonic scale as the basis for music, one should instead look at a chord progression called the circle of fifths. The circle of fifths is exactly what it sounds like -- you change chords to one a fifth away from it, and then do that again and again, either going up, so you'd have chords with the roots C-G-D-A-E-B-F# and so on: [demonstrates] Or, more commonly, going down, though usually when going downwards you tend to cheat a bit and sharpen one of the notes so you can stay in one key, so you'd get chords with roots C-F-B-E-A-D-G, usually the chords C, F, B diminished, Em, Am, Dm, G: [demonstrates] That descending cycle of fifths is used in all sorts of music, everything from "You Never Give Me Your Money" by the Beatles: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "You Never Give Me Your Money"] to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor: [Excerpt: Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive"] But what Russell pointed out is that if you do the upwards cycle of fifths, and you *don't* change any of the notes, the first seven root notes you get are the same seven notes you'd find in the Lydian mode, just reordered -- C-D-E-F#-G-A-B . Russell then argued that much of the way harmony and melody work in jazz could be thought of as people experimenting with the way the Lydian mode works, and the way the cycle of fifths leads you further and further away from the tonal centre. Now, you could probably do an entire podcast series as long as this one on the implications of this, and I am honestly just trying to summarise enough information here that you can get a vague gist, but Russell's book had a profound effect on how jazz musicians started to think about harmony and melody. Instead of improvising around the chord changes to songs, they were now basing improvisations and compositions around modes and the notes in them. Rather than having a lot of chord changes, you might just play a single root note that stays the same throughout, or only changes a couple of times in the whole piece, and just imply changes with the clash between the root note and whatever modal note the solo instrument is playing. The track "Milestones" on the Milestones album shows this kind of thinking in full effect -- the song consists of a section in G Dorian, followed by a section in A Aeolian (or E Phrygian depending on how you look at it). Each section has only one implied chord -- a Gm7 for the G Dorian section, and an Am7(b13) for the A Aeolian section -- over which Davis, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, and Coltrane on tenor, all solo: [Excerpt: Miles Davis, "Milestones"] (For the pedants among you, that track was originally titled "Miles" on the first pressings of the album, but it was retitled "Milestones" on subsequent pressings). The modal form would be taken even further on Davis' next album to be recorded, Porgy and Bess, which featured much fuller orchestrations and didn't have Coltrane on it. Davis later said that when the arranger Gil Evans wrote the arrangements for that album, he didn't write any chords at all, just a scale, which Davis could improvise around. But it was on the album after that, Kind of Blue, which again featured Coltrane on saxophone, that modal jazz made its big breakthrough to becoming the dominant form of jazz music. As with what Evans had done on Porgy and Bess, Davis gave the other instrumentalists modes to play, rather than a chord sequence to improvise over or a melody line to play with. He explained his thinking behind this in an interview with Nat Hentoff, saying "When you're based on chords, you know at the end of 32 bars that the chords have run out and there's nothing to do but repeat what you've just done—with variations. I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords ... there will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them." This style shows up in "So What", the opening track on the album, which is in some ways a very conventional song structure -- it's a thirty-two bar AABA structure. But instead of a chord sequence, it's based on modes in two keys -- the A section is in D Dorian, while the B section is in E-flat Dorian: [Excerpt: Miles Davis, "So What"] Kind of Blue would become one of the contenders for greatest jazz album of all time, and one of the most influential records ever made in any genre -- and it could be argued that that track we just heard, "So What", inspired a whole other genre we'll be looking at in a future episode -- but Coltrane still felt the need to explore more ideas, and to branch out on his own. In particular, while he was interested in modal music, he was also interested in exploring more kinds of scales than just modes, and to do this he had to, at least for the moment, reintroduce chord changes into what he was doing. He was inspired in particular by reading Nicolas Slonimsky's classic Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. Coltrane had recently signed a new contract as a solo artist with Atlantic Records, and recorded what is generally considered his first true masterpiece album as a solo artist, Giant Steps, with several members of the Davis band, just two weeks after recording Kind of Blue. The title track to Giant Steps is the most prominent example of what are known in jazz as the Coltrane changes -- a cycle of thirds, similar to the cycle of fifths we talked about earlier. The track itself seems to have two sources. The first is the bridge of the old standard "Have You Met Miss Jones?", as famously played by Coleman Hawkins: [Excerpt: Coleman Hawkins, "Have You Met Miss Jones?" And the second is an exercise from Slonimsky's book: [Excerpt: Pattern #286 from Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns] Coltrane combined these ideas to come up with "Giant Steps", which is based entirely around these cycles of thirds, and Slonimsky's example: [Excerpt: John Coltrane, "Giant Steps"] Now, I realise that this is meant to be a history of rock music, not jazz musicology theory time, so I promise you I am just hitting the high points here. And only the points that affect Coltrane's development as far as it influenced the music we're looking at in this episode. And so we're actually going to skip over Coltrane's commercial high-point, My Favourite Things, and most of the rest of his work for Atlantic, even though that music is some of the most important jazz music ever recorded. Instead, I'm going to summarise a whole lot of very important music by simply saying that while Coltrane was very interested in this musical idea of the cycle of thirds, he did not like being tied to precise chord changes, and liked the freedom that modal jazz gave to him. By 1960, when his contract with Atlantic was ending and his contract with Impulse was beginning, and he recorded the two albums Olé and Africa/Brass pretty much back to back, he had hit on a new style with the help of Eric Dolphy, a flute, clarinet, and alto sax player who would become an important figure in Coltrane's life. Dolphy died far too young -- he went into a diabetic coma and doctors assumed that because he was a Black jazz musician he must have overdosed, even though he was actually a teetotal abstainer, so he didn't get the treatment he needed -- but he made such a profound influence on Coltrane's life that Coltrane would carry Dolphy's picture with him after his death. Dolphy was even more of a theorist than Coltrane, and another devotee of Slonimsky's book, and he was someone who had studied a great deal of twentieth-century classical music, particularly people like Bartok, Messiaen, Stravinsky, Charles Ives, and Edgard Varese. Dolphy even performed Varese's piece Density 21.5 in concert, an extremely demanding piece for solo flute. I don't know of a recording of Dolphy performing it, sadly, but this version should give some idea: [Excerpt: Edgard Varese, "Density 21.5"] Encouraged by Dolphy, Coltrane started making music based around no changes at all, with any changes being implied by the melody. The title song of Africa/Brass, "Africa", takes up an entire side of one album, and doesn't have a single actual chord change on it, with Dolphy and pianist McCoy Tyner coming up with a brass-heavy arrangement for Coltrane to improvise over a single chord: [Excerpt: The John Coltrane Quartet: "Africa"] This was a return to the idea of modal jazz, based on scales rather than chord changes, but by implying chord changes, often changes based on thirds, Coltrane was often using different scales than the modes that had been used in modal jazz. And while, as the title suggested, "Africa" was inspired by the music of Africa, the use of a single drone chord underneath solos based on a scale was inspired by the music of another continent altogether. Since at least the mid-1950s, both Coltrane and Dolphy had been interested in Indian music. They appear to have first become interested in a record released by Folkways, Music Of India, Morning And Evening Ragas by Ali Akbar Khan: [Excerpt: Ali Akbar Khan, "Rag Sindhi Bhairavi"] But the musician they ended up being most inspired by was a friend of Khan's, Ravi Shankar, who like Khan had been taught by the great sarod player Alauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan's father. The elder Khan, who was generally known as "Baba", meaning "father", was possibly *the* most influential Indian musician of the first half of the twentieth century, and was a big part of the revitalisation of Indian music that went hand in hand with the growth of Indian nationalism. He was an ascetic who lived for music and nothing else, and would write five to ten new compositions every day, telling Shankar "Do one thing well and you can achieve everything. Do everything and you achieve nothing". Alauddin Khan was a very religious Muslim, but one who saw music as the ultimate way to God and could find truths in other faiths. When Shankar first got to know him, they were both touring as musicians in a dance troupe run by Shankar's elder brother, which was promoting Indian arts in the West, and he talked about taking Khan to hear the organ playing at Notre Dame cathedral, and Khan bursting into tears and saying "here is God". Khan was not alone in this view. The classical music of Northern India, the music that Khan played and taught, had been very influenced by Sufism, which was for most of Muslim history the dominant intellectual and theological tradition in Islam. Now, I am going to sum up a thousand years of theology and practice, of a religion I don't belong to, in a couple of sentences here, so just assume that what I'm saying is wrong, and *please* don't take offence if you are Sufi yourself and believe I am misrepresenting you. But my understanding of Sufism is that Sufis are extremely devoted to attaining knowledge and understanding of God, and believe that strict adherence to Muslim law is the best way to attain that knowledge -- that it is the way that God himself has prescribed for humans to know him -- but that such knowledge can be reached by people of other faiths if they approach their own traditions with enough devotion. Sufi ideas infuse much of Northern Indian classical music, and so for example it has been considered acceptable for Muslims to sing Hindu religious music and Hindus to sing songs of praise to Allah. So while Ravi Shankar was Hindu and Alauddin Khan was Muslim, Khan was able to become Shankar's guru in what both men regarded as a religious observance, and even to marry Khan's daughter. Khan was a famously cruel disciplinarian -- once hospitalising a student after hitting him with a tuning hammer -- but he earned the devotion of his students by enforcing the same discipline on himself. He abstained from sex so he could put all his energies into music, and was known to tie his hair to the ceiling while he practiced, so he could not fall asleep no matter how long he kept playing. Both Khan and his son Ali Akhbar Khan played the sarod, while Shankar played the sitar, but they all played the same kind of music, which is based on the concept of the raga. Now, in some ways, a raga can be considered equivalent to a mode in Western music: [Excerpt: Ali Akbar Khan, "Rag Sindhi Bhairavi"] But a raga is not *just* a mode -- it sits somewhere between Western conceptions of a mode and a melody. It has a scale, like a mode, but it can have different scales going up or down, and rules about which notes can be moved to from which other notes. So for example (and using Western tones so as not to confuse things further), a raga might say that it's possible to move up from the note G to D, but not down from D to G. Ragas are essentially a very restrictive set of rules which allow the musician playing them to improvise freely within those rules. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the violinist Yehudi Mehuin, at the time the most well-known classical musician in the world, had become fascinated by Indian music as part of a wider programme of his to learn more music outside what he regarded as the overly-constricting scope of the Western classical tradition in which he had been trained. He had become a particular fan of Shankar, and had invited him over to the US to perform. Shankar had refused to come at that point, sending his brother-in-law Ali Akbar Khan over, as he was in the middle of a difficult divorce, and that had been when Khan had recorded that album which had fascinated Coltrane and Dolphy. But Shankar soon followed himself, and made his own records: [Excerpt: Ravi Shankar, "Raga Hamsadhwani"] The music that both Khan and Shankar played was a particular style of Hindustani classical music, which has three elements -- there's a melody instrument, in Shankar's case the sitar and in Khan's the sarod, both of them fretted stringed instruments which have additional strings that resonate along with the main melody string, giving their unique sound. These are the most distinctive Indian instruments, but the melody can be played on all sorts of other instruments, whether Indian instruments like the bansuri and shehnai, which are very similar to the flute and oboe respectively, or Western instruments like the violin. Historically, the melody has also often been sung rather than played, but Indian instrumental music has had much more influence on Western popular music than Indian vocal music has, so we're mostly looking at that here. Along with the melody instrument there's a percussion instrument, usually the tabla, which is a pair of hand drums. Rather than keep a steady, simple, beat like the drum kit in rock music, the percussion has its own patterns and cycles, called talas, which like ragas are heavily formalised but leave a great amount of room for improvisation. The percussion and the melody are in a sort of dialogue with each other, and play off each other in a variety of ways. And finally there's the drone instrument, usually a stringed instrument called a tamboura. The drone is what it sounds like -- a single note, sustained and repeated throughout the piece, providing a harmonic grounding for the improvisations of the melody instrument. Sometimes, rather than just a single root note, it will be a root and fifth, providing a single chord to improvise over, but as often it will be just one note. Often that note will be doubled at the octave, so you might have a drone on both low E and high E. The result provides a very strict, precise, formal, structure for an infinitely varied form of expression, and Shankar was a master of it: [Excerpt: Ravi Shankar, "Raga Hamsadhwani"] Dolphy and, especially, Coltrane became fascinated by Indian music, and Coltrane desperately wanted to record with Shankar -- he even later named his son Ravi in honour of the great musician. It wasn't just the music as music, but music as spiritual practice, that Coltrane was engaged with. He was a deeply religious man but one who was open to multiple faith traditions -- he had been brought up as a Methodist, and both his grandfathers were ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, but his first wife, Naima, who inspired his personal favourite of his own compositions, was a Muslim, while his second wife, Swamini Turiyasangitananda (who he married after leaving Naima in 1963 and who continued to perform as Alice Coltrane even after she took that name, and was herself an extraordinarily accomplished jazz musician on both piano and harp), was a Hindu, and both of them profoundly influenced Coltrane's own spirituality. Some have even suggested that Coltrane's fascination with a cycle of thirds came from the idea that the third could represent both the Christian Trinity and the Hindu trimurti -- the three major forms of Brahman in Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. So a music which was a religious discipline for more than one religion, and which worked well with the harmonic and melodic ideas that Coltrane had been exploring in jazz and learning about through his studies of modern classical music, was bound to appeal to Coltrane, and he started using the idea of having two basses provide an octave drone similar to that of the tamboura, leading to tracks like "Africa" and "Olé": [Excerpt: John Coltrane, "Olé"] Several sources have stated that that song was an influence on "Light My Fire" by the Doors, and I can sort of see that, though most of the interviews I've seen with Ray Manzarek have him talking about Coltrane's earlier version of "My Favourite Things" as the main influence there. Coltrane finally managed to meet with Shankar in December 1961, and spent a lot of time with him -- the two discussed recording an album together with McCoy Tyner, though nothing came of it. Shankar said of their several meetings that month: "The music was fantastic. I was much impressed, but one thing distressed me. There was turbulence in the music that gave me a negative feeling at times, but I could not quite put my finger on the trouble … Here was a creative person who had become a vegetarian, who was studying yoga, and reading the Bhagavad-Gita, yet in whose music I still heard much turmoil. I could not understand it." Coltrane said in turn "I like Ravi Shankar very much. When I hear his music, I want to copy it – not note for note of course, but in his spirit. What brings me closest to Ravi is the modal aspect of his art. Currently, at the particular stage I find myself in, I seem to be going through a modal phase … There's a lot of modal music that is played every day throughout the world. It is particularly evident in Africa, but if you look at Spain or Scotland, India or China, you'll discover this again in each case … It's this universal aspect of music that interests me and attracts me; that's what I'm aiming for." And the month before Coltrane met Shankar, Coltrane had had a now-legendary residency at the Village Vanguard in New York with his band, including Dolphy, which had resulted not only in the famous Live at the Village Vanguard album, but in two tracks on Coltrane's studio album Impressions. Those shows were among the most controversial in the history of jazz, though the Village Vanguard album is now often included in lists of the most important records in jazz. Downbeat magazine, the leading magazine for jazz fans at the time, described those shows as "musical nonsense" and "a horrifying demonstration of what appears to be a growing anti-jazz trend" -- though by the time Impressions came out in 1963, that opinion had been revised somewhat. Harvey Pekar, the comic writer and jazz critic, also writing in DownBeat, gave Impressions five stars, saying "Not all the music on this album is excellent (which is what a five-star rating signifies,) but some is more than excellent". And while among Coltrane fans the piece from these Village Vanguard shows that is of most interest is the extended blues masterpiece "Chasin' the Trane" which takes up a whole side of the Village Vanguard LP, for our purposes we're most interested in one of the two tracks that was held over for Impressions. This was another of Coltrane's experiments in using the drones he'd found in Indian musical forms, like "Africa" and "Olé". This time it was also inspired by a specific piece of music, though not an instrumental one. Rather it was a vocal performance -- a recording on a Folkways album of Pandita Ramji Shastri Dravida chanting one of the Vedas, the religious texts which are among the oldest texts sacred to any surviving religion: [Excerpt: Pandita Ramji Shastri Dravida, "Vedic Chanting"] Coltrane took that basic melodic idea, and combined it with his own modal approach to jazz, and the inspiration he was taking from Shankar's music, and came up with a piece called "India": [Excerpt: John Coltrane, "India"] Which is where we came in, isn't it? [Excerpt: The Byrds, "Eight Miles High"] So now, finally, we get to the Byrds. Even before "Mr. Tambourine Man" went to number one in the charts, the Byrds were facing problems with their sound being co-opted as the latest hip thing. Their location in LA, at the centre of the entertainment world, was obviously a huge advantage to them in many ways, but it also made them incredibly visible to people who wanted to hop onto a bandwagon. The group built up much of their fanbase playing at Ciro's -- the nightclub on the Sunset Strip that we mentioned in the previous episode which later reopened as It's Boss -- and among those in the crowd were Sonny and Cher. And Sonny brought along his tape recorder. The Byrds' follow-up single to "Mr. Tambourine Man", released while that song was still going up the charts, was another Dylan song, "All I Really Want to Do". But it had to contend with this: [Excerpt: Cher, "All I Really Want to Do"] Cher's single, produced by Sonny, was her first solo single since the duo had become successful, and came out before the Byrds' version, and the Byrds were convinced that elements of the arrangement, especially the guitar part, came from the version they'd been performing live – though of course Sonny was no stranger to jangly guitars himself, having co-written “Needles and Pins”, the song that pretty much invented the jangle. Cher made number fifteen on the charts, while the Byrds only made number forty. Their version did beat Cher's in the UK charts, though. The record company was so worried about the competition that for a while they started promoting the B-side as the A-side. That B-side was an original by Gene Clark, though one that very clearly showed the group's debt to the Searchers: [Excerpt: The Byrds, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better"] While it was very obviously derived from the Searchers' version of "Needles and Pins", especially the riff, it was still a very strong, original, piece of work in its own right. It was the song that convinced the group's producer, Terry Melcher, that they were a serious proposition as artists in their own right, rather than just as performers of Dylan's material, and it was also a favourite of the group's co-manager, Jim Dickson, who picked out Clark's use of the word "probably" in the chorus as particularly telling -- the singer thinks he will feel better when the subject of the song is gone, but only probably. He's not certain. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", after being promoted as the A-side for a short time, reached number one hundred and two on the charts, but the label quickly decided to re-flip it and concentrate on promoting the Dylan song as the single. The group themselves weren't too bothered about their thunder having been stolen by Sonny and Cher, but their new publicist was incandescent. Derek Taylor had been a journalist for the Daily Express, which at that time was a respectable enough newspaper (though that is very much no longer the case). He'd become involved in the music industry after writing an early profile on the Beatles, at which point he had been taken on by the Beatles' organisation first to ghostwrite George Harrison's newspaper column and Brian Epstein's autobiography, and then as their full-time publicist and liner-note writer. He'd left the organisation at the end of 1964, and had moved to the US, where he had set up as an independent music publicist, working for the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and various other acts in their overlapping social circles, such as Paul Revere and the Raiders. Taylor was absolutely furious on the group's behalf, saying "I was not only disappointed, I was disgusted. Sonny and Cher went to Ciro's and ripped off the Byrds and, being obsessive, I could not get this out of my mind that Sonny and Cher had done this terrible thing. I didn't know that much about the record business and, in my experience with the Beatles, cover versions didn't make any difference. But by covering the Byrds, it seemed that you could knock them off the perch. And Sonny and Cher, in my opinion, stole that song at Ciro's and interfered with the Byrds' career and very nearly blew them out of the game." But while the single was a comparative flop, the Mr. Tambourine Man album, which came out shortly after, was much more successful. It contained the A and B sides of both the group's first two singles, although a different vocal take of "All I Really Want to Do" was used from the single release, along with two more Dylan covers, and a couple more originals -- five of the twelve songs on the album were original in total, three of them Gene Clark solo compositions and the other two co-written by Clark and Roger McGuinn. To round it out there was a version of the 1939 song "We'll Meet Again", made famous by Vera Lynn, which you may remember us discussing in episode ninety as an example of early synthesiser use, but which had recently become popular in a rerecorded version from the 1950s, thanks to its use at the end of Dr. Strangelove; there was a song written by Jackie DeShannon; and "The Bells of Rhymney", a song in which Pete Seeger set a poem about a mining disaster in Wales to music. So a fairly standard repertoire for early folk-rock, though slightly heavier on Dylan than most. While the group's Hollywood notoriety caused them problems like the Sonny and Cher one, it did also give them advantages. For example, they got to play at the fourth of July party hosted by Jane Fonda, to guests including her father Henry and brother Peter, Louis Jordan, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, and Sidney Poitier. Derek Taylor, who was used to the Beatles' formal dress and politeness at important events, imposed on them by Brian Epstein, was shocked when the Byrds turned up informally dressed, and even more shocked when Vito Paulekas and Carl Franzoni showed up. Vito (who was always known by his first name) and Franzoni are both important but marginal figures in the LA scene. Neither were musicians, though Vito did make one record, produced by Kim Fowley: [Excerpt: Vito and the Hands, "Vito and the Hands"] Rather Vito was a sculptor in his fifties, who had become part of the rock and roll scene and had gathered around him a dance troupe consisting largely of much younger women, and also of himself and Franzoni. Their circle, which also included Arthur Lee and Bryan MacLean, who weren't part of their dance troupe but were definitely part of their crowd, will be talked about much more in future episodes, but for now we'll just say that they are often considered proto-hippies, though they would have disputed that characterisation themselves quite vigorously; that they were regular dancers at Ciro's and became regular parts of the act of both the Byrds and the Mothers of Invention; and we'll give this rather explicit description of their performances from Frank Zappa: "The high point of the performance was Carl Franzoni, our 'go-go boy.' He was wearing ballet tights, frugging violently. Carl has testicles which are bigger than a breadbox. Much bigger than a breadbox. The looks on the faces of the Baptist teens experiencing their grandeur is a treasured memory." Paints a vivid picture, doesn't it? So you can possibly imagine why Derek Taylor later said "When Carl Franzoni and Vito came, I got into a terrible panic". But Jim Dickson explained to him that it was Hollywood and people were used to that kind of thing, and even though Taylor described seeing Henry Fonda and his wife pinned against the wall by the writhing Franzoni and the other dancers, apparently everyone had a good time. And then the next month, the group went on their first UK tour. On which nobody had a good time: [Excerpt: The Byrds, "Eight Miles High"] Even before the tour, Derek Taylor had reservations. Obviously the Byrds should tour the UK -- London, in particular, was the centre of the cultural world at that time, and Taylor wanted the group to meet his old friends the Beatles and visit Carnaby Street. But at the same time, there seemed to be something a little... off... about the promoters they were dealing with, Joe Collins, the father of Joan and Jackie Collins, and a man named Mervyn Conn. As Taylor said later "All I did know was that the correspondence from Mervyn Conn didn't assure me. I kept expressing doubts about the contents of the letters. There was something about the grammar. You know, 'I'll give you a deal', and 'We'll get you some good gigs'. The whole thing was very much showbusiness. Almost pantomime showbusiness." But still, it seemed like it was worth making the trip, even when Musicians Union problems nearly derailed the whole thing. We've talked previously about how disagreements between the unions in the US and UK meant that musicians from one country couldn't tour the other for decades, and about how that slightly changed in the late fifties. But the new system required a one-in, one-out system where tours had to be set up as exchanges so nobody was taking anyone's job, and nobody had bothered to find a five-piece group of equivalent popularity to the Byrds to tour America in return. Luckily, the Dave Clark Five stepped into the breach, and were able to do a US tour on short notice, so that problem was solved. And then, as soon as they landed, the group were confronted with a lawsuit. From the Birds: [Excerpt: The Birds, "No Good Without You Baby"] These Birds, spelled with an "i", not a "y", were a Mod group from London, who had started out as the Thunderbirds, but had had to shorten their name when the London R&B singer Chris Farlowe and his band the Thunderbirds had started to have some success. They'd become the Birds, and released a couple of unsuccessful singles, but had slowly built up a reasonable following and had a couple of TV appearances. Then they'd started to receive complaints from their fans that when they went into the record shops to ask for the new record by the Birds, they were being sold some jangly folky stuff about tambourines, rather than Bo Diddley inspired R&B. So the first thing the American Byrds saw in England, after a long and difficult flight which had left them very tired and depressed, especially Gene Clark, who hated flying, was someone suing them for loss of earnings. The lawsuit never progressed any further, and the British group changed their name to Birds Birds, and quickly disappeared from music history -- apart from their guitarist, Ronnie Wood, who we'll be hearing from again. But the experience was not exactly the welcome the group had been hoping for, and is reflected in one of the lines that Gene Clark wrote in the song he later came up with about the trip -- "Nowhere is there love to be found among those afraid of losing their ground". And the rest of the tour was not much of an improvement. Chris Hillman came down with bronchitis on the first night, David Crosby kept turning his amp up too high, resulting in the other members copying him and the sound in the venues they were playing seeming distorted, and most of all they just seemed, to the British crowds, to be unprofessional. British audiences were used to groups running on, seeming excited, talking to the crowd between songs, and generally putting on a show. The Byrds, on the other hand, sauntered on stage, and didn't even look at the audience, much less talk to them. What seemed to the LA audience as studied cool seemed to the UK audience like the group were rude, unprofessional, and big-headed. At one show, towards the end of the set, one girl in the audience cried out "Aren't you even going to say anything?", to which Crosby responded "Goodbye" and the group walked off, without any of them having said another word. When they played the Flamingo Club, the biggest cheer of the night came when their short set ended and the manager said that the club was now going to play records for dancing until the support act, Geno Washington and the Ramjam Band, were ready to do another set. Michael Clarke and Roger McGuinn also came down with bronchitis, the group were miserable and sick, and they were getting absolutely panned in the reviews. The closest thing they got to a positive review was when Paul Jones of Manfred Mann was asked about them, and he praised some of their act -- perceptively pointing to their version of "We'll Meet Again" as being in the Pop Art tradition of recontextualising something familiar so it could be looked at freshly -- but even he ended up also criticising several aspects of the show and ended by saying "I think they're going to be a lot better in the future". And then, just to rub salt in the wound, Sonny and Cher turned up in the UK. The Byrds' version of "All I Really Want to Do" massively outsold theirs in the UK, but their big hit became omnipresent: [Excerpt: Sonny and Cher, "I Got You Babe"] And the press seemed to think that Sonny and Cher, rather than the Byrds, were the true representatives of the American youth culture. The Byrds were already yesterday's news. The tour wasn't all bad -- it did boost sales of the group's records, and they became friendly with the Beatles, Stones, and Donovan. So much so that when later in the month the Beatles returned to the US, the Byrds were invited to join them at a party they were holding in Benedict Canyon, and it was thanks to the Byrds attending that party that two things happened to influence the Beatles' songwriting. The first was that Crosby brought his Hollywood friend Peter Fonda along. Fonda kept insisting on telling people that he knew what it was like to actually be dead, in a misguided attempt to reassure George Harrison, who he wrongly believed was scared of dying, and insisted on showing them his self-inflicted bullet wounds. This did not go down well with John Lennon and George Harrison, both of whom were on acid at the time. As Lennon later said, "We didn't want to hear about that! We were on an acid trip and the sun was shining and the girls were dancing and the whole thing was beautiful and Sixties, and this guy – who I really didn't know; he hadn't made Easy Rider or anything – kept coming over, wearing shades, saying, "I know what it's like to be dead," and we kept leaving him because he was so boring! ... It was scary. You know ... when you're flying high and [whispers] "I know what it's like to be dead, man" Eventually they asked Fonda to get out, and the experience later inspired Lennon to write this: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "She Said, She Said"] Incidentally, like all the Beatles songs of that period, that was adapted for the cartoon TV series based on the group, in this case as a follow-the-bouncing-ball animation. There are few things which sum up the oddness of mid-sixties culture more vividly than the fact that there was a massively popular kids' cartoon with a cheery singalong version of a song about a bad acid trip and knowing what it's like to be dead. But there was another, more positive, influence on the Beatles to come out of them having invited the Byrds to the party. Once Fonda had been kicked out, Crosby and Harrison became chatty, and started talking about the sitar, an instrument that Harrison had recently become interested in. Crosby showed Harrison some ragas on the guitar, and suggested he start listening to Ravi Shankar, who Crosby had recently become a fan of. And we'll be tracking Shankar's influence on Harrison, and through him the Beatles, and through them the whole course of twentieth century culture, in future episodes. Crosby's admiration both of Ravi Shankar and of John Coltrane was soon to show in the Byrds' records, but first they needed a new single. They'd made attempts at a version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'", and had even tried to get both George Harrison and Paul McCartney to add harmonica to that track, but that didn't work out. Then just before the UK tour, Terry Melcher had got Jack Nitzsche to come up with an arrangement of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue": [Excerpt: The Byrds, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (version 1)"] Nitzsche's arrangement was designed to sound as much like a Sonny and Cher record as possible, and at first the intention was just to overdub McGuinn's guitar and vocals onto a track by the Wrecking Crew. The group weren't happy at this, and even McGuinn, who was the friendliest of the group with Melcher and who the record was meant to spotlight, disliked it. The eventual track was cut by the group, with Jim Dickson producing, to show they could do a good job of the song by themselves, with the intention that Melcher would then polish it and finish it in the studio, but Melcher dropped the idea of doing the song at all. There was a growing factionalism in the group by this point, with McGuinn and to a lesser extent Michael Clarke being friendly with Melcher. Crosby disliked Melcher and was pushing for Jim Dickson to replace him as producer, largely because he thought that Melcher was vetoing Crosby's songs and giving Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn free run of the songwriting. Dickson on the other hand was friendliest with Crosby, but wasn't much keener on Crosby's songwriting than Melcher was, thinking Gene Clark was the real writing talent in the group. It didn't help that Crosby's songs tended to be things like harmonically complex pieces based on science fiction novels -- Crosby was a big fan of the writer Robert Heinlein, and in particular of the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, and brought in at least two songs inspired by that novel, which were left off albums -- his song "Stranger in a Strange Land" was eventually recorded by the San Francisco group Blackburn & Snow: [Excerpt: Blackburn & Snow, "Stranger in a Strange Land"] Oddly, Jim Dickson objected to what became the Byrds' next single for reasons that come from the same roots as the Heinlein novel. A short while earlier, McGuinn had worked as a guitarist and arranger on an album by the folk singer Judy Collins, and one of the songs she had recorded on that album was a song written by Pete Seeger, setting the first eight verses of chapter three of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes to music: [Excerpt: Judy Collins, "Turn Turn Turn (To Everything There is a Season"] McGuinn wanted to do an electric version of that song as the Byrds' next single, and Melcher sided with him, but Dickson was against the idea, citing the philosopher Alfred Korzybski, who was a big influence both on the counterculture and on Heinlein. Korzybski, in his book Science and Sanity, argued that many of the problems with the world are caused by the practice in Aristotelean logic of excluding the middle and only talking about things and their opposites, saying that things could be either A or Not-A, which in his view excluded most of actual reality. Dickson's argument was that the lyrics to “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with their inflexible Aristotelianism, were hopelessly outmoded and would make the group a laughing stock among anyone who had paid attention to the intellectual revolutions of the previous few decades. "A time of love, a time of hate"? What about all the times that are neither for loving or hating, and all the emotions that are complex mixtures of love and hate? In his eyes, this was going to make the group look like lightweights. Terry Melcher disagreed, and forced the group through take after take, until they got what became the group's second number one hit: [Excerpt: The Byrds, "Turn! Turn! Turn!"] After the single was released and became a hit, the battle lines in the group hardened. It was McGuinn and Melcher on one side, Crosby and Dickson on the other, with Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, and Gene Clark more or less neutral in the middle, but tending to side more and more with the two Ms largely because of Crosby's ability to rub everyone up the wrong way. At one point during the sessions for the next album, tempers flared so much that Michael Clarke actually got up, went over to Crosby, and punched Crosby so hard that he fell off his seat. Crosby, being Hollywood to the bone, yelled at Clarke "You'll never work in this town again!", but the others tended to agree that on that occasion Crosby had it coming. Clarke, when asked about it later, said "I slapped him because he was being an asshole. He wasn't productive. It was necessary." Things came to a head in the filming for a video for the next single, Gene Clark's "Set You Free This Time". Michael Clarke was taller than the other Byrds, and to get the shot right, so the angles would line up, he had to stand further from the camera than the rest of them. David Crosby -- the member with most knowledge of the film industry, whose father was an Academy Award-winning cinematographer, so who definitely understood the reasoning for this -- was sulking that once again a Gene Clark song had been chosen for promotion rather than one of his songs, and started manipulating Michael Clarke, telling him that he was being moved backwards because the others were jealous of his good looks, and that he needed to move forward to be with the rest of them. Multiple takes were ruined because Clarke listened to Crosby, and eventually Jim Dickson got furious at Clarke and went over and slapped him on the face. All hell broke loose. Michael Clarke wasn't particularly bothered by being slapped by Dickson, but Crosby took that as an excuse to leave, walking off before the first shot of the day had been completed. Dickson ran after Crosby, who turned round and punched Dickson in the mouth. Dickson grabbed hold of Crosby and held him in a chokehold. Gene Clark came up and pulled Dickson off Crosby, trying to break up the fight, and then Crosby yelled "Yeah, that's right, Gene! Hold him so I can hit him again!" At this point if Clark let Dickson go, Dickson would have attacked Crosby again. If he held Dickson, Crosby would have taken it as an invitation to hit him more. Clark's dilemma was eventually relieved by Barry Feinstein, the cameraman, who came in and broke everything up. It may seem odd that Crosby and Dickson, who were on the same side, were the ones who got into a fight, while Michael Clarke, who had previously hit Crosby, was listening to Crosby over Dickson, but that's indicative of how everyone felt about Crosby. As Dickson later put it, "People have stronger feelings about David Crosby. I love David more than the rest and I hate him more than the rest. I love McGuinn the least, and I hate him the least, because he doesn't give you emotional feedback. You don't get a chance. The hate is in equal proportion to how much you love them." McGuinn was finding all this deeply distressing -- Dickson and Crosby were violent men, and Michael Clarke and Hillman could be provoked to violence, but McGuinn was a pacifist both by conviction and temperament. Everything was conspiring to push the camps further apart. For example, Gene Clark made more money than the rest because of his songwriting royalties, and so got himself a good car. McGuinn had problems with his car, and knowing that the other members were jealous of Clark, Melcher offered to lend McGuinn one of his own Cadillacs, partly in an attempt to be friendly, and partly to make sure the jealousy over Clark's car didn't cause further problems in the group. But, of course, now Gene Clark had a Ferrarri and Roger McGuinn had a Cadillac, where was David Crosby's car? He stormed into Dickson's office and told him that if by the end of the tour the group were going on, Crosby didn't have a Bentley, he was quitting the group. There was only one thing for it. Terry Melcher had to go. The group had recorded their second album, and if they couldn't fix the problems within the band, they would have to deal with the problems from outside. While the group were on tour, Jim Dickson told Melcher they would no longer be working with him as their producer. On the tour bus, the group listened over and over to a tape McGuinn had made of Crosby's favourite music. On one side was a collection of recordings of Ravi Shankar, and on the other was two Coltrane albums -- Africa/Brass and Impressions: [Excerpt: John Coltrane, "India"] The group listened to this, and basically no other music, on the tour, and while they were touring Gene Clark was working on what he hoped would be the group's next single -- an impressionistic song about their trip to the UK, which started "Six miles high and when you touch down, you'll find that it's stranger than known". After he had it half complete, he showed it to Crosby, who helped him out with the lyrics, coming up with lines like "Rain, grey town, known for its sound" to describe London. The song talked about the crowds that followed them, about the music -- namechecking the Small Faces, who at the time had only released two single

On part two of this week's episode, we interview New Yorker Cartoonist Sam Hurt.  We discuss his career in cartooning and painting, his thoughts on the Caption Contest, and his collaboration with Harvey Pekar. On Part 1 of the episode, we discuss…Finalists for New Yorker Caption Contest #763Current New Yorker Caption Contest #765       Send us questions or comments to:CartoonCaptionContestPodcast@gmail.com

Today on CONNECTED our guest is Omnia Sol, an artist currently living/working/playing in Chicago. We get down and dirty talking glitch art, smudging, VHS collections, The Fast and The Furious, and of course, Harvey Pekar. Find out more at www.omniasol.art. But for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the dulcet tones of Tanner Melvin and Omnia Sol.

A Review of Cleveland by underground comics legend, Harvey Pekar, with art by Joseph Remnant. Plus, a list of the greatest drinks of the POST APOCALYPSE! Host: Andy Larson Co Hosts: Chad Smith & JA Scott Guest Panelist: Lindsay Fahey

Harvey Pekar's American Splendor showed the world that comics didn't have to be restricted to superheroes in tights embroiled in epic battles. And in Joyce Brabner's latest book in the new American Splendor Family series, they show that one epic battle can be rebuilding our children after a sexual assault and that comics can be an effective format for teaching this.

Harvey Pekar fundamentally changed the way that comics convey information and entertainment. The advent of the nonfiction comic allowed books like these, to share the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how a young anarchist prince became influential anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. We talk about these books and how we came to publish them!

9th April 2020 — Day of the Finnish language — Quarantine ending — Thinking of friends — Took a walk — Harvey Pekar and his comic book American Splendor — Pekar's appearances on Letterman — He chronicled his own life in comic book form — Now many of us do it online — Pekar made a living as a file clerk at a veterans' hospital — Letterman's later regrets — Made fun of Pekar — Each provoked the other — Pekar's very honest attitude — Refreshing — Great film (2003) based on his comics — Growing respect — May or may not read one day — Look forward to seeing the film — The variety of Letterman's guests — Spending time with someone else a precious gift — Keys to creativity — Creative people talking about creativity — Ray Bradbury, Philip Glass, John Cage, Edward James Olmos, Paul Chadwick (creator of Concrete), others — Sparks of inspiration — Messages welcome — All the best

Avui ens visita el poeta V

Avui ens visita el poeta V

Jon and Stephen welcome back Michael Malice, author of The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics. Michael also wrote 2014’s Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il, and is the subject of Harvey Pekar’s graphic novel Ego & Hubris. He currently hosts both “Night Shade” at Compound Media and “YOUR WELCOME” at the GaS Digital Network. Source

Jon and Stephen welcome back Michael Malice, author of The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics. Michael also wrote 2014's Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il, and is the subject of Harvey Pekar's graphic novel Ego & Hubris. He currently hosts both “Night Shade” at Compound Media and “YOUR WELCOME” at the GaS Digital Network. Source

When Marc was a young comic living in Boston, Buffalo Tom was one of his favorite bands. Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz joins Marc in the garage to talk about the band's rise from the pre-Nirvana days of indie rock to a point where huge mainstream success remained just out of reach. What happened after that? Also, Marc's buddy Danny Lobell returns to talk about turning his life and standup routines into a comic book in the style of one of his heroes, Harvey Pekar. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast.

Time Codes: 00:00:24 - Introduction 00:02:33 - Setup of interview 00:03:45 - Interview with Joseph Remnant 01:18:05 - Wrap up 01:19:38 - Contact us Derek is pleased to have Joseph Remnant on the podcast. His new book, Cartoon Clouds, was released last month from Fantagraphics. This is a graphic novel in the truest sense, a work of fiction that explores the nuances of relationships, defining yourself, and growing apart from those with whom you were once close. As Joseph reveals, this is a narrative that began in serial installments on a website he once maintained with Noah Van Sciver, but it soon developed into something more complex and ambitious. Most of the interview is devoted to Cartoon Clouds, but Derek also asks his guest about his comic-book series Blindspot and his illustration work with Harvey Pekar. Along the way Joseph talks about his contribution in the upcoming second issue of Now, and he hints at some of the new work he currently has underway. Joseph will be at CAB, Comic Arts Brooklyn, this coming weekend. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and tell him hello and that you heard him on The Comics Alternative!

If you're going to tell cool stories in comic books, it helps to have had a colorful life and interesting friends. Dean Haspiel has had both. His dad was a writer, occasional street vigilante and confidante of Marilyn Monroe. Mom's pals included Shelly Winters and the young Bobby De Niro, who was one of Dean's babysitters. Dean worked with Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames on their respective graphic novels, and won an Emmy for his title work on Jonathan's HBO sitcom "Bored to Death." He was also the inspiration for Ray the cartoonist, played on BTD by Zack Galifianakis. We talked about all of the above, plus Dean's beginnings as a comic artist, his love of superheroes and his own hero complex, his residencies at the Yaddo artist colony, and his latest comic memoir, "Beef with Tomato."

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Total Movie Recall, where we'll discuss the film American Splendor directed by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini & starring Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar – based on the comic book of the same name. Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature. – synopsis written by Sujit R. Varma via IMDB Things we talked about in the show: Ghost Spy Watched this week: 8 Mile, The Castle Ren & Stimpy James Urbaniak Cleveland PR board Lofts for hipsters American Splendor (the comic) Gourmet Jellybeans Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas American Splendor (the play) Pekar's Letterman tirade The Graduate Robert Crumb Yuppies and Portlandia with Jello Biafra Buy Steve's band SEX BBQ's new album HERE Revenge of the Nerds Toby on Mtv Havey Pekar's death “The theme of ‘American Splendor' is about staying alive. Getting a job, finding a mate, having a place to live, finding a creative outlet. Life is a war of attrition. You have to stay active on all fronts. It's one thing after another. I've tried to control a chaotic universe. And it's a losing battle. But I can't let go. I've tried, but I can't.” -Harvey Pekar Next week: Predator  

In this episode, Bo Bennett speaks with Sean Michael Wilson, author of the graphic non-fiction "Goodbye God?", exploring the art of graphic illustrations, church-state separation in England and Scotland, and several other humanist issues. Sean Michael Wilson has written around 20 books, published by a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers and translated into eight languages. As well as writing 'western' style graphic novels, he often works with Japanese and Chinese artists on manga style books. Japanese publisher Kodansha has published 3 of his manga books so far, and he has had work published in the keitai/mobile phone manga format in Japan - both very unusual for a British creator. His comic books are different from the normal superhero/fantasy brands in collaboration with a variety of 'non-comic book' organizations, such as charities and museums. His main influences include British and American creators, such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Eddie Campbell and Harvey Pekar.