Reigning Sound Live From B-Side Bar!

To celebrate the re-release of Home For Orphans, the original Reigning Sound line up will be live streaming Saturday night starting at 9 PM ET.

Watch it on Goner TV.  See you there!

Archive

Mover/Groover of the Week!

ZAKI_SUE! (listen/download)

Tassel Twirler Tuesday!

SHAKE_THE_CAN! (listen/download)

Ichiban Stream

Long Live Ichiban!

Please help us retain our title and show content by signing this petition.  I have requested a meeting with WFMU and this could help my case a lot.

Thanks for 10 great years of Ichiban!!  Hope we can find a new home soon.

Love, Debbie D

This weeks Crayons to Perfume! is now available on Mixcloud. It's an hour of girl groups and female artists from the 1960s. This is an eclectic mix of girl groups, soul, girls in the garage, psych/soul, folk-rock. I want to make sure regular listeners have their weekly dose of the girls so I'm going to try and keep this up weekly for now on Mixcloud, and if you've never given it a try, I hope you take a listen.  https://www.mixcloud.com/girlgroupgirl/crayons-to-perfume-for-june-10th-2020/

Playlist:
 

The Two of Clubs: Let Me Walk With You – Fraternity 1967

Jo Ann Garret: A Whole New Plan – Chess 1966

The Supremes: These Boots Were Made for Walking from A Go-Go LP

The Velvelettes: The Boy From Crosstown

Janis Ian: Younger Generation Blues from her S/T LP 1967

The Chiffons: I’m Gonna Dry My Eyes  - Laurie 1963

Jacki Ross: Hard Times – SAR 1962

Dorothy Berry: You Better Watch Out – Jerk Boom Bam vol 8

Ginette Reno: Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Parrot 1969

The Sweet Inspirations: Walk In My Shoes  from What the World Needs Now Is Love

The Luv’d Ones: Walkin’ The Dog – Dunwich 1966

Jenny Rock: Le Train Pour Memphis – Citation 1967

Lulu: That’s Really Some Good – The World of Lulu vol 2

The Crystals: Gee Wiz Look At His Eyes – Twist Uptown

Carla Thomas: Something Good Is Going To Happen To You – The Queen Alone

The Ferris Wheel: B-A-B-Y – Can’t Break The Habit Of You

Norma Tanega: I’m Dreaming A Dream – Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog LP

Cher: Cry Myself To Sleep – All I Really Wanna Do LP

Jackie DeShannon: Don’t Turn Your Back On Me Babe – In The Wind

The Delicates: Stop Shovin’ Me Around – Soultown 1966

Candy & The Kisses: Out In The Street – Scepter 1966

Helen Smith: Pain In My Heart – Helen Sings Sweet Soul 1967

We Had Too Much Champagne

Rev. Charles Veal & Will Crittendon

Bob Swanson & The Bee Jays: Would You Believe

Maryann Farra & Genesis: One Day Boy

George Johnson: Love All

George Johnson: Secret Love

Abie "Available" Baker: The Web

Dorothy Collins: Cool It Baby

Carlo & The Cupids: Crazy Rock

The Invincibles: Git It

The Four Tempos: Strange Dream

Duppi: Velvet Night

Azie Mortimer: Haunted

Joni Gibson: I Think Of You

Joni Gibson: Hotrod Lover

The Kruisers: Panther Walk

Nickey, Lorraine & Lucy: All Over But The Crying

Brenda & The Afroettes: Black Is Rising

Brenda & The Afroettes: Color Me Black

The Gross National Product: Cover Girl

The Mountain Men: Withoiut You

Billy Lee Riley: You Don't Love Me

Guitar Slim (Edgar Moore): Mini Boogaloo

Guitar Slim (Edgar Moore): That's What It's All About

The Mystics: Mexican Jumpin' Bean

Don Berry & The New Dimensions: Runaway

Jerry Solomon: We Had Too Much Champagne

Gin Gillette: She'll Never Let Him Go

LISTEN NOW

Say It Loud!

Ichiban stands tall with our black brothers and sisters.  Erase racism.

Mover/Groover of the Week!

ROCKIN_BEHIND_THE_IRON_CURTAIN! (listen/download)

Curtis Mayfield - Women in Front

Wednesday, on Crayons to Perfume! we'll be listening to the songs of Curtis Mayfield, either written for or interpreted by female artists and girl groups of the 1960's. I've been working on this show for many months now, thinking that this week would be a great time to air the show to celebrate Curtis Mayfield's birthday today, June 3rd. It also just so happens that this week is the perfect week to remind ourselves of the messages he conveyed in his songs.
Noted for his ability to write songs that evoked the need for powerful social change, Curtis was also uniquely able to write songs from a woman's perspective that sound genuine. Songs of tenderness, caring, and longing. He was a master at being able to convey emotion in lyric. We'll open today with a few powerhouse cries for social change that Curtis wrote to sing with the Impressions - which struck a chord with Ike and Tina, as well as Dionne Warwick. Mayfield also wrote songs explicitly for Jan Bradley and the Fascinations as well as many other artists. Sylvie Vartan and the Jumelles sang Major Lance, Jean and the State Sides, The Opals, Shamettes, Etta James, Marva Lee - we'll hear them all and more.  Join me to listen - and comment, 7pm  https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/93621

Mid-Week Movie Break: Batman

French film poster for the 1966 film version of Batman.

Zowie! Welcome to this week’s Mid-Week Movie Break. It’s certainly been a crazy several days here in the city of Saint Paul. I’m not going to belabor the point and utilize this ongoing assignment platform as a social soapbox; I’m just going to say that Saturday afternoon, when I needed a breather from the world around me, I sat down with this week’s movie pick. A sort cinematic comfort food, if you will.

From L to R: Catwoman (Lee Meriwhether), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin),
The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and The Joker (Cesar Romero).

Batman has been done to death. Literally and figuratively. As far as I’m concerned, Adam West is still the quintessential version of the caped crusader, because the 1966 series has all the bright, four-color pop style of the comic books of that era, and has, dare I say it, something else that the comics tried to imbue to their readers once upon a time, and that is joy. 

Batman series producer William Dozier had initially pitched the idea of a Batman movie to 20th Century Fox as a kickstarter for the planned television series. The idea was to have the film released in theaters while the first season of the show was in production, to both establish with the audience the world the characters inhabited, and drum up promotion for the weekly series. 20th Century Fox nixed the idea, realizing that they would have to eat the entire cost of the film if it flopped, and deal with the lackluster viewership that could result, leading to another financial loss if the show failed. Their concerns were ultimately unfounded though, as Batmania exploded like a confetti bomb on the planet in 1966, when the show was used as a mid-season replacement, and pop culture was never the same.

After the success of the first season of the Batman television series, Dozier got the go-ahead to make the feature length production. It was rushed into production after the first season wrapped, primarily to be used as a marketing tool to garner interest in the television show in foreign markets. Four of the most popular villains from the series reprised their adversarial roles for the feature, this time teaming up to tackle the dynamic duo. Frank Gorshin, Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith returned as The Riddler, The Joker and The Penguin, respectively. First season Catwoman actress Julie Newmar was unable to appear as she was shooting the western Mackenna’s Gold with Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif (and Burgess Meredith, believe it or not), so Lee Meriwether stepped in to fill the skintight black catsuit. 

The plot revolves around the four super-criminals hijacking a ship containing Commodore Schmidlapp (Reginald Denny) and his invention, an instant dehydrator. The four criminals, working as a group dubbed The United Underworld, attempt to kidnap millionaire Bruce Wayne, via setting him up to fall for Catwoman in the guise of Russian reporter Miss Kitka, to lure Batman to his doom. When this fails and Bruce Wayne capably escapes, the United Underworld set their sites on dehydrating the United World Organization. The dynamic duo chase the super-villains back to their submarine made up to look like a giant penguin, and duke it out around many onomatopoeia title cards before ultimately restoring the dehydrated world leaders and restoring peace to the world.

I’ve read conflicting reports about the success of the film regarding its success at the box office. Commentary tracks and interviews given by the actors seem to paint it as a success, while the figures seem to marginalize it as a moderate success. Supposedly the film budget was around $3,200,000, and recouped all of it, with around $3,900,000 is sales. Whether  the success of Batman as a feature was marred by a skeptical public who’d gone to see the The Man From U.N.C.L.E. features, which were essentially two-parter television episodes padded out with some alternate footage and pushed into theaters, or whether Batmania had started to subside by the time the film rolled out July 30th, 1966, about two-and-a-half months after the last two-parter of season one, “Fine Finny Friends” and “Batman Makes The Scene” aired May 4th and 5th respectively, I couldn't say.

Watch the trailer here

Adam West as Batman, about to rehydrate the leaders of
the United World Organization.

Realistically we know that there never truly was a "simpler time," no halcyon era where everyone was happy and everything was perfect, but Batman denotes a notion of a time when perhaps people didn't take themselves as seriously, Maybe that's just nostalgia talking. Regardless, if you haven't seen Batman, I highly recommend you do. It's the right kind of pop culture preposterousness, minus the self-importance, that we could all use a heady dose of right now.

Tasssel Twirler Tuesday!

 

 

CURSON_TERRACE! (listen/download)

 

 

 



The Real Nitty Gritty on DJ Roulette this morning

We're spinning hot breakfast platters this morning on DJ Roulette. Tune in at 11:00 ET for The Real Nitty Gritty on WFMU's Rock-n-Soul ICHIBAN! Follow the link for the live stream, playlist and comments: https://wfmu.org/playlists/RG

Mail Call: Letters To/From Vietnam

The Elegants feat. Vito Picone: A Letter From Viet Nam (Dear Donna)

George Morgan: Dear John

June Black: Postmarked Viet Nam

Sammy Masters: The Letter (From South Vietnam)

SSgt. Barry Sadler: Letter From Vietnam

Hank Snow: A Letter From Viet Nam (To Mother)

Connie Francis: A Letter From A Soldier (Dear Mama)

Jimmy & Junior: Letter From Vietnam

Doc & The Medics: Postmarked Home

Mark Dauler: Letter From A Boy In Vietnam

Pompeo Stillo: A Letter To My Mother From Vietnam

Ed Faucett: Letter To Vietnam (Dear Son)

Emanuel Lasky: A Letter From Vietnam

Vin Bruce: Dear Mom (A Letter From Vietnam)

Lowell Fulson: The Letter

Wally White: Letter From Vietnam

Billy Starr: A Letter From Vietnam

Melverine Thomas: A Letter From My Son (pts. 1 & 2)

Russ Jeffers: P.O.W. Letter

Junior Strickland: Letter From Vietnam

LISTEN NOW

Many thanks to Justin Brummer/Vietnam War Song Project

Mover/Groover of the Week!

 

LET_ME_HEAR_YOU_SAY_YEAH! (listen/download)

Mid-week Movie Break: Summer Drive-In Spectacular!

It’s hot! It’s wet! No, it’s not a Blowfly song, it’s summer (more or less)! What do we do in the summer? We pile in the car and head down to the drive-in! Or we used to. I am one of the fortunate ones who is still able to partake in this particularly American pastime, as the Vali-Hi is literally just eight miles up the interstate from me! True, the only films available to see at the drive-in these days are first run features like three hour Marvel Comics pictures or computer animated children’s features, but sometimes it’s worth sitting through a Shrek or an Iron Man 3 just for the experience. 

Not to step on the toes of the mighty Joe Bob Briggs, I thought, in celebration of the summer, I’d do an ode to the drive-in days of yore, much appreciated by Ichibunnies and nostalgia aficionados alike; back when there would be dusk-til-dawn show-o-ramas featuring quickie horror and sci-fi pictures. I’ve chosen a double feature of films that are easily accessible to watch from the comfort of your own home; free of the mosquitos, devoid of the hazard of the idiot in his monster-sized diesel guzzler pulling in to the front row spot ahead of you and blocking the screen, and no need to find D-cells for that old radio to tune in the audio.

Don’t worry, I’ll control myself and keep it brief.

Our first feature takes us out onto the Caribbean Sea and to the sunny beaches of South America. Watch out, there’s a commotion in the ocean, and it ain’t no giant clam! It’s Roger Corman’s 1961 heist/secret agent/comedy/monster picture Creature From The Haunted Sea!  Describing the film won’t do it any favors, and showing a picture of the monster, if you aren’t familiar already, likely won’t entice you to watch it, but subjectively speaking I find it an enjoyable watch.

Renzo and Mary-Belle smooch, unaware of the
creature waiting to strike.

To boil it down, the political coup in Cuba that put Castro into power has run the old guard out. A general, Tostada, and a team of soldiers, make a deal with shady nightclub owner and gangster Renzo Capetto to smuggle the troops and a chunk of the Cuban treasury off of the island. Renzo and his gang of oddball miscreants devise a plan to kill off the Cubans when the boat hits the water, using the guise of a phony sea monster, planning to keep the gold for themselves. Turns out, much to everyone’s chagrin, that there is in fact a real sea monster (of sorts) who has been tailing them, and he’s hungry. Thrown into the mix, our narrator and guide through this oddball madness, is a secret agent, real name XK150. He loses sight of his mission to track Renzo’s path across the water and coordinate his capture by authorities when he falls for Renzo’s gun moll Mary-Belle Monahan.

Despite being what could be Roger Corman’s most slap-dash production, Creature From The Haunted Sea has a heavy vein of Naked Gun-esque humor to it. I don’t know if David Zucker was a Corman aficionado or not, but there are certainly parallels to the sight gags and droll humor here. Of interest to note is that Agent XK150 is played by none other than Robert Towne, screenwriter and filmmaker who wrote the screenplays for Chinatown and Shampoo.

You can watch the trailer here and the film here.

But wait, there’s more! For our second feature, let’s vacation to the sweltering small town of Furnace Flats. Crazy recluse Pete Jenson slashes a goat and then himself one night, then smears the blood around a hexagon on the floor of his ramshackle cabin. He’s made a deal with the devil! 

Shortly after, a young man named Nick Richards appears in town. He claims to be Pete’s nephew, settling in town to go through Pete’s, erm, estate. Anyhow he makes himself real friendly to the five or six folks who seem to inhabit the desert town, but they start to get real suspicious of this so-called Nick when they notice he doesn’t seem to sweat a single drop, regardless of how hot the weather gets. Well, things go awry and a series of animal attacks leave the citizens of town rattled and/or dead. Turns out Nick isn’t who he says he is…. The film is a solid little thriller that seems like it could have been an episode of the Boris Karloff series Thriller. Despite some massive plot holes, it’s a great watch that would fit right in on Svengoolie. And if you haven't seen the film, be it known up front that there is no footage of a nude woman astride a centaur anywhere in it.

The film was made in 1958, but was released in 1961 when sold to Roger Corman’s Filmgroup Releasing company. It was put on a double bill with, you guessed it, Creature From The Haunted Sea. Devil’s Partner was directed by Charles R. Rondeau who directed numerous episodes of some of the greatest television shows in tv history, including Batman, Mission: Impossible, The Wild Wild West, Surfside 6 and more. The amazing soundtrack here is composed by frequent Corman collaborator Ronald Stein, and the great news is the tunes are now available to purchase and download through various digital music channels. Take a listen here.

You can watch the trailer here or the film here. Or, if so inclined, can purchase a dvd with all kinds of drive-in ephemera on it from Sinister Cinema here. This isn’t a sponsored nod, I’m simply directing you towards a product that I have personally enjoyed, from a great small business that I have solicited.

I left out a wealth of backstory and personnel bio info to keep things relatively compact here. The main thing is to enjoy the films. If you want to set up an in-home double feature for yourself, with all of the drive-in trappings, here are some intermission reels to add to the fun. Stay safe and don't forget the popcorn!