COMIC BOOK REVIEW! 77 SUNSET STRIP #01-742-209 JULY-SEPTEMBER 1962 (Dell Comics)

Gotta admit that 77 SUNSET STRIP's one program that I sure wish woulda permeated the rerun screens of the seventies because hey, this is one series that I coulda really sunk my teenbo mindset into! In an age of emasculated sensitivity and BLESS THE BEASTS AND BOOBIES some tuff stuff private eye slam 'n dunk woulda suited my oft sodomized psyche rather well. And, come to think of it, I sure coulda used a few ishes of the 77 SUNSET STRIP comic book given the at-times sappiness of what some of those ultra-preachy DC comics were spewin' out with alla the subtlety of a sledgehammer aimed right at my gosh-it-all skull.

OK the stories aren't exactly up to tee-vee standards and the art is typical Dell you can't tell the characters apart crankout, but this still fills somewhat of a comic book bill what with the standard if convolutedness of it all. Two sagas here, the first featuring Jedd Spencer and Kookie (now graduated to full-fledged PI thus making the cover shot showing him in his car parking gear quite outta date) on the run tryin' to make a deadline for an important meeting getting roadblocked in their attempt to make that rendezvous regarding the heir to a lumber mill fortune. The second one's more Stuart Bailey's affair as he attempts to save the brother of a friend from some mighty hefty capital punishment with the only real clue on hand being a trident watch fob of some sort. Of course even with such a flimsy clue to go on Bailey and Spencer manage to get to the truth of the matter even if you kinda get the idea that by the time the two do come to the right and proper conclusion the brother woulda long been one crispy critter.

Yeah the slam-band violence of not only 77 SUNSET STRIP but the rest of the Warner Brothers detective shows that spun off from it just doesn't translate to the comic pages but the stories do come through somewhat. And if you didn't have access to a boob tube way back when these still delivers on the comic thrill goods rather swell when you're in a pinch for some actual entertainment Entertainment that actually works as such and not some flimsy excuse to preach the same phony moralities of the past four decades which nobody other'n a few Hollywood perverts really cared about anyway.

Things are gettin' hecticer 'n hectic here at BTC central, so if this post seems to have a rushed feeling about it now you know why! Drat this real life deal...if only fantasy would once again rear its not-so-ugly head and make things a little more normal around here but anyway, I hope you can absorb as much pleasure outta this episode of BLOG TO COMM as possible even though this 'un was pretty much done "on the run" with me snatching platters outta the pile left 'n right in between many duties both at home and abroad. But, as usual, I know you will just toss it off.

***

It's kinda funny seein' alla the praise and accolades that are being heaped upon the late comedian or whatever they're callin' 'em nowadays Norm MacDonald, who I guess was out there doin' high-larious stuff as if I'd ever know given my three-plus decades of tryin' to ignore such things. Funny, but I didn't even know who he was until I read the various obituaries about him from people (even some whose opinions I value) making him out to have been the funniest thing on this planet since TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE! Then again it ain't like I get out much these days. Let's just say that the guy's but yet another one whose passing really does mean about as much to me as Baby Huey's, and in many ways considering the sad state of what passes for entertainment these days perhaps that is a good thing.

***

Thanks to the usual ones who have contributed to these weekend posts, and maybe one more.

Fushitsusha-ALLEGORICAL MISUNDERSTANDING CD-r burn (originally on Avant Records)

Yet another one from the "former buddy" as Skipper would so defiantly have put it. ALLEGORICAL MISUNDERSTANDING is probably about as free-tone down-groove as many of these Keiji Haino efforts, perhaps even more so than usual with some of the man's pertinent moans and groans present and accounted for within the not-so-cacophonous yet still striking din. I love it when the melodies get into those abstract tangents that seem part and parcel to these experimental Japanese rock spins mixing free form guitar rock with something truly out of the modern day classical expansion. If you wonder what the logical conclusion to a good portion of the avagarde rock that first sprouted its beanie in the sixties and worked its way through all sortsa rivulets and channels of sounds while most of the world just yawned SHOULD sound like well, this just might be one of many places for you to give yourself a little education.

***

Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra-ANGELS AND DEMONS AT PLAY CD-r burn (originally on Saturn/Impulse/Evidence, take yer pick)

For bein' a 1960 effort ANGELS AND DEMONS sure points its snout in the direction of future Arkestra efforts of an especially outerworldly nature. Features the usual Ra greats from John Gilmore and Marshall Allen as well as Phil Cochran who did his own Arkestrating himself with the Artistic Heritage Ensemble making some strange string-y thing sounds with a bowed (and plucked for the sound of it) psaltery. From big band sway to avgarde solar explorations you got another Ra rec that should fit in with the other two hundred or so wallowing away in your by now half-century old collection you spendthrift old fanabla you!

***

Various Artists-FUZZ FLAYKES AND SHAKES VOLUME 7 CD-r burn (originally on Bacchus Archives Records)

Like them other FUZZ FLAYKES AND SHAKES platters reviewed over the past umpteen years the sounds found therein kinda remind me of the kinda music that square guy with the glasses who went all hi-yaaah! in those Hai Karate ads woulda listened to. In other words tough mid-sixties rock 'n roll that's getting into various commercial for the days moves with a polish that mighta even gotten a few of 'em on the local talent time tee-vee show. A few classics like the Outsiders' "Boy With the Long Liverpool Hair" pop up and a lotta that British Invasion swerve and style can be detected even if it was translated into ranch house Amerigan. Like any good lower-case rock 'n roll record of the  day you can hear the chart potential that these acts unfortunately missed out on lest some large label just happ'd to pick up on it. Big puzzlement in the Gass Co.'s "First I Look At The Purse" which asks the question "which part of the body of a gal does the guy look at first?" mentioning everything but what every wholesome man really does look at! And it sure ain't her tootsies I'll tell ya!

***

The Ready Men-GET READY!! CD (Norton Records)

In anticipation of the upcoming issue of KICKS magazine ("due when the snow flies" or so I'm told) I thought I'd whip out this particular platter which I must admit has been ignored way too long here at BTC headquarters. Not that I wouldn't expect anything else from a group from the area, but these Ready guys really do capture that mid-sixties rockin' Minnesota sound that was sorta started by the likes of the Fendermen and wormed its way into the whole Trashmen ethos to the point where there were some kids in the area who were known to have muttered "what's a Beatle?"!!!! Hot vocals (as on the freaky for me --- the line "one of them's sick and the other one's dead" used to strike fear into me!) "Shortnin' Bread" and a load of instrumentals goes to show you that there was probably something in the air when these groups were up and about, just as there was something up and about when the kids in my class (including myself) we being birthed oh so long ago.

***

Terry Hartman and Peter Laughner-NOTES ON A COCKTAIL NAPKIN CD-r burn

I thought there was a legit reissue of this infamous '69 collab between future Backdoor Men/Deadbeat Poets Terry Hartman (bound for Vietnam) and extremely legendary Cleveland mover and shaker Peter Laughner (bound for eternity) but for the life of me I can't find any evidence that the thing actually did come out.  Good thing we have these recordings direct from the ltd. ed. acetate to go by, and as you probably already know the resultant spew is one classic collection of what that whole late-sixties spiz that was up 'n comin' at the time shoulda amounted to. From gutzy singer/songwriter and country twang to neo-Velvets and Laughner's sole singing spot bound to squeeze the blood outta your heart this is a surprisingly sturdy effort, especially when you consider how these guys were still in high school when these tracks were bein' laid down in Laughner's soundproofed bedroom. And what were you doin' at that stage in your particularly pitiful life anyway --- just don't ask me the same question!

***

The No Neck Blues Band-STICKS AND STONES WILL BREAK MY BONES BUT NAMES WILL NEVER HURT ME CD-r burn (originally on Sound One Records)

Haven't played these New York astutes doing the deep south swagger in quite some time so this spin was a nice diversion from the usual nice diversions that I've come across as of late. Produced by Jerry Yester who did that album with Judy Henske for Frank Zappa that everybody but me likes, the No Necks play a good sludgy sorta cackle that can get rather annoying in a good way and perhaps even slick enough that it coulda been marketed to the same brains that bought up those aforementioned Zappa tax write offs once they hit the 99-cent bins. Kinda like a good portion of your fave sixties mind death mavens with an eighties chic Manhattan sense of smug superiority about 'em. It actually sounds as good as the original snarl before that got all politically pious and undigestible. Just tell yourself that these ain't stuck up art snobs tryin' to get down with the broken tooth hillbilly crowd and you just might appreciate it a whole lot! 

***

Various Artists-FLIPPED TARANTULA THUNDER CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

There seems to be a lotta those teenbo moaners from the sixties that Bill has a special place in his heart for here, and that's fine by me.

There are some interesting twists and turns even with these, like the male/femme duo of the Stratfords who even add a some trumpet into the mix! Of course early-sixties instrumental wowzers by the Storms ("Thunder"/"Tarantula") and various garage band doofers from the likes of the Accents ("Roadrunner") and the Count IV's "Mickey Mouse" (a decent try for the "Jolly Green Giant" market) do offer a break from the sniffles, but if you're one of those guys who likes to stew in self-pity all rowed over due to unrequited love and a general sense of bathroom door lock loneliness then boy, will you go for this Bill burn that only I and Brad Kohler have copies of! 

Not recommended for those who are easily triggered by minor chord local rock efforts or the severely depressed. I mean, life is bad enough without you having to osmose these teenbo losers' paens to the outer than the outkids frame of mind.

***

For a change from the ordinary why dontcha try some of these back issues of BLACK TO COMM instead of your normal reading fodder which is guaranteed to cause dry rot not only in your brain but in your spirit. Given the nights are getting longer and your existence a whole lot shorter you really do need alla these highly recommended (by me --- yes, I am ashamed to admit that I have read early issues of CRACKED) magazines which are guaranteed to do someone like you a whole lot better. Any why not --- I mean, ANYTHING would be an improvement!

COMIC BOOK REVIEW! RICHIE RICH VAULT OF MYSTERY #16, MAY 1977 ISSUE (Harvey Comics)

Hmmm, I wonder if any nearsighted kiddo picked this 'un at the stands thinking it was actually DC's HOUSE OF MYSTERY??? If so, boy would the joke be on him!

Like ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH or LIFE WITH ARCHIE o'er at the competition, this series features one of the flagship characters at Harvey, mainly goodguy zillionaire Richie Rich, in an adventure saga that takes him far away from the usual kiddoid hijinx and into something that might seem, at least to the Saturday Afternoon Barbership Kid who's reading this, perhaps somewhat grim compared with the usual Harvey fodder. Well, not grim as much as serious, and really just how nerve-churning can a story featuring a cutesy-poo boy dolled up like Little Lord Fauntleroy be anyway?

Not much, since this particular tale is padded up with fluff just so the story will extend beyond three pages and it ain't that tasty a fluff at that. But still ya get a "feature length" (that is, if you go by the length of movie features circa 1913) story, this one with Richie and his father being guests of the king of the mythical middle eastern nation of Shirik who go to secure the nation's free elections despite the typically evil uncle wants who wantsnone of that. What unca wants is his own pompous buttock's on Shirik's throne an' from the looks of it nothin's gonna stop him! You expectin' an adventure here? Well hey, I'll guarantee you'll get a bigger one where Archie accidently mixes up his toothpaste with Veronica's spermicide leading to some really off-the-wall fun and jamz!

Also appearing in this issue's a Little Lotta story which deals with the supergirl's massive vocal scronk which is of such a sonic capacity that even Helen Keller could be seen runnin' for cover while knocking Karen Quinlan over!  Not only that but you get two pages of text dealing with Harvey Comics' dedication to the cause of the Cub Scouts which I think translates into some of the higher ups over there tryin' to get some chicken meat their way. And of course there's that same Casper cartoon with the cute little bear that's appeared in just about every Harvey comic since 1961, the one where Casper tells him that he can now be seen on television as if anyone out there could have avoided them toons back then!

Yeah I know, another weekend BLOG TO COMM post and like, who really cares! Anyway, hope you're in on the fun and jamz like you should be with this post which, while not up there in the Top Ten of blogposts 'r anything even remotely like that sure beats the competition (whatever there is left of it) all hollow with its total eruptive nature. Y'know, that thing which just ain't allowed to be revealed in polite company these sad 'n sorry times lest we offend some pantywaist with a sopping dishrag for a conscience. But who ever said that I was one to kowtow to the current trends just because it's the right and proper thing to do? Heck, if anything I've been wont to go against the grain because, well, if anyone needs to be irritated out there it's alla those prim and proper progressive snob conscientious objector do-gooders that Steve Ditko warned us about who've been calling people like me living horse manure these past upteen or so decades just because we do our best to fight that mindless brain rot which can be found metastasized into every facet of what we used to call All Amerigan Wholesome Livin'! Drat!!! But screw them with a broken toilet plunger handle like them New York cops did to that drug dealer a few decades back --- we're here to get to the hard matter of things at hand (the matter being music) and if you don't like it you've probably already abandoned this blog in abject shame a good ten years back!

***

As you woulda expected the pickins are kinda skinny this week, as they have been pretty much this whole year let along decade let alone past fiftysome or so. It's something that I would have expected anyway given how --- well --- we are all getting older and frankly the music that we crave, that hard-edged, take-no-prisoners kinda total eruption rock 'n roll, is being held in less and less regard as the years creep on. You shoulda all seen it coming and those of you dumping your record collections probably have, because for all intent purposes the high energy music that pretty much drove the sixties and seventies (at least if you all-out rockers knew the right places where to look) is about as "relevant" and "meaningful" to the whole concept of music at large as the Moms and Dads were hawking their platters on pre-primetime tee-vee back '71 way. Don't see any major improvement in the situation either, although I do get the feeling that in fifteen years time there's gonna be a major upswing in the concept of sound that I here at BLOG TO COMM cherish and that teenbos of a better O-minded breed are gonna just gush over the old records and such made by those aforementioned sound explorers who pretty much have been puked upon by lesser souls throughout their lives. Sheesh, I even get the feeling that dear old ME will become a major icon of the ramped up printed word the same way a whole lotta hipsters were lookin' up to Carl Sandburg back when I was a beansprout! Hope I'm alive to soak it all in because, well, maybe I do deserve something positive to happen to me in my otherwise blandoid existence!

***

I know you all did your durndest in helping me find out just exactly what the name of that Sunday AM religious show with the half-man/half-woman creature was a coupla weeks back (still wondering that age-old question, like what was between its legs?!?!?!), so I'm sure you'll be champing at the bit to help me find out more about whoever it was back inna eighties who would rent kiddie-oriented VCR tapes, record themselves doing disgusting things right inna middle of 'em then return the things to the store where some unsuspecting family would get an eyefulla something they just weren't expectin'! I recall Don Howland doing a story about one sorta fellow who did just this which got printed in an old issue of FORCED EXPOSURE which doesn't exactly point any fingers of guilt at him but who knows, while a relative of mine mentioned the time his boss's mother held a neighborhood party for these Korean orphans she had adopted, and while the adults were gulping coffee inna kitchen the young brats were watching a rented Disney film in the other room. When the grownups noticed that things were gettin' kinda rowdy in the parlor they went to check only to find the little ones goin' crazy watching this guy with nothing on who called himself "Mr. Happy" marching around to some Sousa oompah before taking a dump and rolling around in it. The youthful partygoers were quite into the scatology of it all, yelling "poopie" and words to that effect while laughing their little turdler (and in this case I do mean "turdler") heads off. The cops were called and the kids were given some psychiatric evals to see if the sight of number two popping outta a grown man's rear end had affected their psyches, but I've been told all went well and each and every one of 'em got a clean bill of health in the brain department. Do any of you have any interesting stories regarding such happenings, or better yet were any of you involved???

***

One word of advice to alla my Canadian readers --- BERNIER! 

***

Paul, PD and Bill, thanks a millyun! The rest of ya...ptooey!

Len Price 3-KENTISH LONGTAILS CD-r burn (originally on MRL Records)

I reviewed a few of these guys' platters o'er the years so I guess that I might know just an eentsy-weentsy more about 'em than you. Maybe not, but this 'un seems to be in the same vein as the others with a sixties beat that's filtered through seventies power pop on and on up until the present which, in the end, makes for a music that's kinda like the original but souped up for present tastes kinda like those new Thunderbirds. Stuff that really ain't that bad although far from the kinda grog that makes up my personal throb thrill listening experiences. Still, a fairly good smattering of moptop-era rock 'n roll and Troggs-y moves with some steps into Pistol-y punk pre-punque, and it will probably sound a whole lot fresher in twenty than you will smell.

***

The Pretty Things-THE BBC SESSIONS 2-CD-r burn set (originally on Repertoire Records, England)

Wow, I'm thinkin' how I woulda killed (hopefully someone I hate) for a set like this back inna early-eighties, and thankfully this double disc wowzer has appeared in my life to make it a li'l better'n had I not heard it. Starts off with the group working their way through the heavy duty r 'n b sounds right into Byrdsian psychedelia and heavy metal before gettin' into that later-on sound that's a bit tamer but still way superior to some of the gunk that was comin' up against 'em. It's not only got great crystal clear quality but the original deejay intros and outros really make you feel like you're listenin' in as it's happenin'! Plus, for you heavy duty rockers out there, there's a great raw urgency to these renditions that seems to be subdued on the legitimate releases. Top Gear and live inna studio, and a pretty good piece of rock 'n roll evolution that doesn't end up sounding all prog slog.

***

Frank Lowe-DOCTOR TOO-MUCH CD-r burn (originally on Kharma Records)

Mebbee somebody can tell me whether or not this was recorded before or after Lowe read that review about his "overblowing" which changed his overall style, supposedly for the worse but that can be argued. I don't think this '77 document ain't that bad, but Lowe does seem quite subdued when compared to that overt nail-scrape sound he got on the likes of DUO EXCHANGE not forgetting that all-time grinder BLACK BEINGS. Still, a find example of that mid-seventies loft styled sound that went off on the proper tangents to the point were even the quieter moments seem rather startling. Features Fred Williams on bass and either Olu Dara or Leo Smith on trumpet as well as fellow brother in needle Philip Wilson in the drum seat.

***

Guru Guru-HINTEN CD-r burn (originally on Ohr Records, Germany)

Of course I've had it in my collection for ages and've written it up way way back! But sheesh, this Bill burn's cover was, er, staring me in the face and I thought that it was time to give Guru Guru's second effort another listen to after a good few years of neglect. 'n besides, with the inflow of fresh music at a standstill better I write this 'un up 'n rage on even more about those twennysome people out there I'd like to see dispatched with stainless steel knives wielded by an off-duty chef at Benihana's.

As a lotta these freaked out German efforts tend to get, HINTEN stands up swell even a good fifty years later from that asinine sleeve which typifies alla those bad-taste krautrock covers that promised a lot in the grooves and sometimes delivered on in the music, which really captures all of the high energy madness that the late-sixties/early-seventies cusp gave us with a seemingly relative ease. Psychedelia lived on a good three or so years after the fact with this 'un which, I must admit, does moosh the sarcastic humor of Country Joe and the Fish with the power and energy of the Stooges or whatever it was that heinie rock critic wrote. Plus they put just about alla those tiresome power trios of the sixties and seventies to abject shame.

After the fourth Guru Guru effort you better forget it, but the ones for Ohr and Brain well...those are must to have's in any real deal fan of this blog's record collection!

***

Jimmy Ley with Robert Junior Lockwood-WMMS COFFEE BREAK CONCERT July 19 1972 CD-r burn

Surprisingly clear sounding early Coffee Break Concert with Jimmy Ley doin' a great one-man band sorta crash/thud pumping out a rumble that puts Jerry Van Dyke backing up that hootchie kootchie dancer on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW to shame. Local legend Robert Junior Lockwood then joins in and now it's serious non-George Thorogood-ish real down home blues fan time. I can imagine whatever heads there were out there listenin' to this 'un scratchin' their beans hopin' that someone would kick these guys outta the studio and slip "Layla" on before nod out time. Glad the thing survived in such pristine condition, sure wish some of those other WMMS concerts (Rocket From The Tombs etc.) had.

***

Augustus Pablo-EAST OF THE RIVER NILE CD-r burn (originally on Message Records, Jamaica)

Given that I really never did cozy up to that Jah-Rastasnorie reggae music this particular platter does resonate somewhat within my thinned-out beanie. Melodica-laden instrumental sounds make for rather good backdrop to not only me reading but writing this particular slop that many people out there seen to either love or hate. Strangely enough it doesn't offend any of my sensibilities, that is what few of them I have retained over the years. Give it a try and who knows, maybe you'll dust off that melodica you got for your seventh birthday and try to squeak out some tunes that closely approximate the music heard on this rather entertaining disque.

***

Various Artists-SNAKEHIP PEPPERGRINDER MILKMAN CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Some surprises mixed in with the typical Bill Shute esoterica including the original version of the Evil's "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" with alla the feedback left intact and the Swamprats' take on the Rolling Stones obscuro "It's Not Easy". The new to mine ears efforts such as the Roosters' folk rock overdrivin' "One of the Days" was enough to make my day a little brighter than it woulda listenin' to the usual homo propaganda passin' itself off as respectable entertainment. The rest, from some sides by the JuJus and the same Nightcrawlers who I assume are the "Little Black Egg" guys, make for a finer'n fine collection. But sheesh, if Germany had won the war the only thing we'd be listening to is Gervase singing "Peppergrind" --- ach du fanabla!!!! 

***

There was a time when people were quite literate, well informed and generally knowledgeable about music, the arts, politics and the world around them. Then came BLACK TO COMM tossing alla that phony pretext into the commode with its generally snarky, socially un-pious demeanor and loathing for all that is phony and detrimental to the high energy way of living. Buy some back issues and see just why this mag has earned the scorn of people from New York City to Los Angeles, with a few equally non-intelligent points in between.

COMIC BOOK REVIEW! CAMP RUNAMUCK #1, APRIL 1966 (Dell Comics)

I'm sure most of you remember CAMP RUNAMUCK if only due to Adny Shernoff's remarks about it in PUNK magazine's "Drunk as a Skunk" contest, but I sure recall the days when it was on and... Well, I was hoping that the show would have focused on the comings and goings of the young 'uns who inhabited the camp gettin' into all kindsa kiddoid hijinx, but as far as I remember it was more or less centered around the less-than-exciting adults who ran the place! Naturally that small sad fact made it a grown up program at least in my household and I quickly ditched the show preferring to stay locked in my rook playing with my dinky. 

Come to think of it not only did I tune out on CAMP RUNAMUCK but a good portion of the NBC sitcoms that popped up during the 1965-66 season as well, including such shows as GET SMART (which I "got into" during its final year on NBC and sole one on CBS --- go figure!) and CAPTAIN NICE (editor's note --- actually that 'un was on in 1967) which for the life of me I don't even remember being on the air. At least I got my share of downhome laffs watching OZZIE AND HARRIET over at ABC not forgetting that all time laff fest GILLIGAN'S ISLAND!

This comic does the series much better not only because (for once) the Dell artwork reflects a funny comic book-y feeling but the kids do seem to be a whole lot more present here than they seemed to be in the tee-vee series! Or so I think since, like I told ya, I tuned out rather post-haste on this 'un which, come to think of it, so did many other disgruntled suburban slobs which mighta resulted in the dismal ratings. The stories here are good 'nuff kiddie camp hijinx too where the staff takes 'em on a canoe ride which of course turns into one of those funtime disasters that the kids actually groove to, while the other has the staff getting caught up in a trap and being rescued by the gals from nearby Camp Devine. Not what I would call rip-roarin' funny but still better'n some of the humor that Dell was plopping onto the kids back during them days when Gold Key stole their thunder and the once-leader was left to flop around for a few years before finally takin' the ol' deep six route.

Hey, after all these years I forgot that former LAUGH IN/PARTRIDGE FAMILY reg'lar Dave Madden popped up here as one of the counselors! Sheesh, with that sorta credentials you woulda thunk that CAMP RUNAMUCK woulda been syndicated from here to Fanabla and back! Who knows, this 'un might pop up somewhere on the cathode connection one of these years, probably on one of those stations that feature those Shriners Hospital ads with those two kids who Brad Kohler can't stand because they actually like to get dressed up and be operated on.

So here I am at the tripewriter with a dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream in front of me and a platter to be reviewed next week spinnin' away, welcoming you to yet another one of these weekend BLOG TO COMM posts. I must admit, at this late stage of the game, that writing these missives is one of the few things that really keeps me goin' while everything else regarding my existence seems like a total waste. Well, if music that really affects your raw state of being is what makes it worth stickin' around all I gotta say is great, even though I could use more of that aural stimulation around here in order to keep my inner juices flowin'. Still I will search, scrape together whatever moolah I have for orders, and trudge on because eh, why not?

***

THESE COLORS DO RUN: "It was twenty years ago today..."  as the ol' song goes, and like I said awhile back twenty years later that war is for all intent purposes over and done with. 'n notice how that big defeat for the USA ('n maybe for the concept of empire at large) has all but vanished from the news cycle as if it wasn't that great a deal, hmmmmmm? As you can tell, definitely hefty mixed feelings about the whole thing here...the imperialistic factor lingers on true, but then again losing to those scurvies??? Sheesh!

A late addition to this post, but I thought it was pertinent enough to
include given how I know it's bound to irritate somebody out there.

***

And, frankly, if it hasn't already happened, are you too expecting a special twentieth anniversary surprise that will equal the one many of us got a good two decades back??? Or would something like that be way too obvious even for goat-tending jihadists to come up with. Better stick around for anniversary twenny-five --- that should really promise some fireworks!

***

Otherwise nothing much new under, or over the sun for that matter. I find existence getting increasingly hard to make my way through given how I am getting older, but my desires are still stuck in that era of youth when rejection, loathing, downright hatred and other things that parents, relatives, teachers and students used against me made my existence a total disaster. But at least I had my obsessions to guide me like fifties/sixties vintage and then-new television programs not to mention music, old NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC pearl diver issues and the faint hope that some time soon I actually would have my day, or better yet my life, in that same sun in which nothing new is under or over for that matter. HAH! The only way I could possibly "have my day" would be to pack some heat and wipe out a whole load of the folk who made it their duty to make my life as miserable as possible! Of course if I did that what kind of future would I have...I mean as far as I can tell do they still have pizza nights at Torrance?

***

Well maybe there is something a li'l brighter to gab (which I am on, only with one post to my name and an old picture at that!) about. Spent Labor Day watching a load of good ol' tee-vee, the kind I like, which did help lift the spirits somewhat even if it made me feel older'n Methuselah thinkin' that the world and aura these shows reflected are long dead 'n buried. The FETV network has been running some winners in the AM, notably LEAVE IT TO BEAVER (which never does get tiring no matter how many times a Whole Human Being tunes in!) as well as THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES which was pretty good in its early days when characters like Jethrine and William Devane as Jazzbo Depew were part of the cast. However, watching THE PATTY DUKE SHOW which I had not seen since I was in knee pants really was a revelation! Naw, I still can't stand Duke (the memory of her all confused 'n outta it at the daytime Emmys still lingers on) and she as the prissier beyond belief cousin Cathy makes me wanna do some serious upchuckin', but the rest of the cast is fine enough to pass muster. I especially dig the younger and perfectly nerdoid brother Ross who not only seems like the typical future BLOG TO COMM reader but a guy who woulda been doin' some heavy duty drugs while stationed in Vietnam a few years later not to mention Richie, the goofoid boypal of Patty who's an even bigger jerkoff than I was at his age which is cool because we just don't have enough jerkoff role models for people like us anymore. We sure need more real deal people like these onna tube, and if you're unemployed or laid up real bad these kinda shows are what you need in your system 'stead of the usual butt wranglin' sputum passing as "entertainment" that seems to have taken over every aspect of life as we know it.

***

Anyway, here are some more rocknjazznbloozeblatherin' that's sure to wipe out all that loogiepresse hackdom that has infested the form ever since Robert Christgau got his first Tom Thumb typewriter for Christmas age 3 and immediately wrote his first review (WALT DISNEY FROZEN STIFF LIVE AT TOMORROWLAND) giving it a "C-". Paul and Bill sent 'em, and if there would be others who'd do the exact same thing all I gotta say is...whoopee!

CHARLES MINGUS PRESENTS CHARLES MINGUS CD-r burn (originally on Candid Records)

It's sure great hearin' this 'un given just how hard-to-find albums like these were for depression-era wages types like myself miles away from any really decent record shops back inna late-seventies. 

Glad to have heard it while I still have ears, because this faux-live sesh really cooks in that early-new thing way what with that great mix of jazz and gospel with a lotta straight-ahead bluesiness tossed in to give it an extra-special place in one's oft-rotted soul. Of course the backup talent including Dannie Richmond, Ted Curson and the shoulda stuck around a whole lot longer Eric Dolphy really helped move this one down the trachea of your mind a whole lot smoother. Contains the so controversial that only Nat Hentoff's Candid label would let him record it this way "Original Faubus Fables" in which Eric Dolphy's saxophone solo drove my dad into a rage when I played this 'un back '78 way. 

Another brilliant one from one of the more eruptive exponents of violence and sick sex to ever pop up in the jazz world.

***

Jimmy Ley and the Coosa River Band-AGORA CLEVELAND SEPT. 3/74 CD-r burn

Many people in-the-Cleveland-underground-know have been searching for this particular live on WMMS-FM broadcast for years, and lo and behold the thing turns up smack dab on youtube years after the fact! Aural proof that alla the talk about how Ley and the Coosa River Band were the tops in Cle-area white r 'n b turned out to be true after all! 

Not as out-there as 15-60-75 but loads better'n the rest of that new blooze thing black or white that was makin' a ruckus back inna late-'80s...y'know, all that Stevie Ray and Cray slicked up schmooze custom made for bubble boys. Sheesh, Ley and band prove that they had the proper amts. of verve and drive to the point where they could take a thud song like "Some Kind of Wonderful" and turn it into such a driving force the same way Grand Funk turned it into pure duh! 

This is a testimonial not only to the fact that white people can black it up a bit and still look good, but a reminder of a time when the planets where aligned in ways in which a cool being like staunch Ley supporter Peter Laughner and the soon-to-be whored out powers as 'MMS were pretty much bouncing around on the same wavelength. 

***

The Stranglers-AGORA CLEVE APR 3/78 WMMS FM CD-r burn

Chaotic mess of a sound that's too top heavy with the singing not as up 'n front as I woulda liked it. Still it's a good enough capture of the Stranglers reason for being which I gotta admit sure sounds good here in these days of post-post-everything sorta anti-rock or whatever that irrelevant roar is being called in the here and now. Nothing fantastic mind you, but a fair addition to the Stranglers canon and they're way more exciting than their major influence the Doors ever were! 

***

The Selector-TOO MUCH PRESSURE (Chrysalis)/BIRMINGHAM 1980 CD-r burn

Even when these ska revival records were first comin' out I was peggin' alla those Specials/Madness groups as more of that ethnic music created especially for gnu wave kiddies to get down with the brothers over. 'n to me the Selector sound to me more like post-fame Blondie with an even stronger island beat added to the usual hijinx which is probably why this 'un went over so well back in those times-they-are-a-changin' (for the worse) days. 

Not totally bad (actually caught myself tappin' toe to "Three Minute Hero" which did make me feel somewhat ashamed) but next to the likes of Chrome, the Contortions and other acts that were drillin' holes through my eardrums at the time it's nothing that really conjures up the happier moments of those rather dire (at least for me) times.

The live 'un is taken from some FM radio broadcast and has the usual early-eighties gloss of these endeavors. Still not enough to draw me to the group's raw state of becoming or whatever the snoots would call it. If you made it through the official platter and thought it was snat enough you should enjoy this just as much but for me-----eh!

***

Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society-STREET PRIEST CD-r burn (originally on Moers Music, Germany)

Haven't spun this 'un in quite awhile so the burn Paul made sure does come in handy (don't have the time to pour through my voluminous collection to find the not-so handy dandy vinyl version!). 

I'm surprised that the Decoding Society never did make their way to a major label considering the beefed up power behind 'em, but Jackson and company sure do swell on this debut effort for the German free jazz oriented Moers Music. I mean, this effort sure reflects a good portion of what the early-eighties funk punk no jazz thing meant to a whole load of doofus suburban slobs like myself who were big on the underground rock and jazz thingie that was goin' round, all experienced within the safety of our fart-encrusted bedrooms 'stead of some club filled with people your mother never wanted you to get too close to. 

Features a few of the creme de la mid-eighties Black Rock Coalition players including Vernon Reid, soon to be a member of the infamous Living Colour who were one group that made the v. late eighties somewhat interesting before the MTV-ized slick up got to 'em.

***

Various Artists-COLLEGE HOP CD-r burn (originally on White Label Records, Holland)

These White Label releases really did do their durndest to scrape through the nitty gritty of late-fifties local releases and this 'un's no different. A collection of early rock 'n roll, some with country and others with r 'n b twinges to 'em, and although I wouldn't say there were many over-the-top winners on this spinner each and every one of the tracks that appear have a certain pounce that makes 'em so special in their own local release sorta way. The best of the batch, at least for me, is LP closer "Bamboo Baby" by Johnny Carlton which reflects that certain appreciation I have for members of the Far Eastern femme contingent. It's sure glad to know that other males have taste in the gold is bold crowd who have it all beat over the white sows that we have to choose from over here in order to "procreate" even more white sows 'r something like that.

***

Various Artists-HIPDROP CHACHA TOOTENANNY CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Defecto disque can't stop me from givin' this Bill burn a decent goin' through. It ain't as over-the-top wowzy as some of the others, but things like Della Reese singing a relevant soul rouser about a long haired hippie "troublemaker" and weirdo European throwaways like Lars Gullin who only the Swedes could understand, or something like that, do rouse things up if only a little. Awww sheesh, the thing died out on me right inna middle of "Be Careful" so I won't be able to hear the Jiminy Cricket number. Well, I never did like that cross-dresser Disney that much anyway...

***

Some people they like to go out dancing, and other people, they have to work. And there's even some evil mothers who will tell you that back issues of BLACK TO COMM are dirt. (......ewwww.......) Don't mind the naysays and nincompoops who haven't been relevant in thirty years while I keep pumpin' out the rockscreed oil to gush capacity and buy a bunch for you and your mom, OK?

UGLY THINGS #57  

Any more words would be superfluous, but you do wanna know what I think 'bout it, hunh?

But yeah, the things' a winner as you woulda expected even to the point where them articles on various acts that you probably wouldn't care about that much are worth the eyeballin'. I mean, I wouldn't be caught dead with an Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera album but the detailed article on 'em (which woulda been an expensive book had that group any real purchasing power) was pretty snat indeed. Ditto for things like the Doors (I mean, eh!) which was interesting enough even if I find the whole Jim Morrison mystique one of the more puzzling phenomenons to hit rock music since the 'and roll" was lopped offa it back 'round the time these guys were making alla them hit records. But the other things, like the Kenne Highland interview and Phil Milstein's detailed trek into Song Poems land not forgetting Lenny Kaye's article on Sandy Bull really made this particular ish something to hold to your girlfriend's bosom no matter how flat chested she may be.

Of course the rare snaps like the one of a very early Downliners Sect and the reviews make this' 'un a top notcher in my book! The scarcity of moolah has put a curb on the buying but man if I had money to spare you can bet there'd be a whole lotta rich-er people out there in record and book selling land. One that I hope'll get you through even more of this evil, desperate existence of ours we call living. 

I guess that if your life is about as vapid as I think it is you're more'n glad to tune into these weekly posts in order to get some much needed visceral pleasure into your lives. Well, happy to see you pard' --- after all it's nicey-nice to know that there are people out there with better'n usual tastes in sound who surely need a change from what has been passing as "rock criticism" or whatever they called it ever since alla them bigtime writers lost their cushy gigs back inna '90s, an', like many horny hubbys whose wives have cut 'em off can tell ya, if you can't get it elsewhere then you'll just hafta get it HERE!

Anyway I've been havin' a rather fairly OK go of it (rebounding somewhat from last week) even though for the life of me I can't see myself ever living the kinda happy, fulfilled love-infested existence I've always wanted. But eh, I guess it really don't matter for I pretty much committed spiritual (spirit of the want of surviving) suicide 'round 1997 way and have been merely walking around like a slightly more animated zombie absorbing myself in music and whatnot because, well, it does help to kill the pain a little. But things are changing with a li'l excitement headin' my way...

Fer one thing, I am scheduled to be gettin', now get this, cataract surgery which definitely is a who the fuck cares thing in your life but a big funtime experience in mine! Sheesh, I went to the eyeball doc not only because I want an excuse to get some new frames (particularly the Faosa "Mexican Medicare" style that was favored by such well-known beings as Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Esquival, Fidel Castro and Larry King) but because the lenses on my current cokebottles are all muffed and scratched making my vision pretty scronky. And that's not counting the floaters I've had to contend with o'er the years which sorta come off like a black 'n white psychedelic light show. Turns out that a change of Rx ain't the answer but surgery is which is cool because not only will there probably be less typos on this blog for me to correct after the fact but shee-ucks, I'm kinda lookin' forward to the doctor drillin' into my corneas ripping those old lenses out 'n replacing 'em with some bionic ware! (BTW I'm opting for the old, non-laser approach because insurance won't pay for the up-to-date operation and you all know how cheap I am!) In fact, in order to prep up for my surgery I'm gonna watch UN CHIEN ANDALOU over 'n over in order to get in the mood! Too bad I ain't gettin' the new eyewear, but maybe next time!

***

Sad to say that there's not much else going on, but that's the way things have been and will probably continue to be as that wretched curse called existence roll on. I had a rather scathing bit to say regarding me doin' some Sherlockin' tryin' to find out what some people in my darker 'n dark past who gave me nothing but total shit are up to but decided to take it down considering the neo-libelous nature of the piece as if those rumors and their particularly pathetic states in life ain't anything not to celebrate. Not that these particular sows don't deserve any sort of public shaming, but I thought I was coming a little too close to having some legal action taken against me by a certain member of the female species whose last name is extremely close to a famous roast beef sandwich chain's and another dude whose own family moniker is the exact same one as a certain longtime reader of this blog. Yes, people do deserve to reap what they've sown against me, and as O. Watters Neek said in ELLA CINDERS "if revenge is sweet I'm made of candy!"  However, I don't think it's worth the agony I might have to endure should one or both of 'em happen to stumble across this particular post as if they ever would given their totally within themselves existences and the plain fact that neither of 'em undoubtedly remember who I am. Yeah I know, bigtime chickening out on my part --- but hey I don't have them deep pockets to ward off any potential legal hassles like I'm sure YOU do!

Unlike Bill Shute, who thinks I should put all of the bitterness in my mind behind me, I still do believe in the concept of gettin' some get back. Maybe I should save that for the likes of a certain sorcerer not to mention a Silicon Valley snoot who somehow had the audacity to call me a hypocrite (for reasons that are extremely unclear as if I never did practice what I preached!) and berate my musical tastes while his are oh-so glorious in comparison!  Maybe a coupla San Franciscans who think they are living in some sort of oppressed peoples' paradise because they let their retards shit on the streets should be tossed into the mix as well. And while I'm at it, I do believe in ruining peoples' lives they way they've ruined mine, especially if they deserve to be dragged down in the mud and given a good ol' romper stomper painful enough to prepare them for an eternity in Hell...never used to feel this way before but the actions of the above (and others) has sure driven me to believe that revenge and laughing at the corpses of your enemies is the ONLY way to true inner happiness. 'n sure it's darn near impossible for me to do to them what they did to me, but I can still dream can't I?

***

And now, after all these years, we can finally say it. ED ASNER WAS GAY!!!!!! 

***

Say, can any of you help me identify a certain sixties-vintage Sunday AM religious program I remember seeing as a late-period turdler? I probably have mentioned this in an earlier post but given the lack of response I think I'll try again given the total strangeness of what I did observe during those mush-brained times. It was one of those LAMP UPON MY TOOTSIES type of programs which was obviously about something that went on in the Good Book, this one having this weird stormy-like setting with this weird half-man/half-woman creature who came off kinda weird with its facial expressions, sorta quasi retarded looking if I recall in a strange Bert Lahr-ish kinda fashion. Naturally enough this thing was draped in typical Bible-era rags and walked around kinda spooky like amid the stormy clime. What this show exactly was about has been bugging me for ages but I get the feeling it had something to do with Sodom and Gomorrah because of the half 'n half actor, who is seen dying in the final scene. When I saw LOT IN SODOM years later I was reminded of this 'un, and the two seem rather similar if memory does serve so maybe that was the subject of this 'un all along done nice 'n tasteful for the religious types watching the tube. Any more solid information would be appreciated, but I doubt any of you will dare lift a finger to help me, you selfish people types you!

***

I don't have a lovely buncha coconuts but I do got some rather entertaining platters to blab on about. Thanks as usual to Bill and Paul not to mention Thierry and Feeding Tube. Paul's burns of course make up the bulk of these spinners and between those and the requested burns offa youtube he made for me I'm less and less likely to head for the medicine cabinet to concoct my own special Brompton Cocktail had he just brushed me off like I know many of you woulda had I asked for help! Oh yeah, an' I actually bought one of the items reviewed below myself which does tend to show a rather spendthrifty nature of mine, eh?

Myriam Gendron-MA DELYRE CD (Feeding Tube Records)

NOT SO DEEP AS A WELL was a great exposition of sixties folk brought up to date for those of you rock 'n roll types who hate folk music, but like many a good item in my collection I don't play it anymore. Shame on me, and if I toss MA DELYRE into the ol' pile w/o future spinnage double shame, for Gendron's folk strumming and Frenchygal singing is something that really does prove that folk music was much more'n just that stuff the hippoid high school teacher who used to whip out the acoustic guitar and strum some Phil Ochs (not a bad thing mind you but Phil Ochs must suffer for eternity if only for guilt by association) was wont to play. 

MA DELYRE has a deep, driving non-kumbayaish intensity to it that seems to have bypassed many of those Freedom Rider snoots and their take on the whole early-sixties "revival" mindset, while Gendron's deep voice sure beats the likes of those late-sixties folk mass hippoid types like Melanie all hollow. Her axe work (usually heard on her lonesome or with rather tasteful accompaniment) doesn't remind you of some 1963 suburban Joanie Phonie wannabe holed up in her bedroom which is good considering how the very same girl is now playing canasta in some old folk's home. 

Most songs are sung en Francais, and one of the English language 'un's entitled "I Wonder as I Wander" is actually the noted Christmas tune with secular lyrics if you can believe that! Dunno whether or not the religious one or this particular take was first, but either way it's a pretty deep and moving song that almost makes me with I had a beret and goatee strummin' acoustic ditties in between munching on stale doritos! I said almost, so don't get your hopes up you peace creep you!

***

Terry Riley-A RAINBOW IN CURVED AIR LP (Columbia Records)

I actually owned this 'un way back in the v. early eighties and tossed it out because I thought it sounded too progressive rock 'r sum'thin along those rather self-bolstering lines. However, for some strange reason I figured on givin' this new vinyl reish a go just to recollect whether or not my original opinions were really as spot on as I thought. Heh, turns out that A RAINBOW IN CURVED AIR sounds way better'n I had originally thunk, sorta like PERSIAN SURGERY DERVISHES with additional percussive and tonal clunk added giving it a cool enough drive to snuggle next my other sixties/seventies jazzy cusp platters a la the Soft Machine. "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band" onna flip gets even further into the musically warped vision that these sixties composers could whip up and even try selling on the rock market. After giving this 'un a go after quite a longer time than I could imagine all I gotta say is...boy was I a doofus kid 'r what!

***

Butch Morris-CURRENT TRENDS IN RACISM IN MODERN AMERICA (A WORK IN PROGRESS) CD-r burn (originally on Sound Aspects Records, Germany)

I know that the only reason this release got the hefty huzzahs when it was released back '85 way was because of the title. After all, had this 'un been called SLAUGHTERED WHITE FARMERS IN SOUTH AFRICA do you think the VILLAGE VOICE woulda given it the time of day? Not on your nellie, because as we all know, some lives out there really are more equal than others.

Other'n that this is a pretty good slice of that newer than new free jazz, the kind that I thought sorta petered out inna late-seventies and lived on only in shards of small enclaves that nobody outside of Dee Pop even knew existed.

The music just appears before your ears rather than rages, with bits of soloing ebbing/flowing in a way that reminds me of the end of the Leroy Jenkins FOR PLAYERS ONLY album before other strains of new free jazz jump into the entire kaboodle. There's no real cohesion other than various pastiches pop up and then fade away for other musical interludes. Sometimes it merges in a way that recalls quite a few later-on seventies vintage AACM albums that I picked up ultra-cheap inna eighties after the major labels decided to concentrate on pure mulch, and if you were one of the many who really went for the likes of Anthony Braxton back when he was the big name inna new thing you'll probably want to hear this 'un badder'n bad!

Even if you go for the "classical" avgarde you should eke some appreciation outta this while those of us who used to hear about this kind of spew in hushed and often scornful tones might feel some li'l tingles of a personal vindication that you were right about your musical tastes all along and EVERYBODY ELSE ON THIS PLANET WHO THOUGHT YOU WERE A CREEP WERE DEAD WRONG!!!!!! Feels good just thinkin' it, eh?

It's got some pretty well-known 'n top notch players here too like Frank Lowe and Thurman Barker along with a buncha the mid-eighties NYC whitey "Downtown" crowd whom I'm sure were really honored to appear on such a socially relevant production as this even if I do get the feeling that all of the black participants woulda preferred their honko asses to be kicked all the way to Skinnyapolis and back.

***

Various Artists-TURN TO STONE 2 Cd-r burn (originally on Astray Records)

Like many of the sixties local rock compilations that came out in the wake of PEBBLES and BOULDERS, TURN TO STONE 2 features what could be deemed the leftovers of the scene, the pickings by acts who were the losers in a scene where ? and the Mysterians were winners as "A. Seltzer" once wrote. Still has some good moaners on here worthy of a Bill Shute burn (personal fave bein' the Mergers' "Unworthy American", a protest track with snarl!) with the best of the batch being an over-the-top "I Love You" by the Worlocks whom I'm sure a few of you have heard once or twice before.

***

Sly and Robbie-DUB ROCKERS DELIGHT CD-r burn (originally on Negus Records)

Eh, still can't get into these instrumental dubs that kinda make me wonder when the song is finally gonna start. I dunno, but the whole album (genre?) really just goes on and on without any kinda settlin' down in my beanie. I'm sure that you on the ball reg'lar reggae fans already have this well digested in yer psyche but for me well, it just reminds me of the kinda music I used to skip over when looking through those Renaissance/Systematic catalogs that I used to get before I was unceremoniously dumped from their mailing list.

***

TULI KUPFERBERG AND THE FUXXONS CD-r burn

Since, to my obviously limited knowledge, this post-Fugs aggro didn't exactly put out any rekkids I guess this is all we'll have until one does come out. Of course Tuli Kupferberg knew nada about rock 'n roll but that only makes his efforts all the more interesting --- he wasn't working from any preconceived notions of cool 'n hotcha which makes these post-who cares folkie spews a whole lot more entertaining than some of the turds that have been passing for folk music these past few eons. A selection of various live and elsewhere recordings that range from olde tyme radical hackneyed to downright moving, the highlight for me being a redo of "Dover Beach" offa TENDERNESS JUNCTION. Featuring members of the later-on Fugs as well as someone from the False Prophets, who also didn't know anything about rock 'n roll if their track that fill this disque out is any indication. But that doesn't make their efforts all the more interesting I'll tell ya!

***

Various Artists-BLACKJACK LIMEHOUSE CASTAWAY CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Somehow starting this platter off with the Castaways seemed like an ace choice given how ignored those guys are a good fiftysome years after "Liar Liar" was topping the charts with pure teenbo pride. And I gotta admit that this Bill "mixdisque" does hold up well not only with a rare Sam the Sham single and H.I.S. ad but some unreleased Tintern Abbey and the Blues Magoos that up the interest quotient quite a bit. Sure, things like harmonica band versions of "Chinatown My Chinatown" and various krauts doin' Amerigan styled music their way an' I don't mean krautrock just don't add up, but the rest is pretty solid and bound to bring a smile to your face and a tap to your toe. Not mine---something like that would take TREMENDOUS effort, like an obit page just brimmin' with the names of everyone on this planet who wronged me, and more for that matter...

***

Just a little nudge to get you to pick up like maybe a whole boatload of these BLACK TO COMM back issues that you'll definitely want to read especially considering alla the downright horrid rock writing that you would find these sad 'n sorry days, only rock 'n roll as a subject matter has died out ages ago to the point where like, who cares? But way back when, boy did BLACK TO COMM top 'em all as far as vitriol and downright caustic commenting regarding rock and assorted other forms of youth expression went. Read some and find out for yourself why this mag was the most hated among the prissy progressives not only of the past, but present as well. (Or as the new creed goes, ACT OFFENDED!!!!)

BOOK REVIEW! IT'S A VAN GOOF BY FRANQUIN (Cinebooks 2017)

Heh, yet another one of those Gaston LaGaffe books translated into English and dumped onto a market which I'm sure could care less. As with the other volumes I reviewed two years back these  tales might not be for the standard Amerigan comic fan what with the stringently European style and humor which doesn't translate as well as one might wish, but I gotta admit to enjoying the finely detailed artwork and  trying to make sense of the jokes which, at times, I doubt were even that funny even in their native tongue. 

Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing some of those early SPIROU ET FANTASIO comics where the Gaston/Gomer's come to a quicker conclusion, but as far as I can tell those were never deciphered into a language us normil people can understand. Maybe inna future these'll make their way into the realm of Amerigan comic collections, if any of us are alive or still care by the time they do.