Hulk and Hostess Up A Tree

Well this is a switch. Hulk really did learn something from his hero friends and taught it to the rock people. A kinder and gentler Hulk. Who knew Hulk had a rock collection?

When Will The Six Million Dollar Man Be On DVD?

With a new version of the Bionic Woman on TV you may have wondered when the older version and the Six Million Dollar Man will be released on DVD. Well we may have a long wait for Col. Steve Austin to show up. Over at DVD Guy Dave tells us that Universal, who had the rights to produc the show in the 1970's, failed to renew the rights when they came up for renewal. Dimension Films bought the rights and now the two companies will have to come to an agreement to release the show on DVD. It is a bit more complicated then that so go to DVD Guy where Dave does a great job of explaining it.

Sheena Easton Morning Train (9 to 5)

All of those video hits from the 80's seem to have wound up on youtube.com. This is Sheena Easton singing Morning Train. The song was really going to be called 9 to 5 but Dolly Parton had a recent hit with that title so it was changed to Morning Train. On this video she hadn't learned to lipsync yet but they all became pretty good it once MTV became big. I saw the single as a picture sleeve before I heard it on the radio. Seeing pretty Sheena on that picture sleeve I had to buy it. I am glad it was a hit but none of my friends would have blamed me for buying it if it had been a flop.

Cavemen

I just saw Cavemen. To be honest neither one of these shows started off with a bang for me. The one I was really looking forward to was Cavemen. I grew up when fantasy was big on TV. Shows like Mr. Ed, Bewitched and My Favorite Martian. So I had high hopes for Cavemen. The first half of Cavemen was boring. Not much to laugh at. Towards the end the show got funnier but not much. To my surprise Cavemen is a realtionship comedy. The basis of the show revolved around the 4 friends who are of course cavemen. One is a ladies man, another heartbroken over an ended relationship, the third is one who thinks cavemen should only date cavewomen and the last is one who is the formers roomate who is dating a Homo sapien and thinks she is ashamed of him and won't let him meet her friends.
Everything works out in the end. While I did wind up laughing at some of the jokes I don't really see this becoming the new must see TV. I can't always tell what is going to be a hit. Friends is a perfect example. Their first show had me feeling that was a half an hour of my life I wouldn't get back. Still the show built and became one of the biggest hits of the 90's. This could happen to Cavemen or it could be gone in less then 13 weeks.
I think they would do better to take a lesson from the past instead of ignoring it or trying to change it like Bionic Woman did. What did I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Ed and My Favorite Martian have in common? The person who was unusual was the only one. At least during the first season. The biggest thing of all that they had in common was that person had to hide that they were a Genie, a martian or that the horse could talk so they could fit into their society.
They could have had the caveman room with someone. He could have said he was their cousin from Europe or something like that. He would have to hide his extraordinary strength and different ways from the neighbors. Anyway that is how I would have produced the show.

Jack Wild and Mark Lester

Jack (Dodger) Wild and Mark (Oliver)Lester on a TV talk show. It looks to be sometime in the 1980's.

Iron Man and Hostess Cupcakes in A Dull Pain

I know I forgot to post this yesterday. I had alot on my mind yesterday. So to make sure that it gets posted for the weekend I have posted it now. I have always noticed that they usually made up new and really dumb crooks for these ads. Why not make up ads where they fought the B rated crooks? Maybe they wouldn't have been as fun to read as the fans would have taken them more seriously. Anyway here is Iron Man and Hostess in A Dull Pain.

Star Trek the Motion Picture

I saw an early episode of Star Trek the Original Series this morning and it put me in a Star Trek mood. So here is an ad for the first Star Trek movie. The movie didn't live up to how good the ad is but it did start a really good movie series.

Superargo

When I was very young my parents would take me to the drive-in theaters to see some of the family movies that were made at that time. Mostly they were Disney and Western films. Usually they were double billed with another movie that was produced by the same company. Once in awhile they would feature another movie from different company. One of those was Superargo. Superargo was a wrestler and at that time many of them were being made into movie stars. They pretty much played themselved but they were treated like they were superheroes. Why not? Afterall they were dressed like superheroes. At that time I felt that it was pretty awful. I still do. If you watch the clip of the end of the movie above you will see a chase scene in the woods. The villain dies in quicksand. Where are these woods that has quicksand? During the movie I remember as he walked away my Mom remarked that he was pigeon-toed! That remark and Superargo himself are the best memories I have of the film.

I thought of waiting till tomorrow to post this video from you tube but I was so excited to share it that I couldn't wait.

A Relaxing Moment with Superman and Batman

Here,from a post I have on Mail It To Team Up,is a panel where you can fill in the blank. Sorry if the words are so small that you have to zoom in to read them. When I tried to make them bigger they just would not fit.

You can find things like this, old team up comic book ads and team-up comic book reviews at Mail It To Team Up.

Thriller

Another artist who saw the chance that music videos had to become a new art from mixing musicals with drama was Michael Jackson. Everyone has seen the video before but I bet you never saw this one here is Thriller done with...Legos.

David Bowie in Jazzin for Blue Jeans

Music videos as an art form peaked early. They could have brought back the age of the musicals. David Bowie saw this and brought it to MTV in the from of the video for Jazzin' for Blue Jeans in 1984. Another video artist who's video has been done to "death" also saw this as a possibility in the 1980's we will show that here tomorrow and with a twist. Till them look at this two part video, probably the last time a video was so long it has to be in two parts, and enjoy.

Marvel Two-In-One fan site

I found this Marvel Two-In-One fan page awhile ago and thought I would share it with all you team up fans here. The above ad I got from their site. I never saw it in any book when I bought comics back then but the site owner says he got it from an issue of the Fantastic Four. To see the exact issue you will have to go there to find out. The site is right here.

Hostess and Spider-Man's Dream Girl

This Saturday Hostess cupcakes come to the rescue and give Peter a chance at love. This of course came before he married Mary Jane. So while it didn't work out with Lisa Skye he still married a beautiful and wonderful lady. Too bad Marvel doesn't see it that way.

Signed by O.J.

I saw this in a local paper and just had to share it. :)

Jack Wild on the BBC

Here is a video of Jack Wild. It is part of an educational show that he was on for the BBC in England.

Iron Man Movie Trailer

For those who have not seen this on the internet or TV yet here it is. I saw it on TV about a week ago and haven't seen it anywhere else since. My only question is who is the bad guy? He doesn't seem to be fighting any supervillian. What is the sense in having a superhero movie if he isn't fighting a supervillian? You can say what you want about the first Hulk movie but at least he fought the Absorbing Man.

OJ Ad

He certainly has shown that he is a heel over the years.

Life

Well I got to see the first episode of the new show Life. It sounded like a pretty good idea. A cop is sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit. He is there for years till new technology shows that he didn't do it. He sues the city and gets millions as well as he gets his job back and a promotion from his lawsuit. He finds out that his going to jail was part of a conspiracy. Now he uses his new position in the Police Department to slowly uncover the conspiracy. Meanwhile he has to deal with crooks who don't like him because he is a cop and cops who don't trust him because they think he is really guilty and don't respect him because he didn't earn his promotion.

Well here is something that we all know is true. Sometimes Life is boring. I was so bored that while it was only a few days ago that I saw the episode that I can't remember what the crime was that he helped to solve in the first episode. The lead actor whom I am sure preformed well in other roles comes off like a burnt out version of Dr. House. In fact he even looks like House. The producers probably sold the idea for the series to the network calling it House with a badge. So you may want to check it out in case you might like it more then I did. However, when it is on I will be watching something on another network.

Rest In Peace Beth Donovan Walters

Back in late 2005 I wrote on one of my sites asking for prayers for my old high school friend Beth Donovan,who became Beth Walters when she married. Well those prayers were answered as she rallied and started to get better. It gave her 2 more years with her family. Yes I heard from another school mate that Beth finally went home to be with her Lord on Friday morning. I hope no more old friends die. Two in two weeks is almost too much for me to take. What follows is a partial reprint of what I wrote about her almost 2 years ago. While I am sad that Beth had to leave us years earlier then I or anyone would have liked, I am happy that she had 2 more years to celebrate the highs and lows, birthdays and holidays with her family. God is good people and now Beth is in his loving arms and no longer suffering any pain. Lets celebrate life of that happy smiling girl in the photo above and pray for the comofort of her family during this time and the years to come.

Not long ago I asked anyone reading this site to pray for an old high school friend who has cancer, Beth Donovan. Beth is someone who, at least to me, stood for all the good things of high school. You may have had to go to my school to understand. Our class was very cliqueish. If you weren't in their group some kids wouldn't have anything to do with you. I was not that way and, as I told my wife, neither was Beth. She was friendly and outgoing. She always had a smile for everyone. Beth never said anything bad about anyone that I know of. I remember going to her house with others from a school club to work on a club project and having alot of fun. Beth was one of our senior class officers, a straight A student and elected most versatile. Basically Beth was a nice, smart and friendly person. I never heard her use bad language or any rumors about her doing anything bad.
Her visitation will be at 5-8pm on Monday at Muehlenkamp-Erschell in Fort Thomas, KY. The funeral will be 10am Tuesday at Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Erlanger, Ky.

Thor and Hostess meet the Ricochet Monster

It's Saturday morning and time for the adventures of Hostess and Thor as they team up to fight the Ricochet Monster.

Styx with Mr. Roboto

In the 1980's when music videos were at the height of their popularity preformers like Styx, David Bowie, Michael Jackson etc. made extra long videos that did very well at getting their music and message across. While the video for Mr. Roboto seems pretty good to me and there seems to be a good science fiction tale that seems slowly to becoming science fact. The tune is pretty good and Dennis DeYoung sings well as always. However, listen to the lyrics. Is it any wonder why this is viewed as the groups swan song? I do agree with what they say near the end. Too much technology. Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.

Let's Cruise with Star Trek

According to a report on the site of Eddy Newell Tom Cruise will have a cameo part in the new Star Trek film as Capt. Christopher Pike. I hope not but if you want to read the report you can click here.

Nesmith Interview

Here as a couple of interviews on Rhino and Monkees.com of a three part series.
http://rhino.edgeboss.net/download/rhino/monkees/nesmithinterviewpart1of3.mp3
http://rhino.edgeboss.net/download/rhino/monkees/nesmithinterviewpart2of3.mp3
Also if you click on http://www.videoranch.com/vr3dfiles/vr3d980.exe you can download the vr3d browser and log on as a visitor.

Stan Lee's Soapbox and Luke Cage and Marvel on the move?

Here is perhaps the first time I saw Marvel advertise for Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. In one of his rare moments Stan says very little and lets the picture speak mostly for itself. At the bottom you see one of their slogans from the 1970's Mighty Marve is on the move again. What does that mean? I never did know. Where there offices moving across town or something?

Gary Frohn & comments

I have noticed that since I posted about Gary that some have come to this site searching about information on him. Some have tried to leave comments but didn't. If you want to leave a comment please do so. However, if you just want it private then you can e-mail me. It would be nice to hear from someone from high school. Though I am sad for the reason why.

Rest in Peace Gary Frohn

A moment of reality and sadness to interject the lighthearted fun on this site. An old member of my high school class I recently found out died on Friday. Gary and I were not what I would call close friends. He did live up the street from me and from time to time he and I along with other friends from the neighborhood would play basketball. For some reason the only memory I have of those games with Gary was both of us going up for a rebound together. Neither one of us got it as Gary said "ouch" and it surprised me. Later he told me why when he said "Get your finger nails cut or something. You scratched me there." I never thought that was funny till just now. It is odd what things will make you smile in moments of sadness.

Gary was an athlete and an honor student in high school at Lloyd Memorial High. He was a star player on the tennis team and captain in his senior year. He was on the freshman Basketball team, a member of student council and the National Honor Society. In his senior year he was part of the senior play and a member of the Homecoming Court. Recently I heard that Gary didn't live too far from here with his wife and kids. Perhaps I could have drove over to see him some time had I known he was still so close. Visitation is at Stith Funeral in Florence,Ky this Tuesday starting at 4pm. If you read this blog and knew Gary you can call Stith to get the exact times. I plan to stop by after work to pay my last respects to my old high school mate.

Hostess and Captain America in When It Rains It Pours

Another Saturday morning and here are some Hostess. I don't have money cause I haven't been paid. Well ok the song doesn't go that way but here is another adventure with Hostess and Captain America in When It Rains It Pours.

Chuck and Journeyman

Well I got to see the pilot episodes of two shows I have been looking forward to seeing in the new television season. While I enjoyed both one was better then the other and both made me think that NBC was trying to get back their glory days of old.

First up is Chuck. The Executive Producer is McG who directed the Charlie's Angels film. Chuck is a former engineering student who had his girlfriend stolen from him by his old roommate Bryce. This took away almost all of his confidence. Now he works for Buy More as part of their Nerd Herd. Bryce went on to become a government agent and is killed while protecting government secrets. Before he dies he sends the sceret in an e-mail to Chuck. Chuck gets in on his birthday and thinks it is a greeting and opens it. It transfixes him and all night long the images download into his brain. Later two government agents find him and battle over who has the right to the information that he holds. One of them is the beautiful ex-girlfriend of Bryce. Not the one from college they broke up earlier. Chuck helps them stop an assination and since he holds the information they want he tells he will help them on his terms.

This show is suppose to be an action comedy. McG did the action very well. While I did see some comedy it wasn't there as often. For this to be a hit as an action comedy the comedy needs as much time as the action. Hopefully they will be on an even level as the series goes on.

When Chuck and the female agent were together I could only think of Don Adams and Barbara Feldon of Get Smart and the other half of the plot reminded me of the Disney movie the Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. As NBC aired the Wonderful World of Disney the first airing of that movie was on NBC in two parts on that show.

Next is the show Journeyman. It stars Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasser a reporter who on his wedding anniversary finds that he can travel back in time. However, it happens at random and he doesn't know how it happens. Dan goes back and finds his fiancé who he was engaged to before he dated his wife. His first fiancé died on 9/11 but he finds that she too can travel through time and she disappeared right before the plane crash. Dan's wife doesn't believe that he is a time traveler and that he is either having an affair or has a drug problem. His marriage is about to end but on one trip Dan burys his wedding anniversary gift to his wife. When he comes back he digs it up and his wife believes him. There is another story that shows Dan trying to save a man who he keeps meeting when he travels back in time but that has a surprise ending. So I will leave that for those to enjoy if they have not seen the show yet.

This time travel show was my favorite between the two. It reminded me of Quantum Leap only the star gets to see his wife more often and there is no holographic friend following him around.

I don't know if they did it on purpose, if so NBC has two pretty good shows to celebrate their wonder years

Blue Beetle Proof by Steve Ditko

If you are a fan of Steve Ditko art then you should look at this e-bay auction. It is a proof of Blue Beetle #3 from Charlton Comics. They used it when they were producing the book according to what the auction says.

Price Hike

No this is not becoming a pay site. I saw this in a Marvel comic book from 1974. The price of their books ad went up by 5 cents. They went up from 20 cents to 25 cents. Marvel showed that they had a lot of respect for the intelligence of their readers. At this time many still thought that comic books were just throw away kiddie literature. But Marvel knew that kids were saving every penny to buy their books so a 5 cent price hike was a lot of money to them. If you click on it and you read the announcement above you will see how Marvel gave us one of our first lessons in economics.

Fan Art: Surf and Turf #'s 2 & 3

For those of you who have not read the Aquaman Shrine you are missing out on a fun site dedicated to the one JLA member who has always been wrongly accused of being boring. Rob's love for the character shines through and the site is a great way to show that love for his favorite character. Over the past few months he has created his own cover art for his version of the Aquaman team up book Surf and Turf. His plot is a time travel one that includes all the original members of the JLA. So go to Aquaman Shrine and let him know On My Mind sent you.

The Salvation Army Band and the Lily of the Valley

Christianity flourished during England's Victorian Era. As a result concern for the orphans, the poor, the homeless and those beaten by the rise of the Industrial Revolution were on the rise. One man was determined to help as many of them as he could.

William Booth became a Christian when he was a teenager. He began witnessing to others and winning them to Christ. He moved to London to be come a pawnbroker but changed careers and became a Methodist evangelist. By 1865 his ministry was mainly dealing with the poor on the east side of London. Many nights he came home beaten, battered and bleeding.

In 1878 Mr. Booth started the Salvation Army. Many men, women and children left their old lives behind and enlisted in the army of the Lord. The movement spread through England and eventually the entire world.

That same year a group from the Salvation Army tried to set up a ministry in Salisbury, England. They were treated very badly. Every time they tried to preach they were hit with eggs and bricks.

Charles Fry, an amateur musician and layman in the Methodist church, lived in Salisbury. He saw how badly the people of the town treated the Salvation Army workers. He took himself and his three strong sons, who were also musicians, to the streets and acted as bodyguards for the Salvation Army workers. They showed up with their weapons of two cornets, a trombone and a tuba. Not only did they fight off the more unruly members of the town but their music drew a crowd for the preachers. And so was born the Salvation Army Brass Band.

In 1881 Charles Fry wrote the hymn "Lily of the Valley". It was published on December 29th 1881 in the Salvation Army magazine The War Cry. In August of the following year Charles Fry died. On his grave was inscribed another verse that he had written.

The former things are past, and ended is the strife,

I'm save home at last! I live an endless life!

Charles Fry is pictured with his family in the photo above.

If you like to read the histroy of how some of you favortie Gospel music was created you can see some more like this at For God So Loved.

Happy Labor Day

I just wanted to tell everyone to have a happy Labor Day.

Jan and Dean Surf City

Ok here is another Jan and Dean video singing their big hit Surf City. Where did this video come from? Does anyone know if they were the stars of a bad beach film or somthing?

Jan and Dean White Tennis Sneakers

Here is a video of Jan and Dean singing a song I have never heard called White Tennis Sneakers.

Get a look at how they are dressed. I am not very fashion minded but I don't think I could have gone on television dressed like that.

Captain Marvel and Hostess in the Energy Crisis

It's Saturday and time again for the adventures of Hostess with Captain Marvel.

The Lone Gunmen Series

For the past few days I have been watching episodes of the very good but hardly seen X-Files series the Lone Gunmen. I always loved it when these three men showed up on the X-Files and I must not have been alone in that as they seemed to use them more and more as the series went on. This series was more lighter in tone then the X-Files. Fox Mulder on the X-Files was very serious about his work and willing to die if he had to in order to get the truth told. Langly (played by Dean Haglund), Byers (Bruce Harwood) and Frohike (Tom Braidwood) were brave but not as willing to die for the truth as Mulder was.

In addition to the three leads they added the character Yves Adele Harlow played by the beautiful Zuleikha Robinson. Her character never really did reveal her real name as Yves Adele Harlow was not it but it was an anagram of Lee Harvey Oswald. How fitting that name would somehow be associated with a series called the Lone Gunmen. She also revealed very little of her past but in the pilot it was hinted at that Frohike knew it and who she really was. Yves was always a step ahead of the Lone Gunmen and they sometimes were at odds with each other. The Gunmen were always on a case to get to the truth of the matter but Yves was like a bounty hunter and only wanted the money. This is the only addition to the cast that they should have made.

In the episode after the pilot I believe they jumped the shark. Yes it may be hard to believe but I think it was jumped in the second episode when they added the character of Jimmy Bond played by Stephen Snedden. Jimmy was rich but not too bright. He wanted to get to the truth about matters and help others. He was the coach of a football team in a league that he started. The only difference in this league is that it was for blind football players. The Gunmen were on the trail of a case and everything led to him. It turned out that he was being backed by an unknown source and the nut didn't try to find out who was giving him the money. They were using his team as a front and setting him up to take the fall. He helps take the bad guys down and since the Lone Gunmen are out of money to publish their newspaper he backs them with his own money. The character never did wise up too much after that. Frohike was always wanting to get rid of him but they couldn't do without his money.

There was an attempt to create sexual tension between Jimmy and Yves Adele Harlow but it seemed like a high school crush compared to the sexual tension Chris Carter had going on the X-Files. They should have tried it with Yves and Byers instead.

Over all the series was very good and should have been renewed as a mid-season replacement or given a second summer series. (This series came on in the summer of 2001.) One thing that may have hurt the series chances for renewal is that it came on the summer before 9/11. The pilot episode delt with then stopping a plane flown automatically by terrorist from crashing into the UN building. Too bad they couldn't have stopped them in real life.

I hear they are planning on making an X-Files movie again. I in their last apperance they killed off the 3 main characters of the Lone Gunmen. Still I hope they can explain how they survived and I hope we see the older but wiser Lone Gunmen in the film. Perhaps after all those years of investigating the unknown and coming in contact with so many chemicals they may have only been put into a coma and come out of it in time to help Mulder and Scully. Hey it's just a thought.

A New Jughead Jones Interview

After hearing of the legal problems that are recently surrounding Peter Noone I was reminded of how other 60’s groups like the Beatles and the Bee Gees also had similar battles after the group broke up or a few members left. I decided to put in a call to my friend, Jughead Jones, to see why we never heard of this happening to the Archies.

Jughead Jones: Hi! Nice to hear from you again.

On My Mind: It’s nice to talk to you too. I wish I had a more pleasant reason to call.

JJ: What do you mean?

OMM: I was hoping to interview you about the issues with Peter Noone.

JJ: Well I have heard about it but I’m not sure what I can tell you but sure you can interview me.

OMM: Actually I was wondering if any of this ever happened to the Archies. Where there ever any legal battles among the members of the group?

JJ: Not to the extent of this or what other bands had by the time the 1970’s came around.

OMM: What where they and how did they come out?

JJ: Well after we reached the height of our fame the group decided to renegotiate our contract once it was up. But when that came about Don (Kirshner), gave us such a great deal that there was no need to do that.

OMM: Do you recall the specifics of the new contract?

JJ: Well the old one was we were paid a flat fee. It was like a regular job. Any songs we wrote we signed away to Don. When our contract came up, before we could make any noise about wanting more money, Don gave us more money and gave us 50% of the rights to past songs we wrote and 75% to all future songs. We all signed right away.

OMM: Have you ever regretted not asking for sole ownership of the songs you wrote?

JJ: I haven’t. We were kids and the first time around we knew we wouldn’t get a deal like other big groups. The second time we may have been able to get sole ownership of our songs but we all thought of Don and Jeff Berry as Father figures of at least like close Uncles.

OMM: So out of respect…

JJ: We didn’t want them to think we were greedy.

OMM: Is that as close as you came to a lawsuit?

JJ: No there was another time. It came not long after the break up. Now you have to understand that Don owned the rights to the group name. So that is why Archie started the Cuff Links. He didn’t have the right to his own name as the name of the group. Don has said since then that he would have let Archie use the name since it was his own name but if I or any of the others tried he wouldn’t. He didn’t have to tell us this as he proved it when Reggie started his own group in the early 70’s. He thought he found a way around anyone suing him by calling them The New Archies. Don threatened a lawsuit almost immediately.

OMM: What did Archie have to say about this?

JJ: He told me he thought about suing but didn’t have any legal grounds and wanted to stay on friendly terms with Reggie. Don had deeper pockets so he decided to see what would happen with him and if he was called as a witness he would have appeared in court. Thankfully none of that happened as Reggie disbanded his new group to avoid the lawsuit. He was always after us to call the Archies the Reggies. I don’t know why he didn’t just call his new group that. The reunions that we have attempted since the break up have all had the approval of Don.

OMM: Did you or anyone have any problems with the Archies using studio musicians?

JJ: Back then yes. Everyone was ok with it but me. As I told you before I had a big drug problem back then and some times I was too high to show up. Now some of those times Reggie took over the drums if I didn’t show. I didn’t mind that as it was kept inside the group. However, when studio musicians were used I would loose it. One day I arrived at the studio just as they were finishing up. I don’t remember who was at the drums but I believe it was Eddie Hoe. Yes it was Eddie Hoe. Well I saw him there with Arch, Betty, Ronnie and Reg. We even had Moose and Dilton visiting that day. Anyway I blew my top. I pulled Eddie to his feet and decked him. I kicked a hole through the bass drum and just as Arch came over to calm me down I grabbed his guitar and threw it through the studio window.


OMM: You trashed the place!

JJ: Yep! That was the last time we were allowed in that studio too. I think it was the last time Eddie Hoe replaced me at the drums. It was also the time I thought I should get off of the drugs. We went on tour and the rest of the gang didn’t want anything to do with me. Ever spent months traveling with people who didn’t want to even look at you? Not a pleasant experience.

OMM: How did Dilton and Moose treat you after that?

JJ: Before that we would always write or call each other. After that it was about a year before either one would return my calls so I could apologize. Everything is now fine with all of us and now that is water under the bridge. Anyway I am sorry to cut it short but I have to go now. I don’t see any type of suits in the near future from Don or any of the Archies and I hope that Peter and Barry can put this behind them and stay friends.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday and the biggest plans are that I have taken the day off work and my sife is taking me out to dinner. It is really too hot to plan to do anything different. What I have done is started another fun website called Mail It To Team Up. It is a site where I plan on celebrating the team up books of the 1960's to the 1980's. Not much there now but I hope you stop by to look and enjoy as the stie builds. Sorry but no on line party this year as I did last year. Maybe I will have one next year.

Happy Birthday to a King

Happy Birthday to the King of Comics. Today would have been Jack "King" Kirby's 90th birthday. co-creator of Captain America. Creator of the Eternals and the New Gods and so much more.

Forgotten Hits Press Release

According to an exclusive interview published today by FORGOTTEN HITS, the online oldies music newsletter, '60's Pop Icon PETER NOONE will be arrested at 7:10 AM on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007, when his plane lands at London's Heathrow Airport. Charges stem from an United Kingdom High Court Order prohibiting NOONE from using the name HERMAN'S HERMITS, the band he fronted from 1964-1971, in the U.K..

"It's ludicrous," says FORGOTTEN HITS Publisher KENT KOTAL. "How many members of HERMAN'S HERMITS can YOU name?"

Apparently, the U.K. rights to the name HERMAN'S HERMITS belong to a man named BARRY WHITWAM. "Who???" you may ask. WHITWAM was the original drummer for HERMAN'S HERMITS when they first hit the pop charts back in 1964 and has kept the band actively touring since NOONE's departure in 1971 to pursue a solo career. (Odds are WHITWAM's name was NOT the first one that popped into your head when you first saw the name "HERMAN'S HERMITS.") Ironically, according to NOONE, WHITWAM doesn't even appear on a number of HERMAN'S HERMITS recordings, replaced instead by a studio session musician!

PETER NOONE has been touring as HERMAN'S HERMITS Starring PETER NOONE for a couple of decades now, as legally mandated by a British High Court Order several years ago. He has remained a popular concert attraction, playing to full houses all over the world who remember the feel-good music that he and his band of Hermits created back in the '60's. This past season, he also appeared as a mentor and performing artist on the #1 Ranked Television Series AMERICAN IDOL.

In the FORGOTTEN HITS Interview, NOONE explains the break-up and legal distribution of HERMAN'S HERMITS name this way:

"After we agreed to split, Keith Hopwood, Derek Leckenby, Karl Green and Barry Whitwam called themselves by a new name. I sadly have forgotten it. I think they were joined by Pete Cowap (a great local musician whom I had written a few Herman's Hermits B-sides and LP tracks with and who was a close friend of Derek Leckenby.) They were called blue something.

"Then one day they became The Hermits. It sort of made sense for The Hermits to call themselves "THE HERMITS" and NOT Herman's Hermits. They did a concert in the UK that billed them as Herman's Hermits and got in trouble with disgruntled fans. After a few attempts as The Hermits, suddenly one day they became Herman's Hermits. I think 'Herman's' is sort of a possessive word and would lead the public to believe that Herman was going to be there." Legend has it that NOONE became "HERMAN" because of his resemblance to a popular cartoon character at the time named "Sherman" ... PETER NOONE and "HERMAN" have been interchangeable monikers ever since.

"Keith then left Herman's Hermits and the other three Hermits --- Derek, Karl and Barry --- asked to use the name and, as I felt sorry for them, (they couldn't get work), I allowed them to use the name and pay me a royalty. In the early '70s I made a deal with the remaining three Hermits -- Derek, Karl and Barry -- to use the name for 10 years. After 10 years, they (Barry) decided that HE owned the name. He agreed to let me call myself Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone as my legal advisors suggested it would allow the public to choose between Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits starring Barry Whitwam. I readily agreed to this and apparently so did he. BUT this has only been tested in the USA and Canada. Since that agreement between us was made, he has played maybe 5 concerts in the States and you can safely say that the public has chosen here."

Some of the animosity between Noone and his former bandmates stem from disclosures that other musicians augmented Herman's Hermits sound on their records.

"There was a period where we (Producer Mickie Most and I) had just stopped using The Hermits on the recordings and were using the best musicians available to us to try to keep up with what had suddenly become The British Invasion. We were supposed to deliver 48 tracks a year to MGM so we were always scrambling to catch up," Noone says. "Sometimes Mickie Most and I were callous and unkind in our attempts to catch up with the rest of our fellow invaders, and as the use of overdubs became more and more a part of the recording process, a lot of musicians became unusable. I am saddened that I ever hurt anyone in the process, but in my defense, I was a 17 year old."

Despite some semblance of remorse, Noone ALSO admits that he wouldn't have done it any other way: "We used The Hermits less and less, and unfortunately, Mickie Most and I discovered the process was faster if not as much fun and we stupidly left The Hermits out of all the decisions causing them to hate us and I think rightfully so, but in my callousness of youth I thought little of other people's feelings and destroyed my friendships in the name of super success, none of which I regret sadly enough, because the recordings are of the moment and I was in the moment and The Hermits weren't." Noone offers further apologies on his website at peternoone.com.

Meanwhile, Barry Whitwam currently lists a total of 26 songs on his HERMAN'S HERMITS U.K. website as part of the band's discography ... yet Peter Noone claims that Whitwam didn't even play on 18 of these tracks! Claiming these records as part of the current band's discography goes a step or two beyond rewriting history ... it constitutes fraud! Noone, along with original HERMITS' guitarist KEITH HOPWOOD, are compiling a list of ALL of HERMAN'S HERMITS recordings, denoting which musicians actually played on which tracks so that a permanent, accurate history of these recordings will now exist.

Despite this bit of long-standing discrepancy and bitterness, the heart of the CURRENT matter will be deciding exactly WHO has the legal rights to promote themselves as HERMAN'S HERMITS, with or without any form of further clarification. "It was never intended to have any one member of the Herman's Hermits own the right to call himself Herman's Hermits!!!" Noone says. "As I agreed to the three original Hermits using the name long ago, I opened myself up to Barry and whoever else wants to call themselves Herman's Hermits using the name. There is also a version in Spain which has Frank Renshaw (I don't know him at all!!!) His claim is he was in one of Barry Whitwam's versions of Herman's Hermits so therefore he has claim. IT WAS NEVER intended for BARRY WHITWAM to hijack the name and use it with others. He agreed that I could call myself Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone and that he would call himself Herman's Hermits starring Barry Whitwam. Of course he forgot to mention this in his tirade against me."

Lest anyone feel this report to be too one-sided, please know that BARRY WHITWAM did not respond to ANY of the half dozen requests extended him to comment on these issues as part of the FORGOTTEN HITS Series. Coincidently, he DID recently tell THE BEAT, a U.K. Music Publication, that he has "almost finished my book about my life and times with the band ... and there's a lovely chapter about Peter Noone ... which should surprise his U.S.A. fans."

Those U.S.A. fans have already decided which version of Herman's Hermits THEY prefer to see. "Peter Noone is Herman is Peter Noone," Noone proudly says. Although he left the persona for a short time trying to develop a more "contemporary" career as both a solo artist, an actor and as a member of The Tremblers, Noone says it took LEAVING the "Herman" persona behind to make him realize just how good he actually WAS at being "Herman." He has embraced his past and musical accomplishments ever since. Now we'll just have to wait and see if the London courts continue to allow him to do so.




For the complete story on this topic ... exactly as it unfolded in FORGOTTEN HITS ... simply send an email to ForgottenHits@aol.com and request a copy of this series. Further inquiries can be addressed to:

Kent Kotal
The60sShop@aol.com
FORGOTTEN HITS
ForgottenHits@aol.com
(630) 207 - 1100

What do I do when Satan attacks?

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.

James 4:7-8 NLT

NOT THE REAL THING

Wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some goos in the wrong way. You can be good for the mere sake of goodness; you cannot be bad for the mere sake of badness. You can do a kind action when you are not feeling kind and when it gives you no pleasure, simply because kindness is right;but no one ever did a cruel action simply because cruelty was wrong-only because cruelty was pleasant or useful to him. In other words, badness cannot succeed even in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself; badness is only spoiled goodness...Evil is a parasite, not an original thing.

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

Daredevil and Hostess Fruit Pies in Because

It's Saturday and time for another adventure with Hostess and Daredevil. In this episode Daredevil meets with a new hero called Clymbe in, so far, his only adventure.

Marvel Two-in-One

Marvel Two-in-One was never a book that I made it a point to read regularly. Not that it wasn't good. It was. I was just not a real big fan of the Thing at the time. I liked his character of course but he didn't excite me to follow his adventures a lot. Perhaps I would have read it more if the star was the Human Torch. He was my favorite in the FF and Ben Grimm was second. Sorry Ben but that was true at the time.

Now somethings I found out while researching this was this Marvel Two-in-One fan site and that MTO really started out when the Thing was to turn Marvel Feature in to the team up magazine after he took over from Ant-Man. It started out like the others we mentioned here. Readers had always loved seeing Superman and Flash race and Flash was his first guest star in both of his team up books. Readers loved the interplay between Spider-Man and the Human Torch and they teamed up for the first three issues of Marvel Team Up. Fans of the Thing and the Hulk loved to see them fight and so his first team up in Marvel Feature #11 was the Hulk. Sales must have been through the roof as Marvel Feature was canceled and Marvel Two-In-One was released a month later. 100 issues later it seems that it was the right decision.

In reality Marvel Two-in-One barely qualifies as a team up book. From time to time he was teamed up with members of the Fantasitc Four. So it was really an FF book some months. Ben might be be teamed with Mr. Fantastic but since Sue and Johnny would make a cameo in the issue it was really like reading the FF. Then there were the rare times when the Thing was not teamed up with anyone. Yes the story was probably good but this is a team up book not a solo book.

Most of the time I read the book because of whoever he was teamed up with. My favorite was the Marvel Two-in-One annual #1. I was a big fan of the Invaders and in the Fantastic Four Annual that year the FF went back to WWII and teamed up with them. Then I saw something I never saw before or since. The story was continued. The book was only published once a year and it had a continued story!! It was really continued into Marvel Two-in-One annual #1 that was published next month but till I read that I was surprised. Ben teamed up with the Liberty Legion to finally finish the story. I also loved annual #3 when he teamed up with Nova. The story was just ok and I don't remember specifics about it but I bought it because I was a big fan of Nova.

While the book ended with issue #100, getting more respect from Marvel then DC gave to DC Presents did when it ended with #97, to me it should have ended with the story in #86. It shows that the Thing teamed up with Sandman but it wasn't really a team up. Ben was helping Reed with some heavy lifting and wanting to get out of it. Meanwhile the now assumed dead Sandman, after a battle with Hydroman, seperates himself and Hydro and they go their seperate ways. Ben gets a call that Sandman is seen having a beer in a bar. He leaves Reed and arrives at the bar to arrest Sandy. To his surprise he doesn't put up a fight. But before taking him away he and Ben have a drink and talk about life. This was what put Sandman on the road to being reformed for awhile. This is how a series should end. Sure it isn't a big bang but it is a nice neat story to end things on. So this is how I will end the last posting of Team up week.