Nothing groovier than go-go dancing. And Linda Rogers is sublime in this 1970 video from Atlanta-based TV show The Now Explosion.

The Now Explosion broke new ground for broadcasting music on television, programming music in a free-flowing style and experimenting with video in a format that pre-dated MTV by 10 years. Check out their website. It’s a gas.

The special effects used in The Now Explosion were crude but state of the art for the early 1970 era. Video was shot with heavy, non portable studio cameras on large rolling tripods. The music videos were recorded on two inch magnetic tape. The video editing required the use of 3 massive and costly “quad” tape recorders allowing only simple transitions such as cuts and dissolves.

Most performers were young amateurs recruited from the Atlanta audience. Many appeared with home-grown costumes - often after midnight when station facilities became available - and were recorded dancing extemporaneously as rock rhythms were piped into an almost bare and darkened studio. The lighting often placed performers “in limbo” so that only the illuminated dancers were seen against darkened studio walls. Extensive special effects were added in post production as images were combined and distorted to form what production people often called “eye candy.”

Linda Rogers (Albritton) went on to have a career as a dancer and dance teacher. She continues to teach dance to this day. 

In this segment from The Now Explosion, Rogers is simply dreamy as she does a sultry go-go to Bread’s 1970 hit “Make It With You.”
 

 
Linda and Grand Funk get the trippy treatment:

 
R. Metzger, always ahead of the curve. Previously on DM: The Now Explosion: The Original MTV. 

 
The World Beard and Moustache Championship was held on Sunday, in Trondhejm, Norway. The American team (“Beard Team USA”) brought home a respectable total of six gold medals, in categories such as “Full Beard Styled Moustache,” “Hungarian Moustache” and “Imperial Moustache” (congratulations to Burke T Kenny, Bruce Roe and Giovanni Dominice respectively). The big shock of the tournament was the dethroning of the popular Jack Passion (above) by his fellow American Rooty Lundvahl in the “Full Beard Natural” category, a title Passion was defending after a win in Alaska last year.

While all this looks great on paper, it wasn’t enough for Beard Team USA to defeat arch rivals Germany, who took home gold medals in a total of seven categories. I know the Americans had a lot riding on it, but as a European I can let you in on a little something we have known for a long time - you can never beat Germany at facial hair. Sorry, but it’s their precision engineering. Their wins this year included yet another overall competition win for Elmar Weisser in the “Full Beard Freestyle” category. This guy is untouchable, and I would fear for any competitor going up against him (have you seen his Brandenburg Gate!?). This year he really outdid himself, managing to sculpt his beard into a forest scene. Featuring a reindeer:
 

 
Fans of such matters (me included - I have been known to sport a Dali from time to time) should check out the trailer for a new series currently in production from the Independent Film Channel called “Whisker Wars.” As the name would suggest it’s a reality TV program that follows the trials and tribulations of some of the members of Beard Team USA (including Jack Passion) as they talk about their facial hair, the problems it can cause them, their grooming regimes and their preparations as they enter into local championships. I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I cannot wait to watch this:
 

 
Man Test was a British TV program where famous people are asked a series of questions on their private lives, and asked to rate their feelings on certain topics from one to seven. The overall score will determine whether a person falls more into the “masculine” or “feminine” category. Where do you think Henry Rollins lands? The answer may surprise you.

Richard recently stated that it was vogue-ish to hate on Rollins. About as vogue-ish as it was to idolize him in the 80s and 90s? Personally I have mixed feelings about Hank - I do like him, but think he is also capable of massive dick moves. The infamous clip of Rollins “confronting” a group of young people (known in some particular circles as “hipsters”) in a NY café is a great example - his confrontational stance makes the situation much worse and he makes a lot of unjustified assumptions about these kids, assumptions that could very easily apply to him too. Being over-tattooed is definitely one.

On the other hand, I’ve only just recently watched The Henry Rollins Show, as it never aired in the UK as far as I knew. To my mild surprise I like it and him. He comes across well, though that would be the point of having your own TV show I guess. But Rollins is an excellent interviewer, holding back on inserting his own ego into conversations and good at creating rapport with his guests. The Werner Herzog and Steve Buscemi interviews are good examples. I don’t even mind his rants on the show, which is more surprising as I am not a fan of his stand up. It’s hectoring, and not as insightful or as clever as he thinks it is.

Man Test gives some surprising insights into Henry Rollins’ character. The show, from 2000, asks him some direct questions about his love and family life, which he is not afraid of answering openly. Rollins is not a man who wears his intelligence lightly, which works against him sometimes, but he is definitely an interesting character. Personally, I would like to know if he is a fan of TLC’s “No Scrubs”?
 
Henry Rollins - Man Test Part One
 

 
Henry Rollins - Man Test Part Two
 

 
Here’s the third installment of MoPapparani’s ambitious video tribute to fictional rock bands in film and television.

Featured in compilation three are:

01 - A. D. D. (The Rocker)
02 - Infant Sorrow (Get Him to the Greek)
03 - Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers
(The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension)
04 - Hard Core Logo (Hard Core Logo)
05 - Eddie and the Cruisers (Eddie and the Cruisers)
06 - The Commitments (The Commitments)
07 - Cherry Bomb (Howard the Duck)
08 - Strange Fruit (Still Crazy)
09 - Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
10 - El Mariachi (Desperado)
11 - Bad Blake (Crazy Heart)
12 - B-Rabbit (8 Mile)
13 - Young Caesar (Get Rich or Die Tryin’)
14 - DJay (Hustle & Flow)
15 - Yonica Babyyeah (War, Inc.)
16 - Sexual Chocolate (Coming to America)
17 - Lili Von Shtupp (Blazing Saddles)
18 - Freddy Fredrickson (That Thing You Do!)
19 - Willie Scott (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
20 - Breathless Mahoney (Dick Tracy)
21 - Emma Murdoch (Dark City)
22 - The Chantrellines (That Thing You Do!)
23 - Du Jour (Josie and the Pussycats)
24 - Rex Manning (Empire Records)
25 - PoP (Music and Lyrics)
26 - Reverend Cleophus James & the Triple Rock Baptist Church Choir
(The Blues Brothers)
27 - The Muses (Disney’s Hercules)
28 - Curtis Salgado (The Blues Brothers)
29 - Rachel Marron (The Bodyguard)
30 - The Beets (Doug)
31 - Fat Albert and the Junkyard Band (Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids)
32 - The Banana Splits (The Banana Splits)
33 - The Blowholes (The Adventures of Pete & Pete)
34 - Stephen and the Colberts (The Colbert Report)
35 - Chef (South Park)
36 - The Archies (The Archie Show)
37 - Zack Attack (Saved by the Bell)
38 - Titannica (Mr. Show with Bob and David)
39 - Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld (South Park)
40 - Dethklok (Metalocalypse)
 

 
Compilation one and two after the jump…

 
I recall as a child that the Daleks were as popular as The Beatles. TV, cinema, candy stores and toy shops were crammed with Dalekmania. One Christmas I received a stocking-filled with assorted Dalek paraphernalia: a toy, an annual and a Daleks costume, which consisted of a grey plastic hood, attached to a red plastic tent, and covered with white polka dots. It was through this that I poked the sink plunger and drum-stick to intimidate all who crossed my path.

Now for those who still have a love for those dastardly creations, there is Dalek6338, the ultimate site for all things Dalek

Described as “An exhaustive - if bonkers - work of genius”, Dalek6338 was originally started by Jon Green as “a resource for fans who wanted to learn about the origins of the Dalek props built for Doctor Who.” Through trial and error, and a fortuitous collaboration with Gav, another ardent Dalek fan, the site has developed into the definitive Dalek resource - an excellent treasure trove for those who love, like or are mildly interested in the history and derivation of the Daleks.
 

 
Bonus clips of Doctor Who and the Daleks after the jump…
 

 
The Mods hailed from New Jersey and played the same club circuit as The Castilles, one of Bruce Springsteen’s first bands. In this clip from an episode of Candid Camera which aired in November of 1966, the band lip-synchs “Smile, You’re On Candid Camera” which was the B-side of one of two singles they released. This TV appearance was their fleeting moment of national fame.

I know a lot of people so do you,
who do a lot of things that they shouldn’t do.
So just remember when you decide,
you just might end up on a nationwide.
For those who think that crime does pay,
you just might hear someone say,
“Smile, you’re on Candid Camera”

Candid Camera was the granddaddy to reality TV and Youtube.

“Smile, You’re On Candid Camera” was written by two members, Ray Dahrouge and Sam Siciliano, of New Jersey doo-wop group The Darchaes.
 

 
Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Guinness ad campaign is several years old but I had to share this trio of high quality versions of what has to be some of the loopiest shit to ever appear on TV.
 

 
Perry has a new album coming out on May 10.

Rise Again is a guest-heavy affair, with Bill Laswell behind the mixing boards and a batch of collaborators that include TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, P-Funk’s Bernie Worrell, Sly and Robbie’s Sly Dunbar and backing musicians for the likes of Tricky, Wu-Tang, Matisyahu and Shakira, among others.

Here’s a track called “Higher Level.” Sounds like vintage, dubby, Upsetter to me. Tunde Adebimpe singing background vocals.
 

 
Psychoville, the brilliant BBC2 comedy series from The League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith is returning tonight to television sets in the UK and, no doubt, to many bit torrent savvy homes across the world like mine…

I am an absolute League of Gentlemen fanatic (as anyone who knows me can tell you) and Psychoville’s initial seven episode run in 2009 had me in TV heaven. The Halloween special was amazing. I’m really, really looking forward to more Psychoville. (So smart of them to end with a cliffhanger. That’s how to get a second series commissioned!).

Complex and multi-layered as 24 or Lost—and with distinctly Hitchcockian elements in abundance—Pemberton and Shearsmith’s series ties together several disparate characters: Maureen and David Sowerbutts, a mother-son serial killer duo; Mr. Jelly, a bitter one-armed alcoholic party clown for hire; Oscar Lomax, a blind millionaire who collects Beanie Babies; Joy Aston (played by Dawn French), a nurse who believe a doll is her real son and a dwarf actor with telekinesis trying to hide his “midget porn” past.

All six are connected by a mysterious letter they all receive that simply reads: “I know what you did.”
 

 
Meet Stanley. He’s an adult baby. He’s one of the “stars” of National Geographic’s forthcoming documentary series Taboo.

Adult babies are the kind of so-called “taboo” TV execs go nuts for. I know, because I once made a documentary, about 10 years ago, that included adult babies, and believe me the powers that be couldn’t get enough. One adult baby I interviewed was a plummy ex-public schoolboy, who filled his nappy during filming. It was perhaps a comment on my line of questioning. I didn’t ask. But that was nothing compared to the woody he got afterwards.

Now here’s Stanley, and as the SF Gate explains:

Stanley’s a 29-year-old man who wakes up in the morning and puts on typical clothing before going to work. But when he returns home he slips into a diaper and fuzzy pajamas with feet. He also sucks on a pacifier, drinks from a bottle, and sleeps in a giant customized crib.
Stanley likes to pretend he’s a baby and his unusual lifestyle, referred to as infantalism, was featured on National Geographic’s “Taboo,” a show that explores the line where fantasy and reality blur.

Stanley’s roommate enjoys playing the role of Stanley’s mother, even though the two aren’t related.

Often infantalism is a sexual fetish, but that’s not the case for Stanley. “I like to play or be treated as a baby to get the love and affection and safeness,” Stanley tells “Taboo.” For some people it’s a sexual thing but for most of us we’re doing it to relax. You come home from work and you change into baby mode. You put away your adult stuff and that life gets put on hold.”

Stanley has found a community of fellow infantalists online. When he first started having the urge to act like a baby at age 14, he says that he was really scared and thought his feelings were strange. But now that he has connected with others like himself he’s comfortable with his lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the Nat Geo link is only available in certain countries, so I’ve added a couple of bonus clips, which were put on YouTube in response to the original.
 

 
Bonus clips of ‘Big Baby’, after the jump…
 
With thanks to Tara McGinley
 

 
New from Adam Curtis, director of the controversial documentaries, The Power of Nightmares and Century of the Self. This looks quite tasty, but still till no announced air date.
 

 
Thank you kindly, Michael Backes!