Zappa meets claymation in the wonderful VHS rarity ‘The Amazing Mr. Bickford’
Many Frank Zappa fans will be familiar with the strange and delightful work of animator Bruce Bickford—his are the claymation sequences in Baby Snakes that…
Author: Ron Kretsch
Danna nanna nanna nanna SUN RAAAAAA: The space-jazz guru’s astounding ‘Batman and Robin’ LP
In 1966, an unremarkable-seeming children’s album called Batman and Robin was released, by an insignificant label called Tifton Records, to cash in on the very…
Post punk icons as classic Marvel Comics superheroes
Butcher Billy, the Brazilian designer behind the hilarious “Post/Punk New Wave Superfriends,” which reimagined punk and post punk icons in the guise of Justice League…
The Happy Hooker goes to Liverpool: Xaviera Hollander’s warped cover of the Beatles’ ‘Michelle’
In the years following the success of her memoir The Happy Hooker and the launch of its film franchise, Xaviera Hollander dabbled fairly widely in…
Joy Division fans raising money to turn Ian Curtis’ home into a museum
After Joy Division singer Ian Curtis’ home was listed for sale last week, a campaign was launched to raise funds from fans of the band…
Booker T. & the MGs cover the Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’
In spring of 1970, mere months after the Beatles released Abbey Road, the Stax label’s elite house band Booker T. and the MGs released McLemore…
‘Records Collecting Dust’: New doc on collecting vinyl with Jello Biafra and other fanatatics
As record collecting’s resurgence continues to grow, so does the sub-industry of proffering opinions about the phenomenon. Annual pro- and anti-Record Store Day think pieces…
Snatch and the Poontangs: Johnny and Shuggie Otis’ filthy, hilarious blues/soul party record
In 1969, an eponymous LP appeared by “Snatch and the Poontangs,” first as a self-release (catalog number SNATCH 101), and later on Kent Records. Given…
Psychoactive sci-fi surrealism: The book covers that inspired XTC’s Andy Partridge
I’d love to live in a world where the great commercial artists of the past—the visionary men and women who could easily have been heralded…
Aaaaaand here’s a cremation urn shaped like Barack Obama’s head
Last week we told you about Pet Photo Fun, the surely well-meaning but perhaps a tad strange people who’ll animate a photo of your dead…