coming tomorrow...

The first in a series of looks at my kind of music divas.

How I Spent a Hot Summer Weekend

I'm a bad gay. While most of my friends were out in the hot, smoky Los Angeles night watching Liza shriek and croak her away through her two nights at the Hollywood Bowl, I was at home in the air conditioned comfort of my living with a few good friends watching great stuff like GRIZZLY (1976) and MAUSOLEUM (1983).

You see, I've seen Ms. Minnelli perform live throughout the 80s, 90s and even the early 2000s, and I feel I have already seen her at her best. Her triumphant run at Carnegie Hall and her post-Results tour were her glory days, and I will forever cherish seeing those performances.

Having met her and talked to Liza on a few occasions, I have nothing but admiration and respect for the lady whose flawless talent will forever be preserved in her films, TV specials and in my memories. I'm glad others now have gotten their turn to see her, but I'm so glad I sat this one out. Reviews of GRIZZLY and MAUSOLEUM to come soon.

Mary Marvel Copies a Cowboy?

In addendum to my look at SHAZAM & ISIS, I recently came across this interesting comic book fashion advertisement from the 1940s starring a very butch Mary Marvel.All these clothes are guaranteed washable! Shazam!

Ellie Greenwich 1940-2009

More Found HORIZON

Following up on my post from last Tuesday and also posted on Hello There Cutie.In 1973 Disneyland Records released a kids version of the Lost Horizon soundtrack, disguising the much-maligned Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical as a It's a Small World knock-off. I, for one, find the songs cute and charming. They also added in songs from other musicals to round out the album. It is now my mission to hunt down this rare gem.

The Return of The Doom Patrol!

One of my favorite DC Comics superhero teams, The Doom Patrol recently returned to the DC Universe. The Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963).

The team was created by writer Arnold Drake (who also wrote the screenplay for the awesome film WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?) and artist Bruno Premiani. Some have noticed that a few similarities exist between the Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics' X-Men. Both teams first appeared in 1963 (X-Men #1 debuted three months after the Doom Patrol), both feature misfit superheroes shunned by society and both are led by men confined to wheelchairs.The first Doom Patrol consisted of three super-powered rejects: Robotman (Cliff Steele), Negative Man (Larry Trainor), and Elasti-Girl (Rita Farr). The Chief (Dr. Niles Caulder) assembled the team to use their powers to combat evil. The series was such a success that My Greatest Adventure was retitled The Doom Patrol beginning with issue #86. Beast Boy, later a Teen Titan, was a junior member of the team and his father, Mento also became part of the mix.The series was eventually canceled in 1968, and Drake chose to kill the entire in the final issue, Doom Patrol #121 (September 1968).Writer Paul Kupperberg, and artist Joe Staton introduced a new team in Showcase #94 (August 1977). It was revealed that a woman named Arani Desai, had married Niles Caulder previously and when she found out that was killed, she recreated the Doom Patrol. New members were feisty Russian cosmonaut Valentina Vostok, who became Negative Woman; and Tempest aka Joshua Clay. It turned out that Robotman was the only survivor of the explosion that killed his teammates, and Dr. Will Magnus of Metal Men fame built him a new body. This new team followed its three-issue Showcase run with a series of guest appearances in various DC titles.In the early 1980s, Robotman appeared in the Marv Wolfman/George Pérez New Teen Titans series, where he joined Beast Boy (now known as Changling), and the Titans in finally bringing the murderers of the original team to justice.
Comics superstar John Byrne drew Secret Origins Annual #1, published in 1986, which retold the origins of the two teams.
The series was soon relaunched, by Kupperberg and artist Steve Lightle. The team now included new members: the magnetically-powered Lodestone; psychic powered Karma, and a dude named Scott Fischer. After issue 18, Kupperberg left the series and an up-and-coming writer named Grant Morrison on the task of writing the poor-selling title.Celsius and Scott Fischer died before issue #18; Karma left the team to become a member of the Suicide Squad; the Negative Spirit left Valentina's body; and Lodestone was placed into a coma, where she would remain for many issues. Tempest became the team's physician.Morrison took a throw-away character from issue #14, Dorothy Spinner, an ape-faced girl with powerful "imaginary friends" and made her a member of the team.Other new characters included the multiple personality-afflicted Crazy Jane and Danny the Street. Morrison's Doom Patrol incorporated bizarre secret societies, elements of Dada and surrealism. With all this weird stuff, the series quickly gained a cult following. Issue #53 was a wonderful homage to the creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Morrison left the book with issue #63, and Rachel Pollack took over as the series became part of the publisher's more adult Vertigo imprint. One story featured a sexist supervillain character called The Codpiece who had a deadly device implanted in his crotch area. Characters in Pollack's run included Cliff Steele, Niles Caulder (now a disembodied head kept on a tray filled with ice) and the lovable Dorothy Spinner. New characters included The Bandage People, the Inner Child, the Identity Addict and the transsexual hero called Coagula. Pollack continued writing the title until its cancellation with issue #87, in February 1995.After appearing in a crossover series called The Silver Age, writer John Arcudi and artist Tan Eng Huat launched a an all-new Doom Patrol series, as the title returned to the DC Universe for 22 issues starting in December 2001.It was revealed that Dorothy Spinner had a mental breakdown and accidentally killed most of the team members. After falling into a coma she created a new Robotman, who became a part of a new Jost Enterprises-owned team. The team also consisted of new members Fast Forward, Kid Slick, Fever and Freak. Cliff Steele eventually returned and became a member of the Doom Patrol yet again.
In August 2004, DC launched a yet another new short-lived Doom Patrol series! After debuting in JLA, John Byrne controversially rebooted the series, eliminating ALL the previous Doom Patrol continuity. Retroactively eliminating Beast Boy's origins and all Doom Patrol appearances in other DC titles. Three new characters (Nudge, Grunt and Vortex along with JLA recruit Faith) were now part of the team along with the original four members. DC cancelled this series with issue #18.Thankfully, the events in DC's Infinite Crisis crossover were able to restore the Doom Patrol's full continuity, with inclusion of all previous incarnations. Two former members of the Teen Titans: Mal Duncan, now code named Vox, and his wife (Bumblebee) became members of this new Doom Patrol team.
Writer Keith Giffen's current revival of Doom Patrol promises to focus on the core members Elasti-Woman, Negative Man, Robotman and the Chief. Bumblebee is now eight inches tall. Nudge was killed in the line of duty and Grunt took off afterwards. No word on the whereabouts of Fast Forward, Kid Slick, Fever, Freak, Vortex, Faith or Vox. The current team operates out of the Oolong Island, a popular resort town in the DC Universe.

Return of the Worst TV Show Ever!

With news that SMALL WONDER is finally coming to DVD, I've decided to rerun a post from last fall about the show.

SMALL WONDER was a syndicated sitcom that from 1985 to 1989. In New York, where I lived at the time, it aired Saturday nights on Channel 5, WNEW (or WNYW) - around the time the station became a FOX affiliate.The show felt like an awkward throwback to the 1960s, especially with it's cheesy theme song. The premise was this: some nerdy scientist guy secretly builds a robot that looks like a 10-year-old girl, but she really is designed to perform house work at superhuman speed. The Robot is named Vicki, and this guy and his wife pass her off as their adopted daughter–even though they make her sleep in the box she came in!!! Very creepy!Complicating things are the guy's bastard of a boss, who lived next door with a nosy, bratty daughter. It was like THE JETSONS meets BEWITCHED meets MY LIVING DOLL (which I've never seen - but am dying to!) I can recall watching several episodes of this show just out of disbelief that it actually got "greenlit". It must have had some loyal fans because it lasted FOUR seasons!Of course, now I wish it was airing somewhere. Hello, TV LAND? Here's an ambitious fan site dedicated to the show. I'm sure the show is even (unintentionally) funnier as seen through 2008 eyes. I say "give me SMALL WONDER over over-hyped crap like GOSSIP GIRL any day!"

Apparently, after four seasons, yes, wonders do indeed cease.

Virginia Davis 1918-2009

Five years before Mickey Mouse, Virginia Davis, a 4-year-old Kansas City native with two years of dance and dramatic lessons behind her, would earn a place in movie history as the Disney Studios' first star, appearing in the first 13 popular "Alice Comedies" produced by Walt.

The Softer Side of Doug

Have you been to HELLO THERE CUTIE lately? It's my other daily blog dedicated to all things cute that I do with my friend Sherri. Each day we both contribute something adorable and make each other (and our readers) smile. Because the real world can be a very ugly place. And it's rated "G" - so you can share it with the young ones!

Found HORIZON

When I was a kid I begged my parents to take me to see Ross Hunter's production of LOST HORIZON at Radio City Music Hall. My mother must have thought I would be satisfied with any Liv Ullman film, so instead she took me to see 40 CARATS - in which Liv played a cougar who seduced Edward Albert, who was about half her age.

I finally did get to see LOST HORIZON this past weekend and all I can say is "wow". Bad movie Shangri-La. A Bacharach-David musical starring Peter Finch, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, Bobby Van and the aforementioned Ms. Ullman. With the legendary John Gielgud and Charles Boyer playing Asians. There are many unbelievably crazy moments, mostly featuring musical numbers with actors who cannot sing or dance. Hermes Pan must have been pulling his hair out when asked to choreograph this magnificent mess. I could go on for days about it, but I'll opt to just show you my favorite clip.

Bad Men

With the excellent AMC serial MAD MEN returning tonight for a third season, I thought I'd take a look at some awful advertising from the decade after the golden age of advertising. The 1970s.

"I was flat till I went fluffy, but I still looked like a serial killer".

"Hi Hal, this is Neil from Maybelline. We couldn't decide which tagline to go with for the Fresh Lash campaign, so we decided to go with all of them. Now just slap 'em in an ad with lotsa pretty pictures and we'll be done with it, Okay?"

"Can we make encyclopedias look sexy? We sure can! How about a pleasantly attractive older woman dressed like a stewardess rubbing her right breast on the back of a teen-age boy's head while she straddles his shoulders? His smile alone will sell about a million sets!"

DEGRASSI GOES HOLLYWOOD: The Day After

What a giant shitheap that was. I can't even begin to talk about it yet. I need time to recover. By the way, this is my 500th post!

Les Paul 1915-2009

DEGRASSI JR. HIGH Opening Credits

As a footnote to yesterday's DEGRASSI megapost.

People Who Read People

Inspired by my friend Laura over at A Touch of Tuesday Weld, here's a couple of tasteful fashion ads from People Magazine circa 1977.

It's more like "Lynda Carter wants you to rescue her from the wilderness and take her shopping for something that does not look like a goth version of a Holly Hobbie quilt."

What the hell is she wearing on her head? She must have fallen off the marble pillars earlier. I hope that wrap stopped the bleeding, because I would not want any blood to get on his lovely white blouse. What an attitude!

John Hughes 1950-2009

Trashy Old Magazines: Uncensored

This is the last one in my file, not very scandalous - but interesting.Is Hollywood going goofy over goofballs?

Trashy Old Magazines: Confidential

The granddaddy of all of today's trashy tabloids - you can see why.

Trashy Old Magazines: Behind the Scene

I wanna read about Bing and the amateur stipteasers!

Trashy Old Magazines: Exposed

Joan Fontaine and her Negro Screen Lover!

Trashy Old Magazines: On The QT

I'll be running a bunch of these over the next few days while I catch up. Notice Dorothy Kilgallen's name on the lower left hand corner. Marilyn, Dorothy, JFK, pills, suicide...

I'm just saying...

The Douglas Michael Show with guest Sal Polichetti of "Sonseed"

Hello readers, welcome to a very special edition of Dougsploitation's The Douglas Michael Show. For those of you unfamiliar with the back story of my relationship/obsessesion with Sonseed, here it is in a nutshell.

I've owned a VHS tape of Sonseed performing "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" on an episode the WNBC TV show THE FIRST ESTATE for over 25 years. I've shown it to hundreds of people over the years. People of all faiths and people of no faith all just seemed to LOVE it. In August of 2008, a friend of mine converted it to digital and I posted it on Vimeo and also here on this very blog. Some crafty person stole it from Vimeo and put it on YouTube and before you knew, people all around the world were singing along with Sal Polichetti and the band. I later stole it back and posted it on YouTube myself as well- as have countless others. 2 Million viewings, several parodies and covers later, the song and the video had taken on a life of their own.

Soon after I posted the video, I was able, through a series of lucky circumstances, to get an exclusive interview with Sal, which I posted on this blog as a "Dougsploitation News Special Report". My daily visitors suddenly went from around 8 to over 8000 because there was no information about Sonseed available anywhere other than here...and then accusations began to fly that I made the whole thing up. That was fun. I even got to do a few interviews myself because of that. Now, a year later, I sit across from Sal Polichetti in a diner in Manhattan's Chelsea and we talk like old friends.
Doug : Hey Sal, it's great to talk to you again - almost a year later and this time FACE-TO-FACE! Welcome to my virtual talk-show - and my first on-location interview! If someone told me a year ago that I'd be sitting in a diner in Chelsea across from Sal from Sonseed, I would NEVER believe them. Life is strange sometimes.

Sal: You can take the boy out of Brooklyn but you can't take Brooklyn out of the boy. Although you've been living in California and I've been living upstate NY for quite some time it was obvious where we came from. Not everyone would understand that (you have to be from "New Yawk").

Doug: It's good to be back home, even if it is just for a quick visit. As you know, since I first posted the Sonseed video on my blog last year, you might say that things have kinda gotten outta control. Before Sonseed I had about 8 readers a day - then it was about 8000 a day. So, how has YOUR life changed in the past year?

Sal: I've never had a fan club in Sweden before! My brother-in-law forwarded it to me last week. I don't know what they're saying but I assume it's positive. I've also never done a telephone interview for a morning drive-time radio station in Sydney, Australia either (it's true; every other word out of their mouths is "mate"). I guess it's the wide scope of this whole thing that amazes me!

Doug: Wow, Sweden, Australia - you are an international superstar! There must be at least a dozen Facebook fan clubs. Did you ever think that Sonseed would be out on CD and available in stores like Best Buy? How did that all come about?
Sal: Greg Glover from Arena Rock in Oregon contacted me. He distributes a lot of indie, out-of-the-box stuff and thought this might be fun. We couldn't use the entire album due to copyright restrictions but most of the good stuff is there.
Doug: Oh, and it's so cool that I got a special "thank you" on the CD! What has been the reaction of your family...and friends to Sonseed's resurgence?
Sal: My sisters and their kids are blown away. I guess when you're a teenager and your old uncle Sal is a "YouTube" star that's big cred at school. My kids are sort of used to it; they've been seeing me perform in plays and with the band their whole lives. But I am waiting for my son to use "have you seen my dad on YouTube?" as a pick-up line.Doug: That's hysterical! Mabye he can get a tee-shirt made via Cafe Press that says that? I have to tell you, the part that makes me the happiest about this whole thing is you were able to reconnect with old friends because of all this and that it brought some happiness to Brother John before he passed away.
Sal: Everyone I've gotten in touch with has been really cool about the whole thing. It was great re-connecting with Frank Franco again (besides the annual Christmas card exchange) and we've actually met a few times in the past year. There are still some Sonseeders I haven't heard from yet. I find it hard to believe they all haven't heard about this whole thing. Maybe they're pissed off. Maybe they're embarrassed. Hard to tell.

Doug: Maybe they just don't have internet access yet? You've recently appeared on stage with a few bands- performing "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" to sold-out crowds. That must have been and incredible experience. So what's next for you? What's next for Sonseed?

Sal: Same old for me. I just finished doing "The Sunshine Boys" at a small theater in Walden, NY and I'm now in rehearsals for "Kiss Me Kate" in Monroe, NY. I still play old rock and roll with 3 other old guys every so often (my first love, actually). As far as Sonseed I suppose that's it. It would probably take "Beatle reunion" type cash to get all of us in the same place at the same time again. Frankly, I don't see that happening.

Doug: Well, if that reunion happens, I wanna be there! I just have to say what an extreme pleasure it has been meeting you in person and getting to know you. I only wish I had posted the video YEARS ago, but I'm so glad I finally did.

Sal: Same for me, brother. I don't know how I would have handled this years ago but I'm in a good place in my life right now and was able to enjoy it.Doug: Thanks again for talking to me and helping put my blog on the map. I love that your family sent me a "Hi Doug" photo. That is so sweet! All my best to your daughter Christina, your wife Donna and your son Joseph. I love that I can now say that "Sal Polichetti is a Friend of Mine"!Sal: Same to you and all you care about. If we ever get out to LA, we'll do this again!

Doug: I look forward to it - LA has a lots of great diners for us to hang out in. Oh by the way, I recently got to re-screen the video at Dennis Hensley's HOME VIDEO GONG SHOW at the REDCAT Theater at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A. - it did not get gonged this time! Here it is again, for old time's sake...ZAP!