Do any of you in the U.S. catch Svengoolie? It's a show on MeTV on Saturday nights with horror, science fiction and monster movies. It's usually the classics with all sorts of Frankenstein, Wolfman and Dracula variations, assorted mummies, earth invasions and, my favorite, Japanese monster movies. If you haven't watched the show and go looking for it, let me forewarn you. The host, Svengoolie, is not at all my cup of tea. His jokes and shtick are just plain awful. Not even so bad it's good, because it's clear the guy thinks he is killin' it. He isn't. But he does provide some background info on the movies which almost makes up for it. Tonight it's Destroy All Monsters a Japanese monster movie with all he big stars, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan among them. Yowza.
When I saw what movie was playing tonight, it reminded me that I've never posted anything by the band, Destroy All Monsters. It was fronted by a woman named Niagara (above), now an artist. (Her paintings are similar to Roy Lichtenstein's comic strip paintings but without copying other sources, nor with Ben-Day dots. Her style is her own, usually featuring tough looking women.) The big draw for Destroy All Monsters is that it featured Ron Asheton (also above) on guitar. Asheton had been the guitarist on the first two Stooges LPs and the bass player on the third. To me he was as important as Iggy Pop as far as the sound of the Stooges was concerned. He was the guy in the band that dug free jazz and really took to the gnarly chaos of the longer songs. There would be no Funhouse without his his participation. Destroy All Monsters was a formidable band, though not nearly as intense as the Stooges. Here's a few from the late seventies and a link to a shitload of their stuff (mostly live) at Internet Archive.
Listen:
Destroy All Monsters - Bored mp3 at Internet Archive
Destroy All Monsters - You're Gonna Die mp3 at Internet Archive
Destroy All Monsters - November 22 1963 mp3 at Internet Archive
Destroy All Monsters - Going to Lose mp3 at Internet Archive
Destroy All Monsters - Tons more at Internet Archive
Watch:
Destroy All Monsters (the film) at PBS
3 comments:
Actually got that movie both on VHS and Super-8. No recordings of DAM the band though (at least I think not), but I know I have a CD of another of Asheton's obscure post-Stooges bands; New Order. Neither project is Stooges level I think we can agree :)...
And hey; I know you've got your Labor Day in September, but Happy International Worker's Day, Tom (May 1st).
all the best, Espen
Hey espen!
As far as Japanese monster movies go, that was one of the best I've seen. A friend at work told me that that there was link on PBS's site. That's Public Broadcasting System, our version of the BBC. What the hell?!
I agree with you about Asheton. His shining moment was the first two Stooges LPs, Funhouse his absolute peak. Goddamn I love that album.
International Workers Day has always meant more to me than Labor Day. (Raised fists all around!) Unfortunately, Labor Day in the U.S. is usually just celebrated as the unofficial end of summer.
I actually do not enthuse about horror, science, or monster movies; despite attending a number of Cinema Wasteland expositions in Cleveland. When I was an impressionable teenage male, the horror host movie program was usually competing against roller derby or wrestling on another channel.
Svengoolie works here in Chicago. He did some voiceovers for MeTV FM.
And he appears on this record by Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon.
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