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Post by Shrink Proof on Apr 20, 2016 9:12:56 GMT
I think Pete Brown is a very nice man, and loyal to old friends. Say no more. Apparently during a poetry reading in Cambridge in 1973, Pete Brown dedicated a poem to Syd Barrett, saying he was "one of the greatest songwriters in the country." A man who looked "vaguely familiar" stood up and replied, "No I'm not."
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Post by dem bones on Apr 20, 2016 10:05:09 GMT
But Bond as a man, though? He sounds appalling from what I know, and even Pete Brown - who was his friend - described him to me as 'very flawed' when I interviewed him. I think Pete Brown is a very nice man, and loyal to old friends. Say no more. Guinness Books did some really good offbeat rock books around that time, and they sold like crap. They had offices in Enfield at that time and I spent several excellent Indian meals with an editor cooking up weird rock and film titles that he couldn't get the budget for: they would have been great books, but sold naff all back then. It was a different time. I think that must be (really?) why Guinness pulled the plug on anything not related to their core book and he left for pastures new. Presumably with a good curry house within walking distance of the office... "Very flawed" is indeed diplomatic. I'd compare The Mighty Shadow to John Repsch's The Legendary Joe Meek Story in that, such is each author's talent for story telling, you don't need to be the least familiar with the music to appreciate the biog(s). Think the only other Guinness books I have are Tony Williams' The Non-League Football Fact Book and Rosemary Ellen Guiley's Encyclopedia Of Ghosts & Spirits, so fair to say they cast their net wide.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 30, 2016 8:56:43 GMT
Dem & Bride of currently engrossed in new series of the peerless Ripper Street. Lady Fishnet has survived some scrapes in her time, but surely even she can't wriggle free of the hangman's rope.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 19, 2016 7:24:36 GMT
Just don't get me started on Gonks Go Beat, which is both awful and yet strangely compelling at the same time (and has the Graham Bond Organisation at their peak line-up - GB, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Dick Heckstall-Smith. I wouldn't have wanted to travel in the van with three of those at each others throats). Finally got to endure Gonks Go Beat (lauded by Harry Shapiro as "possibly the worst film ever made") - when Talking Pictures screened it Friday afternoon gone. I agree with the "awful" - essentially it's a sci-Fi West Side Stories for softies. For those who've not yet had the dubious pleasure, the way of it is this. It is THE FUTURE again, and our planet is divided into two warring communities. Groovy long hair freak out beats versus simpering clean cut boy and girl next door balladeers. Walking disaster Wilco Roger (Kenneth Connor) is sent to Earth from the outer galaxies to resolve the conflict. Failure to do so will see him exiled to the dread planet Gonk, which, its intimated, is worse than, I dunno, Romford, or Perivale, or Luton, or somewhere equally disgusting, which is stretching credulity way too far. Bond and his mates' full-throttle assault on Harmonica is class - first time I've seen the Organisation in action - ditto the Titan Studio Orchestra's Burn Up, but that's about it for the redeeming features. The insipid ballads are sheer torture.
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Post by ripper on Sept 22, 2016 16:40:10 GMT
During one of the summer school holidays in the mid to late 70s, our ITV company screened a season of pop films from the 60s, starring popular singers and bands of the time. One was Gonks go Beat, and it stayed in my mind particularly due to its odd and distinctive title. I can't really recall much about it plot-wise, but if Talking Pictures have shown it then I will keep an eye out for it as it is bound to turn up there again.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 24, 2017 20:17:36 GMT
Father Brown - The Mask of the Demon (Series 4: 1. 2006). Hollywood heartthrob Rex Bishop (Johnathan Firth) returns to Blighty to star in Cardinal Productions tacky new horror feature, The Demon Brides. Why would he risk his lofty reputation on such a piece of garbage? Rex explains that he's been "homesick." The truth is he's being blackmailed over a set of compromising photographs by the movie's tyrannical director, Vivian Wolsey (David Schofield). The filming takes place in Kembleford. Lady Felicia, an old friend of Rex's, arranges for Rex to pay a call on Father Brown and his housekeeper, Mrs McCarthy (Sorcha Cusack), who is a huge fan. When Wolsey is murdered in bizarre fashion - a demon's mask is strapped to his face - Rex is the prime suspect having threatened to kill him on camera, but then, he has that in common with everyone else on the set. Wolsey's widow, Bebe Fontaine (Deirdre Mullins), The Demon Bride's female lead, openly rejoices at his death, and it transpires that both upcoming starlet Paulette Swain (Molly Hanson), and screen-writer Billy Neville (William Ellis) had good reason to wish him ill. The Mask Of The Demon is not really a film crew in peril entry - there was never any intention on the killer's part to do in anyone but the producer - but there are far worse ways to pass 45 minutes. The props department are on super form. Note the customised Brides Of Dracula/ The Vampire Lovers poster.
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Post by andydecker on Jan 24, 2017 21:59:32 GMT
This Looks good. I have to keep my eyes open when they will start series 4.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jan 24, 2017 22:13:39 GMT
Top stuff re Father Brown. For a Beeb afternoon show it covers some (ahem) racy topics. Or at least the last/current series. Woo-hoo! Enjoyed an old episode of Midsomer Murders recently too, the one about the ghost walk.
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Post by andydecker on Jan 24, 2017 22:28:18 GMT
Top stuff re Father Brown. For a Beeb afternoon show it covers some (ahem) racy topics. Or at least the last/current series. Woo-hoo! Enjoyed an old episode of Midsomer Murders recently too, the one about the ghost walk. We just got Midsomer Murder series 17, we are basically a year behind. And I have to say that it seems rather tired and not so well made as it used to be. The budget seem to have shrunk, the plots are ever more blah and not so well constructed as they used to be. Or am I just jaded?
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Post by dem bones on Jan 25, 2017 11:06:51 GMT
Top stuff re Father Brown. For a Beeb afternoon show it covers some (ahem) racy topics. Or at least the last/current series. Woo-hoo! Enjoyed an old episode of Midsomer Murders recently too, the one about the ghost walk. Too true! Try The Daughters of Jerusalem, mate. Well phwoar! Cripes, my memory ain't what it was! Already posted about Mask Of The Demon here. Even added a different set of scans. So thanks again to Lurkio for the tip off. Am now desperate to catch a re-run of the mummy episode, The Curse of Amenhotep (season 3 episode 2).
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Post by valdemar on Jan 25, 2017 18:44:40 GMT
I do enjoy the 'Father Brown' series. When someone mentioned that they were re-making the show, and having Mark Williams from 'The Fast Show'in the titular role, I was slightly dubious, but he's the perfect casting. His bumbling nature, which conceals a mind like a steel trap, is exactly as he is portrayed in the original stories. I am old enough to remember the Kenneth More TV show - If it exists, it would be nice to see a DVD release of it. Another show recently on that featured a horror background, was the very enjoyable 'Jonathan Creek' Christmas special. It featured an old film star [Ken Bones] made up to look extremely Vincent Price like, and showed 'clips' of some tremendously AIP like movies that his character had appeared in, and a very clever, and unpleasant way of killing. Well worth watching.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jan 25, 2017 20:40:07 GMT
His bumbling nature, which conceals a mind like a steel trap, is exactly as he is portrayed in the original stories. Certainly not the ones by Chesterton. Chesterton's Father Brown is a mysterious, semi-supernatural being who appears out of nowhere when he is needed, not the eccentric parish priest of some quaint little village where he solves local crimes. The television show is an abomination---an abomination, I tell you!
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Post by helrunar on Jan 25, 2017 22:19:09 GMT
I've never heard of the Father Brown series (there seem to have been at least two of them?). I remember the stories being mentioned in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. I'd always thought they were somewhat thinly watered Catholic propaganda. Those photos are awesome. Very Hammer Horror! Looks more like a nod at THE VAMPIRE LOVERS or TWINS OF EVIL than BRIDES OF DRACULA, just looking at the stills.
cheers, H.
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Post by helrunar on Jan 25, 2017 22:21:33 GMT
I would love anything you care to share from "The Curse of Amenhotep," Lord Demonik. I'll watch or read anything involving ancient Egyptian magic.
And that reminds me that I finally got around to viewing the "Power of Atep" serial from ACE OF WANDS, which is really going back a ways... almost all the surviving episodes are now on Youtube, it seems.
cheers, H.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 26, 2017 9:14:31 GMT
I would love anything you care to share from "The Curse of Amenhotep," Lord Demonik. I'll watch or read anything involving ancient Egyptian magic. And that reminds me that I finally got around to viewing the "Power of Atep" serial from ACE OF WANDS, which is really going back a ways... almost all the surviving episodes are now on Youtube, it seems. cheers, H. We may have to be patient on that score. The Curse of Amenhotep is episode 2 season 3 and the BBC are currently running through season 4. However, have managed to grab these from a promo. Particularly like the spectral mummy on the lawn. Trailer is suggestive of an Indiana Jones piss take. We just got Midsomer Murder series 17, we are basically a year behind. And I have to say that it seems rather tired and not so well made as it used to be. The budget seem to have shrunk, the plots are ever more blah and not so well constructed as they used to be. Or am I just jaded? I think I might appreciate it more if they'd retired the brand name with the departure of John Nettles & Co. and relaunched under a new title, John Barnaby Investigates or some such. With the exception of the Hammer Horror outing, can't say I've been particularly thrilled by any of the new episodes since Jason Hughes quit.
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