HYMN TIME

From the 25th Annual Maidencreek All-Day Sacred Harp Singing, led by Rosie Sokolov (Berks County, Pennsylvania, 2022.  Sacred Harp singing is a uniquely American form of sacred choral music that originated in New England in 1844 in The Sacred Heart, a tunebook printed in shape notes, although its ancestry can be traced back to New England musical traditions that can be traced back to 1770.  The music is currently most popular in the American South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MFbrPLlfC8

SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY #70: RICK RANDOM AND THE MYSTERY OF THE MOVING PLANET (DECEMBER 1, 1955)

Rick Random was created by writer Conrad Frost and artist Bill Lacey for The Amalgamated Press comic book Super-Detective Library #37 adventure "Crime Rides the Spaceways" (September 2, 1954).  Random was a soldier in the Cosmic War who later became an operative of the Interplanetary Bureau of Investigation, which allowed him to investigate crimes in many of Earth's off-world colonies.  Random would be featured in 27 issues of Super-Detective Library from 1954 to 1959, many of them from the team of Harry Harrison and Ron Turner, who had quickly replaced Frost and Lacy.  (The art in this issue [which is superb] is by Turner, and it is probable that Harrison wrote the story.)

Many of Rick Random's adventure were reprinted in the Sixties, with Random's name sometimes being changed to Dick Brando or to Nick Martin; in a couple of reprints in the early Eighties, the name was altered to Dair Avalon.   [Why?  Although I admit Rick Random is a mighty poor name for a hero, but at leasst it fit the mid-Fifties comic book vibe.]

Rick Random has no superpowers, which may be why he was considered to be one of the least popular strips to run in 2000A. D.

In 2034, a new planet had mysteriously entered the solar system.  Could this strange object end up colliding with one of the worlds in the solar system, or even with Earth itself?  And are there inhabitants on this planet?  And, if so, are they friendly?  Rick determines that it is no freak of nature that brought the strange planet here.  "Some manmade means must have been discovered to make the planet break away from its predestined course."  Who could do such a thing?  Why, Adolph Guildholme, of course -- a power-crazy scientist who wants to be the first dictator of the world!  But Guildholme is at as much as loss as Rick is about what is happening.  Strange disasters start happening -- a ship is crushed by by ice near a tropical island, the outer wall of a skyscraper burst into flames, the water in the River Thames suddenly dries up.

Rick goes to the rogue planer, now called Hesperides, to investigate.  There he finds a highly advanced civilization, but no people.  What had happened?  Then. while Guildholme and his equally mad, equally evil, crony Feldich plot to use the situation to their best advantage, a strange spaceship lands containing a group of native Hesperidians, a peace-loving, telepathic race powerless to stop Guildholme's machinations...

There's a lot to unpack her, and much time and space is used to cover the backstory.   Still, the art work is super, the villains truly villainous, Rick Random truly heroic, and Random's unrequited love interest -- the telepathic Dinna -- adds a good girl art feel to the story.

Check it out.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=95765&comicpage=&b=i

FORGOTTEN BOOK: A GIRL CALLED HONEY

 A Girl Called Honey by "Sheldon Lord" (Lawrence Block) & "Alan Marshall" (Donald E. Westlake)  (first published in paperback by Midwood Books, 1960; reprinted with two other novels in Hellcats and Honeygirls:  The Collaborative Novels of Lawrence Block and Donald E. Westlake, Subterranean Press, 2010)

In the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, and beyond many now well-known writers served their apprenticeships by writing paperback erotica, usually under a pseudonym:  Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, Hal Dresner, Robert Silverberg, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Jakes, Bill Pronzini, Evan Hunter (who denied it), Dean Koontz (who is still denying it), Avram Davidson, David Case,  Joe R. Lansdale, Philip Jose Farmer...al published novels in the genre called "softcore,' "sleaze"," or just plain "sex books."  Keep in mind that these titles hinted a lot and told little; most of today's best-selling bodice busting romances go much farther than these did.  To a hungry writer starting out, this market provided steady sales and a moderate income while allowing the writer to hone his or her craft.

Many of these writers tired to hide or dismiss these efforts, but determined fans have ferreted out many of the old pseudonyms.  Some of these writers -- Block and Silverberg predominately -- have embraced these efforts and have allowed some of their early work to be reprinted.  Lawrence Block published his first book while still in college; in fact, he was publishing so steadily that he never bothered to complete college.  His good friend, Donald Westlake, although a few years older than Block, published his first novel a year after Block published his -- both first novels were softcore books for Midwood Publishing.

A Girl Called Honey was Block's twelfth book; it was Westlake's seventh.  The two collaborated on two other softcore books:  So Willing (1960) and Sin Hellcat (1962; also published as A Piece of the Action).  Soon both authors would move on and begin making names for themselves in crime fiction.  As Block tells it:  

"And somewhere along the way we discussed the possibility of collaborating, and I wrote the first chapter of A Girl Called Honey.  I sent a carbon copy to don, and he wrote Chapter Two and sent it to me, and we continued in that vein until the book was done.  we never discuss the plot or the characters.  At one point I tired of a character he'd created and killed him off, whereupon he retaliated by getting my character arrested for murder.

"Damn, that was fun." 

Eighteen-year-old Honour Mercy Bane, the only daughter of strict fundamentalist parents from Coldwater, Kentucky, was caught having sex with her high school teacher (something that she enjoyed, by the way).   Her parents kicked her out of the house, telling her she was only fit for working at a whorehouse in Newport, Kentucky.  It sounded like good, although not well-meaning, advice, so that's what she did.  Despite having no real experience she got a job with Madge, the owner of the Third Street Grill, which was a front for a whorehouse; Madge happened to be short one girl and then Honour Mercy showed up and she worked out well; she seemed to have a knack for it.  The first thing Madge did was change her name to Honey, a name that would go over much better with her clientele.

 Richie Parsons was a poor excuse of a human being.  "Silent, solitary, sneaky, and gutless," he was "the one who always edges along the wall, as though afraid to be seen."  Richie was also not very bright and was controlled by his fears.  When he turned eighteen a few months ago, he joined the Air Force in order to get away from his mother.  Big mistake.  Richie's incompetence and general demeanor was not a good fit for the service.  Richie did have a sort of low cunning, however, which led him to never being suspected of stealing from his fellow recruits.  Until the day he was caught and beaten and awaited punishment from his commander.  So Richie went AWOL, intending never to return.  Not thinking ahead, and having no money, Richie had no idea where he was going.  Somehow he ended up at Madge's place and, not realizing what was happening in Honey's bedroom.  Honey felt sorry for this shy, bumbling, terrified boy.  And that's what she considered him, a boy, a little boy, someone she could mother.  Soon they were living together, with Honey bringing in money through her "job" and Richie hiding in the apartment, afraid to go out in case the military police were after him.  Richie's paranoia got the best of him and he and Honey fled to New York city where it might be easier for him to hide.  Honey, beautiful and talented at what she does, soon became a high-priced escort.

Josh Crawford, forty-six, was a successful lawyer with a wife he did not love and two adult children.  Crawford, born Joshua Cohen, worked hard for his comfortable life.  He had an apartment in the city for occasional trysts with prostitutes and loved no one except himself.  Until the escort service sent him Honey and he fell for her hard.  He learned that Honey had a strange interdependent relationship with Richie and doubted she would ever leave him, so he began plotting on ways to eliminate Richie from the picture.  What Josh settled on was a combination of bribery and threats that would leave him in sole possession of honey; and she would become his mistress -- his and his alone; Josh did not want to share, nor did he want to give up his marriage and his status.

A situation set up for a violent explosion, one in which no one ends up unscathed.

Since this is a sex novel, there are also lesbian scenes -- Honey didn't care for that scene bit she had to go along to get along.  

It also should be noted that when Richie assumes a new identity to avoid being arrested, he randomly chooses the name Andrew Shaw, which is one of the pen names Block used for many of his sex novels.

A facile story of a sexual world that might have been imagined by a horny teenager, told in the strangely prurient prose of the sex novels of the Sixties, where much is hinted and little is explicit, all done with a quiet undertone of satire.  The authors were certainly aware of their sly take on many of the genre's tropes, even if many of their intended audience were not.  A Girl Called Honey is not a great novel, nor even a great sex novel. but it is an interesting, readable example of the apprentice work of two talented writers who would go on to much greater things.

THAT HAMMER GUY: DEAD DAME IN CENTRAL PARK (APRIL 27, 1954)

 Oh Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike...Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get up in the morning.  Everybody's toughest PI meets a mysterious woman in Central Park and the next morning he wakes up next to her dead body.  Now mike has to try to avoid a murder rap.

1947's I, The Jury, which introduced private detective Mike Hammer, was a publishing phenomena, but it was the 1948 paperback reprint from Signet that really established the character in the public's mind; the provocative cover combined with the 25-cent price placed the book in the hands of returning GIs eager for escapist fiction.  More books soon followed and by 1956, it was estimated that six of the top ten best-selling books of all time were by Mickey Spillane.

1952 marked the publication of the sixth mike Hammer novel as well as the beginning of a popular radio series based on the character, That Hammer Guy, on the Mutual/Don Lee Network.  The show ran from December 1952 to October 1954, with the lead role being played by, first, Larry Haines, then George Petrie, and finally, by  Ted DeCorsia (who stars in this episode).  Throughout the series, the role of Hammer's secretary Velda was played by Jan miner, who also filled in on various female roles.  The program was produced and directed by Richard Lewis, with scripts that echoed the Spillane feel by Ed Adamson.  

Evidently only a little more than a dozen episodes of the series survive.  This is one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4jqGsun--Q

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: PIGS IS PIGS

"Pigs Is Pigs" by Ellis Parker Butler (first published in American Illustrated Magazine, September 1905; reprinted many times in anthologies and in separate publications)

A classic.  If you have not read it, you're in for a treat.  If you have read it, you're still in for a treat because it can stand many re-readings.  It was filmed four times as an animated cartoon, from 1910 to Walt Disney's 1954 Academy Award-nominated Animated Short.  Science fiction fans will note the influence of the story on Robert A. Heinlein's Martian Flat Cats in his novel The Rolling Stones, and in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Enjoy (or, perhaps, enjoy again).

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Pigs_Is_Pigs

The story is also available on four LibraVox recordings:

https://librivox.org/search?title=Pigs+Is+Pigs&author=Butler&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced

OVERLOOKED FILM: SCATTERGOOD SURVIVES A MURDER (1942)

 There's been no end of great character actors who were able to elevate merely because of their presence; they've made bad films tolerable and good films even better..  One of my favorite actors was Guy Kibbee.

Kibbee (1882-1056) was born in El Paso.  When he was fourteen he ran away from home to join a traveling show and began working on riverboats and for traveling stock companies.  Early in his career he played romantic leads but then began to lose his hair at age nineteen,  His Broadway debut (Torch Song, 1930) garnered great reviews and Hollywood beckoned.  He signed with Paramount Pictures, and later Warmer Brothers, appearing often as jovial and not very bright characters.  Some of his more memorable roles were in 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, Captain Blood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Rain, and Our Town.  He had the title roles in 1934's Babbitt, in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle Captain January, and in 1936's Jim Hanvey, Detective.  Beginning in 1941, he starred in a series of six films featuring Clarence Budington Kelland's popular character Scattergood Baines; Baines was featured in 108 short stories from 1917 to 1953 in, first, The Saturday Evening Post, then, in The American Magazine; some of the stories were collected in three book by Kelland.  Baines was also featured in a radio series from 1938 through 1950.  (Kelland is also noted for writing the story on which the Gary Cooper film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was based.)

Scattergood Baines uses his wits to help the people of his small town.  Scattergood Survives a Murder, the fifth film in the series, veers somewhat from the previous formula by presenting a B=movie murder mystery.  Two reclusive spinsters are kill in a horse-and-buggy accident and when the relatives descend to see who inherits, they discover that the two have left their fortune to their cat.  Then the murders start...  And Scattergood is hand to resolve everything.

Directed by Christy Carbanne, with a script by Michael L. Simmons, adapting the Kelland story "The Closed Room" (The American Magazine, five parts, September 1934 through January 1935).  The film features a host of familiar faces, if not familiar names -- John  Archer, Margaret Hayes, Wallace Ford, Spencer Charters, Eily Malyon, John Miljan, George Chandler, Dick Elliott, Florence Lake, Sarah Edwards, and Willie Best, among others.

Enjoy this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5-FKRouUM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAMITA JO!

 Damita Jo DeBlanc (1930-1998) had some hit "answer songs" in the 1960s.  "I'll Save the last Dance for you" was her reply to Ben E. King's hit "Save the last Dance for Me," and "I'll Be there" was her response to King's "Stand By Me."  She began as a vocalist for Steve Gibson and the Red Caps, and eventually marrying Gibson before divorcing him in 1959.  She had several hits covering songs from other artists.  she worked with Ray Charles, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Billy Eckstine and the Bobby tucker Orchestra.  An actress and a talented comedienne, she toured with Redd Foxx.

The 2004 album by Janet Jackson, Damita Jo, has nothing to do with the singer -- Damita Jo also happened to be Jackson's middle name.

"I'll Be There"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZI5FyCMkoI

"I'll Save the Last Dance for You"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xm9GrU0FY

"If You Go Away"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kCcfNfPIDk  

"Dance with a Dolly (with a Hole in Her Stocking)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HklrBZZNjkc

"A Time to Love and a Time to Cry"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQwBeYU1tmk

"Jumbalaya"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P61dvgVL_uM

"I Had Someone Else Before I Had you"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU3LlI7eNQg

"Silver Dollar"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y1tPbOsN-4

"Yellow Days"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QtfHuPVTA0

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe978rCIeRE

"Tossin' and Turnin'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ShkHFWM9rU

"A Reason to Believe"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck2AxIL0wCA

"Do What You Want"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJFqd8gjFIs

"I Burned Your Letter"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-wui9neWyQ