Show #126 November 8, 2014

 
Tonight we rock for fair Kate!

Kate- Slaters The Big Black Bug Bled Black Blood 
Lets Go To The Pictures- Wreckless Eric Big Smash 
Sun Rise, Sea Change- Sugar Stems Only Come Out At Night 
From A to Z- Boys Life Boys Life 
The Only Thing- The Hold Steady Teeth Dreams 
Dangerous Game- The CRY! Dangerous Game 
Tell Me More- Tenpole Tudor Wunderbar - The Best Of Tenpole Tudor 
Coming Up Roses- Owsley Owsley 
^Horror Movie- Skyhooks Horror Movie 
Girls Who Play Tricks On You- Cinecyde I Left My Heart in Detroit City 
The Ballad- The Nads Unreleased Tracks And Demos 
She's Got Everything- The Real Kids Shake...Outta Control 
You- Swag Catchall 
Young Reckless Hearts- Warm Soda Young Reckless Hearts 
*Movies- Swingers Resort Rockets And Rose 7"
*At The Movies- The Scruffs Teenage Gurls 
*White Screen Movies- Bizarros Bizarros 
*Life's A Movie Too- Secret Affair Glory Boys/Behind Closed Doors 
*TV Movie- Slowguns Shake Some Action Vol 1 (UK) 
Lay Down- The Muffs Whoop Dee Doo 
Time in a Day- Big Kid You Must Be Kidding 
My Bloody Mind- Maxïmo Park Too Much Information 
Keep on Believing- Buzzcocks The Way 
Definitive Gaze- Magazine Real Life 
Awkward Situation- Farrah Cut Out And Keep 
>Groovy Movies- The Kinks The Great Lost Kinks Album
Science Fiction Double Feature- The Rocky Horror Picture Show The Rocky Horror Picture Show

^Power Pop Peak:

*SacroSet:  Movie Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1973

When I was a kid I didn't think there would ever be anything I loved as much as music.  I liked movies, but aside from my aforementioned affinity for James Bond, they didn't inspire nearly as much passion.  Nowadays movies and music are about even and I have my father to thank for nurturing my love of film.  Along with James Bond, he showed me my first kaiju movie:  1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla.  

"Come over here and say that!"

It wasn't an easy sell either.  First, Dad was watching the movie on our portable 12" black and white TV.  A 12" screen!  That's five inches smaller than the laptop I'm using to write this post.  Another issue is that like a lot of those old Toho Studios films, the first 45 minutes is mostly talk.  I gave it about 15 minutes and bailed but my dad stuck with it.  Sometime later I walked back into the room and saw something I would never forget- a giant lizard fighting a giant ape! Godzilla looks awesome as usual though I'll grant this King Kong leaves something to be desired.  Then again, this particular King Kong can eat electricity and shoot it through his fingers!  How awesome is that!!

A few months later I saw the original "classic" 1933 King Kong on TV and pronounced it inferior.  Swatting at planes from the top of the Empire State Building?  Why not just eat some electricity and shock them out of the sky!  As for Godzilla, he may have become a "good guy" in subsequent Toho films but I will always see him as a bad ass because of King Kong vs. Godzilla.  (Thinking about it now, I bet Godzilla fired his agent after losing top billing to a giant saggy ape.)  Also, I have to say I don't recall this obviously passionate kiss between the film's stars- you'd think I would remember something like that.  I'm sure I would have found it pretty confusing (as I do now).

WTF!?!

Needless to say, King Kong vs. Godzilla blew my young mind- my dad said "I told you!"  After that I ALWAYS listened when he recommended a movie. For my birthday that year, he took Timmy Kelleher and I to the Westgate Mall Cinema in Brockton, Mass to see Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (in Japan it's called Godzilla vs. Hedorah).  Man- what a difference from that 12" black and white TV!!!  GvSM is the "psychedelic" Godzilla movie with the strong message about pollution.  An Indian shedding a lone tear by the side of the highway has got nothing on Godzilla fighting a gigantic heap of toxic waste!  The steaming runny pile of goo even had the height and reach advantage!

What is it?  It's what you have done to our planet!

The movie even has a chase scene, where Godzilla flies using his patented "tuck" move (this is not to be confused with the far more disturbing "tuck" move in Silence Of The Lambs.)  

"Hey cesspool- just where do you think you're going!?!"

According to Wikipedia this is "the only occurrence of Godzilla flying under his own power. He uses his atomic ray as jet propulsion."  So, it is historic as well as awesome!

A few years later, I saw the film again on Boston TV Channel 56's legendary Creature Double Feature and I have to say it really held up.  (The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant?  Not so much.)  In fact when the station re-launched this beloved program in June 2006 after a 23 year hiatus, guess what they started with?  You guessed it- local car dealer Ernie Boch, Jr. was on-camera host "The Ghoul" presenting Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster and The Giant Gila Monster.

While several other movies are signposts on my lifelong journey of film appreciation, few had the mind blowing impact of Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster and King Kong vs. Godzilla.  Thanks Dad!
 
I'll conclude this post with a favorite photo I turned up in my research.  It shows a Shinto priest purifying the set of King Kong vs. Godzilla prior to filming.  Don't laugh- it went on to be the most profitable film in the early series!

Godzilla (2nd from left), King Kong (3rd from right)

Click the link below to stream this show or to download, right click and "Save Link As"
ALL KINDSA GIRLS #126