LOVE AT FIRST SPIN: Drop Out With The Barracudas

Love At First Spin looks back at albums that I immediately loved, from start to finish, the first time I heard them. The concept was suggested by Steve Stoeckel, and was detailed here.

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THE BARRACUDAS: Drop Out With The Barracudas (Voxx, 1981)

Let's get this straight from the get-go: Drop Out With The Barracudas is my favorite album of the 1980s. I loved this record, all the way through, from the first moment I heard it, and my opinion has not changed with the passing of decades. It is the ideal choice to begin this new series of Love At First Spin.

Although the album was released in 1981, I didn't hear it until some time in 1983. I was living in Buffalo, and my girlfriend and I decided to take a trip back to Brockport, the little college town where we'd met and lived for a while after graduation. No trip to Brockport was complete without a visit to Main Street Records, the terrific little shop run by Bill and Carol Yerger, and we couldn't have an incomplete trip to Brockport now, could we?

As a punk and power pop devotee, I was already a fan of the Bomp Records label; by '83, I was also a burgeoning garage aficionado, and therefore growing quite keen on Bomp's Voxx label, which seemed to specialize in '60s-inspired fuzzpunk 'n' jangle. I had probably seen The Barracudas mentioned somewhere--perhaps in the pages of Trouser Press--so spying the LP on the shelf at Main Street was sufficient providence for me to part with a little cash in exchange for an album I'd never heard, but was nonetheless certain I would like.

We also stopped in, unannounced, to visit our friend Jeff, a former co-worker from my days at McDonald's of Brockport. Jeff was...uh, entertaining a very attractive young lady when we arrived at his house, so clearly we shoulda had the decency to call first. Nonetheless, Jeff welcomed us, and we stayed for a little bit before hightailin' it outta there, leaving those two to whatever it is a young adult boy and a young adult girl do together when they have the house to themselves.

But before we left Jeff's house, we listened to the first track on this Barracudas album. The crashing, hyperactive intro of "I Can't Pretend" filled the room, and I was smitten. Yep, we'd best let Jeff and friend get back to what they were doing; it was time to shuffle back to Buffalo.

This brief, awkward mix of inopportune timing, inadvertent hubris, and a teasing taste of rampagin', irresistible rock 'n' roll riddum was my introduction to the glory, the splendor, and the wonder of The Barracudas. Back at my apartment in Buffalo, it was time to experience the rest of the record.

Drop Out With The Barracudas is divided into a Down Side and an Up Side.  The Down Side commences with the exuberant kiss-off of "I Can't Pretend," then careens into the fatalism of "Violent Times." "Violent Times" would be, like, open-a-vein depressing if it weren't so damned catchy. We're living in violent times? We're all gonna die? Horribly? Awright! The song isn't some nihilistic punk diatribe, but instead a folk-rock litany of all the things than can (and probably will) go wrong, each leading inevitably to our own messy demise. All these wrong things sound so right with Byrdsy guitars chimin' away. Stayed in all day, I was scared of getting killed. Abject fear never sounded better.

The square-peg clarion call of inadequacy "Somebody" follows, and flows into Buffy St. Marie's harrowing "Codeine," the album's only cover. The weight of the world then prepares to crash down upon a hapless everyday Atlas in "This Ain't My Time," and the future looks mighty bleak.

And then, in the midst of this despair, The Barracudas offer an unexpected light, a glimmer of--can it be?!--hope.

"Somewhere Outside" is a casually stunning track. I'm looking everywhere, trying to find a way/Before the dark clouds cover up what's left of the day. More Byrdchimes, another dystopian tableau, but now an incongruous, sudden determination, a feeling that we can fight back against the nether forces assailing us. We may still lose the battle, but the agents of misfortune will at least know they were in a hell of a tussle. Alas, hope surrenders in "I Saw My Death In A Dream Last Night," the Down Side's closing track. This is the end, no goddamned friend, the end.

Imagine if Big Star's "Holocaust" had been a toe-tapper. Think of the life-affirming effect of The Beach Boys' "'Til I Die," in spite of its downbeat lyrics. Picture Barry McGuire's everything-sucks anthem "Eve Of Destruction" delivered as catharsis rather than complaint. That's the cumulative effect of the Down Side of Drop Out With The Barracudas. And man, are we ever ready for the Up Side!

The Up Side fully embraces goofiness at its start, with The Barracudas' sprightly UK hit "Summer Fun." "Summer Fun" begins with a snippet of a 1960s radio commercial for the Plymouth Barracuda (as the announcer stoically but comically concedes that he "can't pronounce 'Backaruda'"). The supercharged, over-the-top surfin' pop of "Summer Fun" explodes from the speakers, produced by bubblegum vet Kenny Laguna (shortly before his long association with Joan Jett), a veritable full-body shot of adrenaline and amphetamines cruisin' at full speed, beach-bound and fancy-free. Up Side, indeed!

Ah, but we should have known better than to trust these guys, right? The Barracudas break the perceived promise of the Up Side on its second track, the suicide saga "His Last Summer." It was his last summer, and it made us think/We stopped surfin' and started to drink. I believe I snorted with gleeful laughter the first time I heard that line. As much as I already loved every track I'd heard on the album up to that point, this is what sealed the deal for me. When I heard "His Last Summer," I knew right then and there that Drop Out With The Barracudas would forevermore be one of my all-time favorite albums.

But we're not even done yet! "Surfers Are Back" gives us another dose of seemingly unironic fun in the sun, "Don't Let Go" offers more quiet desperation, and "On The Strip" finds us cruising once again. "California Lament" is the cruelest track of all, spinning the tale of a California dreamer finally making his long-wished-for trip to the promised land of the Golden State, only to find that a terrorist's bomb detonates his plane just before landing. Now I'll never see California....

Brrr.

After all that, "I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again" brings it all together, lamenting the sad state of pop music at the dawn of the Reagan era while celebrating in boundless exultation the divine inspiration of rock 'n' roll and surf 'n' soul from the peerless year of 1965. Shindig, Hullabaloo, Bandstand, and Where The Action Is, too! This is a powerful, triumphant expression of everything that was great about AM radio in the mid '60s, a track that gooses the flesh and prompts the raising of fists, the bopping of limbs, and the swelling, giddy satisfaction of pure pop incarnate. Down Side and Up Side combined, Drop Out With The Barracudas hits what deserves hitting, pummels what merits pummeling, and vibrates right off the turntable into memory eternal,

Nothing The Barracudas ever did after that, through varying line-ups that even included Chris Wilson of The Flamin' Groovies, could ever quite match the innate appeal of the group's debut. They're all still worth seeking out, mind you, but you can't top perfection.




The original UK version of Drop Out With The Barracudas omits the fabulous "Surfers Are Back" in favor of a lesser track called "Campus Tramp." There are versions that switch the order of the Down Side and Up Side--to the album's detriment, I think. The US track line-up is unerring, unsurpassable. For me, it was absolutely love at first spin.



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THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Quick Takes For L [music edition]

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

THE LONG RYDERS



I first heard The Long Ryders on WBNY-FM in Buffalo in the mid '80s. BNY jumped on the Ryders' "Looking For Lewis And Clark," and I rode right along. When the group did a much-criticized (by dunderheads) commercial for Miller beer, singing "Miller's made the American way!," I put together a Long Ryders wall display at my record store, proclaiming the group's music as Made The American Way! "Looking For Lewis And Clark" came from their State Of Our Union album, which also contained a great song called "Lights Of Downtown." I subsequently snagged their Native Sons album, and fell hard for its closing track, "Run Dusty Run." Ultimately, my favorite Long Ryders song was the awesome "10-5-60," which I didn't discover until PolyGram issued a Long Ryders anthology CD in the '90s.

MARY LOU LORD



December 28th, 1998: the very first episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. I'd never even heard of Mary Lou Lord, but Dana played "Lights Are Changing" on our debut show, and I was smitten. She played a disastrous Syracuse date in 1999, but we had a chance to meet her and chat for a while. She was a new mom at the time, and my daughter was just shy of four years old, so we spent a bit of time comparing notes; the experience led me to say later on that if someone had told me years ago I'd spend an evening in conversation with a major label recording artist, and that we'd spend most of the time talking about our kids...well, I'd have been skeptical of that claim, I guess. Mary Lou Lord is one of the defining artists of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's long and storied history, and I'm grateful we had that chance to connect. Oh, and her version of Nick Saloman's "Aim Low" is The Greatest Record Ever Made.

LYRES



I originally intended to cover Lyres as a main feature in The Everlasting First, but then I realized I didn't really have all that much to say about them. As with The Long Ryders, my first taste of Lyres music came via WBNY. "I Really Want You Right Now" was my first Lyres track, followed in short order by "Don't Give It Up Now" and "Help You, Ann," all on BNY. Well, I was convinced! I picked up Lyres' first album, On Fyre, and saw 'em play a terrific show at Buffalo's Tralfamadore Cafe. On Fyre remains one of my favorite albums of the '80s, and it's been a staple on TIRnRR, although in recent years the song "You Won't Be Sad Anymore" (from the second album, Lyres Lyres) has become my go-to Lyres track. Oh! And "Here's A Heart" with Stiv Bators, from the third album, A Promise Is A Promise. Plus Lyres' transcendent cover of The Scavengers' obscure garage gem "But If You're Happy." And...and...and...!



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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. 

THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Quick Takes For L [comics edition]

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

LIMITED COLLECTORS' EDITION



The Limited Collectors' Editions were yet another attempt by DC Comics' Carmine Infantino to develop new comics formats that could carve out a space on retail racks. They were wonderful, oversized books for a dollar, usually crammed with reprints. The first one I noticed was this Shazam! book in 1973, and as a huge fan of the original Captain Marvel, I couldn't buy it fast enough to suit me. There were, I think, two more Shazam! books, some terrific Batman books, even an unexpected, incongruous Dick Tracy book, among many others. There were also the Famous First Edition books in the same format, reprinting collectors' items like Action Comics # 1 and Detective Comics # 27 in their entirety, Later on, the format was also used for some new adventures, including three of the DC/Marvel crossovers (Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, Superman And Spider-Man, and Batman Vs. The Incredible Hulk), as well as the landmark Superman Vs. Muhammed Ali. I still have most of my original copies of these.

THE LONE RANGER



I wasn't much into Westerns as a kid, so the readily-available reruns of The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, and Zorro weren't as big a thing for me as they should have been. My interest in The Masked Rider Of The Plains was sparked when he returned in 1966 as the star of a new Saturday morning cartoon series on CBS. I also bought The Lone Ranger's Big Little Book adventure when I was a fourth-grader in 1969-70. I became a full-fledged fan in the early to mid '70s. I recall our local PBS affiliate airing a Lone Ranger marathon one Saturday, as I sat there with a bowl of chili and immersed myself in the pure, action-packed appeal of Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. Some time after that, I saw a matinee showing of Moore and Silverheels feature film The Lone Ranger, and cable TV delivered me a daily diet of Batman, The Adventures Of Superman, and The Lone Ranger via WPIX in New York City. It was a welcome return to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

LUKE CAGE



Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, was the first black superhero to star in his own comic book. The character was heavily influenced by '70s blaxploitation movies, and while dialogue like Sweet Christmas! is dated now, Cage was cutting-edge for mainstream comics at the time. I'm not sure whether or not I started with the first issue of Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, or if I came back to that after reading subsequent issues, but I remember reading my coverless copy of the debut, purchased at Van Patten's Grocery in North Syracuse. The character's mercenary outlook, coupled with his origin as a wrongly-convicted felon, certainly differed from any other superhero book I was reading in 1972. But my favorite scene in that issue was when Cage was putting together his new hero garb, and a costume shop proprietor tried to sell him a Captain Marvel outfit--y'know, original Captain Marvel, Shazam!, etc.--telling our Luke that the costume's original owner had gotten involved in a lawsuit. Cage spurned the costume, saying something along the lines of More like union suit! The Cage character has evolved considerably over the decades, and I prefer the current incarnation (as seen on Netflix). But the original Cage was one bad mutha...Shut your mouth!

Just talkin' 'bout Cage. Can you dig it?



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You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby! 

Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. 

This Is Chuck Berry Radio

Our Chuck Berry memorial edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is now available for download: http://westcottradio.org/archive/rock_n_roll_radio_2017-03-19.mp3

This week's show felt like something we had to do. I was scheduled to take this week off; I had travel plans during the day, and didn't want to push myself getting back in time (and with sufficient energy) to do the Sunday night show. Dana intended to do just a two-hour solo show in my absence. But when I got home from work on Saturday night, my daughter told me that Chuck Berry had passed. And my wife told me that I really needed to do the show, to pay tribute to the man who is synonymous with rock 'n' roll.

She was right. I contacted Dana on Sunday morning, just a little before I hit the road, and we agreed to do the tribute. Listen, man: there wouldn't be any such thing as rock 'n' roll radio shows if not for Chuck Berry. We could not in good conscience even call ourselves a rock 'n' roll radio show if we failed to honor the man and his legacy at this time.

I think we did a good job. We played 63 songs in just over three hours, including 38 Chuck Berry tracks, eight Chuck Berry covers by other artists, six theoretically original tunes we thought were specifically influenced by Chuck Berry (two of which had a judge, um...certify the influence), and also eleven songs we just felt like mixing in, because that's part of what a rock 'n' roll radio show does, too. You can view the playlist and my closing arguments here, and we invite you to listen to the show here.

Me? I've been listening to some Chuck Berry. And I'm overdue for another screening of American Hot Wax, the 1978 biopic of legendary DJ Alan Freed, which included spots by Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis portraying themselves. The film is heavily fictionalized, sanitized, often little more than a pack of lies...and fucking great. Just great. I see all the liberties it takes, the gloss it applies to a once-true story, and I marvel at the point where it enters the realm of science fiction, as the notoriously miserly Berry agrees to perform for free. I forgive all of this because the movie somehow gets the spirit exactly, unerringly right. It feels right. It celebrates the feeling I have inside for rock 'n' roll, for this music that has meant so much to me in my life. And none of it happens without Chuck Berry.

So go, Johnny, go. Rock 'n' roll's been pretty good to me. I guess I'll do this one for rock 'n' roll.

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THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO # 865

It is impossible to overstate the impact of Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry didn't invent rock 'n' roll; that music and its tangled roots were already in place before he started playing his guitar like a-ringin' a bell. But Chuck Berry defined rock 'n' roll. He gave it shape and substance, depth and meaning, a resonance that transcended its roadhouse and jukebox genesis as simple party music, while still remaining simple party music. Chuck Berry invented rock's swagger, its bounce, its groove, its very identity. He crafted the words that had 'em rocking in Boston, and Pittsburgh, PA, deep in the heart of Texas, and around Frisco Bay. Sure, Chuck Berry didn't invent rock 'n' roll; he merely transformed it into the music that we now all know and love.

In the story of rock 'n' roll, there is no one--no group or individual--more integral than Chuck Berry. No one. Not The Beatles and not The Rolling Stones, neither of whom would have even existed if not for Chuck Berry. Not Ray Charles, not Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, The Kinks, The Ramones, Smokey Robinson, The Isley Brothers, Otis, Janis, Bowie, Prince, The Who, The Sex Pistols, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, The Beach Boys, and not anyone else you wanna try to slip into the conversation, either. Not even Elvis Presley, who would likely have the strongest claim otherwise. These are giants. These are the seemingly peerless stars who forged this music we love. Giants.

Giants? Absolutely. Yet Chuck Berry stood above them all.

Chuck Berry's influence rose above pop music, crossed racial and social and economic divides, and reached across generations. I discovered it second hand, via The Beatles' cover of "Rock And Roll Music" on Beatles '65. When either WOLF-AM or WNDR-AM (or both) started playing "Johnny B. Goode" regularly in the early '70s, I don't think I even realized it was an oldie, and I wouldn't have cared either way. I loved it, and I wanted to hear it all the time. I still do. "Sweet Little Sixteen." "School Day." "Memphis, Tennessee." "Let It Rock." "Promised Land." So many others, so many songs that I will never tire of hearing again and again.

John Lennon said, "If you had to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry." Writer and rocker Mick Farren warned us that we should never trust a rock band that didn't know any Chuck Berry songs. Ben Vaughn notes that "Our Shakespeare has left us." Roll over, Beethoven; there was only one Chuck Berry: motorvatin' over the hill, campaign shoutin' like a Southern diplomat, roundin' third and headin' for home, a brown-eyed handsome man. Bye bye, Johnny, goodbye Johnny B. Goode.

So swing low, chariot. Come down easy. Taxi to the terminal zone. As we mourn the passing of a legend, we play this music we've always played, this music we will always play. Just let me hear some more of that rock 'n' roll music. Chuck Berry has made it to the promised land.

NEXT WEEK: Bruce Gordon returns for Let's Be The Beatles! This is what rock 'n' roll radio--Chuck Berry radio--sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl streams live on Sunday night from 9 to Midnight Eastern, exclusively at www.westcottradio.org

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TIRnRR # 865: CHUCK BERRY! 3/19/17

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
--
CHUCK BERRY: Promised Land (MCA, The Anthology)
WYNONIE HARRIS: Good Rocking Tonight (Hoy Hoy, VA: Rock Before Elvis)
THE ROLLING STONES: Come On (Abkco, Singles Collection The London Years)
WILBERT HARRISON: Little School Girl (Jasmine, Gonna Tell You A Story)
CHUCK BERRY: All Aboard (Chess, Blues)
CHUCK BERRY: My Tambourine (Mercury, From St. Louie To Frisco)
--
THE BEATLES: Rock And Roll Music (Capitol, Beatles '65)
DR. FEELGOOD: She Does It Right (Parlophone, Down By The Jetty)
CHUCK BERRY: Brown Eyed Handsome Man (MCA, The Anthology)
JOHN LENNON: You Can't Catch Me (Apple, Rock 'n' Roll)
CHUCK BERRY: Ain't That Just Like A Woman (Chess, Fresh Berry's)
THE BEATLES: Come Together (Apple, Abbey Road)
--
CHUCK BERRY: Wuden't Me (Atco, Rock It)
THE WHO: The Good's Gone (MCA, My Generation)
CHUCK BERRY: Don't You Lie To Me (MCA, The Anthology)
THE BEATLES: I'm Talking About You (Apple, On Air--Live At The BBC Volume 2)
N/A: Applebee's commercial
THE HOLLIES: Too Much Monkey Business [live on Shindig!]
THE BEATLES: I Feel Fine (Capitol, Beatles '65)
--
BOB SEGER: Get Out Of Denver (Palladium, Seven)
CHUCK BERRY: Johnny B. Goode (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Bye Bye Johnny (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Childhood Sweetheart (Chess, Missing Berries)
THE KINKS: Beautiful Delilah [alternate mono mix] (Sanctuary, The Anthology 1964-1971)
THE CREATION: Biff, Bang, Pow (Numero Group, Action Painting)
--
THE FLASHCUBES: Boogie City (Northside, single)
CHUCK BERRY: Big Ben Blues (Chess, Missing Berries)
DAVE EDMUNDS: Dear Dad (Columbia, D.E. 7th)
THE PRETENDERS: Talk Of The Town (Sire, The Singles)
CHUCK BERRY: Downbound Train (MCA, The Anthology)
CREAM: Traintime (Polydor, BBC Sessions)
--
CHUCK BERRY: School Day (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Little Girl From Central (Chess, Missing Berries)
THE BEACH BOYS: Surfin' USA (Capitol, Surfin' Safari & Surfin' USA)
ARTHUR "BIG BOY" CRUDUP: That's All Right (MOJO, VA: The Roots Of Paul McCartney)
THE BEATLES: Back In The U.S.S.R. (Apple, The Beatles)
CHUCK BERRY: Back In The U.S.A. (MCA, The Anthology)
--
CHUCK BERRY: Carol (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Reelin' & Rockin' (MCA, The Anthology)
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES: In The U.S.A. (Rhino, At Full Speed)
THE HOLLIES: Bus Stop (EMI, Hicks, Clarke & Nash Years)
CHUCK BERRY: Nadine (Is It You?) (MCA, The Anthology)
LITTLE RICHARD: Good Golly Miss Molly (MOJO, VA: The Roots Of Paul McCartney)
--
GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS: It Wasn't Me (Rounder, single)
CHUCK BERRY: Louie To Frisco (Mercury, From Louie To Frisco)
CHUCK BERRY: Move It (Atco, Rock It)
CHUCK BERRY: Rock Cradle Rock (Mercury, From Louie To Frisco)
CHUCK BERRY: Sweet Little Rock & Roller (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: I Love Her I Love Her (Mercury, From Louie To Frisco)
--
CHUCK BERRY: Memphis, Tennessee (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Back To Memphis (Mercury, Chuck Berry In Memphis)
CHUCK BERRY: Bio (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Little Queenie (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Let It Rock (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Blues (Chess, Missing Berries)
CHUCK BERRY: Maybelline (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Go Bobby Soxer (MCA, St. Louis To Liverpool)
CHUCK BERRY: You Never Can Tell (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Oh Baby Doll (Mercury, Chuck Berry In Memphis)
CHUCK BERRY: Around And Around (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Brenda Lee (MCA, St. Louis To Liverpool)
CHUCK BERRY: Sweet Little Sixteen (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Roll Over Beethoven (MCA, The Anthology)
CHUCK BERRY: Liverpool Drive (MCA, St. Louis To Liverpool)

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Chuck Berry. Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, www.westcottradio.org

COMIC BOOK RETROVIEW: DC 100-Page Super Spectaculars, Part Four

Continuing a look back at DC Comics' 100-Page Super Spectaculars in the 1970s. Begin with Part 1, move on to Part 2, then Part 3, then return to the spinner rack here:



There was no direct market for comics in the early '70s. Comic books were a marginal, potentially moribund medium, inefficiently distributed to indifferent retail outlets--newsstands, drug stores, grocery stores, the occasional soda fountain (the latter itself a dying breed)--and displayed haphazardly (if at all) by proprietors who could make more money on virtually any other printed product. Shelf space was limited. Should one display a twenty-cent issue of Mr. Miracle for its limited market, a fifty-cent issue of Life for its larger market, or a one-dollar issue of Playboy or Penthouse, with naked girls? It's not even a rhetorical question. Comics were the lowest of priorities. They weren't dead quite yet, but their situation was serious, and perilous. It would deteriorate to critical condition by decade's end.



Carmine Infantino was running National Periodical Publications, a company which most us usually just referred to as DC Comics. In a shrinking industry, Infantino saw DC's arch rival Marvel Comics surpass his company in sales, and he was trying everything he could think of to regain DC's lost status as comics kingpin. He tried higher page counts at a higher price (52 pages for twenty-five cents), giving consumers more product for their money and shopkeepers more money for their efforts, but was undercut when Marvel returned to a standard format of fewer pages for less money (something like 32 pages for only twenty cents). He looked into more licensed product, including a deal to publish Tarzan and other Edgar Rice Burroughs creations. He expanded DC's horror and mystery line, and enjoyed some success in that realm. He lured superstar writer/artist Jack Kirby away from Marvel. He sought media awareness and publicity for DC's forays into somewhat more serious, relevant subject matters--youth rebellion, racial unrest, political corruption, antiwar protest, civil disobedience, women's rights, Native American rights, pollution, drug abuse--particularly in the pages of Green Lantern (co-starring Green Arrow, written by Denny O'Neil and exquisitely rendered by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano). And he exploited DC's vast archive of previously-published material, often flooding the market with reprints in a desperate attempt to claim market share and that damned elusive spot on the retail racks and shelves.





DC's 100-Page Super Spectaculars were born from these efforts. The contents of these books were all reprint, so DC saved money on those pesky writers and artists whose work the company had already bought and paid for years before. E. Nelson Bridwell was on staff, and he assembled the reprints. DC just needed to pay either Neal Adams or Nick Cardy (or Joe Kubert, if it was a war book, or Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson on the first Superman Super Spec) for a stunning new wraparound cover--money well-spent!--and voila! A 100-Page Super Spectacular! Priced at fifty cents for 100 pages, with no outside advertising, the package was indeed a value for fans and shopkeepers alike. 

Its success, ultimately, was mixed.




My twelve-year-old self was oblivious to most of this in 1972. I had been a fan of both DC and Marvel, but DC was clearly my favorite line, and my sense of allegiance was increasing. DC was doing so much great stuff in the early '70s: Batman, Green Lantern, Tarzan, Kirby's New Gods and related titles, Justice League of America, The Brave And The Bold, and Superman, among others, were all solid books at the time. And I loved the reprints even more, so 100-Page Super Spectacular was indisputably my favorite comic book.

I bought my comics wherever and whenever I could: coverless, gray-market contraband from Van Patten's Grocery Store, McMahon's Grocery Store, Mickey's Bait Shop, and World Of Books, all in North Syracuse; new comics from Sweethearts Corner, Henry and Hines Pharmacy, Carl's Drugs, Fay's Drugs, CVS Drugs, Hosler Drugs, and others I've forgotten, plus on the road at bus stations from Buffalo to Springfield, Missouri, and at Ramey's Grocery Store in Aurora, MO. I was intrepid, and insatiable. And one day in early '72, I was at Henry And Hines and I spied what simply had to be the greatest comic book ever published:


HOLY...!!

At the time, whatever money I'd accumulated from mowing lawns and/or weekly allowance was gone, pffft, a mere memory of cash long since spent. I was broke, busted, bereft of funds, beat 'n' torn, Bowery-bound, a bum. I begged my parents for the pair of quarters required to purchase this peerless, pristine gem. They may have grumbled--another comic book, Carl?!--but they must have sensed the urgency of my plea. I think I had to wait for a subsequent visit back to Henry and Hines, praying the book would still be there. It was. And it was mine. 

This thirteenth 100-Page Super Spectacular, officially listed as Superman # 252, was filled almost exclusively with material from the Golden Age of Comics, the 1940s, with the 1961 story "Superman's Greatest Feats!" the only exception. And it was a blockbuster tour de force, opening with a two-part Superman story from 1942, pitting the Man of Tomorrow against a super-powered Lex Luthor. After that, I was treated to a 1940 story starring one of my Justice Society fave raves, Doctor Fate, and the gorgeous artwork of Sheldon Moldoff (copying Alex Raymond) in the Golden Age Hawkman story that introduced Hawkgirl.

  

Continuing and expanding upon the trend of previous Super Specs, this issue reintroduced not one, but two characters DC had purchased from the defunct Quality Comics line, The Black Condor and The Ray, both lusciously drawn by artist Lou Fine. The two Quality heroes bookended another pair of JSA members, The Spectre and Starman, with the above-mentioned Silver Age Superman tale bringing this fantastic treat to an anticlimactic end. But no matter! The next issue blurb at the end of that story promised another Batman Super Spec coming soon, with more Quality heroes (Blackhawk and Doll Man), plus Wonder Woman, Wildcat, and The Atom. Yep, this issue's theme of "The World's Greatest Flying Heroes!" would be followed by a collection of non-flying heroes, and their methods of transportation. That description might not seem all that enticing here in print, but I knew it was gonna be another blockbuster. I couldn't wait for the next Super Spec.





The Batman Super Spec would have presumably been cover-dated August 1972, with an on-sale date of May 5th. But it didn't appear on that date; I don't remember where or how I found out, but DC unexpectedly cancelled the 100-Page Super Spectaculars with this Superman issue. Infantino was still scrambling for ideas, trying to find something that would work. Marvel was killing DC in sales. We need lower-priced books to compete! The rest of the DC line shrunk back down to Marvel's twenty-cent size, and the 100-pagers vanished entirely.

Infantino still pushed reprints. A new regular-sized titled called Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains! became my new de facto favorite, reprinting old stories of superheroes versus dastardly nogoodniks. It wasn't quite the same as the Super Specs, but it was at least something.







But even as I got my Golden Age fix in the pages of Wanted, and right around the same time that DC introduced another reprint book called Secret Origins, either God or Carmine Infantino heard my silent prayer in North Syracuse. In the final month of 1972, the 100-Page Super Spectaculars returned! And that's where we'll pick up our story when Comic Book Retroview continues.

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