On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show, on KUCR 88.3 FM, I mentioned the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas and their exhibit featuring the Pope Mobile! There have been many Pope Mobiles over the years but usually when people think about the Pope Mobile they think of a vehicle with large bullet-resistant glass walls. After an attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 the Vatican decided to beef up the Pope's ride by customizing his vehicle with a large fish tank looking enclosure. The new upgrades meant that Catholics could continue parading the Pope around town without worrying about any gun nuts with murderous agendas. Sweet!
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| Screen Capture from Texas Bucket List |
Besides talking about the many wonders of Houston, Texas I also spoke about one of my favorite Halloween films Mad Monster Party? What I love so much about the film is that it smashes together a bunch of things I love. Some of the character designs were by Jack Davis with Harvey Kurtzman handling a big chunk of the script. Both are well known for their work with EC Comics and Mad Magazine. The leading mad scientist of the film was voiced by Imhotep himself, Mr. Boris Karloff and the animation was handled by Rankin/Bass Productions; the same people that brought you 1964's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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| Looks a little like Grateful Dead's Touch of Grey music video |
There's a bunch of fun music in the film but Gale Garnett, the voice of Francesca, really stands out as she sings Our Time To Shine and Never Was A Love Like Mine. You might recognize her from her 1964 hit We'll Sing In The Sunshine and for a silly holiday special Gale Garnett's singing sounds sincere. The songs she sings in the film could easily be mistaken for deep cuts from one of her full length albums. Speaking of her albums, she happens to have one of my favorite album titles of all time: Gale Garnett Sings About Flying and Rainbows and Love and Other Groovy Things.
One thing that's a little annoying about the film is that it doesn't seem to be as readily available as other holiday specials. I could go into any random store around Christmas and pickup Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty The Snowman but when I wanted to track down a copy of Mad Monster Party? it took some time to find a proper Blueray release. Of course, you could always rent a digital copy but where's the fun in that? I love having piles of junk on my shelves!
Anywho, you can check out this week's playlist below:
Cool Heat - The Other Side Of Us
The Tempters - Boom Boom
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