Sunday, February 21, 2021

Kamen Rider VS Spider-Man and Batman! Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Peas"

On this week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard me play a song by Christie Laume and I mentioned how she was the sister-in-law to French singer Edith Piaf. Paif had a rough upbringing which shaped her emotionally charged singing style which included songs such as: Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien and La Vie En Rose which was covered by Lady Gaga in the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born. You can read a little more about Edith Piaf here

During the halfway point of this episode I talked about how I've been watching the 1971 Japanese action show Kamen Rider. What I like about the show is how each episode is like a condensed B-movie that's full of rubber monsters, half-baked science fiction, and most importantly, high speed motorcycle action! The show also features campy fighting scenes that feel like a mix between the 1966 Batman series and a more violent version of Power Rangers. Speaking of Batman, in the second episode our hero fights a monstrous man/bat hybrid that has also cleverly been named Bat-Man, although the Bat-Man of Kamen Rider is a literal man with bat-like features that infects people with his viral saliva, vampire style. In a sense, Kamen Rider's Bat-Man shares more in common with the DC Comic character Man-Bat that first appeared in their 1970s Detective Comics series. 

The first episode in the series also features a man/beast hybrid that has another name that you may be familiar with, Spider-Man. Much like DC's Man-Bat, Marvel also played around with a literal version of Spider-man in their 1994 cartoon series by introducing a plot in which Peter Parker's abilities lead to him mutating into a more spider-like form until he becomes Man-Spider. Personally, my favorite twist on Spider-Man is a toss up between Spiders-Man, which is a version of Spider-Man which is made up of a bunch of spiders sharing a collective version of Peter Parker's psyche or Covered In Spiders Man, a bootleg toy made by the artist known as Obvious Plant. There are a ton of Batman and Spider-man spin offs/bootlegs and homages that could probably fill an entire book but I'll have to leave that for another day. Until then you can checkout this week's playlist below.


 

Rainy Daze - Stop Sign
The Roadrunners - LSD
The Pictorian Skiffuls - In Awhile
The Outcasts - Loving You Sometimes
The Sidekicks (Kaleidoscope) - Please Stay, Don't Go
Thorinshield - The Best Of It
Deloris Ealy - I've Been Looking
The Fame Gang - Spooky

Friday, February 12, 2021

Valentine's Day Radio Special/Playlist!

This week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM is a Valentine's Episode! The pandemic has really been putting a damper on everyone's moods but I've noticed a lot more people seem to be getting hitched or are finding themselves hunkering down with their partners. However, there really is no denying that this year's Valentine's Day feels a little bittersweet. Because of this, every song in this episode is themed around love and how it affects the human condition. Too deep? Okay, most of the songs have love in the title. How about that?

During the show I briefly mentioned how Valentine's Day is celebrated in Japan and how it differs from how we celebrate it here in the states. In Japan the holiday focuses on female participation as women are expected to provide chocolates to their male counterparts. Men hold off on the gift giving until the next month on another holiday that's known as "White Day." What I found particularly interesting about Valentine's Day in Japan is how certain types of chocolate are reserved for the people the ladies really care about (honmei choco) and acquaintances/people you don't necessarily like get the cheap stuff (giri choco). It all gets a little intricate when it comes to how women approach the holiday in office spaces. In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, the major chocolate manufacturing company Godiva once placed a full page advertisement in The Nikkei, a popular financial newspaper in Japan, where they encouraged Japanese women to refrain from the chocolate giving practice. People were quick to question Godiva's motivation for the advertisement.

Later in the show I also briefly spoke about Necco's Sweethearts and how the formula changed before Necco went bankrupt and eventually sold the brand. My favorite phrase on a Sweetheart candy will always be "Fax me." It gets straight to the point and remains romantically neutral. Lovely.

You can check out the Valentine's Day Special's playlist below:

 

The Human Expression - Love At Psychedelic Velocity
Ravin' Blue - Love
The Girls - My Love
Tony Church and The Crusade - Love Trip
The Troyes - Love Comes, Love Dies
The Fantastic Dee-Jays - Love Is Tuff
Los Lord's - Love Me, Please Love Me