The RFC MINI SHOW # 28

The RFC MINI SHOW presents FestivALL ART PARADE 2014

June 23, 2014 by rudy panucci

This week we bring you the 2014 FestivALL Art Parade as our RFC MINI SHOW. With many of Charleston’s most creative persons marching in front of the city’s coolest bookstore/coffeehouse/art gallery, Taylor Books, the Art Parade signals the beginning of FestivALL.

You will hear Bill Kimmons introduce Peter Marshall, The Charleston Light Opera Guild, Camp Curtain Call, Jude Binder, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School, The Chemical Valley Roller Girls, Kanawha Players, QiET and more.

This is the fifth year for the FestivALL Charleston Art Parade, and it was cool to see it return to its original route in time for FestivALL’s tenth year. Next week a full-length episode of Radio Free Charleston will bring you more sights and sounds from FestivALL.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 27

The RFC MINI SHOW with Jenna Brooke Swanson and MORE!

June 16, 2014 by rudy panucci

This week The RFC MINI SHOW gears up for FestivAll, y’know, when the city…Charleston in this case…becomes a work of art? FestivAll kicks off Friday, June 20 (with a couple of cool pre-FestivAll events thrown in for good measure). For this show we have dived back into our vaults for some Bellydancing by Jenna Brooke Swanson, who will return to Charleston to perform during the second weekend of FestivAll. You can see her and her bellydancing cohorts at the Riggs Corporation Stage, right in front of Taylor Books on Captiol Street on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 20th, at 1 PM and 3 PM.

In these previously-unseen clips, you will see Jenna doing her sword dance solo, and teaming up with Susan Angela Hughart for a duet.

But before that, you will see a trailer for an epic movie that will premiere on Saturday the, June 21, at Rival Cards and Games in Kanawha City. “The Krusaders of The Kanawha Valley 2: The Banishment of The Bagheads” is a big-budget Hollywood extrazaganza with state-of-the art special effects and make-up. You won’t want to miss this epic motion picture.You can see it free at Rival Cards and Games at 10 PM on the 21st.

Keep reading PopCult for more info on the cool Stuff To Do during FestivAll.

PopCult Video: MEGO Meet Metal

MEGO MEET METAL

June 15, 2014 by rudy panucci

As promised in our MEGO Meet photo essay, here is MEGO MEET METAL,  a quick and sloppy collection of images from last week’sMEGO Meet at the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum in Wheeling, set to metal-ish music from the YouTube library. It was the tenth annual convention for collectors of MEGO and MEGO-like action figures put on by The MEGO Museum.

MEGO was one of the top toy companies of the 1970s, and was instrumental in changing the toy business to one based primarily on licensed properties. MEGO made action figures and other toys based on Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, S.W.A.T., Happy Days, The Waltons and tons of other movies and TV shows. They also brought Micronauts to American kids. After ruling the toy industry in the early 1970s, MEGO had a reversal of fortune and found themselves out of business in the early 1980s.

But the MEGO action figures left a lasting impression among fans, collectors and customizers, and now there are several companies producing action figures in MEGO’s trademark 8-inch size. This video was shot entirely by Melanie Larch and edited by Rudy Panucci, and was just done for fun to show some of the cool stuff that was on display at MEGO Meet. If you check out last week’s photo essay (linked above) you will find links to many of the dealers and customizers whose work is shown here.

The RFC MINI SHOW #26

The RFC MINI SHOW with StychNTyme

June 9, 2014 by rudy panucci

This week The RFC MINI SHOW digs back into the vault to bring you footage of StychNTyme that was recorded last year at the ECMC Kick Cancer for Kids benefit show at The Eagles Club in Charleston.

StychNTyme performed a “farewell” concert last weekend in Charleston, so we decided to go back and revive this previously unseen footage. We’d shelved this because, shortly after this show, the band underwent a line-up change. In fact, their final concert featured guests Lee Harrah and Johnny Compton filling in on vocals and guitar.

Our intention was to recored StychNTyme again, when their line-up stabilized, but that didn’t happen, so we’re presenting these two killer songs to mark the passing of one of the area’s top metal bands. It’s actually cool that we wound up using this footage because the band was tight and the mix (courtesy of Brad Wood of Woodboys Music) was fantastic.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 25

The RFC MINI SHOW with TIME AND DISTANCE

June 2, 2014 by rudy panucci

This week’s RFC MINI SHOW brings you TIME AND DISTANCE, direct from the Haddad Riverfront stage and Live on the Levee, where they headlined last Friday. Actually, this show is direct from The Empty Glass in May, where they played their first show in Charleston after several weeks on the road. We didn’t get video of the Live on the Levee show. There were too many people enjoying the music to get close enough to record.

We recorded the group last month, and you saw one of the songs from that session on last week’s episode of Radio Free Charleston. This week the RFC MINI SHOW brings you two more tunes from that gig. One of the songs showed up in TIME AND DISTANCE’s first appearance on RFC last year. Guess which one and you win the satisfaction of knowing.

On Friday, June 6 You can find the band at The Thirteenth Lane Taproom at Dunbar Lanes, with Noise and Motion Theater!

PopCult Video: The Laser Beams

The Laser Beams Salute WV AG, Patrick Morrisey

June 1, 2014 by rudy panucci

Leo Tuxedo as Patrick Morrisey (photo by Mark Wolfe)

Ripped from today’s headlines, and ripped from Radio Free Charleston 198, by popular demand, it’s The Laser Beams, with their song, “Patrick Morrisey,” presented as a “boylesque” dance routine by Leo Tuxedo of The Wayward Girls School of Burlesque.

So many people wanted to watch this video and listen to this song over and over again that we broke with tradition and pulled the song out as a stand-alone clip. Making it even sweeter, we added the lyrics onscreen so that you can sing along at home! 

Episode 198 of RFC

An Alarmingly Activist Episode of RFC

May 26, 2014 by rudy panucci

Details on how you can buy your own Top O Rock shirt are coming soon

Radio Free Charleston 198, “Save Top O Rock Shirt” is one of our most politically active episodes. We have music from Time & Distance, Little Nomad, The Living Deads and a special music video by The Laser Beams, plus there’s ten epic minutes of animation by Jake Fertig. But first, in this episode I actually talk about the shirt that gives this show its name.

Top O Rock is an architectural marvel in Charleston. It was the home and office of the late architect, Henry Elden. We shot our host segments for Episode 100 there four years ago, a couple of years after he passed away. Since then, the building has fallen on hard times. Recently vandals have struck and we were in danger of seeing this landmark demolished.

A foundation is being established to assist in the resuce and restoration of Henry Elden’s dream home, and you can help out by buying this shirt, and visiting the Save Top O Rock Facebook page, plus you can visit this blog and sign this petition. We will keep you posted on future fundraising activities.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 24

Johnny Compton on The RFC MINI SHOW

May 19, 2014 by rudy panucci

This edition of The RFC MINI SHOW stars Johnny “Hurricane” Compton, a legend in the Charleston music scene, performing two solo acoustic numbers at The Thirteenth Lane Taproom at Dunbar Lanes. Johnny takes on the Marshall Tucker Band classic, “Fire on the Mountain” before debuting the title track of his upcoming solo acoustic album, “These Roads.”

The recording session for this show was a tremendous amount of fun. Dunbar Lanes has really fixed up a great, intimate performance space and it’s a wonderful place to hear live music if you don’t feel like making the trek all the way to Charleston and fighting to find parking. We really need to get the word out to music lovers and performers about this gem of a venue, tucked away in a peaceful corner of Dunbar.

After years of begging and pleading from his fans, Johnny is currently working on a solo acoustic album. “These Roads” is slated to be the title track and in this video you will witness the first public performance of this powerful new song. You may also notice the ice machine deciding to join in near the end. We’re posting this recording due to the historical significance, but you can be sure that “These Roads” will turn up again, in a more pristine form, on Radio Free Charleston in the future.

If you are a fan of Mr. Compton, you should be aware that his band, another RFC favorite, Diablo Blues Band, is recording a live album on Sunday, May 25, at The Empty Glass, with their new horn section along for the ride. The music fires up at 9 PM and the cover is just five dollars.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 23

The RFC MINI SHOW with The Living Deads

May 11, 2014 by rudy panucci

Randee and Symphony

The Living Deads are Randee and Symphony and whichever guitarist that they have most recently kidnapped. They tour the country in their RV, spreading the gospel of Punkabilly where ever they go. They live full time in their RV (Irv) and tour the world, printing T-Shirts and burning CDs while on the road. They have been known to kidnap guitar players from time to time, drag them on stage in a Burlap sack and force them to perform.

When we caught up with the band at The Empty Glass last month in Charleston, they had Wyatt Mundy on guitar, having just abducted him from his job at an adult bookstore.

The Living Deads (Randee Mcknight and Symphony Tidwell) have featured guest artists such as Danny B Harvey, Chuck Hughes, Lance Romance. Hank Hays, James Hunnicutt, Steven R Trent, Mondo Cortez, Chad Hasty, JD Holopter, Scotty Spears, Mr. Conrad, Matt Allen, Dr. Void, Sean K. Preston, Tony Burlingame, Trevor Rogers, Craig Gory along with several more.

They describe themselves thusly, “A Rhythm section born of Hate, Hellfire and Brimstone. With a book of matches, can of gas, and a Louisville slugger we’ll have a party.”

You can expect to see them again on Radio Free Charleston 198 in a week or two.

The RFC MINI SHOW # 22

The RFC MINI SHOW starring Mark Cline Bates

May 5, 2014 by rudy panucci

Mark Cline Bates hadn’t been on RFC since episode 58,in 2009, until we caught up with him again and featured his music on RFC 196. From that same recording session at The Empty Glass, we bring you two songs from Mark, “Bigger Things” and “Closer.” Mark’s next album is due out in October, and you can check out his website for news of his tour dates and you can also buy his previous CD.

In May, you can catch Mark in Man, at Keith’s Bar on the 9th at 9 PM , and in Sutton at Cafe Cimino on The 25th at 8 PM as part of the WV Hall Of Fame Garden fundraiser. In June Mark will perform as such exotic locations as Los Angeles and Venice Beach California, Columbia South Caroline, Chicago and Barboursville. You can also check out his recent Gazette interview for more news.

You may notice that this episode of the RFC MINI SHOW is number twenty-one, while our previous show was number nineteen. It recently came to our attention that, almost six months ago, we numbered two of our RFC MINI SHOWs as “seven.” We didn’t catch it, and nobody pointed it out to us, so we didn’t discover it until we were working on the RFC Archives. Rather than go back and re-number the previous thirteen shows, we’re just going to skip a number to get back on track. 

And of course, after we rendered the show as number twenty-one, we discovered that we also had two shows numbered “fifteen.” So expect next week’s RFC MINI SHOW to be number twenty-three.