Mister 8

‡ Dear those few people who are interested in the web comic Mister 8: Mark your calendars for February 15th, because that’s the day I plan to unveil the first installment of the first chapter, now titled “The Art of Storytelling.” Stay tuned for more updates, and perhaps some sketches over the next two weeks!

Our pal Wes Britton sends us this news item:

This Tuesday’s edition of “Dave White Presents” will, once again, have two features of interest for spy buffs.

First, Wes Britton will interview Harvey Chertok, Executive Producer of the television docu-drama, The Impossible Spy. Harvey will discuss not only the film but his insights into the history of the subject of the movie—the incredible story of Mossad agent Eli Cohen.

Then, Wes interviews Deborah Lipp, author of The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book. Deborah talks about, of course, 007, her book, and you—the fans of the movie realm of Her Majesty’s Favorite Secret Servant.

As always, “Dave White Presents is a variety show, so this week Dave talks with Frank Jeckell, an original member of the ‘60s pop group, the 1910 Fruitgum Company. We’ll not only hear a bit about the history of the group, but Dave will also air some rare tracks recorded before the band went into the bubblegum direction.

There’s more—but you’ll have to tune in to hear what Dave White has in store. As always, the show will debut on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time, 10:30 EST over—

WWW.KSAV.org

On Wednesday, the show will be archived for 24/7 access you can download from—

WWW.audioentertainment.org/dwp

See you then!

Recently, Wes interviewed former James Bond George Lazenby on the show as well. So make sure you set those e-dials for Tuesday night!

My wife and I bought a house last October, and she, in a moment of being silly, allowed me to do much of the work in designing the rooms. For our living room, I’d hoped to draw / print a series of posters depicting some of my favorite films. The theme was going to be French post-war / new wave films (I did a disappointing Bob Le Flambeur after this one and gave that up), and I still haven’t decided what to do with them now. Perhaps I’ll do a spy film series, with the IPCRESS File and…something else.

In any case, here’s a poster for Jean Luc Godard’s classic postmodern spy/sci-fi flic, Alphaville. It’s one of my favorites, and if it’s one of yours, feel free to click for a super hi-res version that will print out at 11×17, suitable for wall hanging. Consider it distrbuted under whatever license means that you can print it out and hang it on your wall, but not swipe for the next Criterion release without giving me free Criterion discs.

Alphaville Poster, Art by Armstrong Sabian

…a.k.a. The Coalition Of Bloggers wRiting About Spies. Pretty awful huh? It’s a work in progress.

So…my apologies for the lack of posting yesterday, and through the week last week, and potentially for the week ahead. I’m still working on the project, which involves lots of tedious work, and a hard deadline. In the meantime, I wanted to point you all toward some of my favorite blogs, which you may have seen in the sidebar, but may not have visited.

Agent ASPIDELAPS:

Double O Section is run by a chap named Matthew Bradford, aka “Tanner,” and covers the gamut of spy fiction from The Amazing Screw-On Head to Spooks to Kim Possible and everything else in between.  Double O Section is the go-to site for news on the latest releases, and interesting insights on, for instance, why the Transporter series should be considered within the realm of the Eurospy genre, or a look at gender roles in the Bulldog Drummond flick Deadlier Than The Male. The latter came as an add-on to his new series of “My Favorite Spy…” which will include movies and books, and hopefully comics and cartoons and television shoes as well. If the previous hasn’t enticed you, Tanner also runs regular contests with awesome book and DVD prizes!

Agent MICRURUS FULVIUS:

Wes Britton is not so much a blogger as he is an expert on spies of film and television. He’s published a trio of books (Spy Television, Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film, and Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage), with an encyclopedia on the way, runs Spy Wise, a website devoted to spy-fiction, and The Spy Report, a blog dedicated to spreading news of espionage-related developments, both fictional and real. His website is a source of information as valuable as his books, containing articles like the Michael Caine spy-ography (even if Wes is horribly, horribly wrong about the dreadful worst-ever Michael Caine movie–and this is a man whose career includes Austin Powers 3 and the terrible fourth Jaws movie–The Holcroft Covenant), and a wealth of information about O.F. Snelling, including a PDF of the entire Snelling study of Bond, Double-O-Seven: James Bond Under the Microscope.

Agent PARANJA MULTIFASCIATA

Quick: think of a spy movie. David Foster at Permission to Kill has seen it, and if he hasn’t, he will. An invaluable resource for finding details of obscure and foreign secret agent movies, Permission to Kill will also one day hopefully be an invaluable book of film reviews on your shelf. David has shined the spotlight on forgotten films like (at random): OSS-117: Murder For Sale, The High Commissioner, or Masquerade, and includes thoughtful insights and important cultural contexts. The reviews are so good and so frequent that David can be forgiven for not seeing the genius of Casino Royale (not not that one, the other one). For those taking a first look at the site, you are blessed with just over two years of reviews to read through

Agent HEMACHATUS HAEMACHATUS

Paul Bishop is an author of crime fiction, and runs Bish’s Beat, a multi-faceted blog that covers spies, pulps, gumshoes, cops, swinging jazz, and just to throw you for a loop, LOLzCats. He’s got his finger on a number of cultural pulses, and I regularly find news there that I not only haven’t seen, but I didn’t know to look out for in the first place. Recently, he pointed to an article about gender issues in the James Bond series, and initated a discussion about Chris Mills’ Noir Magazine. Most interestingly, Paul has a viewpoint on crime fiction that most of the rest of us spy bloggers don’t: he’s lead detective of the West Los Angeles Area Sex Crimes and Major Assault Crimes unit.

Agent BOULENGERINA

Jason Whiton, like myself, is another newcomer to the spy blog scene, and so might not have the extensive archive that the previous writers wield. Still, his Spy Vibe blog is off to a great start, with a thoughtful tribute to Patrick McGoohan, and a recent appreciation of the IPCRESS File. Spy Vibe is also a website, with a wide collection of spy-related video clips that highlight, as Jason says, 1960s spy style. We’re looking forward to seeing much more of Spy Vibe in years to come!

I hope you’ll check out these great sites, and I’m also interested in getting feedback from my own readers on posts here. Please feel free to comment below, or email me with suggestions / criticism!

A new month, a new theme! February’s theme: spy surf rock.

Surf rock is a genre of instrumental music, where the lead reverb-drenched melody is usually played by an electric guitar or saxaphone, or occasionally a Hammond organ or electric piano. Perhaps the most well-known surf songs are Miserlou, the Dick Dale track prominently featured in Pulp Fiction, Wipeout by the Surfaris, or Pipeline by the Chantays.

One sub-section of surf rock is spy surf, or spy rock, typified by jazz-influenced melodies in minor keys (many in E-minor), and twangy riffs played on the fat low strings. Influenced primarily by the work of Vic Flick (guitarist on the original Bond theme), and those who followed him in creating spy themes of the 60s, spy surf bands like Spy-Fi or Seks Bomba often mix covers with originals.

To kick off this month’s theme, I wanted to spotlight some covers of the various Bond themes as an introduction to the genre. What follows are spy surf versions of every Bond theme from the 1960s, the heyday of both Bond and surfing, with information on the artist and album from which the track was taken.

The Playboys – Dr. No (James Bond Theme)

Originally recorded for their 1965 Sound Award Album, the Playboys’ version of Dr. No is now only available, as far as I know, on the massive Board Boogie: Surf n’ Twang From Down Under. Information on the band is scarce, but here’s what I could dig up: The Playboys were formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1963, and featured Bill Billings (Lead), Phil Blackmore (Organ, Piano, Guitar), John Cartwright (Rhythm Guitar), Neil McArthur (Bass), and Graeme Trottman (Drums). Later, the band included  Trevor Griffin (Organ), Brian Peacock (Bass), and Mick Rodgers and Rod Stone (Guitar). Their albums were released on the Australian independent label Sunshine Records, and they also served as the backup band for other Sunshine vocalists. The band split in 1967, with members joining the Librettos and the Procession. More information on the Playboys can be found on the Milesago page on the Procession.

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The Charles Napiers – From Russia With Love

The Charles Napiers version of From Russia With Love can be heard on the 1999 One Million Dollar Records release The Sinister Organization. The Napiers hailed from the U.K. and throughout their 14-year career (1991-2005) featured guitarist Dan Whaley, bassist John Skittles, guitarist Clive Pearman (1991-1995), drummer Danny O’Brien (1991-2000), guitarist Lee Duggan (1995-2005), drummer Sophie Skittles (2000-2003), and drummer Mark Braby (2003-2005). In addition to this version of From Russia With Love, The Sinister Organization also features a cover of You Only Live Twice, and they also made a cover of Thunderball for a compilation called Licensed to Hear that I’ve never run across before. The three founding members of the Charles Napiers (which I desperately hope was named for the American character actor / voiceover artist, and not the British admiral) now play in the McDeath Trio.

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Man Or Astro-Man? – Goldfinger

This version of Goldfinger was originally on the 1995 7″ Return to Chaos, and was later included on the fantastic compilation Secret Agent S.O.U.N.D.S. Man Or Astro-Man were a fantastic punk-surf band from Alabama / space that featured extraterrestrials Star Crunch (guitar), Birdstuff (drums) and Coco (bass). Their live shows were amongst the best concerts I’ve ever seen, and I continue to mourn their absence, though in writing this post, I discovered that Star Crunch, aka Brian Causey, wrote and provided vocals for The Theme Song For Jimmy Neutron, which I’ve been enamored with for a few years despite not feeling that thrilled about the actual show. I encourage you to buy the entire Man or Astro-Man back catalog.

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The Clee-Shays – Thunderball

From what I can figure out: The Clee-Shays recorded Thunderball for the Japanese market, where they released a number of spy surf 7″ singles. The album this song was ripped from, Dynamic Guitar Sounds of the Clee-Shays, was released in 1998, a collection of the best of these singles. I bought this CD in a thrift store a few years ago, where I found it in a case that had no booklet, and there’s little information about the Clee-Shays on the web. Here’s what I can find about them: Ed Fournier, John Anderson and Bob Edwards on alternating lead guitars, Buzz Carre on bass, and Delvy alternating with Larry Brown on drums. The band was put together in the studio by Richard Delvy, drummer for the Challengers, which also at one point featured Fournier, and the songs were recorded in the mid 1960s. A quality album, but still mostly a mystery. Anyone else have better information?

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The Vultures – You Only Live Twice

This one is a complete mystery. I got this in MP3 form from a forum discussing James Bond covers. From the low-fi quality and the general ambience, I’m wondering if this is a recording of a live show. I believe the primary suspect should be Joe Weed’s The Vultures, who recorded a one-off album of instrumental classics on Appalachian / bluegrass instruments. Again, I’d love any input from the readership, because I love this version. I can offer that the album listed in the MP3 track information is Surfing, that this is track 15, and the year of release is listed as 1999. Thanks to Spy-Fi guitarist Tom Pervanje, I can tell you more about the Vultures who were responsible for this track:

The Vultures were from Erie, PA. I had their album, but gave it to Tom Hinders, from the Tsunami Soul show in Oberlin, OH. Spy-Fi shared the bill with them in 2000 in Twinsburg, OH. They located in Columbus, OH at that time, then relocated to Florida, that’s the last I heard. The version of YOLT is live and did come from the Surfing CD.

Tom also provides a link where you can purchase the album from which this song was taken. Thanks, Tom!

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Big Ray & The Futuras – Casino Royale

Did I not say every Bond theme from the 60s? This song comes from the otherwise disappointing album That’s New Pussycat – Surf Tribute to Burt Bacharach, where the only other decent offering was the Aqualad’s version of The Blob. Big Ray & The Futuras hail from Massachusetts, and may now be extinct — their website is, at least. I believe that the band consisted of Big Ray, Chris Neff (guitar) and Paul Wilson (drums). In any case, this track is the bee’s knees, and I believe additional Big Ray albums can be purchased from Double Crown Records. I wish I could say this album was worth buying for this song but…I’d only go that far if you can find it cheap somewhere. Like I said, though, this track, and the Aqualads’ Blob are king.

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Dr. Frankenstein – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Of this track, available on the band’s debut album The Lost Tapes From Dr. Frankenstein’s Lab, surf-master Phil Dirt said, “Dark and espionage flavored, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ is menacing and yet melodic. The unnerving structure leaves you looking for an exit, yet drawn into the track. Some very nice whammy chords enhance the track with a shimmer factor as it moves into and out of a great break. Heavy is an understatement,” and I agree with him wholeheartedly. The band consists of André Joaquim on guitar, Bruno Quintino on drums, Dave Gomez on bass, and Luis Sales on organ. Check their MySpace page for more information.

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In addition to the Friday filmclip, which will come later in the day, I wanted to share an embarrassing bit of the past inspired by yesterday’s romp through some surf spy classics. See, about six and a half years ago, I attempted to start my own surf spy band…nothing came of it except for one recorded practice.

But I thought I’d share a few songs from that session for the hell of it. The band suffered from not having a bass player, and having a converted guitar player as a drummer. Still, it was a bunch o’ fun:

Detective Frank McSwaggart

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From Russia With Love

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Mondolfo’s Revenge

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This is the final scene of the first episode of the from-what-I’ve-seen-so-far-on-PBS fantastic show Spooks, aka MI-5 for us Americans. The domestic intelligence group have been investigating Mary Kane, an American religious fanatic whose husband is about to be executed for his role in abortion clinic bombings. They suspect Mary of orchestrating recent car bombings and fear that, on the day of her husband’s death, she’ll bring about another terrorist attack somewhere in Britain.

This scene starts near the end, with Mary trailing a doctor with a bag of bombs, and the titular spooks trailing Mary with faulty bomb-jamming equipment. Good stuff (ignore the Spanish subtitles…that is, unless you speak Spanish!).

culpable

/kulpb’l/

1. deserving blame.
2. describing a weekend in which your esteemed host got to meet I Spy star Robert Culp.

This weekend was the New York Comic Con, and my wife and I made the drive down…partially because I enjoy comic books (obviously) and partially to meet with a client for whom I do web design. I made some pretty good purchases, and saw a few things that I thought you folks might be interested in seeing.

First was the booth for the Geppi Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, Md. What first caught my eye were these Gilbert James Bond toys:

Gilbert Bond Toys

And then I noticed this picture amongst those on the booth wall:

Geppi spy corner

…a corner of an exhibit completely dedicated to ’60s spy toys and memorabilia! The Geppi Museum’s website states that their mission is to: “[present] the story of popular culture since the nation’s earliest days in an entertaining and educational fashion so that our guests have the unique opportunity to walk through a timeline that parallels and is entwined with history as a whole.” If anyone lives near Baltimore, please check it out and let us know how you liked it.

Clifton - Jade

Second is a series of translated reprints that I’d like to which I’d like to call your attention. Cinebook is dedicated to bringing Franco-Belgian comics to English speaking countries, and had on-hand at the convention a number of books that were simply beautiful to look at. A few of them were secret agent related, including Clifton, a series of comical mysteries starring an ex-spy turned Scotland Yard detective, and IR$, about a rogue internal revenue agent (I opted for neither of these, but instead Blake & Mortimer, an adventure book with a beautiful style, similar to Hergé). The folks behind Cinebook are enthusiastic about their product and put out great quality work. I highly recommend them based on my purchases today.

Robert Culp signs an I Spy script

Third, and perhaps most awesome. While looking for an artist and wandering the labyrinthesque aisles of the comic con, I rounded a corner and spotted Robert Culp, the 78-year-old actor who played Kelly Robinson on the classic espionage show I Spy. While other comic book dorks gathered around William Katt (The Greatest American Hero, on which Culp played FBI agent Bill Maxwell), I had my picture taken with, and purchased an autographed I Spy script from Mr. Culp.

In honor of the sheer serendipity at finding Culp so unexpectedly, I’m making this I Spy week here at Mister8.com. To get you in the mood, here’s a three-hour interview that Culp did with the Archive of American Television, where he spends a good amount of time talking about I Spy (thanks to Wes Britton for letting me know about this!):

…I also picked up some free things from the Marvel booth, including some nifty magnets of the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo that I’m thinking of giving away in a contest here. I know, I know…giving away freebies in a contest? We’re in an economic downturn…what can I say? Stay tuned this week for details on how to win, if you’re interested. Hopefully, it will be the first of many contests to come!

…Boy am I glad that fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. agent Wes Britton has better taste in titling books than I do. The actual name of his new book is The Encyclopedia of TV Spies, and it’s now available for pre-order from publisher Bear Manor Media. Here’s the press release:

If you’re a fan of Burn Notice, Chuck, or 24, then you’ve joined the millions of viewers who’ve loved the adventures of classic secret agents for over 55 years. In over 200 programs, TV spies have been cultural trend-setters from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to The Six Million Dollar Man. They’ve been espionage blended with science-fiction,gritty and realistic, docu-dramas, mini-series, comic spoofs for adults and entertainment for the very young. And, as Wes Britton demonstrates in his new Encyclopedia of TV Spies, the genre is full of nuggets and rarities even the most devoted spy-watcher may have missed.

On March 1, 2009, Bear Manor Media will release The Encyclopedia of TV Spies, and they promise a treasure-trove of surprises. What do you know about The Piglet Files, Doomwatch, The Sandbaggers? Has your DVD diet included Passport to Danger, Man in a Suitcase, Sleepers? That’s what The Encyclopedia of TV Spies is all about—the icons of TV past, the obscure, the neglected classics, and the misfires. If you’re a spy buff or a fan of TV history, this is one that belongs on your bookshelf!

Here’s what the experts say about The Encyclopedia of TV Spies:

“This is an invaluable reference book for anyone interested in the history of television, and that of spies on the small screen . . . They’re all here: contemporary spies, Western spies, war time spies, cold war spies, serious ones, funny ones, mysterious ones. . . You get the background on over 200 shows, the creators, the stars, the characters, with behind the scenes intrigue as well as that which was put on the screen.  A triumph in research.  A must read.  More so, a must own.”
– Marc Cushman, author of I Spy: A History and Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series

“. . . this exhaustive directory covers television programs from 1951 to 2008, and it is a delightful stroll down memory lane . . . The Encyclopedia is rich with photographs, and each entry contains a concise but thorough synopsis, marvelously describing the show and tipping the hat to directors, producers, and actors. Dr. Britton clearly demonstrates his extensive knowledge of television espionage, packaging it in a way that is informative and, at the same time, very fun to read.”
–Bill Raetz, author of the World Espionage Bureau novels including The Lie Detector, Surveillance, and Romanian Skylark

“Britton’s book is a long overdue and desperately needed reference work that should be a part of any serious TV library. It covers every conceivable aspect of the TV espionage genre and will satisfy both the curiosity of fans and the scholarly needs of researchers.”
– Lee Goldberg, executive producer, Diagnosis: Murder, author of the Monk tie-in novels

“Covering the past six decades, with entries set out in alphabetical order, followers of all these secret missions and undercover operations will be surprised to find just how many television spies they did not know about . . . The contents are well set out, there are appendices and lists with all the dates and descriptions provided . . . this book is an entertaining and easy read.”
–Roger Langley, author of Patrick McGoohan: Danger Man or Prisoner?

“Finally an authoritative reference source for information on the spy stories that have graced and disgraced the small screen since the earliest days of television . . . Highly recommended for spy-fiction fans everywhere.”
–T.H.E. Hill, author of Voices Under Berlin

“I learned something new about many shows I’ve spent years watching, and learnt of plenty of new shows I should spend many years watching. This is truly a stunning collection of research covering every aspect of spies on television.”
–Ian Dickerson, Honorary Secretary, The Saint Club

Here’s the first story in Gold Key’s I Spy #2, with story probably by Paul S. Newman and art by Alden “Al” McWilliams.  Newman was a native of New York, whose work spanned multiple companies, though he’s best known for his work on another Gold Key (though it started at Dell) book, Turok. Connecticutian McWilliams worked mostly in sci-fi, though he’s also known for the daily spy strip Dateline: Danger!.

I Spy Cover

I Spy Inside Cover

I Spy Page 1

I Spy Page 2

I Spy Page 3

I Spy Page 4

I Spy Page 5

I Spy Page 6

I Spy Page 7

I Spy Page 8

I Spy Page 9

I Spy Page 10

I Spy Page 11

I Spy Page 12

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I Spy Page 14

I Spy Inside Back Cover

I Spy Back Cover