Spy Vibe's collaboration with the Cocktail Nation radio show from Australia continues with a new series- now live and streaming! Spy Vibe is featured in a podcast segment every month, where I introduce cool films/series and share recordings from the Cold War. This month I introduce Get Smart. Created by Buck Henry and the Prince of Parody- Mel Brooks, the series set out to break sit-com conventions by focusing on an inept secret agent. Made during the height of the Spy Boom, Get Smart push Bond elements to hilarious heights! In the music portion of the episode, I play a bit of the original score and a fantastic Ska interpretation of the theme. Tune in to listen here. For more radio action, go to Episode #1 (Danger Man) and Episode #2 (The 10th Victim), Epsiode #3 (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Episode #4 (Roger Moore/The Saint), andEpisode #5 (The Avengers), Episode #6 (The Prisoner), and Episode #7 (The Ipcress File), Episode #8(The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), Spy Vibe Radio: UFO,Spy Vibe Radio: Danger Diabolik, Spy Vibe Radio: Peter Gunn, Spy Vibe Radio: Jerry Cotton, and Spy Vibe Radio: Flint. And tune in to Cocktail Nation -the number one lounge music radio show- every week for cool soundtracks, swingin' jazz, news and more. Related post: Get Smart Pop. Enjoy!
I also want to let Spy Vibers know that my new book is available for pre-order on Amazon.Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics chronicles the 83-year career of the creator of Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois with rare interviews, articles, unseen photos and cartoons, and tributes from the comic community. More info at Amazon and Amazon UK. Check other Amazon sites for your region. From the press release: Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics is a major accomplishment." -Brian Walker (from the Foreword). Besides syndicating nine comic strips, including Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Mort Walker devoted his life to creating, collecting, curating, and chatting about his one true love- the funnies! Talking Mort Walker: A Life in Comics takes readers on a journey for the first time through Walker's career between 1935-2018, where rare interviews, articles, letters, unpublished photographs, and drawings reveal insights about the child prodigy who grew up to become the Dean of American cartooning.
One of the treats of sifting through the archeology of 1960s pop culture is the constant discovery of little treasures. While gearing up to make some collages of spy tv ads and listings a while back, I came across this neat series of portraits of Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon of Get Smart) by Andy Warhol. Apologies to Get Smart collectors, who have probably had this on their radar for 50 years, but these are quite cool additions to my inner landscape of mod spy imagery from the period. These ran originally in the March 5th, 1966 edition of TV Guide. Stay tuned for more Get Smart as my next episode of the Cocktail Nation radio show goes live at the end of the month. Check last month's episode (Flint movies) for links to the show. Enjoy!
Happy Monday, Spy Vibers! Let's get the week started with Get Smart and the Sacred Cows. No, not those beloved series conventions, such as the cone of silence, but that hypnotic pop group from KAOS. Working as musical minions to the Groovy Guru, the Sacred Cows cast a spell on listeners and promoted baddie dogma, like "Rebellion is Hip". The group was created for The Groovy Guru episode, which originally aired on January 13th, 1968. Take a listen- if you dare! Enjoy!