Category: Cartooning

Crumb-y Music

A few posts ago, in a screen shot from Ghost World, Thora Birch is shown holding a copy of an album by R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders. Lo and behold, here’s the album for your listening pleasure.

In an interview at this link, Crumb talks about his record collecting habit. Robert had to edge-ya-ma-kate the interviewer a bit about shellac 78’s, and the web page design is too “interesting” for easy reading. But it has some good comments and information, including this gem that, believe it or not, I’ve wondered about for years. How often does Crumb replace the stylus on his vintage, Swiss-made Lenco L75 turntable?

“In the 1970s I had some hi-fi components put together for me by a sound engineer wizard, which I’m still using. When this set of components wears out, I’ll have to get some help in finding the right stuff to replace it. About once a year I have to order a new stylus from a small company in England, the Expert Stylus Company, which will re-tip your stylus with a new diamond tip specially made for pre-WWII 78s. It now costs about 100 euros for this service.”

Teenage Wasteland

The complete and unforgettable “Jaan Pehechaan Ho.”

Terry Zwigoff used some of this 1960’s Bollywood production in the opening sequence of his superbly realized film adaptation of the comic book Ghost World, by Daniel Clowes. Scarlett Johansson was the breakout star of the movie, but Thora Birch’s performance has always impressed me more.

Guess what? YouTube Movies has the complete Ghost World. Yeah, there are commercials, but it’s free and it’s here. (Note that you will need some form of Google account to watch.)

https://youtu.be/pmW61ytcI18

Zwigoff got in a self-deprecating dig. He played string bass on this R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders album. Yeesh, Thora and Scarlett look unbelievably young but, then, didn’t we all at some time?

Listen Bud, He’s Got Radioactive Blood

Wear a mask and maintain social distancing!

Not everybody will get the joke, but for those of us who do it’s very funny.

Note at the end of that 1967 cartoon, credit is given to “Jazzy Johnny Romita” as an art consultant, and not Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. I can see where some of the animation was based on drawings by Romita, especially Aunt May. But the series also included direct photostats of some Ditko art. This was a technique that Grantray-Lawrence had used extensively in The Marvel Super-Heroes series a year earlier, which was in production when Ditko quit Marvel Comics.