WILD WILD WINTER - "A Surfin' Snowball" (1966)

Tonight's salute to rock and roll in the movies is a lame attempt by Universal to make a foray into the bikini/beach party genre that American International was having success with!

I'm almost certain that some rocket surgeon brainbat said "Hey, if we just present a youth-oriented story with cute girls in bikinis and some rock and roll music, we'll be able to make some decent bucks" and away we go!

That's Dungeon legend Dick (Bucket Of Blood) Miller on the left as a petty hood!

These guys crack me up, they look like Star Trek rejects!

Jackie and Gayle perform "Our Love's Gonna Snowball!"

They also performed in another surfin' flick, "Wild On The Beach," and that was pretty much their whole career in a nutshell!

These beach bunnies were all told that they were given the only, and original award from surfin' champ Ronnie as portrayed by Gary (Missile To The Moon) Clarke!

The Beau Brummels were one of my favourite 60's bands! They were even once in an episode of "The Flintstones" appearing as The Beau Brummelstones!

Steve Franken had a long and varied career, but I'll always remember him as the rich and snooty rival of Dobie Gillis named Chatsworth Osborne Jr. In 2009 Steve played Cardinal Colbert in the movie adaptation of Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons!"

The Astronauts are back, and perform "A Change Of Heart!"

I was torn on what piece of music to share from "Wild Wild Winter," they're all pretty much good songs, but I think the tune called "Heartbeats" by Dick and Dee Dee is probably the most interesting of the bunch!

Just listening to Dick sing those weird ass high notes that make Frankie Valli sound like Barry White are enough to make the whole movie almost worth sitting through!

Dick and Dee Dee's biggest hit was without a doubt "The Mountains High" that reached #2 in 1961, but I also always really like their last hit four years later in 1965 called "Thou Shalt Not Steal" that charted at #13! What a great message!

"Wild Wild Winter" closes out with music from Jay and the Americans and a tune called "Two Of  A Kind" which ties in perfectly with what I'll have on tap for you come Wednesday!
On a completely unrelated subject, since Superbowl 50 is tomorrow, go and check out this story about the first Superbowl in 1967, and the amazing surprise hero of the game named Max McGee! It's most likely that you've never heard of Max, but once you read this short story, you'll never forget him I guarantee! It's one glorious tale that every true sports fan should know!

EEGAH!! & TABONGA! AT THE MOVIES 6 / The Early Sixties

After wasting hours trying to get sound clips from two different movies and numerous computer crashes trying to render a sound clip, I gave up and decided to do this. We got to see a lot of Roger Corman's best movies, the productions based on the great Edgar Allen Poe's stories...

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM was both terrifying and terrific, Vinnie was at his absolute best after he totally flips out and pilots the giant pendulum toward maniacal mayhem! It also starred Barbara Steele and Antony Carbone.

We laughed our asses off watching THE RAVEN. It was so great to see Boris, Peter and Vinnie doing their thing together before they were all gone. Love those guys a lot...

Things got really weird with TALES OF TERROR. The stories were all excellent and filled with some exciting moments for our little brains. We got to see some great previews of the movie in FAMOUS MONSTERS Magazine which made for a scary time for all.

I have to admit, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH was very depressing and my least favorite of the movies I'm featuring here. But, it was filled with lots of eye candy like the still shows.

COMEDY OF TERRORS was another super funny movie, the team of Vinnie and Peter as the murderous undertaker and helper was a perfect set up for fun. And, funny guy Joe E. Brown even had the role as the cemetery keeper.

It was a very special time for Eegah!! and I growing up back then, we loved the monsters and maniacs the most...

ROCK BABY - ROCK IT - "Hot Rocks" (1957)

 All right! It's time for another Wild Wednesday edition of Rock and Roll in the movies!

Tonight's feature is called "Rock Baby - Rock It" and was made in Texas in 1957! There are no big stars in this movie, but it sure as Hell was on the cutting edge of rock and roll!

 It's a Rock-it Rocket, and once this sucker goes off, there's no telling where it's going to land!

 There are no less than 18 songs in "Rock Baby - Rock It!" Trying to figure out who is doing what is almost impossible because a lot of the acts have the same backup band!

Set in Dallas, Texas, "Rock Baby - Rock It" is a supremely simple tale of kids wanting to rock out in their own club, and a group of local mobsters trying to shut them down because they want the building for themselves!

 The Hot Rock Club is a jumpin' place, and the kids are all right!

 This thug named Crackers shows up and tells them in no uncertain terms to get out!!

He's called Crackers because he eats a lot of crackers and carries them around in his pocket!

There have many different regional bands named The Five Stars over the years. 

This incarnation performs "Polly Molly," and "Your Love Is All I Need!"

Preacher Smith and the Deacons perform "Eat Your Heart Out!"

The guitar teacher for all these bands must have been the same guy because all the guitar players hold the guitar in the same odd backwards style!

 This band is by far my favourite just because they had the balls to have a live rooster on stage with them! This is Roscoe Gordon and the Red Tops performing what else but
 "Chicken In The Rough!"

Again, check out the guitar player!

 Over at Jamies Club, there was a whole different style of rock and roll going on!

 The rockabilly styling of Johnny Carroll was cool enough to land him a recording contract with Decca Records, and although he had a few singles releases, he only ever manged meager success! In fact, Johnny Carroll is probably more popular today than he was in the 50's because of the resurgence in rockabilly music! The band was called Hot Rocks!

 I like the two songs performed here by The Belew Twins, "Lonesome," and "Love Me Baby," but they never managed to garner much success except as a novelty act!

 In a very weird scene, Crackers dances for the big boss man!

They gather up all the local talent to stage a benefit to save the club, and so the music continues!

 A fight breaks out between the kids and the mobsters!

And then the band plays on! This time it's the Cell Block 7 with the "Saint's Song!" Dig those krazy prison striped vests!

 They had a good turnout, and the audience is very exuberant!

Holy Crap! There's so much music, I almost lost count at this point!
Preacher Smith and the Deacons return with "Roogie Doogie!"

 I really thought that was Ted Cruz for a moment or two making his acceptance speech in Iowa!
Actually, it's Don Coats and the Bon-Aires with "Love Never Forgets!"

The Four Stars come back with a different guy on lead vocals this time on "Hey Juanita" just to make it that much more confusing!

Rockin' dancer Kay Wheeler is a story unto herself, and if you don't believe me then head on over to her site and read all about her exploits in the world of Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and more!
I still don't understand how they can stream some whole movies on YouTube, I'm just glad they can, so if you wanna watch "Rock Baby - Rock It" for free, then you'll find it right
HERE!!
Better than the living dead, that, my friends, is
The Living End!

BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRES / AM Productions, Hemisphere Entertainment - 1966

Here's a title we missed from 1966, part of the 'Blood' or 'Blood Island' series from the gang in the Philippines. The story's about siblings that discover that their father has their vampire mother locked up in the cellar. After the mother bites her son, everyone in the community is either dead or turned into a vampire. Not to be confused with Hammer's BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE from 1958 with Donald Wolfit.

Here's that odd Independent International logo that starts the show. Ray Dennis Steckler and Al Adamson were also producers under the II banner.

I have an ass kicking sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our other bloody DVDs, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a little sample from... BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRES!

I cut the theme in half to spare you some pain, it sounds like Albert Glasser on steroids!

An example of the wild artwork shown at the end of the titles that was a staple of the series.

No one can tell you who to love or what to wear, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Here's a portrait of the vampire mom that haunts the place, but, what's happened to her?

Dude!!.. You're ruining my shot, freakin' camera hog!..

Dad shows the son where he has mom hidden, in the basement, in a coffin, in the dark.

Looks like he's in a special bed jail... Or, maybe it's meant to keep out the pigs.

Nothing more appealing to an old hag vampire B than a tender... sweet... tasty... NECK!!

Vampire boy now has a problem with a pissed off ghost that harasses the Hell out of him!

The holy spirit steps in to even the score, looks like.. Game over, man!

Welp, it's a hot time in the old burning house tonight!.. We'll be back on Wednesday with something that we have no idea what it is at this time.