A SWINGIN' SUMMER - Gary Lewis And The Playboys - "Chicken Kicks And Water Slicks" (1965)

What better to follow "Wild Wild Winter" than "A Swingin' Summer," which is right around the corner, and will be here before you know it!

Just like "Wild Wild Winter," "A Swingin' Summer " doesn't really have much reason to exist except as a showcase for some of the musical groups of the day! The story isn't even worth going into!
The theme song was recorded by Jody "Queen Of The House" Miller, but this Wipe Out style instrumental by Gary Lewis And The Playboys is a lot more interesting! I love all the whooping and a hollerin'! "C'mon Baby!"

What's more interesting is that Oops, somebody forgot to spellcheck the names of the bands! The name of the band was The Rip Chords, not The Rip-Cords!

Although this wasn't Raquel Welch's first movie, it was her first credited role on the big screen! She had small bit parts before this, and had done some TV like "Bewitched," and "McHale's Navy!"

This is a great publicity still of Raquel!

This is probably my favourite shot from the film!

I'm seeing a pattern here! As you will see, somebody involved with this film had a penchant for the female posterior!

How to make a beach movie! Step one, get some bands, step two, get some girls and have them dance, step three, everything else will most likely fall into place somehow!

Gary Lewis acts as MC, and his band The Playboys are the back up band for all the other groups! I was kind of surprised to see Gary in such a backup role because he and his band had already had their smash hit "This Diamond Ring" a couple of months earlier! Maybe it was a chance to let the actual band play, because on the recording of "This Diamond Ring" the band had been replaced with music by the now notorious Wrecking Crew! Even Gary's vocals on that record were supplemented by another guy!

The big joke of the film is this scene where the guys spot this topless chick on the beach!

They get pretty excited until..........

..........They discover it's really a guy named Gypsy Boots, the bohemian "Clown Prince Of Health!"

Chop! Chop, Chop! Chop, Chop, Chop!

Trust me, this is just a small sample of the derrieres the cinematographer took advantage of!

Rockabilly Hall Of Famer Donnie Brooks performs "Pennie The Poo!"

Hot Rod Surfin' band "The Rip Chords" were at the tail end of their career! They look a lot older than I'm sure they were!

The Rip Chords biggest hit was "Hey Little Cobra"
Here they perform "Hot Rod Roadster!"

Out of 80 minutes, I'm sure 20 minutes or more is nothing but dancing!

Raquel's role was that of an intelligent nerdy kind of girl, so of course she finally strips down to her bathing suit and performs a song called "I'm Ready To Groove!" I actually have a copy of the soundtrack of this movie on vinyl, I guess it's time to break it out again!

Without much fanfare, the final band is Bill Medley and Bobby Hattfield better known as "The Righteous Brothers! The Righteous Brothers biggest hit that still gets played today was "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" which reached number four on the charts in 1965! They've played that song so much on the radio, but I really prefer their more rockin' tunes like "My Babe," and "Little Latin Lupe Lu!" Here they perform an upbeat number called "Justine!"
So that's it for me and rock and roll in the movies for a while, I hope you liked the show!
Now it's time to get back to some more spy and secret agent movies etc.
Your guess is as good as mine what Tabonga will come up with on Friday!

THE ALIEN DEAD / Firdbird International Pictures - 1980

Now, here a crazy little production by Fred Olen Ray with a $12,000 budget, starring my favorite actor in the fifties, Buster Crabbe. Growing up back then, he was my hero. He was Flash Gordon, Tarzan, he was handsome with blond hair and well built, the perfect good guy. But, by 1980, it's a different story...

The actual alien invasion is supposedly explained in the credits, that white ball just flies through space, that's it, the aliens are here!!!

I have a silly sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our catbox, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a sample from... THE ALIEN DEAD!

Here's club toting Deputy Campbell interrogating Mr. Griffith after his wife goes missing while out hunting alligators in the swamp at night.

It's all these guy's fault, hillbilly zombies from space! They hide in the water at night and come out in the day to find food... Seems backwards to me but who really cares anyway. This old biddy gets a pitchfork through the gut before they chow down on her.

Deputy Campbell gets an eyeful of fine Floridian fanny while waiting to pay for his bubble gum at the market. The best shot of the batch.

I like this shot, that place is just plain greasy looking, I guess a typical Florida swamp shop.

I don't understand why the moronic victims of the slow moving zomboids don't just, like... RUN!! You know what?.. I give up, you freakin' deserve to die!

One horny zombie gives this gal a boob grab!

Buster plays wise guy Sheriff Kowalski, in this 5 minute scene there is not even one close up of him! That's a sure sign of an amateur production.

Those damn crazy mixed up zombies slurp up a nice, dead, tangy skunk on the road!

JOE!!.. NO, not now!!.. You're ruinin' the fun, jeez!!

Well, hello der!!

I had to end with something, so, here you go! Looks like that explosion probably used up 20% of the budget... Be back on Wednesday for more from... The Dungeon!

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!