Follow the Leader: Episode 87: Adding to the Beatles Red Catalog!

Martinex1: Summer may be wrapping up.  School may be back in session.  But you can always count on Follow the Leader every Tuesday at BitBA!  Get us started pals!

Follow the Leader: Episode 76: Red or Blue Beatles?

Martinex1: Follow the Leader today... pick a topic and we will jump on the bandwagon!  Cheers!

Riding the Retro Metro: Wednesday August 11, 1976

Redartz:  Hello fellow riders, welcome aboard for another trip back. Back, in this case, to that U.S.Bicentennial year 1976! The Viking lander is on the surface of Mars, the Olympics are in Montreal, and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter are in competition for the White House (speaking of the Presidential campaign- I ordered my "Howard the Duck for President" button, even though I'm too young to vote).

Winning the (somewhat less momentous than those above) competition for Number 1 on the US Billboard Pop Chart this week: Elton John and Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" 

Rounding out the top five:
2.  Bee Gees, "You Should Be Dancing"
3.  Wings, "Let em In"
4.  Lou Rawls, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine"
5.  Beach Boys, "Rock and Roll Music" 

I can take or leave Elton and Kiki (although many would differ- they top the British chart this week too). I'm more impressed by a cool new song from Cliff Richard, "Devil Woman" debuting  on the top 40. 

 I also like War- "Summer"; a perfect hit for summer (obviously). Oh, and it seems almost like the 60's are back; the Beatles just dropped out of the top 10 with "Got to Get You Into My Life" (reissued by Capitol Records), and the Beach Boys are in the top 5!

Tops in the UK:  Elton John and Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

Turning our attention to tonight's tv offerings, I must admit to having seen few. This summer I'm working for the first time: yes, flipping burgers at McDonald's. So tv viewing is less an option.

US Television Schedule:

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

ABC:  Wonder Woman, Baretta. Starsky and Hutch

The Jacksons

CBS:   The Blue Knight, The Jacksons, The Kelly Monteith Show, Kate McShane











 
 NBC:  Little House on the Prairie, Best of Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, Hawk


 BBC1:  Nationwide, Man and Boy, It's A Knockout, Are You Being Served?, Explorers, Band Beat, The War Lords

BBC2:  Gardener's World, The Sandpipers, Look Stranger, Festival 40: The Wednesday Play- Cathy Come Home, Beauty is in the Eye

I would watch Wonder Woman, but our tv is usually tuned to "Little House". No Lynda Carter for me,alas. Baretta is good, and has a great theme song. And a bird! Oh, and the variety show continues to attract audiences- Kelly Monteith and the Jacksons are hosting shows on Wednesday nights...







Although my tv viewing is down this summer, my comic reading is up! Just look at some of the great stuff on the stands right now:

I've a lot to pick up this month. That Amazing Spider-Man with Nightcrawler and Punisher- what a free-for-all, and a Romita cover too! And Conan guest starring in Red Sonja; it just doesn't get better than this. Wait, yes it does! Marvel is showering us with their King Size Annuals this summer, and there's some excellent reading to be had! I'm grabbing all of them I can find, including all three of these pictured here. So who needs tv?
Oh, and check out the cover to the Warren Spirit magazine. That book is fantastic, Eisner's art and stories are incredible. I even like the black/white reproduction (of course they feature one story in color each issue). 



Looking at all those terrific comics has me ready to go grab a stack. And so, we pile back on the bus and return to wherever it is we are, Annuals clutched in our sweaty little hands. Who knows what finds await us on the next Retro Metro? Time will tell...

Follow The Leader: Episode 26: Five Beatles Questions!

Martinex1:  It is Tuesday, so let's Follow the Leader!

For those of you new to the BitBA site, here are some rules and guidelines for our weekly open forum:

1) Whoever gets here first (or even second) post a topic starter in the comments that others can jump on and discuss for the day; supply as little or as much detail as necessary to get the ball rolling.

2) The range of possible subjects is broad - comics, movies, music, television, fiction, hobbies, queries, etc.  Try to have the topic touch some aspect of Bronze Age nostalgia if possible.

3) Keep it clean and family friendly.

4) All others...follow the Leader! Your job is to keep the conversation rolling.   (As I said - follow the topic wherever it takes you; a conversation started about comics may lead to comments on jazz for all we know)!

Note:  There is one caveat... if Redartz or I notice that the suggested topic is something we already have in the pipeline, we will let you know and inform you of the projected date for that subject for discussion.  That is just so we don't double up.   Hey - great minds think alike, right?

But most importantly, have a fun conversation today.  Cheers all!

Follow The Leader: Episode 22: Beatin' on the Beatles!

Martinex1: We have been getting a great number of responses to the various topics that the team suggests each Tuesday, so keep it up!   It is of course time for Follow the Leader.   Somebody get us started today down a new path of discussion in the comments section; if your suggestion touches on the Bronze Age (even peripherally) it can be a topic here at BitBA.   Good luck.  Have fun.  And cheers!