Happy Halloween!

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Retro Spins: John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy

 

I'm by no means a giant Beatles fan. Never really got into the individual member's solo albums, but with that said, own quite a bit of it all. While I never really gave John Lennon any much space in my mind to roam, I knew about his highly praised Double Fantasy album for quite some time.

The album is definitely a love letter between Lennon and Ono, with each one rotating the lead vocals on every other track. A personal album, for sure, but not one that (at the time) critics were fond of. 

Upon its initial release, the album didn't have the impact many expected it to have. In fact, many reviews were quite harsh. It was following Lennon's murder a few weeks after the album was released that the album started to gain traction. This was most likely aided by many negative reviews being held back due to the singer's death.

Double Fantasy would eventually reach the number one spot, and stay there for eight weeks. It would go on to win a Grammy Award the following year, and even be ranked number twenty-nine on Rolling Stone's 1989 list of one hundred greatest 80's albums. Interest, considering that at the time of its release, writer Tom Carson of Rolling Stone wrote a not so favorable review of the album. Granted, it was among the ones withheld from publication, as noted above.

It wouldn't be until recently that I would focus my attention on getting Double Fantasy. This was during a period when I was putting together a compilation of every number one hit from 1980 to 1989, which caused me to have to do a little "clean up" work of missing albums. While this one was among those missing, on a side note, I was a little surprised to see that I only needed about nine albums in total to achieve my goal.

Though I'm still incredibly far behind on listening to everything, I'm trying more and more to spin discs relatively close to the time I purchase them. Mainly because I have such a massive backlog, and I need to catch up so that I can keep up. Which admittedly won't be anytime soon.

But, today, I'm firing up Double Fantasy, and having my own little listening party.

It starts out with the number one hit, (Just Like) Starting Over, which is of course the song I got the album for. From there, I got my first introduction to Yoko Ono's singing, and while I was initially enjoying Kiss Kiss Kiss, it quickly turned annoying when she started making some yodeling dolphin sounds. I thought to myself, "Oh boy, if this is how this is going to go, I'm not going to enjoy this at all." Fortunately, I caught on rather quickly about the above noted rotating lead vocals, so this helped to ease the matter.

While she would continue to make weird sounds here and there, it was thankfully not consistent. However, as a whole, the album felt a bit odd to be listening to. As I said initially, this album is a love letter between a husband and wife, and not one that I think most people would care to hear. In hindsight, I can understand why critics felt the way they did about Double Fantasy. It isn't relatable to the common listener. Further, because it doesn't hide the fact of how personal it is, it doesn't leave much room for songs which are just "good".

Don't get me wrong, Double Fantasy isn't bad. It's just not commercial enough. I just don't see anyone saying, "Gee, let me throw that album on and listen to John and Yoko profess their love to each other for forty-five minutes. I think it's great that they loved each other so much. I just don't think the entire world needed to hear about it.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

American Star Wars One-Sheet Movie Posters

 

American Star Wars One-Sheet Movie Posters
Lucasfilm Limited
1977 - 2012

I did a post like this a long time ago (no pun intended) for my original blog which is long since defunct and gone. Since then, I've wanted to put it back together, and today just so happened to be the day that this finally occurred. The title pretty much says it all. This is a series devoted to showcasing all of the one sheet movie posters for Star Wars over the years. However, the caveat is that this is limited to the George Lucas era.

Beyond that, there's not much to say, so (hopefully), enjoy!

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The Obligitory Halloween Post - Peg People, Wave 15!

 

I love those days where my phone makes an incoming text sound, and it's George of G.I. Jigsaw announcing tiding of Peg People. It's like having a birthday every couple weeks.

George packed this one full to the brim, and while there were a ton in the bunch that contended for my favorite of the wave, there was one that I had to select among the rest.

Appearing for the first time in 2009, Hippo is a newer character that beyond his origin, I admittedly don't know much about. Though reading about him did remind me that I may have forgotten to put the High Evolutionary and Redeemer on the checklist of characters. Oh well. Maybe next time. George and I have been talking about expanding the series once this first lineup is 100% complete.

Stegron first appeared in the pages of Marvel Team-Up, issue 19 to be exact/ Since then, he's unfortunately been relegated to villain of the week stories, often in throw away stories. It's a real shame because there were certainly missed opportunities with the character.

Though she'd been around for a long time, my first introduction to She-Hulk was in the pages of The Spectacular Spider-Man issue 168. On the cover, Spider-Man is knocking her for a loop with a close fisted punch to the face. Everything came down to a misunderstanding, all because of Space Phantom, another missed character on the checklist, posing as She-Hulk, and bamboozling Spider-Man early in the story.

At a glance, one may mistake Overdrive as Kang. Though the two have similar traits, especially between the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Kang, they are far from being on the same playing field. Whereas Kang is a master of time travel with vast powers, Overdrive is a failed super hero / race car driver, turned villain. Yeah, sadly, characters created past the prime of Marvel tended to be very generic in nature.

Richard Fisk, AKA The Rose, AKA The Schemer, AKA the son of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. I like how George opted to go with his Rose counterpart, but put the mask in his hand. It makes the character immediately recognizable.

The coming of the murderous Massacre in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man 655, would also usher in the creation of the all new Spider-Armor MKII. The fun thing I'm finding out with this wave is all the more characters I missed on the checklist, such as the Spider-Armor MKII, and Massacre's doctor, Ashley Kafka, AKA Goblin Queen.

Speedball may be a character often overlooked, but he holds a special place in my heart. Though the character technically made his first appearance in the preview magazine, Marvel Age Annual (issue 4), his first full appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 22. This would be the first Spider-Man comic penciled by Mark Bagley, one of my favorite artists to work on the Web slinger's series.

During the very short lived revitalization of Amazing Fantasy, which continued for a whopping three issues, we go Supercharger. Though these issues would be published in 1996, chronologically, he's technically the first super villain Spider-Man fought against.

Witch-Slayer, AKA Cotton Mather, is actually a non-fiction character, synonymous with the Salem witch trials. He made his appearance in the pages of Marvel Team-Up, wherein he set his sights on Scarlet Witch.

My favorite from the bunch has to go to Stan Lee. George knocked this one out of the park. I mean, look at it. It's Stan "the man" Lee! What more needs to be said?

Coldheart was one of the few new characters introduced in the pages of what started as Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man. She was neither a hero nor a villain. Rather, she hated both, and blamed them for the death of her son. For her, all were fair game for her vengeance.

With so many versions of Ms. Marvel to chose from, I probably should have specified on the checklist which version I was referencing. Fortunately, George picked up on the Carol Danvers version on his own, though he did go with her latter costume from late 1978. It's cool. I like variants, and will probably subtly keep hinting at George about the original 1977 suit.

Before going on to become Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau appeared as Spectrum. She first appeared in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 16, and my timing couldn't have been more off when I opted to track this one down. I picked it up when getting all my comics signed by Jim Shooter at Big Lick NOVA 2023, which was at the height of her appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The book was ridiculously overpriced. She died in the pages of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars issue 11, and has remained dead since.

Wrestler Spider-Man was a contender for favorite. Even looking at it now, I can't help but smile. This was technically Spider-Man's first costume back in the pages of Amazing Fantasy 15.

Nels Van Adder was used as a test subject by Norman Osborn years before he became the Green Goblin. Side effects from the continued exposure to the Goblin Formula would eventually take their toll, and turn Adder into Proto-Goblin.

You gotta love when characters make their first appearance in foreign Marvel Comics, and then come over to the USA. Such is the case of Ringer, who first appeared in the Norwegian edition of The Amazing Spider-Man, Edderkoppen issue 198306. The excessively long number appears to translate to the year, 1983, and the issue number at that point, 06.

Spider-Man returned to the wrestling wring for the first time since Amazing Fantasy 15. This time, it's to fight El Muerto, a wrestler intent on defeating and unmasking the hero. I think I also missed his counterpart, El Dorado on the checklist.

Yet another clone created during the overextended Clone Saga, Spidercide truly believed he was the real Peter Parker. His delusions led him down a road of violence and villainy. He would eventually meet his demise in the Maximum Cloneage Omega story.

Whiplash would typically find himself in the pages of Iron Man, but occasionally made an appearance in various Spider-Man titles. My all time favorite story appears in the pages of Marvel Team-Up issue 145. Admittedly, it's his new costume from this particular issue that I had in my head, but I still dig his classic orange and blue.

Carlos Lobo, part man, part werewolf. Part of the Lobo Brothers due.

The second half of the Lobo Brothers, Eduardo Lobo. Both brothers met their demise at varying times in Spider-Man history.

I like what George did with Freak. In particular, the face. Though he first appeared in an Iron Man special, the origin of Freak (as he would become) involved not only Spider-Man, but a mysterious serum in the laboratory of Doctor Curt Connors (Lizard), which Freak misidentifies as drugs. Being an addict, he injects himself, and ultimately turns into the flesh burnt villain.

George returned to the mystery figures this time around, packing in the below. Admittedly, I didn't know who it was, and had to get help from his creator. While George told me who it was, he said it didn't turn out the way he wanted. Regardless, I wasn't too accustomed with the character, beyond the name, and told him I would have never come up with it.

What about you though? Can you guess who it is? Drop a comment with your guess.

And of course, with so many new characters part of the line, the checklist got updated!

We're almost to the point of the first three pages being wrapped up, and from there, it's smooth sailing to the finish line, and the all new series(?)! Can't wait! I knew they would be great, but George's Peg People are turning out even better than I imagined. This is the Spider-Man action figure line I always wanted!

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Missed Opportunity

I don't know about you, but I think Def Leppard is missing an opportunity to revamp lyrics, and hit the road. I went ahead and updated their poster for them.

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