INSPIRED BY THE SHADY DELL, YORK, PA, AND DEDICATED TO ITS OWNERS JOHN & HELEN ETTLINE
AND TO MARGARET ELIZABETH BROWN SCHNEIDER, NICKNAMED "THE OLDEST LIVING DELL RAT"


Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Jess Parker's Primeval Platterpus:
Here it Comes Again... that Wild Thing!

(COLD OPEN)
CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!
 

"Neanderthal Man" - Hotlegs
(Sept./Oct. 1970, highest chart pos.
#20 Cash Box/#22 Hot 100)

Kicking-off the show with a primeval platter that time forgot, that was the throwback
sound of "Neanderthal Man," a top 20 single in the fall of 1970 by the one-hit-wonder
British rock trio Hotlegs. The act consisted of Eric Stewart, founding member of
The Mindbenders, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The three were later joined by
Graham Gouldman to form the 70s art rock band 10cc. In the 80s Kev and
Lol became the rock duo known as Godley & Creme.




How do. Tally ho
and all that rot.
I'm Jess Parker
from the British
science-fiction
television series
Primeval.





As the young but efficient field coordinator at the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre),
I'm responsible for coordinating a team that tracks down and captures all sorts
of scary prehistoric and futuristic creatures that burst through anomalies...
 4th dimension rifts in time and space, and terrorize and attack humans.

 Well, we can't have that, now can we? 







What do I do in
my spare time?
Well, let's see...
my hobbies
include buying
shoes, wearing
shoes, showing off
my shoes, dressing
in colorful, sexy,
brainiac-techie
style outfits
and devouring
romantic novels.
Did I mention
shoes? 
  


  

Gents say I'm hot and don't even know it, which
makes me even hotter. While I might be a dish...
I'm also clever, resourceful and bloody good at my job. 






Almost forgot. My job description
also includes delivering clever,
snappy one-liner comebacks to
my co-workers and superiors.
Recently I faced court martial
for firing off cheeky zingers, 
for being a criminally cute
nerd girl and for stealing
way too many scenes. 

Deemed too pretty for prison, I am out on a work release
program that allows me to sit at my overwatch station
and play musty, moldy musical memories as member
of The Shady Bunch DJ squadron on S-P-M-M.

 

Today I'm giving you a sneak peek
at my new show. Just call me your
Primeval Platterpus
because I play monster platters -
killer sounds from the distant past. 





The records I'll be
playing, mainly the
groovy sounds from
the 1960s, 70s and
80s, might seem
like dinosaurs to
younger ears...
but to Boomers,
they're the latest
and the greatest.




I've opened a portal to the past, a period eons ago when great music ruled.

 Come with me now. Let's go there. It's yesterday once more!

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW! 
Wait a sec. My team just rang me up on the radio and told me they're under attack
by a deadly swarm of futurebeetles. These beetles don't want to hold your hand.
They want to eat it, along with your other body parts. I've discovered a good
way to keep the creatures at bay is to bombard them with the loud sound
of The Ramones' punk classic "Blitzkrieg Bop" - "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" 


"Blitzkrieg Bop" - The Ramones
(July 1976 single from Apr. 1976 album Ramones)

From New York, NY, those were the Ramones, considered by many to be the first
true punk rock band, and "Blitzkrieg Bop," their 1976 debut single and first song
on their debut self-titled album. Although it failed to chart, "Blitzkrieg Bop"
ranks high on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
and was named VH1's 25th Greatest Hard Rock Song of All Time.

 Uh-oh!  My team has just spotted a T-Rex
munching a Mini Cooper at Piccadilly Circus.
  
Meanwhile, I can report a T. Rex sighting of my own. This
T. Rex won't batter and bruise your Buick. It'll entertain you. 

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

It's the English glam rock band led by singer, songwriter and guitarist
Marc Bolan, and here they are on Top Of The Pops in 1971 doing
their biggest hit and signature song "Bang A Gong (Get It On)."


"Bang A Gong (Get It On)" - T. Rex
(Feb./Mar. 1972, highest chart pos. #10 Hot 100/#12 Cash Box,
performance on July 8, 1971, ep. of Top Of The Pops)

With his friend Elton John on keyboards, that was Marc Bolan and
his British glam rock band T. Rex doing "Bang A Gong (Get It On),"
a single that topped the UK chart and went top 10 stateside.
Sadly... Marc died five years later in a car crash. 




If you're just tuning in...
I'm Jess Parker, your
Primeval
Platterpus
seated here at my dispatcher
console in London and multi-
tasking... coordinating my
field team as they battle
the beasts and, at the
same time, spinning
old gold wax in this
 sneak preview of my
new radio program.

CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

I'm transmitting on S-P-M-M, where we go hunting for the groovy songs
of the past and bring 'em back alive. Bollocks, here it comes again...
that feeling... that feeling of being surrounded by creatures from
the year zero hell bent on destroying the human race in the 21st
century. The Fortunes have further details about our calamity!


"Here It Comes Again" - The Fortunes
(Nov./Dec. 1965, highest chart pos. #27 Hot 100/#37 Cash Box)

You just heard the groovy beat and heavenly harmony of The Fortunes doing
"Here It Comes Again," a top 30 hit for the British group in the fall of 1965. 


Jess Parker here on S-P-M-M Jurassisonic Radio... dealing with dinos
and directing my troops whilst playing primeval platters aplenty.


I happen to know of a chap who could help our team tame
the T-rex and Triceratops - Quinn the Eskimo! Let's go
through the time portal back to the year 1968.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here now is Manfred Mann and his popular Brit band
to tell us all about-- "The Mighty Quinn!"


"The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)" - Manfred Mann
(Mar./Apr. 1968, highest chart pos. #4 Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)

"You'll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn." That was the Manfred Mann
band surrounded by go-go dancers doing their cover of "The Mighty Quinn
(Quinn The Eskimo)," a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan
and a top 5 hit for the Brit boys in the spring of '68. 






CLICK TO START
THE VIDEO NOW!

Up next, here's Reg Presley and
his band The Troggs with a
genuine monster-- their
international hit-- 
"Wild Thing!"


"Wild Thing" - The Troggs
(July/Aug. 1966, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box)

You just heard "Wild Thing," a colossal fossil penned by American
songwriter Chip Taylor and unleashed upon the world by the
British rock quartet The Troggs. "Wild Thing" ripped up
the chart in the summer of '66 reaching #1 in the U.S.
and in New Zealand. Notable covers were recorded
by Jimi Hendrix, Senator Bobby and Sam Kinison. 


That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed
the dusty discs and rusty relics I played
in this sneak preview of my new show
Primeval Platterpus
coming soon to S-P-M-M Retro Radio...
the station with personality.


 As I mentioned in my profile at the top of the show, I've got
a passion for fashion. If one of those creatures decides to
have me for lunch, I'm going out in style. With that in
mind, I've got one last primeval platter for you.

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

Here's David Bowie to play us off with his top 5 UK hit "Fashion,"
and stay tuned on the B side of news for Wolfman Jack who'll
be here to spin a stack of American hot wax on S-P-M-M.
Now this is Jess Parker urging you to do your beast
and I'll see you next time on Primeval Platterpus!


"Fashion" - David Bowie
{Dec. 1980/Jan. 1981, highest chart pos. #5 UK,
#70 Hot 100/#79 Cash Box from Sept. 1980 album
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)


18 comments:

  1. Hello Friend, am I really the first today? Wow. There were quite a few songs I enjoyed listening to again on this episode of Jess Parker's show. The picture of the "platterpus" splayed out like that reminds me of Benny when we're back from a walk - LOL. Wild Thing always makes me think of the movie Major League and Charlie Sheen walking to the pitcher's mound.
    Just popping in quickly, I got home from Oregon Saturday evening and I'm leaving to drive back up tomorrow so I'm trying to catch up on as much as I can. Have a great rest of your week dear Shady!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Janet!

      Yessum, you're the Early Bird this week, and I thank you for coming right over on day one!

      I'm glad you appreciate the Stone Age tuneage played by perky overwatch wiz Jess Parker and the "platterpus" mascot I found to use at the top of her sneak preview. The plush stuffed creature is bound to appear in future volumes of this series. I'm delighted that it reminded you of your double-jointed Benny plopping to the floor after a long, tiring walk.

      I'm pleased that you found a movie moment associated with "Wild Thing." I was excited to find this "enhanced" version of the original studio recording complete with album art of the Troggs, label scans of their monster hit single and all that good stuff. Truth be told, whenever I hear 'Wild Thing" performed by anyone, my mind immediately jumps to the raunchy version by stand-up comedian Sam Kinison that features the who's who of rock and former church secretary Jessica Hawn in the center ring.

      Thank you again for making time for a visit to Shady's Place in between runs to Oregon to help your MIL. You are a great friend and a devoted wife and DIL, Janet. Please drive safely on the way back up and back!

      Delete
  2. How about that! I knew every song but one! (I don't remember the one by the Fortunes)

    You can never go wrong with a few dinosaurs here and there....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Kelly & Pat!

      Thanks for being second place finishers again this time, dear friend!

      Hey, I'm pleasantly surprised that you remember all but one of these rusty relics, even "Neanderthal Man" which was only a modest top 20 hit in the U.S. The Fortunes' "Here It Comes Again" is music to my ears, reminding me of the start of my stint as a Dell rat, even though I don't remember it being played at the Dell. Instead, it was a biggie on our local top 40 station.

      Kelly, if you like dinosaurs, I've got a real treat for you. Jess Parker's series will feature them, and I've got another series ready to launch that will also have the prehistoric beasts on display, so stay tuned!

      Thanks again for attending Parker's Primeval Platterpus platter party. (Say that five times fast.) Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend Kelly!

      Delete
  3. Someone redid that second song in the 80's and now I have it stuck in my head.
    Interesting selection - you melded it together well.
    Curious to see the show now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Alex!

      Thanks for coming over, good buddy!

      If you are counting "Blitzkrieg Bop" as the second song in Jess Parker's show (which it is), then I can report that a cover was performed by Hugh Jackman and the cast of the 2015 fantasy film Pan which offers an alternative origin story for Peter Pan and Capt. Hook. The original recording was used in the 1983 comedy movie Nat'l Lampoon's Vacation and again in the OST of the 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming. If you were referring to the third song, the T-Rex hit "Get It On," then I can remind you that it was successfully covered in 1985 by Rob't Palmer's Power Station. It was also "pseudo-covered" in the single released in 2000 by the British dance act Bus Stop aka London Bus Stop. Their version reached #59 on the UK chart.

      I'm glad perky Jess has you curious about watching Primeval.

      Thanks again for your visit and comment, good buddy Alex!

      Delete
  4. Hi Shady,

    You have played some of my favourite songs and since I am feeling rather depressed today, they cheered me up. "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Bang a Gong," and "Wild Thing" always hits the spot.

    I'm not familiar with Hotlegs, but they sound interesting. I'll definitely have to check out more of them.

    Have a great evening, dear friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Jessica Marie!

      That other Jess, Jess Parker, welcomes you to a sneak peek at her new show coming soon to SPMM Tyrannosauric Radio!

      Yessum, the one-hit-wonder band Hotlegs is one of the missing links of rock. I don't think you'll find very much more by them. That weird, chanting hit song of theirs, "Neanderthal Man," played heavily on the local radio station in the fall of 1970 during my first ever visit to Myrtle Beach, SC. The song is forever linked to my memories of body surfing by day and hitting the popular resort's beach clubs at night.

      I'm glad that Jess played at least three songs that cheered you up. Stick around for more colossal fossils coming up when Primeval Platterpus makes its official debut here at Shady's Place.

      Thanks again for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend JM!

      Delete
    2. Hi Shady,

      You really gotta love those one hit wonders who are so rare and unique that they aren't really played much, but you can link them to a special life event. I may have to make a blog entry about those songs of mine. :D

      Thank you, Jess! You really did cheer me up. I can't wait to see more of the Primeval Platypus and to see more of Jess Parker.

      Delete
    3. Hi, Jessica Marie!

      I'm happy to know that Jess Parker's Primeval platter picks resonated with you, dear friend. I find that the pop and rock hits of English acts such as these cheer me up whenever I'm feeling blue. It seems like they have the same effect on you.

      Yessum, stay tuned for more Jurassic jive and Mesozoic mayhem coming up in future volumes of Jess Parker's series.

      Thanks again for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend JM!

      Delete
  5. Hi Shady! Oh my gosh I was laughing my head off tonight listening to these tunes. Yes, I remember most of them but I was first laughing at the Go-Go dancers with Manfred Mann..ha! They really needed to just go go away. Too funny to watch but I love the song. Then you had me with Wild Thing! Why? Because I know all the words and had it blasting and singing away when Jack walked by and said "What are you doing?" I can't remember what I did an hour ago but I can remember the words to old songs. So I told him when I'm in the nursing home and senile just play Wild Thing and watch me come alive! I wish you a wonderful rest of the week and thanks for making me not only smile and laugh, but sing out loud for the listening pleasure of nobody! Take care!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, YaYa!

      Thanks for visiting right away on day one, dear friend!

      This comment of yours brings me a great deal of joy, YaYa, because I like nothing better than making friends like you smile, laugh and forget their worries for a while. That's what it's all about for me.

      Yessum, you got to see some strange go-go dancers in Jess Parker's sneak preview. Click at the 1:45 mark of the first video, "Neanderthal Man" and watch those Stone Age cuties writhing on the rocks. On the T-Rex video clip which, as you might have noticed, features young Elton John on keyboard, you get to watch the studio dancers on the London-based TV music show Top Of The Pops. As you noted, the dancing girls are also gyrating up a storm as Manfred Mann and his boys sing their hit "Mighty Quinn."

      I selected that particular video of "Wild Thing" for its super sound quality. It's one of those modern enhanced remixes, a technique that adds extra layers of instrumentation to give a full-bodied sound to an otherwise "flat" original recording. As a result, "Wild Thing" sounds better now than it ever did in the 60s.

      I truly believe our boomer oldies serve as a fountain of youth that can keep us young. I am overjoyed that you had such a good time at Shady's Place this evening. Thanks again for joining the fun. Take care, please give my sweetie pie Annabelle some lubbins and enjoy the rest of your week, dear friend YaYa!

      Delete
  6. I'm here! Our Harley grabbed a package of pepperettes in the park and gobbled it down with the plastic! He pooped some plastic out, unfortunately on the house. Hubby was so good in cleaning it up. Now Harley must wear a muzzle because people can be very cruel and leave food that is poisoned. Harley has to just get used to the muzzle but it's not a Hannibal Lector muzzle. So...I listened to all and the first one I never heard of but I like the instruments used. I miss tgatbin the new music.
    I love the Ramones song...what more can I say. I know BANG A Gong but had no idea Elron wad part of this. How sad the lead singer died do young.
    Here It Comes Again is beautiful with the harmony and loving the horns and violins.
    Oh..The Mighty Quinn is just a fun and happy song to me.
    I want Wild Thing to be played at my funeral. I danced up a sexy way whenever this was played in a dance place. I love a great, raw, sexy song.
    Fashion..I haven't heard this in years but it's so brilliant and shows what a great artist Bowie was.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Birgit!

      I'm thrilled to see you, dear friend! Thanks for making it over on a "school night" to boogie down to these Flintstone favorites played by sassy lass Jess Parker.

      I'm sorry to hear that my buddy Harley has been misbehavin' again and needs to wear a muzzle. Seems Harley wants to eat anything that's not nailed down. Are you sure he isn't a billygoat mix? :) I'm glad he didn't get ill as a result of this latest incident. You're right. There are mean people who like to poison dogs, so you can't let Harley go around gobbling up unknown scraps in the park.

      I'm glad you like the primitive sound of "Neanderthal Man" and the punk classic by The Ramones used in the Chevy Chase Vacation movie. Yessum, Marc Bolan, leader of T-Rex, was only 29 when the car in which he was riding slammed into a tree, killing him instantly/ Ironically, it was reported that he never learned to drive because he feared an early death.

      Thanks for singling out "Here It Comes Again." It is indeed one of the most beautiful recordings of the 60s British Invasion. I'm pleased that you also enjoyed the rare restored video clip of Manfred Mann performing "Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)." I'm glad "Wild Thing" has special significance in your life. The British garage rock anthem does tend to bring out the beast in people.

      Thanks for being the first to mention the showender, David Bowie in the early 80s performing his top 5 UK hit "Fashion."

      I'm delighted that you got so much enjoyment out of Jess Parker's sneak preview. Stay tuned for the official launch of her show Primeval Platterpus coming soon to Shady's Place and SPMM Retrosonic Radio!

      Thanks again for dropping by, dear friend BB. I'll see you tamale in your home screening room!

      Delete
  7. I love the Platypus. Part duck, part beaver, part otter...that lays eggs. It's the most interesting of animals.

    I should watch Primeval, it sounds interesting.

    I thought it was going to be a week where I didn't know any of the songs but then I recognized The Mighty Quinn and Wild Thing.

    I didn't even know that David Bowie song and I know quite a few of his songs but that one must have escaped me somehow.

    I hope you have a good week.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Mary!

      Thanks for making it over, dear friend! Welcome to the Jess Parker platterpus party!

      I'm pleased that you like the plush stuffed duckbilled platypus Jess selected to serve as the mascot of her series. Ever since studying the unique animal in grade school and watching the children's show Percy Platypus in my local TV market, I too have been fascinated by the unique animal.

      Primeval originally aired from 2007 to 2011, and therefore the special effects aren't what you would expect to see in 2022, but it is entertaining, especially when smart and sassy, pert and pretty Jess Parker joins the show in its last season.

      I'm thrilled that someone your age knows two of the boomer oldies played in this sneak preview of Primeval Platterpus. I will always connect the Troggs' song "Wild Thing" with my auto accident at the peak of its popularity. On August 12, 1966, I skidded off a wet roadway and rolled my dad's VW Beetle as I was rushing to get to the Dell.

      Glad to introduce a new Bowie classic to you. Thanks again for coming by and enjoy the rest of your weekend, dear friend Mary!

      Delete
  8. "...hot and don't even know it..."

    I think that would better describe Joyce DeWitt in the early seasons of Three's Company than the girl you show here, who by the way she dresses DOES seem to know it, but it's not my area of expertise.

    One more bit of friendly nitpicking then I'll back off. You have a prehistoric theme this time out to showcase songs from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, but since you regularly play music from that time span, I'm not sure why it's any more prehistoric than usual (also, keep in mind that a teenager in the 1980s may have considered a groovy song from the 1960s prehistoric as well as the term groovy itself) ...

    ...UNLESS, this whole post is meant to be super ironic, and that your use of dinosaur imagery is not meant to evoke creatures doomed to extinction but dinosaurs as we know them from Raquel Welch and Steven Spielberg movies, fearsome creatures that would eat a human being whole were the human being in the wrong place and (especially) the wrong time. That brings me to today's musical selections. The focus seems to be on punk and glam, two musical genres that seem to have run parallel to and occasionally became intertwined with each other in the 1970s. After all, both Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, considered pioneers of punk, had very glam-looking appearances when they first came on the scene, and the latter artist is said to be the inspiration for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. The Ramones would seem to have been glam-free, yet that band's 1976 UK tour was said to have given former New York Dolls manager Malcolm McLaren the idea to form the Sex Pistols. As for the term "punk rock", I think I read somewhere that the term was originally applied to mid-1960s garage rock bands like the Troggs, before being discarded and then revived again and redefined in the 1970s.

    So whatever a young person of today may think of these selections, I suspect this time out Shady's Place is really taking a walk on the wild side
    under the guise of playing dusty discs and rusty relics. Or if it is an exercise in nostalgia, then it's nostalgic the same way that Howl, On the Road, and Naked Lunch brings back memories of the 1950s.

    That's all I got.

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    1. Hi, Kirk!

      Thanks for making it here in the nicotine, good buddy!

      The line "...hot and don't even know it..." comes from Mindy Kaling's series The Mindy Project. I liked it at the time she uttered it on her show and use it occasionally in the DJ banter of my characters. I agree it certainly applies to Janet on "3's."

      Q: Ginger or Mary Ann?
      A. Mary Ann

      Q. Chrissy or Janet?
      A. Janet

      Q. Elly May or Granny?
      A. Granny

      I see that you were on "dissecting duty" again this time, good buddy. :)
      Lemme explain. All of my characters hype their shows to the max and make exaggerated boasts and claims, just like most top 40 DJs were fond of doing in the 50s and 60s, just like every product ever marketed to the public in a TV commercial or a print ad, and just like every political candidate routinely does during a campaign. Such boasts, statements and claims are not intended to make sense when you pick them apart as you do because you, the teenage listener, are not expected to pick them apart. You, the teenage listener, are only expected to smile, relax, enjoy yourself, sing along and dance. You keep trying to turn mindless fun and play into work, good buddy, but that's because you keep bringing an adult mindset to a kid's party. At Shady's Place, I am asking you to be a kid again and not overthink it. It's all about imagination, fluff and fantasy.

      Thanks for proving some background on punk and glam genres. Here again, there is no "focus" to this show. Like all my other series, it is simply a song "carrier" that gives me an excuse to play some cool tunes I like and plug movies and TV series upon which they are based. The only thing that connects the songs together on Jess Parker's show is that their titles lend themselves to the theme of her TV series.

      Unless I'm mistaken, you had a pretty good time reading and listening (and dissecting). If that is true, if you left here entertained, then it's "mission accomplished." All I'm trying to do week by week is entertain a few friends, amuse myself and keep a record of the artists and songs, movies and TV series, characters, actors and actresses that I admire. As you know by now, my taste in music is an eclectic mix spanning 70 years. Again I thank you for coming along for the ride.

      Have a safe and happy week ahead, good buddy Kirk. My new post featuring Wolfman Jack runs for the next 5 days. I hope you can swing by again during that time and check it out. Thanks!

      Delete

I wanna know
What you're thinking
There are some things you can't hide
I wanna know
What you're feeling
Tell me what's on your mind