Ménage Á Pop

Prince in a bath tub. Cindy Lauper's orange hair. The comic book that guy from A-Ha was trapped in. These are what the songs of the 1980s looked like. But wait, "looked like?" We're talking about music... right? Sure and we can't do that without talking about Music television. MTV. The beacon of neon and spandex that broadcast its signal directly into the mind's eye of a young Gretchen Bostrom. And today she shares how that ground-breaking network broke ground on her signing career.

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Bob and Tim are friends. Just like Frog and Toad. But the anthropomorphic animal Bob chose to discuss is actually Bloom County's mascot, Opus the Penguin. And that conversation could have been about comic strips, or the Regan era or even Bob's career in cartooning. But instead, this look at a flightless water fowl revealed something deeper about Bob that Tim had been unaware of for the duration of their friendship.

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Of all his childhood fantasies, Bob still dreams of a talk show. To which you might be thinking "isn't this a talk show?" Or maybe "do people still watch talk shows?" Or even "what's with all the telepathy?" Well, to get out of your head and into his, here is podcaster Bob Canning recounting what he learned over so many late nights with David Letterman.

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You might know Bob Canning as the debut guest of this podcast or as the cohost of 20TH CENTURY POP! But did you know that, in the 1990s, he was also Tim’s roommate? Together they indulged in escapades worthy of a sitcom audience. But were these just juvenile attempts to mimic TV’s FRIENDS? Or did Matthew Perry straight up steal one of their acts? Consider that vest cosplay as Bob shares some character traits with one sixth of that ensemble, Chanandler Bong.

For full show notes visit www.nahpods.com

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Tim wraps up a week of talking to himself by talking about how he learned to talk during movies. And while that poorly constructed sentence makes him seem like the unwanted guest for an Ice Pirates screening, he begs to differ. Or, rather, riffs to differ as he shares the fellowship value of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000.

For full show notes visit www.nahpods.com.

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1980s spin racks divided pretty evenly between Marvel and DC. But to push past this display and toward the back of the comic shop, one could uncover more independent endeavors. Sure, they were still comic books. But their cover and characters seemed... different. Dangerous. And it was in this Wild West of uncensored concepts that Tim Blevins formed an impenetrable fascination with the indie-artistry of CEREBUS issue 91.

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So this podcast streams as part of the NOT A HOLOGRAM network.  And while that name elicits neon imagery from the 1980s, it is intended as more than nostalgia.  Show host Tim Blevins founded this network in homage to one of the most impactive influences from his childhood.  Something that enveloped toys, cartoons and music while simultaneously introducing concepts of identity, gender and artistic pursuits. So today, in lieu of a guest, Tim is infecting your smartphone with the outrageous contagion of JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS.  

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As a kid, there was no better viewing than a show about super heroes. Their high flying capes. Their breathtaking exploits. Their frightening encounters with demonic forces of madness. Well.. not so sure about that last one and yet somehow it managed to find its way into an unexpected airing of THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO. And today, paranormal researcher Chris Balzano recounts his experience of actual terror in watching that infamous episode “The Beast In Black.”

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So at age 13, maybe you wore a bandanna. Perhaps you played guitar. Possibly your falsetto voice rocked. That really wasn’t the case for 8th grader Chris Balzano but thanks to the basic cable package of a neighboring friend, two thirds of that would soon change. So hear how his view of pop music was forever decimated due to a chance viewing of GUNS N ROSES: LIVE AT THE RITZ.

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In the earlier days of the internet, my friend found some footage that horrified me. A trio of 20-somethings went missing in the woods leaving only a backpack of video tapes behind. These tapes documented the days up to their disappearance replete with supernatural overtones and uneasy imagery. But the biggest reveal was yet to come as, eventually, my friend uncovered the horrifying truth. It was all made up. And somehow he neglected to tell me. That friend was paranormal researcher Chris Balzano, and today he reveals his reasoning behind maintaining the digital verite of 1999’s THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

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