My editor contacted me about some errors in yesterday’s piece about Mercury Radio Theater. He received several angry emails and also received information form Buddy Mercury that was meant to be included in the piece. Due to my editor’s expressed orders, I composed the following apology letter to Buddy and the MRT crew:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I apologize for my impatience on releasing this piece. Due to my premature release (LOL), there was a great deal of information that was not included in the article. Here is summation of that information.

The current lineup of the band includes Buddy, as well as bassist Jason Todd (One 21, Kill Hands) and drummer Joe Getz (ninedigitnumber, The Psalters, Left Lucy). I’ve been informed that this lineup has been intact for sometime and will remain so (barring catastrophic Apocalyptic scenarios, such as the inevitable takeover of the world by zombies).

Additionally, the upcoming project is about a geriatric werewolf named Kilroy. This Kilroy is not to be confused with Kilroy of former Styx fame. The album is set to be released next month on vinyl. You should also check back here and at the band’s website for information regarding the band write and performing score for multiple film projects.

One of the complaints received by my editor was in regards to my apparent problems in remembering things correctly… “Correction: Night of the Haunted Asylum was the one Kurt wasn’t involved in (Kurt was in Kansas City at that point, leaving Woods, Jeff and myself to create that episode)”. This comment author has prompted me to drive back into my feeble mind to re-remember the conversation I previously had with Buddy… as I now recall, I mentioned that my two favorite episodes were Manhattan Zombie Massacre and Night of the Haunted Asylum, to which he made the aforementioned response.

To jog my memory and the memories of my readers, I will will pause this letter and interrupt with a list of all Mercury Radio Theater episodes, as delivered to me by Buddy himself:

-Attack of the Space Octopi
-Dick Danger: Super Spy
-Manhattan Zombie Massacre
-Mission to the Tenth Planet
-Night of the Haunted Asylum
-The Death and Life of the Undead Boy
-The Blue Eyed Model
-Lewis
-Kilroy

So, in conclusion…

I conclude my letter once again apologizing to your, the fantastic band that I claimed to have followed and adored for the past decade, and hope that you will forgive me. If you don’t, please at least allow me a chance for redemption by reviewing your upcoming release. I’d appreciate that.

Your (forgetful and impatient) fan,
Justin aka thepaintedman

Mercury Radio Theater is one of the first bands I fell in love with when I came down to the Philly area for college. The first time I saw them, I was immediately taken aback. A tight three piece surf rock/punk/rockabilly/jazz ensemble, the band played instrumental music, amidst an old time radio show broadcast out of an old time radio set up in center stage. I’ll never forget the first episode of the many that I saw performed live over the following years, a story based on a Bond-like hero named Dick Danger. I later found out that a classmate was one of the voice on the radio show recording.

In the years since seeing this show, the lineup has changed on several occasions, the episodes have evolved form one to the next, and their live show has continually gotten more visual, but they’ve always been one thing if nothing else: a talented group of showmen. I hesitate to call them musicians, while it is entirely fair to say that they are fantastic musicians, because they are so much more than musicians. With a new album and many supporting shows on the way, my hope is that many more can see what I have seen in this band over the last decade.

The lineup, when I first saw the band consisted of only one current member, Kurt Fowler aka Buddy Mercury, and two guys that have since moved one to other endeavors. Jeff Brown played bass and did so very well. I believe he got married and settled down. Chris Tolomeo was the drummer; he’s since went on to write, direct, and perform in several musicals, as well as perform in several other bands and as a solo artist. This original trio was very talented… but as the lineup changed, nothing ever seemed to miss a beat.

I recall a discussion with Buddy that I had a couple of years ago when I was doing a show with the guys. Buddy asked me if I had a favorite episode and I told him that I though it was “Manhattan Zombie Massacre”. He responded (paraphrase):

Oh, thanks. Your favorite episode is the only one I wasn’t part of

Honestly, I didn’t even realize that he wasn’t part of the episode, which speaks volumes to the quality musicianship and showmanship of everyone involved in this band.

Now, I must clarify to those who aren’t waxing nostalgic, like myself, what I mean by “episodes”. MRT’s whole concept is based on the old radio shows that our parents and grandparents gathered around their radios to listen to back before we had the picture tubes we now glue ourselves to. Each set list that they performed was the soundtrack to a pre-recorded radio show. From their inception, they would write new episodes and every so often would introduce a new one.

Now that we are all on the same page, I’ll fast forward a bit… in 2004 or so, I remember the band finally putting out a solid CD version of one of their live shows. It was the episode The Death and Life of the Undead Boy and the whole presentation was incredible. Released on Angryson Records, the release featured artwork by Joe Whiteford (Calibretto, Harley Poe) and narration by Philly punk legend Joe Jack Talcum of The Dead Milkmen. The entire thing was down to perfection; while it could never do full justice to their stage presence, it was the first time the band was able to present to the public something truly representative of Mercury Radio Theater. It was a dark, clever, punk rock version of a Shel Silverstein book set to music.

At this time, they began to introduce the slideshow visual to the live performances. I thought this was a fun addition to an already incredible live act and I know many people agreed. And, naturally, this did not go away when they produced their seminal (at least at this point) release in 2006 on Lujo Records, The Blue Eyed Model. This retelling of the Frankenstein story was released to a wider audience, including being made available in major outlets like iTunes and Amazon. But if I know this band like I think I do, we can only expect them to top this with their upcoming release…

I was assured by Buddy that in the next few months, we will be seeing the release of another episode from Mercury Radio Theater. I have no doubt that it will make fans out of anyone willing and able to check it out, albeit I hope I have not turned you off by taking you along on my nostalgic journey this evening… as I know I can be boring at times. But if you suffered this far into the story, I can only assume that you fall into one of these 3 categories:

1. An old school MRT fan that remembers the Farquar Muckenfuss rivalry, the show at Wayne Pres where the computer wouldn’t work, and the smoke alarms in the Great Room at Eastern
2. Someone who values my opinion and, thus, will be checking out The Death and Life of the Undead Boy and The Blue Eyed Model, while awaiting the next episode
3. Someone who spends way too much time on the Internet

I’m hoping the 2’s (and some 1’s) win out and make a point to head over to the Mercury Radio Theater website. More info to come as I receive it, but until then acquaint yourself with this fantastic Philadelphia staple.

Thanks for checking out HORROR WEEK. Tomorrow, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming, with some music, beer, and other fun stuff as the week unfolds.

Only appropriate that on the day after George Romero’s 70th birthday, we look at the most awesomest scary movies of the past 10 years… especially since zombies seem to have dominated the list of great horror flicks during this decade.

Over the weekend, I’ll be posting spotlights of two great Philly bands that embrace the theatrical side of the horror genre, a fun and entertaining look at The Young Werewolves and a nostalgia piece of watching Mercury Radio Theater through the years. Check back on this snow filled weekend to read, comment, and enjoy!

Without further ado, in Letterman 10-to-1 style, here are my 10 favorite scary movies of the 2000s:

Honorable Mention: House of Wax (Creepy flick and Paris gets a spear through her head), 28 Weeks Later (A decent sequel to a great movie), Land of the Dead (Another great Romero flick in his tradition, except these zombies are getting much smarter), Diary of the Dead (One of the mockumentary style horror flicks that became popular again this decade, the only one worth a damn), House of 1000 Corpses (I like sequel even more, but consider it more of a road movie than a horror flick… both are quite chilling though), The Skeleton Key (Kate Hudson and creepy voodoo people in the South), and Silent Hill (Very scary and gory movie).

10. 13 Ghosts

Watch the trailer above... it's a fun, creepy remake of the 1961 cult classic. Matthew Lillard is quite convincing as a nerdy scientist on the verge of insanity. The guy from monk plays a good hero. The ghosts are quite creepy. Overall, a solid horror movie.

9. District 9

The reason this isn’t higher up is because it’s not truly a horror movie, but more of a Sci-Fi movie. That said, Wikus’s transformation into an alien is quite comparable to Goldblum’s in The Fly. That and lots of blood make the scary moments in this film quite horrifying.

Check out the original short film that the movie is based on:

8. Session 9

So, I’m not exactly sure why the number 9 is creepy, but it is apparently… ya know what else is scary? Listening to tapes of schizophrenics that turn out to be possessed by demons. Yeah.

7. Drag Me to Hell

Why should I write about this again? Go read my review and stop being lazy. Reading is fundamental.

6. The Ring

What’s scarier than a creepy dead girl crawling out of a TV?

5. 28 Days Later

The sense of impending doom that is always present in Romero zombie flicks gets worsened when the zombies no longer walk, but are inhumanly fast and strong. Scary scary scary… and since we all know that zombies will be coming one day, we should just pray that they are the George Romero kind and not these crazy brain-eaters!

Perhaps the best movie on this list as far as artistic quality, but not quite the scariest, in fact, there are 4 more that scare me much more.

4. Exorcism of Emily Rose

This picture says it all. This movie is absolutely terrifying:

This movie is really well done, the only one on here that rivals 28 Days in it’s overall quality as a feature film. It is part A Time to Kill, part The Exorcist, but better than either dreamed of being.

3. May

Not a big budget film or even very well known, but it has a killer soundtrack and takes the classic Frankenstein type story in a different direction. A modern day movie with a story that harkens to the storytelling of classic horror authors like Edgar Allan Poe. A must watch movie for fans of dark and twisted movies with laughs, screams, and lots of blood.

2. Repo! the Genetic Opera

A horror opera full of industrial music that kicks ass and a post-apocalyptic world to send chills up the spine of even the least squeamish among us. Paris Hilton, the dude who played Giles on the Buffy TV show, and King Capulet from the 1990’s Romeo and Juliet are among the talented cast. I think it’s still streaming on Netflix, so do yourself a favor and watch it while you are snowed in this weekend.

1. Planet Terror

You’ve likely seen the movie if you’ve spent the time to read this list. If not, you need to see this Robert Rodriguez gem. A star studded cast led heroic Rose McGowan and Freddie Rodriguez star in this intentionally poor quality B-Movie that does everything right. It’s scary, cheesy, funny, and bloody in all the right doses. Do yourself a favor if you haven’t seen it… avoid the other half of the Grindhouse feature, because it sucked.

Before you go, check out this extended scene below:

So, what’s coming in the world of TPM? Here’s what:

FIRST: The remainder of this week will bring to you a few reviews, notably of Mainsail and Debtor, and a Question of the Week.

SECOND: Next week is HORROR WEEK. It will be jam packed full of fun stuff. There will be a themed Question of the Week, a review of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell, a list of the top 10 horror flicks of the past decade, a review of Mob Zombie’s Join the Mob and spotlights on Philadelphia horror punk acts Mercury Radio Theater and The Young Werewolves.

THIRD: Entries for the ReverseRemixThis! contest with Map’s awesome instrumental track, “Issues and Subscriptions“, are due by Wednesday, February 3rd.

FINALLY: If you don’t want to participate, but do want to submit a track for the next monthly mixtape, get at me by Friday, February 5th.

Later on today is the start of the TPM Beerfest weekend, beginning today with a 10 in 10 post focusing on warm weather beers. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the latest offering by Troeg’s and Sunday’s beer with be Labatt’s Honey Lager. Stay tuned to get your fill of some good beer!

For now, I’d like to take a moment to promote a cause that is very near and dear for me:

20 questions for everyone’s favorite werewolf hepcats… and AWAY WE GO!

First off, let’s get this out of the way… owwwwwWWWWWW! Now that I got that out of my system, let’s start the way I start most interviews. Who are The Young Werewolves?

A band of shape shifters stalking the countryside with electric instruments, evil intentions and axes to grind. Nick Falcon on guitar, Dana Kain on bass and Jonny Wolf on drums. We all sing lead and background vocals and Jonny plays a stripped down drum kit while standing up.

How did you all get together?

We were all journeymen musicians in Philadelphia, each of us into our own versions of the local indie, punk and goth nightmare scenes. We hooked up over the internet, originally with two additional members-lead vocals and alto sax. We boiled down the unit to a lean rhythm section and started howling harmonies into the mic as a trio.

As a Philly band, you must get to play with tons of great local acts. Any favorites?

There are a lot of really good bands in Philly. Some of our favorites (in no order) are Full Blown Cherry, Thee Minks, The Sharkskins, Clashing Plaid, Mondo Topless, Jukebox Zeros, Soraia, Carfax Abbey, and Strychnine Babies.

One of my other favorite Philly bands is Mercury Radio Theater, as they too specialize in a certain brand of Horror Rock, I assume your paths have crossed. Do you know the guys?

Yes. We connected a couple of times over the years trying to organize shows but schedules, venues or other calamities got in the way of making the shows happen. I’m sure we’ll share a stage somewhere down the road.

Cool, how about on a larger level… what other bands that play Sci-Fi/Horror influenced music do you listen to and/or endorse?

Within the genre, some of the cool acts that we’re friends with and deserve more attention are PsychoCharger, Ghouls Night Out, Calabrese, Gein and the Graverobbers, The Memphis Morticians, Sasquatch and the Sickabillies.

There was a cabaret punk band I had seen back in college called World
Inferno Friendship Society used to actually play a song worshiping “The Great Pumpkin”. While as a whole I enjoyed the experience, something about them actually kinda freaked me out… but I guess that was somewhat their goal. Do you like to try to freak people out a bit or are you just more about having fun?

We are really about the music. We enjoy performing and putting on a show, but our thing is about executing the songs so they do the entertaining. That’s more our bag. If we can get asses shaking, we are doing our job. It sounds like fun but it really takes work and discipline to play and sing your parts right.

Ok, so enough about other peoples’ music, let’s get back to you. On
this last album, you got to work with B-Movie legend Sid Haig, how was
that?

Sid’s a cool cat. He’s a jazzbo from way back. He’s a talented drummer that gets pigeonholed as playing the big bad guy as an actor but he’s got mad acting and music chops.

How’d you get hooked up with him?

Sid was working on a werewolf film and heard the tunes off of our first record. He reached out to us about using our song “I Can’t Resist” for the end credits. The film fell through but Sid stayed in touch and he offered to help out with our project after he heard the early demo’s that eventually became Cheat The Devil.

I, personally, am most partial to his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob
Zombie’s films, specifically in The Devil’s Rejects, what is your
favorite Sid Haig role?

Although it doesn’t highlight his acting chops to a great degree, Sid as one of King Tut’s henchmen in the Batman television series is total fun.

While on the topic of movies, best of movie of 2009 so far? I’d say
Watchmen, but I’m expecting The Half Blood Prince to
beat it out.

If they release the re-make of The Wolfman this year, that may take top honors on any young werewolf’s list.

My favorite track on Cheat the Devil is “Tattooed Aliens”. I
love the Sci Fi lyrics. Do you have a favorite Science Fiction series? I’m
personally a big Star Wars fan and absolutely love the books
based on Bean from the Ender’s Game series.

The old school Outer Limits show is really off the hook. Even the Friday the 13th series that Fox had in the late 1980’s was pretty good, better than The X Files. We dig Dr. Who and appreciate the low fi production and especially the theme music (better than Star Trek). I don’t know if you’d consider it Sci-Fi, Sigmund and the Seamonsters was dope too.

Also, would you mind if I began referring to myself as a “tattooed
alien from the Planet 13″?

You won’t be the first!

As I’m typing up the questions for this review, I am listening to TI. Do you like any hip hop?

Early hip hop is cool. Especially what was coming out of Philly. Acts like Schoolly D, 3xDope, Hilltop Hustlers. Also, the New York white boys 3rd Base and Beastie Boys. Our first manager worked at Ruffhouse Records and played handclaps on the big Kriss Kross hit, Jump Around. So Young Werewolves have some hip hop cred, not to mention that Nick was one of the top graffiti writers in Philly during the early eighties.

Actually, I found this rapper named Mob Zombie recently that raps about zombies and stuff. I totally am trying to get through to him and he won’t return my emails, tweets, or anything. Maybe it’s because he’s dead.

That’s always the thing with rapping Zombies. Don’t you hate it when hot MC’s go cold?

Sorry, I guess that last one didn’t even include a question… let’s get back on track. I usually like to ask a few questions related to something outside of music and the band’s focus. I’ll start with one I ask a lot: While not a religious person, per se, I consider myself a man of faith, specifically I’m a Christian who isn’t really into the church but am into Jesus. If you wouldn’t mind sharing, what are your beliefs about God or a higher power or whatever?

Faith and religion can be healthy if ingested in moderation. It’s important to believe and have faith in oneself. Not in the ego-centric interest of selfishness but in the interest of creating an imprint that resonates. We are the gods of our creations, like it or not. If belief and faith in a higher power keeps you disciplined and out of trouble than that’s a good thing.

Do you think the music you make is in any way influenced by those beliefs, or on the other hand does it in any way conflict with those beliefs? That is to say, many Christians found it completely heinous when Jerry Only of The Misfits first discussed his being a Christian because of the lyrics and subject matter of many of his songs, but he’d contest to this day that his Christianity is a big influence on what he does as a member of the band.

There are themes we explore in our music that have religious implications, such as redemption, regret and reformation. The monster myth is in itself a reaction to the mysteries of religion. In essence, the monster (either man-made or released by man) symbolizes the Pandora’s Box that religion unchecked can cause. How many wars has man fought in the name of the devil?

Do you think an artist can have beliefs and lives outside of their art that in no way is reflected or influenced in that art?

Absolutely. Art is usually an interpretation, reaction or provocation. An artist is free to explore ideas that are in complete contradiction to their beliefs, in complete accord or anywhere in between. How you judge the person should be separate from how you judge their art. The nicest people sometimes make the shittiest art.

Thank you for indulging me with these questions. Since I’m running dangerously close to 20 questions here, I’d like to steer back to the subject on hand, the music of The Young Werewolves. I am hoping to come out and see you when you hit my home area of Reading, PA. What can I
expect when I come to see you?

There’s usually swing dancing and beer drinking, rock-a-billies and rock-a-betties trying to outdo each other and looking good while doing it. Every once in a while there’s a fight at the bar. Some gigs we play mostly rockabilly versions of covers from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. Other times we get the groove going with our original songs. Often times it’s a mix.

Where is a great brewery just south of Reading, in Adamstown, called
Stoudt’s Brewery. If you have the chance while you are out this way and want a great meal with some amazing beer, head down. You just strike me as
beer drinkers. Would this be an accurate assessment?

Beer and wine are great loves. Dana definitely appreciates a good wine and both Jonny and Nick like the bubbly suds, although they will pause to lift their snouts from the stout to taste the good grape too.

Okay, so we’ve discussed beer, music, movies, faith, and Sid Haig… seems like a logical time to move on. Let’s wrap this up with a final word from you. What would you like to leave as your final words to the readers?

Stay tuned for a new recording. We are putting together a collection of fun, cool tunes and also some hot new merch too. More mayhem and music is on the way.

thepaintedman rates this:

Are you “Hungry Like the Wolf” for some great fast paced, toe tapping, sing along, punk influenced garage rock? Fan of bands like The Hives? Then The Young Werewolves are for you. This Philadelphia trio’s most recent LP, Cheat the Devil, is chock full of monster movie lyrics, catchy tunes, and gang vocals that make it impossible not to sing along.

The album is comprised of 13 album tracks and a special surprise 14th track. From the opening drums of “Hollywood”, it is evident that this, if nothing else, is a fun album. With a yell reminiscent of Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, the track is full of piss and vinegar with lyrics about the Young Wolves taking over Hollywood and leaving it in a pile of rubble.

Other tracks follow a similar formula of driving rhythms, sing along choruses, and horror show lyrics, except for a few exceptions. Notably, the third track, “Devil Dancer Girl”, is more of a swing/rockabilly tune, but it still features the same overall quality. “Guns, Guns, Guns” is another track in this vein. An while these tracks are slower paced than others on the album, they aren’t slow at all, as the entire album is extremely upbeat, fun, and danceable.

There are a few standout tracks for me, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” stands out because it has a killer spoken word intro by horror legend Sid Haig (who also happens to be the album’s producer). “Tattooed Aliens”, however, is my favorite album track. It’s got the classic horror punk sound, lyrics about weird aliens, and a great sing along chorus. Maybe I just love the track because of the fact I am also a tattooed freak, thepaintedman to be precise.

Lest us not forget that there is an awesome special track not listed in the liner notes to wrap up the entire album at track 14. I will reveal that it’s a cover song, but I’ve said too much about it already… you should experience it yourself.

Overall, a fun album that combines elements of rockabilly, surf, and a whole lot of horror punk to create a unique brand of garage rock comparable to the overall sound of The Hives, the monster lyrics of Blaster the Rocket Man, and the theatricality of another great Philly act, Mercury Radio Theater. A raucous, howl along album by a bad that the owww! in owwwtstanding.