11 Apr 32 - 07 Jan 09
Back in junior high and high school, several years before I saw my first VCR, the only way to catch a horror flick (especially the rare British ones that might show a flash of flesh if you don't blink) was to check the listings and stay up late and turn on Channel 2. Bob was cool in ways us the uncool could relate to, horn-rimmed glasses, cigar smoke, oversized rocking chair, 70s-ugly sport coats, candle dripping over fake skull, laconic delivery of occasional bad jokes about the movies, and above all that wonderful music, Neal Hefti's "Gotham City Municipal Swing Band".
3 comments:
Creature Features was even scarier when you were a young babysitter! Many great memories of being scared by that show. Plus, Wilkins was so wonderfully odd and campy.
Wilkins showed shorts by Rick Harper, a friend from grade school who did shorts when he was in HS and later. I liked Creature Features anyway, but Wilkins' generosity in giving a venue for teenagers who were budding directors was pretty special.
When I owned the '69 bug (owned by my sister, then my brother, then me, then by my brother again ... and still), I changed to custom plates that read FEECHER. Most people thought it was an homage to Creature Features, but really it was a spoof on "That's not a bug, it's a feature!"
Wilkins was a hero. I remember that he predicted that a new Star Trek series would arise once he heard they were making the first movie.
His them was among the greatest. I have pissed off my whole family by playing it repeatedly in the car off that cd you gave me. Oh yeah! It swings, Baby!
Post a Comment