Archive for March, 2009

I can’t imagine anything cooler than custom Monkees action figures. Check out  Mickey, Peter, Davy and Mike! I think they captured Michael Nesmith’s side burns perfectly. They always said the Monkees were made of plastic!

The only thing is, they were never made, they were custom made, in the classic Mego style.  The Mego company made rockin action figures in the early 70’s, but the company has been out of business for years.  Don’t fear, loyal fans are keeping the dream alive by re-manufacturing them! See the Mego Museum and check out the kind of toys Daddy played with as a kid.

You can read about Mego in this Wikipedia article:

In 1972, The Mego made a landmark deal and secured the licenses to create toys for both National Periodical Publications (later DC Comics) and Marvel Comics. During this time period, Mego released the very first ever comprehensive line of DC and Marvel character action figures and coined the term World’s Greatest Super Heroes! To start the line, Mego introduced Batman, Robin, Aquaman and Superman. But others soon followed.  read more.

If we could just get those Mego guys to make some rock themed action figures. Hmm. . .custom Mego/Beatle action figures! While I wait for my birthday you should check out some of our action figures here

Watch Yuto Miyazwa pound the frets! This kid is one of the youngest, fastest guitar players the world has ever seen.

I think this clearly shows the Japanese are way ahead of the U.S.A. in terms of mini-shredders. Wake up America! Get your children started early or we will loose our global standing as shredmeisters. While your children are falling asleep in their Cheerios, Yuto has clearly been planning to dominate the world.

According to his MySpace page:

Born February 21, 2000, in Tokyo, Japan, Yuto Miyazawa has been playing guitar since the ripe age of 3. Although he has had a few guitar lessons, the bulk of his expertise comes from truly wanting to play…all the time. Generally, if he is not in school, he has a guitar in his hands. As his videos rack up views on YouTube and Vimeo, and his name is scattered across hundreds of forums and blogs, Yuto Miyazawa is truly the internet’s latest sensation. “

Los Gauchos de Acero rock and they rock hard, covering bands like Iron Maiden, Pantera, Black Sabbath and many more. The three brothers Agustin 11, Martin 12 and Emilio 15 from Argentina became YouTube sensations in 2006. They had submitted a video to a popular TV show in Argentina but were rejected by the producers, their father took matters in his own hands and uploaded it to YouTube and the rest is history. Although these boys are definitely going places we think their little sister is the one to watch!

Love those Beatles Cartoons!

We discovered these old Beatles cartoons on-line and just had to have them. My 2 1/2 year old son is crazy about them and now knows loads of Beatles songs. The content is very child-friendly, but please be aware that the quality of the DVDs may vary. The copy we purchased was not great, but we enjoy them anyway.

The Beatles cartoon ran from 1965 to 1967 on ABC and a total of 39 episodes were produced. The Beatles themselves wanted nothing to do with the series. Actor, Paul Frees did the voices of John and George, while Lance Percival did the the voices of Paul and Ringo. Supposedly, the band hated their depictions on TV, although it is rumored their stance softened in later years.

We particularly recommend Season 3 (9-10/1967) Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields. This episode contains a fantastic sequence animated to Strawberry Fields. In this episode the band brings color to some lonely orphans. The Beatles actually take to the air and fly over the countryside in a artistic montage of color and sound that should not be missed.

This is the site where they sell hand painted cartoon panels signed by the original artists and directors.

Check out some of our own Beatles related products here.

We are hooked on the Bugaloos and how can you not be? Please listen and enjoy.

Here is some info from our friends over at the Bugaloos official site, Tranquility Forest:

The Bugaloos originally hit the airwaves back in 1970, and came from the highly creative minds of Sid and Marty Krofft. The Krofft brothers are well known for providing high quality children’s television in the 1970s. The Bugaloos was the second show in their wide and varied library.

The Bugaloos was a show about four musically-adept, teenaged kids, living in Tranquility Forest, along with their friend, Sparky the Firefly. Tranquility Forest was located about 10 miles outside of Rock City, where Peter Platter spun records at Kook Radio. Rock City was located in Rock Land, which was also the home of Benita Bizarre (nemesis to the Bugaloos), who lived in a huge jukebox, and was forever trying to find a way to get her records played on Kook Radio.

Here is the link to the Bugaloos website.

Found this little Rockin’ Tot on YouTube and he blew us away with a note for note Jimmy Page impersonation. Notice the sweet bends and finger work? Not bad for a kid in elementary school!

When I was eight years I had no idea Zeppelin even existed and the only fender in my life was the one on my Huffy.

We’re going to do a little more research on this kid.

Stay tuned!

RECOGNIZE THE BUGGY KID?

It’s none other then Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Here he is honing his music skills on the trumpet.

Funky Bass here I come!

What can be said about Igor? In our opinion he’s the best thing to come out of Poland since the kielbassa!

Top Drummer Magazine voted him one of their best in 2008! His website is in Polish, but I tried my best to translate:

Playing the drums is the biggest passion of Igor. He got his first instrument in December 2005 and in 2006.2007 and 2008 readers of the magazine Top Drummer chose him “first place” in the category “New Hope”. Since 2007 Igor has studied with excellent drummers such as Dom Famularo, and David Garibaldi. who are among the most recognized teachers in the world.. He has worked with BB King, The Rolling Stones, and David Garibaldi, guitarist with the Tower of Power. Igor is determined to be the most influential drummer in the world.”

Check out his website here.

According to the website selling the guitar:

It was “one of seven models produced by Selcol. The ‘New Beat‘ guitar is made from red and burgundy plastic, and measures approximately 32 inches in length, with a full color group sticker and facsimile autographs on the body. The New Beat logo is picked out in silver to the left of the sound hole. It came with an original coffin-shaped cardboard box with a 9″ diameter full colour sticker on the lid. The package also contained an original fold-out instruction sheet, with lyrics and chords to five songs. Copyright issues prevented any of these from being Lennon-McCartney compositions.”

Read more and find one here.

There is nothing like being a Rock and Roller by night and a Super Hero by day:

The Impossibles was a series of animated cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and aired on American television by CBS. The series of shorts appeared as part of Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.” - Wikipedia

Read the rest of the Wikipedia article here.