The Simpsons

"On Christmas morning, 1964, I was the happiest boy on Evergreen Terrace. I'd asked for, and receive, my dream Christmas present: a reel-to-reel tape recorder!

Over the next several months I hid out in my bedroom and played with the tape recorder constantly. Inspired by my dad's Stan Freberg records, I made my own Matt Groening Show -- 'starring Maaaaaaaatt Groening, and featuring the Matt Groening Orchestra and the Matt Groening Singers and Dancers!' (Simpsons fanatics will note the almost word-for-word homage in the 1988 catoonlet 'The Bart Simpson Show' on The Tracey Ullman Show.) I sang my own theme song ('Matt Groening, Cool Guy'), acted out jungle adventures, and performed stand-up comedy routines, complete with canned laughter and applause. I forced my sisters, Lisa and Maggie, to listen to my tapes all the time, rewinding and replaying the good parts while they sat there patiently, barely rolling their eyes. I was about as insufferable as a ten-year-old can be.

My other tape project was a compilation of my favorite TV-show themes on one reel. Over the next couple of years, sitting on the floor in the rumpus room with a hand-held mike next to the big Zenith, I built up quite a collection, featuring themes to such shows as The Flintstones, The Beverly Hillbillies, Branded, Green Acres, Astro Boy, Rocky And His Friends, My Mother The Car, and Milton The Monster. I also recorded my favorite TV-commercial jingles, including those for Pepsodent, Salem cigarettes, and Brylcreem. I'd like to think I was fascinated by the well-crafted arrangements, peculiar lyrics, and general absurdity of this TV music, but the truth is I thought these little ditties were catchy as hell.

When I was a teenager, I discovered soundtrack music. I fell in love with the Spaghetti-Western scores of Ennio Morricone, the Alfred Hitchcock soundtracks of Bernard Herrmann, and the Federico Fellini film music of Nino Rota. This was music that messed with my head, altered my mood, and dragged me out of my teenage disgruntlement. The stuff still works on me to this day.

It turned out all this taping and listening wasn't just time-wasting distraction -- it was preliminary research. In 1989, with The Simpsons as a full-fledged TV series in the works, I was able to utilize all those years of musical foolishness. From Rocky And His Friends I learned that you can make a great cartoon show even with lousy animation. (You just need top-notch writing, voices, and music.) From an interview with Mel Brooks, I learned from his observation that soundtrack music in comedies should play the underlying emotion, not the joke. An inspired by that old tapes of TV themes I recorded in the '60s, I knew I wanted to get that feeling of bubbling-over-optimism-tinged-with-frantic-desperation.

The trend in TV themes for the previous 15 years had been this namby-pamby synthesizer schlock, modest in both ambition and execution. These noodly, ersatz-sentimental themes all seemed to whimper, 'We can't offer much, but please like our pathetic little show!' I wanted a big, fully orchestrated, obnoxious, arrogant theme that promised you the best time of your life.

We approached Danny Elfman, whose career I'd been following since I saw him perform as the leader of The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo (best described as an avant-garde Cab Calloway-on-Mars vaudeville ensemble) at the Whisky-a-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip in the late '70s. Elfman had recently composed the soundtrack to Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and I knew he'd be perfect.

I gave Elfman what I called a 'flavors' tape, featuring the kind of sound I wanted for The Simpsons theme. The tape included The Jetsons theme, selections from Nino Rota's Juliet Of The Spirits, a Remington electric shaver jungle by Frank Zappa, some easy-listening music by Esquivel, and a teach-your-parrot-to-talk-record.

Elfman gave it a listen and said, 'I know exactly what you're looking for.'

A month later we were recording the now-famous Simpsons theme on the 20th Century-Fox lot with a huge orchestra. I think all the producers were a little nervous and fidgety about the untrendy audacity of the music. But then-executive producer James L. Brooks came in, listened a bit, then said, 'My God! This is great! This is lemmings-marching-to-their-death music!'

In the ensuing eight-and-counting seasons of The Simpsons, Alf Clausen has handled almost all of the music you hear on the show. He's done a phenomenal job with the writers' odd musical requests, particularly when you realize how fast Alf has to churn this stuff out. This album is a showcase for Alf, featuring some of his finest and funniest work. I think of his music as the secret strength of The Simpsons, delivering the jokes, for sure, but also the real emotion underlying the comedy.

And all for a TV cartoon!"

--Matt Groening

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, The Simpsons.



Songs in the Key of Springfield (Rhino)

1. The Simpsons Main Title Theme (Extended Version)
2. We Do (The Stonecutters' Song)
3. Dancin' Homer (Medley)
4. Homer & Apu (Medley)
5. 'Round Springfield (Medley)
6. "Oh, Streetcar!" (The Musical)
7. Jingle Bells
8. Springfield (Medley)
9. "Itchy And Scratchy" Main Title Theme
10. "Itchy And Scratchy" End Credits Theme
11. The Day The Violence Died (Medley)
12. Señor Burns
13. The Simpsons End Credits Theme (Afro-Cuban Version)
14. Your Wife Don't Understand You
15. Kamp Krusty (Medley)
16. The Simpsons End Credits Theme (Australian Version)
17. The Simpsons End Credits Theme ("Hill Street Blues" Homage)
18. The Simpsons End Credits Theme ("It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" Homage)
19. Treehouse Of Horror V (Medley)
20. Honey Roasted Peanuts ("Boy Scoutz N The Hood" Episode)
21. Boy Scoutz In The Hood (Medley)
22. Two Dozen And One Greyhounds (Medley)
23. "Eye On Springfield" Theme
24. Flaming Moe's
25. Homer's Barbershop Quartet (Medley)
26. TV Sucks! ("A Fish Called Selma" Episode)
27. A Fish Called Selma (Medley)
28. Send In The Clown
29. The Monorail Song
30. In Search Of An Out Of Body Vibe
31. Cool
32. Bagged Me A Homer
33. It Was A Very Good Beer
34. Bart Sells His Soul (Medley)
35. Happy Birthday, Lisa ("Stark Raving Dad" Episode)
36. The Simpsons Halloween Special End Credits Theme ("The Addams Family" Homage)
37. Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One) (Medley)
38. Lisa's Wedding (Medley)
39. The Simpsons End Credits Theme ("Dragnet" Homage)

Tubeway Army

"I moved to L.A. from England when I was 7 years old, at the end of 1979. I was becoming cognizant of pop culture and music, just barely. Two songs which instantly teleport me back (still!) to queueing at Gatwick are ELO's 'Don't Bring Me Down' and Gary Numan's 'Cars'... funny how the mind works. For Christmas that year I received a cassette copy of the K-TEL compilation Rock 80, the lead track on which was 'Cars'. That cassette was in heavy rotation for what now seems like years. I don't remember actually seeing a picture of Numan until a couple of years later, by the time I was about 10 or so. I'd ride my bike to MusicPlus in Sherman Oaks to fondle, and occasionally buy, Journey cassettes and those miniature Beatles 'albums' that came with a pink record-shaped disc of Pepto Bismol-tasting chewing gum. While I was there, I'd flip through the racks and racks of fantastic-looking LPs by bands I'd never heard of: the Plasmatics, the Clash, Blue Oyster Cult. MusicPlus was one of those '70s relics I really miss now, all knotted wood-panel interiors, display cases full of badges, racks and racks and racks of vinyl. I remember it was there that I fixated on the cover of Numan's The Pleasure Principle, easily one of the most inexplicable things my 10-year-old mind had encountered: a pasty-looky guy in eyeliner and a tailored suit staring intently at a glowing pyramid on the table beside him. The pleasure principal? This didn't look like that much fun, but I was intrigued. Back then, there was a cheesy Top 40 station in L.A. called KIQQ. I'd waste away the endless hours of summertime boredom calling their request line, feigning my now-faded English accent in hopes of charming whoever answered enough into actually getting my request played on the air. As I recall, I was successful once and once only - getting them to play 'Cars' at something like 2:00 pm on a Sunday. Why I didn't just listen to the cassette, I don't know. I suppose influencing radio airplay is a pretty major deal when you're 10.

I 'rediscovered' Numan, and his truly inspiring Tubeway Army, in the mid-'90s. The fact that the band had started out as, essentially, a hard-rock trio and then almost instantly morphed into flagbearers for the burgeoning synth-pop movement in the UK had obvious parallels to what we in The VSS felt we were doing within the confines of DIY hardcore. That Numan did it with such obvious and undeniable style was awe-inspiring. He made it seem effortless, and he never seemed to break a sweat or show any emotion whatsoever. I was - and still am - fascinated by his asexual, almost android-like image, as if he'd arrived on this planet fully-formed with a Beggars Banquet contract under his arm. His voice is so bizarre, and yet so perfect - monotonous and yet hauntingly complex. His performance in Urgh! A Music War - driving a miniature 'space car' around a stage full of revolving pyramids - is nothing less than mindblowing. Here was a dude who just didn't give a shit about what a pop star is supposed to look like, sound like, or do. Then there's the added paradox of the peripheral details -- find me another celebrity of this magnitude (and yes, he was genuinely mega in the UK) who readily admits to his mother designing and sewing his stage clothes! That he eventually 'retired' from pop to pilot small planes simply affirms his greatness (though not before committing some serious musical blunders starting with album #5 and continuing for... well, far too long. But I digress). Though I care little for what came after 1980's Telekon, I can say without any doubt that he was, and shall always be, one of the great icons of pop culture to me, and a very serious influence on my own artistic expression."

--Sonny Kay

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Tubeway Army.

Replicas (Beggars Banquet)

1. Me! I Disconnect from You

2. Are 'Friends' Electric?

3. The Machman

4. Praying to the Aliens

5. Down in the Park

6. You Are in My Vision

7. Replicas

8. It Must Have Been Years

9. When the Machines Rock

10. I Nearly Married a Human

No Age

"Open your eyes by gripping the upper lid with two toothpicks and try pouring some apple cider vinegar over them. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes you will see miraculous visions of a web like mother that may or may not leave you speechless."










Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, No Age.

DVD+R #1 (Pukekos)

1. Get Hurt
2. Dead Plane
3. Chip Off The Bone
4. Vacation Pay

The BJ Rubin Show

The BJ Rubin Show
Episode #105
"In Space"
Original Airdate - 7/7/2011 on BCAT2 in Brooklyn

Starring David Earl Buddin, Lauren Martin, BJ Rubin, Kevin Shea and Weasel Walter

Music by Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat Dan Singa, Sexy Thoughts, Ron Stabinsky and American Liberty League

Produced through the facilities of BCAT Media Center, a community media facility of BRIC Arts|Media|Bklyn.

©2011 Megaton Media

The BJ Rubin Show

The BJ Rubin Show
Episode #104
"4th of July Spectacular"
Original Airdate - 7/4/2011 on BCAT2 in Brooklyn

Music by Starring, Vaz and American Liberty League

Produced through the facilities of BCAT Media Center, a community media facility of BRIC Arts|Media|Bklyn.

©2011 Megaton Media

Modern Man Manual

Megaton Media is COMING TO GET YOU!!!

Get ready to be amazed by the FORCE OF NATURE that is Modern Man Manual III.

Get ready to be FLOORED by the onslaught of images and words that are about to ASSAULT you.

Get ready to be KNOCKED OUT by the juggernaut of a journal about to ROLL ALL OVER YOU!

Get ready TO NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your reading pleasure, Modern Man Manual III.

Modern Man Manual 3 (Megaton Media)
1. Money (Lauren Martin)
2. Letter from the Editor (BJ Rubin)
3. The Rent is Always Due (David Buddin)
4. Smokestack Lightning (Lauren Martin)
5. Vacated (BJ Rubin)
6. Tiny Sculpture of Viking Man (Kevin Shea)
7. Clayton (T.S. Dahl)
8. Florida (BJ Rubin)
9. Holiday Quick-Step (David Buddin)
10. Julius Martin (BJ Rubin)
11. Psychonautical Journal (Nondor Nevai)
12. Portraits (BJ Rubin)

The BJ Rubin Show

The BJ Rubin Show
Episode #103
"Greetings Earthlings"
Original Airdate - 6/2/11 on BCAT2 in Brooklyn

Starring David Earl Buddin, BJ Rubin, Kevin Shea and Weasel Walter

Featuring Charlie Judkins, Nondor Nevai and Ted Shumaker

Music by Sexy Thoughts, She Keeps Bees, Old Rugged Sauce and American Liberty League

Produced through the facilities of
BCAT
Brooklyn Community Access Television
Brooklyn, NY 11217

©2011 Megaton Media

Healing Journey Radio

"This is Dr. Roger Sty Bantam, Certified Shaman of Gehgiah. Gehgiah is a new, exciting religion that combines orthomolecular psychiatry, ancient mystical practice and subsonic frequencies between 411 MHz and 423 MHz to bring people into the landscape of the God Tiger. Before we begin, I want to thank my friend BJ Rubin for offering this sacred space for healing.

Now take a deep breath and hold it. Hold it. Keep holding it. Using the power of the forbidden wilderness, the inner landscape of the God Tiger, I'm going to take you through a basic introduction. The first video you'll watch will begin a process that will change the way you relate to the modern Internet.



Now that you're part of our sacred network, we can travel through a series of liberation modules. This next video will help you unlock the mysteries of your past by helping you reclaim your wounded inner child.



With your wounded inner child at your side, you will visit the crossroads of sexuality and pharmacology. In this next video we will light the fires of tantric ecology and park a dolphin in your mind.



Thriving libidinal energy paves the way to true love. In this audio guided meditation recorded deep in the forbidden wilderness by my predecessor Dr. Morty Satanberg, you will open your heart to the unlikely and impossible.



Our final segment is a journey into your future. Here Dr. Satanberg will bring you to the final gateway, the realm of the Judgment Crow, your death.



You have reached the landscape of the God Tiger, Gehgiah. I honor your work, your gifts, and your inner listener. Thank you for connecting. I open my soul to eternal connection with you.

Namasté!"

-Dr. Roger Sty Bantam