John Ryan animator and creator of children's favourite cartoon pirate Captain Pugwash, died one week ago today. Here at Scratchy Towers, we wanted to pay our respects to a man, who brought enormous pleasure to many generations of children during their tea time television viewing treat.

I certainly remember when I was a little '45' looking forward to switching on to see the exploits of Captain Horatio Pugwash, Master Mates, Cut Throat Jake and the rest of the rather inept crew of the Black Pig ship. The character of Pugwash first appeared in the very first edition of The Eagle comic in 1950 but then made the leap to the B.B.C as a series of five minute cartoons, first broadcast in 1957. Ryan had devised a very simple but effective way of animating the character, using cardboard cutouts and he went on to make 56 episodes up to 1966. The series was resurrected in 1974/5 for another thirty episodes, this time in glorious colour, numerous books were written along the way as well as other merchandising spin offs.

So with a tip of the pirate hat and time to raise a glass of rum, we salute you John Ryan from this 'lolloping landlubber!' rest in peace.

Readers of The Eagle comic may remember one of his other creations 'Harris Tweed, Extra Special Agent' and Lettice Leefe, 'the Greenest Girl in School' who appeared in Eagle’s companion comic, Girl.

John Ryan's other notable cartoon creations were Sir Prancalot and Mary, Mungo and Midge which was aimed at a younger audience and was broadcast on the B.B.C back in 1969. It was narrated by the BBC newsreader Richard Baker and ran for just a single series of thirteen episodes. Grasping for a vinyl link to Ryan's output, has reminded me of this record which was released via B.B.C records in 1977, which has so far eluded me on my vinyl hunting, but nevertheless should make an appearance on this site because it looks like a little treasure.

The three main characters of the series were the little girl Mary, her dog Mungo and a mouse Midge, who lived with Mary's parents on the top floor of a tower block. This was a radical setting for this type of show and captures the brief period of optimism high rise living experiment in the post war years. However, one or two of the negative aspects of this social model of housing were inadvertently hinted at with Mary being too small to press the button in the lift to get back up to the eighth floor. A little ingenuity followed with Mungo getting on Mary's shoulders and Midge scurrying to the top of the pile in order to press the button.

Mary, Mungo and Midge - Opening and Closing Credits - 1969

Obituaries
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/24/obituary-john-ryan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6726684.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/5899923/John-Ryan.html

Useful Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mungo_&_Midge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Pugwash

http://www.toonhound.com/pugwash.htm

http://www.toonhound.com/marymungomidge.htm

http://www.discogs.com/John-Ryan-Mary-Mungo-And-Midge/release/958945

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 09

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 08

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 07

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 06

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 05

Jack Davis and Sailcat

One of the great losses of modern popular culture is the lack of opportunity for an artist, designer typographer or musician to make their mark and express their creative vision on the 12"x 12" canvas that is a record cover. No amount of creative packaging within CD covers can replace the record sleeve as an ideal forum to create a visual impact, as for mp3's, no matter how convenient they are, the accompanying visuals are a non starter.

As a nipper, I used to seek out Mad magazine paperbacks, featuring many of artists that influenced and informed my early scribblings, Duck Edwing, Don Martin 'Mad's Maddest Artist' and Sergio Aragones were particular favourites of mine. The cartoon work of Jack Davis also caught my eye, with his accomplished pseudo realistic brushwork, usually illustrating wacky parodies of popular t.v and movie culture. He was an intregal part of the Mad team, indeed his work had featured right from the first issue and continued to feature in another 241 issues.

Jack's draughtmanship was also put to good use in other fields of illustration like movie posters, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World being a particularly appropriate example. Jack's instantly recognisable style also adorns dozens of album cover sleeves as well.

Jack's appealing style was particularly suited to the medium of the album sleeve, as he could convey an impression of the music/sounds that lay within, using his wild, surreal imagination to paint an eye catching scene. Let's face it, his artwork not only enhanced the record, but was sometimes the best thing about the product. London Record's legendary Phase 4 label, particularly favoured his style, often using his services on some of their more esoteric pressings.

What is the finest Jack Davis album cover? I hear you ask.. in the faux sincere style of a reality show presenter, I can truly say that it's been hard to narrow down a particular favourite as they're all winners, but if I had to pick a champion, it has to be Ray Martin's 'The Sound Of Sight' album. The sheer chaos and frenzy of the cover art is a delight to behold and captures the very essence of the varied styles of music that are recorded within. The artwork explodes off the page, as do the sounds from the stereo, making this a very successful realisation of what must have been initially, a tricky brief.

I leave it to endlessgroove.com to sum up exactly why this is the pinnacle of Jack's cover art career. This next bit is sourced from www.endlessgroove.com/issue4/lp4s2.htm

"The Sound of Sight may very well be the summit of the London Phase 4 concept. Like Battle Stereo, the album sounds as if one is listening to a movie soundtrack without the picture. In fact, with the subtitle Music For an Experiment in Imagination, that's exactly what Phase 4 had in mind. One of the best uses of sound effects I've heard on any album of this type."



Another Davis cover that I hold dear to my heart, is the debut album from Sailcat. They were formed by Johnny Wyker and Court Pickett in 1972, both of whom previously were in The Rubber Band. They brought in many established players from the Southern Rock music scene and legendary Muscle Shoals guitarist Pete Carr produced the album. 'Motorcycle Mama' was released on the Electra label and they had a radio hit with the title track which reached number twelve on the Billboard chart.

This was the soundtrack to a period when every self respecting dude was cruising the freeways of America on a chopper straight out of Easy Rider. As you can deduce, there was enough room for his ole lady and the kids riding pillion, all of whom are sticking it to the man, flicking the system a metaphorical bird, by clearly breaching health and safety guidance/rules, as they're not wearing any helmets on the album's front cover.

This slab of Southern country rock is a pleasant enough listen, but the star of the show and the main reason for owning this, is the fantastic artwork by Jack Davis. It's a concept album of sorts, based on a self destructing drifter, who dreams of settling down and starting a family, he then meets a woman who turns out to be more than a match for him.

An entertaining account of how the album got made, written by Richie Unterberger, can be found here. Johnny Wyker briefly resurrected the Sailcat name in 2002, with an album called 'Wild Water-Ski Weekend' on the Mighty Field of Vision label and is currently involved in this project.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(cartoonist)

http://lambiek.net/artists/d/davis.htm

http://hairygreeneyeball.blogspot.com/2008/09/jack-davis-goes-on-record.html

http://hairygreeneyeball.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-jack-davis-on-record.html

http://lpcoverlover.com/category/jack-davis/

http://www.endlessgroove.com/issue5/jdintro.htm

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/darb321/album_covers_by_jack_davis

http://www.collectorsquest.com/blog/2007/01/11/jack-davis-album-covers/

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 04

Scratchy's Collecting Tips Number 03

Scratchy's Collecting Tips - Number 02

Furry's Blogging tips No.1

Don't leave yourself open to ageist abuse by telling the world what an old woman you've become!!! ;)

Note the zimmer frame has a handy ledge just the right size for a record bag.

Scratchy's Collecting Tips - Number 01

South Park Scratchy, Furry and Itchy

Furry Stylus

The team here at Scratchy Towers are proud to announce the arrival of a new member of the squad. We have dipped into the transfer market, searched for an old pro who brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm, and found the player that fits the bill exactly. He's passed the medical, agreed terms and conditions and we are looking to throw him straight into the action at the start of the new season, on Saturday.

He will dazzle the younger lads with his D.J dexterity and the crowd will lap up his silky skills, as he pulls out timeless classics, from his bag of tricks. Some detractors have remarked that we have picked up a dodgy ole journeyman, looking for one last paycheck before he retires, who will spend more time crocked in the physio room, but we will have no countenance with such tittle tattle. Furry is our Teddy Sheringham if you like, a Dean Windass if you must, heading for the Premier League for one last hurrah! remember age is temporary but quality is permanent! Welcome aboard Furry Stylus!!

Blackshapes

This one's veering off the main criteria of this blog, but I think anyone who has has spent many hours shuffling the vinyl racks in record stores, will appreciate this sublime mini comic about our favourite hobby/obsession, created by the talented 'Phil Tre' in Vancouver, Canada.

http://www.blackshapes.com/comics/the_record/the_record.htm

http://www.blackshapes.com/

Single Record Sleeves

Here's a nice site showing some tasty examples of the now, nearly forgotten art of designing eye catching single sleeves. It's broken down into catagories for ease of searching with an A to Z of labels as well as general genres like stars, patterns and two colour prints. Above: are two (slightly changed) examples of pleasing on the eye patterns that were designed. These show that simplicity often produces the best results.

http://crossedcombs.typepad.com/recordenvelope

This site has some more fine 45 design action..

http://www.norelevance.com/45rpm/index.html

Itchy Knackers

left

Introducing

'Itchy Knackers'

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Itchy and Scratchy browsing for Britain

I am delighted to announce an exciting new development for this blog. Let me introduce our new writer 'Itchy Knackers' who has graciously agreed to contribute some posts to our burgeoning content and thus inject some much needed va va voom to this blog. This will mean that, hopefully, more frequent postings will take place and of course an interesting new perspective into the world of vinyl digging will be divulged, as well as another finger on the pulse of what's currently hot in audio land. I think it's fair to say, that Itchy has many successful years of vinyl sniffing under his belt and brings an encyclopedic knowledge of rock/pop music to the proceedings, especially when it comes to 'American Alt Grunge' circa 1991 to 1993. I look forward to reading his extended discourse, on this particular sub genre, in the coming weeks. I have been informed that Itchy has recently been on a raiding sortie north of the border and has returned with all manner of plunder to be reviewed, dissected and where merited, extolled.

The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles

As a prelude to the latest Chipmunk movie heading your way to matinee performances at the multiplex, I present this vinyl beauty from 1964. On it, Alvin manages to massacre most of the early back catalogue of The Fab Four with a little help from his furry, buck toothed chums. It's a great cover though and really captures that bubblegum kid's pop culture of that era.. nutty stuff indeed. A big shout out of of sympathy for any parents out there who have to endure sitting through the cinematic version of these furry vermin.
http://www.chipmunks.com/