In April was the Twelfth Annual "Mrs. Ann Radcliffe Awards Dinner for the Count Dracula Society and the Alexandria Hotel. The Cinema Award went to William Marshall who by now was trapped between the Count Dracula Society and the Academy and once remarked "I don't have any more room for awards". Thomas Tryon for Literature, various television awards to Dan Curtis, Jack Palance and Richard Matheson with Special Aards to Helen Gahagan Douglas and John Newland. A Cinema Achievement Award was given to Elsa Lanchester who was there and in fine spirits.
Those were the days when Don introduced humbly as:
Founder,
National President,
Count Grand-Master, Nobel Order of Count Dracula,
High Protector, Order of the Golden Bat and
International Chairman EQUICON '74
No doubt about it, the media convention was here to stay, supplanting the more scholarly fans who grew up with pulps and the occasional feature film; now it's about the movies and television shows!
Who would have thought Bjo Trimble, original exponent of the former would become Grand Poobah of the latter? She had the winning formula for entertaining the fans and mainstreaming fandom as a whole. But there was competition in the wings and for the next few years, it would be a battle for supremacy or total annihilation.
Being a fan was no longer a rare and lonely thing. Conventions had become hives and a lifestyle all their own. But now, with the age level plummeting, some of that time-honored lifestyle was in flux. Out was the blatant boozery, nudity and skinny dipping parties, in came "Power Sashes" that once conferring power on some 14 year old nebbish and proceeded to make everyone's life miserable.
TURKEY BURGERS
I guess everyone available had a part in Bill Malone's "Night Stalker" fan film spoof "Night Turkey". Now perhaps lost to the ages, There were bits by Bob Short, Bob Burns, Bill Mills, Robert Alvarez, Craig Miller, Rick Baker with Jim Mathenia and I as a couple of wacky surgeons. Fannish? Yes! Watchable? No!
THE WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY CONVENTION
Bill Crawford was doing it again, but clearly losing steam, no doubt from an odd crossover of attendees. You had the Satanists, UFO people, Count Dracula Society, Trekkies and a nod to the old timers all whipped up in a fannish mix where nobody really wanted to play with each other. You might say there was a rift in the force.
Check out the poster for Mike Towry's San Diego SummerCon but clicking
DESERT CON 2
Once again, making the late night dash across the desert for another weekend of Tucson style fun. As soon as I got there, I looked up my pal to find he had passed away sometime after Desert Con 1. "Drank himself to death" said a friend rather tersely. If true, it was a shame. I found the "Renny Harrison Memorial Film Scholarship" had been put in place helping young local filmmakers.
Goodies for hungry fen
One of Pickman's Models
Tribbles for Sale or Rent
<This convention even had video games.
THE FLESH OF IT
With the Academy just two years in the works and looking to grab some attention, a movie premiere would be right up our alley, but what could it be? Everyone I knew was just finishing "Flesh Gordon" and what a hoot to present the Hollywood premiere of such a wacky (and R rated) movie. To kick off the premiere, we need some music, and who would be better than "Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo"? I had seen them play at the ill-fated Filmex that very year, before a midnight screening of Andy Warhol's "Flesh for Frankenstein" and they were regulars on the Dr. Demento radio show.
I don't know how it happened, but we did in fact get a premiere of "Flesh Gordon" AND Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo!
What a terrific evening it was. The entire street in front of the UA Cinema Center in Westwood was cordoned off to traffic. In front of the theater, the Mystic Knights played Cab Calloway swing, while costumed monsters and babes danced in the street. We even had the original Flash himself, Buster Crabbe come down and say a few words. Invite and ticket
Joe Viskocil on the set of Flesh Gordon>
Those Mystic Knights with Danny Elfman on Trombone
In the Flesh: Jason Williams
1974 had turned out to be quite a year and there was lots more to come. . .
