Welcome, all lovers of all things weird and wonderful! Welcome to my Radio Spot Reliquary.
I was visiting with Granny Creech the other day when she noticed all the radio spots I had rearranged in my Reliquary and she wondered when I was going to start sharing them here on Zombos’ site. I told her I didn’t want to steal her thunder and, besides, I don’t have the way with words like she does. She chided me and told me that it would be OK. She said she concentrates on spots from the fifties and sixties, with a few later exceptional exceptions, and it would be cool for me to bring out those from the seventies and eighties. She said they were still good and fans would like to hear them. No detailed introductions would be needed just present them. So, I thought about it and decided that it could work. But I would need some help.
I’m no historian and I hate researching things, so I asked our old buddy Zombos if he would be able to help me. I aroused him from his usual stupor and, after much coercion and the promise of two cases of Guinness, he agreed to be my backup, filling in where I needed some help.
So, here is to the first of what promises to be a long series of classic newer radio spots, presented in no particular order, just however the mood strikes me. I’m sure you will enjoy them, as collecting them has been a labor of love for me. They are some of my favorite titles and I want you to hear them.
The Nazi who shrivels up as his life is sucked out of him! The evil agent whose face melts! The renegade archaeologist whose head explodes! Mummies! The Wrath of God! All this and more! Listen to spots for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK! Great stuff!
ZC Note: It should not be forgotten that Raiders of the Lost Ark was intended as an homage to the movie serials of the 1930s through 1950s. The franchise captures the excitement and action that serials gave to audiences, through one chapter each week, and the cliff hanger situations where the hero faced imminent death, again and again. Both Star Wars and Indiana Jones rekindled the thematic tension and action style of those serials to a new audience in an updated format. Appreciation for the movie serials like Flash Gordon, Captain Marvel, Buck Rogers, and many others, was first revived in the 1970s as they became a cinematic art form that comic book, horror, and sci fi fans rediscovered through the then nascent fan convention circuit. While that appreciation was more journalistic, and supported by late night film showings, there was no movement toward returning that thrilling storytelling to the screen until George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, heavily influenced by them, decided it was time to make a comeback. With the advancements in special effects, bigger budgets, and a notion to make audiences feel like kids again, cinema experienced an exciting rebirth. Again.