The Late Great Shel Talmy

Shel Talmy, who produced legendary songs for The Kinks, The Who, and The Easybeats, died on November 13 2024 at the age of 87. The cause was complications from a stroke.

Shel Talmy was born on August 11 1937 in Chicago. From an early age he had an interest in music and how it was made. He was 13 years old when he appeared on the television version of Quiz Kids. After graduating high school Shel Talmy worked for ABC Television for a brief time. Afterwards he began working at Conway Studios Los Angeles, where he learned to use three-track recording equipment. He produced his first single after only three days at Conway Studios Los Angeles, "Falling Star" by Debbie Sharron. He also worked with the surf band The Marketts, The Castells, and Rene Hall and Bumps Blackwell.

It was in the summer of 1962 that Shel Talmy went to the United Kingdom for what was supposed to be a five-week vacation. He took only a small amount of money with him and he thought he might earn more as an independent music producer while he was on vacation. He signed to Decca Records, where he produced such acts as The Bachelors and Chad & Jeremy.

It was in 1964 that Shel Talmy produced what would be his breakthrough single, "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks. The song went to no. 1 in the United Kingdom and no. 7 in the United States. It also proved to be highly influential. Shel Talmy would produce several more songs for The Kinks, including their hits "All Day and All of the Night," "Tired of Waiting for You," "Till the End of the Day," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," "Sunny Afternoon," and "Waterloo Sunset."

The Kinks' song "You Really Got Me" so impressed Pete Townshend of a band called The High Numbers that it inspired his song 'I Can't Explain." He played the song for Shel Talmy in hopes that he would produce it. Shel Talmy agreed and it became the first song he produced for The Who, as The High Numbers became known. "I Can't Explain" proved to be The Who's first hit in the United Kingdom, going to no. 8 on the singles chart. He also produced their next hit, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," which also hit the top ten of the British singles chart. Shel Talmy went onto produce The Who's singles "My Generation," "A Legal Matter," "The Kids Are Alright," and "La La La Lies." He also produced The Who's debut album, My Generation.

Shel Talmy would also produce the hit singles "Friday on My Mind" by The Easybeats, "Just Like a Woman" by Manfred Mann, "A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy,  and "(If Paradise) Is Half as Nice" by Amen Corner. While in Britain he produced songs for such other artists as David Bowie, The Creation, Roy Harper, Pentangle, The Fortunes, and many others. He was also part of the music department of the horror movie Scream and Scream Again (1970).

By the early Seventies Shel Talmy was producing fewer records. During the Seventies he would still do some remarkable work as a music producer, producing records, for Follow the Buffalo,  The Damned, Eddie Phillips, Small Faces, Ralph McTell, and Band of Joy. Shel Talmy returned to the United States in 1979. Although he worked less on producing records, he still served as a producer for such artists as Sorrows, Jon and the Nightriders,and  Fuzztones. He more recently produced records for Hidden Charms and Strangers in a Strange Land.

Shel Talmy was quite simply a music legend. He was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion, producing some of its best known songs, from "You Really Got Me" to "My Generation" to "A Summer Song." He also played an important role in the careers of The Kinks and The Who. Arguably he was essential to the development of the subgenre power pop having produced such songs as "You Really Got Me" and "I Can't Explain." While perhaps best known for the work he did with such rock artists as The Kinks, The Who, and The Creation, he also worked in other genres. He produced songs for the folk group Pentangle and folk rock artist Roy Harper. Shel Talmy had an enormous impact on music that will continue to be felt for years to come.

William Conrad in Film Noir

For many, William Conrad will always be the narrator on Rocky and Bullwinkle or detective Frank Cannon on the TV series Cannon. For others he will always be Marshal Matt Dillon on the radio show Gunsmoke or prosecuting attorney J. L. "Fatman" McCabe on Jake and the Fatman. For film noir fans, he may be best remembered as a heavy in several films noirs.

As an actor in the late Forties and the Fifties, William Conrad found himself in the same situation as another large actor, Raymond Burr. Both often found themselves cast as heavies in films noirs, Westerns, period dramas and even horror movies. In a interview with James Bowden in the September 14 1993 issue of The Toronto Star, Raymond Burr said of his early career, "I was just a fat heavy. I split the heavy parts with Bill Conrad. We were both in our twenties playing much older men."  In various films noirs it not difficult to picture Raymond Burr in a William Conrad part or William Conrad in a Raymond Burr part.

Indeed, William Conrad began playing heavies early in his film career. In fact, his first credited role was the hitman Max in the classic film noir The Killers in 1946. As hitmen Max and his partner Al (Charles McGraw) are deadly serious. Early in the film they calmly and coolly take over a small town diner, making it clear that this is something they regularly do. As Max, William Conrad makes a lasting impression. It is made all the more remarkable by the fact that The Killers was only his second film.

William Conrad's next major heavy in a film noir, Quinn in Body and Soul (1947), is as sleazy as Max in The Killers (1946) is calm, cool, and collected. Quinn is the manager of boxer Charley Davis (John Garfield), and for Quinn making a quick buck is more important than Charley winning matches. Indeed, he is more loyal to making money than any boxer he has ever managed.

In Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) William Conrad plays a rather different sort of heavy. Morano is amiable and even a bit charming, but he has no objections against instructing someone else to commit murder. While Morano is an affable sort, the same cannot be said for Ollie in One Way Street (1950). Part of the crew of a heist of $500,000, Ollie not only has no objections to murder, he has no objections to committing it himself. What is more, he is not particularly friendly either. In contrast to Ollie, Louie Castro in Cry Danger (1951) is a bookie and in some ways not particularly brave.

While William Conrad played criminals in film noirs, he also played police officers. In East Side, West Side (1949), he played homicide detective Lt. Jacobi. In Tension (1950) he played another homicide detective, Lt. Blackie Gonsales, who assists fellow homicide detective Lt. Collier Bonnabel. In the 1951 version of The Racket, William Conrad played Detective Sergeant Turk. In Cry of the Hunted (1953) he played Goodwin, an assistant to lawman Lt. Turner, who is searching for a dangerous fugitive.

In two other film noirs, William Conrad played roles that were far removed from either criminals or cops. In Dial 1119 (1950) he played Chuckles, the ill-fated bartender at the Oasis Bar. In 5 Against the House (1955), he played another unlucky character. He played casino employee Eric Berg, who is threatened with death if he does not assist the crew robbing the casino.

In many ways William Conrad had more luck with roles in radio and on television than he had in movies. Often playing heavies in the movies, in radio and on television he actually played heroes. While he would play many bad guys in television guest appearances, he also played Matt Dillon on the radio show Gunsmoke and Frank Cannon on Cannon. Still, while he might have tired of playing one heavy after another in the movies, there can be no doubt that William Conrad was very good at being a bad guy. Max in The Killers, Quinn in Body and Soul, and Morano in Sorry, Wrong Number, remain memorable for reason.

Some Tips for Using BlueSky

The past week has seen the social media service BlueSky add one million users as people flee Twitter (which its owner insists on calling "X"). I have been on Bluesky for over a year (since October 29 2023) and in the past two days, both my followers and those I follow have doubled. With so many people joining BlueSky, I thought I would offer some tips I have learned over the months I have been using it.

Starter Packs: Everyone who has ever joined a social media service has had difficulty finding people to follow once they have joined a new service. I have to think many people wind up searching for their friends on the new service, something that can take time. Fortunately, this summer BlueSky introduced a solution to this problem. Starter Packs are a feature that allows users to find people and feeds to follow right away. Anyone can create a Starter Pack. All of the Starter Packs I have seen are devoted to a specific subject. I created one I call the Classic Movie & TV Starter Pack, which includes fans of classic movies and TV shows (most of them are from the TCMParty and Svengoolie crowds). I have seen others devoted to Comic Book Journalists, TV and Pop Culture People, the Reuters Newsroom, and so on. Starter Packs are a good way to find people to follow right away. I really wish BlueSky had them when I had joined.

Lists: In addition to Starter Packs, BlueSky also has lists that function pretty much in the same way as Twitter's lists do. Now some of you might be wondering what the differences between lists and Starter Packs are. Well, for one thing, lists only include users, while Starter Packs can include both users and feeds. For another thing, when one follows a Starter Pack, they follow every single person and feed in that Starter Pack. When one follows a list, they are not actually following all of the users on that list, even though they will see their posts in their feed.


Custom Feeds: Custom feeds are one of the things that really separates BlueSky from Twitter and some of the other microbloggers. While BlueSky's default "Following" feed displays posts from everyone and everything a user follows, custom feeds allow the user to create their own algorithm for a feed. For instance, one could create a custom feed where one only sees photos of people's pets. I created one that displays all posts using the hashtag Svengoolie. Custom feeds are good for someone who wants a more curated experience on BlueSky. There are websites that make creating a custom feed easy, including SkyFeed and BlueSky Feed Creator.

Hashtags: Like Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram, BueSky uses hashtags. As might be expected, hashtags are another way one can customize one's experience on BlueSky. If you click on a hashtag on BlueSky, a little box will pop up that reads "See (hashtag); See (hashtag) posts by user; and Mute (hashtag). If one wants to see posts for #TCMParty and one is looking at a post containing the hashtag, all they would have to do is click on #TCMParty and then click "See #TCMParty." Clicking "See #TCMParty by user" would show one all the posts by that user containing the hashtag. If one, God forbid, clicked "Mute #TCMParty," that would make it so that one would never see posts containing the hashtag.

Unfortunately, BlueSky is still a bit wonky when it comes to hashtags. For instance, unlike the primary "Following" feed, hashtag feeds can take quite a while to update on BlueSky. This makes live posting, such as #TCMParty and the live posts to #Svengoolie, somewhat difficult. Fortunately, there is a solution in the form of Deck Blue. Deck Blue is essentially the BlueSky equivalent of TweetDeck. With Deck Blue one can set how often one's feeds refresh. I have my #TCMParty and #Svengoolie feeds set to "15 seconds," which is a whole faster than they refresh on BlueSky itself!

Moderation: There was a time when BlueSky lacked a block button and content moderation was very much a work in progress there. Fortunately, that time was pretty much past by the time I joined in late October of last year. Today BlueSky has some of the best moderation tools of any social media service. Much like Twitter, one can mute words and hashtags. There are also moderation lists, in which one can mute or even block several users at once. As to the blocking function on BlueSky, it is fairly robust. Once a user is blocked, they cannot interact with the individual who blocked them in any way shape, or form.

As if all of this was not enough, one can disable or enable adult content, show or hide non-sexual nudity, and discourage apps from showing one's account to users who aren't logged in. Beyond all of this, there is also the BlueSky Moderation Service, through which one can hide everything from extremist posts to racist posts. This may well be why in the whole year I have been on BlueSky I have not seen much in the way of trolls.

Now one disadvantage to BlueSky that has, unlike many social media services, they do not have  private accounts. That means anyone can see one's posts except for those people they have blocked. This does not bother me, as all of my social media accounts are public except for Facebook, but it might be a deal breaker for some.

A number of alternatives to Twitter have arisen in the past few years, particularly since Twitter changed ownership in April 2022. And now it is fairly clear that Twitter is on its last legs. It would appear that many have decided BlueSky will be its replacement. Having been on BlueSky for over a year, I really cannot argue with that. It is a fine microblogger and feels a lot like Twitter had once been.

Godspeed Tony Todd

Tony Todd, who appeared in the movie The Crow and the "Candyman" movies, as well as the TV shows Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, died on November 6 2024 at the age of 69 following a long illness.

Tony Todd was born on December 4 1954 in Washington, DC. He attended the University of Connecticut for two years before he received a scholarship at the Eugene O’Neill National Theatre Institute. Afterwards he spent time at the Hartman Conservatory in Stamford, Connecticut, and the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

Tony Todd made his film debut in 1986 in Sleepwalk. He made his television debut in 1987 in an episode of Simon & Simon. In the late Eighties he guest starred on the shows Werewolf, 21 Jump Street, Kate & Allie, Night Court, Matlock, and Cop Rock. He appeared in the movies Platoon (1986), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Bang! You're Dead! (1987), Enemy Territory (1987), Colors (1988), Bird (1988), Lean on Me (1989). Night of the Living Dead (1990), and Voodoo Dawn (1990).

In the Nineties Tony Todd had recurring roles on the shows Jake and the Fatman, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Homicide: Life on the Street. He starred in the mini-series Black Fox. He guest starred on the shows Father Dowling Mysteries; Law & Order; The X-Files; Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; Murder, She Wrote; New York Undercover; Beverly Hills, 90120; NYPD Blue; Xena: Warrior Princess; Soldier of Fortune, Inc.; Star Trek Voyager; and Angel. He played the title role in the horror movie Candyman (1992). He would reprise the role in the sequels Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999). He played funeral director William Bludworth in Final Destination (2000) and reprised the role in the sequel Final Destination 2 (2003). He was the voice of a devil at an amusement park ride in Final Destination 3 (2006). He reprised the role of William Bludworth one last time in Final Destination 5 (2011).  He played Top Dollar's bodyguard Grange in The Crow (1994). He also appeared in the movies Sunset Heat (1992), Excessive Force (1993), Bunzy's Last Call (1995), Sabotage (1996),. The Rock (1996), Driven (1996), Stir (1997), Wishmaster (1997), Univers'l (1997), Shadow Builder (1998), Caught Up (1998), Butter (1998), The Pandora Project (1998). The Dogwalker (1999), and Le Secret (2000).

In the Naughts Tony Todd had recurring  roles on the TV shows Stargate SG-1, Chuck, and The Event. He guest starred on the shows UC: Undercover, Smallville, Crossing Jordan,  Andromeda, Charmed, Boston Public, CSI: Miami,.The District,  24, Night Stalker, Criminal Minds, Masters of Horror, Boston Legal, Without a Trace, 24, and Psych. He was a guest voice on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He appeared in the movies Silence (2002), Control Factor (2003), Scarecrow Slayer (2003),. Murder-Set-Pieces (2004), Checking Out (2005), The Prophecy: Forsaken (2005), Dark Assassin (2005),. Heart of the Beholder (2005), Turntable (2005), Minotaur (2006),. Shadow: Dead Riot (2006), Hatchet (2006), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006), Shadow Puppets (2007), Tournament of Dreams (2007), The Man from Earth (2007), The Mansfield 12 (2007), Murders (2008), Dark Reel (2008), Nite Tales: The Movie (2008), The Thirst: Blood War (2008), Are You Scared? 2 (2009), Vampire in Vegas (2009), Penance (2009), The Graves (2009), Tom Cool (2009), The Quiet Ones (2010), Hatchet II (2010), and Three Chris's (2010).

In the Teens Mr. Todd was the voice of Zoom on the live-action television series The Flash. He had a recurring voice role on the animated series Transformers: Prime.  He had recurring roles on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless and Dead of Summer. He guest starred on the shows Hawaii Five-0, Room 104, Riverdale, The Orville, and Scream: Resurrection. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Young Justice and Bravest Warriors. He appeared in the movies Beg (2011), Dream in American (2011), Jack the Reaper (2011), The Family (2011), Falling Away (2012),. Changing the Game (2012), Sushi Girl (2012),. A Night at the Silent Movie Theatre (2012), Dead of the Nite (2013). Dust of War (2013), Kill Her, Not Me (2013), Army of the Damned (2013), Disciples (2014), Bleeding Hearts (2015), Vanish (2015), Agoraphobia (2015). Live Evil (2015), Scream at the Devil (2015). Beyond the Game (2016),. Broken Cross (2016), Zombies (2016), Victor Crowley (2017), Death House (2017), From Jennifer (2017). Two Faced (2017), The Debt Collector (2018), West of Hell (2018),. The Final Wish (2018). Drive Me to Vegas and Mars (2018), Requiem (2018), Candy Corn (2019). Badland (2019), Immortal (2019). Bulletproof 2 (2020),. Sky Sharks (2020), Tales from the Hood 3 (2020), and Stoker Hills (2020). He was a voice in the animated movies Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015), Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom (2015), Reign of the Supermen (2019), and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020).

In the 2020s Tony Todd was a regular voice on the animated series Dolta: Dragon's Blood. He appeared in the films Insight (2021), The Lockdown Hauntings (2021), The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 (2021), Destination Marfa (2021), Candyman (2021), The Changed (2021), The Reenactment  (2021)., Horror Noire  (2021). Night Night (2021), All Gone Wrong (2021), Traveling Light (2021), Hellblazers (2022), Bitch Ass (2022),  Catfish Christmas (2022),  Realm of Shadows (2023),  Devilreaux (2023), Dixieland (2023), The Nana Project (2023), The Bunker (2024), and Stream (2024).

Tony Todd was an enormous talented actor. He made an impression as the quiet and intelligent, but deadly Grange in The Crow. He was suitably menacing as Candyman in the "Candyman" movies. He gave good performances as William Bludworth, the funeral director in the "Final Destination" movies who is an expert on Death. Although best remembered for his movie roles, Tony Todd also gave some remarkable performances on television. He was convincing as the bothersome, but nonetheless intrepid news reporter Matt Rhodes on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also gave great performances as Kurn, the younger brother of Lt Worf, on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was impressive in the X-Files episode "Sleepless" as former Marine Augustus Cole. Chances are good Todd will always be best remembered as Grange in The Crow and his work in the 'Candyman" and "Final Destination" movies, but he gave many great performances throughout his career.