Favoriting Mid-Valley Mutations with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 25, 2023 Favoriting

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A combination of collage, new experimental records and other bits and bobs, Mid-Valley Mutations is a tour through the mind of Austin Rich, who has been broadcasting in some form since 1998. Heavily influenced by Dr Demento, Don Joyce and old fashioned College Radio, Austin creates Audio Essays on a variety of subjects, and even just plays records, from time to time. Sometimes Live music and Interviews will grace the program, helping create a situation where you don't really know what you're going to hear, when you tune in. What you need to know is when you enter the Mid-Valley region, be prepared for the Musical Mutations... in whatever form they take.

Tuesday 9 - 11pm (EDT) | On WFMU's Sheena's Jungle Room
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Favoriting September 25, 2023: Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe (Part 1)

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Playlist image Favoriting

Artist Track Album Label Year Images Approx. start time
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
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0:00:00 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot  The Crystal Wastes (Instrumental)   Favoriting The Wary Wayfaring EP  WTBC Records  2023 
Favoriting
0:02:45 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
Favoriting
0:06:47 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot  The Story So Far (Instrumental)   Favoriting The Wary Wayfaring EP  WTBC Records  2023 
Favoriting
0:33:11 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
Favoriting
0:38:37 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot  Wending Their Way (Instrumental)   Favoriting The Wary Wayfaring EP  WTBC Records  2023 
Favoriting
1:08:57 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
Favoriting
1:19:19 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot  The Slow And Strange Path (Instrumental)   Favoriting The Wary Wayfaring EP  WTBC Records  2023 
Favoriting
1:47:44 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
Favoriting
1:58:55 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot  Dance The Meteor (Instrumental)   Favoriting The Wary Wayfaring EP  WTBC Records  2023 
Favoriting
 
ZBS Foundation  Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]   Favoriting Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe  ZBS Foundation  1982 
Favoriting
 


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Listener comments!

Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 8:01pm
Austin Rich:

Good Hello.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:01pm
WR:

Onward.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:01pm
Austin Rich:

↳ WR @11:01
Thanks for joining us!
Avatar 11:02pm
Frankie:

Whiz click
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:03pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Frankie @11:02
<zzzzzt>
Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:03pm
Aitch:

Space Mutants rejoice!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:04pm
Aitch:

Thanks for the fill-in A Rich
Avatar 11:04pm
Mr Fab:

Sci-fi AND noir?!
Genre mashup pleeze!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:05pm
WR:

Mike Rogers, hope you are better soon.

Aitch, your stitch removal went ok?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:06pm
Aitch:

↳ WR @11:05
Indeed, thank you.
Very itchy now, but doesn't look like a scene out of Videodrome anymore
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:08pm
Austin Rich:

Thanks for tuning in! If you haven't already discovered: there's a lot of stereo FX, and very fancy production at work. So if you can, put on headphones! Or sit between a pair of speakers.
Avatar 11:08pm
Mr Fab:

This was on NPR?! Can’t imagine that, considering how bland they’ve become over the years.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:09pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Mr Fab @11:08
Yeah, back in the day. Occasionally they air new stuff by this writer... but mostly because of his reputation, at this point.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:11pm
Austin Rich:

You'll notice that the segments are almost all song length, and each segment has fully produced music. The idea was to create a story experience that was like listening to a song, but also had narrative. It creates a sort of dreamy listening experience.
Avatar 11:13pm
Offonoff:

↳ Austin Rich @11:11
But you had to be vigilant with your timing to catch every episode, and you had to keep the previous episodes in your memory banks.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:14pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Offonoff @11:13
Yeah; as I understood it, they just aired one song per week-day. So it was like following a daily comic strip, but in radio form.
Avatar 11:16pm
Teru:

Mr. Science (an 80's radio show produced by Duck's Breath Mystery Theater, later renamed Dr. Science) was similarly short, but without need to attend to the continuity.
Avatar 11:18pm
Angel Lips:

The ability to slow down time strikes me as cheating.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:18pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Teru @11:16
Which I also very much appreciate!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:18pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Angel Lips @11:18
And borrowed by The Matrix, I think.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:22pm
Austin Rich:

Yet another radio show where Tesla is an icon and / or character in the story.

Though, this one might pre-date all the current ones by... 30 years?
Avatar 11:24pm
Onoffon:

↳ Austin Rich @11:22
My goddaughter's name is Tesla. I don't think her dad would have known about Tesla if it hadn't been for Ruby.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:25pm
Austin Rich:

I recall a lot of people when I was coming up had a thing for Tesla. He is pretty cool.
Avatar 11:30pm
Mr Fab:

↳ Teru @11:16
Ask Dr Science! He has a degree…in science!

Our own Taylor Ironybread is the Ducks Breath archivist, and i believe has produced some recent reissues.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:31pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Mr Fab @11:30
Taylor is the best. He's done a few re-issues in the comedy world, I think. He's a busy dude.
Avatar 11:32pm
Rodant Kapoor:

↳ Mr Fab @11:30
I saw Duck's Breath performing live in a cafeteria at Reed College (Portland, Oregon) around 1980.
  👻 11:33pm
Heather Z:

↳ Austin Rich @11:25
A local author, Th Metzger, has a book called Blood and Volts, I believe, about Tesla, Edison, and the electric chair. Bought a copy for a friend's upcoming bday and own one myself. It's been a bit since I've read it but it's worth checking out if you find a copy.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:33pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Rodant Kapoor @11:32
Jealous! That's very cool. (Thought I would have been too young to get in on by own in 1980.)
Avatar 11:37pm
Mustapha:

The ZBS folks have been posting photos and stories about their early days on social media. I get the impression they all lived together in a farmhouse somewhere, like a commune.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:40pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Mustapha @11:37
As I understand it, Fulton started a Radio Commune in the 70's, so they could produce radio without interference. As a result, all the counter-culture people of the era wanted to hang out with the ZBS crew.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:41pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Heather Z @11:33
I'll have to check that out. The Tesla obsession in our culture, and his inclusion as a character in fiction, comes from Ruby, originally, as I understand it.
Avatar 11:45pm
Godzilla Blaster:

Why can't she slow down time while playing pinball?
  👻 11:45pm
Heather Z:

↳ Austin Rich @11:41
It may well have been the inspiration for Der Metzger! It's been ages but we had Tesla on the SoT, played by Ricky Ratteau. It's been so long I can't remember clearly but I think he was the one who pitched Tesla inclusion. My peace ray!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:46pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Godzilla Blaster @11:45
Deus Ex Machina: she only has the power when it's useful for the plot.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:47pm
Austin Rich:

This Solar Wings bit seems like the inspiration for the flying dream sequences in Brazil.
Avatar 11:47pm
Tookah:

Perfect music for solar sailing.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:50pm
Austin Rich:

"Oh, you read a lot."

There's a lot of good lines in this show, but that one...
Avatar 11:58pm
Molière:

Socio-economic philosophical discussions during a shoot-out are always well-advised.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 11:58pm
Austin Rich:

↳ Molière @11:58
But of course!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:02am
Austin Rich:

"Code X-Minus One." That is not the first - or last - old Sci-Fi radio reference in this show.
Avatar 12:03am
Francois:

Oh, there was an X Minus One reference. It all ties together!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:04am
Austin Rich:

↳ Francois @12:03
"The Oregone Islands" I can only assume?
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:19am
Austin Rich:

I've seen a lot of people do this "pulling out more and more weapons" gag in movies and TV in the years since this was on the radio... but this certainly feels like a very early example of the joke.
Avatar 12:24am
Toots Mutant:

I'd say a lot of the interplay between the music, effects, and dialog borrow a lot from Ken Nordine.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:25am
Austin Rich:

↳ Toots Mutant @12:24
I think you are correct! Or, at least, I think Fulton HAD to know about Ken Nordine, and their styles are certainly parallel. I do need to do more Nordine on the show.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:27am
Austin Rich:

"Just another health fad, but what the hell."

Like I said: a million great lines.
Avatar 12:27am
Monet:

Milk bar has to be a reference to Clockwork Orange.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:27am
Austin Rich:

I assumed Heather would be into this story, since The Black Star is one of the central features of this story.
  👻 12:28am
Heather Z:

Blackstar!!!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:29am
Austin Rich:

↳ Monet @12:27
Seems almost guaranteed. There's less documentation about Ruby online than I'd like, but Fulton only talks vaguely about his influences. KPFA radio dramas and 50's rock and roll seems to be his main influence.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:30am
WR:

I cannot adjust to anything other than 6.66.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:30am
Austin Rich:

"Two. Pieces. Of. Paper."

I say that almost all the time.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:31am
Austin Rich:

↳ WR @12:30
It's the nature of the beast, I understand.
  12:31am
Kay:

Solipsism
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:31am
Austin Rich:

"The symbol is controlling your mind."

I say that all the time, too.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:32am
Austin Rich:

Finally: The Hubba-Hubba Tree. The most curious part of this story.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:32am
Austin Rich:

↳ Kay @12:31
Perhaps!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:35am
Austin Rich:

I see parallels with Ruby and Candy Matson (the 50's radio detective show we listened to on Dimestore radio theater), but Ruby is a lot more hardboiled.
Avatar 12:51am
Moonbeam:

I have Jack Flanders on a set of cassette tapes that a friend gave to me.
Avatar 12:58am
Mr. X:

Apparently there is a Mr. X in one of the Ruby pilots, "Rebel from Utopia." [Reading the Wikipedia article...]
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:58am
Austin Rich:

↳ Moonbeam @12:51
Fulton had to retire that series, as the actor who played Jack passed away. There are adjacent stories that Fulton now makes - with adjacent Flanders characters - but there's not more official "new" Flanders.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:59am
WR:

Thank you, Austin, laters all.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:59am
Austin Rich:

↳ WR @12:59
See ya, WR!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:09am
Austin Rich:

The appreciation for jokes and comedy - and the inclusion of puns - can seem like a weird tone shift. But the show also adopts extreme psychedelia, and full noir atmosphere, and even embodies sci-fi soundscapes and philosophical monologues. I think it was Fulton's attempt to appease his many interests, rather than keeping the style narrow. I'm sure he just didn't want to risk getting bored.
Avatar 1:12am
Mr. X:

I imagine the digital circus as being something like a Survival Research Labs show.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:13am
Austin Rich:

↳ Mr. X @1:12
That's a good analogy! Certainly I have an affinity for those videos, too.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:18am
Austin Rich:

"Nobody's Perfect." Seems like a "Some Like It Hot" reference.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:20am
Austin Rich:

We've only got a little bit more story to go. I hope you all had fun. We'll pick up Part 2 very soon!
Avatar 1:20am
Mr. X:

It has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thanks, Austin.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:26am
Austin Rich:

See ya'll next time!
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