Happy Birthday, Edgar Allen Poe

[filkertom]

On this date in 1809.

So, what's your favorite Poe pastiche or adaptation? There's a lot to love in those old Roger Corman flicks -- I've got The Raven and The Tomb of Ligeia (that latter on a double disk with the TV production An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe -- all Vinnie all the time), and I really need to get Masque of the Red Death.

Comments

[per_solo]

As fun as it is to admit, probably Bester's comments in Babylon 5.

Bester: I was expecting the Captain.
Susan Ivanova: He sent me.
Bester: Did he? He has a better sense of humor than I thought! Please sit.
Susan Ivanova: I'd rather stand.
Bester: I suspect you'd rather walk out that door and wall me up inside! Do a little re-creation of "The Cask of Amontillado". "For the love of God, Montresor!"
Susan Ivanova: If you get near a point, make it!

but then, like many, I'm a fan. :-)

[colinmo.livejournal.com]

I quite like the version of The Raven by Trilobite Pictures (http://www.trilobitepictures.com/main.html). I think you might have even linked to it, somewhen in the past.

[mstrhypno.livejournal.com]

The Raven with Boris, Peter and Vinnie, of course! And the funniest magical duel in movie history! Especially my favorite magical attact - "Egg Drop Goop!"

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I'm low brow.
The Simpsons doing "The Raven." Read by James Earl Jones.

[nuveena.livejournal.com]

"Take thy BEAK from OUT MY HEART, and take thy form from OFF MY DOOR!"

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination - The Alan Parsons Project.

I'll admit to never having seen any of the Corman flicks, although I have seen Babylon 5 (of course), but Alan Parsons, I think, really nailed it with his music.

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

And here I thought I was the only one . . .

I lost the tape I used to have, so it's been sitting on my Amazon wish list for several months, now.

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

*heh* Nope. Not at all the only one. I have that on one vinyl and on CD, the latter with Orson Welles' narration put back in...

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

There was Orson Welles narration in it? Well, now I'm just going to have to buy the thing as a birthday present for myself in another month . . .

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

Yeah, leading off "Dream Within a Dream" and "Fall of the House of Usher", the latter also being used to "link" what was originally the end of side 1 ("Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether") and the start of side 2 ("Fall of the House of Usher"). They also added a couple of tracks of guitar riffs in there - one worked really well, the other was "Why bother?" (at least for me).

And now I see at APP website that the first 10 are being remastered and re-released on CD, with extra tracks on all. YAY!!!!

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

Oooh, good to know . . . ^ v ^

Alan Parson's remastered CDs with new tracks

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

Extra tracks???

*sighs* does that mean I have to RE-PURCHASE them all over again?? After looking in my notebook, I discovered that the only one I don't have on CD IS Stereonomy and the new one, A Valid Path

Re: Alan Parson's remastered CDs with new tracks

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

I suppose that's up to you. I don't have A Valid Path, either (I'll have to fix that...), and in fact most of what I have is either on vinyl or cassette, so I'll be delighted to get remasters, extra tracks or no.

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination - The Alan Parsons Project.

was the very first tape I heard by then.

I was addicted!!

my very first EVAR CD purchased was Gaudi (then I picked up Mannheim Steamroller's Fresh Aire V based SOLEY on the cover art and fell down *that* particular rabbit hole! :D)

which reminds me, while I had everything up to Steronomy on LP, I don't think I managed to get all of them on CD (YET!)

/scurries off to AlanParsons.com

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

Alas, I don't have 'em all on CD, either, but I do have Tales on vinyl AND CD. :-)

And while I'm commenting...

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Mannheim are brilliant. Chip's done wonders with the Fresh Aire series, which I'm delighted to have all of.

And I love the userpic.

Re: And while I'm commenting...

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I'm intrigued. Amazon have about eighty entries for Mannheim Steamroller and I think *two* of them have reviews. And I can't hear their samples because all Amazon samples ever do for me is download a programme called Hurl which does nothing (plus I axed my RealPlayer last night in a desperate attempt to stop iTunes rebooting every time I put in a disc).

So, what do they sound like???

What do Manheim Steamroller sound like?

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Good Lord, man, get out & get one! ANY one; they are all fantastic! Record stores never knew how to classify them -- classical, jazz, "new age" (before new age had been invented, and the only folk to ever really get it right) Just DO it!

Re: And while I'm commenting...

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

They are *not* Alan Parsons, or rock and roll for that matter. Some of their CDs "crossover", such as the American one that has an excellent rendition of "Convoy" by C.W. McCall (with C.W. providing the vocal), but by and large, instrumental, some of it very much informed by Ancient Music or whatever the heck they're calling pre-Classical these days, some of it classical, some of it - well, go have a listen.

Go to the Fresh Aire CD page at . Pick a CD (click on the cover) and it'll give you more details, a track list, and a chance to listen to some of the cuts.

(They've also done other stuff - a set of Christmas CDs, for instance, that by and large is great, although IMHO "Christmas Extraordinaire" was rather "ordinaire"...) (http://dev.shop-amgram.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AG&Category_Code=MCD5) (http://www.mannheimsteamroller.com)

Re: And while I'm commenting...

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

And having munged the HTML, let me try again...

They are *not* Alan Parsons, or rock and roll for that matter. Some of their CDs "crossover", such as the American one that has an excellent rendition of "Convoy" by C.W. McCall (with C.W. providing the vocal), but by and large, instrumental, some of it very much informed by Ancient Music or whatever the heck they're calling pre-Classical these days, some of it classical, some of it - well, go have a listen.

Go to the Fresh Aire CD page (http://dev.shop-amgram.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=AG&Category_Code=MCD5) at MannheimSteamroller.com (http://www.mannheimsteamroller.com). Pick a CD (click on the cover) and it'll give you more details, a track list, and a chance to listen to some of the cuts.

(They've also done other stuff - a set of Christmas CDs, for instance, that by and large is great, although IMHO "Christmas Extraordinaire" was rather "ordinaire"...)

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

The Corman/Vincent Price take on Poe are joys.

The Raven is so much fun yet creepy.

But of all of them, "The Masque of the Red Death" is astonding. One of the few they did serious. The look is amazing, the acting is practically Shakesperian. I have a wonderful print on LaserDisk and never tire of watching it.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Well, yes.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Many of the above, plus two more:

Phil Ochs, "The Bells" and Tiny Toons, "The Raven". (Couldn't find the latter online, but wow! John Astin (YouTube, 6:57 - I want his outfit!) and Christopher Walken (YouTube, 8:51) reading it)!

For my own reading, both A Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart on the prose side. Anything and everything on the poetry side, so long as it's aloud.

And every so often I listen to this guy named Smith singing about that heart, too :-)

[greenmansgrove.livejournal.com]

Not video, but I've got audio files of Basil Rathbone reading both "The Raven" and "The Pit and the Pendulum."

[poltr1]

I second jmthane's suggestion of Tales of Mystery and Imagination by the Alan Parsons Project.

[tuto.livejournal.com]

The Simpsons doing "The Raven." Read by James Earl Jones.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I'm not as familiar with Poe as I should be -- I've enjoyed most of what I've encountered but I don't remember details either of which story is which in the original or who did what version in performance or derivative works. But within the limited universe of what I do actually remember well, Telly Taley Heart is my favorite.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

I saw a show about Poe's life and work last year with my theater class. It was ... kind of uneventful. They put so much of his work as an Extension Of His Inner Turmoil And Quest For Love that the stories lost all meaning. Except for "The Raven," which succeeded out of pure awesome. (Though it did sound a little like "Falcon in the Dive" from Scarlet Pimpernel; but I'm a sucker for the obsessive villain's number.)

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

"I'm a sucker for the obsessive villain's number"

As your icon might well suggest. I think my favorite is "Lo, I'm Lord Tom Vader".

If you like villain musical numbers, might I also suggest "The Villain" by (I think) Michael Longcor? Inspired by Mercedes "Misty" Lackey's character Mornelith Falconsbane.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the mysterious fellow in the black cloak left the rose and bottle of cognac on his grave again?

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'd have to say H. P. Lovecraft. Best thing Poe ever wrote...

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Bradbury's story. I think it was simply called Usher II.

(Also, an honorable mention for the second comic on this page (http://www.absurdnotions.org/page125.html). Sadly, that storyline has yet to see conclusion...)

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, yes. Contains my favorite anti-censorship rant of all time:

"...and they took one hammer blow to the Looking Glass, and smashed every Red King and oyster away!"