The Flopcast

We have a special concert report this week, because the pioneering German electropop band Kraftwerk came to Boston! Kevin was there, wearing official Kraftwerk 3-D glasses, because this was not a normal show. We also recall the time Kornflake saw a very different German act in Boston many years ago. (We wish we could say it wasn't Lou Bega, but it was TOTALLY LOU BEGA.) Also: We check out that new...

We just noticed that 1997 was a quarter century ago, so we thought we'd celebrate with a FlopFight tournament of 1997 pop songs. (It's not quite an official FlopFight; we've relaxed the rules a bit, because we're sleepy.) The competing songs are a mix of pure pop (Spice Girls, Hanson), alt-rock (Cranberries, Third Eye Blind), Lilith ladies (Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole), and crazy goofy weird stuff (ge...

Inspired by our friend Jon Sloan's comic book series Jim & Celeste, we have a Top 4 1/2 List of movies to watch while stranded on an island. The catch is that the movies must be from 1975-1985. Which should be fine, because that's when all the good stuff happened. But we still manage to make some terrible choices. (How many blaxsploitation, vansploitation, car wash, and Gary Coleman movies would y...

While Kevin relaxes in the background making sarcastic comments, Kornflake presents a Top 4 1/2 List of weird superheroes! Including: a rejected Legionnaire (even goofier than Chlorophyll Kid), a Perhapanaut, a Mystery Man, an Aquabat, and more. Along the way Kevin chimes in with Captains Carrot and Marvel (Split!), as well as Turnipman (a hero so obscure he was invented by us). Not weird enough f...

Kevin and Kornflake have concert reports from two different "Weird Al" Yankovic concerts! (That's right, we actually left the house. Still a rare event these days...) This is Weird Al's Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, with a constantly changing set list of obscure album tracks, so we saw two very different shows. Included in our reports: The remarkable Emo Phillips opens the s...

It's our big silly tenth anniversary show! Yes, we have released a Flopcast episode every week for TEN YEARS. (Also, yes, we're sleepy, and yes, we're completely out of ideas. But here we are.) And we're celebrating with a special tenth anniversary FlopFight! Kornflake provided the contestants, and it's a bizarre randomized assortment of characters from sitcoms, movies, cartoons, and more. The com...

After a too-long break from the show, the Mayor of Chickentown is back as our special guest co-host! (It's more court-ordered community service, we assume.) We start with a look at the recently-announced 2022 inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (We're happy about Lionel, Dolly, Pat Benatar, and all those Durans. On the other hand, still no 38 Special, but we can dream...) Then Kevin repo...

Kevin is being watched by enemy birds; Green Day coffee is on the way; Hit Parade celebrates five years of podcasting (with a quote from the Mayor of Chickentown!); The Flopcast celebrates ten years of podcasting in a couple of weeks (but we don't know what we're doing); we lightning-round through a bunch of TV talk (about Atypical, Picard, Derry Girls, Stranger Things, Girls5eva, Russian Doll, Um...

One again we've let the Chickentown Studios Supercomputer randomly determine our discussion topics, which means we're talking about "Talking Out of Turn" (an obscure 1980s single from a classic rock band), Action Jackson (the 1988 movie sadly not based on the Mego action figure line), The Young Rebels (a 1970s Revolutionary War-era TV series with Louis Gossett Jr.), and The Young Riders (a 1980s w...

It's a Chickens in the News follow-up report! We're revisiting the rogue hen that tried to break into the Pentagon a few weeks back, but now we have the official incident report to examine. (Has the Freedom of Information Act ever been put to better use?) And we've unearthed some startling new details, which may or may not involve a parking lot salad bar. Also: Kornflake is reading about a lost do...

Special guest Blasted Bill is still here, and our favorite vehicles from 1980s pop culture are still doing battle in our latest FlopFight tournament. Some major players were knocked out last week (farewell, A-Team van) as Airwolf flew straight into the finals. Can anything stop that high-tech TV helicopter? The train from Silver Spoons and the station wagon from Nation Lampoon's Vacation are sure...

Our old pal Blasted Bill returns, and Bill is here for a FlopFight! The subject is 1980s vehicles, so your favorite cars, trucks, vans, and bikes from 80s movies and TV shall do battle. (Mr. T has the van. And if Jan Michael Vincent brings the helicopter, Hasselhoff will supply the talking car.) And it's a FlopFight, so the battles will be weird. (Which vehicle would make the superior birdwatcher?...

It's just more random silliness, just for you. We imagine a world in which Kornflake is in control (it'll be all Howard Jones concerts, all the time), and Kevin recalls racing a turkey through the mean streets of Chickentown (the turkey won, of course). Then our supercomputer forces us to discuss Capitol Critters (the short-lived cartoon series with Doogie Howser as a field mouse in Washington DC)...

Another quick random show, including: Happy Birthday to Matthew Broderick (star of Ladyhawke) and Elton John (star of the "Nikita" music video); Kevin has a pile of 80s movie promo buttons ("Free Johnny Dangerously!"); Gloria Estefan is a cat; Madonna is not a mermaid; the American Sci-Fi Classics Track hosts another Battle of the Fictional Bands (former champion Dr. Teeth was excused this time);...

Time for a hugely important correction: Last week we got a couple of obscure Julian Lennon videos mixed up. (The "we" means Kevin. Kornflake was innocent this time...) But it's an excuse to revisit the wonderfully ridiculous "Stick Around" video, featuring cameos by stars from Square Pegs, Family Ties, The Karate Kid, and Saturday Night Live. Then we look at the week that "Stick Around" peaked on...

This week we let the Chickentown Studios supercomputer randomly determine our discussion topics. (Does this mean we're completely out of ideas? Oh, that happened six or seven years ago...) The result is an even weirder show than usual. Including: The 40th anniversary of Pac-Man Fever; songwriter Carole Bayer Sager's tribute to Mac and Me; Julian Lennon music videos (Correction: Kevin confused "Say...

It's a Tuesday spectacular! This episode was recorded on Tuesday, 2/22/22, so we're looking at the 2nd, 22nd, 222nd, and 2222nd biggest 1980s pop songs, according to the amazing book Ranking the '80s. You'd better believe Billy Ocean is involved, and he's gonna get out of our dreams and into our podcast. Also: A chicken tried to break into the Pentagon; Insane Ian is on HBO; Kevin is on Pop Cultur...

Another weird mix of stuff from our latest Saturday morning recording session (for which we keep forgetting the Cocoa Puffs): For National Whatever Day we're celebrating a forgotten 1920s silent movie (and also guys named Mike); a box of wine was shipped to the studio from Washington state (or possibly Mars); Kornflake witnesses the miraculous birth of a shrimp; a miraculous newborn shrimp receive...

Just a weird mix of stuff this time: Kornflake learns that a former New England Patriots quarterback (no, not that one) is now in the wine business, and takes appropriate action; a giant Asian sea eagle has been hanging around Massachusetts, and we're trying to lure it to Chickentown Studios for an interview; Kornflake recommends a new webcomic about high school kids in the 80s (of course); and ou...

It's a quick but fun show this week, as we review this year's nominees for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now if it were up to us, the list would include The Monkees, Weird Al, Men Without Hats, Martika, and The New Monkees. (There's a reason no one trusts us with anything.) But the actual list isn't bad! Some of our favorites from the 80s have been nominated again (come on, Pat Bena...

We love Canada, and we love goofy public service announcements, so Kornflake has rounded up a bunch of Canadian PSAs to watch and discuss. And while nothing can replace Schoolhouse Rock and Robolar from Mars in our hearts, these videos (mostly from the 80s, of course) are pretty fantastic. They include: anti-smoking cartoon aliens, puppet geese in hot air balloons, puppet mice with a giant mousetr...

Our first Top 4 1/2 List of the year was perhaps inspired by how crazy cold it's been here in Chickentown. The topic is... ice. We have some ice-themed 80s music (remember Australian band Icehouse?), some Karate Kid ice-breaking action, several ice-powered superheroes (from Marvel, DC, and even Pixar), and a bunch more icy oddities. So stay inside and enjoy. Have some coffee. But not iced coffee,...

Way too cold to leave the house, so today we're just flipping through another old issue of Dynamite, that classic magazine for kids of the 70s and 80s. (You could get Dynamite through the school book club or by subscription, so either your teacher or your mailman would know you're a huge nerd.) This issue is from 1981, and features an exclusive interview with Rick Springfield! (Rick is on the cove...

Let's wrap up our annual two-part memorial show by getting through a long list of everyone we lost in the second half of 2021. From television, we have stars from The Andy Griffith Show, Night Court, Quantum Leap, Newhart... and a couple more (!) from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. From the world of music, we have members of ZZ Top and Kool & The Gang, rapper Biz Markie, a Rolling Stone, an Everly Bro...

As usual we're kicking off the new year by looking back on everyone we lost in the old year. This week's show covers the first half of 2021, with many of our favorites from the world of pop culture and beyond. Including: The voice of Hermey the Elf, the designer of our all-time favorite Muppets (Yipyipyipyipyip), two of the stars of Midnight Run, two Saturday morning TV genies (Jambi and Weenie),...