Friday 29 March 2019

Hark! Solo-pod: Ed McBain Magazines and Comics

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct extra-special bonus side-pod podcast!
Inspired by a query about a particular magazine from the 1970s by the author Sarah Weinman on Twitter, I fell down a research rabbit-hole and have emerged clutching a whole bunch of information about the various attempts at 'spinning-off' from the 87th Precinct.
The early sixties saw the emergence of Ed McBain's Mystery Book and the 87th Precinct comic and the seventies brought us Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Mystery Magazine. Who brought these to life, how long did they last, who contributed? All questions are, sort of, answered (or at least speculated on) in this solo-podcast from series host, Paul Abbott.
If you like the show, please consider rating & reviewing it on your podcast app, and telling friends who you think would like the show. The usual format is a three-way discussion about each book in the series. All the back-episodes are still available, including bonus interviews and reviews of adaptations and other related McBain stuff. 
Hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed researching it. Fare thee well!

Wednesday 20 March 2019

Ed McBain's Shotgun - Episode 23, Bonus: John Candy and The Borrowers

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct bonus episode.
We're back for our follow-up to the main podcast all about the gruesome story from 1969, Shotgun. As always, we kick off with a look at our editions, including a near lethal huffing for Stevo, and then reveal the original UK and US designs for the book and the mysterious Canadian Star Weekly release. Find these photos on our Instagram feed here.
Then we get stuck into the main business of the day - Casting the Fantasy 87th Precinct series - Phase One: WHEN? Paul reveals some of the thoughts of you, our listeners, and we discuss the technology and changes that might limit or affect when we'd set our version of an 87th Precinct TV series. Let us know what you think of our idea. Also, get your thinking lederhosen and start to ponder who you'd cast to play boss-of-the-detectives, Lieutenant Peter Byrnes.
See you soon for 'JIGSAW'. Fare thee well.  

Friday 15 March 2019

Ed McBain's Shotgun - Episode 23: Belly Preston

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast
The cops of the Eight-Seven are often dealing with some pretty messy crimes and this book, Shotgun, has one of the messiest. Join Carella, Kling, Meyer and Hawes as they tackle two shootings and a stabbing, with plenty of hep-cat beat poetry thrown in along the way. There's also a nice reward for the series reader here, as book 19, He Who Hesitates, bleeds into the story.
Alongside our usual discussion of 1969 in music, film, TV and politics, we have an examination of the gun-permit laws in NYC now and then, learn the word 'Scofflaw' and get visited by possibly two ghosts. There's a fair bit of British Ephemera (TM) here - ask us if you want clarification on our TWITTER page, or email us at hark87podcast@gmail.com
You can find our KO-FI page for one-off contributions at www.ko-fi.com/hark87podcast - thanks to everyone who's sent us something so far!
Join us in the bonus episode for our look at the original editions and our book covers, as well as part one of "Casting The 87th Precinct" where we explore the WHEN of the story settings. Fare thee well!