JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #550.181.82!

Jan And Dean – The Complete Liberty Singles (Collectors’ Choice) :: From “Surf City” and “Drag City” to “Dead Man’s Curve” and “The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena),” each one of these Hemi hits is guaranteed to light up your Christmas tree every time. Red light! Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys helped Jan and Dean write some of their hits and he sung on them as well. Yellow light! Jan and Dean’s original recording of “Bucket ‘T’” smokes the Who’s later Moon-equipped cover version. Green light! Jan and Dean wrote some of the hippest lyrics ever, as evidenced by this suave little gem from 1964: “They wear organdy dresses and high-button shoes, they read Playboy magazine and Hot Rod news.”

Various Creators – Batman: Gotham Knight – Two-Disc Special Edition (DC Comics/Warner Premiere DVD) :: I recommend this Anime-infused series of six separate segments, penned in part by the pulp-pedigreed likes of Dark Knight author David S. Goyer (the truly trippy “In Darkness Dwells”) and 100 Bullets co-creator Brian Azzarello (the spiritually somber “Working Through The Pain”).

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – The Whole Fam Damnily (Side One Dummy) :: Wherein the ragged but right Rev. rasps out a gnarly backwater batcha tub-stompin’ songs o’protest ’n’ faith, all wrapped ’round a seismic swath of tremeloed slide gitbox ’n’ harp that’ll turn you into a testifyin’ witness givin’ state’s evidence that this here long-player sho ’nuff sounds like a stripped-down high-energy cross between High On The Hog and Led Zeppelin III.

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: New York Dolls – Live At The Fillmore East (Sony) :: Some wonky word wankers wrote that I was thoroughly Scrooged for viciously smearcasing the Dolls’ reunion album as a too little too late pasty-faced pastiche that was nothing more than a David JoHandsome solo album in sell-out drag—but I was right, no matter how many other critics waxed blowjobian over it. So why do I heartily recommend this new ragged rehash? Because it’s the energetic antithesis of its slick and soulless studio predecessor, that’s why. It also helps that they dug deep into their solid songbook to run through a number of less obvious numbers, such as “Jet Boy” and “Pills” and “Puss ’n’ Boots” before finally bringing down the curtain with a heartfelt tribute to El Thunderoso on “Lonely Planet Boy.” As a matter of fact, this album is so good, you’ll almost forgive the singer for foisting Buster Poindexter on us. Almost.

Be seeing you!