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Even though I am creating full-page comics, I still consider “1977” a comic strip at it’s heart. So my pages normally have a self-standing joke built in while also moving the story along. Today was one of those pages where a story had to be told in the dialog and there was no good place to put in a joke. So, I tried to liven it up with the crickets getting eaten.
The past week I had a nasty head-cold/flu and it’s not fun drawing and inking while your eyes won’t focus. Makes for an even bigger headache then the one the cold had already given me. Ah, the things we do.
Long-time reader of the comic, David Wilson, pointed out that today’s song was originally written and recorded by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Then I did some digging and found out it was recorded on THIS DATE in 1956. So, I felt I had to go find a version to include with today’s post. It is interesting to note that this song was originally intended to be a ballad, but the record producer got Hawkins drunk and this is the version that resulted. Chalk one up for booze.
Man, it sucks being under a spell that you didn’t even know you were under. 🙂
He wasn’t under a spell … he will be soon. Wait for next week’s page. 🙂
Wait a minute… the frog can do that and undo the spell that a “devil” fix ?
Is the frog THAT magical and powerful enough to do that ? 🙁
The Devil didn’t “fix” Bud’s spell, she broke it, and thus broke her contract with Bud as well. Our little frog here can put spells on people as he desires, and sensing that Bud’s spell is broken, he’s back to create more havoc.
Byron, thank you for the credit, but when I suggested Screamin’ Jay Hawkin’s version I didn’t know that he had written the song, too. Thank you for that bit of history. I also had no idea that he had recorded the song on this date, either. That coincidence is very cool. Nice bit of info, too, about just how the producer got this version from Hawkins. I’ve no idea if it’s true, but it makes for a great story.
And now, I’d say it’s time for a beer or two. 🙂
Stories like the one involving this song are things of legend now. Doubtful they are completely true and after 58 years of being told and re-told, they have been blown up to legendary status. Either way, still a great tale. 🙂
Dude, sorry you’ve got the cold crud. I highly recommend the cold cure my French teacher told us about “Buy a hat and a bottle of whiskey. Lie down in bed, put the hat on your feet and then drink a glass of whiskey. Keep drinking until you can’t remember why you have a hat on your feet. When you wake up, you’re cold will be gone.” 😉
Now that’s a cure I can get into. 🙂
Whenever I get a cold and my nose and throat are clogged, I eat a tablespoon of pure horseradish or wasabi. After a few seconds of feeling like I swallowed a fireball and getting a nosebleed, my passages are all cleared up.
What does the mystic frog want Bud to fix? What spell will he put on Bud? I’m getting intrigued and my imagination is kicking into overdrive.
Oh boy, I smell trouble for Bud yet again….
Oh yeah, and I have a short teaser for the cast of the cartoon–how does James Hong as the voice of the Mystic Frog sound?