Tropical Hot Dog Night

Last updated
Tropical Hot Dog Night
Genre Comedy-drama
Country of origin Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language(s) English
Starring Robert Lorick
Written by Thomas Lopez
Directed by Thomas Lopez
Recording studioUnited States
Original release2007 – present
Website http://www.zbs.org/
Jack Flanders chronology
The Ghost Islands
(2006)		Tropical Hot Dog Night
(2007)		 The White Castle
(2008)

Tropical Hot Dog Night is a radio drama, produced by the ZBS Foundation. [1] It is the nineteenth of the Jack Flanders adventure series and the third of The Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders sub-series. It combines elements of Old-time radio with psychic phenomena, supernatural beings and energies.

Radio drama dramatized, purely acoustic performance

Radio drama is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story: "It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension."

ZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune based on a donated farm in Upstate New York. ZBS stands for "Zero Bull Shit". The commune's purpose was to raise consciousness through media, specifically full-cast audio dramas. The foundation is "one of the most prolific producers of contemporary radio drama."

Jack Flanders, full name Jonathan L. Flanders, is the protagonist of a series of audio dramas produced by the ZBS Foundation. He is the creation of writer and sound artist Thomas Lopez and is played by actor Robert Lorick.

Contents

Plot

The crew are sailing towards Key Milagro - also known as Key Diablo by inhabitants of the neighboring islands - where a mysterious fog descends each night and the inhabitants of Key Milagro find the color draining out of everything and being replaced by a rich, hard-boiled film noir fantasy life. The local crime bookshop owner, Johnny Seven, seems to have the answers but he's more interested in playing than talking. Sometimes, however, being dressed to kill is more than just a turn of phrase…

Film noir film genre

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.

Notes and themes

Part other-worldly tale and part homage to the film noir era of the 1940s and 50s. The title came from a song by Captain Beefheart from his album Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) .

Captain Beefheart American musician

Don Van Vliet, best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist. Sometimes collaborating with his teenage friend Frank Zappa, Van Vliet's musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called the Magic Band, with whom he recorded 13 studio albums between 1964 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, surrealist wordplay, and his wide vocal range, commonly reported as five octaves. Known for his enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians.

<i>Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)</i> 1978 studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Shiny Beast is the tenth studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Released in 1978, the album was produced by Captain Beefheart and Pete Johnson and released by Warner Bros. Records.

Quotes

Dominique: "It's you, Jack. You think I'm skinny because you have such a fat head." [2]

Johnny: "You seem like the kind of woman who reads classics...Dostoevsky, Chekov, guys like that. It's not the kind of books I sell."
Rose: "You mean books about tough guys?"
Johnny: "That's right."
Rose: "And tough babes who appear helpless and find some sap to buy their sob story and do their dirty work for them and the next thing you know she's skipped out with the dough, he's been framed, she's south of the border sipping Margaritas and the sap is wearing striped suits in the big house. Is that what you mean?"
Johnny: "Er.... why don't you just keep on browsing." [3]

Amanda: "You know, people say, I gotta get some work done but you never hear them say, I gotta get some fun done." [4]

Credits

Recorded at Froggy Acres Studios, Fort Miller, NY.

Track list

Tropical Hot Dog Night Disc 1

Tropical Hot Dog Night Disc 2

The Fantastic Voyages of Captain Jack Flanders

Jack, Mojo, Claudine and Dominique sail around the Tropics encountering mysterious and other-worldly incidents.

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References

  1. ↑ ZBS.org link Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine . (Tropical Hot Dog Night)
  2. ↑ CD1 Track 1 Giant Jellyfishes 02:28
  3. ↑ CD1 Track 6 And back we go, Yo Ho! 06:19
  4. ↑ CD2 Track 3 Gotta Get Some Fun Done 03:02
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