Nestor Mack Frear's
Even before his publication began in 1958, as Bop City was being built, Nessy and Sam were great friends, sharing interests as they did in the future and past of American culture. Now Nessy honors his old friend by sharing the stories of the great heroes of our time.Bop City proudly welcomes world-famous quanta authority Nestor Mack Frear as he brings his magazine to our site! A perennial favorite at conventions, 'Nessy' will be bringing his wit and wisdom to bear on the hundreds of famous quantas from Bop City and beyond!
Forrest Ackerman as Nessy
3Girl3
Discovered and nurtured by Derry Gorby, the Ultrettes were not Wheel Records’ first girl group, but they became the biggest female act of the 1960s and continue to cast a shadow on what it means to be female in rock and roll today. It was presumed that their quantaparts would earn a similarly significant role, but the reality reflects the internal politics of the group and the label.
Almost from the start, Gorby saw the group as support for Telma Jewell and he concentrated his efforts on making her the name star of the group, referring to them as Telma Jewell and the Ultrettes after their second single. This campaign carried through the quanta process, as Gorby insisted Jewell’s quanta be substantially more powerful than her partners’. He maintained an active role in the career of Jewell’s quanta, Comet Girl, as he demanded she be a female counterpart to King Comet, while Martina Barber and Florida Ballent’s quantas were legacies of Marie Madison and Shawmette Jakins respectively, Nightengale II and Heartbreaker II. There is no shame in carrying on the tradition of these great artists, but the implication was clear: Telma is the future, representing the most popular in today’s world. Martina and Florida are not. The new quanta group was known as 3Girl3, but their internal struggles kept them from any meaningful success. Despite this, Comet Girl joined the Teen Idols, the youthful quanta team of Speedo (Anthony Adam), Lollipop (Sally Faith), Ho-Dad (Dowv Steinwoe), Teen Angel (Little Julie Sue), and briefly, explosively, Kitten, the quanta of Maria Escadero, Sam Bop’s hand-picked counterpart to King Cougar. The Teen Idols have a fabled history of internal turmoil, partially because they are younger, but for two weeks in June 1964 Bop audiences were treated to a legendary set of Fight Seens.
For more on Maria Escadero and the other Young Boppers, check back next week!
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One of Sam's bigger surprises came when he found how few villains he needed to create for the Fight Seenstm. He had imagined a necessity for dozens, even hundreds of foes for the quantas, but learned almost from the beginning that many performers couldn't wait for their qps to square off against a rival, resolving conflicts both real and fabricated the performers themselves could never see come to a conclusion otherwise. Sam had anticipated the collaborative nature of the performers leading to endless groupings, from duets and small combos for one-off projects to much larger and longer-lasting congregations. He did not foresee the jealousies and rivalries that also arose, mostly eliminating the need for creating true villains out of whole cloth. This result was also healthier for guests because Fight Seens seldom have a violent resolution, more frequently turning at some point into cooperation between the combatants to quell a common threat. This allows fans of both sides of the battle to enjoy their favorites in action without fearing the outcome and still being able to praise their heroism. Even some of Bop's highest-profile celebrities have opted for a darker turn on their quantaparts; from Grease Monkey and the Wild One in rock's golden age through the Hot Rod Gang, the Rough Boys, and Mr. Wicked, Lord Velvet, the Deviant, the Heroes of Horror, the Visigoth, Last Chance, Loge, Dr. Robert and the Model Citizens, the Jackpots, Dreadlok, Radio Pirate and the Freebooters, Broken Promises, Sam was astonished at the number and variety of artists who asked for their quantaparts to be given a sinister turn. The phenomenon endures, and appears to be unconnected to the nature of the original. Even the brightest, rosiest pop star may opt to have her quantapart turned dark.
Some originals have had it both ways. While all Jesse's quantas have maintained their original's essential personality, some performers who have had more than one quantapart created have asked that different aspects of their personalities be emphasized. The most famous example is probably Bryan White-Duke's multiple quantas; while his first quanta, the re-imagined Image, was a traditional hero, later quantaparts such as Space Driver and Savaj exhibited less wholesome qualities. Other performers with multiple quantas bear discussion another time.
The Wheel: Rustey Parker's quantapart debuted the day Wheel City opened, October 16, 1962. He was part of an intermittent plan of Sam's to designate certain quantas as official representatives of their themes. The Wheel has naturally remained loyal to Wheel City; in one of Bop's smallest themes he can patrol his entire domain dozens of times a day. Of course the Wheel is beloved in his theme and renowned everywhere for much more than his speed. The lightning-fast legend made his reputation for the style, the art with which he dispatches his foes. From spinning a cylinder of sand around an opponent, then increasing his speed until the sand turns to glass, sealing his foe in a human-sized test tube, to racing ahead of an escape vehicle and superheating the asphalt via friction until the tires melt and fuse to the road, the Wheel has always been more than just a fast puncher.
The Living Beat: When Adam Versh saw Jeffrey B. Barron in 1975 and anointed him 'the future of rock and roll,' it was a signal that Barron's quantapart would likewise be revolutionary. At that, though, no artist—or quanta—can truly address the future without recognizing the past. For Barron that meant remaining true to his inspirations: Jim Christmas, Rob Shelley, Wink Weston. For Barron's quantapart the Living Beat it meant proving the soul of humanity, the spark of organics, would never be inferior to technology. The Beat uses technology, certainly, is augmented by it, but never subservient to it; to remain true to his original's spirit he tests himself regularly to assure that he never does anything with mechanical assistance he couldn't do alone. By enhancing his innate abilities, the Living Beat is a perennial testament to the nobility, the strength of the human spirit.
Jesse Aron and his quantapart King Cougar represent the epitome of all the Park stands for to many, but to Sam and others the spirit of rock and roll lived in Jim Rock and his quantapart King Comet. You can read about Jim and his significance in the Park on the Big Boppers page, but that won’t give you a sense of King Comet’s heroism or importance to Sam and the Park.
Jim Rock’s success as a primal musician even before Jesse’s led Sam to think of King Comet as a throwback to the heroic tradition of Rockville which had been so pivotal in Sam’s choice of the Park’s location. Comet became an emblem, an icon of Bop City, while King Cougar became Bop’s ambassador to the world. In a practical sense, Comet was Sam’s bodyguard, inseparable as Quantum was to Dr. Amwerth.
That association deepened over the years as Comet became more aware of the intrigue involving Amwerth and he saw it as his duty to protect Sam from Amwerth and his lackey. As the Great Change approached, King Comet became the commander of Bop’s troops just as Quantum became the opposition’s and Billy Blue the organizer of the unaligned. When the Battle of the Great Change occurred, with the deaths of Kid Comet and so many others, the deactivation of Quantum, and the reorganization of the Park, King Comet retired for almost five years. He had done his duty as he had come to see it, and had created a tradition that would admirably fill the void he left. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Empress Love, sovereign of Love Island, and her quantapart Selene constitute the greatest achievement in quanta technology and the finest accomplishments in American music. Carlene Bliss began her career as a replacement in the Los Angeles-based vocal group the Darlettes. She quickly rose to lead the girls in dozens of sessions both backing other performers and recording their own singles. Moderate success turned mammoth when they were one of three acts signed by Jim Christmas, who coupled their vocals with his SolidSoundtm technique, and the Darlettes had so many hits they sometimes recorded under other names. Christmas, who frequently left his sessions supervised by Jock Ubermann and Sal Helios, would see his quantapart L’Esprit Noel build the Wall of Sound in Bop City as a competitive stronghold to Love Island.
Christmas progressively spent his time developing other acts and the Darlettes found their sound no longer fashionable. Carlene, though, stayed in the spotlight, first by touring with performers, then proving her talent on Broadway and in Hollywood, volunteering for numerous charities, and eventually headlining her own one-woman shows. Along the way she found time to share her life with Denny Mio of the Heavenly Brothers and have a daughter, Aidna P. Carlene’s quantapart Selene joined Denny and Aidna’s, Alistair and Lucifera, as champions of Love Island. Together the family leads the women warriors the Menae, particularly against their nemeses from Noel’s stronghold. These include the Ebon Lion, the Wild Men of Hephaestus, and the Helion.
Mio and Alistair are the only males allowed on the island permanently; the Menae, however, make trips into the Park, particularly 54 Acres, for Ladies’ Nights. Infrequent as these excursions are, Empress Love has decreed that Love Island should have a representative to the rest of the world and initiated a competition to choose the best ambassador. The only winner so far has been her daughter.
Sam’s second greatest debate with many of his friends was, when did rock and roll begin? The greatest was, when did it end? With the recent or upcoming addition of many new quantas, I am happy to report that the music Sam loved has not ended and it remains in the care of some exceptional stewards. It is often distasteful to describe a performer’s work by comparing it to another’s, but that is often useful when dealing with new bands whose style or sound is unfamiliar to many. Luckily for Orange Ox, the band summoned to mind by their recent work is the Quarries. Might as well start at the top. The Ox provides us with the foundation for the newest quantas in the Park, the Upstarts.
Another band recalling the English invasion is Media Murmur, but their spiritual forefathers appear to be the Apemen. The literate yet personal songwriting coupled with danceable tunes make the Murmur a formidable source for another new quanta group, the Emoticons. Seka Coen brings to mind many past performers, among them the Gang of Gals and Sela Boil, but also Panacea, with the lonely-but-not-dispirited strain of her poetry. Her quantapart, Miss Adventure, promises fun in the Park while Coen promises fun for your ears.
In the 50 years of Bop’s existence many odd occurrences have taken place here. In a fantasy theme park partially founded on alien technology, that may seem obvious, but at that there are still phenomena in the Park that defy explanation. Let’s examine a few of these.
L’Esprit Noel: The Spirit came to Bop in 1960, sensing an environment complimentary to his work. He constructed his fortress and encircled it with his Wall of Sound, absorbing the pain and distress of visitors and transmogrifying it into the building blocks of which his Wall and the nearby Tower of Youth are made. The Tower of Youth is a Bop City rite of passage; in their 13th year, Bop residents come to the Tower, select a brick, affix their unique ‘signature’, and add the brick to the Tower, the living, growing monument to Bop’s ongoing musical legacy.
The Chimmps: After the PINC was established in 1967, visitors and émigrés flocked to Bop City, fascinated by the style, atmosphere, and freedom found here. Not only from other worlds but from other strange dimensions came these visitors, sometimes just for a holiday but sometimes permanently. One set of such newcomers were the Prime Apes, a simian foursome from a world like our own but dominated by a more ape-like species. Arriving here, the quartet began both a musical career and a heroic campaign using their singular abilities, their unique worldview, and the nom de guerre the Chimmps.
PINT: A deliberate experiment from Wacky Ranch, samples taken from the Hype were blended with the DNA of four tortoises in an attempt to interest young people in powerful new music. The four resultant creatures, the Post-Punk Irish Nihilist Terrapins, became unlikely but unquestionable heroes for the youth of 1982.
Dream Police: Operatives of the Spirits of Radio, the eternal sources of inspiration for all art, the DP patrol the farthest reaches of the subconscious cataloging visions and battling mental irregularities and corruption.
Wooly Charlie and Danny, the Woolly Bully: Charlie was a dirt farmer in Rockville before anyone had heard of Sam Bop. A mobster named Buddy Rudy came to believe there was oil on Charlie’s property and tried to force the land from him. Charlie refused repeatedly and Rudy became increasingly angry, eventually killing Charlie’s prize bull Danny. When even that didn’t persuade Charlie to sell, Rudy slew Charlie as well, throwing his body into the same swamp where he had hidden Danny’s remains. It’s unknown how or why forces came together in that swamp to return Charlie and Danny to a semblance of life; some believe it was a reaction within the cesspool of organic waste, some that intrinsic mystic energy from the region that would one day be Bop’s Vieux Carre saturated the corpses and reanimated them. Whatever the case, Charlie and Danny shambled from the swamp and took revenge on Rudy and his gang, taking up residence in the china shop the mobsters had used as a front. They remain there, protecting the innocent when evil threatens.
Starhammer: Timmie Joe Bright was truly touched by the gods. His birth was heralded by the Master and Electric Sky from the Twin Realms, attended by the Three Aces, and praised in song by Isaiah Townes, Syretta Hancock, and Mick Macafee. As he grew to adulthood he was joined in battle alongside the Rio Trio and in romance by Keri Kirby. His meteoric rise and tragic plummet are known to all, as is his resurrection at the hands of his heralds and his subsequent reign as a supernatural crusader of the blues. Chosen by John Robertson, high priest of blues guitar, as scion of the blues kingdom, Bright is entrusted with the power of the Starhammer, Tejasgärd’s sacred ax.
Brain Police: The creation of accidental combustion of Vinny aPaz’s quanta codes, the Brain Police ride the waves of human thought, combining and interpreting its random impulses. They are frequently called upon to defend musical experimentation in the face of closed minds.
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