In the late 1960s, J. R. “Bob” Dobbs pitched a show called “Secret Astronaut” to a regional (Texas) television station. Of course he was the star of the show as well. He even wrote the theme and played the drums! He directed the singers to mispronounce one word, one time, so “they’ll talk about it forever.” And how!
“Secret Astronaut” ran for three seasons and had regional popularity, but nobody thought to record it. Only a short video clip can be found on YouTube, filmed directly off the TV screen.
“Secret Astronaut Theme” by J. R. “Bob” Dobbs (copyright status unknown).
Please enjoy this Hour of Slack Tribute Episode Thanksgiving treat made by you! As a thank you to Stang for the gift of 40 years of The Hour of Slack. A Fidd Chewley n’ Peas production. It’s going to replace Alice’s Restaurant as a Thanksgiving tradition.
Loading slow? It’s more than an hour, maybe try this download. You owe money to “Bob” anyway.
The possibly short future of The Hour of Slack is the subject of a very, very informal chat between Rev. Stang and Dr. Drummond. It is interspersed with some fine music and, unfortunately, yet more SubGenius obituaries. Newly unearthed versions of Swinging Love Corpses classics are revealed. The amazing guitar medley at the beginning was misidentified by Stang; the band is Shadowy Men from a Shadowy Planet, and the medley may have been recorded at CKLN-Toronto.
1 Lemur – HOS_Intro508 01:13
2 Lemur – “Bob” Cum 01:02
3 Intro by Stang 00:56
4 Shadowy Men from a Shadowy Planet+CKLN 05:45
5 Stang does obituary for Rev Says Nothing, others 05:57
6 Lemur – PR_Gnus1311 00:33
7 Philo Drummond Guest – Ending the show? X 29:24
Why do they say hair cut instead of hairs cut? Getting one horn like hair. Going to get beers. Dragging a coffin across a concrete floor. HoS # 1,889. PE started 1982, HoS Oct 1985. How jealous we were when Puzzling had a show before us. The Cool Guys club. The Agent and Mr Dobbs. Onan’s letter about PLEASE STOP HOUR OF SLACK. All toil and complaining. The ground=breaking show that ruined the ground. Stang tired of routine. A one-nutted chimpanzee could do my job. Time to stop. 2000 shows that anyone can hear. There will be a Sacred Scribe #274. Onan more than an apprentice, almost a yeoman. Stang is old and not angry at things that he used to be angry about. Chronic pain — Stangs of pain, Drummonds of Slack, Janors of Confusion, Sternos of Inebriation… ALL THE STUFF CUT FROM REVELATION X. Time to scan stuff from pre-Internet. It was fun because we had such horrible jobs. Now it’s different, we have farming chores. Dr. Drummond’s farm has rain and dirt. Our dirt is not good. The limestone is ,made of ancient seashells. The rest of the QUITTING THE HOUR OF SLACK letter.The PT Barnum and Grizzly Adams story. The tediousness of HoS linking and blurb writing, logs, We could do special shows… like the Star Wars Xmas Special, WHen Wei and Stang record their dog rock opera BUDDY, and how Rev. Angry Larry would do anything to keep Stang from singing. PHilo misses Rev. Angry Larry every year at X-Day Drills. Xzanthia’s new resort so we could do Drills again there. Xzanthia doesn’t do drugs! How can she be a SubGenius? But she is. Might be Drills in Florida again but for now we can’t leave cause of WeiMawMaw. Not gonna go back to Ohio. All those devivals and X-Days wrecked Stang’s back. Philo’s pinched nerve. Stang’s incessant grunting. NOw Philo is grunting. Transitioning into a different phase — maximize your old person Slack. Advantages of old age like that 5 percent discount. Don’t forget, every age is a special time and you gotta live it. Dolemite quote. We’re lucky to be alive at all. Lucky as the son of a mother buck. Maybe show #2000 should be last, only ten shows away. Not 2000, use 1998! BUT… THAT’S ANOTHER 100 SHOWS. Could just end it right now. But instead play SLC. Descriptions of Dokstoks of the 80s.
8 The Swingin’ Love Corpses – High_on_Dokstok_Mountain X 05:50
9 Philo & Stang to Instrumental 04:39
10 Swingin’ Love Corpses – RockRollLedZepwithRobtPlanetVoiceHornParts 03:34
11 After Instrumental 01:00
Philo and Stang describe The Swingin Love Corpses in detail. The tall crazy dancer Beetle Bob who would interupt SLC shows. Standing next to the stage at rock bands to videotape them robbed Stang of his right ear.
The first full-length SubGenius science fiction novel, EYELASH by Nikolai Kingsley, is now available, and Rev. Stang reads an excerpt from it. He also reads the latest Dobbs.town Mirror (in stages) as well as a new rant by Onan. Interspersed are classic best-of bits from The Puzzling Evidence Show and ESO Swamp Radio (all from 2001-2002) and some more very rare Firesign Theatre from their early radio days. We also hear Paul Mavrides and Penn Jillette talking about the Church, from the new documentary. There’s one song, a hidden track by Morgan Gutentag, titled, “Hidden Track.” Everything else is gravy, or, LeMur.
01 LeMur – PR_Gnus1801 01:03
02 LeMur – HOS_Intro505 00:17
03 Puzzling Evidence Show – -3401-StupidMinds 00:59
04 Onan Canobite Rant-Stang2 01:11
05 SubGenius Movie – Paul and Penn 01:20
06 Onanian Stangrant 00:37
07 Stang Intro Butthurt-EYELASH 1 08:44
08 The Firesign Theatre – DHotS_42-DOPE HUMOR OF THE 70s! 01:45
09 Puzzling Evidence Show – HoS-381a 03:46
10 ESO Swamp Radio 50401g – Raiding the “Bob” Mansion! 03:01
11 Stang reads from Dobbs.town Mirror 1 01:50
12 The Firesign Theatre – DHotS_download_25-SPACE AGE HARDWARE 00:39
13 Puzzling Evidence Show – KPFA127b-WildmanVoices 01:32
14 Dobbs.town Mirror 2 01:18
15 LeMur – PR_Gnus1802 00:38
16 Puzzling Evidence Show – 102502g-SubGRobe-XDayNerds 04:18
17 Dobbs.town Mirror 3 01:47
18 The Firesign Theatre – DHotS_download_08-Hawaii 02:13
19 CREDITS tft 2 PE 01:01
20 Puzzling Evidence Show – KPFA-2Married,TarTar Nuts 02:03
21 cred PE to Morgan Gutentag 00:38
22 Morgan Gutentag – Hidden Track 02:28
23 cred Gutentag to PE 00:09
24 Puzzling Evidence Show – KPFA2-matrix 01:36
25 Stang reads Bobtimism Rant by Onan 05:41
26 ESO Swamp Radio 50401c- UnWashed, Roof; BonobEu! 05:04
27 Dobbs.town Mirror 6 and End Ads URLS 03:29
