 Everyone says I can't sing, I can't dance, and I can't act. But I must have something because I keep getting hired. 
1959's Broadway Bait is a slightly better than average—for the sleaze genre, that is—tale of two ambitious actresses, the owner of a prestigious acting school, and the scam that his financial benefactors are running behind his back. Once the owner of the school realizes he's been funded not because of his elevated teaching techniques, but because the school makes a perfect clearing house for stolen goods, he decides to investigate, and his top two students are caught in the middle.
There's some Broadway atmosphere here that feels authentic, but in the end the book is nothing to write home about as a thriller, and is tame sexually. What it does have, though, is a fantastic piece of cover art, which is—you know what's we're going to say next—uncredited. Chariot Books seemingly never gave credit. The only reason anyone knows which artists painted some of their covers is because of visible signatures, which is not the case here, unfortunately. But for the seven dollars we paid we're happy to have this one in the collection.
 There are a lot of members, but they all come away satisfied. 
Arthur Adlon's Key Club Girl is pretty limp for a sleaze novel. If we planned to resell it we'd be depressing its value by saying that, but we can't lie—it has no spark. It's about a virginal woman named Lena who's unable to consummate relationships with a series of men, including her husband. She solves the problem with the help of an eager man named Lee and the behind the scenes action at the Golden Key Club. She doesn't end up with Lee, though. Her husband Quentin, who was so disappointed when he learned on the wedding night that Lena abhored sex, and has since divorced her, ends up with her after all. We won't bother with more of a plot summary. Life's short, we have these sleaze novels coming in all the time, and most of them are better than Key Club Girl. The art on this, however, is sublime. It's what enticed us to buy it. Paul Rader painted it, and if you look closely you'll see a topless reflection in the vanity mirror, and in the background, way back, a man straddling a chair. Nice work. 
 Oh, I heat up quite nicely, trust me. It just happens when my husband is away. 
Above: a cover for Cold Wife by sleaze vet Arthur Adlon, aka Keith Ayling and other peudonyms, from Chariot Books. This came from Flickr, and it was uploaded without a copyright date, which was unfindable at first. But we figured we could deduce it. We went right to the serial number, but it didn't help because all the Chariot paperbacks we found had numbers in the 100s. This book is numbered 1602, which meant, near as we could figure, it would be published sometime in 2024 or 2025. Or maybe not. Actually, later we did find one Chariot with the number 1612 and that was from 1962. Figure this one is too. We've read Adlon before, and we have another on tap, so we'll see him again in a bit.
 I bet people would be surprised if I told them the hardest part of being a hooker is holding this pose half the night. 
Chariot Books is an obscure but pretty interesting sleaze imprint. This cover for Arch Stemmer's Hot Bed Hotel is the fourth item we've shared from them. Should we actually pull the trigger and buy one of their enticing confabulations? We're somewhat tempted, but we have so many books piled up already, including sleaze classics like The Mattress Game and Hitch-Hike Hussy. Well, we'll think about it. This one is from 1961, with art by an unknown.
 Chariot Books opts for alternate spelling of “tonight” when they learn graphic designer charges by the letter. 
Actually, we have no idea why the book cover says “tonite.” We didn't buy a copy, so your guess is as good as ours. Here's what we do know. Tonite is sexual awakening sleaze about a smalltown girl who learns how to play men like fiddles in order to get what she wants. Nothing new there, but we do like the unusual art with its ragged white border at the bottom. It's very different for the time period. Chariot was not great about crediting artists and this one is no exception. Put it in the unknown bin, 1962.
 You exasperate me earth woman! I want you out of my saucer. Pack up your shit and I'll drop you at your mom's. 
Martians decide they want to study a thousand Earthlings, including protagonists David and Janice, with the eventual goal of turning the entire human species into love slaves. Sounds easy, but of course unpredictable consequences result. The rear of the novel describes the story as “unbelievable but possible.” We think a better description would be, "Impossible, but you'll want to believe." 1960, with cover art from Basil Gogos.
 They're not exactly New Orleans saints. 
We love this cover for Noel O'Hara's A Time To Love, which comes from Chariot Books, a publisher previously unknown to us. A married couple are in New Orleans for a convention with no idea Mardi Gras is about to start. When it does both spouses are swept up in the craziness and infidelities result. Sleaze with beautiful cover art by Basil Gogos, 1959.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1939—Batman Debuts
In Detective Comics #27, DC Comics publishes its second major superhero, Batman, who becomes one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, and then a popular camp television series starring Adam West, and lastly a multi-million dollar movie franchise starring Michael Keaton, then George Clooney, and finally Christian Bale. 1953—Crick and Watson Publish DNA Results
British scientists James D Watson and Francis Crick publish an article detailing their discovery of the existence and structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, in Nature magazine. Their findings answer one of the oldest and most fundamental questions of biology, that of how living things reproduce themselves. 1967—First Space Program Casualty Occurs
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when, during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere after more than ten successful orbits, the capsule's main parachute fails to deploy properly, and the backup chute becomes entangled in the first. The capsule's descent is slowed, but it still hits the ground at about 90 mph, at which point it bursts into flames. Komarov is the first human to die during a space mission. 1986—Otto Preminger Dies
Austro–Hungarian film director Otto Preminger, who directed such eternal classics as Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Stalag 17, and for his efforts earned a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, dies in New York City, aged 80, from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. 1998—James Earl Ray Dies
The convicted assassin of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., petty criminal James Earl Ray, dies in prison of hepatitis aged 70, protesting his innocence as he had for decades. Members of the King family who supported Ray's fight to clear his name believed the U.S. Government had been involved in Dr. King's killing, but with Ray's death such questions became moot.
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