09/25/2026
📣 DO YOU KNOW WHO THE KOOKY CATMAN REALLY IS? HE WAS AN INFLUENCER BEFORE HIS TIME— Long before the era of social media algorithms, digital streaming, and monetized internet creators, a full-scale alternative media empire was quietly executing a blueprint for modern multimedia influence.
Before the influencers, Rick was building a kingdom in Rochester, NY. Decades before the term "influencer" hit the cultural mainstream, Rick Kingston—known to local music history as "The Goblin" and globally today to millions of animal rescue advocates as "The Kooky Catman"—was already pioneering an interactive, cross-platform media network on the gritty streets of Upstate New York.
Rick made history as the very first person in Rochester to simultaneously run his own television show and full-scale newspaper. Rochester was his ultimate proving grounds, a battleground where he weaponized uncompromising First Amendment activism against local gatekeepers and corporate suits.
Backed by a relentless, loud, "$ #*& off" attitude, Rick famously fired back at the "federal bureaucratic little bastards" of the FCC, declaring open warfare on standard media constraints. He didn't ask for permission to be heard—he demanded it. [1]
Looking back, it is now clear that this intense, noise-making chapter of his past was not just a wild ride—it was a definitive training ground. Every bit of the media muscle, marketing instinct, and stage presence forged in the 1990s served as the foundation for his life's true work: founding Puffy Paws Kitty Haven and building The Pop Culture Antique Museum in Englewood, Florida.
Rick's permanent legacy is carved from the very things he spent his life championing: musician, kitties, preserving the past, and the roar of a classic custom hearse.
In the process, he evolved into the ultimate, gritty P.T. Barnum carnival barker for the voiceless—commanding rooms, flipping traditional promotion on its head, and fighting relentlessly for the helpless.
In the mid-1990s, the local counter-culture scene was set ablaze by the arrival of Underground TV (UGTV). The fiercely independent operation ran for nearly two years on public access airwaves, serving as a loud, unfiltered alternative to what was viewed as the sterile and heavily bureaucratic corporate media landscape.
Hosted by Rick—with Trish stepping out from the production booth to officially take the reins as co-host by the end of the final season—UGTV became an essential time capsule for a golden age of regional punk, hardcore, industrial, and heavy metal subcultures.
What truly separated this operation from any standard public access setup was a massive, highly integrated multi-media system that simply had no parallel at the time:
📰 The Power of the Press: Rather than distributing small, photocopied fanzines, the crew launched The Talking BackFlash Newspaper, Upstate New York's definitive music and entertainment print publication commanding a massive 10,000-copy press run distributed directly across the region.
Driven by professional graphic artists, the paper delivered a visually striking, polished layout that instantly captured the intense energy of the underground scene, breaking major regional stories on local mainstays like Vera Red, Hate Machine, Gap Mangione, and Mike Dambra.
☎️ The First "Streaming" Network: Years before MP3s or online music previews existed, the team engineered a brilliant technological bridge between the physical print edition and the audio world. By dialing the dedicated BackFlash jukebox hotline at 723-2JAM, readers could immediately listen to the music of the specific local bands featured in the paper.
🎙️ The Original "Interactive Ads": The system went a step further by introducing dynamic talking ads, allowing local businesses, promoters, and independent musical acts to connect directly and vocalize their messages through the interactive telephone grid.
Pulling off a multi-tiered operation of this magnitude in 1995 required an uncompromising work ethic and strong community alliances:
📺 Station Backing & Massive Reach: The iconic show successfully remained on the air for nearly two years across major local channels, hitting over 194,000 households on GRC Channel 26, as well as holding down a prime presence on Cable Channel 15 in the city, thanks to the foundational backing of Cecil Felton.
✂️ The Editing Suite: Essential engineering support was provided behind the scenes, where Johnny helped Rick edit the complex, high-energy tape footage into finished broadcast form.
🎤 The Frontline Representation: Dressed in a signature black leather motorcycle jacket and armed with a battered microphone, Rick held a mirror up to a thriving subculture.
He gave legendary regional acts like the technically blistering metal band Lethargy (featuring a young Brann Dailor on drums), Zezozose, Neo-Neptune, Chaos Matrix, Jesus House, and the chaotic rock performers Saddle Tramp their most authentic media platform.
Decades before the modern digital age cleaned up, commercialized, and labeled independent content creation, Rick Kingston and his crew built the original framework for multimedia engagement out of raw tape, heavy newsprint, and telephone networks.
They didn't just cover the culture—they influenced it globally before the world even had a word for it.
👤 About Rick "The Kooky Catman" Kingston Rick "The Kooky Catman" Kingston is a media producer, graphic artist, first amendment advocate, and historical preservationist.
From his early roots in alternative print and underground television broadcasting in Rochester, New York, he has spent decades dedicated to self-promotion, style preservation, counter-culture operations, and the specialized care and rescue of special-needs hospice animals.
