Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Will Work For Experimental Instruments

By request, two albums of experimental musical instruments have been re-posted. Get yer

gravikords, whirlies and pyrophones here, and yer

orbitones, spoon-harps, and bellowphones here.

News flash: I am unemployed! Anyone in Los Angeles want to hire me? I can do anything, from astronaut to zoo-keeper. Remember: the more money I make, the more I can spend on rockin' rare ridiculous rekkids that I post here. 

And throw a few bones James Carrol's way, too. One of this blog's prized contributors, the man who gave us the likes of the "Brain In A Box" and "National Lampoon Radio Hour" sets, is selling his artwork. Dig it HERE.

Friday, February 20, 2015

The Brigitte Bardot Show

An extremely rare example of a celebrity who made actual good records, French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot used her alluring personality, and the genius of collaborator Serge Gainsbourgh, to make a series of super swell Sixties sides. Like one of Serge's other gals, Jane Birkin, Ms BB isn't a great singer. But rather than try to fit into a standard pop singer mold - the downfall of so many singing-actor records - Bardot sings cute and sexy over music that is tailored for her. There's a psych-rock edge to many of the songs here.

This 1968 tv special soundtrack features a couple of familiar classics ("Harley Davidson," and "Contact"), some great songs I wasn't familiar with (the rocker "Ce N'est Pas Vrai", the kooky tablas-a-go-go "Oh Qu'il Est Vilain"), and the instrumental interludes of Francis "Theme From A Man and A Woman" Lai. His "Saint-Tropez" is one of the best tracks on this album.  If I had a radio show this would be my opening theme.

The Brigitte Bardot Show


A1 Harley Davidson 2:30
A2 Marseillaise Générique 2:10
A3 Mister Sun 3:12
A4 Ay Que Viva La Sangria 2:30
A5 Ce N'est Pas Vrai 1:38
A6 Gang Gang 2:00
A7 Saint-Tropez 1:10
A8 Port Grimaud 0:30
B1 Oh Qu'il Est Vilain 2:25
B2 Paris 1:35
B3 Je Reviendrai Toujours Vers Toi 2:23
B4 On Déménage 2:03
B5 Le Diable Est Anglais 2:40
B6 David B... 1:10
B7 Contact

Thanks again to that international master of musical mystery, Count Otto Black!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

HANK HILL TEACHES YOU HOW TO PLAY LATIN PERCUSSION

Let's play bongos! On this instructional album, not just bongos, but all kinds of zesty Latin percussion get artfully pounded upon by studio pro Jack Burger. Narrated by someone who sounds like Hank Hill. The combination of the two elements had me both tappin' my toes and laffin'. Apparently came with a booklet that my copy, alas, does not have. 

Let's Play Bongos!

"I play bongos and bongo accessories for the people of this community."
Muchas gracias, Senor Windbag!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

HELLavision

I could give some background on these videos...but why bother? They won't make any more sense if I did. So I'm just gonna hit you with three of the greatest, most incredibly WTF-iest things I've seen/heard lately. Prepare to question your sanity! 

#1: 



#2 (thanks to maniac Francis C for passing this one on to us): 

 

and, perhaps most disturbingly, #3: 

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

HIT SONGS OF TOMORROW

The Manor Boys are back on-line, by request.


Warning! This here's a whole album of song-poems - lyrics that suckers regular folks have paid to have set to music - that might have you questioning your sanity if you attempt to listen to it all in one go.  Like I did. 

Unlike the song-shark racket's most famous exemplars Rodd Keith and the slickly professional MSR Studios posse, Royal Master Recordings from Tennessee are at least as inept as the amateurs who sent in their hapless lyrics. The singers, one male and one female, can't find the rhythm, stop (give up?) singing thus leaving long awkward instrumental passages, and once even keep going after the music has stopped!  They also give every song the exact same reading no matter what its' content. The music tracks are generic country, and sometimes are repeated. Yep, you pay good money to have your heartfelt poems set to "original" music, and you get the same backing track as several other poor souls.

And what poems they are. Side 1 sports at least two real gems amidst all the love songs, the self-explanatory "Monkey Disco," and the hysterical Luddite plea "Progress." Side 2 is nuts, kicking off with several baffling songs. "Let Me Try Again" actually resembles good music, but the following track "These Hands" sends things back into the twilight zone. 

As with another Royal Master album I've posted, the all dead-Elvis themed "Gone But Not Forgotten," we get the added bonus of actual photos of the lyricists. And remember - these aren't hit songs yet. But they will be...tomorrow. I can't wait!

Hit Songs of Tomorrow