Due to a crashed hard drive, this volume was delayed and Vol. 8 was posted first, but now our series exploring mid-20th-century kool kulture is sequentially correct. In this volume, former nightclub accordionist-turned-killjoy preacher Jack van Impe warns us of the dangers of that devils' music, thusly illustrated by riotous, ridiculous, rhythm-and-blues, rock'n'roll rekkids (ever notice that Satan is often depicted as smiling and laughing? He's apparently having much more fun than The Other Guy). Lots of ludicrous novelties this time out, by artists gleefully unconcerned with making Profound Artistic Statements. You'll have fun fun fun even after - and I want to make this perfectly clear - even after Daddy takes the T-bird away. But this time, let's add "style" to our usual mix of "sin," "sex" and "sleaze". Publisher V. Vale of the legendary RE/Search books has been bemoaning the state of his home city lately, e.g: "We think it’s necessary to read as much humor as possible these days to keep our morale up, as San Francisco daily becomes more inundated with a tsunami of “techies” proud of their acultural normcore barbarism (trendy new martinis, trendy new restaurants—is that all there is?!)
I wasn't familiar with the term "normcore," but it's apparently a fashion statement popular among urban youth that attempts to create as bland and inconspicuous a look as possible (while still prominently wearing designer labels, of course). Baseball caps, pullovers, etc. Artist-types shunning original style to look like their dad. My God-zilla! and you thought modern culture couldn't get any more boring? Perhaps that's why in recent months I've been hittin' the thrift stores looking for real flash suits and bright-colored Hawaiian-style shirts, creating outfits like the one Don Draper is sporting here. (Shirt collars OVER the jacket, doncha know.) And paisley shirts! They might go well with my Peter Fonda "Easy Rider" sunglasses. Gotta buy a new pair of Beatle boots tho, as the ones I had when I was 20 are sadly long gone. And where can I get a medallion to adorn my chest as I wear my v-neck, wide-collar David Cassidy-type paisley shirt? It's kinda like this one, only blue. There must be someplace where one can get those loud shirts Nelson Mandela used to wear. If any shirts are worth $95, these may be them. Fashion tips in comments, please. And photo links, esp. from ladies sporting leopard skin prints. Loud clothes - clothes that go up to 11 - need loud music. So once again, we're pouring in your earholes lots of stuff taken from my mostly 45 rpm vinyl discoveries that have not only not appeared on other like-minded compilations (so far as I know), but have never been digitally available...until now! Can find no info on some of these mysterious sides.
Dig the AbnormCore sounds here: Lowbrow Vol.7: Devil Dance - almost 69 minutes; (69: the dirtiest number in the world!) 1 Jack van Impe - rock music is more dangerous ("From Night Clubs to Christ") 2 Mad Man Taylor - Rumble Tumble 3 Bruce Johnston - Soupy Shuffle Stomp [future "replacement" for Brian Wilson with a retarded tribute to TV funnyman Soupy Sales] 4 Bobby Peterson Quintet - Mama Get Your Hammer [sick humor + screamin' r'n'b = what all music should be like] 5 Jack van Impe - rock and roll music 6 Thee Midnighters - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 7 Spike Jones - Pimples And Braces [yes, The Master novelty bandleader did live long enough to parody teenagers and rock'n'roll] 8 Grace Chang - I Want You To Be My Baby [famous singing actress of Chinese cinema swings bilingual] 9 Jack van Impe - commie plans 10 The Lancasters - Satan's Holiday 11 Georgia Gibbs - Kiss of Fire (rock version) [this was originally an early '50s tango-type hit for Gibbs, but this 45 is apparently a '60s remake, judging by the swiping of Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman" riff] 12 Jack van Impe - commie rock beat 13 Morty Jay and the Coney Island Brass - Beef-Eater [one of my absolute fave (fairly) recent instro 45 rpm discoveries] 14 Vince Edwards - Squealin Parrot (Twist) [was very surprised to come across a 45 with such a wacky title by teen dream actor Edwards, as most of his records are mushy ballads; was even more surprised to find how wacked-out hilarious it was] 15 ''Handsome'' Jim Balcom - Corrido Rock (Part 1) 16 Jack van Impe - vile filthy dirty 17 Mike Minor - Satan's Waiting [from an alternate universe where Satanists favor finger-snappin' lounge over heavy metal] 18 Scott Engel - Devil Surfer [future avant-crooner Scott Walker once recorded a satanic surf instro, under his original name?!] 19 Jack van Impe - gogo pogo 20 The Allisons - Ling Ting Tong [black girl group singing Asian stereotypes, and a way-out (slide?) guitar solo] 21 Bill Lewis - Swim Beat 22 Jack van Impe - naked! 23 The Motions - Long-Hair 24 Rod McKuen - I Dig Her Wig [one would never guess that the man behind this kooky rocker would go on to become a hugely successful author of sappy poetry] 25 Bobby Gregg And His Friends - The Jam Part 1 26 Jack van Impe - 4 letter word 27 Lou Monte - Elvis Presley For President [Monte was the court jester of the Rat Pack /Italian-Amercan scene] 28 The Sparkletones - I Dig You,Baby [I'd rather not describe here what makes the end part of this song, and the entirety of the next song, so, er, 'unique'; you'll hear] 29 Gene Dozier & The Brotherhood - Mustang Sally 30 Bill Haley & His Comets - Straight Jacket (Live) 31 Jack van Impe - baser animal emotions 32 David Houston - One And Only [from the film 'Carnival Rock' (thanks Youtube!); featuring blistering guitar work by Elvis' string-slinger James Burton] 33 Steve Allen - Memphis [tv comic plays a straight-ahead ahead Chuck Berry instro...but I thought he hated rock n roll?] 34 Steven Garrick and his Party Twisters - Sister's a Twister 35 The Applejacks - Rocka-Conga 36 Jack van Impe - twisted vile perverted 37 Royaltones - Wail 38 Jack Gale & The Medicine Men - The Sloppy Madison [radio dj's parody of incomprehensible dance instruction records] 39 Milt Rogers & His Orchestra - Lonely Road To Damascus Album title and artwork courtesy of burlesque queen Gene Gemay.
Just realized a couple days ago that my emails have been getting deleted. If you've written to me in the past couple weeks, sorry. I am trying to restore them.
The Hoosier Hot Shots were one of the first and best of the novelty bands, predating Spike Jones & crew, as I wrote back in 2011. Since then, I've found two Hot Shots vinyl releases...er, well, one-and-a half, to be precise. Continuing our discussion of budget labels, the "Hound Dog" album was released thru one of those shoddy companies, and a number of the songs are not by the Hoosiers, but by a folk group playing the kind of standards that could be heard around any campfire. See? Not all filler is killer. The Hot Shot's tunes are great tho, just mind the dodgy sound quality, and try not to wince at the awful album cover. Speaking of the covers, there is absolutely no info on them, but I'd wager that these tracks were recorded in the '50s or '60s judging by their hi-fi sound and the presence of popular '50s styles like calypso and rock'n'roll. One song even has not-entirely-convincing celebrity impressions. Brilliantly inventive and effortlessly enjoyable nonsense, with a surprisingly spooky interlude. HOOSIER HOTSHOTS: One-and-a-half Albums a1 Sweet Georgie Brown a2 Ida a3 Mary Ann a4 Darktown Strutters Ball [hey, it's the one socially acceptable coon song!] a5 Toot Toot Tootsie b1 Washboard Stomp b2 Down By The Riverside b3 Indian Love Call b4 Heartaches b5 Wabash Charleston c1 Intro c2 Hound Dog c3 Them Hillbillies Are Mountain Williams Now* c4 Mr Sandman c5 There's No Romance In Your Soul c6 Meet Me at the Ice House Lizzie
*This song, about the spread of hillbilly music from it's folk roots to mainstream acceptance, is actually pretty astute - the music industry did indeed come up with the phrase 'country music' as a gentrified replacement for 'hillbilly music,' a phrase that was perceived as being too lower class to appeal to mainstream record buyers. Just as 'rock'n'roll' became 'rock,' comic books' became 'graphic novels,' 'graffiti' became 'street art'...
As if that "Better Than The Beatles" comp we recently posted wasn't enough to blow a baby-boomer's brain, now we've got 23 mind-boggling Bob Dylan covers: celebrity actors who have no business making "music" (Eddie Albert, Sebastian Cabot, Telly Savalas, and yep, The Shat himself), absurdly wimped-out easy-listening crooners and orchestras, milquetoast pop-folkies, bubblegum heartthrobs (Bobby Sherman! Dino Desi & Billy!), punk new-wavers (Bryan Ferry, and even Da Bruddahs), and a couple outright parodies.
Off the top of my head, I can think of some others (a Moog version of "Lay Lady Lady," Johnny Cash, and didn't Hugo Montenegro do a Dylan album?) but believe me, this is more than enough to do your head in. Something's going on here, but I really don't know what it is, Mr. Jones. This comes to us courtesy of MadJon, who gifted us with the "Disco Sellout" collection we posted here a few months ago.
The recent news about the wack-job Elvis (and others) impersonator sending politicians envelopes laced with deadly ricin reminded me of the pioneer of this genre, Robert Alberg. When we wrote about him some years ago, he was being sentenced to five years' probation, mental-health treatment and
placement in a group home, and his album was no longer available, so I posted it. Incredibly, he's back, selling both his original collection, and a new one. And he sounds even worse than he did on his miserable first album (as you can see, he isn't looking too hot either). Still, let's hope he sticks to singing/song-writing, and doesn't go back to ricin-cooking.
"Purple Amethyst," available thru Amazon and iTunes, is ten "songs" of lethargic, monotone vocals; obsessive/compulsive lyrics (about sand, beaches, rocks); and atonal guitar "playing" that makes Jandek's sound like Eric Clapton. Need I tell you that this is outsider-music gold?
The videos of Alberg's young protege, Kevin Curtis, are striking in their banality - he's just some guy singing over karaoke tapes, occasionally adopting ludicrous fake mustaches. He gets paid to do this stuff? Jeez, I could do that. Curtis needs to get together with Alberg, so he can learn a thing or two about originality. They could cover "House of the Ricin Sun." Or Johnny Cash's "Five Feet High and Ricin." I got a million of 'em , folks!
I think you can see why I picked up this private-press piece of vintage vinyl recently - it truly is a slice of authentic Americana, a peek into un-hip rural backroads (in this case, Pennsylvania Dutch country) where Ma & Pa go out on a Saturday night to the local tavern and dance to the kind of music left out of the history books, played by the sort of performer usually considered to be not worthy of critical consideration.
Recorded live, Mr. Dutchman is clearly having a good ol' time, chatting with the crowd, letting loose with whoops and yee-haws! on occasion. Everything that doesn't sound like a polka (even the Elvis cover) is delivered in a wave-your-mug drinking song waltz-time. And might I direct your attention to the song that features our man playing the accordion and tap-dancing (!) at the same time. They don't make 'em like this any more. (Or do they? I suspect that this fellow might be the same guy.)
If I may just speak like a Rat-Pack era showbiz-type for a moment and say, "Marvelous stuff what the kids these days are doing." Especially when the kids are some Sarasota, Florida teenagers making their own instruments out of junk. Too bad they've only got one song up for listening/purchase right now, a delightfully messed-up version of Elvis' "Hound Dog," scored for cereal box-guitars, garbage drums, a saxophone made from a popcorn push toy, and the miracle of the Glass Bottle Idiophone:
This interview features bits of other songs (also oldies remakes), as does this video, which includes a bitchin' version of The Surfaris' "Wipeout," as well as an up-close look at those nutty instruments:
I'd take this ramshackle version of "Satisfaction" over the Stone's any day:
But what do they use for strings? Regular guitar strings? And will they ever cover The Cramps?
There are lots of foreign-language covers out there, but what really intruiges me is when non-Anglo/Americans approach the material from their own ethnic/cultural background. Sometimes it's kinda clueless, like the South African group who sound like they really don't know their rockabilly (tho I'm sure they know rock better then most Americans know mbaqanga), while others are clearly going for a cross-over audience, e.g. the "chutney" version of Arrow's soca classic "Feelin' Hot Hot Hot": East Indians go to the West Indies. I'm pretty sure the Bappi Lahiri track was no more then the prolific Bollywood composer finding himself short on material and thinking no-one would notice if he ripped-off some Western oldies, but Tuva's Yat-Kha, on the other hand, apparently is a big fan of Western pop, and performing it in his "throat-singing" style seemed like the natural way to go - a tribute to his boyhood favorites. And Panta Siklja Nafta might be the first reported sighting of Serbian outsider music.
Plenty here were done simply to cash in on the teen rock market that emerged across the world by the 1960s. Jah Division, and The Ramones bossa, and steel pan covers are just good old-fashioned gimmicks, but fun ones, and The Dragons have even been accused of being somewhat of a hoax - their release, covering the likes of The Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones - was supposedly smuggled out of China after the band overheard Western music on Hong Kong radio, but some have levied the accusation that they were, in fact, Chinese folks living in France at the time, and a smart-aleck record label put them up to the task. Who knows - the Pistols on traditional Chinese instruments sound amazing, and that's all I care about.
Amy Beth is an Elvis impersonator who sounds NOTHING like Elvis. She does, however, make a great cat-being-run-over-by-a-steamroller impersonator. And if she does indeed have her own band, they do a great impression themselves - of cheezy drum-machine karaoke backing tracks. "Heartbreak Hotel" like you've never heard it before. You've been warned:
My ears, my ears! Hey masochists, buy a whole album of this stuff. What, you want more?!? Here's a dog of a "Hound Dog," complete with canine noises:
The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love is a curious bit of Elvis-iana from Spain. Apparently it's yet another E impersonator, but one that raises a number of questions: why does he go by the name Buddy Love, the name of a Jerry Lewis film character? What's with that picture (taken from his MySpace page)? Is he doing a Buddy Holly impression on "True Love Ways"? And why does he start this CD-R (presumably sold at shows) with four obscurities, then a Peggy Lee cover, instead of Elvis classics? Maybe those songs where big in Spain. "Edge Of Reality" is totally great, tho, it shouldn't be obscure - this late-period b-side from a forgettable film had me seeking out the original (see vid below). Would go well on a psychotic-themed playlist with Porter Wagoner's "Rubber Room" and The Cramps "Can't Find My Mind."
Buddy's accent and not-entirely-complete grasp of English does come thru on the slower numbers like "Fever," where he sings lines like: "fever started out ago." And on "Viva Las Vegas" is he singing "Fever Las Vegas?" Weird how he doesn't do many of the famous songs - I had to use an internet lyrics search to find what some of these songs were called, and I thought I had a fairly good grasp of The King's career. Guess I don't know as much about him as I thought...and I've even been to Sun Studios, Graceland and his childhood house in Tupelo. The Elvis Experience with Buddy Love
01 Pocketful of Rainbows 02 It Hurts Me 03 Young and Beautiful 04 Edge Of Reality 05 Fever 06 Flaming Star 07 Are You Lonesome Tonight 08 Memories 09 Forever My Darling 10 She's Not You 11 Rubberneckin' 12 True Love Ways 13 Separate Ways 14 Viva Las Vegas 15 My Boy
And if anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present, holy crap, check THIS out - it's the female Eilert Pilarm!
Like I said: "During the upheaval of the late '70s/early '80s punk days, there was a real changing-of-the-guard feeling that led many groups of the time to cover classic oldies from the sacred rock 'n' roll canon in an irreverent (if not downright disrespectful) fashion." Part 1 and Part 2 of this series have been two of my most-downloaded collections, so here's a third batch - with suggestions from some of you - of wild 'n' wooly '70s/'80s devolved covers ranging from hardcore slammers to New Wave synth nerdiness to art-damaged tune destructions. You'll probably recognize a few famous things here, but there's plenty of obscure-but-great ripped-from-vinyl rarities as well. Weirdly enough, there are not one, but two electric violin-based tracks here: Walter Steding, and Nash The Slash. And, seriously, when was the last time you listened to the Plasmatics?
Put your hands in your pockets and commence pogo dancing...NOW!
1. Dead Kennedys "Viva Las Vegas" 2. Walter Steding "Hound Dog" [Robert Fripp on guitar] 3. John Cale "Heartbreak Hotel" [live, with possibly Brian Eno, Kevin Ayers, Mike Oldfield) 4. Judy Nylon "Jailhouse Rock"
5. Frank Sumatra And The Mob "Telstar" 6. The Plasmatics w/Lemmy "Stand By Your Man" 7. Nurse With Wound "Antacid Cocamotive 93 ["The Locomotion"]" 8. Brian Sands "Baby You're A Rich Man" 9. Dictators "I Got You Babe" 10. Hüsker Dü "Love Is All Around ["Mary Tyler Moore Show" theme]" 11. Talking Heads "Love Is All Around" (live) [The Troggs] 12. Pure Hell "These Boots Are Made For Walking" 13. Ronny "If You Want Me To Stay" 14. The Plugz "La Bamba" 15. Brian Eno "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" 16. Nash the Slash "Dopes on the Water" ["Smoke On The Water"] 17. Implog "On B'way" 18. Hüsker Dü "Eight Miles High" 19. Plasmatics "Dream Lover" 20. The Stranglers "Walk On By" Thanks to those of you who suggested some of these.
"It's a postcard!" "No, it's not. It's a record! Lemme play it" "No, it's a postcard! I wanna mail it!" (removing pipe:) "Hold on kids, you're both right - these 6 postcards we bought at the World's Fair can also be enjoyed on any record-player." "Gee, dad, that's swell!" (Dad goes back to his pipe, nodding and smiling) Despite the ridiculous amount of music I have, I'm not really a "collector." I'm more like a bottom-feeder, buying the stuff no-one else wants. But, while visiting Seattle some years back, I really did have to pry open my wallet and shell out $50 or so for these lovely postcard/records. It was so worth it - all six were in mint condition, never played, and they look and sound great. The artists were probably Seattle locals. I found some info on The Frantics and Frank Sugia, but as for the others, they apparently never made the national scene, or even other recordings.
This fascinating article describes some of the literally hundreds of songs written about the Space Age extravaganza known as the "Century 21" World's Fair of 1962, but I couldn't find many. Only two, to be exact, included here as bonus tracks, courtesy of the "I'm Learning To Share" and "Beware of the Blog" blogs. I've also added a song from the soundtrack to an Elvis film shot on location at the fair. (Of course, strange music fans know and love Attilio Mineo's "Man In Space With Sounds" LP, but many other blogs have already posted it.) So this is all I got so far, but it is, to quote Joe Juma, "an acme of delight."
01 "Invitation To The Fair" - Joe Juma (a country stomper) 02 "World's Fair Seattle" - Billy Earles (Man, dig this finger-snappin' lounge crooner) 03 "Summer of '62 - Ronnie Draper and the Fordomatics(frantic banjo-driven hoedown with those white-bread folk-revival vocal harmonies) 04 "Cafe in The Sky" - Kelly Gates (Space-Age organ sounds? Now we're talkin'!) 05 "Gayway Twist" - the Frantics(this rock'n'roller is an instrumental, which, considering the title, is perhaps just as well) 06 "Come and See Seattle" - Frank Sugia Trio & Naomi (an accordion waltz for the Lawrence Welk crowd - Sugia seems to have had a fairly successful musical career, releasing an album in 1967)
bonus tracks: Elvis Presley - "Take Me To The Fair" Joy and the Boys - "Meet Me In Seattle" The Lancers - "See You In Seattle"
"Dolores Fuller, the onetime actress-girlfriend of cross-dressing schlock movie director Ed Wood who co-starred with Wood in his low-budget 1950s cult classic "Glen or Glenda," has died. She was 88.
Fuller, whose show business career included writing the lyrics to a dozen Elvis Presley movie songs, died Monday at her home in Las Vegas after a long illness," sez the LA Times.
Co-author of some of The King's greatest tunes, like "Rock-A-Hula Baby," and "Do The Clam," memorably covered by The Cramps. Too bad she didn't stay with Wood, at least professionally. What a power couple they would have been - his movies, her songs...
I'm only a few days late. And, hey, isn't anytime the right time for a cheesy Elvis impersonator album? Especially one with narration between songs telling us, well, the Elvis Presley story.And how 'bout that snowman background? (Thanks to the person selling this album on ebay whose pictures I swiped.)
His singing occasionally veers into unintentionalparody territory - it gets especially hilarioushalfway thru "Heartbreak Hotel." It sounds like he's having a seizure.
This was apparently recorded while The King was still alive. When I went on a tour of Graceland, the guide explained E's death by saying it was due to: "...a dependence on medications, and the pressures of trying to please all his fans." Well put!
My most recent guest dj appearance on Greg "Spacebrother" Bishop's weekly examination of the bizarre is now up. Much thanks to Radio Misterioso for not only having me up, but engineering my often dodgy-quality recordings. "Notable tracks played included a reggae song about Apollo 11, four or five old UFO drop-in songs (think “The Flying Saucer” by Buchanan and Goodman), sounds from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, elephants playing xyolphones and theremins, a mashup of the Muppets and the Stray Cats, Sad Kermit, and music from L. Ron Hubbard." And we throw on some old 45s we found lying around the studio. Listen to two hours of crypto-musicology HERE!
"Plan 9" intro/talk Caterina Valente "Out of This World Steven Garrick & His Party Twisters "Astro Twist" The Hellers "The Mechanic" Buchanan and Goodman "Flying Saucer the Third" The Rezillos "Flying Saucer Attack" Go Home Productions "GHP Goes Bananas" White Noise "Here Come The Fleas" Ray Allen & The Embers "Ham The Space Chimp" Man in Orbit "The Space Men" Owen Gray "Apollo 12" [talk break] The Thai Elephant Orchestra Spike Jones "Spooky Spooky (Lend Me your Tomb)" [talk break, in which we discuss Messer Chups without actually playing them. So go here or here and listen to 'em already!] Colonel Elliot and the Lunatics "Plutonian Pogo Stick" Martinn "The Muppet Strut" dj BC "I'm Happy (On Sesame Street)" [talk break] Sad Kermit "Hurt" James Houston "Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)" Sid Lawrence & Friends "The Answer to The Flying Saucer" The Ames Brothers "Music From Outer Space" Yodeling Bob Lewis "Ghost Riders in the Sky" Clouseaux "The Toy Store of Tomorrow" ??? "Mambo Rock" Kazoo Funk Orchestra "The Jagables" The Flesh Eaters "See You In The Boneyard" Elvis Presley "Rock a Hula Baby" Alan Freed, Steve Allen & Al 'Jazzbo' Collins "The Space Man" [talk break] children's French lesson 45, mixed The Thai Elephant Orchestra Sad Kermit "The Rainbow Disconnection" The Bran Flakes "Don Knotts" Wendy Chambers (on the Car-Horn Organ) "Star-Spangled Banner" The Bran Flakes "Don Knotts" The Missiles "The Space Ship" children's French lesson 45, mixed The Thai Elephant Orchestra The Bran Flakes "Don Knotts" Jim 'Supersaw' Leonard "Your Song by Jim Leonard" Tony Perkins "Rocket It To The Moon" Mickey Katz "Nudnick The Flying Schissel" Brian Currant "Banjo/Continuum" sTallio! "The Future Sound of Retro" L. Ron Hubbard "March of the Psychlos" [talk break] Jim of Seattle "Welcome To Windows".
RIAA's 16-song mashup collection takes you on a hallucinogenic trip thru vintage Vegas, timewarping into the Now:
"Sounds For The Swing Set" 1. Meet The Swingers 2. Bring the Strippers 3. Makin' The Love Scene 4. Skinatra 5. Hellvis 6. That's a-Funky 7. Poker Samba 8. superSPYtious 9. Secret Agent's Weapon of Choice 10. Hideaway Moog Souffle 11. No Lies 12. Puddin' On A Ritz 13. Just A Timewarp 14. Hookers For Liberace 15. Nutty Squirrels and Rappin' Rabbits 16. sseexx bboommbbSources:
1. Perez Prado: "Exotic Suite," "Psychedelic Circus" radio ad, Camerata "All Day & All The Night," Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin (Rat Pack live), Sammy Davis Jr "Begin the Beguine," Cornershop "Brimful of Asha," Rusty Warren "Bounce Your Boobies," "c'mon" from Public Enemy "Bring The Noise," Frankie Valli "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," various tekno beatz
2. Public Enemy "Bring The Noise," vs Sandy Nelson "The Stripper"
3. Tony Bennett "Love Scene," Pere Ubu "On The Surface," Tom Tom Club "Genius Of Love," Bob Thompson Orchestra & Chorus "Playboy," Bobby Darin "Beyond The Sea" (live and studio versions)
4. Von Bondies "C'Mon, C'Mon," Sinatra "I Got You Under My Skin," Elizabeth Berkley interviewed by David Letterman
5. RunDMC "Back From Hell," Elvis Presley: dialogue from live bootleg, "Ol MacDonald" and "Little Less Conversation," Mojo Nixon "Elvis Is Everywhere," "Night of the Living Dead" soundtrack, Arrogant Worms "Santa’s Gonna Kick Your Ass," Carl Douglas "Kung Fu Fighting," Bugz In The Attic (feat. Wunmi) "Zombie (Part One)," The Ventures "Man From "UNCLE"
6. Dean Martin "That's Amore," The Meters "Good Ol' Funky Music," intro: Vicki PeopleLikeUs' aunties
7. Lady Gaga "Poker Face," World Series Of Poker ads, "One Note Samba" Walter Wonderly, Perrey & Kingsley
8. Stevie Wonder "Superstitous," "James Bond Theme" Moby, John Barry
9. Mel Torme "Secret Agent Man," Fatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice," Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger," EU "Da Butt," Dennis Coffey "Scorpio," Ricky Martin "La Vida Loca"
10. Enoch Light & His Light Brigade "Hernando's Hideaway," Fatboy Slim "Big Beat Souffle," Perrey & Kingsley "Strangers In The Night," Magnavox stereo checkout record
11. Led Zeppelin "No Quarter," Nancy Sinatra "Lies," Vox wah-wah pedal ads
12. Ella Fitzgerald "Puttin' On The Ritz," Claus Ogerman "Stingray," KXXK jingle
13. Stagga "Timewarp Dub," numerous Louis Prima songs, e.g.: "Just A Gigalo," Hunter S. Thompson "One Toke Over The Line: Abbe Lane at the Desert Inn. Louis Prima, Stardust," "Surreal Vegas" video by TravelWishTV.com
14. NPR radio: "Behind Closed Doors - The Reality of Prostitution," Liberace "Arruba Liberace," George Liberace "George Liberace Mambo," Liberace Christmas message, "Surreal Vegas" video - TravelWishTV.com, Da Lata "Ponteio (Bonus Beats)"
15. The Nutty Squirrels "Uh Oh! pt2," Jurassic 5 "Lesson 6 - The Lecture," "Oswald The Rabbit" (old kiddie record), bits of: Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love," Frank Sinatra "New York New York," Bonzo Dog Band "Jollity Farm" (piano intro), KRS-ONE "HipHop vs Rap," Bob Thompson Orchestra & Chorus "Playboy"
Back on Elvis Death Day (August 16), I posted a dead-Elvis tribute album on WFMU's Beware of the Blog, which yesterday prompted a nice Maniac to point out an Elvis song-poem written by one N. Ruth Mills, who posts her poems on a site called Whispering Pines Poetry. From what I gather by reading her poems, she's a grandma, likes eagles, and is presumably Southern, since a Nashville cat named Buddy Sherriff sang it for her.
There were a million dead-Elvis songs, but this is one of the few that suggests he might still be alive: "Elvis oh Elvis/You have been seen here and there/In a crowd on a street/A glimpse of you most anywhere"
The Who Boys are an uncatagorizable trio of oddballs based in the UK (including one American ex-pat) whose 'net-albums include spoken-word, singing, electronics, and mashups in various combinations (sometimes all in one track!).
Their new 'net-only release, "The Good The Bad and the Who Boys," features, among it's many wonders, an inexplicable acapella chorus version of the BeeGee's "Staying Alive," a brutal drun'n'bassElvis remix, a brilliant bit of lounge/classical fusion as Tony Bennett sings over Chopin, and three - count 'em - tracks using recordings of rapid-fire country auctioneers, like the kind we talked about here. This one might be my fave:
The Who Boys: "The Return of Dub Auctioneer" - "...doing his thing with Santana and The Doors, with them essential Who Boys rhythms"
Billie Holiday's chilling description of a lynching, "Strange Fruit," is one of those sacred songs that I wouldn't want to mess with, but this unlikely pairing with Radiohead is nothing short of stunning:
The Who Boys: "Strange Pyramid" - "One to reflect and weep to."
And anyone who remembers British "punk poet" John Cooper Clark is automatically aces in my book.
Aloha, jet-setters! M4M Airlines taking off 'round the world to explore unusual pop song cover versions. A passport? The only passport you need is...your computer! And a bribe to get past customs! First stop: Egypt.
MalikAdouane "Shaft" - Yup, the Isaac Hayes chestnut performed with an Arabic tinge, extracted from this Buddha-Bar mix CD.
Malik has a new album out, not yet released in the US, whose unwieldy if descriptive title is "Orient Meets Funks Brothers & Souls Sisters" ("Funk and Soul Hits Mixed with Arabic Pop Rhythms") - James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, etc get that slinky snake-charmer sound.
Popchor Berlin "Mongoloid" - Devo's weirdpunk masterpiece gets an uplifting rehaul courtesy of a German 25-person vocal group. (Polyphonic Spree go New Wave?) They also cover the likes of Gang of Four and Missy Elliot.
Dr. Ammondt "Glaudi Calcei/ Blue Suede Shoes" - Elvis sung in Latin. No, not Latin music, like when Elvis sang "No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car" in the film "Fun In Acapulco," but the actual ancient Roman tongue. This is what they play at real toga parties, har har! Dr. Ammondt, a literature professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, has recorded a whole album called "The Legend Lives Forever in Latin." On another release, he sings "Blue Suede Shoes" again in another ancient language, Sumerian. I don't know why.
