THE BIG RUMBLE! Uncensored Scenes of the Nightmares of a Weirdo

(Back up, by request: Roky Erickson live, Jonathan Brandmeier, Bah Humbug, and CURL ACTIVATE 2: More '80s Hip-Hop Novelties.)
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Never before in the history of blogging has there been such a SHOCKING collection of '50s/'60s audio atrocities! You'll flip your wig (or your switchblade) when you...HEAR riotous rock'n'roll and rancid radio ads! HEAR bad-boy bikers blowin' rhythm-and-blues! HEAR their rockabilly "rumble" with rival gangs! These heathen hot-rodding hoodlums and harlots are on a one-way drag race to HELL!

Music For Maniacs, the blog that brought you such SIN-tillating compilations as "Voodoo Dance Doll," and the banned-in-Boston "Hubba Hubba!," are back with an all-new spine-tingling collection of virgin vinyl rips and recorded-off-YouTube sound selections, many of which have never been digitally available before! There are other similar collections of this sort of teen trash, but these songs have (so far as I know) not been previously compiled.

Starring in this festival of forgotten (forbidden?!) 45s: a teen-aged (and unrecognizable) Scott Walker, still going by the name Scott Engel; gay novelty act Sandy Beech; one Mike Minor, possible the only lounge crooner to tackle juvenile delinquency; a Frank Zappa production; both a song by the Cheers (featuring future game show host Bert Convy) and a cover of the Cheers' hit "Black Denim Trousers" (that I think I prefer to the original); Harold Lloyd Jr - yes, the son of the hanging-off-the-clock guy - who had a short, strange life; and since every psychobilly/Cramps-related comp features Link Wray's "Rumble," we're including a different Wray rumbler that might be an even better tune.

Volume 7 of our ongoing survey of mid-century sleazy-listening sounds is in limbo - on a hard-drive that has apparently crashed. A drive I bought to be a backup for my main drive!  Damn thing (a Passport) is less then a year old. Hoping it can be recovered. So we're jumping to Vol. 8.

As Oliver Reed sings:
"Black Leather, Black Leather, Smash Smash Smash!
Black Leather, Black Leather, crash crash crash!
Black Leather, Black Leather, Kill Kill Kill!"

"LOWBROW Vol. 8: The Big Rumble"

1 ad - "The Thrill Killers"
2 Link Wray - Rumble Rock
3 Jeff Daniels - Switchblade Sam [one of the more surreal, hysterical rockabilly boppers I've ever heard, describing some kind of orgy between Long Tall Sally, Stagger Lee, and, er, Charlie Brown?]
4 Oliver Reed - Black Leather Rock [from the film "(These Are) The Damned"]
5 The Shadows - The Rumble
6 ad - "High School Hellcats"/"Hot Rod Gang"
7 The Cheers - Chicken [presumably inspired by the "chickie run" scene in the James Dean film "Rebel Without a Cause"]
8 The Champs - Experiment In Terror [like Link Wray, those "Tequila" boys The Champs did in fact record more than one song]
9 The Diamonds - Daddy Cool
10 ad - "The Wild Rebels"
11 Bill Woods - Go Crazy Man
12 Alexander (Sandy) Courage - Hot Rod Rumble (Main Title)
13 Bob Peck - Sweet 16 [cool song Bob, but you're still the poor man's Tom Lehrer!]
14 Ray Smith - Rockin' Bandit
15 The Orange Groove - Street King [it's a shame we'll never know what geniuses made this brilliant quasi-Middle Eastern bad-boy oddity for a budget label]
16 Don Lonie Talks With Teenagers (excerpt)
17 Scott Walker (aka Scott Engel) - Good For Nothin' [Wow, before I came across this 45, I had no idea about the pre-Walker Brothers rockabilly past of Scott W.]
18 Homer Denison Jr - Chickie Run [hello, sound fx!]
19 Steve Karmen - 'Teenage Gang Debs' theme
20 ad - "Fiend For Flesh!"/"Road Rebels" [alas, these films, scarcely released in the first place, are considered lost]
21 Hal Blaine & the Young Cougars - Green Monster
22 Hells Angels (dialogue)
23 The Diamonds - Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots
24 The Rotations - The Cruncher [not "The Crusher"! but an early Zappa production]
25 Die Crazy Girls - Der Feuerstuhl (Leader Of The Pack) [is she saying "buzz off, buzz off" in this German Shangri-las remake?]
26 ad - "She Devils on Wheels"
27 Epitones - The Mighty Rumble
28 Sandy Beech - Leather Jacket Lovers [amazing that this outrageous s&m parody was released back in the '60s; how did they get away with it!? Er, well, maybe J. Edgar Hoover dug it, he was a pretty kinky cat...]
29 Harold Lloyd Jr w/Page Cavanaugh - Daddy Bird [from the terrible film "Frankenstein's Daughter"]
30 Mike Minor - Rumble In The Night
31 Hash Brown - The Rumble
32 ad - "Bury Me an Angel"
33 The Crickets - I Fought The Law [yep, 'twas a post-Buddy Holly Crickets that wrote and first recorded this classic; why was it not the hit that Bobby Fuller's version was? Perhaps  the reference to a "zip-gun", the homemade rubber-band-powered gun that punk kids used, was too controversial; changing it to "six gun" removed it to a safer Old Western past]
34 Vicki Young - Riot In Cell Block #9 [the Leiber and Stoller hit for The Coasters (dba The Robins) gets a female makeover]
35 Barry Green (aka Barry Blue) - Shake A Tail Suzie [a Suzuki 'cycles promo]

Robert Williams: Buy His Records

Anyone who played in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band is of course an automatic A-lister in the avant/strange music world. So it's no wonder that late-period Magic Band member Robert Williams' debut solo release, a four-song EP from 1981, is chock-a-block with strange music superstars: a couple of DEVOs, a slew of Zappa/Beefheart sidemen, even Robbie Krieger of the Doors. And the music is quite nice, too, moving into (slightly) more commercial New Wave territory with its' integrity intact.

But unfortunately for Williams, his 1997 public humiliation on the hugely popular (and still running) "Judge Judy" show is what he will always be best known for, at least until reissues of "Doc At The Radar Station" knock Bruno Mars off the charts. Williams toured with PiL, and attempted to sue no less than Johnny "Lydon" Rotten himself. To put it in strictly legal terms, he did not win.The complete episode is no longer available on-line, and the short clips that are up don't do it justice, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was one of the most howlingly funny moments in TV history. 

Poor li'l fella. He does deserve to remembered for his music, not just with the Cap'n, but on his solo records, and with Eazy Teeth, who made one great experimental synth-punk single in 1980 that featuredTito Larriva from the Plugz on vocals, included here. Also: 2 tracks from his fine 1998 album that is in print, "Date With The Devils Daughter": "Hello Robert," which features some hysterical (in all senses of the word) answering machine messages from Wild Man Fischer, and "Frank and Don and Me", feat. guitarist Jeff Morris Tepper from his Magic Band days. Not bad for a "nudnik."

Robert Williams - Buy My Record + bonus tracks

SESAME STREET DISCO - TWO ALBUMS

Back in 2007, I posted a rip-roaring "Rubber Duckie" as part of my "Disco Sickness" collection I put together for Otis Fodder's 365 Project and WFMU. I never got around to digitizing the entire album, but a swell Maniac did, throwing in another album to boot. Brian, a contributor from the Growing Bored For A Living blog, sez:


Hello, all. A few years back when I started browsing blogs, I came across this glorious pile of music known as Music For Maniacs. I've gotten many great things from this blog, and was always looking for something strange I could contribute here. Well, I found it...

In 1978 and '79, to capitalize on the disco craze, Sesame Street released two albums: Sesame Street Fever and Sesame Street Disco. Fever even had the participation of Robin Gibb (on the title track and on "Trash"), due to the input of his children, who were Sesame fans. Some songs even made the show, most notably the gonzo booty-shaker "Me Lost Me Cookie At the Disco", off of Sesame Disco. And this isn't a hack job either: there's some real pros playing in the studio - the music is flawless.

File includes both albums, put together under the title Sesame Street Ultimate Disco Party. Also includes artwork. Audio files were ripped from quality YouTube vids; that's why one track has an outro by the YouTube poster. They all sound great, though. Add this one to your pile of disco madness, right next to Ethel Merman...though this one is far better. Enjoy!

"Sesame St. Disco" 

01 Sesame Street Fever

02 Doin' The Pigeon

03 Rubber Duckie

04 Trash (w/Robin Gibb)

05 C Is For Cookie

06 Has Anybody Seen My Dog

07 What Makes Music

08 Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco

09 The Happiest Street In the World

10 Sing

11 Disco Frog

12 Doin' The Trash

13 Bein' Green

14 The Happiest Street In the World

Muppets + ridiculous hi-NRG '70s disco = party. Now kids, what do we say when someone gives us a present? Thaaaank yooooou, Brian!

THE WEIRD WORLD OF BLOWFLY

Back up by request: Zoogz Rift "Ipecac" and "War Zone."

David Bowie's death has rocked the world (as well it should), but let's not neglect to note the recent passing of another legend, albeit a very underground one: the genuinely unique, bizarre, and offensive performer known as Blowfly. As interviews attest, the man was a real character. I discovered the foul-mouthed funkster c. 1987, after stumbling across the album "Blowfly's Party" in a used record blowout sale (probably paid 50 cents at most) and wondered: what is the deal with this guy?! Some years before hip-hop got nasty and was still in it's bubblegum phase, this album featured such tunes as "Prick Rider" and "Can I Come In Your Mouth." As George Takei would say, "Oh my..." A few years later, I saw him, with Rudy Ray Moore opening, at Brendan Mullins' great post-Masque venue, the Club Lingerie, and it was the most star studded show I've ever been to. Seriously. Everywhere I looked, there was Stan Ridgway, one of the Bangles, Flea, Henry Rollins...had no idea Blowfly was such a cult figure. Little while later, he was opening for the Pixies at the height of their popularity. Crazy. Back in 2007, I reviewed on this here web-log his then-recent "Punk Rock Party" album he released on Alternative Tentacles records, which you can (and should) listen to HERE.

It's amazing how he made a career out of the most vulgar, immature potty humor, performed in pseudo-superhero costumes. Even if you don't think he's that funny, you gotta respect that. A truly singular talent.

His first album, "The Weird World of Blowfly" is a great funk record - for those of you who don't find singing "My Baby Keeps Farting In My Face" to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" funny, it really is enjoyable for it's musical merits alone. Recorded live before a properly unruly audience, the band doesn't quit, with each song seamlessly flowing into the next, a la James Brown's live medleys. Blowflys' singing is surprisingly decent. His crack band included Timmy Thomas on keys, who would have his own hit with the classic organ/primtive-drum-machine classic "Why Can't We Live Together," guitarist Little Beaver (love his "Party Down" album), and bassist George "Chocolate" Perry, who, oddly enough, played with Joe Walsh, Neil Young, and Stephen Stills.

The follow-up interjects a little more comedic variety into the smutty-new-lyrics-to-hit-songs formula by framing the songs in tv show parodies. Good idea, but chopping up the tracks instead of letting it flow like the first album was not. Still, a worthy follow-up, with an almost as hot band. Both albums have a great live sleazy ambiance, like you're in the coolest basement nightclub or sweaty little bar and everybody's drunk and wild. And how 'bout them album covers?


Blowfly - "The Weird World of Blowfly" (1973)

Blowfly - "Blowfly On TV" (1974)
 

HAPPY (BAND)CAMPERS: WEIRD EDITION

"American Folk Music" is the most boring possible name for an album, but fear not! The latest release from veteran North Carolina wackos the Moolah Temple $tringband is anything but dull. They take songs from Harry Smith's venerable "Anthology of American Folk Music" and radically warp them by introducing such elements as exotic Middle Eastern-isms, clanging and banging percussion, incongruous '80s hip-hop style drum machine beatz, even a bit of rapping on one song, and mix them with the trad sounds of guitars, banjos, and a skillful fiddle that suggests that someone has been taking music lessons. The hideously/hilariously inappropriate combination of traditional folk music and Autotune (!) on "Farmland Blues" had me laffin' out loud. Also dig: the fuzz guitar crunch of "Little Moses" (even tho it goes on too long), and a version of "John Hardy" that might even be better than the Gun Club's? Scuzzy vocals are often distorted beyond recognition. "The Titanic," however, actually approaches mainstream respectability, complete with perfectly competent backing vox.

Moolah Temple $tringband: "American Folk Music"

More Bandcamp weirdness ahoy! L.A. nutters Freshly Wrapped Candies have unwrapped an old album of theirs from 1989 chock full of hermetic, inscrutable DIY obsessions that, perhaps inevitably, are sometimes reminiscent of The Residents, esp. on songs like "Grandfathers' Rug". Other standout songs like the downright catchy "Think" and the Beavis and Butthead-ish "Pitter Pat" don't immediately suggest any particular influences. Organically strange, but not off-puttingly so. It emerges from the haze with its' humanity intact.

Freshly Wrapped Candies: "I Like You" 

HAPPY (BAND)CAMPERS: CHILL EDITION

I don't even know how to deal with the death of David Bowie, at least so far as this blog is concerned. He was such a monumental figure in my musical upbringing that I wouldn't know where to begin. Ah well...in lieu of anything relevant, here's the post I had planned for today. If, like me, you've just been listening to lots of Bowie and want to take a break for something a little new and different, I must say that the mood of these songs is strangely appropriate: 

What will you do with all that xmas scratch your relatives laid on ya? What, they didn't give you anything? Bastards! No matter - these zesty-flavored new(ish) releases can be listened to, and in some cases downloaded, for free.

We're long-time fans of Twink, The Toy Piano Band, and not only can you now check out his entire discography on the Bandcamps, but you cats must also dig his latest:

"Dust Bunny"

This album is inspired by winter, and so has a somewhat more somber tone to it. Somber, yet cartoon-ish, if you can imagine that. The master of toy-tronica is in fine form on such pick hits as "Pipper Snitch," and "Sparklemuffin."

Not sure how I discovered Corpus Callosum, probably by searching for unusual instruments, but this bunch of eccentric California folkies have come up with what is possibly the most gorgeous tune on Bandcamp. Musical saws and accordions beautifully creak along with sing-along vocals:


Corpus Callosum: "Hymnal"


Now that you're all properly relaxed, I shall send you off to dream-land with this stunning bit of Eno-Frippy drum-less drone courtesy of the Connecticut combo Landing.

Landing: "Yon"


As with the Corpus Callosum track, I haven't really listened to much else by this group. I just keep returning to this one. Music to hibernate by... 

OUTER SPACE MUSIC FROM OUTER SPACE!

Who or what is/are Ko Transmissions? I don't know, but the lengthy letter that accompanied the cassette release featured here tells a long, involved story of musical messages sent to planet Earth by the Ko people. Yes, we have apparently made contact with space aliens. You heard it here first!

Ko-core is all instrumental. The tape gets off to a good start with some lovely harp sounds. This is followed by a drummer-less rock band, and a vaguely Middle Eastern electric guitar solo. Those last 2 parts weren't too interesting, but @ 9:12 we get to an excellent passage of exotic tribal drumming backing more Middle Eastern sounding violin (?) and possible other stringed things - music for green-skinned belly dancers entertaining their masters on some far off planet.

Which is followed by spooky guitar drones that smack of vast interstellar voids. Fine stuff. Next up, some noodly guitar plucking; a lengthy track starts @ 21:00 with drums and  what sounds like mbira, cowbell-y percussion, and some kind of ethnic flutes/woodwinds that sounds like an Irish pennywhistle made out of PVC pipes. Then: atonal guitar skronk. I like the oddly bent Residential noises that start around 32:00 and the ambient drone that follows it. Some Beefheartian proggy guitars are then called to prayer at Mecca, and we're done.

None of it sounds particularly extra-terrestrial, but neither does it sound like any standard musical styles, unless 'random weirdness' is now a genre. 44 minutes of inter-planetary communication here:

Ko Transmissions

WEIRDER-ASS CHIRSTMAS

As promised by compiler Cat A. Waller, 

"Weird Ass Chirstmas" is now up. Any Scrooge would have his head turned around by this: Esquivel, Mel Blanc, a guy singing like a frog, a track from the infamous "Star Wars" xmas album, Stewart Copeland of The Police in his oddball 'Klark Kent' persona, Fred from the B-52s singing about fruitcake and Sammy Davis Jr with an upset stomach, Wayne Newton going disco (one of my long-time faves), and, er...Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Christmas." 

Sorry to the requester who asked for "Bah Humbug: An Alternative Christmas" - can't find that one. But I did re-up this one, a whole album about trees.

See y'all next year!

ANOTHER WILD XMAS

'Tis the season for yet another installment of that beloved yuletide tradition, Bomarr's 'wild xmas' compilations of "...the best of the best, and the worst of the worst holiday music out there." And a rocking stocking stuffer it is, too, with some famous weirdos like the Residents and
Quintron & Miss Pussycat, a track from the Moog-sterpiece "Switched-On Santa" (hey, I had that one on vinyl!), and lots of stuff I (and probably you) have never heard of, e.g.: Uncle Anus' "Merry Fucking Christmas Ya Filthy Animals," anyone? A messed-up sound collage, that one is. Amidst all the outsider/novelty sickness is a wonderful '60s girl-group obscurity, "Christmas Time Is Here Again," by The Flirtations, not the Charlie Brown one.

"Wild Xmas With Bomarr" "a solid 79 minutes of madness, and definitely not safe for your sensitive parents." Seamlessly mixed, I might add.

But wait: he says that after 10 years, this will be the last one. Wha..? Don't let the Grinch take this from us! Ah well...have had a couple requests for the infamous Wayne Butane xmas sound collage and the entire 

"Merry Mashmas" 

collection, so it's now back up. As is another request, just in time for Frankies' 100 birthday bash: 

Frank Sinatra "Come Suck With Me."


 

"All I Want For Christmas Is A Goat"

The Worst Christmas Record Ever is back on-line. As well it should be.

And I thought that my beloved pot-bellied pigs Christmas album was the nuttiest sampled- animal- sound-fx Christmas album, a cherished tradition going back to Don Carlos' Singing Dogs in the 1950s. But this one just might beat 'em all. Goats! The silly Swedes behind this album chose very traditional, usually religious songs, and perform them with straight-faced solemnity. The contrast between these o holy nights and the goats' unholy screams is the funniest, flat-out weirdest holiday novelty I've heard in a while.

I'm not posting the album cuz it's brand new and the proceeds go to charity (Yes! buying weird music is finally tax-deductible!), so do the right thing and get it here:

"All I Want For Christmas Is A Goat" (or any number of other places, iTunes, etc.)

WEIRD-ASS CHRISTMAS

Maniacs! Do any of you have the "Trekkies 2" soundtrack? I've been getting lots of requests lately to re-up oldies, and that ones' file has gone missing. But lots more old posts are back up, cuz you axed for it:

"A Crafty Ladies Christmas"; 2 volumes of "Christmas Is For Weirdos"; lots of "Horrible Singing Children;"  RIAA's albums, except for the most recent ones (the ones on top, will get to those soon); and 8-count-'em-8 Zoogz Rift albums.

Merry Kissmyass! In the holiday spirit of giving, two fine Maniacs have hit us with some great comps of x-citing, x-otic, (x-hausting?) xmas weirdness:

"Deck Your Face With Xmas Music" - Don-O, who compiled the two "Ultimate Ultimate Xanadu" comps for us, is a wearer of many hats, two of which conjoin here: his 'zine "Twilight World," and his mix-tapes. In the latest ish (#20) of his compulsively readable publication, Don dishes at length on his fave Christmas albums (here's a preview), and this is the audio companion. Great stuff, ranging from the sleazy 1960 Sun Records "Rockin Stockin" single (perfect for "rated x-mas" burlesque shows), to some kooky Space Age sounds from the Three Sons, to a wild Optigan track (man, I gotta find a copy of this album), culminating in a spectacular reading by filmmaker John Waters on why he loves Christmas.

Cat Waller, who bequeathed unto us those lovely "Monstro Monster Mixes" is back with several volumes of yuletide yummies: 
 https://xmasmixes.wordpress.com/
We posted a link to this page last year when he put up "Rude Ass Christmas Mix (NSFW!)" which claims he has tweaked a bit for this year. I deffo also recommend the "Lynchian"  Ghostly Trio album, recorded off a tape as just side 1 and side 2. Concidentally, Don-O includes a track from it on his collection. And Cat claims that there's a "Weird Ass christmas Mix" a-comin', so keep watching the skies!

MUSIC MADE FROM SOUND EFFECTS 2

A year we ago we wrote about artists such as The Fruiting Body who make music out of everyday sounds. I am happy to say that this trend is continuing. People of Earth!  Your musical instruments are...OBSOLETE! 

We salute you, France, for you are the country that gave us, among other things, musique concrète. And Furniker (aka Franz Schultz), who might literally be making concrete music - I would not be surprised if an actual concrete mixer was featured in the track "Construction Site." That's a song featured on Furniker's brand new, all-too-brief, 4-track 'net release that takes everyday stuff (song titles include "In The Kitchen" and "Work") and samples and loops them into a rhythmic, compelling din. You won't find too many hummable melodies here, but if you like industrial music, well..this really is industrial.

Furniker/"Furniker" (Bandcamp streaming) 
Furniker/"Furniker" (archive.org free downloading/streaming)

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I found this chap on Bandcamp:
Spannerman Dan ("instruments are made from found and recycled objects")
His short, low-key songs (sketches, more like) aren't too spectacular, but "Pailito" is nice, and "Calder Waltz" is very nice, with what sounds like alien animals vocalizing over pleasantly chiming bell-like sounds.
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Sneak previews of two forthcoming albums that I am very much looking forward to (bookmark this page!):

The great Matmos have released a track from their forthcoming (Feb 2016) album named after the only "instrument" they used to make it: a Whirlpool "Ultimate Care II" washing machine. Dig this swell percussion jam that will also make whites whiter, colors brighter:

Matmos: "Ultimate Care, excerpt 8"

And Miles Copeland (the IRS Records founder/manager of The Police, I assume?) will be releasing this Dec. 10th a collection of his field recordings of the "Sea Organ" built into the coastline of Croatia. Waves roll into tubes of various sizes, creating a theoretically endless, random piece of music. Quite lovely. Two tracks for, if you'll pardon the expression, streaming, are now up:
"Sea Organ"

Thanks to James Carroll!

Behold, the Daxophone! The FUNNIEST Instrument Ever?!?

The late, great Hans Reichel gets a lot of props in the modern jazz world for his guitar playing, which is all well and good, but Maniacs should proceed directly to the few recordings he made highlighting his invention, the hand-crafted wooden objects known as Daxophones. Imagine a school kid bending his ruler over his desk making a boing! sound, only played with a violin or cello bow. In the hands of Reichel, a master musician as well as inventor, the Dax is amazingly versatile, capable of all manner of sounds, often with cartoonish undercurrents.

Reichel calls this album an 'operetta' even tho there are no singers. Indeed, there are no other instruments on this album besides the Daxophone. Yet the instrument has the uncanny ability to mimic human speech sound. Not only that, but the song "Bubu And His Friends" sounds like a whole barnyard of animals singing in harmony. Not only do these instruments sing, they swing, dad. These are not just weird noises for a chin-stroking avant-garde academic. "Street Song" is filled with hand-clapping joy. The percussion-heavy "You Can Dance With Me" reaches an almost Afro-Cuban level of danceable groove. And the catchy bubblegum rock of "Oway Oway" could convert the most brainwashed of mainstream music followers (well, in my fantasy world...)

Some songs suggest actual musical genres, like salsa, jazz or country, but played as if by Martians who, after picking up some terrestrial radio transmissions, attempt to interpret  the music of Earthlings on their alien instruments, tuned to no known scale. A wonderful work of weird genius. The fact that the name 'Hans Reichel' is not as well known as 'Kardashian' does not speak well for the human species, but we can start changing that right now:

Hans Reichel - "Yuxo, A New Daxophone Operetta"   [2002]

You can also listen to/buy another great Daxophone album (along with a slew of his guitar releases) here:


https://destination-out.bandcamp.com/album/shanghaied-on-tor-road

Thelonious Moog - "American Standard"

Thelonious Moog's debut album was, as you might expect, jazz cats playing Mr. Monk on vintage synths. Their 2007 follow-up, "American Standard," ditched the music of their namesake for an unpredictable, irreverent romp ranging from heavy cats like Gershwin, Brubeck, & Zappa, to the EZ kitsch of those thrift-store inevitables "Alley Cat" and Al Hirt's "Java," all getting the same zany Space-Age treatment and some ingenious arrangements. Raymond Scotts' "Powerhouse" is dunked in wacky cartoon sound-effects, Duke Ellington's exotica standard "Caravan" goes surf-rock (+ odd noises) and one of my fave kooky '70s glam classics, "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, gets tackled here twice. All quite silly, but played by pros, and plenty fun - one of the best novelty albums of the '00s.

Thelonious Moog - American Standard

• 1.Powerhouse
• 2.T 4 2
• 3.Hocus Pocus (Swingin' 60's)
• 4.Caravan
• 5.Take 5, 6,& 7
• 6.Got Rhythm?
• 7.Alley Cat
• 8.Duodenum
• 9.Hocus Pocus (Bossa Nova)
• 10.Have U Seen It Yet?
• 11.Java
• 12.Harlem Nocturne

The Complete EVERYDAY FILM...

...is available for free, supposedly for today only. Dig the horrific electronics:

https://theeverydayfilm.bandcamp.com/
UPDATE: Oops, well, so much for that.

By request, "Music For Weirdos Vol 5" is back up.

Right, back to my sick bed. Zzzz.....

The EZ-Listening Gangsta Rap of DJ NoNo

 By request, the marching-band versions of Stooges classics is back up.

"Planned 10 years ago, the Ballroom EP (now album) has been a long time coming…
Mixing ballroom music – big band, jazz, bossa nova, exotica, swing, easy listening and classical pops – with hip hop and r n’ b." So sayeth that red, rad robot DJ NoNo (aka Tim from Radio Clash) about his mashup collection now on-line for your dancing/romancing/listening/downloading pleasure. And what a pleasure it is, mixing the likes of hardcore rappers Public Enemy with an exceedingly cheesy version of the "Mexican Hat Dance." One of the oldies that gets remixed is one of my all-time fave mashups: "Stripper Jackson," which features Jacko singing over a version of that bump-n-grind classic, "The Stripper." This is the kind of stuff that I used to feature regularly in the early days of this here web-log.

Only 9 tracks long, and it's all quite fun and ridiculous. And I'm not just saying that because it's partially dedicated to me. (Looks at the floor) Ah, shucks...

DJ NoNo: "Ballroom"

1. Mexican Love War (Public Enemy ‘Make Love Fuck War’ vs Geoff Love ‘Mexican Hat Dance’)
2. Push It Muchacho (Salt n’ Pepa ‘Push It’ vs Esquivel ‘Mucha Muchacha’)
3. March of the Forgotten (Joe Loss ‘Mark of the Mods’ vs Dre ft Eminem ‘Forgot about Dre’)
4. Swing The Guillotine (Death Grips ‘Guillotine’ vs Glen Miller ‘In The Mood’)
5. Stripper Jackson (Joe Loss ‘The Stripper’ vs Michael Jackson ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’)
6. Quando Tip (Q-Tip ‘Breathe And Stop’ vs Manuel ‘Quando Quando Quando’)
7. Super Wheels (Eminem ‘Superman’ vs Joe Loss ‘Wheels Cha Cha’)
8. Ludasifinado (Ludacris ‘Stand Up’ vs Laurindo Almeida ‘Desafinado’)
9. Cha Cha Like It’s Hot (Snoop Dogg ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ vs Starlight Strings ‘Unforgettable’ 2015 remaster)

HI-FI SCI-FI: Vintage Monster/Space/Horror/Futurism Audio Oddities

Now up for your downloading pleasure, six (and counting) volumes of monstrous mix-tapes, perfect for these Halloween-y times we're living in. And what might their contents be? Compiler Cat A. Waller sez: "I'm afraid to say what's on them. Might get googled and busted. I'm kinda wimpy like that." Well, after checking out three volumes (so far) I can heartily recommend this witch's brew of vintage horror rock, more recent New Wave and novelty artists, and relevant sound (vampire?) bites and film dialogue, amongst other surprises.

Monstro Monster Mixes 

Still not enough for ya? "Hi-Fi Sci-Fi," the latest installment in our continuing exploration of mid-century arty-facts from the Golden Age of Cool, deals with every aspect of the fantastic: Outer Space! Monsters! Monsters from space! Not only is much of this stuff ripped from vinyl and, so far as I know, has not been compiled on other collections of vintage sleazy-listening sounds, but there's also a number of tracks recorded off of video: movie songs (and dialogue, sound fx, etc.) that were not released on record, but should have been. There will be more such movie musics in future volumes. So keep watching the skies!

Apart from the unknown garage rockers and novelty acts releasing 45s on regional labels, we also have a few big stars: Diana Ross & The Supremes, Bo Diddley, Louis Prima...and crooners. Crooners already rule, but when they sing straight-faced, sincere, utterly inappropriate 'love themes' to cheesy b-movies, they just get, er, 'rule-ier.' Bobby Rydell's finger-snappin' vocal version of "Telstar" must be heard to be believed. See also: "Journey to the Seventh Planet" on "Vol. 5".

Lowbrow Vol. 6: HI-FI SCI-FI 

01 The Crescendos - Countdown
02 Louis Prima - Fly Me To The Moon [from a private-press release by this king of Vegas lounge singers]
03 Gemini & The Planets - Copa City Promo, Miami, FL ["gyrating go-go girls dancing on a bed of nails"?!]
04 The Supremes - Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine [wouldn't it be nice to hear the oldies station play this theme song to a nutty Vincent Price film instead of "Baby Love" for the umpteenth time?]
05 Monty Johnson - Flying Saucers in the Air
06 The Sci-Fis - Science Friction
07 Ralph Young - Moon Doll [future half of very successful duo Sandler & Young croons the theme to "Nude On The Moon," a film about nudes on the moon.]
08 "Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster": Bob Crewe - Scramble All Jets
09 Big Maybelle - Egg Plant That Ate Chicago [rhythm and blues legend Maybelle recorded the original "Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On"; which is all well and good, but I prefer this]
10 "Annihilation"
11 "Beach Girls and the Monster" - suspense music [My title - like track 15, I don't know the names of the uncredited pieces of music]
12 Bo Diddley - Mummy Walk
13 "Evil Hand"
14 Frankie Avalon - Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
15 "Beach Girls and the Monster" - spooky bongos
16  "Beach Girls and the Monster" Kinsley The Lion & Elaine Dupont - Monster In The Surf
17 Astronauts - The Hearse
18 Teddy and Darrel - Gary Ghoul Boy [pioneering campy gay humor]
19 "I am Robert Robot, mechanical man. Ride me and steer me, wherever you can"
20 Bent Bolt & The Nuts - The Mechanical Man
21 "HAL is Operational"
22 Ray Cathode - Waltz In Orbit [featuring a pre-Beatles George Martin!]
23 Buchanan & Goodman - Frankenstein of '59
24 Carl Douglas - Witchfinder General [yep, the "Kung Fu Fighting" guy; I literally did LOL listening to this one]
25 "Werewolf in A Girl's Dormitory": Marilyn Stewart/ Frank Owens - Ghoul in School
26 Frankie Stein and his Ghouls - Three Little Weirds [This sounds like it may be the song "Jerk" from "Lowbrow Vol. 2," only w/added crazy sound fx]
27 Bobby Rydell - Telstar [This song had lyrics? Believe it or don't! The vocal version was often called "Magic Star."]
28 "Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" - capture of the earth women 
29 Travis Wammack - Theres A UFO Up There
30 Orange Groove - A Bad Trip Back to '69 [I think this song appears on the 101 Strings album "Astro-sounds": probably more budget label shenanigans, like track 26]
31 Lex de Azevedo / Doug Stewart - Zero Population [An ultra-conservative's idea of a dystopian future, from "Saturdays Warrior," a Mormon rock-opera - yes, there really was such a thing. Lex de Azevedo had a long career w/Capital records, releasing the Mrs Miller albums!]
32 Charleton Heston - "Soylent_Green"
33 Columbia Playtime Orchestra - "Rocket Ranger Song"
34 David Rose - Forbidden Planet [The man behind the huge hit "The Stripper" is a long way from the burly-q house here]
35 Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry - Monster Adventures In Outer Space

artwork courtesy of Mitch O'COnnell
 

"Night Of The Living Dead" soundtrack

I think this speaks for itself, doesn't it?

The internets sez: "Since their meager budget did not allow for an original music score, producer Karl Hardman selected cues from the Capitol Hi-Q production music library which [director George] Romero masterfully edited into the film. The end result was spine-chilling. Although this same music had been used more than a decade earlier in low-budget efforts such as Teenagers from Outer Space, The Hideous Sun Demon and The Killer Shrews, it would become forever known as the soundtrack to Night of the Living Dead."

Choice bits of dialogue are also included in this collection.

Night Of The Living Dead OST

A1	–Spencer Moore	Driveway To The Cemetary (Main Title)
A2	–William Loose / Seely	At The Gravesite/Flight/Refuge
A3	–George Hormel	Farmhouse/First Approach
A4	–Ib Glindemann	Ghoulash (J.R.'s Demise)
A5	–George Hormel / William Loose / Seely / Ib Glindemann	Boarding Up
A6	–Philip Green / George Hormel	First Radio Report/Torch On The Porch
A7	–George Hormel	Boarding Up 2/Discovery: Gun N' Ammo
A8	–Spencer Moore	Cleaning House
B1	–Ib Glindemann	First Advance
B2	–George Hormel / Jack Meakin	Discovery Of TV/Preparing To Escape/Tom & Judy
B3	–George Hormel	Attempted Escape
B4	–George Hormel	Truck On Fire/Ben Attacks Harry/Leg Of Leg Effects [Electronic Sound Effects] – Karl Hardman
B5	–George Hormel	Beat 'Em Or Burn 'Em/Final Advance
B6	–Spencer Moore	Helen's Death/Dawn/Posse In The Fields/Ben Awakes Effects [Electronic Sound Effects] – Karl Hardman
B7	–Spencer Moore	O.K. Vince/Funeral Pyre (End Title)