Jun 092008
During a recent Last Man Standing thread Townsman cdm proposed a future topic, which we present today: Albums that you are convinced you are the only person to ever have spent money on. For those of you who were taking chances on albums in 1978, the above video may help jog your memory. Since the explosion of indie rock and DIY releases, the opportunities for spending money on an album that no one else has spent money on have expanded astronomically.
As is usually the case, we expect you to do more than simply list these albums. Tell us something about them. What attracted you to actually buying them? Should you worry that your secret will be out and other hipsters will seek out existing copies of this album?
One of the partners in my dad’s firm at the time was a backer of WIOQ when they “went rock” in 75 or so. So when he came home from the launch party for this thing, he had a small pile of albums they had given out, and one was Angel’s first record. We were pretty into it. I only remember the contortions of our raised eyebrows and such over a Commander Cody album that seemed like it may as well have been Chinese opera to us.
I bought a solo album by Roger Glover, which couldn’t have sold many! It was kind of midtempo and out of focus, but had an odd charm anyhow. One side is a twenty minute ballady thing without vocals. I haven’t gotten around to digitizing it yet. But I may, now that I remember it.
I also guess what you’re after is albums that fit the criteria, without it being painfully obvious *why* no one bought it. I mean, albums that just blow. I bought a double album of solo Rick Wakeman in high school. Ouch! Or the Fat Mattress album I have. Oh god! You can only sell it to people who have no idea what it is! Poor Noel.
I saw Angel back in 1978, they headlined a bill that had Head East, The Godz and Rough Diamond (the singer from Uriah Heep’s band). Ticket sales were so bad that they put a curtain up to section off the third of the arena that had people.
When Angel came on, it was hilarious. The Kiss people were managing them and they had a stage show worthy of the boys from Brooklyn, but it was performed in front of maybe 2,000-3,000 people, which caused it to be serious overkill. Most were there to see Head East, who just had a hit, so the long delay setting up Angel’s stage got the crowd in an unruly mood.
After about five songs, Angel started to hear some booing, so guitarist Punky Meadows grabbed a beer bottle, smashed the neck and poured the contents on the head of an audience member. San Diego’s a Navy town, MCRD used to be right down the street in those days, so the crowd was primarily jarheads out for a night of fun. Seeing a great opportunity, many of them rushed the stage to get at Punky, who by now was being protected by security. Angel tried to start the show again, but by now the crowd was setting fire to the seats.
It was an amazing Rock N Roll moment that I’ll never forget. If I ever spent money on an Angel album, I wouldn’t tell a soul.
Back in the mid-seventies I bought records from both Starz, a Kiss-wannabee and Starcastle, a Styx-wannabee band. Both had singles I remember hearing more in ads on WIOQ than actually being on their playlists. Luckily I discovered Elvis Costello and “New Wave” a year or so later and didn’t have to go trawling through dreck like this looking for my “sound”. I do remember in the sixth grade giving a tape with Starz and Edward Bear(?) on it to a gullible friend, convincing him I was a member of this unnamed band on the down low.
I actually paid $2 or so for a cutout version of that Zwol album – the one with the magnificent mirrored shades – probably a week after it was released. Anyone else buy that thing when it was released? I found it so bad that I eventually had to rid myself of the humorous album cover. I regret no longer owning it.
The first album I’ll list falls under the, “I’m compelled to buy this from an artist I love, regardless.” (A concept I recognized in myself only after reading Giles Smith’s “Lost in Music,” where he talks about continuing to buy 10cc albums long after he knew he should.):
“I Am The Messiah” by MC Honky:
MC Honky is actually E from The Eels, and this was a funny little side project from 2003 featuring the song, “3 Turntables and 2 Microphones.” I think it is an electronica/hip hop homage to the pop instrumental sound of the 60’s (Mancini, Esquivel, etc.) The first track, “Sonnet No. 3 (Like a Duck)” and “Baby Elephant Rock-a-Bye” are my favorites on the album.
The second album I don’t think was released in the US so its a pretty safe bet that not a lot of folk have it here. I had to pick it up on a trip to London:
“Black Gold” by King Biscuit Time:
King Biscuit Time is Stephen Mason from the now defunct Beta Band. He released an EP in 1999 under the same moniker, “Sings Nelly Foggit’s Blues in ‘Me and the Pharaohs.'” (which was released in the US). It is self-produced and follows the same sound he helped create with the Beta Band, although with a much more electronic sound (as he is no longer backed by a full band). “C I AM 15” and “Paperhead” are my favorite tracks.
The last one I’ll list is not music, but is somewhat rock related,:
“Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter s. Thompson,” a radio play put out in 1996 and features the likes of John Kusack and Jimmy Buffett with cameo roles. It is the best adaptation of the book I have seen or heard.
Mac, it’s good to hear from another fan of Lost in Music! I thought that was a much better book than High Fidelity, when comparing two music geek memoirs/fiction.
yeah it is a really good book. As a Blur fan, the anecdote about growing up in the same town as Damon Alburn and showing up to neighborhood Christmas parties and where Damon was playing the piano for the Christmas songs is pretty great.
My favourite thing growing up was Hot Girls with Anonymous Guys On Guitars. Of course, Blondie were probably the main influence on my love of this style, and fun ripoffs like Transvision Vamp.
Anyway, i remember buying three amazing singles from a band called ‘Voice Of The Beehive’ in 1987. The blonde was the songwriter, and had an utterly unique sense of melody and song structure delivered in a Dylan-esque conversational tone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlOGkTd5ji8
(Just noticed they censored the first couple of lines, ‘see him’ instead of ‘get it’). But what’s not to love, cute girls, jangly smiths guitars, melodic bass, countermelodies, tight backing harmonies.
They followed it up with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yNrHHnvTdU
which basically predates the B-52’s ‘Roam’ by a year. It was written outside the band, and you can hear it in the more traditional structure, but the record company wanted a ‘hit’.
They were allowed to write their own follow up, and put out this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_YtRQ9yUd0
which i think is one of the most uniquely-constructed pop songs i’ve ever heard.
I was damn excited by what i was hearing, and rushed down on the day of release to get their album, “Let It Bee”.
Imagine my horror when the 50 year old owner of the store took at look at the album in my hands and said “I wondered who would actually buy that f*#*ing thing””. It’s the only time in my life that a shop owner has used the f-word to me, so it was pretty memorable.
… which was then compounded by the fact he called his two pretty young assistants over so they could see that someone had actually bought it. I *died* all the way out the door. (Come to think of it, he had a similarly sneery reaction to me buying ‘Spilt Milk’ by Jellyfish a few years later.
I’ll stand by my purchase. Hell, they covered the Velvet Underground’s ‘Jesus’ for a B-side. Unfortunately they were run into the ground by their record company who kept trying to turn them into a synth band with their following releases.
Good call on the book, btw. I bought ‘Lost In Music’ for less than the price of a loaf of bread, from an entire stack of them, without realising ‘the Cleaners From Venus’ connection at first. I noticed the other day there’s a copy in my local library, (and i can guarantee you this – i would be the only person in my town to know who they were).
It’s probably the best book i’ve ever read on music fandom. I’d never realised how universal some aspects of our obsession can be.
Mac – i was actually looking for that MC Honky album, and never saw a physical copy for sale in any store.
My ‘compelled’ artist would be Cyndi Lauper, since i bought ‘She’s So Unusual’ when i was 11 – which makes sense when you think about the fact she was basically a live action cartoon. It was the first record i bought with ‘my own money’, and obviously holds a strong enough nostalgic feeling in my heart to keep buying her sporadic releases, even though there’s usually only 1-2 good songs per album. (Flip over the ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ single sometime and listen to the dire B-Side. That’s what you’re in for).
I don’t have it anymore, but I used to have that Voice of the Beehive album too, though not the singles. I remember it as being quite good.
Actually, I’ve got all three Voice of the Beehive albums, and it turns out that the second is the best of the lot. The singles maybe aren’t up to the standards of “I Say Nothing” (as close to a personal anthem as I’ve ever had) and “Don’t Call Me Baby,” but the album as a whole is terrific. (Fair warning: it’s a lot more keyboard-based and “produced” than the debut.) Unfortunately, the third album’s crap.
Hmm, i still have them all on vinyl. Time to dig them out i think.
theGreat48:
VOTB were signed to London Records, who had a habit of constantly remixing female artist’s work to make them more ‘commercial’, which is frustrating for completists like me, and means you’re never exactly sure what you’re getting when you buy any repackaged releases, for they can drastically differ from the original.
In their defense, it sometime worked. This single version of Shakespear’s Sister’s ‘Run Silent, Run Deep’ is hugely superior to the album version and literally *orgasms* towards the end of the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5FYzpK0hNc
In the case of VOTB, ‘Honey Lingers’ was taken away from the band and drastically remixed, (‘I’m Shooting Cupid’ actually had some parts of the song removed entirely), with a bunch of keyboard synth work layered on top of it and a *very smooth* production, which kind of squished out the fun charm of the debut for me, though i can understand how it could appeal to some.
They even retitled the album, (I guess ‘Honeylingus’ might have offended some).
There’s a whole album of unreleased stuff from the sessions floating around online.
Oh, General Slocum:
Would that be the Roger Glover whose behind the music of this song? I was obsessed with this album when i was young.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sn1UqbbbqQ
So you don’t think the solo album was worth seeking out?
Also had the VOTB albums – the first one was pretty popular with my college crowd. I actually bought it because the drummer was Woody Woodgate from Madness, and I was curious.
Some of the more oddball things hidden in my collection are a couple of albums recorded live at the “101” club – “Live Letters”, “Bandits and 3 o’clock” and another one, I forget the title. Live recordings of bands, some of whom were signed to major labels after these recordings were made – the Thompson Twins, the Fix (one “x”) and some band called “Huang Chung”. Favorite track (from what I remember, since it’s been a while) was from a band called “Fay Wray”, about whom I know absolutely nothing.
Another one is an album split between Kevin Armstrong and The Local Heroes SW9 (of which Armstrong was the leader anyhow) called “How The West Was Won/New Opium”. Made the purchase because of the presence of Thomas Dolby on a few tracks, the album actually might appeal to a few folks on this board. I see that some of the tracks are available at iTunes as “Drip Dry Zone”. Maybe pop over there and check out the song “Hippy Street”. It’s guitar pop…
That Roger Glover cartoon song is awesome – especially accompanied by the cartoon. Thanks, Homefront!
It’s heartwarming to see all these Voice of the Beehive fans united after years of solitary appreciation. Who’s holding on sharing the albums that only they have ever spent money on?
The Voice of the Beehive responses are why I didn’t try to claim having something unique in my collection, because I knew someone else here would more than likely have it. Local singles would be cheating.
Here’s a few:
That Love Thing by EIEIO (Easily one of the worst band names of all time. Nothing earth shattering but not a bad disc).
Gypsy Blood by Mason Ruffner (I like the title track but recall the rest as being unlistenable “White Blues Guy Tries to Make an Accessible Pop Album” vibe.
The Velvet Underground – Squeeze. I’m sure somebody somewhere else owns this but the question is why? If only a handful of people bought the other Velvet albums, why would they bother to make one without any founding members?
I actually paid for that Keith Richards reggae album, Wingless Angels. Whatever the hell it was called.
turd city
kpdexter is in the house!
Where the hell you been, my man? We missed you.
I was one of (literally) *two* people sitting in the theater on opening day for Prince’s corn-studded crester of a movie, “Grafitti Bridge.”
Of greater relevance to this thread: I was one of the few people on planet Earth who bought “Tuesday Sunshine” by Paul Weller’s project band. The Questions. Produced by Weller… didn’t matter. TURD!
See the Questions with Paul on congas here, doing a thoroughly mediocre job on the Isley Brothers classic “Harvest for the World.” (Now THAT’s a song that needs a good cover in these seemingly apocalyptic times!)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WjiMRtWFCUU
While I agree that Graffiti Bridge is in fact one of the great cinematic turds of all time, there’s some great stuff on that album, ain’t I right fritz?
Indeed, K-dex! Good to hear from you!
I bought a really bad John Strohm album on a whim. Vestovia. I do see it turn up used from time to time. I often wonder if its the one copy I bought and promptly sold, being bought and sold for a dollar over and over again.
Anybody else have the one album by “Vaganza”? Sort of a very intentionally overproduced, ironic, glam duo from NJ (I think NJ).
Here’s a link to their epic song, “Rock and Roll Apocalypse”:
http://missinglabel.com/vaganza/11 – Rock n’ Roll Apocalypse.mp3
Oh man, Alexmagic and I had a notorious (to us) encounter with the Vaganza album when we were in college. I fortunately got my copy for free from a promo bin at my internship, and was miraculously able to unload it at some point at a used CD shop. I’ll let Alex tell his side.
I know for certain that I tried to sell it once, even going so far as to slip it inside a pile of less horrible CDs hoping they’d just take it as part of the stack, but no dice.
I may or may not have also gotten into a fight with the guy at the counter because I tried to sell it to them. I’m no longer sure if this actually happened or not.
I’m pretty sure that I threw it out once, only to come home later and find it sitting on my table, practically daring me to try to throw it out again.
The Vaganza track was interesting. Not good, not even really bad, but interesting. Very Sparks-like. They still have a myspace page that indicates that the album sold less than 1000 copies. Probably a lot less. When I was listening I was thinking, ‘How much money was poured into this project and why?’ The myspace page claims that “hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent.” Also that “herculean quantities of drugs were consumed and gallons of booze imbibed.” All right, rock and roll!
It’s my sophomore year in college and I’m searching through the bargain bin at the campus record store (thanks Marc Wallace)and I come upon an album by Sigmund Snopek III called “Roy Rogers Meets Albert Einstein”. Not only do I buy it, but I listen to it the entire way through in one sitting. Then I throw it away.
Oh, shit! How could I (and mockcarr) forget: “Texas Funeral” by Jon Wayne.
To be fair, the guy who actually bought it was Rockin’ Jim Hardcastle, but I’m quite certain it was the only copy ever sold in the Dee-Cee area. I don’t know who has it now, but it doesn’t really matter, as the three of us basically memorized the album in the couple of months we were obsessed by it.
Grinnin’ like a mule eatin’ garlic,
HVB
Wow – I not only have the VOTB “Let It Bee” LP, I also picked it up on CD. I swore I was the only one to buy those. 😉
Vaganza sells 1,000 albums, and three of them are on this list. What does that mean?!
I have ex-Trip Shakespeare member Matt Wilson’s solo album, “Burnt, White and Blue”. Anybody else pony up for that one? I really wanted to like it.
That may be a winner, Cherguevarra! I recall hearing a buzz about that album for about 16 seconds.
It’s very funny that the Vaganza album was bought by 3 Townspeople.
Here’s another one — and a really good one, at that, sez me — “Mexican R&B” by the Stairs. I bought it on the strength of the cover alone. Mind you, mockcrr then bought hisself a copy, after hearing mine, so that makes the case a bit moot for this category. maybe I just wanted to give a shout-out to that excellent LP. Anybody else know it?
Hey! Turns out you can buy the album on RTH-friendly eMusic! Check it out at:
http://www.emusic.com/album/The-Stairs-Mexican-R-n-B-MP3-Download/11100538.html
I am embarrassed to say ELP’s “Love Beach”.
I wanted to like it but it was way past over…
I don’t believe for a second that drugs or booze were in play during any stage of making that album. It would permanently shake my faith in the musical power of both if that was true, and I would have to re-examine my personal relationship with alcohol.