Thrifty Music, Vol. 18: The Cream of the Crop

 Posted by
Nov 232009
 

Greetings, fellow seekers of the weird, the wonderful, and the incredibly cheap! I’ve returned to you after an autumn filled with notable thrifty musical finds, scoured from the junk store bins, the yard sales, and the flea markets of our nation’s capitol. And I’m here to share!

Truth be told, this autumn was an embarrassment of riches — I’ve got about a dozen thrifty music finds I really want to play for you — and I’ve still got about 70-80 singles I’ve yet to go through. In fact, I’ve got so many choice tunes worth posting that I struggled to find a unifying theme among them — i.e., some silly Thrifty Music concept that would amuse, delight, and give me an excuse to pad my post out with mind-numbing prose.

So, instead, I decided to just go for the jugular with the three tunes that (so far) have jumped out as the strongest of the bunch. These tunes require no explanation, no contextual analysis, and certainly no excuses. They all completely kick mo-fo ASS, as far as I’m concerned. I trust you’ll agree.

First up: “Leave Me Alone” by Detroit’s own Nathaniel Mayer. The InterWeb tells me that Nathaniel Mayer was a peculiar soul artist whose voice and choice of backing instrumentation was so raw as to presage the whole garage/punk ethos of the mid-to-late-’60s. And, for once, I agree with the InterWeb! From the moment I threw this disc down on the turntable, I was hooked. It’s a winner.

Next, a song that has joined a select few at the top of my list of flawlessly sweet, tender, uncompromising love songs: Lee Williams and the Cymbals‘ “I Love You More”. Good God, but — what could possibly be added to this tune to make it any better? The arrangement and instrumentation is sweet, in every sense of the word, the melody is total brain glue, and that chorus! “I love you more than anybody’s ever loved anyone…” Man, to be able to a) write that lyric; and b) sing it successfully, without the faintest whiff of cheese — well, it’s just brilliant.

Last up, The Vacels — an early ’60s white doo-wop group that somehow made the transition into the mop-toppin’ mid-’60s with toe-tappin’ aplomb. Their most famous (and that’s a very relative thing with these guys) track was a cover of a Dylan number (see illustration), but for my money, this B-side, entitled “You’re My Baby,” is the band’s big winner. I am extremely curious to hear Townsman Mockcarr‘s take on this song. He’s always sported a boner for riff-y ’60s rock that wasn’t afraid to make liberal, front-and-center use of the Rickenbacker 12-string, as this one does. So howzabout it, Mockcarr and all you other slavishly devoted mop-top wannabes? What’s your verdict on The Vacels?

So there you go — three songs that I didn’t look for, that just showed up in my musical life because I was patient and willing to spend 50 cents on musical commodities I knew nothing about. It’s true, I had to sniff a lot of dogshit to find these sweet-smelling gems, but I think it was worth the effort. I hope you agree.

There’s a lot more thrifty music to come, by the way. I just wanted to get these winners into your ear-bones as soon as possible. Let me know what you think!

Your humble, frugal musical servant,

HVB

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Thrifty Music, Vol. 17: Show Tune Hall Mystery Date!

 Posted by
May 042009
 

Maria/Somewhere

I found this show tune track on the B-side of a Thrifty Music single from a Mystery Date-caliber artist, and was so impressed I tracked down the album in CD form. It’s not consistently good, but I’m glad I own it. So: this is both my entry into the Show Tune Hall Last Man Standing battle, and my Mystery Date challenge to you all. Who is this guy? For extra credit, tell me who produced the tune. Hint: he shows up in the RTH menu bar with some frequency.

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

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Thrifty Music, Vol. 17: SEX! Hot Caribbean SEX! Hot, Voyeuristic, Caribbean SEX!

 Posted by
Apr 282009
 

Greetings, seekers of the bizarre, the unusual, the extraordinary, and the incredibly cheap! I come to you after a long hiatus to share the results of a particularly fruitful scavenge undertaken this past weekend at the thrift stores around the nation’s grand capitol.

During this excursion, I was lucky to find a small stack of vinyl 45s from Jamaica, obviously from a fan of the early- to mid-period “deejay” era in the development of popular Jamaican music. They’re on extremely weird, poorly printed labels — and a few have no labels at all, substituting instead a hasty crayon scrawl simply saying “DJ,” or (in the case of the most entertaining of the singles I’ve ripped for you tonight) the word “PUSSY.”

Anyhow, the point is, these are some fairly ribald tunes. The density of the Jamaican (in one case, Trinidadian) patois is such that I feel you could safely play any of these at work without fear of prosecution — but they are spicy. So, as part of my ongoing effort to goose traffic statistics for my beloved Rock Town Hall (see easily porn-searchable headline above), I’m attaching them here for all to enjoy.

The first tune is, in my estimation, the best of the lot: a 1974 number by a young Max Romeo, entitled Pussy Watchman. 2000Man may get a particular kompletist kick out of this, as the InterWeb tells me that Romeo sang backup on some tune off of “It’s Only Rock and Roll.” But this is from very early in Romeo’s career, and it’s a good one. Check it out!

Next up, another ribald selection, this time from the extremely obscure 1970s DJ “Charley Ace.” There’s not even a track name listing on the label for this single (though it does sport a monochromatic label saying “SCORPION!”) — but I choose to believe the song is called Do It Same Way, based on the moans and groans of the female lead in the piece. The InterWeb tells me, by the way, that Ace was gunned down on the rough streets of Kingston some time in the 1980s. RIP, Charley.

Last but not least, Trinidadian godfather of “soca” music, Lord Shorty, gives us all explicit direction in The Art Of Making Love. Again, I call 2000Man’s attention to this tune, in which — towards the end there — Lord Shorty gives us some guidelines as to what we might expect from various races as far as their boudoir behaviors are concerned. I immediately smelled a “Some Girls” rat in the mix. But, whether or not Lord Shorty was ripped off by Jagger and company, I strongly urge all basement-dwelling, pasty-faced members of the Hall to heed Lord Shorty’s advice. Dude obviously knows what he’s talking about.

Anyhow, that’s what I got for you this time around. Mod, Backoffice: if nothing else, please let me know how much traffic this effort generates!

Yours sexily,

HVB

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Thrifty Music, Vol. 16: I Should Be Doing My Chores Edition

 Posted by
Jan 182009
 

Greetings, seekers of the rare, the unusual, and the remarkably cheap! Join me as I shirk my household chores to bring you another edition of Thrifty Music — the ongoing series where I share musical pieces of flotsam and jetsam, salvaged from thrift stores, junk shops, and flea markets across the Washington, DC metroplex.

This week, I have five fine tracks to share with you, acquired on average for about a quarter. To begin with, a fine, fine, groovy blues track by Jimmy McCracklin called “Steppin’ Up In Class”. I don’t know much about Mr. McCracklin, but I do know that this kind of mid-60s urban blues — backed by a loping, Memphis-style groove and wrapped around a sleazy guitar riff — hits me where it hurts. How can you not bob your head with this tune groovin’ in the background?

Next up, a prime example of excellence in Extremely White Music: “Let’s Call It a Day Girl” by the very inaccurately named Razor’s Edge. You may scoff, but I really, really dig this song. It’s got all the Kentonite structural flips and twists I crave, some nifty backup vocals, a melody you won’t be able to shake once you’ve heard it, and check out those inappropriately thunderous drum fills at the end!

Now, a song that really caught me by surprise: “The Day I Found Myself”, by Honey Cone. You may remember Honey Cone from their smash early ’70s hit “Want Ads.” That tune set a sort of template for these chicks: uptempo, funky, tuneful, hot-pants, afro, etc. So when I slapped this single down on the porta-play, I was taken aback. Super old-school, like something recorded in 1964! But, boy, what a great little tune — the lyric is memorable, the arrangement is sweet, and the chorus goes on for miles and miles. Good stuff!

To finish off: a two-fer from The Persuaders. In fact, I’m giving you the A-side and the B-side of their “Thin Line (Between Love and Hate)” single. Why am I feeling so generous? Well, it occurred to me that you Pretenders fans might have never heard the original of this tune. But, perhaps more important, I was really struck by the thematic consistency between sides A and B of this platter. Side A is, of course, the remarkable “Thin Line (Between Love and Hate)” — as sung by the Persuaders in the first person, which is interesting. But even more remarkable is the flip side, “Thigh Spy” — which is also sung in the first person. Here’s the deal, though: it’s clear to me that the guy singing on side A about how much his wife puts up with from him (until she lands him in the hospital) is the same guy singing “I’m a thigh spy, I peep to see, girls wearing mini-skirts, showin’ those legs to me!” And that’s not all he says about himself and his voyeuristic tendencies. It’s as frank a confession as the one he delivers on the plug side of this single, albeit a more carnal one. Anyhow, the song rocks, and in my mind, this is definitely sung by the same character who gets put in the hospital by a wife who’s finally had enough.

In any case, folks, enjoy. As always, I eagerly await your thoughts and impressions surrounding these fine songs — none of which deserved to be discarded, and all of which I was all too happy to rescue and put to good use.

Your friend and colleague,

HVB

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Thrifty Music, Vol. 14: Hats Off to Oats and 2000Man!

 Posted by
Oct 142008
 

Greetings, seekers of the unusual, the out-of-the-way, the off-the-beaten-track… the downright cheap!

In these troubled economic times, it’s comforting to know that there’s still a world of wonderfully weird music to explore, at practically no cost, right around the corner at your local flea markets, thrift stores and garbage dumps. Please, Townepeople — won’t you give these tunes a home?

Today, I return from “Red Tag Day” in Purcellville, Virginia — a day when the whole freaking town sets its crap out on the curb with price stickers affixed. In addition to driving home with the weirdest chair I’ve ever seen in my life — a plain old folding metal chair that somebody decided to “pimp out” with racing intakes, cooling exhaust pipe and a spoiler (see below) — I also spent a few dollars on a few discs I thought I’d share.

Or, rather, discs I thought I’d share as part of a general shout-out to two of our most faithful Townsmen, Oats and 2000Man.

The first of the three tracks is from an album called “You Turn Me On!” by Ian Whitcomb. Ian Whitcomb had one minor hit with the title track from this LP, then vanished into obscurity. Before he vanished, he penned an editorial screed for the Los Angeles Times that I would love to read, as it reputedly assured his banishment from the halls of late-60s pop hipsterism. Why, you ask? Because in it, he took all the pompous, overblown pop “artistes” of the day to task for their self-important sillinesses, specifically singling out some of the most popular bands of the day and asking why they insisted on replacing good old-fashioned pop music with, you know, the likes of Procol Harum. Anyhow, as a result of this, Ian Whitcomb became dart board target #1 for the emerging “counterculture” inteligentsia. Or, at least the ones who were also music nerds.

I wish I could say that his music shows how foolish the world was for passing him over, that the “You Turn Me On!” album was his great, lasting revenge over those who shunned him. I wish I could say the album I found for 50 cents was a shimmering emerald city of pop magnificence — but I can’t. In truth, it’s pretty much awful, from one end to the other. A real turd. BUT! Hold on a second — buried in the middle of this colossal dump is a really pretty little song, that sounds to me like a long-lost out-take from the Kinks’ “Village Green” or something. Entitled River Of No Return, I present it to you all — but especially to Townsman Oats, who we all know has a huge boner for the Kinks in this era. Tell us what you think, Oats — but please leave your boner out of it.

Next up are two tracks I thought I’d post for our resident Stones obsessive, 2000Man. The first is Del Shannon’s take on Under My Thumb. To my ears, I hear nothing special — but I know (I think I know) that Del has some big fans in this Hall, and this, the InterWeb tells me, is a particularly rare track of his. So here it is.

The last of the tracks, once again posted in 2000Man’s general direction, is a foot-stompin’ cover of the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction. Or, rather, it’s a foot-stompin’ cover of a cover of “Satisfaction,” because the performers — South Carolina frat-rockers The Swingin’ Medallions — clearly took their main inspiration from Otis Redding’s smokin’ cover of this fine tune. I gotta say, though, there are a bunch of things that work in the Swingin’ Medallions’ favor as this track compares to Otis’. Number one, it’s LOUD. Everything is LOUD on this track. The horns are loud. The screamin’ vocal is loud. The drums are loud. And — most especially — that crazy, totally out-of-tune guitar that makes an appearance after the first chorus, then again as the song fades… is really LOUD. Awesome!

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy these three tracks. As always, your feedback — especially from you, Oats, and you, 2000Man — is gratefully appreciated.

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

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Thrifty Music, Vol. 13: A Day In the Life

 Posted by
Aug 152008
 

Hello, fellow seekers of the unusual, the out-of-the-way, and the incredibly cheap!

I come to you today as a means of illustrating what can be achieved with just a bit of devotion to the Thrifty Music cause. Old-timers will know that the purpose of this series is to showcase music that I acquire at random through visits to my local thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales. I don’t seek out specific artists or big paydays from finding obscure collectors’ items for pennies on the dollar (though that’s happened a few times). I mainly just pick up music that “looks good.” There are earlier Thrifty Music posts that explain the HVB Thrifty Music methodology — I encourage you to go back through the archives to learn more — and to hear some obscure music that’s floated across my transom over the last couple of years, for next to nothing.

Today, I thought I’d share the results of one foray, to one thrift store in suburban Maryland, in a neighborhood affectionately called “Korean Corner.” In exchange for a few dollars, I walked home with these choice sides, and relatively few clunkers:

“All American Girl”, Freddy Cannon

This one was real pleasant surprise — like music from a 1962 teen surf movie that actually kicked ass. Don’t you love it when Hollywood actually delivers the goods in those old, crappy, teenxploitation flicks? It happens so seldom, but when they get it right — and there’s some righteously rockin’ music to go with the high-quality, 16mm film and wide-screen color saturation, it’s an awesome thing. No vuh-deo here, obviously, but close your eyes and imagine it. Ahh, the sea… the sand… chicks in bikinis doing the frug… and Freddy Cannon rockin’ it up at the tiki bar.

“Reveille Rock”, Johnny and the Hurricanes

Readers of previous editions of Thrifty Music will know of my weakness for those silly tunes from the ’50s and ’60s that featured straight-ahead, fast-paced rockin’ instrumentals, made noteworthy only because every so often, the band stops for somebody (probably the bassist) to utter some incomprehensible, out-of-context catch phrase or slogan. Here’s one by Johnny & the Hurricanes entitled “Reveille Rock.” In addition to it featuring the required spoken word interludes… man, check out the insane tempo of this number! ‘Fess up, RTHers in bands: how many of you could maintain a pace like this for longer than 30 seconds, without falling to your knees, wheezing for mercy?

“The Monkey Time”, Major Lance

This was a nice find: Curtis Mayfield protege Major Lance, singing a Mayfield composition entitled “The Monkey Time”. If I hadn’t told you who wrote and produced it, I’m betting you could’ve guessed. Gotta love old Curtis!

“Party Down, Parts I & II (HVB Groovealicious Extended Dance Partython Remix)”, Little Beaver

Lastly, a purchase that really made my day. I don’t remember if I featured Little Beaver’s ode to the ’70s party scene, “Party Down,” in a previous edition of Thrifty Music. I do know that my old 45 of the tune — also acquired at a thrift store — was so beat up it’s practically unlistenable. Thanks to the Korean Corner thrift store, I don’t have that problem anymore… and neither will you! Man, I love this song. Righteous, soulful, and jazzy guitar playing, glasses tinkling in the background, a mellow attitude (in the best sense of the word) — makes me want to pour myself a Courvoisier, turn the lights down low, and just chill with a room full of friends. Thanks, Little Beaver — anybody who can write the soundtrack to the perfect party is okay by me. (Note also that I’ve edited both sides of the single together, so you can enjoy six full minutes of Beaver’s laid-back party vibe. Enjoy!)

That’s all I’ve got this week, folks. Tune in next time for some more choice musical tidbits from the milkcrates, junk bins and garbage bags of our great nation.

HVB

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