Greetings, fellow seekers of the rare, the unusual and the dirt-cheap!
Today, I offer another small collection of themed music, acquired during my recent travels through the milk crates and dusty old boxes of our nation’s thrift stores and flea markets. This edition focuses on a kind of rock and roll that I posit has completely vanished from our rockular landscape: the novelty tune. To be specific, I don’t mean things like “The Monster Mash.” I mean the weird novelty sub-genre that featured groups of semi-talented teenagers bashing away on a groovy riff for a few bars, then suddenly stopping to utter some kind of mysterious word or two. Where have all these kinds of songs gone?
The Revels — Thorogood’s got nothin’ on these boys when it comes to the novelty drinkin’ song!
When Mockcarr and I were in college, I had a Pebbles comp that featured a strange little song of this ilk, entitled “Roo-Buh-Doo-Buh-Doo,” which we enjoyed laughing at and “singing” whenever the mood struck. Well, fast-forward (cough) years later, and I still find this kind of silliness quite amusing — which is why I was happily surprised by a single I scored at the local flea market by a band called the Revels. I slapped the A-side down and was pleased to discover the following tune, “Vesuvius”.
Then, I flipped the beast over and was *thrilled* to find this next song, “Church Key”. I don’t mind telling you I actually bust out laughing.
Celery Stalks! Corn! Artichoke hearts! The Kingsmen!
Today, for the first time in a few weeks, I hit the Goodwill near my pad, and found another amusing number, by The Kingsmen of “Louie, Louie” fame, entitled “The Jolly Green Giant”. What I want you to pay particularly close attention to are the backup vocals — the next best/weirdest thing to a Captain Beefheart record!
Very briefly: Following is a small collection of songs that are united by one simple theme — noteworthy spoken word introductions. Your job is to determine which of the introductions is the most noteworthy of all. Is it:
a) Stan Ivory (and his Omnificent Orchestra)’s smoove mooves in “Give Me the Real Thang”?
b) Millie Jackson threatening her lover’s wife with “a good A-kickin'” in “Leftovers”?
c) Jerry Washington extolling the virtues of pure, selfless love in “I Come A Long Ways”?
d.) Bobby Dixon making it crystal clear just… how… low… a… man… can… get… in “Woman, You Made Me”?
While you’re ranking these for spoken word excellence, set your mind thinking about other rock oratorical masterworks that strike your fancy. In the meantime, as always,
You’ll just have to imagine what the B-side looks like
Okay, I know I’ve been slow to deliver on the oft-promised Thrifty Music material. This has happened for a numer of reasons: I’ve actually been busy; the amount of high-quality stuff I’ve found has been somewhat overwhelming, making the compilation process difficult, and — most significantly — putting together those giant, themed omnibus editions of Thrifty Music is just plain hard work!
Consequently, I have decided to make things easier on yours truly by re-sizing the Thrifty Music concept a bit. Henceforth, you can expect to see more frequent, smaller selections of stuff to listen to and ponder. Each will still have a theme, and some associated, probing line of questioning, which ought to get us all thinking. But the days of eight- or nine-track comps are gone!
To start the process off, I want to offer the B-side to a single that my vinyl guru, E. Pluribus Gergley, tells me is worth $300 or so (It cost me a buck!). I know nothing at all about the artist in question (one Carl Spencer), but what stopped me in my tracks upon listening to this great tune, “Progress”, was just how much Carl sounded like our very own andyr — better known in some circles as The Velvet Foghorn, or simply “Velv.” I also think the song would be *perfect* cover material for Velv’s band, the redoubtable Nixon’s Head.
This got me thinking about songs we really wish would be covered — by specific artists, I mean. For example, I’d love to hear Supagroup covering “Wang Dang, Sweet Poontang” — though that’s just the first one that popped into my head. I’m sure buried in my cranium somewhere is a longing for a better specific cover that I’m just not remembering right now. But perhaps you can do better. And Velv/Mod/Chickenfrank/Sethro — is “Progress” a song you’d consider covering? I mean, does it pass your sniff test — and if not, why not?
Mr. Moderator is nothing if not zealous in his efforts to protect the hallowed Halls of Rock from assholishness. [Mod. – Hey, some days I think I promote just that!] One of Moddie’s first defensive bulwarks in this effort is an understandable reluctance to let folks post images and sounds without extensive monitoring and assistance. [Mod. – Ugh!]
Well, folks, after much lobbying and assuaging of doubts, I finally managed to convince our Moderator that it would be in the Hall’s best interest to at least allow me to post my Thrifty Music series without requiring extensive interactive assistance from Mod and The Back Office. [Mod. – Bravo!] (Posting a Thrifty Music comp actually takes a lot of time and quite a bit of work, people… y’all bettah recognize!)
Anyhow, my first order of business upon being granted these limited powers of postage has been to make sure I know what the hell I’m doing before setting about finally delivering Volume 8 of the Thrifty Music series. So, naturally, I thought I’d share a couple of the most heinous rejects from my bin-scouring efforts. If this experimental post makes it through the ether successfully, I shall undertake to bring you the next couple of Thrifty Music comps quickly and with meticulous attention to quality.
IN THE MEANTIME…
The Whatnauts — and “Ray” — will erase away your pain
First up in this experimental collection: “I”ll Erase Away Your Pain,” by Baltimore’s The Whatnauts. When I first slapped this grimy 45 onto the turntable, I was quite taken aback by the sheer weirdness of the song. Who greenlighted this project?! I mean, to achieve some measure of success in popular music, don’t you need to at least offer a hummable melody, or a catchy hook, or something? This song is structured so strangely that even the skip/scratch at the top of the number seems to make no difference to its melodic “flow.” Note also that — while I try to refrain from simply regurgitating intelligence I gather from the InterWeb on my Thrifty Music subjects — I have to share something I found on a site called musthear.com, describing the band’s line-up: “Obscure beyond reason, the Whatnauts were comprised of Garnett Jones, Billy Herndon, Gerald “Chunky” Pinckney, and a guy identified only as Ray, who disappeared after this album.” More power to ya, Ray! The next best thing to The Oneders’ T.B. Player!
50 gold piasters to the man who can find me a photo of the Jalopy Five!
Secondly, as a heartfelt “thank you” to all the RTHers who wasted our time so admirably on that embarassingly geeky “What if the Beatles were food?” thread, I offer an interesting take on “Nowhere Man” by HIT! Records’ own Jalopy Five. Pay careful attention to the dulcet tones of the Jalopies’ backup harmonies, and their guitarist’s effort to reproduce Harrison’s lead in the middle. Ahhh… the ’60s. A glorious era of pop music genius!
So, even for this experimental post, now is the time ask my usual probing questions of you, the listener. They follow below:
1. Poor “Ray” — his contributions to the Whatnauts are sadly lost in the mists of rock time. But was he the Whatnauts’ Stu Sutcliffe or just their Pete Best? And while I’m asking questions around here…Which long-lost “original band member” from a fave band of yours do you wish would make a triumphant return?
2. I’m still laughing at that Jalopy Five cover — but now I’m chortling at the fake Liverpool accents the band adopts for maximum Beatle-riffic effect. Question: Other than fake American and British accents, can you think of any other fake ethno-linguistic affectations in the world of rock?
It’s been too long. My contemplative journey through the bins and baskets of our Capital’s thrift stores has taken me to places unseen, unearthing treasures that have left even my vinyl guru, E. Pluribus Gergley, scratching his head in wonderment. In truth, my recent aimless wanderings have resulted in far more interesting music than I could reasonably post in one collection; hence, I am dividing the lot, in no particular order of style or quality, in batches of five songs apiece. I hope you enjoy them. Please remember, as always, that the value of the Thrifty Music experience has less to do with obscurity, or even quality, than you might think. The Thrifty Music experience is meant to open our eyes to new sounds, discovered at random, in the garbage cans of our civilization.
One of a number of simple pleasures found in a 25-cent box at the local Goodwill, this number has a lot going for it: a jaunty groove, a sly lyric, a great studio sound (I love the hugeness of the bongo roll at the top of the tune), and that irrepressibly catchy falsetto refrain. Lovers of trivia might be interested to know that The Marvelows were the same bunch that recorded the doo-wop smash “I Do”, popularized for my generation by the J. Geils Band. Plus, their lead singer had an eye-patch!
Here’s a band that just exudes rock and roll guts. Or maybe the word I’m looking for is confidence. Or maybe naivete. Idiocy? Either way, they’ve got no reservations about taking a dorky organ riff, serving it up about 500 times, adding some very effective yelping from lead weirdo “?,” and leaving you, the listener, to figure it out. Some things I really like about this song (the follow-up to “96 Tears”): the fact that there’s no rhythmic foundation to the segues between verses. The band just hits three descending chords, then waits for the keyboard player — who was obviously in a hurry — to get back to that riff, then, boom! They come back in. I also like the major bass flub about two thirds of the way through. T.B. Player is obviously “in the zone” and doesn’t realize the band has stopped again. Continue reading »
The other day, I scored a significant haul of dusty old 45s at the local Value Village — the stuff of which will form the core of a couple of upcoming Thrifty Music editions. One single in particular, however, proved itself so noteworthy that I felt compelled to feature it separately.
The song in question is called “Moody”, by one Scuffy Shew, from 1973. I urge you to give it a listen. As you do, please think of all the tortured, self-important, pretentious artistes whose causes have been championed ’round these parts. I’m especially looking at all of you who endure every cheek-flapping fart Lou Reed ever committed to vinyl, or those of you who revel in every hollow, clanging note to be found on sides one and two of Television‘s first album. Fans of Be Bop Deluxe, Sparks, and Neu! — I charge you in particular with the duty of opening your ears to some real music for a change.
Scuffy Shew, “Moody”
What we’ve got here in Shew’s “Moody” is something different. Something simple, vital, beautiful, and ultimately, genuinely important, like a first kiss or the smell of the ocean on hard-earned vacation. I don’t know where to begin explaining why it’s as Great as I think it is; all I know is that if you can’t wrap your head around its simple charm, you need your ears — not to mention your brain — thoroughly irrigated.
Come on, guys, be real about this rock and roll thing for once, willya? Sheesh. I know E. Pluribus will understand what I’m getting at here.
It’s that time again, people — time to don our white robes, shave our heads, and go wandering through the dusty record bins of our favorite neighborhood thrift stores, in the hope that our wayward paths will intersect with interesting new music.
Actually, the last few weeks have provided an abundance of riches in the Thrifty Music department — so much so that I’ve decided I need to really get picky for a change, selecting only the tracks that have really rocked my world for 25 cents. And note that I’m pushing these tracks out the door in anticipation of the Great Thrifty Music Score Listening Party, wherein Townsman Christian and I will select some seriously amazing traxx from a wonderful haul I made a week or two ago — a haul remarkable enough to even get E Pluribus to nod his head in sage approval.
Anyhow, on to the matter at hand. Up for your consideration this fine day:
The Stylistics, “People Make the World Go Round” — there’s a story floating around out there that Dionne Warwick once placed an urgent call to Burt Bacharach upon hearing Thom Bell‘s work with the Stylistics, basically to tell him that there was a black cat out there that was one-upping Burt’s sophisticated pop thang, with a whole new groove. I can believe it. This track, from the Stylistics’ first album (by the way, is that a great cover, or what? I love velour suits as much as the next guy, but seeing the Stylistics kickin’ back in the grass, hippie-stylee, makes me all happy for some reason) — sorry, as I say, from their first album, is a total “In your face, Burt!” from the composer/arranger for whom I may have the biggest Kentonite boner, Thom Bell. And dig the coda at the end… in 9/8 time! Wowsers!
Next up, Betty Everett, delivering the first (and clearly best) version of “You’re No Good”. Wotta great production! I read recently that one of the reasons this single sounds so slammin’ is because of a studio fluke: The Dells were listening to the playback in the VeeJay control room, tapping/stomping their feet in unison with the groove. Mr. Producer stopped tape, ran things back, and added a track of the Dells’ feet-stompery, knowing a great thing when he heard one. Instant hit! Continue reading »
