Koncz Zsuzsa

Artist: Koncz Zsuzsa

LP: Jelbeszéd

Song: "Hé, Mama"

[ listen ]

I was on my way to grab some breakfast after hitting the gym this past Saturday morning, but some brilliant entrepreneur stuck a record store smack dab in the middle of the block between Ballard Health Club and Vera's Restaurant. I ended up lingering there much longer than planned, of course, and was mighty hungry indeed when I came upon this 1973 LP from Hungarian superstar Koncz Zsuzsa. (There are also several neat-looking Hungarian-language comedy LPs in the bins, which will likely be a tough sell for most Seattle shoppers.) You can read all about Ms. Zsuzsa in English here, and if you can read Hungarian and would like to know more, you can go here—though I suppose anyone who reads Hungarian probably already knows more about Koncz Zsuzsa than Wikipedia could ever tell. 

 [ Koncz Zsuzsa in 2012 ]

Witch Queen

Artist: Witch Queen

LP: Witch Queen

Song: "Witch Queen"

[ listen ]

I've been neglecting the blog lately since I've been so busy getting ready for my upcoming trip to the South. One of the things I've been doing in preparation (besides watching season 3 of "American Horror Story") is listening to (and dancing to) "Witch Queen" by Witch Queen, from their "Witch Queen" LP. I'm hoping I'll have a chance to perform it if there's a karaoke lounge at the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans. Also, I'll be passing through the little Northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals, so I rented the recent documentary about all the wonderful music that's been recorded at the studios there over the years by people like Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Etta James and more! I highly recommend it. Coincidentally, as I was getting ready to post "Witch Queen" today, I noticed that the album was partly recorded in Muscle Shoals! Several of the Muscle Shoals studio musicians are credited on the back of the LP. (I guess it's not actually much of a coincidence since, according to the movie, around 85% of all records released in the entire world between 1968 and 1980 were recorded there). Still, it was cool to see the names of some of the guys featured in the documentary right here on the back of this record. You can read more about Muscle Shoals here, more about "Muscle Shoals" here, and go here to visit the website of the Voodoo Museum.

Featured on "Witch Queen" and in "Muscle Shoals"—the movie:

David Hood, bass (far left) 
Jimmy Johnson, guitar (far right) 
Roger Hawkins, drums (green shirt)