Musical Youth

Artist: Musical Youth

LP: 7" single

Song: "Tell Me Why?"
[ listen ]

Whenever I tell someone I've stopped buying records for a while because I have too many, I always feel compelled to instantly race out and buy some more. Today I told my friend Refugio this at lunch, and then my car drove itself to Jive Time Records in Fremont and found astoundingly good parking fight in front of the store. My vehicle must have intuitively known that this 1983 Musical Youth single and a few other 7" gems were waiting for me inside. 

After early success ("Pass the Dutchie," anyone?) the hits soon dried up and Musical Youth were mired in legal and financial troubles by the mid-1980s, calling it quits in 1985. One of the Youth, Patrick Waite, went on to a life of petty crime and died in 1993 at the age of 24. But on the bright side, two members of the group, Dennis Seaton and Michael Grant, have recently reunited to make more Youthful Music for us all to enjoy!

[ Musical Youth ]

Peggy Hayama w/ Hibari Children's Choir of Leon San Jonet

Artist: Peggy Hayama w/ Hibari Children's Choir of Leon San Jonet

LP: 7" single

Song: "The Lonely Goatherd"
[ listen ]

I couldn't find anything quite so organically endowed with as much gay pride as this 1966 Japanese cover of Rogers & Hammerstein's "The Lonely Goatherd" from the 1965 Julie Andrews musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC. There's even rainbow-colored lettering on the cover. Sadly, Peggy Hayama did not live to see this tribute; she passed away from pneumonia just over two months ago at the age of 83.

[ Peggy Hayama: December 9, 1933 — April 12, 2017 ]

Menudo

Artist: Menudo

LP: 7" single

Song: "Motorcycle Dreamer" 
[ listen ]

I'm clearing the riff-raff out of my record collection again. Obviously. The novelty of Menudo, a Puerto Rican boy band whose members were expelled on their 16th birthday, is hard to resist, I admit. But the music itself is some of the absolute worst you'll probably ever hear. "Motorcycle dreamer, jump on, 1-2-3, come-a riding with meeeeee. Motorcycle dreamer, let's take off and see how it feels to be freeeeee." Ugh. I don't think these kids are even old enough to drive. 

To be honest, it's hard for me to really tell how much of my abhorrence of Menudo stems from their banal lyrics and "Up With People" delivery, and how much is simply due to my resentment that, as a young teen in the early 1980s, I was never invited to join the group.

Artist: Menudo

LP: 7" single

Song: "If You're Not Here (By My Side)" 
[ listen ]

And now, of course, the ballad. Here's a list of some of the insipid rhymes you'll find within: "Why haven't you come to say goodbye / I'm so lost without you I could die." "Don't think I can take it / I know I won't make it." "There's no sense in dreamin' / My life has no meanin'." Ugh.

Artist: Menudo

LP: 7" single

Song: "Like a Cannonball" 
[ listen ]

This track from the movie CANNONBALL RUN 2 is probably the least abysmal of my trio of Menudo singles from 1984. That said, it does include some real zingers: "I gave you a license to drive me up the wall / I look at you and feel the thunder, ooo it hits me like a cannonball."

You can read all about Menudo and their myriad lineup changes on Wikipedia here, where casual reference is made to the 1991 Menudo sex scandal, with no further details provided! I did find details here though, and it's pretty disturbing. Now I almost feel bad about making fun of their terrible music. Almost.

[ Menudo, circa 1984 ]

Little Jimmy Osmond

Artist: Little Jimmy Osmond

LP: 7" single

Song: "If Santa Were My Daddy" 
[ listen ]

Jimmy Osmond refuses to allow his kids—Sophia, Zachary, Arthur and Isabella—to become pop stars. He wants them to have the normal childhood he never had. Jimmy has other regrets too: "In the '80s I had my hair all puffed out," he says, "long jackets, shiny shoes—it's on the internet and I just want to kill whoever put it there." 

"If Santa Were My Daddy," released in 1971, is probably one of the primary reasons Jimmy's kids have been banned from showbiz. And now it looks like I should expect to be getting death threats too.

[ Big Jimmy Osmond ]

Hervé Villechaize with Children of the World

Artist: Hervé Villechaize with Children of the World

LP: 7" single

Song: "Why" 
[ listen ]

Here's something I found at Golden Oldies today—which, coincidentally, would have been Hervé Villechaize's 73rd birthday if he were still alive. Villechaize, star of the 007 film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN and TV's "Fantasy Island," is backed here by Children of the World—who are actually Children of the Cleveland, Ohio Area according to notes on the back of the record. I feel kinda' bad saying this, but I don't think I've ever come across a more appropriately titled single.

 [ Hervé Villechaize: April 23, 1943 — September 4, 1993 ]

Christmas In Italy

Artist: Various

LP: Christmas In Italy

Song: "La Ninna Nanna a Gesù (Lullaby to Jesus)" 
Performed by: R. Lipparini, Tenor w/ Cleva, Soprano e Coro
[ listen ]

Song: "Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)"
Performed by: Coro di Alunne della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe 
accompagnate dal Complesso Speciale del Pistoia
[ listen ]

It's that time of year again—when poor families all across Italy have to hock their furniture in order to provide a decent Christmas meal. I read today that, because of the Internet, stores in countries all over the world now have to participate in Black Friday discounts on the day after Thanksgiving—even though they don't even celebrate Thanksgiving! I bet the Internet has also pretty much destroyed the Italian tradition of the old, witch-like Befana who comes down the chimney with toys at Christmas, described in the liner notes on the back of this 1957 "Christmas In Italy" LP. On the other hand, the Web has probably also helped Italians realize that eating capitone marinato every year during the holidays isn't such a great idea after all, no matter how much wine you try to cover it up with. Buon Natale!

Lena Zavaroni

Artist: Lena Zavaroni

LP: Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me
Song: "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
[ listen ]
Song: "River Deep, Mountain High"
[ listen ]

I'm back from Alaska—aka. The Land With No Record Stores. (Not in Ketchikan, Juneau, or Skagway anyway.) I did find one thrift shop that had a few records though, Rendezvous Thrift Store in Ketchikan, the first stop on my Ruby Princess cruise. All LPs were just 25¢. This 1974 Lena Zavaroni album is one of the ones I found there.

[ Rendezvous Thrift Store — Ketchikan, Alaska ]
 

As a label known for Southern and Memphis Soul, Stax Records released music by artists like Otis Redding and Booker T & the MGs, so it's hard to imagine what executives might have thinking when they signed Scottish 10-year-old Lena Zavaroni to the label in 1974. (Wikipedia says "a number of factors" caused Stax to close shop in the mid-1970s; it's nice that they don't mention Lena Zavaroni specifically.) I also find it hard to imagine how Lena Zavaroni's Stax record ended up in a junky little thrift store in Ketchikan, Alaska. But there it was.

Poor Lena Zavaroni—singing with her father in a fish-n-chips joint in the Scottish highlands one instant, then suddenly hitting the UK top ten, being whisked off to Stax headquarters to cut a record, and then on to Los Angeles, California to appear on "The Carol Burnett Show" the next. What a whirlwind! Of course little Lena went bonkers. Just because you can be famous doesn't mean you should be. After suffering from anorexia and extreme depression that started in her early teens and stayed with her for years, Lena died of pneumonia in 1999, at the age of 35. You can read more about this pint-sized singing dynamo on Wikipedia here. I've included a link below to Lena's 1974 appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, along with a 1989 interview clip with Lena and Peter Wiltshire, her new husband at the time (they split up 18 months later), and a beautiful, heart-breaking video of Lena singing "Help Me Make It Through the Night" on her wedding night...in her wedding gown. 
 

Lena Zavaroni on YouTube:
[ "The Tonight Show" w/ Johnny Carson ]
[ Interview from 1989 ]

[ "Help Me Make It Through the Night" ]

[ Lena Zavaroni: November 4, 1963 — October 1, 1999 ]

Tammie Kroeze

Artist: Tammie Kroeze

LP: 7" single

Song: "I'll Never Let the Devil Win"
[ listen ]

Song: "I'm On the Sunny Side of Life" 
[ listen ]

Umm...April Fools!? I'm not really sure what else to say about this 4-track 7" I found at an Ellensburg thrift store twelve years ago...except maybe, What Ever Happened to Tammie Kroeze?

The Pickwick Children's Chorus and Musical Friends

Artist: The Pickwick Children's Chorus and Musical Friends

LP: Sesame Street & Other Children's Pop Hits!

Song: "Bozo's Song"

[ listen ]

Here's a kids' record I found at Goodwill yesterday, featuring a song performed by Bozo the Clown. That reminds me: I read in the news last week that a powerful Mexican drug lord was shot dead by assassins dressed as clowns at a family children's party in Cabo San Lucas. There's a picture of Pickwick Children's Chorus leader Laurie Ringham on the back of this slightly disturbing LP, along with photos of other young ladies (one toothless lass is featured in unflattering closeup). But nothing in the liner notes, evidently written by a four-year-old, indicates whether the girls pictured are actual members of The Pickwick Children's Chorus or just some of their Musical Friends.

Heintje Simons

Artist: Heintje Simons

LP: Ich Denk an Dich

Song: "Hey Mister"

[ listen ]

I've been gallivanting all over Europe these past few weeks, via my record collection, weeding out LPs from my overcrowded Italy, Germany, and "other" sections. Next, I'm off to France! This 1973 record by the sensational singing Dutch tot Heintje (by now an elderly 18-year-old) was one of the things I had to send off to boarding school to make more room. Like Loretta Lynn, Heintje was a coal miner's daughter—er, son—and the young singer's immense popularity and fame lifted his family from the depths of poverty. You can read more about Heintje Simons here, listen to another one of his songs from an earlier posting here, and I've still got several pre-'70s Heintje LPs on my shelves, so you'll probably be seeing him again real soon.

Ricky Segall and The Segalls

Artist: Ricky Segall and The Segalls

LP: Ricky Segall and The Segalls

Song: "What Kind of Noise Do You Make"

[ listen ]

I had a Chipotle burrito with white rice and pinto beans for dinner last night, so you can probably guess what kind of noise I make. To be honest, my noises don't sound half bad compared to the ones Ricky Segall makes on this 1973 collection of songs that he performed as "Ricky the neighbor kid" on the fourth and final season of "The Partridge Family" TV show. Born on Long Island in 1969, Ricky is now married with three kids and, after working as a minister in Texas for a number of years, he returned to Los Angeles in 2006 to go back into show business. You can check out his IMDB biography page here.