Marty Gold

Artist: Marty Gold

LP: Wired For Sound

Song: "Ti-Pi-Tin"

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In spite of the fact that Republicans and Tea Partiers (uh, that should be "Obama, where ARE your papers?") took over the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, this has been a pretty good week for me. My father is recovering nicely from a horrible heart-attack last Thursday; I heard on the news this morning that Patty Murray and not Dino Rossi will be my U.S. Senator; it's been sunny and warm here in Seattle for these past few days and I just found a box of Junior Mints in the fridge at work. To kick off the weekend, here's a joyous little ditty from a Marty Gold record I found at Backspin Records in Austin a few weeks ago. A native New Yorker, Marty Gold has worked with the likes of Patti Page, Georgia Gibbs and Sarah Vaughan, and will be celebrating his 95th birthday next month! You can read about Marty's long and prosperous career on the Space Age Pop website here, find his 1956 "Wired For Sound" LP liner notes below, and go here to read what Marty's granddaughter, Debbie Cavalier, has to say about him. Be sure to click on her "music videos" link to watch The Korn Kobblers' magnificent performance of "That's My Weakness Now."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 [ Marty Gold ]

Circus Maximus

Artist: Circus Maximus

LP: Circus Maximus

Song: "Bright Light Lover"

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Song: "Wind"

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Not to be confused with the Norwegian progressive metal quintet with the same name, this older American group called Circus Maximus was known as The Lost Sea Dreamers before Vanguard Records made them change their name so their initials wouldn't stand for drugs. You can go here to read about Circus Maximus on Wikipedia.

 

 

Freedom

Artist: Freedom

LP: Farther Than Imagination

Song: "Set You Free"

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The last stop on my record store tour of Austin was Backspin Records, where I found a variety of interesting records at good prices and blew the remainder of my shopping budget. This first release by Freedom (they're from Jackson, Mississippi and evidently released two LPs) is one of the funkiest things I've heard in a while. I tried calling their fan club, but the number has been disconnected.

 

 

 

[ Backspin Records in Austin, TX ]

Crazy

Artist: Crazy

LP: Crazy's Super Album

Song: "Guadeloupe Chick"

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After rummaging through records at End of An Ear in Austin last weekend, I was taken to Torchy's Tacos on South 1st, where I consumed of the best tacos I've ever had: pumpkin-encrusted chicken with carrots, cilantro and some other delicious things thrown in. Now fortified enough to continue record-hunting, I was taken to Breakaway Records, where I found lots of good stuff, including this 1979 calypso record by Edwin Ayoung—aka. Crazy. His official website at www.socarebels.org/calypsocrazy doesn't seem to be working, but you can visit his MySpace page and listen to some of his new songs here, read his biography here, and get a copy of Crazy's terrific debut LP here or here. Any record that features the lyrics, "on TV she say when I dance, she feel I don't wear no underpants" is a winner, if you ask me.

 

 

[ Breakaway Records in Austin, TX ]

Facundo Cabral

Artist: Facundo Cabral

LP: No Soy De Aqui

Song: "Faderico Colectivero"

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Song: "No Soy De Aqui"

[ listen ]

Argentine singer Facundo Cabral once said, "Every morning is good news, every child that is born is good news, every just man is good news, every singer is good news, because every singer is one less soldier." I'd like to add that every male Latin-American singer who uses string arrangements in his songs, who sounds kinda' like Bob Dylan and who is pictured holding a broom on one of his LP covers is also good news. You can read all about Facundo Cabral and find lots more of his thoughtful quotes on Wikipedia here. "No Soy De Aqui" is one of the two records I found at End of an Ear in Austin last Friday when my friend John-Mark took me on an afternoon record-hunting spree. (Of course, this was only after enjoying a greasy, hearty breakfast at Arkie's Grill—where they'd been filming a movie with Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey the night before!) I forgot to take a picture of End of an Ear while I was there, but I found a nice nighttime shot of the store on the web.

 

[ End of an Ear Records in Austin, TX ]

Pino Daniele

Artist: Pino Daniele

LP: Terra Mia

Song: "Ce Sta Chi Ce Penza"

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My plane landed in Austin in the late afternoon last Thursday, and my friend Wesley met me at the airport. We once worked together in Seattle, but now he's a Texas attorney with this sitting just outside his office window. One of the first places we went that afternoon (after stopping for a scrumptious meal at Your Mom's Burger Bar...

[ A typical burger at Your Mom's Burger Bar in Austin, TX ]

...we were both hungry; I had the Frida Kahlo burger, which I heartily recommend) was Waterloo Records on North Lamar Boulevard. I found several neat records there for a good price, including this 1977 debut LP from Italian singer/composer Pino Daniele. Born in Naples, Italy on March 19, 1955, Pino Daniele taught himself guitar at a young age and has enjoyed a long and successful career making music influenced by sounds not only from his native Italy, but from all around the world. His North American concert debut was a sold-out affair at The Apollo Theater in New York City on October 1, 2009. You can read more about Pino Daniele's life and music on Wikipedia here, and pictures from his "Terra Mia" LP and the "Ce Sta Chi Ce Penza" song lyrics are included below.

 

 

 

[ Waterloo Records in Austin, TX ]

Heintje

Artist: Heintje

LP: Best of All

Song: "Giddy Up My Pony"

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I just got back from Austin, Texas! It was my first time in the city, and I had lots of fun visiting friends, eating tacos, going to the Austin Film Festival...and of course I stumbled upon lots of neat records. I'll be posting some of those, but first I decided to try exorcising this nutty song about pony-riding, from Dutch child singer Heintje, since it's been stuck in my head for over a week. Born in Kerkrade in The Netherlands on August 12, 1955, Hendrik Nikolaas Theodoor Simons (aka. Heintje) became a superstar with his hit 1967 single "Mama" when he was just 12 years old. To counter the "goody-goody" mama's boy image he'd earned with his music career, Heintje threw his weight and considerable acting chops into films like "To Hell With School" and "Hurrah, the School Is Burning," which inspired waves of arson, vandalism and massive drop-outs at schools throughout West Germany. You can read more about Heintje here and go here to see a list of the young lad's film and TV appearances.

The Big Irons

Artist: The Big Irons

LP: Sounds of the Big Irons

Song: "Steeplechase"

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No offense to Lulu Roman and her Hallelujah Wheels, but if I was blind and starving, I think I'd rather have one of The Big Irons boys bring me food and read me my mail. All photos on the album sleeve were taken at Ascot Park in Gardena, California.

 

 

 

 

 

Lulu Roman

Artist: Lulu Roman

LP: One Day at a Time

Song: "Hallelujah Wheels"

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Here's something I picked up when I was in Fargo, North Dakota back in July of 2009. (You can probably tell I'm finally cleaning the records out of my living room.) I wondered what "Hallelujah Wheels" were before listening to this song—it turns out they're like "Meals On Wheels," but in addition to delivering food, they also sing to crying babies and read letters to the blind. And according to the sounds at the beginning and ending of the song, "Hallelujah Wheels" delivers their acts of kindness on a moped. I've loved Lulu Roman ever since I was a kid watching episodes of "Hee Haw" with my dad in the 1970s. Of course at the time I had no idea that Lulu had grown up in an orphanage, that she was beaten and made fun of because she was fat; that she had a ten-year drug addiction and would sometimes drop acid and dance in water-fountains; that she worked in one of Jack Ruby's strip clubs, and that she was a "mean mama" until turning to Christianity in 1973, when her newborn son nearly died after being born addicted to drugs. But now I know all of this, thanks to Alan Mercer's terrific interview with Lulu in September of 2009. You can read more about the fabulous and inspiring Lulu Roman on Wikipedia here and on her website here, and you'll find some neat old photos from the back of her "One Day at a Time" LP below.

 

 

 

 

 [ Lulu Roman in 2009 ]

Tina Turner

Artist: Tina Turner

LP: Tina  Turns the Country On

Song: "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)"

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This soulful 1974 country-themed record from Tina Turner is one of the neat things I picked up in San Francisco back in March when I was there for my friend's wedding. I especially like Tina's version of this song by John Rostill, which was a hit for Olivia Newton-John that same year. The song was also performed by Elvis Presley at most of his live shows during the last few years of his life, and it's one of the songs my dad and I sing together whenever we do karaoke. If you're not already familiar with Tina Turner—born in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939; wife and then ex-wife of Ike Turner; Acid Queen; Private Dancer—then you can read all about her life and career here. If you'd like to watch a motion picture about Tina Turner's life, I recommend this one from 1993, starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne.

Udo Lindenberg & Das Panik-Orchester

Artist: Udo Lindenberg & Das Panik-Orchester

LP: Sister King Kong

Song: "Udo On the Rocks"

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Udo Lindenberg and his sexy long legs were born in Gronau, Germany in May of 1946. He began drumming at an early age and hooked up with Germany's first folk-rock group, The City Preachers, in 1969. Udo went on to release a string of LPs throughout the 1970s and beyond; he also wrote and published a book in 1975. Now living at the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg, Lindenberg remains active in music, though his voice has reportedly taken on a raw and gravelly quality—the result of excessive cigarettes and booze. Earlier this year, Udo Lindenberg designed two postage stamps for his native Deutschland, which I've included below along with photos from the inside and back of his 1976 "Sister King Kong" LP. Read more about Udo Lindenberg's life and career here and visit his official website here.

ps. Judging by the signature on his artwork for the stamps, my LP is a genuine autographed copy!