Harry Simeone Chorale

Artist: Harry Simeone Chorale

LP: It's Alaska

Song: "Let's Go to Alaska"

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Song: "Otto Von Kotzebue"

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Song: "Remember Alaksa"

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For the past few years, it seems that everything we hear about Alaska has to do with the state's former governor and U.S. presidential hopeful Sarah Palin. But the 49th state is known for lots of other things too, and most of them aren't idiotic, embarrassing or retarded. Harry Simeone and his Chorale are here to remind you of some of those things. You can find the extensive "It's Alaska" LP liner notes below and read more about Harry Simeone on Wikipedia here. If you decide to take Harry's advice and head up to Alaska sometime soon, remember to dress in warm clothing like the young woman on the cover of this record—only don't forget to wear your pants.

 

 

 

[ Harry Simeone: May 9, 1911 — February 22, 2005 ]

General Crook

Artist: General Crook

LP: General Crook

Song: "Fever In the Funkhouse"

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Not to be confused with the spectacularly-bearded General George Crook of American Civil War fame, the musical General Crook (his birth name, believe it or not) was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi in February of 1945. After graduating from high school, he moved to Chicago where he began working on a career in music. He found only moderate success, though this soulful and funky LP released on the Wand label in 1974 is just about as wonderful as anything I've heard from the era. You can read more about the life and career of General Crook on the AllMusic.com website here. Unfortunately, Crook often suffered from recurring bouts of ill health (fevers in particular), exacerbated by the fact that, despite Chicago's notoriously harsh winters, he transported himself solely by bicycle year-round...

...and he never wore any pants.