Quartz

Artist: Quartz

LP: Camel In the City

Song: "Camel In the City"

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The next record shop I went to in Minnesota (my 4th) was Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, a place that has evidently been around since 1968. (Electric Fetus, I mean. Minneapolis has been around even longer.) Why, that's even before I was born! One of the neat things I found at Electric Fetus is this 1979 LP from a French disco-synth outfit called Quartz. I'd try to glean more information from the worldwide web about Quartz, but I keep falling asleep while I'm typing. Good night.

[ Electric Fetus — Minneapolis, Minnesota ]

Zodiac

Artist: Zodiac

LP: Music In the Universe

Song: "Laser Illumination"
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Last night I rendezvoused with my Seattle Spinsters Vinyl and Music Appreciation meetup group at Obec Brewing, which just happens to be about 35 steps from my front door. Obec evidently has vinyl night every Thursday, where people can choose to play a side of one of the LPs the brewery has on hand in their collection, or they can bring in their own LPs and sign up to play a side from one of those instead. What I wasn't told is that their turntable doesn't spin at 45 rpm, so I ended up handing out all the 7" singles I brought so people could use them as beer coasters instead. 

Fortunately, I'd also brought Jimmy Smith's "The Cat" LP, which went over well, and also this 10" record by Juliette Greco. The theme for the night had been advertised as "back to school," so I'd also brought my copy of "Doris Day's Greatest Hits," so I could play "Teacher's Pet." But when I learned I'd have to commit to playing an entire side of a Doris Day LP at a brewery full of hipsters, I chickened out and quietly slid her hits beneath my chair. I love you, Doris, but I won't cast my pearls before swine. I pictured next-day headlines of fatalities: SEVEN TRAMPLED TO DEATH AT OBEC! Over half a dozen trendy people in their mid-to-late 20s died last night at a Seattle brewery when a stampede to the exits broke out as Doris Day's "A Guy Is a Guy" blared from the speakers at the popular Ballard watering hole. 

Anyway, it was a fun night, and we plan to do it again. Next time I may bring this 1983 Soviet-Latvian synth rock record by Zodiac that I found at Redhill Records in Helsinki last year. The recording of the LP was inspired by the bandmembers' visit to Star Town, where they met cosmonauts and learned about outer space. I bet it would keep the hipsters in their seats. And I may bring some Bow Wow Wow while I'm at it.

[ Zodiac ]

Griffin

Artist: Griffin

LP: Hot Fingers

Song: "Lock It Up & Rock It (The Wild Thing)" 
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Song: "No Humans Allowed" 
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Reggie "Rej" Griffin was in the group Manchild during the second half of the '70s (he's front/left on the LP cover here) before going on to work with fellow bandmate Kenneth Brian "Babyface" Edmonds throughout his solo career. Speaking of solo careers, Rej Griffin produced this solo LP of his own in 1984, on which he handles all lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, bass guitar, Voyetra, Prophet, Korg, Oberheim and Yamaha DX7 synthesizers, piano, electric piano, alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, turntable scratching, percussion, drumulator programming and loud, obnoxious noises...so basically, just about everything. Someone named Rayford Griffin helps out with percussion, as you can see in the slightly blurry notes below. I wonder if he's Rej's brother! It's too bad Griffin isn't better known today. I like that on the back of his record he encourages fans to register to vote. In my many years of dating, it's been virtually impossible to find a man who dresses this well and has good hair, who's also civic-minded, has hot fingers, knows how to program a drumulator, and who can play three types of saxophones and a korg! This gives me hope.

Les Baxter

Artist: Les Baxter

LP: Moog Rock: Greatest Classical Hits

Song: "Chopin: Etude in E"

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Listed on the LP as "Chopin: Prelude in E," this popular piece by the famous Polish composer is actually one of his etudes. I was looking forward to hearing how Les would handle the song's difficult middle section on the Moog—but he had no problem with it at all. He just skipped it entirely! Les Baxter is one of my favorite musicians, not only for his wonderful music, but also because he's one of those artists who, just when you think you've surely seen all of his LPs in various dollar bins and at thrift stores, you suddenly come across a dozen more! As Les himself once said about his career, "I never turn anything down." You can read more about Les Baxter and see his discography here, and find the liner notes from his 1968 "Moog Rock" LP here:

 [ Les Baxter: March 14, 1922 — January 15, 1996 ]

Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra

 Artist: Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra

LP: Greatest Science Fiction Hits 

Song: "Moonraker"

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Song: "Can You Read My Mind"

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Song: "Close Encounters"

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Here are three of the greatest hits from sci-fi films of the late-1970s, as interpreted by Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra. Norman's outer-space musical wizardry blends perfectly with the elegant touches of lounge-master Les Baxter to create sounds that are simply out of this world. "Moonraker," originally sung by Shirley Bassey, is the theme song for one of the worst James Bond films ever made; "Can You Read My Mind," the love theme from SUPERMAN, was recorded by Maureen McGovern and released as a single—though her version doesn't actually appear in the film; and of course "Close Encounters" is from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, and was originally performed by aliens.

 

 

 [ Neil Norman, with space necklace. ]

 

 [ Neil Norman with guitar, orbiting Earth. ]

 

 [ Neil Norman, with chest hair. ]

 

 [ Neil Norman with keyboard, in control center. ]

Joseph Byrd

Artist: Joseph Byrd

LP: A Christmas Yet to Come

Song: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

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Song: "Jingle Bells"

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When he was younger, and before he had such a terrible weight problem, Santa would often prance through the forest with his ARP 2600 Synthesizer, delighting the wood nymphs, jack rabbits and deer with impromptu electronic performances of cheerful holiday ditties.

 

George Duke

Artist: George Duke

LP: Feel

Song: "Cora Joberge"

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Song: "Love"

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I thought maybe "Cora Joberge" was an anagram, but all I could come up with is "Grocer Jaboe." Born in San Rafael, California in 1946, George Duke is known as a pioneer of the synthesizer. Over the years, he's worked with Frank Zappa, Anita Baker, George Clinton and Jean-Luc Ponty, to name just a few. You can read about George Duke on Wikipedia here, where you can also find a link to his official website, which automatically starts playing really loud music—just ask anyone at my office.

a note from the next day: "Cora Joberge" isn't really one of this album's highlights; I chose it at one o'clock in the morning. This other song called "Love" offers a better example of why George Duke is considered a pioneer.