Harry Breuer and his Quintet - TV Funeral March (1958)

 

01-05 05

TV Funeral March

Harry Breuer and his Quintet 

Mallet Mischief Vol. 2

(1958)

For me, and for some of you I'm sure, the Re/Search Incredibly Strange Music books were absolute text books for music curios 101. The CDs were fantastic too. For those familiar with the books (and CDs) will remember this LP cover gracing the front art of Volume 1.

Harry Breuer was very much a session musician, but did release three LPs with his Quintet for the Audio Fidelity label.

The Incredibly Strange CDs featured the cut "Bumble Bee Bolero" from the Quintet's first album (Mallet Magic) and "Minute Merengue" (from this LP.)

So, I offer a third cut here, "TV Funeral March," which I'm sure some of you will recognize as Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette," the theme song to Alfred Hitchcock Presents...

Which begs the question, to me... is there still relevance to Re/Search books, or to Alfred Hitchcock Presents???

Listen here

Johnny Redd - Party, Party, Party (c. 1980s?)

 01-04 004

Party, Party, Party

Johnny Redd

Country Hot 

(c. 1980s?)

Vague, ambiguous release with absolutely no information on the artist on the back. The front cover is just as vague. Any research on the JRS label, out of Palmdale CA, that this album was released on leads only back to this album. I would assume this was a tax scam album if it didn't include so many covers.

This cut was sent to me on a tape via visual artist Nate Abels, who always includes some unique and interesting stuff on the mixtapes he sends my way.

Maybe someone out there may have some information on the elusive Johnny Redd.

Anyway... here is one, of a handful of original cuts that appears on this LP.

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Cathie Christie - What The World Needs Now (1972)

 01-03 003

What The World Needs Now

Cathie Christie

A Quiet Place

(1972)

Not sure if Cathie wanted to release a pop album or a Christian album here... there certainly are a few pop songs in here with religious themes. The combo sound just as suited for a church function as they do for a hotel lobby. 

Her voice however has the commanding presence of someone who probably has only taken solos on hymnals in a church choir.

It appears she released one more album, also religious material, about a decade later... in Australia. 

Liner notes:

"A Quiet Place" is Cathie Christie's first venture into the recording field... and we trust the first in a series of coming albums.

Together, with her arranger Gene Roberson, they selected a variety of contemporary songs that we'll expresses her living faith. The lyrics become her own... and each melody conveys a new and meaningful message to the listener. 

Cathie Christie is blessed with an exceptional singing voice. The range and quality of her singing are truly warm and inspirational. Her love for the Lord Jesus Christ adds a deep dimension of spiritual power to her songs. It is a pleasure to commend Cathie and her songs to you.

Emil A. Balliet 

President 

Southern California College

Listen here

Larry Decker - Someone Nice Like You (1978)

 01-02 002

Someone Nice Like You

Larry Decker

S-11-16-78

(1978)

Music That Shapes and their amazing limited edition Real People Music cassette comps and You Tube channel have absolutely been lighting the torch of uncharted waters with some really amazing finds... It was through them that I found out about the great Larry Decker. As far as I know he released two singles and an LP. Perhaps MTS can elucidate with more knowledge. Still need to track down Larry's album, but both singles are amazing. Check out that last note in this song... wow!!!! 

What I like best about Larry is that he totally could have gone the loner folk, gloomy route... but all of the cuts I've heard have a feeling of love and optimisim.

There are still a couple copies of "Real People Music Volume 2" on their bandcamp, and you can check out a few more Larry Decker cuts on the Realpeople Music YouTube channel.

Listen here!

Unknown Man Singing - Poem / Indian Love Call (c. 1950's)

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Poem - Indian Love Call

Unknown Man Singing

National Hollywood 78rpm (Acetate)

(c. 1950's)

Blind bought in a stack of unlabled acetates many years ago. A man singing some kind of politically incorrect poem and then doing a warbly whistle rendition of "Indian Love Call." You can hear him flirting with his wife? Girlfriend?? Some unknown woman in the background. Quality of the disc is very scratchy and times sounds like it was used as a coaster, but to clean it up would be pointless, and it would lose some of its charm(?!)

Listen here

365 Days Project

This particular blog has been defunct for 15 years now. I've decided to revive it for this project. The 365 Days Project was originally a collaborative effort of music shared via WFMU and their respective blog. Their original write-up for what they were doing is as follows:

"Some words to describe the material featured would be... Celebrity, Children, Demonstration, Indigenous, Industrial, Outsider, Song-Poem, Ventriloquism, and on and on and on. The best thing to do is simply listen."

They eventually had over 200 contributors sharing curios from their collections and would post an mp3 daily of music taken off scratchy records, warbly cassettes, old TV specials, CDs or songs and audio that lay hidden of credit from old file sharing sites.

I tried my hand, maybe 20 years ago, at doing my own version of the 365 Days Project, with maybe a handful of collaborators, and gave up after a month or so. I've decided this time around, as my collection has grown insurmountably over the past two decades, to start the ball rolling on my own, and to open the floor to anyone else who wants to join in as the project progresses. Part of the fun of what made the WFMU original 2003 project so entertaining was reading the comments left under each post. Sometimes they were hilarious commentary, or nostalgic reminiscing, or collecting sleuths who offered more insight than the original collaborator had to offer... it was communal. I hope to have a little of that magic here.

I found out a few months ago, that WFMU's "Beware of the Blog" had finally turned from the ghost town it was (they closed down any new posting in 2015) to dust (scrapped from the internet.)

I cannot express how formative it was to who I am today. What listening to Dr. Demento did for my preteen years in the 90s, WFMU did for my teenage years in the aughts, and their blog specifically had opened my eyes to worlds that felt very niche to me as a person. It was something I had discovered on my own. It felt special.

It put me in touch with collectors, it gave me a shortlist of things to seek out and gave a treasure trove of recommendations blogs, websites, events and overall... culture. It was the epitome of cool. No gatekeeping. Just a crash course on Eclecticist 101.

It was something I had used for reference and cross-referencing for many, many, MANY years, and even after many of the links had stopped working, it was still a proverbial Whitman's Sampler of arcana.

So, to come back around before I trail off and make this more long-winded than it already is, WFMU's original 365 Days Project had been an obsession for me in high school, like a year-long advent calendar of musical curios to unwrap daily. They would revive the project again for a second year when I was 21 and steered my record collecting course throughout my 20s.

Hopefully this answers a bit of the magic I hope to capture this year.

Jesus And I Go To Hell (And Other Tall Tales)

Tracklist:
01. The Muppets Show (Hebrew)
02. Hebrew National Salami (stag film excerpt)
03. Jesus And I Go To Hell (sermon excerpt)
04. Grandpa PSA - American Family Association
05. The Way It Began - The Fabulous Entourage
06. Santa Claus Is A Black Man - Akim & The Teddy Vann Production
07. Legend Of Nigger Charlie (Radio Spot)
08. Join The Ku Klux Klan - Johnny Rebel
09. The Strong Black Man - Hank Penny
10. Nigger Fucker - David Allan Coe
11. Boobs - Ruth Wallis
12. The VD Song (VD PSA)
13. Next - The Sensational Alex Harvey
14. My Pussy Belongs To Daddy - Richmonde
15. CCD - Fugs
16. The Pussy Song - Connie Vannett
17. My girl's Pussy - R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders
18. Good Taste Tip #4: Dating Courtesey - The Shangri-Las
19. Jack U Off - Pansy Division
20. Focus On Family PSA
21. Masculine Women! Feminine Men! - Six Jumping Jacks
22. Jet Boy Jet Girl - Elton Montello
23. I'd Rather Swish Than Fight - Camp Records
24. Wet Back - Vancie Flowers
25. Tacos For Two - Tommy Hancock
26. Pancho Lopez - Lalo Guerrero
27. The Story Of L.S.D. (Classroom film)
28. The Evil Dope - Phil Phillips
29. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself - Buddy Knox
30. Nigger Loves A Watermelon - Unknown
31. Lookin' For A Handout - Johnny Rebel
32. Candybars For Elvis - Barry Tiffin

Have A Nice Trip!