From: Malcolm Humes Subject: Wow, another great haul... Date: 03 Oct 1994 12:50:32 -0700 Looks like I need to start adding more shelves for lps at the rate they keep coming home with me. Last weekend my girlfriend got a lead on some 78's - a phone number of a guy who wanted to give a bunch away! Since Kat has only just started collecting 78's she was thrilled. Turns out some old woman named Mary was getting rid of an old house she'd left idle for a few years after getting re-married. So everything in the house was headed to Goodwill and we were encouraged to load up furniture, lamps and whatever else. Kat now has well over 100 78's, including about 50 by Bing Crosby. Mary also shared some of Kat's interest in organ music and we got a pile of about 70 lps too. Check this one out: The Brailettes: a blind-girl-group! The cover is pretty scary - the three girls lined up and one of them showing off her bad eyes and other deformities. Looks to be a religious/spritual focus here, and it's obviously a small scale local-ish production, from San Lorenzo, California. Another San Lorenzo release was in the pile - an autographed 7" on orange vinyl - Bill Langford plays the Mighty Wurlitzer, recorded at Ye Olde Pizza Joint in San Lorenzo. I seem to be running into a trend of organ recordings from restaurants - this one isn't quite up there with that Mr. Gus lp from a few weeks ago, but it's cool. It clicked something in memory and I discovered that I already have an lp by Bill Langford, and sure enough it's on the same "Mighty Warfield Wurlitzer" in San Lorenzo. Amusing, as the San Francisco Warfield Theater is today a venue where a lot of touring acts perform - folks like The Orb, Diamanda Galas and Tom Waits have performed there. Apparently the organ sat unused for 30 years a and then was reconditioned and put in Ye Olde Pizza Joynt, presumably in the 60's or 70's. I wonder if the pizza joint and organ are still there? And what is it about restaurants and organs? From the couple of recordings I've found I can't help wondering if live organ music was at one time very popular in the food marketing business. I seem to recall seeing a Pizza/Organ restaraunt in Burlingame or somewhere else south of San Francisco, and my impression was that it was part of a chain of Pizza/Organ houses. Was it once a big family thing to take the kids out for a little pizza and live organ? One of the 78's in the pile has a hand-written label and has some really fun pseudo hawaiian guitar and vocals - sounds like a little studio fun with one track delayed a bit from the other channel, essentially one track is an echo/delay copy of the other channel, and there's some heavy reverb and other efx work in there. Sounds possibly like something from a record-it-yourself vendor but it also seems a bit to over-produced for something like that. The record is marked "for reference purposes only" so maybe it's test pressing or demo. I forget the name on it. This is a pretty unique find. Raises a few questions for me about when stereo 78's first appeared - for that matter, when did stereo appear? Also, when were 78 rpm records phased out? The only library reference books I could find on records were for use in the library only... The new collection of 78's prompted us to head out Sunday to Urban Ore, our local urban recycling center, where we found a 78 player for $15 that works ok and has a headphone jack so I can plug it into the stereo and EQ and tape 78's from it. I also picked up a few more lps there - some X-rated comedy lp that looks like it might pre-date the Rusty Warren albums we found a few weeks ago - this woman looks like she was old enough to be Lenny Bruce's grandmother - and of course I forget her name. - Malcolm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dx@netcom.com (dx) Subject: Re: Wow, another great haul... Date: 03 Oct 1994 13:23:38 -0700 And what is it about restaurants and organs? Many theater chains of the 20s-40s began deinstalling and selling their organs in the 50s and 60s as movie viewing shifted to the suburbs. The Paramount in Oakland, for example, had to hunt down an organ similar to the original for the restoration some years back. A number of chains, including "Pizza & Pipes" here in the Bay Area, found the theater organs to be a low-price gimmick, and snapped 'em up. I also picked up a few more lps there - some X-rated comedy lp that looks like it might pre-date the Rusty Warren albums we found a few weeks ago - this woman looks like she was old enough to be Lenny Bruce's grandmother - and of course I forget her name. I'm guessing Belle Barth. "You line a hundred guys up against a wall, I'll betcha a hundred bucks I can bang 'em all..." She'll be here all week! Don't forget to tip your waitress! - -dx ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James.Langdell@Eng.Sun.COM (James Langdell) Subject: Re: Wow, another great haul... Date: 03 Oct 1994 13:28:28 +0800 Malcolm Humes (malcolm@wrs.com) wrote: >And what is it about restaurants and organs? From the couple of recordings >I've found I can't help wondering if live organ music was at one time >very popular in the food marketing business. I seem to recall seeing a >Pizza/Organ restaraunt in Burlingame or somewhere else south of San >Francisco, and my impression was that it was part of a chain of Pizza/Organ >houses. Was it once a big family thing to take the kids out for a little >pizza and live organ? Yes, there's quite a history of that. For a sense of *earlier* days of that, read one of the stories in Garrison Keilior's first collection, "Happy to Be Here", that deals with a restraunt with live music getting into radio as well for publicity. Closer to our day, the "Shakey's" pizza chain had originally been launched in the 1960s with each restaurant featuring live organ playing and silent films projected on the walls. Sometime in the 1970s I noticed Shakey's was opening more modest restaurants that just had food and no other entertainment. There were a number of competitors--I remember Pizza and Pipes opening up in Seramonte (south of San Francisco), and accidentally came across a pizza place in Cupertino that features live organ music most nights. (Accidentally, because I'm allergic to cheese and tomatoes, so I don't go out to pizza joints often.) I don't know who came up with the concept of linking pizza with organ music, but the raw material was certainly to be had in the 1960s. Theater organs, no longer used by most movie houses, were on the market cheap to anyone willing to move and restore them. - --James Langdell jamesc@eng.sun.com Sun Microsystems Mountain View, Calif. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Ed Wood Date: 04 Oct 1994 23:08:56 -0600 (MDT) Howard Shore's score for Tim Burton's new film Ed Wood is exotica-worthy, surprisingly enough. There's some tiki-lounge atmosphere, more than a little theremin, and even some Korla Pandit (who cameos in the film!). Worth a walk through the soundtrack bins, and worth a visit to the theatre as well. Has anyone seen the soundtrack album yet? - -- Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Humes Subject: Korla Pandit Date: 05 Oct 1994 11:32:45 -0700 > Howard Shore's score for Tim Burton's new film Ed Wood is exotica-worthy, > surprisingly enough. There's some tiki-lounge atmosphere, more than a > little theremin, and even some Korla Pandit (who cameos in the film!). > Worth a walk through the soundtrack bins, and worth a visit to the theatre > as well. Has anyone seen the soundtrack album yet? Nope. But your mention of Korla Pandit's cameos raises some questions for me. My girlfriend claims that Korla Pandit is dead - that he died sometime in the last year or so and that she saw some clips of his old tv show on some news feature right after he died. I know he lived or lives around Santa Cruz. I don't recall the obituary or news feature though. Did he die some months ago, presumably after already doing the cameos, or is he still alive? - Malcolm P.S. Lazlo, can we change the default Reply-to address of the Exotica list so that replies will default to the list instead of to the sender? It's probably a tweakable feature, and it tends to provoke more conversational public posts. Unless I check headers carefully it's easy to just reply only to the sender... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Ken Nordine on CD Date: 05 Oct 1994 16:02:18 -0600 (MDT) After seeing TNT's little UFO special last weekend I decided I needed some Ken Nordine, so I picked up Best Of Word Jazz Volume 1 over lunch today, digested it over the next hour, and need moooore. What are the pickings like for Nordine material on disc, reissues or new? I've seen the one he did for the Grateful Dead's label, but I'd prefer to avoid too much hippie-dippy foofraw unless the Nordine parts are really exceptional. - -- Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Korla Pandit, Mailing Addresses Date: 05 Oct 1994 16:06:25 -0600 (MDT) > I know he lived or lives around Santa Cruz. I don't recall the obituary > or news feature though. Did he die some months ago, presumably after already > doing the cameos, or is he still alive? I haven't seen an obit, but Pandit is relatively obscure -- I doubt it'd make the rotation on Headline News if he died. It'd be a shame if he had. > P.S. Lazlo, can we change the default Reply-to address of the Exotica > list so that replies will default to the list instead of to the sender? I'll check into it. (I never notice this because my habit is to post followups with f)orward in elm.) - -- Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dx@netcom.com (dx) Subject: Re: Ken Nordine on CD Date: 05 Oct 1994 22:06:28 -0700 I haven't seen hardly any of Nordine's earlier work on CD yet. Some of the Word Jazz is on CD, but LP's like "Twink" and "Colors" are tough finds on vinyl. SImilarly, the RCA stereo demonstration disc he narrates is getting rare. (It was easy to find in the $1 bins for a long time.) Fred Katz's solo LPs are also tough finds these days. I imagine that even Nordine's later LPs, like "Stare With Your Ears", had small enough circulation to make them hard to locate these days. - -dx ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Re: Ken Nordine on CD Date: 06 Oct 1994 09:01:44 -0600 (MDT) > I imagine that even Nordine's later LPs, like "Stare With Your Ears", had > small enough circulation to make them hard to locate these days. I should add that I'm perfectly willing to take Nordine material in *any* format, but I can't recall ever even having seen any, under any circumstances. - -- Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: Re: Wow, another great haul... Date: 07 Oct 1994 00:04:28 +22300711 (WAST) Hi, I've been lurking here for a week or so. I thought it was time to say Hi. My interest is in Rock-A-Billy, R'n'B and other non-pop music from the 50's. While I don't see my taste as exclusively 50's that's where it comes from. I present a weekly radio show in which I get to present my taste in music on an unprepared and unexpecting audience. I also dig things like hellfire preachers, juvenile delinquent and adult novels from the 50's. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jamesc@Eng.Sun.COM (James Langdell) Subject: Re: Ken Nordine on CD Date: 06 Oct 1994 13:39:22 +0800 The only Ken Nordine material I have is a 2-LP compilation put out on Blue Thumb records. I don't think I've seen that mentioned yet, but it has a wealth of classic segments. I first heard Nordine when his story "The Man Who Knew What Time It Was" was included in a show called "The Mustard Seed" on some radio station in San Francisco. I think Nordine had a series new series intended for public radio a few years ago. That series of tapes might be available (Tom says, vaguely). P.S. What ever happened to Tom Swifties, Tom said, reminiscently? - --James Langdell jamesc@eng.sun.com Sun Microsystems Mountain View, Calif. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: transmat@teleport.com Subject: M.D. on C.D. Date: 06 Oct 1994 19:21:59 -0800 From the new issue of Pulse: Reissues: Martin Denny/Quiet Village on Curb. bleep...bleep...transmat@teleport.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Butman, Holly" Subject: Re: Ken Nordine on CD Date: 11 Oct 1994 12:46:00 EDT Hmm...I think I missed a bunch of messages! What has been mentioned already? I have the Rhino comp & I know of the stuff discussed in Incredibly Strange v2...I'd appreciate any further enlightenment! Thanks & sorry, Holly butma001@mc.duke.edu ---------- >From: owner-exotica >To: exotica >Subject: Re: Ken Nordine on CD >Date: Thursday, October 06, 1994 1:39PM > >The only Ken Nordine material I have is a 2-LP compilation >put out on Blue Thumb records. I don't think I've seen >that mentioned yet, but it has a wealth of classic segments. > >I first heard Nordine when his story "The Man Who Knew What >Time It Was" was included in a show called "The Mustard Seed" >on some radio station in San Francisco. > >I think Nordine had a series new series intended for public >radio a few years ago. That series of tapes might be available >(Tom says, vaguely). > >P.S. What ever happened to Tom Swifties, Tom said, reminiscently? > >--James Langdell jamesc@eng.sun.com > Sun Microsystems Mountain View, Calif. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Butman, Holly" Subject: Hello, Bob Hume! Date: 11 Oct 1994 12:50:00 EDT Hello, Bob! never expected to see another blues-Ler over here, but that just shows my own prejudice/ignorance - glad to see you! BTW, your 'exotic' interests appear to parellel mine to a large extent. Any great finds/things we should all know about? Holly :-) butma001@mc.duke.edu ---------- >From: owner-exotica >To: abc >Cc: exotica; malcolm >Subject: Re: Wow, another great haul... >Date: Friday, October 07, 1994 12:04AM > >Hi, >I've been lurking here for a week or so. >I thought it was time to say Hi. > >My interest is in Rock-A-Billy, R'n'B and other non-pop music from the >50's. While I don't see my taste as exclusively 50's that's where it comes >from. > >I present a weekly radio show in which I get to present my taste in music >on an unprepared and unexpecting audience. > >I also dig things like hellfire preachers, juvenile delinquent and adult >novels from the 50's. > >-- >Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, >PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, >Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, >AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." >ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Getting Off The List Date: 11 Oct 1994 14:54:41 -0600 (MDT) Sorry to anyone who sees this more than once. I've been seeing a lot of clueless attempts at unsubscribing lately. If you want to get off any of the lists I run (KLF, Orb, ZTT, Exotica) but you don't know how, send email to majordomo@xmission.com with the word HELP on a line by itself in the body of the message. The message you get back will explain things. (Not like you weren't told in the message you got when you signed onto the list(s), but what the hell.) - -- ::: Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: My introductory message .... Date: 13 Oct 1994 17:19:40 -0600 (MDT) [Forwarded -- you can't use the "s" word when posting or it gets bounced.] Kevin_Nardone_at_NEWOPS@ccmail.marcam.com writes: Hello exotica - when I subscr!bed, a message came asking me to send out an intro. message, so here it is. I actually heard of Exotica through a '.list' newsgroup. I decided to subscr!be because of the content involved - the not forgotten classics. For instance, I can't get out of my head today the 60's garage band, The Renegades' cover of an old Bill Haley song '13 Women' !! Now that's classic! Well, that's what I'm into. Are we in synch? BTW - is there much volume here or ..... ??? kevin ** 13 women and me the only man in town ... ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kevin_Nardone_at_NEWOPS@ccmail.marcam.com Subject: My introductory message .... Date: 14 Oct 1994 07:51:29 -0400 Hello exotica - when I subscribed, a message came asking me to send out an intro. message, so here it is. I actually heard of Exotica through a '.list' newsgroup. I decided to subscr!be because of the content involved - the not forgotten classics. For instance, I can't get out of my head today the 60's garage band, The Renegades' cover of an old Bill Haley song '13 Women' !! Now that's classic! Well, that's part of what what I'm into. BTW - is there much volume here or ..... ??? kevin ** 13 women and me the only man in town ... ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: 13 women Date: 15 Oct 1994 10:02:46 +22300711 (WAST) yeah that song is a great post nuclear holocaust vision. It doesn't matter if the world is blown away as long as there's still chicks. Hmmm. ;-) Does any one else have any other great visions of the future and modernity from their vinyl archives. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark_Robinson_at_NEWOPS@ccmail.marcam.com Subject: Re: 13 women Date: 17 Oct 1994 08:09:02 -0400 This is a Mime message, which your current mail reader may not understand. Parts of the message will appear as text. To process the rest, you will have to use a Mime compatible mail reader. Contact your vendor for details. - --IMA.Boundary.782395914 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: cc:Mail note part Received: from netmon.marcam.com by ccmail.marcam.com (IMA Internet Exchange) wit h SMTP id e9f8d9d0; Sat, 15 Oct 94 04:06:53 -0400 Received: from xmission.xmission.com by netmon.marcam.com (1.37.109.11/) with ESM TP id AA029588418; Sat, 15 Oct 1994 04:06:59 -0400 Reply-To: Received: (from daemon@localhost) by xmission.xmission.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) id UAA29 008 for exotica-outgoing; Fri, 14 Oct 1994 20:06:51 -0600 Received: from scorpion.cowan.edu.au (scorpion.cowan.edu.au [139.230.127.6]) by x mission.xmission.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id UAA28991 for ; Fri, 14 Oct 1994 20:06:42 -0600 Received: by scorpion.cowan.edu.au (AIX 3.2/UCB 5.64/4.03) id AA34775; Sat, 15 Oct 1994 10:05:31 +0800 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: 13 women Date: 15 Oct 1994 10:02:46 +22300711 (WAST) - --IMA.Boundary.782395914 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: cc:Mail note part The Renegades who do "13 Women" I have heard were from Finland (huh?) or were so popular there that they moved. Inquiring mindless want to know. Mark PS. Ultra cool song ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Author: Bob HUME at SMTPGATE yeah that song is a great post nuclear holocaust vision. It doesn't matter if the world is blown away as long as there's still chicks. Hmmm. ;-) Does any one else have any other great visions of the future and modernity from their vinyl archives. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. - --IMA.Boundary.782395914-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kevin_Nardone_at_NEWOPS@ccmail.marcam.com Subject: Volume of list entries ... Date: 18 Oct 1994 14:17:47 -0400 Just two weeks ago, I subscribed, psyched about the group. Since then, I have received only two entries - and one of those being my own introductory message! Is this the 'normal' flow or .......??? Hello??? kevin ** Thirteen women and me the only man in town ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Humes Subject: Re: Volume of list entries ... Date: 18 Oct 1994 11:56:56 -0700 (PDT) > > Just two weeks ago, I subscribed, psyched about the group. > Since then, I have received only two entries - and one of those being > my own introductory message! > > Is this the 'normal' flow or .......??? Hello??? > Yup, it's normally quite slow... I've tried to feed some converstion by regularly posting info about new finds in my bargain bin hunts, but that hasn't even provoked much - still it probably accounts for half the postings made here yet. Try posting stuff about things you like, collect, find or want and see what happens. Typically a post can spark one or two reponses if there's some interesting content. Part of it I think is that the exotica topic is broad and vague and most of us here have widely divergent interests and subjective ideas of what is exotica. I've come to extend the idea to any odd bargain bin novelties, nostalgia and the traditional "exotica" of Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman and company.. - malcolm P.S. by default the reply-to of list mail goes to the sender, which means that unless you manually add the "exotica@xmission.com" address to the mail headers your response only goes to person who posted, which doesn't do a lot to foster a converstaional tone on the list. If your responses might be of general interest please direct responses to exotica, not just to individuals. P.P.S. - anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or recordable 78 players? I saw a wire recorder/78 player for sale recently that has me thinking I should pick it up (for $12). Also in the last batch of 78's we got we've found a number of 78s that are apparently record-it-at-home blanks - and I was totally unaware that 78's were ever a consumer recording medium. Any pointers, info, books on early recording devices and such would be greatly appreciated. Now Playing: The 6 Million Dollar Man Christmas LP: The Elves Revolt (anyone got any good, weird Christmas lps I can use for a compilation tape?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kevin_Nardone_at_NEWOPS@ccmail.marcam.com Subject: Pre tape decks ? Date: 18 Oct 1994 15:28:39 -0400 Malcom wrote: Subject: putting old vinyl to *work* Date: 18 Oct 1994 15:58:10 -0700 (PDT) I don't mind the low volume on this list at all. Nice contrast to, say, the ambient list which to me is getting near the drinking-from-a-firehose range, even in digest format. Malcolm: I for one like reading about your latest vinyl finds despite the occasional surge of envy ;^) Someone I know has the $6 Million Man Xmas album, but I can't remember who... And now here's a tale of a functional, *practical* use for an 'exotic' record: My d.j. friend spins R&B/street soul/hip-hop at a club night he calls 'MAHOGANY'. To give you some idea of the vibe, the crowd is about 90% African-American gay men and lesbians and there's usually a small-scale drag show hosted by Queen Champagne of the legendary House of La Face. Anyhow, my friend plans to use for a theme song a ditty on an old Mr. Rogers album where he's singing to Henrietta Pussycat in his unique Nembutal warble: "You are pretty, you are black. You are soft..." - Richard """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Richard Karty ---- karty@u.washington.edu ----------------------------------- "If you can remember the '80s, you mustn't have really been there." -Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, 1992 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Pre tape decks ? Date: 18 Oct 1994 20:39:10 -0600 (MDT) > Yow! Are those the things Tom Edison sung "Mary had a little Lamb' > into? Man, you're going to have a tough time finding blank 78's to > record onto I would think. The old Edison phonographs used wax cylinders. Find blanks for *that!* - -- ::: Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: 78 Recorders Date: 18 Oct 1994 20:37:37 -0600 (MDT) > anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or recordable > 78 players? I saw a wire recorder/78 player for sale recently that has > me thinking I should pick it up (for $12). Also in the last batch of > 78's we got we've found a number of 78s that are apparently > record-it-at-home blanks - and I was totally unaware that 78's were ever > a consumer recording medium. I saw a home 78 cutter at an estate sale a couple of months ago, didn't pick it up because it was beat to shit, cost more than I would have been willing to pay for one in working condition, and I have absolutely no place I could put it. (Plus if I had bought it, I would have suddenly had something that could play 78s, and I'd feel much worse about passing the things up as often as I do. :-) It had a radio built in so you could record your favorite material off the air -- far more sophisticated that I would have suspected. Does anyone remember that episode of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" where he brought one in? - -- ::: Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Humes Subject: Re: Recording 78s Date: 18 Oct 1994 20:48:01 -0700 (PDT) I'll try to wrap responses to the last few posts into one... The 6 Million $ Man Xmas lp - the Elves Revolt seems like a sort of twisted anti-union propaganda thing aimed at kids, I think, but holds a lot of humor for me. Other Xmas lps I've come across lately are a Beach Boys one (great Wilson originals like "He's The Man with all the Toys"), a Liberace Christmas, a bugs bunny one plus a lot more I can't think of offhand.. a lot of cartoon and star trek related (non-xmas lps) seem to be on a Peter Pan label from New Jersey - mostly bad 70's and early 80's stuff like the 6 Million $ Man's Xmas... but in this batch of 45's and 78's we found one 7" 78 that label from 1956 sung by Dale Lansing with the Peter Pan Orchestra and Chorus (sounds like a guitar and organ only!) doing "Open Up Your Heart and let the Sun Shine In". Sung in a little girl's voice: Mommy told me something a little girl should know it's all about the devil and I've learned to hate him so she said he causes trouble when you let him in the room he will never ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom (chorus) So let the sun shine in, face it with a grin open up your heart and let the sun shine in smilers never lose and frowners never win so let the sun shine in face it with a grin open up your heart and let the sun shine in If I forget to say my prayer the devil jumps with glee but he feels so awful awful when he sees me on my knee so if you're full of trouble and you never seem to win just open up your heart and let the sun shine in (chorus) > > anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or > >recordable 78 players? I saw a wire recorder/78 player for sale recently > >that has me thinking I should pick it up (for $12). To clarify, what I saw was a combo radio/78player/wire recorder. I think wire was used as a home recording medium after wax cylinders and 78's existed - it's essentially a reel-to-reel using wire before the germans invented magnetic tape recorders circa World War II. Tapes were uncommon or didn't exist before the war ended, at least as far as a consumer medium. I think field and home wire recorders weren't too uncommon in the 30's or so. So this unit I saw has what looks like a reel of fishing line guage wire wound under the 78 platter. The unit is probably seriously broken but it seemed enough of a novelty and historical thing to interest this recording buff. I suspect that even if I can get it working it's got horrible fidelity anyway. Might be worth donating to a college or recording school if it's too useless. > Also in the last > >batch of 78's we got we've found a number of 78s that are apparently > >record-it-at-home blanks - and I was totally unaware that 78's were > >ever a consumer recording medium. This was a different but related thing - I'm staring at a home recorded 78 on a blank from "National Hollywood - America's Finest Home Recording Disc. We found a few of these, and some appear to actually be dubs of other 78s, though a few seem to be rather unique one-shot recordings. I'm not actually hoping to find any blanks or a 78 recorder. But pressings of this nature would seem to have a potential to be rare and in most cases the only existing copy! Not only that, they're homey - sort of like a kid drumming on boxes versus a studio drummer, or a drummer versus a drum machine - not perfect and not trying to be. I'm aware of the Playland at the beach type of booth that let folks select a backing track and cut their own vocals - more of a proto- Karoke thing, and there's still a booth at SF's Pier 39 or was a few years ago, now recording 45 RPM records. Maybe they've upgraded to CDs by now... But the 78s I have imply that home recording on 78s might have been a consumer medium for do it yourself recording, probably more in the 40's - 50's I suspect, while the wire recorder is probably a slightly older consumer recording technology. > But there must have been some pretty small-scale mechanisms for pressing > records. I remember hearing stories of small black record lables > (gospel, blues, doo-wop) that manufactured in the back room of a record > store or a barbershop or whatever. Dr. John's recent auto-biography relates stories about his growing up in such places, as his dad sold PA equipment. From what I gather recording technology before the 30's was mostly centered in New York and Los Angeles in the US, and around the 30's or late 20's Nashville and other cities started getting studios too. A basic studio was a microphone, maybe more that one if you were lucky, and a recording device that cut a 78 master on the spot which was then duplicated. As I'm stumbling across wire recorders and home recorded 78s it's making me a lot more curious - I had never realized that home recording technology had existed much before reel-to-reels became popular in the late 50's and 60's. Then again, it seems film wasn't too inaccessible a home medium long long ago - I've got 16mm films of both my mother and father as children in the 30's. So if one could rent/buy film cameras I suppose they could find or rent recording systems that might have been available back then. have existed. - Malcolm P.S. haven't found any bawdy goat songs yet. P.P.S. to Bob Hume - I'd love to hear about some of this juvenile delinquent stuff from the 50's that you mentioned. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JOHN MATTURRI Subject: recording 78s Date: 19 Oct 1994 01:05:46 EST I remember a home record-cutting device being advertised (I guess around 1960 or so) in the catalog of Lafayette Radio. No idea what rpm this was. Do remember wishing I could afford it. John M. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig Norton Subject: Wire Recorders, etc. Date: 18 Oct 1994 22:41:14 +0059 (PDT) On Tue, 18 Oct 1994, Malcolm Humes wrote: > P.P.S. - anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or > recordable 78 players? Malcolm and others, There is a new Usenet group called rec.antiques.radio+phono. They have had several recent postings about wire recorders and 78's, etc. It's an interesting newsgroup for old audio products. Try it! Is it safe to say that the 2 Incredibly Strange Music books roughly describe the type of music to be discussed on this list? They are GREAT books for collectors of the unusual. My best recent garage sale find happens to be "The Esposito Story, I'm Phil, He's Tony" released in the early 70's. A full LP's worth of Espositoiana, on ice hockey action shots included. (:-> Much better than my Denny McLain LP. Craig ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: Wire recorders (was) Re: Volume of list entries ... Date: 19 Oct 1994 18:22:47 +22300711 (WAST) On Tue, 18 Oct 1994, Malcolm Humes wrote: > > P.P.S. - anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or > recordable 78 players? I saw a wire recorder/78 player for sale recently > that has me thinking I should pick it up (for $12). Also in the last Buy It! You never know what's gonna be on that wire. Let us know. Someone once told my wife she had wire recordings off the TV in the UK from the 50's. I begged to hear them but she said she was too embarassed abouth bad quality. My wife never saw the woman again :-( Bob Hume. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lazlo@rt66.com (Lazlo Nibble) Subject: Incredibly Strange Music Date: 19 Oct 1994 08:54:15 -0600 (MDT) > Is it safe to say that the 2 Incredibly Strange Music books roughly describe > the type of music to be discussed on this list? Pretty much, though I don't mind it if the discussion ranges a little wider than just Strange Music. - -- ::: Lazlo (lazlo@rt66.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sarah Pearson Subject: christmas lps... Date: 19 Oct 1994 08:49:24 -0700 (PDT) Hey everybody - >Now Playing: The 6 Million Dollar Man Christmas LP: The Elves Revolt >(anyone got any good, weird Christmas lps I can use for a compilation >tape?) I've got the Care Bears Christmas album (it's totally from hell) and the harmonicats playing a couple of christmas carols. Also, from "It's a Sunshine Day" by the Brady Bunch, 'Cindy' (ahem) "sings" (so to speak) Frosty the Snowman. that's off the top of my head. Not counting Christmas With the Devil by Spinal Tap. I think I've also got a Cabbage Patch Kids Christmas album. pretty scary.... sarah. n9048262@henson.cc.wwu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: J.D. music Date: 20 Oct 1994 10:09:00 +22300711 (WAST) I'll post some stuff about Juvenile Delinquent music soon. I'm just polishing off a paper (my last for trhis year :) ). Most people are aware now of a great recording made in Australia in the 50's by Johhnny O'Keefe and the D.J.'s "Wild One (Real Wild Child)" thanks to an abysmal (IMHO) cover by Iggy Pop. The song was also cut in the 50's by Jerry Allison of the Crickets under the name Ivan. Jerry also covered another Johnny O'Keefe J.D. number called "I Aint A Gonna Do It". I'l post the lyrics next week. BTW one explanation of the name of Johnny O'Keefes band that I have heard is that D.J's was a spoonerism on J.D.'s. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: afo@an.hp.com (Aaron Oppenheimer) Subject: Re: Recording 78s Date: 20 Oct 1994 09:30:09 -0400 I have a couple of self-recorded 78's - my mom says it was common to see public recorders the local drug store or woolworth's. I think it was a fad to send recordings instead of letters for a while (of course, some people still do this). I seem to remember an episode of "the Prisoner" where #6 makes some records. Re: wire recorders - I saw one in the "Spy Shop" (personal bullet-proof vests and night-vision goggles and stuff) in NYC a year or so ago. Pretty wild. Wasn't there another nutty recording device that recorded onto paper tape? Aaron =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Aaron Oppenheimer afo@an.hp.com Medical Products Group Hewlett Packard Co. Andover, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dxs@evolving.com (Dan Stanger) Subject: Re: J.D. music Date: 20 Oct 1994 11:47:11 -0600 another example is the dave barry orchestra who did the music for beat girl. who starred christopher lee as a pimp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig Norton Subject: Re: J.D. music Date: 20 Oct 1994 12:36:31 +0059 (PDT) On Thu, 20 Oct 1994, Bob HUME wrote: > Most people are aware now of a great recording made in Australia in the > 50's by Johhnny O'Keefe and the D.J.'s "Wild One (Real Wild Child)" thanks > to an abysmal (IMHO) cover by Iggy Pop. The song was also cut in the 50's > by Jerry Allison of the Crickets under the name Ivan. Questions: Which or are either of these the original versions? Would the Australian recordings have been heard by the Crickets? The Ivan '45 was also on the Buddy Holly box LP set that was released in the 1980's by MCA. Thanks in advance, Craig ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Humes Subject: the Silvertone Date: 20 Oct 1994 14:10:11 -0700 I bought the wire recorder yesterday. It's a Silvertone - a combo am radio, 78 player and wire recorder, in a wooden cabinet about waist high. Made by Sear & Roebuck! No date noticable but the beast came with a microphone (cool looking, too) and there's schematics and part lists inside the cabinet. I'm afraid to plug it in yet until I clean it up more and maybe test the tubes. There's only one reel of wire. The turntable arm is missing a needle. After talking to a friend who knew someone that had a wire recorder until it caught on fire I think I'm going to restore the electical wires before ever trying to plug it in... Thanks for the rec.antique.radio+phono pointer. My hunch is it's from the 40's, but I really have no idea... funny thing is that I think a little plastic turntable I recently got from the 70's is a Silvertone too - I guess Silvertone was a house brand for Sears for decades? Kat brought home a Walt Dinsey lp last night, 1964, with songs to teach children how to tell time. Not too exciting for me. Some other stuff wandered in with a friend last night that included an lp by Bobby Brown, a blond california dude from Santa Barbara, 1977 - who's claim to fame is that he opened a concert of Fleetwood Mac. The concert tapes didn't work out well so he recorded his lp in his van with his dog. He plays home-made guitar instruments and a bunch of weird stuff - it sounded a lot more interesting than I expected. Another one was an academic electronic lp by some guy playing the Syn-Ket, supposedly something like a Bucchla or Serge, a strange forgotten analog synth. The first track on that has stunning vocals from a japanese woman that's easily on a par with Yoko or Diamanda Galas - circa 1969. - Malcolm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James.Langdell@Eng.Sun.COM (James Langdell) Subject: Re: the Silvertone Date: 20 Oct 1994 15:01:24 +0800 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Malcolm Humes Subject: Re: the Silvertone Date: 20 Oct 1994 15:01:24 +0800 >... funny thing is that I >think a little plastic turntable I recently got from the 70's is a >Silvertone too - I guess Silvertone was a house brand for Sears for decades? Yes it was. I remember, around 1973, seeing Martin Mull (back during his pre-acting days as a humorous singer) perform his one-man show "Martin Mull and his Fabulous Furniture." He played most of the evening on a Sears Silvertone guitar and amp - --a musical touch in keeping with his practice of filling the stage with distressed thrift-store furniture picked up at each city on his tour. The amp needed to have a microphone put in front of it for the guitar to be heard on the house PA. Look at really old Sears catalogs and you'll see a vast array of wind, string, and keyboard instruments that the company used to sell. Things have changed--there aren't even Sears catalogs anymore. - --James Langdell jamesc@eng.sun.com Sun Microsystems Menlo Park, Calif. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: gah@netcom.com (gah) Subject: Re: Recording 78s Date: 20 Oct 1994 15:20:55 -0400 > Malcolm Humes (malcolm@wrs.com) wrote: > I remember that late, lamented Playland-at-the-Beach in San Francisco > used to have a booth you could go into and record a one-shot 45 record > for a few dollars. I don't know about there being affordable home > setups for making 78s, but there were probably similar public setups > for cutting those discs as well. > I remember p at the b as well and those booths... There are still some great arcades across the street and up the hill. Home record makers weren't all that rare. They were basically a regular 78 rpm phonograph with an extra (real heavy) tone arm and a phone jack to plug a mike into. I've got a couple of record makers and a supply of blanks, but haven't had the heart to actually use the blanks as the supply is really scarce. Finding records made by other people is pretty easy. I've gotten some pretty strange one-of-a-kind recordings... They're easy to spot. The labels are hand written. Gregg Hungerford - Boulder Creek CA (Multimedia: ftp.netcom.com - cd /pub/gah) Playing tiddly winks with manhole covers... gah@netcom.com / gah@cruzio.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Murphy Subject: Re: the Silvertone Date: 20 Oct 1994 16:03:25 -0700 (PDT) Silvertone made a great line of electric guitars, too. They have naughahyde sides and sound quite twangy. If you see any of these guitars around, nab 'em. The wire recorder sounds pretty hot......let us know if it works. Bill ====================================================================== When the going gets weird....... the weird turn Pro. --Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Zagnut@netcom.com ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: Wild One (Real Wild Child) Date: 21 Oct 1994 10:08:19 +22300711 (WAST) Johnny O'Keefe's version was first. If you look at writer credits you'll see O'kkefe and members of the D.J.s credited. The Australian version of "Wild One (Real Wild Child)" also listed disc jockey Tony Withers as co-author. Withers name was dumped for the U.S. release on Decca. The Decca release also dumped the phony applause on the Australian version and retitled it "Real Wild Child", probably to tie it in with the Ivan version. Buddy Holly and the crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis toured Australia with O'Keefe as support. It was then that they learnt the song. Jerry Lee also recorded a version on Sun which only surfaced on recent re-issues. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob HUME Subject: Re: the Silvertone Date: 21 Oct 1994 12:48:35 +22300711 (WAST) Chis Isaak plays a silvertone guitar on some of his records. He reckons he loves the sound but finds it imppractical to play live as it keeps going out of tune. - -- Bob Hume ,-_l\ "Well I've led an evil life, PO Box 7387 / \ So you say, Cloister's Sq WA $_.-._/ But I'll hide from the devil, AUSTRALIA 6850 v On judgement day." ph +61 9 3683395 - Gene Vincent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig Norton Subject: Re: the Silvertone Date: 21 Oct 1994 12:25:35 +0059 (PDT) > Look at really old Sears catalogs and you'll see a vast array of > wind, string, and keyboard instruments that the company used to > sell. Things have changed--there aren't even Sears catalogs anymore. Sears continues to publish the large catalogues here in Canada as there is still a huge rural and northern market to be serviced. The annual Xmas catalogue is still a kiddie's favorite. I'm sure that they have instruments, but probably not Silvertone any longer. There's a wonderful old Silvertone copy of a Fender guitar hanging on the wall of a local diner. More polished chrome on it than a '59 Caddie... Craig ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gregg Hungerford Subject: Re: Wire recorders (was) Re: Volume of list entries ... Date: 19 Oct 1994 17:02:27 PDT > > P.P.S. - anyone know anything about wire recorders (pre tape decks) or > recordable 78 players? I saw a wire recorder/78 player for sale recently > that has me thinking I should pick it up (for $12). Also I collect both. The problems with the record makers are getting blank records and cutting needles. I find the record blanks from time to time at thrift shops. I picked up a cutting needle at a large electronics store about 10 years ago and haven't seen them around since. I don't think many people took the wire recorders seriously for music, they were mostly used for office dictation. The spools I've found are very magnetized from use and don't work very well. The machines are fun to watch as the head goes up and down to keep the wire winding neatly on the spool. gregg - -- Gregg Hungerford (ftp netcom.com, cd /pub/gah for multimedia files) gah@cruzio.com, gah@netcom.com, 72115.540@compuserve.com or just yell loudly...