WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Some Classic Skateboarding Videos

Don’t know why I’d think my status in blogdom would make anybody remotely interested in me personally.  Nevertheless, here it is, the obligatory blogger reminisce-fest.  I'll keep it short.

I’m always much more sane when I’ve got a hobby to dig my teeth into.  Today I guess I’m sorta interested in music.  But for years skateboarding was my life.  I’m pretty sure that’s a big part of how I got interested in music – between blasting Minor Threat and Misfits out of a boom box on the corner and the watching skate videos religiously, I got a pretty good education.  Also, skateboarding made me independent, which easily leads to antisocial tendencies, a pretty necessary characteristic for any music nerd.

After nailing a huge 360 off a quarterpipe, Gonz falls boardsliding a little curb.  He skates past the camera, saying, “That’s all a rider can expect”.  “OK” responds the cameraman uncomprehendingly.  Then Gonz ollies onto a car hood.  Unreal.  Mark Gonzales is definitely the greatest artistic mind skateboarding’s ever seen.  His video parts always had tons of strange, unique tricks and his illustrated short stories in Thrasher were the only literature I ever used to read (here’s a decent one from ’95, I’ll have to post the weirder ones when I get to my stash in NJ.  1, 2).  The other two skateboarders in this ’86 competition, Natas and Tommy Guerero, were equally great at the time but didn’t have Gonz’s longevity.

Countdown to Halloween #6

Jon & Tom Weaver’s "Up For Grabs", 1980.

This short film is just one of over 30 on the really fun DVD collection, Monster Kid Home Movies, which features back-yard productions made by kids in the 1960s-80s, many of whom went on to work in movies as adults. This mini-epic is my personal favorite because of the unkillable monster, stunts, and sheer drama - all without really having any character or story. The stuff that great home movies are made of.

Also of note in this collection are some childhood films from cult movie paraphernalia collector, and king of all "Monster Kids", Bob Burns. You can't mention the holiday without thinking of him, as his annual self-produced haunted houses are the stuff of legend. Bob is also known for telling great behind-the-scenes stories, and is co-host (in a gorilla outfit) of the documentary Halloween: The Happy Haunting of America.

365 Days #298 - Cheese Alfred Pickles Spam: The Worst of Einstein's Creation (mp3s)

MP3:
01 Are You Blind?!! (2:24)
02 Bacon Bits (1:57)
03 Robert, Oh! Robert (1:36)
04 The Beautiful Birds (Come Here, Bird!) (2:02)
05 Touch That Skunk Bubba (2:10)
06 Who's Albert (1:44)
07 Denny's A Bad Man (2:01)
08 A Smiling Pinata (3:06)
09 Albert Is Not A Tailor (2:56)
10 Nazi Dixieland (3:32)
11 Mushroom Girl (3:37)
12 Don't Touch The Donuts (1:14)
13 Ode To The Brown Cow (3:35)
14 Richard The Dentist (4:02)
15 The Toothpaste Polka (2:40)
16 Meditate And Paint (3:04)
17 Puberty Is Fun When You're 4 (3:01)

Einstein's Creation is a bizarre oddity that defies description. It was originally conceived as a way to study for a high school English test on the book, To Kill A Mockingbird. That was the 1st song, recorded on a cheap boombox in a Highland, Indiana basement in 1992 by two freshman teenagers that didn't play sports or pick up chicks. Comprising of three key members, EC composed scatterbrained, random absurdist songs that could only come from the deep, dark never-regions of the subconscious. The lyrics are nonsensical, obnoxiously repeated and relentlessly perverted; the stuff that nightmares are made of. Yet, they struck a chord with a lot of laugh-hungry teens at Highland High craving "unlistenably bad" tracks that became the Ed Wood of home recordings. Cassettes were passed around and copied. Eventually they were distributed at flea markets, Goodwill thrift stores, and even left on park benches and bookstore shelves. As social pariahs weened off of Monty Python, Weird Al, Second City records, and, ummm, Ween, EC attempted to become as surreal as possible. They created characters and consistently referenced spam, cheese, pickles, and some guy named Alfred. It encapsulates carefree, immature youth at its very core but also uncovering potentially disturbed young minds. Don't even discuss the time that a lyric sheet was discovered by a teacher, and his reaction to what he was reading. Guidance counselors couldn't make heads or tails of it. Hearing these songs, you might get an impression that even Wesley Willis was inspired by EC considering the recurring pre-programmed Yahama keyboards.

There is an essential collection floating about on the net that has bits and pieces of EC at its very worst. Included are samples from that digital monstrosity. Appropriately titled, Cheese Alfred Pickles Spam: The Worst of Einsteins Creation, EC has to be heard to be believed. You may laugh, cringe, or simply just want to turn it off... but there's no denying that there was at least a modicum of "creativity" spewing about in the minds of bored suburban kids who wanted to scream and be as stupid as possible. They just wanted to make themselves and their friends laugh, but what it does for others, is probably a whole other story.

Einstein's Creation continues to record as adults (!) sporadically and can be found at: myspace.com/einsteinscreation

- Contributed by: James Eric

Images: Cassette Cover, Einsteins Creation

Media: Cassette
Date: 1992

Countdown to Halloween #7

A Halloween greeting from cheeseball Chicago furniture legend Walter E. Smithe.

365 Days #297 - Tony Weston! (mp3s)

MP3:
CLOUD ONE
Everything's Coming Up Roses (3:42)
When You Smile (2:54)
Make The World A Little Younger (3:26)
Nobody Does it Like Me (2:06)
Try To Remember (4:08)
My Way (5:26)
CLOUD TWO
Sing, Sing a Song (3:30)
The Last Red Rose In London Town (2:35)
I'd Do It All Again (3:13)
Streets Of London (4:21)
It's You (3:34)
The Greatest Performance of My Life (3:51)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tony Weston! – Side 1 is 'Live' ( my arse!) from Norwich circa 1970 something. (There's no date on the record though the cover of Streets of London is a clue). Side 2 consists of studio stuff.

Mr Tony Weston, otherwise variously referred to as 'Mr Vitality' - 'Mr Fabulous' - 'Mr Entertainment', with props from Liberace and Noel Coward on the sleeve. . Woo!

A Cabaret Stalwart of the old school, camp as Christmas, and a total pro. Dig the crisp annunciation and the accent that lurks somewhere between the mid atlantic, a home counties drama school and the west country (?).

This is a 'live'(cough!) recording of his last gig in Norwich. I don't know if it's his last gig anywhere or just Norwich. The applause has a habit of fading at just the right time and being sort of at one remove from the intensity of the action. He stuck it on afterwards!

It's on the same label as the Maxwell Plumm album I posted a while ago. The Raven label must have been a specialist vanity pressing set-up for cabaret artists and their ilk.

A Google search came up with this link - http://archive.thisisdorset.net/2005/4/29/56290.html

It seems Tony Weston passed away in 2005. He apparently had a large following in the UK back in the 60's and my hunch about the West country accent was right. ('Hair by Raymond of Bournmouth' is a clue as well. Why were so many hairdressers called Raymonde?) I'm glad he had a fitting send off. R.I.P. Mr Vitality' if that's not a bit of a contradiction.

Mind you, he orchestrated the send off himself, which takes a lot of posthumous chutzpah... I admire him for that. Sort of ;-)

The record is signed 'To a real super lady, Sonia, thanks you for your kind words, I never forget. I love Norwich!'

I feel I have to point out that I don't actually like this record as a piece of music, (obviously I'm far too cool, highbrow and hetero for that! Oh yes... ;-) ) but as a social document, as a slice of seventies cabaret set in aspic it is superb. I hope you enjoy it 'my loves' (as our Tony would have said), or if not that, I hope you can appreciate it as a cultural artifact. ;-) I think you will like the modest way he has the theme music for Jesus Christ Superstar as his intro music, after he has given himself a big intro in the third person (as if we wouldn't notice it was him or something? ... ) and definitely don't miss the spoken intro to My Way.

- Contributed by: Jon Allen

Images: Front Cover, Back Cover, Tony!

Countdown to Halloween #8

Rankin/Bass, creators of the "Animagic" television classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, jumped to the big screen for this 1967 Halloween spooktacular (couldn't resist, sorry) featuring Boris Karloff, Frankenstein, The Werewolf, The Mummy, Dr. Jeckyl, The Creature, The Hunchback, The Invisible Man, and...Phyllis Diller! Ahhhh!

More details on the film, and the cartoon follow-up Mad Mad Monsters here.

365 Days #296 - Charles Steven Page and Unknown Artist - 3 Demo Songs Each (mp3s)

MP3:

Charles Steven Page
1. Armageddon (3:49)
2. Suddenly (3:37)
3. Did You Know That (3:12)

Unknown Artist
1. H.I. (3:31)
2. What Do I See in You? (3:03)
3. On the Ears of the Wind (2:47)

Longtime friend Brian S. gave me a copy of a cassette that he'd received from a "music industry insider" friend in Nashville. Sharing space with an assortment of prank calls were songs by three outsider artists. Two songs from this tape were included in the 2003 edition of the 365 Days project. The second Charles Steven Page song here ("Suddenly") was featured on day #076, and Alexandria Hughes Little's "New Anthem" showed up on day #061.

Taking full advantage of WFMU's generous gift of bandwidth, here's Mr. Page's complete three-song demo. He sings his original compositions a cappella, while Mr. Artist is backed by a small combo (perhaps overdubbed by himself). The vocal harmonies definitely sound like the lead vocalist singing with himself via overdub.

I won't editorialize about these obviously sincere examples of human expression, but let me just say that I wouldn't be a bit surprised if someday the name Unknown Artist is on everyone's lips.

- Contributed by: Perry Amberson

Images: Page imaginary portrait, Unknown imaginary portrait

Media: Cassette
Album: Bizarro Compilation #1
Label: Shut Yer Hole Records
Catalog: SYH 004-4
Date: 1994

Sensei Rebel's Archive Picks of the Week (Oct. 15 - Oct. 21, 2007)

All MP3 and RealAudio links are streaming links from the WFMU archives.

Rock And Roll
Mad Dog - "Goodnight" RealAudio from Woody's show

International
Yelle - "Les Femmes" RealAudio from HotRod's show (Web-only show)

Experimental
Daniel Savio - "Homicide" RealAudio from Woody's show

Dance
David Joseph - "You Can't Hide (Your Love From Me)" RealAudio from Nickel and Dime Radio with $mall Change
Coldcut - "More Beats, More Pieces" RealAudio from Put the Needle On the Record with Billy Jam

Instrumental
Alejandro Franov - "Nyamaropa" RealAudio from Woody's show
Carlos Malcolm - "Bonanza Ska" RealAudio from Give the Drummer Some with Doug Schulkind

Hip-Hop
K-OS - "The Love Song" RealAudio from Put the Needle On the Record with Billy Jam

Fave Songs of the Week
Strawberry Switchblade - "Since Yesterday" RealAudio from Ken's show
Plone - "Bibi Plone" RealAudio from This Is the Modern World with Trouble
White Magic - "Shine On Heaven" RealAudio from Pseu's show

Countdown to Halloween #9

This Halloween, make sure your costume is completely safe...and totally un-fun! From Centron films in 1977, filmed on location in Lawrence, Kansas.

You can get all the details on this film from Jason at Scar Stuff - who has a starring role (14 seconds!) as one of the kids in the film.

Fun tip: Play both videos simultaneously. It turns the soothing narrator's voice into something a bit more sinister (yet surprisingly not jarring - she's just that pleasant).

365 Days #295 - Sakura and The Quests (mp3s)

MP3:
Puppet On A String EP
01 Puppet On A String (2:34)
02 Yam Yam Cha Cha (2:14)
03 My Boy Lollipop (1:58)
04 Rock 'n' Roll Yodeling Guy (2:04)
Sakura Goes Boom Boom LP
05 I Love Cowboy (3:14)
06 Stupid Cupid (3:03)
07 I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Comes (3:03)
08 Michelle (2:45)
09 Boom Boom (3:42)
10 My Bonnie (3:08)

What could be better than a Singapore singer covering western pop songs in broken English with a fuzz-guitar backing. Here for your enjoyment is Sakura's four- track 1967 EP featuring Puppet On A String plus six superb tracks from her album Sakura Goes Boom Boom.

Sandie Shaw notoriously disowned the '60s Eurovision novelty song Puppet On A String but Sakura Teng has made it her own, and even poses a puppets (and puppeteer!) on the sleeve. And what the hell is she wearing? Presumably silver tights and baby doll dresses were all the rage in Singapore in '67. Chinese singers famously have trouble singing western lyrics so you have to admire Sakura who not only impersonates Elvis on Rock 'n' Roll Yodelling Guy but also (you've guessed it) yodells. Is there anything this woman can't do!

But save room for her take of the John Lee Hooker classic from her album Sakura Goes Boom Boom which has to be heard to be believed, and the fuzz guitar-driven cover of Connie Francis' Stupid Cupid. Sakura is backed by a band called The Quests who were seemingly the in-house band at EMI-Columbia, Singapore and also backed other singers including Rita Chao.

Note: the back of the album bears the advertising legend: 'Sakura also goes bazazz with Max Factor'!

- Contributed by: David Noades

Images: Cover (Puppet On A String), Cover (Sakura Goes Boom Boom)

Puppet On A String
Media: Single
Label: Columbia
Catalogue: ECHK-579
Year: 1967

Sakura Goes Boom Boom
Media: Album
Label: Columbia
Catalogue: 33ESX602
Year: 1967

Shoko Asahara Sings (MP3s)

Many people will still remember Shoko Asahara, the founder and leader of Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, whose doctrine apparently was a wild mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, Nostradamus, and the Book of Revelations. Asahara claimed to be the reincarnation of Hindu god Shiva, and somehow that must have led him to believe that it would be a good idea to stockpile nerve gas and use it to kill random people. The details and motives are a bit sketchy, and the official theory of the prosecution that the attacks on the Tokyo subway were intended to "divert police attention" from Aum Shinrikyo can only be considered a cruel joke. Not surprisingly, the whole incident immediately catapulted Asahara to the status of an international celebrity, his popularity ranking somewhere between Charles Manson and Idi Amin.

And just like those two guys, Asahara was a musician on the side. He didn't have a mentor like Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, and his recorded output pales compared to Charlie's, consisting of only two songs, but who knows what he could have accomplished if he hadn't put so much energy in being a homicidal messiah. Anyway, here are the two songs, released a while ago on a vinyl 7" on Faithways International, the label that also brought us the amazing sounds of Elizabeth Clare Prophet and the Church Universal Triumphant.

Sounds of Japanese Doomsday Cults - Music by Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara
MP3s: Lord Death's Counting Song | Sonshi's March

Countdown to Halloween #10

The Hardy Boys enter a haunted house, are confronted by an array of horrors (Brick walls! Oh, the terror!), but find quite a payoff at the end. A payoff that involves Richard Kiel!

365 Days #294 - Don Parker throws a spitball while Jeff Godwin is off his rocker (mp3s)

Oh, that rock and rollin' sin-filled music. Today on this glorious Sunday let's listen to a radio broadcast with Jeff Godwin and become acquainted with some of this music. Some of which (oh mercy) you can hear on WFMU!

And then get a hold of that snowball and break it and spew a spitball outta your mouth and (whoosh whoosh) blast that fireball with Don Parker. Spit Spit Spit! Yes friends, yes friends. SPIT!

I can't recall where on god's green grass these recordings came from. My home is a disaster area of media these days. I need to purge soon before I drown. I either downloaded these years ago or (more likely) they came from old tape trades. Which, when thinking of tape trading, I am sent into a wonderful reverie recalling such books as "Cassette Mythos" and "High Weirdness By Mail" - and those exciting quarterly issues of Factsheet Five!

MP3:
Jeff Godwin - Off His Rocker
Part 1 (13:01)
Part 2 (14:58)
Part 3 (12:52)
Part 4 (5:06)
Evangelist Don Parker - Snowball Spitball Fireball
Part 1 (21:08)
Part 2 (22:25)

- Contributed by: Sid Safari

365 Days #293 - Alberta Casey - San Diego Vokas (mp3s)

MP3:
01 Flugadi (Volare) (3:01)
02 Ponto Trans Akvo Storma (Bridge Over Troubled Water) (4:13)
03 Kisu Min Multe (Besame Mucho) (2:34)
04 Printempa Songo (Pola Kanto) (2:46)
05 Kredis Mi (Yesterday) (2:23)
06 Amas Mi Parizon (I Love Paris) (2:24)
07 Anim Kaj Koro (Anima E Core) (3:14)
08 Venu La Klaun (Send In The Clowns) (3:01)
09 Isreala Lulkanto (Isreala Popolkanto) (1:40)
10 Haj-Lili Haj-Lo (Hi Lili, Hi Lo) (2:09)
11 Rozojn Sutis Mi (Rozem Kaisu Istabinu) (2:04)
12 Aloha Oe (2:35)
13 San Diego (3:00)

A testament to the beauty of the Esperanto language as spoken by San Diego natives. The album consists of thirteen cover songs performed in Esperanto. Found at the Purple Heart thrift store (San Diego). Flugadi was featured in 2003 on the 365 Days Project.

What is Esperanto? (from the Virtual Esperanto Library):

Esperanto is a language designed to facilitate communication between people of different lands and cultures. It was first published in 1887 by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof (1859-1917) under the pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto", meaning "one who hopes", and this is the name that stuck as the name of the language itself. Esperanto is considerably easier to learn than national languages, since its design is far simpler and more regular. Also, unlike national languages, Esperanto allows communication on an equal footing between people, with neither having the usual cultural advantage favouring a native speaker. Esperanto's purpose is not to replace any other language, but to supplement them: Esperanto would be used as a neutral language when speaking with someone who doesn't know one's own language. The use of Esperanto would also protect minority languages, which would have a better chance of survival than in a world dominated by a few powerful languages.

- Contributed by: Buffy Budz

Media: LP
Album: San Diego Vokas

Da la la

This is what the volunteer room feels like at WFMU this Friday afternoon.

Scott went out for a twelve pack.

365 Days #292 - The Ray Belmonte Duo - Laugh It Up with Ray and Rick (mp3s)

MP3:
The Ray Belmonte Duo - Laugh It Up with Ray and Rick - Side 1 (15:30)
The Ray Belmonte Duo - Laugh It Up with Ray and Rick - Side 2 (14:56)

An early sixties Canadian lounge act. Wow! Bad jokes, one liners, musical parodies (Hello Dolly, Shanty In Shanty Town, etc.)

The Ray Belmonte Duo were seen as the up and comers, I guess that's why I have never heard of them. This is one of my favorite records that I found 7 years ago at a flea market in Snellgrove Ontario.

Enjoy! Download this!

- Contributed by: Evil Pain Clown

Images: Front Cover

Media: LP
Album: Laugh It Up with Ray and Rick
Label: Arc records
Catalog: #698

Nina Hagen meets Don Rickles

No, I'm not trying to describe some kind of demented performance artist. I mean this literally.

Disentangling Fandanglement

I thought I was pretty much conscious of the complete world-weariness I’ve gradually descended into the past few years.  But the other day something happened that made me worry that I might be a lot worse off than I thought.  I watched Carmen’s legendary 1973 “1980 Floor Show” television performance and couldn’t figure out whether I actually liked it or not.  Let me explain.

I’m definitely a lover of progressive and glam rock, two terms easily applied to Carmen.  Hell, I’ll even say I’m a fan of flamenco, though I wouldn’t claim to know much about the genre which the Los Angeles-based band uses partially as a glamour enhancer.  I won’t try to deny that songwriter David Allen has mastered all of these styles and blended them seamlessly.  And there’s no doubt that the band is flawlessly professional: Angela Allen and Roberto Amaral don’t hesitate to pick up their tambourines after the elaborate dance interlude of “Bulerias”.  I’d even accuse the band of lip-synching if Amaral didn’t sing a bit off key at times (although someone offstage is definitely helping out with keyboards).

It must have been somewhere in the midst of Carmen’s ode on the epic struggle between man and beast, “Bulllfight”, that I smelled smoke and realized that my bullshit detector hadn’t gone off.  Had I been dazzled by the reflection off of Allen’s mirror ball guitar?  Was I seduced by the sweaty chest revealed by drummer Paul Fenton’s low-cut blouse?  Did I even smirk at Amaral’s huge, silly moustache?  You see my concern now?  I can’t tell what’s serious to me and what’s a joke.  I’ve become so used to treating everything around me as a subtly absurd joke that I don’t even know whether I take anything seriously anymore.

365 Days #291 - The Redcoats (mp3s)

MP3:
01 Should I Care (1:51)
02 Blue Fire (2:07)
03 Girls Girls Girls (2:13)
04 She's My Baby (2:30)
05 Blue Skies (2:27)
06 Teardrops in My Eyes (live) (3:12)
07 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (live) (3:20)
08 Tequila (live) (3:28)
09 Home By Eleven (2:12)
10 Big Name Button (live) (2:57)
11 Jelly (2:53)
12 Shake Rattle and Roll (2:40)
13 Let's Have a Party (2:26)
14 Hayride (2:40)
15 Bird Dog (2:53)
16 House of Blue Lights (2:38)
17 Lonesome Road (2:17)
18 Honky Tonk (4:16)

One of the earliest facts I ever heard about my father-in-law (at the time I first heard this fact, he was not yet my father-in-law) was that he was a drummer in the 50s and 60s for a band called the Redcoats. There was little opportunity to hear the band - all the singles that my wife owned as a child seemed to have disappeared over the years and I figured since they were a local band (from Rochester, NY) from decades ago, their music would be very hard to come by.

I have, through several sources, been able to track down the long forgotten vinyl, but most importantly, my father-in-law himself, drummer Jim Christy, came upon some old recordings the band had done, including some live ones that probably hadn't been heard since the day they were committed to tape.

There is also another sidenote in the tale of the Redcoats. Their lead singer was a guy named Steve Alaimo. At some point, Alaimo left the band behind - the band included his brother, Jimmy - and embarked on a solo career that scored him a couple hits and regular spot on "Where the Action Is" with Paul Revere and the Raiders. He never quite achieved stardom and, I believe, moved onto production work in the music industry.

My father-in-law is now a successful painter (check him out: www.jimchristy.com).

This is very rare stuff and to anyone who digs 50s rock and roll, a fun find. Enjoy!

- Contributed by: John Mitchell

Images: Fan Club

More Video Action For You Desk Potato Types

Up first: A great clip from Basokin forwarded to me from the Ex's Andy Moor who excitedly told me about having seen this ensemble play live the night before. If this group's electric sound reminds you a bit of Konono No. 1, it's with good reason: this eastern Kansai ensemble was featured on Crammed Discs Congotronics 2 compilation a couple of years back contributing some of the more standout music. This stuff is sure to also appeal to the same avant/rock types who dug Konono, the latter half of this particular piece locks right into to a dazzling repetetive groove that could go right up against something from Terry Riley's All Night Flight. Next: 1985 lunacy from New Zealand's Axemen, a band I don't quite know how to describe the brilliance of in any other way than to mention that their My Space page proudly sports love for the Fall, Michael Jackson, Grandmaster Flash, and the Pop Group and that might give you a clue to their dementia. And finally, two blasts of eccentric Brit past: Rustic Hinge were somewhat related to Arthur Brown and High Tide, and of course John Peel loved 'em. This live clip is definitely rolling around with some Van Vliet-friendly hogs in a similar mudpit as was BiG Grunt (fourth). What can be said about Bonzo Dog Band genius, the late Vivian Stanshall, or someone who would title a song "11 Mustachioed Daughters." The vid quality is sketchy, sorry, and apparently their recorded output is nil (though of course they did a Peel Session languishing in some vault with an allegedly unreleased LP), but some real outsider rock history going on here.