WFMU's Beware of the Blog

That Little Hoarding Problem, Anew

So part of my little hoarding problem has been that I had nowhere to put anything. Whenever I tried to unpack a box of my stuff, Sluggo would throw it all back into a pile and take the shelf space for more of his millions of little vinyl toys or his vast collection of Japanese catalogs of little vinyl toys. One time he decided he didn’t like the little chest of drawers I got for free from a guy who was moving out of his apartment, and he insisted I throw it out and put all my clothes into bags under the bed. (I still have the chest, although it is really ugly. But it’s the only place I have to keep my many pairs of broken sunglasses.) Anyway, what with Sluggo’s talent for acquiring, and my pathological inability to throw anything away, we’ve been in hoarder hell for a while now. That’s why it was such a shock when he sold his entire record collection on Saturday. An old friend of his, who also happens to be a vinyl dealer, came over to give him some advice on his extensive collection of vintage hardcore and punk albums, and ended up buying the whole thing. I know I should be pleased to see it go—especially the Rush LPs—and now there’s two whole shelves empty where I can put my things. But for some reason it made me very sad. Sluggo’s music always seemed like such a big part of his life, and now it’s all gone. I know it’s just things and stuff, and it’s not really him … but still … I guess I can go visit the collection when it shows up at the next WFMU Record Fair, before you Collectors show up and buy it. But it just seems weird.
 
Thanks for reading my blogpost this time, and may God bless.

Hugh Cornwell and Hooverdam

Though my new WFMU show is immersion total in scary metal and noise, this particular aesthetic apex could never have been realized without the formative contribution of my obsession with The Stranglers. I feel compelled, as Diane Kamikaze has done in the past, to bang the drum for Hugh Cornwell—singer, author, guitarist and former co-frontman for the paranormal punk combo (who still record and tour without him, under the Stranglers moniker.) Hugh's made a great new record, Hooverdam, and you can download the full album for free, with Hugh's blessing, right here. Hooverdam will be a treat for Stranglers fans, as it creeps up on you that these catchy songs are very much in the spirit of the more straightforward Stranglers material—the album has some real strong moments, the more I listen to it. (Note that on the cover, Hugh's name is reproduced in the familiar "Stranglers font.")

Hugh has several shows in the NY area coming up in September (Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on 9/8; the Brighton Bar in Red Bank, NJ on 9/9; The Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ on 9/11; and Highline Ballroom in NYC on 9/12); complete tour dates can be seen right here, at Hugh's Web site. It's also been announced that at his UK Academy dates in November, Hugh and the band will be performing Hooverdam as well as The Stranglers' classic album, Rattus Norvegicus IV—both in their entirety.

Since Hugh is giving these preview tracks away (the CD/LP are nicely packaged and are affordable to own as well), I'm hoping he won't mind my re-posting a few favorites here:

Delightful Nightmare
Rain on the River
The Pleasure of Your Company

There are also some amazing Stranglers clips up now on YouTube that you don't need my help finding, but here's a personal favorite, "Shah Shah A Go Go" from 1979:

A Night in NYC

I didn't move to the Big Apple until 1995, but as a kid growing up watched all the city's TV channels that got exported to Pennsylvania, and formulated a distinct picture of what living there was like. In my mind everybody there made their own independent swinger ads on Al Goldstein's show, had kids who competed for Dynamite magazine and Lenders' Bagelettes on Wonderama, had weird telephone numbers that started with "Murray Hill", and lived in apartments like Felix Unger and Oscar Madison. This 25 minute Jools Holland/Leslie Ash-hosted special for The Tube is a nice drift of early 80's NYC sights and sounds, focused on the Danceteria scene, Arthur Baker, Paradise Garage etc. Check it out (via Skratchworx).

Abe Burrows Sings? (MP3s)

Here's a set of records I've known for as long as I've known what a record was. Abe Burrows was a writer, humorist, radio performer, and much more (including being the father of James Burrows). In 1950 or so, he released a set of four 78's (and, apparently, a 10" 33 RPM album, too) under the title "Abe Burrows Sings?". My parents bought it shortly thereafter, and it was the sort of thing that received frequent plays (and frequent references to it in conversation) in our house. 

If and when I come across this collection I will post a scan of the cover, but for now it's hidden somewhere amongst my parents' things in the basement. Some time ago, I made MP3 copies of all of these songs, though, and offer them here for your enjoyment.

I love all seven of these songs/skits (one being a two-parter) to varying degrees - "Boulder Dam" and "The Gypsy's Violin" are favorites. But there are great little jokes sprinkled throughout, really funny set pieces (particularly in the Boulder Dam record), and just a great, winning way with the whole presentation. I'd be surprised if these weren't a big influence on Tom Lehrer. (And at least a couple of these songs were reworked for use by the Muppets, a fact that I find fairly mind-boggling.)

Abe Burrows later released another 10" 33 RPM album, which featured a song called "The Girl with Three Blue Eyes", and which is also somewhere in that basement of mine. It's also got some fantastic material, which I'll share here when I come up with it.

Bob

1.) Abe Burrows - Brooklyn (MP3)

2.) Abe Burrows - The Gypsy’s Violin (MP3)

3.) Abe Burrows - Lopin’ Along (MP3)

4.) Abe Burrows - Sweet Memories (MP3)

5.) Abe Burrows - Boulder Dam, Part One (MP3)

6.) Abe Burrows - Boulder Dam, Part Two (MP3)

7.) Abe Burrows - Upper Peabody (MP3)

8.) Abe Burrows - Sea Shanty (MP3)

Wing does MJ (MP3)

I don't know if it had anything to do with Michael Jackson's cardiac arrest, but just before the King of Pop died, famous New Zealand singer Wing released her 16th CD "Beat It", featuring herself holding a baseball bat on the cover. Here is what you need to know about her and this most recent album, the official album notes from CDBaby (where you can get the whole CD).

Beat It is Wing's 16th CD and includes lyrical songs most requested by her fans -- at concerts in the US and UK during 2007 and 2008, and for delivery by her popular "live singing over the telephone" service. Wing the singer is admired by fans throughout the world for the passion and joy she shares through her CDs and performances of popular songs. With a unique voice and an ever-widening repertoire, Wing loves singing and she lives to sing. Her goal is to sing beautiful songs as they should be sung, and she spends 3-4 hours every day working towards this goal. Her singing teacher helps Wing work on her current repertoire, and helps to choose the songs for the next CD. A New Zealand resident, Wing's CDs have earned her an international cult following. She is a regular guest on radio shows and television celebrity guest and entertainment shows, and has appeared on programmes as diverse as TAB Sports Cafe (New Zealand), Rove Live (Australia) and the animated television satire show South Park. Her live performances have ranged from New York's Blue Note night club and San Francisco's famous Castro Theatre to old folks homes and hospitals to university gyms, private parties and corporate gigs. Wing's CDs are proudly manufactured in New Zealand by Media Technology.

Finally, here is the song you've all been waiting for: Wing - Beat It (MP3)

Victor Flick, and the British Invasion of Sesame Street

Today's posting deals with two subjects dear to me heart: The ersatz, fake-o, bogus, unlicensed 'cover' album' (for kid's, in this case) on a 'knock-off' or low-budget label; and the work of legendary guitar specialist, composer, conductor Vic Flick.
  Mr. Flick's guitar artistry on dozens of hit singles and lps is well documented, but his work as a composer and conductor somewhat less so.
I discovered Flick's foray into the world of Sesame Street in 2002 whilst compiling Muppet/Sesame material for a music project. A collector pal brought over his latest Sesame record score and not only was it obviously unlicensed but credited Vic on the cover--a must-listen!

Nouvelle Vague Live at WFMU - hot vidz!

Oh my gawd, y'all, when these people were in Love Room, it was all I could do to keep myself from reaching through the glass and gently stroking their faces as they sang.

The two sexiest voices in English-speaking Frenchpop, covering Sex Pistols, Violent Femmes, Depeche Mode, and Talking Heads....DANG!

Listen to the whole show here.

Thanks a zillion to Aldona Watts and Raymond Park for doing the video.

2 MORE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP!

Nouvelle Vague's new album "NV3" will be out in September.  It features guest performances from Martin Gore (Depeche Mode), Terry Hall (The Specials), Ian MacCullough (Echo and the Bunnymen), and Barry Adamson (Magazine).

Song-poem Archived Music: Volume 6 - Peace and Love

As you can see, this volume is titled after the famous song-poem "Peace and Love" (aka Blind Man's Penis) written by the infamous John Trubee (which I'm happy to include here with John's permission) and performed by Ramsey Kearney.  If you haven't read the story behind the song, click here.

Also, the last track on this volume isn't technically a song-poem, but was originally included on the ASPMA site because you just have to hear it.

1.  Dick Kent - Never Seen A Thing

2.  Erica Campbell - Remember Me Darling
3.  Chuck Jones and The Links - Sputnik Hit The Moon
4.  Bonnie Haven - Total Woman
5.  Jim Wheeler - What I Like
6.  Liza Evans - Yea, That's Me!
7.  Dick Kent - Your Body's Makin' Eyes At Me
8.  Prof Marcell Collegians - The ACL and The SAL
9.  Prof Marcell Collegians - Be No Fool, Play It Cool, Stay In School
10. The Melodiers - Barbra
11. Lew Tobin's Orchestra - Darling Don't Put Your Hand On Me
12. Dick Kent - George's Song
13. Rod Keith - Get Down and Wiggle It A Little
14. Bobbi Blake - I Got A Record
15. Dick Rogers - I Understand Him
16. Bob Gerrard - Joedy Is A Wise Guy
17. John Fulker - An Unpredictable Girl Like Julia
18. Jerry Britton and the Downtowners - Lazy Old River
19. Dick Rogers - I Wouldn't Hide The Moulding Rock
20. Cara Stewart (with Lee Hudson Orchestra) - Mr Memory
21. Cara Stewart (with Lee Hudson Orchestra) - New Year Song
22. Gene Marshall - Nurse Nurse
23. Bobbi Blake - Sometime Somewhere
24. Dick Kent - Unlock My Chains
25. Jim Hall and the Radio Pals - Hydrogen Nitrogen Potassium
26. Norm Burns and the Five Stars - Whirl Whirl Whirl
27. Rodd Keith - Danny's Return
28. Ramsey Kearney - Peace and Love
29. W.L. Horning - Rockin' And Rollin'

(click here to download artwork zip)

Transpacific Sound Paradise live from Lincoln Center this Friday

Transpacific Sound Paradise host Rob Weisberg has been pretty busy lately, and will be bringing some more live sounds from NYC to the WFMU air/netwaves this Friday, July 10th as he does a special fill-in show from 7-11PM from Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing Series! First we'll hear from the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, a Chicago-based collaboration between American jazz players and two former members of the highly regarded Ghanaian highlife band Western Diamonds.The Occidentals, who just released their first CD, are building a following playing shimmering old-school West African and Congolese electric dance music. Then at 9 pm, we'll be treated to a performance by one of the all-time great singers of Congolese style electric dance music, Samba Mapangala with Orchestra Virunga. While based in Kenya in the early 80s, Samba and Virunga recorded one of the all time African classics, Malako. And Samba's still going strong today: his 2008 election song "Obama Ubarikiwe (Obama Be Blessed)" was a YouTube sensation.

Last summer WFMU first found itself outdoors working with the fine folks at Lincoln Center when we held one of our 50th Anniversary free NYC concerts with the Ex, Getatchew Mekuria, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete, Either/Orchestra and Extra Golden under a beautiful sky in Damrosch Park with 10,000 enthusiastic attendees and a night of music we won't soon forget. While we won't be co-producing these shows this time around, we're kindly being allowed to broadcast some more of LC's great outdoor upcoming events, including two nights of Ponderosa Stomp to be aired on Dave the Spazz's show (July 16th airing live and July 17th airing later on Dave's July 30th show). It's an amazing place to see music in the city if you've never been, but if you can't make it out, be sure to catch these special broadcasts.

Video: Occidental Brothers "Grupo OK" (live at the Old Town School of Folk Music)

Video: Samba Mapangala "Nyama Choma" clip from 2006

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Vol. 23 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some's
10 Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
(see Comments, below, for helpful info about downloading)

Thanks to the good souls at the terrific blog Uncle Gil's Rockin' Archives, word is spreading about the poor health of original Sun Records rocker Billy Lee Riley. Riley, who's endured an awful string of medical problems is now battling stage-four bone cancer and is in dire need of financial assistance. (Follow this link for info on how you can help.)

Cancer seems to be more everywhere than ever before. Some say it's all due to the general aging of the population, but that doesn't make it any easier to stomach. The Miner just lost a friend in Chicago to cancer and skipped last week's post to spend time with his mum, who underwent cancer surgery. Talk about your Motherlode. Just be sure to take good care of yourselves and loved ones and don't forget to smell the audio roses along the way.

 

He's Made it Through Three Hip Replacements and a Quintuple Bypass
Billy Lee Riley  ~  "Rock With Me Baby"
(Blog: Free Rockabilly Music

This Pistol-Brandishing ex-Soap Star Is Now a Senator
Irma Serrano  ~  "Exitos de Siempre"
(Blog: Música Popular Mexicana)
From the album: La Martina (mp3)




Bailamos con Tito Nieves and Crew
Conjunto Clasico  ~  "Si No Bailan con Ellos, no Bailan con Nadie"
(Blog: La Musica Latina)



[7 more roses, after the jump]

SFL Mid-Season Review

The Summer Fun List is one of DJ Kelly’s more genius ideas: Sometime in late spring you make a list of all the fun things you want to do during the upcoming summer, so that the whole season doesn’t fly past without your having done anything fun at all. (This is especially useful for former Midwestern Protestants such as myself, who tend to forget that “fun” is not the same thing as “evil.” Or maybe it is, and that’s why it feels so jolly. But I don’t wanna get all philosophical about it now.) A few weeks ago I was feeling pretty unhappy about something and I drew a big X across the Summer Fun List page and wrote “KILL MYSELF” instead, but I’m sort of over that now, so I figured I’d take another look. Plus, it finally got sunny for three days in a row, and it’s starting to feel a little bit like summer at last. Here’s what’s on my SFL this year:

UConn Puppet Museum
Rosendale (more bees?)
Fireworks
Yankees game
Bruno
Musical Saw Festival
Book Arts Lounge and/or Class
Bacon Retrospective (& other art)

So far, this has not been a particularly successful SFL season. I used to try to go to one Yankees game a year, but now that tickets cost more than I make in a month, I won’t be doing that. And because of Global Economic Change, there weren’t any 4th of July fireworks anywhere near where I live: All the usual displays were canceled. So Sluggo and I went up on a hill near our house and looked down the Hudson toward New York City and saw just the tippy-top of the Macy’s fireworks—we wouldn’t see anything for two or three minutes, and then there’d be a little puff of red light, and then nothing for another couple of minutes, and then some silvery sparkles. Even though I tried as hard as I could, I wasn’t able to convince myself that it was actually “fun.” And I have been SO looking forward to this year’s Musical Saw Festival on Saturday, July 18. I went last year, and it was truly fantastic. I heard Satie’s “Gymnopedie” performed by a musical saw and the Trinity handbell choir, and I am not kidding when I say that it was life-changing. Seriously. It was great, and weird, and great-and-weird, and I have been looking forward to going again for a whole year—and I have an unavoidable conflict that day and can’t go. But you should. It’s in Astoria, it costs only $10, and this year they’re going to try to break the Guinness World Record for “largest musical saw ensemble.” This is a musical event I sincerely recommend for any WFMU Listener, so add it to your Summer Fun List and go.

That’s the disappointments so far, but there’s been some surprise fun, too. Sluggo and I got invited to cocktails at the penthouse residence of an ambassador to the U.N., which was clearly some kind of mistake but we went anyway and had a very nice time. We also went to the “Agitprop!” Book Arts Lounge at the Center for Book Arts, where we talked about Russian constructivist advertising art with polymath poet Mr. Jeremy James Thompson and letterpressed some little flyers that say “Money is No Object.” I got to take the “Brown Bag Bindery” class, too, and built my own piercing cradle, sewing frame, and finishing press. Sylvia Alotta, the teacher, used to be an industrial designer for GM, and has come up with the most beautiful, functional, simple designs for binding equipment. She is my new hero, and almost makes me want to move to Chicago just so I could study with her there. (*Almost.*) Now I’m looking forward to the “Embroidered Bindings” Book Arts Lounge on August 14. Maybe I’ll see you there.

My friend Miss Manytitles has arranged for me to attend a free screening of Bruno with her this week, but the movie I’m really looking forward to seeing is ROBOGEISHA. Here's the trailer, so you will want to see it too. OMG, I have to see it! My Grammy Carlton used to say, “The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings,” and when there are movies like Robogeisha in the world, I think she was right.

Thanks for reading my blogpost this time, and may God bless.

Ponderosa Stomp at Lincoln Center NYC

Don't even think of missing the one and only Ponderosa Stomp next week. It's the swingin'-est, funkiest, rockin'-est musical entertainment show ever put on anywhere at anytime. It's only great. And it's blasting into New York City for three crazed nights of soul, rockabilly and swamp pop and most of it will fly out over the WFMU airwaves!

For the uninitiated, in the past decade the Stomp has been responsible for celebrating the legacies and careers of the unsung heroes of rock & roll, soul, garage, swamp pop and the unnameable (i.e.: Legendary Stardust Cowboy). What began as a hobby for organizer Dr. Ike Padnos and his Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau has exploded into a multi-faceted musical, cultural and educational juggernaut. And it's a hell of a lot of fun. This ain't no schlub oldies show--this is the real deal. If you can, see this in person. As a backup plan you can listen to most of it on the radio. In either event, prepare to have your world rocked.

Here's what you need to know:

July 16th (Midsummer Night's Swing):
Ponderosa Stomp: The Get Down
(broadcast live on Music To Spazz By Thursday July 16th 7-11pm)

* William Bell - a principal architect of the Stax/Volt sound.
* The Bobbettes – girl group known as the ‘Harlem Queens’ known for their hit, “Mr Lee”
* Bo-Keys - authentic, greasy Memphis soul stew w/ Stax Records stars
* Harvey Scales - a hard-hitting soul man, writer of  "Disco Lady" and “Love-i-tus”

July 17th (Midsummer Night's Swing):
Ponderosa Stomp: Best Dance In Town
(to be aired on Music To Spazz By Thursday July 30th 8-11pm)

* Joe Clay - New Orleans’ proto-rockabilly genius, appeared with Elvis
* The Collins Kids – 50’s TV faves, this brother/sister duo features double neck guitar pyrotechnics
* Deke Dickerson & The Eccofonics - the nitro-charged country and rockabilly specialists
* Carl Mann - Sun Records artist had his first hit with Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa”

Trio Pied de Poule - Café noir (video)

Recently, I stumbled upon this great video of Trio Pied de Poule singing about black coffee.

YouTube: [link]

There doesn't seem to be much about these girls on the Internets, but a little more information can be found here.

WFMU/Barbes Cumbia night TONIGHT at The Bell House w/ DJ Rob W

<--Los Destellos, featured on the Barbés Records compilation The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru

The worldwide cumbia resurgence is overflowing the WFMU bin, with records focusing on old and new. Check out Soundway's Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus 1967-77 (pop-up), Lucas Luisao's "Bounty Caderas" (pop-up) off Vibration Sound's Nuevacumbia - Le Nouveau Son De Buenos Aires, and Uproot Andy vs. ODB (pop-up) from DJ/Rupture's Mudd Up podcast. More Chicha from Beware of the Blog here.

So it seems fitting that WFMU is joining forces with Barbés Records tonight for an evening of Cumbia at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Rob Weisberg of Transpacific Sound Paradise will be DJ-ing in between sets by Very Be Careful (Los Angeles) and Chicha Libre (Brooklyn). The event won't be broadcast live, so make your way out to The Bell House!

More info about the music from WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Listen to Very Be Careful spinning records and chatting live with DJ/Rupture on Mudd Up last year.

Listen to Chicha Libre's "Six_Pieds Sous Terre" (mp3) from ¡Sonido Amazonico! (Barbés Records 2008)

Listen to DJ Rob W's spotlight on Zizek, an Argentinian collective who just released ZZK Vol: 2, a killer follow-up to last year's Cumbia Digital vol. 1. (This show also featured a great live set from Cordero!).

If you like what you hear, hope to see you tonight!

Cumbia! Cumbia! With VERY BE CAREFUL & CHICHA LIBRE
Sunday July 5th, 8:00pm
@ The Bell House [149 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY (map)]
Adv. Tickets:  www.thebellhouseny.com

Little Pixies Barked

Here comes your kid.

Papa's Got a Brand New Patriotic Bag (MP3s)

Happy Independence Day.

James Brown & The Famous Flames  -  America Is My Home Pt. 1  (3:20)

James Brown & The Famous Flames  -  America Is My Home Pt. 2  (3:28)

A Bunch Of Bleeping Nonsense

"Bleeping" as in "I've got a bunch of new bands for you today that use lots of insane bleepy sounds", not "bleeping" as in "fucking".  This isn't the fucking radio, why would I censor the headline?

All the same, I oughtta warn ya that the video on the right is a bit NSFW.  Both are from Computer Jesus Refrigerator, a San Antonio based duo of grind/noise/gore/bleeping nonsense.  I've been enjoying their songs for months now, but recently noticed that the band has posted a whole slew of awesome music videos on their Myspace.

Kania Tieffer was brought to my attention by her new CD in the FMU new bin, alongside a few other releases from the very nutty French label Le Vilain Chien.  Hyper, ADDified, amateurish ditties reminiscent of Felix Kubin, OCDJ, and a cat walking across a keyboard.

Kania Tieffer - Parc à Thèmes

El G has released approximately 9999,999,999 tapes and CDRs over the years.  Often noisy but with definite pop sensibilities.  The below MP3 is from the "Armelle" 7", also out on Le Vilain Chien.  Really beautiful song, worthy of Radiohead.  Check the official website.

El G - Armelle

Rainbow Arabia sounds pretty exotic and possibly foreign, but it's just some hyper-musically-educated white folk from Cali.  Not that there's anything wrong with white folk.  Check the live set with Trent.  I think they're touring with Gang Gang Dance soon.  Apparently they're big or something.

Rainbow Arabia - Holiday In Congo

Bobb Trimble and the Flying Spiders live at WFMU (mp3's)

<-- Bobb Trimble (r) with Gary War on guitar and Nick Branigan on drums. Along with Kris Thompson on bass and Karina DaCosta on vox, you've got The Flying Spiders, photographed here in the WFMU live room (by Tiffany Camhi)

In his early 20s, Bobb Trimble self-released two surreal psychedelic folk albums: "Iron Curtain Innocence" (1980) and "Harvest of Dreams" (1982). He played a handful of shows around the local Worcester, MA area with teenage backing bands The Kidds and The Crippled Dog Band, then disappeared. Meanwhile, his recordings lived on as sought-after collector's items, and inspired countless contemporary artists like Ariel Pink and Gary War. In 2007, Secretly Canadian reissued both Bobb Trimble albums, inspiring Bobb Trimble's Flying Spiders to come together for a series of special shows, including the Homegrown psychedelic music festival taking place this July in Boston. Backed by the Flying Spiders, Bobb Trimble made his NYC-area debut last Thursday at the Rose Live Bar, and it was quite an event (you can read more about it at Vanity Fair). The next day, they stopped by WFMU to pre-tape a live set that aired on yesterday's episode of Talk's Cheap.

The set included a bunch of classic songs from Bobb's two official albums, but it also included four songs that had never been released stateside. We're psyched to be able to share live versions of "Live Wire, Live Wire", "The Camel Song", "Angel Eyes," and "Undercovers Man" (mp3's all of 'em) here on the Free Music Archive.

Don Dohler Double Feature – The Alien Factor and Fiend

The Alien Factor (1978) is so archetypal of 70s ultra-low-budget sci-fi/horror that it almost seems like a SCTV parody of the genre. Loaded with awkward blocking and long snatches of blandly delivered expositional dialogue, its strength is in its simple charms: a few good ideas, some amusing characters, and enough money-shot visuals to inspire 100 great screen captures. These folks clearly worked hard on the monsters—one of which has anatomically built-in platform heels—and in general, your entertainment will come from the earnest and colorful visual effects and primitive, in-camera and stop-motion techniques. Make no mistake, The Alien Factor is eyeball-pleasin'; the title sequence alone should be canonized as some kind of holy representation of 70s goodness. If I seem to disparage The Alien Factor, it's only because Dohler's next feature goes straight to the heart of my aesthetic nerve centre. 

Everything that The Alien Factor may lack in sophistication is more than made up for by director Don Dohler's next movie, Fiend (aka Deadly Neighbor, 1980), a genuinely creepy, witty and highly original living-dead scenario. In the film, a mysterious alien force, an ethereal red-glowing flying thing, for reasons unknown to us, reanimates (or possesses) a buried corpse, and the combo adds up to one nasty character, an intense sadist named Mr. Longfellow. The trajectory is quite unpredictable, as our zombie pal takes over an empty house, opens a music school (!), and generally irritates his neighbors (whose somewhat banal interactions also provide their own amusing little subplot, especially as the length of the wife's hair keeps changing from scene to scene.) And oh yes, there's Longfellow's murder/sustenance rituals, which also consist of shouting and stabbing at photographs of his victims (and a lot of black candles.)

After Alien Factor, Dohler must have learned a lot about shot framing, suspenseful editing, and economy of dialogue, such that Fiend is elevated from being merely a visually charming, colorful oddity like its predecessor, to being an aggressively weird and disquieting horror tale. I'd also be remiss not to mention that both of these films feature a melodic, burbling synthesizer score (The Alien Factor by Kenneth Walker; Fiend by Paul Woznicki), so well done and so evocative of the time as to give me a super-warm fuzzy. See the My Castle of Quiet blog for a downloadable cinelogue audio excerpt from Fiend.

It's obvious that despite challenges of budget, Dohler and his crew worked hard to try and make good, entertaining movies, and, at least with Fiend, came pretty close to some metaphysical horror fan's ideal. Dohler is something of a legend, especially in his native Baltimore, and now I see why. Many thanks to James for the loan of the two-in-one DVD (released 2005), and for insisting that we give these bent pictures an eyeball.

Another Don Dohler film, Galaxy Invader, can be viewed or downloaded for free here via archive.org. There's also a well-reviewed and relatively new Dohler documentary, released on DVD earlier this year.

The Fairbanks, Morse Song (MP3)

 Here's a little red 45 which I've always gotten a kick out of, not only because, like so many other bits of advertising, it uses America as a way to sell the company name - in this case, Fairbanks Morse Engine, which is still in business today - but also because of the focus on the phrase "free enterprise" which is a particularly unmusical phrase to use in a song.

Bob

Jerry Coyle and the Nelsonics - America...Land of Free Enterprise - The Fairbanks, Morse Song (MP3)

45 Label (JPG)