WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Lehrlinge halten zusammen (MP3s)

For Labor Day, here is a perennial WFMU favorite of socialist propaganda songs from 1960s West Germany, the compilation "Lehrlinge halten zusammen" ("Apprentices stick together"). Released in 1969 on the Pläne label, it has never been officially reissued, as far as I know. Most of the lyrics are somewhat failed attempts at sarcastic humor, pointing out the exploitation of German apprentices by evil capitalists, and the virtues of organized resistance against the system. The back cover contains a summary of Karl Marx's position on the question of youth in capitalistic societies, in six easily digestable points.

Why hasn't this faded into total obscurity, you ask? First of all, the music and delivery on many of these songs is original, to say the least, and in addition this has been featured on the famous Nurse With Wound list for the contribution of mysterious Lerryn & dadazuzu, Lehrlings-Machtgebeat. Also, who can resist obscurities from Germany or Japan anyway? Here is the whole album for your enjoyment.

MP3s:
01 Die Conrads - Hoch vom Dach (From high up on the roof)
02 Floh de Cologne - Hallo Stift (Hello apprentice)
03 Interpol - Schaffen Sie sich einen Lehrling an (Get yourself an apprentice)
04 Vorschlaghammer - Ballade von den bösen Lehrlingen (Ballad of the evil apprentices)
05 Vorschlaghammer - Armer Anton (Poor Anton)
06 Die Conrads - Nach Dreißig Jahren (After thirty years)
07 Die Conrads & Hannes Stütz - Dick und Doof in der Fabrik (Laurel and Hardy in the factory)
08 Dieter Süverkrüp - Das Lied vom Nutzen (Song of the benefit)
09 Floh de Cologne - Lehrherr unser (Our Employer)
10 Interpol - Ich bin so glücklich (I am so happy)
11 Die Conrads & Dieter Süverkrüp - Was ein Lehrling alles lernt (What an apprentice learns)
12 Die Conrads - Betriebsgeheimnis (Company secret)
13 Lerryn & dadazuzu - Lehrlings-Machtgebeat (also known as Lehrlinks-Machtgebeat. Honestly, I don't know how to translate this, it is a barely sensical play on words. Maybe someone else can help?)
14 Die Conrads & Dieter Süverkrüp - Lehrlingsbilanz (Apprentice's balance sheet)
15 Münchner Songgruppe - Lehrlinge zusammenhalten (Apprentices stick together)
16 Die Conrads & Dieter Süverkrüp - Wer hat den Lehrling gemacht (Who made the apprentice)
17 Floh de Cologne - Wir werden immer mehr (We grow in numbers every day)

As a bonus, here is the only other track I know by Lerryn & dadazuzu, a song against police brutality with killer horns and lots of sexual innuendo: Lerryn & dadazuzu - Gummiknüppelsong (Rubber baton song). Honestly, I have never heard anything like this, and if you know German, you'll be stunned by the sheer weirdness of the lyrics. If you don't know German, just enjoy the great music and imagine a Phil Ochs song with a bunch of penis references thrown in. Or maybe Siegmund Freud and Karl Marx jamming with some German hippies. Really, it is a great song.

Thanks to Andreas Michalke's blog Berlin Beatet Bestes for this song, snatched from this post (which has cover art for the Lerryn & dadazuzu 7" single).

Gordon Keith and Mike Lupica, I Hope You Guys Don't Mind

In a nod of comraderie to my two favorite bizarre linkage homies--Gordon Keith, link pimp who co-hosts a Dallas/Fort Worth sports radio show and writes a newspaper column on the side (wink, wink) and His Illinest, Mike Lupica, whose Sites For Sore Eyes is on temporary hiatus (AHEM!)--allow me to sling my own mix into the pot.  Slinging my own pot into the mix would have been nice, too, but I don't have any right now.  Sorry.

She's pretty hollow.  Except to her dad, apparently.

Yule be sorry!!!

Bring us some jiggy pudding.  Oh, so THAT'S what they use instead of silicone over there...

I hear the secrets that you keep...

California real estate agent by day...Holocaust revisionist by night

You missed a Beat

What is wrong with this picture?

Hey, thanks for spoiling the fucking plot. You might as well give away "Sleeper" while you're at it.

Bodies of Christ

Cult members sing to their "Dad" (NSFW)

Shane McGowan laughs like Ernie from Sesame Street (video)

See also: the infamous Mark E. Smith mouth maneuver.

Diamanda Galas speaks on The Brother Lucy Show

Composer, pianist, activist, and shamanistic chanteuse Diamanda Galas joined Kurt Gottschalk on The Brother Lucy Show yesterday morning for an engrossing conversation about vocal music from Greece, Anatolia, and Turkmenistan. If you were sleeping in, you can still hear this special interview by clicking this link for streaming mp3 or this link for streaming RealAudio.

Sixo - More Demented Portraits of Humanity!

French illustrator Sixo's pen and ink drawings combine the demented pathos of Raymond Pettibon and Charles Burns. It seems he only has a Myspace page, but there are plenty of drawings there...thankfully presented in an organized layout.

People are into it

Politics and Music

(2nd pic via globalpundit.org)

Skybombers, Apache blow the roof off the Cherry Blossom Clinic!!

They came from all over the place, more specifically- Melbourne, and San Francisco. They are Skybombers, and Apache, two bands on a collision course that met up in Jersey City on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic last Saturday! Here is the link to the playlist, and alongside is a pic of Skybombers guitarist Hugh Gurney and drummer Scottie McMurtrie giving it up in WFMU's live (love!) room.

The ABC's of High Fidelity (MP3s)

1. Side 1 (18:50)
2. Side 2 (20:12)

I consider this to be the greatest stereo demonstration album ever made, and half of it is in mono. Produced by Electro-Voice, a name still commonly found on microphones in recording and air studios, this is the template not only for stereo demos, but stereo marketing.

Although it lacks a date, the stereo 101 nature of the album places it at the dawn of home stereo in 1958. Although stereo sound had been in existence for decades at that point, people had mono equipment at home. As with any new technology, the question for sellers was how to convince people that the newer, more expensive stereo sets were better. Electro-Voice does this by going for the juglar of the middle-class American working man, right down to model names that invoke nobility, such as The Patrician, The Centurion, and The Baronette.

Bizarre Mexican Rock Album Cover #832 (MP3s)

A few years back, the fine blog of Mexican musical oddities, Mexicovers, posted this bizarrely covered long-player from 1971. Though the imagery suggests Luz y Fuerza to be a peyote besotted band of Guadalajarans, the group's music actually sounds more akin to the North-of-the-Border jazz-rock stylings of outfits like Ides of March and Blood, Sweat & Tears. A few other blogs have posted "We Can Fly" but the links all seem to be dead, so here you go. Enjoy:

We Can Fly (MP3)
Someday (MP3)
Everybody Needs a Brother (MP3)
You (MP3)
When I Ever Get Home (MP3)
Let Me Tell You (MP3)
Kiss Me Once (Like You Did Before) (MP3)
Rainbows and Apple Trees (MP3)
Just How I Feel (MP3)
Midnight (MP3)

The Chicago Seven (MP3s)

Since we're now in the midst of political convention season, there will probably never be a better time to blog a couple of MP3s about the riotous meltdown experienced in Chicago during the Democrats' 1968 convention.  Although over 500 people were arrested in the social unrest, a small group known as the Chicago Eight received far more media attention than all the other cases combined.  Later, when Bobby Seale's case was handled in a separate trial, the group became known as the Chicago Seven.

Featured below are two very different takes on the calamitous event.  On occasion, I'm unable to resist poking holes in conventional wisdom, so I feel obligated to point out that the Warren Farren record, the one that expresses bitter contempt and derision for the rioters and protesters, was released on a label headquartered in a city celebrated for its progressive attitudes: New York City.

And the record that depicts those arrested as peaceful and patriotic citizens engaging in entirely lawful protests?  That one came from Oklahoma City.

Warren Farren  -  Chicago 7  (2:38)

Walt Wilder  -  Chicago's "7"  (2:22)

The John Sebastian / MC5 connection Revealed

Rob Tyner TV performance, thanks to Scott Soriano for the forward.

Fake Beatles No. 17: Yellow Submarine Sandwich (or Meat the Beatles!)

Owing to the circumstances by which neither Paul McCartney nor the estate of John Lennon owns the publishing rights to most of their Beatles catalog, you can hear select stanzas from the illustrious Lennon-McCartney songbook touting products and services ranging from Target department stores to Luvs disposable diapers. Perhaps this willingness of the legal owners of the songs' publishing to shop them to every Tom, Dick and Harry Incorporated is the reason there's scant need for anyone to compose "original" Fake Beatles advertising jingles. Yet that has not deterred the fine purveyors of luncheon meat at the Mid-Atlantic-based convenience store chain Wawa (evidently not named after the George Harrison song from All Things Must Pass) one bit.

For its "Hoagiefest" promotion, which ran beginning June 9 through August 3rd (sorry, folks, if you were thinking of making the trip to Pennsylvania to partake in the celebration), Wawa opted to serve up its line of $2.99 Shorti sandwiches with a dash of Pepperisms. A trio of full-length songs extolling these half-length deli offerings, composed by Parry Gripp of SoCal pop-punk combo Nerf Herder, have all been rendered in convincing psychedelic Beatles style.

"At the Hoagiefest" bounces along gaily in its "With a Little Help From My Friends" manner. "Come On Down" evokes a singalong taking place in the galley of the Yellow Submarine. And, best of all, "Turkey So Fine," with its sitar seasonings, would be the envy of any Fake Beatles group currently plying its wares, and is guaranteed to stay in your head just as long as a Wawa hoagie does in your stomach. The high level of pastiche applied for this musical ad campaign makes you wonder if it was inspired by the song "Cheese and Onions," by Fake Beatles nonpareil the Rutles.

But don't just take this Fake Beatleologist's word for it. Sink your teeth into these (cold) cuts and digest them for a while. We won't even call you a sucker when you end up falling madly in love with an advertisement. [All songs MP3]

At the Hoagiefest
Come On Down
Turkey So Fine

GO VOTE NIXON-LODGE!

In honor of today being the day for the opening round of this years political convention season, I'm sharing an obscurity from my 45 collection, a record which appeared on the ultra-famous Tweed label sometime in late summer or fall of 1960, from the Clancy Hayes Dixieland band. Clever listeners might discern a slight similarity between the songs featured on the A-side and B-side of this record.

In posting this record, I am not suggesting that anyone vote for the candidates who are promoted within the record, nor am I endorsing in any way the concept or practice of voting for the national ticket which will be supported this year by the same political party represented here.

Bob Purse

1.) The Clancy Hayes Dixieland Band - Go Vote Nixon-Lodge (MP3)

2.) The Clancy Hayes Dixieland Band - Elephant Stomp (MP3)

3.) 45 A-Side (JPG)

french girl trouble

Once a fabulous artist reaches 96 years old, it's assumed she gets the key to the city, knighthood or perhaps a solo show at a major New York museum.  Louise Bourgeois is that 96 year old artist and she has a fantastic retrospective at the newly scaffold-free Guggenheim museum.  If you couldn't afford the skyrocketing fares to fly to Europe this summer, take the train to the upper east side and see this show with every tourist whose exchange rate made it possible for them to hang here.  Some artists look even better surrounded by the curved plaster walls of the Guggenheim and Louise is one of them. In my eyes her work is fantastic in any space, but the more unique the better.  She is a star of the DIA Beacon, where on the top floor a massive cast metal spider guards some of her more intimate sculptures. 
     Louise is a veteran to this major museum retrospective thing.  In 1982 the MOMA declared her to be the first female artist worthy of a solo show in their hallowed halls.  It's shocking that women were so late to this art making game...I would have thought we were making amazing art wellllll before that.  But I guess, if the MOMA says so...
     I met Louise Bourgeois about five years ago, at one of the weekly salons she still hosts to meet and greet with the younger art crowd.  James Siena, longtime WFMU listener and super fab artist, hooked me up.  I was scared to death to meet my idol in the flesh.  I arrived at her brownstone with a crushing armful of yellow flowers.  She told me she didn't want them and to leave them at the door of the church on her block.  Once inside she scrawled "rap"on an old chalkboard and asked us to initiate conversation on that thought.  Soon after Louise put out a few cans of soda and less cans of beer, served on a wooden board.  She nibbled from a box of Junior Mints she took out of the fridge. 
     I imagine I should remember all of the pithy comments that transpired that evening, but the thing I remember most is the Junior Mints. Grab a box and head up to the Guggenheim before the show closes September 28.  Louise Bourgeois is a fearless artist whose imagery gets stronger as she continues to explore new mediums.  Considering she is 96, that allows a lot of time for exploration and Junior Mints.

Creative Capitalism performance art video

Capitalism takes a trip on the NYC subway, thanks to the Creative Capitalism crew (the force behind Lo Moda / Low Moda, some fantastic art books, and other cool music releases including Ponytail). Thanks to Peter for passing this along!

The Great Society (video)

Created by Fred Mogubgub in 1967.

YouTube link.

Drop A Nickel In The Slot

George Kent - Hello, I'm A Jukebox (mp3s)

Ginny Millay - Jukebox On The Moon

Kitty Wells - My Big Truck Drivin' Man

Onie Wheeler - Jump Right Out Of This Jukebox

Hardrock Gunter - Jukebox Help Me Find My Baby

Carl Perkins - Let The Jukebox Keep Playing

Johnny Paycheck - Jukebox Charlie 

Buck Owens - A-11 

Dick Curless - Jukebox Man

Dick Curless - Drop Some Silver In The Jukebox

Wally And Don - Just Play The Jukebox

Charlie Walker - Gonna Buy Me A Jukebox

Porter Wagoner - Turn The Jukebox Up Louder

Hank Williams Jr. - Stoned At The Jukebox

Charlie Feathers - It's Just That Song

Music To Bowl By (MP3s)

National Bowling Week (August 23 - 30) starts today, so here are a few MP3s for you listen to while you navigate to your neighborhood alley.  If you're planning on going bowling in North Jersey, here's a coupon for you.

World Famous Blue Jays  -  Ten Pin Boogie  (3:38)

Goldtones  -  Strike  (2:12)

Bobby Mills  -  Let's Bowl  (1:50)

Jimmy Soul  -  My Baby Loves To Bowl  (2:09)

Wildildlife @ WFMU CD

Seattle psychedelic sludgelords' killer April 2008 jam on WFMU (live from BT's show, engineered by Scott Williams) out now on CD on Crucial Blast's Crucial Bliss series. You can also check out the sounds here. They just slayed opening for Harvey Milk in San Francisco, hope they get back this way soon. Freak man virtue indeedy.

The Greatest Book in the World

Found by me on top of a garbage can in the East Village last night.
The brats of My Super Sweet 16 can have their bowtied BMW's, peer auditions for their VIP areas, Marc Jacobs giftcard baskets. When pimply, bespectacled kids get to be thrown around by Ozzie Newsome, have Burt Reynolds impersonators, and feature live elephants at their Bar Mitzvahs, there is simply no comparison.