WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Dow Brewery, Brewers of Dow Ale: Bob Hahn Radio Commercial Presentation Reel # 4 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 54) (MP3's)

Over the past two months, I have shared the contents of two tapes, from a group of four reel to reel tapes I recently purchased, sampler reels of the work of Canadian ad-man Bob Hahn. Volume Three of the tapes contains just two ads, in multiple minor variations, and one of those two ads is represented on Tape Four, so aside from two versions of one track, I've skipped over the third reel. Today, the fourth and final reel. There are seven ads and five other fragments on this tape, and all but the last of those twelve tracks are for the products of the Dow Brewery. 

The Dow Brewery did not survive with its good name intact for much longer after these 1961 ads, as you can read about here. 

The tracks on this tape are divided into similar ads for different markets. First there is a square dance track, one for Canadian stations and one for American stations. Aside from minor cosmetic differences, these two mainly differ in that in Canada, "Dow Brings Out the Best in Cheer", while in America, "Dow Brings Out the Best in Beer". There's a sociological research paper waiting to be written within the decision to alter those words for the differing market.There is also an isolation track of the advertising tag line. 

This is followed by two ads featuring harmonica orchestras. Both are heard with vocals in English, then in French versions (which amount to the instrumental harmonica tracks, with voiceover in French at the end. The moment at about 18 seconds into the second ad (in both languages' ads) is one of the weirder things I've heard in an ad from this era. In the English ad, it's startling; in the French ad, it makes no sense whatsoever. 

These are followed by more excerpted sections of the square dance ads - I'm not clear on the use of the two short end pieces which I've grouped together as the 9th item here (the "wild tag" listed as the 11th track is identical to the 8th track, and is not included). Finally comes the only non-Dow ad of the reel, which is for Parliament Cigarettes.  

At the end, I've included the only ads which were unique to reel three. These are American and Canadian versions of an ad for Kingsbeer. The differences here are all in the second verse - the American version focuses on the brewing and the taste of the beer, while the Canadian version repeats the first verse heard in both versions. 

Here, dear readers and listeners, the Bob Hahn Presentation Reel, Volume 4: 

TRACKS REMOVED AT REQUEST OF COPYRIGHT HOLDER

Over Before You Know It: Two Remarkably Short 45 RPM Sides (MP3's)

Back in the days when the 45 RPM record was the dominent method of selling music, it wasn't all that unusual (particularly in the '60's) to find a b-side, or sometimes even an a-side, which was under 100 seconds long. In fact, a few 45's from that era timing out at 80 seconds or less managed to make Billboard's hot 100, including the 60 second release "Little Boxes" by The Womenfolk. 

Today, two far less well known records than "Little Boxes", each of which runs under a minute. First up is Dick Boyell and his Orchestra, featuring singer Don Shelton. This appears to me to be a vanity label, and the short song involved is the A-side, with the catchy title "Oh Sweet Bubbles, You Make Me Feel So Good". As you'll hear, this lyric would have qualified as a shaggy dog story, were the story long enough to grow shaggy hair. The label reads one minute - played at exactly 45 RPM, the song lasts about two seconds less, and shows up at 0:59 here to allow for a bit of run-off at the end. 

Dick Boyell and Orchestra, with  vocal by Don Shelton - Oh Sweet Bubbles, You Make Me Feel So Good (MP3)

Dick Boyell Record Label (JPG)

From another universe altogether comes a piece of insanity which has been in my collection since early childhood. No surprise - it's from the world of Children's Records, and more specifically from the intersection of Little Golden Records and Hanna-Barbera. 

The record is credited to Don Elliott and the Cartoon Cowboys with Jimmy Carroll Orchestra, and is titled "Ooch, Ooch, Ouch!". It appears that this is the same Don Elliott who is primarily known as a jazz trumpet player, but who is also listed as a vocal talent in some searches, and was one of the hipsters behind the Chipmunks-meet-Bebop project "The Nutty Squirrels", in late 1959. Here, he is doing the voice of Quick Draw McGraw, who was voiced in the series of cartoons by Daws Butler - who most certainly would have been available to the Hanna-Barbera people, so what is Elliott doing as the voice here?:

This record always seemed weird to me. Several of my childhood records seemed at least moderately strange, but this was weirder than most of the others. For one thing, it's FIFTY THREE SECONDS LONG!!! It's the whole side of the single, and it times out at well under a minute! I can literally see the spaces between the groove as it moves towards the center of the record.

Just as odd is the performance of the song. First, there is the fact that (to me, at least), it sounds like we join the song in progress, almost in mid-breath of the singer, and certainly after some sort of music has already been played.

Then there is the deeply weird lead vocal, the overly peppy chorus, singing in such jolly spirits about being conked on the head (I particularly like the happy way they sing "He's a grouch", which is repeated three times), and the wacky sound effects. Not unheard of in kids records, but the feel of this one is sort of different, and the sudden ending just makes it weirder.

Don Elliott and the Cartoon Cowboys with Jimmy Carroll Orchestra - Ooch, Ooch, Ouch! (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

There actually is a postscript to the Don Elliot record. After I posted this song to my own blog, several years ago, my brother did some searching, and found out that, yes indeed, this is a crudely excerpted set of segments, edited into those 53 seconds, from a longer piece (nearly 3 1/2 minutes), one which appeared on a Hanna-Barbera album.

The longer has a weirdness of its own, but is at least fairly cohesive, and the segments pulled out for the 45 work within the confines of the full track. Plus you get to hear ridiculous lyrics such as "floor-de-floor-de-floor-de-floor", which would have made me crack up at age six, had they bothered to put the whole song on the 45. 

Don Elliott and the Cartoon Cowboys with Jimmy Carroll Orchestra - Ooch, Ooch, Ouch! (Album Version) (MP3)

The mystery remains, though - why edit down a song for a 45, to roughly 1/4th of its original length, removing all context from the song, making terrible edits and slapping it on a 45 that could easily have handled the original length without those edits? Who was it that listened to the edited version and said something along the lines of, "yup, that's perfect - that'll be GREAT for our next kids' 45"?

Please feel free to send comments to [email protected] - I will add those comments to this post. 

The Fascist Stand-Up Comic by Kliph Nesteroff

Frank Fay is considered the very first stand-up comedian. Prior to his emergence in the early 1920s, comedians accompanied their act with props and funny costumes. Even those without gimmicks rarely appeared onstage alone. Comedians had their punchlines set-up by another person, a straightman. To be a comedian meant you performed with the help of a costume or an instrument or another guy. “A comedian without a prop can’t click,” said actor Wesley Ruggles. “I learned that back in the days when I pushed the props around for Charlie Chaplin. Great pantomist that he is, Chaplin realizes the necessity of props.”

Frank Fay realized that as long as you knew what you were doing, as long as you had confidence in your material, props weren't necessary at all. The comedians insisting on props and costumes did so out of conformity or out of fear. Fay started with gimmicks like everyone else, wearing baggy pants, squirting seltzer, delivering straight lines for a comedian that circled him on roller skates - and he hated it. After humiliating himself onstage for two years, Fay decided to use the same persona he had offstage. No props, no costumes, no partner, he took to the stage wearing a well-tailored tuxedo and told jokes alone. It was so unconventional that The New York Times frowned: "“Fay needs a good straight man, as before, to feed his eccentric comedy." There was initial resistance to a man just standing and talking, but Fay's success would transform stand-up as an artform. Fellow comedians saw Fay succeed and they abandoned their props and emulated his style. Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Jack Paar all cited him as an influence. Fay became one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time.
     
He was also comedy's most notorious racist. In January 1946, several months after Germany had been defeated, a rally of ten thousand white supremacists gathered at Madison Square Garden. They delivered speeches in support of Franco, Mussolini and their fallen hero Adolf Hitler. They promised that the defeat of Germany would not go unpunished. The podium was beneath a banner that saluted their guest of honor. The event was called "The Friends of Frank Fay."

A Trio of 1940s True-Life Musical Comic Book Stories

Todays Comic Supplement spotlights three now-obscure 1940s entertainers, as depicted in the magazines Doc Savage ( v.2 #4, June 1943), Picture News ( #10, February 1947), and Melody Lane ( #01, Feb-Mar 1950).

The personalities we will learn about are Fanny Brice, Margaret Whiting and Johnny Desmond. These gripping TRUE comics are unrated and absolutely REAL, so get set for a thrill-packed comic book read - right after the jump!

Cigarettes and Beer: Bob Hahn Radio Commercial Presentation Reel # 2 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 52) (MP3's)

Last month, I offered up the contents of the first in a group of reel to reel tapes I recently purchased, sampler reels of the work of Canadian ad-man Bob Hahn. Today, volume two of those tapes. All but two of the 12 ads on this tape are for or cigarettes (two ads) or beer (eight ads).

The most interesting aspects here, to me, are in the five Molson ads, with their varying focuses on what people in different fields would consider to be two things which go together perfectly - I wonder at what point advertising would cease making reference to Minstrel shows. Also of interest is that these ads are each 70 seconds long, a length which I've not generally seen in the hundreds of ads I own.

I also get a kick out of the slogan at the focus of the two ads for Dominion stores: "It's Mainly Because of the Meat!" I'm sure those of you who play with sound can use those cliips. I know I will. 

As with the previous set, these are dated October, 1961. Without further ado, the Bob Hahn Presentation Reel, Volume 2: 

Comments can be sent to [email protected]

TRACKS REMOVED AT REQUEST OF COPYRIGHT HOLDER

Coffin Nail Kickout; Through Thorn and Brier LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 5.7.2014

WFMU, among a great many other things, is about community, i.e., presenting and promoting local musicians / artists / humorists, in addition the great International performers we present. My Castle of Quiet has always been about the business of seeking out exceptional local musicians, and it doesn't get too much more local for us than Through Thorn and Brier, their craft honed in our shared County of Hudson, NJ. At one time, WFMU's staff was chock-full of NJ-bred radio personalities, many of whom lived and or passed through nearby Bayonne, including late-great broadcasters and good friends of mine, Terry Folger and Frank "Vanilla Bean" Balesteri, both of them taken from us way too soon. Bayonne borders directly on WFMU's home town of Jersey City, and offers great pizza, good bars and a decent standard of living for a largish NJ city. All that considered, if you told me that Bayonne had bred a strong, talented, one-of-a-kind punk / metal band, I still might have doubted the veracity of your claim, not sure why though. That is, right up until the first time I heard Through Thorn and Brier.

Originally stumbling upon their songs on bandcamp, in a position I now often find myself in, checking out a band that I missed live for no good reason except that I generally like to stay home. Sporting twin brothers on vocals and guitar, amidst a mighty, accomplished lineup, TTAB play a threatening, driven brand of metal-infused punk music, with arcing guitar melodies, swinging, thudding riffs, and ominous, almost tribal beats; add roaring vocals and a general mood of rolling with reckless abandon. If punk-metal hybrid bands can be "catchy," TTAB certainly ARE, their riffs immediately inspiring head swirling; one of those physically motivating bands that make me wish that I had long, straight, flowing hair to swing in time. 

Every Through Thorn and Brier song is something like a mini-suite, blasting through multiple inspiring riffs and you-must-pay-attention time signatures in a matter of minutes, taking you on a ride you can't fully absorb the first time, and isn't that the way? Shouldn't a band's numbers be such that new pleasures reveal each time you listen?

Call them screamo (don't!), call them hardcore, or metal—all those genre labels quickly dissolve in the hands of the best of bands—and TTAB's songs cover a wild breadth of punk and metal styles with purpose and ease, such that the hops are never gratuitous and always contribute quite naturally to the sum of their parts.

I was very pleased to present this excellent band, well-deserving of more widespread notoriety, as evidenced here. (Note: Where songs were played without a complete stop in between, they are presented here as such, i.e., tracks 1 and 3 consist of three songs apiece.)

Thanks and much appreciation must go to engineer Juan Aboites, for working his ass off, and making everything sound full and ferocious. Thanks too, to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting, who for maybe the 100th time, pieced together a handsome band portrait from my miserable iPhone captures.

You can hear the Good Grief EP and Failure Prone MLP (both worth owning) and purchase hard copy of the same at Through Thorn and Brier's bandcamp page. There, you'll also see their use of non-typical, decidedly un-metal imagery, a move well appreciated by this DJ / writer. Also visit ttabhc.com for more up-to-date band info.

WFMU's 2014 Record Fair Kicks off tomorrow in NYC!

Join us for a weekend of vinyl worship: WFMU's 2014 Record Fair throws down at the Armory at Lexington and 26th St (68 Lexington Ave) in Manhattan THIS Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

HOURS & ADMISSION

Friday, May 30th
- Early Admission 4-7pm ($25, with unlimited re-entry all weekend)
- Regular Admission 7-10pm ($7)

Saturday, May 31st: 10am - 7pm ($7)

Sunday, June 1st: 10am - 7pm ($7)

Just print or show this coupon at the door to get $2 off admission.

LIVE PERFORMANCES
- Dan Melchior (Sat 3:30pm)
- The Flatmates (Sat 4:30pm)
- Laura Cantrell (Sun 2pm)
- Ubu Sings Ubu Band (Sun 5pm)

LIVE BROADCASTS
- Michael Shelley (Sat 11am-1pm)
- Fool's Paradise with Rex (Sat 1-3pm)
- Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terre T (Sat 3-6pm)

LIVE VIDEO (watch Record Fair madness on our Ustream feed)
- Clay Pigeon of the Dusty Show interviews revelers at the Fair (Sat 1pm & 6pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm)
- Dan Melchior and The Flatmates perform live (Sat 3:30pm)
- Live set by Laura Cantrell (Sun 2pm)
- Ubu Sings Ubu Band performance (Sun 5pm)

FOOD & DRINK (all beer sales benefit WFMU)
- Two Boots Pizza
- Dub Pies
- Sierra Nevada
- Brooklyn Brewery

 

See you at the Fair!

The New Sound of VARITONE by Selmer (MP3's)

The Varitone was an effects unit marketed for Sax, Flute and Clarinet use, starting in 1967. I'd never heard of it until picking up this seven inch, 33 1/3 RPM demonstration record a short while ago. I was underwhelmed by the sound of the thing, and was surprised to find that it was fairly well known in its day, looked fairly goofy attached to the side of an instrument, and proved popular with a number of musicians. 

But all of that was presumably in the future when the Selmer company produced this promotional record, which I would guess came out at the same time as the product itself. Sorry about the beat-up quality of the record - it came to me in that condition...

Please enjoy the Varitone!

The New Sound of Varitone, Side One (Description of Varitone Sounds) (MP3)
The New Sound of Varitone, Side Two ("September Song" & "Walkin'") (MP3)
Record Label, Side One (JPG)  |  Record Label, Side Two (JPG)

Comments can be sent to [email protected]

 

"Sky Music" and "Song of the Undead" More Insane 1950s Horror

   "Henry Valpin set down the sounds of the heavens and wrote them into a devastating harmony, which he called ... Sky Music.

   Here is a factual story that is indeed stranger than fiction ... If you find it difficult to believe, I will not blame you!  But I swear to its truth and write it now just as I saw and heard it happen!"

    (from Sky Music, 1956)

  "Eerily, like music from another world, the magic notes hung in the air! Dorothy and John Blaik shivered as they watched the strange, evil-looking vampire girl sing the "Song of the Undead!"

    (Song of the Undead, 1952)

Yes indeed, we're back with another duet of terror tales this week for the Comic Supplement here at BotB. One is a hearty pre-comics-code dish, and the other, our lead story, is of the later not-quite-so-grisly variety, toned-down so as not to upset the kiddies.  I think you'll find both of them amusing, though, and their songs will echo in your mind until our next meeting here in two weeks, when we will head in another direction genre-wise to serve up more music-and-media-related vintage comic book goodies.

Bob Hahn Radio Commercial Presentation Reel # 1 (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 51) (MP3's)

I recently acquired four rather wonderful production reels, the product of someone named Bob Hahn, featuring works created for the Canadian Radio market. These seem to have been sampler reels, and like many of the commercials I've been lucky enough to come across from the '50's and early '60's, they are all really nice, and quite magical in places. Today, the tape labeled as the first of the four: This particular reel is dated October 9, 1961, which (and this is entirely unrelated) was also John Lennon's 21st birthday.

I've grouped them together where there were ads for the same product, unless those ads included full minute ads, which I've largely separated out into their own files. A few are no more than music beds, and many contain instrumental passages meant for voiceovers. In all, there are 20 ads heard within the 11 tracks below. 

A few notes on the tracks:

Track three is interesting in that it contains the voices of some Canadian radio personalities, including Gordon Sinclair, who would become more well known in the US over a decade later, when he wrote and recorded the original version of the spoken word hit "The Americans". I don't know what "Big 8" was (featured in track 5) - there is a soft drink company by that name in Canada, but it only seems to have existed for the last 30 years or so. Tracks 8 & 9 sound identical to me, but were separate on the list and the tape, so both are included. And although track 11 does not metnion the Dow company (at least, I don't hear it) in the lyrics, this ad is referred to on the "take sheet" (reproduced below) as "Dow Square Dance". 

Enjoy! There are more where these came from!

Comments can be sent to [email protected] - I will try to add any received to this post. 

TRACKS REMOVED AT REQUEST OF COPYRIGHT HOLDER

Selling Your Savings and Loan, 1950's Style (MP3)

Here's a keen little seven inch 78, which I'm guessing, based on the musical styles, is from the mid to late 1950's. It came to use from "Adverising Division, Inc.", in Chicago, and is the third in a series. 

As the salesman says in opening this little two minute wonder, "You can't sell 'em, until you tell 'em!", and what he wants to help you sell is your savings and loan operation. 

There follow two examples from a total of nine available commercials in the package. It's not clear to me how buying these ads would make them "yours exclusively" - what if two savings and loans bought the package in the same market? 

Regardless of all that, the ads are two wonderful examples of the bouncy, peppy and positive-sounding ads of the day, and the second one also has the benefit of all that great reverb which was such a hallmark of the era. As I always seem to say when I share commercials from that era, I wish radio still sounded like this. 

Advertising Division, Inc. - 3rd Series Singing Commericial Service (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)

As comments continue to be closed, please feel free to send any comments to [email protected]

The Rapture, in Several Shades of Orange; Future Death Toll LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 4.9.2014

The concentrated joy of this set by Future Death Toll is its own reward. Fresh off of tour, the band sounded a-frickin'-mazing, and I was immediately confronted with a familiar feeling, of "O, Lucky Man!" ...I dig deep into the underground, bobbing for those most-artistic of apples, and this time came up with the outstanding sounds of FUTURE DEATH TOLL. Indeed, I am fortunate, to have this incredible outlet wherein I can extend invitations to artists such as these, and they just show up and play! ...Sit in that Studio B chair sometime, and you'll begin to understand how good the years of MCoQ weekly broadcasts have been to me, and in general to my colleagues at the station, and to WFMU's devoted listeners of course. The kiss of WFMU is golden, and I need to remember to utilize this opportunity at every possible turn, in order to bestow upon all who care the rareified talents of artists of similarly high caliber.

Based on a barely labeled cassette tape I had received a long time ago, different from this set (more "home studio," obviously), I knew Future Death Toll would make good use of the opportunity for a live radio set, and I was not disappointed. Though the tape is generally "lighter," as might be expected, as well as more song-oriented, F-DT do a lot of different things, and as with Slasher Risk before them (see this set from 2010), the variety of their capabilities just meant that playing live on the radio revealed another layer. They were noisy, dense and intense, but not entirely free-form, with themes that arose, dominated and then dissipated, as you will hear.

Though I did not have a pile of hard releases to muse over and absorb, there's quite a lot posted online, both at the band's Web site, and their YouTube page, and I've been at this long enough that I knew for certain that F-DT's radio set would not disappoint, and it went far beyond that, into dazzling territory, rousing a hearty, enthusiastic response from Castleheads via the playlist comments.

So sit back, listen and enjoy. Massive props to engineer Juan Aboites for applying his considerable and diverse talents to making Future Death Toll radio-ready; whatever I throw at him, he makes the very best of it, rising to every challenge. Thanks also to Tracy Widdess for again making excellent, memorable photo art from my on-the-quick iPhone band captures.

Future Death Toll on bandcamp, including this set, broken down into two parts.

Steve Martin on Radio WRVU (1973)

After a stand-up appearance at Vanderbilt University in 1973, Steve Martin appeared on campus radio at 1:00 a.m. taking random phone calls. At the end of his stand-up gig that night, Martin lead the audience to a fast food restaurant across the street and ordered three hundred hamburgers - charging it to the Dean.

Audio Letters From An Army Doctor in Korea, 1954, Part Three (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 50) (MP3's)

I've had a few requests for more tapes from the Army Doctor in Korea, a set of recordings from 1954 from which I've previously shared, in random order, two reels in a post from 2011, and two more in another post, about a year ago. At the moment, I can only put my hands on one more of these tapes, although I know there are several more in my catacombs, somewhere, and I will continue to share these if the interest continues. 

This tape was made two days after one of the tapes shared a year ago, and the doctor's big news is his upcoming move to a new location within Korea, which doesn't appear to have been by his choice, and which he sounds decidedly unhappy about. Also of note is the story related at the start of side two of the tape, recounting why someone he knew sent him an actual U.S. dollar bill, and why such an item was not supposed to be among his possessions, a story which also touches on the religious practices of the locals in that time.

Comments appear to still be stuck on "closed" on this site, so if you have anything to say, feel free to write me at [email protected], and I'll update this posting with those comments. 

Audio Letter from Korea, 5/27/54, Part One (MP3)

Audio Letter from Korea, 5/27/54, Part Two (MP3)

"This is the Lowdown About Bergen, Folks" by Charlie McCarthy (1942)

"The story of the rise of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy has always been told through the eyes of Bergen. The editors received the following story from Charlie McCarthy which we have visualized. It it their tale told through the eyes of McCarthy."

Again this week we'll diverge from our usual strictly music-related Comic Supplement posts to look at another area of the entertainment and cultural world. In this case, where better to go than right to the wooden mouth of perhaps the most famous ventriloquist dummy of all, and certainly one of the best dressed, for our feature story, a delirious 14-page fantasy from the mind of Charlie himself. As the author and artist of this strange piece are unknown there's nothing for it but to plunge right into this backup story from the pages of Doc Savage magazine number eight, from June 1942, right after the jump!

His Holiness, Mar Eshai Shimun, Patriarch of the East and of the Assyrians, Speaks on WGN, Chicago, 10/27/46

Quite some time ago, I picked up a large batch of acetates from some online seller. They were the usual mish-mash of home recordings, audio letters, recordings off the radio, etc.

But two of the records, one recorded on both sides, the other on one side, contained a curious recording of a radio program which aired on the legendary WGN on October 27, 1946, as part of a 15 minute series called "Distinguished Guest", sponsored by one of the Department Store giants of the Chicago area, then and now, Carson, Pirie Scott and Company.

The episode I have is primarily given over to a speech by "His Holiness, Patriarch of the East and of the Assyrians", Mar Eshai Shimun. Reading up on Shimun, beyond his brief Wikipedia entry, provided quite an education, and I encourage those interested to do so, as well. He took over his position at age 11, and saw his people and their lands go through extensive changes and upheavals during his lifetime. By the time of his recording, it appears that he was living in Chicago. He seems to have been viewed as a great man by some of his people, and nothing short of evil by others, at least by the point of his assassination, nearly 30 years after this recording was made. Reading up on him gives a bit of background to what is already (to me, at least) a very interesting speech heard here. 

As interesting as this recording is, I do wish I had a copy of the speech from the following week, by Arkansas' then-Governor, Ellis Arnall, who seems to have been just as interesting a character.   

His Holiness on WGN, Part One (MP3)

His Holiness on WGN, Part Two (MP3)

His Holiness on WGN, Part Three (MP3)

Comments are welcome at [email protected] 

A Grind Apart: Ubasute LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 5 Feb 2014

The grind I like, I really love, perhaps because as a genre, there is rampant saminess; so I sit back and let bands like Psychic Limb, Ubasute, Agathocles, Cattle Decapitation and Pig Destroyer rise to the top by way of their own virtues.

Alex Caprio's distinctive and unpredictable shriek, Mike Marciano's artful, intricate Rickenbacker bass virtousity, and Jeremy Suria's guitar work (equal parts technical, Steve Howe-midrangery, and thick, power-chord glue) all work thorughly together to make the band a cut above the raging pack. Upon even deeper observation, Ubasute's lyrical content, and carefully chosen graphic imagery foil the more-easily-attained / co-opted genre conventions.

Just listen, really listen, to this outstanding set, marking the MCoQ show's return to live music in February, and you'll hear and feel the urgency, raw emotion, and world-attrition in the band's musical mainfesto.

Many thanks must go to engineer Ernie Indradat, whose talents are ready seemingly for whatever musical challenges confront him, and to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting, who once again, wove my slap-dash band capture into an excellent portrait of Ubasute, right down to the apropos color-palette for the band's carefully (and unpretentiously) crafted graphic universe.

ATTENTION: UBASUTE ARE CURRENTLY AUDITIONING FOR A NEW DRUMMER; IT'S A LABOR OF GREAT HONOR, KIND OF LIKE A SAMURAI. IF YOU LIVE IN THE NJ/NY AREA, AND ARE GENUINELY INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT: [email protected]

The Amazing Backstory to "The Most Unusual Voice on an Audio Letter" (Exploring My Reel-to-Reel Catacombs, Volume 49) (MP3's)

Today, a follow-up. Two weeks ago, I wrote an entry about "The Most Unusual Voice I've Ever Heard on an Audio Letter"

Being currently unable to accept comments to this site, I invited comments about these mysterious tapes to my own e-mail address, and was happy to hear from more than a half-dozen commenters. 

Many suggested that the person speaking had undergone a tracheostomy. I was previously only familiar with the machine used by people with this impairment, which makes sort of a burping, low toned vocal sound, but I guess the sound on these recordings is an earlier method of assisting someone who has had this procedure to be able to speak. 

I also got a least five suggestions as to the language being spoken. The correct answer appears to be Estonian (explained in a moment)

But one intrepid writer went much further, and by searching for the return address on the tapes, and then for the name that site turned up, found something truly amazing, and equally horrifying. 

Remember that the sender of the tapes, and presumably the primary person talking, was listed as A. Mere at 180 Mere Rd. in Leicester, England. Using that information, this led my researching correspondent to a site which indicates that the person at that address, Mr. Ain Mere, was an Estonian who retired to England, and who was a collaborator with the SS during World War II. Here is the first site found.

That led both my correspondent and me to check Wikipedia, and we came up with even more information - which you can see here - that after retiring to England he was accused and convicted of war crimes, by a Russian court, and sentenced to death. As the page goes on to say, due to lack of evidence, English authorities refused to extradite him.

Several writers, intrigued by what is on these tapes, have asked where I got them. While I don't keep close records of where I've come to own most of the myriad tapes in my collection, there is really only one place I would have acquired a large collection of tapes sent from one person to another, and that is eBay. When and from where the seller was located, at this point I haven't a clue.

But this is just another reminder that you literally can never know exactly what's going to come out of the speakers on the next reel of tape you spool up. And why I'll be continuing to explore this amazing world of sound for the rest of my days. 

And now, for your dining and dancing pleasure, here's another one of Ain Mere's tapes, featuring the dulcet tones of Mr. Mere. On this tape, the other person who appears on these tapes (a younger woman, I'm guessing) speaks about as much as the sender does, which is unusual for these tapes. She even briefly lapses into English a couple of times. 

This tape only features two songs, but what numbers they are, first an early number by The Beatles (I think I hear him say "Beatles" in the comments just after the song ends), and the other a lovely yodeling tune - She Taught Me to Yodel - as sung by Friank Ifield, whose version was memorably lip-synched by Craig Ferguson (although my favorite version is by Rod Erickson). (The hiccup heard during the song on this tape is from a splice in the tape.) 

What occurred to me, while digitizing this tape, is that there are few things that have less in common with the allegations against Ain Mere than the do either the joyful sound of the early Beatles or the good cheer found in "She Taught Me to Yodel". 

Ain Mere - Greetings From England, Side One (MP3)

Ain Mere - Greetings From England, Side Two (MP3)

Tape Box Front (JPG)  |  Tape Box Back (JPG)

Thanks to all who wrote, and many, many thanks to GM in cyberspace for filling in the blanks!

Comments still appear to be disabled, so if you'd like to say something, please write to me at the address you can find on this page, and I'll try to add some of those comments to this post, when I get a chance.  

 

 

"The Brush that Could Haunt Men's Souls" and "The Mark of X"

Today we'll diverge a bit from the usual 'music' related comic book stories in this series and look at two tales from the 1950s run of the DC book "House of Mystery" that involve, first, a comic book artist and an art brush, and second, a television writer who discovers an interesting solution to writer's block.

"It was only a brush -- an ordinary painter's brush ... but in its soft and yielding bristles was hidden the power to force from men the truth!  Lies perished in their hearts ... Falsehoods froze on their lips ... and once their innermost secrets were revealed, found themselves teetering on the very brink of doom!"

Thus begins our first thrilling story from House of Mystery #10, January 1953, unfurling for you right after the jump!

WFMU at Beerland Saturday 3/15, broadcasting live

WFMU returns once again to Austin, Texas during the annual SXSW Festival for a daytime party at Beerland! on Saturday, March 15th at 2pm Eastern (1pm Central for those in town) with a dynamite nonstop afternoon of beer-and-BBQ fueled rock! On tap: Protomartyr, Buck Biloxi and The F***s, Spray Paint, Obnox, Guerilla Toss, and Pampers! Liz Berg and Brian Turner will be hosting the broadcast live from the club, which is at 711 Red River in central Austin. It's not an official SXSW event, so no badges, but the best part is that it's FREE to the public, so those in town for the festival should get there early, or tune in to WFMU.