| Artist |
Track |
Album |
Comments |
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Jim Backus
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DELICIOUS
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Backus is best known as Mr Magoo, Thurston Howell III or Frank Stark, depending on which generation you call home. Here he is joined by Phyllis Diller (uncredited), who has a longer rap sheet than many entire casts you could assemble and is still going strong today at age 92.
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Andy Griffith
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TO THE LOVELY JUANITA BEASLEY
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Andy of Mayberry (actually Mt Airy, NC) made a number of recordings poking fun at his 'rube' charactor (the most famous about football) and spent years on the comedy circuit before success called him from Hollywood. At age 83, he's still quite active, having last appeared in Brad Paisley's video for 'Waitin on a Woman' in 2008.
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Allen and Grier
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HIPPITY HOP
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Jake Holmes and his soon-to-be ex-wife Katherine teamed up in the mid-50s for a great record of daffy things. As soon as i can find it amongst the wires, I'll digitize it and pass more stuff along.
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Andrews Sisters
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MR BASS MAN
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Features the all-time greatest bass man, Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of Tony the Tiger and the vocalist on 'Mr Grinch') for a real mediocrity. I get the feeling everybody mailed this one in from different continents, but it still has a kind of warped charm to it.
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Ray Bolger and Verna Felton
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YOU HAVE TO BE SLIGHTLY CRAZY [To be on the Radio]
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A God-knows-where-it-came-from snippet of something much more important. One of the oldest pieces of oddness in my collection, I probably got it back to the 60s. Now you've got it. Pass it on.
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Music behind DJ:
Harry 'The Hipster' Gibson
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BARRELHOUSE BOOGIE
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Firesign Theatre
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MARE NOCHE'S BOMBA SHELTER
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A commercial from 'Dear Friends'
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Tom Russel Band with Dave van Ronk
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OUTCASTE [part 1]
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From Tom's 1999 album, 'The Man from God Knows Where,' which recounts his family's journey from Norway and Ireland to the Wild West. Dave van Ronk, the 'Mayor of McDougal Street,' is the patron saint of folk singers. Well, he is now, having left us in 2002, but there is a piece of Sheridan Square (where Barrow St meets Washington St) that has been renamed in his honor.
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Brother George Underbush
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GREEN GARDEN HOSE
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Apparently his real name was Terry Fell (although I coundn't find the two names linked together anywhere) and he had a big enough hit with 'Truck Drivin Man.' Brother George, meanwhile had another biggie with 'Ted the Head.' Other than that, I got nothin.
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Cliff Ferre and Cafe Society Quartet
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AIN'T IT A BEAUTY
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Yes, I know, two songs about a garden hose is pushing it, but what do you want from me? Ferre made his (miniscule) fortune off double-entendre numbers like this (including the classics 'Rosie don't Bang on the Piano' which backed up 'Favorite Indoor Sport.')
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Dick Kent
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FIVE FOOT NINE AND ONE-HALF INCHES TALL
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A card-carrying member of the MSR stable, Kent and his gang of musical thugs (led by Rodd Keith) put your worthless poems to music (for a fee). Whoever wrote this is, hopefully, resting comfortably in an asylum somewhere.
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Rod Hart
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CHICKEN OF THE COUNTY
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Poking good fun at Kenny Rogers, this is, I assume, the same guy who had a minor hit during the CB infestation in 1977 with 'CB Savage' on an album called Breakeroo. However, getting him to admit any involvement with this song is another matter and I have come up empty.
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Chaps
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RAWHIDE
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From 1982. Written by Dimiti Tiomkin and Ned Washington, it was a big hit for Frankie Laine and provided a show-stopping moment in a very popular 1980 movie. See a clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5N35kQAPv0&feature=related
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Wild Man Fisher
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REAL COOL COWBOY
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Quite a resume for the Wild Man: Appeared on Laugh-In, Subject of a comic book, Duet with Rosemary Clooney, Linked musically to Linda Ronstadt, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Tom Waits, Has a mention in Thomas Pynchon's novel 'Inherent Pig,' and to top it off a great documentary from 2005 called 'Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Wild Man Fisher.' The smart money says there's probably lots more. Begs the question: What could he have accomplished with an ounce of ambition?
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Napoleon XIV
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I LIVE IN A SPLIT LEVEL HEAD
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Jerry Samuels, of course, gave us 'They're Coming to Take Me Away' and several other bizarre tunes. He was a DJ in the Philadelphia area and of course, once all those radio stations banned his record, his fortune was assured. Where is he now? He runs a company that books entertainment for rest homes in the Delaware Valley area. What goes around...
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Music behind DJ:
Tennessee Ramblers
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BEATY STEEL BLUES
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Allen Sherman
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HEADACHES
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Allen does his typical thing to 'Heartches' (but he doesn't do the whistling).
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Allen Sherman
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MAKIN COFFEE
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A few months back, I got wind of a record Allen made for the Scott Paper Company and lamented that I'd love to get hold of it. Well, Podder (listener?) Rich Upton of Whereabouts Unknown USA was kind enough to send me all 6 tracks, which are apparently included in a boxed set of Allen's incredible bulk of work. A tip of the hat to Rich for sending them on so we can all enjoy them. A reminder: if you have something you think I should include here, let me know at kbcradio@hotmail.com.
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Allen Sherman
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THAT'S HOW THE CHANGE IS MADE
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Another from the Scott Paper collection ("Music to Dispense With"). We'll get to the others eventually. Thanks again, Rich!
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Morecombe and Wise
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HAPPIEST XMAS OF THEM ALL
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Eric Morecombe & Ernie Wise had an incredibly popular British TV series. They worked together from 1941 until Morecombe's death in 1984 (Wise died in 1999). The Morecombe and Wise Show ran from 1968 to 1983 and their Xmas shows were of such legendary stature that streetswould empty and crime would drop (like during the Super Bowl here). Heres a link to their tribute site: http://ericandernie.homestead.com/
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R Crumb and Cheap Suit Serenaders
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HULA GIRL
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Yes, that's Crumb as in Mr Natural and Flakey Foont. He always had a fondness for old music and when his ship came in, he started making some. To my knowledge, they were the last band to put out a 78 RPM record ('Wisconson Wiggle' in 1985 or so)
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R Crumb and Cheap Suit Serenaders
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GETTA LOADA THIS
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Crumb stopped working with the band when he moved to France. These days the band tours infrequently, mostly under the direction of Bob Brozman.
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Real Tuesday Weld
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BATHTIME IN CLERKENWELL
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A band led by Stephen Coates, who claims the name came from some sort of surreal dream involving Tuesday Weld and Al Bowlley (YOU ask him - I'd be too scared). You can find a wonderful video version by Aleksy Budivskiy at www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1s4DbPS244) but it sounds different (less Mills Brotherly).
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Spike Jones & His City Clickers
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JONES POLKA
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Rutles
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PIGGY IN THE MIDDLE
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From the mind-breaking mockumentary 'All You Need is Cash' which gave the Rutles a life of their own. They were even the subject of a tribute album. And of course, it goes without saying that 'Spinal Tap' was based on the Rutles, too.
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Beatles
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LADY MADONNA
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Love
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Before the digital remixes that came out a few months back, there was this gem from George and Giles Martin for Cirque de Soleil in Las vegas. They mashed up 130 or so songs for the project and to Beatle fans like me, the result is staggering. Don't expect a traveling version of the show, though. The entire theatre was gutted and rebuilt to the specs of the show.
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Tom Russel Band with Dave van Ronk
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OUTCASTE [Reprise]
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Wrapping up loose ends here. Russell's 1999 record 'Man from God Knows Where' was recorded in Norway and also include contributions from Iris DeMint and Delores Keane. His latest is 'Blood and Candle Smoke'
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Music behind DJ:
Tommy Dorsey
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WEARY BLUES
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Harry Nilsson
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CAST AND CREW
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Sung over the closing credits of the 1968 movie 'Skidoo' which starred Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Groucho Marx etc and wasn't all that bad. For a plot synopsis, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skidoo_(film)
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