Thursday, September 13, 2012

Klark Kent - Music Madness From The Kinetic Kid 10" EP - 1980


This is a record I've wanted to write about for a long time.  I prepped this page actually several years ago (uploading the images), but never got around to writing the post.  Then I ran into the trouble of having my mediafire account wiped out and I backed off on writing anything for a long while.  Well, now I'm back in the swing and I figure I'll try and take out anything that might be a red flag to the powers that be and try to fly a little more under the radar.  I'll try and not list track names or even make it appear that I'm posting music from the record.  Of course if you are interested in hearing this rare gem, contact me and I'll see what I can work out.

Klark Kent was a side project from Stewart Copeland of The Police.  This little EP is a super fun power pop/new wave record.  Even the packaging of the record is fun.  It is a 10" record and the sleeve is actaully in the shape of the letter K.  Another interesting thing about this record from my perspective is that a friend of mine gave this to me for free.  He just wanted me to digitize it for him and burn him a disc.  Can't beat that deal.

Well the EP has 8 tracks.  The first track is stellar and super catchy.  It is my favorite track by far.  The 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th tracks all have echos of The Police musically.  The vocals aren't very Sting-like, but the music is very reminiscent.  To me it shows how much influence Copeland probably had on the sound of the police.  The scans I have included give you the track names as well as the lyrics that were on the inner record sleeve.  Sorry the images aren't better.  I did these several years ago and my techniques weren't as refined.  You can also see that is was pressed on Kryptonite Green vinyl.  Pretty cool.

I don't know if this is available on CD or for purchase anywhere.  You can find the songs collected on a compilation entitled "Kollected Works." It goes for a mint on Amazon.   If you don't have that kind of cash, I'm sure you can find copies of the vinyl on Ebay for a more reasonable price and I'm sure other blogs have featured this record as well because it is an interesting footnote in rock music history.






Enjoy!



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Chuck Wagon Gang - God's Gentle People - 1962 - 09.12.12


Here is another record I picked up this past summer at a yard sale. I don't have a ton of gospel type music, but every once in a while I will pick one up that looks interesting. I've actually got several albums by The Chuck Wagon Gang. You can read up on their history at their official website.   You can also read the liner notes on the back of this record.  The photo I've provided should be clear enough to read.

This album God's Gentle People is from 1962.  It doesn't seem to be available on their website, so I don't know if it is in print these days.   You can find used vinyl copies for sale with a simple Google search.  I really like the harmonies and arrangements of the songs on this record. Voices are certainly the shining feature in these arrangements with simple instrumental accompaniment. Tracks 1, 4 and 5 are the standouts for me. I personally think that even if you don't have religious leanings you can enjoy the sincerity, joy and spirit of these songs.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Jaye P. Morgan - Jaye P. Morgan Sings With Frank DeVol's Orchestra - 1956 - 09.10.12

This past weekend I spent nearly 10 hours organizing my records.  It was a lot of alphabetizing, filing and moving records around. The nice thing is that it cleaned up the room and made it nice to go in there and put on a record again.  I'll be honest it was such a mess with boxes of records on the ground that it was kind of an obstacle course.  Now everything is on the shelf.  So I've been back to listening and digitizing records.  This is a record that someone gave me this past summer.  My only real knowledge of Jaye P. Morgan before listening to this record was her appearances on game shows like The Gong Show when I was a kid.  I knew she was a celebrity, but I had no idea for what.  Turns out she was a singer.  The record is good for a listen or two.

The orchestra behind her is Frank DeVol's band. DeVol you may remember as the man behind music for The Brady Bunch.  More importantly to me, though is his run as the character Happy Kyne on Fernwood 2 Nite.  I've recently watched a bunch of episodes on YouTube.  Still hilarious.  I wish that show would be released on DVD.

Anyway, the record is old and has plenty of noise.  I've done my best to clean it up, but its far from perfect.  As far as I can find this isn't on CD so finding the record on e-bay or digital rip is perhaps your best chance of hearing the whole record.

Enjoy!

Fernwood 2 Nite Episode.  See Happy Kyne.



Jay P. on the Gong Show



Here is "Life Is A Bowl Of Cherries"



Here is "Just A Gigolo"

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

There Will Be Blood - Halloween Mix 2012 Preview Track - 09.04.12


I've been working on the Halloween Mix in recent weeks.  I've done a couple original mixes using existing music and sound bites from movies and such.  Here is the first one.