In 1966 Allan Sherman was apparently as famous as Paris Hilton. Being negative eight years old I don't have very reliable memories of the pop culture gestalt of the time. But when I brought this record home from the flea market in 1998 I knew it was destined to become one of my favorite van-passenger testing tools. If you can hear the brilliance in this most silly record then I wanna hang out with you.
The Scott Paper Company commissioned Sherman to write six songs for them. They were handed a masterpiece of parodic songs concerning the effects of reforestation, technology, and economics on man and dog.
Did Scott flinch when Sherman declared their products made holy water 'somewhat holier' or made chicken soup taste 'twice as jewish?' And when was the last time a corporation risked being directly responsible for religious humor?
These mp3 files are taken from a vinyl rip. The vinyl source was in poor condition, so I did the best I could to de-click the thing. It may not be the audiophile treasure of the year, but if you care that much you're missing the point.
At the tender age of 17 my best friend and I were looking at colleges in Washington D.C. We found time one evening to take in an animation festival. The first clip in the festival was this:
We arrived in NYC a few days later on the same college campus tour. His godmother took us to Tower Records where I somehow located this cassette. There hadn't yet been a tropicalia renaissance, no hipsters constantly praising Os Mutantes, so finding the album without much information wasn't hard. I remember there only being one shelf of world music cassettes.
Brazil Classics 1 was compiled by David Byrne and in 1989 was the first release by his then new label Luaka Bop, under the Sire Records banner. It stands as one of the finest compilations I've ever heard. It could be argued that it did for tropicalia what the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack did for country. This is not one of my rarer picks. BC1:BT is relatively popular, and being released through a major label means its not hard to find. You can purchase the mp3 album on Amazon. I'm only adding my voice to the choir of listeners in love with this album. It's one I always take on tour. More serious students of Brazilian music may tell you this compilation is obsolete and says nothing about the state of music today. I don't have many tropicalia albums, but I can tell you if you're craving a couple dozen indestructible melodies this is the album for you.
My band is about to board a plane for Japan to play pop music, eat udon noodles and speak slowly with our friends over there. So I can't go on too long right now.
All you need to know is this: Renaldo & the Loaf is pop music. Really, really weird pop music. Just about as far out as you can get while maintaining any semblance of a verse-chorus-verse dynamic. Like many, I first heard their music on the Residents' Video Voodoo compilation.
How does this make you feel?
It makes me scared, but aware of beauty. I can think of very little else in the art world that does that to me? True, much of that reaction comes from the video, not the music which is what I'm supposed to be writing about. But without the slightly disturbing yet whimsical video the music still makes me feel lost and bewildered.
RatL have been written off in the Trouser Press guide as "weird for weird's sake." Sounds like a cop-out. Music either connects with you or it doesn't. Maybe you just don't like it. But for those of us that like feeling something harmlessly strange Renaldo & the Loaf are magic, like Harry Partch making dance music.
Their second release on Ralph Records Arabic Yodelling is less aggressively weird than the music in the video, which is from their first album, Songs for Swinging Larvae. It's downright pastoral at times.
Okay, I've gotta go. I've got to make sure I've packed my purple lamé pants, so read this webpage, listen to the tracks. I find their music rewarding upon repeated listens.
Respectably underproduced by our new fave rave Andy Paley, It's Time For is another album-- like Jonathan Sings! and Rockin' and Romance-- that Jonathan doesn't care much for but is nonetheless stuffed full of gems.More than most Jonathan Richman records this one has tunes that aren't too idiosyncratic for a big label artist to cover, "It's You" and "This Love Of Mine" being two prime examples. It's Time For was released on Rough Trade in 1986 and never rereleased.
It's not very rewarding to write about the songs. This is probably the reason Richman is slightly stand-offish in his rarely granted interviews. His songs speak for themselves like no one else could. They draw up strong, specific emotions using everyday language, and expounding on them is redundant. Suffice to say, if you like Jonathan (aka Jojo) and his take on the ideal American beach party with the ideal American girlfriend you need this record. If you don't know what I'm talking about you need it even more. And if you need a recipe for a double chocolate malted, Jonathan's got that covered for you, too.
The pedigree brought to bear on this album is astounding. Andy and Jonathan Paley were part of a scene that fed directly into the pop end of the punk spectrum. They were there when CBGB's became the center of NYC rock 'n' roll culture. Jonathan Paley rehearsed briefly with the Heartbreakers, and Andy Paley played with Jerry Harrison in Catfish Black before Harrison joined the Modern Lovers. Andy would go on to produce multiple Jonathan Richman records as well as Madonna and Brian Wilson.
The Paley Brothers played power pop, a genre about which has been said is all about wearing stupid clothes, playing your stupid songs on your stupid guitar and not being stupid. Their sole self-titled LP is a perfect example of stupid-on-top/clever-underneath. Song titles like "You're The Best", "Lovin' Eyes Don't Lie" and "Come Out and Play" will rot your teeth out on sight. And if you stare too long at the free poster you might need a root canal, or washcloth, depending on your orientation. But these would-be heartthrobs are freakin' talented! Aside from their ringer of a guitarist, Eric Rose, this record excels in songcraft and arrangement. There are clear traces of Brian Wilson on the opener, "You're The Best." The quirky country flavor of their version of Mel Tillis' "Stick With Me Baby" reminds me of Lindsey Buckingham. The rest of the record is a melting pot of pop influences spiking outward into LA new wave, Appalachian Everly Brothers, British blues and Boston power pop. However, the entire record being barely thirty minutes long, no single subgenre claims high ground, making this record truly omnipop.
Matt at You Ain't No Picasso asked me to make a mix for his 12 Days of Mixmas series. I was happy to oblige. YANP is a great blog that tracks the current musical taste of one Matt Jordan. He's got other Mixmas entries this year from our pals Fishboy and lots of others.
This is the second year in a row I've been allowed to make a Mixmas for YANP. You can read my '06 entry here, though the mp3 links are dead.
I promise we'll get to some pop music soon, guys. But this record's just too unique to pass by.
Jazz saxophonist Arnie Lawrence's resumé includes his years as a soloist in the Tonight Show Band and stints with Chico Hamilton, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and Louie Bellson. A more complete bio can be found here. The sounds on Inside an Hour Glass will not make you feel like you're returning from a commercial break to find Bill Bixby and Mary Lou Renton sitting on a couch. This is improvisation that could only come from NYC in the wake of In a Silent Way, all weird atmospheres occasionally giving way to flecks of funk and souljazz. The Children of All Ages on this session were Dick Hyman, Richard Davis, and Ed Shaughnessy. But some participants were presumably playing hooky from daycare.
My knowledge of jazz is pathetic, so you will want to look elsewhere for an aficionado's perspective. My interest in this record comes from the two actual children, Ricky Lawrence and Dickie D. Davis, ages eight and four respectively at the time. The credits include the words 'total improvisation.' For children, improvisation that can be easy and innovative to adult ears, but it also often means repetitive and potentially annoying. Especially once Ricky picks up the recorder. Honestly, Dick Hyman's organ playing doesn't fare much better in a couple of places. But the point of this essentially unedited session -- aside from that one big edit when you have to flip the record-- is to get as free as children. If you're along for the ride a little annoyance can pass after a moment.
This is forward thinking stuff for sure. Lawrence's sax is electronically processed. The rhythm sometimes slips out from under the group. The kids' contributions range from conversation to drum solos. For some Inside an Hour Glass will sound like lazy masturbation, the dead-end that many feared was coming for jazz after Miles went electric. To these ears it's a battle between free will and chance. If nothing else, it's an interesting idea worth documenting, and those seem to be at a premium.
The files are recorded from a vinyl source charitably described as 'fair'. And the pressing itself ain't too sterling, either.
Have I sold you yet?
See Carson Arnold's wonderful twopart piece about Inside An Hour Glass on his website H(ear).
You can stream both tracks below, but unless you've got a supersmooth connection I'd advise downloading them.
Music fan, band member and studio owner.
Specializing in super-rare pop , strange high school bands and 'other' (aka, experimental, avant-garde, and other esoteric, interesting sounds). If your music is on this site and you don't want it to be, email me. I'll take it right off.
Contact me at casperfandango (at) gmail dot com.
In 1966 Allan Sherman was apparently as famous as Paris Hilton. Being negative eight years old I don't have very reliable memories of the pop culture gestalt of the time. But when I brought this record home from the flea market in 1998 I knew it was destined to become one of my favorite van-passenger testing tools. If you can hear the brilliance in this most silly record then I wanna hang out with you.
