Johnny Mauldin – I’ve Lost You b/w Vivera’s Soul (Richochet Records, c.1970s)

It’s weird. It’s from Texas. What more can you ask for? Well, in the case of Johnny Mauldin it gets even better because this was recorded in Mineola, Texas, the tiny town where my parents live. This track is similar to the GnR classic “Used to Love Her” except in this case the murdered woman also comes back to haunt him. Charming, huh?

Johnny Mauldin -Vivera’s Soul

King Floyd and Michael Hudson (Chimneyville Records, 1971)

Here are two from Chimneyville Records, a label based out of the famous Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi. (Named “Chimneyville” after the historical term given to the city of Jackson after it was burned by Union troops during the Civil War.)

King Floyd – Baby Let Me Kiss You

King Floyd had his second big hit with “Baby Let Me Kiss You” taking it to #5 on the R&B charts in 1971. He would go on to record several more records for Chimneyville before the rise of disco ended his musical career.

King Floyd – Please Don’t Leave Me Lonely

The flip side of the record “Please Don’t Leave Me Lonely” became known many years later when it was sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan on the track “For Heavens Sake” on the 1997 Wu-Tang Forever record.

Michael Hudson – Girls Are Made For Lovin’
Michael Hudson – Sweethearts For Now

Michael Hudson is an example of “kiddie soul” of the early 70′s. In my opinion this blows away tracks like Michael Jackson’s “Ben” that came out four years later. Not a lot I could find out about this guy. He recorded several other records for Chimneyville but evidently never made a huge splash. Unlike the King Floyd track, this one lacks the production credit from Wardell Quezergue (“Barefootin’”, “Mr. Big Stuff”) which makes me wonder if that why they didn’t get much attention. Two really nice tracks anyway, and most def worth the download.

 

Terry Sharman – One Mistake Too Many b/w High Plains John Deere Cowboy

God knows I’m the last person on Earth to know anything anything about wheat harvesting, even though I feel like a real slack asshole for having lived in Kansas so long to still be so ignorant on the subject. This song is an historical redneck ballad to riding the combine. And eating pickled eggs. While wearing alligator boots. Other side is a surprisingly dirty outlaw-country fantasy. Here’s the kicker though. I am pretty sure sure that “Terry Sherman” is a high school teach in Topeka. I don’t want to out the dude, so just trust me on this on.

I have found LOTS of stuff from Topeka recently. Makes me really wonder what happened to that town. Sad!

Terry Sharman – One Mistake Too Many
Terry Sharman – High Plains John Deere Cowboy

Mixtape En Espanol

Hey there Blizzard of 2011 survivors.  This is all music from Texas, Mexico, Central & South America. Guaranteed to make you feel warmer! If you have a snow day, might as well enjoy this mix with a lunch beer and a nap. Why not? Tracks come from mostly vinyl with the exception of one from cassette and one short excerpt from a Mexican wrestling movie that I bought at the dollar store (track one).

01-Lucha Libre
02-Fue Tu Amor – Tilly Lopez and Memo Diaz
03-El Circo – Tony De La Rosa
04-La Guacamaya – Bonito Veracruz
05-The Party’s Over – Groupo Kazave
06-Popotitos -Sandro
07-El Relampago – Narcisco Martinez
08-Aromas De Las Flores – Dueto Los 2 De Guerrero
09-Tico Tico – Brave Combo
10-Jalepeno Con Big Red – Joe “King” Carrasco and El Molino
11-El Corralero – Antonio Aguilar

Mixtape En Espanol (27.6 MB)

The Fun Songs of Shamu and His Crew (K-Tel Records for Sea World, 1982)

The whole Sea World thing is pretty messed up if you ask me. I mean, killer whales don’t exactly like living in captivity. That’s why Shamu was “retired” in 1971 after she bit a trainers leg. And didn’t some lady get killed last year at Sea World by a killer whale?

This record is made up of songs sung not only by Shamu (who incidentally had been dead for 11 years when this was released), but also her whole “crew.” Also weird– this record refers to Shamu as a dude when she was most certainly a lady-whale. Why would they do that?? These two tracks feature some lesser know characters, Virgil Pelican singing “Fill You Bill” and Seamore Sea Lion singing “Seal It With A Kiss.”

From the album cover: “Virgil is the jolly cook on the Fun Ship. When you hear his chow bell ring, you will know it’s time to fill your bill (or mouth as the case may be.) Listen to him rattle his pots and pans as he serves up yummy seafood stew.”

“Seamore Sea Lion loves to show off with his super athletic stunts and his crazy rock song. As you will hear Seamore has a crush on Dolly Dolphin and will try anything to get her attention.”

It’s as weird as it sounds. Enjoy with a nice lobster roll or maybe some very strong drugs. (Psst. Looks like Way Out Junk has the entire rip if you need to hear this one in it’s entirety.)

Fill Your Bill – Shamu and His Crew
Seal It With A Kiss – Shamu and His Crew

Tullio De Piscopo – Acqua E Viento (EMI Italiana, 1983)

Snatched this up during a dollar record binge, mostly out of appreciation for the tympani mallet holster he is wearing on he cover. This record seems to fall under the “Italian Disco” classification, however, it doesn’t sound disco-y to me at all. More like jazzy rock. And strangely, nary a tympani solo to be found.

Stop Bajon – Tullio De Piscopo
I’ Sono ‘E Notte – Tullio De Piscopo

Merry Christmas, Here’s Some Crap

Consider it a Christmas miracle that this played all the way through. An ad for the Dodge Swept-Wing 58 is on the back. Wax on cardboard. Featuring the Lennon Sisters.
Season’s Greetings from your Dodge Dealer and Lawrence Welk (Cardboard Disc)

 

 

This is a promotional flexi-disc apparently sent to church choir directors to advertise a piece of Christmas music for sale by the Prince of Peace company. Its a sales pitch and a few samples.

J.T. Adams – A Christmas Cantata (Flexi Disc)

“Music from the forthcoming motion picture ‘The Story of Sparky.’” According to the liner notes this movie/album was 18 years in the making. Something this weird doesn’t happen overnight after all.

Music from “Sparky” – The Magic Candy Machine

Music from “Sparky” – Song of the Magic Horn

Rene Meave – Leavin’ Cheboygan (And Joining the Cabbage Patch Kids) (Walrus Records, 1984)

OK eighties kids– Who remembers Cabbage Patch Dolls? They were “kids” that grew in a magical garden, yet inexplicably had a belly button. Some dude name Xavier signed all their asses before they were “adopted” and they came complete with a birth certificate. The popularity of the Cabbage Patch dolls was a fad that caused riots when stores ran out too quickly or didn’t receive their shipments on time.  This was a big business, and lots of people were making bank on these unflatterinly puffy faced monsters.

Rene Meave saw this all going down and came up with a scheme to ride the wave of Cabbage Patch madness. He recorded Leavin’ Cheboygan (And Joining the Cabbage Patch Kids) with dollar signs in his eyes. The song itself is hilariously bad. “If you’re not loved like Bo Derek / no need to feel lost or hysteric,” is one of the more notably terrible lines.

And it seems as though they all knew the song was bad but went for it anyway. A 1984 article in the Kalamazoo Gazette quotes the owner of Walrus Records as saying, “We know it isn’t Stairway to Heaven, but its the song to get us over. The whole project is to make money so we can do what we want to do.” 5,000 copies of the song were pressed but it looks like they never made it out of Michigan, let alone to the top of the charts.

Rene Meave – Leavin’ Cheboygan

Alice in A Wonderland of great Standard Hits – Alice Hitchcock (Mr. Ree Records, 1960?)

Alice Hitchcock is in her middle forties and has had, and is still having, a very colorful career in the music world. Studying pipe organ at the early age of 15 years, she heard Ethel Smith and soon turned to the Electric Organ.  “Miss Hitchcock plays a solid, full organ and with a man’s strong touch,” Charlie Dawn of the Chicago Tribune wrote. Alice hails from Chicago. She wrote both words and music of “Walk on the Moon.”

Walk on the Moon – Alice Hitchcock

Taking Pride In Topeka (Impact Broadcast Marketing, 1990)

Topeka is an Kaw word that means “a good place to grow potatoes.” That may be true, but it’s not good for much else.

Witness two desperate pleas for attention (for something other than being the home of the outrageously bigoted Westboro Baptist church): changing the name of town temporarily to “ToPikachu” in 1998 to capitalize on the raging Pokemon craze and changing it again in 2010 to “Google” in efforts to lure the search engine to building a new facility in Kansas.

This record is proof that Topeka was thinking up weird shit way before those two stunts. In 1990, far into the era of cassette tapes,  they decided that a promotional LP was the way to go. Ron Harbough narrates a short historical vignette preceding each schmaltzy, canned tune.  Why would anyone take pride in Topeka when they couldn’t even be bothered to find local musicians to record this incredibly boring record (all songs written and produced by Impact Broadcast Media, Nashville, Tennessee)? Just try to listen to these with a straight face. Ha!

Celebrate Topeka
Taking Pride in Topeka