I came across this full-page illustration in a '57 issue of LIFE Magazine, acompanying an article about the innovations and possibilities of recording tape.
I was struck by artist Richard Erdoes familiar and charming style, as well as the happy and only slightly off-target prescience of the images...
(click on image to ENLARGE on a new page)
"Present and future uses of tape ranges from simple home recordings (top strip) to complex operation of push-button households (bottom)."
In casting about for further examples of Erdoes' work, I was pleased and not at all surprised to discover that there has been at least a small bit of further discussion online: (click on links)
What can be gleaned about Erdoes' from these links is that he supplied many illustrations to LIFE in the fifties, and by the sixties produced artwork for several children's books.
Is there anyone reading this who can share further info about this artist, or point us all to further examples of his work? If so, please drop a line or leave a comment on this post. Much obliged!
ADDENDUM, 4/6/08: Thanks to Sami (see comments) for sharing the discovery of an Erdoes LP cover.
It's the 1953 'studio cast' recording of Rodgers & Hart's 'The Boys From Syracuse'.
Googling about I found a clearer image of the album art. Agreed, Sami, very Flora-esque!
A few randoms and sundries with a quickness whilst I'm on the fly back here in my old bay area stamping grounds...
- My Guest-DJ shift at KALX yesterday morning was a complete BLAST!
A treat to hang with Sex 14s, great to get that rush of the 'seat-of-the-pants, non-definitive radio' experience that I've not had in a while. Several nice calls and follow-up emails from well-wishers, a few pop-ins from old radio pals... A true lovefest.
As if another visit back to the bay area from whence I came isn't excitement enough for me, tomorrow morning, THURSDAY the 27th, I'll be on the air sitting in with my dear friend Sex 14s, spinning tunes during his morning timeslot on KALX.
Last time I did this was back in January, and Sex was gracious enough to turn his show over to me for the duration. It was just WAY too much fun.
I hope you'll listen in, if you have the opportunity. It's been a while since I've had the live radio experience I love so much. Could be I'll suck, which I'm sure would also be entertaining...
As the end-of-the-month closing date for my old home-town collector's record shop grows closer, I searched around and found just a few more links to additional bits and pieces pertaining to Village Music...
- Below, check out some hand-held over-the-shoulder footage of Elvis Costello from an intimate in-store performance at Village Music on 5/3/07, posted at YouTube.
As a reaction to record-shopping there, he sings 'One's too many, a hundred's not enough'...
- - And here's an older item, going back to 2001, it's a segment from a local TV news magazine.
Beyond showing the store, the focus is on it's uncertain future in the face of soaring rents and a changing music industry - - the same old story, just a few years earlier.
All is well, but in the midst of the usual busyness plus preparations for getting out of town this week, I've just recently discovered I'm flying out this afternoon to attend a funeral.
My Aunt was the last of the older generation in my family.
No more parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles. Now my siblings and cousins and I are the older generation (anyone else could probably tell by looking at us), and the kids and nieces and nephews are all proving to be a great next wave.
My aunt lived a long life, much of it independent and very confident.
Her passing did not take long, and she was blessed with complete lucidity as she made her decisions to leave the hospital and return home with hospice care.
Most impressive, she stated clearly that not only was she ready to die, but she was excited to make the next step. Nervous, but looking forward.
Now she's at peace.
I'll doubtless be around, and I'll doubtless be posting more silly nonsense very soon. Thanks for your attention, and all your visits.
MEANWHILE, this might be a good opportunity to delve into my archives, or investigate any of the scads of links in that brown sidebar, or take a roam through the YouTube 'vlog' stuff I've gathered...
As if another visit back to the bay area from whence I came isn't excitement enough for me, this upcoming THURSDAY the 27th, barring incident, I'll be on the air sitting in with my dear friend Sex 14s, spinning tunes during his morning timeslot on KALX. Last time I did this was back in January, and Sex was gracious enough to turn his show over to me for the duration. It was just WAY too much fun.
I hope you'll listen in, if you have the opportunity. It's been a while since I've had the live radio experience I love so much. Could be I'll suck, which I'm sure would also be entertaining...
2. Speaking of Former-KALX-Deejays, one of my favorite programmers and favorite people during my tenure at KALX was Mo. ➔
It's been a long time now since she's spun at KALX, having returned to her SoCal stamping grounds.
Check it out, grab a listen some time. It'll make *you* cheerful, too...
3. Some submissionses and correspondencies:
- I had another nice note from frequent visitor Joshua Turner a couple of weekends ago.
Previously he shared with us the unnerving images of 'The Yuk Yuk Clown Doll'. (click on the link if you're prepared to revisit them)
⬅ Now he's sent along pix of this well-loved vintage power drill... (click images to ENLARGE)
"My neighbor was having a yard sale and I picked up this gem. I don't have to much info except that it was made by the Independent Pneumatic Tool Company of Chicago Illinois. The "Flash Gordon" look of this is what interested me and I have never seen a tool so toy-like."
It's a beauty, and the tarnish and gunk give it sort of a 'steampunk' look, don't you think?
I'll admit though, that it took me a beat or two for its charms to work on me. It wasn't too long ago that I was still using my late father's old tools, (And some of HIS father's, too) that didn't look much more modern than this.
When the drill finally gave up, I was startled to find out all the new innovations there've been in power tool techology in recent decades.
'Cordless AND rechargeable? Adjustable torque? Doubles as a reversible screw driver? When did all this happen?!?'
- I was completely honored and amused to discover this new little 'graphic link button' thingie the other day, created by Percy Trout, using the LP cover image of Miyoshi Umeki ⬇ that I posted here a couple of weeks back, just after she'd passed away..
The link is floating amid other such links at his scintillating site 'The Percy Trout Hour'.
I visit there often. He was kind enough to say of my blog - "It's very informative... Plus... You like what I like!"
The feeling is entirely mutual, Percy. Thanks!
- Big Mike Geier, of Useless Playboys fame, recently dropped a line to say he'd seen the piece I'd posted back at the end of May about one of their old 45s.
He also provided a link to the well-remembered band's MySpace page. (click for link)
Thanks Big Mike!
4. "Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Subject: This is why I don't scuba dive!"
I received yet another 'kooky' little forward message this week from a cousin of mine.
Perhaps you have the same cousin? You're on her list, so she sends jokes and photos of kitties and angels and good luck prayer chains and warnings about the latest government cover-up - - and that's all you ever hear from her?
This one was actually pretty good. Maybe you've already seen it. It's a cool picture and makes a good story, regardless of whether or not it's the truth, and it comes with that typical odd 'forward' writing style and punctuation...
"Family on holiday in Australia for a week and a half when husband, wife and their 15 year old son decided to go scuba diving.
"His son wanted a pic of his mum and dad in all their gear so got the underwater camera on the go. When it came to taking the pic the dad realized that the son look like he was panicking as he took it and gave the 'OK' hand sign to see if he was alright.
"The son took the pic and swam to the surface and back to the boat as quick as he could so the mum and dad followed to see if he was OK. When they got back to him he was scrambling onto the boat and absolutely sh1tting himself.
"When the parents asked why he said 'there was a shark behind you' and the dad thought he was joking but the skipper of the boat said it was true and that they wouldn't believe him if he told them what it was. As soon as they got back to the hotel they put the pic onto the laptop and this is what they saw..."
Richard Decker's single-panel cartoons ran in several American magazines over the course of many years, but he will best be remembered for his affiliation with The New Yorker.
His work first appeared there in 1931, and he maintained a prescence in The New Yorker every year following, until 1969.
Decker was one of the quintessential New Yorker elite cartoonists of the era, along with Robert Day, George Price, Helen Hokinson, Whitney Darrow, and Peter Arno, not to mention some of the more familiar names.
In addition to his regular panels, an ongoing feature that ran for a time in The New Yorker was Decker's full-page advertisements for The Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper.
The premise was always the same; One individual witnesses something spectacular, while everone else is engrossed in the newspaper, the caption always stating 'In Philadelphia nearly everybody reads The Bulletin'.
To differentiate the ad from one of their regular cartoons, The New Yorker would run the disclaiming '(Advertisement)' at the bottom of the page.
If you'll follow the link and 'turn' to page 130, at the beginning of Chapter 9, 'Dreaming Philadelphia', there is a discussion of Decker's Philadelphia Bulletin advertisements that ran in The New Yorker. The passages provide some background, a critique, and a further example of the ads.
Perhaps I've heard people say - - "Roger Miller... Who's that again?"
- - but it's often followed by "Oh! The 'King Of The Road', 'Dang Me', 'Chug-A-Lug' dude?!? Oh sure - - Love that guy!"
Something I'm sure I've never heard anyone say is: "Roger Miller? Ecch - - I hate his music."
Singer/Songwriter/Musician Roger Miller (1936 - 1992) rocketed to fame in 1964 following the release of his first LP for Mercury Records' 'Smash' imprint, though he'd already spent several reasonably successful years in the music business.
He grew up playing and singing, and began working at it as a career after leaving the army in 1957. After a couple of coolly-received ventures as a recording artist he worked as a touring musician for several prominent Country & Western artists.
In 1958 he began to have better luck as a Nashville songwriter, supplying hit songs to Ray Price, Faron Young, Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubb, and George Jones.
By 1961 he felt ready to pursue being a recording artist again. Following a brief and fruitless stint at Decca, he moved to RCA records where he had a bit more luck with a couple of small hits, but he couldn't repeat that success at RCA.
After leaving the label, he moved to Hollywood around '63, began focusing more on writing novelty songs rather than 'straight' Country, and cultivated a slightly laid-back and lackadaisical performance persona.
Several appearances on network TV followed, which led directly to his recording contract with the Smash Record label.
The songs 'Dang Me' and 'Chug-A-Lug' off of that first Smash album 'Roger and Out' each quickly became big hits.
In response to record sales as that was happening, the label quickly reissued the LP with a different cover, changing the design to more prominently feature 'Dang Me'.
Then they soon did it *again* to also include 'Chug-A-Lug', eventually transitioning out the 'Roger and Out' title completely to re-title the record as 'Dang Me'.
(Click on the three cover images to ENLARGE)
The tracks I've included here from the album are just the ones that are currently out of print.
Don't get me started on my opinion of ANY of Miller's Smash and Mercury catalog being out of print...
...Roger Miller?!? Oh sure - - LOVE that guy!
From Roger Miller's 'Roger and Out' LP, (Smash Records, 1964)
Maybe apparel like this has been around for a while. I NEVER saw any of it until I moved away from California. (Maybe I just wasn't moving in the right circles)
I've been doing an ongoing head-spinning double-take every time I pass the dual kiosks at the local shopping mall that sell these t-shirts (and many other similar designs).
I'm guessing that other folks besides me have not yet encountered them.
If such shirts are a ubiquitous sight wherever you're living, please forgive me while I stare in slack-jawed fascination...
(Click on images to ENLARGE on a new page.)
All of these designs and a multitude of others available on shirts, hats, hoodies, and toddler tees can be found at the Divine Apparel website (and other "authorized Kerusso dealer" websites), and likely in thousands of identical shopping malls all across America.
See also: The Passion of the Tchotchke, one of several eye-popping galleries at Going Jesus. (Home of the 'WTFWJD?' T-shirt, and also where you will undoubtedly manage to see photos of My Amazing Godson.)
Country singer Tex Williams was born in Illinois in 1917.
He was among the performers who helped popularize Western Swing music, moving a rural and acoustic sound into more dance band-oriented 'countrypolitan' territory.
Following a move to California in 1942, he did a stint with Spade Cooley's band. His affiliation with Cooley ended in 1946, after signing a contract as a solo artist with Capitol Records.
By far his biggest career hit record came in 1947 with 'Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)', a hugely popular song that pointed out the folly of tobacco smoking. The song was largely written by Merle Travis with Williams in mind, as a way to showcase his distinctive 'talking blues' style of vocals.
Tex Williams would continue on as a succesful performer for many years, though never again reaching the height attained from that one record.
I found this later version of the song on one of many curious mixtapes I have in an old pile of cassettes.
Williams had released the song on a 45 in 1968, updating it into an about-face, countering the previous version's anti-smoking stance.
Go figure.
Tex williams passed away in 1985, after a battle with lung cancer. His daughter was quoted as saying, "He tried to quit, but he couldn't", adding that he'd managed to drop from two packs of cigarettes a day to about one before he died.
- A late 1950's TV performance from Tex Ritter's 'Ranch Party', over at YouTube. Wiiliams gives further example of his 'talking blues' delivery on 'That's What I Like About The West'.
Even as a kid, I had an eye for beauty and sophistication.
When I began to notice the decorative Lava lamps appearing in shop window displays and such back in the latter half of the 1960's, I remember hoping that one day I'd be cool enough to own one.
That my parents didn't recognize the allure led me to believe I was on the right track, but I agreed with them that I wasn't yet ready for a Lava lamp.
I'd wait till I was a grown-up. I could put it in the swingin' bachelor pad I'd surely have - - - - near the beaded curtain, the Zenith *color* TV with the big 'Space Command' remote control, and the shelf where I'd keep my 'Hai Karate' aftershave.
In the next few years, my resolve was only strengthened when I'd be 'over to play' at some friend's house, and see that they were lucky enough to have a Lava lamp in their own home.
"Cool!!" I'd say, "Turn it on, let's check it out!"
"Naah..." was invariably the response. "It's boring. And besides, it takes, like, forever for the gunk inside to heat up and start doing stuff."
Occasionally their reason would be that it didn't work right anymore, from that one time when it got left on for a week. "See? It's all messed up and cloudy..."
'That settles it', I'd say to myself. 'These fools are taking their Lava lamps for granted. They don't get it, and they can't even take proper care of it.'
'I'll have one some day, and treasure it and care for it like the exquisite showpiece it is.'
I never quite forgot about it, but as the '70's wore on, there were certainly other distractions.
By the end of the decade, Lava lamps were 'out'. They were relics. That didn't bother me, but as I began to think that maybe I was finally ready, I noticed that it seemed you couldn't find them anywhere. Such is life, or so I thought...
Cut to the early '80's. I'm fresh out of high school, working, I'm making my own money.
For some reason I find myself one day in a tiny, cramped neighborhood hardware store in the Richmond district of San Francisco. Honestly, I can't remember what brought me in or what I was looking for.
What I did find on a dusty shelf was an old Lava lamp, still in the carton, looking just like I remembered as a kid.
As it turned out, my Lava lamp purchase seemed to occur about five minutes before they began to make a comeback as a kitschy 'retro' item. ('Remember those '70's?') The comeback also meant that lots of new designs and colors and 'knockoffs' were appearing, which made me all the happier that I wound up with the exact style I'd remembered so fondly.
My Lava lamp has been proudly on display ever since. (No Zenith, no 'Hai Karate', no beaded curtain - - yet.)
It operates every day, on a timer, thank you very much, for about six hours or so (no overheating), and is still going strong, 20+ years later.
Comes on around the dinner hour, is in full swing by mid-evening, clicks off when it's about time for bed. Perfect. It makes me feel cool, even if I'm still not quite yet a grown-up.
Came across its carton the other day. (Of course I still have it. Why wouldn't I? What better to store it in if I should move?)
(click on images to ENLARGE)
The graphic design on the box is pretty special.
I love the exotic 'Arabic' font.
- - And yes, the motion inside the lamp does indeed soothe, intrigue, fascinate and entertain.
Of course, the best has to be the practical images showing common uses for the lamp...
(see detail below)
- Executives know that it adds a bit of style to the decor of a busy office. Very 'feng shui'.
- The perfect device to pacify a client in the dentist's chair. Bring on the root canal!
- The lonely days seem to fly by now that Grandma has her lamp to keep her company.
- And what better to put young lovers in the mood than basking in the wet glow of the undulating goo?
But seriously - - Regarding these original Lava lamps, this is an instance where time, fashion and circumstance never swayed my opinion. It was cool when I first spotted one close to forty years ago, and it's cool now.
Fashions come and go - - and then come back again, but elegance and beauty never go out of style.
Here it is - - the saddest 45 single ever created.
Not merely because it's a disco remake of the 1963 song hit 'Dominique', but because of where it fits in the tragic story of its creator, Jeanine Deckers, a.k.a. Soeur Sourire ('Sister Smile'), best remembered as The Singing Nun.
Often bordering close to the territory of urban myth, and with a bountiful variety of slight misinformation readily available, her story goes something like this...
Born in Brussels in 1933, by the age of 20 Jeanine Deckers worked as a high school art teacher. Within the next few years she studied art, played guitar, and broke off an engagement to be married.
In 1959 she became a Dominican nun and entered the Fichermont Convent in Waterloo, Belgium, taking the name Sister Luc Gabriel.
She entertained locals and her fellow Sisters playing guitar and singing songs she'd written.
After composing 'Dominique', she was encouraged by her co-sisters to record the song. She reluctantly agreed, and payed for the sessions so she could give out copies of the record as gifts.
The recording fell under the notice of executives at Phillips Records who in 1962 signed her to a recording contract and concocted the name Soeur Sourire ('Sister Smile'). Sister Luc Gabriel reluctantly agreed to the name, and turned all her profits from the record over to her convent.
By 1963 the record had become a huge hit in the USA and elsewhere.
Uncomfortable with fame, she reluctantly gave concerts and agreed to tape a performance for a 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
In 1966, 'The Singing Nun', a movie about her starring Debbie Reynolds was released. Sister Luc Gabriel dismissed the film as 'fiction'. By this time she had stopped performing, to concentrate more fully on a devotional life.
Although very religious, she began to find fault in the conservatism of the Roman Catholic Church, and especially their stance on birth control. Also, in 1966 she had spoken out in agreement with John Lennon on his controversial remark about The Beatles then being "more popular than Jesus".
By this time she was receiving flak from her Mother Superior and the powers-that-be, and though the convent had started the ball rolling, they'd never been too comfortable with the attention brought by her musical career.
In 1967, she had left the convent, resumed her musical career, (most of her proceeds still going to the convent) and had moved in with a childhood friend, Annie Pécher. Jeanine Deckers and Annie Pécher would remain companions from then on, though it is not 'officially' known if they were lovers.
Deckers had already subsided into relative obscurity when she released her second LP in 1967, 'I Am Not a Star in Heaven', now recording under the professional name of Luc Dominique.
It seems that one of the stipulations she'd signed off on upon leaving her convent may have been giving up the name of 'Soeur Sourire'. In an act of further distancing, it appears that the convent demanded that official records of her affiliation with them be expunged.
That 1967 album included a song that stated "...Sister Smile is dead, God is the only star...", as well as a controversial song praising contraception; ‘La Pilule d’Or’ (..."Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill"). The album didn't sell well.
She had a variety of new, more militant anti-establishment and church-critical songs that she then took with her on a concert tour of the US and Canada. The tour did not do well.
Her 1968 book of inspirational passages, 'Vivre Sa Verite' did not sell well.
In 1968, her musical career fairly well finished, Jeanine Deckers and Annie Pécher opened a school for autistic children.
It was around this same time that Deckers was hit with a tax bill for her proceeds from 'Dominique' and her first album. The Belgian government claimed that she owed them somewhere in the neighborhood of US $50,000 - US $80,000 in back taxes (the quoted amount varies).
Jeanine countered that all the profits went to the convent, thus making her exempt. As no receipts or record could be produced, the Belgian tax authorities ruled that she was to be held responsible for the debt. The ensuing court case, which Jeanine would eventually lose, continued until 1982.
Sometime during this period she developed problems with drug and alcohol addiction, in addition to bouts of severe depression and nervous breakdowns.
She did begin painting again, and to help raise money she started teaching art and giving guitar lessons while helping Annie to run the school.
By the early '80s, as expenses mounted, in a last-ditch attempt to raise money she was convinced to make a Singing Nun 'comeback' record, giving her hit 'Dominique' a modern spin.
The revival project included a promotional music video...
The 'comeback' 45 did not do well.
The court case was lost. Expenses forced Annie to close the school for autistic children. Jeanine soon was fired from her teaching job.
The two struggled along for a couple of more years, but on March 29, 1985 they each took an overdose of pills and alcohol at their apartment in Wavre, Belgium, as part of a suicide pact.
"Am I a failure? I try to stay honest with myself. To look for the truth, and try to question everything in my life... Ten years ago I would have said I was a loser. Now I don't think in terms of losing or winning... Life is a continuum. You're constantly on your way. One day I feel good, the next I feel bad. Altogether it's bearable. Would I do it all over again? That's not a good question. You can't. You can't do it all over again. Voila"
- - Jeanine Deckers
"Jeanine... is in constant depression and only lives for me. I live for her. That can't go on.
"We do suffer really too much... We have no more place in life, no ideal except God, but we can't eat that.
"We go to eternity in peace. We trust God will forgive us. He saw us both suffer and he won't let us down.
"It would please Jeanine not to die for the world. She had a hard time on earth. She deserves to live in the minds of people."
- - Annie Pécher, from Jeanine and Annie's suicide note, 1985
ADDENDUM, 1.25.09: A comment to this post cites a recent addition to the Wikipedia entry for Jeanine Deckers that makes for a poignant postscript: "In a great irony, the very day of her suicide and unknown to her, the Belgian association that collects royalties for songwriters (SABAM) awarded her approximately $300,000 (571,658 Belgian francs) - - more than enough to have paid off her debt and provide for her."
Just a few more thises and thats dripping into my puddle of consciousness...
1. Some upcoming new DVDs, announced for release in late October:
- 'The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934-1936' - - A 2-disc set from Sony, beginning a conscientious, chronological and cleaned-up series of (hopefully) the complete series of shorts.
No more scatter-shot, public domain, half-assed, colorized B.S. - - Fingers crossed.
- The Beatles' 'Help!' as a 2-disc set w/ lots of extras. There's also an expensive 'collectors edition' that will include a shooting script, posters and lobby cards, etc.
- From 1973, Lindsay Anderson's 'O Lucky Man' with Malcolm McDowell.
- 'Spike Jones: The Legend' - - Spike and the band on TV in the 1950's. Lots of rarities on 3 discs, plus a bonus CD.
The continued comparison might do a disservice, but is still apt: In the late 1960's and early seventies, counter-culture comedy troupe The Congress of Wonders was basically San Francisco's equivalent to L.A.'s Firesign Theatre.
By the time they'd recorded their two LPs for Fantasy Records, they'd gone from being a trio to a duo.
They'd also been on-air personalities in the early days of legendary 'free-form' FM radio station KSAN.
In the photo, left to right: ➔ Richard Rollins (a.k.a. Winslow Thrill) Howard Kerr (a.k.a. Karl Truckload)
In wandering about the web seeking info on them and what's in print, I found that those two LP's, 'Revolting' and 'Sophomoric' have been made available again on 'limited-edition' CDs. (click for link)
That C.o.W. site also makes mention of a DVD & CD combo of rarities, live recordings and demos. Hmm...
Further searching led to the 'Pre-Cambrian Music' website of Phill Sawyer, who had engineered and produced those two Fantasy LPs. He's generously provided several full-length audio clips from them, including some previously unreleased tracks.
4. Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor. He has been breathing life into generations of 'Strandbeests' that can roam and survive on their own on the beaches of The Netherlands.
Follow the link to this video clip of a lecture/demo, and try to wrap your head around 'The art of creating creatures', appearing at the TED website.
CONELRAD manages to turn one of our lifetime's biggest fear-generators into something fun, beautiful, and inspiring with their breadth of material and coverage.
Willard Cele was a pioneer of South African Kwela music, and is often credited as having been the first to bring the inherently upbeat sound of the Pennywhistle to the medium.
(On the record label he's credited as playing the Flageolet, which is sort of the refined older cousin to the Tin Whistle or Pennywhistle. I'll guess the credit was wishful thinking on the part of London records.)
It greatly helped to popularize the instrument and inspired many to play, including Spokes Mashiyane, who would become a superstar of Kwela in the mid-1950's and into the sixties.
I may have seen some of his Time covers or magazine ads in the past, but I think the first time I really drew a bead on the artist Boris Artzybasheff was about ten years ago, when I saw the small retrospective of his work that ran in issue #9 of Monte Beauchamp's 'Blab!' anthology.
(That piece has since been reprinted in 'New & used Blab!', a 'best-of' compendium published in 2003 by Chronicle Books.)
Russian-born Boris Artzybasheff (1899 - 1965) emigrated to the US in 1922. Through the course of his career he displayed his amazing versatility through many differrent artistic styles. He was frighteningly adept at portraying the surreal, but the draftsman-like clarity of his realist images was unique. - - And then when he'd combine the two... Wow. Nobody else like him.
He was primarily a book illustrator early on in his career, but in 1940 turned almost exclusively to commercial art. His print ads were eye-popping, and his affiliation as a Time Magazine cover artist spanned over 20 years..
These top three illustrations are from the Charles G. Finney's book, 'The Circus of Dr. Lao', ➔ first published in 1935. Below is one from a 1951 issue of Time.⬇ (click on images to ENLARGE)
If you're not familiar with Artzybasheff, I heartily encourage you to seek out his works. I've provided links to just a few places around the web that can help to whet your appetite.
What you see here is just the tip of the iceberg, so have at it!!
- A 'search results' gallery at Time.com of 215 Time Magazine covers produced between 1941 and 1965.** (Rats. See below.) It'd be nice if the images were a little larger and better resolution, but oh well...
- Artzybasheff's 1954 book 'As I See' is a luscious gathering of his artwork. It's sadly (criminally!) been long out of print, but last year Ken Steacy Publishingreleased a 'recreated' version of the book in softcover.
ADDENDUM, 9/12/08: The Ken Steacy reprint is no longer available, but the good news is that 'As I See: The Fantastic World of Boris Artzybasheff' will soon be back in print again as a new hardcover edition from Titan Books!
- In typical fashion, there are a few beautiful troves of high-res scans from the original book available online at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. The link here leads to a group from the 'Neurotica' section of the book, but there are links to further sections to be found by scrolling to the bottom of that page.
Below: 'Art Profane' from 'As I See'. ⬇
It's a great boon to be able to track down any examples of Artzybasheff's artwork, and it's great to know that 'As I See' is back in print, but - - surprise, surprise, I'm wishing there was more, like a big, thick, fully-loaded extensive career overview coffee-table book. I'm just slightly surprised there's not already such a thing out there. Maybe someday soon...
** Okay, so this Time 'cover gallery' link doesn't seem to work from day to day as well as one would hope. Try this...
Enter 'Artzybasheff' in any search window on the Time site. Your results should include a small 'Covers' sidebar on the right. At the bottom of that sidebar, it should read 'More Covers (215)'. Click on that. Presto. (fingers crossed for you)
By then he had been named music director for the CBS radio network. The arrangements for his new orchestra moved away from the 'proto-bop' music his Quintet had been known for, favoring the Big Band Swing sound that was now popular.
After a period in the early forties of touring with the new band, he returned to CBS and brought aboard some new high-caliber musicians, including Ben Webster, Cozy Cole, Charlie Shavers and others. Scott had broken new ground; His recruiting had made his the first racially integrated network studio orchestra.
This album collects a few musical selections from 'The Raymond Scott Show', a 15 minute daily (?) program that ran in 1944, originating at CBS in New York and rebroadcast over Armed Forces Radio.
These cuts are easily on a par with the better-known big bands of the era - - Some rollicking hot swing, and a few sweetly syrupy slowdance numbers, with vocals by Dorothy Collins* (soon to be the second Mrs. Scott) on a few tracks.
- Click on link for an oversized image of the LP's back cover liner notes in a new window.
From the LP - 'The Uncollected Raymond Scott And His Orchestra, Vol. 2 - 1944' (Hindsight Records, 1985)
I was fortunate enough to have received an invitation to attend the celebration for Village Music held at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I flew back to the bay area this weekend to attend one of the several parties thrown to bid farewell to the record store in Mill Valley, California, where I grew up.
Wait. Which - -? Huh? Grew up where? In the town or the record store? Take your pick.
(Grew up? A matter of opinion.)
I may have made some reference to Village a time or two here on this blog.
It's the store where I got my very first record, (Disney's 'The Jungle Book' soundtrack LP - - still have it) in 1968, when I was five years old.
It's the first-rate collector's shop where my all-inclusive interest in music began and was fostered.
It was where I worked my first job, for several years following my release from high school. A great place to further my education.
It had been something of a 'given', a constant in my life, up until I finally moved away from California in 2006.
Village Music's passing marks the end of an era for myself and many others, and it's a passing that also speaks to the changing state of the music industry and independent retailers.
I'll wager that you might know of a small independent music store or book store near you that's closed up recently, or perhaps soon will. It's a shame, huh?
If I sound like I'm making too big a deal over a store closing, you'll just have to humor me. This place is special, and it'll be gone at the end of this month.
For some background, you might follow these links to some press coverage on Village Music and its proprietor, my old boss John Goddard...
- 'The Village Music Story', another small audio slideshow that accompanied an article from The San Francisco Chronicle on 5/08/07.
- More recently, a 9/04/07 article from the SF Chronicle, with further delving and reactions to the impending closing, and a short video showing some of the related festivities that ensued recently in Mill Valley.
I was really glad I was able to attend the affair at the Great American Music Hall earlier this evening. I'd have hated to miss out.
I said hello to some folks I hadn't seen in years and decades, and celebrated the existence of a place I'd had the luxury to grow up thinking was a 'given'.
I also enjoyed some wonderful musical performances that I think do much to illustrate the eclectic spark and spirit of the store, by some artists who recognize that spirit.
Below are some crappy snapshots I took of the concert, from the table where I sat. Mostly I think I got nice shots of that 'exit' sign...
DJ Shadow warmed up the crowd, and spun during some of the short intervals between bands, as well. He was using mostly 45s he'd found at Village.
Sugarpie DeSanto still kicks up a storm and shakes it down to the ground. She's what - - in her early seventies? She's hot! That's bass legend Stu Hamm in the background, playing with the house band.
There's the back of Jimmy McCracklin's head. I was thrilled he did *both* 'The Walk' and 'Georgia Slop'! One of several standing ovations tonight.
Polish tap-guitar viruoso, Adam Fulara, in his first US appearance. Jazz and classical and improvisation, and mesmerizing to watch work the double-neck guitar.
Sammy Hagar and his band rocked hard. He's still just SO good at what he does...
Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman performing 'Maggie's Farm'. Word is that Weir had been in Chicago with his family at an auto race earlier this same day...
Larry and Lorrie Collins (!!!), speaking of double-neck guitars. Larry still does a bit of the hopping around like he did as a kid.
This shot of The Collins Kids was taken by my buddy Big Dave, another former Village employee there with me basking in afterglow and old stories.
Oh my lord, Betty LaVette wrapped up the show. Spine-tingling. Amazing. She's singing 'Let Me Down Easy' in this little sequence...
Actress / singer Miyoshi Umeki passed away a week-and-a-half ago, on August 28th, at age 78.
She was the first Asian actress to win an Academy Award. She won the best supporting actress Oscar in 1957 for her performance in the film 'Sayonara', based on the James Michener novel.
She also made notable appearances in both the stage and film versions of 'Flower Drum Song', but of course I'll always remember her as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper on TV's 'The Courtship of Eddie's Father' from 1969 - '72.
I dearly loved that show as a little kid, and I remember at the time thinking it was the hippest thing on TV.
It was soon after its cancellation that she retired from showbiz.
Born in Japan in 1929, in the years following WWII she became a popular nightclub singer while still in her teens, performing under the name of Nancy Umeki.
She emigrated to the US in 1955, signed a record deal with Mercury, and made several appearances on the Arthur Godfrey show, before being tapped for films and the Broadway stage.
Speaking strictly personally, I find the 'serene, child-like innocence' she was known for in performance just a tiny bit off-putting. It seems an odd choice. Maybe it was the era, or maybe it was just the niche she was meant to fill - - ?
Regardless, her voice was lovely.
From Miyoshi Umeki's 'Miyoshi' LP (Mercury Records, 1959), listen to:
ADDENDUM, 6/20/08: Fans of 'Eddie's Father' may want to click over to PhillyRadioGeek's Bill Bixby Tribute at Me And You And A Blog Name Boo. (follow link)
Ted Heath (1900 - 1969) was a British dance band leader who was hugely popular there throughout the 1950's.
He'd performed with other bands going back to the 1920's, and formed his own in 1944.
Listening to his music from this period with American ears, I'm always struck by his approach to swing and jazz - -
A combination of innovative and playful licks, combined with that British dance band sense of... what is it? Reserve? Decorum? No, that's not fair or exactly accurate...
... I guess I'll just have to call it a 'Trans-Atlantic Otherness' for now and leave it at that.
- - But that sound works well for me, make no mistake.
Both of these sides were recorded in London on November 29, 1954.
Session line-up: :
Trumpet - Bobby Pratt, Duncan Campbell, Eddie Blair, Bert Ezzard
Trombone - Wally Smith, Don Lusher, Jimmy Coombes, Ric Kennedy
Here's where I bitch and gripe, but make it sound like I'm happy about something. Well, actually, yeah - - I was thankful for the rain we got the other day. Suddenly it's acting like Fall, and the heat is beginning to wane, and we're beginning to get the occasional afternoon high-desert storm.
You see them rolling in from the distance, it gets darker, it blows and dumps and thunders for about 40 minutes at best, and then moves on so the sun can come back out. S'freaky.
The rain and wind the other day meant that for part of the day I had the luxury of driving with windows open and no A/C. No hot, stale air blowing in, no dust, no incessant smoke from distant wildfires. By late afternoon, the weather had cleared up and new smoke had moved in. Windows up.
Set up to promote a new Dylan's Greatest Hits CD set. (So perhaps it won't be around long?)
Ever-so slightly creepy and wrong-headed, I suppose, (like Chaplin's ghost forced to sell Hershey bars in awful TV ads) but dang if Bob doesn't make a good shill or messenger!
3. Speaking of Bob, a few upcoming DVD releases I'm eyeing and/or otherwise anticipating, all due to appear late in October or November:
- 'The Other Side of the Mirror' DVD is 'the first release ever of Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 and contains over 80 minutes of unreleased performances.'
- Flintstones, Season 6 (final season)
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5
- Popeye the Sailor Vol. 2, 1938-1943 (That was quick! Hurray!)
- PowerPuff Girls, Season 2
- Futurama the Movie - Bender's Big Score (All-new!!)
4. Here's a stack of some more fun blogs and sites that have come into view in recent days and weeks, mostly because several of them have been kind enough to link to an item I've posted here. (Thanks!)
More cool sights and info to absorb!!
Don't we all need more distractions?!?
There's some pop culture-y stuff, plenty of cool photos, and the occasional music blog...
5. Okay, so it's certainly nothing new, but this website / database for the 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' game is pretty fascinating.
If I was wasn't so golly gosh-darn edumafied about how the intra-net and the home computating machinery can glom onto such pieces of information faster than Billy-Be-Durned, I'd declare it all as voodoo.
I know that Scholastic Book Services is still around these days, I guess they're more successful than ever, what with their exclusive deal on the U.S.-released Harry Potter books and all...
...But I can only hope they still have classroom 'book club' operations going, and that kids today are still getting excited about it.
I remember in grade school how freaking fun it was to place an order for these inexpensive kids books, and that there may have been no greater thrill than when those books arrived in the classroom and were distributed. Like, just electric.
Perhaps the only comparable experience I feel nowadays is when I receive an Amazon dividend via my credit card.
It's nice, but it's not like that ol' Scholastic Book buzz.
The small collection of images I've posted at flickr is very vaguely chronological, and displays books in two or three different categories:
First and foremost, the Scholastic I remember was always about 'Junior Lit'.
Whether grounded in 'real life' events or problems, or flights of fancy with larger-than-life characters, there was always something for kids to hang onto and learn from.
(I still sort of remember 'The Shark In Charlie's Window' - - pretty sure that's right - - It was about a kid who made a pet out of a levitating shark. Even if the details are fuzzy, it's a hard premise to forget.)
Then there were the adaptations of movies and TV, novelizations chock-full of photos of your favorite stars.
Also popular - - at least with me, at the time - - were the 'behind the scenes' books about those same stars, or 'in depth' looks at the latest TV shows and trends, or at that season's charting pop music stars.
San Francisco comedian Doug Ferrari founded The High Wire Radio Choir in the mid-1970's, along with Kevin Aspell and Ray Hanna.
They were staples of the bay area comedy scene into the next decade.
This live cut first appeared on a four-song 7" ep, and featured Doug Ferrari on vocals, Ray Hanna providing 'translation', and special guest Amos Garrett on blues guitar.
To make matters confusing, the track would show up again on the '1978' side of a cassette they released in 1983 as 'Guys From Space' (then replacing Kevin Aspell with 'Righteous' Raoul Brody, another regular of the SF scene).
It was around this time that Ferrari struck out to pursue a solo stand-up career, winning the San Francisco Comedy Competition in 1984.
There are many cover versions of this song that try to out-do other versions in one way or another; groovier, heavier, funkier, peppier, noisier, etcetera - -
- - and there are versions that rely on a unique instrumentation - - banjo, harmonica, harpsichord, zither, etc, etc.
This version is the only one I've found that goes for a slow and languid arrangement.
Slinky. Almost sleepy. It's a standout...
'Hullabaloo' was NBC's answer to ABC's 'Shindig' TV show. Both were pop & rock musical variety shows airing in prime time.
Amid the gyrations of the 'Hullabaloo' dancers and 'pop-art' studio sets, the show would feature a changing roster of popular recording artists, as hosted by a different celebrity each week.
It ran for two seasons in 1965 and '66. (When 'Hullabaloo was canceled, it was replaced by 'The Monkees'. 'Shindig' would be replaced by 'Batman' the same year.)
See also: (click for links) - The IMDb entry for 'Hullabaloo'.
Prior to his stint with 'Hullabaloo', Conductor / Arranger Peter Matz was probably best known for his work with Barbra Streisand on her records and TV specials.
A few years following the departure of 'Hullabaloo', he further distinguished himself as the musical conductor on Carol Burnett's popular sketch/variety show.
It's unclear to me who might be the greater American folk hero: Pogo the Possum or his creator, cartoonist Walt Kelly.
Kelly worked on Pogo from the character's first appearance in Animal Comics #1 (Dec-Jan 1941-42), published by Dell, on through the debut of the syndicated newpaper strip in 1948, and until his death in 1973.
Dozens of book collections appeared over the years, some of them reprinting newspaper strips, others containing all original material.
I've gathered just a few of them from here and there over time. They remain a fun read, and the epitome of charming satire.
I thought about running some of these cover images (dating from 1951 - 1963) through Photoshop to try and clean them up a bit. Then I realized that part of what makes them special is the miles they've travelled and the evidence of all the hands they've passed through.
When looking for the 'dog-eared and well-loved' factor in old used copies of comic strip reprint paperbacks, the Pogo series may be second only to all those 'Peanuts' collections from your childhood.
So I guess this is a 'warts and all gallery'...
(click on images to ENLARGE on a new page)
A few notes on some of the personal quirks of these specific copies pictured:
- My copy of that original first 'Pogo' book above retains the price tag from Froggies, a particularly good used book store in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Well, what do YOU do on vacation?) I found it there probably mid-1980's. It's missing a back cover and has 'Virginia Long', the name of a previous owner, inscribed in red ink within.
(Seriously, I just love to ponder the previous lives and journeys of old books, records, comics, etc...)
- Likewise, 'Uncle Pogo So-So Stories' has a name and address for Bonnie James of San Rafael, California, and it looks very much like it was written with a fountain pen.
- The title page of 'The Pogo Papers' has an inscription, 'Happy Birthday to Daddy with love from David 3/13/55'.
- Likewise 'The Pogo Stepmother Goose', in pencil: 'For Mistress Furry... My Prize Leslie... Your "Unkie R." Wit Luv'.
- 'Potluck Pogo' is a copy stamped as deleted from the stock of The Mill Valley Public Library, so doubtless I found it at one of their Friends of the Library book sales.
(Don't even get me started on how much I LOVE finding former library copies of books, especially if it retains date stamps showing some history of when it had been checked out...)
- Looks to me like the name in blue felt tip on the cover of the slightly warped and water-damaged 'Pogo Sunday Parade' says 'Liebert'.
⬅ (End papers from 'The Pogo Sunday Parade'. Click to enlarge.)
See also: (click for links)
- A cover gallery (books and comics) at The Official Pogo Website. Lots of other cool stuff there, too...
- Parasol Records has re-issued to CD the 1956 'Songs Of The Pogo' album by Walt Kelly and Norman Monath. Go to the site and listen to a few cuts, including Walt Kelly singing 'Go Go Pogo'!!! (You'll need Windows Media Player)
Versatile musician, singer, writer, arranger, cartoonist and humorist Red Ingle performed with Ted Weems' orchestra from 1931 until the band went on 'hiatus' after the outbreak of WWII.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Ingle (1906 - 1965) had begun performing professionally by age 15. By his late teens he was playing saxophone with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, in the band along with Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer.
During his stint with Ted Weems, in addition to his instrumental duties he was the band's comedian, featured in many of their 'novelty' numbers.
A young Perry Como joined the Weems band as a boy vocalist in 1936. He later would recall Red Ingle as one of the most talented men he'd ever met.
After the Weems orchestra disbanded, Ingle sought war work, but was eventually discharged from military service after failing an Air Force eye exam.
In 1943 he joined Spike Jones and his City Slickers, which is perhaps the career credit for which Ingle is best remembered. His musical versatility, comic timing and creative spark served him well there, along with his aptitude for funny voices and sound effects.
Red Ingle left Spike's employ in November of 1946, following a salary dispute. (Not an uncommon departure for various City Slickers). By the Spring of 1947 Ingle had formed his new band, soon to be performing as 'The Natural Seven' and recording almost exclusively for then-fledgling record label Capitol Records.
Those Capitol recordings from '47 - '51 are brilliant. Stunning musicianship paired with wry cornball humor. You can find them all on a perfect and HIGHLY recommended Red Ingle CD released on the Bear Family label.
Ingle's performances here on these few earlier, well-loved old Ted Weems 78s don't match the manic inventiveness on display during his solo years or his recordings with Spike Jones - - or at least the intensity is only turned up to about a '6', instead of the amped-out '11' he'd reach in later years.
Having fallen in love with the man's skills from his heyday, I can't fault him for those years he was still figuratively 'on the leash'.
(8.22.08) It was recently brought to my attention that two previously posted Red Ingle video clips were no longer functional.
A fresh gander at YouTube reveals that several different Ingle clips have been added in their place. Here's hoping they stick around a while!
The first clip (below) ⬇ features Red and his band from around 1948, performing 'Cigareets and Whusky and Wild, Wild Women'
- Another, ⬇ from 1949, it's '(I Love You For) Seventy Mental Reasons', featuring vocalist Karen Tedder.
- Finally, ⬇ jumping ahead to 1960, Red fiddles with guest vocalist Jo 'Cinderella G. Stump' Stafford on 'Tim-Tay'Shun', reprising their hit recording from '47.
The videos above are available at YouTube via the good graces of Pappy Stuckey. He's rebuilt a whole channel there of fine material for seriously enjoyable viewing.
You can see more - - including more Red Ingle - - by checking out his treasures at: pappyredux
- See also: Good news! One of twindowlicker's recent Choosday Choons posts features a MASSIVE trove of archived Red Ingle 78s, including lots of the Capitol sides, the early Ted Weems stuff, some of the Spike Jones tracks and more!
Recently I've put up a couple of different posts on this blog (here and here) attempting to corral up some examples of work by cartoonist Virgil Partch, and also provide links to further spots where you can find him online.
(click on image to further ENLARGE)
Clearly, I like his stuff. If I keep finding more, you'll see it here...
ADDENDUM, 10/31/07: - - See?
- - Here's two more ads, both from the pages of Downbeat Magazine in 1953...
A lifetime of movies, cartoons, records, comics, bad teevee and lots of other ephemera 'n' junk has left me happily unfit for a normal life in the real world. - - And so here I am. Good to see you're here also! Welcome!
The In Crowd podcasts...
If the mood starts out worrisome, never fear - -
- - There's not energy enough to sustain the darkness for too very long.
Gloom dissipates! Enjoy!
Click on the link to listen to
an In Crowd 07/09 podcast (posted for a very limited time)
Sound files and other material you may encounter here are only made available for a limited time (as are we all), are assumed to be out of print or otherwise not readily available in these parts, and are meant for educational and entertainment purposes only - - Y'know, for FUN - - and NOT with any intent towards profit or copyright violation. However, I'm ready and eager to immediately remove any potentially infringing posting if it will avoid a hassle or hurt feelings. Please e-mail me if you feel your toes are being stepped on, and I'll happily rectify the situation.
In casting about for further examples of Erdoes' work, I was pleased and not at all surprised to discover that there has been at least a small bit of further discussion online: (click on links)
ADDENDUM, 4/6/08: Thanks to Sami (see comments) for sharing the discovery of an Erdoes LP cover. 
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