Board Member Ellie Greenwich Dies

A founding member of the ARChive’s Board of Advisors died today.  With sadness we report the death of songwriter Ellie Greenwich.  Pretty much a recluse for many years now, her great music lives on through classic songs like  “And Then He Kissed Me,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Chapel of Love,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Be My Baby.”   She also sang some perfectly silly ones like “Niki Hoeky.”  Her version of this is rockin’.  Do Wah Diddy, she will be missed.

…above LP from the ARC collection :   Ellie Greenwich Composes Produces and Sings. (United Artists, USA, UAS 6648, LP, 1968).

Our Times has come…

Today ARC was featured in the NY Times, in the NY/Regional section, with a nice story by David Gonzales.  There were two electronic versions, and these featured cover art and sound files – you can go to  here 2 hear.

I was asked to dig through the ARChive for some unusual things I liked, and ignored new things that the Times might have reviewed.  But they didn’t publish my comments or the discography to the story,  so here goes…

Anna Domino
“Land Of My Dreams” on East and West (Les Disques Du Crepuscule, Belgium, TWI 187, 12″, vinyl disc Ep, 1984)    This is an early effort.  Equally swell is Anna’s take on the American folksong via her latest band, Snakefarm.

Big Miller
“Did You Ever Hear the Blues?”  on Did You Ever Hear the Blues?”, (United Artists, USA, YAS 6047, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1959)  Big = Clarence Horatio, a Kansas City Blues shouter, doing a pile of songs penned by Langston Hughes.

Twilight Zoners
“Twister” on  Zerø Zerø Øne  (ZIP (Zoners In Plastic) Records, UK, 7” 45 rpm, Ep, 1979).
We have 12 different handmade Xerox covers of this DIY crackly UK single out of the 45 different ones crafted, the whole run was 1000 copies.  Vocals in the background by my pal, Tilly Tilson.  Gordon/Glen is still rockin’ here.

Admiral Dele Abiodun And His Top Hitters
(Olumo, Nigeria, Orps 79, 12″, vinyl disc Lp, 1978)
Out on a limb here, but this is the greatest side of Juju music ever recorded. And it is the only one I know of that about ¾ through shifts into a Fela-esque Afrobeat layered in psychedelic guitar ecstasy.  Here’s that bit of this 19 min. masterpiece.

Avengers
“The American in Me” on the Avengers EP (White Noise, USA, WNR 002, 12″, 45 rpm vinyl disc, Ep, 1979)  Raw SF punk + vocalist Penelope Houston.    Only a snippet here as we had no rights.

Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney and the Hi-Lo’s
“Music to Shave By”   (Auravision/Columbia, USA, 6” paper/flexidisk, 33rpm,  196?)
Back of the disc says “ This is the first Hi-Fi recording ever to be included in a national magazine,” probably Life.   This is cloying music at the service of industry, and Bing, by the way, once started a paper ad record business.   There’s a great webthing on paper + flexies, hosted by WFMU, @  http://www.wfmu.org/MACrec/

The Buddah Box
I found this in a religious store, between a Buddhist and Hindu temple in the Little India section of Singapore.  Chips deliver a lively series of religious chants and songs, in a variety of languages, in endless repetition -  change partners by slapping a top button.  Works on batteries too, as you never know when your chant challenged.

Los York’s
“No Puedo Amar” on El Viaje: 1966-1974  (Munster, Spain, MR 285, 12″, vinyl disc-2Lp, 2008)
Out of Lima Peru, this quintet personified the organ loving Latino rock, when you could actually hear the electronic click triggering the sound.  Wonderful stuff, called garage now, part of the lovingly resurrected South and Central American obscurities by Spain based Munster Records.

Freddy’s Ready – Summer Sale Dates Announced

Join your pals @ ARC for our annual Summer Record + CD Sale.

Yes its true, mainstream rags are ga-ga for vinyl, those johnny-come-latelies trying to explain what we all know – you can’t love a CD!  So Fred put on his fez and got to work rooting through the 350,000 singles to pull third copies , just for you, for our next sale.

Cuz you can never have enough vinyl!

He’s working on the “R”s, trying to find some funky Johhny Ray, low-key Ramones and leathery Bobby Rydell.  Yes, he’s eyeing up a cartload of “R”s.  If we have THIRD copies,
well to the salebins they go

Sale begins Sat June 13 and goes everyday from 11am – 6pm, ending Sun June 21 , when mysterious traders, in fezes, clean us out.

If you have stuff to donate, do it soon.  If you need more, do frop by this June.

Dave Clark – Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay

We know the world has lost its moral compass when Gandhi chotskis hit the auction block.  Further proof is when former rockstars ask for a favor, on a quick turnaround, and than stiff you.  No we won’t go into ALL the folks who don’t pay their bills, knowing that ARC is too small to ever sue anyone, but here’s the latest.   We were asked to send a scan the cover of “Coast to Coast” (Epic, USA, LN 24128, Mono, [1965]) by Dave’s office.  We did it in a few hours, sent the scan, sent the bill.  A month later, nada.  We recontact and they say they sent by wire transfer.  We send them a copy of our banks transactions, proving it was never received.  They say well, it’s OUR problem.

So Dave.  I know times are tough.  You may not have the $100.  Sad.  Buy hey, when you wanted the scan we did it quickly, expertly, on faith.  That was our responsibility.  Your responsibility is to pay.  So despite the brazen stance in front of the US map, Dave Clark is no friend of America!  From the Stamp Act to the Dave Clark unpaid bill, it’s the same old story…

We gave him the boot, now send him your shoes!

My Fellow Americans…

I think everyone should send an old pair of shoes to Bush to let him know what we think of him – with the wish that they be donated to the poor – signed Muntadhar al-Zeidi.   Wrap in newspaper.  Add a label.  post…

The image of 100,000 shoes piled outside the White House is a good parting shot.  Pass it on…

attn: George W. Bush

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Searching the ARC database here’s a portion of our “shoes aren’t bombs” memorial discography:

Just Because You Wear Big Shoes – The Jody Grind
Cold, Cold Shoes – Fleshtones
The Steel Shoe – Risers
Hillbilly Shoes – Montgomery Gentry
Dead Man’s Shoes – Caberet Voltaire-
Take Your Shoes Off – Midnight Star
Get Your Feet Out of My Shoes – The Boothill Foot-Tappers
Old Brown Shoe – The Beatles
Brown Shoes Don’t Make It – Mothers of Invention
Worried Shoes – Daniel Johnston
I’ve Got Sand In My Shoes – The Drifters
Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy – Red Foley
Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins
Red Shoes by the Drugstore – Tom Waits
Walk In My Shoes – Hazel Dean
The Shoemaker – Mad Daddys
No Shoes – John Lee Hooker
Red Shoes by the Drugstore- Tom Waits
Wigs, Blues and High Heeled Shoes – Burning Tree
If the Shoe Fits – Leon Russell
My Father’s Shoes – Leon Russell
Shoe Shoe Shine – Centerfold
Layin’ Down My Shoes And Clothes – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
The Story Of Someones Shoe – The Style Council
Travelin’ Shoes – Elvin Bishop
Blue Shoes Stepping – The Bible
Walk a Mile in My Shoes – Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne
Shoe Broke My Heart – Souled American
Hair Shoes – Pale Saints
In Their Shoes – The Boston Tea Party
Leather On My Shoes – Chris De Burgh
Travellin’ Shoes – Bill Wood
Muddy Shoes – Elmore James
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes – Paul Simon
Welfare Shoes – Dancing Hoods
Shoes – Brooke Benton
Wing Tip Shoes – Henry Lee Summer
Shoeshiner’s Drag – Lionel Hampton
Nobody Can Fill Your Shoes – Conway Twitty
Soul Shoes – Graham Parker
My Little Suede Shoes – Sadik Hakim
Shoe Shine Man – Jimmy Davis & Junction
Red Goose Shoes – Sharky’s Machine
Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot – Von Dexter Orchestra
Shoemaker’s Holiday – Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra
Mama Get Down Those Rock & Roll Shoes – NRBQ
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – Elvis Costello
Standin in My Shoes – Leo Kottke
Step In My Shoes – Ruby Turner
Shoeshine Boy – The Humblebums
The Captain’s Fat Theresa Shoes – GTO’s
Put On Your Dancing Shoes – Steve Winwood
Soft Shoe Booty – King Sun
Rock and Roll Shoes – Ray Charles
Italian Shoes – Dynatones
House Shoes – Bar-Kays
Turtle Shoes – Bobby McFerrin
Walkin’ Shoes – Tora Tora
My Father’s Shoes – Cliff Eberhardt
Country Shoes – Alexis Korner & Snape
Shoes – Dick Curless
Those Shoes – Eagles
Wooden Shoes – Texas Instruments
She’s Got Another Pair of Shoes – Alan Price
Hole in the Shoe Blues – Thomas Jefferson Kaye
2000 Shoes – Big Audio Dynamite
Shoes – Bobby Bland
Sailin’ Shoes – Littlr Feet
Happy Shoes – Joe Beck
Shiny Black FBI Shoes – A Tent
Goody Two Shoes – Adam and the Ants
Breakin’ in a Pair of Shoes – Manny Albam and His Orchestra
Brown Shoes – Karen Alexander
Wedding Shoes – Alistair Anderson with Fennig’s All-Star String Band
Sand in My Shoes – Toni Arden
A Shine on Your Shoes – Fred Astaire
Stepping Out of These Shoes – Mick Audsley
Tied Shoes – Auracle
Take Your Shoes Off Baby – Gene Austin
Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes – Kevin Ayers
Dancing Shoes – Kathi Baker
(I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes – The Band
Mercury Shoes – Jesse Barish
I Wont’ Step on Your Shoes – Barnaby Bye
Rockin’ Shoes – Paul Barrère
Boogie Woogie Dancing Shoes – Claudja Barry
Old Shoe – Joe Bauer
Soul Shoes – Graham Parker
Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot – Allan Block & Ralph Lee Smith
My Shoes – Hippos Blue
New Shoes – Pearl Bailey
Sweet Goody Two Shoes – The Blend
Rock In My Shoe – Hank Williams, Jr.
Two Shoes – Carlos Núñez
Jungle Shoes – Bernie Krause
In His Shoes – The Screaming Tribesmen
When My Shoes Are Loose – Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
Boogie Shoes – KC & the Sunshine Band
Paper In My Shoe – BooZoo Chavis
Sensible Shoes – David Lee Roth
Water In And Out of my Shoe – Men & Volts
Shoe Salesman – Alice Cooper
Paper Shoes – Yoko Ono
Radio Shoes – Bruce Cockburn
Hair Shoes – Pale Saints
…and over 400 more!

the SALE Continues…

Come on down and help us pay the rent here at the ARChive and pick up some great bargains @ bargain prices – CDs, books, singles, LPS – all for a good cause

!

All our Singles are Worthless Now?

As you may know the ARC was the reciepient of one of the best solid rock collections in the USA when Jeep Holland gave us his record collection. Jeep was also the mastermind behind A2 (squared) records our of Ann Arbor (A squared), as both he and I (B-squared) went to the UofM there.

Today ACE Records / Big Beat released the definitive collection of Jeeps efforts, A2 (of Course) # CDWIKD 274, on CD. Here you’ll find “historic recordings by luminaries MC5, Thyme, Scot Richard Case and Frost, plus the rarely-heard Prime Movers, with a young Iggy Pop on lead vocals.”

The thorough and nice Alec Palao put it all together, and he had a long look at our holdings – and was kind enough to thank Freddie and B, although we could provide nothing new to his exhaustive survey.

But our sale is still on and if you want the the original A2 singles by the Frost, Thyme or MC5, come on down – we’re here until Sunday.

The Latest Sect

This just in : Today, 5/22/2008, the N Y Times posts a story on Acrassicauda, the (only?) Iraqi Heavy Metal band, who just happen to be named after a species of black scorpion. There’s a new documentary about them and their love of insects…

Wanna watch? or watch another video?

As a kid, in Ohio, in the 60s, in the garage, I was one of many who preferred the Stones to the Beatles, and the twistymouth charms of singing “My. My. My. Like the spider to the fly, jump right ahead in my web” to any handholding lyric by those cheery entomologists. Otherbugwise, Spike Jones’ version of the Rimsky-Korsakov beething was great. And yes, I liked the Crickets, but it would be a while before I learned to love Spiders from Mars.

But now hear this; Jason E. Bond, who probably had a band in the 60s, is a biologist at East Carolina University who named a newly discovered trapdoor spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi – a name with a fake Greek ju-jitsu ring to it, but in honor of his favorite musician all the same.

So, in honor of Youngi, who we lovi, and eschewing away all other itsy bitsys, like Flea, Adam Ant, WASP, Iron Butterfly, The Honey Bees, The Fleas, Honey & the Bees, The Spiders, Halo of Flies, The Bugs, The Buggs, The Butterflys, The Bee Gees, Steel Caterpillar, Insect Surfers, Praying Mantis, The Fire Flies, Lord Flea, Lord Fly, J.W. Grasshopper & Butterfly, Celi Bee, Tarantula, the Tarantulas, The Insect Trust, Spider Webb, the Termites, Scorpion, Blowfly, and Spider John Koerner, accept our humble discography of arachno-centric seven-inch singles.

• Ballad Of Spider John, WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY, SHELTER, 7324, 1972
• Big Widow Spider, BILLY JACK HALE, D, 1216, 1961
• Black Spider, ROCKHEART JOHNSON, RCA, 1947-5136, 1953
• Black Widow Spider, BIG BROTHER & HOLDING COMPANY, COLUMBIA, 45502, 1971
• Black Widow Spider, DAMON FOX, CRIMSON, 1013, 1967
• Black Widow Spider, SANFORD CLARK, LHI, 1203, 1968
• Black Widow Spider Blues, LOWELL FULSON, SWINGTIME, 115, 19??
• Black Widow Spider, LOWELL FULSON, SWINGTIME, 308, 1952
• Black Widow Spider Woman, JACK HAMMER, MILESTONE, 2001, 1959
• Boris The Spider, JOEY COVINGTON, ORIGINAL, SOUND, 1967
• Boris The Spider, The CORDS, LAURIE, 3403, 1967
• Church Of The Poison Spider, DAVID HALLYDAY, SCOTTI BR, 07299, 1987
• Inky Dinky Spider, AIMABLE, SCEPTER, 12134, 1966
• Itsy Bitsy Spider (The), CARLY SIMON, ARISTA, 9525, 1986
• Me And My Spider, The REVERES, VALIANT, 196041, 1964
• Mean Red Spider, MUDDY WATERS, ARISTOCRAT, 1307, 1949
• Redback Spider, BROWNSVILLE STATION, BIG, TREE, 1972
• Return Of The Spiders, ALICE COOPER, WARNER, 7398, 1970
• Rubber Spiders In Coffee, Tommy HUTTON & KIDS BAND, MASTERVIEW, 102, 19??
• Spider, LIMMIE & FAMILY COOKING, AVCO, 4602, 1972
• Spider, HERBIE HANCOCK, COLUMBIA, 10563, 1977
• Spider, The DE MIRES, LUNAR, 519, 1959
• Spider, The LEAPING FLAMES, MAH, S, 1961
• Spider, CLODAGH RODGERS, RCA, 1947-9779, 1969
• Spider, The ELLINGTONS, RCA, 10528, 1975
• Spider, The STARLINERS, NO-NEE, 101, 19??
• Spider And The Fly, SAL RAIMONDI, CORAL, 62282, 1961
• Spider And Fly, JIMMY THOMASON, KING, 1085, 1952
• The Spider, AMOS MILBURN JR., SHALIMAR, 106, 1963
• The Spider, GENE NASH, JOSIE, 826, 1957
• The Spider, DOC BAGBY, GONE, 5087, 1960
• The Spider, JOE MORRIS, ATLANTIC, 859, 1949
• The Spider, The MARVELIERS, JOANY, 4439, 19??
• The Spider And The Fly, BANKS, ARTE & TELLERS, IMPERIAL, 5788, 1961
• The Spider And The Fly, BOBBY HART, BAMBOO, 507, 1961
• The Spider And The Fly, RAMBLIN JIMMIE DOLAN, CAPITOL, 1487, 1951
• The Spider And The Fly, STAN KENTON, CAPITOL, 1616, 1951
• The Spider And The Fly, The MONOCLES, CHICORY, 407, 1967
• The Spider And The Fly, BOBBY CHRISTIAN, WING, 2102, 1958
• The Spider And The Fly, LINDA JEAN, FAYETTE, 1628, 1965
• The Spider And The Fly, VON RUDEN, IVANHOE, 503, 1970
• The Spider And The Fly, TRAVIS & BOB, MERCURY, 71866, 1961
• Spider In My Stew, BUSTER BENTON, JEWEL, 842, 1974
• Spider In My Stew, BUSTER BROWN, RONN, 105, 19??
• Spider Man, HERO, LIFESONG, 45004, 1976
• Spider Man, FREDDIE McCOY, PRESTIGE, 398, 1966
• Spider Man, WILL POWER, PRIVATE, STOCK, 1975
• The Spider Song (Inky Dinky Spider), The KIDS NEXT DOOR, FOUR, CORNERS, 1965
• Spider Walk (The), JOHNNY DARROW, SUE, 738, 1961
• Spider’s Web, MAURICE KING & WOLVERINES, OKEH, 6800, 1951
• Spider’s Web, TAB SMITH, UNITED, 195, 1957
• Spider’s Webb, JAY JOHNSON, NEW, JAZZ, 19??
• Spider Web, TINY BRADSHAW, KING, 4727, 1954
• Spider Woman (Novela Das Nove), WALLY BADAROU, ISLAND, 99530, 1986
• Spider Woman, WALLY BADAROU, VISUAL ARTS, 99557, 1986
• Spiders, OZZY OSBOURNE, CBS ASSOC, 04318, 84
• Spiders And Snakes, JIM STAFFORD, M-G-M, 14648, 73
• Spooky Spider, The BUDDIES, SWAN, 194073, 1961
• Theme From Spider Man, The WEB SPINNERS, BUDDAH, 327, 1972
• What’s The Name Of This Funk, Spiderman, RAMSEY LEWIS, COLUMBIA, 10235, 1975

Oh, and there’s just so much more, like Tom Paxton’s “There’s A Spider On the Floor” or the debut single “Itzy Bitzy Spider” by Aqua (called Joyspeed at the time), “The Spider” by Eon and both Townes Van Zandt and Say Anything have a ditty called “Spider Song.”

Ps – Back on de bug track, don’t ignore the whirligig beetle, who’s very fond of sunglasses, aka Orectochilus orbisonorum.

Musi Cali

Here are some nice music images from California for all our dedicated disc bloganatii…

The ORIGINAL music makin’ Madonna, namesake for the Madonna Inn, US Highway 1, coastal CA.

A modern madonna from the conjunto band, Jose Luis Ruelas y Sus Rivales del Norte, entertains at lunch at the Capitol Flea Market in San Jose.

Shot off the big screen at the renovated and delux Stanford movie theater, where ARSC members were treated to an assortment of early sound Vitaphone releases, this one of “Guido Diero, World”s Foremost Piano-Accordionist,” from 1928. And according to http://www.guidodeiro.com/vitaphone.html, he is the first accordionist ever to appear in a sound film. Check out the Vitaphone project just for fun, http://www.picking.com/vitaphone53.html.

Signage at 101 Music & Books in San Francisco (no webthing, but great vinyl, (1414 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133, cross street: Green in North Beach/Telegraph Hill. Tel. +1 415.392.6369)

Record Surplus in LA – a better mural than store.

Singing Nuns at the fleamarket on Berryessa Road.

Mural outside kitchen window at Brooke’s in SF.

That same mural featuring Kid de Brooke, Gabby, selling it as Diana Ross in honor of Disco Day at her school!

Rock Around The Blooper

Meanwhile, back in the jungle…

Freddie’s really been kicking ass, sorting through mountains of 45s for weeks now. Every once in a while he’ll unearth a comedy single which is my meat! When this beauty bobbed to the surface we had to spin it, like forthwith, no tomorrow-style:

A white label deejay copy, Jubilee 45-5258, Rock Around The Blooper, parts one and two. But dig, students, it’s billed as excerpts from Kermit Schafer’s milestone Pardon My Blooper LP, (and sports the familiar cartoon imagery from the cover) but it is in the form of Buchanan and Goodman’s classic break-in masterpiece The Flying Saucer. It’s a break-in blooper record! Does that flip your wig, or is it just me?

It’s a strange concept. Is it an answer record? Hard to parse. It plays just like Flying Saucers; deejay narration cut in with snippets of rock ‘n’ roll and, like the man says, excerpts of Kermit Schafer’s bloopers. The editing is pretty good on the whole, snappier than any of Schafer’s other product which makes me wonder if he didn’t get someone to cut this for him.

Ol’ Kermit took a lot of hits over the years for his authenticity problem. Namely, that many of the hilarious “bloopers, fluffs, slips, boners and goofs” he collected on his records were actually staged by Mr. Blooper himself. Some of the clips were real, some he found it necessary to re-create. But he never indicates when this happens. This means Kermit gets a line on a legendary screw up via one of his radio engineer buddies, and it’s really choice, he’s gotta have it. But there’s a catch – no tape! So he lovingly fakes it and tells none of this to the saps that buy the record. As it turns out, not only did he do this for events where there was no recording extant, but also for shit that never happened. One of the latter was the Sonny Tufts incident which experts agree never happened. Too long to tell the story with any justice here, you’ll have to read about it on Snopes.com. One funny thing about our single here is “Sonny Tufts?!?” becomes a recurring tag line through both sides and with no context to tell us why it’s funny! We have to buy the Pardon My Blooper album to hear the whole (completely phony) joke. Most of the other drop in bloopers are spoonerisms which need no set up.

You may debate whether any break-in record is truly funny; accepting the limits of the genre, this is a pretty good one. I think the original Flying Saucer record will always be the best. But if you don’t actually slap you knees, break-ins can have a manic charm that is unique and which evokes the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll deejays which sadly is gone. Except for Rex on WFMU, of course.

The Flying Saucers are REAL! The Flying Saucers are STILL AROUND!

Jonny