Dan Donates!

A good friend of ARC, Dan Zanes, has done the impossible; donated ALL, not some, no ALL of his LPs to the library. Sure he threw in a nice pile of CDs (841), but ALL’s a lot, or at least 1,954 discs, and that’s a lot. Not only ALL, but ALL in great condition, and not only that, great recordings. All of them.

Over 300 LPs were Reggae of the highest caliber and rare enough. Like every donation there were the usual 20 or so Dylan items, but no one ever offered 23 Burl Ives albums? Some of them pre-beard!

If you don’t know who Dan is, well you can go to his webthing. We first knew him as a Del Fuego. These days he’s one of our leading family entertainers, and that’s his press agents way of saying an amazing performer of music for kids.

His Catch That Train! was the 2007 GrammyAward winner for Best Musical Album for Children. There was a100+ count box of children’s recordings in the donation, and equal sized boxes of jazz, early R&B, blues and Folkways LPs. Nice.

So thanks Dan for the incredible donation – we should have them all catalogued and infiled by the end of the month.

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 love, and eschewing away all other itsy bitsys, like Flea, Adam Ant (who signs his name with little antennae attached), 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.

Summer Sale!

the ARChive of Contemporary Music FRIENDLY SUMMER record + cd sale 2008

WHY?
To help support the ARChive, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit music library with over 2 million sound recordings  –  America’s largest and BEST popular music collection.

WHERE
Our ground floor office at 54 White Street in scenic downtown New York.  We’re 3 short blocks south of Canal St, between Broadway & Church in TriBeCa.  Take the 1 train to Franklin, or any train to Canal.

WHEN
Saturday, JUNE 7 through Sunday, JUNE 17, everyday from 11 am to 6 pm.  ARChive Members are invited to a cocktail party on Thursday, JUNE 5 and shop before the general public.  For information on joining, call 212-226-6967 or email us at arcmusic@inch.com

WHAT TO EXPECT
Free admission!  New items daily with over 20,000 items for sale.  CDs are NEW donations from record companies, NOT used, returns or defects! Mostly pop and rock recordings.  Collectible LPs are priced below book value.   Hundreds of CDs are priced at $1 to $5 each.  Cassettes  are 2 for $1.00 Just released NEW & HOT CDs are $5 – $10.

PLUS
The most + BEST  7″ singles we’ve ever offered!  Many desirable and hard to find!  Shelves of new music, books, 100s of sealed/unopened LPs.  African, Reggae & world-music releases. Classical LPs 50¢ or LESS.  Laserdiscs and videos too!  For the dis-en-vinyled our Astroturf Yardsale of 50s kitchen stuff and clothing!!!

ABOUT US
The ARChive is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center.  We collect, preserve and provide information on the popular music from 1950 to the present and keep two copies of all recordings released in America.  Sale items are THIRD copies of items we already have.

Hope to see you there!

Ton o’ Tomes

Today we honor David Hinckley, of the New York Daily News. David has, over the years, contributed mightily to ARC. Unlike MOST critics, David neither sells nor hoards the swag and promos the recording industry sends his way. He reviews and comments on what he likes, promotes what he can, keeps what he loves the most, and then, generously, passes on piles and piles to us to fill in our collection. When we get third copies of things we sell them off. This in turn, helps keep ARC alive.

This year, as the promos dwindle to a precious few (because of electronic press kits) well, we get fewer and fewer new CDs donated. So David, feeling low that 328 CDs that he dropped off seemed a little ‘light’, culled his bookshelves for 261 good books to donate.

Aside from the simply odd, the simply odd and wonderful, the essential and the tossable (which we would never do) there were quite a few we really needed.

David added 48 books on the Beatles to our already catalogued 513 on our shelves. As always, Elvis was a close second, followed by Stones, Bowie and Dead (a law firm you can trust.)

One nice duo we’ve never seen was First Pressing , a two volume set of “Rock History as Chronicled in Billboard Magazine” compiled by Galen Gart in 1986 and published by Big Nickel – one of our favorites. Ringbound, and covering the years from 1949-1952, these oblong wonders attempt to summarize the newstories that did and didn’t matter. Looking at Oct 1949, we learn that Sensation Records, out of Detroit,“…recently resumed pressing after dissolving its contract with King Records, [and] is returning strong in the race field…” with releases by John Lee Hooker, Milt Jackson, and Wild Bill Moore. Well, try googling ‘Sensation Records” and you’ll wear out your mousearm by the time you can get to any real info on this indie long-gone. Did we mention there’s a reason we save, use and need books?

Look for a nice stack at our sale, as many are third copies. And not only should you come by [buy] and shop, but consider donating materials if you have any similar antiques, like records, CDs or books cluttering up the home or office.

SUMMER RECORD + CD SALE
20,000 discs’o’joy for sale @ great prices!
Sat June 7 – Sun June 15
everyday 11-6

ARChive of Contemporary Music
54 White Street • New York City, 10013
3 blocks South of Canal between Church + Broadway
Take the #1 train to Franklin St, or any train to Canal
tel : 212-226-6967 • e : arcmusic@inch.com • url: http://www.arcmusic.org

Cinco de Mayo, 1948

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we offer this little booklet, from the Mayo of our collective, festive, musical past…

And Jon, who is working on our NYMIA (New York Musicians Index and Archive) is busy adding musicians and music related businesses from:

Mexico, NY

Sonoraa, NY

Acapulco Street, Atlanic Beach, NY

Tabasco, NY

and just for fun, we’re thinking about a studio apartment on Calle New York in Tijuana!

Pure Pop for Now People

There was a time, children, when we thought Nick Lowe would save the world. In the dark days of late ’70s AOR radio programming, when dinosaurs like Led Zeppelin and synthetic prog-sludge like ELP and Styx clogged the FM airwaves like musical cholesterol, there was a moment when it seemed possible. It was a short window of opportunity in 1978 or 1979 when rock radio would play some of the poppier cuts from a small selection of anointed underground bands. It was a desperate attempt to fight off the juggernaut success of disco and came in the wake of the major record labels signing the cream of the New York punk scene, now doing business under the family-friendly moniker “new wave”. It meant in between Kansas and Foreigner tunes you might hear Blondie or Elvis Costello or the Ramones. Hard to imagine, with instant interweb everything nowadays, what that meant to a seventeen year old, but one moment your radio was belching out yet another turgid Bob Seger ballad and the next you were hearing Nick Lowe singing “Cruel To Be Kind”! That was magic, and in the afterglow of the ecstasy of the moment teen pop fans could believe THIS IS IT! – no turning back now the good stuff is on the radio, no one will accept the cretinous pap they’ve been handing us. No more Poco or REO Speedwagon now the genie’s out of the bottle. And then after about six months AOR radio unceremoiously stuffed the genie back in the bottle. No more “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love And Understanding?”, and back to April Wine. Like it never happened. There was only the memory of that emotion; the earnest feeling that real, honest pop, created with energy and humor and rooted in the original Rock and Roll – the “American Music” the Blasters were singing about at the same time – would drive out the horrors of corporate rock.

Friday Nick Lowe played a solo show Maxwell’s. To say it justified my teenage conviction that Nick Lowe songs are untouchable pieces of perfection is understatement. I still feel like if everybody would listen to the new Nick Lowe album they’d have no use for American Idol. I know intellectually that ain’t so, but it doesn’t stop me from believing. The scary part is he’s better now than he was then. His voice is richer, and musically the songs seem to distill American roots music – Rock ‘n’ Roll, R&B, country – into a form powerful in its simplicity while at the same time lyrically subtle. He played some of the best of his ’70s stuff and tunes from his newest record and all of it holds up. If anything he’s writing the best songs of his long career right now. Which means I have a new reason to believe in the future. Dig some classic album covers and the new one too:

– Jonny