“silence is a riddim’ too…”

With a mixed cultural heritage (German/British), mixed-up cultural focus (noise/reggae) and a mixmastered public persona (art school/wild child), Ari Up brought a disjointed beauty to her vocals that remain haunting.  I had seen her perform with the Slits @ Tier3 in 1980 (?), the foot-off-the-ground stage adding to the intimacy surrounding a band that never seemed all that distant.  I had met her a few times at the Rough Trade office in London also, back in the Rasta distribution area, a permanent cloud of weedsmoke hovering over the shipping desk, a time when it seemed the label, the people, the scene would go on forever.

Ari (Ariane Forster) died a few days ago.  She is survived by three children, a more than interesting extend family (publishing scions, Johnny Rotten),  jungle homes (Indonesia, Belize) and a very satisfying body of work.

My favorite (above) is the eponymous twelve-inch single containing “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm.”  Using a range of Jamaican musics as a jumping off point, the songs dispense with the heavy-on-the-upstroke Reggae guitar, replaced with a more than satisfying sharp No New York minimalist sound and solid base work.  It’s difficult for me to describe a music that was both discordant and charming.  But I’m not a critic.  But I never stopped listening to this stuff.

You can still get versions of the Slits’ “Cut” on CD, on Island.  When it was released it caused a bit of a stir because of the skin.  More importantly the name was similar to overusing ‘nigger’ by rappers, taking a pejorative and making it their own.  So while the stance and the cover produced some sales,  the band never charted in the US, only reaching #30 on the UK charts in Sept 1979.  No other single or LP charted here or there.  But the influences flowed into and from a variety of kindred spirits; The Raincoats, UT, Blurt, Flowers of Romance, The Pop Group, The New Age Steppers.

Ari’s Slits recordings were mostly produced by Dennis Bovell, but my favorite things were with the New Age Steppers and producer Adrian Sherwood.  Here Ari’s joined by second-gen Slitmate, Viv Albertine.  These two LPs are treasures, meandering deeply atmospheric dub, still clearly British.

You can get pieces of Action Battlefield on iTunes, but even the CD of the self titled LP is going for more than $30 used these days.  It contains one of the bands gems, “Fade Away.”  Nice records to be remembered by.

Here’s an alpha list of the Slits vinyl recordings @ the ARChive:

• “Animal Space”//”Man Next Door”/”In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” (Human Records, USA, YUS-1, 12″ 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 1980).

• “Animal Space”/“Animal Spacier” (Human Records, USA, HUM-4, 7” 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 1980).

• Cut (Island Records, UK, ILPS-9573, 12″ 33 1/3 rpm, vinyl disc LP, 1979).  One version here has a special custom label with a silhouette of the girls.

• Cut (Antilles Records, US, AN-7077, 12″, 33 1/3 rpm, vinyl disc LP, 1979).

• “Earthbeat”/“Begin Again Rhythm” (CBS, UK, CBS-A1498, 7” 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 1981).

• “Earthbeat And Earthdub”/“Begin Again Rhythm” (CBS, UK, CBS-A 13 1498, 12” 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 1981).

• “Earthbeat And Earthdub”/”Or What Is It” (Epic, USA, 49-02576, 12” 33-1/3rpm, vinyl disc single, 1981).

• ”In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” (Slits)/”Where There’s A Will There’s a way” (Pop Group) (Rough Trade/Y Records, UK, RT 039/Y-1, 12″ vinyl disc single, 1980).

“Man Next Door”/ “Man Next Door Dub” (Rough Trade/Y Records, UK, RT 004/Y-4, 7″ 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 1980).

• Return of the Giant Slits  (Urgent Records/CBS, UK, 85269, 12” vinyl disc LP with single containing an extra cut and interview, 1981)

• “Typical Girls”/”I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Antilles, ANS-102, with a folded poster sleeve, 7″ 45rpm, vinyl disc single, 198?).

• “Typical Girls”/ “Typical Girls – Brink Style”//”I Heard It Through the Grapevine”/”Liebe And Romance” (Island Records, UK, 12WIP-6505, 12″ 45rpm, vinyl disc EP, 1979).

• Typical Girls Won’t Pay More Than $8.00 So Why Should You? (Basic Records, USA, BASE-1, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, Bootleg, 19??)

Ties that Bind

Staying in NYC for the weekend for this and that, for both of them, saw and heard some very nice performances by Khaira (or Haira) Arby and Laurie Anderson.

On Saturday Khaira , ‘The Nightingale of the North,” aka, “The Aretha Franklin of Mali“ was playing a houseparty on the now nightlife-friendly Bowery.  Her North is the desert region of Mali, north of Timbuktu; the temp would make it the south in most countries, just about on a straight line with Jamaica.  The style is being marketed as ‘desert blues’ (she’s a cousin of Ali Farka Touré) and ‘duskcore,’ (think desert, not jungle or techno), but let’s say it fits in with the more established Songhai tradition (named for the Renaissance era African empire, village based, griot, largely secular, Islamic influenced, high tessitura praise singing) tweaked by monumental psych electric guitar runs from 17 year old Abdramane Touré.   One thing I noticed, and something I have seldom seen, is that for two plus hours no one in the band tapped their feet to the beat, any beat.  It just flowed.  So the voice is keening, soaring, evocative, the structure circular, haunting, hypnotic…but the guitar, but the guitar.

Here’s your dashing (means showing appreciation with cash in much of West Africa, not an attribute) author, reduced to singles in these hard times.

Like a lot of musicians in this world Khaira hopes her reception on her first US tour, and readily available music, will allow let her leave her day-job, as a salt trader along the old caravan routes.

It was a privilege to hear such a high quality performance in such an intimate space, the entire band smokin’ (but the guitar…).  I guess that’s why we live here, or in Timbuktu.

Here’s the discography I’ve been able to track down.  Cassette-player-less?  Get a copy of here first CD avail stateside.  I’ve never heard any of these, but did I mention I loved the guitar work I heard live?

• Moulaye     (Samassa Records, Mali, CS, 1990) We have also seen this listed as Diabira.

• Hala    (Mali, CS, 1994)

• Ya Rassoul   (Samassa Records, Mali, CS, 2002 or 2005?)

• Timbuktu Tarab    (Clermont Music, USA, CD, 2010)

This just in : a note from Clermont says they are looking to release all of the cassettes on CD in the future.

 

Now Laurie Anderson is also from the North (Illinois, Ireland, Sweden) and has brought her urban griot vision full circle, from the playful wondering of the early days to looking back and wondering why.  Her latest (Delusions) at BAM was majestic, the visuals not as striking as I wanted them (sheets of rain best), and the music better than ever (able accompaniment by Eyvind Kang on violin and Colin Stetson, sax.).   It was stories, non sequiturs, space-lore, snippets piled high, that by the end of the show are both zero sum and fully loaded, and you have no idea how she did it.

Her latest release is Homeland on Nonesuch Records.  For those of you who don’t know, I released LA’s first single, ‘O Superman,’ back when NYC was full of making, not the curatorial place holder it is now.   Nice to see her wearing my skinny ska tie I gave her in the 70s.

As both performers referenced their ancestors and offered unfamiliar nods to the Divine,  an e-mail that only came in today, addressed to “the Whole World,” seems to tie the skinny all together.

I, Margaret Veronica Nabakooza Kiyaga,

Katonda Afirika, WIFE OF GOD,

have the great honour and pleasure to announce to the whole world that The Lord God, has today,

the 27th September 2010,

beatified the beloved musician of Afirika, Franco.

MAY GOD BE GLORIFIED. AMEN.

Las Loss – The Sweet Beat in Bronze

It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas will close on October 18, 2010.

In the 50s Liberace was on our TV, the candelabra was on the Steinway, and my family took delight in the fact that his brother was named, “George.”  (Then again there was an equal affinity for wrestler, Gorgeous George).  Libby died in 1987.

The museum opened in 1979.  Since then fishy economics and a diminishing fan base have led to its demise.  Or maybe his subtle musical approach and plain demeanor were no match for today’s Vegas.  So they’ll pack away the world’s largest rhinestone, and de-neon his humble Tropicana Avenue stripmall tchotchke forever.   Rumor has it that Lady GaGa is eying up the space. (every clothes horse deserves a stable…)

Of course glamorous women have always gravitated to the desert; here’s me Mum, (on your right), who never missed a chance to pose with a slightly tarnished maestro on one of her various jaunts in the desert.  Here it’s the “Champagne Music Maker,” Lawrence Welk” at his last Resort and Museum in Escondido.

Edifice lost and inexplicable wardrobes remind me that on Weds (Sept 22, 2010) Caribbean artist Arrow died.  He had been living in Puerto Rico because in the mid 90s the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano wiped out his home and his clothing shop, Arrow’s Manshop Boutique on the island of Montserrat.  We all know and love the hit, “hot, Hot, Hot,” but there was a whole lot more.

I’ve attached a profile I wrote on Arrow in 2007, so pardon the lack of updates in this hast to post.  Uh, somehow, we lost our database of Liberace recordings, and, umm, the dog ate our Welk material, but we’ll end with a discography of the 31 Arrow recordings we have here at the ARChive.

Arrow	Montserrat, Lesser Antilles, Caribbean
Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell.      ‘Phonsie’	b: 11/16/54

Creator of the most recognizable song ever to emigrate to the “West”, Arrow’s party anthem “Hot, Hot, Hot” is the Carib equivalent of “Louis Louis”, but with even fewer words.  Since Bob Marley, and prior to the recent success of rap/dancehall acts, Arrow is the only artist from the English speaking Caribbean ever to rack up the multi-million sales figures to rival American pop stars.

Raised on the tiny Leeward Island of Montserrat, Arrow was the youngest of nine children.  Like most kids he was exposed to pop, rock and soul over the radio, while the local music scene was dominated by Trinidadian calypso.  He performed his first calypso’s when as a 10 year old he began competing in his school’s talent contests, delighting in improvised ‘picong’, or ‘stinging insult’, a form of derision leveled at a rival to disillusion him and delight the audience.  When a teacher remarked that his barbs went ‘stinging like an arrow”, the name stuck.  After finishing school Arrow displayed great business acumen and financed his career through a series of ventures like breeding pigeons (the 300-400 birds earning him a new nickname, “The Pigeon King”) and rabbits, working as a barber, making rubber stamps, selling insurance and eventually opening his own clothing store, Arrow’s Manshop Boutique.  All this enterprise proved necessary, because although he had won his island’s Calypso King contest in 1971 and for the next 3 years running, a recording contract failed to materialize.

His world view was forever changed on a visit to Trinidad in 1971 when he went to see top Calypsonian the Mighty Sparrow for advice.  Pointing to a room full of unsold records, it boiled down to a few words, “Be different”.  Originality aside, there were other problems with nearly every aspect of the music business surrounding Calypso.  First, the short marketing season from Christmas to Carnival limited air play and sales.  Lyrics while often brilliant, were much too topical or sexual to reach beyond the island, filled with local reference and slang.  On the performance end the artists seldom had the money to rehearse or keep a band together, leading to house bands, lowered standards, and endlessly recycled melodies.  Lastly, few artists owned their own compositions or collected royalties.

Arrow’s first singles appeared in ‘72 and the first LP, On Target in ‘75.  He published his own music and financed his recordings, making the producer a wage earner rather than the owner of the master tape.  Since Montserrat was closer to the French Antilles than it was to Trinidad, Arrow began incorporating cadence into his music and toying with ways to distinguish himself in the crowded yet insular world of calypso.  This was more a conscious attempt at a mini-internationalism and universality than merely adding flavor by incorporating exotica.  In ‘75 his theories paid off when “Monique” became a modest hit in Martinique and Guadeloupe.  From now on each LP would have a few songs infused with the rhythm and spirit of another territory – something for everyone that would increase the chance for sales in a variety of markets.  “Monique” was also his first non political/non topical song, reinforcing the notion that local themes were seldom exportable.  Another jolt of reality hit in 1977.  Prior to this time the Calypso King and Road March competitions in Trinidad were open to all – that is until it looked as if someone from another island was about to win!  When Arrow’s :”Roll Back” and “Tourist Leggo” by Antigua’s Short Shirt went head to head for top Road March honors, the Carnival Committee changed the rules to exclude ‘foreigners’.

Exasperated, Arrow made an even stronger commitment to forging a hybrid that would work throughout the Caribbean.  Using soca as a starting point, Arrow emphasized the bass and tassa bell driven rhythm section even more, and in a shameless bit of dated modernism added a disco feel and longhaired rock guitar solos.  On tour he would travel with Clarence ‘Oungku’ Edwards, (leader of the once and future Burning Flames) who played bass and guitar player, Christopher “Columbus” Newland (one of the few White musician in calypso/soca), adding local brass for shows.  In the studio he enlisted the best arrangers, originally Ed Watson (of Brass Circle) and in ‘83 Leston Paul, and rehearsed a tight band that often included Frankie Macintosh.  The result was a party act that was always ready to tour, reliable and professional.  This rock soca functioned like any dance music with diminished lyrical content, repetitive phrases, call and response choruses, and as many gimmicks as needs be to get an audience moving.  Arrow himself worked the crowd by constantly crisscrossing the stage with rock star involvement, setting himself apart from most calypso singers who still stood stage-center, singing to the microphone.  While Arrow was criticized for downgrading calypso by abandoning language for rhythm, disco soca beats and simplistic anthem songs are now an established part of Mas in Trinidad.

Fewer songs have been as long-lived and internationally recognizable as “Hot Hot Hot”.  When it first hit in ‘83 it became an instant classic – a chant that any sweaty crowd regardless of geography could claim as their own.  It moved beyond the world of Caribbean DJs and into college dorms when former NY Doll Buster Poindexter released the note-for-note cover version on RCA, and later sang it on an episode of “Miami Vice”.  The song has been recorded in 12 languages, made the charts in the UK and Holland, featured in the films “My Stepmother Is An Alien” and “Man From Africa”(1983), was the World Cup theme song in Mexico (1986), staged as the opening production number to the 1989 Miss Universe Pageant, provided the theme for CBS TV’s “new season”, and used to market Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Miller Beer, Tropicana orange juice and ‘94 Toyota’s on TV.  While “Hot Hot Hot” was originally released in Europe on Chrysalis in ‘83, and as a single by them in the US in ‘84, Arrow’s debut LP on a major American label did not happen until sales of 4 million and Buster’s version inspired Mango to take a chance in 1988.  A cover still resonated enough to hit #3 on the UK dance charts in 1993.  It would be safe to low ball sales at 8 million.

The success of “Hot Hot Hot” allowed Arrow to put together a touring show and band called the Multi-National Force in ‘89, expanded to include a full brass section and still featuring guitarist Newland.  That same year he was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire), a high civilian honor just short of Knighthood by the Queen of England.  Other accomplishments include being the first soca, let alone calypso artist on “Soul Train”, the UK’s Top of the Pops and Terry Wogan Show (UK personality host similar to Johnny Carson), and at Reggae Sunsplash.  Arrow is one of the few soca or calypso artists to maintain an active, worldwide touring schedule.  Recently he has performed in Ghana, Morocco and Japan.  Dividing his time between Montserrat and Brooklyn, he’s been given the “Key to New York City” for his contribution to the city’s cultural wealth.  He’s not the only member of his family to compose and perform, his brother Justin (“Hero”) wrote one of the Caribbean’s biggest hits “Tiney Winey”, and another brother Lorenzo, once performed as ‘Young Challenger”.  Gearing up for the next generation is Arrow’s six year old son who’s already appeared on Broadway and in TV commercials.  With the volcanic action on tiny Montserrat in the late 90s, Arrow, like most of his Islandmates, lost everything he has built there and may never be able to return.

• Classics plus  (Arrow, 042, 5″, compact disc, 1994)

• Deadly  (Arrow, 025*, 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1985)

• “Groove Master”  (Mango, USA, MLPS 7822, 12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, 1988)

• Heavy Energy  (Blue Moon, France, BM 113, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1987)

• Heavy Energy  (Arrow, 028, 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1986)

• Hot Hot Hot  (CNR, Netherlands, 656 044, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1983)

• Hot Hot Hot  (Chrysalis, USA, CHR 1434, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1983)

• Hot Hot Hot  (Arrow, 019, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1982)

• “Hot Hot Hot”  (Hotter Mix ‘84) // “Hot Hot Hot”  (Soca Dub Mix) / ╥Hot Hot Hot”    (Chrysalis, USA, 4V9 42701, 12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, 1984)

• “Hot Hot Hot”  / “Hot Hot Hot”  (Instrumental)  (Air / Chrysalis, UK, ARROX-1, 12″, vinyl disc-Single or Ep, 1984)

• Instant Knockout  (Charlie’s, 017, 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1981)

• “Jam Fierce Remix” / “Jam Fierce Dub” // “ Afro Soca Acid Dub” / “Techno Dub”  (Mango, USA, MLPS 7829 DJ, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp , 1989)

• “Jam Fierce” / “Afro Soca Acid Dub” / “Techno Dub”  (Mango, USA, MLPS 7829 DJ, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1989)

• Knock Dem Dead  (Mango, USA, MLPS 9809, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1988)

• Knock Dem Dead  (Arrow, 029, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , 1987)

• Massive  (Arrow, 031, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1988)

• Model de Bam Bam  (Arrow, 039 , 5”, compact disc, 1992)

• O’ La Soca  (Mango, USA, MLPS 9835, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , 1989)

• “O’ La Soca”  (Mango, USA, MLPS 7829, 12″, vinyl disc-single, 1989)

• Outrageous  (Arrow, 040, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1993)

• Ride de Riddim  (Arrow, 0045 CD, 5”, compact disc, 1996)

• Rush Hour  (B’s, USA, BSR-AR-021, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1984)

• Soca Dance Party  (Mango, USA, 539 878-1, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1990)

• Soca Dance Party  (Mango, USA, 539878-2, 5″, compact disc, 1990)

• Soca Savage  (Arrow, 023 , 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1984)

• Soca Savage  (London, UK, LON 113, 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1984)

• Soca-Rocka  (Charlie’s, USA, 016, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1979)

• Sweet Beat  (Charlie’s, CR 015, 12” , vinyl disc-Lp, 1978)   Illustrated above.

• The Best of Arrow – King of Soca Vol. 2  (Arrow, 038-CD, 5″, compact disc, 1992)

• Turbulence  (Arrow, 0047, 5″, compact disc, 1998)

• Zombie Soca (Re-mixes)  (Arrow, 037-CA,  cassette, 1991)

Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas

As you may know ARC is building a Brasilian/Brazilian Collection.  Now if YOU are building a Brasilian/Brazilian Collection, I think the next record you should get is Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas, Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967 – 1976. (Tropicalia In Furs, USA, WPFC TIF 102, 2010).  This was put together by Joel Stones, our pal over at Tropicallia In Furs, New York’s best (only) Brasilian/Brazilian record store.

Bananas is a deluxe two record set, with a 3-D cover, appropriate viewing glasses, and a 48 page booklet insert providing details on all the source material in English and Portuguese.  The discs sound wonderful and the illustrated booklet gives a bit of history and the inside scoop on the dogged tracking down of the sounds.  You may think you’ve heard it all before, the soft sambas of the past, or those now-sound tinkly elctrobeats.  Brace yourself.  This is psychedelic, fuzz guitar, acid 60’s rock-solid+sloppy, loud, proud, funky druggie music.  Like a good table set in Salvador, there’s plenty to eat, but you don’t know the names of any of the fruits.  And occasionally there’s a bit of sand in that last bite.

Cuts are taken exclusively from elusively available, mostly promotional Brazilian seven-inch singles. It was a time when Brasil was in dangerous flux, but a mere dictatorship couldn’t stop folks from creating great pop scrambles, like Celio Balona’s take on the Batman theme, “Tema de Batman”, or Mac Rybell glow in the dark version of the Stones’, “Lantern”.  Not that all of these songs are covers, but a visiting scholar, Tom Cvikota, noticed that “Som Imaginario De Jimmi Hendrix”, may begin with a Experience-like crescendo, but is an unaccredited cover of the James Gang’s, “Funk 49”.

ARC regularly trades with and shops at Tropicalia.  Sure it’s predictably colorful, and fun, and Joel is cute and lovable and knowledgeable – but go anyway.

Tropicalia In Furs, 304 E. 5th St., New York, NY 10003, near Second Ave in the East Village.  Open, more than likely, late afternoon into night.  Call to make sure: 212-982-3251  No webthing.  So just order it from Joel.  Say B. sent you.  $20 for the discs, and $6 for shipping and handling.  There’s also a documentary on the enhanced CD, What Are Fuzz Bananas, which highlights the hunt (hey Joel, where’s the ARC copy?)

Today I took two friends to buy copies.  Last night Fred, Beco + B (the Dino, Desi and Billy of crate digging) spent a few hours at the store and returned with these fine, finer, finest vinyl’s – first the Brazilian+ world, then other assorted:

• Joao Bosco.   Galos De Briga  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 103.0171, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1976)

• Victor Assis Brasil.   Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim  (Continental, Brasil, LP 0-46 411 068, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1981)

• O Pequeno Burgues.   Azes Do Samba  (Cartaz, Brasil, LPC 5062, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Erasmo Carlos.   O Tremendao  (RGE, Brasil, XRLP-5.306, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n)

• Cartola.   Pranto De Poeta, Serie Documento  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 130 0058, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1989)

• Manâ Do Cavaco.   Martinho Da Vila Apresenta  (RCA Victor, Brasil, 103 0068, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Dori Caymmi.   Dori Caymmi  (EMI-Odeon, 31C 064 422899, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 88)

• Nana Caymmi.   Renascer  (CID, Brasil, 8016, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, Mid-70’s)

• Maria Creuza.   Pecado  (RCA Victor, RCA, 103.0306, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1979)

• Carlos Dafâ.   Malandro Dengoso  (Warner Bros, Brasil, BR 26.036, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1979)

• Djalma Dias.   Nno Faéa Drama,,, Caia No Samba  (Som Livre, 403 6050, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• A.C.Jobim.   Matita PerÉ  (Philips, Brasil, 6349071, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Ed Lincoln.   A Volta  (Musidisc, Brasil, HI FI 2088, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, –)

• Lord Kitchener.   Hot Pants  (Trinidad, Trinidad, TRCS 0002, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Machito.   Machito Goes Memphis  (RCA Victor, USA, LPM 3944, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Ruy Maurity.   Ganga Brasil  (Som Livre, Brasil, 403.6127, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1977)

• Marilia Medalha.   Caminhada  (RGE / Fermata, Brasil, 303.0017, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Sencion Minaya.   Y Los Quisqueyanos  (Madely, 116, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• Marilia Medalha / Vinicius De Moraes.   A Caneno E A Voz De Marilia Medalha Na Poesia De V  (RGE, Brasil, 303, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1972)

• Paulinho Nogueira.   Moda De Graviola  (Continental, Brasil, 1-01-404-110, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1975)

• Cir Pereira & Jaime Santos.   Avante Brasil  (ACS, Brasil, LP 002, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d)

• Jair Rodrigues.   Abra Um Sorriso Novamente  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 120, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• Claudette Soares.   Gil, Chico E Veloso Por Claudette  (Philips, Brasil, R-765 021 L, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1968)

• Elza Soares.   Elza Negra  (CBS, Brasil, 1 38184, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1980)

• Raimundo Sodre.   Massa  (Polydor, Brasil, 2451 144, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1980)

• Sparrow (Mighty).   Sparrow Come Back  (RCA Victor, Trinidad, LPB – 3006, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d. [1962])

• Zimbo Trio.   Zimbo Trio Vol, 2  (RGE, Brasil, XRLP-5 277, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, –)

• Nana [Vaconcelos].   Amazonas  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 079, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1973)

• Marcos Valle.   O Compositor E O Cantor  (Odeon Brasil, MOFB-3413, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1965)

• Vanusa.   Vanusa  (Continental, Brasil, SLP-10 156, 12”, vinyl disc-Lp, 1974)

• Veloso, Caetano & Chico Buarque.   Caetano E Chico Juntos E Ao Vivo  (Philips, Brasil, 6349 059, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1972)

• Caetano Veloso / Gilberto Gil.   Tropicçlia 2   (Philips, Brasil, 79339, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, 1993)

…and here’s the other odds + ends we got…

• David Robert Jones  [ David Bowie ].   ChangesThree  (GRACE, AZL1-1984, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Arnett Cobb.   Sizzlin’  (Status / Prestige, ST 7227, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1961)

• Julian Dash.   A Portrait of Julian Dash  (Master Jazz Recordings, MJR 8106, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw”.   Cookbook Volume 1   (Prestige, 7141, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw”.   Trackin’  (Prestige, PR 7271, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Freddie and the Dreamers.   You Were Mad for Me  (Columbia, UK, 33SX 1663, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1964)

• Ron Goodwin.   Music in Orbit  (Captiol, T 10188, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• The Harmonizing Four.   Tommie, Lonnie & Me  (Atlantic, SD R026, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1970)

• Hollywood Saxophone Quartet.   Jazz in Hollywood  (Liberty, LJH 6005, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Carl Holmes & the Commanders.   Twist Party at the Roundtable  (Atlantic, 8060, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1962)

• Harlan Howard.   To the Silent Majority, With Love  (Nugget, NRLP-105, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Richard Hayman.   The Era of Cleopatra  (Time, USA, S 2080, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

• The Jet Black’s.   Twist  (Chantecler, Brazil, CMG-2.184, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• King Curtis.   Azure  (Everest, LPBR 5121, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1960)

• B. B. King.   Blues, The  (Crown, CLP 5063, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry.   Guitar Highwway  (Verve Folkways, FV-90919, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , n.d.)

• Houston Person.   The Big Horn  (Muse, MR 5136, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1979)

• James & Bobby Purify.   James & Bobby Purify  (Bell, BELL 6003, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Reno & Smiley.   On the Road with Reno & Smiley: Songs Truck Drivers Love  (King, 911, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Reparata and the Delrons.   1970 Rock & Roll Revolution  (AVCO Embassy, AVE 33008, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Shorty Rogers and His Giants.   Shorty in Stereo  (Atlantic, SD 1232, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Sonny Stitt.   All God’s Children Got Rhythm  (Prestige, 7248, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Sonny Stitt.   Come Hither  (Solid State, SS 18057, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• Al Wagner and his Philharmonic Strings.   £12 English Sterling – The Music of Randolph Adcock  (Soundscape, , SRC 33700 P, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, n.d.)

• The Who.   Pop History Vol. 3  (Polydor, France, 2673 007, 12″, vinyl disc-2Lp, n.d.)

• Sondra Williams.   Hark the Voice  (Atlantic, SD R003, 12″, vinyl disc-LP, 1967)

trickle-down donations

Just back from Ohio, ARC picked up portions of two recent donations that have been, and will be, given piecemeal, over the past and future years.  And what meals they are!   The first was the first donation of approx. 1,200 LPs, part of a larger collection over 15,000 recordings that were lovingly collected by Eric J. Schmuckler, and will all be coming to the ARC.  This generous gift was from his wife, Michelle Gelber.  Eric was a well known critic and writer for Mediaweek Magazine, and truly loved his music.

You can read a nice obit @  http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4816200-1.html

While we have yet to process the whole batch, one lovely discovery was a two foot-think run (50 recordings) of Beatles-esqs, discs sorta, kinda, maybe about and because of the Fab Four.  This is meat and potatoes kinda stuff – the odds and ends that make our mouth water.  They will join our existing 2 running feet of bad Beatle wannabeats. There’s a complete discography at the end of this blog.  Pardon the quick out-of-the-box low res pics, but behold…

And some singles…

Our second pick-up (course) of the day came from old pal and collector AP Joseph.  For years now AP has slowly been emptying his larder into ours, this his fourth donation in recent years, also about 1200 LPs.   APs donations are always rock solid, a little less pristine sleeves with mint interiors and a little less mainstream than Eric’s.   A quick look reveals a pile of CRI releases, early Fast Folk – The Musical Magazine recordings plus print mag when they were called “the Coop” in the early ‘80s, and an unusual pair of Jorma Kaukonen acoustic recordings on Relix from the mid-eighties.  Here’s a few others that caught or eye/ear :

Lastly, the folks @ WKCR, a-way up in Harlem, dropped off over 300 CD and two 45s.  Thanks to Ben Young who keeps coming back with great stuff, year after year.

We would like to also thank that stalwart friend of ARCs, the 2010 Subaru Impreza, which is zippy AND can hold 12 one hundred twenty five count boxes of LPs, without even trying, or more importantly, sagging.

And we ain’t too proud to beg : Do send a donation to help with all this madness – it’s expensive AND the recession is officially over… and do let us know if you have recordings to donate!

The list of Eric’s Beatles obscurata :

• Abbey Road ’78.   Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — Music from the movie  (Springboard, SPB-4111, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978).   cheap cash-in of Sgt. Pepper film.

• Barock and Roll Ensemble / Valkyrie and the Rhine Maidens.   Ein Kleine Beatle Musik  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8887, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  First three tracks incorporate elements of the Beatles songs “She Love You,” “I’ll Get You,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Please Please Me” and “All My Loving.”

• John Bayless.   Bach Meets the Beatles: Variations in the Style of Bach  (Pro Arte Digital, PAD-211, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1984).

• The Bearcuts.   Beatlemania!  (Somerset, SF-20800, 12″, 33.3, LP, ). cheesy Beatles exploitation. M-; 1 VG+

• Beats.   The Merseyside Sound  (Design, DLP 170, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Possibly, the artist is THE MERSEYSIDE SOUND and the title is BEATS.  it is unclear on cover and label.  Shameless Beatles exploitation record.  Cover has a copyright date of 1962, but the two Beatle songs covered here were first released in 1964! M-; VG

• Ewa Bem.   Ewa Bem Loves the Beatles  (Polskie Nagrania, SX 2193, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1984). Who knew they were Polish!

• The Big Ben Banjo Band.   Happy Banjos Play The Beatles  (Capitol, ST 2642, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). Medleys of Beatles songs performed on banjos.

• The Blue Beats.   The Beatle Beat  (AA, AA-133, 12″, 33.3, LP, N.D.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album. Features NO Beatles songs!!!   1 VG+

• Ambrose Brazelton.   And the BEATles Go on and on: Hits of the Beatles  (Kimbo Educational Records & Educational Activities, LP 8080, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  Educational record with Beatles songs used to illustrate rhythm, locomotor movements and balance.  Ambros Brazelton is the narrator.  No mention to who performs the songs.  Side one has narration and songs.  Side two is music only.

• The Brothers Four.   A Beatles Songbook : The Brothers Four Sing Lennon / McCartney  (Columbia, CS 9302, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  STEREO.

• The Buggs.   The Beetle Beat  (Coronet, CX-212, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).    Shameless Beatles exploitation record.  VG

• Lee Castle & the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.   The Big Band Beatles Bag!  (Pickwick/33, SPC 3174, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Leo Chauliac Orchestra.   The Best of The Beatles  (Concert Hall, UK, SVSC 2571, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1968).

• The Chipmunks.   The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles Hits  (Liberty, UK, NUTM 31, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  Eighties UK reissue.  Cut corner.

• Wynken, Blinken and Nod and the Golden Rock-A-Twisters / Milton DeLugg and Orchestra.   Dance and Sing Mother Goose With a Beatle Beat  (Golden, LP 127, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1964). Nursery rhymes played as if Beatles songs.

• The Entertainers.   A Tribute to the Beatles  (Citation, CSR-1005, 12″, 33.3, LP, ). shameless Beatles exploitation album.
• European Show Orchestra.   The Masterworks of The Beatles  (EMS, Australia, EMS 4001, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Current Event.   Hits of the Beatles  (Ambassador, S98095, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.

• Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops.   Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Play The Beatles  (RCA Red Seal, LSC-3117, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1969).  Filed under BEATLES RELATED.  NO DOG ON LABEL.  Last two tracks are not Beatles songs. VG+

• The Ginks.   A Tribute to the Beatles  (Summit, UK, ATL 4176, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1965).  shameless Beatles exploitation album.

• François Glorieux.   François Glorieux Plays the Beatles  (Vanguard, VSD-79417, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978). Beatles songs played as if classical pieces.

• François Glorieux.   François Glorieux Plays the Beatles Vol. 2  (Vanguard, VSD-79428, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1979). Beatles songs played as if classical pieces.

• Ofra Harnoy / The Armin Electric Strings.   The Beatles Connection  (Fanfare, Canada, DFC-9016, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).    Cut corner, sticker on cover.

• The Ted Heath Orchestra.   Beatles Bach & Bacharack  (London Phase 4, SP 44148, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Hiltonaires.   Dance to Beatles Hits in the Glenn Miller Sound  (Stereo Gold Award, Canada, GA-36, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• The Hollyridge Strings.   The Beatles Song Book Vol 2  (Capitol, T 2202, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   MONO.  1 VG- w/ taped up cover, sticker on cover and label; 1 VG+

• Hommage Aux Beatles.   Hommage Aux Beatles  (Revelation, Canada, KF 154, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Lester Lanin And His Go-Go Getters.   40 Beatles Hits  (Philips, PHM 200-211, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). WHITE LABEL PROMO

• James Last.   The Greatest Songs of The Beatles  (Polydor, UK, POLD 5119, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1983).

• Enoch Light and His Orchestra.   Beatles Classics  (Project 3, PR 5084, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). QUAD!!

• The Liverpools.   Beatle Mania in the U.S.A.  (Wyncote, W 9001, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.  1 VG+

• Johnny Mann Singers.   Beatle Ballads  (Liberty, LST 7391, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   STEREO  M- w/ taped cover.

• The Mustang.   Mustang Plays The Beatles Song Book on Swingin’ Hammond Organ, The  (Stereo-Fidelity, SF-23000, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). VG w/tape and sticker on cover.

• 101 Strings.   A Tribute to John Lennon  (Alshire, S-5380, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1980). shameless Beatles exploitation album.
• Orchestral Ensemble.   In Tribute to Brian Epstein  (World Record Club, Australia, S/T 4415, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Rostal & Schaefer / Ron Goodwin.   The Beatles Concerto  (MMG, MMG 1121, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1979).   Peter Rostal and Paul Schaefer play piano duets.  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Ron Goodwin.  M- w/ sticker on label.

• The Rubber Band.   Beatles Song Book  (GRT, 10015, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  An anonymous band performs Beatle songs.

• Russ Sainty with the Johnny Arthey Sound.   Million Copy Sellers Made Famous by the Beatles  (Boulevard, UK, 4064, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1971).   Shameless Beatles exploitation album.  VG+

• Broadway Cast.   Beatlemania  (Arista, AL 8501, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1978).  One copy  White label promo.  Recorded live at the Winter Garden.  “Not The Beatles.  An incredilbe simulation.”  Right.  Both cut corner.

• original cast recording.   John Paul George Ringo…& Bert  (RSO, UK, 2394 141 SUPER, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1974).   Musical involves The Beatles and their music.

• The Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Lanchbery.   The Fool on the Hill : Music Based on Themes by The Beatles  (His Master’s Voice, Australia, OASD.7589, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1976). Ballet based on Beatles songs.  Sticker on cover.

• Tribe.   Tribe Sing the Creative Genius of George Harrison, John Lennon & Paul McCartney  (Pickwick/33, SPC-3265, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Various Artists.   Beatlesongs!  (A Collection Of Beatles Novelties) Vol. 1  (Rhino Records, RNLP 803, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).     Cover art by William Stout.

• Various Artists.   The Original Liverpool Beat!  (20th Century Fox, TFM 3144, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).    Shameless Beatles exploitation record.”PROMO on label.  VG+

• Various Artists.   I Hate the Beatles Even More Vol. 2  (Rape Records Limited, LP 002, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.). Collection of Beatles novelty records.

• Various Artists.   Artfully Beatles Volume 1: The 25th Anniversary Salute to the Beatles  (Artful Ballance, ABI-7210, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1986).

• Arthur Wilkinson and His Orchestra.   Beatle Cracker Suite  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8919, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  Beatles songs arranged ala Nutcracker Suite.

• Arthur Wilkinson and His Orchestra / Zack Laurence.   The Beatle Concerto  (His Master’s Voice, UK, 7EG 8968, 7″, 45, EP, 1965).  Beatles songs arranged ala classical compositions.

• Woofers and Tweeters Ensemble.   Beatle Barkers  (Passport Records, PB 6032, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).   Dogs bark out Beatle songs.  Corner cut. We once found a copy of this for Matt Groening!

• The Leon Young String Chorale.   Liverpool Sound for Strings  (Atco, 33-163, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1964).  MONO. shameless Beatles exploitation album.
M-

Here’s the info on APs recordings we photographed and spoke about:

• Monty Alexander.   Spunky  (Pacific Jazz, USA, ST 20094, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Chris Connor.   Chris Connor  (Atlantic, USA, 1228, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Martha Davis.   Martha Davis and Spouse  (ABC-Paramount, USA, ABC 160, 12″, 33.3, LP, ).  Spouse = bassist Calvin Ponder.

• Jorma Kaukonen.   Magic  (Relix, USA, RRLP 2007, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).

• Jorma Kaukonen.   Too Hot To Handle  (Relix, USA, RRLP 2012, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1985).

• Imitation Life.   Ice Cubes and Sugar  (Veebltronics, USA, Veebl 50, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1986). OK New Wave trio of New Jersey-ites, this originally released on France’s New Rose label. Promo release.

• Mickey Katz and ‘Der Ganser Gang”.   Sing-Along With Mickele  (Capitol, USA, T 1744, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  In honor of the recently departed Mitch Miller.

• Lisa Kindred.   I Like It This Way!  (Vanguard, USA, VRS 9196, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1965).  mono. Check out her relationship with the Lyman Family!!!

• The Pipkins.   Gimme Dat Ding!  (Capitol, USA, ST 80483, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).

• Wanda Robinson .   Black Ivory  (Perception, USA, PLP 18, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1971).  Odd little packaging with booklet making up the front cover.

The State Radio Orchestra of the U.S.S.R. (Scriabin).   The Divine Poem  (Classic Editions, USA, CE 4, 12″, 33.3, LP, n.d.).  We do not collect Classical music, but who can resist nipples!

• Various Artists. The Coop – fast folk music magazine September ’82  (The Coop, USA, SE 108, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).  genetic cover with sticker and magazine insert.

• Various Artists.   The Coop – fast folk music magazine August ’82  (The Coop, USA, SE 107, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1982).  genetic cover with magazine insert.

• Various Artists.  The Coop – fast folk music magazine April ’83, Vol 2. #3  (The Coop, USA, SE 203, 12″, 33.3, LP, 1983).  with magazine insert.

Ladies

As we get ready for our Summer Record + CD Sale a LOT of very nice folks have donated a LOT of very nice recordings.  From a-way upstate came a musty but great pile from the barn of James Dybas.  Of note are the eleven Olga Guillot LPs in pristine condition.  Grammy winning Olga was Cuba’s “Reina del bolero” – and a highly emotional one at that, most songs tearily and romantically delivered.   She sang with the quartet Siboney, began her solo career in 1945 performing at Havana’s Zombie Club, and was the first Latin artist to play Carnegie Hall!  Whata gal.

Here’s the new adds to our five-strong Olgaography:

• Bravo!!  (Musart, USA, DM 12561, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Campanitas de Cristal  (Adria, USA, AP 3, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Enamorada  (Adria, USA, AP 30, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Epoca de Oro, Vol 1  (Adria, USA, AP 1, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Gracias America  (Musart, USA, DM 1256, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• La Insuperable Olga  (Puchito, USA, MLP 580, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , n.d.)
• Lo Mejor de Olga Guillot  (Puchito, USA, MLP 564, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp     , n.d.)
• MAS Exitos Romanticos con Olga Guillot  (Musart, USA, DM 1060, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Olga (Musart, USA, DM 672, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Olga Guillot Interpreta Borinquen  (Musart, USA, DM 1384, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)
• Recúerdame  (Musart, USA, DM 1536, 12″, vinyl disc-Lp, n.d.)

Dean Taucher, ARC supporter and TV insider, often asks visiting celebs to sign classic LPs, then donates them to the ARC.  His latest gift includes 3 comely LPs signed by comely Ann Margaret, Sharon Stone and Isabelle Huppert.  Nice…

And since it’s Memorial Day, let’s remember…

What Happened in 2009?

As we send out deeds of gifts (if you sent materials), thank you’s (for services or monetary donations), and plan, as best we can, for what we should be doing in 2010, we have POSTED our “2009 Year End Roundup” on the website.

In a nutshell, we have begun our partnership with Columbia University with some very nice projects and events, AND, the ARC grew by approx. 44,000 CDs, 30,000 LPs, 9,000 twelve-inch singles and assorted tens of thousands of music related videos, magazines, 78s, cassettes, singles, press kits and books.  The devil is in the details, so we list the angels who made it all happen.

The whole story is also below…

	ARC 2009 Year-end Roundup! Well finally, the second worse year of a pretty bad decade, ends. Small change, some hope. We hope all of you, who have been so generous in helping us preserve popular music over the past 2.5 decades now, will keep in touch. Thanks for everything. Heard a new term on the radio, and maybe you too are suffering from dreaded ‘frugal fatigue.’ Hope so. With your help, and luck, we’ll celebrate our 25 Anniversary next fall with our first big party in many years.Here’s our overview of 2009 – what we’ve done, who helped and some news on future projects… We’ve just wound down our Holiday Record + CD sale. Once again vinyl is king, crowning our best winter sale since we moved to White Street. There were fewer CDs for sale this year, because there are fewer CDs, period. When we did get large batches, they were usually multiples of the same disc, as companies relocated, scaled down or closed. Many of our donations come from music critics, or off the promo shelves of the record companies here in the city, and, well, the cupboards are bare as more and more downloads have replaced sending out physical product. Speaking of what was not sent out, this year we passed on the postcard to advertise the sale. I missed the graphics, and perhaps we missed reaching some people, but it saved $4,000. We did not miss dealing with the postoffice. Since we did better than ever, and crowdsize was the same or better, lets say it was an OK decision. Thanks to all who attended the party and the sale. As always, bravo to labels large and small for donating materials for the sale, and well, just surviving. Need I remind everyone, attending our sale party is just one of the perks of becoming an ARC member. Not only do you meet tons of nice folks, get food and drinks, but you get first dibs on all the best recordings. The next sale is June 12. Make sure we have your e-mail address so you get the virtual invite. BMI, the rights organization, sponsored the Holiday Sale this year. Thanks to VP Robbin Ahrold, a long time supporter of ARC, who made it all happen. It’s not an exaggeration to say we could not have done it without him. Downtown Express was an advertising partner, providing a nice display ad and write-up in their papers. Thanks to go-getter, Dani Zupanovich. Other friends of long standing, Mike Nabors of Bonnie’s Grill in Brooklyn supplied the beer and hot wings, while Emanuelle, of the Bubble Lounge, provided the bubbly. Volunteers working the sale included Tim Bourn, Henry Beer, Patrice George and Jessica Thompson. The clean-out crew – the great folks who buy everything that’s left after the sale – included vendors Gene Gritzen, Fred Shapiro and Jamal from Village Music World. THE BIG NEWS The big news of 2009 is our partnership with Columbia University. that began in late February. We are still feeling our way around the many departments, divisions and diversions that make up a great university, but are starting to get a few things accomplished. ARC’s approach is to bring musical ideas and projects to the university to work across a variety of disciplines, to enrich and enhance course study. Our closest allies in all of this are Jim Neal, Head of Libraries and Greg Mosher, Director of the Arts Initiative. With luck, with patronage, with vision we hope to move towards the establishment of a full-fledged Center for Popular Music that we all envision. On November 19 we joined with the Columbia University Libraries and the Arts Initiative to present a Lecture As Performance by author and historian Greil Marcus celebrating the 20th anniversary release of his book, Lipstick Traces. This was a rollicking evening of an influential text made audible. The lecture was accompanied by a showcase display of Greils books and recordings and books by ARC’s director, B. George, at the Wiener Music & Arts Library. Thanks goes to Greil, Michael Ryan in rare books, Elizabeth Davies and Nick Patterson at the Music Library, Matt Hampel in Special Events, Damon Jaggars the Associate University Librarian for Collections & Services and all the folks at Harvard University press, esp., Andrew Battle. We are now planning our next lecture, an evening with Leiber and Stoller, in the works for next fall. In September we laid the foundation for our first major project with Columbia, Muslim World Music Day (MWMD) – a worldwide, one-day, two-part event. The first is a live online attempt to identify and catalog all of the recordings of Muslim music in the world in one day. The second part is a series of live concerts from a variety of venues to celebrate the diversity, beauty and cultural importance of Muslim music. Our target date is April 12, 2011, and we set the project in motion when B. visited the Columbia University Middle Eastern Research Center (CUMERC) in Amman Jordan. You can read a bit about it on the blog here. Here we set up a small office, visited government and NGO cultural organizations, talked to media leaders and enlisted support from universities and scholars. To our great delight we discovered unknown caches of wonderful music at the state radio station and at Jordan University. It is hoped that CUMERC and Jordan will house a permanent collection of music from the region when the project is completed and continue to maintain the database. Thanks to Kareem Talhouni, Nisreen Haj Ahmad, Dr. Safwan Masri and all the very kind folks at CUMERC who made the visit so enjoyable and productive. The key element of the website for the MWMD, the database housing the information on the recordings, is being built and donated by Gracenote – the folks that provide the metadata for i-Tunes. ARC has been working closely with this important American media company to create the core database and make sure it suits our needs and is robust. The Internet Archive, the only company in the world dedicated to saving the entire Internet, is donating the bandwidth, to insure that there will be no crashes on the day of the event. Thanks to all the folks at Gracenote – Craig Palmer, Scott San Filippo, Ross Blanchard, Stephen White, Mike Gubman and Stephen Braitman. Over at the Internet Archive, “Hi!” and thanks to Brewster Kahle. A blog, acting as a defacto website, has been created and the latest information on the project is posted there until the official website is ready to launch. To learn all about Muslim World Music Day visit us here. TRIPPIN’ On the way to the Middle East B. gave a talk at the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) in Athens, Greece. This was a successful first step in gaining support from a variety of institutions willing to contribute data and essays to the MWMD. Thanks to Dimitra N. Kitsiou at the Hellenic National Audiovisual Archive for her invaluable help and graciousness. We also gave a presentation on our proposed International Discography (iD), “One Click Hit! The International Discography” at the 43 annual Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Conference in Washington DC in May. The goal, with Gracenote’s help, is to get the iD up and running by March of 2010. ARSC has become quite chummy lately, with ARC hosted two meetings for them this year at our White Street address. This was fun and we were surprised to learn that we owned and filled 60 chairs. In February we gave a short tour of ARC and heard a presentation by Tim Hawkins on the Naropa Institute Sound Archive on the work of Alan Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. In April archivists Hillel Arnold and Tiffany Loiselle talked about audio treasures in the Woody Guthrie Archives including wire recordings made in 1949. Mastering and restoration engineer Steve Rosenthal of the The Magic Shop explained his role in the restoration and other projects, like remastering all of the Rolling Stone’s catalog. By the way, the NYC Spelmanslag a Scandinavian dance ensemble, also used ARC space to do a few practices this year. In December B. spoke at The Colloquium on Resources at Columbia University’s Music Department, providing a short overview of the ARC’s history and collection, and outlining some of the completed and upcoming projects that we are doing with the University. Again thanks to Elizabeth Davis who organized and co-presented at this event, and moderator David Gutkin. NEW PROJECT ARC is involved in helping to launch the Music With Subtitles / World Music Lyric Translation Project, the brainchild of ARCpal Robert Singerman. This exciting new project will allow professionals and online users to view and translate the lyrics from any song, in any language, with the music, in the first such authorized and fully legal, website. Robert is also helping us in our search for a site in Europe to house second copies of recording at ARC. He favors Paris, and we agree. Our point man in the City of Lights is music luminary Jean Claude Ast. More news later this year after we visit with the Minister of Culture in Paris. Ideally I want to be on the Rue des Archives! Why not? Over the years second sites have held lots of promise, but scant results. But hope springs eternal, and I’ll be in Paris in the Spring. ONGOING In May we officially finished up primary entry work on The New York Musicians Index and ARChive (NYMIA) and said goodbye to project director Dr. Daniel Neely, and researchers Bryan Koniarz and Jon Hammer. The NYMIA is up and running – an online listing of all working musicians and music related businesses in New York State. This project was funded by ARC, Columbia University and a grant from the New York State Music Fund, administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. We urge all musicians, or those working in a music related field in New York State, to go online and make sure you’re listed. NEW COLLECTIONS This year we began a focus on a few forms of music not well represented in American collections, Colombian and Brazilian music. So far the Brazilian collection has blossomed through the help of Beco Dranoff. Beco is the director of the new and spectacular documentary on Brazilian music, Beyond Ipanema. He has helped us secure the help of the Brazilian Consulate and we are searching for a partner in Brazil. To date our Brazilian holdings number over 3,000 recordings and growing. Another contributor is Joel Olveira who runs the Brazilian record outlet, Tropicallia in Furs. Joel has been trading rare Brazilian releases for some of our third copies of pop here at the ARC. Of great value is David Byrne’s offer to donate his collection of Brazilian recordings to the collection. Another essential add are the 400 Brazilian recordings courtesy of an incredible donation by Jerry Rappaport – more about that in the donations list below. As to the Colombian collection – Shakira, give us a call? With that other Columbia, with the help of Elizabeth Davis, head of the Wiener Music & Arts Library, we set in motion the purchase of a ton of Cuban recordings. We are dealing directly with Cuba in order to get them the most bucks for the bang. Our main contact is Alberto Salazar Rodriguez, Sales Director at Egrem Records in Havana. ON THE AIR ARC was featured on a BBC Radio 4 show – Beat Mining With The Vinyl Hoover, broadcast primetime in the UK in March. Basically the show explored how record collectors changed the way we listen to and make music. In the promo, host Toby Amies says he, “soon realises he is collecting record collectors, getting dusty fingered as he digs out the world’s most committed vinyl maniacs with contributions from: DJ Mr Scruff; 45 King; Bob Stanley; Steve Stein (aka Steinski); Aaron Fuchs (Tuff City Records); Coldcut; Pete Waterman; DJ and compilation compiler Keb Darge; funky drummer Idris Muhammad; and B George, the director of the ARChive of Contemporary Music.” The beeb also used the ARC as backdrop in November for a documentary on Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook and a consultant who help Obama win the Whitehouse. He faced the interviewers in front of rows and rows of ARC LPs. Other media news is that B. has done two segments for National Public radio (NPR) this year, both on Sunday Morning Weekend Edition. . In August David Greene did an interview – a quick tour and he played a few choice cuts from the ARC’s collection. They asked ARC back in September and we spoke with host Lynn Neary in a segment titled, “Forgotten Music, Found In The Archives.” This time we got a chance to play slightly longer cuts including, “In the Land of My Dreams” by Anna Domino, “Did You Ever Hear the Blues” by Big Miller and a Colombian Terapia snippet. Thanks to producers Thomas Pierce for initiating it all. We hope to do more, and maybe one day play an entire song on NPR! PEOPLE Fred Patterson continues to minister to the ARChive’s collection, making sure that every new recording that enters the ARC is catalogued properly and compared to the existing collection for variations. It’s a nightmare of work that few other libraries bother with. Our goal is to keep two copies of every version of every recording issued–covers, labels, catalog numbers, etc. are all considered. In this way, a label history is chronicled as the recordings are preserved. You can catch Fred on the action side of the music at The Wang Dang Doodle, his groovy record hop, currently held on the fifth Friday of the month (when there is one) at the Trophy Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Fred is also a regular DJ at the monthly Subway Soul Club events held on the third Friday of the month at the LOFT, also in Williamsburg. More details of his extra-ARChivial activities can be found here. Part-timers staff in 2009 were Juan Amaya and Karim Vickery. Juan will continue and you can find Kareem at Halcyon record store in Dumbo. Volunteers this year included, Joe Flynn, Marcos Sueiro Bal, Andy Schwartz, Melwita (Wita) Mahadi (now in Indonesia), Damien McCaffery (now in Scotland), Mark Pajerski, Jillian Flexner and the indispensable Tim Broun. Collection pick-ups are by the ever-reliable Fleshtone-playing, sometimes truck-drivin,’ Alpine skiing, Keith Streng. Once again the wonderfully helpful University of Michigan School of Information organized two interns over Spring break. When I went to Michigan, Spring Break wasn’t even invented yet! Noah Liebman helped create a new db for us, while David Jackson spent the week cataloging ‘classic rock’ LPs. Thanks to Kelly Kowatch for organizing it all. This April another former Michigander, John Schott, Chair of Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College, brought a gaggle of media students to tour ARC, with a few students volunteering for a few days. REMEMBERED We lost another Board Members this year, Ellie Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009), and in October were able to honor Jerry Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) at a memorial held by his family. You can read a nice overview of the service and remembrance on Andy Schwartz’s New York Rocker website. Ellie had been pretty much a recluse for many years now, and we rarely saw her. Happily 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.” She will be missed. The above LP is from the ARC’s collection : Ellie Greenwich Composes Produces and Sings. (United Artists, USA, UAS 6648, LP, 1968). Joining our Board of Advisor next year is Michael Feinstein – more about that in the blog this Feb. Very exciting for us. We are also looking for new people to join our working Board of Trustees. If anyone is interested – helping to shape our projects and purpose – please give us a ring. ENTERTAINMENT is US A lot of industry projects this year, most notable is working with the newly revived Knitting Factory Records on the first American overview on the music of the late Fela Kuti, Nigeria’s premier activist music maker. The Knit has just acquired the US rights to the entire Fela catalog from EMI and others, the project organized by Fela’s longtime manager, Rikki Stein. ARC scanned 12 rare covers in our collection, all of them available nowhere else, and digitized two LPs, replacing lost or damaged content, from our collection of over 200 Fela releases. Look for a massive set of box sets, on vinyl, sometime next year. This is EXACTLY the kind of work we love doing, and can do. Thanks to Tim Putnam and Stephen Hendel at the Knit. Mr. Handel has also been instrumental in bringing the Bill T. Jones musical Fela to life. Scans of labels and covers continue to be the ARC’s most requested work, this year including one of our rare Robert Johnson 78 for BMG Records, some Monkee singles for Reader’s Digest, a big pile for Oprah Magazine, Nonesuch and classic jazz originals for a reissue series for the Verve Music Groups (thanks Harry) and popstuff for Universal. We continue to provide all the scans of important recordings added to the newly formed Grammy Hall of Fame in LA. Project head Ken Visite visited ARC in May and on Grammy night 2008 I sent off the batch of scans for this years inductees. FILM Film work this year included searches for Ang Lee’s, “Taking Woodtock.” Richie Havens asked us to locate a rare promo live single, “Handsome Johnny” that was attached to a live LP. Well we had one, sealed, and sent it off to be professionally copied and synched to film footage – it’s a long story why Warner Films won’t let Warner Music use the song from the Woodstock film! Joe Boyd, the music supervisor, also asked us to locate, “Inside Bert Sommer” by the self-same Bert, an LP from 1969 on the Eleuthra label. Believe it or not Bert (who?) performed at Woodstock and they have been searching for months for the LP. ARC had four Bert Sommer LPs – honest, I had never heard of him! Of course Freddie had. This is why we save everything. You never know. Fruitless work was done on the Bob Marley film that Director Jonathan Demme was readying for release in February. But mysteriously, like Martin Scorsese, he was off the project. Well, we don’t have any other directors on our Board, so I guess this film will never be released. CHINOISERIE There’s more than a massive trade deficit connecting the US and China, so ARC offered a tiny bit of help to bring The Chinese Underground Invasion Tour to the USA. The tour was masterminded by Charles Saliba and Michael Pettis of the Beijing label Maybe Mars and the club D-22, and included a series of concerts by punk-inspired bands P.K. 14, Carsick Cars, Xiao He, and White. Photographer Matthew Niederhauser was also here to release Sound Kapital, his book chronicling the Beijing music underground. ARC was given a wide range of over 50 recent CDs from Maybe Mars and other small Beijing labels offering alternative music made outside the scope and scrutiny of the Chinese government. Also donated were support materials includes hundreds of posters and handbills advertising local Beijing shows, most designed by the hot graphics team, the Cult Youth Collective. A lot of this material was brought back and donated by Ben Bernstein, son of ARC Board member Alan, who was studying in China last summer. IDEAS After years, I am getting back to doing reviews and overviews. I contributed a story on “Ási Es…Con Salsa!” an LP by Alfredo Gutierrez and Los Caporales de Magdalena for Wax Poetics. It’s in ish #35, in the “re:discovery” section, at the beginning of the mag. A mighty fine music magazine worth checking out. Employing an editorial eye, I have begun work on a book of punk 45 covers. Most books on this subject, and most graphic ‘cover’ books in general are pretty lame, so there’s a need. We have an incredible collection here, mostly from having put together, Volume, The International Discography of the New Wave, in the early 80s. Should be fun. DONATIONS Here’s the round numbers on the materials donated in 2010 : 44,000 CDs, 30,000 LPs, 9,000 twelve-inch singles and assorted tens of thousands of music related videos, magazines, 78s, cassettes, press kits and books. The devil is in the details, so here’s a few of the angels who made it all happen : Lois Weiss bought ARC a hi-end Nikon Coolscan slide scanner with auto feed for us to scan her donation of slides she made as a member of the Fillmore East’s Joshua Light Show. Of course of great benefit for other projects – like maybe the 40,000 slides of musicians from press kits in the basement! Ron Saja, who has given over 10K recordings in the past and was the owner of Footlight Records in the Village, again donated a big batch; 17 DVDs, 685 CDs, 237 books, 134 ten-inch singles 78rpm, 40 twelve-inch singles, and 1152 LPs. Ben Young, Director of Broadcasting and Operations up at WKCR, continues to bring carloads twice a year, last batch about 600 CDs and an equal number of LPs. A killer donation was delivered by Ken Richardson over at Sound and Vision, totaling 3245 CDs, 668 DVDs, plus assorted other formats in the 100s. Other generous businesses include Chris Thieke @ Shore Fire Media (807 CDs), Mark Fotiadas @ Mute, (1000+ CDs), Cory Robbins @ Robbins Entertainment (4954 LPs, 622 seven-inch singles, plus tons of high end audio equipment), Jonathan Lang of the Beggar’s Group US (464 CDs), and Randy Haecker, Robin Manning and Gabby Gibb over at Sony BMG/Legacy (191 CDs, 55 LPs). Jerry Rappaport, who used to work for Mango and Island Records, moved to a real Caribbean island recently, and cleared out his storage space to the tune of 6132 LPs. This was one of the best gifts we have gotten in years, wonderful material in great condition, and he says, there will be more next year. Keeping to the Islands. Steve Bartels, from the Island Def Jam Music Group threw in 2,669 CDs and hundreds of other goodies. Extra-ordinary citizens include; Rich Kim (226 ten-inch 78 rpm discs), Julie Lipsius (60 CDs), Robert Singerman (753 CDs plus hundreds of magazines and other assorted goodies), DJ Ray Velasquez (410 CDs, 256 twelve-inch singles), DJ + artist Lucien Samaha (528 LPs), Jim Leavitt (430 CDs), Jim Eigo (195 CDs) graphic master Eric Zim (128 CDs, 116 books), James Conlin (953 LPs), and recordman Fred Shapiro (142 DVDs, 1254 CDs, 105 LPs). Board member Fred Schneider continues to amaze with his donation of peculiarly wonderful LPs (867), as does longtime ARCpal AP Joseph (1881 LPs, 362 music books). 465 Latin Recordings, all catalogued (we LOVE electronically catalogued collections) were sent by Abby and Maria Lugo. Just for fun Dean Taucher sent signed LPs by Jerry Lewis and Ice-T. Nice that the tag on Ice-T’s says “F— the Police,” now that he has a starring role on TVs Law and Order. There were countless donations of 10, 20, 40, 125, 200+ by countless others, including; June Hildebrand Abrams, Billy Adler (mostly wonderful X-mas music), Bruce Alexander, Marcos Sueiro Bal, Jennifer Ballantyne @ EMI Music Marketing, Kyle Benson from Verve / UMG / Universal Music, Alan J. Bernstein, David Bither, Nancy Breslow, David Browne, Lucas Cooper at ROIR, Barry Cohen, George Cuttingham, Adam Dolgins, Engine Room Audio, Michael Fremer, Tom Gould, Randall Grass, Jana Hollingshead, Peter & Kathleen Kapp, Bryan Koniarz, Anne Leighton, Sarah Lazin, Adam Lisberg (187 music magazines), Sandy Mancuso over at Putumayo World Music, Cheryl McEnaney, Bryan Mechutan, Dan Morgenstern over at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers, Nate Oberstein @ Eagle Rock Entertainment, Tom Monday at the Limewire Store, Andy Schwartz, Lawrence G. Sucsy, Guy Smith (over 200 ten-inch 78rpm recordings), Ed Steinberg, Jessica Thompson, Holly George-Warren, David Withers, Peter Wright, and Kevin Yatarola at Palm Entertainment We wish also to thank Columbia University, and the many corporate donors who helped us get through the year, foremost of which is the Jaharis Family Foundation. Also thanks to Gracenote and BMI. Of course we really appreciate all of you out there who have joined ARC and purchased a membership. Maybe this is finally the year we print up those nifty membership cards? By the way : Anyone can make a donation these days through Paypal or via this webthing (below). If you can help out with materials, a donation, or spare time, please let us know. Keep in touch. B. George ARChive of Contemporary Music 54 White Street, New York City, 10013 tel : 212-226-6967 e : arcmusic@inch.com url: http://arcmusic.org blog: https://arcmusic.wordpress.com

We Built This City On…

It is a little known fact that the ancient Nabataeans were early adaptors of new sound recording technologies.  They began with cylinder discs (called columns) but found them awkward.  Later, around 70 BC, they sliced the cylinders into wafer thin segments, well thin for the time, and began recording on the flat side.  Thwarted by a region-only spindle size and fierce competition from the Hittites (every tune a Hitt!) and the Phoenicians (the original Purple Reign), they were soon forced out of the market.  Not to mention the freight, as these babies were 33 1/3 tons.  Alas, here at Petra, unshipped goods, in a format that defies migration, linger still.

But, I may be mistaken about all this.  What I do know is that the walk through Al-Siq, and the first glimpse of the Treasury through the slice of rock, luminous pink curtained black, is a remarkable thing and well worth a trip through time.

All I can think of is our last administration, and the inability to tackle any problem successfully, and how everything was ‘hard work”   Please.  Have a look at Ajunta, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Petra.  Imagine signing off on 40 years to carve a rock facade and we can’t rebuild twenty rows of wooden shotgun houses in New Orleans!   Disgrace, I mean I digress.

I’ve spent the last 10 days here in Amman Jordan setting up the first stages of Muslim World Music Day (formerly the Muslim Music Crash Course) at Columbia Universities Middle Eastern Research Center.  It has been a whirlwind of meetings, show-and tells, planning, report writing and visits to archives, schools, libraries, embassies, musicians and government offices.  The project director handling things from Jordan – the man with ALL the contacts – is Kareem Talhouni.

If you don’t know, Muslim World Music Day is an attempt to catalog all the relevant recording in the world, in one day, and surround this core database with informational and entertaining content, online.  Read all about it at our pre-website blog  www.arcmmcc.wordpress.com

One nice find was a thesis, written in English, but only published in Arabic, on Jordanian music, written by Prof Abdel Hamid Hamam the Dean of the College of Art and Design, University of Jordan.  Written in Wales no less.  We will excerpt it in both languages on the Muslim World Music Day website.

Equally amazing is the work of Dr. Mohammed Taha Ghawanmeh , Music professor and Dean of fine art @ Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.  Dr Ghawanmeh has spent his life collecting the traditional music of Jordan, and the result is a 500 cassette edition, each cassette one hour long and accompanied by a booklet of lyrics, notation and explanatory notes.  This is hard work at its very best.  Only two sets of the series now exist and I can only hope that some scholars or universities that read this could find this work useful for their institution of scholarly pursuits.   Here’s the contact for the fine arts dept :  fac_finart@yu.edu.jo and Arabic speakers can call +962 79 574 3535

By the way on the road to Petra I has coffee, and after a 800 step climb rested in a rock solid tea room overlooking the rose red monestary.  Life used to be so hard…

My favorite reaction to the project was from a woman at the Center who wanted to know if every whore and slut who parades nearly naked on the TV, shaking her stuff, and singing in Arabic would be a part of the website.  She then showed me a few of Nancy Ajram’s videos (mild by my standards) and then exclaimed with a smile, “This is my favorite!”  And shaking her shoulders, “I love to dance to this one.”   Hey, Nancy was on Ophra last month!

With downloading so prevalent and pirating commonplace, music shops have all but disappeared in Jordan – one small chain, The Music Box, holding its own.  Plus the visual versions are very seductive as DVDs and music on TV predominates.  Live music is scarce in formal performance.  This photo is from a concert at Al Hussein Cultural Center taken by Robert Reeder, an ex pro photographer visiting Amman.   Musically, it was the kanoon playing of Tewfik Mirkham (sp?) that was luminous.

My endless search for actual music collections was finally rewarded on the last day of my visit to Amman with a trip to The Jordan Radio and Television Corp.   Our animated host, Ms. Hala Zureiqat, Director of Jordan Television, listened to our pitch, conferred with her Director, then nearly shouted, “We’re in!”   What has made this trip rewarding is that so many people in the region are willing to support the Muslim World Music Day –  a new idea, on first hearing – so enthusiastically.

In one of the rehearsal rooms we were treated to a short concert by 73 year old singer Mohammed Wahib – sweet, toothless and energetic.  The song is, “Slaima.”

The station has saved nearly its entire history since the 60s on reel to reel tape, and it is mostly catalogued.  The recent past is digitized and can be called up inhouse, electronically.   But for me the real fun was to finally see some real vinyl – 45s, LPs and a full shelf unit of approx 4,300 seventy-eights.

We will work to make sure this material is cataloged for the project and who knows what trash or treasures we will unearth.  Maybe an early Nabataean disc?

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.