“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??)

Size (speed, amplitude) matters

How to permanently preserve audio materials is a major concern of archives around the world.  Us included.  After all, isn’t that why we’re here?

But ARC does not migrate, i.e; make a copy of an audio object in another medium, ideally more stable, in order to preserve it.  Increasingly archives are abandoning this route, as large collections would be barely started before a new, better, improved preservation system would supplant it.  The daunting problems of saving our audio heritage are the subject of an important recent report via the Library of Congress, The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age. If that’s daunting there’s a pop summary via the AP wire.

We’ve often joked that we should be taking our CDs and cutting vinyl albums in order to preserve them – a sort of audio reverse osmosis – on the order of a dub plate, that Jamaican genius system of direct cut vinyl one offs.

Lo, the sky’s have parted.  The path has been shown to us.  Vinylrecorder.

This platter cuisinart is available from German vinyl cutting specialists and manufacturers, Fritz & Souri Sourisseau.  Their site is only somewhat illuminating, but hints at wondrous potential.  I learned about it from the WOMEX folks, who will have their annual get together next month in Copenhagen. Now the home enthusiast or indie archivist can work out of the basement, cranking out the latest Lady Gaga MP3s on a disc of their own.  Hey, we could even do it as a 10” 78rpm!

The only logical conclusion is that an ARCangel comes forward with the $10K to donate the machine to the library!  That way when batteries for i-everythings are no longer made, and silicone chips have turned back to sand, we’ll be churning out archival copies of the latest hits in all their vinylized splendor.

No Columbus, no Cha Cha Cha!

We think you should take the long weekend off and find some time to dance!

In honor of this new commitment, may we show you a few of our favorite Cha Cha Cha LP covers (from our collection of over 300 here @ the ARChive)?  Click to enlarge.

After all, had Mr. C. actually made it to India, mighta been, Chi Chi Chi…

And a reminder : THIS is one of our worst funded years ever, and all contributions ($50 min) are greatly appreciated to help keep the library going.  Plus you’ll get first dibs at our next sale in Dec.    Maybe pick up a cha cha record or two…     Thanks, B. George

DONATE NOW via PayPal

Turn Around with Confidence (when the internet can’t dance)

Like you, I look for records all the time.  But there are over two million here @ ARC, so it’s difficult to know when what you’ve found is what’s needed.  Not everything in the library is cataloged, and my computer is not always with me.  I’ve found that by just seeing the cover, I can keep about a quarter of a million items straight.  In general, when deciding if I should buy something or not, I guess.  The upshot is that I mostly buy junk.

Junk here, is of course, a well defined, highly selective term – an unusual item, in good condition, that catches my eye.  Under a dollar is a plus; completely bizarre, a must.  Nestled in the 40 or so discs I found this past weekend were a few gems, like…

What I liked about this misguided masterpiece is that some of the bandmembers were “unavailable for photographs due to hectic schedules.”  Now does that show confidence in this recording?

What amazes me is that there is little or no info on these recordings available on that internet thing.  The best known artists here, pioneering Calypsonian Sir Lancelot, is the subject of some online ink, but even WorldCat fails to deliver any sense of his recorded output.  i-tunes sez: “No results were found. Please try a different search.” (but he is on some compilations).  This is a 78rp ‘album’ containing 3 pristine discs, including one of his best-known recordings, “Ugly Woman.”

Sometimes there’s real musicianship buried here, like the trippy and yet unexplained People’s Victory Orchestra.  I’ve been searching for years for more than snippets of their history (70s releases, from Queens, principals William (or Richard or Robert) and Carla (Lund) Alt (or Arlt). Bill engineer @ Atlantic, with Carla ran vintage clothing store) and they have had the good grace to keep a secret, secret.  ‘Victory’ is seriously non rock-ey, unlike the other two LPs (The School and Weltschmerzen), but a nice hippy concept concerto of an LP, complete with a 64 page booklet chronicling a Canadian train ride.

Here’s another no informationer, recalling that fateful day, August 27^th, 1965, when American and British royalty partied.  It’s by Lady KKK, sometimes Lady KinKyKarrot, but I bought it for the Chris Jones cover, he a major penciller for DC Comics.  This 10” is a soundtrack for the no doubt intriguing eponymous film, claims to be Various Artists but all the tracks are very much alike – filled with bad MS and BR accents doing mock-doc over very nice, moody lounge, with an occasional side of sitar.

It’s on Rockinbones Records, but their webthing has never heard of the Lady.  She’s from Brescia – Parma, Italy, and just a bit o’info @ http://www.myspace.com/ladykinkykarrot

Rounding out and down, here’s a late blooming singing nun, for our growing, and never listened to, singing nun section @ the ARC.

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)

But You Need An Electron Microscope…

There are some great things to see in Ohio.

Having eschewed a junket to see Cleveland’s Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame when it first opened (knee-jerk reaction when I heard that they used funds from the Ohio school system.  Nice summary here ) I finally took the plunge.  It’s only an hour from the ancestral homestead (Poland, the first city of the Western Reserve), so why not?  Best thing was in the Springsteen exhibit, seeing all the handbill and fliers and promo activities it took to get his early band, The Castiles, off the ground.

The main reason for my CLE visit was to see the new Rock Hall Archive being set up by Andy Leach, the Director of Library and Archives. The new 22,500-square-foot facility is housed at Cuyahoga Community College, set to open in May 2011.   Andy had visited ARC last fall, so it was my turn.  I wasn’t the only one anxious to get in, as recently a passerby fired a few bullets into the glass façade.  Have a look at this swell building Columbia University – see what a Community College can do!  Inspired?

The Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives at Bowling Green State University occupies a Soviet era building on a bleak campus, across from a new arts building, with hopes of some architectural largess coming their way soon.  The man in charge since the late 60s is Bill Schurk, a good soul.  He’s still enthusiastic, curious, engaged.  Amid the manageable piles are trash and treasures, souvenirs and curiosities, in one of America’s great popular music collections.  The hall-walls are lined with paper ephemera and the main room a constellation of 45s dangling from the ceiling. They’ve managed to make an institutional space fun, while remaining on good terms with the fire marshal.  I got a tour and ARC donated a book we knew they didn’t have, about channeling wisdom from Gerry Garcia.

Other hotspots on my summer tour included Youngstown, OH and Ann Arbor, MI.

I attended Michigan (12 credits short – still waiting for the honorary degree) and had not been back for more than 20 years.  We visited friends and had wonderful food @ The Earl Restaurant. When last in AA the Earl was just starting up, Dominoes Pizza and Borders Books were small local businesses and the football stadium held a mere 100,000.  Lets just say it’s more of a party school these days, but it’s no longer the Rainbow People’s Party.  Pre-Earl party dining meant a visit to the Jolly Pumpkin Brewery for a heralded Belgian style ale, which they were out of.  Drove 500 miles and told to try the local supermarket – nice marketing savvy!  Always in stock is the annual bumper crop of helpful interns from the University of Michigan School of Information. For the past few years these students have come to the ARC in NYC as part of their alternative Spring Break Program.

As a student my breaks were rarely alternative, and one job I had in AA was setting up chairs at Canterbury House, a way to hear music for free.  Canterbury House was/is run by the Episcopal Church, and beyond its value as an important venue for more than 50 years, they also co-sponsored the very first Ann Arbor Blues Festival.  Big on Canadians (work cheap? Nearby? Great artists?) meant that I was lucky enough to see early gigs by Neil Young (Sugar Mountain set) and Joni Mitchell.

My tenuous Youngstown (Poland is a suburb) music connections were explored in an earlier blog, so lets just mention Charlie Staples Bar-B-Q.   Ribs here are as good as anyplace out East, and many down South. I stock up on their unmarked, quart size, Ball-jarred hot sauce.  But it means going to downtown Y-Town, a region few from my burb have ever visited.  This is the lone speaker in the beautiful formica-ed back room they will never see…

But YOU can see the room, and sample the Q, when you visit Y-Town next September for the opening of “Ronnie Wood: Paintings, Drawings and Prints.” at the Butler Institute of American Art. Mrs. Butler once lived in Poland and taught me to draw.

Polish Music

As I’m heading back to Poland (Ohio) see me Mum, a flurry of old friends have surfaced.  Turns out it’s about the same time as a reunion of my elder brother’s high school class.  You may think that Poland Seminary High School is only famous for an assassinated president (McKinley) or the advertising genius who bought the world, “I Love New York,” “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz.” and “‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing’ (Mary Wells, née Berg, of Wells, Rich & Green) but it’s also homeroom to a few bits of odd musical history.

An old galpal’s older bro once touched the stars in his summer of fun…

Doug Braun recently sent this pic and and few words: “Forgot the details.  I took this photo of Mike Love & Dennis Wilson while working with their tour back in the summer of 1968.  We did 14 U.S. cities with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and the Human Bienz from Youngstown, Ohio.  We enjoyed short friendships while all working together.  There where two large tour buses for the lighting and sound crews. The performers traveled by air and limo’s.  We had one of the first Winnabago motor homes and a large Ford van.  We drove city to city seeing the country often driving non-stop to the next gig.  I helped with the driving and stage responsibilities. It was GREAT!!!  Got to know everyone on a first name basis.  Enjoy.”

Now the drummer for the, “Nobody but Me,” Human Beinz was Mike Tatman (perfect name for a drummer), who went to Poland, and later married Christie (won’t be in Poland, because she had so many children she didn’t know what to do – so she went to England) who was Poland’s Prom Queen (…and I, ahem, uh, was King).  They were the reigning local heroes.  Live music was rare, mostly Bowling Alley dances, The Roller Rink and nights at the Carousel Teen Club.

“Beinz.” “Georgan.”  Nobody can spell in Ohio.

Then there was the Record Rendezvous, a rich mahogany paneled record store in downtown Youngstown (“Murder City USA” headlined the Saturday Evening Post!).  It had booths with glass at the top, and wood below, and you could slide down and sit on the floor, and no one could see you.  The perfect Sat was taking a bus downtown, bowling or shooting pool, shopping for junk and used clothing and food in the Black section of town, or maybe lunch with my Pop who had his business there, then a movie (at the original Warner’s Theater) and then about an hour or two waiting for a ride home at the Rendezvous.   Sadly, musically it was slim pickens.  About my strongest memory was digging into the C&W section and playing Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter record.  Well, at least until they kicked me out after about six runthroughs.  I’ve since learned that the “Vous” was a chain out of Cleveland, and the owner, Leo Mintz, convinced Alan Freed to play race records on the air, hand-fed him what Black kids were buying from his store, and may have coined the term, “rock’n’roll”.

One of the records I actually bought at this store, turns out to one of the rarest at the ARChive.  Here it is with the original price tag.  Last auction price over $12,000.  Better than stocks!

You see when Capitol US was offered the first Beatles album, they passed.  Hated the look.  Hated the music.  So a small Black label out of Gary, Indiana, Vee-Jay, took a chance.  The Beatleboys did OK, and Capitol said they were just kidding.

Interviewers often ask, “What was the first record you ever bought?”  Well, I have no idea.  But I do remember the first LP I ever stole.  It was World Without Love by Peter and Gordon.  I had about a 3 month run as an amateur booster (“Please lock me away…”), and my partner in crime was Sverre Falck-Pedersen (he’ll be in Poland this weekend, and mispronouncing his name was endless fun).  He says he stole it, not me, but he’s wrong.  We had decided to start stealing LPs one August.  Not so much because we were music lovers, but that they were big and difficult to hide under summer clothes…

SATISFIED MINDS…

Here a lil’ film + a thanks from an ARC supporter who bought one of our many turntables we had up for grabs at our Summer Record and CD Sale.  Play on, AR-XA

ARC SUMMER RECORD + CD SALE

It’s hot, it’s sticky, it’s another ARC Summer Record & CD sale!

Saturday, JUNE 12 – Sunday, JUNE 20
Everyday 11 am. to 6 pm
BONUS DAY Monday June 21 – because it’s the equinox and Make Music Day in NY

Admission is free! New items daily.
Over 20,000 items for sale

Join the ARC and other ARC members for our fab COCKTAIL PARTY, Thursday, JUNE 10. You get to shop before the general public and have Hot Wings donated by Bonnie’s Grill in Brooklyn + Champagne from the great folks @ the Bubble Lounge.

You can now join online via our website or Call for details : 212-226-6967

We haven’t moved, still at our ground floor office: @ 54 White St. 3 short blocks south of Canal, between Broadway & Church in Tribeca. Take the 1 train to Franklin, or any train to Canal.

Help support the ARChive – a not-for-profit music library – America’s largest and BEST popular music collection.

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 + Classical LPs – 2 for $1.00.  Boxes of Classical LPs, 125 records for $5.   Just released NEW & HOT CDs are $5 – $10.

PLUS – 7″ singles – ARC has recently alphabetically sorted the singles in the basement, so if you like bands beginning with ‘C’ or ‘D’ there will be 100s of 7 inch singles on SALE. many desirable and hard to find – Old + new music books – sealed/unopened LPs – African, Reggae & world-music releases – laserdiscs – videos – For the dis-en-vinyled our Astroturf Yardsale of 50s kitchen stuff and clothing!!!

Come on down + tell Your friends = face, tweet, link + blog us.