TELL LAURA I LOVE HER 18x + 2 Answer Songs

There were two big "Teen Tragedy" car wreck songs in 1960. First, "Teen Angel," hitting #1 in January. Second, "Tell Laura I Love Her," which reached #7 in June.

"Teen Angel" sung by Mark Dinning was an ode to his high school sweetie. Their car stalls on a railroad track, he pulls her to safety, but she runs back and gets crushed to angel dust. Turns out she'd gone to retrieve the ring he gave her, which must've been dropped amid the Kleenexes and Trojans in the back seat.

"Tell Laura I Love Her," wailed by Ray Peterson, tells of his pal Tommy, who was too young to enter a stock car race, but did it anyway to earn enough prize money to wed his beloved Laura. Crushed and burned when his car speeds out of control, he painfully screams his last words: "TELL LAURA I LOVE HER...Tell Laura not to cry. My love for her will never die."

Huge hits, both. Melodramatic, sentimental and ridiculous, both. But...
Only one of them has spawned dozens of cover versions.

The likely reason is that "Tell Laura I Love Her" gives a singer a chance to emote; starting out as the observer, ending up voicing the anguish of the main character. "Teen Angel" is just a traditional (written by Dinning's big-band singer sister) love ballad, wimpy and sweet even though the theme is morbid.

Dinning shows little emotion in "Teen Angel," but Peterson is anguished, histrionic and adenoidal. In fact, he was apparently too emotional for England, where the "tasteful" and gentle Ricky Valance version went #1 on September 29th, 1960. Jeff Barry, co-author of the tune, is not so sure that the choice of Valance was anything but record label "politics."

The morbid the merrier: in order to stay within Rapidshare's comfy and speedy 100MB, you get 17 covers (as well as Ray's original). Among them: Dickey Lee, John Leyton, Jody Wayne, Ken Levy, Albert West, J. Frank Wilson, Johnny Tillotson and The Rocking Boys. You get foreign language takes by Rex Gildo, Richard Anthony, Italy's Michele and Chile's Ray Palaviccino. There are even some fairly recent versions such as a campy-gay cover from Nessie And Her Beard and a foreign language parody version from Rhodes Rockers, chosen over the more common Billy Connolly live parody version (which you can see for yourself on You Tube).

Back when singles were so much more popular than albums, and radio play was vital, it was also fairly common for "answer songs" to try and cash in on a hit. Yes, you get the two "answer song" versions: "Tell Tommy I Miss Him" from singer/impressionist Marilyn Michaels and one with lyric variations by country crossover queen Skeeter Davis.

Jeff Barry wrote many great hits with the late Ellie Greenwich. This isn't one of them. Before he married her in 1962, Jeff worked with Ben Raleigh. Together they wrote "Lonely Lips," which 20 year-old Jeff recorded himself on RCA.

It was RCA label-mate Ray Peterson (April 23, 1939 – January 25, 2005) who got to sing "Tell Laura I Love Her." Peterson had one last hit ("Corrina Corrina") in 1960, though he continued to sing and make nightclub appearances for decades. Even at the turn of the century, he was not averse to taking part in an oldies show once in a while and singing his teen hit. He was also a Baptist minister in Tennessee.

The cover versions down below are many, and amusing, but even with all the competition, that song still belongs to Ray Peterson. Doesn't it?

TELL LAURA I LOVE HER, TELL TOMMY I MISS HIM 20 Tunes in your zip file.

EDWARD WOODWARD goes UPWARD at 79

Edward Woodward starred in the TV hits "Callan" and "The Equalizer," and was an Emmy-winner for 1990's "Remembering World War II." Though mostly a television actor, he also was memorable in the films "Breaker Morant" and "The Wicker Man," the latter including a vivid bit of defiant and robust singing.

Woodward actually gained some initial fame as a singer. Among his first important credits were roles in the Broadway musical "Blithe Spirits" and back in the U.K., a musical version of "A Tale of Two Cities." He sang regularly in clubs well before "Callan" gave him TV stardom. With a strong, traditional vocal style, he was no stranger to the recording studio, putting out strangely compelling work. is albums include "Love is the Key" "An Evening with Edward Woodward,""Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "The Jewel That was Ours" "It Had to be You," "Thought of You," "Woodward Again" and "This Man Alone." He didn't avoid contemporary songs, feeling that his unique, older sensibilities could bring out the best in the lyrics.

One obvious choice for this tribute, which comes 3 days after his passing on November 16th, is "Sound of Silence." As an actor concerned with his lines, he decides to change the emphasis in one of the sentences. While Paul Simon was more concerned with the rhythm and rhyme of the song, and sang "and echoes in the wells of silence," Woodward alters the cadence: "And echoed in the wells of silence."

But let's add another song: "The Tide Will Turn for Rebecca," which Woodward chose to record even though its author, Elton John, did not. At the time Woodward immortalized it on vinyl, only a few fans owned a bootleg of Elton's demo version. (Both tracks come from "This Man Alone," which also featured his versions of "Eleanor Rigby," "A Taste of Honey" and "Scarborough Fair," as well as the catchy "Today I Killed A Man I Didn't Know."

It might be argued that numbers such as "Sounds of Silence" and "The Tide Will Turn for Rebecca" flourish best when done by an actor who sings, rather than a singer who doesn't act. Both tunes are, in their way, more colorful than the Paul Simon and Elton John versions. It takes an actor to try and make sense of these Taupin lyrics:

"Can you hear the floorboards crying in a room on the second floor, that used to be owned by someone who's no one, but he don't live there anymore
"Only Rebecca clasping her head on her knees, trying to work out what is about
And why someone had to leave.
"But dry up your tears, stop counting the years. Don't worry what's coming. Forget all your fears. And the tide will turn for Rebecca. Her life will change, her hopes rearrange into something that might really matter
"She's all alone in a world of her own with a key that fits her lonely world. You won't need a crowd to shout out aloud what she says deserves to be heard."

Here's to the long career of Edward Woodward (and don't call him "Ed Wood" for short).


EDWARD WOODWARD: SOUND OF SILENCE/TIDE WILL TURN FOR REBECCA

Half-Deaf BEVERLY O'SULLIVAN Dies in Crash

Blonde Irish singer Beverly O'Sullivan was killed in Bharatpur, India on November 2nd, the passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend, Steve Reeves.
They were on vacation at the time, the reward for Beverly finishing a film role that included six songs on the soundtrack.

She was beginning a promising solo career, after being a member of "Fifth Avenue," an Irish pop band.

Back in September of 2004, they were hoping to make money off tweens via generic pop music and band members who looked cute. Beverly was the Barbie Doll blonde, there was also a brunette, plus three pretty-boys with varying amounts of short, gel-gopped hair and pubescent stubble.

Their try for a hit single was the ethnic "Spanish Eyes," showing the way too obvious influences of Shakira, Michael Jackson, and sound-alike boy bands. Beverly's solo turn comes about 2 minutes into the tune. You get both the U.K. version and the thumpier dance version. Each had its own music video.

The dance version (www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6FvkLxRmcM) has the band doing basic, club-footed aerobic moves and posturing. Two minutes in, coinciding with her solo turn, Beverly does the orgasmic-moan bit, there's a gratuitous cleavage shot and then a moment for her to press her hand near her crotch, as a sign of lust or cramps. Mostly all five stand around doing the traditional Irish dance known as "dead from the waist up."

Beverly O'Sullivan was capable of more than Riverdance in a Colombian Brothel, or spoiling her smooth vocals with Britney moans, but she spent several years with "Fifth Avenue." She also guested on a piece of generic trance: "Don't Look Back," a noisy number from John O'Callaghan's album "Never Fade." Beverly's vocalise is buried in the mix and disappears quickly in favor of the usual thumps and electronic noises.

It'll be your headache. Beverly's years of pop and trance caused even worse headaches for the lady herself. Aside from being on stage with a loud tween-aimed band, airplane travel aggravated her hearing problems and she suffered an extra 10% loss of hearing while touring with "Fifth Avenue."

"I haven't heard of any other popstars with a hearing aid," O'Sullivan told The Guardian, but the reporter pointed out Pete Townshend, completely deaf in one ear and suffering tinnitus, and Fatboy Slim, Ozzy Osbourne and Phil Collins, all suffering hearing loss. Only Beverly was born with the problem.

Beverly, who routinely took painkillers, and had to be careful while washing her hair to avoid any water getting into her ears, admitted to having a 45% hearing loss in one ear, and 30% in the other. Technically, "unilateral conductive hearing loss" was the problem, which her £2,500, hearing aid somewhat remedied.

At three, she had "glue ear," (wax build-up) and ended up with a perforated eardrum, the hole getting larger over the years. The delicate bones in her middle ear began to give way as well. She recalled, "I had really bad earaches. I was only about three or four and I was screaming my head off...I was always in pain as a child...I can't hear great now either. Things are a bit mumbly."

Able to manage a conversation one-to-one in a quiet room, if her "good ear" was facing the speaker, O'Sullivan joined the band without giving away her secret. It was only after about six months that she had to explain why she needed the monitors to be turned up loud during rehearsals, or why she was sometimes in distress after a long night of music.

O'Sullivan was eager to move on to solo work, singing music more in line with her real interests. With her good looks, she landed a role as a cabaret singer in the film "Happy Ever Afters," singing a half dozen songs on the soundtrack. The film will be released Christmas Day, 2009.
DON'T LOOK BACK trance No pop ups, captchas, pop unders or wait time.

SPANISH EYES, DANCE VERSION

SPANISH EYES, U.K. VERSION

Judy Henske & Jerry Yester by JOHNNY HALLYDAY

The most successful cover version for the combo of Henske-Yester is probably "Yellow Beach Umbrella," from Bette Midler. If not, then "Sauvez-Moi" by the internationally beloved Johnny Hallyday.
Judy's lyrics have been re-written into French. The anthemic music remains the same. The song was originally sung by Henske's group "Rosebud," with Judy sharing the vocals with Jerry Yester and Craig Doerge. Monsieur Johnny does a good job by himself though some might be prone to side with Spike Milligan who said that "French singers are the bane of my existence!" Sapristi! The French, from Piaf to Aznavour and back, do have a habit of tattooing a tune with an indelible style of over-emoting, and Hallyday takes it to a rockin' new level of excitement.
SAUVEZ-MOI

ROWAN ATKINSON sings as FAGIN

Rather than do the same thing as he ages (and be called an Old Bean) Rowan Atkinson has taken on new challenges, including singing in a big London musical. Critics have been cheering his version of Fagin for, among other things, bringing out the pedophiliac angle of the old man's lack of character, which probably was something the very gay Lionel Bart chuckled about when he first concocted OLIVER.

Critics are also glad that throughout the show Rowan unloads every spare eye-pop and grimace that he might have been saving for a fresh Blackadder special. Considering that the show has the gimmick of a female lead chosen via TV reality show, OLIVER would have failed miserably without Atkinson's star presence.

Perhaps in a year or two, this new production will be made into a cable TV special or even a feature-length movie. It would be a welcome subsitute for the weak movie version that offered the bland duo of Shani Wallis as Nancy and Marc Lester as Oliver, along with the somewhat anti-Semitic job done by Ron Moody as Fagin. In the meantime, if you're curious about Rowan's singing abilities, here's one of the comic highlights from the musical, as nutsy Fagin finds himself "Reviewing the Situation."
ROWAN ATKINSON as FAGIN

CHEN LIN...FALLS NINE FLOORS

A beloved singer who once had a million-selling album ("I Can Never Understand Your Love" in 1993), Chen Lin died after a fall from the ninth floor of an apartment in Beijing. It was the home of a friend. She had a bandage on her neck (caused, friends said, by a recent failed suicide attempt), and the corpse was wearing a mask, which might be ceremonial.

I doubt that Halloween is celebrated in China. Her masked pavement surfing on October 31st probably had nothing to do with pumpkins and black cats, and everything to do with that date being her ex-husband's birthday. He's not likely to celebrate his birthday quite so cheerfully for many years to come, which was no doubt her intent.

He's Zhu Shu Entertainment's powerful CEO Shen Yongge. They were married twelve years and it was for his record label that Chen Lin scored her biggest hits. She was newly married (in July to singer Zhang Chaofeng), but that was also the last time she posted anything on her blog. She put out a new EP in August, but the next few months were apparently full of disappointment and woe.

The death of Chen Lin (January 31, 1970-October 31, 2009) is the third major suicide of an Asian superstar in only a few years. This blog previously reported on the beautiful, irreplaceable actress-singer Eun-ju Lee, and the pop idol U-Nee. Those with long memories can add Jun Zi and Xie Jin, whose names, together when Chen Lin, Eun-ju Lee and U-Nee would form quite a grim eye-chart.

Chen Lin tried to do some good with her fame, as long as it lasted. In 2000, she used her popularity to become the "Green Ambassador" for the China Environmental Protection Foundation. Sadly, her new EP apparently didn't bring her much buzz, and her equally new marriage didn't fulfill her expectations. She wasn't about to cover Graham Parker's tune "Life Gets Better."

Chen Lin, like Jack Benny, will always be 39.

"Yu-Ye" is as timeless as a pop ballad can be, unmarred by the synths or dance beats or other production quirks that tend to render a song out of date. The other sample, another good one for Chen, is "Confiscate Your Love." Instant downloads or listen on line. No creepy captcha codes, no prurient porno ads, no time-waits from download "services" that want you to pay them for music they don't pay the artists to distribute.
YU-YE by CHEN LIN
CONFISCATE YOUR LOVE by CHEN LIN

COYOTES KILLED YOUNG FOLKIE...Taylor Mitchell

Here's your Halloween horror...a talented 19 year-old singer who released her first CD less than six months ago has died after being mauled by two coyotes.

Taylor Mitchell was hiking in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands National Park when she was set upon by the wild animals. Park rangers rushed to the scene, fired some shots, and wounded one of the coyotes. The animals raced away. So far nobody knows if the coyotes were rabid.

Fatally mauled, Taylor died the following day, October 28, after being airlifted to a hospital in Halifax. In a remarkable statement to reporters, Taylor's mom, Emily Mitchell, voiced concern for the hunt that brought down several coyotes in the area.

"When the decision had been made to kill the pack of coyotes, I clearly heard Taylor's voice say, 'Please don't, this is their space." She wouldn't have wanted their demise, especially as a result of her own." This was reportedly only the second fatal incident involving coyotes and humans. The first was back in 1981 when a 3 year-old girl, Kelly Keen, was killed near her home in Glendale, California.

Emily Mitchell added, "She loved the woods and had a deep affinity for their beauty and serenity. Tragically, it was her time to be taken from us so soon."

Too soon? The timing was rotten. She had just been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as "Young Performer of the Year," and she won praise at July's Winnipeg Folk Festival for her performance, and her debut CD, "For Your Consideration." Some felt she showed the same promise as another Canadian artist, Joni ("No Regrets Coyote") Mitchell, who was not related to young Taylor.

For your consideration, listen to two of her remarkably mature, and instantly haunting songs, "Clarity" and "Don't Know How I Got Here." You'll find more about Taylor, and the Taylor Mitchell Memorial Fund, at her website: http://www.taylormitchell.ca.
DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HERE by TAYLOR MITCHELL
CLARITY by TAYLOR MITCHELL

THE SOUP GETS COLD: SOUPY SALES DIES at 83

I was glad to see so many write-ups on Soupy Sales...newspapers, blogs, even International coverage. Maybe he's looking down from that big pie in the sky, thinking, "Wow, I really did make a lot of people happy." Because that's all he wanted to do.

Unlike some of the celebs profiled here, Soupy was not underappreciated, though he may have been underused. In his prime, he had a hit single ("The Mouse,") appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with The Beatles, hosted "Hullabaloo," issued six albums and was such a fad favorite there were Soupy trading cards, flicker rings, Halloween masks and magazines. He was offered the lead for "Gilligan's Island," but turned it down, holding out for (and getting) what he thought was better: a lead in a movie ("Birds Do It") followed by Broadway ("Come Live With Me').

While the fad for his pie-in-the-face hipster/kiddie comedy faded in the late 60's, he really didn't, because he was beloved. He became a panelist on "What's My Line" in 1967 and was a regular on game shows for decades. Fans went to see him in stand-up, they bought his joke book, and they listened to him on local radio stations. Long after the days when he hung around with puppet-hands Pookie, Black Tooth and White Fang, he was recording songs for Motown and a stand-up comedy album for MCA.

He never lost that soft North Carolina accent, with which he drawled a cheery "Hey...how are ya," to fans recognizing him on the street. He and his family had an apartment in the East 30's, in New York City, and he was known around the neighborhood for being friendly and kind-hearted.

Sure, he had a cranky side, but he generally kept it private...he was painfully irked by all the "legendary" anecdotes about him that were not true. NO, he didn't go on camera and tell kiddies a baseball joke about a fan who kissed his girl between the strikes while she kissed him between the balls. So many other dumb jokes attributed to him never happened.

He was also not pleased that he couldn't live down the one gag that was real; the time he jokingly told kids to send him some of their parents' "green pieces of paper." The important word: JOKINGLY. People remember it and tell it as if he really wanted money. The truth: "I never did it to get any money, it was just a joke. The punch line was "If you send me those pieces of paper, you know what I'm gonna send you? A postcard from Puerto Rico!"

And NO, he didn't get fired for having a naked girl jiggle on camera. She was off screen and the existing tape of the practical joke was taken by a camera that wasn't broadcasting. The joke wasn't done by Soupy, it was done TO Soupy. The girl was well out of camera range, standing in the same area usually reserved for Frank Nastase (the guy who wore the White Fang claw and arm, the only part of the monster dog that was ever shown).

NO, he wasn't called "Soupy" because his real name was "Hines" same as a soup company, it was a play on his real last name, Supman. So yes, this type of stuff, plus any demeaning comments about him being just a kiddie host involved in low humor, tended to knit Soupy's brow.

What un-knit that brow was turning up at memorabilia shows and seeing how many thousands of fans remembered him so fondly. He was always busy signing pictures and kidding with the fans, but around 2006, we all became more and more worried about the glassy look in his eye, and the literal jaw-drop, and his wandering attention span. It was sadly just a matter of time before he no longer attended the shows, or turned up at the Friar's Club.

The obits and comments out there are vivid and plentiful because those who bought his records, saw him on TV , heard his radio shows, and met him in person, take this loss personally, because he was everyone's friend. He sure was one of mine.

A little bit of Soupy silliness for you..."Soupy Sez," with the puppets of course, and Neil Hefti's theme song for the TV show. No waiting, no ads for porn or whiter teeth, and no captcha words to type in. Just download or listen on line:
SOUPY'S THEME
SOUPY SEZ

VIC MIZZY : You Made Me Dizzy Mr. Mizzy

"Don't cross the street in the middle in the middle in the middle in the middle in the middle of the block. Use your eyes to look up! Use your ears to hear! Walk up to the corner when the coast is clear...
...and wait. And wait. Until you see the light turn green!"

Vic's PSA TV commercial to teach kids not to jaywalk was his most familiar melody...until he wrote "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres" themes. He loved that jaywalking song so much he even used it (sans lyrics) as background in various episodes of "The Addams Family."

You were expecting a normal obit? On this blog?

Here's another odd fact about Vic. His first popular songs (not so popular anymore) were co-written by the legendary Irving Taylor, who, late in life, created some oddball musical comedy albums for Warner Bros. Those tunes include "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eye," "Three Little Sisters," (covered by the Andrews Sisters, natch) and "Take It Easy." Vic's best known songs as far as your grandma would be concerned, were "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time," sung by Doris Day and "The Jones Boy" from The Mills Brothers.

Vic, an N.Y.U. grad from Brooklyn, sauced cauliflower ears via a variety of odd tunes that crackled across the radio airwaves or sputtered on juke boxes, but it wasn't until TV was in full swing that he finally found his calling: theme songs.

"Green Acres" is his best known exponential song...where the lyrics are supposed to tell the audience what the show is about. Below, you'll find three more of 'em, each trying to explain a bad sitcom premise: "The Pruitts of Southampton" (Phyllis Diller singing), "Double Life of Henry Phyfe" ("Who Me" cries the show's star Red Buttons) and "Captain Nice," the super hero spoof that battled "Mr. Terrific" for a year.

Mizzy's first major movie soundtrack was for "The Night Walker," which was, as you'd expect from a William Castle film, half horror and half horror parody. (More on that one below). Vic also scored Castle's "The Busy Body," and a fist full of Don Knotts movies, notably "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." Even in his 80's he was in demand, sought out to supply some music for "Spiderman 2."

Le Miz had a home in high class Bel Air, thanks in part to royalties from his finger-snapping "Addams Family" theme song. Maybe a few dollars came in when They Might Be Giants decided to cover "In the Middle," his jaywalking PSA commercial. He died on October 17th, age 93, leaving behind a daughter, and a website where a self-pressed CD of songs "For the Jogging Crowd" was sold. It's momentarily high-priced on eBay and Amazon, but a cheap download at eMusic.com.

VIC's PHYLLIS DILLER, RED BUTTONS and CAPTAIN NICE themes Instant download or listen on line. No pop-ups, screen captchas or wait time.
Don't cross the street "IN THE MIDDLE" Instant Download or Listen On Line

Sticky Mr. Mizzy co-wrote CHOO'N GUM

This post comes with a warning.

If you listen more than once to the cutie-pie tune "Choo'n Gum," you will loathe it with a passion...and find that you also can't get it out of your head, any more than you can easily get the junk itself off the sole of your shoe.

The only thing surprising about "Choo'n Gum," an impossibly catchy song you love to hate, is that it was not covered by Danny Kaye, Prince of the Irritating Ditty. Danny was the guy who made you wonder if "puckish" should be spelled with an f. Perhaps the only reason he missed "Choo'n Gum" is that he swallowed it while singing "Mommy Gimme A Drinka Water."

Though it wasn't OK for Danny, it was a kayo hit for the terminally perky Teresa Brewer. It was also covered by that satirist of crooning, the lovably insincere Dean Martin.

No doubt when Dino was handed this piece of gooey fazool he thought of it in terms of dollars, rather than sense. He knew if "Doggie in the Window," "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" and the pedophiliac-sick "Come Onna My House (I'm Gonna Give You Candy)" could be hits, why not this piece of... gum? Besides, if he'd let Jerry Lewis sing it, radio tubes may have exploded.

The Vic Mizzy-Manny Curtis bit of novelty-sadism from 1950 goes like so:

"My mom gave me a nickel to buy a pickle. I didn't buy a pickle, I bought some choo'n gum
Choo, choo, choo, choo, choo, choo'n gum. How I love choo'n gum. I'm crazy over choo'n gum, I chew, chew, chew!
My aunt gave me a quarter for soda water. I didn't buy the water. I bought some choo'n gum. (chorus)
I chew the day away, it seems. I'm even blowin' bubbles in my dreams
My pop gave me a dollar to buy a collar. You should have heard him holler when I bought choo'n gum!
Choo, choo, choo, choo, choo, choo'n gum. How I love choo'n gum..."

78 rpm cover versions include The Andrews Sisters, Don and Lou Robertson (on Coral, also in 45 rpm), Ella Fitzgerald, Lynn Howard and Toni Harper (later released on the album "Candy Store Blues"). The Yum Yum Kids with the MGM Marshmallow Orchestra did it in 1966 and in 1998, Maria Muldaur. If you consider one of the lines in the song, it could've been covered by Michael Jackson: "I'm even blowin' Bubbles in my dreams."

Which reminds me...don't remind me about George Rock, and "I'm Forever Blowing Bubble Gum." ICK!

Five versions was pushing the limit: Teresa Brewer with the Dixieland All Stars, Tippy Brown and the Peter Pan Orchestra, Audrey Marsh with the Ray Arthur Quartet, Toby Deane and Dean Martin.

By the time you listen to all of them, your chewing gum will have lost its flavor...
CHOO'N GUM FIVE TIMES

VIC MIZZY Paul Frees Sammy Kaye NIGHT WALKER

One of Vic Mizzy's best movie scores was for "The Night Walker," a nightmare movie directed by William Castle and featuring the last film role for screamin' Barbara Stanwyck. In your download below, you get Vic's theme music in two very different ways.

First, there's the actual soundtrack prologue...Mizzy's classic musical ook (half "Experiment in Terror" half "Addams Family") with Paul Frees offering some scary taunts about dreams and paranoia.

This is Frees in his dramatic "Orson Welles" mode, which he perfected way back when he was the host of radio's "Escape." Paul was a bit irked that Welles got so much attention when they both had almost the same burly vocal skills. When Orson would sometimes invade Paul's territory by doing a voiceover for a coming attraction, Paul would even mock him in the movie theater, asking out loud why the great actor was trying to pick up a few extra bucks doing a commercial.

Frees is known to the Halloween crowd for his "Spike Jones Spooktacular" album (doing Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Alfred Hitchcock among others), his own bizarre "Poster People" disc, and for his "Haunted Mansion" narrations (including the well-loved line "Welcome Foolish Mortals..."). He was Ludwig von Drake (among others) for Disney, and his amazingly versatile voice allowed him to be gruff Boris Badenov on the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" and the smooth, high-pitched Pillsbury Doughboy in dozens of TV commercials.

Mizzy's "Night Walker" theme was, very oddly enough, recorded by Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra. It appeared on his very eclectic Decca album "Dancetime," which included "Eight Days a Week," "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" and another un-danceable movie theme, "Goldfinger."

You get both versions below....
SAMMY KAYE instant download or listen on line

NIGHT WALKER PAUL FREES narration

LOU JACOBI "Al Tijuana" Herb Alpert comic was 95

Among Demento-heads, Lou Jacobi was best known as "Al Tijuana," for a late 60's Capitol parody album that kosherized music in Herb Alpert's style.

I'll tell you an anecdote about Lou Jacobi. I was on a crosstown bus, and as I looked out the window, I felt like I was in a Woody Allen movie. There in front of me, in cinemascope via the long bus windows, was Lou Jacobi, slowly puffing to catch the bus. I looked up ahead. The last passenger waiting was paying the fare. The bus driver began to pull away just as Lou made it to the bus stop.

I watched him as the bus pulled away, leaving him behind.

He had a smile on his face.

That tells you something about Mr. Jacobi...how genuine his attitude was about the comedy of life. Somebody else would've been cursing, shaking his head, feeling enraged. But in Mr. Jacobi's gentle world, no doubt influenced by Sholom Aleichem and centuries of ironic Jewish humor, he simply smiled. What do you expect? Of course when you run for a bus, it pulls out the minute you get to the door!

Toronto-born Louis Jacobovitch started as a stand-up comedian but found more success as a character actor, first in England (his film debut was in the Diana Dors comedy "Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary") then on Broadway in 1955 for "The Diary of Anne Frank." He appeared in the film version, too, and his movie credits include "My Favorite Year," "Irma La Douce," "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex," and "Avalon." His last film was "I.Q." in 1994.

Mr. Jacobi even had a chance at sitcom stardom, via the obscure and short-lived "Ivan the Terrible" in 1976.

He had hits on vinyl, being the lead in the ensemble cast albums "You Don't Have to be Jewish" and "When You're In Love the Whole World is Jewish." Then he "starred" on his own album, "Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass," giving introductions to klezmer-spiked versions of hit tunes of the day...an odd attempt to win over some Jewish listeners of Herb Alpert records (Yes, Alpert himself was also Jewish). The key selling point was that warmly familiar and comical Lou Jacobi face and body on the cover.

The album, which WFMU uploaded in nice stereo years ago, isn't exactly a laugh riot, just gently tilted. "Buenos noches, amigos and amigettes," Lou announces on the opening track, "this is Al Tijuana with the sweetest music this side of the Rio Grande." Indeed, opening cut "It's Not Unusual" is played pretty straight...except for a bit of kazoo and overenthusiastic marimba. "That's NOT the sweetest music this side of the Rio Grande?" Lou asks midway through. He answers his own question: "It's the sweetest music on either side of the Rio Grande!"

The disc was aimed at middle-aged Hadassah listeners who might smirk at hearing a Tevye-like "bum bum didel-ee-yum dum" chorus replacing Henry Mancini's prowling bass line on "Peter Gunn," or "Downtown" with a fiddler on the roof interjecting a solo. Lou: "You like it! You keep asking for it. You're getting it!" And yes, at one point you hear, "Ole, ole. Oy vey, oy vey!" Like Lou himself, the album wasn't too pushy. It was more of an easy-listening novelty album than anything to rival Allan Sherman.

The humor was simply in the familiar characterization of a Jewish uncle getting silly (and crooning "Doobie doobie do" ala Sinatra during "Stranger in the Night."). The instrumentals that jonesed the originals weren't Spiked with wild sound effects. There were no punchy gags. Al introduces "Never on Sunday" as actually being "Never on Saturday." One song merely ends: "That's it, amigos and amigettes, from Al Tijuana and his Jewish Brass...until next time, Hasta Luego. Or, how you say...goodbye, Bubbie." Adios, Mr. Jacobi, and thanks for the autographed photo.

Mr. Jacobi's wife Ruth died in 2004 (they were married in 1957) and he passed away on October 23rd.
AL TIJUANA and his JEWISH BRASS

JENNY DARREN - "LAY ME LIKE A LADY!"

Dylan once sang a wistful tune, "Lay Lady Lay."
He was singing softly to someone demure...he may not have been able to handle a hurricane like Jenny Darren!
A British blues belter who may have been more than even fans of Janis Joplin or Elkie Brooks could handle, Darren made a few albums with some tracks that could shred your ears as they purge your libido.
The evidence still exists on her late 70's vinyl. These days Jenny's grooming some mean singers via her work as a teacher and lecturer. After work at Croydon College in the early 90's, she went on to the Colchester Institute. She returned to the studio in 1997 to record Helen Mirren's singing voice for the soundtrack to the British TV drama "Painted Lady." You can buy that one at JennyDarren.com, but you may need to drop by your local starving record dealer or peruse eBay to find her two early albums on DJM.
Jenny still performs from time to time, and has a home studio and teaches students the finer points of jazz, but no doubt if a ballsy babe wants to learn how to sing like a Sam Brown, Elkie Brooks or Jenny Darren herself...she'd be happy to put a tune like "Lay Me Like a Lady" on the turntable and take it from there.
She's a powerful singer, a great talent, a super teacher...now download a song that can both arouse and frighten you at the same time. It's Jenny Darren wailin' LAY ME LIKE A LADY! To paraphrase Tina Turner's intro to "Proud Mary," Jenny starts out nice, and then she gets hot...and nasty!

JENNY DARREN, LAY ME LIKE A LADY

Rusty Weir dead "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance"

Well, no, the news of Rusty Wier's death (May 3, 1944 - October 9, 2009) doesn't make you wanna dance, but in any of the obits on him, it was a key line. This was Rusty's most famous song. It had the Raitt stuff...appearing on "Urban Cowboy" in Bonnie's version, which went Double Platinum. Barbara Mandrell covered it, as did Jerry Jeff Walker. One of the more elegant versions, (below) was done by the late Canadian C&W artist Colleen Peterson (who is featured elsewhere on this blog). It was naturally a staple of Rusty's act, and you also get his live 1992 version.

On Rusty's website, the tributes have poured in. Rusty had cancer in his last years, but Joe Ables, of the Saxon Pub (where Rusty played most Thursday nights for 14 years) recalled, "I’ve seen him sicker ’n a dog, but hit the stage, and you’d never know it. A true professional....I use Rusty as an example to these younger acts, who get a little sniffle and then want to cancel."

“Just make ’em smile," Rusty used to say. "It’s what I’m there for. They’re not there to hear all my problems. And I do my best to make ’em laugh.” He began his career as a drummer, but in his native Texas, he switched from rock groups to work as a country singer and songwriter, eventually touring with the Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker bands, The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pure Prairie League, The Allman Brothers, Commander Cody, Asleep at the Wheel, Doug Kershaw, and George Strait.

He released over a dozen albums, and on his website, he ran a RUSTYPOD for some free audio fun. His last CD was "I Stood Up," and in his last years, he co-wrote some songs with his talented sons Bon and Coby. Check out more about Rusty at his dot com.

Don't It Make You Wanna Dance: COLLEEN PETERSON
Don't It Make You Wanna Dance: RUSTY WIER, live recording

Comical IAN WALLACE in the glorious mud at 90

An opera singer at Glyndebourne and the Scottish Opera, the late Ian Wallace was best known to British audiences for his amazing 27 year run on radio quiz programme "My Music." He never missed an episode.
For comedy fans, he will remain fondly remembered for his 1956 and 1957 comedy ep's for Parlophone, which popularized the songs of Flanders and Swann (and featured Donald Swann on piano). His 1956 "Wallace's Private Zoo" predates "The Bestiary of Flanders and Swann," and features the Rhinocerous, Warthog, Elephant, and that classic, The Hippopotamus Song (Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud).
The 1956 "Wallace Collection of Human Portraits" included another favorite Flanders and Swann item, "Transport of Delight," (in the download below).
When Flanders and Swann first staged an "after-dinner farrago," Michael Flanders said it was because various artists, such as Ian Wallace, had played their compositions, "but not nearly enough!" With lyricist Flanders not only being an able singer of his own songs, but a delightful monologist and narrator, Flanders and Swann became international stars and appeared on Broadway twice before going their separate ways.
Ian Wallace, though unknown in America and not an international name either, remained a U.K. legend, and as you'd expect, was recognized by his government with an O.B.E. For more on Ian Wallace ((July 10, 1919 – October 12, 2009) you can go to the man himself, and his books: "Promise Me You'll Sing Mud" and "Nothing Quite Like It."
TRANSPORT OF DELIGHT, by Flanders & Swann, sung by Ian Wallace Instant download or listen on line.

THROW YOUR PANTIES OVERBOARD - BOB DYLAN live track

Here's "High Water," as recorded live on tour by Bob this summer. Some of the growling lyrics:
"I got a cravin' love for blazing speed
Got a hopped up Mustang Ford
Jump into the wagon, love, throw your panties overboard
I can write you poems, make a strong man lose his mind
I'm no pig without a wig
I hope you treat me kind..."
The always contradictory and fascinating Bob once performed "Love Sick" on a TV commercial to sell Victoria's Secret panties.
In this song, he's saying "throw your panties overboard." Maybe so that she'll have to go to Victoria's Secret the next day to buy more! Who knows what his deal with VS could be.
And why, come to think of it, did he chose "Love Sick" (ie, "I'm sick of love") as the tune to use for a turn-on commercial?
Oh, you can spend endless hours trying to figure out Dylan, if you're willin'.
Like, why boast to a woman that you can write poems that make a strong man lose his mind?
Like, doesn't "overboard" generally involve being on a boat, not a Ford Mustang? Or is he saying the water's so friggin' high, his car has become a boat? If you really are expectin' answers, then you're also expectin' rain.
soundboard 2009 HIGH WATER Bob Dylan

BELA LUGOSI sings BEGIN THE BEGUINE

Answer: "Guy Marks."
Question: "What do you find all over Paris Hilton's body?"
Comedy fans of a certain vintage (ones that remember this A&Q routine from either Steve Allen or Johnny Carson) know all about Guy Marks. He was an offbeat comedian-mimic who not only worked Vegas and nightclubs, but even managed to convince record labels to indulge his strange ideas.
How strange? How about a spoken word single imagining Humphrey Bogart as an Indian scout translating for a chief whose fondest desire is to sing "Volare?" Or, a deadpan album of old-time rotten 20's novelty tunes promoted by the freshly penned "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas?" Or, his "Hollywood Sings?" where 40's movie stars are imagined singing 40's hit songs?
On that one, Guy offered the logical ("As Time Goes By" from Bogart), the acceptable (Clark Gable doing "I'll Be Seeing You") and the ludicrous..."Begin the Beguine" via a highly stylized version of Bela Lugosi.
With respect to de Maupassant. Mr. Marks remains Illfolks' favorite Guy.
BEGIN THE BEGUINE. Guy Marks as Bela Lugosi

HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS - esther phillips

What's home for you? A place of peace, love and tranquility? Or...
...a misery because you share it with a slob?
Is it soured by some ethnic idiot's obnoxious music, stinking cooking, or screechy collection of repulsive semi-human brats?
Is it scarred by the constant barking of a neighbor's stupid dog?
Is it spoiled by a landlord that won't fix the leaks or keep the place heated?
Got some bitch upstairs with high heels? Some heel downstairs who spends his time tinkering stuff together with the constant tap-tap-tap of a hammer? How about retired old people with diverticulitis who have the TV volume FULL BLAST all day?
Maybe you've got fratboy retards upstairs who boogie till they puke...which isn't until 4am after they've finished the 12th sing-along to "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Or is your home just a place to hang your head because it's got a lousy view, is in a high-crime location, or is a money pit?
You should love being home, in your "castle," in your refuge from life's aggravation. If you're not, then home is where the hatred is, and your only escape might be drugs...enough of them to make you forget where you are, and possibly even who you are.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm, and where there's shelter from the storm. Maybe it's only in your imagination during a drugged dream, and you know in reality that "Almost Home," is nothing but the name of a chemical-filled brand of cookie.
Singing "Home is Where the Hatred Is," is Esther Phillips.
Born Esther Mae Jones (December 23, 1935-August 7, 1984), the teenage "Little Esther" was a sensation, and in 1950, was signed by Herman Lubinsky to his Savoy label. She had a string of R&B chart hits including "Wedding Boogie," "Misery" and "Deceivin' Blues." Her huge success in 1950 led her to leave Savoy and sign with Sid Nathan's rival Federal...where she had almost no luck at all. She made it back but it took a turbulent decade of work, touring, drug abuse and a name change ("Esther Phillips," using a last name borrowed from a petroleum product she saw at a gas station.)
Her Beatles cover version "And I Love Him" led the Fab Four to invite her to play the U.K. in 1964. Substance abuse once again became a problem, but Esther emerged at the turn of the 70's stronger than ever, with critics raving over her Grammy-nominated album "From a Whisper to a Scream," and her cover of Gil Scott-Heron's "Home is Where the Hatred Is."
A few years later, she was even mainstream enough to appear on "Saturday Night Live." But Esther paid a price for the years of drug and alcohol abuse...at only 48, she was dead of liver and kidney failure. Her home is now Morning Light section, Lot 2591, Interment Space 2 at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.
HOME IS WHERE THE HATRED IS

"EVILE" MIKE ALEXANDER ENTERS THE GRAVE

Last month, bassist Mike Alexander (6/22/77-10/5/09) along with another member of his band EVILE, journeyed to Manhattan for promo interviews. His interracial UK thrash group then began a European tour on the bill with Amon Amarth. After a few dates, something was wrong with Mike. At a hospital in Sweden, he died of a brain hemorrhage.
His three bandmates released a joint statement:
"This is so hard to find the words to express fully how we feel. We can't believe or accept what's happened...."
Which is pretty ironic for guys who titled their recent debut album "Enter the Grave," which features "Darkness Shall Bring Death" and "We Who Are About To Die."
"One minute we're talking to our buddy, Mike, the next minute we can never speak to him again. There's so many things rushing through our heads that we want to say, do and
feel. We half expect him to come round the corner and call us 'dickheads'.
We can't get our heads around it."
We've all listened to headbanger, trash, thrash, morbid, acid rock or heavy metal bands in our turbulent teen years, where every day was a contentious or pretentious Halloween.
If you remember fondly your times listening to Black Sabbath or Alice Cooper, and wonder what the kids in the trailer park are splitting their skulls to, your sample of EVILE is below.
EVILE finished a new album, "Infected Nations," and in a tribute to the days when music mattered enough to buy and keep an album in a revered place in your home, they put out a limited edition double LP set on VINYL. They even printed up limited edition red vinyl and white vinyl versions -- only 200 copies each!
So if "We Who Are About To Die" makes you recall Ozzy or Alice, or it makes your brain churn, or you're particularly impressed with the literary allusion to Julius Caesar, sure, you'll probably download the entire "Enter the Grave" for free somewhere. But maybe, you'll want to buy the new one on vinyl! What a devilish thought!
EVILE - WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE

SHE'S BACK.... CHI COLTRANE

Sept. 30, 2009 : Muziekcentrum Eindhoven - Eindhoven
Fri. Oct. 2, 2009 : Muziekcentrum - Enschede
Oct. 4, 2009 : Philharmonie - Haarlem (Amsterdam)
Oct. 6, 2009 : De Lawei - Drachten
Oct. 9, 2009 : Stadsschouwburg - Middelburg
Oct. 10, 2009 : Vredenburg - Utrecht
Oct. 13, 2009 : De Tamboer - Hoogeveen
Oct. 14, 2009 : Stedelijk Concertgebouw - Leiden

Yes, it's true, the return of Chi Coltrane on tour starts TOMORROW.

You can go to YouTube and check out her bold first appearance in public...at an outdoor concert in Vienna, where she is in total command of the crowd. Any tweens and 20-somethings wondering "Who's this Hot Lips Houlihan with a black jazz man's last name..." will see that Chi smacks a piano harder than Ray Charles and her "sweet shout" Gospel-tinged delivery can still lash into roars and snarls. It was proof she's ready to try a tour.

This long overdue illfolks tribute was delayed because I knew she was planning a return, and I wanted to salute it when it happened.

Coltrane's early 70's hit "Thunder and Lightning" blazed up the charts. Then critics took a closer look, and apparently were surprised that the woman belting that song was a beautiful blonde...someone "too white" to be authentic. Chi (pronounced "shy") was, after all, from Wisconsin, part of Lawrence Welk land. She has never lost the tendency-ah to end a sentence-ah with an extra vowel...a trait also uncomfortably associated with the Swaggart style used to preach religion-ah.

Perhaps some of the Archies who saw her album covers, expected a sweet Betty to Linda Ronstadt's Veronica, and were unprepared for someone who could growl. Listen to the way she sings "what am I to do" on "You Were My Friend" - she sounds the way a wet cat looks.

Even on a passionate ballad, such as "Ooh Baby," Chi will not stay pretty and passive. That song is an emotional roller coaster of hushed sighs and powerful yearning, and it's easy to understand how people could be a little surprised and alarmed by it...it's like cuddling an ocelot...it's furry, it's kissable, but it can turn dangerous, too. Chi's snarling vocals on some notes make you almost think she might grow fangs. We want our ladies to sing soft songs vulnerably, ala Billie Holiday, or powerful songs strongly, ala Aretha, but Chi was doing both.

Some of her best songs have that mixed message; sweet vocals that turn into Gospel "whoa ho ho" whoops, pretty melodies punctuated by fierce full-bodied chords...it makes for a unique, individual and challenging artist. Publicists, writers and disc jockeys couldn't categorize her as easily as Ronstadt or Aretha...

....so after two Columbia albums (and despite the enthusiasm of Clive Davis), Chi slipped off the label, and remained adrift for three years until 1977's "Road to Tomorrow." This was a brilliant album, but unfortunately on Clouds, a small subsidiary of T.K., a label that pushed disco junk such as "K.C. and the Sunshine Band."

When that album, and its gorgeous cover photo, failed to re-ignite her career here, Coltrane moved to Europe, finding a strong following in Holland and Germany, where an attractive white woman could sing with black gospel influences and be lauded for it. Europeans were also enthusiastic about her very American, Evangelical approach to lyrics of life and love. In concert, she could mention "Jesus, my lord" without getting groans.

You can hear that line on "You," from her lone live album, one of three she recorded for Germany's Teldec label in the 80's...albums that fetched big prices from American fans fighting to out-bid each other on eBay for them.

Through the years there were whispers about Chi's emotional fragility, which is part of the temperament of singer/songwriters. The pressures of coming up with another "Thunder and Lightning" were great, the end of her two-lp deal with Columbia had to be painful, and the lack of interest in "Road to Tomorrow" a major disappointment. Yet, Chi's years in Germany, and the albums she made, retained her trademark energy and drive.

So what happened? Where was she for the past two decades?

"I had a debilitating illness for many years, similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, which left me too tired to tour. But I was fortunate enough to find a doctor who uses herbal treatments, and who has helped me overcome this affliction. I'm completely recovered and ready to resume my recording and performing career."

You can buy her new CD via her website. Last time I checked, she even had autographed copies available. While there aren't many new songs on it (it's mostly a "best of" tracks from the Teldec albums of the 80's) her recent works show that she's as dynamic and sensitive as ever, and that's quite a combination to have fighting inside anyone's mind and body.

Her "best of" the Columbia era is still around on CD, but she's surprisingly hard to find on iTunes, eMusic and the usual suspects. Her self-made "best of" (with the two fresh tracks) is a good place to start, especially since you can probably still get an autographed version of it...try autographing an mp3 file!

The photo above? Vintage Chi on her "Road to Tomorrow" album (she autographed it, "I hope you like it...") and the new CD.

Your introduction to the vast tapestry of Chi Coltrane greatness: four live tracks. "You Were My Friend" with its honest pain, "You," a ballad that her powerful voice makes one of strength more than subservience, "Leavin' It All Behind," a typical piano-pounding song of joyous contradictions ("Christmas, in the middle of May") and the rousing "Go Like Elijah." You, go, Chi. And if any of you can go to a Chi Coltrane concert...don't be shy. You won't be converted into anything but a fan.
CHI COLTRANE LIVE

SHE'S BACK..... BEVERLEY CRAVEN

BANBURY : October 02
CANTERBURY: October 03
BEWDLEY : October 15
DARTFORD: October 16
BRAINTREE: October 17
LIVERPOOL: October 21

Beverley Craven's released her first album in ten years. (The last one, "Mixed Emotions," was recorded at Abbey Road). "Close to Home" on her own Campsie Music label, is available direct via her website. Two highlights are the captivating "Is it Only Me?" which has a bit of the minor key pop-hook magic of ABBA (pardon the expression) and the cutting "Fun, Fun Fun," which are purely Craven-crafted, with her softly urgent vocals seasoned by varying influences, from R&B (she was once a back-up singer for Bobby Womack) to the flights of fancy associated with Kate Bush.

Beverley took her long hiatus to raise her family. Her career started with one of the most spectacular debuts in British pop history. Her first album went double platinum (over a million sold) and stayed on the U.K. charts for a solid year. Her breathy phrasing is unique; nobody sounds like her. The warm, wistful and romantic "Promise Me" was a big International hit, and while there were tasty numbers on her next two albums, trying to live up to the first had to be frustrating.

To be honest, some of her material is definitely girly-girl, or "View"-worthy ("Woman to Woman" and a number about the "tick tock of her biological clock.") Some of her new songs are candy-coated, but it does seem that many Beverley fans crave that side of her. At the Illfolks blog, the first track, the McCartneyesque "Rainbow," is always skipped. It opens: "Look at that bird, sitting in a tree, singing its little heart out! Look at that cloud, a picture in the sky, and the sunlight through the leaves. All I know, it's beautiful...there are no rainbows without the rain!"

In America, with an overwhelming number of jazz-pop women on the charts, from Basia to Whitney Houston to Carly Simon, Craven made less of an impression, and that first album didn't stay on the charts anywhere near the year it did in the U.K. I knew nothing about her when I happened upon her CD in a store, and her slightly melancholy cover photo (and her last name) plus the stamp of Epic made it seem well worth a gamble.

Your introduction to Beverley Craven is the last cut on that first album from 1990. It's atypical, really, since she's using more of her smooth groove voice. A dirge ballad with more than a dash of New Orleans funeral music to it, "Missing You" is the kind of song of sweet sorrow that recalls romantic writers of the past, include Edgar A. Poe. (Poe fans no doubt wish that Beverley was somehow related to Dr Erasmus Craven, as played by Vincent Price in "The Raven.")
MISSING YOU. But fans missing Beverley Craven for 10 years...she's BACK!

W.C. Fields fake: SMOOTH LUNDVALL "Dear Chester"

It was easy to get a novelty single released by Columbia ... if you happened to be an executive there!

"Smooth Lundvall," aka Bruce Lundvall (Bucknell graduate, class of 1957), managed to push Columbia into issuing TWO novelty singles. One was a cover of "Winchester Cathedral" b/w "I'm Gonna Spoil You Baby" (billed as The New Happiness, vocal refrain by Smooth Lundvall) and the more disturbing coupling of "Dear Chester"
and "Ode to Larson E. Whipsnade" credited to Smooth Lundvall and The New Happiness.

Adopting a W.C. Fields cadence, but sounding more like Rudy Vallee, Lundvall attempted to be part of the "Fields cash-in" that included new books, pop posters, and the arrival of "Uncle Bill" (imitating the Great Man in both TV commercials and on a novelty album). Columbia issued four albums of W.C. Fields radio shows...and a few years later, 1976, "Smooth" Bruce Lundvall had worked his way up to become president of CBS Records.

Jazz fan Lundvall switched over to Elektra in 1982, boosting Elektra's new "Musician" label, and two years later, went to EMI, where he revived Blue Note and signed Norah Jones, which immediately let the world know that this aging executive still knew how to bring in talent.

Lundvall was once chairman of the RIAA, and also held high positions at other alphabet soup groups; Country Music Association (CMA) and National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). He received a presidential award (whatever that is) from NARM (whoever they are...the National Association of Record Merchants, whose job apparently is to wave farewell every time a Tower, HMV or Virgin closes.)

"Dear Chester" references "Chester Fields," a mythical son W.C. loved to mention on radio just to annoy his sponsor, the rival cigarette company Lucky Strike. Lundvall recites a script that goes from copping familiar Fields jokes into inventing lesser ones...a distracting piano offering what is supposed to be some period flavor. If you've ever tasted a period, this is not a compliment.

Lundvall, now 73, is still the CEO over at Blue Note, and despite signing more acts, including Cassandra Wilson, and having certifiable hits with albums by Al Green and Wynton Marsalis, people want him to step aside for somebody younger. In a February 2009 article in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/arts/music/07blue.html) "Smooth" Bruce said "“I don’t want to sit around the house and mow the lawn. I don’t want to be a crossing guard for the Wyckoff, N.J., school system. I want to keep doing this.”
DEAR CHESTER

Sir Howard Morrison (1935-2009) How Great was his Art

If you were listening to New Zealand Top Ten radio in 1981, you remember something strange happening.
In a year when the #1 song was Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," Sheena Easton's "Morning Train," Blondie's "The Tide Is High," or John Lennon's "Woman," for a few weeks, the top spot was something completely different.

It wasn't rock at all. It was...

Howard Morrison singing "How Great Thou Art."

It proved that Howard was not just a major influence on NZ music, he was a Maori influence.

While the New Zealand #1 spot back then could belong to some diverse music (the ethnic ballad "Bridge" by Deane Waretini or the odd Island rhythm-disco "Say I Love You" from Renee Geyer), the success of a traditional and religious song was remarkable...

....although the novelty twist was that Howard didn't sing all of it in English.

Morrison, part Maori, part Scots/Irish, first gained attention back in 1956 with the Howard Morrison Quartet, formed when he was just 21. That group continued in the 60's. Morrison continued to win fans through the 70's as a solo singer, peaking with his 1981 hit rendition of "How Great Thou Art."

Just how great was his art? In 1990 he was knighted. He grew frail but his legend grew strong. Asked what his legacy was, he simply replied, "Let the people decide."
Prime Minister John Key issued the following statement: "Sir Howard was a New Zealand success story. From humble beginnings he became an international success, first with the Howard Morrison Quartet, and then in an illustrious solo career. But more than that, Sir Howard was one of New Zealand's best loved entertainers, his appeal spanning every age group. I pay tribute to a real gentleman...Sir Howard Morrison will be greatly missed."

Sir Howard Morrison, O.B.E. died on September 24th. He's survived by his wife Rangiwhata, and three children.
HOW GREAT THOU ART, Sir Howard Morrison

ROSH HASHANAH: "Tangled Up in Blue" BOB DYLAN

Today (September 19th) is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

A New Year implies regeneration, and Bob's noted for revitalizing his old songs when he revisits them. Bob's newest version of "Tangled Up in Blue" (this soundboard version is from a July 2009 show) features a sneaky blues that does a chromatic strut up and down the scale. It turns a formerly bitter folk tune into some kinda jitterbug rag. He's also rhyming "Tropicana" with "Atlanta" where we once heard "Topless place" and "Side of her face."

Those thinking Bob's voice is a bit shot will not find that much evidence here; he sings this one with sly enthusiasm and less of a morbid croak. Bob will be releasing a holiday album shortly...of Christmas songs. Which makes about as much sense as putting tinsel on your tegelach. But Bob has always had a unique vision that, over time, is usually proven to be wise and/or profound. So a cheerful Muppet growl of "Here Comes Santa Claus" from the former Mr. Zimmerman, could just be the surprise hit of the season. If it isn't, he may have something to atone for next Yom Kippur.
TANGLED UP IN BLUE 2009 VERSION

The Whiskeyhill Singers Live '62

Dave Guard had left The Kingston Trio (replaced by John Stewart) to forge new trails in folk music. The trail got muddied. The name of his new group suggested that he was going to booze it up and sing numbers even stupider than "Tijuana Jail." The group's cover of "Railroad Bill" suggests as much

Most of the other tracks on their ill-fated album veer wildly from irritating unauthentic ethnic tripe ("Salomila") to the morbid ("Plane Wreck at Los Gatos") to nitwit novelty ("We're the World's Last Authentic Playboys") to the lone highlight, Big Judy Henske's solo on the traditional blues, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out."

There were high hopes for the group. They were given a strong build-up and were featured in Life Magazine (photo above, lightly colorized, referencing "Railroad Bill.") Aside from that song, nothing was too funny and Judy fled the group while they were recording material for a second album (which was never released).

She turned up on Elektra with a first album recorded live and brimming with the eclectic tastes, wild humor, and bold musicianship that somehow had not come together for "The Whiskeyhill Singers."

Performing live, you can hear that they could put the hoot into hootenanny, and if nothing else you'll get a sense of their ebullience as they roar through the ridiculous ("Railroad Bill") and the overripe ("Salomila") with a little something extra in between.
WHISKEYHILL SINGERS LIVE IN 1962

MARY TRAVERS (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009)

Vibrant performers in their prime, welcome friends as they aged into an act that parents, children and grandparents could all enjoy, Peter Paul & Mary managed to stay together (sans the break-up years 1971-76) for a lifetime. Despite her weight problems in the 90's and health issues over the past few years, Mary Travers was able to keep to the touring commitments and not disappoint all those worldwide fans.

She'd had a bone marrow transplant to deal with the leukemia diagnosed in 2005, and was still undergoing chemotherapy, but was performing until just a few months ago. On her website, Peter Yarrow began his eulogy: "In her final months, Mary handled her declining health in the bravest, most generous way imaginable. She never complained. She avoided expressing her emotional and physical distress, trying not to burden those of us who loved her, especially her wonderfully caring and attentive husband, Ethan...."

And after mentioning aspects of her "vexing" personality (Mary, surprisingly enough, was the most political of the three, and known for her sharp wit), Noel Paul Stookey ended his statement with: "I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career."

Her passing naturally stirs nostalgia in those who remember when the trio was, along with the Kingston Trio, the most polished and commercials stars of the folk revival. Appealing to most everyone, the PP&M set list and albums included Christian songs, Jewish songs, delicate ballads, rousing sing-alongs and even novelty tunes. Plus there was a certain sad and charming kiddie song about a magic dragon that even hippies loved, convinced it was actually about pot.

Not quite the darlings of the critics, despite their brilliant harmonies and impeccable taste, one wag dismissed them as looking like "two rabbis and a hooker." The two rabbis (one Jewish, one Christian) were sometimes hard to tell apart, but there was no doubt about the hooker...Mary was an eye-catching hippie chick with her full-lipped smile and shimmering, long straight blond hair.

It was her voice that gave the trio its distinction, melding so beautifully with the two guys, and no doubt influencing future mixed folk groups such as "The Mamas and the Papas" and "Spanky and Our Gang."

Mary once admitted, "I'm not sure I want to be singing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' when I'm 75, but I know I'll still be singing 'Blowin' in the Wind.'" PP&M's cover was the first time most people on the planet ever heard of a songwriter called Bob Dylan.

After a series of successful albums ("Moving" being the Illfolks favorite) the trio split at the turn of the 70's, and boldly offered three simultaneous solo albums (a pioneering idea later borrowed by KISS among others). All it proved, was that they all were pleasant on their own, and could even write or co-write some good songs...but the sum was greater than the individual parts.

The Peter Paul & Mary material is easy to find, but the solo works...most of them still exist only in the out of print vinyl editions. It's a bit odd that Mary's solo work didn't find a wider audience, since she did stand out when she had solo opportunities on a PP&M tune ("Tiny Sparrow" among many others). The Illfolks salute and sample, features two songs from her first solo album, covers of Ewan MacColl and Paul Simon: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Song for the Asking."
Mary Travers, First Time Ever I Saw Your Face/Song for the Asking

A Farewell Poem to Henry Gibson. By Illfolks

A FAREWELL TO HENRY GIBSON. BY ILLFOLKS.

"Verrrry interrresting" wasn't his line.
Whimsical poetry suited him fine.
On "Laugh-In" they didn't want Henrik Ibsen...
Just literature spoken by Henry Gibson.
Timid and mild, he was never a swinger,
But then he made "Nashville." Henry's a singer!
On "Boston Legal" he was not to be dissed.
He played a wise judge, but now he's dismissed.

Well, those are the obvious highlights. First was "Laugh-In," (where he held a flower and recited poetry, and also played the quipping priest in "party" segments...not to be confused, though he was, with the equally diminutive Arte Johnson's "Tyrone" character and "interresting" catch-phrase). Later, "Nashville" and "Boston Legal." Cultists would point to "The Burbs" or "The Blues Brothers," and stand-up fans would tell you it was a damn brave thing to appear, years before "Laugh-in," in nightclubs softly drawling poetry to a bunch of drunks who wanted wife jokes. His album of stand-up on Liberty arrived well before "Laugh-In."

Henry was a smart, funny and nice man. Few have even one of those traits. As the Illfolks blog is a musical one, we'll salute this little giant via "200 Years," a song from the "Nashville" soundtrack that some embrace as patriotism, and others as satire.

Henry, not as frail as his comic image (he was in the Air Force), succumbed to cancer, and just missed making it to his 74th birthday (September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009). He leaves behind three sons. His wife Lois died in 2007.
HENRY GIBSON sings "200 YEARS" from the soundtrack "NASHVILLE"

GONE: Paul Burke (Naked City) Larry Gelbart (MASH)

Via theme songs, the Illfolks blog pays tribute to Paul Burke (died September 13th) and Larry Gelbart (died September 11th).

Back in the late 50's, if you wanted gritty drama, you either ate crackers in bed against wifey's orders, or you both tuned in to "Naked City." Most of us are just catching up to that show, thanks to the DVDs. For those who actually watched it way back when, the news of Paul Burke's death is more depressing, 'cause you're nearly as old as he was when he died.

Paul was a solid leading man so after Burke's law drama ended, he was soon cast on the war drama "12 O'Clock High." After that, he appeared in a variety of guest star roles until he was put on trial with Harry Connick Jr's father, in some kind of influence-peddling scam. Paul was cleared, but he found that the phone stopped ringing for acting assignments, and soon declared an official retirement. Here's the obscure Mundell Lowe version of the "Naked City" theme, which is on a highly collectible Living Stereo RCA album of TV themes.

As for Larry Gelbart, if only he was like his plays; he could've been easily revived. Aside from helping to adapt MASH for TV and writing so many classic episodes, he was responsible for stage and screen masterworks such as "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (revived a number of times on Broadway) and "Tootsie."

Even a lesser item, like "Sly Fox" won a fairly recent revival, with the George C. Scott role going to Richard Dreyfuss. I saw it twice, first with Dreyfuss, and then understudy and well known typing error Rene Auberjonois in the lead (and thanks, Rene, for recommending "Zen Palate" for dinner). I was backstage talking with the cast, and they were all proud and delighted to flex their skills at the nice combo of wit and farce that Larry'd put together.

Larry, like most writers (Neil Simon) or writer-actors (Carl Reiner), was laid back, unassuming, with no need to prove he was a comic genius by being constantly on. "Suicide is Painless," the lyric version of the MASH theme, was not used on the TV show, so it's rarity makes it a worthy musical tribute here. Using "Comedy Tonight" from "A Funny Thing..." would've been way too gauche, and you don't want Larry rolling over in his grave.
NAKED CITY THEME
SUICIDE IS PAINLESS, lyric version. Instant download or listen on line

JIM CARROLL joins the People Who Died

The sad news on September 11th this year...the death of Jim Carroll (August 1, 1950 - September 11, 2009).

If you ever met Jim, his presence was as indelible as his poetry, prose and songs. I remember an hour, just Jim and I, and I was thinking that on looks alone, you had to know he'd been through a lot...the incredibly pale complexion, a look that suggested he'd just gotten out of a sick bed or from behind the gates of a cemetery.

As for his voice, it held a frail throb, as if he was getting over being maced. I suppose it's not that much of a surprise that he had a heart attack at 60, when odds probably had him dying a lot earlier.

Glossing over his poetry and prose for this music blog, let's note that when he signed to Atlantic, he was given great production, a great push, and on "People Who Died," a band and backing vocalists who threw a universe of frenzy around his lost-soul vocal. Like Patti Smith, an obvious influence, Jim tended to speak more than sing, but he did get a bit more melodic for his next two albums, each having haunted highlights, and quite often, a very intentional shot of mordant humor. Jim spent most of the past 15 years in the world of poetry readings, lectures and writing. While his musical output was sporadic, most anything he did was welcome and interesting, and that includes his limping cover version of Del Shannon's "Runaway."

His song "People Who Died" lives...like a vampire does, or the living dead. It grabs you on the first listen, chokes you, pounds at your heart, and when it's over, you take a deep breath because you're still alive. Wish Jim still was.

Your download features thirteen songs that aren't on Rhino's "Best of" album...

Three Sisters, Nothing Is True, Crow, Judy, Barricades, Evangeline, Rooms, Still Life, Sweet Jane, Hold Back the Dream, Freddy's Store, Black Romance, Runaway...
...plus "People Who Died." Well before there was such as thing as "rap," Jim Carroll was there, and there is no rapper who could cover this song, no rapper who could touch this song, and no rapper who has come up with anything better than this song.
JIM CARROLL 14 SONGS

DOODLES WEAVER does ELEANOR RIGBY

It's an outrage...The Beatles albums have gotten re-mastered, but Doodles Weaver's "Eleanor Rigby" has been forgotten.

The dude named Doodles has been championed before at Illfolks, but obviously not enough to lead a major label into remastering and releasing his stuff.

To briefly offer the highlights of the tragic comedian's life: while his brother Sylvester "Pat" Weaver was a fairly reasonable looking guy who ended up as president of NBC, brother Winstead was so odd looking that his own mother called him "Doodle Bug," which got shortened to "Doodles." Doodles began and ended his career as a strange looking character actor getting half a minute to play someone kooky, dazed or confused.

For a few brief years, he was a successful corny comic, most notably in the Spike Jones band, and for kids, as the star of "A Day with Doodles," a low-budget series of cornball TV shorts in which he played all roles. He favored ridiculously bad jokes told with manic glee ("He said to me, 'Doodles, your hair is getting thin." I said, 'Who wants fat hair!' Haa, isn't that a killer???") He turned up on Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life," as a mere contestant, with Groucho asking him his profession. When Doodles admitted he was a comedian, and told a few jokes, Groucho sympathetically declared that he should be working more, because he was an amusing guy.

The last most people heard of Doodles was when he self-pressed "Feetlebaum Returns," an album that revisited some old jokes and routines, and tried to find more modern tunes to fracture.

For "Eleanor Rigby," Doodles dusts off his inimitable spooner-spazzing:

"Eleanor Rigby picks up the dice - raises the price - chops up the ice - traffics in vice- oh no no no! Kills all the mice..."

He takes a page out of the Frank Fay playbook as well. Fay, a well-loathed comedian once married to Barbara Stanwyck, used to get snickers by taking apart pop tunes and pointing out the absurdities in the lyrics. Here, Doodles sings about Father McKenzie writing the words to a sermon that no one will hear, darning his socks in the night...and stops for analysis:

"What a weirdo priest this guy is! Heh heh heh. First he writes a sermon for a bunch of deaf people, then he turns out the lights in his room and darns socks!"

Darn it, the song didn't climb the charts with a bullet, and eventually Doodles ended his spiral downward with one.
ELEANOR RIGBY by DOODLES WEAVER

Erich Kunzel & Frankie Laine - Gunfight at OK Corral

Erich Kunzel, who died on September 1, led the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra since its formation in 1977.

Every "pops" orchestra has the same assignment: provide light entertainment for the hefty masses. That involves turning familiar overtures by Rossini or Mozart into easy listening movie soundtracks and turning Tiomkin or Waxman movie scores into portentious classical music. Either way, the arrangements will be gaudy and overdone and the cymbal player is going to have very damp armpits.

While he lacked the folksy gentility of Arthur Fiedler, and was not a name-brand ex-Tonight Show conductor ala Skitch Henderson or Doc Severinsen, as a "pops" conductor Erich Kunzel achieved great success with his endless Telarc CD's, the local concerts and world tours (first pops orchestra to hit China). He got national exposure every Fourth of July, leading his orchestra's live televised version of "The Star Spangled Banner," with the sky itself a music video of rockets red glare.

Pancreatic cancer was diagnosed in Kunzel just five months ago, and despite chemotherapy, it spread to his liver and colon. That's such an unpleasant demise, there will be no puns about the name Kunzel sounding like a brand of female-flavored pretzel. Well, only one.

In case you've forgotten what "Pops music" is all about, get a bowl of cereal and let it snap and crackle and get soggy through the 8 1/2 minutes it takes for Erich and Orch to turn "Gunfight at the OK Corral" into something epic. This thing is classic "light classic," with an arrangement full of cliche (you'll love the razzing horns and heart-thumping bass drum). It's blown over the top by gunshot sound effects, a gender-challenged choir ("The Men of the May Festival Chorus"), a professional whistler (Ron McCroby), and the great Frankie Laine himself, having the formidable challenge of being heard above Kunzel's sturm and drang.
GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL with Frankie Laine and the Cincinatti Pops Orchestra

Chris Connor - CHRIS GOES REAL COOL AT 81

While Chris Connor was cool enough to be making albums for over 40 years, selling mostly to jazz fans, she left the average listener cold. The average music fan was more likely to buy swingin' Ella Fitzgerald for accessible hipness or sultry Julie London for a sexy album cover.

Chris admittedly favored the understated style of chilly blondes like June Christy, Anita O'Day and Jo Stafford, while the general public preferred the warm smiles and friendly lilt of Doris Day and Patti Page...or Peggy Lee, who hinted at a feverish torch underneath her smouldering exterior. As for album covers, the tough broad wasn't the most photogenic or hetero-friendly girl singer on the planet.

With her father over 60 when she was born, and her mother dying at 13, young Mary Loutsenhizer (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) probably grew up with a view of men as being unpleasant and cranky, and with a longing for a strong, loving female figure in her life. She worked for big bands in her native Kansas City before coming to New York in 1948. She joined "The Snowflakes," the vocalists for Claude Thornhill's band, but didn't get to sing leads until 1952 when she recorded for band leader Jerry Wald. Her big break came when June Christy left Stan Kenton and suggested Chris Connor as a replacement. Kenton, who also worked with Anita O'Day, favored female vocalists who were technically perfect and could enunciate the lyrics.

"My voice seemed to fit the band,” Chris recalled, “with that low register like Anita’s and June’s." She learned not to "over sing," as she put it.

Thanks to the Kenton exposure, Connor was able to make her move as a solo artist, getting away from hectic travel, big band bombast, and perhaps the unpleasantness of being in an entourage of mostly horny males. Bethlehem signed her in 1953 and she became one of their best selling artists. Three years later, she leaped to Atlantic, becoming their leading (actually, their first) white female jazz artist. She left the label in the 60's when even major artists like Ella and Peggy were no longer selling well. By the 90's, she was looking to Japan for contract deals, as many American jazz artists were, and her last string of CDs turned up on small labels Alfa Jazz and Highnote.

On her website, run by her "longtime partner and manager" Lori Muscarelle, there's an audio section, http://www.chrisconnorjazz.com/p/audio.html which states: "Click on any underlined song title to hear a sample of the song. These albums and others are available in stores and on iTunes and other digital download sites." Chris did not seem to believe that if one of her albums was out of print, it should be given away free, nor did she seem to think that giving away her music was a valuable publicity move.

Over 40 years of making music...leads to the appropriate if cliche choice of "As Time Goes By," as recorded in 1991, for what may be your first hearing of Chris Connor. It might lead you to becoming a rabid fan, although "rabid" is hardly the term any critic used to describe her style. For example, jazz authority Will Friedwald appraised her with the same clinical detachment you'll often find in Connor's singing:

"Think of a warm, assured voice...that values dynamics so much that it only uses them sparingly and meaningfully...of an unbeatable sense of time and an ear perfect enough to guide her through..."
AS TIME GOES BY, by Chris Connor

ELLIE GREENWICH: Da Do Ron...Gone

Most real fans of classic rock know the name Ellie Greenwich.

In the pre-Mp3 era, when people had an attention span, and would actually hold a 45 rpm and look at it, and read the label, the ubiquitous credit Greenwich-Barry would often appear...
...on "Leader of the Pack", "Be My Baby," and "River Deep, Mountain High" and dozens more.

If the song you loved in the 60's wasn't credited to Greenwich-Barry, it was probably one of the other husband-wife teams: Mann-Weill or Goffin-King, but the ones from Greenwich-Barry tended to have a little more edge and urgency. Even their more light-hearted numbers, like "Da Doo Ron Ron," had a streetwise cool to them.

The half-Jewish Brooklyn girl called herself "Ellie Gaye" when she issued her first single for RCA in 1958, while still a student at Queens College. "Silly Isn't It" wasn't a hit, but she soon had a few with a songwriting partner. And that guy was...Tony Powers.

With Powers, Ellie wrote "He's Got The Power" for The Exciters," "Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" for Darlene Love, and "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?" (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans). Phil Spector got songwriting co-credits on the last two, while Leiber & Stoller, fans of Ellie, published her early work.

She learned a lot about the mechanics of hit-making, and in 1962 after marrying Jeff Adelberg (aka Jeff Barry) the new songwriting team gave "Hanky Panky" to Tommy James, and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" to Manfred Mann. Ellie and Jeff divorced in 1966, but not before they had many, many more hits on the charts.

Ellie tried for a solo career in 1968 ("Composes, Produces, Sings" lp) which few people knew about at the time...except in Japan, where "Niki Hoekey" (which she didn't write) was a #1 hit. In 1973 Ellie recorded a new solo album, which included many of her early classics updated for a more contemporary sound, such as "Maybe I Know," originally a Top Ten for Lesley Gore. Ellie would partner with a variety of songwriters, and while the hits were fewer, she still had 'em, including "Sunshine After The Rain" in 1977 for Elkie Brooks and "Keep It Confidential," a 1983 blockbuster for Nona Hendryx.

As for Jeff Barry, he too had writing partners both before and after Ellie Greenwich. With Ben Raleigh, he'd written "Tell Laura I Love Her," and among the post-Ellie hits was "Sugar Sugar" co-written with Andy Kim.

In the early 90's, "Leader of the Pack," a musical based on Ellie's life, made it to Broadway. The Greenwich-Barry team was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 1991. Ellie, at 68, was being treated for pneumonia in a New York City hospital when she suffered a fatal heart attack two days ago (August 27th).

Since you're at the Illfolks blog, where you don't expect or want a dumbass download of her hit songs as sung by The Shangri-La's, Dixie Cups, Lesley Gore and other easily available artists, here's 15 tracks...almost all sung by Ellie herself in the 60's and 70's, almost all written or co-written by her as well:
1. Silly Isn't It - as Ellie Gaye (1958)
2. You Don't Know (1965)
3. Nobody Thought (unreleased, Ellie with male back-up vocal)
4. If Ellie Doesn't Change (Unreleased, male group demo)
5. That's What They Said (Unreleased, male lead, demo)
6. Goodnight Goodnight (from her '68 solo album)
7. Niki Hoekey (by Vegas-Ford, a hit in Japan, '68 solo album)
8. Chapel of Love (1973 solo album)
9. A Long Time Comin' ('68 solo album)
10. Sunshine After the Rain ('68 solo album)
11. Maybe I Know (1973 solo album)
12. And Then He Kissed Me (1973 solo album)
13. Be My Baby (1973 solo album)
14. Today I Met The Boy... (1973 solo album)
15. River Deep Mountain High (1973 solo album)
ELLIE GREENWICH

MECHANICAL BIRD: EBN & OZN's ROCKIN' ROBIN

Computer duo EBN (a variation of his last name Liben) and OZN (a chop on his last name Rosen) were briefly popular circa 1983 when they had hits with "AEIOU Sometimes Y," and "Bag Lady (I Wonder)." The rock video for “Bag Lady” featured comic legend Imogene Coca and a more traditional guitar-hero sound from the team. They broke up in 1985, and EBN died of a heart attack in 1998. OZN had some success with his own "One Voice Records" label.
Naturally Illfolks only remembers them from their delightfully dumb disco-electronic cover version of "Rockin' Robin," with the creepy vocoder electro-voice effect only Peter Frampton thinks is still cool (Alvino Rey's talking guitar from the 40's, is still cool.)
"Rockin' Robin" was a tune anybody could enjoy. When it first arrived in 1958 sung by Bobby Day (real last name, Byrd) it was silly enough for toddlers, catchy for teens, and even adults could dance to it (as they once did to equally idiotic Kay Kyser big band hits). There was no sharp divide as there is now, in terms of age or race. Everyone snapped their fingers to "Rockin' Robin," and over the years, anyone with that first name, from manic comic Robin Williams to boxer-contender Robin Blake used it for an entrance song.
The punky Ebn & Ozn team needed to slow down the analog tape recorder for the lead vocals in order to get a funky black-sounding deep voice, which only adds to the oddness of the double-track electronic-tricked chorus. The result? You can kick the bird, overcook the bird and sauce the bird in any kind of strange way...but it's still kinda tasty.
ROCKIN' ROBIN

YOU JUST WANNA BE WEIRD - Pam Tillis

Yes, daughter of Mel Tillis, but on her first album, the gal was trying for punky country-crossover, an album that was a slightly sour version of Rachel Sweet. Punningly titled “Beyond the Doll Of Cutie,” it wasn’t what hayseeds wanted, and the new wavers were way too kewl to pay attention to her either. Too bad. Good album. After it went nowhere, Pam went mainstream country to save her career.

“You Just Wanna Be Weird” is a boppin’ smack in the head to immature geeks who have to call attention to themselves by being “far out.” In the real world, it’s loud clothing and jackass stunts...add booze or drugs and the idiot starts mugging and miming and laughing at his own brilliance, not knowing or caring that the laughs he’s getting are based on “what a jerk” not “what a wild and crazy guy.”

In the cyber world, well, we’ve all been in the forums where overposting schmucks call attention to themselves with bad pun names, inane avatars (that usually involve somebody cross-eyed, retarded or drawn by R. Crumb), a witless motto under every post, and a mountain of twitching animated gifs which they also use on whatever blog they desperately want people to visit. They favor “punk’d” headers that make you look at the post, only to see it’s a lame joke or a Photoshop job that’s been circulating among high schoolers for months. If they reply to anyone else’s post it’s to make a tasteless joke with a self-placed LOL at the end.

Pam Tillis has some pity for the fool she’s putting down. Most anyone else would gladly make him swallow his own fake rubber vomit and rubber dog doo, so that something far more realistic came out of both ends at the same time. In other words, leave comedy to the professionals, and leave “acting out” to the Gay Pride parade.
You Just Wanna Be Weird

TWIGGY & SEVERIN BROWNE: COOKING SCHOOL

It's not strange that Twiggy once tried for a singing career. What's definitely odd is that the woman who would've looked pregnant if she swallowed a walnut, actually covered the obscure "Cooking School," the amiably hippie-dippy dopey tune authored by Severin Browne (whose brother, for a change, won't be named).
With mandolin in the wind, to help bolster her wispy voice, Twiggy gamely tries a country waltz tempo on this tale of two nude beach idiots who turn up the heat while taking culinary classes:
"I saw him the next day while streaking a hallway. We went to the same cooking school! He majored in crepes and in almonds, I studied desserts made with cheese. We spent some time making love with the wind in the trees. Oh, woah, oh, woah.
Soon we had classes together! Sweet pastries and basic Chinese. We learned to get fat. Well, it comes down to that; it's the art of refined gluttony!"
Unbelievable on every level. Twiggy streaking. Twiggy getting fat. Twiggy naked with Severin Browne??
Alas, the song is nostalgia, not reality: "Now he's cooking in Utah, not far from B.Y.U. He's got his wife, and I got my own life, but I'll never forget cooking school."
So you won't have to go hunting through the sick recesses of the illfolks blog for it, Browne's original version is nestled right under Twiggy's. His version makes a little more sense (it was generally moronic-looking guys who streaked), and ends with the same wistful musing on lost love: "She's got her own life, and she's somebody's wife, but I'll never forget cooking school."
If you like the tunes, some starving record dealer would be only to glad to sell you the whole albums, probably for less than the price of a helping of peas.
TWIGGY: COOKING SCHOOL
SEVERIN: COOKING SCHOOL

MIGHTY SPARROW: A FACE LIKE JACK PALANCE

Van Dyke Parks used a fragment of "Jack Palance" on one of his eccentric albums, "Discover America," which made it seem that either he, or some insane studio musician, was impersonating a lunatic calypso singer. Actually, he was doing an early form of blogging, offering a tease to intrigue people into searching out an artist and buying his work. (He also, on the same album, threw in a plug for The Mills Brothers.)

The singer Van was trying to move: Trinidad's Mighty Sparrow (aka Slinger Francisco). You can learn all about him at his own mightysparrow dot com, where he has a load of CD's to sell to you, but gosh, no mp3 files to give away, just some "real audio" clips instead.

Since "Jack Palance" doesn't seem to be on any of the CDs, let it be a minor theft and serve as an introduction to the flights of fancy from Mr. Sparrow. The song is a cheerful rant that old whores should get off the street and let hotter sluts prevail. One 60 year-old broad in particular has Mighty shaking his head, 'cause she's SO ugly she looks like...

...But on the positive side, a whore who looks like Jack Palance and can still find someone willing to pay to do one-armed push ups on top of her, must be doing something right. Sparrow says, if the street is narrow, and her ugly old barrow is truly in the way..."move! Step aside and give your daughter a chance!"
MIGHTY SPARROW - JACK PALANCE