Happy 80th Birthday to WILL HOLT

Two of Will Holt's most famous songs are in the download below. One of them you'll recognize by title: "Lemon Tree." The other, "One of those Songs," you might remember if you hear the complete opening line and imagine Jimmy Durante singing it: "It's just one of those songs that you hear now and then..."
Will Holt hits his 80th birthday today, April 29th. Naturally, the illfolks blog salutes him for more devious achievements...being the first one to record "The M.T.A. Song" (which led to the Kingston Trio cover version), performing his Kurt Weill cabaret act with Martha Schlamme (an album was released) and teaming with Dolly Jonah for the aptly titled album "On the Brink," featuring the brilliant Weill-inspired mini-musical "The Rise and Fall of the City of Movieville." Hopefully more on all of that, some time in the future. (Parenthetical mention should be made that Holt may be better known in the Broadway world for "The Me Nobody Knows.")
Holt did record "Lemon Tree" but he was a fairly stiff performer. He put out a pair of albums for Stinson, and one album of folk and Weill for Elektra, but his lack of warmth chilled interest in him. His mainstream songs worked best when covered by sloppy, friendly types like Jimmy Durante and Trini Lopez. Durante's version of "One of Those Songs" is easy to find, so the illfolks choice is Brenda Lee. The Lopez "Lemon Tree" isn't exactly rare either, but most other versions are even more annoying. Thanks to lyricist Will Holt, a Latin tune and a French ditty became big English language hits.
Here at Illfolks, hear two Will folks:
LEMON TREE (Lopez)
ONE OF THOSE SONGS (Brenda Lee)

TOWER OF STRENGTH : ONE OF BURT'S GREATEST

If you've said "God give me strength," your prayers...have not been answered here. Closest you get is illfolks giving you "Tower of Strength." TEN VERSIONS.

This minor Burt Bacharach song is one his greatest...because it forged new territory in the lyrics, as well as having Burt's trademark musical stylings. It also had Gene McDaniels giving the performance of his life.

Burt's pioneering style of jumpy cadences and awkwardly placed sharps and flats, made some very stupid songs very popular, like the questionable question mark songs "What's New Pussycat?" or "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Neither question was answered in the song, nor should it have been asked.

A lot of Burt's tunes are catchy but the lyrics forgettable, as in "After the Fox," or "Casino Royale" (yes, it did have lyrics, though the wonderful Herb Alpert version didn't bother with them). Most of the Bacharach catalog is pleasant pop, much of it trifling to anyone under 60: "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "Baby It's You," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Wishin' and Hopin'," "I Say A Little Prayer," "This Guy's In Love With You," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "Trains and Boats and Planes." That stuff's fluff.

When Burt got farther away from "Close to You" silly love songs, he produced some of his most enduring work. "The Look of Love" is more sensuous than his usual ditties. "Little Black Book" is a solid piece of broken hearted rock (which veers between brag and bawl, but in a different way than "Tower of Strenth.")"Anyone Who Had a Heart" is bombastic, despite drifting into waltz time with a flabby mid-section that sounds like something from the loser bin of the San Remo festival. Similarly, "God Give Me Strength" has a typically dopey brass solo that undercuts the drama in the rest of the song. Other enduring Bacharach songs include "Any Day Now" and "Don't Make Me Over," which show real emotion, even if they don't cover new ground.

"Tower of Strength" covered new ground. That's why it's championed here. Not many songs have talked of love from the point of view of being trapped in a shitty relationship. Maybe "Prisoner of Love," but that's crooning. This song is much more complex. Bacharach's eccentric rhythms and loopy arrangement underscore the unusual, confessional lyric. The words are not by Hal David, but his earlier partner, Bob Hilliard, who also wrote "Any Day Now."

Gene McDaniels was delighted with the result: "I liked "Tower of Strength' because of the humor and the trombone solo in front. You never heard a trombone intro to a song, and there it was, and it was a hit! It blew my mind."

(1) on your download is Paul Rich, apparently the first to sing this. With the grand "rags to riches" crooning style of a Buddy Greco, Merv Griffin or Regis Philbin, swingin' Paul brings nothing to the tune. He doesn't act out sobbing or holding back the tears...a few drumbeats cover the pause in "tower of strength is something...I'll never be." This is dance music.

Gene McDaniels (2) and his backing musicians made a masterpiece, a hybrid R&B, rock and pop classic. Though the studio technician calls out take "22, swingin' 22" at the start, fortunately big band takes a back seat to vivid backbeat rhumba, strong jazz and some raw rock. Gene puts vengeful anger in the line, "and I'd walk out the door," swoops into R&B falsetto, ("you'd be callin' to meeeeee") and then gives in to an inhaled sob when he confesses "a tower of strength is something...I'll never be."

Some of Burt's songs make the band co-conspirators with the singer (remember the brass joining Tom Jones for "What's new Pussycat? Woaahh Woahhhhhhh.) But here, there's some very mocking musical imitations of a grown man in tears...it helps the song's sado-masochism along. First Gene is in sadist fantasy, then masochistic reality. By the song's end, one band member is practically blowing a raspberry at the pathetic singer, the brass line mocking him as he trudges away.

Yes, an unusual topic...being too physically or emotionally needy (or as we psychiatrists say, "fucked up") to leave someone who should be left. How many songs, especially at that time, twisted between pathology and pity? Boy loses girl, sure. Boy gets girl, sure. Boy is stuck with bitch? Hmmm...

In England, Frankie Vaughan (3) did a fair job of copying Gene, but won't humiliate himself; he lets the kettle drums give a rat-a-tat-tat where he should've gulped back the tears. He does convey some of the mixed emotions here, with a throaty growl or a vague attempt at falsetto (he goes up an octave on the last note of "and I'd walk out the door.") Meanwhile, Gary Glitter, at the time called Paul Raven, hoped HIS version (4 in the download) would be the hit. It wasn't, but he gave it a shot. His somewhat chipmunky version tries to touch all the emotional bases, but instead of a McDaniel gasp, he literally gives a hoot! The song even has a false ending at 1:20 in, as the glittery one barely makes this cover last two minutes flat.

Back in the early 60's, various budget labels such as Tops and Promenade, would offer 6 cover versions on a single 45 as sung by anonymous hacks. The unknown guy (5) aping Gene McDaniels on this cover from the Gilmar label, hasn't much energy (the guy blowing trombone behind him has more wind) but he does try to issue some kind of anguished gasp over not being a tower of strength. (PS, the mp3 tagging on this download didn't quite work, hence more description so you can determine some of the songs that ended up just called "Tower of Strength." Sorry about that.)

Is it possible for a woman to sing this song? Technically yes. But Sue Richards' country arrangement (6) is merely a novelty. Nobody expects a woman to be a tower of strength, even a Girl named Sue, who could probably tell off the Harper Valley PTA. No, she doesn't even give a mock cry over her failure to be strong. This version is followed by (7) from Gloria Lynne and her answer version, "You Don't Have to Be a Tower of Strength." She actually does sound like a female match for Gene, a soulful babe who promises to be good to her man. At least till the ring is on her finger.

(8) Enoch Light's version is, as you might expect, awful. A mixed chorus of men and women warble the tune, with rinky-tink piano and a geriatric swingin' beat. There's a "boing" noise added instead of a gasp. Very "Winchester Cathedral," this one.
Your last two versions are from Gerd Bottcher and Adriano Celentano. Gerd is singing to "Carolin," and while the familiar trombone counter melody is here, it seems pretty clear that this girl is not much of a problem. Just what's going on in "STAI LONTANA DA ME" from Adriano Celentano, I have no idea, but saucy Celentano is having a great time sneering (with added "uh huh? eh eh?) and he tosses in a pungent "ewwww!" and even utters some snickering laughs. He doesn't seem to be missing the woman at all...just the bus to the asylum.

Celentano doesn't sound like the leaning tower of Pisa. Nope, the tower that is swaying is Gene McDaniel, shocked, mocked and rocked in the best of the ten versions in this file on "Tower of Strength."
TOWERS OF STRENGTH

Update November 2011: Rapidshare deletes files if they aren't uploaded often enough to suit them. Several individual songs have been re-upped individually via a better service:


TOWER OF STRENGTH Gerd Bottcher- CAROLIN CAROLIN

TOWER OF STRENGTH Frankie Vaughan

TOWER OF STRENGTH - GENE MCDANIEL

TOWER OF STRENGTH - PAUL RAVEN

TOWER OF STRENGTH - PAUL RICH

TOWER OF STRENGTH - Sue Richards

TOWER OF STRENGTH cute recent Asian version by Yeongene

YOU DON"T HAVE TO BE A TOWER OF STRENGTH - GLORIA LYNNE

TOUTE MA VIE (Tower of Strength) Audrey Arno

TOWER OF STRENGTH -Lew Davis

TOWER OF STRENGTH - DO IT YOURSELF via KARAOKE VERSION!

Download or listen on line. No pop-ups, porn ads or use of sleazy companies that pay a percentage to bloggers for their "hard work." The hard work was done not by upping files, but by the original writers and performers.

OH! OH! OHHHH! Here's...ORGASM SONGS!

Women who fake orgasms...what music they make!
In nature, a coo, croon or cry can signal that the female animal is ready for sex...and with a low growl or a high screech, enjoying it!
So it is, that we sophisticated humans get turned on by sounds in music...including nicely faked moans and groans sailing over slimy strings or hard-blowing brass.
In the shellac era, a blues moan or a Mae West "mmm" could signal rising passion. Radio tunes hinted at the Big O in subliminal ways, everything from the "music" going round and round "oh-o oh oh, oh oh...and it comes out here" to an insistent "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, how you can love."
Finally the rock era made it explicit.
Many consider "Little Girl" (by John and Jackie) to be the first intentional, no-doubt orgasm song.
While there were some pretty suggestive Big Band tunes, and such gruesome lounge items as "Baby, It's Cold Outside," there's no question that Jackie's "uh huh" and "ah ha" utterances were reached by pressing a certain button.
The song's airplay was limited, since rockabilly corn was rarely successful in urban markets, nobody knew who this duo was, and John's dopey singing doesn't exactly explain Jackie's enthusiastic response...unless she's showing off her combination vibrator-pogo stick for him: "Oh, oh, OHHHH!" Boing, boing...BOIINNNNG.
We'll leave you to grumble that Jayne Mansfield's 'That Makes It" was sexier, or even Stan Freberg's classic "John and Marsha," but we'll start off the phony groan festivities with "Little Girl," one of the first "Hey...she's having an orgasm or something" records to be heard on AM radio. There would be no serious competition until 1968 when a French import scorched the airwaves.
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin were most certainly banned by some radio stations for "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus," which loosely translates as "You came? I'm non-plussed!" No? Then I have no idea what these two Frenchies are mumbling about. And it doesn't matter; there's no denying that Jane is beginning to get an eye full of Serge's tower, which causes her to sing an octave out of her register. This leads to some ridiculous gasps and some satisfied moans.
The French knew how to gasp with class. On the muckier side of the pond, R&B and soul acts have always been more overt with grunting and suggestive lyrics. Narrowed down to three choices...you get "Love to Love You Baby" from Donna Summer, "Throb" from Janet Jackson, and "Make it Last Forever," a 1978 track by Donna McGhee. All three seem to act like they are SO in love with YOU they can't help masturbating while they sing. Is that a bad thing? You'll harden while McGhee starts melting: "Oh baby, so good...oh baby...don't ever stop...ahhhh...yes! Baby! Ohhh baby I just want you to love me..."
So far we've talked about orgasm songs that actually have lyrics. Next samples? Pure moaning!
"Please love me," a woman creaks at the start of "Please Love Me: Erotica" by the chauvinistic band Manpower (the band's original name was simply Man). She's lubed after that, and the Eurotrashy sleaze-beat instrumentals, heavy on drums and heavy-handed lead guitar, serve as backing for her soppy ocean of emotions. She exhales, grunts, moans, and generally acts like a one-woman soundtrack for some really bad Georgina Spelvin movie of the day (about 1970). It's much better than actual porn soundtracks, or such dubious porn singles as "Theme from Deep Throat" by "Linda and the Lollipops."
The Latino version of helpless groans turns up on the 1972 hit "Jungle Fever" by The Chakachas. Also clocking in at around four minutes, the music is mostly congas and a few irritatingly repetitive notes that might be the band's aural interpretation of a woman tweaking her clit. The music periodically stops so the girl can yap variations of "Ai...aii...ai...no...no..no...ah si, ah si, ah si."
Some scholars say that one reason The Chakachas's music is so much less convincing than most any track from Perez Prado or Xavier Cugat, is that they weren't Latino at all, just a bunch of Belgian bozos who went into the studio and assumed any name or identity they were given. When the song was so big that a touring band could make some money, the more authentic band Barrio was called in and told to call themselves The Chakachas. It's been said that The Chakachas are also El Chicles, the guys who gave us the incredibly stupid "La La La," which sounds like the Muppets trying to be erotic. Instead of "Mah na mah na," it's two idiots moaning, giggling, and otherwise repeating "la la la" as if they've literally gotten their knickers in a twist. Both the Chakachas and Chicles had producer Roland Kluger and arranger Willy Albimoor involved, and those ain't Latino names.
By the 70's, and most certainly into the 80's, orgasm songs had become routine and plentiful, with The Runaways offering mocking gasps, Meatloaf working a girl into gravy for "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" and any number of other rude rockers or rappers spelling it all out with cuss words. Samples of the modern era for you:
You get Major Harris singing an R&B ballad "Love Won't Let Me Wait" with increasing if incongruous interruptions from a moaning girl, the meandering mewlings of Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" (a noisy clunk of electronics and disco), and the equally freakish moans (or stomach ache gasps and mucoid vomiting) that turn "White Christmas" gooey, as performed by The Gerogerigegege. Lastly, "Infinity," a pretty severe parody of all the "I'm Coming" gasp tunes out there, as performed by Aphrodite's Child. From the sounds of it, be glad you weren't at the recording session.
ORGASM SONGS

Update November 2011: "Please Love Me Erotica" has been re-upped individually via a better service:

PLEASE LOVE ME via MANPOWER

MARILYN CHAMBERS sings BENIHANA

On April 12th, Marilyn Chambers was found dead in a trailer park, at age 56. She was a pioneering porn star, back when a deep throat or energetic body could make up for a B-cup, horsey face or bad legs. It was also back when there was some effort to actually make a movie that had a plot, dialogue and acting.
What Marilyn had going for her was an angelic face (as you see from the much re-touched Ivory Soap box) and a lot of enthusiasm. She was arguably the most athletic of the early 70's actresses, and seemed to enjoy getting down and dirty (to the point of marrying Chuck Traynor, the guy Linda Lovelace had accused of taking advantage of her and forcing her into porn).
Marilyn, along with Linda Lovelace and Georgina Spelvin, paved the way for prettier, or more full-bodied actresses (notably Andrea True, Tina Russell, and Annette Haven). Still, those three were the ones who made the classic films ("Behind the Green Door," "Deep Throat" and "Devil In Miss Jones") and many are still more turned on by those films and actresses, than today's shaved and siliconed mannequins.
Chambers was one of the more active porn stars in defending and validating her industry. She was also one of the few to effectively appear on stage in a live sex show (one of them was filmed for posterity). She went on to a typically spotty career of comeback films, personal appearances, and behind-the-scenes (straight) jobs given to her by porn industry vets and fans, etc. etc.
But that's not why you're here...you're here to hear!
Marilyn Chambers' "Benihana" disco tune is at the same level as Andrea True's "More More More" and Xaviera Hollander's "Michelle." In other words, she's better at gasps and a cry of "Give it to me, yeah," than singing. Her singing voice is a lot like her body...thin but pretty flexible.
No, the song doesn't seem to have anything to do with the famous Japanese steakhouse chain. It most likely refers to her vaginal rosebud. "Benihana" means "red flower" in Japanese.
Don't dismiss the song after just one minute...consider it aural foreplay. The song builds some momentum as Marilyn ad-libs some lines and starts groaning. Stay for the last ridiculous minute when she starts hyper-ventillating and an echo chamber zooms her into orgasmic orbit. Chambers has swooped the planet, but her films, and perhaps even this hit single, can still bring you to a form of heaven.
BENIHANA Marilyn Chambers

"Your Mother Should Know" Phyllis Newman

Your mother should know Phyllis Newman. Or your grandmother. Phyllis Newman is best known to those who were active theatergoers in the 50's and 60's. They would've seen her in "The Apple Tree," "On the Town," and "Prisoner of Second Avenue." Granny might tell you, "Oh, yes, Phyllis Newman was married to Adolph Green. People thought Betty Comden his writing partner was, but it was Phyllis."
Kids growing up in the 60's or 70's saw Phyllis on quiz shows, her ebullient presence perking up slow-moving programs like "To Tell the Truth" and "What's My Line." Since those shows were shot in New York, it was easy for her to drop by and promote her latest Broadway production.
Did you know Phyllis Newman beat Barbra Streisand for a Tony Award? Do you care? Well, it's true. Newman's star turn in "I Can Get it For You Wholesale" was hot stuff way back when...back when the radio played songs your mother (or grandmother) would know.
She turned up on TV once in a while, too, singing satiric songs on "That Was the Week That Was," playing a Russian spy on "Amos Burke Secret Agent," etc. She capped the 70's with a one-woman show, "Madwoman of Central Park West," and still turns up on soap operas and in films, though her main interest is theater charity work, notably "The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative." Talk about women's health...Newman's autobiography mainly chronicles the harrowing physical and emotional problems that came with cancer treatment and a double mastectomy. Unlike some "uplifting" tomes, this one's frank, factual, and pretty depressing, even if the "happy ending" is that she did come back and return to performing.
Like many actresses in Broadway musicals of her era, including Chita Rivera, Georgia Brown and Angela Lansbury, Phyllis Newman was on original cast album vinyl but rarely given a real shot at solo recordings. That field was dominated by the likes of Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney and the rest of the nightclub professionals. Still, when she did get a chance in front of a studio microphone to make an album or single, she didn't disappoint. Songs such as "Clouds" or "Those Were the Days" or "Your Mother Should Know" were easily within her range of both key and credibility. Belated Happy Birthday (March 19, 1933) to Phyllis Newman.
PHYLLIS NEWMAN Your Mother Should Know

CHARLIE CHEATED ON HIS INCOME TAX

Don't you think it's a scandal, how the people have to pay and pay?
Oh, wait a minute.
That's a line from "M.T.A." the Kingston Trio song about fair hikes.
What we've got here is a similar tune about taxes.
Both "M.T.A." and "Charlie Cheated On His Income Tax" are stories about a poor jerk named Charlie who got himself railroaded by government bureaucracy. The line "citizens...this could've been you..." echoes the opening warning from "M.T.A."
Billed as "the thinking man's hillbillies," Homer & Jethro always knew they were too corny for sophisticated people, and too sophisticated for the Hee-Haw crowd. They put a lot of musicianship and harmony into their work, and on this simple novelty track, check out the amphisbaenic use of "I've been working on the railroad" to first denote a job and later chain gang work, Jethro's judicious mandolin underscore, the gentle puff of the sax, and the easy role-interplay as the duo swap identities (Charlie, Judge, etc.) while keeping together on the chorus.
Mostly thanks to unsubtle lyrics about ugly women and rude rubes, the team found steady employment over several decades...making dozens of albums that really should be gathered up as a Bear Family boxed set.
The boys were on radio in the late 40s, honed their pone through the 50's, and won a Grammy for their parody single "Battle of Kookamonga" in 1959.
In the 60's, when "Green Acres," "Petticoat Junction," "Andy Griffith Show," "Red Skelton Hour" and "Beverly Hillbillies" were hits on American TV, Homer and Jethro thrived, averaging 2 albums a year. Those rural TV shows went out of fashion at the turn of the 70's, and it was all over for the duo in 1971. That's when Homer suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 51.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "nothing can be said to be certain except death...and taxes."
CHARLIE CHEATED ON HIS INCOME TAX

SHATNER KNOWS WHAT A BOZO IS

Is William Shatner cool or clueless? You really can't be sure. Sometimes he's laughing with you when you're laughing at him. On some memorable talk appearances with Conan O'Brien and Jonathan Ross, he's played the fool but also gotten in some shots of his own.
Time made a cruel joke of Captain Kirk's ambitious version of "Rocket Man." Demento-heads are still laughing their asses off about his "Transformed Man" album, slapping their knees and howling "that's SO bad it's GOOD."
OK, that was decades ago. It's not THAT hilarious. There's something admirable in the attempt, too. Maybe you're shaking your head and smiling, but doubling over laughing is a sign of retardedness.
More recently, Shatner's been laughing all the way to the bank.
His album "Has Been" (with Ben Folds and Joe Jackson) has a sharp title track, a humorous dig at Two-Thumbs Don and Neverdone Jack and the rest who "laugh at others' failures while they have not done shit..."
You go, Bill. And speaking of odd shit, here's a one-off that could've appeared on "Has Been" but didn't.
On this Bozo track, he's delivering a load...and you know it and he knows it. This is most certainly a pile of Shatner. So play along with him as he tells you what a Bozo is, because (all together now) we're ALL bozos on this bus.
BOZO AS EXPLAINED BY SHATNER

SHINE ON, YOU CRAZY FRANCHI

Belated Happy Birthday to Sergio Franchi.
He was born April 6, 1926.
It's truly a belated greeting, since he died May 1, 1990.
A good reason for this late tribute and birthday greeting, is to toss "Laugh You Silly Clown" at you...which goes nicely with the William Shatner "Bozo" piece.
Franchi, was a perennial time-filler on "The Ed Sullivan Show," a dashing fellow who appealed to all the women who regularly flirted with their waiters and hairdressers. The rest of the Sullivan audience was probably waiting for a different Italian...Topo Gigio.
While he didn't have the hit singles other big-voiced singers did, from Robert Goulet to Frankie Laine, Sergio Franchi made some albums and played the nightclub circuit, right up to the disco era. Along with everyone from Cab Calloway to Ethel Merman, Sergio gave a shot at disco glory, and this is the result...a boogie-oogie take on Pagliacci.
It would be easy and unfair to comment on this particular track. Sergio was a nice guy, and he left behind a wife who keeps his memory alive and runs the non-profit "Sergio Franchi Scholarship." They gave away $35,000 last year to musicians, which is a good thing because "if you like it buy it" hasn't worked.
"Shine On, You Crazy Franchi." Come on, it's a better line than the title of his single: "Laugh You Silly Clown."
SERGIO GOES DISCO

It's Easter - TURN ON TO JESUS (City Boy)

On casual listen, the lyrics for "Turn On to Jesus" by City Boy are oddly ungodly. On the wrong side of the border, a city boy finds a house full of "ladies of the night." But what thrills are they into? One of them cries out, "HEY MAN! Turn on to JESUS!"
The inspiration? Lol Mason and Steve Broughton, the band's lead vocalists, were touring America and got stuck right in the middle of the country. Broughton:
"Lol and I spent time in a dry area of Kansas. There’s no bars, the only place you can get a drink is one of these ‘religious’ clubs, with topless waitresses with dollar bills stuffed in their G-strings, and out of the jukebox is blaring this ‘Jesus is the Saviour’-music. It was bizarre – I mean, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Birmingham."
Birmingham, England, not Alabama.
"Turn On to Jesus" was offed by the band's record label, over worries that the song could be interpreted as profane. New lyrics were written. The result was "5-7-0-5," the band's only hit single. God moves in mysterious ways.
In another twist, the lead vocal was not from Lol or Steve, but Roy Ward, who had been brought in by the band's producer Mutt Lange (yes, of later Shania Twain infamy) who wanted a better drummer and perhaps a new sound as well, since the band's harmonizing had been accused of sounding too much like 10CC or Queen.
In the spirit of Christian charity, two more Jesus songs are added for you, having been previously highlighted on the blog: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus" by Turley Richards and the optimistic and ominous "Jesus is Coming" from Andy Pratt.
CITY BOY- TURN ON TO JESUS
I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS
JESUS IS COMING

BOB ARBOGAST dies 50 Years after "CHAOS"

Born on April Fool's Day 1927, and just missing his 82nd birthday, half-shot novelty wonder Bob Arbogast died on March 21st.

Half-shot novelty wonder? Well, he wasn't a one-shot novelty wonder, because his lone achievement "Chaos" was co-authored by the late Stanley Ralph Ross. It wasn't much of a wonder at all, since it failed to make the Top 40, but it's still a favorite among fans of ill novelty singles.

Back in 1959, Arbogast & Ross tossed their noisy double-sided parody of radio station disc jockeys into a market saturated with variations on "break ins," the style popularized by Buchanan & Goodman in 1956 (and continued on and on by Dickie Goodman until his suicide).

Your download is both sides of "Chaos," the doings at K-OS Radio. Disc jockey "Speedy Clip" offers a variety of commercials interrupted by singing station identifications, and a series of droning deep-voiced parody versions of Ritchie Valens' "Donna."

Legend has it that "Chaos" failed to hit the charts because it was banned from the radio after it had sold over 10,000 copies "because radio stations suddenly realized it was a parody of radio stations." More likely, it disappeared because by definition, a "novelty" track isn't going to stay novel for very long. It may also have gotten limited airplay if station managers felt they would be offending fans of the recently mangled Ritchie Valens, whose wistful ballad "Donna" was still on the charts.

Some of the gags were pretty zany at the time. At one point "Speedy Clip" shouts, ""I see by the old clock on the wall there's a dead fly!" Later, the station's girl singers warble, "Just to prove it's real, here's the K-OS approval seal!" You guessed it: instant sound effect of a seal barking. To quote a B-side from fellow Liberty novelty act David Seville, "That's almost good." Especially at the time.

Fans who haunt comedy bins of moribund record stores might want to pick up the album "At Carnegie Hall," which Arbogast co-created with another partner, Dick Whittinghill, or perhaps the "My Son the Copycat" album that Arbogast co-wrote (with Stan Ross doing the fake Allan Sherman vocals). Mainly Bob Arbogast's credits involve bouncing around a variety of Los Angeles radio stations, writing comedy for various performers, and doing a lot of zany voiceovers for commercials and some cartoon shows (including 'Roger Ramjet' and 'Hot Wheels.')

Bob's wikipedia entry was obviously written by a relative or a fan of his, and bears some comical warnings from Wikipedia: "This article does not cite any references or sources" and "This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information." Among the yet to be verified information is that "Chaos" was banned anywhere, or that Bob was kicked off radio stations for being an iconoclast. Likewise, the note that Bob "originated" the concept of "The Question Man" in 1951, and is acknowledged for it in Steve Allen's book "The Question Man" is not accurate.

"The Question Man" bit was used in various ways by a lot of comics of the day, including Ernie Kovacs (and was turned into "Karnak" by Johnny Carson). Apparently when Steve began doing it on his show, Arbogast submitted material...and some kind of grouse about having originated the idea. What Steve actually says in "The Question Man," a book compiling some of the gags used on his show, is that "a funny man by the name of Bob Arbogast not only contributed a number of jokes but also provided us with the somewhat unnerving information that he had thought of the Question Man idea itself several years before we did." That's not exactly an admission of guilt. The idea of using a question as the punchline to a joke probably goes back to Shakespeare's day. As most of you know, Steve was an extremely nice guy who never fought about "credit" and "attribution."

The name "Arbogast" was momentarily popular circa 1959-1960, at least in a mentally ill way. It was the name of Martin Balsam's character in "Psycho," as well as the name on a crazy comedy team's novelty single. Exactly 50 years after it was first alarming people on the airwaves, here's "Chaos" back at you, as a salute to the weird duo that made it, Bob Arbogast and Stan Ross.
CHAOS by Arbogast and Ross

MR. BOJANGLES - A DOZEN MORE COVERS

Last time around, you had ten, including the two definitive versions...Jerry Jeff Walker's country take, and the sophisticated cover by Bobby Cole that arrived on the charts at the same time. Now? Another dozen!
Who covered this janglin' story? Chet Atkins, Frankie Laine, David Bromberg, Hunt & Turner, John Holt, Lambert & Nuttycombe, Lulu, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Paycheck, Sammi Smith, Tom T. Hall...who am I leaving out...oh yeah, Harry.
Bromberg's live track deserves special note, since he gives the background to Walker's story (how Jerry actually did meet a guy in jail who danced for drinks and tips, etc. etc.).
There's plenty more out there. The song was also covered by Dennis Brown, Tom McKinney, Al Cherny, Gene Pistilli, Jud Strunk, Three Faces West, Jack Hennig, Ronnie Aldrich, Jim Rowe, Lana Cantrell, The Fortunes, Brenda Byers, Rod McKuen, Edwyn Collins, Steve Hall, Magna Carta, The Bentones and on and on.
At this point, what else is there to say about the song? Well, after all this time, maybe you'll notice Jerry Jeff's unusual use of repetition ("he jumped so high, he jumped so high" "he talked of life, he talked of life" "his dog up and died, he up and died"...) and his penchant for internal rhyme ("I knew a MAN BoJANgles" "Spoke with TEARS of 15 YEARS" "Most of the TIME I spend BEHIND" etc.)

12 More BOJANGLES
In case you missed the first batch:
MR. BOJANGLES The Original TEN

Serge Gainsbourg Covers! For Women, Serge Suits 'Em

Some of the most beautiful women couldn't get enough of Serge. Monsieur Gainsbourg was the French Bob Dylan or more accurately Leonard Cohen...an indifferent-looking Jewish guy who just happened to be fascinating, hypnotic, outrageous, and with challenging music and a strange sense of humor, able to get most any woman he wanted.

Here's a tribute collection of Gainsbourg songs performed by a fine array of female vocalists: Isabelle Adjani, Lulu, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Petula Clark, Catherine Deneuve, France Gall, Juliette Greco, Francois Hardy, Zizi Jeanmarie, Regine, and many more.

SERGE SUITS 'EM

I'M FEELING PRETTY ILL TODAY! Andy Bown

It's taken a while to get to Andy Bown, but hopefully this two-part entry does him justice. He opened his "Gone to My Head" album (guitar work by Peter Frampton) with a line that could well be the Illfolks anthem for those who get the urge to play odd music:
"Oh, woe, I'm feeling pretty ill today..."
Your first download (more in part two) features that album's two opening tracks, which happily tred the Ray Davies boards of being a pawn in the music industry game. It opens with a skull-grinning ode to road-induced infirmity, and segues into a combo of preen and self-pity as the rock star revels in his own ego and excess:
"On behalf of the management, please accept this list of expenses: stick-a soles, toilet rolls, taxi fares and small boys." Just keep on workin' 'cause it's gonna come off your royalty..."
Small boys??
One of Bown's traits is a willingness to embarrass himself, singing in the first person ala Randy Newman, and hopefully not having people believe every word refers to himself.
"Wiggle your hips and pout your lips. They'll go berserk you said. Oooh, didn't you forget something? Well it's gone right to my head!"
Yes, it's a celebration of disaster, a glam rocker's hand-wringing, toe-tapping salute to his own decadence and oblivion, not far removed from the Ray Davies school of omnisexual tributes to drink, kink, and sad yet sarcastic songs of the open road.
In part two, we go into more detail (and offer a hefty Rapidshare download of samples) that explore all the strange sides of the abundantly bizarre Mr. Bown.
Feeling Pretty Ill 'Cause it's Gone to My Head

ANDY BOWN : NO ORDINARY LUNY

"Luny" is NOT a typo. It's in the lyric sheet that way. An ordinary maniac of the Spike Milligan or Porky Pig variety would spell it 'Looney" but not our Mr. Bown, the well known typing error. (Yes, it's "Bown" not "Brown" and no, it's not "Alan Bown" it's "Andy Bown.")
"No ordinary Luny" is a phrase on his song "Nobody's Fool," only one of many that address madness of one kind or another. Another is a sprightly C&W tune with the refrain, "Crazy girl, she shot the man she loved."

How about "I've Got God on The Phone" in which a descent into a strait jacket begins by having a "blind black boy" in the back of his car, and how his "white shoes got gravy stains." Another tune, "Etcetera," upbraids a girl for a similar indiscretion: "I heard about the way you got picked up the other day, a spade in a pink Chevrolet. Was he rich and lonely?" "On "P.S. Get Lost" he declares "the sheets, they don't tell lies," as he not only witnesses the mess left by his girlfriend with another man, but tells the world of his embarrassing humiliation. On "Nobody's Fool," Andy dishes about a tart, "She tell me stories I believe every word she said. She mess up my boy friend, she mess up my boyfriend's head." Is he singing as a woman, as a gay guy, as a tranny...do we want to know?

If you know Bown's name at all, it's probably in connection with saner rock music. He was leader of the pop-glam band The Herd in the late 60's (till the attention focused on cutie lead guitarist Peter Frampton), and since 1982, has played bass and written songs for the journeyman rock group Status Quo (and never was there a name more fitting).

But solo (two albums on Mercury, two on Capitol) Bown explored unique territory on his own. His songs back in the 70's were often perverse and morose, with giddy ups and hoarse-drawn downs. The manic-depressive aspects of Andy Bown's solo career include ballads even more grim, sulky and morbid than his contemporaries, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Jimmy Campbell and Matthew Fisher. Some songs are as cringeworthy in their honesty as Harry Chapin's, with confessions of failure in love and life. "Eventually," one of his most poetic and shoegazingly heroic numbers has him in breathy (or is it last-breathy) mode, facing up to the fact that "eventually, my eyes are gonna close," and never open again.

On his last Capitol solo album (not released in America) he dared to expose a bruising, impotent scene as the husband who has lost his wife to another man and foolishly calls up the man expecting some kind of apology. His rival is not sympathetic, leaving Bown "so angry, I was cold," his world a "savage crazy blur." Not exactly the most masculine reaction, huh? Yet Bown's artistry allows for such a moving confession. He's left mumbling "money, pens and women can be lost the way they're found."

Happily, Bown's albums aren't completely sad, they skip into light fandangos, with songs that at least have catchy, if not frenzied melodies to go with the strange lyrics. The mockingly bawdy single "New York Satyricon Zany" makes fun of some trendy, wacky free spirit who seems alarmingly like Bown himself in camp-mode. Camp-mode also serves on the aforementioned upbeat beat up "I Got God on The Phone," where our hero cheerfully notes "bone orchards bloom" all around, and admits thoughts of suicide dance in his head, especially after kinky interracial gay sex.

Your RS download can't possibly contain all the grand tracks on Bown's albums, but don't despair, the world of dollar bins and desperate recession-starved eBay sellers can supply you with the all the vinyl, and cheap.

This "Best of solo Bown" has no tracks from his second album, "Sweet William," at least not the American version (apparently a British pressing had "New York Satyricon Zany" and other tracks released as singles). Many good album tracks on the other three were sacrificed for the sake of obscure singles that are much harder to find. Perhaps a future post will feature his late first wife Carolyn (aka Caroline Attard) who led "Storyteller," a band that released two albums (1970, 1971) produced by Andy along with Peter Frampton. There's nothing here from the easily found "The Herd" or "Status Quo." Bown wrote all the songs and produced Judas Jump's album "Scorch" but he left the lead vocals to Adrian Williams. Little of the Herd, Quo or Jump material written or sung by Bown is anywhere near the heights or depths of his solo work.

Here's some annotation, as you submit yourself to Bowndage:

1. And If My Love/P.S. Get Lost. Andy segues from a brief glimpse toward the cemetery to an embarrassingly masochistic tale of getting a "Dear John" letter from a heartless bitch.
2. Eventually. A meditation on a "beautiful viper" draws Andy into a grim but strangely comforting reality: "Eventually my eyes are gonna close...my words turn to bone...the streets have forgotten my footstep...life's a joke..."
3. If It's All the Same to You/Please Remember Me. A sweet and sour ballad of letting go leads to a progressively more anxious plea: "Please be good to me and to my memory...bless and pray for me. I'm in my agony..."
4. Nobody's Fool. She's "no ordinary "luny." Andy is both a first rate bassist and Hammond organ player. This one has a thundering bass line plus prowling keyboard accents.
5. I've Got God On the Phone. Check the opening discordant splash of bitch-slapped chords and then pay attention to the delerious dada of the mad, death-obsessed lyrics. "Bone orchards bloom..."
6. Another Shipwreck. The kick-off to Bown's last solo album, heroic and doomed. This is a guy who'd get rescued from the Titanic only to be booked onto the Lusitania.
7. Good Advice. "It's just a spiral from contentment to despair." A sadly touching tune. At least the album's cover had the visual joke of Andy contemplating the "good advice" of getting his head shaved by a skinhead barber.
8-10. Singles: Feeling Better, Help Me and One Forward Two Back. Play them in reverse order, too.
11. New York Satyricon Zany: A jagged Jagger'd put-down of someone who probably looked like Holly Woodlawn impersonating Bianca.
12-13. Tarot/Lulli Rides Again. A-side "Tarot" was a successful TV theme song.
14. Supersonic. The theme echoed the intent of the TV show where Roy Wood or Jackie DeShannon lip-synched their latest chart topper.

BOWN for Glory via rapidshare
BOWN for Glory via Box

REMEMBER THE ALAMO march 6

A few days ago, March 6th, as they've done since 1836, very few people remembered the Alamo.
So why break the illfolks tradition of posting on a 9, 19 or 29, just so a straggling few might actually remember the Alamo on the right date? To use a well known Native American expression: Feh.
In case you don't remember, for thirteen painful days, Feb. 23 to March 6, less than 200 Texans held off about 2000 Mexicans (the number is 5,000 in the "Ballad of the Alamo").
This brings to mind a joke.
A stewardess comes rushing down the aisle of a small plane, announcing, "We're losing altitude. Three people will have to jump from the plane in order to steady it! Who will make this sacrifice?"
A British citizen stood up and proclaimed, "There will always be an England," and jumped. A Frenchman cried out, "Vive La France," and jumped. A burly Texan stood up and shouted "Remember the Alamo!" And he pushed a Mexican out of the plane.
Students...
A key fort in the territory war between "Texians" (citizens of what is now Texas) and Mexicans was San Antonio's Alamo. Two men later to be legends (with TV shows about them, the ultimate honor) helped defend it; James Bowie who was among the first to request reinforcements, and Davy Crockett, who with a few volunteers was among the very few to heed the call. Colonel Travis was in command. As the massive Mexican army began to wear down the Americans, legend has it that Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword, offering any man the chance to step over it and escape certain death.
Death came for the surviving Alamo fighters on Sunday, March 6th, when the Mexicans surrounded all four walls of the Alamo and poured in, allowing no surrender. Bowie, who had taken ill many days earlier was slaughtered on what became his death bed.
"Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry, and the rest is indeed history, for the Mexicans would never again come pouring over the borders into the United States. Right?
Well, let's not be too down on immigrants. Immigrant Dimitri Tiomkin wrote some of the most authentic Western music in the history of movies, including "High Noon" and his theme for John Wayne's "The Alamo." His song "The Ballad of the Alamo" became a semi-hit, with Marty Robbins' version edging a cover by Bud and Travis.
The original tune is sort of a lame hoedown, telling the story in an almost Disney-jolly kind of way (Crockett was already a Disney hero and hit song subject).
The Robbins version clocks at 3:44, and tries to tell the complete story, with a bugle playing "Taps" toward the end.
Bud & Travis shoot it down to 2:48, stepping up the tempo and cutting away some of the flabbier lines of story-telling.
The Alamo to remember is from Bud and Travis a duo that once came to nosebleed blows because they disliked each other so much. But could they harmonize? Why, like the Kingston Trio with one guy missing. They sure could.
This version packs cinematic punch, pulsing and poetic, with fierce guitar-slapping percussion (ironic...that's a Mexican guitar trick, not an American one) and the periodic blood-spills of swirling violins. It doesn't let up enough for the music's punchline (the melody line from "Taps" as we mourn the men "asleep in the arms of the Lord") but that's a minor flaw in an otherwise brilliant piece of folk-rock glory. And this take is in stereo!
In mono, you also get a very, very rare alternate take. It's got an identical music track, but a slightly different vocal from Bud and Travis. They aren't quite as focused on this take, not always in synch either. But in the interest of collector-obscurity and morbid curiosity, you can now own it.
You also get two versions of "Remember the Alamo" (Cash and Leatherwood) which concentrates on the Travis "line in the sand" legend.
"Ballad of the Alamo" is represented by Marty Robbins, Bud & Travis, Terry Gilkyson and an instrumental version by the Ned Nash Orchestra. Plus there's the lyrical "coda" from the original soundtrack, a summing up featuring a chorus and the orchestra led by Dimitri Tiomkin.

ALAMO

Update November 2011: Several individual songs have been re-upped individually:

Bud & Travis stereo
Bud & Travis rare alternate take mono
Frankie Avalon "Ballad of the Alamo."

Download or listen on line. No pop-ups, porn ads or use of sleazy companies that pay a percentage to bloggers for their "hard work." The hard work was done not by upping files, but by the original writers and performers.

Dance to the Saxy Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song

Journeyman musician Bill Ramal is known to "cult" and "outsider" fans mainly for his work with Dickie Goodman ("Flying Saucer Part One"). As "Jeckyl and Hyde," Bill and Dickie recorded the novelty singles "My Baby Loves Monster Movies" and "Frankenstein meets the Beatles." Ramal also played sax and/or arranged music for Del Shannon as well as Johnny and the Hurricanes.

Ramal also worked as a conductor or arranger on a few oddball albums through the 60's, like "Screamin' Saxes" (MGM, 1962) and "Saxophone Circus" (Avco, 1969) which had versions of "Lion Sleeps Tonight," "The Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" and "The Theme from The Name of the Game" TV show. He led his own groups, "Bill Ramal and his Teen Swingers," "Blll Ramal and his Combo" and "Bill Ramal and his Twist Band." Solo he recorded "Don't Count Your Dreams" "Rock Lomond" "Hard Times" among others and as "Big Bill Ramal" he offered "Wing Ding."

In 1963, for 20th Century Fox Records, he created "Young America Dances to TV's Greatest Themes," a wholesome party record where such favorite themes as "Ben Casey," "The Defenders," "Gunsmoke," "Perry Mason" "The Fugitive" and "Bonanza" were hepped up so the little ones could twist their hips or mash their potatoes. Your sample is a re-working of "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme, with busy drums, an appropriate Duane Eddy-type twangy guitar, and riffin' Ramal coming in on roarin' sax to tear up the joint.
Makes you wish Del Shannon dropped by to sing the lyrics.
BILL RAMAL the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES DANCE THEME

20 "Love Is Blue" Covers - Happy POPP Birthday

40 years ago, Paul Mauriat's "Love is Blue" was a huge hit...the only time a French musician had a #1 on the Billboard chart.
The pop tune was composed by Andre Popp, born on this day February 19, in 1924.
The lyrics were of course originally in French, and as "L'amour est bleu," Greek singer Vicky Leandros represented Luxembourg and premiered it at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest...and lost. The winning song that year was "Puppet On a String," the entry from Great Britain.
Popp's previous hit was an instrumental, "The Portuguese Washerwomen." He also had success with an ambitious classical novelty suite for kiddies, "The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Co.," which was recorded by Victor Borge among others.
Sans les lyrics, Mauriat had the biggest success of his career with the puffy Popp ditty. By the time Otis Redding's "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" shoved Mauriat off #1, the song was being translated into multiple languages and Al Martino grazed the Top 100 with it. No version with lyrics ever came close to Mauriat's numbers, but many versions turned up as album tracks for the era's pop singers, and it was a favorite number to belabor on 60's variety shows.
The song is probably best as an instrumental, since a vocalist needs great emotive skill to make the aborted journey through primary colors sound pithy: "Blue, blue, my world is blue...red, red, my eyes are red..."
Smurf's up! You've got 20 Blue meanies in your download, including Vicky Leandros' French and English versions, Sylvie Vartan, Al Martino, Marty Robbins, The Sandpipers, separate versions by Andy Williams and Claudine Longet, twangy stuff from The Ventures and Santo & Johnny, a moog turn from the Electronic Concept Orchestra, plus much more, more or less.
20 LOVE IS BLUE COVERS

Come Away With the Bipolar Penguin! Burgess Meredith

Put new lyrics to "Greensleeves," have it semi-sung by the resonant Burgess Meredith, and what have you got? Not much. "Home in the Meadow" is from 1963, a few years before the throaty thesp became Batman's TV nemesis, "The Penguin." Trivia: Burgess ad-libbed the Penguin quack-laugh as a way to clear his throat...he was allergic to the cigarettes his kool penguin character had to smoke.
On this single, he wants a smoke-free environment:
"Away, away! Oh, come away with me. I'll build you a home in the meadow! Come, oh come..."
The song from "How the West Was Won," was a semi-hit for the movie's star, Debbie Reynolds. (No, Meredith was not in the film at all.)
Oliver Burgess Meredith (Burgess was his mother's maiden name) first attained fame in the 30's on the Broadway stage. In 1939 he co-starred with Lon Chaney Jr. in "Of Mice and Men," a film overlooked at Oscar time, thanks to blockbusters "Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind" and "Stagecoach." Hell, there wasn't even an Oscar nomination for "Son of Frankenstein."
Meredith's burgeoning career stalled for World War II service (he was a captain) but on his return, he not only starred in many films, in 1949 he directed Charles Laughton in "The Man on the Eiffel Tower." The 50's? Well, combine "Red Scare" and blacklist...and it was checkmate for Meredith. But as the 50's ended and the 60's began, he appeared in a pair of memorable "Twilight Zone" episodes, rode the "Thurber Carnival" to Broadway success, and returned to films. Into the 70's he was Tony-nominated for directing a production of "Ulysses in Nighttown," and won new fame (and an Oscar nomination) as the feisty manager in a trio of "Rocky" movies. He played many high-strung teeth-gritting characters in the 80's and 90's including parts in "Grumpy Old Men" and "Grumpier Old Men."
In 1994, amid his "Grumpy" successes, he wrote an autobiography, which not only touched on his amazing, varied career, but his battle with mood swings and bipolar disorder.
Fans can find some oddball audio on Burgess Meredith, ranging from a guest narration on "The Bells Of Dublin" from The Chieftains, to a superb Lively Arts album narrating two Ray Bradbury stories...to this, his magical mystery tour to nowhere: "Come Away With Me," colorfully detailing pastoral delights to be found somewhere on Earth or in heaven.

COME AWAY WITH BURGESS MEREDITH

Singing In Tongues: 3 Pop Tunes Go Poop

Listen to..."RINGO" sung in Italian.
Try a Scandanavian take on "RAGS TO RICHES."
Spin the "Windmills of Your Mind" via a Greek translation.

Some pop songs get stale with age.
With a different language and a different singer, a tired tune can perk up!

Forlorn over Lorne Greene? The vivid spaghetti western version of "Ringo" here is sauced by Adriano Celentano. He was a huge singing star in Italy in the 60's, with over 40 albums under his belt (he wore oversize pants). He also enjoyed a long acting career in the 70's and 80's, and most viewers enjoyed it, too.

The phrase "it's all Greek to me" is akin to "something's ass backwards." Usually, it's the singer, but not in this case. The Greek translation isn't "Windmills of Your Behind." The song's sung in Greek only because wiley Vicky Leandros likes being an "International Star," and the more languages she can cover, the better. She sings the tune in English and French elsewhere on the blog...now we've backed into the Greek version. (Yes, that's a recent photo of Vicky.)

"Rags to Riches" was notably used in "Goodfellas," but let's chill the Mafia taint by taking it up north to the Netherlands, and re-naming it "Ik heb geen geld en geen juwelen." As for singer Jan Verhoeven, he's still going strong. Hij zat in diverse orkestjes en trad ook solo op bij bruiloften en partijen. Jan speelde al op zijn 10e jaar bescheiden gitaar, maar genoeg om zijn broer te begeleiden en te zingen. Toen nog zonder microfoon of geluidsinstallatie. And if you want more, why, visit janverhoeven.nl

Rags to Riches from Verhoeven
Windmills of Your Mind in GREEK
The Spaghetti Western version of "Ringo"

KURT DEMMLER DIES: Singer/Songwriter Sex Offender

Was Kurt Demmler guilty of molesting underage girls?
He was arrested and tossed in jail, to await trial.
He was found hanged in his cell, an apparent suicide. He was 65.

Demmler was one of the most prolific songwriters in the former German Democratic Republic; he supposedly wrote the lyrics to 10,000 tunes. But, to quote the old Steve Allen joke, "Can you name two?"
His two best known hits were “Come Into My Guitar Boat” and “Every Person Can Love Everyone." He wrote songs for Nina Hagen, Rote Gitarren, Karat, Babylon, Frank Schobel, and Berluc among others. Under an alias, he wrote the lyrics for the 1988 album Neue Helden (New Heroes) by The Puhdys.
Demmler also recorded many solo albums, and from the late 60's through the 90's could often be counted on to appear at a protest rally, strumming his guitar and singing a few numbers. The photo of him is from a 1989 performance.
Your download? Two songs from a 1970 protest event. "Ho Chi Minh" is a tuneful ballad, while "Schniegelscher," has a kind of Phil Ochs feel to it...fast lyrics (in German, of course) which get both applause and laughs from the audience. Kurt was part of the famous uprising and demonstration in East Berlin on the 4th of November 1989, taking the stage for songs and protest. He seemed to be on the politically correct side of many issues.
But was he always sexually correct and proper?
After about 15 years of success, with his songwriting, his solo albums, even an adaption of "The Little Prince," his song peddling took second place to his schlong pedo-ling.
In 2002 he was accused of involvements with underage girls. He was fined, but all was not fine. The cops kept their eye on Demmler and in 2008 they amassed messy evidence, going all the way back to 1995, with six girls ready to testify. Their ages were from 10 to 14...and the tally of rude incidents was over 200. Did Kurt fondle them, or masturbate in front of them ("Kurt Jergens") or worse? Demmler protested his innocence, but was locked up. It was alleged that he had lured girls to his apartment on the promise of auditioning them for an all-girl band.
Demmler did not get his day in court. Six days ago the case against Demmler ended with his death. If the six girls were truly abused by him, they have been spared having to give sexual testimony. The victims need not describe the salacious details, although on February 3rd, Demmler showed the world he was well hung. Yes, a sad ending and a bad joke about Demmler and his wayward weiner, but illfolks spares you the wurst. Let's go back to 1970 for Kurt Demmler performing meaningful music and not mischief:

HO CHI MINH
Schniegelscher

FOREIGNERS in the whore HOUSE of the RISING SUN

Why do so many people identify with whores? They love to sing "House of the Rising Sun!"
Literally hundreds of females have wailed about workin' in a New Orleans bordello, as if they ingested enough semen to get flood relief from Fema.
Even worse, hundreds of MEN have likewise belted and brayed about being bothered, bewildered and buggered by anyone who wanted 'em to bend South while getting poked up North.
Folk song hunter Alan Lomax recorded Georgia Turner singing it in 1937, as "Risin' Sun Blues," and the bawl about balling kept on rolling, with some claiming credit for the lyrics, the music, or both. Dave Van Ronk perfected the right version...and as Suze Rotolo noted in her book about Bob, was mighty peeved when young Mr. Dylan decided to stick the song on his debut Columbia album. Dave couldn't sing the tune after that, 'cause he was accused of "stealing from Bob." Dave had the last laugh. When Eric Burdon copied Bob's, and had a hit with it, Dylan had to drop it, too!
Burdon and The Animals turned the song into a real rocker, with that famous opening guitar riff (or arpeggio, if you want to get technical) by Hilton Valentine, and the scorching organ of Alan Price...not to mention Burdon singing as if his organ was scorched, too. Many earlier versions credited whoever "adapted" it as the author, but when Alan Price ended up with the credit, rather than all the band members, there was much chagrin, especially when the tune became almost as big a perennial money maker as "Whiter Shade of Pale" or "Yesterday."
In placing "House of the Rising Sun" #91 on his list of the "1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made," ex-Rolling Stone scribe Dave Marsh, noted the gay problem with bleary-eyed Eric:
"Burdon...brattish spawn of Newcastle coal miners that he was...turned the lyric around, portraying the prostitute as a male and, thus, himself as a catamite."
Marsh, and most others, reject the musicologists who say that the song is only about a prison...and that the singer didn't lay for a living, just laid one person low.
But no, if you look it up, "catamite" doesn't refer to a prison inmate, or a little insect on a feline. "House of the Rising Sun" sounds more like a bordello than a prison and that's how most singers relate to it.
But that's not why you're here. You're not here to hear the White Man Burdon. No, this blog is too ill to offer famous English versions of the song. Instead, your download is...FOREIGN LANGUAGE versions.
Russian whores. Italian whores. German whores. Spanish whores. And more.
All of them bellow through herpes-riddled lips and have to stand up to sing because of nether-holes as prolapsed as a Slinky going down a stairway.
You get Johnny Hallyday singing in French and German, plus French singer Marie Laforet singing in Japanese, and...Boris Brown, Manfred Krug, Anatoly Savenkov, Bisonti, Alazan, Bruno Lomas, Sukachev, the appropriately named T. Hors, Vadim Kosogorov, Pataky Attila, Manfred Krug, Frida Boccara and much more..."La Casa Del Sol Naciente," "Es steht ein Haus in New orleans" "Dom Voskhodjashhego Solnca," "Le Penitencier" and more!
FOREIGN HOUSES OF THE RISING SUN

For Fans of Repetition - STARDUST x 19 plus...

If you're the type that never got up to push the needle along when it got stuck, or if you have a morbid curiosity about how different people can sing the same song...check around the blog and you'll find a lot of ridiculous posts featuring more than enough cover versions of a particular song. Like...

19 versions of STARDUST including the Dinahs Shore & Washington, Ben Webster, Cab Calloway, Brubeck, Krupa, Coleman Hawkins, Isham Jones, The Ink Spots, Louis Armstrong, Sammy Kaye and even satire (Jackie Vernon). There's country nasal and country swing (Willie and Leon), and since you probably didn't know she could sing, Elke Sommer. Also, a 1933 solo from the author, Hoagy Carmichael. STARDUST

Elsewhere (just type in a few key words in the top left corner) you'll find:
17 VERSIONS OF TOM DOOLEY, duly noted.

12 VERSIONS OF FAREWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA, for those who never know when to leave.

25 VERSIONS OF UNCHAINED MELODY including Shayne Ward, Dobby Dobson, Ann & Nancy Wilson (huh? they covered it??), Matt Monro, the late Boots Randolph, U2, Pitney, Orbison, and a host of others.

And no, that isn't a Photoshop job at the top of this entry, that's the damn nice Dahm Triplets, repetitive in their smiles, waving the red white and blue.

There's plenty of "live" links going back to the beginning...plus pithy paragraphs, cogent commentary, and peculiar pictures. So you are indubitably encouraged to peruse this jeremiad and explore all atrabilious amphigories.

It was 200 Years ago today: EDGAR A. POE

The greatest writer America ever produced, was born on January 19, 1809.
His 200th birthday will be marked by many new books and tie-ins. Look for "Poe's Children," collecting horror stores by Stephen King and other contemporary writers, and "On a Raven's Wing" with Mary Higgins Clark and others knocking out stories in Poe's style. There's also a new Poe stamp at your local post office, and this modest tribute here at the Ill Folks blog.
Edgar's poetry has been adapted to music and sung by everyone from Frankie Laine to Harry Belafonte, and his stories have been turned into opera and rock opera ("Fall of the House of Usher" especially), and even jazz pieces. Almost a rock star in his own time (poems at the time were as popular as songs), Poe often staged a one-man show, and the centerpiece was his "greatest hit," a recitation of "The Raven."
Unfortunately for Edgar, he was a wild and crazy guy, so bizarre he was buried twice (as you can see from this marker for his original resting place). He was always getting into incredibly vicious feuds every time he joined a newspaper -- not always getting along with co-workers and outraging dozens of writers (including the greats of his day) by scalding them with literary criticism.
While today he's known as a poet and horror writer, back then he was also known for being a controversial magazine editor writing notoriously opinionated reviews. He could rapturously praise a poetess he might've fancied, and venemously put down the latest work of Longfellow, sometimes adding an accusation of plagiarism. The occasional physical confrontation only added to his notoriety. His problems with alcoholism didn't help. Suffering a typical freelance writer's lifestyle, he was perpetually broke and tormented...knocking out hack non-fiction to get by (often making up facts and then declaring the result merely a "hoax"). His marriage to his 13 year-old cousin has intrigued amateur psychologists. After her tragic death, he went on to romances with a variety of women, including the strange Sarah Whitman, who liked to breathe ether from a soaked handkerchief. Poe had no idea how deeply some loved him and others hated him, and in the latter case, unfortunately left his literary legacy in the hands of evil Rev. Rufus Griswold, who set about blackening Poe's name after death. Hardly a friend at all, Griswold instantly posted a mocking obit (under an assumed name) to accentuate Poe's alcohol problems and prickly disposition.
Poe invented the mystery story, and the first detective hero in Auguste Dupin. While his horror stories might've been "pulp fiction," designed to make him some fairly easy money from lurid mags of the day, he put a literary stamp on them and turned them into enduring, fascinating classics, probing deep into the soul and psychology of mortal man. He probably felt his main gift was in the essay, and in poetry.
He was a complex, surprising man, and unlike his wan image, in his early days he was a hearty swimmer and enjoyed boxing, and despite the miseries of his life, he was also capable of wicked parody and black humor.
The last full biography of him, one that is at least equal to the pioneering tome by Arthur Quinn, is by Kenneth Silverman. It's simply titled "Edgar A. Poe." That's the byline Poe chose for his works. Orphaned at 3, he despised his adopted "father" John Allan, and it was only after his death that fussy schoolmarms began writing out "Edgar Allan Poe" to go with Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Fenimore Cooper and the rest of the triple-threat names. So "Edgar A. Poe" it is. Or, you can call him "Eddy," as his wife and mother-in-law did.
Your download is a baker's dozen of musical oddities in all styles from emo and goth to psych and folk. The musical setting for "The Bells" is the musical adapation created by the Ill Folks favorite, Phil Ochs....here, performed by Jim & Jean. The Poe load opens with a song about Eddy as performed by Lou Reed, closes with Vincent Price reading "Dreamland" and in between you'll find:
The Lake (Simon Dreams in Violet), Alone (Neither Neither World), A Dream Within a Dram (Soul Parish), A Dream within a Dream (Glass Prism), Masque of the Red Death (Ivy League Trio), The Raven (Fettdog), Ulalume (narrative backed by the Buddy Morrow Orchestra), System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether (Alan Parsons Project), Tell Tale Heart (Hydra), Cask of Amontillado and the Premature Brural (Michael Romeo), Annabel Lee (Society Islands), The Bells (Jim and Jean).

AK...Update October 2010...this link apparently died. Hopefully a new version will be up and running by Eddy's birthday, January 19th.
Re-Up: Poe, Poe, Pitiful He

I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE : THE C&W and POP Stars Dead in 2008

"Dead...didn't even know they were ill..."
It was ladies first on the illfolks blog, so having presented the musical death knells to departed singers and songwriters last week, it's time to honor the men who are now, to quote that Jody Reynolds novelty classic, sleeping the "Endless Sleep."
As this is a music blog, you can look elsewhere for tributes to all the great statesmen, politician, actors, writers and others who shuffled off their mortal coils. The roll call includes the following who contributed a lot to the world, or to the world of illfolks : Paul Newman, George Carlin, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Forry Ackerman, Bill Meléndez, Harvey Korman, Harvey Karman, Sydney Pollack, Dick Martin, Will Elder, Ted Key, William F. Buckley, Jr., Barry Morse, Werner "Frick" Groebli, John Hewer, David Groh, Roy Scheider, Paul Scofield, Claiborne Pell, Charlton Heston, Clive Barnes, Irving Brecher, Reg Varney, Herb Score, Joe Hyams, Preacher Roe, Gerard Damiano, Rudy Ray Moore, Jack Narz, Tom Tresh, Lloyd Thaxton and grouchy sitcom character actors Henry Beckman and Allan Melvin.
The following dead sports figures have fun names too good not to repeat:
Baseball's Herb Hash (97) and Bob Purkey (78), Football's Buzz Nutter (77) and Coy Bacon (66) and wrestling's Ron Slinker (62).
This segment salutes some pop and country stars who passed on. But aside from those you can sample in the download, let's take a paragraph to note some of the other casualties of the past year.
On December 27th, Delaney Bramlett died. He wrote "Let it Rain," and co-wrote "Superstar" with Leon Russell, most recently covered by Sonic Youth. His tune "Never Ending Song of Love" was a regular on the country charts, covered by dozens and dozens of C&W performers. Also unable to make it into 2009, was Derek Wadsworth (69) who wrote the spectacular theme song for "Space: 1999," and Neal Hefti (85) who wrote the theme for "Batman" and "the Odd Couple" and Earle Hagen (88) who wrote the themes for "The Andy Griffith Show" and "I Spy" among others. Using the search feature, top left, you can find the illfolks tributes previously written for both of those men.
Also departed: Danny Dill (83), who co-wrote "Long Black Veil" and had a hand in many other C&W standards, Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright (65), Mike Smith (64) who was a major member of The Dave Clark Five, Buddy Miles (60) both a drummer and a singer (that's his voice leading the California Raisins), pianist Louis Teicher (83) who issued dozens of albums with his piano partner Ferrante, Ralph Young (90) the American half of the Sandler and Young nightclub act, and upstate New York folkie favorite Artie Traum (65),
Perhaps the saddest passing was of Tarka Cordell. Tarka (40) was the son of veteran rock producer Denny Cordell. He issued one album on a small indie label two years ago, and samples of it are still on his myspace page. He was a suicide. And calling it a day, via natural causes, was Chuck Day (65) a Chicago guitarist who recorded as Bing Day and Ford Hopkins, but would anonymously turn in one of the more iconic riffs in rock history when he ad-libbed the guitar introduction to "Secret Agent Man." Aside from working with Johnny Rivers, he also played on albums for The Mamas and the Papas and later fronted his own band for gigs in California over the past decade.
In your download:
Jimmy Carl Black (Lonesome Cowboy Burt), Jody Reynolds (Endless Sleep), Willoughby Goddard (I Shall Scream...from the original Broadway production of Oliver), Dennis Yost of Classics IV (Spooky, Traces), Rod Allen leader of The Fortunes (You've Got Your Troubles I've Got Mine), Eddy Arnold (Mommy Please Stay Home With Me), Jerry Wallace (You're Singing Our Love Song), Charlie Walker (Honky Tonk Woman, Wild as a Wildcat), Jerry Reed (Smell the Flowers, When You're Hot You're Hot), Davy Graham (Goin' Down Slow, Leavin' Blues), Henri Salvador (La Muralle de Chine), Erik Darling, leader of the Rooftop Singers (Walk Right In), John Stewart (Lost Her in the Sun), Robert Hazard (Blood on My Hands).
I Hear Dead People This link won't stay dead! Re-upped in 2011 after Rapidshare dropped it.

I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE : The R&B, Soul, Ska & Rock Stars, Dead in 2008

Time and storage space constraints made it difficult to give a musical sample for every major musician who died in 2008. Omissions reflect the Illfolks taste (or lack of it), since much of what's on the blog simply comes from grabbing what's handy in the archives and shelves of Ill Central.
So without further adieu, at least a mention of some guys who aren't represented in the download below:
The last major musician to evade the Grim Reaper was Freddie Hubbard (70), the great jazz trumpet legend, who died on December 29th. A day earlier, December 28th, Vincent Ford departed. Just how much of a music legend he is, depends on whether he actually wrote Bob Marley's hit "No Woman No Cry." Most say that Ford, who ran a soup kitchen in Jamaica, was generously handed the songwriting credit by Marley so that royalties would go directly to Ford's charity enterprise.
Ray Ellis (85) was a great musician and orchestra leader, Norman Whitfield (68), the Motown songwriter behind "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." Few were as great on sax as Johnny Griffin (80), and Ira Tucker (83) was the lead singer for The Dixie Hummingbirds.
Cliff Nobles (64) may have the oddest credit in Top 10 history: a hit record without being on it. Nobles was a singer, and he thought he had a hit with "Love is All Right." On the flip side was an instrumental arrangement titled "The Horse." Radio stations flipped over the B-side, and it reached #2 in the charts...with the credit going to the man (who played no instrument, only sang) and not his band.
A special mention for a non-singer who is represented below. Jerry Wexler was one of the great music producers, and his range was phenomenal. He sensed what Bob Dylan wanted for "Slow Train Coming" and booked studio time and musicians in Muscle Shoals, the flavor just right for Bob's gospel inspiration. For Big Joe Turner's "Shake Rattle and Roll" Wexler actually sang on the chorus, along with another Atlantic Records legend, Ahmet Ertegun. He brought Dusty Springfield to a comfortable urban studio in New York so she could complete her historic "Memphis" sessions, singing to all the music laid down in Tennessee. And while he didn't have to do much except let Ray Charles sing, and The Drifters drift, quite often Wexler stepped in to coach an artist...notably directing pauses in Wilson Pickett's delivery of "In the Midnight Hour." And representing his diverse work, the download features Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" (Wexler inspired that song by asking his singer to lay down a tune similar to "Tee Nah Nah") and the Dire Straits' "Lady Writer," another example of Wexler's choice of location (the Bahamas) helping him get what he wanted from his artists...in this case, a richer, bluesier sound. Wexler also produced Willie Nelson, James Booker, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and many, many more.
In your download:
Bo Diddley (Run Diddley Daddy, Mumblin' Guitar), Nappy Brown (Something Gonna Jump Out the Bushes), Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops ("I Can't Help Myself" sung in Italian, plus In These Changing Times), Isaac Hayes (Never Can Say Goodbye, Out of the Ghetto), Byron Lee (Soul Ska), Alton Ellis (All My Tears Come Rolling, If I Could Rule This World), Bill Coday (60 Minute Teaser), Jeff Healey (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Someday, Someway), and for producer Jerry Wexler: Professor Longhair's Tipitina and Dire Straits' Lady Writer.
Hear Dead People R&B/Soul/Rock 2008 Update 2011: it died on Rapidshare, resurrected via Box.

I HEAR DEAD PEOPLE (the women of 2008) Suzan Tamim

Along with the mega-deathload of ordinary missing links, many celebrities died in 2008, and has become a custom, the illfolks blog recites that corny line, "dead...didn't even know they were ill..."
Without any further adieu, it's time to start saying goodbye.
This segment is on fallen females.
2008 saw the passing of two women who graced album covers as well as girlie mags. Model DIANE WEBBER, 76, seen in the top two album covers, was born Diane Marguerite Empey. She used the name "Marguerite Empey" when she was Playmate of the Month (twice: in May 1955 and February 1956). BETTIE PAGE, 85, was a fetish film queen in the 8mm era, an early Playboy centerfold, and with her unique hairstyle, frisky smile and perfect figure, became a pin-up icon.
The number of women who were treats for the ears, and who passed on in 2008, are listed below, along with the representative song or songs chosen for the six-foot-download. A few deserve special mention, as you might not be familiar with them. Katie Reider was only 30 when a cerebral hemorrhage ended two years of massive suffering...some of it chronicled elsewhere on this blog. Likewise, Suzan Tamim, a Lebanese singer and actress, was only 30 when she met her demise...brutally murdered in typical Arab fashion by some psycho thug hired by her ex-husband.
The last tune is not sung by a woman, but by James Darren. It's to represent Gloria Shayne Baker. A songwriter, her biggest solo success (credited as Gloria Shayne) was "Goodbye Cruel World." A co-write with her first husband Noel Regney gave the world a Christmas classic, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" She co-wrote with many others, and was part of the trio responsible for "The Men In My Little Girl's Life," a sentimental hit for Mike Douglas. Gloria generally wrote the lyrics for songs she co-wrote, but in the case of "Do You Hear What I Hear," her husband (a member of the French underground while drafted into the German army) wrote the lyrics and she wrote the music.
The voices you're going to hear...immortal.
Odetta (77, Dec. 2) Dont Think Twice It's All Right, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
Monna Bell (70, April 22) Aun Te Sigu Amando and Yo Que No Vivo Sin Ti ("You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" sung in Spanish by this Chilean superstar)
Miriam Makeba (76, Nov 10) Pata Pata
Mae Mercer (76, Oct. 29) Sweet Little Angel
Christie Allen (53, Aug 12) He's My Number One
Eartha Kitt, (81, Dec 25) I Want to Be Bad
Edie Adams (81, Oct 15) Namely You (duet with Peter Palmer)
Katie Reider (30, July 14) My Love For You
Jo Stafford (90, July 16) No Other Love and Haunted Heart
Suzan Tamim (30, July 28) Wainoh Habibbbi and Saken Albi
Yma Sumac (86, Nov 1) El Condor Pasa
Gloria Shayne (84, March 6) Goodbye Cruel World performed by James Darren

I HEAR DEAD WOMEN! 16 songs
and...
I never got around to doing a post on Suzan Tamim, and her bizarre death, but by way of tribute here's her obscure 2001 album SAKEN ALIBI:
SUZAN TAMIM full album

BOBBY DARIN: OUT OF THE VAULTS (Rarities & Demos)

Snap, snap...as cool as Bobby Darin was, some of his tracks just didn't end up etched in vinyl.
Here's a set of 25 songs that stayed in the Capitol vaults in the 60's, an era that shows him slippin' and slidin' over Al Jolson (Alabamy Bound) Anthony Newley (What Kind Of Fool Am I) Andy Williams (Moon River) and the rest of them older, squarer cats.
Of special interest, an attempted Mack the Knife sequel called Gyp the Cat!
At the time, some folks thought this guy was pretty ill: too young to be Middle of the Road, but acting too old to really appeal to the teens. But hey, the answer was that this guy didn't need to be Frank or Dino, nor Sedaka or Anka. He was the best at being Bobby Darin, and now he's legend.
The outtake tracks include: I Got Rhythm, Alabamy Bound, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Know, When My Baby Smiles at Me, Beautiful Dreamer, When You Were Sweet Sixteen, I Ain't Got Nobody, You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You, This Nearly Was Mine, The Sweetest Sounds, Standing on the Corner, Whispering, Just Bummin' Around, On the Street Where You Live, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, If I Ruled the World, Tall Hope and more.
25 Outtakes from Bobby D.