Savoy Brown - Looking In

I don't really have a Halloween post this year, but this one may be close.  

Savoy Brown - Looking In (Parrot 1970)

British blues band Savoy Brown with their fourth album.  Sports a cover reminiscent of EC comics.

I'm not sure what inspired them to go all demonic.  The music and lyrics are basic Chicago style blues.

And how demonic can you be if you're on Parrot Records with that cute little guy with hat and cane.

This record holds a soft spot in my history.  Around the time of its release I stepped into an independent counter-culture record store for the first time.  This record was playing.  Being a fan of monster movies and Mad Magazine, I was immediately taken by the cover.

Every time I put it on I'm immediately taken me back to an environment of sand candles, black light posters, black lights, strobe lights, incense, and various whatnot used for smoking stuff.   And they had records too.  The best selection with the best prices.  No 45's because those were for a different crowd.  David Peel and the Lower East Side on the wall rather than the Cowsills.

I really loved that vibe in a record store.  With the rise of the 'hip' chains like Tower, Music Plus and the Wherehouse, these types of stores slowly died out.  The Wherehouse was hip, but they had corporate mandated turnstiles.

My local record emporium has a small black light room in the hallway leading to the back door.   They're trying to recapture the counter-culture store spirit on a small level.  

More Dirty Old Broads - Rusty Warren

'In the tradition of Belle (" If I offended you, tell your friends")Barth  and Pearl ("A trip around the world is not a cruise ") Williams  comes Rusty ("Knockers Up") Warren
.

Bryan Ferry - This Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Been the Sixth Roxy Music Album

In 1976, Roxy Music went on hiatus.   Up until that point, each LP was subtitled 'The xth Roxy Music Album'     1975's Siren was billed as 'The Fifth Roxy Music Album.'

Bryan Ferry went on to release his first solo LP to contain all original material.    Up until this point, his solo albums consisted solely of cover versions.

Bryan Ferry - In Your Mind (Polydor 1977)

In my humble opinion, this is a great record.  Players include many of the members of Roxy Music.  In the last few weeks, in anticipation of seeing two shows by Ferry, I found myself returning to this one a few times.   This should have been 'The Sixth Roxy Music Album'   If that were the case it would be held in higher regard today.

Photo of Bryan replaced the retro cheesecake models that adorned the typical Roxy Music covers.

And we get the use of typewriter font throughout  Even on the label.

Ferry released one more solo album - The Bride Stripped Bare - before Roxy Music reconvened in 1979 with Manifesto.

Annette Funicello - Italiannette and Costco Encounter.

Annette Funicello started out as a Mousekateer.   Prior to donning a bathing suit and appearing beach party movies (and making some pretty bitchen records) Annette was beholden to Disney.

So here we have one of those Disney records exploiting her Italian heritage.

Annette - Italiannette (Buena Visa 1960)

The rear cover is a bit torn up.  This record was in the dollar bin at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles.  We're treated to a picture of Annette eating Pizza.

And rare for survival these days - the record included the original inner sleeve.  Annette seems to be in a transition period between gym class and beach party.

I have spotted Annette in public twice.   The first time was when I was out to dinner with my parents.  We were in spot where we could clearly see her table and what was on her plate.  It wasn't pizza.   As my mom observed:  'It doesn't look like Annette liked her food very much.'

Later in life, Annette didn't live too far from where I currently reside.  She suffered from MS as was confined to a wheelchair.  This was the case on my second encounter.  I was with my kids at the Costco in Van Nuys, CA food court.  Annette was there with her family/caregivers.   Her caregivers were feeding her some of that delicious Costco pizza.  My kids were actually excited when they realized who she was.   We had been watching the beach party movies.  They wanted to talk to her, but I advised against it.  It was best to let her be.

As Annette says in the caption above.  ' mmmmm!   This pizza is great!'  Although she could not speak, I'm sure that's what she thought at Costco.  Who wouldn't.   She had the combo - or as my daughter used to say  - 'The kind with all the food on it'

Goodbye Harry Dean....

Elton John re-adapted Candle in the Wind as a tribute to Princess Diana who had recently died in a drunken irresponsible seatbeltless high speed chase in Paris.  Per noted philosopher Keith Richards, the song was then turned into a generic tribute to 'dead blonde chicks'

So let's open it up.  Adapt it as a tribute to Harry Dean Stanton.   He's more deserving than a silver spoon princess.  Besides, the cadence of the opening line fits perfectly.

But this is a blog about records, not about actors.   I'm not generally impressed by actors or celebrities.   I live in Los Angeles.  Actors work in restaurants and deliver pizza.  It's a running gag here when someone says they're an actor you ask them which restaurant they work at.  Harry Dean Stanton was an exception.  He was fun to see in public - more on that at the bottom of this post.

Harry Dean Stanton was in one of my favorite movies with one of my favorite movie soundtracks.

Music From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack "Repo Man" (San Andreas 1984).

The opening track and title song by Iggy Pop is a classic.  One of the best movie songs ever.  Still held in high regards by Iggy fans.  It was still in the setlist when I saw Iggy last summer.

It didn't win the Academy Award  - that went to 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder.   (sorry about the earworm - put on some Iggy to get rid of it - NOW!)

We get three contributions from The Plugz - a latino East LA punk band - including their spanish language version of Secret Agent Man.

Two contributions from LA punk band The Circle Jerks - one of them a lounge version of their 'hit' When The Shit Hits the Fan.

It was released on San Andreas Records - a label created by MCA records to market this soundtrack.   This was the only release on the label.

So anyway-back to Harry Dean Stanton and Repo Man (the movie).  See it.  It's got more quotable lines than Casablanca and Blazing Saddles combined.     And as for Harry Dean, he lived near me.  I used to see him taking out his trash at about 5:30 PM in his bathrobe.  Here's a photo.

 'The more you drive, the less intelligent you are"

Library of Congress - The Most Expensive Turntable I Have Ever Seen

The LOC archives are digital.   Many of their sources are LP's.  In order to get a good clean source, they're played on the the most expensive turntable I have ever seen.  I was told it costs $20,000 (not including the cartridge)

And they use a simple paint brush to take the final specs of dust off.

They're using a cork mat. I'm sure they're paid more than I did for my cork plant coaster from Home Depot.

Library of Congress - Intake

Various shots from intake room.   Note the cylinders.  Everything is digitized and catalogued before it is shipped to the archives.

Library of Congress - What to do with a broken record - IRENE

Occasionally, the Library of Congress will receive rare records that are broken or unplayable.  Since their goal is archive all recordings ever made, there are some tools at their disposal that will help them achieve their goal.

Meet IRENE.  IRENE is a digital camera that photographs the grooves on a record using a laser.   I didn't even ask what this thing costs.

On the photo below, you can see an image of IRENE's hard work in the background.   The photo can be converted to audio and voila - an archived recording.