Monday, November 26, 2007

Music For Your Plants....And Other Weirdness!



Sorry for The long hiatus, I've just been busy. Anyway, I'm back with more Weird, Unusual, and Strange Music that you should know, but most likely don't. FIrst up, is "Music for Your Plants". I dunno who peformed this, but their was a time, back in the 1970's, where singing {or playing music} for your plants was a big fad, like Pet Rocks.
Nowandays, if most of you were to play music you like {Rap, Punk, Alternative}, the plants would probeley go insane. But, on the opposite side, plants are not idiots. They have good music taste. And Enough of them had enough taste to put this record in the dustbin.

And now, for another record. I Really Don't see how this one could not sell. I mean it's got style, talent, and a balding guy on the cover talking about life insurance. Why is this not up their with albums by Dead Kennedys and Black Flag ? It's Just a cruel World
{And, Yes I was Being sarcastic}

Saturday, October 27, 2007

More New Finds!

-"All In The Family" T.V. soundtrack
-"In Harmony" [Comp. W/ Doobie Brothers, Dr. John, etc.]
-"Music To Live By" [Kitch Cover]
-"You Look Marvolus" [BIlly Crystal]
-Hark! The years! [comp. of spoken word pieces]

Also, a bunch of Cassettes, Including a French Billie Holiday tape!
Oh, and some Sci FI vintage paperbacks, sealed.

The All In The Family, has the theme song, along with other pieces the cast sing.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Recent Finds

Ok, I thought I would make a list of some recent vinyl [and cd's] :

"Wild Life" [Wings] [w/Promo sticker & Apple vinyl]
"Reflections of a Wicked World [Ogden Nash]
"Unsupervised" [Mono Puff-Rykodisc CD]
"American Political Songs 1800's-1994" [CD]
"The World of Shelly Berman [Shelly Berman]
"Pac-Man Fever [Bucks & Garcia]

I'm sure their's more, but I can't think of the titles off hand.

And Remember, the WFMU Record show is beyond the horizon. LP's, CD's, Cassettes, 8-Tracks, and lost of other lost mediums. Rock, Punk, No Wave, World, Folk, Rockabilly, Surf, New Wave, Indie and more! Go to wfmu.ord/recfair.

Friday, October 19, 2007

The Addicts! Sing!


Ok, I've shown you albums by Celebrities, Musicans, and The Mentally Insane, to name a few, but here is the strangest. The Addicts Sing was a bizarre concept from the start. 9 former Heroin Addicts + Musicial Ability [or lack of it] = A Hit Record [Or so they thought.] In terms of information about the group, they WERE nine former heroin addicts, who were released from jail, and decided to sings their tales of the life of a junkie. It was released in 1965, and the whereabouts of The Addicts are unknown. The back cover may have the weirdest part of all, an illustration of a hand about to inject a needle into themself. Strange, man, strange.

An Iconic Photograph relating to Outsider Music


So, I decided to pick an iconic photo for my topic. It is rather hard for my topic, becauce 99.9 percent of iconic Photos would not make sense here. So, I decided to pick an Album cover instead. "Satan is Real" by The Louvin Brothers is a true iconic weird album cover. The Red, glowing Devil in the background, and the posed brothers in the front, looking for Satan.



I like it, because It has a retro-cool-kitch-weird vibe to it. I mean, Would you doubt that this was made in the 1950's or 1960's. It is kind of a Legend among Religous record collectors & weird album art collectors. It's just cool, period.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Music For the Gifited

I found out about this Album on another blog actually, and it sounds like something that I would enjoy. The idea was conceved by Dr. Alan Melinger, and was recorded in mental health facilities in Colorado. To me, I would rather hear some raw, and unmixed music, then hear a song that has added vocals, and numerous overdubs, like much of popular music nowandays. The Doctor gets into the act, and records a couple songs. It would be great to find this LP, and hearing about it makes me glad that their are Thousands and Thousands of Home-made Religous recordings, Weird Rockabilly, Music recorded by Midgets, and other happy sounds

Note : [I could not get it picture, but the album cover is no Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.]

And Now, for something completly different :

The WFMU record fair is shortly approching! November 2, 3 & 4th in New York City. This is the fair to go to for VInyl, CD's, Tapes and Fragments of Pop Culture that you have most likely forgotten about. For more info go to www.wfmu.org/recfair.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Record Albums you will mostly likely see in Trash cans.


Whenever you walk into a Goodwill, or a Salvation Army, or any thrift store for that matter, their are certain records you will find :

#1: The First Family - This Spoof on John F. Kennedy and his family was made in 1962, and by mid-'63, it had sold over 7 Million copies. It even won a grammy for album of the year. After JFK was assassinated, sales plummeted, because nobody wanted to buy the LP, for obvious reasons. Before the tragedy, a second volume was released which is slightly harder to find [This means you might have to go to 10 Goodwills].

#2: Thriller - Yes, I'm talking about the album by Michael Jackson, back when he made music, and was not just a clue in the People magazine puzzle. I think that everybody must have bought this LP, and 1/2 of them donated them. I don't think that I could give this one away, really.

#3: Whipped cream and other delights - this record by Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass is more of an in-joke among record collectors, than it is an LP. Millions and Millions of these were pressed, and Millions and Millions were boughts, and Millions and Millions of these were donated. The LP itself is probley worth less than a penny.

Now, for one album you don't see to often [at least not me] :



#1: Orbit in Space - This comedy album, By Jose Jiminez, is Not rare, but just hard-to-find. The one copy I saw in a dollar bin in a record/book store, had the back covered with mold, which was sad.

Ok, a bonus record you don't see too often :

#5: Anything by Redd Foxx. His stuff is harder to find than buried treasure. I mean, it's not that hard, but I'm talking about finding his records for a buck or two, not 20.00.

Friday, October 12, 2007

The Odd Couple Sings!




Did you know the odd couple could sing ? Neither did I. This record is truly bizarre as it features two actors, who are trained singers, crooning away to songs. Why did this one not get to the top of the Billboard charts ? We'll never know. If I ever found this one in a thrift store, I would Definetly pay a buck for it.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Telly Savalas Vs. The Music World



Telly Savalas, Famous for Chomping down Lollypops, and saying "Who loves ya, baby", got into the celebrity/record idea, and recorded his versions of such songs as "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". When Telly was asked about his recent involvement in the music biz, he said [at the time] "I was asked to make a record". Many questions will probley never be answered, such as "Who Bought it" and "Why, Kojak, why ?".

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Colonal Sanders, the musician



Everybody probely thinks that Crl. Sanders, the foudner of KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken], made millions of dollars, because everybody bought his chicken, and his lived on a huge estate in the South. Wrong. The Crl. made very little money off KFC, because he sold the franchise in 1964. They just kept him as their spokesman because, I guess, He brings a Southern Hospitality-kind of feeling when you bought the chicken, I don't know. So, he released a couple albums of Cajun & Folk recordings in the 1960's, before he died on December 16th, 1980 of Leukemia. I don't believe his recordings are avalible, and I am sure KFC has no plans to re-issue them, after all KFC is not a record label, it's a fast-food restaurant.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

James Chance

James Chance is a brillant, yet still underground musician. Starting in the No Wave scene of NYC, James was a combo of James Brown, and Ornette Coleman. His songs were very punk, but also very jazz at the same time. Combine this w/ Fancy Footwork, and a Underground legend is created. His early lp's with his backup band "The Contortions" have classics like "Contort Yourself" and "I Can't Stand Myself". Never gaining a huge fanbase in the US, he still records and is very popular in Europe, where he peforms on occasion

Friday, September 28, 2007

Captiain Beefheart



I'm Sure most of you have not heard of Captian Beefheart. His real name is Don Van VIlet, and he lives in a tralier, somewhere in the desert. From The early 1960's, until 1982, when he left the music business, he created some of the weirdest music commercially avalible. His Noted masterpiece "Trout Mask Replica", has been cited as an Avant-Garde masterpiece. His music was like Howling Wolf Jamming with Frank Zappa. He was Actually a friend of Frank's, and they actually recorded an album together {Bongo Fury}. Beefheart is also a noted painter, and he continued to paint after he went on permanant music hiatus. Check out his later works, espically "Bat Chain Puller" and "Ice Cream For Crow", I recommend them both.

Thursday, September 27, 2007


When Most people think of Electronic Music, they think of the modern-day DJ's and mixes, but I think of Bruce Haack. Bruce was born in 1931, and in the 1960's he started releasing his Weird music for children, which were produced on Very early Synthsthesiers. Bruce appeared on "Mr. Rodgers" and continued to make music until his death in 1988 from heart failure. The record above is one of his most famous, even though it never really was famous. Near-impossible to find, The record is avalible on an import cd from Japan. Don't bother even trying to look for the vinyl, I saw a copy for sale in a Music shop for 200$.

Weird disco music





The 70's were a time of weird music [and bad music]. Somehow, The singer Ethel Merman, who was very popular in the 40's and 50's, decided to release a disco album. There was one little problem with this, however. Ethels voice was not the disco kind of voice, and it made for one truly unusual album. Many other artists released disco music, Including Arthur Fiedler, Leader of the Boston Pops. Arthur always tried to get wit the hip generation, and also released lp's of Pyschedelic and Beatles music, not to mention T.V. themes. Just the cover ,with him in a disco suit boogieing down, makes this one priceless. The Ethel Disc has been Re-released on cd.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Beatle Barkers!


http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/BigImg/barkers.jpg

Following Ali's Wonderfuly Strange record, we have a Beatles album. Sounds Pretty normal, right! Wrong! This LP is Beatles songs, but being sung by dogs. I'm sure you didn't know that dogs liked the beatles, or that they could sing, but now you do. I find it amazing that people actually bought this, as It is not Quite easy listening material.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ali Vs. Tooth Decay!



Ok, I could not resist this one. Ali is going to rid the world of tooth decay with Howard Cosell, Richie Havens, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. I really wonder how the sessions for this one went, as it just seems too bizarre to be true. Ali must have convenced the stars that this would nice on their Resumes, because i'm sure none of them want to remember this one. The inside jacket to the LP features a cut-and-paste collage of all the stars, putting Tooth Decay in it's place. [Believe it or not, Ali actually contributed vocals to another benefit album, in the 80's]

Friday, September 21, 2007


September 21st, 2007



I thought I would start out with one of my favorite outsider musicans, Daniel Johnston. Bi-polar musican who makes truly beautiful music. Dan has been singing and recording since the late 70's. When he started releasing his Cassette Tapes in 1982, no one has heard of him. Now Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, and Beck haven covered him. In 1984, Dan was working for a carnival, when he stumbled into the Austin, Tx music scene at the time. He Got his way onto a show called "The Cutting Edge" [MTV actually used to air it, before they cancelled it in 1987] and became a legend. He also started Believing in Satan and was Diganosed as Being Bi-polar. He started using Drugs [He is now clean] and he started getting violent. By 1987, he was on his meds and was invited into New York City by Steve Shelly, member of Sonic Youth. It was here he recorded his album "1990", which was his 1st formal album [By now, over a dozen cassettes has been released] It was in the city, though, where he got into some trouble, When he caught drawing the Jesus Fish on the Statue of Liberty. He was given a ticket to West Virginia [now living there with his parents], but he skipped his bus, and stayed in the city. he found residence in a shelter, and peformed the same night on CBGB's [how about that!]. By the time he got back, the members of Sonic Youth were glad to have him off their hands. In the late 80's he recorded a nalbum w/ Jad Fair. In 1992, Kurt Cobain started wearing a T-shirt w/ A drawing of Daniel's on it. Dan was then in a mental instution, and did't know that his shirt was seen by milions at the 1992 Mtv VIdeo Music Awards. Dan got a contract to Atlantic Records in '84, but the cd sold poorly. Dan's still recording & his art is sold for thousands around the world. A film "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" was released in 2004. It is a great movie.
September 21st, 2007

Hello! and welcome to my blog. The topic is outsider music. What is outsider music you may ask ? Music by mentally insane composers, found sounds, thrift store records, and any other sounds of the unusual.

Example : Fleetwood Mac is NOT outsider music. Daniel Johnston IS however.