RedBoy XXXVIII

The Art of Denis Peterson

More works here.

Good...

"Brian Aitken, who was convicted of illegally possessing three handguns he had legally purchased* in Colorado, will be out of prison in time for Christmas.

Gov. Chris Christie commuted Aitken's sentence Monday, from seven years to time served, according to an order signed by the governor. It was Christie's first commutation since taking office almost a year ago.

In 2009, Aitken was arrested for possessing three handguns and ammunition — the guns were unloaded — after state police found them in the trunk of his car. Aitken was visiting his mother in Burlington County when she became concerned about his well-being and called the police...

Aitken, who had recently moved from Colorado where he bought the guns, faced felony charges the same as if he had used the guns to commit a crime. Supporters of Aitken began a Facebook campaign to get his sentence commuted."

Too bad he didn't rape and/or kill someone, otherwise he would have been parolled in time for Thanksgiving. Mmmm, Pumpkin Pie.

Call me Skeptical...

Yeah. I’m just not really ‘feelin’ Christmas this year. I mean, the day after Halloween I was already being choked-out by tinsel and red felt @ the local drugstore. More and more I fear there is not ample time for decompression between the Holidays and, as such, I think I’ll sit Christmas out this year (Don’t wanna get the Holiday bends and burst a blood-vessel, now do we?). Still, I am the giving sort, and in the interests of comity, I give you a healthy dose of SKEPTICism from Bartlesville OK circa 66’

From the G200 website:

"hands-down prize for 60's group with the most utlrarare picture sleeve 45's goes to Oklahoma's Skeptics, with a total of 3 ULTRA rare picture sleeves, each known in a quantity of less than 10 copies. Much less. This one, "Apple Candy", is probably the second-rarest, with around 5 copies known. The hands-down rarest is their release on Thrush, with only one copy with picture sleeve having ever been found. However the existence of a fourth sleeve, "Bit O' Honey" (Scratch) is now in doubt. Although listed in many discographies, no-one has ever actually seen it. We doubt it exists."

Now, if only I had the picture sleeve...

Apple Candy - Skeptics

Ride Child - Skeptics

Note: Special thanks to Gregorious from HPRS who - in a moment of greed and weakness - sold me this killer-diller disc!

Currently Watching...

Black Christmas (1974)

"It's time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don't express much concern. Meanwhile Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?"

Note: From director Bob Clark (R.I.P), visionary behind such genre hits as 'Children Shouldn't Play w/ Dead Things', 'Deathdream', Porky's & the seasonal classic 'A Christmas Story'.

RedBoy XXXVII

Bo Diddley & 'Crack': The Straight Dope

Hey all. Regular non-denominational posting will begin forthwith, but first let me get a couple of requests out of the way. First, I finally got around to typin’ up a big wordy track list for the BftRB Presents: Revenge of “Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night” Mix. Give it a gander and put a name to your favorite tune's fractured face. Second, I’ve included, as promised, the flipside to both the Yo Yo’s Raven disc, titled ‘Crack In My Wall’ as well as the really cool flip to the ‘Trance’ by Count Drac; a filthy-ass cover of Bo Diddley’s ‘Bo Diddley’. So in lieu of diddlin’ yourselves…

Crack in My Wall – Yo Yo's

Hey Bo Diddley – Count Drac

RedBoy XXXVI

Blues for the RedBoy Presents: Revenge of 'Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night'!

Got time for one more post before Halloween drops so I’m gonna do my best to make it a dozy! Several years ago I posted my first BFtRB mix in honor of this auspicious occasion, drawing my inspiration from the instrumental craze of the late fifties / early sixties. And while “Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!” had some heavy hitters on it’s roster, I figure I gotta try and up the ante w/ this-here follow-up, a task made all the more daunting in the face of some of my fellow bloggers great Halloween posts. I will, however, do my best to set the mood with some standards and buck the trend w/ some odd hen’s teeth here and there, both of which spell certain doom as I unleash upon the earth BFtRB presents: Revenge of the Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!

As is previously the case, we are going strictly instrumental here and this first track is a fairly unknown killer! ‘Graveyard’ by the Blazers had been alluding me for a long time up until fairly recently. I have seen copies go for $$$ w/ the picture sleeve (Just a band photo, by the by) though I’ll settle for my new-old stock copy direct from the Blazer’s vault.



The ‘Mr. Guitar’ album by Dean Hightower might seem like a strange choice for a spooky throw down, but like every major studio effort, there always seems to be one sleeper hidden amongst the AM gold, and in this case it’s Dean showing the world his ‘Purple Monster’ (Infer what thou whilst).

‘Cemetery Stomp’ by the Essex has been makin’ the rounds on several comps for awhile now, eschewing the surf vibe that is prevalent on most of these tracks for a decidedly Go-Go take on the post mortem material. Look for a cool cover of said song on the Von Drat’s ‘Dratsylvania Album’.

I’m sure some folks out there have heard the incredibly weird Ken Nordine “Colors” album; the one where each color of the spectrum is given a track like some strange sinesthesiatic revelation, but most people don’t know that Nordine put his stamp on some straight-forward fair, or at least, as straight-forward as a track called ‘Strollin Spooks’ can be.



Now, I know you have all heard Zacherlie’s ‘Dinner w/ Drac’, and if you haven’t, then I’m afraid some of this BftRB pomp might be lost on you. Seeing as how ‘Drac’ is such a standard w/ the deification of NYC’s première horror host (The Maniacal laugh that launched a thousand cable access ships). I had to find some way to change it up a little though, hence the all instrumental version of ‘Drac’ released by Zach’ backing band ‘Dave Appell & the Apple Jacks. Warning: Do not take internally!

‘The Mummy Walks’, so proclaims the label on this Diamond records release, though I think the subtitle ‘The Walking Death’ takes the cake as the most fatalistic of all novelty titles. This track in particular has been a Halloween staple on NJ’s own 91.1 WFMU for as long as I can remember…and I got a looooong memory.

Fellow blogger and all around curmudgeon DevilDick managed to let the black cat out of the bag on this next track by the Tomkos, though it’s so good (And more importantly, mid tempo!) that I think I’m gonna co-opt it for a little shallow breathing room before launching into…



’Vampire’ by the Crystals. Some of you might be familiar w/ this tune on account of it being on a Major label for a change (Mercury), as well as pretty much every monster R ‘n’ R comp, and rightfully so. This tune is a killer, even if it is pressed on the crappiest styrene ever. Seriously, every copy of this I have ever owned, no matter how clean, sounds kinda crappy (Same for the Tomko’s disc), but I’d say that’s all part of it’s inherit charm. Plus, if I were to tweak the hell out of all these tunes before posting I’d never get anything done.

Last, but not least, my copy of ‘Haunted Sax’ by the Akies came in a killer lot of instro stuff out of Ohio, all of which is pretty off-beat and will, no doubt, wind up in these hollowed internet halls as soon as I get around to it, which if this late track listing is any indication, I wouldn’t start holding my breath just yet (Lest you turn blue). Speaking of breath, I’d say it’s about time I catch mine and say good-bye to the haunted shtick until next year. We now return you to our regularly scheduled crap….

BftRB Presents: Revenge of 'Things That Go 1-4-5 in the Night!

Won't Someone Pleeeease Think of the Children!!!

Great article about how overbearing parents and sensationalized media have ruined Halloween. Great read for those of us from the "Analog Generation".

"Halloween is the day when America market-tests parental paranoia. If a new fear flies on Halloween, it's probably going to catch on the rest of the year, too.

Take "stranger danger," the classic Halloween horror. Even when I was a kid, back in the "Bewitched" and "Brady Bunch" costume era, parents were already worried about neighbors poisoning candy. Sure, the folks down the street might smile and wave the rest of the year, but apparently they were just biding their time before stuffing us silly with strychnine-laced Smarties.

That was a wacky idea, but we bought it. We still buy it, even though Joel Best, a sociologist at the University of Delaware, has researched the topic and spends every October telling the press that there has never been a single case of any child being killed by a stranger's Halloween candy..."

Currently Reading...

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927)

"The title character, Charles Dexter Ward, is a young man from a prominent Rhode Island family who (in the story's introduction) is said to have disappeared from a mental asylum after a prolonged period of insanity accompanied by minor, but unheard-of, physiological changes. The bulk of the story concerns the investigation conducted by the Wards' family doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, in an attempt to discover the reason for Ward's madness and the physiological changes. When Willett learns that Ward had spent the past several years attempting to discover the grave of his ill-reputed ancestor, Joseph Curwen, the doctor slowly begins to unravel the truth behind the legends surrounding Curwen, an eighteenth century shipping entrepreneur rumoured to have been an alchemist, but in reality a necromancer and mass-murderer."

Trance Music

Gonna keep this one brief on account of the fact that I gotta get my bed-roll packed and my boney ass on the road for Mr. Mike Decay’s 3rd Annual Haunted New-England Road trip! (Ghosts, lock up your ghouls!). In between arcane rituals @ Lovecraft’s grave and pissing off Lizzie Borden’s ghost I’m sure they’ll be lot to discuss, though I should preface that w/ the fact that I am a natural born skeptic (See: pragmatist) and your average speck o’ dust / lens flair does not a ghost make. So, even though I will be leaving the E.M.F. detector in the toolbox, I will be taking lots of pictures and should I happen to bump into those things which have been known to go bump in the night, you’ll be the first to know.

In the interim, here’s a little ‘Trance Music’ to keep you under my thrall until I return. Don’t bother askin’ about the particulars because neither I, nor anyone else who digs this disc seems to have any copy on it. The only thing I can tell you is that it is one of the wildest tracks my tin ears have ever heard and it is twice as frightening as any garbled E.V.P.

Trance - Count Drac

Shameless Self Promotion 08/19/10

Make sure you pick up the current issue of Weird N.J. (#35) for my little missive about Somerville NJ and the legend of Mad Charles: the World’s First Singer / Songwriter / Karate Robot! (Yes, you read that correctly).

Note: Special thanks to Mark & Mark from WNJ for the leg up!

I've Become A Warlock Just For Spite.

Ever notice how the blogosphere – particularly that sliver of musical devotees of who’s ranks I myself patronize – set a store by obscurity? Whether it be some nameless acetate or vanity press, we (and I am as guilty as the next) tend to gravitate towards the obscure without recognizing that mainstream record labels are just as capable of releaseing bizarre platters, many of which have just as little redeeming social value as your average Susbsidary tax shelter or mafia-run narcotics front (Thank god).

Now that Poe has set the tone its time to roll up our jeans and get knee-deep in October Country. Bet you had no idea that October Country is in Canada, right? Me neither. I assumed, like everybody else that ‘My Girlfriend is a Witch’ owed its debt to Hanna Barbera, the song featured prominatly in the short-lived cartoon the ‘Cattanooga Cats’ (See below). As it turns out October Country were a full on sunshine-pop band who failed to crack the canuk market w/ their beatles-esque harmonies and thick instrumentation, finally sliding one off of American Staurday morning culture w/ this ode to a winsome witch.



Hard to say which version excels (HB v. OC), several crime fighting, bell-bottomed cartoon cats not withstanding (HB were always a one-trick pony). But in all fairness, I have sat many a time, bleary-eyed @ the Court Tavern watching the Impossibles silently on the T.V. in lieu of whatever shitty band was sulking in the basement, proslytivzing about their problems like we all ain't got our own (It is a bar, after all). Point being, I might be slightly biased. But nobody can take can hope to encroach upon October Country’s green acres without getting the business end of a some round-bottomed bass and a witch’s broom. The Cats are just incidental.

My Girlfriend Is A Witch - October Country

DeadBoy XXXV

Variations of a Theme: Take Thy Beak From Out My Blog!

Yes. It’s that time again! Time for BFtRB’s Halloween Spectacular (Suffer baby)! Normally I’d be eatin’ crow at this point of the day, but I opted to clear my plate for some stately Raven action. Dig. Edgar Allen Poe died much like he lived – Drunk in a gutter in Baltimore with more opium in his system than a Chinese Bangtail. Good on him as I have occasionally drank @ Baltimore’s Side-Bar Tavern and can attest to the fact that if the rats scamperin’ around the back alley don’t get you then the ‘Natty Bo’ will. Still, as far as ways of checkin’ out goes, it ain’t too bad for the legacy…oh, and I guess he also wrote some stuff to.



Dig the Raven, for instance. Not my favorite (That would be Masque of the Red Death), but an obstinate little poem that refuses to die, much like the titular character of Lenore (Tis the wind, and nothing more).

It really is no wonder, given the poems longevity that the Raven would come to perch upon popular music in similar fashion; an expedient way to jibb up a rhythmically sound song with little effort - which leads me to the NJ’s Glass Prism.



Much like the Electric Prune did w/ Psychedelic Mass, the Glass Prism managed to shave some time off their writing schedule by penning a concept album comprised entirely of POEms, of which the Raven naturally finds it way as the title track. Yeah, it’s a little slice o’ melodrama, but the corners are still sharp enough to get bent on. RCA records ‘Poe for Moderns’ pulls much the same trick, though it champions a much more 50's beat feel as opposed to the ‘Prisms’ circa 74' psychedelic chicanery.

The real money in this trifecta, however, is Brooklyn NYs the Yo Yos (yeah, its a stupid name) who manage to crank out a decidedly heavier take on the same Raven narrative, though the flip, ‘Crack In the Wall’ ain’t nothing to sneeze at neither, especially when one considers the thinly veiled references to ‘Fall of the House of Usher’ (Is it just me?).




Far from fallin, I got a bucket full of Halloween junk comin’ your way the entire month of October, cracks and all…and I don’t nary mind all the noise. Until then…

The Raven - Yo Yo's

The Raven - Glass Prism

The Raven - Buddy Morrow Orchestra

Bonus: He's a weird radio promotional spot for Pittsburgh Paints w/ a particular emphasis on POE. Dig.

Happy Birthday, Killer.

1 Cent Records!? Must Be All That Lead Paint in Greg's Garage...

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29th!
3PM-8PM

THE (World Famous) HIGHLAND PARK RECORD SALE!!!
237 Volkert Street
Highland Park, NJ

Rain or Shine!

NEW ARRIVALS
Because I did the Brooklyn Record Riot yesterday, all my New Arrivals got mixed up in my genre crates SO I have a bunch of new stuff but you gotta come out and DIG!!!!! But I can tell you I priced some jazz, some more Tangerine Dream, some classic rock, and I lowered some prices on things throughout my genres.

Vinyldog has some new breakbeats, Bill Laswell material, Latin, Rock, Hip-Hop and more!

Deacon will have every record you've always dreamed of owning in Mint condition for one dollar a piece (Editor’s Note: This is a lie). Get here early!!!!

PENNY RECORDS
All of my nickel records are now ONE PENNY EACH! Jesus Howard Christ! I'm serious. Here's how you can buy penny records though.... Come to the sale with a pocket/handful of little abe lincolns. Walk up the driveway and take that bunch of pennies and slam them down on the table in front of me with furious intensity and say "I'm taking as many penny records as I want and there's nothing you can do to stop me." I will be helpless to stop you. So yea, a pile of pennies gets you as many penny records as you can carry!!!!

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http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119456048088052

Would you pay $500 Annually for a Constitutional Right? Me neither.

"{New Jersey}State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) introduced a bill last week that would allow residents to carry handguns if they go through a background check, complete courses in firearms safety and the lawful use of force, pass a test and pay an annual $500 fee."

N.J. gun owners already have to pay exorbitant fees for the privilege of being fingerprinted and otherwise inconvenienced to the point where one would question whether it is even worth the effort (And don't think for a second that is not the legislatures intention).

I wonder if all the Bloods in Camden will be taking these safety and proficiency courses. Maybe then they will start shooting and actually hitting each other instead of killing little kids and old ladies.

Currently Reading...

Melungeon [məˈlʌndʒən] n:(Social Science / Peoples) any of a dark-skinned group of people of the Appalachians in East Tennessee, of mixed Indian, White, and Black ancestry[of unknown origin].

"In Melungeons: Footprints from the Past, Author Jack H Goins revisits several events described in his previous book, Melungeons and other Pioneer Families, using new evidence from court records and DNA. Goins trails the Melungeons from Pamunkey River to the Flat River, then to the New River, Fort Blackmore, Blackwater adn Newman's Ridge."

...Smell My Feet...

Well, well, well... been gettin' a lot of copy concerning the reposting of certain 'Auditory Materials' from last Halloween. And while I appreciate the business, here's the thing, part of my absence has been due to the general apathy that accompanies divshare summarily deleting a bunch of my audio files, which with the destruction of my last laptop, are all but gone the way of the dodo bird. Sucks to be sure, but the self- imposed exile has seen many new / old p.o.s. records come across my desk, not to mention a 4th quarter 'Hail Mary' in the form of my old cell phone which just so happens to contain some of last years Halloween input. Download em' while you can before divshare has another crisis of conscience, or I get another cease and desist order from a washed up ax-hanger w/ delusions of grandeur. And stay tuned for the 3rd annual BFTRB Halloween Spectacular! It's gonna be killer!

BFTRB Presents: Cha Cha Challoween!

BFTRB Presents: Even A Mix That is Pure of Hearts and Says It's Prayers By Night Will Become a Wolf When the Wolfsbane Blooms, and the Autumn Moon is Bright.

BFTRB Presents: She's A Haunted Beatty Boop!

Fats Will Be There. What's Your Excuse?

THE (WORLD FAMOUS) HIGHLAND PARK RECORD SALE!!!

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 24th
4PM-8PM

237 Volkert Street
Highland Park, NJ

As always, there will be New Arrivals....

As has been the case of late, there will be Free Records.......

No news to report on the uncertainty of HPRS. Keep standing by......

Blues for the Safety Boy, or...We Used to Be Ashamed (Imagine That)

Ain’t nobody rocks like a puppet. Perhaps it is the added incentive of a strangers hand up your ass which feeds the seemingly untapped amount of nervous energy which a puppet exudes. Add to that the stigma of being a ‘black’ puppet on a predominantly Caucasian street (i.e. Sesame) and you begin to see the allure that is Baby Ray Franklin.

Now, unlike Dr. Teeth & the Mayhem and the River bottom Nightmare Band, Baby Ray - little bro of Sesame Street regular Roosevelt Franklin - takes his beef to the street w/ a decidedly more bluesy improve, touching on such important urban mainstays as traffic safety; a cause close to my heart as I recall my complete bitch of an elementary school music teacher hammering away on a spinet (and my psyche) to the strains of the following tune. Feel free to sing along if you like…

"Play ball, play ball. Everyone loves to play ball.
sometimes you catch it and sometimes you miss
But when you miss, remember this:

Let the ball roll, let the ball roll
No matter where it may go
Let the ball roll, let the ball roll
It has to stop sometime you know
Often a truck will flatten a ball
And make it look like an egg
Although you can get many a ball
You never can get a new leg"

Hopefully you, the reader, have both your legs, cause you’d need to walk a mile in Baby’s shoes before you could even begin to dig the cultural implications of ‘Safety Blues’ flip , the ‘Skin I’m In’. Not since the ‘Rainbow Connection’ and ‘It’s not Easy being green' has a song so beautifully encapsulated the racial tensions extant in the Muppet world. From the saprophyte leanings of Big Bird to the urban blight of Oscar’s dwelling, only now, thirty some odd years after the fact, can the truth finally be told. Fight the power!

Safety Boy Blues - Roosevelt Franklin

Skin I'm In - Baby Ray Franklin

"The Smell of Alcohol Was Prevalent"

Kansas City, MO "The two 21-year-old friends were drinking and arguing about a band when Hilton grabbed the kitchen weapons and attacked, police said. The victim happened to have banjo in hand and used it in self defense, they said."

For more information regarding the tactical advantages of the Banjo, we turn to Banjo specialist Uncle Dave Macon:

RedBoy XXXIV

Shameless Self Promotion 07/17/10

"The Improbables with our pal Mr. Unloved, DJ Christian, and 2 very special guests: always amazing, The Brimstones, and, all the way from Boston, the great Muck And the Mires! This is THE show of the summer, folks!"

Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 8:00pm
The Tritone
1508 South Street
Philadelphia, PA

Where the Wild Things Is...er, Are.

If I were to say the phrase ‘Wild Thing’ and visions of feuding Troggs crept into your mind, then I’d say you stand w/ most music aficionados. If, consequently, visions of Denise Richards and Neve Campbell dikeing out w/ Matt Dillon from the Outsiders permeate your grey matter, then I’d say you watch too much Showtime Late nite and are an unapologetic pervert. In this case either one is perfectly acceptable, as the Wild Things I’m sellin are of neither camp, yet at the same time, decidedly camp -a terminally obscure, if not, unknown variety of hair-hopping garage punk monsters.

Don’t believe me? Dig the pix. I mean, these guys look like a cross between Johnny Suede, Sleazy P. Martini (from GWAR) and Congo Powers. The later, in particular, as majority of the members are of Mexican extraction, doing there best Tav Falco, sporting Gomez Addams moustaches and Teddy boy frocks.



While decidedly ‘Drape’ in appearance, these hombres are straight up amateur night garage punk, if their first single ‘Weird Hot Night (Suffer Baby) is any indication. I see this track turn up on some of the more obscure private press comps- a rare gem considering how close to the bottom of the barrel we’ve come with regards to good, unreleased garage punk tracks. The flip ain’t no slouch either, with both tracks exhibiting low production values without even the slightest regard for technicality, a surprise given Gary Us Bonds involvement in SQRLs production

The third track enclosed, Old Lady, tends to complicate matters, as this later incarnation (69’) of Wild Thing is widely regarded to be the same band as the previous single, though I can find no definitive copy to back that up (Fuck it. I’ll just assume and make an ass out of me). Despite what the mile-high hair and shtick might suggest, Wild Thing were not a studio creation, but were signed by Electra at the behest of a scene headhunter, a full length LP of covers rounding out their single input – a move ultimately considered an embarrassing failure by the Electra production team – never quite living up to the intensity of their previous singles.

While I might spare you the horrors of this lack-luster lp, these singles represent the unhinged talent (and follicles) of a true, grass-roots project - unfettered by the demands of a major label and free to let their hair down, or up, as this ridiculous picture seems to suggest.

Weird Hot Nights (Suffer Baby) – Wild Thing

Don’t Fool With My Girl – Wild Thing

Old Lady – Wild Thing

P.S. Special thanks to Vinyl Dog (Oddly enough, his real name)for inadvertantly sending me on a Wild (Thing)Goose-chase

RedBoy XXXVII

There Are Two Kinds of People in This World, Those w/ Loaded Guns and Those Who Dig…You, Dig. Dig?

To all 2A detractors:

Look, it’s a done deal. Guns have always been a part of our country and ideology. To suggest anything less is disingenuous, to demand anything more is arrogant. I was taught from an early age to respect guns and the power they promise, in return they have respected me; their very existence insuring me that no matter how dark the skies may get, be it political climate, or all out bedlam, I will always have a means to fight back and protect me and mine from an increasingly emboldened, ruthless, and entitled world. Happy as I am w/ today’s SCOTUS outcome, I did not need the Heller decision to enumerate this right, nor do I need today’s McDonald decision to make it so. It is an immutable fact; older than the hills and just as relentless in it permanence.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Looks like the peace-niks are gonna have to find a new ax to grind. Just as well…you should never bring an ax to a gun-fight, anyways.

Revenge: A Dish Best Served Cold (and w/ Cheese)

I’m takin’ this opportunity to shine a light in my little corner of internet sky (Be it ever so humble). One-Hundred thousand hits might seem like a drop in the bucket, especially in a place where information flows like so much blood and attracts just as many rubberneckers as it does flies to the edges of its sticky imbruement, but it’s a distinction I’ll wear w/ pride. If I could turn just one noggin upside down w/ an unknown, or unknowable recording thanks to my efforts, than it is worth a thousand times a thousand computer crashes and just as many unwarranted political entanglement (I’m always right- just for future reference).

Now, if psychologists are to be believed, then we are not born bad, we are, however, every last one of us born square, and as such, we each have to start from square one.

It’s precisely for this reason that I’m highlighting – what is in my humble opinion- the greatest record ever pressed - a record which blew my mind like a cherry-bomb in a trash bin at a time where I was branching off from what I understood music to be (Totally wrong, by the by), and into a miasma of detritus popular critics would exemplify as everything music should NOT be. The record is the Rat’s Revenge; the reasons it strikes a chord, albeit, slightly out of tune, are myriad.



First, the Rats Revenge is not so much a song, as it is a meandering jam; loose in a way that seems juvenile, yet w/ the sincerity that only some wet-behind the ears 16 year old could hope to muster up. Second, Rat’s is completely spontaneous in it’s arrangement; one gets the feeling even the Rat’s themselves don’t quite know where this shit is going’, even knowing full well where this shit has been. Third, as I am a sucker for anything with a pt 2, these bookends are actually on par w/ each other, continuing the narrative (Such as it is) in lieu of just dumpin’ a slightly tweaked DUB track on the flip.

As for the Rats themselves? Word on the street places the Rats in Ohio circa 66’. Word on Tim Warren’s liner notes for BFTG vol 1 places them in the studio where, as the sensational combo the Decades, they recorded the instro classic ‘Strange Worlds’. Would that that had been enough, Mystics producer Terry Rose decided to hip the Decades to a lucrative proposition: Being that the beach party films staring Frankie Avalon & Annette Funichello were so popular, and a big part of that popularity is thanks to their antagonist, Erik Von Zipper (the late Harvey Lembeck) and his motorcycle gang, the Rats, how could a song by the Rats, about the rats, not sell a million copies? The result: after several dismal takes, the band was cautioned not to be so ridged and just have fun with the track…and thus the Rats Revenge was born. Needless to say, the disc sunk like a stone, was disavowed by the band and remains a cult classic to this day, despite the fact that “Most of the 500 copies pressed ended up in a garbage dump in Kent Ohio” …which is right where I come in…square one.

As a kid burned out on punk and ripe for some non-sensical, non-proselytizing R ‘N’ R, Rats revenge is everything I wanted out of a disc; stupid, crude and w/ absolutely no social message or redeeming value…kinda like this blog and it’s owner. SUPERGORILLA!!!

He’s to a Hundred Thousand more! Salute!

Rat’s Revenge pt 1 – Rats

Rat’s Revenge pt 2 - Rats

P.S. Fuck the Golden Pelicans!

RedBoy XXXVI

Pssst! Hey Kid...Wanna Buy Some Records?

Yeah? Then get your lazy ass to the Highland Park record sale Friday, June 18th (2pm-8pm)in beautiful, scenic Highland Park, N.J.

Hi-Fi for Small Fry

“I want Candy”

Really, not so much anymore. They say your tastes change as you get older, and they may be right. Anyone who knows me knows I crave to most ridiculous brands of candy. Be they liquid in form, sour, tongue transmogrifying or of the gummy variety, I’m all over them- or, at least I was. These days my pallet has changed, some would argue, for the better. That doesn’t mean I can’t indulge in some auditory sugar-lumps on occasion, especially when I can’t make it to the local ‘Five Below’ for my requisite stock of Cherry Clans and Laffy Taffy (Shitty jokes not withstanding).




Note: I don’t give a fuck what Ferrera Pan calls em’ these days. They are still Cherry Clans to me)

Here we have the Candy Men, not to be confused w/ the Candy Men or the Candy Men. Now, before you jump all over my shit w/ the obligatory “But, Peter Pan Records sux” spiel, know that under any other circumstances I would agree w/ you, the majority of ‘Pan’s’ output being barely listenable kiddie dreck. But as well known collector and all around solid sender ‘Vinyl Dog’ (Co Chair of the Legendary Highland Park Record Sale) told me whilst trying to entice a trade for some Bollywood soundtracks I scammed outa the Newark Salvation Army, this ‘Pan’ track is actually pretty awesome and worth the switch. He was indeed correct.

Spearmint twist was the carrot offered for trade, but to tell you the truth, as much as I dig the instro side, it’s ‘Candy-Bar Twist’ that has really got me in a, um, twist. You better download em’ now before Joey Dee unleashed the dogs of war and takes this candy from you, baby.

Candy Bar Twist – Candymen

Spearmint Twist - Candymen

Currently Watching...

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

"Roger Corman's, and most people's, choice as the best of the Edgar Allan Poe pictures. Masque offers the expected creepy atmosphere and violence against peasants, plus metaphysical ponderings and pointed satanic cruelty. (Corman was operating as much under the influence of Ingmar Bergman as of Edgar Allan Poe.) Nicolas Roeg's color cinematography and Daniel Haller's elaborate production design would be stellar in any Hollywood A-movie; the mono-colored rooms of the prince's castle are a startling effect. Vincent Price is in fine fettle as Prince Prospero, the devil-worshipping sadist who throws lavish parties while the countryside is ravaged by the plague."

Equality...

Knifed o'er a Pair of Jordans!?

I guess it makes sense that I bought this disc in a shit-bedecked chicken coup out near Lancaster PA, as the Brothers Jordan hail for nearby Schuylkill County PA, and as anyone who has ever spent a nickel of time out in that area know, it’s a family affair.

The Jordans were a popular regional act from the inception of their first single in 54’ all the way till their disbandment in 1986; quite a long stretch for a band that never made it out of their own county. Be that as it may, the Brothers still have quite a following amongst the locals, who spend their youth pawin and pettin the local trim at their capacity gigs, strollin to the cool sounds of Basin Street Rumble, as if any of those youths had ever seen the business end of a stiletto out there in Amish county. Man, times sure have changed.

Find your way out to Lancaster now and you are just as likely to get iced by a 'Crip' or buy cocaine from a Mennonite than to see even a stitch of unmolested, verdant farmland, but that’s progress for you. Maybe now Basin Street Rumble can finally live up to it’s name. As for me, I personally think the flip, 'Sloe Gin' is cooler, but when it's six of one, half-dozen of the other, you gotta go with name recognition.

Basin Street Rumble – Jordan Brothers

Sloe Gin – Jordan Brothers

RedBoy XXXV