Meet The Buggs!

Hey, gang! Do you want to learn more about this budget bin "BEETLE" LP I've been flogging here?

How'd you like to actually hear the danged thing?

The Subversive Sounds blog is happy to oblige.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!

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UPDATE: The Subversive Sounds blog has done it again! Click HERE for a link to download both sides of THE BOLL WEEVILS' versions of "Please Please Me" and "My Bonnie!" Galactus, you rock!

Hey, Let's Twist!

Folks of "a certain age" will remember the cultural tsunami that was called "the twist." If you don't know what I'm going on about, stop now and rent TWIST, a really swell 1992 documentary on the subject that was directed by Ron Mann.

Like any other craze, the twist's popularity was reflected in the marketplace's budget bins. Heck, many "mainstream" artists clamored to coin some of that sweet, sweet twist money by recording their own twist albums!

Here are a very small random sampling of TWIST albums for your edification.

A surreal classic cover!

No, not CHUBBY CHECKER, but TUBBY CHESS!

Oh, I get it! OLIVER TWIST!

ROBBY ROBBER and THE HIJACKERS

We dare ya! What are ya... chicken?

Could this be any more generic?

Thanks for diggin' my scene, cats 'n' kittens. And remember... Don't Knock The Twist!

Stand Back, Folks - I'm Gonna Blow!

I have never, ever had a problem with ADP handling payroll checks at any of my various places of employment... UNTIL NOW, THAT IS!

I filled out all the paperwork and turned it in so as to start getting direct deposit. In the past, I'd get my paycheck handed to me on Thursday afternoon. Well, folks, it's the following Wednesday and it still hasn't posted to my account!

Let's see: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Yep, that's seven days. That's a week, right?

A WHOLE WEEK LATE!

A WHOLE WEEK, PEOPLE!!!!

Of course, at work I'm being told over and over that the "glitch" was on on ADP's end. There's nothing that can be done. A Corrective Action Response has been initiated. Blah, Blah, flippety-Blah!

Hey, the guys levelling the late charges and bounced check fees don't give a rat's anatomy about where the "glitch" was or "how sorry" everybody is.

In summation I say:

EAT MOLTEN DEATH, GLITCH-MEISTERS!

(Oh, yeah, and I need more RAM for the iMAC...)

The NOW GENERATIONs

OK, I have to cleanse my palate from this whole iMAC thing.

And what better way than for me to once again dive into the deep-end of the BUDGET BIN!

My favorite budget label, HIT RECORDS had a few subsidiary labels, one of which was SPAR RECORDS. Toward the late 'sixties they came up with the in-house studio group concept of THE NOW GENERATION. My understanding is that Jimmy Buffett somehow had something to do with this aggregation. I neither know nor care much about MISTER PARROT-HEAD, but it may be of importance to you bald-headed, Hawaiian Shirt-Wearing Accountants out there who do. (Whew - where'd that hatred come from? All I know is I need more RAM for the iMAC. And I'm still stumped on the compatibility issue vis a vis the "Dazzle" A/V port.)

Deep, cleansing breath...

Where was I? Oh yeah, The NOW Generation. Here are some super-groovy examples of their SPAR LPs...

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Here are a few "other" NOW Generations that were NOT on the SPAR Label. They look pretty "outta sight" as well, don't you think?



Compare these to the evil-looking PROJECTION COMPANY album:


Ahhhh... I feel lots better now. Thanks for indulging me! iMAC? What's an iMAC?

Preoccupied!

Actually, this is me!

As noted, I just took receipt of an Apple iMac with the idea that I will be setting up a system to capture, edit & burn DVDs. Something I seem to forget any time I start up such a project is that I become preoccupied with said project to the point of uselessness.

My brain has a constant humming, as the details float around my cerebral cortex. "Must upgrade RAM... that's fifty bucks... need more money... sell some stuff to finance iMac project... need firewire external DVD-RW drive... Best Buy no gots, but Circuit City does... I wonder if that will include the proper cables... Hmm... another $100 there... need DAZZLE AV bridge... no indication that these are compatible with anything other than Windows operating systems... what about mac compatibility... do I just blow the $100 and hope I can return it..."

Meanwhile, my wife is saying things like, "Craig? Craig? Did you hear me? Your pants! They're on backwards! Are you listening? Craig?"

"Pants..." I mumble. "Not compatible with OSX... everything is different... where did I leave the daughter... need... more... RAM..."

Just Like Sir Isaac Newton

...an APPLE has konked me on the noggin!

The iMac is here! I hooked up the mouse & keyboard and plugged it in. It booted up (OSX 10.4) and I was able to play a CD. NOW WHAT?

Apple uses a weird little round mouse that has only one button. No right-click?!?!? Where's the NOTEPAD? Where's the PAINT? It has a CD-RW drive, but I have no idea how to burn a CD. How do you use this thing?!?!?

Next stop - the library to get an "OSX For Dummies" manual.

Guitar Freak-Out & iMac Update

Well, looky here! It's our friends at Crown Records again! They released quite a few guitar instrumental albums over the years. Here are a few...

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Two volumes of "Guitars A Go Go!" The first volume credits "The Stingers" while the second volume indicates "Jerry Cole & The Stingers." Jerry was a very busy session man!

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I think there were several LPs credited to "The Firebirds." What a sultry, yet Mid-Sixties Republican-Looking model! In fact, they all look pretty "wholesome" don't you think?

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Here are "The Underground Electrics" jamming out on The Beatles' classic "Hey Jude" if you can dig that man. GASP! Look at that wanton hussy on the cover - I can see her bare midriff! Hmm. Where's her belly-button? She's kickin' it Barbara Eden style!

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iMAC UPDATE!

Well, Happy Valentines Day to me! Looks like that iMac will be delivered today! What could be more romantical, I axe ya?

Just Like Adam

I bought my home PC back in 1998. It's a no-name (PIONEX?!??!?) dealie that I picked up at SAM'S CLUB. It has a Pentium processor (note the absence of roman numerals) that has 48 MEGS of un-expandable RAM and was configured for Windows 95.

I installed a second 10 GIG hard drive and a CD-RW drive over the years. It has served me well, but it's been limping along the past year or so. It probably needs a new backup battery because I have to reset the clock every time I boot it up. The TWAIN what sis crapped out on me and I can no longer scan anything.

For years I have been trying to squeeze a new computer into the household budget and for years I have been thwarted! Every time I think I have a wind-fall coming something breaks on our van and there goes the PC fund.

One of my main desires for my "next" computer is that I be able to import, edit and burn videos. I asked Steve Stanchfield of THUNDERBEAN ANIMATION what would be a good setup for this and he counselled me to buy an older iMac. They could be had for about $100, used and they're great little work-horses for this sort of thing, he says.

Well, I finally took the plunge last week! I have an iMac en route to me and it should be here Wednesday.

This is kind of scary, as I have never used an Apple computer before and I envision there being next to no local resources for upgrading or fine-tuning it. And software selection? HAH!!!!

But that's what I've gotten myself into, folks! I'll no doubt blog on my progress in realizing my goal of producing DVDs as the weeks and months crawl by.

Just like Adam, I've been tempted by an Apple. (Wait that was Eve, not Steve, right?)

Lord help me!

Si, Si, Senior!

I had lunch at Taco Bell yesterday.

Not my most favorite of Mexican restaurants, but it's near work and I can pay with my debit card. (Mighty Taco is Taco Bell done right!)

I ordered a Taco Salad and a Small Pepsi. Can you see the additional item on the receipt that I didn't order? Hint: I put a box around it.

Yeah, I just turned 49 last week. But the sad thing is, I've been getting the Senior Discount, sporadically, for years, now. The frequency of issuance has increased recently, that's all. If I consistently buttoned up the top button of my shirt and used a walker as a prop I could probably get this courtesy 100% of the time. I'm working on the following rap, to be delivered in a distracted, halting monotone:

"Oh, you know my grand-daughter works at McDonalds, too. Or is it Kinkos? Any way, she works somewhere. She's a nice kid, like you. You don't have any tattoos, do you? Kids these days. She wants to get one, but her Mom won't let her. Good for her! (Ad Lib ad infinitum...)"

BTW, the Fantastic Sam's that does my haircuts gives me the $6.00 "Bald Man's Special." I kid you not, that's how it rings up!

The Design Label

Note: Looks like there's an issue with Blogger's ability to handle the graphics embedded here and elsewhere. Sorry 'bout that, gang!.

Update: I've re-loaded the photos just to see if it would help.

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Wow! I found a website that has a discography for the DESIGN record label! These guys were a budget label to a budget label! Sounds like they were the low-priced outlet for PICKWICK RECORDS, which was right at home in the cheap-o section of the record department. Let's take a look, shall we?

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Here's one of my all-time favorites! "The Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook!" Who are the Surfsiders, you ask? I don't know for sure, but it sounds like a greasy wedding band fronted by some sort of third-tier barbershop quartet. I guess the idea is any kind of harmony is harmony. The number one mind-roaster here is their take on "When I Grow Up To Be A Man."

I love this album!

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This is a somewhat legendary album amongst "those in the know!" You see, Lou Reed worked for this company before going on to form The Velvet Underground. The song, "Cycle Annie" by The Beachnuts is our boy Lou! It's a pretty funny song, as well, about a real tough biker chick. A verse about her boyfriend contains the lyric: "I ain't saying nothin' / I ain't sayin' that I mind/ But when both of them get on that bike / It's Joe who sits behind!" Take a walk on the wild side, Joe!

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Lordy, lordy! There were dozen, if not hundreds, of budget bin Batman albums, back in tha day. This is the one we had at Davison HQ. It's basically a cocktail trio centered around a cheese-ball Hammond organ. Extra points are score by the horrendous tape smear at the very beginning of the Batman Theme!

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Finally, we hit the age of Aquarius! Gotta love that "Sounds Like Woodstock" gambit. No it isn't Woodstock, it just sounds like Woodstock. The band name? STONED HAIR! What's not to love, I ask you?

Groundhog's Day!

Whether or not that pesky groundhog sees his shadow,

today is the day I turn 49!