Platter Party!

The Dapps Featuring Alfred Ellis - "There Was A Time" b/w "The Rabbit Got The Gun" King 1968   Oh no! It's Elmer Fudd's worst nightmare! Man this is a fantastically funky fillet of soul instros! As previously stated in other posts, sometimes I'm unable to upload both sides of a single, so while I'm presenting the whole single for your listening consideration, I'm only able to provide the audio for one of the tunes. This is one of those times. It's really just poor time management on my part, more than anything. The Dapps were a Cincinnati-based band that worked with James Brown briefly in the mid 1960s, putting out singles as James Brown And The Dapps. And this Alfred Ellis featured on this single–well that's Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis, James Brown's one-time bandleader. Since I have only one side to share this time around, I chose the B-side, because while the A-side is a great jazzy soul tune, "The Rabbit Got The Gun...

 The Schooners "Viddly Biddly Baby" b/w "Schooners Blues" Ember 1958   This is one hell of a two-sider! Right out of the gate we get a barn busting rock and roll tornado with foot stompin' beat, a bleating saxophone and a great nonsensical call and response vocal like Bill Haley on stimulants! Then we turn this little black disc over and we get a cool-as-hell noir jazz number that sounds like it could have played over the titles of an early Roger Corman creature feature, or as the roadhouse juke box tune from any 1950s crime thriller. Picture if you will, Beverly Garland and Marie Windsor going about their business in some nondescript, small desert town, when suddenly a foam rubber something, larger than life, starts smashing up saloons and flipping over cars! Just imagine Sterling Hayden slowly panning the interior of some roadside dive, scowl on his face, looking for the guy who framed him! I've mentioned my appreciation for label and logo design in prev...

      Chubby Checker "Karate Monkey" b/w "Her Heart" Parkway 1966   I'm upfront about the fact that I believe a monkey can make any song better. My collection of simian-based singles is significant, and if it's got an ape, monkey or some other primate in the title, I'm probably going to at least consider it if I see it in a for sale box somewhere. I guess DC Comics was on to something when they stated that in the 1950s and 60s, adding a gorilla to the cover would increase an issues sales dramatically.  But we don't stop at the inclusion of a monkey in this jaunty foot stomper by the man who decided to take Fats Domino's stage name, and make it his own by simply plugging in new adjectives for obesity and popular table top games. This is a monkey who knows martial arts! This is about as fun a song as you can press to wax, and it had been on my want list for a long time after hearing it on a compilation somewhere. We sign on for the title, and hon...

Marauder And The Fury - "Get Loose Mother Goose" b/w "Terminator" Public Records 1987   The year was 1987! I was six years old and wanted to grow up to be Mr. T. Hip-hop was deeply entrenched in the pop culture; not just here in the United States, but around the globe. It seemed like everyone and their Uncle Craig was dropping a 12" single, warranted or not! Movies featured hip-hop on the soundtracks, or as set pieces, including those fun plot-recap raps over the end credits in films like Maniac Cop 2. Other forms of pop music were utilizing components of hip-hop to shake up their otherwise formulaic song structures (T'Pau or New Kids On The Block anyone?).  We're still a handful of years away from gangsta rap being hyper marketed by record companies and MTV as the dominant version of the art form, pushing creativity and intellect to the back burner while bored suburban white kids decide to start sagging their pants and wear colors because Snoop Dogg ...

    The Fantastics - " I Wanna Be A Millionaire Hobo" b/w "There Goes My Love" RCA Victor 1959 Today we sample some divine doo-wop from the streets of Brooklyn, New York, by way of The Fantastics. The Fantastics were a short-lived group who released three or four 45s between 1959 and 1961. In 1962, the group lost a member and renamed themselves The Keynoters and released one more 45 that same year on Keynote Records before dissolving permanently. Most of the members of the group appear to have faded into obscurity afterwards, with the exception of their first tenor, Sam Strain, who would go on to perform with Little Anthony & The Imperials as well as The O'Jays. This particular 45 is their first, and it's a good one. The A-side has that delightful humor-laced good time rock 'n' roll sound that makes groups like The Coasters and The Cadillacs so timelessly endearing. It has the right amount of that tongue-in-cheek, smart ass repartee that makes...

Frankie Meadows & The Meadowlarks - "Eyeballs" b/w "Tennessee Diesel" Audio Fidelity 1965 The great thing about old country music – I suppose the same can be said for any type of music, really – is that when folks are operating on their own volition in the nascent days of any particular industry, or are just not part of the machine that recognizes a direct hit, then scuffs and sands everything that comes after into a weak knockoff in an attempt to capitalize on the success until the next left field hit comes along, things are allowed to be weird.  And I like weird. Of course there's nothing weird about themes of paranoia and infidelity in country music, that's as common as a bur on a bear's behind. But the way that Frankie Meadows decided to narrate it, is both supremely odd and incredibly funny. I don't know anything about Mr. Meadows other than he put out a couple of singles with Frankie Meadows & The Meadowlarks, a couple more under Fran...