Platter Party!

      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...

 Los Microwaves - "Radio Heart" b/w "Coast To Coast" Time Release Records/Soundchaser 1979 Our third installment of this platter party takes us out of the ape-ified German disco funk jungles of the last post, and moves us three years north on the time scale, flat into the punk and new wave revolution! This particular obscurity comes from my "1970s and 1980s Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave/Power Pop" box. If anyone ever plans on having a banger and needs a DJ with a fair number of punk and new wave records, drop me a line! What to say about Los Microwaves.... Well, it appears to be a short-lived side project for a few members of another experimental new wave band called Baby Buddha. Los Microwaves is definitely more accessible and pop-oriented, while Baby Buddha has more of a Tuxedomoon or Suicide vibe to them.  Anywho, I first saw this record advertised in the back pages of a Flipside fanzine from the late 1970s, or maybe early 1980s. I don't recall. This w...

      Ronnie Lee Williams - "King Kong (Is Alive And Well)" b/w "D.Y.A.O" Eurodisc 1976 If you've ever hankered for a "where are they now" speculation tune regarding cinema's most famous giant gorilla, done in a thumping disco beat, no less, then this is the song for you! According to Williams, Double K (or K-squared) grew tired of the smog-clogged, superficial scene in Los Angeles and beat feet to somewhere else in California. Where, we never learn. Ronnie Lee Williams is an American expat who made his way to Germany while in the military in the 1960s. There he started a long career as an actor, presenter, radio personality and singer. I presume this single was produced to cash in on the remake of King Kong that came out the same year, starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange.  The flipside on this bad boy is "D.Y.A.O.", which, as you might imagine, stands for Dance Your Ass Off. It's definitely funky, and has a strong James Brown f...

        Vince Edwards - "Why Did You Leave Me?" b/w "Squeelin Parrot (Twist)" Russ-Fi Records 1962 Our inaugural outing comes from Dr. Ben Casey himself, actor and sometimes singer Vince Edwards. If you’re not a septuagenarian and don’t restrict your television viewing to the likes of MeTV, then the name might not mean anything to you. Vince Edwards played Dr. Ben Casey on a television program of the same name on ABC, from 1961 - 1966. Back when fresh-faced young talent had to be hyphenates to be a viable product in the Hollywood machine (not just an actor but an actor-singer-dancer-director-whatever), it wasn’t uncommon for young actors, or even middle-aged ones, to cut pop records. And it wasn’t uncommon for musicians to take a stab at acting. I mean, who can forget Roy Orbison in The Fastest Guitar Alive , right? This single is the only hint I have at Vince’s vocal prowess, but let’s just say I’m glad he didn’t put all of his eggs into this one particular baske...