Vinyl-O-Matic

In this episode, we wind our way through the rest of my vinyl collection dealing with music for films. We find all sorts of fun Disney music when Disney music was something that wasn't written by Elton John. John Williams tells us how to feel. And for that matter, we get two John Travolta vehicles. That's a lot of Johns, but I think you'll enjoy this week's journey.

vinylOmaticS01E03.mp3

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vinylOmaticS01E03.mp3 (54.87 MB)

Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews
"Jolly Holiday"
Mary Poppins Original Cast Sound Track
RCA Victor CSO-111

The Modern Jazz Quartet
"Skating in Central Park"
Patterns
United Artists UAL 4072

Arthur & The Knights of the Round Table
"Camelot"
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Exclusive Version)
Arista AB 4050

Kermit the Frog & Rowlf the Dog
"Hope the Something Better Comes Along"
The Muppet Movie Original Soundtrack Recording
Atlantic SD 16001

Robert Preston
"Marian the Librarian"
The Music Man - The Original Sound Track Recording
Warner BS1459

Will Oldham
"Emmanuel"
Seafarers Music
Drag City DC261

The Pirates
"A Pirate's Life"
Walt Disney's Peter Pan: All of the Songs from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Disneyland Records 1206

Alan Price
"O Lucky Man!"
O Lucky Man! Original Sound Track
Warner BS2710

The Who
"Bell Boy"
Music from the Soundtrack of The Who Film Quadrophenia
Polydor 2625 037

John Williams
"The Map Room: Dawn"
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Columbia JS 37373

P.J. Soles
"Rock 'n' Roll High School"
Music from the Original Motion Picture Sound Track of Rock 'n' Roll High School
Sire SRK 6070

The Bee Gees
"Jive Talkin"
Saturday Night Fever: Original Music for the Movie Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
RSO Records RS-2-4001

The Dwarfs
"Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum (The Washing Song)"
Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Music from the Original Sound Track
Disneyland Records 1201

The London Symhpony Orchestra
"Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack"
Star Wars Original Soundtrack Composed and Conducted by John Williams
20th Century Records 2T-541

Johnny Lee
"Lookin' for Love"
Original Soundtrack Album from the Paramount Picture starring John Travolta in Urban Cowboy
Asylum DP-90002

Like any good collector of vinyl, there are a number of Original Motion Picture Sound Tracks in my collection. Used bins are often full of these magic items. You saw the movie, you loved the music, now you can relive it at anytime in the comfort of your own home. Come with me now on a mystical, magical voyage into the realm of Hollywood and beyond.

vinylOmaticS01E02.mp3

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vinylOmaticS01E02.mp3 (54.8 MB)

Playlist:

Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five
"Beat Street"
Beat Street Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Volume 1
Atlantic 80154-1

Burt Bacharach
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
Original Score Composed and Conducted by Burt Bacharach from the 20th Century-Fox Production Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
A&M Records SP 4227

Joel Grey & Liza Minnelli
"Money, Money"
Caberet Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
ABC Records ABCD 752

Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez
"Aria from La Wally"
Diva Original Soundtrack Recording
DRG Records SL 9503

John Barry
"Opening Titles -James Bond is Back - From Russia with Love - James Bond Theme"
Original Motion Picture Sound Track From Russia with Love
United Artists Stereo UAS 5114

Simon & Garfunkle
"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"
The Graduate The Original Soundtrack Recording
Columbia Stereo OS 3180

The Sex Pistols
"Stepping Stone"
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
Virgin Records VD2510

The Maytals
"Pressure Drop"
The Harder They Come Original Soundtrack Recording
Mango SMAS-7400

The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds
"Freddie's Dead"
The Black Motion Picture Experience
Buddah Records BDS 5129

Michel Legrand
"November 1957: Garage scene"
Original Sound Track from the French Film (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Philips Monaural PCC 216

Henry Mancini
"The Pink Panther Theme"
The Pink Panther: Music from the Film Score Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini
RCA Victor LSP-2795

"A Shot in the Dark"
The Best of Mancini - Vol 2
RCA Victor LSP-3557

"Baby Elephant Walk"
"Midnight Cowboy"
This Is Henry Mancini
RCA Victor VPS-6029

Welcome to the very first actual episode of the Vinyl-O-Matic radio program. Recorded especially for KWTF, you can enjoy my wide spectrum of recent vinyl acquistions I have gathered so far this year. It's a kooky, rambling, shaggy dog of a show accompanied by my incoherent-but-brief ramblings. In case you're wondering, it sounds a little something like this:

vinylOmaticS01E01.mp3

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vinylOmaticS01E01.mp3 (54.81 MB)

Rufus Thomas
"Can Your Monkey Do the Dog?"
Stax S-144

James & Bobby Purify
"Shake A Tail Feather"
Bell Records 669

J.J. Barnes
"Real Humdinger
Ric-Tic Records RT-110

Dottie & Millie
"Talkin' About My Baby"
Kent TOWN 120-A

Burt Bacharach
"Pacific Coast Highway"
Make It Easy on Yourself
A&M SP 4188

Phoebe Snow
"San Francisco Bay Blues"
Pheobe Snow
MCA Records SRL-52017

The Decemberists
"Grace Cathedral Hill"
We All Rise Our Voices to the Air
Capitol 509993-01272-1-0

Bowerbirds
"In the Yard"
The Clearing
Dead Oceans DOC033

Zola Jesus
"In Your Nature (David Lynch Remix)"
Sacred Bones SBR-073-B

Wymond Miles
"Temples of Magick"
Earth Has Doors
Sacred Bones SBR-070

Talk Normal
"In a Strangeland"
Sugarland
Rare Book Records RBR005

Death Cheetah
"Be Someone's Horse"
Bah Rah Records EEE001

Guided by Voices
"Spiderfighter"
Let's Go Eat the Factory
Guided by Voices Inc GBCi 16

David Bazan & Deerhoof
"No One Asked Bazan to Dance"
Polyvinyl Records PRC-9132-7

Fritzi Bielmeier
"Polka Medley: Fischerin vom Bodenese, Feierabend Polka, Katchen Polka, Rosamunde Polka"
Oktoberfest: The Music and Sounds of the Biggest Beer Party in the World
Decca DL 4332

John McCormack & Lucrezia Bori
"O soave fanciulla (Puccini: La Bohème)"
Golden Duets: A Treasury of Immortal Performances
RCA Victor LCT 1004

Music behind the DJ:
Terry Baxter and his Orchestra
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"
"Come And Get It"
"Everybody's Talking"
"Whole Lotta Love"
The Best of '70
Columbia Musical Treasury P3S 5454

Dedications already? Sheesh. Safe travels. You know who you are.

VinylOMaticBonus.mp3

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VinylOMaticBonus.mp3 (16.14 MB)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet
"Blue Rondo á la Turk"
Time Out
Columbia CS 8192

There's a reason why I don't play in a math rock band. Or a jazz band. Despite my having played musical instruments since I was 8, and despite my ability to sight read if necessary, I am complete crap when it comes to time signatures. Sure 4/4 is easy peasy, and who doesn't like a nice 3/4 waltz. Or even a 2/2 march. I can even fake a 2/4 polka (just don't ask me to two-step, unless you like having your insteps constantly trod upon). But 6/8? 9/8? 12/8? Yikes. I'll leave that to the folks who can do it well. I once heard Phil Schaap explain 7/8 time on his radio program and I completely understood it. For about five minutes. And then it was gone.

"Blue Rondo á la Turk" is in 9/8 time. But rather than let me make a futile attempt to explain it, let's turn to the liner notes:

 

Blue Rondo à la Turk plunges straight into the most jazz-remote time-signature, 9/8, grouped not in the usual form (3-3-3) but 2-2-2-3. When the gusty opening section gives way to a more familiar beat the three eighth-notes have become equivalent to one quarter-note, and an alternating 9/8-4/4 time leads into a fine solo by Paul Desmond. Dave follows, with a characteristically neat transition in to the heavy block chords which are a familiar facet of his style, and before long Rondo a la turk is a stamping, shouting blues. Later the tension is dropped deliberately for Paul's re-entry, and for the alternate double-bars of 9- and 4- time which herald the returning theme. The whole piece is in classical rondo form.

 

There you have it. Now you can enjoy the song in peace.

And in case you were wondering:

 

This Columbia Stereo Fidelity recording is designed for use on 33 1/3 rpm stereophonic reproducers.

 

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columbia-cs-8192-xdpsECtmeIwupvncvpoy.zip (2.87 MB)

CS8192.mp3

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CS8192.mp3 (6.19 MB)

Oh yes, and then there's this:

The Dave Brubeck Quartet
"Perdido"
Newport 1958
Columbia CS 8082

One of my favorite standards. Composed by Puerto Rican trombonist Juan Tizol, "Perdido" is just all kinds of catchy. So catchy that Dave & Co vamp on it for over 13 minutes. Also, expect to hear many more renditions of "Perdido" because I enjoy that sort of thing.

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columbia-cs-8082-aaCIkzEqrECqjJsmmewC.zip (3.13 MB)

Brubeck1958Perdido.mp3

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Brubeck1958Perdido.mp3 (11.71 MB)

David Bowie
"China Girl"
Let's Dance
EMI America SO-17093

So where was I? Oh right, Bowie. Skipping right into the 80s, we have the smash hit album Let's Dance, and the somewhat unlikely smash hit of Iggy's "China Girl". The much vaunted SRV plays lead guitar but really the one who does the heavy lifting here is Nile Rodgers.

The New York stop of the Serious Moonlight Tour which supported the album was supposed to have been my very first rock concert (you know, like as opposed seeing the New Christy Minstrels at the Iowa State Fair). After having relocated from Iowa to Lon Guyland, I had made friends with a kid whose parents owned a somewhat fashionable club in The City and had managed to get an extra ticket, which my new friend offered to me. Sadly, as all things adolescent go, he decided that taking a girl would be in his best interest. On the plus side, my new friend felt sorta bad about it and made sure that I came along with him to see The Police at Shea Stadium, with Joan Jett and R.E.M. opening. And that was my actual first rock concert. And I'm pretty happy about that. My friend and I had spent quite a few hours playing R.E.M.'s Murmur trying to figure out what kind of music it was, since our young ears hadn't really ever heard anything like it on the radio. And so it was we took the train to Shea Stadium extra early to make sure we got there when the gates opened. Surprisingly, we were one of maybe 100 people in the entire stadium who stood out in the summer rain to hear R.E.M. try to combat the incoming LGA flights. The rain lifted soon after, allowing a much more crowded Shea Stadium to heartily endorse Joan Jett and her Blackhearts, and ultimately go bonkers when the flights were redirected and The Police took the stage.

In case you're wondering, I did eventually get to see the epic bombast of a Bowie concert a several years later when I saw him on the Glass Spider Tour at Giants Stadium, with Squeeze and Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam(no really) supporting.

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emi-america-so-17093-nhluCDlkrHBoztmeFDJI.zip (3.04 MB)

BowieChina.mp3

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BowieChina.mp3 (5.08 MB)

David Bowie
"DJ"
Lodger
RCA Victor AQL1-3254

Getting close to my favorite combination of guitarist with Mr. Bowie, but still quite awesome: Carlos Alomar with... Adrian Belew. Pretty danged awesome. Almost as awesome as Alomar/Fripp. This is a fine song to display Adrian Belew's talents. And even though the great Roger Powell can be heard playing synthesizers on this album, Bowie actually plays piano and chamberlain on "DJ".

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rca-victor-aql1-3254-DfkoBFkpGhCorhyoCnxH.zip (3.14 MB)

BowieDJ.mp3

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BowieDJ.mp3 (3.71 MB)

David Bowie
"TVC 15"
Station To Station
RCA Victor AQL-1327

Another indirect influence on my guitar style: Carlos Alomar. I'm not sure what it is that makes me like his work with David Bowie. Maybe it's his ability to play well with others, but still maintain a distinct sound. Any way, here's a groovy number from the Thin White Duke years.

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rca-victor-aql1-1327-AFcuzeAywdpltBnmfnIh.zip (3.05 MB)

BowieTVC.mp3

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BowieTVC.mp3 (5.07 MB)

A little premonition of tomorrow's post:

Bow Wow Wow
"Cowboy"
The Last of the Mohicans
RCA Victor CPL1-4314

And you thought the last cover was scandalous. Ok, what's actually scandalous about this album is that Amoeba only wanted $5.99. I'll take it!

But seriosly though, I have a suspicion that the guitar style of Matthew Ashman had an impact on my idea of what a guitar could sound like. Granted, I'm a strummer not a picker, so it makes sense. To me at least. I also recall seeing Bow Wow Wow perform live on some Nickelodeon show back in the early 80s, I think it was called Livewire or something, and my 14 year old lizard brain was completely smitten with Miss Annabella. She definitely made my adolescent heart go pitter pat. I didn't know what she was selling, but I sure was buying.

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rca-victor-cpl1-4314-tathsqBICBgfvgGBxphm.zip (2.97 MB)

BWWcowboy.mp3

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BWWcowboy.mp3 (3.25 MB)