OUR NEWEST ISSUE OF 64 PAGES OF MUSICAL COOLNESS IS OUT! WITH
8 PAGES OF BLAZING COLOR, IT'S ANOTHER SHARP LOOKING ISSUE!
Our newest issue is packed with new, informative articles on the
coolest and strangest music you never thought you'd hear about!
It features a 4-color cover, lots of high-quality photos, tons
of new wacky and weird CD reviews, and it's more fun than using
your Grandma's Jim Nabors albums for skeet-shootin'!
The
new issue features:
BILLY
MAY
A true legend, BILLY MAY has worked with practically
ALL the major recording stars of the classic recording days. Can
you say Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peggy Lee, The Four Freshmen,
Nancy Wilson,Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Freberg, Nat King Cole?....the
staggering list just goes on an on. And that's not to mention
his notable stints playing trumpet in the original Glenn Miller
Orchestra and arranging for Charlie Barnett, Alvino Rey and countless
others.
Mr.
May chats at length about his remarkable career, and he freely
tells about his life and career during Capitol Records' formative
years.
It's
a real delight to feature writer Jim Minnick's exclusive
interview with Billy Mayour cover man for this issue!
FLORENCE
FOSTER JENKINS
Like
Mrs. Miller, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS hold a real special place
in our cool and strange hearts. After all, the portly society
lady was well-known in music circles for her vocalizing of classical
arias. Well, not because of her talent, though. The fact is that
Madame Jenkins could not sing in pitch at all! She was just delusional
enough to believe that she was immensely talented! When people
jeered at her recitals, Jenkins would dismiss them as "hooligans,"
and go right on with her painful singing!
Thanks
to RCA Records, her lone album is still in print, and has been
since 1962! The talented Wilhelm Murg tells the story of
this unique lady, with his in-depth profile of her, using interviews
from Madame Jenkins' friend and personal accompanist, Mr. Cosme
McMoon.
If
you haven't heard her "music," you're in for a treat,
and if you haven't read this article on a rarely-discussed singer,
you're missing out!
LYNN
CAREY INTERVIEW
The
name LYNN CAREY may not ring a bell, but she definitely has a
place in collector's hearts, if only for the famous '70s record
cover showing her breast-feeding a lion cub on her Mama Lion album!
But
that's only a brief moment in the long career of the talented
(and gorgeous) Ms. Carey, who has recorded many albums with various
rock groups and by herself, as well as appearing in films (LORD
LOVE A DUCK,) modeling in Penthouse magazine, and singing in the
legendary Russ Meyer flick BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.
Descended
from Hollywood royalty (her dad was Montgomery Carey,) Lynn is
one of the most fascinating people we've met in a long time, and
her stories of working with many famous celebrities, and her own
solo career are a highlight of this issue. Aaron Milenski
does the honors in interviewing Ms. Carey, and he asks all the
right questions. Check it out in this issue...
JONATHAN
RICHMAN
We've
had a lot of requests over the years for an article on JONATHAN
RICHMAN, and writer David Gofstein makes a lot of people
happy with this issue's profile of the eccentric singer/songwriter.
He's
never become a household name, but Richman has some of his biggest
success as of late, with a high profile appearance in the hit
film THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.
Coming
out of the punk rock explosion of the '70s, Richman had minor
hits with songs like "Roadrunner," and "Pablo Picasso,"
but his live shows have always been where he's shone the brightest,
and he continues to tour today.
This
issue's article on Jonathan Richman is long-deserved and may just
make you want to check out his music, if you're not a fan already....
BUILD
YOUR OWN FAKE SOUNDTRACK
If
you've ever wanted to score your own film soundtrack, then here's
your big chance! No, you don't need a degree in music, just a
nice selection of records in your collection and a little imagination.
Mark
John Astolfi
has been creating his own "Fake Soundtracks" for years,
and in this article he shows you how you can do it, too!
New
Artist Profile: TWANG BANG
Every
once in a while, a CD that shows up at our offices really jumps
out and grabs us, and that was the case when we heard the latest
CD from TWANG BANG. We knew we had to find out about these wacky
singer/songwriters, who play a wild mix of eclectic new wave/psycho-billy
with touches of country and folk and jazz thrown in, too!
Their
music is hard to describe, and that makes it better for us, because
they definitely stand out of the bunch with their witty, catchy
and remarkable tunes about girlfriends, bombs and other unlikely
subjects.
With
just a guitar and scaled-down drumset, Itzi and Redd pump out
hi-velocity, vitamin-enriched original tunes that don't fit into
any radio format (that we've heard of,) but that's what makes
them cool and strange!
Rich
Wilhelm does a great job of describing their unique music
and snags some great tidbits of information from the duo.
THE
ED KAZ KOLUMN
Leave
it to our regular columnist ED KAZ to point out a few of
the more jaw-droppingly comical records in his personal collection,
and it's always a gas to laugh along.
Maybe
the Richard Kimble album on the left was never meant to be laughed
at, but I'm sure even ol' Dick would have to chuckle at seeing
his cummerbund and leisure suit on the cover of this lounge gem.
Always
a high spot of each issue, Ed tickles the record collector's collective
funny bone with his commentary in this issue.
MICKEY
KATZ
Writer
Skip Heller has been asking to do a piece on MICKEY KATZ
for some time, and we're glad we finally let him! Katz' music
is definitely one-of-a-kind--really, how many funny klezmer clarinetist/parodyists
can you name? A long-time artist for Capitol Records, Katz had
a long career with Jewish-dialect parodies of pop hits like "Davey
Crockett" and "That's Amore' " (That's A-Morris.")
We
also learn of his tenure with Spike Jones, performing on Jones'
hits such as "Cocktails for Two" and "Hawaiian
War Chant," but Katz had his eye on his own brand of funny
songs, and blossomed into a successful act in the mid-'50s.
This
scholarly profile makes interesting reading, as we think you'll
agree.
SERGIO
MENDES
What
can you say about a man that single-handedly fused his native
Brazilian bossa nova with pop and became the most successful Brazilian
artist of all time? The brilliant pianist/arranger SERGIO MENDES
ingeniously crafted Top 10 hits out of already-hit-songs by artists
like the Beatles "Fool On The Hill," Simon and Garfunkle
"Scarborough Faire," and Burt Bacharach "The Look
of Love," as well as recording many Brazilian tunes that
have since become standards.
This
is a long-overdue profile of an overlooked pioneer who took the
ball from people like Gilberto and Jobim and ran all the way to
the top of the charts with it. Writer Curtis Cottrell does
a fine job of distilling Mendes' career with his various groups
(Brasil '66, Brasil '77, etc.) and this piece may have you reaching
for those records of his from the back recesses of your collection.
They're definitely work many more plays.
SAN
FRANCISCO RECORD STORES
One
of our nations favorite cities to vacation is also a great place
to pick up great records, and Giancarlo Davis takes us
on a tour of his favorite stops in THE RECORD STORES OF SAN FRANCISCO.
Save this article for your next trip through the Golden Gate and
use this article for handy reference.
LATIN
LP COVERS CENTERFOLD
This
issue's color Centerfold comes to us through the courtesy of LATIN
RECORD collector Don Charles, and it's fun to look at these
beautiful color reproductions from the golden days of the long-playing
record, when covers were BIG and were real pieces of art.
Tie
them all together with lots more loads o' fun stuff
than
we dare mention, and you'll find a very cool Issue #20 of
So get on board!
It's gonna
be a cool ride through the wild,
wacky and sometimes tacky world of records!
