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Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock ‘n’ Roll Pioneers by John Broven (2009) – A massive history of the independent record companies who changed the sound of music in mid-20th century America. Truly a weighty tome, perhaps a bit dry for some civilians, but for any self-respecting record geek, endlessly fascinating. Many “aha” moments, where things I always wondered about were suddenly filled in.

The Most Of P.G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse (1916-1940) – A master of dry humor delivered with stylish prose. Though at 700 pages, this volume can leave one feeling a bit like a foie gras duck. I like the Jeeves stories best.

The Complete Milt Gross Comic Books and Life Story by Milt Gross/Craig Yoe (2009) – A weighty slab of comix history documenting Milt Gross, an unjustly under-remembered cartoon genius of the first half of the 20th century. 40 pages of biography followed by hundreds of pages of wild funnybook hijinx. Roots of MAD, underground comix and much more.

RECORD-BIN:

The B-52′s by The B-52′s (Warner Bros/1979) – With the mainstream slowly catching up to them over the decades, it may be hard to remember what a radical album this was upon its release. Perhaps not as ‘in your face’ radical as the No Wave bands of the same era, but every bit so, in a sneakier way. Listening to the old vinyl, I’m remembering. The B’s may have been from Down South, but instrumentally they cranked out as much downtown skronk as anyone from Southern Manhattan. Ricky Wilson’s guitar sound was so unique, with his detuned, 4 stringed Mosrite (which I had forgotten about until the photo on the liner reminded me). One part rock ‘n’ roll twang, one part primeval raunch. Add hard punching dance beats on the drums and careful keyboard colorings for a band that found a new way to subvert, avoiding the already tiring buzzsaw guitars of punk. But that’s only half the picture. On top of that, you got a deviant take on the traditional vocal group — with inventive arrangements, theatrically shared leads and bizarre vocal sound effects. Not quite the way the Mills Brothers would have done it, but the DNA is there. And belated kudos to Cindy Wilson for her untamed and always passionate vocals. Listening now, I realize how valuable her contributions were. Listen to Hero Worship for a shining example of total, full-body commitment to a vocal performance. Wow. For the lyrics, US pop culture of the atomic age was thrown into a blender — any of us could find cartoonish shards of our own lives floating around in there. I always imagined the (early) B’s as a band you might find playing in a basement rec room while young kids play wacky old Milton Bradley board games. Or maybe I imagine them as a band based on wacky old Milton Bradley board games — Mousetrap, perhaps. It was, what’s the word… hilarious, yes, to see Rock Lobster slowly build into a novelty hit a year or so later.

Now, about the first time I heard the album. I had already read about the B’s in NY Rocker or Trouser Press, but I didn’t actually hear them until an afternoon in the week of the album’s release in July 1979. WPRB, Princeton, played the track 52 Girls (“wow, great!” would have been my thought), and the DJ noted that they would be playing the whole album that evening. This was a regular night time feature at ‘PRB that summer, playing a new album straight through without interruption, just a break to flip sides (facilitating those naughty home tapers who were “killing music”). I had my cassette ready. Now for me, living in the boondocks as always, ‘PRB was a pretty weak signal, so I had to switch my receiver to mono to clean up the signal — right there, you’re pushing the sound further into the primitive. On top of that, there were thunderstorms in the area between me and Princeton that night, making for weird static and crunches. Was this a bad thing? No, it totally enhanced that ‘mysterious transmission from space’ production aspect of Planet Claire and extended it to the whole album. I bought the vinyl not too long after, but it was never as cool as the space-fi sound of that cassette. Wish I still had it. And that sums up what the B-52′s sounded like in summer 1979: a cool and mysterious transmission accidently beaming in from outer space. Has it really been 30 years?

This was all set off by Maria T’s recent (more or less, maybe already a couple of months ago) spin of 52 Girls on yes, WPRB (I’d link to the playlist, but can’t seem to find it anymore).

And now I’ve set a new Irregular Orbit record for longest sidebar piece ever.

Anthology Of American Folk Music by various artists (Folkways/1952) – Harry Smith’s legendary collection is the grandfather of all ‘old music’ compilations. I wondered how it would set now in the age of the CD re-issue, when so many compilers have followed in its footsteps (and I’ve listened to many of them). Would it be just another batch of old rekkid sides? No — it really is “all that.” Smith made an excellent selection of tunes and sequenced them in a remarkably artful manner. It still works.

J.S. Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6 by Pablo Casals (Naxos/2000) – Vivid 1920s and 30s recordings of Bach’s cello suites by the artist who brought them into the modern performance repertoire. Intense performances and rather nice sound quality.

Ook Kontact

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