MA-50 - 45s & Favorites, Disc 7 -- More Pop Music Miscellany

More proof in the wonderful cornucopia that USE TO BE pop music, before rhythms replaced melody and thought, not focus groups, produced lyrics.

Not that dreck wasn't marketed in the days of AM radio -- Sturgeon's Law is a reality of the universe -- but "way back then," even dreck was conceived and produced through a system that allowed more human fingers on every step of the process.  The human touch sometimes ennobles the basest products of work-for-hire:  Sistine Chapel, anyone?

1 -       Birthday      The Beatles / Beatles Remixers Group   (4:17)

2 -      A Song for You      Leon Russell   (4:04)

3 -      Mother Freedom      Bread   (2:33)

4 -      Wake Up Sunshine     Chicago       (2:34)

5 -      Up on Cripple Creek (live)     The Band   (4:39)

6 -       Superstar    Bette Midler (5:09)

7 - Goodbye to Love Carpenters (3:50)

8 - Smoke on the Water    Deep Purple (3:44)

9 - Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters   Elton John (4:57)

10 - How Do You Do Mouth & MacNeal (3:12)

11 - Deteriorata National Lampoon (4:25)

12 - I Love Every Little Thing About You Stevie Wonder (3:53)

13 - The Circle Game (live) Joni Mitchell (6:24)

14 - Pinball Wizard Elton John (5:12)

15 - Dog & Butterfly Heart (5:05)

16 - We Belong Together Rickie Lee Jones    (4:58)

17 - A Life of Illusion   Joe Walsh (3:28)

18 - Come Together The Beatles / Beatles Remixers Group (4:02)

The first and last tracks are wonderful alternate mashup/rearrangements of Beatles standards, making them (in the words of Dickens) "Recalled to Life."

Track 11 was conceived by the National Lampoon guys in response to the cheesy success of "The Desiderata" as a an example of the shallow public seeking non-condemnatory "deep thoughts."  Lyrics to both are given here.

You are a fluke of the universe.  NEW 2021 LINK

See you Monday, fellow fluke!

Re-Post: Song of the Second Moon / Electronic Music

An ethernetic friend sent this comment last week:

Hello
Just found your site - very interesting.
Now for an ask - could you please re-up this album. It was cited by David Bowie as one of his favourites of all time and I can't find it anywhere else :-) 

Another cover for the same album is:

The tracks are:

1)  Song of the Second Moon
2)  Moon Maid
3)  The Ray Makers
4)  The Visitor from Inner Space
5)  Sonik Re-Entry
6)  Orbit Aurora
7)  Twilight Ozone
8)  Pianoforte

My comments from the original post:

This is another secret pleasure from childhood ... Track 5, "Sonik Re-Entry," was grilled into my brain from early on.  KVOO, Channel 2 in Tulsa, used it as the title music for Fantastic Theatre, a late-Saturday-night monsters-and-SF-movie showcase.

Once a year or so, Fantastic Theatre would show King Dinosaur, a cheesy 1955 movie that I yearned for because it had DINOSAURS!  So, even though I was eight or so years old, Mom and Dad would allow me to stay up late to watch it.

This started me on a lifetime of bad habits, which culminated with Mazeppa Pompazoidi, Second City TV, and MadTV.

Whenever I hear "Sonik Re-Entry," I'm transported back in time to that mental or emotional age when life is an adventure and any good thing is possible!

Space Out!

MA-38 - To Men of Earth

The cover art is adapted from a book of the same name by contactee Daniel W Fry.

1 -    Count Down     Casey Grams      1958

2 - Venus Rock     The Rollettes       1958

3 -    Take Me to Your Leader  The Vi-Counts   1959

4 -   Land Beyond the Moon  The Motions       1962

5 -   The Beatle Flying Saucer Ed Solomon 1964

6 - Just Beyond the Moon Tex Ritter 1967

7 - Moon Flight Vic Venus 1969

8 - Flying Saucer's Daughter Alex Harvey 1972

9 - Unfunky UFO Parliament 1975

10 - Rocket Ride   KISS 1977

11 - Another Girl Another Planet The Only Ones 1978

12 - Hangar 18 Megadeth   1990

13 - UFO Rosie Weeping Tile 1995

14 - Sky Babies The Wildhearts 1996

15 - Talkin' Alien Abduction Blues   * Dan Bern 1997

16 - The Grand Deception (Channel Zero)  * Canibus 1998

17 - Unmarked Helicopters Soul Coughing 1998

18 - Spaceship Sean Lennon 1998

19 - Poor Man's Shangri-La Ry Cooder    2005

20 - Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland Sufjan Stevens 2005

Here we have another planetary potpourri of attitudes towas space life, from angry to whimsical.  Have fun!

MA-38 - To Men of Earth  UPDATED 2021 LINK

 See you Monday.
 

Re-Post - Two Albums of "Background Music" from Capitol

Another source of existential uneasiness in the 1950s ... how to keep your guests entertained with musical diversions neither intrusive not somnolent.

Capitol Records addresses this with a series of anthology albums pasted together from several of their contractees.  I found a couple of them and ripped and formatted them to fit onto one CD program.

I assembled the above "cover" from an image of the time matching fonts & layout of the originals.

Here are the original covers.

Tracks:

01. Margie - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:51)

02. That Old Black Magic - Jack Stern and His Orchestra (2:17)

03. You’re the Cream in My Coffee - Gardiner Gibbs and His Orchestra (2:32)

04. Blue Skies - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:12)

05. Beer Barrel Polka - Jack Stern and His Orchestra (2:52)

06. Do You Ever Think of Me - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:40)

07. My Gal Sal - Jack Stern and His Orchestra (2:46)

08. Who - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:33)

09. Sweet Sue Just You - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:18)

10. Louise - Gardiner Gibbs and His Orchestra (2:35)

11. Dinah - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:53)

12. Avalon - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:56)

13. By the Light of the Silvery Moon - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:46)

14. Down by the Old Mill Stream - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:43)

15. I've Been Working on the Railroad - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:20)

16. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:51)

17. Smiles - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:30)

18. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling - Jack Stern and His Orchestra (3:11)

19. Shine On Harvest Moon - Charles Romo and His Orchestra (2:23)

20. Sweetheart of Sigma Chi - Jack Stern and His Orchestra (3:16)

21. There’s a Long Long Trail - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:16)

22. I Love You Truly - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (3:17)

23. Home on the Range - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (2:39)

24. Good Night Medley: Good Night Sweetheart-Goodnight Ladies - Bill Loose and His Orchestra (3:36)

Background Music from Capitol

Good night, Sweet Whatever-You-Are!