Alienating the Audience Again

I'm making pot roast. It's good weather for it.

It's also a good day for some novelty 45s

I like novelty 45s

The Mummy (1959)

Ok, there's a lot to unpack here.

This single has a lot of threads and various things going for it.

First off it was penned by poet, composer, singer with a voice reminiscent of a cut rate Kermit the Frog impersonator and all around sensitive guy Rod McKuen.
(He's a bit of a running gag among several of my oldest friends.) He made a name and bank on writing the English lyrics to the miserable tearjerking dreck "Seasons in the Sun" originally by Frenchman Jacques Brel. Even worse it somehow became a big one hit wonder for Terry Jacks in 1974. AM radio was fucking awful back then.

However back in the late 50s before his dreadful sappy poetry caught the hippie peace and love zeitgeist he tried to carve a place with novelty songs. For this one he teamed up with voice actor extraordinaire Bob McFadden as "Bob McFadden & Dor" (It's Rod backwards. How clever.) Rod lends his comedic touch as foil and commentator throughout.

The A side is "The Mummy" which is rife with contemporary references including another novelty hit "Kookie Lend Me Your Comb". What really makes this special though is that our heroes the Fall found this obscure novelty number worthy of being covered as "I'm a Mummy"
That's all the recommendation I might otherwise need.

But wait there's more!

The flip side is also a wonderful bit of wonderful bits, "The Beat Generation".
(At some point I have to relocate and digitize the wonder that is Rod's spoken word "Hippie" record "Rod McKuen Takes a San Francisco Hippie Trip" which is actually a repackaging of his square's eye view of beatniks. Fucking hilarious.)

But the real gold is that how familiar the song might sound to a certain 1977 NYC punk classic "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell & the Voidoids... hmmm..

Shake, Rattle and Roll (1959)

Hoping to capitalize on the something that the previous record did or didn't generate , their shenanigans continued with a follow up version of the classic rhythm and blues number "Shake Rattle and Roll" in the voice of the Mummy.
Flip is a song called "Bingo" as penned by Rod.

Perfect fodder for annoying those you love.



As an added bonus I'll give you a Rod McKuen original novelty single.

Oliver Twist (1962)

Here in 1962 our boy Rod is trying his best to cash in on the Twist Fad with a double dose of Twist novelty numbers.
Enjoy?

The Homer & Jethro Project #45

This is the fifth post I've queued up for the night and a fitting place to pause.

#45

November 1962 - lsp-2459 - Playing It Straight

Their final statement for the year 1962.

It was in this year that John Glenn first orbited the Earth and the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Into this tumultuous time spent with space within our grasp and the possibility of atomic destruction always so near at hand, the boys decided to release a no nonsense straight up instrumental Lp to soothe frayed nerves and liven conversation at smoky cocktail parties.

Pour yourself a little Old Grandad over some rocks and enjoy.
You'll be glad you did.

The Homer & Jethro Project #44

Still going.

#44

March 1962 - lsp-2492 - At the Convention


Homer & Jethro appearing before a jury of their peers live at the annual meeting of the Country Music Association. You'll have to listen to see how that goes over.

I've also chosen not to divvy this one up into individual tracks because I'm lazy and it's my project and it's one that is probably best digested as its original side long intention.

Sit back and let it drift over you like sleep
only funnier
and probably in need of some Cpap.

August 1962 - RCA 47-8075 - Are You Kissing More (but Enjoying it Less) / She Thinks I Don't Care

As an added bonus. Another stray single that slid out of the aether in 1962.

A side appears to be an original though it was covered by Aussie hair mannequins Bill and Boyd in 1965. Bill and Boyd seemed to be the well scrubbed dudes who were tasked with trying to make Australian hits of other country's hits.

(Among them, Bill & Boyd would also go on to record their version of Joe Harris' Belgian monster "Schwabadaba Ding Ding", but unfortunately that's not on youtube. I can only believe that it bested the original in every way imaginable.)


B side is a song originally done by the always great George Jones "She Thinks I Still Care". Easily one of the greatest vocalists ever and a peer of Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

Homer and Jethro. Maybe not so much.

The Homer & Jethro Project #43

#43.

We're two thirds in.

It's May 5th the day that Americans get drunk to celebrate the 1862 defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla at the hands of 33-year-old Mexican Commander General, Ignacio Zaragoza because as you know, most college students are great scholars of Mexican history and care deeply about the cultural traditions of our neighbors to the south.
They drink to remember this inspirational victory despite knowing full well that Mexico would go on to lose the Second Battle of Puebla which would eventually lead to the Second Mexican Empire during the Second French Intervention in Mexico and the ascension of Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico under the approval of Napoleon III.

Mexico would not be free of European control until 1867 when Napoleon III's withdrawal of French troops the previous year left Maximilian vulnerable to advancing Republican forces and he was subsequently executed on June 19.

With history like that rolling around in their heads all day it's no wonder Americans drink...

So to lighten the mood a little, let's get back to the Homer & Jethro.

January 1962 - lsp-2455 - Zany Songs of the '30s

We're totally in their wheelhouse now.

We know these boys like their moldy but goodies. They like silly songs and novelty tunes. They can play in a swinging jazzy style. This is the culmination of all of that.

Links go to the original hits for the curious and adventurous.  (Have fun sliding down that Youtube hole.)

Flat Foot Floogee
Three Little Fishes
Friendship
Hold Tight, Hold Tight
Hut Sut Song (this was a hit in 1941. So this whole album is a lie.)
Dipsy Doodle
I'm an Old Cowhand
Mairsy Doats (1943. I don't know what to believe anymore.)
Rhythm in my Nursery Rhymes
Bei Mir Bist Du Schon
Your Feets Too Big
The Music Goes Around and Around

It's a 12 song musical edu-ma-cation for the uninitiated.

One never knows, do one?