"Let's Dance/The Safety Dance Medley" Marilyn McCoo (1983)

"Hey Jude" The Far Out, Underground, Acid Rock Feet of Harry Zonk (1969)

Just when you thought you've finally seen EVERYTHING: A tap dance record of "Hey Jude"......

This may be where the Age of Aquarius ended.....

Milton The Pop Tart Toaster

 

 1975 TV Commercial

For Your Candy Cigarettes

 

Wow, perfect for these.

"These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" Crispin Glover (1989)

The Return of Generic Products

Photo from Reddit

Apparently, generic products are making a return at Walmart....

The Kids In The Mail

In 1913 it was legal to mail children. With stamps attached to their clothing, children rode trains to their destinations, accompanied by letter carriers. One newspaper reported it cost fifty-three cents for parents to mail their daughter to her grandparents for a family visit. 

As news stories and photos popped up around the country, it didn't take long to get a law on the books making it illegal to send children through the mail.

The Wurlitzer C-110

The Wurlitzer C-110 (1972) was an unusual jukebox. Instead of playing 45 RPM records, it played cassette tapes.

The cassette tape was still a very new invention in the early '70s and it would be another decade before they rivaled the vinyl LP. This could play ten cassettes, individual sides or whole cassettes. 

This video shows the mechanics of this jukebox and while it claims there were cassette singles for this machine, the cassette single was a product of the '80s. More likely, it played entire albums on cassette, as 20 songs is a pretty pathetic selection for any jukebox. 

"Where Is My Man" Eartha Kitt (1983)

"Teach Me Tiger" April Stevens (1959)

For those of you in the Midwest right now, I thought this might warm you up a bit.

It's April Stevens, of whom would be better known a few years later as part of a duo with her brother, Nino Tempo when their single "Deep Purple" rocketed to #1 in November 1963 and would have stayed there a few more weeks had fate kept Lee Harvey Oswald at home....


  

Before They Were Stars: Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar didn't just open the door for women in rock. This little woman with the HUGE voice absolutely KICKED the door in. Right off the hinges. 

But before her mega-platinum career one of as rock's most influential female superstars, she was.....a lounge singer? 

"Coxon's Army Live from Sam Miller's Exchange Cafe" (Trace Records, 1974), was produced as a reportedly unaired local TV special for Richmond, VA public TV station WCVE and is the very first album she appeared on.

This album also features a cover of "Theme From Shaft" but no indicator if she actually sang it (perhaps the female backing part.) This is a $500 record in mint condition. About 1,000 copies were pressed and that's a VERY short run for any record.

Click to enlarge

"Respect" (1974)

"If He Walked Into My Life" (1974)

"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" (1974)

"Day Gig" Pat Benatar (1974) This is the first headlining single she ever recorded.

Also see Before The Were Stars: The Cars

Horrifying Vintage Meal Ideas

Kristy & Jimmy McNichol

Oh dear.

Hot on the heels of the Donny & Marie "If the Carpenters can do it, we can too!" craze of corny sibling pop, comes this slice of sheer pasteurized processed cheese product. 

Kristy McNichol had already made a name for herself as Buddy in the ABC drama Family and other ABC TV network productions and Jimmy McNichol (who?) hosted something called "Hollywood Teens". Somebody thought pairing them on a record would move them onto the A-List in no time. So they convinced RCA Records to sign them. 

And so came this album. And this was it: A family friendly album of mostly cover versions of early '60s pop songs an average teenage girl (and the parents of) in the late '70s would probably like (they really didn't.) The same stuff that Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy were slinging out. The same stuff TV variety shows were filled with.  

Interestingly, they got The Chiffons to sing backup on their own song "He's So Fine".

Rain Lamps

Just before New Years, I tossed up this subject to those in my Facebook circle, just to see if anyone noticed. Many did. So whilst preparing my list of beautifully overlooked subjects I need to cover (I'll wait until my nausea is over before I get around to "twerking" and "The Harlem Shake"), I put this on top.

They're called Rain Lamps. Some called them "swag lamps", but swags are these:

...and they weren't "oil lamps" Which look like these:

Rain lamps were popular in the late '60s and early '70s. They were kind of a lava light for your parents.

They almost always had some kind of Venus sculpture in them, surrounded by plastic foliage (although some had a clock or even a cabin in them.) They worked by using a pump that ran rain lamp oil (which was pretty much mineral oil - any other kind of oil will gum up the pump) over several strands of taut 30-40 lb fishing line to create a slow motion effect of rain. The oil also had to be changed and the lamp and pump cleaned every year or the oil gets rancid. For lighting, you used low wattage soft light of any colour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlmgbTgyZGo

You can find them on eBay. But prepare to fork out a lot of money for one in really nice condition. However restoring one takes time and work, but it isn't rocket science.



  

"Rebel Rebel" Shaun Cassidy (1980)

Shaun Cassidy's music career had already been on the skids when this album came out. But this is the only album I know of that actually appeared in the $1.98 clearance racks on the day of it's release.

Wasp was supposed to be Shaun Cassidy's remarketing as a New Wave act. And to add to those alt-y credentials, the album was produced by Todd Rundgren and Rundgren's backing band Utopia also backed Cassidy on this album.

The warning sign was the first single, "Rebel Rebel" - a cover of the David Bowie classic was released to radio. I remember hearing this song and laughing because it was so hilariously BAD. Halfway during the song, the DJ broke in and said "Uh, look. I'm sorry but this is bad. The phones are off the hook here and I'm more accustomed to my listeners saying 'play it again' than 'get that off the blanking air'!"

Not even Todd Rundgren could save this.

So a week later on my shopping trip to the record store, I picked up some albums and 45s and to round off my night, I looked for something in the "budget bin" and there it was. This album. Around 20 copies of it.

So I bought one. And if you thought this was crazy, wait until you hear the title track. And the cover of "Once Bitten Twice Shy" made me appreciate Great White's ghastly version 8 years later. I can't remember what happened to my copy of this album, but I think I finally used it as a make-do frisbee on the beach.

I knew Shaun was aiming for something here on this album, but whatever it was, he went too far above and completely beyond it. I was actually craving "Da-Do-Ron-Ron" or "Hey Deanie" before it was over.

   

"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" Tiny Tim (1982)

Originally sold as a flexi-disc part of a novelty card (I would hope so), here's Tiny Tim with his rendition (?) of the Rod Stewart classic.

No "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" falsetto here. If you're too scared to click on the YouTube video, imagine Al Jolson on amyl nitrate and backed by the Mos Eisley Spaceport Cantina Band and you'll have an idea of what this sounds like.

"Reap The Wild Wind" Ultravox (1983)

Start to finish, this is pure classic New Wave AWESOMENESS!!

 

 

Jefferson Airplane - Watch Her Ride (Perry Como Special, 1968)

The United States That Could Have Been

Click on map to enlarge

Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper

The Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper was a product from 1978 that used hot air to pop popcorn. It was a surprisingly good machine, albeit noisy as hell.

 Here's how they functioned.

I still have mine and I still use it. It's healthier than nuking microwave popcorn. And a lot cheaper.

1960's Sunbeam Rotisserie Carousel

These babies were fantastic. Basting your roast, chicken or turkey in it's own juices.

RIP The Incandescent Light Bulb

As of today, January 1, 2014, incandescent light bulbs can no longer be manufactured for the USA. (Contrary to popular belief, you can still sell them - there's lots of old stock still floating around out there. They just can no longer be manufactured anymore outside of industrial use. And once the old general consumer stock is gone, they're gone.)

I have two boxes of 40 watt Sylvanias. And they are my nest egg. There will not be just a mere eBay bidding war, but riots in the streets before I sell out.

It's the end of an era that saw us from the 1870s to 2013. Now the only light bulbs made are those weird curly CFL things and LED lights.

THESE fucking things. When they first came out, I thought they were pretty cool because you didn't have to change them as often. Until I had to see them everywhere.

Now I understand the reasons why we're going this way. Incandescent lights put out more heat than light and you do pay more in your electric bill for it. But my kitchen always seemed a little warmer with incandescents. More home-like. I get in the mood for actual cooking easier with incandescents.

And incandescents can last a VERY LONG time. Here's proof:

 I switched to all CFL in my place a year ago and my monthly electric bill went down by $10. But I'm light sensitive and these things are starting to seriously irk me. They glow too white.

It's like an analog to digital conversion. It's good, but too sterile. You can't work your Easy Bake oven with a CFL. And there was such a variety of incandescent lights. All colours and styles. It's going to take CFLs a LONG time to catch up with it all.

The CFL also lacks something else. A warm glow. That's what I miss. And LEDs are almost freakish in their brightness.

And then there's that little mercury problem. Granted it has as much mercury as an average transistor radio. Problem is, some of those radios lasted us for YEARS before they croaked.

My beloved Sears AM/FM transistor radio (1980-1983)....Sigh!

The CFL light bulb is also unpredictable. I put one bulb in a continuously running outdoor light. And it only lasted 5 months The next one burned for over a year. I seem to find that problem a lot with CFLs. 

But change happens.

I accept it. But something deep and subtle is always missing....

"Unknown Girl (Of My Dreams)" Clint Eastwood (1961)

B/W "For All We Know"

Happy New Year From History's Dumpster!

And now as we prepare to ring in 2014, I would like us to remember one man of whom it just hasn't been New Year's Eve without. Mr. Dick Clark.

Thank you all so much for a GREAT year!

Cheers!,

Larry

GREAT News For Fans of Classic Home Video Games Of The '80s!

Miss your Atari 2600 or 7800? Your Colecovision, Odyessy or Astrocade?

Guess what? Internet Archive now has hundreds of playable ROMs on their web site. Note: There currently is no sound for them. But IA is going to add it soon.

You can find them here.

"Near You" Marlene Dietrich (1957)

1930's German film star goes rock n' roll......