We were very sad to learn this morning that our neighbor to the north, Ken, passed away. I know we’re a little late but everyone here at Hymie’s offers our condolences to his wife and daughter. Ken was a remarkable man who had been a teacher, had written a book about solar panels and had built the panels you can see out our north-facing windows, and grew a magnificent garden with his family. He left the world too young and left behind too much. We hope he will be remembered just as warmly by everyone who knew him.
Up on the wall right now: Other Voices by the Doors, And Then There Were Three by Genesis, At Last…The Pips, Crazy Horse, Do It Baby by the Miracles and The MGs. Already sold: Merle Haggard Introduces the Strangers and Mad About the Wrong Boy by the Attractions.
Yes, the first thing most people do when they come home from the record store is peel the tags off, but some of them are interesting. We’re trying to put fewer tags on 45 labels and picture sleeves and LP jackets which could be torn. Tags on the plastic sleeves have to have some kind of an identifier, though, or shifty types just switch the sleeves.
We’ve been meaning to write a little about some of the various price tags that we see in collections that come into the shop. Here’s a couple examples: I don’t remember a shop calleed Harpo’s Hot Licks but I would totally have gone there because its an even goofier name than ours. Speaking of Hymie, I came across the above tags on a Fats Domino record in the basement. You’ll still see some of the old, old tags from Hymie’s time around here (especially on 45s by pop singers like Kitty Kallen or Georgia Gibbs), but this one has price reduction in his handwriting. I thought that was pretty cool.
These last two are from record stores I remember fondly and miss. On the left is a Northern Lights tag, which we see pretty often, and on the right is a tag from Root Cellar in St. Paul. Both were great shops I loved and would still go to today if they were around.
Willie Murphy get some much-deserved praise in today’s Star Tribune. But what’s the best part? We actually have a babysitter to watch the little ‘uns and we’re going tonight to see him play with an 8-piece band at the Bedlam. Yay!
These messages are pretty serious, even if I’m the only person who’s worried about them. One of these days the record labels are going to come back for all these promotional albums and there will be nothing we can do about it – We’re going to regret ever seeing all those white labels, all those records with the gold stamp on the jacket, and all those “Promotional – Not For Sale” stickers.
Motown is sending this guy to collect theirs:
February is ROLL THE DICE month here at Hymie’s Vintage Records – Come in and roll to see what your discount will be (up to 25% off!).
Yesterday was the last Saturday of the month, time for the AMAZING DOLLAR SALE at Hymie’s Vintage Records! Many came and went away happy with bags and boxes of albums, 45s and 78s on the cheap. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did and is enjoying all the albums. We’re already thinking about next month!
Time to settle this once and for all:
Best Picture I Found on Google
<—-Marty Gold
Martin Gould—->
Winner – No contest here, ghoulish Gould takes it. With a mug like that he could star in a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film.
Biggest Hit
Marty Gold – “Tell Me Why” recorded by the Four Aces. He also recorded with the Three Suns in the 50s.
Morton Gould – Debatable. Probably the score from Billion Dollar Baby. His classical works as a conductor were generally well-received, but have long since been overshadowed by more successful contemporaries like Stokowski and Bernstein.
Winner: Gold
Best Exotica Album
Marty Gold – It wasn’t really his thing. The closest I have heard is By the Waters of Minnetonka, on which the title track is far inferior to Glenn Miller’s recording.
Morton Gould – You probably think I’m going to say Jungle Drums (or More Jungle Drums which is just as good) but I’m not. This one’s got to be Latin, Lush and Lovely, although its really more of a bossa nova record. Its got great arrangements, lively percussion and a cover that Martin Denny would have liked.
Winner: Gold
Most Expensive Record Sale, According to Popsike.com
Marty Gold – $36 for a copy of Hi Fi Fo Fum just last year. Holy cats! We’ve been selling that record for five bucks!
Morton Gould – $44 for a recording of his Fall River Legend by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra on Mercury (in 2007).
Winner: Gould, and we’re going to raise the price on Hi Fi Fo Fum to $7.
Best Record Cover
Marty Gold – Probably By the Waters of Minnetonka again. Most of ‘em really suck. Its Magic has a nice die-cut feature, at least. Some, like 24 Pieces of Gold have some camp appeal, but there’s just campier stuff out there by other artists.
Morton Gould – Where’s the Melody? He put his face on more records than Gold. I would too, if I had those jowls.
Winner: No contest here, Gold goes to Gould.
Best Album, Overall
Marty Gold – It’s Magic transcends the stereo novelty of “the sound your eyes can follow.” It opens with a great pair of tracks, “Its Magic” and “That Old Black Magic” In fact, Gold’s “That Old Black Magic” swings all over Gould’s mundane treatment on After Dark.
Morton Gould – He composed four symphonies, several concertos, and also won a Grammy for his 1966 recording of Ives’s first symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Still, his pop and easy listening recordings never had the liveliness of Gold’s 60s hits. Jungle Drums and More Jungle Drums are pretty interesting records, however, so long as you don’t compare them to the much more interesting exotica explorations of Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman.
Winner: Gold
Best Album of Somebody Else’s Music
Marty Gold – Moog Plays the Beatles, mostly because he didn’t do a lot of “songbook albums”. As far as moog cover albums go its petty bad. Really, as far as albums go its pretty bad, but some people will buy anything moog, and his “Eleanor Rigby” is pretty groovin’.
Morton Gould – I’m going to say Finlandia : Music of Sibelius, although the Jungle Drums albums are interesting. Gould explored the classical repertoire a couple times, including the obligatory recording of Schezerade but his Sibelius album exceeds the lot in its interpretation and recording quality.
Winner: We’re going to have to call this one a toss-up. Gould’s album is far superior but inaccessible to some listeners. Then there’s the moog factor and the danceable beat to Gold’s “Eleanor Rigby”.
And the Winner Is…
Is anyone still reading this? I’ll leave it up to you.