The Vinyl Rarities Thread...

DustyOldPile

DustyOldPile

Vinyl Goddess
So...let's hear about 'em! Oddball, obscure, under the radar gems that never came anywhere near Gold Record status...or even Crushed Aluminum Can status. Thanks, Boreas for the idea of making this a thread.

Similar to the "What record are you hearing now?", please provide a little info on the release, label, year, a picture if you can, tell us about it. It will be fun to compile a mental list of new things to watch for in the record stores and online.
 
Register to hide this ad
I'll start this thread off with another offering.

"Thrillington" by Percival "Thrills" Thrillington. 1977, Capitol / Regal Zonophone.

Recorded in 1971, this is an instrumental cover version of Paul and Linda McCartney's "RAM" album in it's entirety.

Both the fictitious socialite Percival Thrillington and the author of the liner notes for this album and Wings first album, Clint Harrigan are, in fact, Sir Paul McCartney himself.

Thrillington_album_cover.jpg

Thrillington
 
Blue Stingrays. 1997. In reality, members of Tom Petty's Band. The album was put together in the guise of a surf group that came together in 1959 and claimed to be at the forefront of Surf Rock. After tiring of the whole surf culture, they moved to a South Pacific Island. It's a great album!

 
First, great topic as I always look for new information about old LP's etc... However, there are now three threads started here related to the same topic of Vinyl Rarities. Would be nice to have a mod consolidate them into a single thread. There is this one and the two below.

upload_2017-11-7_13-21-21.png
upload_2017-11-7_13-21-48.png
 
Last edited:
Okay, how about this?

Ramases_-_Space_Hymns-%255Bfront%255D-%255Bwww.FreeCovers.net%255D+%25281%2529.jpg


Space Hymns by Ramases

Ramases was born in England as Kimberley Barrington Frost. One day he was visited by the spirit of the Pharaoh Ramses (not sure whether it was Ramses I or Ramses II) who told him that he, Frost, was the reincarnation of Ramses and that he must spread his, Ramses', message through music. Several singles followed but failed to attract any attention.

Eventually, Ramases was signed by Vertigo Records, a subsidiary of the Philips label. Shortly, his first album, Space Hymns, was released in 1971 with Ramases backed by a band that would soon become 10cc. Ramases recorded one more album, Glass Top Coffin, in 1975. The title proved somewhat prophetic as Ramases committed suicide the following year.

The music on Space Hymns is pretty uneven but there are some quite listenable moments, largely due to 10cc's contribution. Ramases himself has a rather pretty tenor voice.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1AT5IU2DMZComY3Yrq0PnD

John
 
Last edited:
Edward Barton.
I saw him in 1988 as a support act,he's an art school man and his performance was a difficult sight to see,I didn't know if it was an act or if he was heading to a mental hospital,it turned out both.
He had two or even three sides to him he wrote this.
That lead to a co-writing credit and pay out for this.
Ive got some stuff by him on self release that features pure gospel singers.
You may or may not know that Manchester in that era was the main epicentre of acid house/rave culture,there was a lot of drugs flowing about and it worked for you or you slid off the scale.
This is Edward Barton,watch the audience laughing at him.
But getting back to the rave culture I was at this recording it was done mid day when folks were either coming up or going down,it was messy.

Those kids in Miami and Ibiza dont really know.
 
1979... A tale of bad marketing. The UK band, "Little Bo Bitch" releases it's album on UK Cobra records. Harvest, it's American distribution label, decides that the United States is not a place where a band called "Little Bo Bitch" will thrive and changes the name of the band for the US release to the very lame and pedestrian "The Lonely Boys". Gentlemen, there's nothing sexy or alluring or marketable about a band called "The Lonely Boys". And so the album was a colossal flop.

Decent album of skinny tie new wave power pop, though. And an album in '79 by a band called "Little Bo Bitch" might have just stirred enough controversy to move some copies.

hqdefault.jpg
 
DustyOldPile said:
1979... A tale of bad marketing. The UK band, "Little Bo Bitch" releases it's album on UK Cobra records. Harvest, it's American distribution label, decides that the United States is not a place where a band called "Little Bo Bitch" will thrive and changes the name of the band for the US release to the very lame and pedestrian "The Lonely Boys". Gentlemen, there's nothing sexy or alluring or marketable about a band called "The Lonely Boys". And so the album was a colossal flop.

Decent album of skinny tie new wave power pop, though. And an album in '79 by a band called "Little Bo Bitch" might have just stirred enough controversy to move some copies.

hqdefault.jpg
Click to expand...

There can be! ;)

There's something about the way the voices of sisters and/or brothers blend.

John
 
DustyOldPile said:
My fave track has always been "Annoying all the Neighbours"
Click to expand...
Excellent! As my Uncle's old Pioneer CS-M555 dorm-rockers approach what seems like a lethal decibel level even at half-volume, that will be extra-appropriate when I spin this.
 
Oh, those ARE some dorm-rockers! I certainly am glad that I was in college at the time that I went! People actually STUDY in the dorms now! It's probably also appropriate that my copy of "The Lonely Boys" was lifted from the campus radio station where I had a weekly show. :D They certainly weren't going to play it...
 
Carly Simon sings about Safe Driving and You!!!

This one is a real oddity. Probably from around 1967, though I can't be certain, "Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You" was one of many period attempts to connect with the young generation, when the 'generation gap' was at one of it's widest points. And, oddly enough, considering the subject material, the songs on this record aren't too bad. The lyrics are horribly cheesy and at times laughable, but the performances are pretty good. Of course, having a young, uncredited Carly Simon as part of the 'group' that made this thing doesn't hurt. One of my favorite albums in my collection, for reasons that I can't quite put my finger on.

I've seen the 'group' attributed as "Lou Adessa and Vince Benay", and also "The First Team".

First picked this up in college, where it got played at parties a lot in a rather tongue and cheek fashion. Many tracks ended up on mix tapes I'd make of the worst and weirdest music that I could find, which were quite popular later in the evening when everyone was wasted. I've searched high and low to find Carly Simon making any reference to it, but smartly she has kept mum about her participation in this "golden throat" collection of motor safety rockers.

Even the cover art is kitschy fun...the intent look on that goober's face, as viewed through one of those gigantic 60's steering wheels that look like they could be used to pilot an oreboat.

1432235607-2430-27.jpg
 
Last edited:
DustyOldPile said:
Carly Simon sings about Safe Driving and You!!!

This one is a real oddity. Probably from around 1967, though I can't be certain, "Chevrolet Sings of Safe Driving and You" was one of many period attempts to connect with the young generation, when the 'generation gap' was at one of it's widest points. And, oddly enough, considering the subject material, the songs on this record aren't too bad. The lyrics are horribly cheesy and at times laughable, but the performances are pretty good. Of course, having a young, uncredited Carly Simon as part of the 'group' that made this thing doesn't hurt. One of my favorite albums in my collection, for reasons that I can't quite put my finger on.

I've seen the 'group' attributed as "Lou Adessa and Vince Benay", and also "The First Team".

First picked this up in college, where it got played at parties a lot in a rather tongue and cheek fashion. Many tracks ended up on mix tapes I'd make of the worst and weirdest music that I could find, which were quite popular later in the evening when everyone was wasted. I've searched high and low to find Carly Simon making any reference to it, but smartly she has kept mum about her participation in this "golden throat" collection of motor safety rockers.

Even the cover art is kitschy fun...the intent look on that goober's face, as viewed through one of those gigantic 60's steering wheels that look like they could be used to pilot an oreboat.

1432235607-2430-27.jpg
Click to expand...
I HAVE THIS! My friend's mom gave me a big ol' box of records and this was in it! Now I'm super excited to give it a listen. Thank you for posting this!
 
Teej said:
I HAVE THIS! My friend's mom gave me a big ol' box of records and this was in it! Now I'm super excited to give it a listen. Thank you for posting this!
Click to expand...

Sure! Found out that Lou Adessa and Vince Benay were the writers of the songs. They also wrote a couple of songs for Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Cyrkle.
 
Cool thread. I thought about doing this a few weeks ago but got sidetracked. Thanks!

I recently acquired an odd lot of about 1,000 records with some obscure (to me) stuff. I'll post some of them. Some might not actually be "rarities", but only to me. If so, please let me know!
 
Today's offering is a little personal. Jim Krueger was a session guitarist and member of the Dave Mason Band for many years, penning Mason's biggest hit, "We Just Disagree" and singing the harmonies on that recording over Mason's own lead vocals, and playing 12 string on the hit. Jim was from Manitowoc, WI and I got to know him briefly when he returned to Wisconsin a few years before his death at the age of 43. "Sweet Salvation" is his only solo album, a sort of contractual obligation that Columbia owed him, as I understand it. On it is his own version of "We Just Disagree", which a chicken-egg argument can be made as to which is the better version. A hard to find and very good album.

Jim was immensely talented as a guitarist and songwriter. Upon his return to Manitowoc, he frequented the Green Bay music scene quite often. I met him through a co-worker who owned and ran a really nice 8 track studio in his basement in a Green Bay suburb where I was doing some recording at the time. The co-worker had a sort of weekly Saturday morning coffee-and-donuts affair where local musicians would come over, play records, shoot the breeze and hang out, and Jim often showed up at this. He had two bands going at the time, "Jim Krueger and the Normal Adults", and "The Traveling Kingsburys", a hometown pun/nod to Manitowoc, which used to be the home of Kingsbury Beer. "The Traveling Kingsburys" would go on to become "The Happy Schnapps Combo", the band that recorded "The Bears Still Suck" and "I Don't Wanna Do Dat", as featured on Dr. Demento, both penned by Jim. In fact, I was at this coffee clutch one Saturday morning when Jim came in with a spiral notebook full of wacky polkas that he'd written when he had the idea for "The Happy Schnapps Combo". We all about died laughing. The Schnapps' second CD, "Raise It" was recorded in this basement studio. They're still playing dates in Wisconsin, with Jim's brother Rich on drums.

Sadly, Jim "Bruiser" Krueger died way too young. Pick this one up if you can find it.

71gT3mV0veL._SL1211_.jpg
 
Auomatic Man? I bought their first album and didn't know any more were ever made until recently. How can you go wrong with funky space rock with song titles like "Interstellar Tracking Devices" :D
images.jpg even though they did make a few more albums, I never saw them in any record store.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom