Check this out.
Now look at this:
Proof. The Creature From The Black Lagoon was Mickey Dolenz.
Category: Retro & Vintage
And on this day, Awesome happened.
Shortly after recording what was arguably their best album at Abbey Road Studios, the Fab Four crossed that now famous intersection and posed for this publicity shot. (L to R: Paul, George, John and Ringo.)
Some say the Beatles were too popular, but you’ve got to admit that without “the British Invasion” of the 1960s there’d likely be no Tacky Raccoons.
[Image found here, crossposted here.]
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Update: This is disturbing.
Saturday Matinee – The Beatnix, Zappa, Carl Douglas, The Black Keys & the Streamline Rockers
One of my favorites of The PreFab Four (posted previously).
What the heck. Here’s Zappa’s version.
Here’s to the Royal Disco Wedding for our friends across the pond: “There was funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown.” Great lyrics from Carl Douglas. Reminds me of National Lampoon’s classic “Have a Kung-Fu Christmas.”
Heh. The Black Keys are my current favorites in the land of retrorock, and they fit right in with the Soul Train motif. [Tip o’ the tarboosh to Bunkessa]
And as long as we’re going retro, here’s some rockabilly from the UK: The Streamline Rockers.
That makes five for this episode of the Saturday Matinee, and with that I’m out. Have a great weekend folks, and see you back here tomorrow for more fun.
Copycat
Okay, before you think you’re clever and rename it as a you-know-what, there’s more to this picture than you think. We’re talking Zen convergence.
The modern copy machine owes it’s existence to cat fur and Chester Carlson. Never heard of him? I’ll make it easy for you. Click here.
[Image found here.]
Saturday Matinee – Zappa, The Ink Spots, Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth & Satchmo
Earth Day has come and gone, and dang, I missed it. To make up for it, let’s run with the theme.
It would be different if I didn’t care, but I don’t want to set the world on fire.
Yep. In the Garden of Eden. On drugs.
That’s a rare Rare Earth vid. Now, to find one more video to round out the set… okay. I got it.
One of the prettiest songs ever written. Happy Easter and have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
We Heard You Were Coming
Donut Queen
She’s got so much hair it’s blocked out all the sunlight. Good thing she got a tetanus shot, too.
[Found here.]
Saturday Matinee – Xylophone Ad, Joey Ramone, New York Dolls, The Milenberg Joys, Red Nichols
A wooden ball is set atop a long, wooden structure that might be a xylophone or a marimba, constructed in the middle of the woods. As the ball rolls downward, dropping onto each wooden “key,” it plays a note, and suddenly we are hearing Bach’s Cantata 147, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” .. “We did not add any artificial music at all,” Harano wrote (though they did adjust some levels to “bring out the sound of river and nature”).
Yeah, ultimately it’s a commercial, but it’s still very very cool. [via]
R.I.P. Joey Ramone (d. 15 April 2001)
The New York Dolls were stuck between classic rock and proto-punk, but they had that pseudo-tranny stuff going on that turned off a lot of potential fans, at least in my opinion.
[Deleted the video. Screw ’em since they’ve blocked embedded links. If they don’t want free advertisement, then they shouldn’t post it on the Utoobage.]
The Katzenjammers. Nice trumpetingness. [h/t to Bunkessa]
So, in place of a cool video of the folks originally posted above, here are The Milenberg Joys. I think they had more talent than that Katzjamband anyway.
Red Nichols & His Five Pennies were awesome in their time.
Speaking of time, I’m out of it. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
CementLand, USA
Gotta look sharp when you’re on vacation at CementLand, USA. On the other hand, you can get away with velour jumpsuits at CementLand, UK.
[Found here.]
Saturday Matinee – Nippoless Nippleby, Dan Hicks, Leon Redbone, 80s Ragtime
Nice absurd animation from the 1980s.
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks were mildly successful in the 70s with their 1930s hot club jazz/bluegrass style. “Crazy ‘Cause He Is” was my favorite Hicks ditty. (NSFK: flip off in the vid image, mild language warning. Fun song otherwise.)
Leon Redbone’s version of “Polly Wolly Doodle.” According to Wiki, there’s no secret meaning to the song, but here’s a verse I’d never heard:
“Behind the barn, down on my knees,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day;
I thought I heard a chicken sneeze,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day.
Oh he sneezed so hard with the whooping cough,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day;
He sneezed his head and his tail right off,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day.”
I suspect that the song predates The War Between The States even though the popular tune is played in ragtime. So let’s play some ragtime!
Yep. 1980s hits played in ragtime. There’s something wrong with piano players who can pull off stuff like this (actually, I think there’s something wrong with piano players in general). Must be a subconscious and deep-rooted jealousy thing just because I can’t do what they do.
And with that, we’re done. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
Tacky Raccoons 