Today's Vinyl Spin - SHNAZZ on LP in 2021

 

I Want To Jump on Your Bones

#TBT Thursday - Today's Vinyl Spin - SHNAZZ - "I Think We're Alone Now" - they were a local band that was on the verge of a national breakout. The cover of the old Tommy James & the Shondells hit got a bunch of radio airplay in 1980. The album had a bunch of party rockin' songs including "Bad Boys", "I Want to Jump on Your Bones", "Can You Still Come Back" and the instrumental, "Pignose Under Glass". The record was never issued in a digital format. It came out in a standard LP and cassette. "I Think We're Alone Now" b/w "Bad Boys" was also issued as a single 45, which I also have in my collection.

The members of Shnazz included  Fritz "The Fritz" Hasenpusch on vocals/harmonica, Frank Kam on guitar/vocals, Roger Holland on bass/vocals, Art Galvan on drums, vocals, percussion, and Vernon Sakata on guitar, vocals.

I was lucky enough to see them perform for free at King's Alley in Waikiki back in either 1980 or 1981. I read years ago that around 1981 they were signed to a major record label and were supposed to release a follow-up to this record. It never happened.

Here is a clip of them doing "I Want to Jump on Your Bones" and "I Think We're Alone Now."

Today's Vinyl Spin: Blood Sweat & Tears

 Enter Blood Sweat & Tears (2nd album)

Several years ago I picked up this album by Blood Sweat & Tears. It is the second album by the brassy rock band with a serious mix of jazz thrown in. I consider Blood Sweat & Tears as the second most popular brass accented rock band only to Chicago (earlier knwon as Chicago Transit Authority). This album was released in December 1968 and became a best selling album in 1969 topping the Billboard Top 200 album charts.

At that time Blood Sweat & Tears consisted of the following members:

David Clayton Thomas - Lead vocals

Steve Katz - vocals, guitar

Jim Felder - bass

Dick Halligan - organ, piano, flute, trombone, vocals

Fred Lipsius - piano, alto saxophone

Lew Soloff - trumpet, flugelhorn

Chuck Winfield - trumpet, flugelhorn

Alan Rubin - trumpet on "Spinning Wheel"

Jerry Hyman - trumpet, recorder

Bobby Colomby - drums, percussion, vocals

Several tracks became top 40 hits in 1969 and 1970. From the track list below, their peak chart positions on the Billboard Hot 100 are indicated in parenthesis. Those three hits are my favorites from the album in addition to "More and More".

Side A

1. Variations on a Theme

2. Smiling Phases

3. Sometimes in Winter

4. More and More

5. And When I Die (2)

6. God Bless the Child

Side B

7. Spinning Wheel (2 - Hot 100 1 - AC)

8. You've Made Me So Very Happy (2)

9. Blues – Part II - Interpolating "Sunshine of Your Love", "Spoonful" and "Somethin' Goin' On"

10. Variations on a Theme

The vinyl record itself is in good, playable condition and features the red Columbia eyeball logo theme. The record jacket is in fair condition and features a gatefold that is not shown in this post.

Blood Sweat & Tears have a long history of album releases, concert shows, and membership changes. In fact over the years, the membership in the band has changed more than 150 times. You can look it up in Wikipedia.

If you ever have a chance to pick up this album, get it whether it be on LP, CD or a stream.

Audio: Spinning Wheel (1969 single)
Audio: You Made Me So Very Happy (1969)

Audio: And When I Die (1969 single)

Today's Vinyl Spin: RCA Model #9-ED-31K 33/45 RPM 2-Speed Suitcase Record Player

Got a piece of retro tech that I found on YouTube. Watch this guy play a couple of old records with an RCA Victor 2-speed suitcase record player from the 1950s. This thing is big and play only 33 1/3 LPs and 45s. Most record players of this vintage used to include 16 and 78 rpm speeds. I would have to think RCA was a little forward thinking with this model in the fact that it only supported the two most popular speeds that are still used for vinyl records today.

The records the presenter plays are a 45, "Love Eyes" by The Duprees and an LP track "Bye Bye Love" by The Everly Brothers. Enjoy!

The YouTube Channel Link: (Seeburgsrock).

Here are his notes about the record player:

Uploaded on Jun 28, 2011

Here's a scarce RCA player (as are all 33/45 varieties of this player) from the mid 50's. This is a 2-speed, 33/45 RPM player that's been rebuilt & features a Sonotone 52T stereo ceramic cartridge bridged for mono playing through a single stage amplifier and feeding a 4" speaker. It has volume control only. The DeLuxe models featured a 2-stage amplifier w/volume AND tone controls feeding a 4"x6" speaker. The mechanism was made by Crescent and used exclusively by the RCA lineup in only 9 of their players. These 2-speed players were only made for a year and not many were sold simply because there was a TON of 4-speed players available at the time this was being merchandised. While 78 RPM records were quickly fading from the scene, there were still a lot of people that had 78's in their collection and, of course, they could not be played on these 2-speed players! As a consequence, very few of these 2-speed players were bought by the public. It's most definitely a strange player! 33 RPM records could only be played as singles - one at a time. NO provision was made for stacking 33 albums on these players. However, 45's could be stacked by a special 45 RPM spindle adapter. The adapters in their own right are collectible! It's not uncommon to spend $50 JUST for an unmolested adapter simply because after being dropped, they broke into pieces and became useless. When these players are found (and that goes for all 9 varieties), the adapter is often missing or broken beyond being usable. These models are eagerly sought after by collectors because they're a simple mechanism, durable, easy to repair & maintain, one of the few with a "neutral" position to avoid drive wheel damage AND...they're scarce! I have 6 of the 9 models made by RCA. I'd like to purchase the three I DON'T have in my collection which are the DeLuxe 3-tube suitcase models w/volume & tone controls and the plastic DeLuxe 3-tube model in Coral/White combination. If you have or know of anyone that has those models and would like sell them, PLEASE contact me! I really hope you can enjoy & appreciate these wonderful pieces of 1950's history!

Today's Vinyl Spin: George Michael - Faith

Gotta have faith, faith, faith.... yes, this was the title track to George Michael's first solo album in 1987 after he broke up with Andrew Ridgeley and the duo known as Wham. The album came out on Columbia Records and yielded several top 10 hits including the number one records "Faith," "One More Try," "Monkey" and "Father Figure". 

Faith is a good album if you like cutting edge pop music with a beat that is typically 1980s. Michael at the time was regarded as a teen idol (especially when he was a part of Wham) as his videos were extensively played on MTV and other music channels of the time.

George Michael tried to break out of that mold with subsequent album releases that proved to be mostly successful.

This particular record was not played very often and is in very good condition. The album jacket is still shrink wrapped showing the original $5.00 price that I paid for it at Froggies Books and Records back in the day. I also owned the album on cassette but never got around to getting it on compact disc.

George Michael passed away on December 25, 2016 allegedly from heart failure. He was 53.

"Father Figure" was one of the #1 singles from Faith.

10 Minute Documentary: Buy Sell Trade

Over the years I have kept most of my vinyl records. Today vinyl has made a comeback and it is good to see that young people have rediscovered vinyl.

This short film has been out for about a year, published to YouTube in April 2013.

Beach Rock by Blue Fin

Beach Rock by Blue Fin, a photo by macprohawaii on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
IMG_4481 - Anyone remember this Hawaii produced record and band? I've had this 45 for years, but only recently found it in June stashed in a box in Honokaa. It's a good song. The other side is a song called "Vacationlnad". Both are good rock songs. Has this ever been out on digital? I doubt it. Was there an album? If there was I never saw it. Or heard it.