Mr Weird and Wacky

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - 21 (More Death and Horror)

2011-10-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - 21 (More Death and Horror) was a compilation by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to celebrate their 21st anniversary in 1979. It was compiled as an overview of their work both old and new, showcasing the changes in the Workshop as they developed from backroom sound effects suppliers for BBC Radio to full-fledged in-house music composers for the whole of the corporation. It demonstrates the move from the musique concrète and tape-manipulation techniques used in the early days, to the synthesiser works of the 1970s.

The first side of the album consists of material from 1958 to 1971, covering their early work creating jingles, sound-effects and some incidental music. This side also includes the first material by Workshop founder Desmond Briscoe to be commercially released, as well as sound effects from The Goon Show, Maddalena Fagandini's interval signal (that later became "Time Beat"), some of Delia Derbyshire's experimental work and the pilot episode version of the Doctor Who theme music. The second side of the record covered the period between 1971–1979, including Richard Yeoman-Clark material from popular BBC series Blake's 7 and Peter Howell's vocoder heavy "Greenwich Chorus" theme for The Body in Question.

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Why Did Lenny Bruce Die?

2011-10-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

Considered by many to be a consistent contender in any top 10 list of the weirdest and wackiest albums of all time. It's hard to get and worth a listen.

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Rolf Harris and The Stylophone

2011-10-04T03:41:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting little gem. The Stylophone is an instrument that Rolf Harris did his darndest to promote. Unfortunately all his good work fell (mainly) on deaf ears. There were a few exceptions, most notably David Bowie on "Space Oddity". The Stylophone came with an instructional flexi-disc plus three "books". These "books" were in turn accompanied by 7'' mini-LP's. You can download all these gems right here, right now!

Flexi-Disc
Book 1 (Traditional Tunes and Christmas Carols)
Book 2 (Glenn Miller Album)
Book 3 (Latin American Album)

Baker Street Philharmonic: By The Light Of The Moon

2011-10-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

Finally - I got it. This album has been a "holy grail" item for many years. No sign of a download anywhere. LP unavailable here there and everywhere. Then ... a copy pops up on Ebay. So, here it is - the wait is well worth it!

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The Groupies

2011-09-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

Here's an album where a bunch of luvely groupies decide that it's a good idea to tell-all. I wonder if they still think that?

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Hot Pepper

2011-09-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Bawdy ballads with a great cover. There are a lot of albums out there that boast one or the other. This has both.

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Baker Street Philharmonic: Je T'aime..Moi Non Plus

2011-07-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

This is a combination of "Yesterday's Dreams" and "By The Light Of The Moon". I can't imagine a music collection without this in it ... totally needed.

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Baker Street Philharmonic: Yesterday's Dreams

2011-07-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of "lounge" type albums out there, but Mike Vickers and Co really stand out. If you're into the Moog, this is a must to download.

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Dr Murray Banks

2011-07-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

How To Live With Yourself, Or What To Do Until The Psychiatrist Arrives

Murray offers advice to those in need. Does this really exist?

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Tortura - The Sounds of Pain and Pleasure

2011-07-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

A whole bunch of "oohs" and "ahhs" worth checking out.

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Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (Vol 1)

2011-07-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

What ... you mean there may be a Volume 2 still to come.

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Paddy Roberts: Songs For Gay Dogs

2011-07-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

This album was made during a time when "gay" meant something else.

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Music To Grow Plants

2011-07-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

Presented By Dr George Milstein

This music will apparently make your "plants" grow super quick. Don't laugh .. it's all true.

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Frankly Fiona

2011-07-05T01:19:00.000-07:00

By Fiona Richmond and Anthony Newley

Fiona was a bit of a celeb who thought clothes were of little merit and starred in various movies to boot. Paul Raymond "presents" this album. He was the man behind Mayfair magazine for men. Absolutely Essential.

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Facial Exercises

2011-07-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

Edited by Ern Westmore

Eye stretching melodrama from Ern. Something to do while you're watching the Tele.

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Auscultation Of The Heart

2011-07-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

An LP produced specifically for the medical profession. Heartbeats galore ... each with their own story to tell. Very informative if you're that way inclined.

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A Perfect Action

2011-07-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Perspico Acumine Holdings

An opera based on the game of Cricket ... Unbelievable

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Music From Mathematics

2011-07-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

Played by IBM 7090 Computer

Another computer uses mathematics to play some tunes.

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Music From Mathematics

2011-07-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Produced By Bell Telephone Laboratories
(10 inch mini LP)

Intriguing bunch of tunes courtesy of a computer. This is a hard to get mini LP and well worth a listen. The tunes are not made or devised by people - this is all the doing of a computer based in the Bell Telephone "Laboratories".

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Rae Bourbon - Let Me Tell You About My Operation

2011-06-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

Ray Bourbon decides to tell the world about how he/she became Rae.

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Mrs Miller - Greatest Hits

2011-04-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

Wide eyed one hit wonder or cruel hoax? You be the judge.

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Adrian Munsey - The Lost Sheep 7"

2010-09-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

A guy and a sheep backed by a full-on orchestra. Apparently Kurt Cobain had a thing for this "tune".

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Beatle Barkers

2010-09-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Dogs doing Beatles songs ... what could be better than that?

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Uri Geller: Self Titled

2010-09-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

Spoon bending magic. Songs such as "Come On and Love", "A Queen Without A King" & "The Lonely Man" ... pathetic at best.

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Great Fences Of Australia

2010-09-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

Whoah - should this exist! Someone actually travelled around Australia and played a violin bow on a whole buncha fences. That's quite a few km and pretty dull sounds on fences. It's out there, it's real and it does exist.

Great Fences of Australia

Richard and Willie - Funky Honkey Nasty Nigger

2010-08-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Richard Sanfield (born in 1937) was an ex marine who saw a ventriloquist in a nightclub (in 1967) and decided to give it a try. As "Richard and Willie" he recorded 12 records.

He worked at the Apollo Theater and many other venues with artists such as Richard Pryor (whom he put out an album with), "Cannonball" Adderley and Roberta Flack. Sanfield retired Richard and Willie in 1992. This little gem is from 1975.

(Click on image at above right to download album cover)
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The Day the Earth Stood Still

2010-08-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

The 1951 soundtrack to the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" by Bernard Herrmann is regarded as a classic in the annals of Theremin music. Herrmann is probably best known for his collaborations with directors Orson Wells ("Citizen Kane", "The Magnificent Ambersons") and Alfred Hitchcock ("Psycho", "North by Northwest", "Vertigo").

The soundtrack includes unusual instrumentation including: violin, cello, and bass (all three electric), two Theremin electronic instruments (played by Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organs, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphones, two glockenspiels, two harps, three trombones, and four tubas (whew!). Unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques were used to create this weird and wacky soundtrack. The unearthly whine of the Theremin ensures that this music still sounds creepy today, nearly sixty years after it was written.

Leon Theremin, who invented the Theremin, is one of the great unsung (and largely unheard of) musical innovators of the 20th Century. It's well worth checking out the 1993 documentary about his life: "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey". The movie includes interviews with: Clara Rockmore (a virtuoso Theremin player), Robert Moog (inventor of the Moog synthesiser), and Brian Wilson.

(Click on image at above right to download album cover)

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The Elvis Presley Seance

2010-07-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

"The Elvis Presley Seance" is a recording of an actual seance which supposedly involves the king of rock n roll'n'roll. Made in 1979. Wacky, check. Weird, check.

(Click on images at right to download album cover)

Download the Album:
Side 1
Side 2

Dr Jerry Falwell - Where Are The Dead

2010-07-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

Awful person, awful album, thank God he's dead (pun intended). Another awful album here for your listening pleasure(?).

(Click on image at right to download album cover)

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Side 1
Side 2

The Books - Expertise

2010-07-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Could be one of the greatest pop albums of all time! A Classic example of 80's pop.

(Click on image at right to download album cover)

Download Tracks:
1 - Spillage
2 - Metaphysic
3 - Hirohito
4 - Osterreich
5 - Rain
6 - Expertise
7 - Ballroom Debut
8 - Dusters
9 - I'll Be Your Friend

The Braillettes - Our Hearts Keep Singing

2010-06-27T01:45:00.000-07:00

What better way to start a blog site about weird and wacky music than to share this LP from The Braillettes. Much sought after for it's cover, which has been listed as one of the worst album covers of all time ... so here it is.

(Click on image at right to download album cover)

Download Tracks:
01 - He'll Never Let You Fall
02 - His Smile
03 - All Day Long My Heart Keeps Singing
04 - The First Thing I Do Every Morning
05 - This Is My Prayer
06 - Tenderly He Calls
07 - That's What He Did For Me
08 - The Innkeeper
09 - How Rich I Am
10 - Will He Know Me
11 - Soon It Is Over