Picture Disc 4: Helloween ~ Halloween 45 RPM

Helloween ~ Halloween

picture disc, side 1

photo by Styrous®

To celebrate this very special day I've chosen an appropriate song. Halloween is from the Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I album by the German power metal band Helloween. It is a 45 RPM picture disc, also appropriately, in the form of a jack-o'-lantern. There are scarier images I could have used, eg, The politics of fear (link below).        

Helloween ~ Halloween

picture disc, side 2 detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The Halloween picture disc was issued only as a promotional recording and was never meant to be sold to the general public.       

Helloween ~ Halloween

picture disc, side 2 detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Helloween was founded in 1984 in Hamburg, Germany by members of the bands Iron Fist and Gentry. The group originally consisted of rhythm guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, lead guitarist Michael Weikath and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. Singer Michael Kiske was added but later replaced by Andi Deris and Schwichtenberg was replaced by Uli Kusch. The line-up of the group has been complicated over the years (link below).  

Helloween ~ Halloween 

picture disc, side 2

photo by Styrous®

The Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, Part 1 (1987) and Part 2 (1988), established the group as a notable heavy metal band and led to the creation of the power metal subgenre.      
 

Since its inception, Helloween has released fifteen studio albums, three live albums, three EPs, twenty-seven singles and has sold more than eight million records worldwide (link below).       

Helloween, Wacken Open Air - 2018

left to right: 

Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner, Kai Hansen,  

Michael Weikath, and Daniel Löble 

Tracklist:

Side 1:

1 - Halloween (Edited Version) - 5:06

Side 2:

2 - Halloween (Edited Version) - 5:06

Notes:

Promo only shaped Picture Disc.

Orig. version from the album "Keeper of the Seven Keys-Part I"
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A): L27666 STERLING 5223 7 RAA A-1
    Matrix / Runout (Side B): L27666 STERLING 5223 7 RAA A-2

Helloween ‎– Halloween
Label: Noise International ‎– 5223-7-RAA-A
Format: Vinyl, 7", Shape, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Rock
Style: Speed Metal

     
        
Net links:     
      
Helloween website        
Band members      
Discography      
History        
Blabbermouth ~ Michael Kiske: Reunion Was 'Meant To Be'     
Metal Assault ~ Power Metal Heaven: Helloween Turns Back the Clock  
Vimeo ~ Helloween videos            
The Week ~ The politics of fear               
 
YouTube link:     
      
Helloween ~ Halloween      
       
       
 

      
           
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, October 31, 2018     

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The Week ~ The politics of fear

The Week, November 2, 2018, detail

magazine cover image by Fred Harper

detail photo of magazine cover by Styrous®

 

A brilliant compendium of articles and reviews from the United States and around the world covering politics, finance, art, movies, books, you name it. This week's edition is a doozy and the cover is perfect for this special day of the year!     

       
Viewfinder links:        

          

Books      
Helloween ~ Halloween 45 RPM       

       

Net links:      

         

The Week   
The politics of fear articles
       
 
      
      

Happy Haloween!

     
     
     
        
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, October 31, 2018    
      

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45 RPMs 27: Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home

Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home

45 RPM single

photo by Styrous®

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Ain't Got No Home is a song written and originally recorded by American rhythm & blues singer and pianist Clarence "Frogman" Henry. It was recorded in September, 1956, and released as a single in the United States on October 27, 1956.      

Clarence "Frogman" Henry  

date & photographer unknown

       
I remember the first time I heard Ain't Got No Home, I thought, "What the hell is this?" The first verse of the song is sung in a man's voice, the second in a girl's voice, and the third in a frog's voice. But I was hooked, as usual!       

Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home

45 RPM single label

photo by Styrous®

Henry was a New Orleans rhythm and blues man who used his trademark croak to improvise the song Ain't Got No Home one night in 1955. Chess Records' A&R man Paul Gayten heard the song, and had Henry record it in the Cosimo Matassa studio in September 1956. Initially promoted by local DJ Poppa Stoppa, the song eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. The gimmick earned Henry his nickname of "Frogman" and jump-started a career that endures to this day. The song was the first big hit released on the Chess subsidiary Argo Records.      

        

Ain't Got No Home was covered by The Band on their fifth, R&B and blues inspired studio album, Moondog Matinee, in 1973.         

There have been many artists who have done versions of the song: Suzi Quatro, Buddy Holly, Roscoe Chenier, the New York Dolls, and Jackie Edwards. Madeline Kahn did a fantastic version of the song (links below).   

The song was used in the 1987 American horror comedy film, The Lost Boys. The scene it is used in with Corey Haim is pretty funny (link below).      

Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Troubles, Troubles

45 RPM single

photo by Styrous®

Troubles, Troubles is a bouncy tune that would have been a good song if it hadn't been over shadowed by Ain't Got No Home but after all, it was the "B" side (link below) .     

Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Troubles, Troubles

45 RPM single label

photo by Styrous®

Discogs lists the "Genre" of Ain't Got No Home as "Funk/Soul" but it was written years before Soul and a decade before Funk was in existence. It was "rhythm & blues" and no doubt about that!  

      

In the United States, the song reached no. 3 on one of the Billboard R&B charts and no. 20 on the Billboard pop chart, the Top 100. The song is ranked no. 98 on the NME magazine's list of 100 Best Songs of the 1950s.        

   

Tracklist:

Side 1: 

A - Ain't Got No Home, written by C.Henry* - 2:23

Side 2:
    
B - Troubles, Troubles, written by C.Henry* C. Henry*, P. Gayton* - 2:!5
   
Companies, etc.

    Published By – Arc Music (2)

Notes:

Argo misprinted the other submission by printing 'Clarence Henry' with no space.
The labels on this version corrects the misspelling.

Arc Music BMI

Argo Record Corp • Chicago, ILL • Made in U.S.A.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Rights Society: BMI

Clarence Henry "Frogman"* ‎– Ain't Got No Home
Label: Argo (6) ‎– 5259, Argo Record Corp. ‎– 5259
Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1956
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Rhythm & Blues


Viewfinder links:  
     
Buddy Holly         
Madeline Kahn
The Band           
Net links:  
     
New Orleans Frogman      
     
     
      
     
YouTube links:  
     
Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home
                                            ~ Troubles, Troubles        
Madeline Kahn ~ Ain't Got No Home      
Buddy Holly ~ Ain't Got No Home    
Suzi Quatro ~ Ain't Got No Home      
The New York Dolls ~ Ain't Got No Home   
The Lost Boys ~ Ain't Got No Home        

     
         
Styrous® ~ Saturday, October 27, 2018            
         

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45 RPMs Archive

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The Band articles/mentions

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Band Together Concert for the North Bay fires     
Clarence "Frogman" Henry ~ Ain't Got No Home     
   
   
   
   
  

The Band - 1970     

Billboard, page 19, 28 November 1970

  

     

  

 

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Music Notes Articles

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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Madeline Kahn articles/mentions

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Ain't Got No Home   
Young Frankenstein           
    

    
       
      
      
     
     
      
Madeline Kahn   
date & photographer unknown         
      

       
      

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Movie articles
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The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place

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I was at my friend Katie's for dinner the other night and spotted this book, The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place by Jennifer McCartney, sitting on the kitchen counter. Of course, it snagged my attention immediately. I asked her why she bought it and she said she couldn't resist buying it simply for the title. Being an incurable collector, I had to find out what it is all about; my search results were hysterical (links below). This is basically what I found:  

'Not giving a fuck - crucially - means releasing yourself from the worry, anxiety, fear, and guilt associated with saying no, allowing you to stop spending time you don't have with people you don't like and doing things you don't want to do. Not giving a fuck means reducing mental clutter and eliminating annoying people and things from your life, freeing up space and truly enjoying all the things you do give a fuck about.'

'Problems with your digestion? It's not gluten - it's all your fucking stuff. Look, you know who was very tidy? Patrick Bateman, the serial murderer from American Psycho. Also, Musselini was a very tidy man. He loved filing papers. Ted Bundy? Neat as fuck. Now ask yourself, what kind of company do you want to keep?'      

Publisher's Summary

"The anti-clutter movement is having a moment. You may have heard about a book - an entire book - written on the topic of tidiness and how magical and life-changing it is to neaten up and throw away your belongings. Yes, you read that correctly.  

It's time to fight that ridiculousness and to start buying even more stuff and leaving it any place you want. Guess what, neatniks? Science shows that messy people are more creative.* Being a slob is an art, and there's a fine line between being a consumer and being a hoarder. Don't cross that line.  

This book tells you how to clutter mindfully and with great joy. The results are mind-blowing. Your plants will stop dying. Your whiskey bottle will never run dry. Your drugstore points will finally add up to a free jar of salsa and some nice shampoo. You'll go shopping and discover that you've lost weight.... It's time to take back your life from the anti-clutter movement."     

      

      

Viewfinder link:          

          

Books          

     

Net links:          

          

Elle Decor ~ Neat freaks, look away!            

BookTrib ~ Just Let It Happen       

FLARE ~ Screw Tidying Up interview     

Apartment Therapy ~ Cluttered is the New Clean           
Architectural Digest ~ Why Minimalism Is BS       
MyDomaine ~ The Real Girl's Guide to Tidying Up, Sort Of    
Refinery29 ~ 5 Good Reasons To STOP Cleaning Your Apartment   

Athenaeum ~ De kunst van het niet zo moeilijk doen          

Barnes & Noble     
         

          

     "You're born messy and you die messy, 
but someplace in between 
you get bullied into believing 
that you should be neat and organized.”
                        ~ Jennifer McCartney

         

           

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, October 24, 2018           

           

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Betty Jo Costanzo ~ Portals opening

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The ages old technique of oil painting has been given a modern boost with the video-based paintings of Betty Jo Costanzo. Her work showed at the Gray Loft Gallery last night with the opening of her solo exhibition, Portals, a multimedia video installation based on her series TimeSCAPES and abstract paintings created in response to the movement and images of the videos she has created.  

Betty Jo Costanzo - Portals

Showing until

  

November 17, 2018

   
 
  
 
  

photos by

Styrous®

Betty Jo Costanzo - Portals

October 20 - November 17, 2018

The Gray Loft Gallery 

2889 Ford Street, #32

Oakland, CA 94601

      

Viewfinder links:       

      

Betty Jo Costanzo         
Gray Loft Gallery            

         

Net links:       

      

Betty Jo Costanzo         

Gray Loft Gallery      

        

      

      

      

      

    

Styrous® ~ Sunday, October 21, 2018       

 

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Art/Exhibitions Articles
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20,000 vinyl LPs 154: Divine ~ Greatest Hits

Divine ~ Greatest Hits
vinyl LP album cover detail

photo by Styrous®

 

Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead) was born on October 19, 1945. He was an American actor, singer and drag queen who worked with John Waters (link below). Divine was also the inspiration for Ursula the Sea Witch, the Walt Disney character created for the film, The Little Mermaid (link below).    

Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical appearances, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.         

Divine's big hit was So, You Think You're a Man. Male body builders are featured in the video for the song but Mae West (link below) beat Divine to it by 50 years. Divine also did a cover of Walk Like a Man by the Four Seasons (links to both below).    

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album cover

photo by Styrous®

In 1984 Divine released an album entitled, The Story So Far, in Australia, Europe and Japan. The same year, he released this album, Greatest Hits, in Canada on the Unidisc label. This album has none of the songs that were his hits; instead it has songs he sung that are seldom heard.         

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album back cover

photo by Styrous®

Needless to say, all are Hi-NRG tunes written by Bobby Orlando execpt Native Love, which was written with Marc Bauman. Shoot Your Shot was produced by Spanish record producers.   

Love Reaction was recorded twice upon the suggestion of Divine's Dutch record company, the second version modeled after the successful New Order, Blue Monday single. A suit was threatened against Orlando for audio plagiarism, but never materialized (link below).         

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Shoot Your Shot was produced by Toni Peret (Antonio Peret Alcalde) and José María Castells. It became Divine's second single to chart on the Dutch Top 40; it debuted at #26 and eventually peaked at #3. The song spent a total of 10 weeks on the chart. Shoot Your Shot was certified gold (100,000 copies) in the Netherlands.             

  

Shoot Your Shot 

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Peret was born in Barcelona, Spain, on May 24, 1964, and is an internationally known DJ. He was creator of volumes 3 to 12 of the Max Mix saga in the second half of the 1980's and early 1990's in addition to many other megamixes.      

Castells is a Spanish DJ/producer from Barcelona. He began to work in the record world in the Spanish company Max Music in 1986, recording with said company a total of 65 disks of mixtures (Megamixes).   

         

Native Love
Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Native Love (Step By Step) became Divine's first single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart. It debuted at #37 before climbing to and peaking at #28 in its second week. The song spent a total of 11 weeks on the chart.        

Native Love (Step By Step remains Divine's highest charting song on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Songs, where it peaked at #21.         

          

Jungle Jezebel

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP album back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The intro for Jungle Jezebel is a minute & a half and when the vocal begins, somehow, it reminds me of what The Residents (link below) might do vocally.           

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Divine ~ Greatest Hits

vinyl LP label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Native Love - 5:10
A2 - Shake It Up - 9:28
A3 - Jungle Jezebel - 4:37

Side 2:

B1 - Shoot Your Shot - 8:23
B2 - Love Reaction - 5:31
B3 - Native Love (Suite) - 8:30

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – "O" Records
    Copyright (c) – "O" Records
    Copyright (c) – Unidisc Productions Ltd.
    Manufactured By – Unidisc Productions Ltd.
    Distributed By – Unidisc Productions Ltd.

Credits:

    Producer – Bobby Orlando

Notes:

℗ 1982, 1984 "O" Records
© 1984 "O" Records / Unidisc Productions Ltd.
Made in Canada
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A): SPLP-8004-A IA 2X
    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B): SPLP-8004-B IA 2X

Divine ‎– Greatest Hits... So Far..!
Label: Unidisc ‎– SPLP-8004
Series: Disco/Dance Classics – SPLP-8004
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: Canada
Released: 1982, 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Hi NRG, Disco

Viewfinder links:        

          

Divine articles/mentions      
Mae West      

The Residents            

John Waters             

          

Net links:        

          

Max Music               

AV Club ~ How Divine inspired Ursula The Sea Witch  
Hazlitt ~ Unearthing the Sea Witch         

NY Times obit          

          

YouTube links:        

           
Divine ~                
        Native Love 
        Shake It Up  
        Jungle Jezebel 
        Shoot Your Shot
        Love Reaction              
        Native Love (Suite)
        So, You Think You're a Man

        Walk Like a Man (video)     
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons ~ Walk Like a Man (video)   
   

   
       

         
      
Styrous® ~ Friday, October 19, 2017      
   

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