20,000 vinyl LPs 199: The Yobs - Auld Lang Syne

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 The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

vinyl LP front cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

What better way to end the year than with a good old fashioned punk rock version of the traditional song, Auld Lang Syne? And it's vinyl LP #199! So, I can start 2020 with vinyl LP #200! How appropriate is that?     

The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

vinyl LP front cover

photo by Styrous®

Originally the group, formed in 1976, was called The Boys. They changed the name of the group and recorded four studio albums under the name, The Yobs, before disbanding in 1982. The group consisted of Matt Dangerfield, Casino Steel formerly of the Hollywood Brats, Honest John Plain, Duncan "Kid" Reid and drummer Jack Black.           

 

 The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

vinyl LP front cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The band's early recordings were made in a home recording studio which Dangerfield had set up in his rented basement apartment in Maida Vale in London.     

The band played their first concert at the Hope and Anchor pub in Islington, London on 15 October 1976. Among the crowd were Mick Jones, Billy Idol, Tony James and Gene October. Later that year they toured with John Cale of Velvet Underground.     

The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

vinyl LP back cover

photo by Styrous®

The Boys achieved limited commercial success, but their music has influenced the development of other bands. German punk band Die Toten Hosen performed cover versions of their music regularly for more than a decade. They also recorded cover versions of some songs, namely First Time for their album Auf dem Kreuzzug ins Glück - 125 Jahre die Toten Hosen and Brickfield Nights for the cover album Learning English, Lesson One. On the rear of the cover of the 1978 album by The Jam, All Mod Cons, the photograph of Paul Weller's Rickenbacker 330 guitar carries a The Boys sticker.  

 

In the late 1990s, Japanese band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant had a hit with a Boys cover. This prompted the re-release of several Boys albums, and more than 30,000 albums were sold in Japan alone. A Boys tribute album was also released featuring 13 bands from around the world. The Boys also influenced the cult power pop band The Exploding Hearts, who performed and recorded in the early 2000s.       

      

 

 The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

vinyl LP back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

The Yobs ~ Christmas Album

Auld Lang Syne

vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

            

Tracklist:

Side 1:

1     Rub-A-Dum Dum     3:09
2     The Ballad Of The Warrington     3:12
3     Another Christmas     2:00
4     Doggy     0:40
5     Jingle Bells     4:41
6     Auld Lang Syne     2:43

Side 1:

1     Silent Night     3:14
2     Silver Bells     2:44
3     C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S     1:09
4     Gloria     1:29
5     Twelve Days Of Christmas     3:19
6     White Christmas     0:59
7     We Wish You A Merry Christmas     1:21
8     May The Good Lord Bless & Keep You     2:33

Companies, etc.

    Pressed By – MPO

Notes:

Originally released in 1980 on Safari Records.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode (scan): 5018376100069
    Barcode: 018376 100069
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, etched): MPO PIP LP 6 A¹
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, etched): MPO PIP LP 6 B¹

The Yobs ‎– Christmas Album
Label: Great Expectations ‎– PIPLP 006
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Punk
      

       

   

       

Viewfinder link:        

         

Billy Idol        

         

Net links:        

         

Discography as The Boys        

Discography as The Yobs        

         

YouTube link:        

         

The Yobs - Auld Lang Syne        

         

      

     

        

       

         

     

        

         

Happy New Year to everyone!

       

         

         

Styrous® ~ New Year's Eve, Tuesday, December 31, 2019       

         

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Marilyn Manson article/mentions

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Alice Cooper ~ Killer    
Billie Eilish ~ When We All Fall Asleep, . . . ?   
     
  
  
  
     
        
  
  
  
Marilyn Manson        
date & photographer unknown       
  
  
  
     

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Joan Baez articles/mentions

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Reel to Reel Tapes* ~     
        Blessed Are...        
        Come From the Shadows       
        Farewell, Angelina    
        Joan       
      
mentions:       
Tim Hardin ~ Two       
Julie London ~ Cry Me a River    
       
       
*Reel to Reel tape       

      
Joan Baez    
date & photographer unknown       
       
    
    
       
      

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1,000,001 CDs 16: Billie Eilish ~ When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

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Most of my friends are strange in one way or another; but that's a good thing because I am as well, so I fit in more or less, here and there!           

                

This was demonstrated nicely this Christmas by one of the gifts I received; a CD from Lex of Titanic and Bowie & Halihal fame (links below).               

The cover of the CD gave me a start when I began to examine it! The visual is reminiscent of Poltergeist, Nosferatu or some such horror/shock flick. The image on the cover is SUPER eerie!   

Billie Eilish ~ When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

CD front cover
cover photo by Kenneth Cappello
photo of album cover by Styrous®

Then the title is extremely provocative, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which filled me with curiosity; I could hardly wait to play it!     

However, I wasn't able to play it for several days (Christmas stuff) but when I did play it, I thought to myself, "What the hell?" I hadn't used my CD player in over a year so was concerned about the distortion I was hearing. Was my player malfunctioning?        

 

I put the CD in the computer but there was the distortion again, so, I figured the CD was defective and would have to return it. Then it occurred to me to go to YouTube. It was from listening to it on that site that I realized it was not a defective CD, a malfunctioning CD player or my computer in the process of dying. It is the way the music/sound was meant to be!        

Also, the videos for the songs are REALLY weird and compliment the weirdness of the music! bury a friend is obviously about drugs and it is pretty frightening (YouTube links below).     

         

      

After I played it a couple of times, I began to hear the real beauty(???) of it. How do I describe it? Think Julee Cruise teaming up with Marilyn Manson; the result is Billie Eilish! The music is truly ASTOUNDING!      

Billie Eilish wrote the songs and music. Not only that, she also recorded the album. If that isn't enough, she did it in the bedroom studio of her brother, Finneas O'Connell, in Highland Park, California. She used production material including Logic Pro X, a Universal Audio Apollo 8 interface and a pair of Yamaha HS5 studio monitors with an H8S subwoofer.    

 

Her vision of the world is, well, extremely scary and the photo on the album cover reflects that vision! The lyrics deal with the not-so-nice things of life (link below).    

The photo is by Kenneth Cappello. The photo shoot took place on Eilish's birthday in December at a studio in Los Angeles. Eilish had prepared sketches for the album cover which were inspired by the album's themes of night terrors and lucid dreaming, as well as Eilish's interest in horror films. Cappello told MTV News that he "knew she wanted it moody". In order for it to "feel real," Cappello added no additional lighting to the end photo so as to give the impression that "a door was opening and that was the light coming into the bedroom." He additionally shot different variations of Eilish sitting on the bed expressing a range of emotions. Eilish wore contacts to fill in her eyes completely with white. She further wished to use a minimum of additional special effects and touch-ups on the end product to retain a sense of "realness and transparency."

I researched When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and discovered it has become a top selling album. Will wonders never cease?      

 

Although it is different in many ways, everything about the album puts me in mind of the last album by David Bowie, ‎ ★ (Blackstar) (links below). The cover design for the Bowie album by Jonathan Barnbrook is not the same yet the feeling of it is. And of course, the music is similarly weird in different ways.    

  

         

Tracklist:

1 - !!!!!!! - 0:14
2 = Bad Guy, Producer [Additional Production] – Billie Eilish - 3:14
3 - Xanny - 4:04
4 - You Should See Me In A Crown - 3:01
5 - All The Good Girls Go To Hell - 2:49
6 - Wish You Were Gay - 3:42
7 - When The Party's Over - 3:16
8 - 8 - 2:53
9 - My Strange Addiction - 3:00
10 - Bury A Friend - 3:13
11 - Ilomilo     2:36
12 - Listen Before I Go     4:03
13 - I Love You - 4:52
14 - Goodbye - 1:59

Companies, etc.

    Distributed By – UMG Commercial Services
    Published By – Universal Music Corp.
    Published By – Drup
    Published By – Last Frontier

Credits:

    A&R – Justin Lubliner, Sam Riback
    Legal – David Ferreria
    Management – Brandon Goodman, Danny Rukasin
    Mastered By – John Greenham
    Mixed By – Rob Kinelski
    Producer – Finneas*
    Written-By – Billie Eilish O'Connell* (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 10 to 14), Finneas O'Connell (tracks: 7, 9)

Notes:

All titles stylized in lowercase.

Debut studio album released on March 29, 2019. The songs "You Should See Me in a Crown" and "When the Party's Over" were released as the first two singles from the album. The third single, "Bury a Friend" was released with the album pre-order on January 30, 2019. The fourth single, "Wish You Were Gay", was released on March 4, 2019 and the fifth single, "Bad Guy", was released on March 29, 2019, shortly after the album's release. Most of the album's tracks were written during the production of Eilish's 2017 EP "Don't Smile at Me". These songs were supposed to be part of an album that was to be released in the summer of 2017, instead "Don’t Smile at Me" was released.


Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode (Printed [UPC-A]): 6 02577 42762 6
    Barcode (Scanned [UPC]): 602577427626
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1): B002972702 333572104
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1): 02/20/2019 08:32AM#33545
    Mould SID Code (Variant 1): IFPI LN09
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2): B002972702 3335721 07
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2): 02/20/2019 09:35.AM#33549
    Mastering SID Code (Variant 2): IFPI LN09
    Mould SID Code (Variant 2): IFPI 1025
    Rights Society: ASCAP

            

Viewfinder links:               

        
Jonathan Barnbrook          
★ (Blackstar)   
Bowie & Halihal         
David Bowie         
Marilyn Manson       

Titanic            

      

Net links:               

        
Azlyrics ~ When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go album lyrics
Billboard ~ Billie Eilish review          
Kenneth Cappello website        
Billie Eilish website               
Forbes ~ Four Hit Singles On The Charts          
NY Times ~ Grande Was Updating Pop. Then Eilish Came Along  
NME ~ Billie Eilish review        
NPR ~ Bad Guy No. 1 Song On Billboard Hot 100      

Pitchfork ~ Billie Eilish review
RollingStone ~ Billie Eilish review        
Variety ~ a Bad-Ass Kid and Wisened Chanteuse, Too concert review    

            

YouTube links:               

Billie Eilish ~      
       bury a friend 
       when the party's over  
Julee Cruise ~ 
       The World Spins       
       Falling
Marilyn Manson ~ 
       The Dope Show    
       God's Gonna Cut You Down   
     
     

            

                

Lex, you've come a long way since Titanic!

      

            

               

Styrous® ~ December 30, 2019

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Tom White ~ Escaparates mios a la noche

#rollupproject.com
 Escaparates mios 

until 2 January 2020

the Third Street window around the corner 

from the 217 Harrison Street window 

visible 24/7

installation photos by Styrous®

  

      

     

  

     
Viewfinder links:     
   
Escaparates mios articles          
Tom White                     
      

Net links:     
   

RollUpProject          

Tom White blog         
           

Styrous® ~ Sunday, December 29, 2019       
       
  

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Art/Exhibitions Articles
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Tom White ~ Escaparates mios articles

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Escaparates mios        
Escaparates mios a la noche    
  
      
      
  
      
      
  
      
      
  
      
    
    
  
      
    

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Nancy Sinatra articles/mentions

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Nancy's Greatest Hits         
    
 
mentions:     
Chickens on Wood String Band             
Fats Domino ~ I'm Walkin'         
 
   
  
  
   
Nancy Sinatra - 1971   

trade ad photo

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Tom White ~ Escaparates mios extended

installation photos by Styrous®

Boxing Day, 

December 26, 20190 

5:26 pm 

#rollupproject.com
has extended the Tom White installation
 Escaparates mios
until 2 January 2020.

People can drive by to see the work
or find a quick parking space to do
a stroll-by of the two window installations.

The Third Street window is visible 24/7
  The 217 Harrison window: Mon - Fri 10 AM - 5 PM

 

 

217 Harrison Street

around the corner are windows on Third Street 

near the train station and Jack London Square. 

              
             
            

          

           
             
Viewfinder links:              
              
Escaparates mios          
Tom White             

             
Net links:              
            

RollUpProject          

Tom White blog                      
             
              
Styrous® ~ Friday, December 27, 2019             
 

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Dean Martin articles/mentions

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Don Cherry ~ Band of Gold 
Julie London ~ Cry Me a River       
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer     
Tom @ 80 ~ the play list   
  
  

   

   
  
Dean Martin - 1948     
photographer unknown

   

   
  
  

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78 RPMs 7: John Marks ~ Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - my first record

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Gene Autry ~ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
10" 78 RPM record cover detail

illustration by Denver Gillen 
detail photo by Styrous®

Well, after spending weeks gathering and wrapping all the Christmas presents I've finally gotten into the holiday spirit! And what could be more in keeping with Christmas, Santa Claus, snow and joy? Rudolph, of course!
      
Midway through creating this blog entry I realized this is the very first record I ever owned. So, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is my choice for celebrating 70 years of record collecting and this special day of a year that has been extraordinary in so many ways.        

This song about Rudolph was written by Johnny Marks in 1949, recorded by Gene Autry and was a HUGE hit! I remember when it came out . . .

Johnny Marks - 1956 

photo: Associated Press

Marks described the song as “one of the worst ever written” but he sent a copy to Gene Autry who agreed with him and rejected the song; however, his wife found it “enchanting” and talked Autry into using it on the other side of an already scheduled record. As they say, the rest is history!      

Johnny Marks ~ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer

6" 78 RPM record
photo by Styrous®  

My mom (link below) bought a cover of the song on Golden Records for me in 1949 for Christmas. The Golden Records label was originally issued from 1948 to 1962; they were produced for little kids. Little Golden Records were six inches (15 cm) in diameter and made of bright yellow plastic (orange plastic was used for a few titles). Each side played for a maximum of about one minute and forty-five seconds at 78 RPM. I recall being disappointed she hadn't bought the popular version of it which was by Gene Autry on Columbia Records and for BIG kids.         

Gene Autry ~ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer   

10" single 78 RPM

But, as can be seen, I played the record my mom bought me to death and beat it up as only a kid can; I remember it had a cover with Rudolph on it but the cover vanished decades ago, who knows where. I still can't believe that was 70 years ago!       

Johnny Marks ~ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
6" 78 RPM record label detail
detail photo by Styrous®

I fell in love with it!   

However, many years later when I was collecting vinyl LPs I came across a beat up old copy of the Autry recording which proudly proclaimed, "The Original", and bought it to satisfy that kid from the 40's still living inside me.

Gene Autry ~ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer 

background illustration by Denver Gillen

vinyl LP album cover detail 

detail photo by Styrous®

 

Mike Stewart (not of the We Five fame) is the singer on my version of the song; he is accompanied by The Sandpapers (not of the Guantanamera fame) and Mitch Miller before he became a 50's recording star in his own right.    

The song has been covered by recording artists other than Autry: there is Perry Como with about a zillion version of it, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Paul Carrack, The Temptations and many more (YouTube link below).    

Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer - lyrics

     
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert Lewis May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Though he initially receives ridicule for his nose as a fawn, the brightness of his nose is so powerful that it illuminates the team's path through the harsh winter weather.      

Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 promotional booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward, the department store. Oh, my Gosh! Does the name of THAT store bring back memories of my childhood!   

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 

Montgomery Ward promotional pamphlet

illustration by Denver Gillen

May, drew in part from the 1844 tale of The Ugly Duckyling by Hans Christian Andersen and his own background (he was often taunted as a child for being shy, small, and slight), settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. His boss was worried that a story featuring a red nose — an image associated with drinking and drunkards — was unsuitable for a Christmas tale. May took Denver Gillen, a friend from the Montgomery Ward art department, to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch some deer. Gillen’s illustrations of a red-nosed reindeer overcame the hesitancy of May’s superiors, and the Rudolph story was approved. A total of 6 million copies had been distributed by the end of 1946.    

The "B" side of the record had a little ditty written by Alec Wilder called The Reindeer Dance and performed by Mitch Miller.    

Alec Wilder ~ The Reindeer Dance 
6" 78 RPM record & label
photos by Styrous®

It's a funky recording but sometimes enjoyable things in life aren't always the prim, proper and legitimate way to go!         

         

Viewfinder links:       

   
Gene Autry         
Burl Ives        
Dean Martin          
Mitch Miller      
Christine K. Simonson          

Christmas ~ 2019      

        

Net links:       

     
Groovy History ~ Who Wrote 'Rudolph?       
LA Times ~ Prolific Songwriter Johnny Marks Dies          

NY Times ~ Johnny Marks Dies      

Snopes ~ The Origins of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer      

         

        

 YouTube links:    
      
Gene Autry ~ Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer      
Perry Como ~ Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer               
Burl Ives~ Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer       
Dean Martin~ Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer        

      

       

       

Merry Christmas!

Christmas - 2019 

photo by Styrous®

     

        

       

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, December 25, 2019  

      

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