The Styrous® Viewfinder: picture disc

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December 17, 2019

20,000 vinyl LPs 198: ~ Professor Bop Presents Santa's White Christmas EP

I'm still trying to get in the holiday spirit; not doing well with that (see link below). Possibly this record will help some. Waddaya think?

Danny "Bop" Polhamus ~ Santa's White Christmas

7" vinyl LP picture disc front

photo by Styrous®

The record is a 7" by 7" square with the traditional spiral recording grooves within the square played at the standard 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm speed.

Danny "Bop" Polhamus ~ Santa's White Christmas

7" vinyl LP picture disc back

photo by Styrous®

Danny "Bop" Polhamus ~ Santa's White Christmas

7" vinyl LP picture disc back details

detail photos by Styrous®

Danny "Bop" Polhamus ~ Santa's White Christmas

7" vinyl LP picture disc back detail

photo by Styrous®

Danny "Bop" Polhamus ~ Santa's White Christmas

7" vinyl LP picture disc back detail

photo by Styrous®

Side 1:

1 - Santa's White Christmas!

2 - I Still wish you a Merry Christmas

Danny "Bop" Polhamus - bass, piano

Rick Casteel - guitar, keyboards

Robn Hayward - lead vocal

Vi Ann Keys - saxophone, vocal

Herb Jimmerson - synthesizer, production assistant

Bruce Boardman - trumpet

Viewfinder link:

Christmas With The Devil

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, December 17, 2019

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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~

October 31, 2018

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

picture dis(c) Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
~

May 14, 2018

picture dis(c) 3: Superman II ~ Margot Kidder

~

music by
Ken Thorne

Superman II ~ 7" picture disc
Superman side
photo by Styrous®

Margot Kidder died yesterday. She was best known for her role as Lois Lane in the Superman film series which starred Christopher Reeve.

Margot Kidder was born on October 17, 1948, in the Yellowknife, Northwest Territories of Canada. Her father was an explosives expert and engineer from New Mexico, in the United States, and her mother was a history teacher from British Columbia, Canada.

Superman II ~ 7" picture disc

The Criminals side

photo by Styrous®

Kidder said, "We didn't have movies in this little mining town. When I was 12 my mom took me to New York and I saw Bye Bye Birdie, with people singing and dancing, and that was it. I knew I had to go far away. I was clueless, but I [have done] okay."

In 2005, Kidder became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In later years, Kidder became an outspoken political, environmental, and anti-war activist.

Kidder dated former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, directors Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg, writer/director Tom Mankiewicz and actor/comedian Richard Pryor.

She maintained a close friendship with her Superman co-star Christopher Reeve, which lasted from 1978 until his death in 2004. "When you're strapped to someone hanging from the ceiling for months and months, you get pretty darned close," Kidder told CBS. "He was such a huge part of my life... He was complicated, very smart, really smart, and he knew he'd done something meaningful. He was very aware of that and very happy with that role."

Margot Kidder & Christopher Reeve as

Lois Lane & Superman

film still

On August 23, 2011, Kidder, Tantoo Cardinal, and dozens of others were arrested while protesting in Washington D.C. against the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline. In 2012, she appeared in a video for Stop the Frack Attack, an environmental organization working toward regulating fracking practices.

On August 22, 2015, Kidder was named the host of a dinner event by the Yellowstone County Democrats in Billings, Montana called "Billings for Bernie" in support of the Bernie Sanders presidential primary bid.

Margot Kidder died in her sleep on May 13, 2018, at her home in Livingston, Montana. She was 69 years old.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Main Title March

Side 2:

B1 - Lex Escapes
B2 - Lex And Miss Teschmacher To Fortress

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros.
    Copyright (c) – Warner Bros.
    Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
    Distributed By – WEA Records Ltd.
    Lacquer Cut At – Strawberry Mastering

Credits:

    Composed By – John Williams (4), Ken Thorne
    Conductor – Ken Thorne

Notes:

℗ © 1981 A Warner Bros. Recording.

A Warner Communications Company.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Runout hand etched, side A): K 17778 A-1 STRAWBERRY
    Matrix / Runout (Runout hand etched, side B): K 17778 B-1

Ken Thorne ‎– Superman II
Label: WEA ‎– K 17778P
Format: Vinyl, 7", Picture Disc, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1981
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Score

Viewfinder link:

Steven Spielberg

Net links:

Rolling Stone ~ The Education of Margot Kidder
Vanity Fair ~ the Definitive Lois Lane
ABC obit
CNN obit

Huffington Post obit

LA Times obit
NBC obit
NY Times obit
Reuters obit

USA Today obit

Variety obit

YouTube links:

Main Title March
Lex Escapes

"I'm living in the end game in the

United States and it's not funny."

~ Margot Kidder

Styrous® ~ Monday, May 14, 2018

In Memoriam

picture dis(c) Archive

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August 24, 2016

picture dis(c) 1: David Michalak ~ Dreamlife the soundtrack

photos by Styrous®

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife

picture disc detail

I came across this recording while organizing and documenting my collection last week; I had completely forgotten all about it. It could have fit nicely in my 45 RPM section but it sparked a desire to start a brand new record section, picture dis(c), with it as the subject.

I have always been fascinated with vinyl LP picture discs. To be honest, the sound is often inferior to regular vinyl discs but the imagination that goes into creating one has intrigued me. This was not the first picture disc I ever bought nor are the physical characteristics particularly spectacular but it is the caliber of the music on it that I love. No other picture disc is as intriguing and captivating musically. Also, there is a personal history I have with Michalak, although I have never met him, and Dean Santomieri, whom I have met, that comes full cycle for me; more on that below.

This is a 12" 45 RPM record that did not come in the typical vinyl LP cardboard jacket cover but rather in a clear vinyl envelope.

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife picture disc in plastic envelope

Picture discs are usually issued in limited editions. This pressing consisted of 1,000 copies, this is copy number 323.

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife picture disc edition number tag

The soundtrack is a mostly acoustical, with some electronics, sound trip through a dream that at times becomes a nightmare. It is experimental music at its best utilizing acoustic instruments, voice and synthesizer played by Dean Santomieri.

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife picture disc, side 1

The first piece on side one, Time Theme, is quiet with a slow echoey flute, clarinet and sax. Carry On (The Worst Is Yet To Come) is a gentle, ditty with voice, piano and sax about the vocalist's hopes and dreams.

The third piece, Musical Metropolis, consists entirely of an echoey, metallic, mechanical beat that never changes with occasional electronic highlights. The final cut, Sax To Max, is a short, dissonant and erratic sax solo.

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife picture disc, side 2

Side two opens with, Temptation, a slow synthesizer fade-up that goes into a slow, dreamy, multi-layered drone.

The last Rainbow starts suddenly with a bouncy clarinet that is joined by flute for a short but brilliant interpretation of We're Off to See the Wizard.

The third piece, Strangulation, is a slow dissonant doppelgänger-like trio with a short burst of static at the end.

Carry On (the Clone Sings) opens with guitar then goes into a slow, stroll kind of beat with vocals that speed up then fade out. Not sure if it is meant to be humorous or sarcastic.

The last cut on this side, Song for the Victims, is terrific! It is slow and VERY weird! Although, it is dreamy, it has a nightmare edge to it. It concludes the album with synthesizer and an eerie chorus of groans and hums. A maniacal laugh comes in at the end, repeats over and over then slowly fades into oblivion. A nice touch!

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife
Dreamlife picture disc, side 1 detail

David Michalak, who created the film/album, has made over 50 films with original soundtracks. He worked exclusively in super-8 for ten years, completing over 25 films, including 3 features. He was a guest writer for White Ox Films in Rochester, N.Y. and for the international magazine Super-8 Filmmaker in San Francisco. In 1978 he moved to San Francisco and started a mail-order record business called EARWAX to produce 16mm films.

Dreamlife, the first 16mm film by Michalak, premiered at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco in 1982. This 45 RPM picture disc soundtrack of the original music was released later in that year. A two-part retrospective of his work was held in San Francisco from 1992 - 1993. Part 1, When Dinosaurs Roamed The Earth, was held at The No Nothing, and Part 2 Eye-Full Films Revisited at the Cinematheque.

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife
Dreamlife picture disc, side 2 detail

In 1996 Michalak completed Inside-Out, which featured The Kate Foley Dance Company, a score written with Nik Phelps and performed by the Club Foot Orchestra. The film had it's premiere with the orchestra playing live, at The Victoria Theatre in S.F. as part of his 2nd Retrospective called 25 Years Of Eye-Full Films.

His work, When The Spirit Moves, premiered in 1999. It is a mystical fairy-tale featuring (Joe Goode) dancer Vong Phrommala and silent-movie style actress Billie-Marie Gross, at The Film Arts Festival.

I caught his performance of Ghost in the House at the Berkeley Arts Center on University Avenue in Berkeley, CA (link below).

David Michalak ~ Dreamlife
Dreamlife picture disc, side 2 detail

Dean Santomieri has been working with electronic music and musique concrete since 1971. He moved to the Bay Area in 1975. I would meet him thirty years after the recording of this album when he performed at the Berkeley Arts Festival in 2003 with Sarah Cahill.

He worked in the media center of the California College of Arts & Crafts (now the California College of Arts).

You can check out the 2003 Garden of Memory performances, in which he appeared; and the Michalak and Santomieri performance of Ghost in the House at the Berkeley Arts Center on University Avenue in Berkeley, CA (links below).

Dreamlife

Side one:

Time Theme
Carry On (The Worst Is Yet To Come)
Musical Metropolis
Sax To Max

Side two:
Temptation
The last Rainbow
Strangulation
Carry On (the Clone Sings)
Song for the Victims

Musicians:

Michael Austin - sax, flute, clarinet, vocals
David Michalak - voice and kitchen sink
Dean Santomieri - sybthesizer
Muziki - piano
Billie Marie Gross - voice

Thanks to 2.3 Children and Dana Frischer

Viewfinder links:

Ghost in the House
Garden of Memory

There was a hell of a lot of stuff packed into this 45!

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, August 24, 2016