gts166 “jayish”
Good night, Johnboy.
01-01 Billy Murray & American Quartet – Victor 18279 – Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny Oh (1917-03-16)
— not credited on the label, but we know Billy Murray’s voice by now!
01-02 Joanie Sommers – Warner Bros 5275 – Johnny Get Angry (1962)
— the cuck is born, or dawn of the tradwife?
01-03 Poe – Hello 05 – Angry Johnny (1995)
— could’ve used track #2 off this CD “Trigger Happy Jack”, but didn’t have time this week for “Smackwater Jack” by Carole King nor “Smack Jack” by Nina Hagen.
01-04 Rainbo – Roulette R7030 – John You Went Too Far This Time (1969)
— no, this is the other band, not the Rainbow which grew out of Deep Purple. This Rainbo has someone you might know on vocals: Sissy Spacek. Here, Sissy scolds John Lennon for that infamous “more famous than Jesus” quote.
01-05 The Beatles – Long Lost John
— four lads noodling in the studio.
01-06 Jimmy Dean – Big Bad John And Other Fabulous Songs And Tales 101 – Big Bad John (1961)
— news flash: strapping lad meets lost dutchman!
02-01 Kim Volkman & The Whiskey Priests – The Devil Won’t Take Charity 08 – Here Comes Johnny (2020)
— only thing needing some bleeps this week, oh those potty-mouthed Aussies. One of the brightest lines of hard blues rock to pop up so far this decade.
02-02 John Fred & His Playboy Band – Agnes English 206 – Achenall Riot (1968)
— on the platter, titled “AcHENALL RIOT”, typo or psychedelic dada? Nobody knows. Exceedingly difficult to find, only had heard this on radio without announcment, but going off a note: “lonesome john hermit radio” was able to find it! John Fred had to rename his band from The Playboys when it was discovered taht name was taken by a Yank band. They made you do that in the UK.
02-03 Jessica-Snow Wilson & The Girls (Rebecca Rich, Natalie Toro, Cathy Trien) – Zombie Prom O(Off-)BC 03 – Jonny Don’t Go (1998)
— yes, the whole show is as nutty as this. Spoiler: Jonny does go to prom and is the hit of the night, despite handicap as a radioactive zombie.
02-04 David Bowie – RCA PC9482 – John, I’m Only Dancing (1972)
— recorded for the Ziggy Stardust album but never made the cut.
02-05 Josie Cotton – Convertible Music 201 – Johnny, Are You Queer? (1982)
— album cover qualified as enticement, almost JOI, and the video was a top novelty hit on early MTV. Josie briefly stroked fame when this made it into the soundtrack for the film “Valley Girl”, which you can buy today if you have $200.
02-06 Stan Freberg – Capitol 1356 – John And Marsha (1951)
— stupid, yet silly, this disc was in the sweet spot to be released both on 78 and 45 rpm versions. Stan’s first record, this actually charted (#21).
03-01 Larry Groce & Disneyland Children’s Sing-Along Chorus – Children’s Favourite Songs2 10 – John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt (2006)
— yes, this is the guy who made the perennial Dr. Demento hit “Junk Food Junkie”.
03-02 Plasmatics – CBGB’s 1979 03 – New York City Jim (1979)
— Wendy O. Williams! Left her hometown of Webster NY behind, moved to NYC and shocked even the jaded pre-post-punk crowd. Might be the first to perform with only electrical tape in an X over her nipples.
03-03 Carolyn Young – James, Hold The Ladder Steady
— unable to find any release info on this single, but it is an Australian version of the tune made famous in the States by Sue Thompson.
03-04 Tex Cherry and Band & Jim Ross – Mel-O-Tone 1135 – Dirty Jim Blues (1956)
— Ross was an infamous personality in Houston, Tex had one other single: “Nicotine Kiss”. “Another $500 for your wife” hahahah!
03-05 Aweful Kanawful – Endless Pleasure 09 – Jimmy The Jetpack (2025)
— pretty good stuff from our Rochester hometown hero!
03-06 Bongwater – Double Bummer 204 – Jimmy (1988)
— another good one from a towering release in the genre of 80’s weird-o-music. Naturally, this is Ann Magnuson on vocals.
04-01 Jack Smith & Clark Sisters & Earl Sheldon Orchestra – Capitol 403 – Jack Jack Jack (Cu-Tu-Gu-Ru) (1947)
— just after the WW2, the hottest thing in American music was… Brazil.
04-02 Stevie Salas – Colorcode 02 – Crack Killed Apple Jack (Gravy Booty Mix) (1996)
— not just shot dead, but on a playground.
04-03 Christy Moore – Christy Moore 201 – Johnny Jump Up (1976)
— forget the crack, the apple-jack kills fine on it’s own.
04-04 Billy Joel – Piano Man 205 – Captain Jack (1973)
— ever wonder how the 60’s music turned into the 80’s music: Look at Billy.
05-01 Ananda Shankar – Ananda Shankar 101 – Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1970)
— his uncle Ravi met the Beatles.
05-02 The Young Jacques – Ambition Records 105 – Jacques Cousteau (1981)
— only single released by these Boston surf goofballs.
05-03 Hot Lips Page – Jump For Joy! 19 – Jeetle-Bo Joe
— unable to find info on this tune on the internet. Wow, does AI suck or what?
05-04 Duke Mitchell – Aladdin 3427 – Cholo Joe (1958)
— dips into doo-wop for a song type commonly referred to as a “stroll”.
05-05 Jimi Hendrix Experience – Polydor 56139 – Hey Joe (1966)
— single released before the eponymous album exploded Jimi onto the world stage.
05-06 Concrete Blonde – Bloodletting 09 – Joey (1990)
— at first, we thought that 90’s music wasn’t gonna suck. We were wrong, but the decade started pretty encouraging with this disc.
06-01 Mike Fern And Del Royals – Demo Records 4 – Brake, Jake (1959)
— the downside to drag culture: amateurs.
06-02 Primus – Sailing The Seas Of Cheese 05 – Jerry Was A Race Car Driver (1991)
— anyone who drinks Campari deserves a telephone pole.
06-03 The Dellwoods – Mad Twists Rock ‘N’ Roll 205 – (All I Have Left Is) My Johnny’s Hub Cap (1962)
— Jeanne Hayes & Mike Russo as the drivers behind this seminal novelty record.
06-04 Lou Reed – Lou Reed Live 202 – Oh, Jim (1975)
— recorded 1973-12-21 at Howard Stein’s Academy of Music in NYC.
… and a bonus track…
07-01 Dan Bigras – Fan 01 – Hit The Road Jack (2009)
— what’s French for “don’t let the screen door hit ya where the good lord split ya”?