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Post by jk on Dec 29, 2019 13:59:38 GMT
I dredged this one up yesterday on another forum and decided truly odd-ball stuff like it deserves a platform of its own... This is so totally weird. It's Cara Stewart straightfacedly crooning the outrageous "Song Of The Burmese Land", written by one L. Hazelwood; not Lee Hazelwood, who categorically denies authorship--and who can blame him? "Burmese Land is like monkeyland A bothersome, troublesome place Burmese Land is like monkeyland Listen, I'll tell you so "The AFPFL* government told the people When 10 o'clock strikes night Don't make a noise, don't be a nuisance Let the people sleep "If a permit you should get You can make a noise If anyone asks, you can say A permit we have got "Always at this feast, always at that feast Chinese, Burmese, Indian Doon doon doon dang dang dang Boom boom boom bang bang bang A permit we have got "Burmese Land is like monkeyland A bothersome, troublesome place Burmese Land is like monkeyland To the lunatic asylum I'm going" * Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
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Post by jk on Jan 1, 2020 22:19:21 GMT
Here's a really weird B-side, sort of a mid '60s version of Funkadelic's "The Wars Of Armageddon". "The Decades probably hailed from the Los Angeles area and released their one and only single in 1967 on Era Records. The Decades, whoever they are, get writing credit for both sides. To be honest, [the author] wouldn't be surprised to find out that this band was a studio creation doing a one-off." [ Source]
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Post by jk on Jan 20, 2020 12:21:32 GMT
John Lennon liked this one. "Give Me Love" is credited to Rosie and The Originals (it's the B-side of "Angel Baby"), although the singer and random finger-popper is one Bluford Wade. What a glorious mess!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 20, 2020 17:02:17 GMT
jk, here's two from the early 1970's that I'm sure you'll remember.
The first one is "Popcorn" by Hot Butter. It actually sounded like popcorn popping! While I admit that the song is a little catchy, who would've thought it would go Top 10, reaching No. 9 in the U.S. and No. 2 for several weeks in some European countries in 1972. This is the type of song that would occasionally surface on AM radio in those days. Anything was fair game. I found this YouTube video featuring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth to add a little class to the song.
The second song is "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". I find it "odd" for two reasons. The first reason - and not the meaning of "odd" that jk is referring to - is that the song was released almost simultaneously in 1971 by two different groups - Middle Of The Road and Mac & Katie Kissoon. The Middle Of The Road version didn't chart in the U.S. (but I remember hearing it on AM radio) but was a Worldwide No. 1 hit (No. 1 for five weeks in the UK) and sold over 10 million copies. Mac & Katie Kissoon's version reached No. 20 in the U.S. Anyway, what I found odd was the subject matter of the song. What in the heck was it about? My sisters and I had heated arguments about it. Was it about a mother abandoning her child, or was it about a bird and her little birdies? I still don't know! An odd song but a good one. Another one of those AM radio classics!
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Post by jk on Jan 20, 2020 23:15:24 GMT
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 12, 2020 3:10:22 GMT
The great Peter Sellers plays ukulele and sings "When I'm Cleaning Windows":
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Post by jk on Feb 13, 2020 21:51:47 GMT
The great Peter Sellers plays ukulele and sings "When I'm Cleaning Windows":
Nice! PS cut some great tracks, including "Boiled Bananas And Carrots", "Any Old Iron", "A Drop Of The Hard Stuff" and some Beatles covers, of which this is my favourite (might the other voice be that of Spike Milligan?):
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 14, 2020 14:08:34 GMT
It wouldn't be a Songs That Are A Little Odd thread without an entry from Sparks. Here is "Something For The Girl With Everything" from the 1974 album, Propaganda:
Lyrics Something for the girl with everything See, the writings on the wall You bought the girl a wall Complete with matching ball-point pen You can breathe another day Secure in knowing she won't break you (yet) Something for the girl with everything Have another sweet my dear Don't try to talk my dear Your tiny little mouth is full Here's a flavour you ain't tried You shouldn't try to talk, your mouth is full Something for the girl with everything Three wise men are here Three wise men are here Bearing gifts to aid amnesia She knows everything Yes yes everyting She knew way back when you weren't yourself Something for the girl with everything Here's a really preatty car I hope it takes you far I hope it takes you fast and far Wow, the engines really loud Nobodys gonna hear a thing you say Something for the girl with everything Three wise men are here Three wise men are here Where should they leave these imported gimmicks Leave them anywhere An-an-anywhere Make sure that there's a clear path to the door Something for the girl with everything Something for the girl with everything Something for the girl with everything Something for the girl with everything Three wise men are here Three wise men are here Three wise men are here Three wise men are here here's a patridge in a tree, A gardener for the tree Complete with ornithologist Careful, careful with that crate You wouldn't want to dent Sinatra, no Something for the girl who has got everything, Yes, yes, everything Hey, come out and say hello Before you friends all go But say no more than just hello Ah, the little girl is shy You see of late she's been quite speechless, Very speechless She's got everything
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Post by jk on Feb 18, 2020 20:33:39 GMT
Jandek (in all likelihood Sterling Smith) is one of a kind. This is probably my favourite track of his (at least of what I've heard from his 100-plus albums' worth of stuff), the awesome "When The Telephone Melts". It comes from his 1988 album You Walk Alone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jandek
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Post by jk on Mar 24, 2020 22:01:18 GMT
"Fucking awful" is not the usual way for a band to describe its official debut album. The Beta Band did just that. They had all the ideas to hand but lack of time and money put the mockers on it. I bought this album after reading about it (a risky business at the best of times) and loved it. There are certainly some very strange things going on which may or may not be deliberate. "It's Not Too Beautiful" suddenly and inexplicably lurches into the theme from the Walt Disney film The Black Hole, which keeps coming back to haunt the song. Compellingly odd, to coin a phrase. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beta_Band_(album)
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Post by jk on Mar 25, 2020 12:45:50 GMT
"It's A Hard Business" features the (on the face of it) laughably unlikely combination of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer and Audree favourite Rosemary Clooney--but it works! It was the bipolar condition they shared that brought them together. R.I.P. both.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jun 8, 2020 14:24:59 GMT
Blodwyn by Badfinger. Odd, but cute!
I put away the knife, the chisel and the saw I've locked away my life behind this old oak door To make a simple spoon, a token of my love In hope that maybe soon, it's me you're thinking of
So take my spoon, Blodwyn Make it soon, Blodwyn The valley knows the way I feel today So take my spoon, Blodwyn Make it soon, Blodwyn Before some other spoon takes you away...
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Post by jk on Jun 8, 2020 20:26:20 GMT
Blodwyn by Badfinger. Odd, but cute! I put away the knife, the chisel and the saw I've locked away my life behind this old oak door To make a simple spoon, a token of my love In hope that maybe soon, it's me you're thinking of So take my spoon, Blodwyn Make it soon, Blodwyn The valley knows the way I feel today So take my spoon, Blodwyn Make it soon, Blodwyn Before some other spoon takes you away... Good call, bb. What a curious song! I wonder what inspired it? There's a Bronwyn in How Green Was My Valley, but no Blodwyn. Maybe there's an explanation in the biography of this ill-starred band.
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Post by jk on Jun 8, 2020 20:45:47 GMT
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Post by lonelysummer on Jun 9, 2020 2:19:24 GMT
John Lennon liked this one. "Give Me Love" is credited to Rosie and The Originals (it's the B-side of "Angel Baby"), although the singer and random finger-popper is one Bluford Wade. What a glorious mess! Oh man, i remember tracking that one down back around 1990 after hearing Lennon's description of it on The Lost Lennon Tapes. I used to think that was the best bad record...but I've such so much worse since then; it's still my personal favorite, though.
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