Bizarre Records

Vickie Hanson
“Aerobic Glow”
DaySpring #4111

Steve Linnegar
Narrated by Mike Faure
Music By Snakeshed
“Karate Moves: The Mystical World of Karate”
GNP Crescendo #GNPS 2176
1985

From the Back Cover:
This record is a vivid audio documentary on the mystical world of karate. It is a revelation to the layman and a great motivating vehicle to the karate student!

“The KIA Scream”:

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 ”Karate Moves” / “In The Wind” (excerpt)

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Sharron L. Lucky
“Carpet Square”
Melody House #31

“The Carpet Twist”:

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From the Back Cover:
“The student will find the short nap carpet easier to use in doing the carpet square activities. Shag carpet is not recommended.”

Profesor Vellanoweth

“Gimanasia en su Hogar volumen 2″
Discos Columbia

Various Artists

“Special Believercise”
Dayspring Records

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Debbie Drake w/Noel Regney & his orchestra
“Feel Good! Look Great!”
Epic #LN 24034
1963

“:20 Minute Workout”
Ronco #RTV2007
1983

original post: False Advertising!!!

“Budget Labels” were known to capitalize on any craze, be it a dance, sound, or star. Recently I went through by budget collection to find a certain kind of budget record – those with fake or misleading names.

Check out “Enchanted Strings” by David Rose, legendary bandleader and writer of “The Stripper”. Or is it? A closer look reveals the record is actually by The Stradivari Strings (“one of Europe’s finest pop string orchestras” , AKA a collection of anonymous, underpaid studio musicians.) The back cover reveals that “Davis Rose, himself, has selected the songs.” Probably written on a napkin at a cocktail-bar meetup with the label owner. (Spin-O-Rama #S 103)

“Kentonality” seeks to capitalize on the progressive jazz craze of the 1950s, featuring “compositions” by Stan Kenton, Peter Rugolo, and others. Unfortunately, Stan and Pete were unavailable for the record – you’ll have to settle for The Francis Bay orchestra. At least this record gives us some real info about the performers. (Omega # OSL 27)

If the organ stylings of Ken Griffin are more your thing, you’d be tempted to pick up “Cocktail Time”. After all, it is in the “Ken Griffin Style”. Of course you have to read the fine print to discover that it’s actually recorded by one “Ashley Tappen”. (Somerset SF-27500)

At least the above artists got a shout-out on the record. “A Tribute to Hank Williams” does not even give us the name of the lonely honky-tonkers performing on the record. (International Artists AK-195)

Likewise with the not-quite-the-Beatles “That English Sound”. (Modern Sound MS 552)

This is a repost from the old BizarreRecords blog

Roosevelt Franklin
“My Name is Roosevelt Franklin”
Sesame Street

Roosevelt Franklin was screwed from the start.
As the token black muppet on the early days of Sesame Street, he was made to carry to weight of the entire race on his spindly, turtlenecked shoulders. Wee Roosevelt, who said his first name first and his second name second, was always getting into trouble. He hung out with his brother, sister, main man Mobity Mosley, and some Mexican kid.

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This album, a 1974 reissue of 1971′s “The Year of Roosevelt Franklin”, is voiced by Matt “Gordon” Robinson. Someone saw fit to make a front cover that looked like a mugshot from clown jail. Roosevelt lasted only a few years on the Street. Apparently, complaints were made that Roosevelt was a bad negro stereotype and a poor example for children. I’ll let you be the judge.

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Matt Robinson as Gordon, with an orange Oscar.

Roosevelt music is funky, jiving step up from the usual Sesame Street fare. We can only guess what he might have done with a disco album.

Mobity Mosley meets Surfin’ Bird on

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Roosevelt & Abeceto sing about sharing on

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Safety is the theme with

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. “A city street is like a beehive… where the bees have gone out of their minds”

Back to learnin’ with

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Wikipedia on Roosevelt Franklin.
Matt Robinson died of Parkinsons disease in 2002.

This is a repost of a post on the old BizarreRecords blog

Lord Antics & the Lyons Band
“Hotter Than Hot:
1970 Antics disc

Lord Creator
“Big Bamboo”

The best Calypso records are local, low-fi productions straight from Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad, or other Caribbean islands.

Talk about home made! Check out Lord Antics: this album cover is made from plain green paper, folded and held together with masking tape. Instead of cover slicks, the cover picture and track list are glued on. Not just the cover, but the vinyl itself is pretty crappy, like most of the original records from the legendary Dynamic Sounds studio in Kingston, JA.

Lord Antics actually plays in the country Mento style. Believe it or not, this record is from 1970… I had always figured if for 1960 or so! Included here are versions of several “dirty Calypso” classics:

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And one of his own:

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Here’s another, far more polished version by Lord Creator from Trinidad:

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…and another standard:

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And finally, a version of “Sell The Pussy” by Junior Jennings And the Humble And the Meek from the Caymans:

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With the obvious entendre of “big bamboo”, I’ve always thought it quite amusing that the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park has a faux-tiki bar called “Larry’s Big Bamboo”. I hadn’t realized that this bar was named after a cool-sounding joint in Florida, which burned down recently.