Vive les Americains!

Peter Peter Ivers Band – Terminal Love
Warner Brothers BS 2804, LP 1974

You could be excused for thinking I have a tendency towards albums by pretty maidens. And I do. However, to readdress the balance, here's a quirky record that I quite like by a man. When this album was recommended by a friend in Japan, I was a bit skeptical. Terminal Love, filled with songs titled My Grandmother's Funeral, Oo Girl, Holding the Cobra and Felladaddio might sound unusually corny to say the least, but then again Peter Ivers was never quite usual. Born in 1946 Ivers studied classical languages, but ended up in music business. In 1969 he released the remarkable album Knights of the Blue Communion (also featuring Yolande Bavan) on Epic records. The music on this album was used for the theatre play Jesus, A Passion Play For Americans, which was, in turn, the inspiration for Jesus Christ Superstar. Despite the massive success of JCS, the Knights LP album faded into obscurity. Ivers recorded a second album for Epic (Take It Out On Me), which was shelved. Being close friends to Douglas Kenney (founder of National Lampoon) and John Belushi, Ivers was introduced to David Lynch for whom he wrote In Heaven (The Lady In The Radiator), the theme song from the infamous, but utterly amazing Eraserhead movie. In 1981 Ivers became active in radio, where his manic presentation of the Night Flight programme became the stuff of legends. However, his career came to a tragic end in 1983 when Ivers was found bludgeoned to death in his LA apartment. His death still remains a mystery, which inspired the book In Heaven Everything Is Fine. His musical legacy is well worth a re-visitation and with the recent release of all his records on CD this is easily possible. Terminal Love is certainly one of the weirdest "normal" records ever. Upon first listen you may wonder about the weird, nasal singing or the strange quirky instrumentation that seems decisively normal. Repeated listening sessions however, will reveal a strangeness about this album, that is hard to define, but puts a smile on your face. Copies are not that hard to locate and very soon you will find yourself humming his tunes and wondering what the hell Warner Brothers were thinking when they released Terminal Love.

Annika! (the sequel)

Annika did not disappoint.

Annika!

A few days ago I bought a double DVD of the original 70's Pippi Longstocking series (Pippi's full name, fact fans, is Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump). Last night we watched the first episode, in which Pippi discovers a new word "Spunk" and spends the entire episode trying to find out what a "spunk" is. When Pippi, Tommie and Annika determine that it is not a dangerous animal or some sort of candy, Pippi develops a serious case of "spunk" and has to be taken to a doctor. The doctor examines Pippi, but luckily finds no evidence for "spunk". Pippi offers to pay for the consultation, but the kind doctor (70's haircut and glasses) assures her "spunk-consultations" are free. After 25 minutes of wonderful television they discover a beetle that turns out to be a "spunk". The End. I wonder if this was ever broadcast in the UK where "spunk" has an altogether different and less innocent meaning! As an aside: when I was Pippi's age and the TV series was shown on Dutch television I had a serious crush on Annika. Curious about what happened to her I spent some time on the internet (source of all knowledge these days). Annika was played by Maria Persson. After the Pippi TV-series she studied at the School of Theatre, but found it hard to find work as people related to her as the Annika character. She married a Spaniard and opened a bar in Mallorca (this part is a bit of a let down I have to say). She got divorced and now works with the elderly. A fascinating and slightly tragic interview with her and Tommie, albeit in German, can be located at http://efraimstochter.de/tommi_und_annika/euch_kennen_wir_doch.shtml
The picture shows Maria at 51, and I have to admit, she still looks good. Incidentally, the DVD, for which I paid 1,25 Euros, also includes the classic movie Pippi at Taka Tuka Land, in which she saves her father from evil pirates - I can't wait to see Annika in action against pirates!

Wander box set ready for shipping!

Beam Ends records is proud to announce the release of the latest release by Wander (Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar of Beequeen). Like all previous albums, and, indeed, all tracks by Wander this is entitled WANDER.

We have done our best to make this new Wander album a special one. WANDER consists of the following: a clear vinyl (so NOT a lathe cut) hand-pressed album, which plays from the label to the rim (instead of the other way around), presented in back paper insert with Wander "band" shirt in a hand-made blue boxset (made by the same company that produced the boxes for Raymond Dijkstra's De Gelofte and De Gedachte albums and the recent Flawed Existence box by Nurse With Wound). Of this set only 10 (ten) copies were produced, signed and numbered by the makers. The album features two tracks of beautiful drone ambience.

The price of this set is 100 Euros, excluding shipping to your location. Even though we realize this is a lot of money, we do feel this is worth the package. With 2 copies in our archives and 4 already sold, this leaves 4 copies for sale. This is surely the most luxurious and most limited release ever by Beam Ends.

You can order your copy via info@beequeen.nl

Vive la Japan!

Ike Reiko – Kokotsu No Sekai
Teichiku records SL 1375, 1970 (with poster)

At times I like to indulge in all things saucy, and it's hard to get more saucy than with this wonderfully bizarre album by Japanese actress Ike Reiko. In the late 60's/early 70's Japanese cinema knew a blooming "pink violence" scene. Many actresses indulged themselves in these soft-sex action films, where women were typecast as fighting machines who could (and would) kill a 1000 men with a blink of their sword (whilst being in the nude of course). Reiko was one of the most beloved actresses in this genre and features in quite a few movies. She was popular, not only because of her acting talents, but also for her rather prominent bust, which would be on display in her movies whenever possible. Born in 1953, she made her debut in the world of fleshy films at the tender age of 16, which caused quite a stir in her traditionalist home country. In the early 70's many of the "pink" actresses also recorded music. Most of their albums and singles are beautifully packed and feature salivating covers. There is even a name for this interesting sub-genre; iroke koyokyoku. Top of a long list of these almost surrealistic albums created in this genre is Reiko's Kokotsu No Sekai. Sexier than any Gainsbough album, Reiko moans, whispers, shouts and coos over an orchestral backing, resulting in one of the most pleasingly bizarre records in mankind. The 500 copies that were pressed up now belong to the most valuable albums to have ever come out of Japan. Featuring a striking gatefold cover and a gorgeous fold out poster of Reiko, the price may sound a little steep, but copies are as rare as Reiko being fully clothed throughout a movie. In the 90's Japanese specialist label Tiliqua records released a beautiful replica of the album. The demand for this re-release has been so high that even copies of the CD release (3500 copies in total) are now fetching prices in excess of 100 Pound. Yummie!

Vive la France!

I have got a fetish for vinyl. This may come as a surprise to some (though, without doubt, not to many), but I admit - I'm guilty of this deviant pleasure. Not only have I got a large collection of vinyl at home, which I listen to every day, I also love vinyl as an object. I know, it's questionable, but mostly harmless. Over the past couple of years I have been writing about records as objects for UK music magazine Record Collector. In order to widen my audience (a bit), I've decided to add one or two of these short pieces on this blog in the sincere hope you will enjoy them and maybe you might even be enticed enough to run out and spend some of your well earned cash on......

The Girl In The Bikini
Poplar PLP 33-1002, LP 1952

Even though the bikini has been known since the ancient Greeks, Louis Reard and Jaques Heim claimed the invention of the famous two-piece of swimwear in Paris in 1946. The name bikini was chosen because they rightfully thought the effect of their scant piece of textile on both men as women would be as big as an atomic explosion (nuclear tests were executed on the Bikini atoll at the time). There was a lot of adversity towards the bikini in those conservative post-WWII days, even resulting in the banning of the bikini from the 1951 Miss World elections. However, one year later Brigitte Bardot (Europe's foremost sex kitten) played her first major role in Willy Rozier's black/white beach flick Manini, La Fille Sans Voile (Manini, The Woman Without A Veil). The movie hardly contained any storyline, but it did feature the 18-year-old Bardot running around in a bikini most of the time. The effect was indeed like an atomic explosion! The movie (and Bardot) made the bikini popular almost overnight and Bardot even gained the nickname The Bikini Girl. Appropriately retitled The Girl In The Bikini the movie was released in the USA. In the UK the movie was known as The Lighthouse-Keeper's Daughter. Strangely enough, the soundtrack album, containing a fine score by Jean Yatove, was only released in the USA. But more important than the music, the album featured a gorgeous-looking bikini-clad Bardot on the front cover, with even more stills from the movie on the back cover. The record is one of the rarest soundtracks ever and is in great demand, not only by Bardot- or soundtrack-affectionados, but also by those who appreciate that tiny piece of swimwear so rightfully named "bikini". Copies of the original pressing can easily fetch 300+ USD. For those with tighter pockets, but likewise interests, the album has recently been released (in its original cover but with marginal sound quality) on CD by El records. The music you ask? Gorgeous and lush orchestral music with washes of sea and strange sub-sea sounds added for effect, some vocal tracks and (the only drawback) one of those typical French can-can songs. Skip that one, and you'll have a wonderful evening with Brigitte.

And another thing...

I had two of the most curious dreams last night; during the first dream I dreamt I was singing Lou Reed's Lady Day (from the outrageously brilliant album Berlin) out loud in my sleep! I still have to check with Miranda to find out if I actually did. The other dream was even better; in this dream I was abducted by friends in a car and driven to a surprise party. This party was held in what appeared to be an abandoned subway vegetable market. Here three stages were set; one with four cello's, one with a grand piano and one with a stereo set. The idea was that I could use each stage and perform with friends during the evening. Everyone was invited beforehand to bring cassettes to play. Frans was present as well. He brought a copy of the Sex and Bestiality tape to liven up the proceedings. Hahaha! What a great dream! As a result of all this turmoil I just had to play April Stevens' Tame Me Tiger CD this morning. Her soothing voice calmed me back into normality.

And another thing: the first random image of Wander does not work (see previous blog). Damn! So I have taken the second random image. If you think this one is bad, you should google the first one.