bowling trophy

Various Artists: Let’s Sing Out!

Let’s Sing Out! was a Canadian folk music program on the CTV television network from 1963 to 1966 (later it moved to CBC). This compilation record, produced especially for Oxydol (the detergent that bleaches as it washes) has songs by The Travellers (Canada’s best known folk group of the time), The New Christy Minstrels, Pete Seeger, 22 year-old Bob Dylan, The Halifax Three (with future “Papa” Denny Doherty) and others. No artist is credited for this boldly graphic cover that makes good use of sewing basket scraps.

Runner-up

Gene Pitney: Pitney Sings Bacharach

Last week my friend Elaun invited me to a rummage sale at the seniors association where she works. I was delighted to go because seniors have the best stuff! Just look at this:

It’s a stuffed fish on a plaque for a buck!!! That’s insane! I didn’t buy it cuz it’s too fug, but if it was something I wanted I would have been over the moon. Instead I bought these Hawaiian swizzle sticks for a quarter:

Then we went to one of my favorite annual church basement rummage sales. The food here is one of the big attractions for me. They make smokies and European weiners with optional fried onions, the divine aroma of which assaults you the moment you enter. I always have to have one loaded with condiments including fried AND raw onions (I’m sorry I didn’t think to take a picture). I always like it best when the church ladies make the food themselves and don’t just sell donuts from Tim Horton’s.

I bought a couple of tiki items, 4 records, an Australian party cake book (with cakes shaped like playtipuses and other down-under critters) and a child’s book of magic. In all I spent maybe 6 bucks, not counting the food.

Rummage sales are the best! I’ve had much more success finding stuff at rummages sales than at garage sales which just seem to be a waste of time and gas lately. It’s also less intimidating to poke around in the detritus of someone’s life when they’re not right there watching you.

This is two-thirds of the records I bought this week. As you can see, immaculately tailored black suits are a recurring motif - and about all these two records share. Neither cover has enough pizzaz to be my Record Cover of the Week, so I’m declaring a tie for second place.

I bought Joe Cocker’s Luxury You Can Afford to hear his version of Whiter Shade of Pale, a song I love that has not always fared well when covered. I’m pleased to report that Joe’s gospel-inflected version is at least 16 kinds of awesome. Billy Preston is on organ but Larry Byrom’s guitar solos steal the show.

Party Girls

Made from psuedo-ivory (sic).

The Friendly Giant

What I loved best about The Friendly Giant were the beautifully detailed miniature landscapes that started the show: gently rolling farmland (”Once upon a time, not long ago and not far away, it was early in the morning on the farm…”), a peaceful village, or, as above, a harbour complete with lighthouse. Sometimes there’d be a little truck or other vehicle moving through the scene, animated, no doubt, by an unseen string or some other low-tech means. It didn’t matter that the budgets were low or the effects not state-of-the-art, I was always completely drawn into Friendly’s world. “Look up, look wa-a-ay up”

A while back I bought a bag of family photos for a buck - about three dozen in all. One of the reasons I bought this fairly unremarkable collection is the picture above. You see, for a long time I’ve been toying with the idea of making a website that would feature photos like this one - of people sticking their heads through holes in boards with comic scenes painted on them. I think that these things used to be a lot more common than they are now, before Photoshop put comic head-grafting technology within the reach of so many. But they’re still out there. Here’s my friend Gary in the town of Vulcan, Alberta:

On my website, people would submit their photos to be posted in galleries which could be organized by location or maybe by theme. If I were to make such a site (and I still may) I think it might be the first one - certainly I’ve never seen one before. But how do you even search for these things? What are they called? Is there a word or simple phrase for these devices? If there isn’t, there should be, ‘cuz they’re hard to describe: “You know, those things you stick your head through and someone takes your picture and it looks like you have the body of muscleman or a really stacked babe…”

So if you can think of a good, concise term for these things, let me know.

Mr. Mitt

Owl collection

Lu-Ray Pastels. This deco-style china was made by the Taylor, Smith & Taylor Company of Chester, West Virginia between 1938 and 1961.

“Cappy”

Mr. Swank

Douglas Roy: Elviscollection

According to this site, Douglas Roy was the only Elvis impersonator (sorry, “tribute artist”) to perform with The King. This 12-inch “Supersingle” on the Spanish RCA label is a disco medley of 15 Elvis songs.

Runner-up:

Dean Martin Sings

“How to Draw” Books

I’m not a visual artist, but I’m really drawn (sorry) to the Walter Foster “How to Draw” books. They’re large and beautiful and the pages are crammed with luscious color illustrations, black and white sketches…

…and a bare minimum of helpful instructional text to make me believe that with a few lines and circles and a little bit of shading, I too can draw a horse/leaping buck/tastefully disrobed woman.

I’m not sure when they were published because they’re not dated, but my guess would be late 50s or early 60s. The earlier ones (I presume) have a cover price of $1.00 (”Not more than $1.25 in any foreign country”) and later ones are priced $2.00. I bought How to Draw Horses last week for 69¢.

My sentimental favourite is Animation by Preston Blair. I loved it as a lad and was delighted to find it again recently. My career as a “cartoonist” never happened, but I wonder how many animators were spawned by this book.