Brian's Music Musings

I think Tommy Dee only recorded tribute songs, teenage death songs, and an occasional story song. I thought I had a winner in the teenage death tragedy department. On the Pike label, it says "Look Homeward Dead Angel" An obvious death song, right? Wrong. Listening to the 45, it is not dead, but DEAR! OK, well that sucked, or did it? Missing On A Mountain is the flip. A tribute song to Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas. It was done in the same style as "Three Stars" about the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Mr. Valens. I suppose I am happy.

I know that there are several Johnnie and Joe 78's out there. Over The Mountain is the most common, on Chess. I doubt it was ever a 78 on the J+S label. Another on my site is the J+S label recording of It Was There. I hope to add Feel Alright from the Chess label, on 78, to my site this next week. I know there are more. It is similar in some ways to the Tuneweavers. "I Remember Dear" is on a Casa Grande 78 and was the follow-up to Happy Happy Birthday Baby. I figure "Happy Birthday" must be also be on a Casa Grande 78, but I have just not seen one to date. The other scare variation is the Casa Grande promo 45 of Happy Birthday. I have just seen one, and it's on my site.

It's always fun to take a chance on a record, when you have no idea what it is. The process of deciding why you should buy it is most of the fun. More times than not, it's not quite what you expected, but that dangling carrot that says maybe it's a gem, is always a possibility. I saw one on the blue colored "Haven" label. There was no city on the label, but it has the block style printing of the company from West Haven CT. The Hi Tones are the backing group, and the lead is Johnny Cordo. The year was 1955. I thought it had all the elements until the needle hit the wax. Turns out it is more pop/jazz with a beat, almost trying to be rock and roll. It just never makes it there. There were a couple of other recordings for the label that had the Hi Tones, and had very "Rock And Roll Type Titles". A similar record I have is the Manhattans on the Piney label. It combines R+R with jazz and it really works. This one, well, I'm glad I only spent 5 bucks on it.

No new big pages are in the works. I do hope to put a short page together of the Pixies. i have 3 or 4 Pixies records that are likely unrelated and have nothing to do with the Pixies Three. I seem to have all these crazy ideas..........