The Dave Pell Singers – “Mah-Na-Mah-Na” CD (El)

On this dizzy 1969 release, West Coast jazzbo and his session cats work a breezy adult contemporary vibe, with giddy female vocal choirs manifesting the audio equivalent of a gaggle of happy stewardesses bearing fluffy pillows. The mellow, playful arrangements are applied to an appealing collection of bubblegum and pop-rock standards, including “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” the Sesame Street-popularized title track and “Sugar Sugar.” While the boy/girl singers are utterly out of their depth on the latter, it’s still a hoot to hear a dark narrative like “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” handled so frothily. Silly, sweet mainstream fluff, presumably originally aimed at foxy grandpas, and still likely to please the comfy chair and fruity drink set. (Kim Cooper)

Remastered Archies & Crazy Elephant CDs

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Repertoire has remastered the bubblicious debut from Riverdale’s finest, and packaged it with the mono 45 versions of "Bang Shang A Lang" (just typing that makes me wanna shimmy) and "Truck Driver." They also have turned that hard-to-find Crazy Elephant album into a shiny silver disk, with nine bonus tracks. It’s pachadyrmistic.

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True Life Adventures of Count Chocula

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Some clever soul on Wikipedia had a little fun with the entry for Count Chocula cereal. We’re archiving it below, just in case the wiki-elves decide it isn’t fit for the long haul.

Count Chocula is a member of the line of monster-themed breakfast cereals produced by General Mills. It contains chocolate-flavoured corn cereal bits and marshmallows. Count Chocula is the cereal’s mascot, whose name is a pun on the vampire Count Dracula. Instead of craving blood like Dracula, Chocula craves Count Chocula breakfast cereal.

In 1971, the first two cereals in the line were introduced, the still-available Count Chocula and Franken Berry. Boo Berry, a pun on blueberry, was released two years later, in 1973, and Fruit Brute came in 1974, only to be discontinued in 1983. General Mills tried replacing Fruit Brute with Yummy Mummy in 1988, but that too had a short shelf life when it was ended in 1993. The latter two are no longer sold in retail stores.

Ernst Choukula was born the third child to Estonian landowers in the late autumn of 1873. His parents, Ivan and Brushken Choukula, were well-established traders of Baltic grain who– by the early twentieth century–had established a monopolistic hold on the export markets of Lithuania, Latvia and southern Finland. A clever child, Ernst advanced quickly through secondary schooling and, at the age of nineteen, was managing one of six Talinn-area farms, along with his father, and older brother, Grinsh. By twenty-four, he appeared in his first "barrelled cereal" endorsement, as the Choukula family debuted "Ernst Choukula’s Golden Wheat Muesli", a packaged mix that was intended for horses, mules, and the hospital ridden. Belarussian immigrant silo-tenders started cutting the product with vodka, creating a crude mush-paste they called "gruhll" or "gruell," and would eat the concoction each morning before work. The trend unwittingly spread, with alcohol being replaced by sheep–and then cow’s–milk, and the demand for the Choukula’s "cereal" reached as far south as Poland and as far west as the northern Jutland province of Denmark. It wasn’t long before the unmistakable image (the original packaging, a three gallon wooden vat which featured a burnt etching of a jubilant, overalled Ernst holding a large dog and grinning broadly) made a pop-cultural splash throughout the entirety of Europe and northern Africa. In fact, Tunisia’s "Carthagian Sand Crunch" was seen as the first imitation of the Choukula form; the aforementioned product was presented in broad leathern bags with the woven insignia of a nude tribesman holding a sword and a bunched stalk of oats. Sadly, this would neither be the first nor the tamest appropriation of Ernst’s iconic visage. Meanwhile, in the "textile paradise"-region of Schenectady / Elmira New York, General Peter Mills–a celebrated turret gunner in McKinley’s navy–was first beginning to mine America’s seemingly insatiable desire to consume food before high noon. The trend, initially known in the United States as "brekkfest" had first appeared in 1903, with Dominic Eggo’s invention of "wassled" or "waffled" bread, and really picked up steam throughout the teens and twenties, when eating in the morning was no longer deemed a sin by the Anglo-Catholic church. News of Choukula’s economic domination across the Atlantic fascinated and troubled Mills, who was eager for similar success. In 1927, while vacationing the Iberian peninsula, he first encountered three discarded barrels of "Duke Choukula’s Animal Supplement" (the name and design of the product had undergone several makeovers throughout the previous seven years, the most recent of which featured Ernst dressed in a cape and tiara, reflecting his family’s oft-disputed ties to Eurasian royalty). Immediately intrigued, Mills brought one with him on his boat ride back to the States, and spent the twenty-three day trip obsessively studying the packaging. In the spring of 1929, General Mills’ "Prince Chocula’s Morning Digestive" was picked up for distribution in three dozen pharmacies, grocery stands and agrarian carts throughout New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and northern Maryland. The public response was confused and angered at the recipe’s savory, clove-like sting; apparently a confusion over the name led many to believe the breakfast was made from chocolate, and by 1931 the formula had been updated to reflect the nation’s collective sweet tooth. In 1932, boxes were labeled simply "Count Chocula’s Chocolate Food" and Peter Mills was named Life Magazine’s "Humanitarian of the Year, 1933". Ernst Chocula died in a Ukrainian cabin, penniless and alone, having descended into a type of brain-madness.

 

Sprawling Best of the 1910 Fruitgum Co. Released Next Week

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Repertoire has compiled a best-of that goes beyond the usual twenty-two minute selection from the annals of the Fruitgum Co. We haven’t heard the remastered versions of the tunes yet, but if you’ve been struggling to find some of these oddities, now’s the time.

Tracklist: 1. Simon Says 2. May I Take A Giant Step (Into Your Heart) 3. 1-2-3 Red Light 4. Goody Goody Gumdrops 5. Indian Giver 6. Special Delivery 7. Train 8. When We Get Married 9. Go Away 10. Lawdy Lawdy 11. Reflections From The Looking Glass 12. (Poor Old) Mr Jensen 13. Sticky Sticky 14. Candy Kisses 15. Liza 16. No Good Annie 17. Eternal Light 18. Baby Bret 19. Track 20. Clock 21. Soul Struttin’ 22. Hook, Line & Sniker 23. Game Of Love 24. Song Song 25. Book 26. Semplicissimo 27. C’e Qualcosa Che Non Ricordo Piu 28. Hip Hip Hip Urrah! (1-2-3 Red Light)

AND NOW, A BRAND NEW DANCE TO WATCH AND LEARN!! The Archies Dance-of-the-Week Collection!

Hi. I’ve already shared most of this collection with you as part of "The Riverdale Archives", but I recently discovered two more dances ("The Angel" and "The Bubblegum") from my old VHS tapes. I think there are still more out there, but this gave me 19 tracks, enough to warrant a separate collection focusing just on the dance numbers. In case you’re not familiar with these, they’re all unreleased and taken directly from videotapes of the first season cartoons. When "The Archie Show" debuted on CBS-TV in 1968, the music was a big part of the show’s draw. Not only did the half-hour series feature the best stories of the entire Filmation/Archie run (very similar to the old comic book plotlines), it also gave us one of the finest bubblegum bands on the planet. Kirshner Records’ Archies albums are some of the best pop records ever recorded. Don Kirshner did have a golden ear, and it heard a golden voice in singer Ron Dante. Ron’s voice shines like the sun itself on a brilliant catalog that gave us four top 40 hits and five studio albums. The only reason that I don’t share the albums is out of respect and love for Ron, who is one of the nicest guys in show business. I don’t want to curtail one thin dime from him, as he and Kirshner do plan to release a box set at some point. These TV-only tracks will probably never be released, so I don’t mind sharing them. The "Dance-of-the-Week" segments were used in the first season only to lead into a track from the first album. They were terrific little numbers that featured the Archie gang performing an animated version of the dance steps while the music played. The voice that introduces the dances is Dallas McKennon, Archie’s TV speaking voice. The songs themeselves are performed by Ron Dante and the crack musicians from the albums (including Jeff Barry and Toni Wine!) These dance numbers bring back such fantastic memories of that awesome first season that made The Archies rock stars! I am currently sharing mp3’s of the following Dance-of-the-week numbers at my blog,                                   http://www.mondodaddykin.blogspot.com/  Enjoy! TRACK LISTING: 01. DANCE-OF-THE-WEEK INTRODUCTION, 02. THE STICKSHIFT, 03. THE ANGEL, 04. THE BUBBLEGUM, 05. THE ROCKETSHIP, 06. THE MILKSHAKE, 07. THE INDIAN, 08. THE JUGHEAD, 09. THE BEANIE, 10. THE BETTY, 11. THE GRUNDY, 12. THE SURFER, 13. THE WEATHERBEE, 14. THE HAMBURGER HOP, 15. THE BANANA SPLIT, 16. THE VERONICA WALK, 17. THE TOUCHDOWN, 18. THE MOONWALK (Recorded for Tang Radio Ad), 19. TANG RADIO AD.

THE BUBBLEGUM FILES- Check Out the First in a Series of Shares at MONDO DADDYKIN!!

Hi. As you all know by now, I’ve collected bubblegum records all my life. Well, when I first bought my computer, I decided to see what was out there on the various filesharing sites. While I didn’t find many full albums from bands, I did find a wealth of obscure singles being shared…which is great. This is what bubblegum is really about to me- the 2-minute pop song with hooks that grab you and won’t let go. I have a lot of this stuff on vinyl, but some of it is too rough to transfer. So, the keyword "bubblegum" was my starting point. Over the last five years, I have gathered hundreds of great tracks from the mid-60s through the early 70s. The term "bubblegum" is sometimes too general for these gems, as they also cover sunshine pop, AM radio hits, and even psychedelia at times. It was an incredible age for music, a pocket of time when The Ohio Express, The Supremes, and Buck Owens could all share the Billboard Pop Charts at the same time. Well, obviously the fan-originated "Bubblegum MF" series gets a big nod here. Many of the rarer tracks come from that series, but there are also files from official CD compilations, K-Tel albums, Ronco albums, personal collections, etc. My goal was and is to put together the biggest Bubblegum Box Set possible, not for sale but for personal enjoyment and to share with other fans. As I would gather enough tracks for each 80-minute CD, I would copy the results and clear the decks to start all over. Now, one disc at a time, I will share what I call "The Bubblegum Files" with you. Please be patient with these, as I’m going to upload them sporadically between my other posts, with no set timetable. You’ll probably be getting volumes a year from now, so take your time and really get into the music. I’m sharing Volume One at my blog,   http://www.mondodaddykin.blogspot.com/      

Enjoy!   TRACK LISTING: 01. TOOT TOOT TOOT- Ganip Ganop, 02. JAMAICA- Bohanna, 03. SWEETS FOR MY SWEET- Central Park West, 04. PAM- Crazy Elephant, 05. LOOKY LOOKY- Giorgio, 06. LAST OF THE WINE- The Robbs, 07. NAMBY PAMBY- The Hardy Boys, 08. BANG BANG- Nancy Sinatra, 09. SUNSHINE GAMES- The Music Explosion, 10. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY- The Ohio Express, 11. REMAINS TO BE SEEN- Steve and Stevie, 12. MUNY MUNY MUNY- Daisy Clan, 13. CINNAMON- Derek, 14. CHEWIN’ GUM KID- Ice Cream, 15. YES SIR, NO SIR- Art Movement, 16. PATTY CAKE- The Yummies, 17. HIP HIP HOORAY- The Troggs, 18. NEON- Young Turks, 19. ALICE LONG- Boyce and Hart, 20. BEEP BEEP- The Bumbles, 21. SUNDAY MORNING- Oliver, 22. FEE-FI-FO-FUM- Hungry Tiger, 23. SNOWBALL- American Machine, 24. LOOK AT YOU- Bazooka, 25. STOP- Giorgio, 26. FAIRY TALES CAN COME TRUE- San Francisco Earthquake, 27. SALLY ANN- The Cuff Links, 28. LOLLIPOP MAN- The Sweet, 29. TRACY- The Cuff Links, 30. CHIRPY CHIRPY CHEEP CHEEP- The Others, 31. LOVER’S CONGREGATION- The Matchmakers.

The Juicy-Fruity Four !!

  GARY PIG GOLD’s  ALL-TIME FAVORITE

                                                                      BUBBLEGUM ALBUMS

(in the strictly Long-playing, Long-lasting, but pretty well long out-of-print category)

JONATHAN KING  Bubble Rock Is Here To Stay  (U.K. Records, 1972)

Including witfully-wadded takes on anything and everything from “Satisfaction” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” to “Rock Around The Clock” and beyond, this truly is the world’s tartiest collection of, as Mr. King describes it himself, “fabulous old wines in beautiful new bottles.”

Various Artistes  The Fabulous Bubblegum Years  (Kory Records, 1976)

Fifteen (“count ‘em!”) of K&K’s gooiest ‘n’ gummiest of all, expertly sequenced and lovingly packaged by the good folks at — who? — Kory.  This, along with that first Ramone album, surely made 1976 the year of Bubblegum’s last great (original) gasp.

BUTTERSCOTT  Great Scott  (Grapefruit Records, 1998)

The proudly self-confessed Bubblegum Man of Boston herein gathers together an hour of his greatest three-chord, four-track creations and offers them boldly to a world which, long ago it seems, seems to have all but forgotten the simple joys in rhyming “yummy” with “tummy.”

CANDYPANTS  Candypants  (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2000)

What do you get when you toss together a wad of Los Angeles’ greatest unsung musicians to create a clutch of tunes that veer wildly between pop-a-billy sass, Ronettes mascara-raunch, and the attraction(s) that was very early Elvis Costello?  Top it all with the provocatively crayola-tones of the one and only Lisa Jenio and you honestly have one of the gummily-greatest creations this side of Josie and her Puddytats.  Brings ALL new meanings to the expression “pony up” (for starters).  
 

 

Ron Dante’s Lost Singles- Forgotten Gems From The Voice Of The Archies!

Hi. As a huge Archies fan and avid record collector, I set out to find as many tracks as I could that featured the golden pop voice of Ron Dante. Many of you may know that in addition to the wonderful Archies catalog, Ron was also the voice of "Tracy" by The Cufflinks. Well, his pop music history goes much further and deeper than that. While researching his career on the internet a few years ago, I stumbled into a website called "Laura Pinto’s Ron Dante Fan Pages." This chick had written extensive articles on Dante, including a discography that blew me away! While I had found a few old singles at yard sales and flea markets, Laura had amassed a collection so thorough that she was providing the man himself with copies of his own lost songs! Well, after a few e-mail exchanges, Laura and I became friends and started to trade tracks and videos back and forth. While the CD that I’m offering at MONDO DADDYKIN does not give you everything from our collections, it is definitely the cream of the crop of the rarities. These 32 tracks are all compiled from Laura’s singles. She had me transfer them for her and Ron awhile back, and has graciously given me permission to post them. We tried to avoid songs that are available commercially or for download from Ron’s official site. Ron Dante’s work was often released under the name of a "ghost group" or a pseudonym. The CD starts with his very first record, Ronnie Dante’s "Little Lollipop" from 1963! Laura Pinto also runs several other awesome sites dedicated to bubblegum music and classic oldies, and contributes invaluable articles to the pop community on a regular basis. Laura, bless you for sharing your collection with us. Hopefully, this will give our readers a new appreciation of the pop giant that is Ron Dante. I am sharing mp3’s of many of these rarities at my blog,  http://www.mondodaddykin.blogspot.com/ Check it out!! daddykin

So You Are A Star- Remembering The Hudson Brothers

Hi. Remember The Hudson Brothers? They had a great primetime variety series on CBS-TV in the summer of 1974. "The Hudson Brothers Show" did so well as a summer replacement series that CBS put in a quick order for a Saturday morning version to debut the following month. Becoming "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show," the boys graced our TV sets through 1975. Mark, Brett, and Bill had been making records since 1972, originally under the name "Hudson." By the time their second album was picking up speed, Casablanca Records scurried to put together a soundtrack album to tie in with their TV success. "Hollywood Situation," from 1974, offers songs heard in both TV series as well as a comedy skit called "The Adventures of Chucky Margolis," one of the more popular segments from both series. This album, along with the TV push, scored them a hit with the Beatlesque "So You Are A Star." Even as their TV career was nearing its end, they scored a big hit in 1975 with "Rendezvous." This is from their Rocket Records debut called "Ba-Fa." As an FYI, I should mention that Bill is the father of actress Kate Hudson (he was married to Goldie Hawn at the time). I haven’t heard much from Brett since, but Mark has been busy collaborating with, producing, and touring with Ringo Starr in recent years. Their songs were all solid AM pop material, mostly penned by the three brothers themselves. I’m sharing mp3’s of "Hollywood Situation" and "Ba-Fa" at my blog, http://www.mondodaddykin.blogspot.com/  Check it out! daddykin

The Higher They Climb- A Look Back At David Cassidy’s RCA Debut!

Hi. Even though this was technically David Cassidy’s fifth "solo" album, many consider it his first because of the circumstances surrounding it. His career to this point was orchestrated by Bell Records. Even the non-Partridge Family records had a similar thread in that they used a lot of the same musicians, songwriters and producers. Now, to my ears, the Bell period will always be the golden period. Wes Farrell’s production and arrangements, using strings and harpsichords with a pop group, were the perfect complement to David’s throaty vocals. Let’s face it, the boy had some chops. Well, when "The Partridge Family" was cancelled in 1974, so ended his contract with Bell. The end of a great era. Now a free agent for the first time in his career, David signed with RCA, who gave him complete control over his output. Cassidy could finally make the rock and roll album that he’d always wanted to. Released in 1975, this first RCA album is almost a concept album. Titled "The Higher They Climb, The Harder They Fall," it’s a tongue-in-cheek jab at his own rise and fall. Cassidy produced the album himself with the help of Bruce Johnston. In addition to Johnston, the players include Beach Boy Carl Wilson, Richie Furay, Jesse Ed Davis, Danny Kortchmar, and Jim Gordon- all session players of rock and roll legend. The Turtles’ Flo and Eddie sing backup on a couple of songs, and there’s even a comedy skit with Phil Austin of The Firesign Theatre! A fine, underappreciated album that tends to be forgotten with time. I’m sharing mp3’s of this classic album at my blog,    http://mondodaddykin.blogspot.com    Check it out! daddykin