Experimental Products - Work the Beat 1984

I dont think this one is out in the blog world yet so I figured why not share the love. This is arguably the most obscure of the Experimental Products releases, The Experimental Products LP, Prototype, can be found at mutant sounds blog I think, Mutant Sounds is a fantastic blog, probably the best on the internet for obscure music that isnt 60s-70s rock oriented. Anyway, their LP prototype is obviously worth a lot more because its not a damn flexi disc and its an LP, plus there might have been even fewer initial copies released, but no one keeps flexis around so this is pretty rare still, but besides all that bs, the most important thing is that its a fantastic early techno electro synth-pop track that has an amazingly early techno feel to it, beautiful synth work and a driving electro beat that make this a must have, sadly it was never released in any format other than flexi, and experimental products never made it beyond the obscure cult hit or two. I have yet to see a reissue of E.P.s body of work, which is surprising considering how many other minimal synth artists are exploding on the scene right now and how bad ass E.P. is. Prototype is easily one of the best early minimal synth albums around. Sorry I didnt include the other tracks on the flexi but I'm not into any of them.

WORK THE BEAT

Tim Kelly - The Only Word (Waxwing) Tim sings psychedelic cowboy blues jams about jesus and satan

So this kinda continues the weird 45 kick Ive been on lately, and this is a doozy. I had two guys on ebay fighting over this one even though 70s xian psych doesnt sell well in 7inch format, like if this was an lp of similar material it would be a pwerhouse, but the song is really awesome and essentially unknown, and it has some nice drums, some phaser, so reverb, lyrics about the beast666 and all that good shit. I love this kinda stuff, no one would ever hear this bizarrely wonderful song ever again if not for digging. What a weird and wonderful treasure it is. Yeah theres better psych, better production, better everything, but if it was that good it wouldnt return zero results on google except for the ebay auction. I'm not saying I dug up something monumental by any stretch of the imagination, this is not the next Kashmere Stage Band, but its mine!

Lord Melody - Creature from the black lagoon (Balisier) early 50s carribean 78

This is the only 78 I have ever found that I made money on, and I actually enjoyed the music quite a bit too. Lord Melody is like the Ray Charles of Carribean music. He did it all and was there at the very beginning, defining a lot of the genres. Some of his earliest 78s go for hundreds of dollars. This is a good example of a very obscure one, and it sold for about 100 on ebay. A pretty hilarious song really, and the music is kinda fun too. This song is about a kid who gets made fun of because his mom had sex with the creature from the black lagoon and then she gave birth to him, or something, I havent exactly delved too deep into the lyrics...

The Continentals - I'm Gone / Blue Velvet

Legendary early garage rock outfit from Abilene Texas, The Continentals were all balls in an era of doo wop harmony bubble gum crap. I don't know the exact year on this one but its pretty early in the scheme of loud banging 60s proto punk rocknroll. I bought this at half price books knowing I had heard the name before but thinking it was probably another bad doowop record, but when I put the needle down it assaulted me, then I discovered it sells for about 400 in nice condition, mine is a little beat but the grooves are deep and the scratches are very light, so it sounds really fantastic. The line between fuzzed out garage rock and gene vincent rockabilly and doo wop harmony is so wonderfully blurred here it symbolizes the key transition in the formative years of rock music. I'm sure this has been comped but I'm not sure if its easy to find in the blog world so without further adieu, The Continentals - I'm Gone ( Gaylo Records)

IM GONE

BLUE VELVET

Plastic Dolls - Don't Forget Me / The End

Hey all you bloggers out there. I can't believe this track has still eluded all the compers bloggers and resources I have to get a decent rip of this 45 but yet it still can not be found anywhere. There have been 2 auctioned on Ebay before, both went for 600-850 dollars. It is the holy grail of minimal synth 45s and I have been trying to get a copy for ages. Below is a sample that has about 2/5 of both sides, so if anyone out there has this please contact me, I am in desperation! The record was released on Violent Crime in1984, it is from Greece. If you arent already aware Greece has a truly formidable darkwave-minimal-synthpop scene that lasted from about 1980-1989. The best album released in the period was Statues in Motion, which I would blog but a couple others have beat me to it. That is one hell of an album though. The jacket pictured above is an outer-sleeve that was added in 1992 when a Greek indie label found 50!! copies of this in a shed and they released it again hand numbered 1/50 and with an added sleeve. The original amount of records released in 84 is unknown, but my guess is 75-250.