| Artist |
Track |
Album |
Comments |
Year |
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Gilda Radner
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LET'S TALK DIRTY TO THE ANIMALS
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From her very successful one-woman Broadway show of 1981. Gilda began her broadcast career as a weather girl on WCBN in Ann Arbor, MI, the same station that gave birth to the legend of Ken Freedman. An original SNL member, her star was still on the rise when she died at the young age of 42 due to ovarian cancer. At her side then was her husband Gene Wilder.
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Sister Wynona Carr
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NURSERY RHYME ROCK
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A product of Cleveland, OH (1924-76) began her career in gospel, but grew disillusioned and turned to the salvation of rock n roll (instead of the other way around). Wrote most of her songs about kooky things (The Ball Game, 15 Rounds for Jesus, Dragnet for Jesus) which naturally endeared her to your humble host. Her last record on Specialty Records was produced by Sonny Bono.
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Suzanne C Wheat
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RAGGEDY ANN
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From a 1991 cassette forced on me by Irwin, with the warning "Why don't YOU discover Suzanne Wheat." Alright, so here she is! The only clue to her is a Springfield, MO address. Stay away! I saw her first!
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Julie Brown
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I LIKE EM BIG AND STUPID
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From her first EP, Goddess in Progress (a remixed version is on her second album). Julie got started on Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. Yeah, me too. Currently she can be seen on a Canadian TV show, Paradise Falls, where, appropriatly, she plays Mimi van Lux
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Jefferson Airplane
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NEVER ARGUE WITH A GERMAN WHEN YOU'RE TIRED [European Song]
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Bark
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Allegedly inspired by an incident involving a race with Jorma Kaukonen and a wrreck on the highway. Grace Slick was born Grace Barnett Wing (10/30/39) to a high-society Evansville IL family. Joined the JeffPlane when their original singer, Signe Anderson, left to marry and live happily ever after. There are many tales of drunkenness and cruelty involving Grace, who will turn 70 this year.
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Bethany
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DECORATING YOU
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A Very Indie Xmas (Pop Goes the World)
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Truly, one of my all-time favorite Xmas numbers. Bethany is Bethany Saffold, a little gal from NJ who won a Hot 97 talent search and got a contract with After Dark Records, leading to a hit in 1994 ("End of the Game")
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1996
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Biance Miller with Flystrip
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RED M+MS
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Bianca helped found Pianosaurus, which played great songs on toy instruments. Other hits of hers: "Sushi Baby" and "I Fell in Love with My Gynecologist," both favorites of Dr Demento
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Phranc
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TOY TIME
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Born Susan Gottlieb in 1957. Her bands include Nervous Gender, Catholic Discipline, and castration Squad. Yes, there is a pattern here. She is the self-desribed "All-American Jewish lesbian folksinger" and has an appearence in Penelope Spheeris' documentary "Decline of Western Civilization." She currently dabbles in cardboard sculpture as evidenced by her blog at phrancthecardboardcobbler.blogspot.com., Enjoy!
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Stevens and Grdnic
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DERMADRUG
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Susan Christie
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I LOVE ONIONS
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A rumor persists that she's Lou Christie's sister, but alas is untrue. She's Beatrice Hill from Philadelphia and even went to Berklee College in Boston. Good luck finding her album "Paint a Lady" (as Beatrice). They say she sounds llike Nancy Sinatra. Good for her!
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Linda Laurie
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JOSE HE SAY
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Linda's big hit, recorded while in HS in Brooklyn, is "Ambrose Part 5" (there are no other parts) and she did all the voices herself. For an amazing treat, you can find her on YouTube on an old "I've Got a Secret" show. Later on she wrote hits for Helen Reddy ("Leave Me Alone" and "Delta Dawn")
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Shari Lewis
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WIGGLE YOUR FINGERS
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As a child, I had my first real crush on Shari. Today, I cherish a stuffed Lambchop that I paid $20 for in Maine. She was born Shari Phyllis Hurwitz in NYC in 1939. Her father was one of the founders of Yeshiva University in the Bronx. Weirdly, she also co-wrote an episode of Star Trek ("Lights of Zetar" - where Scotty has a girlfriend, Mira Romaine, who gets infected with these sparkly lights). Shari died of viral pneumonia in 1998 and my life has been shit since.
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Space Lady
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CAP'N JACK
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Space Lady (Susan Dietrich) is a street performer in SF (formerly of Boston & Berkeley). She wears a spooky silver viking-type helmet and wings when she performs and sounds like a bit of heaven. Currently her song "Major Tom" can be heard on some car commercial. Can her street days be numbered? Fiind more of her stuff at the Comfort Stand Records site (comfortstandrecords.com)
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Belinda Miller
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INSTITUTIONALIZED
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An amazing performance by Belinda (you'd know why if you knew her) from the Hoof & Mouth Sinphonia performance after the WFMU Marathon in 2003(?). Belinda and her husband Hova, of course, are the proprietors of Greasy Kid Stuff, formerly on WFMU, but now on KNRK 94.7 in Portland OR and their website is http://greasykidstuff.vox.com. Tell em KBC says HI!
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Bacarra
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I CAN BOOGIE
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From sunny Spain, Bacarra was Mayte Mateos and Maria Mandiola. Apparently Bacarra means Black Rose. After their follow-up, "Sorry, I'm a Lady" they had a major falling out and split up. Then each of them formed their own Baccara, so for a while we had Dueling Baccaras. One of them is still active, so watch out.
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Faye Richmonde
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I WANT A MAN TO GIVE ME SOME LUCK
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From her only (?) album, "A Little Spice" on Laff Records, which features titles like "It Was hard When I KIssed Him Goodbye," "The Swelling of the Organ, the Coming of the Bride," and "You Oughta see Her Box." You get the idea. A particularly disgraceful era in Laff Records history.
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Terry O'Mason
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MY FIRST PIECE
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Terry is best known for "Cup Cakes." Her sweet voice and inncocence act make her the queen of the genre.
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Meri Wilson
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PETER THE METER READER
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Follow-up to her wildly successful "Telephone Man." In her day job, meri sang jingles for a local ad agency and sang in a jazz combo at night where she was discovered by Jim Rutledge (of Bloodrock - "DOA" fame), who shepherded her through the industry and made her a star. Sadly, died in a car wreck in an ice storm in Georgia (what?) in 2002.
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Helen Kane
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I WANNA BE BAD
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Helen (along with Clara Bow) was the original model for Betty Boop when she coined the Boop-Oop-a-Doop phrase (the Where's-the-Beef of the day). When Fleischer Studios made the Boop cartoons, she sued and lost.
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Mae Questel
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ROUND AND ROUND
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Mae was the voice of Betty Boop, Olive Oyle, and was the incredibly annoying Aunt Bluebell from those horrible Scott toilet paper commercials.When Jack Mercer went into the Army during WWII, she also did the voice of Popeye. She's also the voice of Little Audrey, Little Lulu and Winky Dink. Her last appeartence was in Nat'l Lampoon's Xmas Vacation as Aunt Bethany. Died of Alzheimer's in 1998 at age 89.
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Stevens & Grdnic
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FUN AND FRESH SHAMPOO
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Beatrice Lillie
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I HATE SPRING
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Bea was a renowned star of stage and screen noted for her sharp satiric chops. Married to Sir Robert Peel and thus attained social status. Died in 1989 at age 94.
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Spivy
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WHY DON'T YOU
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And that's Madame Spivy to you. Born in New York as Bertha Levine, operated Spivy's Rooftop in NYC, a hot spot if ever there was one. Made many movie and TV appearences and you can find one of her Hitchcock Show spots at, of all places, a Paul Lynde tribute website:(http://www.paullynde.info/OtherPeople/Spivy/Spivy.htm)
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Tammy True
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ALL MY LOVING
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You try to explain this one., I certainly can't. That's why we have Mystery Tunes.
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