I’m not sure what The Ritchie Family are trying to say with this album cover. I’m not sure THEY know, either.
This could be a statement of solidarity with gay bikers, or it could express a need to be surrounded by oiled body builders. Understandable. But the inclusion of the dog disturbs me greatly on levels I can’t fully express here. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?
–Joe Wallace
You have to hand it to Todd Rundgren–when he wants to bewilder, he REALLY GOES FOR IT.
I was surprised to learn this album came out in 2004. Liars by Todd Rundgren is a political statement to be sure, but this image of TR-i in flannel jammies and the Easter bunny getup make some run screaming back for the comfort of “Hello, It’s Me”.
But wait, there’s MORE! Todd Rundgren wasn’t content to play dress-up on the album cover…oh, no. Behold the wonder, the mystery, the sheer brain-rendingly odd vision of Rundgren singing God Said (not a bad track in that style, I might add) live (in Glasgow?). The set looks like a Gary Numan video, but Todd Rundgren himself is dressed like a French cabaret chanteuse. Or something. I love this. Let your freak flag fly, TR-i.
Mr. Sanju Chiba, of the ELP Corporation, demonstrates the ELP laser turntable, which actually does play vinyl records using a laser beam instead of a record needle. According to Chiba-san, this system is 100% analog and will play back a vinyl record perfectly.
But what’s totally exciting about this video clip for a soundtrack junkie is Chiba-san’s choice of vinyl. The track played in this video clip is by none other than Stelvio Cipriani, who is well known by Italian cinema obsessives for his soundtrack work on films like Twitch of the Death Nerve, The Lickerish Quartet, The Bloody Hand of the Law and many others. So geek out TWICE on this clip–the idea of a laser turntable is truly awesome, and you can also have a better sounding sample of this track courtesy of the second clip…viva Cipriani!
Back in 2009, CrateKings.com posted this video clip, Vinyl Wax Records, featuring a great cross-section of people geeking out on vinyl records.
There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing people like those in this video getting enthusiastic about vinyl records–not just interested, but REALLY into it. Some of the best moments in this are when turntablist Swan is doing his thing–but especially when he’s explaining why his vinyl has stickers all over it. Pretty awesome stuff.