Category Archives: editorial

James Brown: Black Caesar Soundtrack LP for Sale

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Browsing the Trailers From Hell collection, I noticed this gem of a program with director Larry Cohen about his film, Black Caesar.

Larry Cohen is a Turntabling favorite. He is a unique screen writer and director. He is famous primarily for science fiction and terror titles (It’s Alive, The Stuff, God Told Me To, and Q). We were luck to even meet him once.

The soundtrack is by The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. If you’re a fan of Godfater Brown you probably have this in your collection. Isn’t it time for a new LP copy? If you don’t have it, you need to take a listen.

This soundtrack has some epic tunes, including this one that starts off the album, (after the commercial) Down and Out in New York City.

Another track that found recent love courtesy of The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack is The Boss. Try not singing this to yourself after you hear it once. I dare you. The clip has an advert that you can skip in 5 seconds.

Another great song on the soundtrack is performed by Lyn Collins. Here she is at her soulful best with Mamma Feelgood (after the advert that can be skipped).

Turntabling has a copy of the vinyl LP soundtrack reissue of Black Caesar for sale. It is first come, first served.

We love this one, we’re confident that you will too!

Jen Kilzer

Black Ceasar soundtrack vinyl LP for sale

Get Crazy: Trailers from Hell

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Trailers from Hell is an excellent and informative YouTube series. Advertising is a complex game and sometimes a film and its trailer send different messages. In the fascinating clip above, the director of Get Crazy explains why he thinks the film became an underground rare gem.  He believes the trailer is part of a weak advertising campaign, one which the film almost did not survive. The masters for the film and the soundtrack are lost at the moment.

The ‘Bialystocking’ Alan Arkush mentions is a form of investment and tax dodging that’s performed by the character Max Bialystock in the film (and, later Broadway musical) The Producers. More money is put into a project than ever expected to be gained back. The producers can (if they don’t get caught) take the extra revenue collected to do with what they please. In these cases, many investors have contracts that guarantee payment only  if a film collects a certain amount at the box office.

Apparently, the producers of Get Crazy expected a film that did poorly would not to be investigated for tax purposes. They released the film, about a New Year’s celebration, in the  August of 1983 (see the poster in the clip below). It’s like a Christmas movie in July.  One has to agree, that the director has reason to suspect the producers wanted limited success.

Little did the producers realize (or probably even care) that Alan Arkush and company would create such a great product that stands the test of comedy time, more than 30 years later. The director of Rock and Roll High School hit music and comedy gold once again.The line up for Get Crazy not only included the Ramones, but Lou Reed, Marshall Crenshaw, Sparks (above), and Fear.  Actors Malcolm McDowell and Bill Henderson perform as a drugged out glam rocker and old school blues fellow, respectively. Here’s a clip of Fear with Lori Eastside & Nada that ‘s filled with energy (note:  NSFW language and drug themes).

 The Get Crazy soundtrack album one of many favorites at Turntabling. We discovered the film late night on cable as teens. It’s sad to know that the people involved may have been stiffed by the producers.

With luck, Get Crazy, the film  and soundtrack, will get restored and the TLC they deserve. Meanwhile, we do find promo copies of the 1983 LP, quite often.  In 2010, Joe Wallace  had his personal copy of the soundtrack signed by Reggie Wanker himself, Malcolm McDowell.  We’ll give you a heads up in the blog, if we find any copies to sell.

Jen Kilzer

Get Crazy Autographed Malcom McDowell

How Tarantino Creates Soundtracks and Reservoir Dogs

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Here’s a clip of Quentin Tarantino discussing the type of ‘infected people’ in the film Planet Terror. At about 2:01 into the clip, he reveals how he likes to score his films and why he rarely employs a composer.  He does, however, love the old film soundtracks and songs.

For Reservoir Dogs, he used some great minor hits from the ’70s. The radio is playing in several areas and the station tuned in is having a flash back weekend.

If you’ve seen the movie, one great song should make  you cringe, forevermore, while another will always make you want to strut. I’m going to be a chicken and advertise the strut, in this article.

Here’s another  version of Little Green bag that is about :45 longer than the version on the soundtrack. Tarantino did what he needed to fit the song into the film’s credits . I happen to like this clip with band, George Baker Selection.

Of course,the soundtrack also includes the Steven Wright intros to the songs, the Madonna Speech and Let’s Get a Taco, where Mr.White explains how to get information.

Turntabling has a vinyl LP copy of the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack for sale–first come, first served.

From time to time we get more Tarantino soundtracks, but they tend to sell out fast. Mr. Tarantino has a fine hand merging visuals and music, bringing new fans to some of the old masters.

Reservoir Dogs soundtrack vinyl LP for sale

 

Barney Bubbles Artist and Director – A Celebration

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Today, I decided to show off some artwork that I didn’t know was by the same person. That person was a fantastic artist who went by the name (most of the time) of Barney Bubbles. We’ll keep our eyes out for his artwork from now on. In record hunting, sometimes the music is not the only reason to love the vinyl. Sometimes, it’s a visual pursuit, too.

Armed Forces 12 inch abum cover_Barney Bubbles

This album, Armed Forces by Elvis Costello and The Attractions,is my earliest memory of Barney’s work. Thankfully, my relatives brought this great album home in early 1979. Little did I know, more artwork from this fellow would later turn up in my record collection as I looked for all the top British New Punk and some New Wave bands of  the early ’80s.

Damned Stretcher Case Baby_Sick of Being Sick 7 inch sleeve Stiff Records 1977 Jesus Of Cool (Discogs)
He was the artist behind much of the album art for Stiff Records. For a time, he lived in the Stiff Records offices, designing all types of promotional material for the company, album sleeves, record logos and promotional posters.

Do It Youself 12 inch LP various designs The Jesus of Cool Radar side 1 (Discogs)
There’s a lot of discovering left on my part. Unfortunately,though he was prolific, he tended not to identify all of his works with signatures. He was also a victim of mental illness which brought his life to an early end. Some say other artists had begun to steal his style, while others mentioned money problems and recent album cover rejections were the cause of the mood swing that led to his suicide.

Many of his famous album covers and posters are featured in the book Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles for sale here.  Also, you can hear more of the people who knew the man, including relatives in this BBC Radio 4 Documentary, In Search of Barney Bubbles.

Hawkwind Star Rats Poster 1972 Barney BubblesBubbles designed the poster above for the band Hawkwind.  He built a strong relationship with the band during the ’70s as well as with Ian Dury and The Blockheads (Reasons to Be Cheerful is an Ian Dury and The Blockheads song). Bubbles designed their black and white ‘profile’ logo below.Barney Bubble Blockhead Logo

He also was a director in the early ’80s video scene. One of his best known videos is Ghost Town by the Specials. I decided to include this nice one he directed for Squeeze.

With luck, now that I know that a lot of those bizarre album covers that represented the bands so well were by one man, I’ll see more examples of his work out there. Maybe, someday,  I’ll have my own little collection to share with everybody in new blogs.
Jen Kilzer