Category Archives: editorial

A Vinyl Record By…The King Of Thailand?

editorial, Vinyl Finds,

vinyl records Turntabling soundtracks

There’s an article on the BBC official website discussing “11 super-rare vinyl oddities” discovered in the BBC record archives. No, none of the vinyl in the image above are mentioned in that article, and to be honest not many of the titles discussed in the article are really that odd, but there is one exception.

Apparently, the mid-1960s, the King of Thailand recorded a full-length record titled, “King Bhumibol – Musics Composed by H.M. The King “.

A vinyl record recorded by a then-living monarch? That’s odd enough. But it might be best NOT TO LISTEN to it-what if it SUCKS HORRIBLY?

That isn’t a problem most of the time, but Article 112 of the criminal code in Thailand states, “Whoever, defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.” If you let even a single wisecrack slip about needing some Crown Royal to be able to endure singing by someone wearing The Royal Crown, you’re taking your freedom into your own hands.

And they aren’t kidding. People can and have received stiff sentences for violations of Article 112-one poor bastard was sentenced to 60 years. The sentence was ten years for each one of his critical Facebook posts.

So the best advice is probably not to listen, just in case you don’t think it’s the greatest thing since urinating on the side of the road in the middle of rush hour on Route 66. But the record DOES EXIST. And that is…unique. But if you EVER plan on visiting Thailand, better keep your opinions about this record to yourself-you never know! (image below courtesy of the BBC)

Image courtesy of the BBC.

 

Rare David Bowie Single: When The Wind Blows

Weird and Unclassifiable Vinyl, WTF?, ,

When The Wind Blows Bowie rarity vinyl.jpg

In 1986, director Jimmy Murakami and writer Raymond Briggs saw When The Wind Blows hit the screen, an animated adaptation of the graphic novel. It’s a nuclear war story with a grim message, and it had an all-star cast in the soundtrack department thanks to DAvid Bowie, Roger Waters, Genesis, Squeeze, Paul Hardcastle, and others.

Below is a Youtube video (while it lasts, as usual) that features Bowie’s work on the title song, but what’s REALLY interesting from a vinyl obsessive’s standpoint is the rare and unusual picture disc that was released to promote the film:

Bowie when the wind blows vinyl

Yes, those images above are the 7-inch single, shaped as the two main characters in the film, odd and rare indeed! The world is full of unusually-shaped vinyl releases, and discovering them could turn into an obsession all its’ own. The fact that THIS one is by the late-great David Bowie makes it especially lustworthy, especially for its’ Blackstar-like elegaic qualities.

Hear the song and see some images from the film below. Sadly, Turntabling does not have any of this to sell, we’re on a BUGHUNT for one of these now! If you’re curious about what we DO have available at the moment, do have a look at the Turntabling collection for plenty of rare, weird, and awesome vinyl records including a metric ton of soundtracks.


The Million Dollar McDonald’s Record

Weird and Unclassifiable Vinyl, WTF?, , ,

You might well wonder why people (like me) collect strange and hard to find vinyl records. Part of the appeal (for me) is that it’s often very hard to believe people A) thought the record was a good idea in the first place, B) weird records are fascinating time capsules of pop culture and related ephemera.

This little flexi disc has all KINDS of fun and interesting cultural implications…I’m glad that somebody was interested enough to find and share the Million Dollar McDonald’s record. Behold this record in all its’ PR marketing hype glory…all these years later. We didn’t make this video, but we’re glad SOMEBODY did!