Mental Floss Digs Up Dirt on 10 WTF Album Covers

Blogs

Mental Floss has unearthed quite a bit of gossip on 10 of the most notoriously awful WTF album covers. Some of it’s funny (Jim Post, pictured here, now travels the country doing Mark Twain impersonations), and some of it’s tragic, but it’s all interesting.

The title of the piece, The True Stories Behind 10 Bad Album Covers is a bit misleading–there’s very little “why did they do it?” info here except in a couple of instances, but it is great reading for a fan of WTF vinyl in general.

WTF albums as a “genre” don’t have to merely contain misguided cover art, stupid band names, or bizarre themes–the music itself is sometimes the WTF factor, as is in the case of Elvis soundalike Orion pictured on the right.

Orion got pressed into service by some record company types trying to cash in on the death of Elvis and the “conspiracy” that The King was actually still alive and hiding out from his fame. The whole, true story is funny as hell…until the end when it goes right into tragic territory, and you feel bad for laughing at the earlier revelations.

Then there’s the story of the singer who had no idea his record had been catapulted into the land of WTF fame and fascination until someone contacted him asking about the cover. Only then did the singer–known to bad album cover fans as Ken–had become the stuff vinyl junkies talk about. His record, “By Request Only” has sold on eBay for $100 plus.

The stories behind these albums are all compelling reading over at MentalFloss.com.

 

Crosley Revolution Portable USB Turntable

gear

As yet another Vinyl Road Rage trip is being planned, (details on that coming soon!) it seemed like a good time to invest in a portable turntable.

One of the biggest gripes about doing the Turntabling cross-country record store blogging trip and vinyl buying spree has been the inability (until now) to play the vinyl while on the road.

That’s a thing of the past now, thanks to the Crosely Revolution portable USB turntable, which was purchased from Brookstone via Amazon.com and delivered just a day later.

It is, at the time of this writing, still in the box and a video demo is planned. But for now, the specs look awfully exciting. The unit is wireless–it transmits via FM to any radio within range. It’s USB powered but can also play with six AA batteries.

That means you can road trip with it, playing records all the way–as long as you have a friend to flip the record when Side A is finished. No distracted drivers, please. In the hotel, this is a no-brainer, and while the specs haven’t been explored on this notion, imagine what could happen if you had two of these units and a big effing boom box. Block-rocking beats DJ style, anyone? Those spontaneous neighborhood parties just got a lot more interesting.

We’ll have a full review of this unit in the days to come.

The Turntabling Video Blog For Vinyl Junkies

Media

Turntabling is getting seriously plugged into the v-blog thing now. In this latest edition it’s the Slim Goodbody album “Healthy Is Wealthy” in the crosshairs. What do you say to a naked man with no junk and an exposed digestive tract?




We plan on making the vids a regular feature…naturally there is plenty of kink-ironing out to be done, but so far we’re plenty amused by the results. Sure, the Turntabling video channel is growing up in public, but ask Anthony Bourdain, he’ll tell you that’s an occupational hazard.

If you are a fellow vinyl junkie with a YouTube channel posting vinyl-related clips, we’d love to connect with you on Youtube. Send a friend request or an e-mail!

ION Vertical Vinyl Wall-Mounted Turntable

gear

Now here’s a trippy notion–a turntable you mount on the wall. The ION Vertical Vinyl Wall-Mounted Turntable is battery powered and yes, it plays the records sideways.

The ION Vertical Vinyl turntable has onboard speakers and can function as a tabletop unit as well as a wall mounted one.

The ad copy for this says it’s “ideal for limited spaces” so without having had a chance to put one through its paces we’re guessing it is good for dorms, efficiency apartments, anywhere with a small amount of wall space to bounce the sounds off.

This is probably not the right purchase for a finicky audiophile (well, duh) but for those looking for a battery powered, eye-grabbing conversation piece, this could be just the thing.

You have to admit, the concept of spinning some vinyl for your friends by putting it on the wall is pretty damn tempting. Just don’t try spinning after beer number three or you could have a fatal (to the record) vinyl mishap. The unit comes with a 45 adapter and also plays full-length LPs. A nice retro-modern design oddity….tempted? I am.

–Joe Wallace