Tag Archives: crate digging

Fuse Presents: Crate Diggers

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I am far too busy to keep up with all the insanely cool vinyl-related video on YouTube, but when I DO catch up with something amazing like this, I obsessively watch them all until the supply has been run out…then I watch ’em all again.

My current obsession is this series by Fuse called Crate Diggers. My gateway to this series was the feature on Peanut Butter Wolf, who has a collection of more than 37,000 records. Something to aspire to! If you haven’t seen this by now, have a look…I always get to these things late, so I’m sure this is old news to many, but right now this discovery is like Xmas morning to ME!

–Joe Wallace



Dust And Grooves In Turkey Part II

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Eilon Paz, vinyl junkie and photographer extraordinaire, has another post from a visit to Turkey on his most outstanding Dust And Grooves vinyl blog.

Dust And Grooves is a Turntabling favorite–the photos are outstanding, the vinyl discussions are always interesting, and it’s a real anomaly in the world of vinyl blogging. Turntabling’s tagline includes the idea that vinyl is more of a lifestyle rather than a simple format choice, but it has to be said that Dust And Grooves does a MUCH better job of conveying that notion through pictures and interviews.

The album cover pictured to the left is fabulous–want to find a copy of that for the Turntabling Collection. And that’s another thing that’s truly awesome about Dust And Grooves–the vinyl obscurity factor is very, very high. Every time y0u find a new blog post at Dust And Grooves, you can always count on seeing new albums you didn’t know existed, and that’s a wonderful thing.

–Joe Wallace

Sun Ra Plays the Batman Theme?

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Of all the vinyl finds I’ve had lately, one of the most surreal has to be this French repressing of this Batman and Robin album, complete with the Batman theme.

Re-issued by Klimt Records years ago in France, this record brought in some serious firepower as session musicians, namely members of the Al Kooper Blues Project and the Sun Ra Arkestra including Sun Ra himself on the Hammond B3. The original album gives no clue to the super-session nature of the album, but Klimt sets the record straight with a complete roster of players on the back cover.

That roster included Sun Ra, Al Kooper, Steve Katz, Pat Patrick, Marshall Allan, Danny Kalb and others.

According to blogger Ryan Masteller at Critical Masses, at least one of those players truly hated doing the sessions. Maybe they were underpaid, or had an angry martinet type running the show, or perhaps they were forced to do the music wearing tights and cowls? We may never know.

I’d never heard of this until I spotted it in the bins a few weeks ago. I was so amazed that I had to grab one. The album is a cash-in, made during the Adam West Batman period.

What’s really funny about that to me, at least where the actual Batman theme song is concerned, is that when you watch the end credits of any Batman episode, when they get to the music portion, there is a LYRICS credit.

Yes, somebody actually got paid to come up with “Batmaaaan. Da-da da-da- da-da-da….(repeat until your face falls off)…BAT MAAAAAAANNNNNNN”

But back to the record. The musicians are credited on the cover as “Dan and Dale”. On the flip side, the French pressing reveals that it’s actually Sun Ra and various other names (something not found on the original, heh).

All things considered, this is one super-oddball find and while some uber-collectors are no doubt tapping their foot and clucking at me finding this only years after the fact, collectors be damned. You take the weirdness where you can find it. I was quite pleased to score this and nominate it for “most mind-bending vinyl find of the month”. Sun Ra and Batman. It doesn’t come any further out of left field than that.

(Side note–I do have a copy of the Sun Ra Plays Batman & Robin on auction at eBay. When it’s gone, it’s gone!)

–Joe Wallace

Chicago Urban Art Society Warehouse Junkies

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by Joe Wallace

I haven’t been to one of these events yet, but I am already in love with the Chicago Urban Art Society for doing their quarterly(?) Warehouse Junkies vinyl sale referenced in the video below. In Texas, I was involved with two bands who merged vinyl with art, Crevice and Pink Filth, and it’s always special when these two worlds collide.

The Chicago Urban Arts Society makes them collide on a regular basis, so these are people I definitely want to get to know.

The concept is awesome, and vids like this always put me in the mood to go crate digging. That’s me done writing for the day, I’m off to score some records! Blame the video.