Lloyd Thaxton and Billy Strange Pay Tribute To The Great Man

Lloyd Thaxton (1927-2008) did a variety of things in his long career, but he's best remembered for The Lloyd Thaxton Show, an American Bandstand-style music show that he hosted from 1961-67 in Los Angeles, with the last three years nationally syndicated. Here are some videos for you to check out if you're interested. He also has his name stuck on a number of records that that he had little or nothing to do with, including albums by the Challengers, the Knickerbockers, and Round Robin. The album pictured above is in a similar vein, being mostly instrumentals by Billy Strange... but not entirely! Unlike the other "Thaxton" albums, Lloyd actually turns up on both the album and a single drawn from it.

Lloyd Thaxton - "Tennessee Ska"

Unlike Bandstand, Thaxton's show also included comedy routines and sketches, and that's the side of Lloyd on display here, in a novelty tune that, despite its title, has no traces of anything resembling blue-beat. Lloyd and Roger Miller were pals (read about that in this 2006 posting from Thaxton's still-extant blog), and he pays tribute to his pal here both in tone and through both name-checking and directly quoting him.

Lloyd Thaxton (Presents) Billy Strange And Orchestra - "Chug-A-Lug"

The beloved West coast studio musician kingpin (and cousin of Glenn "Frankenstein" Strange!) gives us an instrumental rendition of Roger's hit.

Swiped from Mr. Thaxton's blog

BONUS! If you want to hear the rest of the album, fellow WFMU family member Kliph Nesteroff has it posted at his blog here.

Please Mr. President...

Jon Savage - New Fangled Jingle Jangle Swimmin' Suit from Paris

Do you like the Chipmunks?

If you do (and what right-thinking American doesn't?), then I strongly recommend you go have a look at this swell blog stuffed full of photos of rare Chipmunks items. It looks like she may have given up on it, but perhaps a flood of comments might wake things up again.

Comic Book Crazy

Little Sammy Yates - Comic Book Crazy
What? No Archie!?

That Fly Belongs To Me

Lanz Miles - That Fly Belongs To Me
There sure is a lot going on in this song. R&B vocals, Country/Jazz instrumentation, Outer Space, Singing Flies... What more could you want? And just dig that label art!

Christmas Fun...or Christmas Misery. Choose Wisely!

(This post was supposed to go up around lunchtime, but I didn't press "post".)

Spike Jones & His City Slickers - "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Bill Anderson - "My Christmas List Grows Shorter Every Year"

WARNING: If you're having a bad Christmas, or are alone right now, I strongly urge you not to click on this one. Seriously. Proceed at your own risk!

We Love Mickey!

Teresa Brewer and Mickey Mantle - I Love Mickey

Homer and Jethro Want To Hold Your Hand

Homer and Jethro - I Want To Hold Your Hand

The Disk-Go-Case

Read all about it!

Fun Fact: The creator of these beautiful-yet-totally-impractical-for-record-nerds devices was none other than Bill Buchanan... as in "Buchanan and Goodman!"

The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 And 2).mp3