Malaguena. On harmonicas. Hard to believe these guys were relegated to the black-and-white page of the Record Club ad. The Harmonicats didn't survive the Rock concert era in the 60s, mainly because when their set was done, they looked simply ridiculous beating their amps to pieces with harmonicas. The guy on the right tried to copy Hendrix, but you just can't light your harmonica on fire and play it if you expect to keep your eyebrows.
Ah, here's a good selection! I imagine it was chosen often as one of the six album picks, but then again once you see some of the other main selections, perhaps Dave was still a bit ahead of the curve for your average Columbia Club joiner. I just love the fact that at the time, groundbreaking jazz musicians still bore a strong resemblance to your insurance agent.
On to the color ads -- and apologies for the poor image quality, which results from both the magazine's age and the dicey printing technique used on this particular insert page. I had to scan these as gifs at slightly higher resolution to preserve the tiny text's detail, which makes the faked album cover images look like crap. And I *am* talking small -- each record listing is less than an inch tall on the page.
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Another good, edgy choice from Columbia. Miles would never be confused with your insurance agent in a lineup, that's for sure. Seems like we're shaking off some of that mainstream 50s blandness and forging ahead into a new decade with a new sound . . . |
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D'oh! Sorry for the sudden lane change, folks. As I understand it, The Chipmunks wouldn't have been included for child appeal, the 'Munks were quite the popular novelty at-large across age groups. That's assuming that anyone can understand the Chipmunk phenomenon, period. Ray Conniff. We weren't done with the 50s after all. Funny that this collection is "not available in stereo". Probably just as well -- I mean who wants to be surrounded by the Ray Conniff singers? |
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Oh, now they're Jerry Murad's Fabulous Harmonicats, are they? I guess an ego can only take so much heady harmonica fame before demanding top billing. I can't help but wonder if Yoko was behind this? George Maharis sings, exclamation point. Why, question mark. |
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Haven't picked your six albums yet for the joining-up? Fear not, more stunning choices are ahead . . .
© 2001-2002 scott weitz
