WEIRD AL JAMS AT EMO PHILIPS' BIRTHDAY PARTY - A JON-KY Exclusive!

It’s rare that we get our grubby little hands on something that’s unavailable anywhere else, but we believe this WEIRD AL performance to be a JON-KY EXCLUSIVE.  It's hardly The Pharma Brothers Wu-Tang Album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, but it's as close as we're likely to get.

As you know, we’ve been making a pretty solid case for WEIRD AL’S BAND being one of THE WORLD’S GREATEST COVER BANDS.

As near as we can determine this is WEIRD AL and his band (TBITB) performing at a private party on an off night on the VANITY TOUR.  AL’s opening act on that tour was the brilliant comedian EMO PHILIPS who’s no stranger to AL’s fans as he was in the weird one’s first film; UHF.  It’s clearly at least partly Emo’s birthday party as there’s a hilarious short version of Yoda that’s about him.

The impromptu affair begins with Al’s Band jamming, and drives home how good they are.  Al jumps up for Superstition & some wise guy requests (Loudon Wainwright III’s) Dead Skunk which seems to be an inside joke.  

But the band accommodates the request, which emboldens another audience member to shout out Disco Duck, which the band takes a swipe at.  Another heckler calls for (The Tubes’) Don’t Touch Me There, which devolves into I Touch Myself.  The fourth request is the more challenging I’ve Never Been To Me by one hit wonder Charlene—which is actually quite good.  But the hilarity is far from over.  

After the short tribute version of Yoda (with Emo-specific lyrics), the guest of honor cracks a couple jokes.

I’ve rounded out that admittedly short set with the two songs that Al’s Band put out to come closer to our usual goal: CD-length compilations.

Who Are THESE Clowns?

Clowntime ain't over yet, friends -- Stinky's back, this time with songs that mention clowns (either in the title or the lyrics. Clowns abound in these 26 tracks: circus clowns, rodeo clowns, and the clown who laughs on the outside and cries on the inside. That's the clown we know from all those broken hearted ballads.   

Stinky has assembled a cornucopia of clown songs: country songs, pop songs, Motown, jazz and punk songs.  It's a master class from the clown college of musical knowledge. 

Hey, you guys forgot "Get Out Of My Dreams, Get In My Clown Car"! And what about "Will I See You Tonight On A Clowntown Train"?  Lest you think your favorite clown song has been neglected, hold tight and remember that there's at least one more volume to come.  And if that's not enough, we'll open the request lines for the rest of you clowns.

Who ARE These Clowns?

Not for the coulrophobic!  Stinky and I have been trading pictures for awhile of some of the rock bands and singers who have painted their faces over the years.  Some are famous, others less so.  Some had a moment in the spotlight but may have been forgotten by all but their devoted fans.  Some constructed elaborate personas with costumes, stage names, and back stories.  Others just put on clown makeup for an album cover or music video.  We'd send each other an image of one of these strange (and sometimes creepy) album covers with the caption, "Who ARE these clowns?"

One idea for a mix (shared here today) was to feature some of these singers and groups, from far back (Leon Russell, Leo Sayer, Alex Harvey, and The Hello People), far afield (Secos & Molhados), far out (Fad Gadget, Klaus Nomi), and far-fetched (Clownvis Presley, Mac Sabbath, Yeastie Boys).

As mentioned, some of them only donned greasepaint or clown masks for an album cover (Gary Lewis, Frank Sinatra, The Armed), while others have made a career out of it (Puddles Pity Party, Slipknot, various juggalos).  Oh yeah, forgot to mention: there be juggalos.

Our other idea for a mix (coming up soon) is songs about clowns.  Like-minded music fans such as yourselves will have no trouble thinking of clown songs, but hopefully we've found a few surprises.  Stick around and see for yourselves!

Zip It! The Final Frontier

 

Now it is 2024, knock-knockin' at your front door -- it's Stinky and me, in our finest suede and denim with the final (?) volume of Zip It.  We've had fun coming up with songs for this series, but we've got new themes and compilation concepts in the pipeline. 

They say never say never, but this one has just about run its course. Out with the old, and in with the new!

But please don't think of Zip It #6 as a plate of holiday leftovers -- consider it a freshly prepared smorgasbord of rockabilly, country, soul, blues, funk, punk, garage rock, power pop and more, served up by your chef and mixmaster, Monsieur Le Pew.

Artists range from Patti Smith to The Harry Smiths! Old school country singer Loretta Lynn meets the new school's Kasey Musgraves!  OG punks like The Dead Kennedys kick it with young punks like SLC's Endless Struggle and Noo Yawk's Every Time I Die! 

1980's hitmakers Talking Heads, The Pretenders, and TV's own Rick Springfield rock out with young whippersnappers like Savages (UK), The On And Ons (AUS), and Shpongle (WTF).  Who? Them! And it's War!

Melody masters Smokey Robinson and Bette Midler sing sweetly alongside Orville Fox And The Harmony Masters! You get the idea.  At Jon-Ky Records, not every Joe Blow makes the cut -- but Joe And The Blows do.

Next In A Series Of Firsts

 

Give yourself a hand if you know them already, but some folks may be unfamiliar with these first recordings of songs that became more popular when the artists rerecorded them.  

THE SIXTIES: Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds Of Silence" struck a chord with record buyers after a backing band was dubbed onto it. The long-running Isley Brothers scored a hit in 1973 with "Who's That Lady", a song they first released almost a decade earlier.  The Wailing Wailers recorded "One Love" in 1966, but Bob Marley's remake (without Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) is the popular favorite.  After the breakup of Nazz, Todd Rundgren sang "Hello It's Me" as a solo artist.  

THE SEVENTIES: Little Feat slowed down "Willin" (a song from their self-titled debut), and made it a classic country-rock ballad.  Lynyrd Skynyrd shelved an entire album recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1971, and remade many of the songs (including "Gimme Three Steps") with producer Al Kooper for their official 1973 debut.  David Bowie first released "Moonage Daydream" in 1971 as a member of Arnold Corns, a short-lived group that preceded the Ziggy Stardust concept.

Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs sang "Ready For Love" on 1972's All The Young Dudes, and his desire to work with a singer with a greater vocal range led him to form Bad Company.  The Move released "Do Ya" in 1972; ELO recorded it again after Todd Rundgren's Utopia popularized the song.  Tom Petty's first band Mudcrutch did "Don't Do Me Like That" in 1974. It became a hit for Petty's Heartbreakers five years later.   

"Cruel To Be Kind" was written by Ian Gomm and Nick Lowe when they were members of the band Brinsley Schwarz, but it wouldn't have made the charts if Lowe's A&R rep hadn't "bullied" Lowe into redoing it with Rockpile for Labour Of Lust. It was first recorded by the Brinsleys in 1974 at Rockfield, but wasn't released until 1978 (as the b-side to Lowe's "Little Hitler" single, and on some of the non-UK versions of Jesus Of Cool). 

Ian Hunter released "England Rocks" as a 1977 single with his Overnight Angels, but relocating the song to Cleveland (with the help of Mick Ronson) proved to be a greater success.  Cheap Trick's studio version of "I Want You To Want Me" was decidedly more Beatlesque than the hard-rocking hit version from At Budokan.  Joan Jett's first attempt at "I Love Rock'n Roll" was coproduced by two Professionals (Steve Jones & Paul Cook).  

After leaving a group called Starstruck, Bill Bartlett brought his hard rock arrangement of Leadbelly's "Black Betty" to his new band, Ram Jam.  Billy Idol had a 1981 hit with "Dancing With Myself", but it was first released on the final Generation X album, and Derwood Andrews got Sweet Revenge by leaking the original 1979 recordings.  Derwood plays guitar on the version included here. Steve New and Steve Jones (him again) played on the 1980 Gen X version.

THE EIGHTIES: Men At Work's self-released debut single included an early "Down Under" on the b-side (without the musical quote from "Kookaburra" that later caused them legal trouble).  Portland band Seafood Mama renamed themselves Quarterflash and remade "Harden My Heart".  

The wistful ballad "Holding Back The Years" is neither frantic nor elevating, but The Frantic Elevators recorded it before transforming themselves into Simply Red. "Walking On Sunshine" is both elevating and somewhat frantic, but it wasn't a hit until Katrina And The Waves took another pass at it.  "We Care A Lot" was originally recorded by Faith No More in 1985, before vocalist Chuck Mosely was replaced by Mike Patton.

The final "first" on today's compilation is the 1991 version of "Welcome To Paradise", which Green Day rerecorded for their 1994 breakthrough album, Dookie. Thanks to One Buck Guy for sharing the original "Down Under", and thanks to Stinky for suggesting several of songs on today's comp!

Zip, Zip, Zip, Zip, Zip

 

Zip It #5 is here, so be of good cheer.  In this series, Prof. LePew and I continue our exhaustive survey of the history of popular music, searching for songs about people puttin' people down.  

It isn't always a putdown to suggest that someone keep shtum. Sometimes the kindest advice is to hold one's tongue.  Honest Abe once said that it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.  Michelle Shocked wrote, "Silence is golden/ And words are made of lead/ And in the alchemy of love, you know/ Some things are better left unsaid." And she knows a lot about paying the price of silence.

Back to the music: in the zip file for today's Zip It!, you'll find punk rock, country, soul, R&B, a couple of pop idols, and even some of that grrrungy "complaint rock" that was all the rage in the mid-90's.  But only a little!  

The wonderful Dubhed blog was the inspiration for two of the tracks, as Khayem suggested the mashup "Shut Up Let's Hook Up", and Stinky fell in love with The Anchoress' version of "Enjoy The Silence" (which was featured on Dubhed).  "Honey Hush" appears once again (this time by Johnny Burnette's Rock & Roll Trio).  I think I suggested "Don't Start Me Talkin" and the "Shut Up" songs by the Drive-By Truckers, The Coathangers, and Jr. Walker's All-Stars.

In the words of the internet's favorite music blogger, "Gitit! (no pw)" -- and stay tuned for another episode of Zip It!  Or something entirely different.  We're flexible.

NOT At Budokan

Stinky has shared a number of Homemade Live Albums on this blog, seeking out great live performances to recreate a studio album in track-by-track order.  He's created almost two dozen of them!  I suggested that he do the opposite: assemble the studio versions of one of the best-known live albums in rock music.  

We posted a compilation last year of OTHER artists who have performed at Japan's famous Budokan arena.  The boys from Rockford (as you may know) didn't plan to release their live album outside Japan, but it sold well as an import, and their live performance had an energy that the studio albums seemed to lack.  (Did you know that it was actually recorded in Osaka?  The Budokan audience was so enthusiastic that they drowned out the band!)

Having said that, why post the studio versions?   First, because casual fans may not have heard them.   At Budokan was the first Cheap Trick album in many record buyers' collections (and for some, it remained their only purchase.)  Back then, a live album was like a greatest hits collection: all the songs you wanted to hear by Peter Frampton or Kiss (for example), with none of the filler -- although Pete did stretch out some of his songs with those long talk box solos.  

Another reason for today's post: the studio recordings have greater subtlety and variety than the concert versions.  Though many live albums are "sweetened" after the fact, the studio versions benefit from layers of vocal harmonies, guitars and other instruments, and arrangements that may be difficult to reproduce in concert.

We discovered that Cheap Trick never released a studio version of "Ain't That A Shame", so Stinky found a great performance from the American Music Awards.  And you don't just get the ten tracks from At Budokan.  He also found a terrific live version of "The House Is Rockin (With Domestic Problems)".  At my request, he added "Writing On The Wall" (a personal favorite) and the 1997 recording of "Brontosaurus" (which Cheap Trick interpolated into "California Man" on Heaven Tonight).  "Dream Police" is here without strings, as well as a sample from the Albini sessions and a few other rarities.  

Return of the Son of the Bride of ZIP IT!

 

Hope you're not tired of songs in the key of Z, or the lyrical theme of shutting up.  I thought Volume 4 would be the conclusion of this series.  Good news: Stinky is putting the finishing touches on one more Zip It compilation!

I had more input on this one than the previous sets in the series.  It was Stinky's brainchild, and he had a bevy of great tracks.  I finally put on my internet detective hat (see picture at left) and sent him about 20 titles.  That's not Stinky being pistol-whipped, by the way.

Most of them are here, and Stinky rounded out the tracklist for a solid two dozen tunes that (once again) range from blues and country to funk, punk and surf!  And you thought you'd never hear surf music again?  Let us land our Jon-Ky machine... 

I don't know exactly what Stinky has lined up for Volume 5, although he confirmed that it will include Khayem's excellent suggestion.  That's been part of the fun: surprising each other with artists and songs (or reminding each other: "Why didn't I remember that one?")  I didn't know the Elois, the Jamies, the Deltas, or Billy Strings, for example.

We will return to our regular programming after the next Zip It, unless you blog readers suddenly flood the comments with suggestions. Among other things, there are series planned on the themes of celebrities and clowns.  Now that I think about it, the Venn diagram on those two themes might overlap more than a little.  Speaking of celebrities, Billy Bob Thornton makes an appearance in today's tracklist!  Now that's entertainment!

Zip It, Zip It, Zip It!

 

The series continues with another volume of songs about lowering your voice, hushing your mouth, zipping your lip and just plain shuttin' up!

Stinky's served up a few names that are new to me: Western Sizzlers (with Rick Richards from the Georgia Satellites), Brides of Destruction (with Motley Crue and LA Guns members), Walk The Moon, and Japanese garage punks the Fadeaways.

There's blues, country, punk, funk, soul, new wave, hip hop -- but wait, stop the presses!  This just in:  I've been informed by a reliable authority that there is no such thing as new wave.  As it turns out, there was never any such thing as new wave! 

According to our source, "new wave" was just the polite thing to say when you were trying to explain you were not into the boring old rock ‘n’ roll but you didn’t dare to say punk because you were afraid to get kicked out of the party and they wouldn’t give you coke anymore. 

There’s new music, there’s new underground sound, there’s noise, there’s punk, there’s power pop, there’s ska, there’s rockabilly -- and now there's Stinky's latest smorgasbord of sound, nearly two dozen slices of tongue biting tuneage.  Shut up and dig in, already.

ZIP IT -- Part 2!

 

This one is about 75% Stinky (including the cover art).  My suggestions were (predictably) the "post punk" songs by the Residents, the Banshees, and the Buttholes.  The NRBQ version of "Honey Hush" is also my fault. Stinky said we should have gone with art58koen's recommendation of the original by Big Joe Turner, but Zip It! Volume 2 was already finished before the first one was posted. Can't help it, I just love to hear Big Al Anderson shout the blues!

Speaking of punk, Stinky made the inspired decision to include the Sex Pistols' version of "Don't Give Me No Lip, Child". Check out last year's Steppingstones comp here on t'blog to hear Dave Berry's original! 

Jonderblog fave raves The Flamin' Groovies also appear, with "Don't You Lie To Me" (which was written by Tampa Red and adapted by Chuck Berry).  Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Bettye Lavette are among the other fine entertainers on board for this fabulous sequel to the first volume of Zip It!

 

When I saw the tracklist, I thought for sure that "Bitchin' In The Kitchen" was a cover of the song from Shock Treatment, the 1981 film followup to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  But I was mistaken -- it's a spunky original by the singing siblings Kitty, Daisy & Lewis! 

At the 2:25 mark in this video from Shock Treatment, a young Rik Mayall appears between Brad & Janet -- but it's not the original Brad & Janet (dammit!), and the "Bitchin' In The Kitchen" that they sing isn't the "Bitchin' In The Kitchen" that you will hear on today's compilation.  Confused? You won't be after this week's episode of ZIP IT!

ZIP IT! Volume 1

Stinky and I often trade ideas for compilations.  A few don't fly, but others really take wing.  He recently started compiling songs with "Shut Up" as the title (or theme).  

As they say in the entertainment biz, I had notes.  We traded emails and text messages, and pretty soon we had enough songs for four volumes of this foolishness.  

Zip It! is the title of the series.  Shutting your mouth (or someone else's) is the theme.  And as Steve Earle once put it, you know the rest.

I suspect that Stinky was inspired by "Word To The Wise" from his recent Bill Kirchen compilations.  I think I suggested The Monks, "Hush", and "Our Lips Are Sealed".  

This first set includes a number of artists previously featured in this blog: Chuck Berry, Joan Jett, Dr. Feelgood, Fun Boy Three, Bill "Dieselbilly" Kirchen, and Pearl Harbour (the patron saint of Jonderblog).  Great news: Pearl is performing with a new band called Pearl Harbour Country!

Blog readers have reported dead links for the 2010 Comeback Special, Eva Cassidy, the Talk Box compilations, Stinky's tribute to Stiv Bators, and the RFTT/Ubu Waffle House At Walden Pond.  New links have been posted.

Enjoy our first Zip It collaboration!  There are several more to come.  If you have any song suggestions (or other dead links to report), don't keep your mouth shut -- share them in the comments!

Talk Box Rock and Funk

Here's a video of Stevie Wonder demonstrating to David Frost the capabilities of the talk box and keyboard, and another of Roger Troutman, who used a talk box and a Minimoog to create Zapp's signature sound. 

Roger is featured on almost half of today's Talk Box Funk tracks -- with Zapp, Scritti Politti, 2Pac, Kool Keith, and Keith Sweat.  Roger and Zapp were a major influence on the West Coast "G Funk" sound of Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Warren G, and others. "More Bounce To The Ounce" (a classic of talk box funk) has been sampled in over 300 songs.

It's a talk box twofer today! The second feature is Talk Box Rock, which is mostly metal from the Nineties and the Naughties.  Guitarists gettin' tubular with the talk box include Dimebag, Slash, Eddie VH, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Tom Morello, Dave Navarro, Dave Grohl, Steven Drozd, Richie Sambora, Mick Mars, Zakk Wylde, and Lil' Petey Framptone himself.

Talkin' Box My Generation: Talk Box Songs v2

Hope you enjoyed the first set of talk box tunes.  Stinky chose some of the big hits and classic songs that feature the device. Today's set features some deeper cuts from the 70's and 80's. 

Here's a video of Bobby Valentino playing violin with a talk box during the Fabulous Poodles' song "Mirror Star".  Thanks to astute readers steVe and Simon Reynolds for recommending songs by Steppenwolf (talk boxin' on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert) and Fox (taking the talk box on Top of the Pops).  In each video, you can see how the performer shapes words and sounds through the tube in his mouth.

One of the songs from Volume 1 ("Those Shoes" by The Eagles) has been sampled a number of times.  Some DJ's have used the song's distinctive drum pattern, and others sampled Joe Walsh's simple but effective talk box riff. Today's set begins with Ten Years After and concludes almost twenty years later with the Beastie Boys' cinematic High Plains Drifter.

The Framptone Comes Alive: Talk Box Songs Volume 1

 

The talk box is a musical or vocal effect popularized in the 70's, but its history dates back to the 1930's.  Kay Kyser and his orchestra demonstrated a Sonovox in the 1940 film You'll Find Out.  As Kyser explains, the device "gives diction to the tones of the instruments as they play".  

Alvino Rey (a pioneer of the electric guitar) appears in a 1944 clip with Stringy, his talking steel guitar puppet. Stringy is kinda creepy, so DON'T CLICK ON THIS VIDEO if puppets are your bête noire! 

In this 1939 newsreel, Lucille Ball demonstrates the Sonovox by pressing its contact microphones to her larynx. Alvino Rey's wife wore a throat mic behind the scenes to "give diction" to her husband's pedal steel.    

Pete Drake took it a step further by putting a tube in his mouth to perform both parts of the "talking steel guitar". No puppet required! Drake was a respected session musician who was invited by George Harrison to play on 1970's All Things Must Pass.  Peter Frampton was also present, and Pete Drake showed him the way to make a guitar talk.  

Meanwhile, Pete Townshend had been working extensively with sound engineer Bob Heil, and it was Townshend who gave a Heil Talk Box to Joe Walsh, who used the effect on 1973's "Rocky Mountain Way".  Frampton took a Heil Talk Box on tour in 1975. He later licensed the "Framptone" (pictured above).

Homer Dudley's 1939 invention, the voice encoder (vocoder)

  

The talk box is sometimes confused with the vocoder.  They sound similar, but Nerdist tells us something good about telling them apart. A talk box uses the human voice to manipulate the sound of an instrument; a vocoder does the reverse, using a musical instrument to modulate the sound of a human voice.

Stinky kicks off our own series of talk box comps with a selection of 18 rock and funk talk box classics, plus Pete Drake with "I'm Just a Guitar (Everybody Picks On Me)".  First Generation Records has five Pete Drake albums on Bandcamp.  More talk box tunes to come, courtesy of Jon-Ky Records!

Disowned & Derided (Volume 2)

"Where are all the drug-addled albums?" an addle-brained reader inquired. Coming right up! Stinky's volume of Disowned & Derided includes plenty of songs that suffered from an excess of substance abuse. Aerosmith, Oasis, RHCP, The Eagles, and Alice Cooper are among those who blame powders, pills and booze for their substandard musical output. Whiskey and bad cocaine go hand in hand with power struggles, bad decisions, and toxic relationships. (Now that I think about it, Little Feat's Down On The Farm should have been on our list.)

Speaking of bad decisions, Kiss' attempt to become Serious Artists on The Elder was a serious misstep. Roger Daltrey has said that It's Hard should never have been released. Neil Young's Everybody's Rockin' actually got him sued by his record label. 

According to Young, Geffen "told me they wanted me to play rock 'n' roll, and told me I didn't sound like Neil Young (on Trans). So I gave them Everybody's Rockin' and said, 'This is a rock 'n' roll album by Neil Young after someone tells him what to do; this is exactly what you said you wanted.' And we got way into it.”

Personnel changes affected The Romantics' Strictly Personal, RHCP's One Hot Minute, and the Velvet Underground's Squeeze (essentially a Doug Yule solo album). Lackluster songwriting and performances are evident on these albums as well as CCR's Mardi Gras, Bowie's Never Let Me Down, and Iggy's Party. Can't blame drugs for that last one: Iggy was on drugs for his best albums and his worst ones! (Just kidding, Stinky and I both love Party.)

Record labels and producers also get blamed. Even though fans love The La's and The Smiths, their respective frontmen were unhappy with the sound of their debuts. Damon Albarn hates Blur's first album, and Al Jourgenson loathes Ministry's debut. Johnny Ramone was unhappy with the choice of Graham Gouldman as producer for Pleasant Dreams, but da bruddas wanted the airwaves.

Plenty of great songs on this compilation, regardless of what the artists thought. "There She Goes" is flawless, and Joe Walsh's "In The City" was miles ahead of most of The Long Run.  "Eminence Front" was a hit, and "We Want The Airwaves" should have been one. 

Disowned, Derided and Deleted

Stinky and I started kicking around the idea for our latest Jon-Ky Records release over a year ago. It's a compilation of songs from albums that have been disowned or derided by their creators. I put together the first volume of Disowned & Derided. Stinky's choices will be posted next. 

Here are Stinky's top five reasons why a musician or band might badmouth their own work:

1. Caved To Pressure To Make A Hit Record/Changed Their Signature Sound

2. Drug Addled Recording Sessions

3. Unhappy With The Producer/Production

4. The Writing Wasn’t Up To Par

5. The Performances Weren’t Up To Par

Artists who caved in to pressure from record labels or producers include Captain Beefheart (on Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans & Moonbeams), The Monkees (Changes) and John Cougar (Chestnut Street Incident). Some albums were released without the artists' consent, like Van Morrison's Blowin' Your Mind and the debut of Big Brother And The Holding Company.

Bands who changed their signature sound include Celtic Frost (Cold Lake) and Bad Religion (Into The Unknown). I also included a couple songs from disowned albums by artists who hadn't found their signature sound yet (American Music Club, Pantera, and Billy Joel's hard rock duo Attila). Speaking of BJ, he was briefly a member of Dick Wagner's band Ursa Major after Attila split up.

Artists who were unhappy with their performances include Linda Ronstadt (Silk Purse) and Ian Hunter (Overnight Angels). Other musical missteps include The Beach Boys' M.I.U. Album, Hall & Oates' War Babies, Funkadelic's Connections And Disconnections, The Clash's Cut The Crap, and Van Halen III. 

Some disowned albums have been blocked from reissue: Emmylou Harris' Gliding Bird, Bob Seger's Brand New Morning, Mickey Newbury's Harlequin Melodies, Scott Walker Sings Songs From His TV Series, and Mark Everett's Bad Dude In Love. Thanks to Farq for that last rarity! 

The Heat Is On: Jon-Ky Records #3!

 

Stinky had a tropical brainstorm, and with the artistic expertise of RockAndre (homemade CD cover artist extraordinaire), our third Jon-Ky Records release turned out even better than Stinky and I could have anticipated.

During a fever dream of vinyl hunting in the asphalt jungle, Stinky noticed an alarming number of singles and albums titled "The Heat Is On". 

At first, he thought he had uncovered an elite conspiracy to launder money for the Laurel Canyon lizard people: funding their insatiable appetite for adenochrome through Glenn Frey royalty checks. 

Further research revealed that many of the songs had nothing to do with the evil Eagle's earworm from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. The reality was far more extensive than we had suspected. The heat was on and rising, and not just on the streets.  It had spread from Atlantic to Pacific, from the US and UK to Jamaica, Austria, Scandinavia, and Saigon.

Jon-Ky Records has selected 18 specimens of incontrovertible evidence which we present to you, the jukebox jury: The Heat Is On.

Have You Ever Been To Budokan?

So you thought you might like to go to the show. To feel the worn thrill of contusions in space cadet clothes. But tell me: is something eluding you, sunshine? Is this not where you expected to be? 

And then tell me... are you... at Budokan? Have you ever been to Budokan? Well, I haven't. 

So let us go now, you and I, through the magic of stereophonic sound, to Kitanomaru Kōen in Chiyoda City, home of the Nippon Budokan! 

Jon-Ky Records' newest conceptual brainfart is a compilation of songs recorded live in Japan's famous concert hall, which was built for the Tokyo Olympics by the magical multi-talented members of Cheap Trick. 

You won't believe all the famous folks who have played there! The cover might make you think it's a sausage fest, but there's women too! We don't want Advil Le Vyngwie's lawyers shutting us down. Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? 

All I can say is that certain names rhyme with Blinda Blondstat and Shmeryl Shmoe. You can trust me on that, or my name isn't Bill E. Squire. No need to call the blog Police! Blurrrrgh! [Cue sirens, handcuffs click, gavel slams, cell door clanks, fade to black.]

Under The Covers: An Undercover Investigation

Stinky had a brainstorm recently, a megawatt metaconcept that plays 3-D chess with the fourth wall. It's a riddle wrapped in a mystery, hidden in a box of chocolates, eaten by a snake chasing its own tail. You might want to sit down before you read any further.

It's a compilation of cover songs exclusively from cover albums that are titled "Under The Covers". 

I was staggered by the concept. When I regained my composure, I started digging through Discogs and other sources. We decided to forgive Dwight Yoakam, and gave a pass to Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (just cuz they're cute), but there's no excuse for the sheer number of artists and labels who thought that "Under The Covers" or "Undercover" was anything but a stale pun and a lazy title for an album or a compilation. 

We're looking at you, RHCP, Ozzy, Ministry, Joe Lynn Turner, Motorhead, Trixter, Tangerine Dream... When did Trixter become an online feud rather than carefree hair metal hooligans? When did glam turn glum? How the motley have fallen!

As our investigation deepened into this corny compendium of cliche, Stinky had another inspiration. Today we unveil our own record label and its debut release. Jon-Ky Records (patent pending) proudly presents our superfluous addition to the tired tradition of cover albums called "Under The Covers"!  

Check out the logo, and the hirstute hunk beneath the fuzzy blanket! That'll shift some units, huh? Gaze unafraid into his gaudy goggles! Stare deep into his spectacular spectacles! Buy the album! Don't fear the peepers!