Jesus Christ Surferstar

Easter - time for those who celebrate the occasion to have something other than the standard pious muck to listen to. Grab this and give to the minister, preacher, bishop, evangelist of your choice and freak them out. Hey, now is your chance to "spread the word" -- heeheeheee

Phil Dirt:

What a cool concept! Andrew Lloyd Webber's controversial rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar goes to the beach - mostly. 21 instrumentals and a handful of interesting vocals. Most of the instros are surf. The whole package is well done. Vocal tracks on this amazing CD include a delightful faux-pomp performance of "Strange Things Mystifying" by Prawns With Horns, the traditional surf backtracked "Simon Zeabotas" from Pipelines, the heavy garage fuzz and organ pound of Babyshaker's "Damned For All Time / Blood Money," the dry edged power of "The Arrest" from the HiFi Ramblers, and the Texas heavy fuzz of Johnny Vortex's "Juda's Death." Phil Dirt

The songs are quite strongly melodic which play very well to the surf structure – they stand up as instrumentals. I wind up adding the lyrics in my head. One of the few tributes that stand out as a solid collection on it’s own and in some ways – depending on your mood – improves on the original. Get the original below and go with the flow on Easter, however the wind blows.

Disc 1
1. Overture - Daikaiju2. Heaven On Their Minds - Urban Surf Kings3. What's The Buzz - The Waistcoats4. Strange Things Mystifying - Prawns with Horns5. Then We Are Decided - Breakfastime6. Everything's Alright - Susan & Surftones7. This Jesus Must Die - Atomic Mosquitos8. Hosanna - El Ray9. Simon Zealotas - Pipelines10. Poor Jerusalem - Lava Rats11. Pilate's Dream - 3 Piece Suit12. Temple, The - Ward 6913. I Don't Know How To Love Him - Crime Factor Zero14. Damned For All Time/Blood Money - Babyshaker

Disc2
15. Last Supper, The - Hypnotic IV16. Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) - Surfones17. Arrest, The - HiFi Ramblers18. Peter's Denial - Fabulous Planktones19. Pilate & Christ - Capacitors20. King's Herod's Song - Susan & Surftones21. Could We Start Again Please - Noseriders22. Judas Death - Johnny Vortex23. Trial Before Pilate - The Supertones24. Superstar - The Atlantics 225. Crucifixion - Longhorn Devils26. John Nineteen Forty One – Aqualads

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Jesus Christ Superstar - 1st Original Cast Recording

There are at least 10 to 15 recordings of this great Rock Opera circulating around but this is the first and still the best of the original cast efforts. I feel it captures the essence of what Weber and Rice were trying to create. The main thing I love about this is the way it really captures that early 70's sound. Those fuzz guitars and moog synthesizers just send chills down my spine. Ian Gillan of Deep Purple is by far the best Jesus. I know this will upset fans of Ted Neely, tough. This is the best version of Gethsemane I’ve heard. I also feel that Murray Head does the part of Judas justice. Other highlights are Yvonne Elliman as Mary and Barry Dennen as Pilate. You don’t have to be into religion to appreciate that this is a superb album full of great songs and a great classical score provided by a top orchestra as the London Symphony. There is even one song that topped the U.S. charts in 1970, before this legendary Rock Opera made its debut on Broadway in 1971. "Superstar", was released as a single and it climbed the Pop and Rock charts of the United States and England so by the time this production premiered on Broadway people already knew about JCS in a way. Don't be fooled by the later recordings of this production --- this is the original and still the best. If you want to listen to JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, the way is was meant to be, this is one. Don't mess with an original unless you plan on improving it. Of course, there are exceptions – see above…..

1. Overture - Alan Doggett/City Of London Ensemble
2. Heaven On Their Minds - Murray Head
3. What's The Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
4. Everything's Alright - Yvonne Elliman/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan...
5. This Jesus Must Die - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
6. Hosanna - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
7. Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
8. Pilate's Dream - Barry Dennen
9. The Temple - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
10. Everything's Alright - Yvonne Elliman/Ian Gillan
11. I Don't Know How To Love Him - Yvonne Elliman
12. Damned For All Time/Blood Money - Murray Head/Brian Keith/Victor Brox/Andrew Lloyd Webber


Disc: 2
1. The Last Supper - Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan/Kay Garner...
2. Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) - Ian Gillan
3. The Arrest - Murray Head/Ian Gillan/Paul Davis/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell...
4. Peter's Denial - Annette Brox/Paul Davis/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett...
5. Pilate And Christ - Barry Dennen/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan...
6. King Herod's Song (Try It And See) - Mike D'Abo
7. Judas' Death - Murray Head/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell/Brian Bennett/Lesley Duncan...
8. Trial Before Pilate (Including The 39 Lashes) - Barry Dennen/Victor Brox/Ian Gillan/Pat Arnold/Tony Ashton/Peter Barnfeather/Madeline Bell...
9. Superstar - Murray Head/Andrew Lloyd Webber
10. Crucifixion - Ian Gillan
11. John Nineteen Forty-One - Jesus Christ Superstar

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Elemental Instrumentals

Southern Wisconsin is beautiful country. Lots of scenic hills and pasture land. I recommend you drive through it if you haven't. Mostly folks of German and Scandinavian descent. Cheese. Beer. That's what you expect, and that's what you can look forward to. Not exactly a hotbed for recording studios back in the late 50's/early 60's. But it seems that a fella named Jim Kirchstein set up shop somewhere around Madison back in the day, and that many a young man with dreams of stardom stuck in his head made way to Kirchstein's studio. Here is the 1st of 3 volumes that document those recordings. "Elemental," is an all instrumental bash of guitars and saxophones that show, while Wisconsin is a bit off from the ocean, the kidz out there were definitely aware of the wonders of "surf music." This is a very fun collection of groups that aspired to making hits like the Chantays "Pipeline," or the Surfaris "Wipe Out." Check out track one here: "Scalping Party." No political correctness back in '62. Listen and you will know what I mean. 28 tracks in all, covering the years 1959-1965. Many excellent guitar performances. Highly recommended for enthusiasts of that era, or to folks with a love for music off the beaten path.

1. Scalping Party - The Tornados 2. 7-0-7 - The Tornados 3. Wasted! - P.J. Zakonsky
4. Moon Race – Citations 5. Trackin' - P.J. Zakonsky 6. Rocker - The Montereys
7. Fall Out - The Stage-Men, 8. Moon Dawg - Johnny & The Shy Guys
9. Hades - Frank Gay & The Gayblades, 10. Rewind - Grand Prix
11. Sands of Arabia - Teen Tones 12. War Party - The Catalinas
13. Rotation - The Six Shooters 14. Cyclone – Nocturnes
15. Slippin' and Slidin' [Semi-Vocal] - Citations
16. Rick-O-Shay - The Tikis 17. Lonely Huns - Attila and the Huns
18. Spin Out - Teen's Men 19. Odyssey - Thundermen
20. Rawhide - Vikings Guadeloupe 21. Midnight Express - WillieTremain's Thunderbirds, 22. Tic Toc - The Continentals 23. This Way Out - The Furys
24. Voodoo Walk - The Voodoos 25. Side-Winder - The Vibratones
26. Mondo Caravan - The Caravans 27. Rock Casual - The Stage-Men,
28. When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again – Crossfires

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Crazy 'Bout An Automobile - Rippin' R'n'R Car Songs

Hey if you don’t have a nice 50's hot rod, you still need this set of great songs. Roll down the windows and blast this, you'll feel so cool at every stoplight. Great music about cars. Every style from r&b, to rockabilly is here and all the songs are uptempo and purrfect for cruisin' baby!!! Add this set to the killer 3 disc set posted over at Twilight Zone – in links – and you’ll have the coolest car tunes ANYWHERE. Go get it there and rev all night.

1. Four in the Floor - The Shutdowns 2. Move Out, Little Mustang - Rally-Packs
3. Hot Rod - The Mar-Keys, Georgie Morton 4. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston
5. Buick '59 - Vernon Green, The Medallions
6. Brand New Cadillac - Vince Taylor, Vince Taylor
7. Cruisin' - Hollywood Vines 8. Drag City - Jan & Dean
9. Bucket "T" - Ronny & the Daytonas 10. No Wheels - The Chordettes
11. You Can't Catch Me - Chuck Berry
12. Roll, Hot Rod, Roll - Oscar McLollie & His Honey Jumpers
13. Speedin' - The Medallions 14. Flat Tire - The Del Vikings
15. Cadillac Man - The Jesters 16. Every Woman I Know (Is Crazy 'Bout an Automobile) - Al Vance 17. Maybellene - Mercy Dee 18. Car Hop - Exports
19. Custom Machine - Bruce & Terry 20. Hot Rod Lincoln - Charlie Ryan, Timberline Riders 21. Gas Money - Jan & Arnie 22. Black & White Thunderbird - The Delicates
23. Why Don't You People Learn to Drive? - Gene Vincent
24. Hey Little Cobra - The Rip Chords 25. Route 66 Theme - Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra

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Rock'N'Roll Inferno - Rock and Rockabilly

This is a great collection of 50's Rock n' Roll songs that focuses more on a certain sound and energy than it does on hits - and that's its strong point. Songs like Mel McGonnigle's Rattleshakin' Mama illustrate the raunchy,sleazy menace of early rock n' roll way more than say, a big hit like Lavender Blue (dilly dilly - yuk!!) The main problem here is that three of the "HITS" are re-recordings. Little Richard's "Lucille" is not the original Specialty Records version. The same goes with Gene Vincent's "Say Mama" which sounds like it's from the early 70's. Bill Haley and the Comet's "Shake Rattle and Roll" is an exception, although a re-recording, it is actually a very cool version with a great,spooky sax riff. Other than that, the soundbite's and radio snippets are great and overall it's a good collection of primitive,wild r'n'r from a very exciting period in American music and culture. This is a much needed relief from an age where the top music stars are overproduced supermodels, and good looking pretty boys who cannot play an instrument much less write one of their songs. Before the age of MTV, when pop stars had to look good, there was the golden age of Rock radio, and this disk is a reminder that there was a time when the focus was on the music, warts and all, not the glitter.

1. Intro - Alan Freed Hosting the Moondog Show (1954)Alan Freed
2. When Sin Stops The Nighthawks Featuring Buddy Holly
3. Tore Up Tommy La Beff 4. Maybellene (Live) Elvis Presley
5. Rock and Roll Baby Billy And Mickey 6. Lucille Little Richard
7. Nuclear Survival Course Record Album (1954)commercial
8. Rock and Roll Show Ray Ellsworth 9. Say Mama Gene Vincent
10. Something Special Don Duncan 11. Shake, Rattle and Roll Bill Haley & The Comets 12. Satellite, Explorer 1 Launch (1958) Various Artists
13. Roc-a-Chica Warner MacK14. I Love Ya Honey Jimmy Apostle
15. 57 Chevy Commercial Various Artists 16. Stop and Rock Freddie Montell
17. Black Knee Socks Tommy Palm 18. No More, No More Johnny Fuller
19. Linda Lou Kenny & The Be-Bops 20. DJ Bob Neal Talks to Elvis (May 6th, 1955) DJ Bob Neal & Elvis 21. Dixie Fried Carl Perkins 22. Hang Out Lloyd Arnold Katche 23. Debate Over the Meaning of Rock 'n' Roll (1958)
24. Rattle Shakin' Mama Mel McGonnigle 25. Dood it Bobby Martin
26. Discussions on the "Beat Generation" (1959)Allen Ginsberg & Margaret Mead
27. Mona Lisa Conway Twitty 28. Square Town The Darts
29. Rootie Tootie Baby Lee Mitchell And The Combo 30. Radio Jingle (1957) Eddie Cochran 31. Cool Cool Baby Lafayette – Yarborough
32. You Don't Bug Me Terry Daly And The Nu-Tones
33. Outro - Alan Freed's Farewell to Fans (November 12, 1959) Alan Free

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The Goldentones- Atlantis

2nd effort is much more melodic and interesting than the first one which you can get at Boppeslag - see links. Fine maturity in songwriting and melody.

1. F*fWD 2. Aurora 3. Midnight 4. Kalypso 5. Spitfire 6. Praying Mantis
7. Moon Pair 8. Palms Motel 9. Departure 10. Summer Vacation 11. Tornado Warning 12. Freestyle 13. Outbound 14. 1961

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Shadowy Men From a shadowy Planet - Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham

Along with Man or Astroman?, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet released several outstanding indie instrumental albums in the 1990s. This is their second and probably best one, and still sounds great almost 15 years later. Borrowing as much from UK pre-Beatles instrumental legends the Shadows as the reverb-drenched American surfmeisters of the '60s, Toronto's Shadowy Men are a tough act to duct-tape to the chair. These '90s guys keep squirming loose to add unexpected elements to their brew. Benny Goodman's "Swing, Swing, Swing" pops up in "I Know a Guy Named Larry." And "Bang Bang," the Sonny Bono tune, tellingly combines gypsy swagger and 007 intrigue with a rockabilly bridge. Like San Francisco's Mermen, this is kinda surf and kinda not. When the Shadowy Men play Brian Wilson's "In My Room," you can bet they've got a pail of water balanced over the door, just waiting for some sap to walk in. Fans of this band should also check out 'Fresh Gasoline' by Phono-Comb.

1. Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham 2. Reids Situation 3. I Know A Guy Named Larry
4. Exit From Vince Lombardi High School 5. Aunts Invasion 6. Running Meredith
7. Bang Bang 8. Hot Box Car 9. In My Room 10. Dewy Drops Of Spring
11. 5 American 6 Canadian 12. Who Painted Whistler's Mother
13. Case Of The Missing Lady Fingers 14. Jackpot 15. D. Tour
16. Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother 17. Misogomy And The Object
18. Ben Hur Picked Off In A Gazebo 19. Who's Afriad Of Alyson Hymer/Wow Flutter Hiss 20. You Spin Me Round '86 21. Babakganoosh 22. Siesta Cinema
23. Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham (Reprise) 24. Bonus Track 25. Bonus Track

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the Black Shadows - BlueXotica

BlueXotica is a solid blues instrumental that will have you grabbing your air guitar or make you want to get up and dance. Some of the tunes are an interesting combination of Blues and Surf music that is somewhat similar to Iko-Iko and even the Paladins. Others are Blues/Rock numbers and still others straight 12 bar blues. If you are looking for something a little unusual with a little variety but still on the bluesy side, I recommend giving this CD a play. I think you will enjoy it.

1. Shadowcaster 2. Whiplash 3. Cashbox 4. Lap Dancer 5. Jet Black Mirror
6. Cry Baby Cry 7. Texas Berrys 8. Slippin' 9. Peralta 10. The Pounce 11. Watch Out! 12. Lo Straniero Dannato

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Liv and Let Liv - Surfin' Pachebel

This strange fun series of semi-variations on that song they ALWAYS play at weddings - Pachelbel's "Canon". It provides the motif throught out the whole cd. There’s more than just electronic surf here, so the title is a little misleading. There's ambient trance-dance and the full orchestral version. The Willi Willi - Groove Salad sequence does deliver as futuristic surf music from the Moons of Jupiter, & that largely through the subtle, persistent fretless bass of Ken Simmons."Waikiki Pachelbel" is worth the price of admission alone. You don't even have to like surf music to enjoy this cd - it's doesn't sound anything like surf music you've ever heard. Get this cd and hang ten with the old fart.

Surfin' Pachelbel 2. Run as a Liquid 3. He'enalu 4. Poppin' Pachelbel 5. Wili Wili 6. Groove Salad 7. Waikiki Pachelbel 8. Surfin' UFO

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The Lounge Lizards

Long before John Zorn's blend of hardcore and jazz in Naked City - in archives --, John Lurie put together this intense jazz-punk hybrid. It has a sleazy, gritty sound that shows the early development and experimentation of the long-running institution that is The Lounge Lizards.
Lurie's sax plays many of the melodies, but perhaps more of a feature is the insane scraping sounds of Arto Lindsay's guitar and Evan Lurie wildly tinkering on the electric piano. Drummer Anton Fier's style sounds a bit more rock than jazz, which also adds to the punkiness.
The material is mostly by John Lurie, and falls somewhere between sexy, loungy jazz ("Ballad", "You Haunt Me" and a pretty straight reading of Earle Hagen's "Harlem Nocturne") and upbeat crazy pieces ("Wangling", Thelonius Monk's "Well You Needn't" and "Epistrophy"), at times somewhat Frank Zappa-ish, as another review mentioned. Later incarnations of The Lounge Lizards saw Lurie adding more and more horns, then other instruments and eventually creating a more layered sound, which incorporated some elements of classical and African musics (among countless others). All of their work has been great, but this, their debut album still remains the most fresh and exciting.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes Frank Zappa's early 70's output ("Grand Wazoo", "Waka/Jawaka", "Weasels") and/or Henry Cow ("Leg End", etc.). If this is your first taste of this sort of music, it may take a while to grow on you. But once it does, you'll be listening to all music with different ears.

1. Incident On South Street 2. Harlem Nocturne 3. Do The Wrong Thing 4. Au Contraire Arto 5. Well You Needn't 6. Ballad 7. Wangling 8. Conquest Of Rar 9. Demented
10. I Remember Coney Island 11. Fatty Walks 12. Epistrophy 13. You Haunt Me

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