Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Author: Zeroto180

45 sides +/- obscure tracks
Zeroto180

Jan Rhodes 45 – Undefined Trouble Places Burden On The Listener

The full-page ad placed in Billboard‘s August 17, 1968 issue promised controversy: Bill Gavin, publisher of the influential Gavin Report is on record as saying “Mom (Can I Talk To You?)” by Jan Rhodes should be given airplay. If Gavin were still with us, I would very much like to

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Early reggae
Zeroto180

Nora Dean’s Voice — Tremulous, Intriguing

I suspect I am hardly the only one who finds Nora Dean‘s voice so compelling — the emotional directness and its unique, tremulous quality. Given what little is known about Dean and how infrequently her voice was committed to disc, this only adds to the intrigue. Michael Garnice, creator of

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Autoharp +/- harp
Zeroto180

Cecil Null & His “Gun-tar” Of 1968

I recently stumbled upon Ray Brack‘s “lost” piece of reporting about Cecil Null‘s handcrafted musical long gun (i.e., gun guitar – or is it guitar gun?) for Billboard ‘s June 22, 1968 edition: Billboard June 22, 1968 * “the guitar strings are attached near the mouth of the rifle barrel

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45 sides +/- obscure tracks
Zeroto180

1960s Musical Artists – We Hardly Knew Ye

In the course of compiling arresting ads from four of the major music industry trade publications — Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, and Beat Instrumental — I came across a number of artists from the mid-to-late 1960s who had announced themselves with great fanfare and youthful optimism, only to vanish

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Federal
Zeroto180

King Records Lore — A Trunkful of Trivia

Chiemi Eri on King Records – In the US & Japan Chiemi Eri, born Jan. 11, 1937 in Tokyo, was a popular singer and actress in Japan who began her singing career at 14 with her version of “The Tennessee Waltz,” according to Discogs. When you scan her singles discography

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Bob Mitchell
Zeroto180

This Is the Dance Mix You Are Looking For

Zero to 180, which began life on 12/12/12, turns ten today! In recognition of the event’s magnitude, last year’s musical take on TV’s Shark Tank by Silver Spring duo Dubble Trubble — the world’s first singalong instrumental — has been musically reengineered for even broader worldwide appeal. Musical Jedi Mind

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60s/70s rock +/- pop
Zeroto180

Arresting Ads From the Archives of Billboard, Cash Box, Record World & Beat Instrumental

[April 2023 update = streaming audio now included] From browsing back issues of the major music industry trade publications, I’ve discovered that Record World is refreshingly focused on just the music, and not, say, coin-operated amusements (i.e., Cash Box) or circuses, fairs, and the entertainment industry (Billboard). Beat Instrumental from

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Cincinnati (OH-KY-IN tri-state area)
Zeroto180

The “Pre-Nashville A Team” at Cincinnati’s Herzog Studios

The Pleasant Valley Boys were considered country music’s first “A Team” of session players, whose services were highly sought by two of the top country artists in Nashville between 1947 and 1948 at the very dawn of that city’s ascendance as one of the world’s great recording capitals. When you

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60s/70s rock +/- pop
Zeroto180

Smokey And His Sister: Goodbye Cincinnati

The City of Cincinnati might want to consider a lawsuit – what is the statute of limitations on liner notes from an album released 54 years ago? I understand that Hal Halverstadt was merely playing up the difference between “small town” provincialism and “big city” sophistication for dramatic emphasis, but

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