Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Tag: Cash-in rekkids

"The Wobble"
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King Cash-In Surf LP #2

Zero to 180’s sprawling history trawl “Rare & Unreleased King” made passing reference to another surf-ploitation LP issued by King Records – 1963’s Surfin’ on Wave Nine – and even threatened to make that album the focus of a future history piece … whose time has come today. Compared to Look Who’s

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"Joggin' Along"
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King Cash-In Surf LP #1

In the course of sleuthing, I stumbled upon a King surf cash-in compilation from 1964 that, upon closer inspection, revealed a trio of “mystery bands” — The Surf Jumpers, The Wild Kats and The King Surfers — that are mysteriously absent from Ruppli’s otherwise fairly comprehensive 2-volume discography of King

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"I Don't Believe You"
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Waylon Did Dylan in ’65

How humorous to browse a chronological listing of Waylon Jennings albums starting in 1964 – eleven on RCA by my count, following his debut LP At JD’s – when out of nowhere, A&M suddenly decides to issue its first and only album by Jennings, long after his brief run of singles (1963-65)

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"Uh Oh"
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“Uh Oh”: Jet Age Moderne

ABC once broadcast a 4-part television special in 1960 called The Frank Sinatra Timex Show:  Welcome Home Elvis.  This was to be the hip-swiveler’s first television appearance in three years since being discharged from military service. Poster art by Al Hirschfeld, yes? At one point, Elvis threatens to get upstaged

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"Lonesome Whistle Blues"
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“Lonesome Whistle Blues”: Train = Pain

Unnamed vocalists perfectly evoke a lonely late night train whistle on Freddy King‘s mournfully swinging “Lonesome Whistle Blues“: “Lonesome Whistle Blues” Freddy King (1961) This song was catchy enough (#8 R&B) to cross over into Billboard‘s Top 100 Pop (#88) when released in April of 1961 on Federal, a subsidiary

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"Mississippi"
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“Mississippi”: Pickwick Would Never Try to Mislead the Public

I remember as a kid learning the hard way about albums disguised as hits collections that were, in fact, faithful renderings by some shadow studio group.  Soundalike LPs, if you will.  Case in point:  18 Golden Hits of 1970.  The singers and musicians who did their best to mimic the

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"Chained to Your Heart"
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“Chained to Your Heart”: Cycle Soothes the Savage Beast

The soundtrack album to 1969’s notorious biker film, Cycle Savages (starring Bruce Dern) remained out-of-print until reissued on CD in 2012.  This album contains rare cuts by cult psych bands Orphan Egg and The Boston Tea Party – with the latter contributing standout track, “Chained to Your Heart,” a blue-eyed

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"Village Queen"
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Freddy Fender’s Prison Album of Mystery

In 1975 — the same year Gusto Records acquired Starday-King Records from Leiber and Stoller’s Tennessee Recording and Publishing — Gusto released an album entitled Freddy Fender – Recorded Inside Louisiana State Prison.  I suspect Gusto might have been trying to capitalize on the popularity (as well as notoriety) of

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"Last Wave of the Day"
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“Last Wave of the Day”: Lights Out for Surf?

Along with “Hit the Surf” by The Sea Shells (previously celebrated here), “Last Wave of the Day” by The Riptides – from the Mondo Hollywood soundtrack album – is another late surf-era track from 1967 that begs the question:  who recorded the last original era surf tune and when? Important

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