2013 Friday Night Record Party Blog Music Awards

Okay, I'm going to spend this last day of the new year jettisoning all my pent-up negativity...I'm going to dump it all into this one post, then maybe I can approach 2014 with a cleansed soul. (Exhales deeply) Alright, here goes...

The 2013  Friday Night Record Party Blog Music Awards:

Happy New Year's Eve everybody! I'm your host Jamin 80, and tonight we're rolling out the red carpet for the quasi-annual Friday Night Record Party Blog Music Awards (the FNRPBMA's or "Fernerpies" for short...) where I dole out my unwarranted opinions about music...

So without further ado, here's what I consider to be the finest musical moments of 2013...ahem...

THE BEST ALBUM OF 2013:



 Yes! You guessed it! "Pure Heroine" by Lordy! Hey! I finally have a reason to listen to that shitty, overly-auto-tuned luxury pop that I've always had to pretend I hated (when all along I've actually been jerking it to Miley Cyrus!) See, this is ironic! I swear, guys! Lordy is  actually ambivalent about luxury rap, yet she does it anyway so she can have hits! Ha Ha! Geneyouse! She fooled you! Y'see, Lordy is a real-deal misunderstood artiste...She has too much taste to actually like this shit...(Turns into real Jamin suddenly) Good. Then I don't have to like it either. (shuts off shitty Lorde album).

THE OTHER BESTEST ALBUM OF 2013:






Kanye West: Yeezus

Kenny West proves himself to be the true boundary-pushing genius of the new millennium on "Yeezus." Listen to this guys range! He boasts about himself on "I Am God," brags about himself on "Black Skinhead," exults himself on "Bound 2,"  gloats about himself on "Hold My Liquor," and  in his most daring moment yet, he toots his own horn on "On Sight."  True future-shock, metal-machine, dark-hop, retro-handjobbing hip/hap...Who knows what he'll brag about next (spoiler: himself)...

THE BESTY BEST BEST ALBUM OF 2013:



Miley Cyrus: Bangerz

Wee-ohh! Who would have suspected that underneath all that nudity lied the  beating heart of a true artist! Nobody expected "Bangerz" to be this good! Miley finally grows up! Look at all the new-found  maturity on display on "Love Money Party (featuring Nelly and Big Jeezey)," or the spectre of adulthood hanging over the angsty "#Getitright (featuring Macklemore and Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback (featuring Nelly and Juicy Jeezbot of the 2-Coat Mafia (featuring Pinki Boobybutt)))"  Sure, it sucks but isn't music supposed to suck sometimes? Can't we just have fun listening to sucky music cos we suck so much? Life's short! Why not suck?! To sum things up, twerk twerk twerk selfie cronut twerk 2013 twerk twerk...

THE BESTER-EST ALBUM OF 2013:





Arcade Fire: Reflektor

I like this album cos it has a wing-wong on the cover...

THE BETTER THAN BEST ALBUM OF 2013:



Sky Ferreira: Night Time, My Time

...and I like this one cos it has a boob on the cover...and it's not even a statue boob! It's a real one!

Readers Comments:

Showing (5 of 10,000,00,000,000,000,000,000,000):


Morty Hornswallow (2 hours ago):
 "I find it deeply disturbing that you included Miley Ray Cyrus' "Bangerz" but failed to include JT's '20/20 Experience' and Lady Gaga's "ARTPOP" which were clearly  the best albums this year...Lady Gaga is the new Lou Reed...Lou Reed was an artist and Lady Gaga's new album has the word 'ART' on the cover, so they're the same thing...I don't know why you're too close-minded to see that..."


Prissy Pantybunch (5 minutes from now):
"I don't know why your so close-minded that you have too put down all the new music that comes out...Your an old man who only likes the music that you listened too in High School back in the 90's! Have fun siting in you're room listening too the same old  Pearl Jam album for the one millionth time, you looser! I'll proudly listen to JT's geneous "The 20/20 Experience' (aka the 'Thriller' of the 2010's)."

Dillon Tightbritches (3 days ago):
  "What?! Where's 'The Bones of What You Believe' by Cha-vurches? I don't know why you're too close-minded to see that it's the 'Nevermind' of the 2010's..."


 Retcon Applecart (200 years ago):
"I'll never understand why people still insist that 'Nevermind' was a great album?! Nirvana has always sucked!  While everyone else was going on and on about their 'Nevermind' and Grunttruck CD's, I was busy listening to Slint and a Neutral Milk Hotel album that an alien from the future gave me...And BTW, you forgot JT's genious 'The 20/20 Experience'."


Backwoods Benny (3.6 seconds ago): 
"Yup. Thank Obummer and the liberals for Miley Cyrus. These days you can't even turn on the TV without seeing perverted sex,naked Miley Cyrus and Ellen pushing there sinful lifestyles on us!  When will the American people wake up and see that they put a muslim in the White House and when the PC Police begin rounding you up and putting you into their Obama-run detention-centers I'll be  polishing my BRO-PG9 Semi-automatic, and listening to JT's amazeballs 'The 20/20 Experience.'"



Alright, thank you all for your valuable feedback! Now I'm proud to present the greatest song of 2013...Even though it's less than a year old, it's already spoken of in the same awed, hushed tones as "Good Vibrations" or  Hendrix's radical reinvention of "The Star Spangled Banner." Ladies and Gentlemen...Here's "Blurred Lines" by TV's Alan Thicke (star of "Growing Pains.")...  #ALANTHICKE

Elvis Costello: This Year's Model

 Elvis Costello: This Year's Model

1978

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing:

Vinyl: 1. No Action  2. This Year's Girl  3.The Beat  4. Pump it Up  5. Little Triggers  6. You Belong to Me  7. Hand in Hand  8. Lip Service  9.. Living in Paradise  10. Lipstick Vogue  11.  Radio, Radio

Compact Disc: : 1. No Action  2. This Year's Girl  3.The Beat  4. Pump it Up  5. Little Triggers  6. You Belong to Me  7. Hand in Hand  8. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea  9. Lip Service  10. Living in Paradise  11. Lipstick Vogue  12. Night Rally  13.  Radio, Radio  14. Big Tears  15. Crawling to the USA  16. Running Out of Angels  17. Green Shirt (demo)  18. Big Boys (demo)


Oh, man...Now we're talking...Listening to this back to back with "My Aim is True" is enough to blow your head off... If Elvis seemed a little cranky on that album he's absolutely vicious here...Tearing down fascists, stagnant radio programmers and all those girls tantalizingly out of  reach all the while cranking out some of the catchiest new wave ever made...

Just like the last album, the first thing you hear is Elvis' acapella voice. Only this time, after he sings, "I don't want to kiss you, I don't want to touch," the music unexpectedly explodes like dime-store dynamite!   The addition of the Attractions is the key difference here.. In fact I'd probably single out Elvis as the weak link musically (although he picks up the slack with his virtuoso lyrics) since keyboardist Steve Naive, and the airtight rhythm section of Bruce and Pete Thomas are so jaw-droppingly amazing...And Nick Lowe's bright and tight production gives the whole thing a sleek, appealingly plastic sheen...I can't say enough good things about the album's sonics...



And the songs! As much as I love "Less Than Zero" and "Welcome to the Working Week," they honestly don't hold a candle to this album's rousing anthems (the stomping, glammy "Pump it Up" or the nervy, seething " (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea .")



My vinyl copy cuts "Night Rally" and "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea"  for some ungodly reason (those are two of the best songs, dammit!).  Oh well, at least they're kind enough to include the "Radio, Radio" single, which is possibly the group's finest moment...Here Elvis mercilessly rails against commercial radio (and this was back when radio didn't have Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry on it! So one can only imagine what a young Elvis Costello would  have to say nowadays... ), and who could forget the legendary Saturday Night Live Performance where he stopped live TV to switch from "Less Than Zero" to "Radio, Radio"

  (but am I the only person who was kinda sad that he cut that breakneck version of "Less Than Zero" short?)

 The CD however, includes the deleted songs,  but also keeps "Radio, Radio" and adds a whole fistful of outtakes and demos to sweeten the deal, and they're all excellent, although I'm unclear why the demos of "Green Shirt" and "Big Boys" are included here and not on the "Armed Forces" reissue. But who cares, these stripped-down  acoustic demos rule the world. Why, oh why did he never record a proper version of "Running Out of Angels"?  It sounds like it would have fit in nicely on "Armed Forces."

(The album was originally packaged with an additional 7 inch featuring the song "Stranger in the House" and a cover of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat." My version doesn't have this unfortunately (and come to think of it, neither does my CD...) So if you were shorted too, here's "Stranger in the House" ... (Can't find "Neat, Neat. Neat" though, sorry...)

)

"This Year's Model" still stands as one of the best albums of the punk era. The kind of good, mean fun that Elvis built his long career on, and the best part is, he's just warming up...This was the first in a run of fantastic albums...We'll get to more of them a bit later though... Here's "You Belong to Me" by Declan Preseley...Enjoy....

Elvis Costello: My Aim is True

Elvis Costello: My Aim is True

1977

Demon Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Welcome to the Working Week  2. Miracle Man  3. No Dancing  4. Blame It on Cain  5. Alison  6. Sneaky Feelings  7. The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes  8. Less Than Zero  9. Mystery Dance  10. Pay It Back  11. I'm Not Angry  12. Waiting for the End of the World  13. Watching the Detectives


What a great cover. It deserves its "classic" status for that striking design alone. Whenever I see it, I can't resist the urge to throw it on the turntable.BTW, I prefer the later colorized cover to the earlier black & white pressing...The colors really help the checkerboard pattern "pop"...

 I got into Elvis Costello in the very early 90's through the then-current albums "Spike" and (especially) "Mighty Like a Rose" and worked my way backwards through his catalog eventually arriving to the start of it all, "My Aim is True."

This album was a bit surprising when I first heard it. I had grown accustomed to the more punk-ish Attractions albums and his debut with Clover (who would later hit it big with yuppies everywhere as  "Huey Lewis and the News." Although Huey isn't here....) Musically, this is the sort of rootsy, yet edgy,  pub-rock in the vein of Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe (who produced this album, with his trademark tinny sound).  Despite the obvious influence of cynical singer-songwriters like Randy Newman, I believe the reason this was so quickly adopted by the punk scene at the time was mostly due to Elvis' bitter, cutting lyrics and vicious delivery.

There's a few undeniable career highlights here; starting with the energetic opener "Welcome to the Working Week" where Elvis is already talking about masturbation before the music even starts. Right on!



As a young kid, I initially didn't get "Alison." It seemed a little too "soft rock" for my tastes, but now I see it as the defining moment of the album. The detailed lyrics brilliantly tow the line between moving and malicious. I can only imagine that back in the 70's once this single dropped it was abundantly  clear that this guy was never going away...

 My absolute favorite though is "Less Than Zero," which is a tightly coiled rocker with one of the album's catchier choruses. I've never been 100% sure what's being conveyed lyrically, but you can sure it can't be good, with the allusions to swastikas, incest and murder.




I have both the compact disc and vinyl versions of this album. The compact disc ends with "Waiting for the End of the World," but the vinyl includes "Watching the Detectives" which was a single that was recorded later with a different backing band (the Attractions)." Watching the Detectives" is where Elvis crystallizes for me. All his trademarks are finally in place. The raw, nervy singing (Elvis sounds like he's about a centimeter away from the hot-as-hell mic) and rinky-dink organ (courtesy of Steve Nieve.)  As the multi-tracked vocals stumble over each other, it sounds like he's doing everything he can to stop himself from spitting out all his vitriol all at once. I love it!

In the end, I rate this one a few ticks lower than the handful of absolute killer albums that immediately followed, but it's hard to argue with this when it's playing. Elvis Is King!

Here's "Less Than Zero" by Elvis Costello.Enjoy...

Various Christmas Albums

I'm apologizing in advance...This week is going to very light on new posts. Mainly because I'm going to be busy doing Christmassy things...

Like drinking gallons of  brandy and eggnog...

 ...and building a sweltering dirtman (since we don't have snow in Arizona...)

 ...Or I might decide to provide a burnt offering to the dread Christmas-Beast Krampus...

All sorts of fun things to do on Christmas!

My original plan was to do a whole week of Holiday albums but Christmas kind of sneaked up on me this year...Additionally, I don't have enough Christmas albums to fill a full week, so I just combined them all into one post... So put on your Christmas shoes, Rob Lowe, cos we're jumping right in...

Johnny Cash: The Christmas Spirit

1963

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. The Christmas Spirit  2. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day  3. Blue Christmas  4. The Gifts They Gave  5. Here Was a Man  6. Christmas as I Knew It  7. Silent Night  8. The Little Drummer Boy  9. Ringing the Bells for Jim  10. We Are the Shepherds  11. Who Kept the Sheep  12. Ballad of the Harp Weaver


I bought this along with the other stack of Johnny Cash records I covered a few months back, but I decided to skip it, since it made more sense to discuss it at Christmastime...

You ever hear that old statistic that claims suicide rates are the highest around the Holidays? Well, that's probably because they listened to this album and decided life was too bleak to continue...Man, there's some sad-sack stuff on here...

"Ringing the Bells for Jim" is about his brother dying on Christmas, "Ballad of Harp Weaver" is about a Mother killing herself to provide winter clothes for her son and "Here Is a Man" gives the gritty details about the crucifixion of Christ...and they're all delivered in that grave, spoken word style that Johnny uses when he's looking to put a lump in your throat about a flag or whatnot. I mean, I guess somebody has to say this stuff....

It's not all death and destruction though...When he takes on the standards, the album is frequently as serene and beautiful as you could expect a Christmas album to be...But you should really check this out for "We Are the Shepherds," where Johnny does the greatest low note I've ever heard...When I played this on headphones, the "Wee-e-e-e-e-e..." in the chorus it made my eardrums rattle and itch...

 So I recommend this if you're hardy of spirit, but if you're feeling a little overwhelmed this holiday season, this might topple you into the abyss...I give it three nooses...

 Here's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Johnny Cash...Enjoy...

Elvis Presley: Elvis' Christmas Album

1970

RCA/Camden Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Blue Christmas  2. Silent Night  3. White Christmas  4. Santa Claus Is Back in Town  5. I'll Be Home for Christmas  6. If Every Day Was Like Christmas  7. Here Comes Santa Claus  8. O Little Town of Bethlehem  9. Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me (to Me)  10. Mama Liked the Roses


My Mom is a huge Elvis fan, and played his music often, so I grew up with stuff. I distinctly remember she had the 8-track of "Elvis' Christmas Album" and "The Wonderful World of Christmas."

 

"Elvis' Christmas Album" has been released many times with many different track listings and covers...

 

It was originally released in 1957 with a festive red cover. This version contained 12 songs, four of which were previously released gospel recordings from an earlier EP...

The version I have is a 1970 reissue, which has 10 tracks. This pressing drops the four gospel numbers and replaces them with the 1966 single "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" and a random, maudlin non-holiday song called "Mama Liked the Roses."

 I've always been a Christmas fanatic...I live for this time of year, and as bad as I am now, I was even worse as a kid...Sure, I was practically foaming at the mouth to open gifts but it was more than that...I loved everything about it, even the little things like...

 

...Hearing those ominous tribal drums and then seeing that swirling rainbow "Special" logo they used to play before the Christmas cartoons... 

 Getting pulled behind a snowmobile at 40 miles per hour in a flimsy plastic sled (and the resulting head injuries)...

Waking up on Christmas Day to a stocking full of Garbage Pail Kids, Silly Putty and Comic Books...But most of all I loved the music...I was grateful for every piece of Christmas music I could get my hands on, and as a result those Elvis 8-tracks got quite the workout in December...

And maybe it's just the fact that I heard these so much as a child but, to me, Elvis has the perfect voice to sing Christmas songs...So velvety and comforting, like putting on a big, fuzzy Christmas sweater, and sitting in your favorite chair, listening to a crackling fire while looking peacefully at the twinkling lights on the tree...

WAITASECOND! THOSE AREN'T TWINKLING LIGHTS!!!! THAT'S  A FIVE-ALARM CHRISTMAS FIRE!!!!

Well, while we wait for the Fire Department to show up, let's listen to "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Elvis...Which I swear, is the most Christmassy song ever...That good holiday feeling pressed onto flimsy 70's budget-label wax...Enjoy...

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Christmas With the Chipmunks

1961

Liberty Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Here Comes Santa Claus  2.  Up on the House-Top  3. Silver Bells  4. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer  5. Jingle Bells  6. Over the River and Through the Woods  7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town  8. It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas  9. Frosty the Snowman  10. White Christmas  11. The Chipmunk Song  12. We Wish You a Merry Christmas


 Hands down my favorite Christmas album as a child. It's weird, because as a kid, I was extremely resistant to "children's music."  I just hated all of it...It never rocked and it always felt so phony...You can keep your "Do Your Ears Hang Low"...I wanted Kiss, AC/DC and Nazareth!



But for some reason, the Chipmunks Christmas album was a big exception. The version I have now is on vinyl (which I bought at the short-lived Tucson shop "Nostalgic Novelties," which was the most awesome place ever... I only got to go there once, but I damn near blew a whole paycheck there...The place was floor to ceiling with 70's and 80's stuff...

I drove back there a week later and the place was gone...Oh well...)

But originally I had this album on cassette...

 I swear to you, me and my brother would put this on the stereo at night and the tape would just endlessly play while we slept...I can vividly remember one night I woke from a dead sleep to hear the tape being mangled by the stereo...Chipmunks voices began to speed up even further and warp! I ran to the tape deck to salvage it but was horrified to realize I had arrived too late...The tape was gone...

 

I was inconsolable...Hysterical! How could this happen?!?!?! Christmas was ruined for sure without the dulcet tones of Alvin and the boys singing "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!"

My Mom was kind enough to drive to the drug store the next day and pick us up another copy! Thanks, Mom! Christmas is back on! 

 I still think this is one of the most solid Christmas albums out there..It's so much fun and the song selection is absolute perfection! These are the exact songs I think about when I think of Christmas...And I honestly find Dave's tender rendition of "Silver Bells" to be moving...I highly recommend this album, especially if you have kids...If they're anything like me (ahem...Paternity Test...) those buggers'll lose their damn minds when they hear it...

Here's "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" by Alvin and the Chipmunks...

Okay...Did you send the kids to bed? Alright, now it's time for the raunchy stuff...Let's put this on...

Rudy Ray Moore: The Rudy Ray Moore Christmas Album (Merry Christmas, Baby)

197X (Can't find  a date on the record or anywhere online...but it's definitely from the early 70's) 

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Merry Christmas, Baby and more...  2. The Night Before Christmas and Still More...


I'm a long-time Rudy Ray Moore admirer...I've written countless songs about him, and I've seen all his movies hundreds of times, so it was a no-brainer when I came across this record and saw Rudy, naked as the day he was born (which in itself is nothing new), decorating the Christmas tree with a bunch of righteous nude chicks...It took me half a second to buy it, and even though $5.98 is prominently printed in the upper left-hand corner I ended up paying nearly twice that, but it was worth every penny...

I think you either find Rudy's stiff, lumbering delivery endlessly hilarious or you just don't...To me, there's nothing funnier than when Rudy slowly delivers his set-up and you can see the punchline coming a mile away but you just don't know where the cussing is going to be...To me, he's a master of profanity...He savors every foul world, so a word as seemingly simple as "ass"  ends up being delivered, with gusto, as "aaayyyy-usssss!" 

In my opinion the best thing about the album is the rating system on the back cover...Side one is totally clean, no swearing, just clean jokes and some songs (anybody who has seen any of his films is familiar with his voice, since he always ends up singing most of the songs in his movies...). As a result, this side is awarded with a "G" rating...

Side Two is a completely different story...This is where Rudy unleashes his trademark blue humor (which peaks with a hysterical retelling of "Twas the Night Before Christmas.") This side is branded with an "X" rating...But wait, he combines the two and gives an "Overall Rating" of "R." This is really hilarious to me, for some reason...I can't help but translate the logic into Hollywood terms, which would be the equivalent of a theater showing "Bambi" for 40 minutes and "Deep Throat" for the last 40 minutes and giving the entire thing an "R" rating. 

Just a solid, entertaining forty minutes...Again, the jokes themselves aren't generally funny but the delivery is always gut-bustingly hilarious. Fans of Rudy Ray Moore and 70's party records will get plenty of enjoyment from this...So before you get lit up like a Christmas tree and lie down on your water bed with your fine, fine lady, let's turn on the steer-eo...

Here's "Merry Christmas, Baby" by Rudy Ray Moore. Merry Xmas everybody...

Christmas Songs

This is a list of Holiday songs I usually listen to on Christmas Eve, when I'm itching for something a little edgier than Bing Crosby...Check it out...

The Dickies: Silent Night

Ramones: Marry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)

The Kinks: Father Christmas

 Boston Space Ships: Christmas Girl 

The Pogues: Fairy Tale of New York

Wizzard: I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day

          

Archers of Loaf: Assassination on Xmas Eve

Cheech and Chong: Santa Claus and His Old Lady

               

Bad Religion: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

The Fall: No Xmas for John Quays

AC/DC: Mistress for Christmas

Red Peters: Holy Shit, It's Christmas

                  

The Vandals: Oi! To the World

Run DMC: Christmas in Hollis

 Sloppy Seconds: Lonely Christmas

The Flaming Lips: Christmas at the Zoo

King Diamond:  No Presents for Christmas

Dave Edmunds: Run, Rudolph, Run

Guided By Voices: Father Sgt Christmas Card

The Dead Milkmen: Christmas Party

Tom Waits" Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis

And that wraps it up...Hardy har har...I'm probably missing some really obvious ones...But oh well...Merry Christmas, everybody....

Bill Cosby: Various Albums

Bill Cosby: Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!

1963

Warner Bros. Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. A Nut in Every Car 2. Toss of the Coin 3. Little Tiny Hairs  4. Noah: Right!  5. Noah: and the Neighbor  6. Noah: Me and You, Lord  7. Superman  8. Hoof and Mouth  9. Greasy Kid Stuff  10. The Difference Between Men and Women  11. Pep Talk  12. Karate


I'm covering all the Bill Cosby albums I own in one big post...I usually don't have a lot to say about comedy albums..Mainly, because I don't want to spoil all the jokes! I think I mentioned in the  Cheech and Chong post,  I did a few months ago,  that I particularly love comedy albums because they're always only a buck or so...And any Comedy Section is guaranteed to be filled with wonderful Bill Cosby albums....

Alright, let's just get this out of the way...One of the funniest things I've seen in my entire life was the Cosby Show porn...The guy playing him is so freakin' perfect...It's a few years old so I'm sure you've already seen it, but if not, watch the video below (BTW the video below is just a trailer and doesn't have any actual porn in it...So it's safe to watch in front of yer folks, but it's not much fun to wank to....)

But yea, like most people my age, we will forever remember Bill Cosby for two things...

His immensely popular sweater-filled Thursday Night Sitcom....

...and Puddin' Pops!

But by the often-sanctimonious end of the Cosby Show it was easy to forget what a talented comedian he was...One of the all-time greats in my opinion... This album largely focuses on observational humor and is surprisingly light on the childhood anecdotes that characterized this classic period. That said, his observations often have a child-like quality to them...

The highlight here is the epic three-part Noah routine, where he does a hilariously realistic interpretation of the biblical story of Noah's ark...

"What's a cubit?"

I count the Noah bits as among the best things he's ever done, so for that alone, I'd snatch this record from the dollar bins if I was you...

Here's "Toss of the Coin"...

Bill Cosby: I Started Out as a Child

1964

Warner Bros. Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Sneakers  2. Street Football  3. The Water Bottle  4. Christmas Time  5. The Giant  6. Oops!  7. The Lone Ranger  8. Ralph Jameson  9. Medic  10. My Pet Rhinoceros  11. Half Man  12. Rigor Mortis  13. The Neanderthal Man  14. T.V. Football  15. Seattle


This album, on the other hand, is almost all childhood reminiscences, which are Cosby's specialty...As a result I tend to lean towards this as his most consistently entertaining album...On "Christmas Time" he totally nails the electrifyingly torturous feeling of being a kid on Christmas eve (trying to force yourself to go to sleep at 3 pm)...

 ...and you know exactly what he means when he talks about the water jug in the fridge that always has an inch of water at the bottom that everybody's too lazy to refill...

Another of his strong points are his takes on television shows and movies (usually westerns)...For some reason these types of routines always tend to steal the show...It gives the impression it's a lot of fun to hang out and watch TV with the Coz....

 On  this album we get his observations on the regular ass-beating Tonto seemed to get whenever the Lone Ranger sent him to town...

Here, check out "The Lone Ranger"...Enjoy....

Bill Cosby: The Best of Bill Cosby

1969

Warner Bros. Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Noah: Right  2. Noah: And the Neighbor  3. Noah: Me and You, Lord  4. Revenge  5. The Lone Ranger  6. Old Weird Harold (9th Street Bridge)  7. Driving in San Francisco  8. The Apple  9. Babies (Baby)  10. The Water Bottle  11. Street Football  12. Fat Albert (Buck, Buck)

 FLAZM!!

The comedy section in any record store is sure to have at least ten copies of "The Best of Bill Cosby" and boy, is this great if you're looking for a taste of Bill Cosby's stand-up...This covers his Warner Bros years from 1963-1968 and  features some of the best moments in comedy history  such as "Revenge" and  "Old Weird Harold (9th Street Bridge) " (which chronicles the frightening walk home after watching monster movies all day at the theatre)...

Oh yea, this also has "Buck, Buck" from 1968's "Revenge" album, which is the track that introduces Fat Albert...

(Damn, I love Fat Albert...I used to watch it religiously every Saturday morning...)

Although Bill explains the game very thoroughly,  I still can't figure out what the hell "Buck Buck" is...Maybe I should google it...

...aaaand now I'm even more confused...

Oh well, let's check out"Revenge" by Bill Cosby...

More of the Best of Bill Cosby

1970

Warner Bros. Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Two Daughters  2. Toss of the Coin  3. Conflict  4. Dogs and Cats  5. Smoking  6. Shop  7. Karate  8. Oops  9. The Apple  10. Hofstra

Man, Warner Bros is milking it at this point...Bill had switched labels and Warner decided to release a greatest hits album immediately and then another one a mere year later...

Oh well, he released so much excellent stuff during his tenure at the label that it wasn't hard at all to fill another volume. I'm not sure why the repeated "The Apple" again, though, why not "Christmas Time" or another similarly strong routine?

At least they were smart enough to include "Hofstra," which is a glorious expansion of the earlier "TV Football" act...Set aside 10 minutes and check it out...

Bill Cosby: When I Was a Kid

1971

MCA Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. My Hernia  2. Buck Jones  3. Snakes and Alligators  4. My Boy Scout Troupe  5. My Brother, Russell  6. My Father  7. Dogs  8. Frogs

Yes! I love this cover! It has a cool drawing of Fat Albert and the Cosby kids, but in a different style than the one used in the cartoon...A rougher, more 70's style...Y'know that distinct lumpy 70's style I'm talking about...Sort of the thing you'd see on "Picture Pages"...

As for the content of the record, more long, rambling stories of young Bill, some Fat Albert and a hilarious bit on some old western star named Buck Jones.

Typically, good stuff and a must-have for the cover alone...The quarter bins always have this one...Here's "My Brother, Russell"...

Bill Cosby: Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby

1972

Uni Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. The Invention of Basketball  2. Survival  3. Ennis' Toilet  4. Bill's Marriage  5. Bedroom Slippers 6. "Froofie" the Dog  7. The Lower Tract  8. Sulphur Fumes  9. Football  10. Slow Class

What a great suit! It looks like the kind of old drapes you always see in 70's photos...I also dig his ten-foot wide tie...

Anyway, his act really matures during this time period...Sure there's still some of his trademark boyhood memories, but "Inside the Mind..." is largely comprised of his views on marriage and  parenthood,  which are remarkably similar to the childhood material,  just viewed from a different angle, which adds a bit of freshness...

This album, in particular,  got a few big laughs from me, particularly "The Lower Tract" where he contemplates parts of the animal which perhaps are better left uneaten...

Again, the shift in his approach is welcome and ultimately ends up being just as funny as the earlier stuff...Here's "'Froofie' the Dog"...Sorry, the sound quality is a little scratchy here....

Bill Cosby: Bill

1973

MCA Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Handball At The "Y"  2. "Froofie" The Dog  3. Survival  4. Fernet Branca  5. Wally, Wally  6. My Dad's Car  7. The Lower Track  8. (In Las Vegas) Be Good To Your Wives  9. (In Las Vegas) Bill Cosby Fights Back  10. Buck Jones  11.Bill Cosby's First Baby  12. Basketball  13. Fat Albert's Car  14. Snakes and Alligators  15. Track and Field/High Jump  16. Ennis' Toilet  17. My Brother, Russell  18. Masculinity At Its Finest

Wow! Look at Bill Cosby's gigantic mustache!  He reminds me of Dave Chappelle in the "New York Boobs" sketch...

I can't quite tell if this album is called "Bill" or "Bill Cosby is a Beautiful Man (...and also very funny)"... I'm just calling it "Bill" cos it's written bigger (and I have bad eyes...) and I'm tired and don't feel like typing anymore but I will anyway...typetypetypetypetypetype....

This is another "best of" collection, except this one covers the MCA/Uni years...I highly recommend this...It's a double-album that proves the MCA years were every bit the equal of the more acclaimed Warner Bros output... I mean, this has "Fat Albert's Car" on it...

I haven't gone any further than this...I know he put out later comedy albums, where the colorful sweaters start to pop up, but I haven't check them out yet...Not sure why, considering how much I enjoyed the "Himself" film...



I've heard the common complaint, "Oh, but you can only listen to comedy records once...When you play them the second time, you already know all the punchlines!" That's why Bill Cosby is so good...He rarely relies on punchlines...On his records, it's more about the journey...Most of the fun lies in hearing him spin his lengthy, winding yarns and they have definite replay value...I understand it's easy to get lost in the exotic rock, punk, and reggae sections, but next time you're at the local record store don't neglect the comedy section...There's always plenty of cheap entertainment in there...

So grab yourself a pudding pop and let's check out "Track and Field/High Jump" by Bill Cosby...Flizm Flip...