The Best from Buddah

The Best from Buddah

1969

Buddah Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Ohio Express: Chewy, Chewy  2. 1910 Fruitgum Company: Simon Says  3. The Lemon Pipers: Green Tambourine  4. Shadows of Knight: Shake  5. Ohio Express: Yummy, Yummy, Yummy   6. The Lemon Pipers: Rice Is Nice  7. 1910 Fruitgum Company: 1, 2, 3 Red Light   8. Ohio Express: Down At Lu Lu's   9.  Melanie: Momma Momma  10. 1910 Fruitgum Company: Goody Goody Gumdrops  11. Barry Goldberg: Hide In My Pocket  12. The Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus: Quick Joey Small


Man, spellcheck hates how Buddah records spells their name... Red squiggles everywhere...I think it wants the "H" before the "A"...Hmmm, I wonder if we're supposed to pronounce it differently, too...Maybe it's not pronounced "Boodah" like "Buddha"...

Maybe it's pronounced "Budd-ah"...

As in, "It's like Buddah!"

 Huh, this "Best From Buddah" album must have been some sort of promotional giveaway or something...There's a big "Compliments of Motorola" sticker on my copy...Probably came with a turntable or something...A pretty cool freebie, I'd say...Buddah Records was famous in the 60's for their sugary bubblegum pop, which is a genre I like...There's just something so noble about doing everything in your power to come up with the poppiest song possible...Seemingly designed to give you diabeetus, I know most of these songs from old commercials (song titles like "Chewy, Chewy, Chewy" and "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" lend themselves well to junk food advertising )..."But waitaminnit!" you exclaim, "If you're always coming down so hard on modern bubblegum pop, how can you defend a fake-band like the Ohio Express while tearing down Katy Perry and Taylor Swift?" Easy. The difference is a shred of talent...Most of these tracks are all well-designed, competently preformed,  solidly structured pop creations that clock in around the 2 minute mark...Not the bloated, repetitive 4-minute cheerleader chants that modern popsters deal in...Plus, no autotune or synthesized instruments in sight! Only synthesized bands! I'm also a huge fan of all the post-Sgt. Pepper psychedelic touches. 

My favorite? "Goody, Goody Gumdrops" by  1910 Fruitgum Company is one of my favorite songs ever...It's amazing...I don't think it's scientifically possible to make it even an iota poppier...I might be slightly biased because I remember buying Redd Kross' "Third Eye" about 15 years ago and falling head over heels in love with the opening track "Faith Healer"...The chorus was the most glorious thing I'd ever heard...I seriously used to play it over and over and over and marveled at how they had sculpted the perfect chorus. Then I recently picked up this record and heard "Goody Goody Gumdrops" and was surprised to find that the chorus was exactly the same....  Give it a listen if you don't believe me...

 Ah, I guess it's fair...The 1910 Fruitgum company seems to have ripped off the verses from the bridge of the Beach Boys' "Wild Honey"...That''s the nature of pop, I guess...Actually, the Fruitgum Company gets in the album's best songs..." 1, 2, 3 Red Light" is another perfect example of how bubblegum should taste...It just sticks in your head and not because it's irritating or overly repetitive...It's just brilliantly engineered to torpedo directly into the pleasure centers of your brain...I am willing to bet that serious music fans back in the sixties probably hated this shit anyway...

 You also get to hear a song by the Lemon Pipers that isn't "Green Tambourine"! Don't worry, "Green Tambourine" is here too (and it still stands as the ultimate example of "fake psychedelia") but there's also another song on here titled, "Rice is Nice." Looking at the album cover, I struggled to imagine what the title could possibly be in reference to. Another food song? Extolling the virtues of Uncle Ben, maybe? 

Nah...The answer is much simpler...It's about throwing rice at a wedding...

(throwing maggots at a wedding) And it's also lightweight faux-Peppers...Lots of strings and old-fashioned sentiment...There's probably a good reason why they're only known for "Green Tambourine", though... Near the end of the album, they seem to drop the whole bubblegum premise...There's the "Momma Momma" track by Melanie which drives me nuts...I have to give her credit, it's a very emotional performance but good god! That vibrato gives me an immediate headache! Then there's "Hole in My Pocket" by popular session-man Barry Goldberg which is more of a soul/blues/wah-wah thing...Not great, not terrible...At this point, they should have tossed some Captain Beefheart on here...Didn't "Safe as Milk" come out on Buddah? They end it on a gummy note with "Quick Joey Small" by the Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus...Man, that's got to be a fake band name...I'm not looking it up...Looking up the convoluted back-story on any of these Buddah bubblegum bands is enough to give you a damn headache...Best not to think too hard about it...Just bop along...It's a great little tune...Here, let's listen to some... Here's " 1, 2, 3 Red Light ' by 1910 Fruitgum Company...Enjoy....