Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Go Go With The Buddies


What's this? Rock & Roll Hoo-Ha What What updated?
Yes!
And it's an LP?
Yes!
And it's not another budget album of trash?
Almost!

As the book Pop Surf Culture point out, this album was a budget-priced cash-in on the surf craze (wasn't it all a cash-in?) and it even tries to catch a few more crazes with songs about skiing, hot-rods, and motorcycles. The thing is, it actually doesn't suck at all!

I must have bought this album years ago and likely heard a trace of vocals, instantly puked all over the place, and never returned until this past week when I was contemplating whether to include it in my upcoming garage sale. Now that I'm not such a big baby, I sat through those vocals and to be honest, really kind of enjoyed them. In particular "I'll Surf Around the World", where the vocalist vastly underestimates the amount of surfer girls in the world and pledges to surf with them, and "Sickle Rider's Rule" which stands as a Smithsonian example of surf lingo overused to a comic effect.

But really, I'm holding back on the killer part: Davie Allan provides the backing tunage and the album includes some sizzling skateboarding-themed instrumentals such as "Sidewalk Surfin' Scene" and "Skateboard U.S.A.", which was covered by the Krontjong Devils on their "On Tour!!!" album.

Krontjong Devils - Skateboard USA

I have to hand it to the producer Mike Curb too -  Ski Jump is an instrumental with songwriting credits going solely to him and it's just as good. Really, it's a seriously good album and none of the songs are bad. It even made me go and give my Fantastic Baggys album another try. Puked everywhere.

Side A:

  1. Little Iddy Biddy Buddy Rider
  2. Skateboard USA
  3. I'll Surf Around the World
  4. Ski Jump
  5. Wanda On Her Honda

Side B:

  1. Ski City USA
  2. Sickle Rider's Rule
  3. Sidewalk Surfin' Scene
  4. The Surf Is In
  5. Mean Little Monza

GET IT HERE

8 comments:

Brandonio! said...

I remember reading about this in FUZ the Davie Allan tribute zine.Mike Curb was also known for giving himself credit for songs he never had anything to do with,just so you know.

Anonymous said...

More of that sort of thing:
http://www.addmoremusic.net/RareInst.html

KL from NYC said...

Thank you. Whenever I find used copies of these budget albums, they look like they had a former life as a frisbee. Try WD-40 on the worn LPs to get rid of the surface noise (I'll send instructions if you're interested).
KL in NYC

Hunter said...

WD-40? I've heard of all sorts of remedies, but that's a new one. Would probably make for some stinky records, but i'm interested.

I think the real culprit for some of these noisy rips is the needle. I was doing it with a Shure M97xE, which everybody seems to love (I think this was among them). Enough that I thought it couldn't be it's fault. The last three or so rips have been with a Stanton RS500DJ, and I think it's noticeable enough that it might be worthwhile to re-rip some of these. Consider me open to requests

KL from NYC said...

Using WD-40 on LPs isn't new and it's well worth trying. It works best on (clean) LPs and 45s with some vinyl content, although it does help cheap budget LPs and those injection molded polystyrene 45s (stops them from cracking). My e-mail is in the profile, so click on the photo of the pug and I'll attach the instructions by return e-mail.

Benjamin Hammond said...

rad! i have the buddies meet the compacts album and it cooks! great upload

freQazoidiac said...

thanks for offering this

mike said...

Please re-up !!!!