KÖRMENDI EGYÜTTES, Visszhang vokál

Posted: September 29, 2013 | Author: mischalke04 | Filed under: 60s, Hungary, Twist Records | Leave a comment

Körmendi Együttes means The Körmendi Group and Visszhang means Echo. Band leader, vocalist and composer Vilmos Körmendi has no Wikipedia page, but is a renowned artist in Hungary. The link will lead you to the only appearance of his, on Youtube. Apparently he is still alive and kicking.

This is another re-up from 2008. The song is from a flexible postcard record…

KÖRMENDI EGYÜTTES, Visszhang vokal

CLUB ENSEMBLE, Tip-Top-Slop, 1963

Posted: September 26, 2013 | Author: mischalke04 | Filed under: 60s, Hungary, Instrumental Records | 3 Comments

At the moment, I´m staying in Budapest together with the staff of Jungle World. Our brand new all-Hungarian issue will come out on Thursday. It will contain a wide array of cultural and political topics, including some critical commentary regarding the country´s current situation. Each year I´m appointed to find local Hungarian cartoonists for a double-spread of comics in full color. So far Dániel Csordas, Gróf Balázs and András Halter have promised to contribute. Hopefully, the amazing Zoltán Fehér will also be included

Of course, there was also some time to go record shopping. The city has a good selection of record stores and I did find some cool records, but recording it will have to wait until I get back home. So, for the time being, here´s a re-up of an old Hungarian record that I posted back in 2009.

I still don´t know anything about this Hungarian ensemble, not even if they really were from Hungary. But actually there´s not much to know.

Tip-Top-Slop is a standard semi-rock instrumental played by a studio group. But both these songs are not bad. Not great but not bad. People obsess over much worse music nowadays.

And at least you have probably never heard these tunes before…

CLUB ENSEMBLE, Tip-Top-Slop, 1963

CLUB ENSEMBLE, At the Jenka Show, 1963

ONKEL TOM`S DIXIE BAND, Fuchs du hast die Gans gestohlen, 1960

Posted: September 17, 2013 | Author: mischalke04 | Filed under: 60s, Germany, Jazz Records | Leave a comment

In the 1950s, there was fierce controversy among jazz fans, over whether you liked modern jazz or Dixieland. Unfortunately, the question was never, if you liked to dance or not. Of course a lot of people actually liked both, but somehow, over time, the modern fans won. They convinced everyone, that modern jazz was for the smart progressive people, and trad jazz was for the conservative dummies. When the snobs declared jazz an academic art form, and made everybody sit down, they killed it.

Today, the swing dancing scene has embraced trad jazz. Sometimes, jazz musicians see their audience dance to their music again, for the first time after decades. As generic as lot of trad jazz was in the 50s, at least it was still popular dance music. So popular, that even the most commercially-driven budget labels were dishing out jazz records.

Anyway, just found this 45 a few days ago, with no sleeve and quite beat up. Two instrumental versions of folk songs that are in the public domain, recorded by a pseudonymous band for a short-lived, long-defunct, cheapo label, make this perfect blog material, according to the rules.

Fuchs, du hast die Gans gestohlen is a German children´s song.

This is “bad” jazz. I like it!

ONKEL TOM`S DIXIE BAND, Fuchs, du hast die Gans gestohlen, 1960

Muss i denn zum Städele hinaus is a traditional German folk song. Elvis recorded it in 1960. The Feetwarmers (with Klaus Doldinger on clarinet!) were voted “Best Traditional Band” at the Amateur Jazz Festival in Düsseldorf in 1960, and recorded an instrumental version of the song on their first single for Odeon, that same year.

The Favorit label´s cash-in version is not that bad in comparison…

ONKEL TOM`S DIXIE BAND, Muss i denn zum Städele hinaus, 1960

HEART OF BLUES, Smoking takes you faster to God, 1969

Posted: September 9, 2013 | Author: mischalke04 | Filed under: 60s, Beat Records, Cartoon Sleeves, Germany, Promotional Records | 6 Comments

Found this last Thursday in a local thrift store for one euro and, because of the nondescript sleeve, thought it was just another advertisement record. At home, the two songs really blew me away! Two great beat/krautrock songs on this one! A quick check on the Internet revealed that Smoking takes you faster to God has been reissued in the late 90s on the “Kraut! Demons! Kraut! – German Psychedelic Underground 1968-1974″ CD bootleg comp, compiled by none other than the late Werner Voran aka The Lolly Pope. Apparently this is quite a rare Krautrock 45 that somebody is currently trying to sell on Ebay for 100 euros. Hopefully to no avail.

Unlike most musicians who played in 1960s beat groups, former Heart of Blues bassist Norbert Maislein-Sylvester, cares for his musical legacy, and loaded Smoking takes you faster to God, including some info about the band, up on Youtube, himself. He even illustrated the video with the Kraut! Demons! Kraut! bootleg CD image, instead of the original sleeve that you see above. Heart of Blues, a popular R&B Band who played around the Munich area, were: Graf Amadeus von Donnersmarck, guitar; Norbert Maislein-Sylvester bass; Henny Stadler, vocals; Peter Stadler, keyboard and Rudi Zöttel, drums. Some former members still play in Munich bands today.

No info, however, on Munich Express found on the Internet. Their Nebellungenlied is a well done combination of funny lyrics in the 3 Travellers vein, set to beat music.

This is a perfect record for Berlin Beatet Bestes: it´s a beat record, it´s got a cartoon sleeve and it´s an advertisement record, containing music with a practical purpose. Ironically, while Krautrock is considered to be underground music, these songs were actually commissioned by the German government. In 1969 Heart of Blues and Munich Express won a contest, launched by minister of family affairs Käte Strobel, for “Best Anti-Smoking Song”

Well, thanks German government, for cutting these two wonderful sides for eternity!

I think I´m going to light one up right now, to get a little faster to god…
‘

HEART OF BLUES, Smoking takes you faster to God, 1969

MUNICH EXPRESS, Das Nebellungenlied, 1969

A bit of trivia:

As you can see on the labels, this 45 was pressed at Schallplattenfabrik Pallas out of Diepholz, Lower Saxony, a family-owned company that has produced records since 1948. On the 1st of April 2013, a mass fire destroyed their CD-manufacturing building, causing an estimated damage of 10 million euros. The factory building where Pallas is pressing vinyl, a business they had bravely held onto all through the worst part of the 90s until now, was miraculously left intact.

A sign from above?

MÜNCHNER SONGGRUPPE, Dürer-Lied/ Lied vom Bayernland, 1971

Posted: September 7, 2013 | Author: mischalke04 | Filed under: 70´s, Cartoon Sleeves, Germany, Political Records | Leave a comment

It´s hard to believe today, that Germany´s “Bible Belt”, way down in the south, used to be a hotbed of communist activity, dating back to the Bavarian Soviet Republic of 1918/1919. In the late 1960s, a group of communist musicians, the Münchner Songgruppe, were still rallying for the revolution.

Dürer-Lied deals with the public celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Sung in Franconian dialect, it claims that, in contrast to the official appraisal by the Bavarian upper class and conservative political elite, “Dürer´s warm painter´s heart was close to the peasants.” It points out, that the capitalists do not own Dürer and that “Not before that mob is gone, will we, the workers – the peasants of today – finally “own” Dürer. Everything for the workers – Nothing for the corporations. You don´t own shit!

“…und Euch gehört ein Dreck!”

Recorded live in Nürnberg in 1971.

MÜNCHNER SONGGRUPPE, Dürer-Lied, 1971

Lied vom Bayernland is a bold criticism of the ownership structure in Bavaria. The catchy chorus links the notorious head of the Bavarian governement Franz Josef Strauß and his “gang” to the Neo-Nazis, calling them “Bavaria´s worst plague”.

“Strauß und seine Bazis/ und die Neo-Nazis, / die sind Bayern größe Plag.”

Recorded live at the Arbeiterlieder-Festival in Essen in 1970.

MÜNCHNER SONGGRUPPE, Lied vom Bayernland, 1971

The leftist Pläne label was most probably the oldest German independent label. Founded in 1961, their records were initially sold independently through grass roots distribution. In the 1980s it changed distribution to Rough Trade, still mostly focusing on political singer-songwriter material, but also releasing a heap of extraordinary rock, jazz, and even some punk/new wave records. Almost unnoticed by the German entertainment industry, Pläne went out of business, after 50 years, in 2011.