Kalo

Y'all are OWED!

Wake the dead... ... alert the living.

Dumbledore, on the other hand... No, not really...

Don't give a hoot aboot Hairy Pooter...

Part of the "Great Jewish Music" series, which also includes volumes featuring interpretations of the compositions of Burt Bacharach and Marc Bolan.

If you judge him by his female "recipients" the guy was a genius.

Let me guess. Was it a song about New Orleans?

Next one I'll buy again, for sure.

Though I never bought into the "Godd" assessment, Todd was one of my earliest musical obsessions (after Gilbert and Sullivan and Tom Lehrer, for what that's worth). Born in 1961, I became a big Rundgren fan in high school, circa 1978, at the urging of a charismatic and talented guitarist, singer, and tennis player who was a year ahead of me. The current Todd album was The Hermit of Mink Hollow, and I have to admit that I fell for it, hard. I quickly acquired just about everything Rundgren had recorded, and continued to do so until about 1980. Whatever anyone thinks of the man today, Todd was then the proud possessor of some serious pop chops (just ask Sangrey... seriously!). In what I have long referred to as my "Draconian" period -- when I sold most of my rock and pop vinyl to fuel my growing obsession with jazz in the mid-80s -- I divested myself of my Rundgren holdings, save for my original copy of Something/Anything?, which I still listened to on semi-annual occasion to re-live the thrilling days of shame and glory that were my late-'70s. So, to answer your question, TtK, the other day, as I was cruising my local thrift store for bargains, I came upon a nearly mint-condition vinyl copy of The Hermit of Mink Hollow and I bought it. So, yeah, my Todd-olatry flares up now and again... But, seriously, just shoot me if you ever find me paying top-dollar for a first pressing of Utopia's RA .

Serge Chaloff? Love him. Serge Gainsbourg? Until I achieve fluency in French, which ain't about to happen anytime soon, the jury is out. I do agree with his assessment of Whitney Houston, as of the time he made his astute observation...

That would be great if you have the time. You weren't an Amiga user per chance, were you? (Still have a 1000 that I hope to get working again someday, not that I'm working hard at making that happen.) Not an Amiga user. Actually, I wrote it on a Mac Classic. So even if I had saved it on a disc, and even if the current Mac I own could read that file, there's no computer anymore that can even accept a floppy. (Eww! That sounds disgusting...)

S'funny. I also wrote a piece for American Movie Classics Cable Channel Magazine on the remarkable filmic ouevre of Mr. Elvis Presley, which referenced the very film Nessa highlights above. The article began like this: "Elvis Aron Presley, the king of rock and roll, never ruled the movies. Of course, with charisma to burn, he was box-office from the git-go -- and in the mid-'60s, the highest paid actor in Hollywood. But, by then, Presley's reputation rested less on actorly prowess than on affability, arresting looks, and stylized singing, along with lingering memories of his explosive impact on popular music. Film historians barely mention him, yet even the most casual tourist of Movieland must sooner or later visit the charmingly backward province known as 'Elvis Movies.'"

Great thread! I could post a lengthy response to just about any of your posts here, had I the time. One thing I might suggest, however, is that there aren't any underrated film noirs left. In fact, it seems to me that film noir as a whole is, of late, perhaps a bit overrated. That being said, I love 'em! I'm a big fan of most of the movies mentioned above, and I own most of them on DVD. I'm looking forward to the forthcoming 10-film box set from Warner Brothers, slated to come out later this summer. It includes, as folks have mentioned above, two long-time favorites of mine: The Big Steal and Crime Wave, about which Larry Kart, ghost, and BruceH have written eloquently above. I love the French noirs, too. Bob le Flambeur is a touchstone for me. Touchez Pas au Grisbi was a fairly recent revelation on a par with my also fairly recent discovery of the Budd Boetticher Westerns. Man, I love that long sequence in the safe apartment where Gabin and his friend eat pate and brush their teeth! There's something almost priveleged about being a witness to this sheer behavior by Gabin. Shortly after Robert Mitchum died, I received an assignment from American Movie Classics Cable Channel Magazine to write about his early noirs. At the time, I was less of an aficionado of Mitchum and of noir than I am today, though I was certainly already a long-time fan. Writng this article allowed me the opportunity to interview Jane Greer, Rhonda Fleming, and Laraine Day about working with Mitchum in the 1940s. I wish I could interview them again today in light of all I've learned about the genre in the interim. Perhaps I'll post the article in this thread when I get the chance to transcribe it. ( I wrote it on a computer with an obselete OS, just before the days when the internet became ubiquitous.)

WOW! I knew you guys would come up with some great ones! Thanks to everyone. Keep 'em coming! Very inappropriate! Weren't there a whole series of these type of covers? Quite inappropriate. here 'tis Flabbergastingly inappropriate in every way. :tup I think this one is the winner so far, though the Charles McPherson is in the running. Question: Did Beaver Harris ever record anything for Venus?

That cover may not match the style of music or the artist, but it pretty clearly matches the lyrics of the title tune: LOVE FOR SALE When the only sound in the empty street, Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet That belong to a lonesome cop I open shop. When the moon so long has been gazing down On the wayward ways of this wayward town. That her smile becomes a smirk, I go to work. Love for sale, Appetising young love for sale. Love that's fresh and still unspoiled, Love that's only slightly soiled, Love for sale. Who will buy? Who would like to sample my supply? Who's prepared to pay the price, For a trip to paradise? Love for sale Let the poets pipe of love in their childish way, I know every type of love Better far than they. If you want the thrill of love, I've been through the mill of love; Old love, new love Every love but true love Love for sale. Appetising young love for sale. If you want to buy my wares. Follow me and climb the stairs Love for sale. Love for sale. I'm certainly familiar with those lyrics. But, come on, the album cover looks like it should be for some crappy lounge singer doing that tune, not a lyricless, avant-garde piano version.

Wasn't he on that Pavement tribute record with James Carter?

What I'm thinking of is covers that just don't match the music or artist at all. Something like this one:

I Never understood why. The rhythms on that are too static for my taste. I'm an Illusions and Blythe Spirit man myself.

I think that's Dave McKenna in drag on the floor.

My cockles is all shrivelled up from the picture in post #5.

I didn't go to school with Jose Loa and I don't remember what a promising player he wasn't.

Squirrels? Never tried that with squirrels. My guess is that, unlike slugs, they'd just get all squirrelly and scurry up the nearest tree.

Pour salt on 'em and watch 'em dissolve...

So the album's title is quite appropriate in your book! (Not to mention mine as well...)