When Ernie offered this very album at his blog many months ago, my heart nearly skipped a beat... in 3/4 time!
To quote from Ernie's original post:
"Once upon a time, everyone had a piano in their home. Later, people had organs in their homes. Nowadays, we have CD players and TVs and iPods and Sega.
"But back to the organs for a sec. This LP was designed to help sell those organs. I don't know if this was given away to customers, or sold in the organ stores, or what, but the ultimate goal was to get you to buy an organ from Kimball so that you could play like the artists on this record."
One of my uncles went out and did exactly that one year. He was lured into a local mall outlet where the salesmen, resplendent in their polyester slacks, sat behind desks and occasionally behind a keyboard to show you the ease of playing the organ. After selling you an organ, they ask "can you play?" If not, they would sell you "how to play the organ" accessories, a maintenance plan in case anything went wrong with the organ, etc..
My uncle plunked down a good chunk of change, bought the organ home, fiddled with it for about three days, and gave up on the whole mess. The only time it was used was around Christmas when actual family members with talent came and played on the organ. It stayed in his home near Chicago for more years than I can remember.
Speaking of Chicago, that's where Kimball got it's start (nice segue into the history lesson, no?). In 1857, W.W. Kimball was tired of selling real estate and insurance in Iowa and moved to Chicago to open a piano store. He realized that people were moving west and would soon be setting up homes and families. What better way to establish a home than with a new piano?
For the next one hundred years (100!), Kimball sold and manufactured pianos, then organs, by the thousands and shipped them out from Chicago to all over the world. At its peak, it was making 250 pianos and 150 organs a day!
In 1959, the Kimball company was sold to a cabinet company out of Jasper, Indiana called the Jasper Corporation. It moved its operations from Chicago to the Jasper / West Baden Springs / French Lick area in southern Indiana where the materials for building /assembling pianos and organs were close by.
They continued to prosper - Kimball Electronics was formed in 1961 and purchasing the Austrian piano manufacturer Bosendorfer in 1966. Jasper renamed themselves Kimball International in 1974 and bought the U.S. piano manufacturer Krakauer in 1980.
This album was released in 1982 and features several big shots at Kimball ("Organ Product Coordinator at Kimball International", "Administrative Sales Manager for Recording and Broadcast", "Kimball Director of Musical Evaluation") playing tunes on two of their new organs - The Enterprise model and the Xanadu model - flashes of bad late 1970s movies!
The standout track on this album is Track #1 - Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. If there was ever a Christmas tune designed for a home organ, this is it. It has never sounded better. Other great tunes included "Mary's Little Boy Chile", "Blue Christmas" done in a country twangy feel (on a Kimball organ?), and a very synthesized "O Holy Night".
Kimball stayed with the piano and organs throughout the 1980s while other piano and organ manufacturers like Hammond and Wurlitzer got into the synthesizer business to compete with Casio, Yamaha, and others. It proved to be a poor decision.
Kimball Electronics quickly put out a synthesizer (the EK-61) but also began dabbling in circuit boards and car electronic parts. The cabinetry that once wrapped around a set of keys began making custom office furniture, quickly branching over into executive office furniture and modular office furniture.
There was no room left to make pianos and organs. In 1996, Kimball announced they would cease production on both and the last keyboards rolled off the assembly lines in 1997. Kimball International continues to produce all of the above and has even gotten into contract manufacturing as well. If you want a peek, click on Kimball.com.
I always loved playing with the Kimball whenever I visited my uncle's house. There were white and red pedals above the keyboard that had names like "treble", "swell to choir", and "harmonium" that I pushed incessantly like I was a NASA engineer at Mission Control. I wonder if my uncle would be willing to part with it... My kids would love it!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
When Ernie offered this very album at his blog many months ago, my heart nearly skipped a beat... in 3/4 time!
To quote from Ernie's original post:
"Once upon a time, everyone had a piano in their home. Later, people had organs in their homes. Nowadays, we have CD players and TVs and iPods and Sega.
"But back to the organs for a sec. This LP was designed to help sell those organs. I don't know if this was given away to customers, or sold in the organ stores, or what, but the ultimate goal was to get you to buy an organ from Kimball so that you could play like the artists on this record."
One of my uncles went out and did exactly that one year. He was lured into a local mall outlet where the salesmen, resplendent in their polyester slacks, sat behind desks and occasionally behind a keyboard to show you the ease of playing the organ. After selling you an organ, they ask "can you play?" If not, they would sell you "how to play the organ" accessories, a maintenance plan in case anything went wrong with the organ, etc..
My uncle plunked down a good chunk of change, bought the organ home, fiddled with it for about three days, and gave up on the whole mess. The only time it was used was around Christmas when actual family members with talent came and played on the organ. It stayed in his home near Chicago for more years than I can remember.
Speaking of Chicago, that's where Kimball got it's start (nice segue into the history lesson, no?). In 1857, W.W. Kimball was tired of selling real estate and insurance in Iowa and moved to Chicago to open a piano store. He realized that people were moving west and would soon be setting up homes and families. What better way to establish a home than with a new piano?
For the next one hundred years (100!), Kimball sold and manufactured pianos, then organs, by the thousands and shipped them out from Chicago to all over the world. At its peak, it was making 250 pianos and 150 organs a day!
In 1959, the Kimball company was sold to a cabinet company out of Jasper, Indiana called the Jasper Corporation. It moved its operations from Chicago to the Jasper / West Baden Springs / French Lick area in southern Indiana where the materials for building /assembling pianos and organs were close by.
They continued to prosper - Kimball Electronics was formed in 1961 and purchasing the Austrian piano manufacturer Bosendorfer in 1966. Jasper renamed themselves Kimball International in 1974 and bought the U.S. piano manufacturer Krakauer in 1980.
This album was released in 1982 and features several big shots at Kimball ("Organ Product Coordinator at Kimball International", "Administrative Sales Manager for Recording and Broadcast", "Kimball Director of Musical Evaluation") playing tunes on two of their new organs - The Enterprise model and the Xanadu model - flashes of bad late 1970s movies!
The standout track on this album is Track #1 - Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. If there was ever a Christmas tune designed for a home organ, this is it. It has never sounded better. Other great tunes included "Mary's Little Boy Chile", "Blue Christmas" done in a country twangy feel (on a Kimball organ?), and a very synthesized "O Holy Night".
Kimball stayed with the piano and organs throughout the 1980s while other piano and organ manufacturers like Hammond and Wurlitzer got into the synthesizer business to compete with Casio, Yamaha, and others. It proved to be a poor decision.
Kimball Electronics quickly put out a synthesizer (the EK-61) but also began dabbling in circuit boards and car electronic parts. The cabinetry that once wrapped around a set of keys began making custom office furniture, quickly branching over into executive office furniture and modular office furniture.
There was no room left to make pianos and organs. In 1996, Kimball announced they would cease production on both and the last keyboards rolled off the assembly lines in 1997. Kimball International continues to produce all of the above and has even gotten into contract manufacturing as well. If you want a peek, click on Kimball.com.
I always loved playing with the Kimball whenever I visited my uncle's house. There were white and red pedals above the keyboard that had names like "treble", "swell to choir", and "harmonium" that I pushed incessantly like I was a NASA engineer at Mission Control. I wonder if my uncle would be willing to part with it... My kids would love it!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Before I begin this review... and the next... and the one after that... in fact, the next 30+ albums (count 'em folks, 30+!) that I will review here on my blog came from my friend Ernie's blog entitled Ernie (Not Bert).
By day, Ernie takes and posts some of the best photos you'll see anywhere on the web. You owe it to yourself to go to his blog and give your mouse clicker a workout - there are some stunners over there folks!
By night, Ernie is a Christmas vinyl junkie addict, transferring old scratchy forgotten Christmas LPs that he finds in Goodwill stores, garage sales, and the like to preserve memories of Christmas vinyl past (apologies to the King Of Jingaling for pinching his motto!).
Last year in the eyes of Santa Claus and every Christmas music enthusiast, Ernie was a good, GOOD boy. I went back and counted at his blog - this man alone posted FIFTY-EIGHT items for download between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
.
.
Let that sink in folks...
.
.
Almost 60 items in almost 30 days... When did you sleep Ernie?
This album you see here is an unusual one to say the least but not so unusual if you knew the story behind Avon. It seems the first Avon lady was a man. A sixteen year old kid named David McConnell went door-to-door back in 1886 selling books offering a free gift with purchase - perfume! The women forgot the books and wanted more perfume so McConnell formed the California Perfume Company, offering women in rural areas of America perfumes and cremes door to door.
The success of the Avon story relies on the hundreds of thousands of "Avon Calling!" ladies who wanted to earn extra money selling Avon products door-to-door. Many of these ladies helped potential new Avon ladies with the setup and selling techniques, passing it down from one generation to the next.
When this record was distributed to Avon sellers in September 1968, Avon couldn't see the massive shift in lifestyles thanks in large part to the sexual revolution of the era. And exactly how do you reach out to people in ghettos and hippie communes?
Upon listening to side one, "the largest and most exciting selection of Christmas products" were hitting the market in September since Avon sellers sold 25% of their Christmas products the previous September.
After sharing some marketing and campaign tips - "Get that Christmas spirit! How? Wear a Christmas corsage... or holly earrings!". Avon explains some of the new products for Christmas 1968 - "Snoopy has joined the bath toys this year!" and colognes and perfumes galore! Side two is three tracks of Christmas instrumental music - music to read your literature by!
This was a fun little gem of an album! Thanks Ernie!
Avon started to lose business deluxe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It pulled itself out of its tailspin in the 1990s by redesigning its focus and advertising. It also upgraded its product line (do they still have Snoopy bath toys?) and trained its sales force to make presentations in workplace settings, where 50% of Avon's sales now take place.
They also went global, working their way into South America, Eastern Europe, and China. Maybe the Avon revolution will help soften Communism... who knows?
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Before I begin this review... and the next... and the one after that... in fact, the next 30+ albums (count 'em folks, 30+!) that I will review here on my blog came from my friend Ernie's blog entitled Ernie (Not Bert).
By day, Ernie takes and posts some of the best photos you'll see anywhere on the web. You owe it to yourself to go to his blog and give your mouse clicker a workout - there are some stunners over there folks!
By night, Ernie is a Christmas vinyl junkie addict, transferring old scratchy forgotten Christmas LPs that he finds in Goodwill stores, garage sales, and the like to preserve memories of Christmas vinyl past (apologies to the King Of Jingaling for pinching his motto!).
Last year in the eyes of Santa Claus and every Christmas music enthusiast, Ernie was a good, GOOD boy. I went back and counted at his blog - this man alone posted FIFTY-EIGHT items for download between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
.
.
Let that sink in folks...
.
.
Almost 60 items in almost 30 days... When did you sleep Ernie?
This album you see here is an unusual one to say the least but not so unusual if you knew the story behind Avon. It seems the first Avon lady was a man. A sixteen year old kid named David McConnell went door-to-door back in 1886 selling books offering a free gift with purchase - perfume! The women forgot the books and wanted more perfume so McConnell formed the California Perfume Company, offering women in rural areas of America perfumes and cremes door to door.
The success of the Avon story relies on the hundreds of thousands of "Avon Calling!" ladies who wanted to earn extra money selling Avon products door-to-door. Many of these ladies helped potential new Avon ladies with the setup and selling techniques, passing it down from one generation to the next.
When this record was distributed to Avon sellers in September 1968, Avon couldn't see the massive shift in lifestyles thanks in large part to the sexual revolution of the era. And exactly how do you reach out to people in ghettos and hippie communes?
Upon listening to side one, "the largest and most exciting selection of Christmas products" were hitting the market in September since Avon sellers sold 25% of their Christmas products the previous September.
After sharing some marketing and campaign tips - "Get that Christmas spirit! How? Wear a Christmas corsage... or holly earrings!". Avon explains some of the new products for Christmas 1968 - "Snoopy has joined the bath toys this year!" and colognes and perfumes galore! Side two is three tracks of Christmas instrumental music - music to read your literature by!
This was a fun little gem of an album! Thanks Ernie!
Avon started to lose business deluxe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It pulled itself out of its tailspin in the 1990s by redesigning its focus and advertising. It also upgraded its product line (do they still have Snoopy bath toys?) and trained its sales force to make presentations in workplace settings, where 50% of Avon's sales now take place.
They also went global, working their way into South America, Eastern Europe, and China. Maybe the Avon revolution will help soften Communism... who knows?
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Before 1987 and the release of "A Very Special Christmas", Christmas music was pretty much in four categories:
1.) Traditional - Bing, Frank, Conniff, Mitch Miller, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
2.) Rock n Roll - Elvis, Bobby Helms, Brenda Lee, Phil Spector's Christmas Album and the Beach Boys.
3.) Novelty - Alvin & The Chipmunks, Elmo & Patsy, Cheech & Chong, and the Singing Dogs doing "Jingle Bells".
4.) Country - Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton.
Throughout the 1980s, small independent labels released incredibly fantastic compilations that foreshadowed the explosion of Christmas music after the release for the aforementioned "Very Special Christmas" album. Two record labels that started out as mail-order record shops out of New York City led the way in this movement:
Ze Records released "A Christmas Album" in 1981 that featured songs from up and comers like Was (Not Was), Nona Hendryx, and the first recording of "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses. AND WOW O WOW! I just discovered that this album was RE-RELEASED on CD last year in March! Check it out over at Amazon.com!
Midnight Records, founded by J.D. Martignon, was THE place in NYC to find rare, obscure, forgotten, and just plain unknown music. Riding the crest of the mutant disco/no wave movement of the early 1980s, Martignon brought together several different bands and started his label in 1984.
At the end of that same year, this album you see before you was released. Featuring a treasure trove of artists (Plan 9, Suburban Nightmares, and even the legendary Screamin' Jay Hawkins!), it's a fantastic album. Elements of the New Wave, garage, surf, punk, and rockabilly can all be heard here. Martignon even makes an appearance on this album, backed up by The Droogs, in a nod to a predecessor. He records word for word the famous "Silent Night" sign-off by Phil Spector on Spector's "Christmas Album".
This album proved so popular that Midnight Records released two other Christmas albums. "Oh! No! Not Another…Midnight Christmas Mess Again!!" was released in 1986 and "Midnight Christmas Xmess" in 1987.
I obtained all three of these albums over at FaLaLaLaLa.com during the download season of 2005 and two little good elfs named Voldar and Sanity Clause posted the albums (thanks guys!). If you happen to have the back cover of the first album and all of the artwork of the third album, please pass it my way since I can't seem to find it!
J.D. Martignon continued his Midnight Records label until 1993 when he closed the label and focused on the Midnight Records store. The mail order business kept them afloat for many years until the rent became a problem and they faced eviction. Enter the federal government. Seems Uncle Sam decided that he was selling bootleg material of concerts (and what independent record store doesn't?) and tried to shut him down by indictment based on a 1994 law.
Happy ending: Martignon was free after the 1994 bootleg law was considered unconstitutional but the storefront was forced to close thanks to the legal fees and high rent in NYC. However, Midnight Records still maintains a mail order business aided by a strong Internet website.
Check them out at MidnightRecords.com and do some snooping as you would at a record store!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Before 1987 and the release of "A Very Special Christmas", Christmas music was pretty much in four categories:
1.) Traditional - Bing, Frank, Conniff, Mitch Miller, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
2.) Rock n Roll - Elvis, Bobby Helms, Brenda Lee, Phil Spector's Christmas Album and the Beach Boys.
3.) Novelty - Alvin & The Chipmunks, Elmo & Patsy, Cheech & Chong, and the Singing Dogs doing "Jingle Bells".
4.) Country - Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton.
Throughout the 1980s, small independent labels released incredibly fantastic compilations that foreshadowed the explosion of Christmas music after the release for the aforementioned "Very Special Christmas" album. Two record labels that started out as mail-order record shops out of New York City led the way in this movement:
Ze Records released "A Christmas Album" in 1981 that featured songs from up and comers like Was (Not Was), Nona Hendryx, and the first recording of "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses. AND WOW O WOW! I just discovered that this album was RE-RELEASED on CD last year in March! Check it out over at Amazon.com!
Midnight Records, founded by J.D. Martignon, was THE place in NYC to find rare, obscure, forgotten, and just plain unknown music. Riding the crest of the mutant disco/no wave movement of the early 1980s, Martignon brought together several different bands and started his label in 1984.
At the end of that same year, this album you see before you was released. Featuring a treasure trove of artists (Plan 9, Suburban Nightmares, and even the legendary Screamin' Jay Hawkins!), it's a fantastic album. Elements of the New Wave, garage, surf, punk, and rockabilly can all be heard here. Martignon even makes an appearance on this album, backed up by The Droogs, in a nod to a predecessor. He records word for word the famous "Silent Night" sign-off by Phil Spector on Spector's "Christmas Album".
This album proved so popular that Midnight Records released two other Christmas albums. "Oh! No! Not Another…Midnight Christmas Mess Again!!" was released in 1986 and "Midnight Christmas Xmess" in 1987.
I obtained all three of these albums over at FaLaLaLaLa.com during the download season of 2005 and two little good elfs named Voldar and Sanity Clause posted the albums (thanks guys!). If you happen to have the back cover of the first album and all of the artwork of the third album, please pass it my way since I can't seem to find it!
J.D. Martignon continued his Midnight Records label until 1993 when he closed the label and focused on the Midnight Records store. The mail order business kept them afloat for many years until the rent became a problem and they faced eviction. Enter the federal government. Seems Uncle Sam decided that he was selling bootleg material of concerts (and what independent record store doesn't?) and tried to shut him down by indictment based on a 1994 law.
Happy ending: Martignon was free after the 1994 bootleg law was considered unconstitutional but the storefront was forced to close thanks to the legal fees and high rent in NYC. However, Midnight Records still maintains a mail order business aided by a strong Internet website.
Check them out at MidnightRecords.com and do some snooping as you would at a record store!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Here's another forgotten vinyl Christmas album, rescued from the Goodwill bin of obscurity by Pastor McPurvis and the good folks at Vinyl Orphanage.
To quote Pastor McPurvis:
"Up today are the happy holiday sounds of Roy Meyer and his group of Singing Swingers. Hailing from the great state of New Jersey, Mr. Meyer founded this community group as a non-profit agency dedicated to providing music scholarshops to high school students, as well as promoting vocal group singing throughout the New York Metro area.
"Mr. Meyer penned some ambitious arrangements for the group, and though the singers may falter a bit on the more complicated harmonies, they more than make up for it with their enthusiasm and sincere delivery."
Pastor McPurvis hits the nail on the head... At first glance, this album looks like a church group recording but the arrangements more than make up for it.
It seems Roy Meyer is alive and well and still swinging in New Jersey. And if you got vocal talent, here's a way to join up and become an official "Roy Meyer Swinger":
Roy Meyer Swingers - Oakland NJ
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
When Ernie offered this very album at his blog many months ago, my heart nearly skipped a beat... in 3/4 time!
