Here are four that looked interesting enough to "borrow" and write about:
This uncharacteristic looking album, his second LP, immediately stood out from the crates. First of all, Elton is serious, dark, moody... Knowing him mostly from his more flamboyant 70s' persona and the modern, more refined bloke, this appeared very different. It sounds different as well, hedging closer to James Taylor (most of the album) or Leonard Cohen ("First Episode at Hienton") in tone, with a few pop numbers and a pretty spot on Rolling Stones sounding number ("No Shoe Strings on Louise"). Some tracks even call Led Zeppelin to mind ("Sixty Years On"), minus the ripping guitars of course. Heavy? Yeah, Elton gets heavy. Side B has a few clunkers, but nothing that will make you poke your own ears out. Thankfully the final track is strong and encourages a bit of repeat listening.
Yes, there was a time when the Washington D.C. area had two professional football teams. The USFL Washington Federals played for two pathetic seasons, 1983-84. Apparently somebody actually was excited enough about this and decided to spread that excitement using the power of bluegrass. And... it's awesome. A straight ripping tune, singing the praises of the new team. It's a dark sound with lyrics far too optimistic for how bad the team actually was. It shouldn't work, but dagnabit it does! This VVer likes it, he does! Fun fact, the USFL lasted only three years and was more or less destroyed by the overzealous business acumen of President Orange-head McDipshit. "There's a new force a risin' on DC's horizon!" One lyric you'll wince at: "Hurrah for the Feds, fly their banners overhead!"
Adding to the appeal of this curio is the quick pickin' second song, "East West Highway Blues." These VVers have been living on or near East West Hwy for years and years. This ode is a nice little ditty about a cabbie just barely scraping by running fares up and down "Montgomery to Prince George's, just to pay this taxi's dues." It gets a little surreal at the end, but that's probably just the driver being tired from a long shift. Of the four-song 7" three of the tracks are pretty sharp. The final song, "Winter Storm" is dark and resonant with beautiful instrumentation and some delicate banjo pluckage. There is something the VVers never have typed before.
Laser beams!!! Really not much needs to be written about this song. Michael yelps through it and the production values are a little ridiculously of the era. At least the back cover picture gives us something special. Wow!
The Fugs S/T 1966
Weirdo freakshow music from people that need a bath! This is the sound of the counterculture in full on revolt against USA hypocrisy of the 60s. Most of the album is not the sort you would ever enjoy to hear, except "Kill for Peace," a pleasant hippie hootenanny about Vietnam, replete with racial slurs and a gun-riddled finale. Things get even more un-groovy during the eleven minute album closer, which definitely inspired "The End" by the Doors except that this is entirely unlistenable. Says VVer #2, "I'll be totally fine not hearing that last song again." The liner notes on the back of the sleeve are by Allen Ginsburg; so there's that. There is also a note on the back cover written in Esperanto to send $5.98 for a copy of the record. This is confusing and made even more confusing by the fact that it is in Esperanto. Apparently the record label, ESP-Disk, was primarily a label supporting Esperanto music. So now you know that.
Looking forward for another opportunity to dig through a mountain of totally random vinyl (for a good cause of course).
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