Fabulous Poodles - Mirror Star

Fabulous Poodles - Mirror Star 1978


Ok, it's important to note that this album is hot pink vinyl. A demo copy, found in the twenty five cent bin at the Deep Groove Records in Richmond, VA, and it's hot pink. How do you refuse an album like that? Not knowing anything about the band had me close to second guessing, but I am certainly glad that I went through with my big purchase. Did I mention the pink vinyl?

What happens musically here is really a treat. You get tinges of 70's Rolling Stones (Chicago Boxcar), early Elvis Costello (B Movies), and some new wave as well.  Flashes of 50's era "strum and tumble" show up here and there also.  It's a spare affair, with a few dashes of just about everything rock and roll that had come before.  I can imagine that "turn off, turn off, turn off my microphone!" would have been a great sing-along before leading into a wicked drum/synthesizer breakdown.  Some of the tunes even get into country and doo-wop territory (Roll Your Own).  It is all here.  Lead man, Tony de Meur has traces of Bowie, Thorogood, and Jagger.  This particular record is a combination of the first two releases from the UK which seemed to be enough to propel them stateside as opening act for Tom Petty, The Ramones, and even as the backing band for legendary Chuck Berry.  So what the F#&^$% happened to these guys!?!  Was it because they were called the Fabulous Poodles?  Probably, but the internet tells me it was more a case of the music business (relentless touring, a lack of label support, and an evil overlordish manager) and who am I to argue with the internet?  Well, the internet isn't saying much.  Seems this group's three album achievement wasn't enough to garner the attention of the modern media.  Did I mention hot pink?

Mono-Printing / Zinefest

At the SPX last month I picked up a flier for the Richmond Zine Fest. Having no prior knowledge of the fest, knowing little to nothing about Richmond, and with mini-comics piled up, the Vagabonds headed two hours due south of DC for adventure. I had never made what I considered a "zine" before, but during the week, in a fit of middle of the night dreaming, I realized that this blog thing could be organized, jazzed up, and turned to print. The organization was pretty easy. Microsoft Word and I got along pretty decently, and the copy machine only gave me a few minor headaches. Still, the book looked kind of dull. Arting up the cover was something that sprang to mind, though I don't readily have access to screen printing materials these days. With an old 45 from my brother's abandoned collection, a brush, and a tub of screen ink I went to work.

Pretty easy to do with only a minor mess. The 45 (The Other Ones - Holiday) will likely never spin again, but my books were complete. Folks at the fest reacted well to the vinyl-file content, the snazzy covers, and the VVers had they-selves a true zine. Records; is there nothing they can't do? Up to this point my love of 45s had been pretty low, mostly due to the fact that I always feel like I have to get up to change the record the moment I have sat down. Even recent acquisitions by local DC band “The Shirks” have done little to dull my pain in this department (nothing personal The Shirks, but how about a full length already?). Using a slab of forgotten vinyl to make a project come together really was an unexpected delight.

Several books were swapped and a good time was had by the zinesters.

P.S. Richmond is a super sweet town. Laid back and collegiate, there are heaps of things to do. We found our way to Deep Groove Vinyl after the fest and the friendly owner had a sidewalk sale going on to benefit the local park. Twenty-five cent records (which he eventually made free for a donation to the park fund) netted us a stack of gems. Reviews to come soon...

Thanks Richmond!


P.P.S. Making a zine really got us to look over the blog again and do some cleaning up. Sloppy editing? None more...we hopes.