Contest

Re-announcing the WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban DJ contest. Send us your best 1 hour DJ mix via CD or DVD to WFMU Ichiban DJ Contest/PO Box 2011/Jersey City NJ/07303. Rules: No Rules! This is internet radio so no FCC regulations apply. But try to keep it classy. Anyone may enter unless you are already a WFMU Boss Jock. Winner receives a WFMU Ichiban prize pack! Plus, a downloadable link on our "You Be A DJ" blogroll. Contest ends December 25th, 2009. Please!! --Only pre-1970's recordings. Questions?? Email us: wfmuichiban@gmail.com. Winner to be announced Jan. 25 2010.

Here are some tips on how to be a DJ.

What are you waiting for?!

Gary Mitchell - Ichiban DJ Contest Winner!

The Ichiban judges are happy to announce the grand prize winner of our You Be A DJ Contest! Put your hands together for Mr. Gary Mitchell!! He's got what it takes to be a Boss Ichiban Jock. Congratulations, Gary! You've earned a spot on our DJ Wall Of Fame, located on the right side of this page. Tune in Saturdays from 3-7 PM on 1430 WNAV in Annapolis, MD or the first Tuesday of each month from 8-11 PM on Top Shelf Oldies to hear more from Gary Mitchell, seen here with Cousin Brucie. You can also buy 45s from him in the back corner of the Metropolitan Pavilion during the annual WFMU record fair. Thanks to everyone for participating. Rock On.

DJ Contest Winner - Gary Mitchell (mp3)

Ichiban Caption Contest!

It's time for an Ichiban Caption Contest! If you win, you will receive an Ichiban Prize Pack that is guaranteed to make you the envy of all your friends and neighbors. Leave your caption in the comments section. If you're truly comically gifted, feel free to enter multiple times.

Ichiban hostess Debbie D is the judge and the deadline is Monday at noon.

Photo courtesy of Special Collections Department, Georgia State University.

Editor's Note:  Please, keep it classy. 

And the winner is: 

That picture doesn't need a caption!!

Sent in by Eegah!! and Tabonga!

Congratulations and thanks for entering. 
 

It Is Dance Contest Time On Future Shock!

My favorite words.  Please enjoy this all ladies dance contest, hosted by James Brown in the 1970's.

And also remember that Future Shock Cannot Be Stopped!!

Beautiful Legs Contest

Beautiful Legs Contest. September, 1949. Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt, from the LIFE archives.

Ichiban Contest!

Enter now to win a DVD copy of The Creep by 13 O'Clock Theater and our friends at Monster Movie Music.  Just email us your mailing address to wfmuichiban@gmail.com.  5 lucky winners will be chosen at random on October 31, 2010.  Music To Scar By.

And The Winners Are

 

Congratulations to all 5 of our contest winners!  Joe S, Rich Z, Chris D, Brian M and Brian S.  Thanks to everyone who entered and to Darrell over at Monster Movie Music for making the movie!!

Ghoul A Go-Go Halloween Bash!!

You're invited to the Ghouls' Halloween Bash on Saturday, October 22! Come dressed as your favorite character  from the show for the Ghoul A Go-Go Costume Contest!   See new episodes!!  Wavy Gravy Halloween music for the all night dance party.  Burlesque!  It's all happening at the Observatory  543 Union St. in Brooklyn.  8 PM.

Southern Fried Chicken (MP3)

Hank Penny - Southern Fried Chicken (2:24)


And while on the subject of chicken, I'll never have a better excuse for blogging this photo depicting country entertainers Johnny Russell and Kenny Price in the aftermath of a 1975 fried chicken eating contest held in Akron, Ohio. Price won handily, wolfing down 18 pieces to Russell's 15.

This Week In '66

 

With Lynn Peril

SHOW NOTES

The death of the fifth Mrs. Mickey Rooney in a shocking murder-suicide was in the headlines This Week in ‘66! 

Great video here:  The Murder of 1954 Miss Muscle Beach Beauty Contest Winner Barbara Thomason

Abramson, Rudy, “New ‘Pep Pill’ Control Law Going Into Effect; Druggists Must Keep Records Showing All Sales of Amphetamines and Barbiturates,” Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1966, 11. 

Ames, Walter, “Actress’ Friends Insist Rooney Was Her Suitor,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1958, 2. 

Ames, Walter, “Mickey Rooney’s Fifth Marriage Disclosed,” The Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1959, 47. 

Bigart, Homer, “Peace Groups Begin Protests Against Resumption of Bombing in North Vietnam,” New York Times, February 1, 1966, 14. 

“Denies Marriage to Eighth Wife Yesterday; Mickey Rooney Does It Again,” The Indiana Gazette, July 29, 1978, 1. 

Graham, Rubye, “One Girl in Paris; Saint Laurent Builds Smash Collection on Sailors’-wear Theme,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1966, 1. 

Jaediker, Kermit, “The Murder the French Won’t Forget,” New York Daily News, December 9, 1973, 133. 

Johnson, Pete, and Paul Houston, “Mickey Rooney’s Wife Shot to Death in Brentwood Home; Young Actor Found Slain Beside Her,” Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1966, 3. 

“Mickey Rooney’s Wife Found Slain,” Newsday, February 1, 1966, 4. 

“Rooney Plans Sixth Marriage,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, “September 5, 1966, 50. 

Sease, Glenn, “People,” Pittsburgh Press, December 15, 1967, 2. 

Shearer, Lloyd, “Elaine Devry: What it Means to Be One of Mickey Rooney’s Six Wives,” Parade, January 29, 1967.

“Starlet Takes Sleeping Pills and Nude Dunk at Rooney’s Home,” The Tampa Times, August 12, 1958, 16.

“Tape Recording Sealed Death of Mrs. Rooney,” The Independent (Long Beach, CA), February 2, 16.

Holland Rocks! Edition 6

 

With Wim Reckers

In a couple of weeks the yearly Eurovision Song Contest will take place again, an annual song-competition held between European countries, broadcasted live on TV. This is an alternative version, with obscure sixties rock&roll from every corner of the continent.

1 Os Tártaros - Tartária (Portugal, 1964)

2 The Chatles - Children Of Stone (Germany, 1965)

3 The Loubogg - She Is Cool (Greece, 1966)

4 Polanie - I'm Crying (Poland, 1968)

5 Dee Jays - Long Tall Shorty (Sweden, 1965)

6 Illes - Ne Gondold (Hungary, 1968)

7 Los Tomcats - A Tu Vera (Spain, 1966)

8 Surfadelics - Don't Be Sorry (England, 1987)

9 Les Chats Sauvages - Twist À Saint-Tropez (France, 1962)

10 The Hunters - Russian Spy And I (Netherlands, 1966)

11 The Lollipops - Words ain't Enough (Denmark, 1966)

12 The Outsiders - That's Your Problem (Netherlands, 1966)

13 The Sunlights - Do The Dog (Belgium, 1965)

14 The Subjects - German Measles (Germany, 1967)

15 Los Brincos - Baila La Pulga (Spain, 1965)

16 The Nips - All The Time In The World (England, 1978)

17 The Shamrocks - Midnight Train (Germany, 1967)

18 Os Blusoes Negros - Tequilla (Portugal, 1966)

19 The Voodoo Dolls - That's The Breaks (Sweden, 1986)

20 The Wheels - Road Block (Northern Ireland, 1966)

21 The Divorced - A Real Man (Norway, 1966)

22 Jacques Dutronc - Le Responsable (France, 1969)

23 The Namelosers - Do-Oa (Sweden, 1965)

24 Tamara Luonto - Annika (Finland, 2022)

25 Crazy Girls - Hey Hey Ha Ha (Germany, 1963)

26 The Nomads - Rat Fink A BooBoo (Sweden, 1987)

Miss Muscle Beach contest, 1951

Crayons To Perfume Girls of the Week: Nichole and Monique of Les Surfs - the Madagascar Movers!

Les Surfs were a family group - brothers and sisters in the Rabaraona family from Madagascar. Nichole and Monique were the only girls in the group, and began their carriers at a very young age - just 7 and 8 years old when they won a television singing contest. This led them on a tour of Madagascar.
In 1963, the group, now named Les Surfs played on French television, and they became very popular covering English pop songs in French. As they toured, they went to Spain and Italy - again, recording popular American (mainly) songs in other languages. The group was tight and classy, wearing the latest fashions and appealing to people of all ages.
By the late 60's the Rabaraona family were getting married and having children, so they decided to end the band. Eventually most of the family emegrated to Canada.

Les Surfs left behind a great string of  hits -  including this EP, with 'Shoop shoop va l'embrasser', fab version of  'It's In His Kiss'.



Crayons to Perfume is coming soon to WFMU's Ichiban Soul, hosted by Glynis Ward, DJ girlgroupgirl

Jerry Landis Belongs in the Hall of Fame

Let's not exhaust this space to quibble over whether the mere existence and propagation of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is warranted or not. And we shall similarly pay minimal heed to the immutable truth that Paul Simon is in said Rock Hall not once but twice (as a solo performer and as half of Simon and Garfunkel), which to some may indicate he's been inducted either one too many times or two too many times. All that concerns this author is that as long as they let Rhymin' Simon in, those doors should open even wider to accommodate his late-'50s/early-'60s rockin' incarnations Jerry Landis, True Taylor, and Tico and the Triumphs.

It may be difficult to reconcile that the very same person who composed "A Simple Desultory Philippic" could also give birth to "Get Up and Do the Wobble," but one doesn't require a postage stamp contest à la Elvis to determine which manifestation of the singer and songwriter in question the typical Ichiban reader and listener would favor. So now that your preference has been duly presupposed, please enjoy this guaranteed Garfunkel-free trio of top teen tunes from the days when Paul Simon resided on the greaseball side of Music Town (all songs YouTube).

True Taylor — "True or False" (Big, 1958)
Here Paul yelps a rockabilly bopper that alternately could have been titled "Blue Moon of Kew Gardens."

Tico and the Triumphs — "Motorcycle" (Amy, 1961, Billboard No. 99)
Simon's sonata for the 'Sicle Set puts the "J.D." in early Jan and Dean.

Jerry Landis — "The Lone Teen Ranger" (Amy, 1962, Billboard No. 97)
His "Western Movies"-referencing dum-dum doo-wop ditty exposes a different kind of Olympics doping.

Gary Mitchell Is On The Air!

Hear our contest winner in action, RIGHT NOW!

October Surprise: The High Priest of LSD vs. the Pineapple Princess

Fall is here and the time is right for reflection. The tenth month presents us with the occasion to assess the respective impact of two particular personages whose work has contributed mightily to popular culture. Born the same day, October 22nd, twenty-two years apart, Timothy Leary (1920) often gets the nod over Annette Funicello (1942). After all, the principal tribute accorded the Disney donna was an under-two-minute L.A. radio hit, Red Kross’ “Annette’s Got the Hits,” whereas the paddy medicine-man earned a 6:36 salute from the Moody Blues in the FM staple “Legend of a Mind” (“He'll fly his astral plane, Take you on trips around the bay/ Brings you back the same day, Timothy Leary”).

A look at the records, however, reveals a much more complex case, one that tilts toward the gal who taught the world to do “The Clyde” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YDC8n0xuQI]. Leary’s big coming-out was 1967’s Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out LP, which is no Surrealistic Pillow or even David Hemmings Happens. Against a background of electronic skronks, blips and sitar blues, acid’s high priest freaks freely and encourages co-tripper Ralph Metzner to “relive all those scenes” in an “electric chain of remembrance.” In “All the Girls Are Yours,” Timbo’s gal-pal Rosemary Woodruff challenges Ralphy-boy to put forth his pud: “Can your offer your stamen trembling in the meadow for the electric penetration of pollen?” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiDII6ZFIP4].

As you might expect, Annette’s more chaste, limiting her birds-and-beeswax to “chalk on the sidewalk, ’nitials on a tree” in 1959’s “Tall Paul” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne2yFQPYYmU]. But she out-rocks Leary and along the way invents Carole King (whose copycat “Short Mort” single on RCA followed later in ’59; King’s classic may well have inspired pint-sized popsters like Jerry Landis). Funicello’s “First Name Initial” is even better,” and, while it’s a toss-up when it comes to their respective forays into spiritualism—Annette’s “O Dio Mio” vs. Tim’s “You Can Be Anyone This Time Around”—in the creative-collaboration department the Cali kid easily bests the Cambridge quack. He pairs with Simon Stokes (of the Black Whip Thrill Band) for the extended dope-joke “Mushroom Adventure” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XatGAwdi4], but she pals with Paul Anka, to do his Joe Turner-modeled “Train of Love” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3oSgh4Zz0Q ], a Top-40 entry in 1960. Around then, T.L. was dosing convicts as part of Harvard’s ‘Psilocybin Project.’ No contest.
--Gene Sculatti

Miss Drumsticks

Miss Drumsticks contest, 1953. From the LIFE archives. Man, that's sick.

The Creep!

Don't forget to enter the Ichiban Halloween contest!  Deadline is October 15th.  Send us your mailing address to wfmuichiban@gmail.com for a chance to win a DVD copy of The Creep, filmed in beautiful Bakersfield, California.


Dr. Frost's Halloweeeeeeeeen mix (mp3)

"Seventeen" dance party on WOI-TV

Seems like every town had its TV dance party show. "Seventeen" was broadcast on WOI-TV, Ames Iowa. The few clips that have surfaced on YouTube are fabulous, a black and white Ichiban world of neatly-dressed teens with superb haircuts dancing the jive to the latest songs ! In some cases, soundtracks were deleted from the clips for rights issues ; others have been restored. Here are a few of my faves :

Buddy Knox - Swingin' Daddy (Top Tune 17 !)

Ronnie Self - Bop-A-Lena

Chuck Willis - Betty and Dupree (the stroll !)

full episode, songs removed (boooooo !!!)

note : bubble gum blowing contest at 11:20

 

[ed. note : I mentioned this before on the Ichiban FB page ; appearance of a new clip on YouTube (Buddy Knox) prompted me to create a blog post.]