Half Price Books Finds

While Madison started selling museum 45s, our hometown had a few of note.  Which were cheaper and better.

Rock The Boat-The Hues Corporation (RCA APB0-0232)  #1 1974

Too Weak To Fight-Clarence Carter (Atlantic 45-2569) #13 1968

I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know-Skeeter Davis (RCA 47-7293) 1958

Bread And Butter-The Newbeats (Hickory 45-1269) #2 1964

Just As Long As I Have You-Don Williams (RCA  9119-7-R) 1990  #4 Country 

Gonna Move-Les Dudek (Columbia 3-10744) 1978

Kiss This-Aaron Tippin (Lyric Street ED-11282)   #42 2000  #1 Country

B side People Like Us #17 2000

Aaron Tippin's Kiss This is the first actual 45 that is associated with music in 2000 and after.   While Bullfrogspond called it an album cut, there was an actual 45 probably made for jukeboxes.  Tippin's output I have never cared much for, but this was the one that put Disney's Nashville label Lyric Street on the map. Perhaps this could have been a harder rocking song if you take the fiddles off.  B side People Like Us also got some airplay, Kiss This made number 1 on the country chart and number 42 on the pop side of things.  Given the crap heard on top 40 nowadays, it's unthinkable that this would have charted that high.  Rock The Boat had the Van McCoy drum thump tho he didn't produce it, but one of the finest R and B songs of 1974, even tho it was overplayed to death.   And sometimes the oldies stations will dust off to play. People Like Us sounds like Georgia Satellites. 

Don Williams, on this song had Barry Beckett and not Garth Fundis producing and Beckett had more keyboards into the songs, the One Good Well album is quite listenable.  Williams had some RCA success but two albums later, he would be gone.  B side Why Get Up was covered by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. The wacky Bread And Butter was and remains the best song by the Newbeats, with Larry (Parks) Henley, high vocal being the ID of the band.  Novelty songs like this don't get played much anymore but the 45 seems to be in pretty good shape.  Tough Little Buggy was written by Dave Allen, maybe the guy that wroteToo Weak To Fight, looked worse for the wear but plays fantastic, one of the more soulful sounds from Clarence Carter.  And it was surprising to see Skeeter Davis's song not making either the country or pop charts of 1958 

CDs

Battle Of The Bands (K Tel 1995)

Peter Tosh-Legalize It (CBS 1977)

K Tel put out three volumes of the Battle Of The Bands, which is really a look at the garage rock music scene in the mid 60s.  I still think those were the best of times rather than the crap rap and plastic pop that has no lasting value.  Of course, The Elektra/Sire/Rhino Nuggets box set has all of these songs and much more.  Funny how K Tel could cram 22 songs on a single LP but when CD came calling, they rarely went past 10 to 12 songs.  Even with 14, it barely crawls over a half hour but all the songs are classic. I Fought The Law, Lies, Question Of Temperature, Talk Talk, Pushing too hard, etc. etc.  Cheers for them finding the Gants Road Runner and Blue's Theme from Davey Allen and The Arrows (probably the hardest rock song the Odious Mike Curb ever put his name on this side of Crazy Horses). A Little Bit Of Soul always sounded great at night while driving home. The most obscure would probably be Shake (Ohio Express).  K Tel would continue to issue two more varied Battle Of The Bands albums but the first one is still gold.  As for Peter Tosh, Legalize It was his second Columbia attempt and the radicalness CBS Columbia got cold feet and drop him (the next album would be issued on Rolling Stones Records, the only artist not associated with The Stones was Mr. Tosh).  Equal Rights was probably the better of the two Columbia albums but for two bucks I figured it was still worth getting. Till Your Well Runs Dry, shows that Tosh can do soul music very well too.