Story Monday November 01, 2021

[Darth Fluffy 302]

I had a BSR turntable with an idler wheel. The wheel got too worn to play consistently, and I could no longer find a replacement. I repaired it with rubber cement a couple of times, but it never lasted long.

My dad had cowboy music on 78s, and he found two records he had as a kid in my grandmother's attic, 16 rpm. When I was a kid, several of my records had animation; they had a strip of images that would animate if viewed through a reflective kinescope shaped like a carousel that mounted on the single record spindle. Oooh, pictures:

My mom had a couple hundred albums, at least half was orchestral pops like Boston Pops and 101 Strings. My dad's tastes were more eclectic. I recall Herb Alpert, Caribbean music, and some comedy albums. OTOH, she played hers, elevator music was the background sound of my childhood; when he played his, rarely, it was a notable event.  I have no idea what happened to all their vinyl.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:24 PM, mlooney said:

I don't have any vinyl, but I do have a lot of CDs

I still have some of my vinyl left. I feel so old.

[mlooney 3,417]

On 04/11/2021 at 11:15 AM, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

When her Disney Channel show ended, she was in a position to become a Pop or Country singer with a ready made fan base and could have developed her talent and style in different directions over time

Of course I would not have noticed either pop or country, being a metal/crunchy rock sorta dude. 

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

I still have some of my vinyl left. I feel so old.

Off topic: Good to see you back, my good friend.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

37 minutes ago, mlooney said:

... being a metal/crunchy rock sorta dude. 

I have a song I would like you to beta test. Would you be willing?

[ijuin 572]

14 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

My dad had cowboy music on 78s, and he found two records he had as a kid in my grandmother's attic, 16 rpm.

Wow, anything that predates 78 RPM as a standard must be really old.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

My parent's credenza style record player from the 60s (Mono) had 16, 33¹/₃, 45 & 78 RPM options

My grandmother had a handful of 78s (including one an uncle of mine recorded in the Navy at a self service booth as a letter home)

I only ever heard a 16 RPM once.  It was some old lecture on a disk at my high school.

The 16 and 78 options received far more use playing other records at very wrong speeds

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

The 16 and 78 options received far more use playing other records at very wrong speeds

As a kid that was honestly what I thought they were for.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

2 hours ago, ijuin said:

Wow, anything that predates 78 RPM as a standard must be really old.

He was born in 1921, and these were kiddie tunes, so I would guessimate they were from the mid 1920s. I had them in my possession and played them, my kiddie record player had four speeds; they were scratchy and the audio track was ... odd, like the sound in old movies is sometimes odd, but it was not all that abnormal. The material was not vinyl, it was something harder and less flexible. But they were in good shape, other than somewhat scratchy.

My grandmother had an old Victrola, with the speaker horn rather than amplification. I think it was originally wind up but had been electrified.

The question might be "Why did a kiddie record player have 33 rpm?" Those were typically Hi Fi and then Stereo. (Yes, non-stereo records were once a thing.).  The crappy needle in a kiddie player would ruin those.

 

[Darth Fluffy 302]

11 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

As a kid that was honestly what I thought they were for.

The Chipmunks sing all the songs!

[mlooney 3,417]

5 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I have a song I would like you to beta test. Would you be willing?

Sure.  

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

The material was not vinyl, it was something harder and less flexible

The earliest commercial disks were often shellac resin

After that, several materials were used at times.  Often plastic pressed over cardboard

[mlooney 3,417]

8 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Often plastic pressed over cardboard

The classic use of that was on the back of cereal boxes.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

8 minutes ago, mlooney said:

back of cereal boxes

Sugar
Ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you . . . 

[mlooney 3,417]

Ah, yeah, the only song by a cartoon to chart, much less reach number 1.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

2 hours ago, mlooney said:

Sure.  

Look for an inbound PM soon.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

5 hours ago, mlooney said:

Ah, yeah, the only song by a cartoon to chart, much less reach number 1.

That is several ways interesting. My opinion only, but it's a pretty bad song, I'm amazed it made it that far. (Thanking of God that it rarely gets air play anymore commences.)

I seem to recall, they had at least one whole album, didn't they? And, they had a competing cartoon band in the same stable, Josie and the Pussy Cats. The artists behind the cartoons would have been paid musicians, studio or otherwise; the songs assigned by producers' perception of their market. So they were targeting a very junior demographic, and steered toward saccharine, insipid lyrics that eliminated anything controversial. Yeah, not a formula for long lasting fame.

Other cartoon bands, I vaguely recall a group of bears that played some kind of music, maybe country-ish? And Hanna Barbara may have thrown together an ensemble band to briefly compete? There were worse formulas, but this one is down there.

The most successful one, in my opinion, is the previously mentioned Chipmunks. I recall they had a hit or two in the late fifties, but that was pre-cartoon (before even their early one, which was oddly creative.) They have endurance, some traction and recognizability, even mixed live action and CGI animated movies, not great, but still.

Music has always been tied to cartoons, and many earlier cartoons include musical roles. That has long been a Disney feature film shtick, and I'm pretty sure some of Disney's songs have charted. Not primarily portrayed as bands, though.

Some(?) 1920s cartoons had a musical interlude, Betty Boop comes to mind, just like the films of the era did; the music comes out of left field, like a poorly thought out musical. Actually, in the cartoons it flows a bit better than in the feature films. The ones that do it best, as always, is Warner Brothers.

 

 

It appears Tom and Jerry did some similar ones, but I don't recall them. Daffy and Donald had a piano competition in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The Pink Panther cartoon has always been accompanied by Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther theme. I believe this charted and did fairly well when it was new. The Pink Panther character was developed for the framing animation for the movie, but became an independent cartoon property, notable for at lease initially being voiceless, all sight gags.

But, that's in the US. In Japan, Vocaloids, computer animated musicians, are popular, and must have charted there.

Then there's the ABBA reunion tour. ABBA are elderly, and are not actually traveling. They are instead present on screen, with a live background band. And Industrial Light and Magic has rendered their images as they would have looked in their heyday. These ABBAtars (I did not make that up) are essentially a cartoon band.

 

 

[mlooney 3,417]

And of course there are the Gorillaz, which I suspect have charted.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:55 AM, Darth Fluffy said:

https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-078

Arthur does not seem all that threatening. What's with Tedd's deer in the headlight eyes?

Also the 'I had your job' dig seems odd.

So, Arthur answered my deer in the headlights question. https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-080

I am getting more curious about Edward's low key animosity toward Arthur. Arthur has, for the most part, after his initial appearance as Edward's replacement and the goofy non-coverup, appeared to be a pretty reasonable guy; perhaps a little judgemental of Magus (which would not be what Edward has an issue with.)

[The Old Hack 2,448]

5 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I am getting more curious about Edward's low key animosity toward Arthur. Arthur has, for the most part, after his initial appearance as Edward's replacement and the goofy non-coverup, appeared to be a pretty reasonable guy; perhaps a little judgemental of Magus (which would not be what Edward has an issue with.)

To be fair, he also tried to have Mr. Raven expelled from the United States and send him to a country he didn't even come from.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

46 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

To be fair, he also tried to have Mr. Raven expelled from the United States and send him to a country he didn't even come from.

Yes, I had forgotten that. That does not even seem to be in character for current Arthur. I would be curious to hear his side of the story, but I doubt if it will be revisited.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

Just now, Darth Fluffy said:

Yes, I had forgotten that. That does not even seem to be in character for current Arthur. I would be curious to hear his side of the story, but I doubt if it will be revisited.

You never know. I hope it will be. And there might even have been what Arthur saw as good reason for such an extreme action. I merely point out that for all Arthur's obvious humanity he is a man of many parts just like Mr. Verres himself.

Where Edward may be going wrong might simply be being less aware of his own flaws than he could be.