I Wish I Still Had Them

Back in about 1984, as I was moving from a small apartment to an even smaller one in Key West, and vinyl records were already on the way out, and my stereo wasn't working very well, I sold all my records at a yard sale. Many of the good ones have been replaced over the years on cassette and then on cd. But there are three record albums that have turned out to be irreplaceable and/or untranslatable, and if I had them today, they would be among my treasured possessions.

I. Monty Python, Matching Tie and Handkerchief
The marketing concept here was that you would get a free record if you bought the tie and handkerchief, but it was a blatant rip-off since the merchandise was just a cardboard cutout, very sleazy, ha ha. The record itself apparently had two "B" sides, visually identical, so you couldn't tell until it started playing which side you were listening to. Then of course if you turned it over you would be listening to the other side. But after listening to one side and then the other a few times, or possibly even the second time, you would suddenly realize you were listening to something you hadn't heard before. The record actually had three sides. One side was double-grooved. The cleverness of that was just a bonus, since the contents of the record was extremely funny. I have it on cd now, but it is Not the Same.

II. Jimmy Thudpucker's Greatest Hits
Jimmy Thudpucker is a Doonesbury character, kind of a satire of a Jackson Browne type California folk-rock singer/songwriter. I bought the album because I have always been a Doonesbury fan, not expecting much in the way of musical quality. I was surprised to find that the songs were very good, and it became one of my favorite records. I guess it is a rare collector's item today. Wish I still had it.

III. Tim Weisburg, Hurtwood Edge
Tim Weisburg's instrument is the electric flute. His music is a sort of jazz that flirts with easy listening, but, in my opinion, never crosses that line. He's had some success--I saw him on the Tonight Show more than once, in the late 70's, and he made an album with Dan Fogelberg in 1976 called Twin Sons of Different Mothers, followed up about 20 years later with one called No Resemblance Whatsoever. Hurtwood Edge is out of print and was probably never recorded on cd, but I can still hear the melodies in my head, at least parts of them. What I can't remember, is lost forever.