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Hello cutters. Mashup, mixdown, fight fight fight!<br>
<br>
Does anyone on this list know someone in Japan whom I
could hire to find an obscure LP?<br>
<br>
The whole quest is too ridiculous to recount, but here it is anyway:
I'm
archivist for the Firesign Theatre. In 1970-1971 Firesign had a weekly
series on KPFK-FM Los Angeles called <i>Dear Friends</i>, a one-hour
show on Sunday nights where they went on the air and let 'er rip:
improv comedy, found texts, strange surrealist outbursts, Deputy Dan,
and an engineer - "The Live Earl Jive" - who just loved throwing random
records into the mix and listening to the boys react.<br>
<br>
I've got recordings of all the shows (stay tuned for a reissue! fingers
crossed, people!), including the broadcast dated November 22, 1970.
That night the Jiver ended the show with this mystery LP cut:<br>
<br>
<a
href="http://www.footnoteconspiracy.com/Chugoku-Chiho%20no%20Komoriuta.mp3">http://www.footnoteconspiracy.com/Chugoku-Chiho%20no%20Komoriuta.mp3</a><br>
<br>
It's haunting, isn't it? The name of the song, the artist, and the LP
name are a complete mystery to everyone in Firesign as well as to Jiver
himself - nobody remembers what this is - but it's lush and noir and
velvety and splendid, oh so splendid. This makes me want to find the
original LP, not to clear the cut, not as a trophy, but for my own
personal enjoyment.<br>
<br>
So with no one remembering what the LP is, the recording itself remains
the
only clue with which to identify the source. Here's what I know so far:<br>
<br>
A Japanese friend of a friend identified the tune: it's <span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "MS Mincho";">中国地方の子守唄</span>
("Chugoku-Chiho no Komoriuta", a lullaby). Live Earl Jive
played several more cuts from the same LP during the show: the songs
include <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "MS Mincho";">あんたがたど
こさ</span>("Antagatadokosa"),
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "MS Mincho";">俵はごろごろ</span>
("Tawara wa Gorogoro"), and <span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "MS Mincho";">通りゃんせ</span>
("Toryanse", which
means "Let Me Pass": many Japanese crosswalk signs tinkle out this tune
when it's safe to cross the street).<span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "MS Mincho";"></span><br>
<br>
They're all Japanese children's songs. That means this is probably an
easy-listening LP made in Japan for a Japanese audience in the late
1960s, full of easy-listening pop instrumental arrangements
of traditional children's songs. And why the hell not? It's no weirder
a concept than <i>Switched-On Gershwin</i>.<br>
<br>
Actually scoring a physical copy of this LP is going to be very
difficult.
Very <i>very </i>difficult. I Googled the track names in English. I
Googled the track names in Japanese. These tactics don't always help -
especially with lounge LPs. Sometimes you just need an expert's help. I
can't afford to fly to Japan and go from town to town digging in the
bins. But I might be able to pay a finder's fee. If anyone can put me
in touch with a digger based in Japan
who's willing to take an advance payment and who lives for this sort of
wild goose chase, I'd be eternally
grateful. I know this is sorta the opposite of the usual detournment
conversation on this list, in that what I'm after is
recontextualization in reverse - but hey, it's all vinyl love, babies.<br>
<br>
You're the best,<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
T.<br>
<br>
P.S. As everyone's been digging on the natural history of mashups
recently, here's one
that needs to get back into general circulation: the Ownership
Mix of "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones, a house barnburner from 2000 cooked up
by a remixer known only as Eye Q. Mashed are "Sex Bomb" and "Owner of a
Lonely
Heart" by Yes; don't know the name of the masher, but it sounds like he
had stems for "Sex Bomb": <a
href="http://www.footnoteconspiracy.com/Tom%20Jones_Sex%20Bomb%20Eye%20Q%20Own%20mix.mp3">http://www.footnoteconspiracy.com/Tom%20Jones_Sex%20Bomb%20Eye%20Q%20Own%20mix.mp3</a><br>
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