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:: The Wonderful Teens ::

:: Diane ::

:: Baby Face ::

:: Phonograph Fever ::

:: If You Knew Susie ::

:: The Charleston ::

:: The Varsity Drag ::

:: Sweet Little Lark ::

:: Twilight Rhapsody ::

:: Old Church Square ::

:: Knight In Bright Armor ::

:: Lillies Grow High ::

:: Peace Within ::

Sometimes I dare myself to buy a record. This was one of those. "Why should I buy this record?", I ask myself. "Why not?" I answer myself with yet another question. Am I crazy? Need you ask?

Hey, sometimes you gotta take a chance. Here's a little secret about me: The first thing I do when I get home from the record shop is remove the price stickers from outer jackets of the LPs I just purchased. I have a method I'm quite proud of. No marks or residue on my used album jackets, no sir. The by-product of this obsession is that I have no idea what I paid for any given record a few months later when I finally get 'round to listening to it, and that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Usually I can recall if I paid big bucks or not, but in the case of this one, I don't remember where I bought it or how much I paid for it. I hope I didn't pay much.

But the question remains: Why did I buy this record no matter the cost? Quite simply, it was the lure of Hollywood Stars. Fucking Dick Powell and (Jesus Christ!) Walter Brennan!

Actually I didn't know much about Dick Powell (shame on me), who died two years after this record was made. I guess Dick really only appears on the first track, "The Wonderful Teens". Nostalgia for people in their sixties can be rather repugnant, and that seems to be the point of each of the songs on this LP.

Disguised as a record for teenagers, it's really for old folks who longed to connect with teenagers. Witness Walter Brennan's ability to totally engross these college aged actors with his pointless yarns about America and shit. Right.

Whatever. Taken as a whole, it's a good listen. I hope I paid no more than .25 for it.


Mike

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 at 5:49 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.