Batman - The Bat's Kow Tow Pt.2

IMDb:  Batman and Robin escape Catwoman's trap by hitting the precise note needed to shatter the glass chamber in which they're prisoners. They quickly get on the trail of Catwoman. The feminine feline criminal eventually "steals" the voices of Chad and Jeremy, Commissioner Gordon and talk-show host Allen Stephens. She blackmails the British government, which faces the lost of revenue from the taxes on Chad and Jeremy's performances. Batman and Robin eventually capture Catwoman and her gang, but not before Batman and Catwoman express obvious affection for each other. Written by Bill Koenig

*Note Catwoman's shout out to Ichiban's Mr. March, Roger Miller!

Batman - The Cat's Meow Pt. 1

 IMDb:  The Catwoman "steals" the voice of a television talk-show host in the middle of an interview with Bruce Wayne. She plants clues to suggest either the Joker, Riddler or Penguin may have committed the crime. In the meantime, she has fooled Commissioner Gordon into thinking she has gone straight. She makes her first mistake when she masquerades as Miss Klutz, a dance instructor visiting Wayne Manor. Allergic to dogwood, she sneezes and gives herself away. Her next target is to "steal" the voices of British singers Chad and Jeremy. Batman and Robin eventually track her to a dance studio, where a fight erupts. After it appears the Dynamic Duo has triumphed over Catwoman's forces, she drugs them. The heroes are placed inside a chamber where the sounds of water dripping will be magnified many, many times and drive them insane. Written by Bill Koenig

The police believe Catwoman has gone straight; however, the villainess has devious plans for her new voice-stealing device. After using it to silence a TV talk show host and Commissioner Gordon, she sets about to steal the voices of Wayne Manor's latest guests, British singers Chad and Jeremy. Under the guise of a dance instructor, she enters Wayne Manor to collect valuable information about its layout. Batman and Robin pick up her trail when her cover is blown. But unknown to them, Catwoman has a plan to destroy their minds and forever end their crime-fighting career. Written by Twenty Penguins

Next up:  Batman

Tassel Twirler Tuesday!

Big_Feet!

Joe Tex: The Dapper Dropper

"If I were a disease - Dr. Feelgood would cure me!"

King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, JT

Joe was a master of the shout out. Whether shouting out to Rufus Thomas at the end of his "Walking the Dog" rip, "Looking for My Pig", or telling Elvis to "get it!" in his "Heartbreak Hotel" cover, JT always gave credit where it was due. 

The Ichiband of merry posters are huge fans of "I'm a Man", where Joe name checks B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Willie Mays and Roger Miller. I think it's been posted four/ five times this month, but what the heck, here it is again.

The flip of SYSLJFM!!!!

But that's far from the end of the story - there are numerous examples of Tex giving his fellow soul singers some love in song. There was the 1970 single "You're Right, Ray Charles", wherein RC tells JT that he needs to stop singing slow songs and rock it out. Considering Ray's tendencies to cover "Eleanor Rigby" around this time I'm not entirely sure that this song makes any sense, but since Joe wrote from life, I wonder what the conversation described in this song was really like.

On "Woman Stealer", Joe, B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland and Little Johnny Taylor have gotten together to stop woman stealers from stealing women.  Joe goes upside somebody's head yet again, but at least this time he's doing it to dudes. 

But the ultimate Joe Tex name drop song didn't get released until a 1985 UK double LP called Different Strokes, even though it's a 1970 recording. More on this comp in a few days. The song is a cover of a 1955 Ruth Brown hit, "I Can See Everybody's Baby". 

Joe's version is radically different. He turns it into a travelogue - Ruth sticks close to home looking for her baby, but Joe travels all over the US looking for his. And he just can't find her. But while he's looking, he "sees" the following women: Ray Charles', Johnny Taylor's, James Brown's (waitaminute! that's Joe Tex's woman!), Wilson Pickett's, Tom Jones', Clarence Carter's, Marvin Gaye's, Elvis Presley's, Joe Simon's, the Chambers Brothers', Sam and Dave's, Isaac Hayes', Lee Dorsey's, Bobby Bland's, Junior Walker's, Little Richard's, and Bobby Womack's.

Joe Tex Month Day 20 - "Papa Was Too" & "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" - Live and In Color in 1969

Joe Tex - Papa Was Too, By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Gala De Clôture 3.14.69) via bedazzled.tv

Joe Tex month day 20: the deep soul albums - Happy Soul & Buying a Book

By 1968, JT was at the peak of his popularity. He was one of the most popular live soul entertainers going (witness the numerous pictures from Greg G's trolling of the Jet archives of Joe getting mauled by fans) and he had a long string of winning R&B singles. 

And while the two albums he released these years continue to follow the Tex/Killen formula, they also have a deeper soul sound. Having the same sort of crossover appeal that typifies the earlier Dial releases does not seem to be a priority. Part of me wonders if this is because around the time Happy Soul was released in 1968, Tex secretly converted to the Muslim religion. He'd eventually change his name to Yusuf Hazziez and quit show biz completely for a few years, but more on that when we talk about I Gotcha.  

Regardless, they're both really good records with lots of great tracks.

Side one of Happy Soul in particular stands up with any LP side of soul music you'd care to name. A bunch of the tracks from this record have been posted elsewhere on Ichiban through the course of the month, but a couple haven't been covered yet. I'm a big fan of the home-town hi-jinx of "You Need Me", which has an almost Tom T. Hall vibe to it in terms of its telling little details. "Some were crying, and some bought lunch!"

And my DJ box is always packing the freight train of laffs that is "Go Home and Do It", because of one glorious occasion when I played it, much to the crowd's delight, right after some jerky couple finally got kicked out of one of my gigs for being obnoxious.

Now, bye!

Buying a Book has another great autobiographical song about Joe's early Texas childhood, "Grandma Mary" and the civil rights anthem "We Can't Sit Down Now".  And of course there's the title track.

.

Now, can someone actually explain to me what the phrase "buying a book" actually means? I haven't been to figure that out for 20 years.

Texmania Sweeps Miami

Joe Tex sure knew how to work a crowd into an over-heated frenzy, as indicated by this 1965 Jet article. And apparently the fever didn't exactly die in '65!

Blue Light Special!

Since you're going to make a pledge to WFMU's 2012 marathon anyway, why not maximize your swag?

Any person who pays their pledge of $180 or more by Feb. 26th will receive the Vintage WFMU Pack - Upsalapalooza double CD, Crackpots & Visionaries Vol. 2 card set, plus a classic issue of LCD (WFMU's old 'zine).

Plus!

3 DJ Premiums, Global Domination Bag, new WFMU T-shirt and naming rights to a WFMU Fixture.

Might I suggest:

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DJ premiums can also be yours for a pledge of $75 each.

WFMU

Listener supported radio

Louis Jordan, 1954

The King Of The Jukebox auditions a new band member. Courtesy of the JET archives.

Below, Jordan can be seen still going strong in a 1966 appearance on The !!!! Beat.

Joe Tex month: The Joe Tex Band

Let's hear it for the band!

betwixt and between

chocolate cherry

Joe Tex Month: The Coasters/Sleepy LaBeef Connection

 Joe Tex covers show up in the oddest places. Buddy Killen was one busy song-selling-son-of-a-gun from next door.

Both bands cover Joe's Buying a Book-era snotty little ode to germophobia, "It Ain't Sanitary". It's tailor made for the Coasters, and they really ham it up. It makes me wonder if he wrote it for them. A Coasters Sing Joe Tex album would have been great.  

But it's kind of weird when Sleepy Labeef covers the same song on his Sun LP, the bull's night out.

Sleepy must have liked Buying a Book, because this album's also got a cover of the title track. Since the song is mostly one of JT's sermons, it's pretty weird to hear him cover it in his Sleepy baritone, word for word.