Wrinkled Old Bag

As shown. Trans-Canada records was a big player in Quebecois pop back the mid-60s through the disco era, releasing records under their own imprint, as well as distributing tons of other labels. I think they were eventually absorbed into the Quebecor group.

And to all two of my readers, it's good to be back!

Not Those Scorpions

From 1971. While I could find no evidence of controversy or best-sellerhood, this novel does attempt to rip the lid off the pop world, albeit in a kind of spottily-researched and lecherous way. Chronicling the rise of four cliches known as The Scorpions: singer Jack Millyon (master manipulator, primary trangressor/bad influence, great interviewee), drummer Jon Barry (drug psycho/lyricist) , keyboardist Vic Andover (the 'sensible' one - he's married!), and guitarist Rob Keston (who giggles, pouts and scares easily - seriously). You don't have to pay too much attention to who plays what, as the author confuses character and instrument several times throughout. Anyway, read with fevered excitement as the band formerly known as the Embryos are turned into rock idols by Brian Epsteinesque manager Philip Ogle (again, seriously). The book is a sort of amalgam of Beatles and Stones stories - the focal point of the novel is loosely based on Mick and Keef's Redlands bust (cleverly 'Rakehall" here).

I read the thing about three months ago, and damn if I didn't think to highlight the choice hilarious bits, and there were plenty. However, this may give you the idea:

Whatever his sex life - and it was the dark side of the moon, inseparable and essential - Philip Ogle was a man of considerable organizing talent and a systematic, orderly mind.

And for his part, Paul Tabori was an impressively accomplished journalist/author, check this out. And this!

Above is a scan of the British NEL version. The awesome American Belmont/Tower edition ratchets up the hyperbole:

Join The Jazz Club

This postcard was found in PAUSA Records releases in the early 1980s. Who could possibly resist such a solid pitch? I wonder what the surprises were...?



Law buffs may know that PAUSA Records defended itself against a copyright infringement lawsuit in the late 1980s, mostly based on unpaid royalties (maybe they shoulda charged dues to Jazz Club members) and the appeal determination in 1990 is often cited in subsequent cases.

Theatrorama

File this one under primitive multimedia concepts. Published in 1960, Theatrorama was a short-lived spin-off from the more successful Sonorama magazine. Where Sonorama focused on singers and celebrities, Theatrorama gave readers/listeners an entire play in book/flexidisc form.



The idea was that you could enjoy the entirety of Jean Anouilh's L'Hurluberlu from the comfort of your favorite armchair in front of the old hi-fi, getting up occasionally (say every seven or eight minutes) to flip the object over on your turntable.



Just to add to the verisimilitude, you could of course pause now and then to take in a riveting photo from the stage production.



As with Sonorama, this mag gave you six 2-sided flexis, glossy paper and semi-reliable plastic ring binding. And of course a one-page hawk for the parent publication.



As far as I can tell (ok, one Google search), Theatrorama lasted a mere two issues. Copies of this sell from between 1 and 60 euros, depending on your vendor. If anyone's interested, I'll take 60 please.

I'll leave you with a cool ad from the inside front cover:

Record Keeping

Here's a lovely item picked up at a garage sale a while back. Measuring 4*5 inches, I imagine this booklet was available in the stationery department of the local dimestore.



It's nice to know that collector geeks' obsessive need to catalogue and collate was well catered to in the days before object-oriented databases came along to erode our free time.

Note that the artist column didn't get much play here; the original owner of this decided to organize by song title.



Finally, a detail from the last page:

Dog and Pony Show

Copyright 1972. By Rochelle Reed, who doesn't get a byline on the cover or the spine.

The pet ownership history of pop stars, like the Osmonds, Jackson Five etc. At least 50 animal stories within.

I thought the guy on the cover holding the hypnokitty was Rick Springfield, but it's Michael Gray. Yeah, never heard of him either.

Mark Lindsay gets a chapter, the last. But he gets a killer opening line:

"High on a mountaintop in Hollywood, a lonely genius walks his Doberman pinschers into the sunset, the two tall, lean dogs galloping around his heels."

Readability-wise, the book is skimmable at best. The best passage by far:

"Mrs. Jackson was just about to pass the roast beef when she spotted Jermaine's fancy 'bracelet'. Leaning over the table to get a better look at this incredible decoration, she still didn't know it was a snake - until Fred began to move!"

Rock On!

So I was gonna do a post with just a scan of this incredibly hep button featuring buckskinned rockers the Stampeders, outlining their refreshingly direct two-step plan for global hegemony. The button itself is such a thing of garish crowd-parting beauty, it seemed to be a story unto itself.



However, upon removing the relic from the scanner, I noticed a faint etching on its back. Just in case you can't decipher my weak photographic skills (and the etching was faint), it reads: "June 13/73 Ontario Place Forum".



I guess the original owner thoughtfully decided to commemorate the button-purchasing moment, which happened to be the night these guys recorded their live "Backstage Pass" LP. Which you can sample at their official site. I recommend the tune "In The Shadows". Not only that, but according to the site they're still at it, 30-plus years later!

As for where I picked up the pin, god knows...