Author – Darrg

Benny Hill Sings (?)

Better known for chasing semi-nude women around on speeded-up film, and slapping the little bald fella on the head, much-maligned Brit comedian Benny Hill did this LP of comedy songs for Pye in 1965. Thrill * at his extraordinary takes on The Rolling Stones, Sonny & Cher, and Bob Dylan …

Canti Comunisti Italiani

“Songs of the Italian Communists” – now there’s a title crying out for the pop charts. There was a little sequence of revolutionary songs released on 7″ singles by the Italian label ‘i dischi del sole’ in the early sixties, of which this is one. Quite nicely packaged in a fold-out sleeve (would have been […]

KYC 64 – Know Your Car and Get The Best Out Of It

“This Noise Means Danger!” – a TV tie-in 7″ single from BBC records in 1964. Know Your Car had a signature tune by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, but sadly it’s not to be heard on this peculiar mix of deadpan narration and the sounds of ailing motorcars. The commentary is by John F. Miles, manager […]

BBC Sound Effects Centre – Comedy Sounds

An in-house 7″ BBC sound effects disc from about 1967 by the look of the house style. The ‘handle with great care’ suggestion should have been taken more seriously, as there’s a big chunk out of the edge of the disc, depriving us of “Things Falling and Clanging”. Not very musically inspirational, as you might […]

Music of Machinery : Shrewsbury Pumping Station

Optimistically sub-titled “Volume One”, this 7″ 45 rpm single came out on Big Ben records in the UK in 1968. It is an unedited recording of a 19th century pumping engine, one side recorded “In The Engine Room“, the other “In The Cellar“. Rhythm of Machinery might have been a more apt name for the […]