Valley of the Strange - Easter "Shagg"-day!

Happy Easter gang! Last night I finished a book, "Vinyl Junkies" by Bret Milano, which came  highly recommended to me by a fellow vinyl-zombie, Ben E. (looking forward to that Beach Boys concert with you, John, and Matthew in June!). It was a very good read, and it talked about the many different aspects of collecting vinyl, what motivates someone to collect, the types of records people look for, etc. Some of the guys described in the book have collections numbering in the tens of THOUSANDS!

My favorite chapter was titled "Valley of the Strange," and it discussed all of the quirky records that people like to collect for their novelty or kitsch value.  Some collectors enjoy finding the numerous records put out as promos by corporations touting a product (there's mention of a double album devoted to the Brother sewing machine, which the author described as "the commercial equivalent of Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes"). Others go for the VERY strange, like novelty records featuring Christian ventriloquist's dummies or albums devoted children's education. But the strangest album I read about (and then further researched) was called Philosophy of the World by a band called the Shaggs.

This band consisted of three sisters put together by their father to become a garage rock band in New Hampshire during the 1960s. What they lack in talent they make up for in heart, and none other than the legendary Frank Zappa labeled them as the #3 best band in the world. I think I may have a #3 favorite band now myself...