Valley of the Strange - Str(angel)

Thanks to another blog I check out regularly, Armagideon Time, I was turned onto some strangeness; '70s hard rock/prog rockers Angel. Discovered by KISS bassist Gene Simmons and signed to their record label Casablanca, they had a look that bordered on the androgynous and a sound, described by a friend of Armagideon blogger Andrew, “like someone ate every '70s band and can’t stop farting.”

As much as I dig on '70s and '80s hard rock/prog rock that borders on the cheesy (*ahem* Asia) I don't know if I can take this seriously.

Enjoy.

Valley of the Strange (4/9/12) - Little Marcy

I decided to make a new feature based off of one of my posts from yesterday, regarding the strange and odd in the world of music and record collecting. The feature will be called "Valley of the Strange," after the chapter from Brett Milano's book Vinyl Junkies. Yesterday's feature on the Shaggs was inspired by their mention in his book, and so is today's. First, a word of warning: you're gonna be BEGGING for more Shaggs after you see what I have cooked up for you in this blog. This will be something you're gonna wish you could forget. I'm of course talking about Little Marcy...

*REE REE REE REE* (Psycho sound effect)

That has to be one of the most horrifying ventriloquist's dummies I have ever laid eyes upon. So what was Little Marcy famous for, besides causing thousands of children to wet themselves out of pure, stupefying, fear? It seems that our little buddy was the star of her own series of Christian records that offered Bible lessons for children. Apparently they sold well enough to be produced from the 1960s all the way to 1982. Here's an example from an extremely rare video appearance by her. Again, be prepared for what may be the most terrifying footage ever seen by human eyes:

Everyone ok? I know at first your soul might have had the urge to flee your body to find a safe haven, but I'm glad you all hung in there to finish reading.

According to Milano's book, there's "tons" of ventriloquist Christian records out there. Yikes. I'm not against the message of course, but could the messenger be something less scary? Like a werewolf or killer robot or something?