[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but usually turns out that way. With April Fools looming, Vinyl Vednesday is going humor-based this week. LAUGH DAMN YOU. E-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]
Records: Alvin & The Chipmunks’ Chipmunk Punk (1980) on black, Flight of the Conchords’ Flight of the Conchords (2008) on black, and the Top Gun Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1986) on, um, black.
Place of Purchase: Chipmunk Punk and Top Gun came from Impact! Thrift Store before it moved from East Norriton to Norristown. Flight of the Conchords was purchased at a.k.a. music in Philadelphia.
Thoughts: I bought Chipmunk Punk as a joke. A stupid, $0.25 joke. The record is more new wave than punk, and even then it fudges the numbers with a Tom Petter & The Heartbreakers cover. Still, I have a weird affection for this LP [NOTE: Chipmunk Punk went gold in the ’80s, rekindling the public’s love affair with the Chipmunks and paving the way for the second, and arguably superior, animated television show]. The Chipmunks’ joke – pop songs with the vocals sped up – gets old after a while, but I put this on every once in a while when I wanna feel tru punx. It’s mostly harmless fun, although their cover of “Refugee” gets really mean out of nowhere when the Chipmunks start ripping on the lyrics.
The first U.S. Flight of the Conchords album, much like the first season of their U.S. TV show, is just about a perfect collection of pop songs that also happen to be hilarious. The record jumps from style to style – Serge Gainsbourg French pop on “Foux du Fafa,” Depeche Mode faux-political synth-pop on “Inner City Pressure,” three phases of Bowie on “Bowie.” Best line of the record : “No one cares / No one sympathizes / You just stay home and play synthesizers.” Well, that and “She’s so hot she’s making me sexist.” And “Yes I know sometimes my lyrics are sexist / But all you lovely bitches should know that I’m trying to correct this.”
It seems like my joke albums break up my legitimately good albums. Chipmunk Punk comes between Castevet and The Church; Top Gun separates Tool from Torche. The Top Gun soundtrack has one amazing song – “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins – and then lots of embarrassing ’80s pop rock. But in college my roommates and I bumped this far more frequently than I care to admit. That “Danger Zone” hook is just too big to ignore. And that guitar solo! It’s all “bow bow aousdbvofsubvouvbouv dow-now-now!” Also worth a spin is Teena Marie’s “Lead Me On.” Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” was a monster hit, but I’d rather listen to “The Metro” or “No More Words” any day. But hey, some of these songs don’t require any opinion whatsoever. I’ve had this record for about seven years now and I still don’t remember how Cheap Trick’s “Mighty Wings” goes. Now Loverboy’s “Heaven in Your Eyes,” that’s something I carry with me at all times. “There’s a first in the sky tonight!”
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