Square Dance Records

[bjarvis]

A while ago, Dayle H. bought a load of 400+ square dance 45 rpm records on eBay. He's passed the box to us so we can take our pick of the lot.

Oh. My. God. They're horrid.

Well, more accurately, they're horribly dated. Few have dates marked on them but of those, none are newer than 1982 and some go back to the early 1960s. And 90% are my most hated labels: Lore, Windsor, Grenn, MacGregor, Jewel, Kalox. So many banjos, fiddles and accordions.

I'm sure they were all high quality stuff in their day. Of the 200+ I've listened to so far, only three would not get me laughed off the stage in shame.

And the subject material... oy! What bright light thought of "Hertz Rent-a-Chick" (Blue Star 1853)? "Wouldn't it be slick if they had a Hertz Rent-a-Chick? They'd sure get the business out of me!" WTF?!

I'm going to listen to the remaining records, just in case there's a gem buried somewhere in this steaming pile of records. My soul is taking major hit points today but I might be able to salvage something from it all.

Edit: I just located a record from 1957: "Marianne" by Folkraft Records.

Edit: *Six* copies of "Square Dancin' Man," MacGregor 1062? One is bad enough.

Comments

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

You should consider letting anybody you know who does podcasts at these. I'll bet there are some gems in the sense of "let's listen to how much popular taste really has changed."

I mean, Hertz Rent-A-Chick .... that's GOLD right there, son. I hear a delicious parody version featuring LGBT themes in my head, already. You've gotta know somebody who has one of those USB turntables who can digitize these for you. Could you work any of them in as palate cleaners for joke tips or something. WOW. ;-)

[unzeugmatic.livejournal.com]

Brian: If at some point you are simply looking for a place to dump the records, let me know. My sister-in-law (Janine Smith) is a caller in the DC area, mostly contras and New England squares (for years she organized the contra dances at Glen Echo Park) and her particular speciality is singing calls.

-Steven

[allanh.livejournal.com]

My favorite bad record is "Where Were You When The Ship Hit The Sand?", an interesting attempt on a racy lyric, but the music is terrible and the key changes are ... well, even more hideous than the title and the chorus.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Ahem. Ya got a problem with accordions, mister?

(now thinking up new and ingenious ways to torture the bearded brother-in-law)

Bwaaa-haaaa-haaaa

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Actually, some of them I may be interested in for "Transitional" value. I have quite a collection of old records, but specifically, I'm looking for records that were dances unto themselves from 1948-1955...most of those I find on 78s.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

"Hurst Rent-A-Dick" certainly comes to mind, though I can't think of anyplace I'd be brave enough to sing it.

Now, "Hertz Rent-a-SCHTICK" might have some possibilities, especially if calling to other callers.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Hey I've got a copy of Square Dancin' Man, too! Want it?

I have huge collections of records that I've inherited from retired callers. They pretty much all suck. But I'd never heard of Hertz Rent-A-Chick. If I had been drinking something, I would have spewed it on the monitor.