RARE & CRAZY 1969 Monroe Calculator industrial musical
$
150
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Description
If you've seen "Bathtubs Over Broadway" or read "Everything's Coming Up Profits," you know that private pressing "industrial musical" souvenir albums are some of the rarest and weirdest records in existence. These motivational musicals were only for dealers, salesmen, distributors and other industry insiders at sales meetings and conventions, and the souvenir vinyl records were not available to the public. And many of these shows boasted outstanding music and performances along with the bizarre corporate subject matter.
I'm the collector and historian profiled in the documentary "Bathtubs Over Broadway," and the co-author of "Everything's Coming Up Profits - The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals." I'm thinning out my stash of duplicates, and offering an assortment of records that range from the scarce, to the very rare, to the "you'll probably never encounter this again."
This one is a 1969 Monroe Calculator show, "It's A Brand New Ball Game."
Few people remember Monroe calculators now, but apparently 50-plus years ago they were quite cutting edge, if the songs are to be believed. Yes, in addition to the cheery if vague "we're gonna do great" material, several songs go very deep into the features and specifications of the 1265, the 1260, the 1550, the 1555, etc.
The music was composed by Sonny Kippe. The lyrical heavy lifting was perforrmed by Joe Lapidos. The cast includes Willi Burke (seen in "Bathtubs Over Broadway"), operatic baritone Paul Ukena, and stage veteran Diane Findlay, who performs the smoky, smoldering, sexy "Monroe Man," about a hypnotically appealing calculator salesman.
The music actually sounds pretty impressive. Sonny Kippe assembled a kick-ass crew (they also did a Royal Typewriter show around the same time) and the record is very well produced. If you like punchy, brassy music combined with inside-baseball lyrics about calculator specifications and sales, this record WILL NOT DISAPPOINT.
The cover is extremely nice with only minor wear, and the disc is minty.
A painfully hard-to-find hardcore industrial, gloriously weird and done up to a high level. Not to be missed by industrial musical fans, collectors of strange vinyl, and/or enthusiasts of vintage business machines.
Check out my other listings for many more killer examples of this deliciously strange and secret slice of American musical and corporate history.
Buyers of multiple records get a break on shipping charges.
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