Is.This.The.Coolest.Music.Website.Ever.Or.What.?.

June 23, 2003 10:55 AM

As Penis enlarger with new credit line will clean your septic system *
--a recent piece of spam which I received--puts it:
OH MY GOD. No, really - this is one of the coolest websites of ALL TIME. You know I love you lots for sending me this url, and I am sworn to secrecy. Who the hell is this guy? And how did you find the site? I'm going to look at every single page and download every single one of these mp3s. Before you post this to mf, that is ;) - iconomy
Ladies, Gentlemen, Neuters and quonsar, I give you ...
Johnny Spencer's 'vanity site' directed towards fans of Black popular music c1940's to 1970's. Music from both Jamaica and America!
You have scans of various 45s, Johnny's beautiful dust jacket artwork, his interesting system of nomenclature defining Jamaican popular music, detailed notation and... music!!
(caveat & details within)
posted by y2karl (25 comments total)

* Written in response to Hot Teen Sluts Will Clear Up Your Credit History And Refinance Your Mortgage: IS THIS THE COOLEST WEBSITE EVER OR WHAT!?!

I've dithered and dithered about posting this: This site is loaded with EmPeeThrees--did he know about CeeAyeArePee? What if by Posting it, I got the AreEyeAiAi on his ass? What about the bandwidth issues? If I posted this, would the stress of our regard crash the site?

So I wrote and shared it with the favored few first--my girlfriend Tina, iconomy, madamjujujive--to be on the safe side. Then I wrote and asked Johnny if it was OK for me to post it. Then he said OK. Then I forgot about it due to early Onset Alzheimer's. Then iconomy just reminded me yesterday: And Karl, when the Sam Hill are you going to post that johnnyspencer.info site? The world needs to see those dust jackets ;)

So, since he's in England and the material concerned is fairly antique--I think the threat of legal ramifications is nil--and since I asked Johnny once again if it was OK and he said Yes--I've decided to go ahead. So, here it is. But just to be on the safe side: I assume iconomy's through downloading everything, so... Bug Her For The EmPeeThrees!** And enjoy the artwork...

Seriously, Johnny's tastes in such material are non pareil, folks, non pareil; the information in his notes fascinating and the artwork exquisite. I propose we immediately set up a PayPal on his behalf to cover his bandwidth issues and get the music for every 45 pictured encoded and posted.

Only then can World Peace be established, poverty ended and Dog Safe Chocolate be invented for the gastronomic delectation of pooches everywhere. This man deserves the Nobel Prize...imhop.
[Bartles] Thank you for your support [/James]
**Kiddin'!
posted by y2karl at 10:57 AM on June 23, 2003

nice. great tunes.
posted by monkeyman at 11:20 AM on June 23, 2003

Amazing collection! Thanks for (finally) sharing.
posted by shoepal at 11:21 AM on June 23, 2003

Sweet, y2!
posted by tr33hggr at 11:27 AM on June 23, 2003

nice site, but the post had me baffled at first. All the small text, italics, etc, personally I could do without all the formatting but I guess it's a matter of style.
posted by cell divide at 11:32 AM on June 23, 2003

It IS a great link, but I've got to agree w/cell divide, the formatting/in-joke nature of the post left me a little confused for a bit. Perhaps, however, I'm just easily confused.
posted by jonson at 11:38 AM on June 23, 2003

Keep the Faith!
posted by niceness at 11:39 AM on June 23, 2003

Weirdo styling aside, this is Y's most usable link in forever. Nothing even pops up on mouseover!
posted by thirteen at 11:44 AM on June 23, 2003

Wow, this is great music. Thanks.
posted by fletchmuy at 11:49 AM on June 23, 2003

I love the site and liked the injoke. downloading like crazy right now
posted by dabitch at 11:55 AM on June 23, 2003

FWIW: My all purpose counter query to the eternal question Are Injokes Bad ? :

[Helen Lovejoy] But what about the Simpsons !? [/Helen Lovejoy]
posted by y2karl at 12:00 PM on June 23, 2003

I can know stop wondering if y2karl saves all of his emails ;) Thank you for finally posting this, - now I can steal it for my weblog!
posted by iconomy at 12:09 PM on June 23, 2003

Thank you. What a great link.
posted by cedar at 12:20 PM on June 23, 2003

After preview, what iconomy said.

I probably wouldn't have posted it on my weblog if I had found it myself, but after seeing it here it's hard to figure that my loyal readership of twenty is going to make a huge difference.
posted by cedar at 12:22 PM on June 23, 2003

I'm gonna go blog this right now so my loyal audience of me will know about it. 'Cause I know I'll love it.

And those are some stylin' dust jackets; what the dilly, yo? The illustration styles are mostly all of a piece (well, except for the odd comic panel or engine diagram.)

Oh yeah, and most of the ehm. pee. threes. seem to cut off a little early, so maybe in a better world somewhere, the Kopyright Kops wouldn't really care. They're pretty low bitrate too, but they sound exactly like 45s, which aren't known for audiophile sound quality.

so, anyone wanna sort me out a better stereo so's I can get my vinyl on again? I'm feeling inspired...
posted by arto at 1:51 PM on June 23, 2003

Blessed baby Jesus this is a great find.
posted by TimeFactor at 2:09 PM on June 23, 2003

If you like these tunes and live in LA...

"On MARCH 12th 2004, 400 60's/70's soul music enthusiasts will travel from the UK to Los Angeles to a special 3 day event saluting their musical heroes. The Northern Soul scene is a cult musical underground movement based on rare and obscure American 45's being played in clubs in the North of England.

The venues set for this unique piece of nostalgia are The Knitting Factory and The Derby based in Hollywood. From a romantic point of view, the 400 Brits invading LA, will meet 300 US enthusiasts. The artists which total 40 appearances are a mixture of one-shot wonders, filed Motown signings and some who never saw past a promotional release."
posted by niceness at 2:11 PM on June 23, 2003

fantastic site karl !
i notice on one of the tracks one of the snare drums is slightly down in the mix though.
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:28 PM on June 23, 2003

Honky Tonk pts. 1 & 2! Fantastic! Thanks a million, y2karl.
posted by timeistight at 3:44 PM on June 23, 2003

i notice on one of the tracks one of the snare drums is slightly down in the mix though.

*rimshot*
posted by y2karl at 4:11 PM on June 23, 2003

*bows*
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:50 PM on June 23, 2003

wow 61 cool tracks from where the green herbs grow...

* switches on golden age light *
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:33 PM on June 23, 2003

bandwidth exceeded. You had to post this on a day when I worked late and went to the gym didn't you?
posted by srboisvert at 6:52 PM on June 23, 2003

Honky Tonk pts. 1 & 2! Fantastic!

timeistight, yeah I just discover it myself and love it.
Now, a rhetorical question: where do you think you can find these parts in a better quality format?
posted by MzB at 8:22 PM on June 23, 2003

Oh, jeez--I was worried about that bandwidth... Well, I did ask... Cripes.
posted by y2karl at 8:29 PM on June 23, 2003