Mister 8

In my Rhetoric, Communication, Tech. and Culture class today, we discussed what happens to information as the medium through which it is conveyed changes. One of the inevitable changes is that, as new media are adopted, some of the information is left behind.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, in the switch from vinyl to CD to MP3, some pretty fantastic pieces of music have not been released through official channels. Thanks to amateur digital archivers, some of these albums are still with us, ripped from the original vinyl, crackles and all. Here are two that would not made the transition into the digital age without online trading:

Batman And Other Super Men

Batman and Other Super Men by The Revengers (via Mediafire, 31.47 MB, password: mister8),  released in 1966, and released on Metro Records. There was also a seven-inch single released of the Batman theme. That, pretty much, is the extent of information that is known about this band and this album. This one goes pretty regularly for a fairly high price on eBay. Because it’s awesome. And if you’ll click the link above, you’ll find out how awesome for yourself.

Intrigue With Soul

Intrigue With Soul by Perry & the Harmonics (via Mediafire, 31.16 MB, password: mister8), released in 1962 on Mercury.

The following comes from a longer profile / review available at Funky 16 Corners:

Perry & The Harmonics were a Chicago group (led by saxophonist Clarence Perry). Their 45, ‘Do The Monkey With James’ b/w ‘James Out Of Sight’ was lifted from the Mercury LP ‘Intrigue With Soul’. A quick look at the song titles on the LP (or a listen to the lyrics of the single) makes it immediately that the ‘James’ in the tune in Bond, not Brown (see Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers ‘Sock It To ‘Em JB for a similar take). The ‘vocal’ (more like narration) and piano were provided by Ed Townsend, who had had significant success as a ballad singer (‘For Your Love’ in 1958). He also wrote ‘For The Love Of My Man’ for Theola Kilgore and later co-wrote ‘Let’s Get It On’ for Marvin Gaye.