...for a whole dollar. There's no Led Zeppelin, no Pink Floyd, and nothing of real value. Instead, I get to write my first blog entry that is majorly penetrated by a former Canadian Prime Minister along with a bunch of other Canadian oddities. I'm guessing these came from someone who collected promotional records. These are all odd in their own unique way, so let's see what a dollar can buy. Click on the song title to hear it!
Paul Graham - Truedough's Middle Finger
It's probably in Katy Perry's bum hole.
I don't know all that much about Justin Trudeau's dad. He was in power when I was a kid who cared more about my Mini Pops records than how Canada's economy was doing. Given the scraps I've come across while scouring content for this blog, I get the impression that Pierre pissed off just as many people as his son would thirty years later. Paul Graham spent his hard earned money to record and press a single back when pressing a vinyl record was extremely expensive. He must have felt that getting his message out into the world was extremely important. Nowadays, you can generate a political song with A.I. solely by wasting a mere half hour of time and still pay your mortgage without any financial difficulty. Today's keyboard warriors have nothing on Paul Graham.
It's a fun song, and also a painful reminder that we still have some of the same issues plaguing our Country forty years later.
This is the only record that's somewhat out of place in this collection. Not only did it come from the United States, but it seems to have been pressed on a red Ziploc food container lid. The record feels like it's going to snap if I flex it in any direction. This is also the least interesting record in this lot. It's essentially some traveling salesman narrating human history right up until our present day of 1964. He forgets quite a few important details, but let's be fair... He only has the length of a seven inch food container lid to get it done.
Sounds of the Prairie Dog Central
The Prairie Dog Central is an old steam locomotive located in Winnipeg, Manitoba that is still running today. Although it is no longer delivering cargo, it's hauling people mainly as a tourist attraction and provides something for Winnipeggers to do other than steal cheap junk from Dollarama. I actually took my kid on a ride hosted by Prairie Dog Central when they hooked up an oversized Thomas the Tank Engine to the back of the train. My kid was heavily into Thomas & Friends at the time, and was ecstatic he got to see Thomas in real life.
For those who like the sound of train noises or just want to hear the history of this small railway service, this record will be right up your alley. You're also treated to a mention of Pierre Trudeau because he apparently needs to penetrate almost every orifice of this blog entry.
D-Drifters - It's Fun to be Ukrainian
The D-Drifters were a Ukrainian polka band from Manitoba. Although they had local celebrity status, they gained a bit of notoriety for their album of Beatles covers in Ukrainian (one of which I provided to CBC Radio for airplay a few years ago). I foolishly forgot to include it in my recent Beatles cover album extravaganza, but perhaps it deserves it's own entry due to how famous it's become. Anyway...
The D-Drifters have returned to grace us with this release on Perogy records! If this song title sounds familiar, it's because it was written by Bob King whom I've covered numerous times on this blog. You can find Bob's recording of the song here. If I'm honest, I prefer Bob's version over the D-Drifters version. However, side two includes a bouncy instrumental polka called "Dis Go Here Dis Go Dere" which makes me guess that this record came out in the late 1970s during what was apparently a very annoying disco fad.
I would love to know who drew the cover for this. It's obviously the same person who drew album covers for quite a few other Ukrainian artists on the V-Records label such as this one. It's a great art style that will keep you looking for interesting little nuggets the artist buried in plain view.
I've mentioned the Manitoba song many times on this blog, but I don't think I've ever found an official Winnipeg song. I believe the province of Saskatchewan has it's own song, but I was surprised to discover that the city of Saskatoon gets one too! The song fully embraces the sound of 1982. It's not difficult to envision stock footage of combines and oil pumpers in your mind while this song is playing.
I honestly think we need to bring back official songs for cities and provinces. It helps build up our country. It helps build pride. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to get my wish anytime soon.
What the hell is Fuddle Duddle? It sounds like a snack you'd buy in a grocery store containing popcorn, peanuts, caramel, and maybe some waxy chocolate.
I could have sworn I'd heard the phrase a few times while I was growing up. The phrase even shows up in the Roy Mykytyshyn song "Just How You Leave Me". At one point, I was getting my dad to help me translate this song from Ukrainian to English because I thought it would be fun to record a cover of it. I honestly thought "Fuddle Duddle" was a Ukrainian phrase, but my dad had never heard of it so I just dismissed it as meaning something like "playing around".
After coming across this record and subsequently listening to it, I realized that this isn't a phrase that originated from a drunken Ukrainian. It's a phrase that was uttered by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau when he apparently mouthed the words "fuck off" to another MP in the House of Commons. When asked what he mouthed, Trudeau simply replied "Fuddle Duddle". So now we have a definition. "Fuddle Duddle" is another way to say "fuck off". Given the translated lyrics for the Roy Mykytyshyn song, it makes sense that the phrase appears right at the end of the song.
As for the song, it's an extremely fun boogie woogie stomper! And to think we wouldn't have such a great song if our Prime Minister at the time wasn't a fucking asshole.
Gulf Oil Canada LTD - Run For The Money
If you were looking for exciting musical numbers about a Canadian oil company, look no further! The opening track sounds like the dawning of the fucking age of Aquarius. Included in this record are great showtunes such as "Going With Gulf" and "Gulf Is Happening". I'm honestly surprised that some moron was able to write six tracks about selling oil and gasoline. This entire record is a really fascinating piece of plastic, and the vinyl record was likely created from Gulf oil products.
And here we are at the end! I would like to thank the the former (and deceased) Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau for pissing enough people off to make crazy songs about him. I would also like to wish Justin Trudeau's son great failure on his music career. He's off to a great start. His crummy music will probably end up on this blog at some point.
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