This is a “talking yearbook” put out by the class of the Miramonte High School in 1963-64.   Recordings of school events put together throughout the year and produced in place of a traditional yearbook.   I just like the hands.

(10 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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No thanks!   This guy also played Brock Peters on “The Young and Restless.”

(17 votes, average: 2.65 out of 5)

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Not that cuddly. Kinda scary.

This is on Diplomat Records which was “a product of the Synthetic Plastics Co.”, New Jersey. I guess if you had the plastic and could press the vinyl, you could put out a record. It says on the back cover, “Diplomat Records are the leading quality line of value priced phonograph records.” “Fine records need not be expensive.” Labels like Diplomat, Halo and Hollywood just recycled stock music by anonymous groups, orchestras and symphonies. Background music for the budget-conscious. While the great labels recorded new music by great artists packaged in the work of the best photographers and graphic designers, the cheap records put out by plastic companies remain of interest only to collectors of kitch and cultural artifacts.

FYI, they must have run out of “bear” songs as the last two on the record are “Ozzie the Ostrich” and “Pancho the Circus Donkey.”

(11 votes, average: 2.45 out of 5)

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This is Dorothy Freyberger’s second record.   She got her start at the Minnesota State Fair.   (I was at the state fair last year!   Unfortunately, Dorothy wasn’t performing but you could get a wide range of foods on a stick, pet the livestock and have all the fresh milk you could drink for just one dollar.)   Dorothy kicks off this sophmore release with “Big Momma.”   Some other tracks of note, “Too Old to Cut the Mustard” and “Big Fat Gal” round out a session of standards.

(30 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)

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This is another gorgeous 1950’s cheesecake 10″ cover from Japan.     These are at the heart of my collection.   This kind of shot only works for me until the mid-sixties when the vibe changed and an innocence was lost.   The sexy covers of the sixties are good for their sleaze appeal, but the period of 1945 – 1965 was the golden age of pin-ups.   The leopard skin is always a nice touch (implying the tiger inside the sweet facade?)   Again the Japanese appreciated this artform and were able to reproduce American popular culture beautifully.   I imagine most of the photos of western models on Japanese covers were shot here and the rights were sold for release in Japan.   But they did a nice job of putting out quality reproductions.

(39 votes, average: 4.85 out of 5)

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There’s a strange sub-genre of covers capturing the artist’s portrait in glass. Reflections appearing like images in a crystal ball. Here are two examples, one from Mexico the other a polka record. The power of alcohol to summon the ghosts of performers stretches from the Rio Grande to the Pennsylvania Dutch.

(17 votes, average: 3.94 out of 5)

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“The Rapture” by artist Charles Anderson used by permission of Bible Believers Evangelical Association.

(20 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)

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