Surreal killer
The Recorded Detailman.. When YOU are really free to listen…
So there’s more to this than meets the eye (or ear). Like Jackie Gleason famously tapping Salvador Dali for the cover of his easy listening pablum, this use of de Chirico-like artwork, is the inconcrous cover of a promotional record put out by ENZYPAN – an antacid and the “first thought in digestive disturbances” From the back cover: “Whether dyspepsia of functional, secretory or nervous origin; whether manifest by nausea and regurgitation, or by flatulence, gas pressure, irritable colon; whether accompanied by fermentative or putrefactive processes”
The music is “Le Tableau de L’Operation de la Taille” (“The Table of a Bladder Operation” ) by French composer, Marin Marais (1656-1728). The only musical description of a surgical operation. This record,circa 1950, offers the first modern performance and first recording of this unusual composition. It includes the recorded commentary of the composer’s original annotations announcing the phases of the progressing operation. The performance is by the Dutch viola da gamba player, Carel Boomkamp, accompanied by the French harpsichordist, Denyse Gouarne. One final note, this odd piece of medical and advertising history is a 10″ 78 RPM pressing on deep red vinyl.
(49 votes, average: 4.18 out of 5)
Loading ...
February 26th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Hellooooooooooooo Dally.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:35 am
I’m confused. What exactly is this?
February 27th, 2009 at 9:41 am
That is just a bizarre cover. Was the designer on acid or just taking in too much surrealism?
February 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
That is an awesome design, very strong graphic. I wonder what the record sounds like.
March 1st, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I used to own a copy of this record. It had been my grandfathers’ who was a pharmacist. The ‘a’ side was a very dry pitch for a pharmaceutical company, and the ‘b’ side was the classical piece.
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
“When YOU are really free to listen…”–huhhhh?!???
September 24th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
We played this recording over and over, including backwards!
“How do you do, doctor? This is your recorded detail man speaking. What’s new today? Something very important, doctor, and it’s in the field of digestive enzyme supplementation”
September 25th, 2009 at 5:54 am
I bet this is a real toe-tapper. This is redolent of the RCA Victor album cover with the little man with the gigantic ear. It’s a hi-fi demo album, and I have at least three copies. Love to find it here!