What are you up to?

Oh, jes' fruggin'!

(answers? forthcoming...)

Everyone has one of these, right? Or at least some variation on the theme.

If you look in the bottom right section, you'll see that Side 2, Track 5 is "Jes' Fruggin'", whatever that means. Perhaps I'll do a quick search... *doing a quick search* Well, I dunno. It's just a nice instrumental. I don't know what CCR's "Keep on Chooglin'" means either. :p

Here's the entire Side 1, containing all the sound effects:

And if you'd like to hear "Jes' Fruggin'", it's here, starting around 7:03:

I dig it. Nice and saxy!

Is it hot in here...

...or is it just Louise Mandrell? Answer below.

Alluring cover, but we still need to answer that question...

The answer is in the first track, which is also the title of the album: Too Hot to Sleep. So there we go. The weather/climate/whathaveyou is hot. In here. (and Louise is looking "not too shabby," as all the kids say nowadays)

Here's a live performance of the track:

Size Small Island

Excellent cover! I have a couple more Size Small records and they're equally vibrant.

Size Small Island (1986) is the second spin-off of Size Small (1982; the middle show being Size Small Country, 1983), the brainchild of Miss Helen Lumby, seen in the bottom right corner.

I think I also have Size Small Numbers 1 and 2. I can't remember if I saw the show during its original run or just during the YTV airings in the early 90s. I didn't actively watch it, but I was well aware of it and it was on in the house a lot for some reason. *shrug*

Jeff Lumby, who appears to be in his Size Small Country duds, is a familiar face to Canadian TV viewers. He is best known as Winston Rothschild in The Red Green Show, meaning he's a familiar face to Americans, too. ;) He also does a lot of voice-over work and a radio show.

Prog 101

Simple cover, even cheap-looking, but man, that color! If you don't know the Dutch masters Focus, well, maybe you actually do without realizing it. And maybe you don't know about progressive rock, but I bet you've heard more of it than you think. I'll be adding their big hit from this album at the end and see if you remember it...

Another very, very simple cover, but again, great color!

And now for the hit, "Hocus Pocus"...

Remember it now? :) You may have also heard it as the end theme to the show "Saxondale", starring Steve Coogan. (and the main theme was also a Focus song called "House of the King")

There is no "i' in team...

...but there is in The Simmons Team!

Love that it's Team, and not Group, or Band, or Family, etc... Unique. :) And as with many groups (sorry, teams) like this, they have great instruments! (not greta, as I originally typed. Is there a musical instrument company called Greta? Looks like Rick is playing a Gretsch, so that's kinda close.)

Judging by the names of those pictured and those in the Musicians section, I'm guessing the Musicians are of the session variety, and perhaps those pictured are of the touring/studio assistance variety? Hmm...

Sadly, I can find almost nothing about them or Rick himself other than this listing for the album. It does show a second album of theirs, and I'm guessing it's earlier, before they became a team. ;)

Forgotten local history

Six years later, it shut down. :p Mitsubishi tried the same thing here and was a spectacular failure in comparison, especially considering the massive hype surrounding their arrival. I found some old articles about it and you'd think the Pope was coming to town! Nope, just some representative from Mitsubishi...

Jimmy Durante-like

Though not as prominent (meaning big), this fella and his nose remind me of Jimmy Durante. Bit of an odd image choice for a children's music album. *shrug*

Speaking of noses, "The Golden Snuff Box"? :p Some of these old kiddie songs probably had adult roots, modified for cuteness. What say you?

I'm guessing that "Little Red Riding Hood" isn't the 'you sure are looking good' version. ;)

Love these old notifications that most people couldn't care less about, but that would really excite a tiny portion of the population. :)