Harmonicas as weapons

When I saw this cover, I instantly dug it, though I had no idea at the time who Lee Oskar was or what he played. Things started falling into place shortly enough.

I did see this and kinda thought 'what is he packing?!'

The back cover is awesome too, and shows that Lee Oskar (each a different link) is a harmonica player! And now I know what he was packing in that belt. ;)

Here's the opening/title track, a nice feel-good song:

Roy Clark gets animated!

Well, I guess this is sort of stationary animation...

Really fun one here that could almost be mistaken for a children's album. Certainly shows the fun he puts into his work.

Roy looks animated here, too. :)

Magnificently Cute!

She has to be one of the cutest cuties that ever cuted up an album cover. :)

'Well, the front cover is sorted. What shall we do with the back, gentlemen?' 'How about tilting the notes, Batman-style?' 'Yeah, and chop up the girl's face!'

What?

Anyway, check out this album...

Ah, see what I did there?

Pretty sure a million million times louder than a dropped pin would make your head explode, doc.

I don't often post the full back covers of instructional albums in detail, but I think this one warrants a closer look...

In the end, this almost looks like a fancy ad for Zenith hearing aids. I haven't listened to the album (which I think is still sealed), but I would imagine it's mostly just an expansion on this extremely verbose (textbose?) back cover. (didn't know there were eyeglass hearing aids, by the by!)

Lots of classic Zenith hearing aids here at HearingAidMuseum.com. Interesting site. That great invention has come a long way.

The Partridge Two

I mean Family! ...and the rest. ;)

Super colorful cover—like their bus—and definitely generous to Shirley and David.

There is said bus. Kinda wish it was a real picture of it. Man, that cover from their first album is a far cry from this eye-catcher. Sadly, I do not have said (I said said again) book cover. Maybe Kristina still has it. I'll have to give her a call.

P.S. Though these Partridges were a hit, everyone knows the best Partridge is Alan. ;)

AHA!

K-tel's Circuit Breaker

I dunno why, but I feel it should've been called Circuit Breakerz. But it wasn't.

Simple, but supremely eye-catching cover. :)

No thanks.

(sorry for the blur)

Didn't happen too often, but they'd sometimes advertise upcoming/current albums for artists that appeared on the albums. This is on the bottom left of the back cover.

So, you think you're snazzy

Well, The Singing Poet Family eats your snaz (snazz?) for breakfast!

I'm at a loss for words.

Ah, there are some words!

Hugo's Eye Candy

Yep, Hugo Montenegro had a lot of nice cheesecakery in his album covers.

Too bad this lady is a dirty smoker...

Not creepy at all

It's not a teen party until [not creepy] Uncle Jerry shows up!

I believe he is charging his lasers.

1957 teens still wanted those songs, apparently.

It should be noted that the previous owner poked his pupils with a pin. Also not creepy.

Kamahl Strikes Back

Way back on March 20, 2011, I posted my first album by Kamahl. I recently found another...

Stylin' and profilin' as always! Dig that scorpion. :)

Making you jealous with his sweet style.

Some nice words of thanks and praise. And once again, more info on Kamahl here. (barely a mention of this Canadian connection there, so I guess this album, and perhaps others printed in Canada, were sort of...localized, y'dig?)

Here's his biggest hit, "The Elephant Song":

Beautiful song, and man, what an awesome voice!

Not your father's Mickey Mouse

Had no idea what this was, but hey, it looked interesting. Turns out Skin Alley was a British prog rock outfit. Love me some prog, so I was happy. Not as heavy as I might prefer in my prog, but very good. Nice mix of rock, jazz and folk. Singer has a great voice, too!

Cool song titles, all of which you can uh...hear......here:

Poor guy...

Thought this was quite amusing. :) Saw one similar to it not too long ago, but I don't think I picked it up. Hmm...

At long last...

I thought I had posted a Heino album before, but apparently not! Well, here, have one...

I was doing some work at a building where there are a lot of retirees, and I noticed a Heino album at one German couple's place. They were surprised I knew who he was. :p

Abbe Lane is in my ears...

...and in my eyes! Va-va-va-VOOM!

Abbe Lane was married to Cugat for a while. He was also married to Charo! (aaaaaaaaand three other women)(Not at the same time.)

As you can see, the back cover is very similar to the front, not that I'm complaining.

Pre-PMRC

I hear he also gets no regard. ;)

Hard to believe there are 10 years between "I Don't Get No Respect" (1970) and this album. 

Let's get a close look at that warning in the upper right...

This is the sort of thing they did before the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) came into being and made Parental Advisory stickers mandatory. I suppose they could still do this, but most companies seem content just putting the sticker on the front, vague though it may be at times.

Legendary Montreal Expo...

...Claude Dupras?!

There he is, uh...not playing baseball! Huh? 

Love the Funny I and Funny II buttons, by the way. ;)

Ah, yes! [echo]"Ladies and gentlemen! Madames et monsieurs! On the electric organ, Claude Dupras! Sur l'orgue électrique, Claude Dupras!"[/echo]

Bit larger picture than usual, but that is such an incredibly cool instrument that it deserves it! It's a Yamaha Electone, but I'm not sure of the exact model.

Hot Canadianity

Or cold. Whatever.

Great looking cover! Can someone tell us what type of headphones those are?

No indication on the front cover that this is a K-tel album, but there it is on the almost equally cool back cover. Nice tracklist, too!

P.S. Canadianity is a reference/homage to [Jeremy] Taggart & [Jonathan] Torrens, they of the awesome podcast. Check them out here!

Before Lily Munster...

...she was still glamorous actress/singer Yvonne De Carlo, so that's all right! ;)

Tip Top Dad

Looks like it's an album for kids, but really, it's not, as we shall see,

Yep, it's meant to be an album for children to give to their fathers.

A nice sentiment signed by Reun? Dean? Rean?...and Katharine, June 21, 1981.

So there you go, some mainstream hits for pops. Tip Top [Tailors] sells men's clothing, by the way. I think they still exist.

Belly dancer in repose

Well, belly dancer she may or may not be, but belly dancer I thought!