Die Neue Deutsche Welle

   I decided to celebrate Memorial Day in my own special way today.   That is, by scouring the cheap bins of local flea markets for some new records.    My only purchase today was this gem:

 

   "Die Neue Deutsche Welle Is Da Da Da" (The New German Wave is Da Da Da) caught my eye with its beautiful German flag sleeve.   I recognized a few artists listed, such as Yello of "Oh Yeah!" and Ferris Bueller's Day Off fame.   First listen revealed some great tracks such as "Scherbenlilli" by Claudia Robot and "Taxi" by Jawoll.   The internet has surprising little information about most of these groups.   I'm curious to learn more about Claudia Robot, although from I can it seems she(?) only released one single.    There is some really excellent material here for the lovers of quirky new-wave that brings to mind equals parts Flying Lizards and Lene Lovich.   

To Grandmother's House We Go

 Arriving at my grandparent's house this morning, I immediately noticed something amiss.   Strewn across the living room in dozens of piles and several boxes was a time capsule of albums and singles from the 1960's and 70's.   Having already scavenged their attic for any records of listenability several years ago (there wasn't), I was quite shocked by this development, and was informed by my grandfather that his collection had been passed to my uncle, undoubtedly in one of their endless "space saving" measures.   After some glad-handing and negotiating I was able to cherry pick pretty much whatever I wanted.    I left most of the Beatles, Stones, and Elvis wax to my uncle, who is looking to make a profit off this arrangement, and stuck to items for my personal collection.   To my surprise, I came across some excellent singles by favorites Nancy Sinatra, The Shangri-La's, and ? and the Mysterians, as well as a copy of T. Rex "Electric Warrior" and "Kinda Kinks" by those Davies boys.   Shockingly, I found a copy of the first Emmit Rhodes LP, which I had just recently obtained after a few years of searching to complete my collection.   If only I had known my grandparents had been hiding a copy in their spare room since 1970.