Clubbo Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clubbo Records (slogan: "Music to Believe In") is a record label specialising in parodies of various pop music genres from the 1960s to the 2000s. The label is promoted by a website giving detailed information on all of the songs and artists featured as well as mp3s of selected songs by each featured artist.
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[edit] History (fictional)
According to the label's website it was founded in the early 1960s by Chet Clubb and Morris "Bo" Bogerman (Clubbo = Clubb + Bo), whose eclectic choice of artists is reflected in the label's large and varied catalogue.
[edit] History (actual)
In reality Clubbo is a spoof (or hoax) label founded in 2004 by San Francisco-based musicians Elise Malmberg and Joe Gore, who write and perform all of the material attributed to Clubbo artists. Designer Richie Leeds is responsible for much of the site's design and artwork, although the logo and additional graphics are by Malmberg. In terms of both music and graphics the creators pay meticulous attention to period detail.
[edit] Artists (fictional)
Featured Clubbo Records artists, each of whom has a highly detailed biographical webpage, include:
- Action Plus - described as an American Eurotrash band, formed in the mid-1990s (apparently a Joe Gore project predating the formation of the Clubbo label, re-formed with two new songs for the occasion)
- Ava & the Avalanches - a Swiss band whose novelty song "Ski, Baby, Ski" (1963) failed to launch a "Swiss invasion" because it was inadvertently pressed on toxic and chemically unstable colored vinyl.
- Bleep - an electronic music band of the early 1980s whose members' frequent "creative differences" ultimately led to tragedy.
- Breaker Bear - real name George K. Lucas, not to be confused with the other George Lucas. A former CB enthusiast and country singer who in the 1990s adapted his musical style to songs about the Internet (the song "Log On" is an obvious parody of C.W. McCall's songs, especially Convoy).
- Clipper Cowbridge - an audio technician who inadvertently created a smash hit with 1962's "Soda Pop Shop", after being asked to replace some obscene lyrics in a pornographic song with novelty sound effects.
- Eesk - a temperamental female singer from the Faroe Islands (obviously parodying Björk, among others).
- Marilyn Kaye - an African-American singer who had a single hit with "Yeah, Yeah, No, No, No" (her haunting ballad about adultery) in 1965 but quit the label because the sleeve carried a photo of a white woman. The song was covered by other Clubbo artists over the years, first in a slightly bland country version, then as a soulless disco tune, before suffering the final indignity of being used as the theme for a cat food television commercial.
- Sandee Saunders - a country singer whose upbeat and optimistic 1972 song "Mornin' Kind of Feelin'" marked an upturn in her fortunes. Tragically this was cut short mere weeks later when she was decapitated in a car accident (lending a terrible irony to the lyric "Whoever would imagine I could lose my head for you this way"). The ghost of her bodiless head was later claimed to have been seen at the crash site, leading to the creation of the Sandee Saunders' Head website (see External links), where such sightings could be reported.
- Suthrn Cuzn - a hard rock band whose apparent Southern sound belied the fact that they actually hailed from Israel (Their "1987" song "Flyin' High" parodies "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd).
- Yorgi - a Ukrainian musician, master of the "Konservnaya Banka" (supposedly a traditional Ukrainian instrument; a tin can with a wooden pole and string attached). After accidentally defecting to the West in 1968 he was quickly signed by Clubbo and became their longest-serving artist, recording more than 30 albums. Unfortunately his work suffered as a result of his fame, becoming increasingly commercialized and less inventive.
[edit] Releases (actual)
To date Clubbo has released two CDs of music from the website:
- Clubbo - Music to Believe In: Sampler Vol. 1 (2004)
- Clubbo - Music to Believe In: Sampler Vol. 2 (2005)
