SQUIRRELS'
"OZ ON 45" SINGLE FOUND IN JOHN PEEL'S SECRET RECORD BOX!
When legendary
DJ John Peel passed away in late 2004, the music world at large suffered
a tragic blow, to say the least. A life long fan of music of all sorts,
John Peel's influence during his reign as a DJ for the BBC cannot
be overstated. As a much respected music expert, John was forever championing
whatever was new & happening, resulting in giving all sorts of music-
from
Progressive Rock to Glam,
Punk, & even Reggae-
exposure to a much larger audience than any of it would have received otherwise.
His career spanned several decades, & it is in no way an understatement
to say that the music world as we know it today would be a much, MUCH
different place without his influence. Shortly after his death, his
family found a small wooden box full of his all-time favorite 7 inch singles...
the "cream of the crop" as it were. These 
were
the 142 records that he felt he simply could not live without- the box
of prized singles that he would have grabbed on his way out had his house
ever caught fire (lol)! As you can imagine, John left behind an entire
HOUSE full of music in all formats- the vinyl albums alone reportedly numbered
over 25,000. Needless to say, we here at Poplust World Headquarters were
completely
MIND BOGGLED when we were contacted a few months back
by a rather nice fellow named Ed, who was working on putting together a
special about said box for BBC television. He wrote that
amongst these
cherished singles was The Squirrels' 1988 magnum opus "Oz On 45", &
did we happen to have any video footage and what not that might be suitable
for inclusion on the show, since they were aiming to give exposure to some
of the lesser known, more eclectic bands. I mean, YOWZA! While we had heard
over the years from various sources that he had indeed played it on the
air on more than one occasion, the fact that he apparently held the
record near & dear to his heart is BEYOND flattering, to say the
least. We were thrilled! So we ventured forth & dug deep into the Poplust
vaults in search of choice "Oz" related goodies, fired a package off to
the UK ASAP, zipped our lips & crossed our fingers. And while we were
originally told that we stood a pretty good shot (no promises or anything,
but John reportedly LOVED that single, & Ed really dug the Bumbershoot
footage we sent him), The Squirrels never made it into the final cut of
the special. It seems that the "money people" at the top apparently decided
at the last second to change course & concentrate on the better known
bands like The White Stripes instead, thinking that was the only way that
people would watch it (figures, huh? YEESH!). But hey, no biggie,
really- I'm sure that The Squirrels weren't the only band that this happened
to, & hey- they DID send us our stuff back, so it's all good. And when
it comes down to it, just knowing that "Oz" was even IN THERE is something
of a high-water mark for the band, like, BIGTIME... getting on TV would
have just been the frosting on the cake! I mean, "honored" doesn't even
begin to describe it. Like, seriously.
Thank you, John- we are truly
proud, and THEN some. And we're still really looking forward to watching
the special (should it ever air in America, that is)... it should be pretty
interesting, to say the least!
MORE INFO ON
JOHN PEEL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Peel
ABOUT
THE SQUIRRELS:
Founded in Seattle
in 1984 by ex-Pudz vocalist/Poplust Magazine publisher Rob "Capt." Morgan,
The Squirrels can best be described as a surrealistic bubble gum musical/comedy
workshop. Sort of. Over the years a veritable who's-who of Seattle musicians
have joined Rob in this ongoing project, including members of such well
known bands as The Young Fresh Fellows, The Posies,The
Plaintiffs, Radio Nationals, The Frazz, The Chicken
Noodle Soups, Bitter End &
The Fastbacks to name
just a few. Specializing in offering up what the band calls "total entertainment"
(a term coined by Rob's long time heroes
The Tubes), The Squirrels'
world incorporates twisted takes on hits of the 60s, 70s & beyond,
bizarre originals, & low budget theatrics to create an act that truly
has to be experienced to be fully understood.
Now in their third decade,
the band continues to baffle & amuse everyone who comes into contact
with them (including themselves), & show no signs of slowing down
anytime soon. Oh, and look for a new CD sometime in the near future! Well,
maybe not so 'near'- I mean, don't stand on your head waiting for it or
anything. But hey, they're workin' on it! TO BE CONTINUED!
MORE INFO: http://www.poplust.com/squirrelsbio.htm
http://www.poplust.com/lineups.htm
ABOUT
THE "OZ" SINGLE:
The "Oz On 45"/"Alone
Again (Naturally)" single (PL# OZ-452) was released by Seattle indie
label Popllama Products in December 1988, following the buzz generated
by the band's critically acclaimed two headed 1986 album debut "New
Age Urban Squirrels- Five Virgins"/"Ernest Anyway & The Mighty, Mighty
Squirrels Sing The Hits Of Johnny Kidd &The Pirates". A snarling,
guitar driven heavy-metal-disco medley of several favorites from "The Wizard
Of Oz", the new record was an immediate smash with college radio &
the press alike, & eventually went on to win by public vote the 1989
"Best Single" Award from The Northwest Area Music Association, beating
out some serious competition which included the Mudhoney classic "Touch
Me, I'm Sick". The single (pressed on "Emerald Green Vinyl") is 
long
out of print at this point, & a copy in mint condition can easily fetch
25 dollars or more on todays collector's market. The track itself was produced
& arranged by Rob's best friend since High School &/or fellow New
Age Urban Squirrels member
Eric "Golden Ears" Erickson (aka Tonal
Damage) at his home studio The Batcave, ably assisted by Secret
Squirrel/local Pop Guru
Henry Boy. Both studio wiz's in their own
right, these two took great pleasure in painstakingly laying down a seeming
8,000 different guitar &/or drum & percussion parts (of both the
real & programmed variety), deftly engineering & mixing the entire
proceedings using some strange 12 track cartridge system that has since
gone the way of the dinosaur (lol). The bass part was performed by the
band's long time bassist/manager/grumpy tree Craig "Mamoo" Ferguson,
with Squirrels founder & mainstay
Rob "Capt." Morgan stepping
in at the end to handle the lead vocal duties (and let's not forget the
Yellow Winkies/Lollipop Guild choruses, which were performed with gusto
by Rob, Mark, Henry, Joey, Craig & Eric). "Oz On 45" was already a
crowd favorite at the band's live shows when the track was recorded in
secrecy by Eric & presented to Rob as a 30th birthday present- all
he had to do was sing it! And come up with a b-side. And make the cover.
And... and... but I digress. Anyhoo,
it turned out swell, &
the rest is history!
The B-SIDE,
produced by Jon Auer of Seattle power pop legends The Posies, was
recorded & mixed on an 8-track set up at Norsound, a cozy little
studio conveniently located in the rec room of Jon's parents' house in
Bellingham, Washington (a bit of additional recording was performed later
at Egg with Uno as well). The track features long-time Squirrels
guitarist
Joey Kline (still in the band with Rob today), Jon on
drums, Live Unit keyboardist
Mark Nichols, &
Ken Stringfellow
(also of The Posies) on bass laying down a frighteningly straight reading
of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)", a recording that once
prompted none other than Alice Cooper himself to call Rob "a pretty weird
guy". A study in contrasts? To say the least! LOL!
On a sadder note,
Eric
Erickson passed away unexpectedly from luekemia in 1996, a tragic loss
to not only his friends & family, but to the world in general- the
guy was an AMAZING talent (he could play ANYTHING) & an all
around beautiful guy, and like many he died far, far too young. We miss
him dearly, & think about him every day. But we're sure he's up there
somewhere, happy as a clam that after all these years, the 4 minutes that
are "Oz On 45" seem to live on & on, & continue to bring a smile
to peoples faces.
You done GOOD, Tonal!
TO
VIEW THE ENTIRE LIST OF RECORDS FOUND IN PEEL'S
RECORD
BOX (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER), CLICK HERE:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-1836864,00.html
Text: Bux
Dirmedosequez,
Poplust Office Boy
Winter
2005
Photo
of Rob as The Scarecow
by
Bill "Little Willy" Larsen.
Photo
of Eric by... Murphy?
Meek?
Darn memory
(lol)...
