Runnin' Wild

GG&S has been lousy with animals lately, mostly of the stone, ceramic and mysterious variety. Here are a few examples that've recently climbed aboard.

This hefty elephant came to us via our favorite monthly antique sale a few weeks ago. Carved out of Travertine limestone, this Italian pachyderm's from the 60s and its label indicates that it was designed by Mannelli. Beyond that, we have no clue. Anyone have any additional info?

We found this vintage bull bank and immediately fell in love with its unique shape and design—unfortunately, it's yet another item we have very little info on, as we cannot make out any of its markings. We're slowly starting to realize that the 60s were a bountiful time for stylized stashes and we're fearful that our collection has only just begun!

Here's another longhorn that locked our gaze recently. Its recessed interior suggests that it was designed to function as a nightstand caddy, so it's currently enlisted as a receptacle for our loose change.

Lastly, though not quite an animal, the biomorphic shape of this speckled planter warranted its inclusion in this update. A Japanese ceramic from the 50s, we can't wait to fill this one up with some succulents!

The Truth

Another example of collector tenacity and proof positive that persistence does indeed pay off. Though it may have taken five years of harassing emails to accomplish, it finally happened: I convinced an older art dealer to sell me my most coveted Clowes page. Sure, the consequent scrambling meant a lot of items sold, favors asked and tears shed, but those obstacles never gave me pause—after all, this piece of spiritual affirmation was singularly responsible for hooking me on Clowes in the first place. An inestimable heap of thanks to Anthony, Mike, Damian and everyone else who helped facilitate this purchase. And, as always, an extra-special thank you to Valery for putting up with me.

Not to be outdone and on a semi-related note, my buddy Keegan recently sent me an unexpected package. Enclosed, I found the Japanese I Hate You Deeply 45 that inspired the rant of the same name. Thanks again, man! Furthermore, for attentive Dan Clowes scholars, I've also included the Summer Artist in this photo—its handsome Bill Ward jacket lending itself to a later swipe.

I'm A Bug

Issued in the blessed year of 1978, the Cramps' Human Fly single has long been one of my favorite records of the era. Circa 2000, an eBay seller unloaded two copies of a previously unknown entity: the 11x17 promo flier produced by Vengeance Records (the Cramps), heralding the release of this, their second 45. Unfortunately, I was a starving college student at the time, and there was no way I could afford weighing in on either of 'em—instead, I had to content myself with sitting idly by and watching 'em both skyrocket from the sidelines.

Anyway, about five years later, a chance visit got me over to my pal Howie's house and he pointed out his tatty, stained and worn copy of the same flier. It was up for grabs. I wasn't exactly happy with its hammered condition, but given that Howie had peeled it directly off the walls of CBGBs himself, and that I hadn't seen another copy, I figured this would be my only chance.

Unable to console myself with this placeholder, I tracked down the photographer responsible for the cover shot. Zilch. Nil. Nada. Ten years later, I'd just about given up all hope. Skirting dangerously close to admitting defeat, I decided to follow up one last, unlikely lead. Sure enough, in under two weeks, I had a pristine copy of the flier fall into my lap ...and all it took were some kind words, a few color copies and my eternal gratitude. Unbelievable.

You can view a side by side comparison here.

Amstramgram

It's been pretty slow for vinyl purchases this month, but what May lacked in quantity has been made up for in terms of quality. This month marked the acquisition of two of our biggest Ye-Ye wants.

I was really glad to finally get a hit for Chantal Kelly's Notre Prof' d'Anglais 45 after having had a saved search for years. At last year's WFMU fair, we asked a Quebecois dealer if he ever ran across the Canadian pressing of this record and he scoffed at the mere suggestion—so, yeah, it was especially gratifying when my hit turned out to be for the Canadian two-song version. I'm still looking for the French 4-song EP pictured in the video linked below—any leads would be appreciated!

My #1 Ye-Ye want had long been Isabelle's Amstramgram single. I'd originally become obsessed with the track after hearing it on the Wizzz! (volume 2) comp a few years ago. Tony tried to find a copy for me for my birthday in February, but he had zero success—he'd even approached a noted French collector who told him that the record was impossible to find and to plan on it as a birthday gift five years from now! Fortunately, Tony recently got a lead through a friend and a cash offer ended the auction early (thanks, Damo!).

The Isabelle EP is pictured here with our recently acquired Robo Fan.

Make sure to turn down your speakers! It opens with quite the fuzz blast!

TV Tube Heart

Our apologies, folks. Real world commitments—also known as going back to (grad) school and working against insane deadlines—have conspired to keep our blog productivity low. Fear not, gentle readers, as we've still found time for all manner of insane procurements—recent acquisitions that're guaranteed to leave you duly stewed.

So, without further ado, let's ease back into these updates with our avian friend, Tivvy. Based on a Fauni gonk from Finland, Tivvy was a 60s mascot that bumbled his way into books, a television show and at least one 45. He was also adopted as an unlikely model for promotional toy banks in the UK (USB) and the US—our two banks hail from the unexpected locales of Miami and Albuquerque. It should also be noted that the albino has a bow in its hair, so she's technically Mrs. Tivvy ...we think. How did a Finnish gonk get all the way over here? Anyone?

Here we find a caveman sporting two original badges promoting Tivvy's club and his television program, TV TIMES. He'd apparently swapped his moptop for an afro, by this point.

With so little info available, our Tivvy research remains woefully incomplete, and GG&S is in dire need of an original Fauni Tivvy (stuffed) troll. Any of our Finnish readers are encouraged to send us one, thereby ensuring their eternal place in our hearts. Chop chop!

Here Comes The Summer

Spring has sprung and has brought us two things: warmer weather and a ton of pollen! Tony, being an Arizona native, was quite surprised by how thoroughly caked in pollen Atlanta has recently become!

The climate change has also got us out working in the yard, planting things in the garden, making me think about all of my vintage planters, and how I should showcase some of my favorites here for you to see:

This large, multi-coned planter is my newest acquisition and it fits perfectly in the outside entryway of our home. I've never seen one quite like this before and I was very happy to find it. I love the color and the original speckled ceramic.

I've always wanted a Lagardo Tackett double-coned landscape pot made by Architectural Pottery, but they're outrageously expensive, so I was thrilled to find this tall Tackett-inspired piece a year ago. I love the hourglass shape and I really like the noodling design on this one, too. It's a very welcome addition to the foyer in our home!

Up next is the boat planter. I love its unique shape and size and it helps to bring some life into our great room.

We love bullet planters—we have a handful of them around the house. These two reside in our great room, between two of my terrariums and up against the glass wall.

This one rests in a cozy spot near our fireplace.

And, lastly, this one brings a colorful accent to our guest bedroom / home office.

So there you have it! This is just a small selection of some of my planters, but I think I'll save the rest of my exterior ones for a later post. I'd also like to offer a special thanks to Tony for putting up with my planter obsession and all of these plants and planters!

Hurts And Noises

Sorry, folks, the past few weeks have been hectic due to work and personal deadlines, so we've found ourselves with less time to spend 'round here. Fortunately, we've struck gold repeatedly lately, and our vinyl scores have made slogging thru the drudgery a fair bit easier.

Valery had been looking for this Nimbus 45 for longer than we've been together, and I'd made it my mission to locate a copy for her. Luckily, my pal Andreas (thanks, dude!) brought it to my attention because a.) the track she was after is the record's b-side (of course) and b.) the German PS misspells Lollipop, rendering all saved searches useless. I'm a complete sucker for the Pretty Things and being able to finally scratch the domestic pressing of their Midnight to Six Man single off my wantlist was a welcome relief indeed.

A few years back, my pal Michael gave me the Plugz Tie sleeve he'd inherited as part of David Wiley's (Consumers, Human Hands, etc) collection. I'd since kept the sleeve loose, storing it next to my standard copy of the EP, figuring I'd marry it up with a stray 45 eventually. Needless to say, I was stoked when my buddy Ryan recently came through with an unplayed sleeveless disc. Later that same week, my pal Marc pointed out a copy of the first Real Kids single that matched up splendidly with the mint picture sleeve (featured elsewhere) I'd found at last year's WFMU fair. Thanks again, fellas!

It should come as no surprise to you, dear readers, that those damn Gauls created some of our very favorite 70s punk rock, so imagine our elation at landing a Francophile 1-2 punch. How the Dogs' debut platter managed to elude us until now remains a total mystery. We'd been waiting and waiting for an unstamped, unclipped and unblemished copy of the Guilty Razors' sole vinyl offering for so long, it was beginning to look like we'd never succeed in snagging a copy. Many thanks to Hidehisa (and you, too, Mike!) for making this a reality!

You didn't think we'd leave you high and dry at the end, did you? Here we have a copy of the second Kriminella Gitarrer single—scored through sheer good fortune and, more importantly, on the relative cheap. Our hands-down favorite of their many fine moments ...although we would gladly change our minds if someone wanted to give us their Vårdad Klädsel 45.

Lastly, all of our li'l whittled models are recent acquisitions, too!

On Whom They Beat

Decided to devote this entry to the legion of furball Vikings who've had the good taste to make our foyer their own personal Valhalla. Popular during the mid-60s, the majority of 'em were manufactured in Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Japan. Valery originally started this collection, with me contributing a good chunk during our early courtship days. Nothing says I Love You like giving your girl an armed warrior bent on bloodshed and buggery.

Here are some of our favorites:

The middle guy's probably the most laughably hirsute of the bunch. Our blow-up doll Viking was a recent arrival and we're still trying to figure out what its designer, Carl Bent, was thinking when he dreamt it up. Guess he figured it was easy to get bored on a long voyage...

The guy on the left is my absolute favorite—I love his triangular body and mace. The other two guys are similarly bushy and menacing.

These three little guys make a great set. This larger one's an Italian lamp from the 60s. We've got a matching Caveman (as seen in the Sounds of the Weird-Ohs spread), too ...I'm sure we'll devote a separate entry to 'em somewhere down the line.

Our army stares wistfully at their ship on the horizon. Found the gnarled and enormous (it's 5' long!) Witco Knarr portrait listed on eBay by a seller in Atlanta. We were both stunned when it went for the minimum bid of $9.99. Needless to say, we picked it up in person the same day!

Sick Of Being Sick

Being under the weather lately's got us thinking about the many ways we're gonna indulge once we get past this damn flu—and has also led to us to a wistful examination of some of the vintage barware we've got laying around the house.

Valery found this set while on a road trip through Florida some years back. Don't really have much to go on except that each Beast is apparently summoned through the imbibing of the hard stuff. Bear, octopus, jackass and rodent ...definitely sounds like most drunks I know!

We found this pussycat set at a local thrift store for .35 a piece. There were originally four of 'em, but one shattered in my hand before we even left the store cuz I'm such a hulking brute.

Lastly, we located this lost C. Schulz masterpiece at a great antique store in Austin my buddy Ryan took us to while we were trekking between Arizona and Georgia.

Turning Grey

Turning 35 last week wasn't as painful an experience as I'd previously expected, due in large part to great friends, an amazing dinner party and some really thoughtful gifts.

Here are a select few. 

My favorite of the bunch has to be the vintage mosaic piece that Tony purchased for me at a local antique store. This thing is HUGE—somewhere around 4 feet tall—and the quality of the craftsmanship is really impressive. I just wish our photo could do justice to the variety of shapes (and depths) for each individual tile. We really love this recent addition to our den.

I'd been searching for a copy of the Equals' Diversion single for a while now and was pleased when our friend Mike (thank you!) sent me one for my b-day. I also treated myself to the Creation's Making Time and Liz Brady's Hey O Daddy O 45s. The Finnish owl bank was a Valentine's Day gift from Tony, but it looked good in this spread, so I included it.

Another Valentine's Day gift was a female Zoo Line hippo Tony found buried on eBay. Despite the misleading photo, she arrived with her tail intact. I'm so glad we were able to match up my bull with his new girlfriend!

And, lastly, here's another recent purchase that wasn't necessarily a gift, but he is a hippo. It's a vintage ceramic bank. Unfortunately, no markings or anything—we just really like him! The mod owl perfume bottle in the background was yet another V-Day gift.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for all of my gifts and for making this birthday a very special event!

Bird Dance Beat

This past month has found me heatedly pursuing an item, unlike any other in recent memory. I'd originally been introduced to the Worry Bird years ago via Dan Clowes' and Charles Schneider's similarly named tale from Lloyd Llewellyn #5 ...and there was also the later presence of an Atlanta record label that had adopted its name (and label design) after the same "sub-standard yarn."

I didn't really think much of it until a short time after that, while working behind the counter of a record store, when I experienced a tensed incatenation as I leafed through a CD booklet for a (then) recent Trashmen reissue. It was there that the thought balloon popped and I realized that the mascot emblazoned across their drumhead, standing proudly atop a surfboard while strumming its guitar, was none other than the same goddamn bird!


My search for answers resumed a full decade later, after fording Joey Myers' most excellent photostream. Joey had snapped a quick pic of his Worry Bird and the hunt began anew!

An early capture, this forlorn example is a rare piece of 60s Hawaiiana—an ashtray that stores butts in its rear. You really can't help but feel for this guy... Although not quite Zelig-like in its pervasiveness, who was this feathered fellow and who was the sadistic madman responsible for its design???

And here we have the creature that started the craze and set me tilting. A late 50s / early 60s ceramic novelty nodder, possibly created by Napco Ceramics and definitely made in Japan. Both of these have different tags, but the first one's more poignant (and applicable) and reads: "Don't be sad / Don't be blue / 'Cause I'm the bird / Who'll worry for you." Amen.

My apologies to all those who endured and sincere thanks to all who've helped!

I Spent The Rent

As another birthday quickly approaches, I decided to entertain the idea of treating myself with one of our longest held wants. I'd spied the Weltron 2005 immediately after it was listed and I'd kept an eye on it for the entire week, debating whether or not I would make a grab for it. I finally decided, with a few hours left in the auction, to toss in a low-ball bid and hope for the best... seriously doubting that I had any real hope of winning. So, needless to say, it came as a total shock when I realized that we'd actually won—and at way less than half of its current going rate.

Tony spent all day, in agony, as he dutifully waited for me to come home so we could open the packages together. The seller did a great job packing this up. She only charged us $45 and she had it Fed-Exed to us within three business days of the auction's end! I'm sure she ended up paying a lot more on her end. Thank you!

I really wish we'd taken some before photos because the record player was extremely filthy when it arrived. Tony used some miracle cleaner that his sister-in-law had given us the last time we visited his family and he methodically cleaned it for over two hours! I still can't believe what a huge difference it made!

Coincidentally, we'd found a pair of 70s Nivico sphere speakers on Craigslist a few days before the stereo auction ended. We managed to get the seller to negotiate with us and he priced 'em down and within our budget. No, these won't get hooked up to the Weltron—instead, we're running them through our main stereo system downstairs. We can't wait for the next soiree, so we can give 'em a good workout!

Up Against The Wall

Always in search of promo photos, fliers, posters and whatever other junk shop music-related paper items we can find, we decided that we should showcase our private gallery and some of the ephemeral trophies we've scavenged over the years. Enjoy!

Also, as always, make sure to click on 'em for a bigger picture.

Here's the view from the foyer. We hope that Nobunny, Supercharger, the Cramps and the Ronettes (among others) make you feel immediately at home...


A few more shots of the glossies. Highlights include ? & the Mysterians, Unrelated Segments, Gories, Dickies, Wire, Devo and DMZ photos.

Posters and fliers for fests and shows attended over the past few years...a few of 'em even designed by Gonked, Glooked and Slurped!'s own Valery.



Our obsession with 70s PUNK and the (early) Cramps should be obvious by now. Months of begging and pleading finally convinced my pal Howie to hand over some of his vintage Cramps' goods—including the Human Fly promo flier pictured in Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything. Come to think of it, he's also the same benefactor who forked over the record release poster for the MAD's I Hate Music 45...still the only example of it we've ever seen. Thanks again, Mr. Pyro!

Other notables included are a signed photo of the Gears, a shot of the Cramps playing LA circa '79 (taken by the Middle Class' manager) and a group photo of the MAD (from the same session as the interior of the Digusting EP's sleeve). We've also got a Screamers flier handsomely silkscreened by Mr. Gary Panter, a silkscreened Feederz flier from '78, original Undertones, Teenage Head and Starshooter record store posters, Automatics, Devo and Milk 'n' Cookies magazine ads and, lastly, a Trend flier / set-list from '80.

We're still waiting on a few things to arrive / get framed, so we can seal up the holes in this display ...and then there's always the stuff downstairs...


Our last stop on the tour and it concludes with a photo of our fish wall. They certainly do provide a welcome shot of color and life into this museum.