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Spike Jones - Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)

Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)
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4 out of 5.0 stars 1 Rating (1 Review)

Album Details: Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)

Release Date:01/01/1959
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User Reviews: Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)

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    A Spooktacular From My Childhood Finally on CD!

    By Steve  Dec 3, 2004 | 1 out of 1 found this Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo) review helpful

    Pros: Funny, Silly Stuff!

    Cons: Somewhat uneven Comedy, but OK!

    Ok, this is a silly Spike Jones album, but still a sentimental old favorite for me. My sister and I used to play this 1959 album to death in the 1970's, and we eventually wore it out.I did find a new LP copy in the 80's.It has a lot of 's...pooky' stuff that we used to love.Yeah, The songs are goofy, but the writers came up with some creative stuff like my favorite 'I Was A Teenage Brain Surgeon', voiced by the GREAT Thurl Ravenscroft ('You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch', Tony The Tiger,etc.)Voice Over King Paul Frees is featured in a number of character roles and this album really showcases his ability to play multiple characters simultaneously, like when he is parodying Edward R. Murrow on 'Poisen To Poisen' and interviewing 'Alfred', a great send-up of Hitchcock. 'Monster Movie Ball' is another great song. The comedy is uneven in spots, but overall it holds up as typical Spike Jones material. They took full advantage of the 'new' technology of 'Stereophonic Sound' on this LP. It's kind of neat to hear what a big deal 'STEREO' was in 1959.If Spike could have only lived until the digital era!Spike Jones always used the best studio musicians/
    composers/
    arrangers in the business, and it shows!Thanks to Collectors Choice Music for resurrecting this old favorite from the graveyard of musical history! I thought it'd NEVER see the light of day on CD!Groovy, Man!
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Pro Reviews: Spike Jones in Hi-Fi (Spike Jones in Stereo)

  • All Music Guide

    Spike Jones in HiFi (Spike Jones in Stereo) (1959) is among the musical satirist's most effuse efforts during his postCity Slickers era. Unlike contemporaries such as Stan Freeberg, Jones' seeming dismissal of rock roll or perhaps inability to embrace change would ultimately result in the decline of his career. However, the artist's ear for the unusual as well as his quick wit and practically flamboyant sense of the macabre are central to the unmitigated success of this longplayer. It certainly didn't hurt that Jones surrounded himself with the allstar support of the legendary and instantly recognizable vocalists Paul Frees, Loulie Jean Norman, Thurl Ravenscroft, Ken Stevens, and George Rock each of whom is prominently featured throughout. Thematically, the platter works well as a sort of kiddie Halloweentype offering. The real payoff is for those old enough to get the inferences and parodies of pop standards "I Only Have Eyes for You," "My Old Flame," and "Everything Happens to Me...," which are uniformly brilliant. The primarily dialoguedriven "Poison to Poison" is a spoof of the Person to Person interview program hosted by news journalist Edward R. Murrow. Frees adopts the roles of both interviewer "Ed Burrow" and the interviewee, who is simply referred to as "Alfred" aka Alfred Hitchcock. The entire premise sets up a series of rapidfire jokes, executed with the adept timing and pacing of Abbott Costello, Allen Rossi, or Rowan Martin. "Teenage Brain Surgeon" is a doo wopstyle ballad sung by Ravenscroft, whose throaty bass is best remembered as the original voice of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes adverts or as the singer of "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" on the animated adaptation of the seasonal Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The most indepth sendup is "This Is Your Death," a takeoff of the TV show This Is Your Life, which segues into another unmitigated highlight, "Two Heads Are Better Than One." The track features a multinoggin beatnik and fully utilizes stereophonics for maximum effect. In 2003 the boys and ghouls at Collectors' Choice Music sent Spike Jones in HiFi (Spike Jones in Stereo) kicking and screaming into the digital domain, releasing this luminous bit of nostalgic novelty onto CD for the first time. - Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide Read more Less

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Biography

Spike Jones

My father saw them at the Michigan Theater in Detroit back in 1943. "They were crazy, he started off the show with his regular big band, you know, just playing straight stuff. Then, after intermission, the stage went black and all these sirens and gun shots started going off. Then the stage lit up and it was Spike Jones and his City Slickers, the same band only dressed ... Read more