TPPM Spiked! "A Subtle Burlesque"

[Dave Monroe]

"Traditionally, the drummer is supposed to be the
weird guy, the holy fool, the lowest pulse, the one in
touch with demonic forces and deep primitive brain
levels-- but not also, as in Spike's case, a
conceptual artist with a head for business. Early on,
in '43, in a Radio Mirror interview, Spike described
his band as 'a subtle burlesque of all corny,
hill-billy bands.' A great many of these City Slickers
who were so hep to the jive had in fact themselves
come originally from out in the middle of America,
places like Thief River Falls and Oilton and
Muncie--the Nilsson Twins hailed from Wichita, Sir
Frederick Gas from Kansas City, George Rock from
Farmer City, Illinois, and Spike himself from the farm
and railroad environment of California's Imperial
Valley."

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_spiked.html

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_music_jones.html

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/spiked.html


"the holy fool"

"No pentacle, no cups, no holy Fool" (GR, p. 533)

The fact that Easter and April Fool's day also
coincide again raises the nagging question of meaning:
which is more real to us, the sacred or the vulgar? Or
is the quest for meaning itself another Fool's errand?
And if it is, which fool are we? The Holy Fool of the
Tarot, or the poisson d'avril?

[...]

... we are denied a total completion -- for the focus
is the Holy Center of a great mandala, and we are not
allowed to continue our Fool's errand into the last
quadrant by following the narrative alone .... We must
rely on our own abilities to complete the mandala, to
determine for ourselves if we are on the vision quest
of the Holy Fool or following the fruitless capering
of the poisson d'avril.

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_granalysis.html


"a subtle burlesque of all corny, hill-billy bands"

Main Entry: bur·lesque
Pronunciation: (")b&r-'lesk
Function: noun
Etymology: burlesque, adjective, comic, droll, from
French, from Italian burlesco, from burla joke, from
Spanish
1 : a literary or dramatic work that seeks to ridicule
by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation
2 : mockery usually by caricature
3 : theatrical entertainment of a broadly humorous
often earthy character consisting of short turns,
comic skits, and sometimes striptease acts
synonym see CARICATURE

Main Entry: corny
Pronunciation: 'kor-nE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): corn·i·er; -est
1 archaic : tasting strongly of malt
2 : of or relating to corn
3 : mawkishly old-fashioned : tiresomely simple and
sentimental
- corn·i·ly /'kor-n&l-E/ adverb
- corn·i·ness /'kor-nE-n&s/ noun

Main Entry: hill·bil·ly
Pronunciation: 'hil-"bi-lE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -lies
Etymology: hill + Billy, nickname for William
: a person from a backwoods area

Main Entry: hillbilly music
Function: noun
: COUNTRY MUSIC

http://m-w.com/


The Nilsson Twins

"If I put 10 good Spike Jones ones on a cd combined
with 10 crappy ones, regardless of who is defining
'crappy', then what service have I performed? To show
that Spike was only human? Should I also make sure the
front cover shows him chain smoking and diddling the
Nilsson Twins? Jeez, Steve!"

http://www.78online.com/forum/read.php?f=3&i=950&t=950


Sir Frederick Gas

a.k.a. Earl Bennett

http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=628730&TMPL=LONG

"The only American ever to be knighted for his
services to music ..."

http://www.spikejones.net/corns.html

"My name is Sir Frederick Gas, and I guess I'm the
happiest guy in the whole world. I want everybody to
be happy like me. Do you want me to tell you what
makes me so happy? Oh! No? OK, I will."

http://www.ibras.dk/comedy/spike3.htm#Rum

Contact Us - Frederick Gas

http://www.eservice.washgas.com/wgincludes/scripts/contact_us_Frederick_Gas.cfm?CFID=3570488&CFTOKEN=21325076


George Rock

"From George Rock's braying, high register trumpet and
kiddie voices to Freddie Morgan's incredible,
rubber-faced pantomime banjo shenanigans, from Sir
Frederick Gas' insane 'twig' bowing to Billy Barty's
Liberace impressions, here was a band that truly
defied description."

http://launch.yahoo.com/ar-252811-bio--Spike-Jones

1945:
Trumpet-George Rock
Trombone-Chick Daugherty
Banjo-Dick Morgan
Drums-Giggie Royce
Piano-Herman Crone
Sax and clarinet-Red Ingle, Zep Meissner
Tuba-Candy Hall
Violin-Carl Grayson
Those personnel from 1945 were in a couple of movies,
Ladies' Man and Breakfast in Hollywood. Most of them
were in a 1947 movie called Variety Girl.

http://shemp1895.tripod.com/spike.html

The funniest moments are sung by George Rock who plays
the mischievous little brat in "All I Want For
Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", "(I'm The) Angel In
The Christmas Play" and "Santa Claus' Son".

http://www.concertlivewire.com/cdarchives/christmas.htm


"California's Imperial Valley"

http://www.imperialcounty.com/

http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/Imperial/Imperial

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