Omnivore Recordings has officially released Spike Jones’ classic ‘Spike Jones In Stereo: A Spooktacular In Screaming Sound!’, which is out now on CD and slime green vinyl. Originally issued in 1959 on Warner Bros. Records, this landmark stereo recording returns to physical formats for the first time in nearly fifty years, fully remastered and presented with new liner notes. Spike Jones’ endlessly inventive recordings had long made an art out of musical insanity, incorporating car horns, gunshots, burps, and all manner of sound effects. By 1959, monsters were big Hollywood business, and Jones, alongside longtime arranger Carl Brandt, created an astounding album that pushed the then new format of stereo audio separation to its absolute limits.
The album is credited to Spike Jones And The Band That Plays For Fun, and the vocals were handled by a host of legendary performers. Paul Frees was featured, known as the “voice” of Boris Badenov and Disneyland’s unseen Ghost Host at The Haunted Mansion. Also contributing was Thurl Ravenscroft, famous as Tony The Tiger and for singing the iconic “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” ‘Spike Jones In Stereo’ became a classic, earning appreciation from Dr. Demento and “Weird Al” Yankovic, who said, “If I’ve got any kind of goal, it’s to aspire to be in this generation what Spike was in his.” The new liners, written by Joe Marchese, feature new interviews with Spike’s children, Linda Lee Jones and Spike Jones, Jr., who believe the album’s reissue will be enjoyed by new audiences.
‘Spike Jones In Stereo’ Track Listing
- The Glow Worm
- Cocktails For Two
- Hawaiian War Chant
- Yes! We Have No Bananas
- Pal-Yat-Chee
- By The Beautiful Sea
- Down Where The Wurzburger Flows
- The Sheik Of Araby
- All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
- The Man On The Flying Trapeze
- You Always Hurt The One You Love
- Laura
- Mairzy Doats
- Der Fuehrer’s Face
- When Yuba Plays The Rhumba On The Tuba
- Riders In The Sky