I'm glad to have this discussion of Nordine. I put his website
below which has some audio streams available.

Not much on ordering product. "Colors" is available at Amazon.

half com has this:

http://search.half.ebay.com/ken-nordine_W0QQmZmusic

Yikes, "Best Of" is $40. Email me on this. I own it already.

[looking something else up] Nope, I thought I had a mail address
for Ken from when I wrote to him a while back... surprised I
can't find it.

and also surprised that more of this is not marketed at the
Word Jazz site.

FYI: Best of is a compilation of "Word Jazz" (a somewhat new mdedium)
and "Son Of Word Jazz" (like word jazz, like son).

Here's the collectible information:

Word Jazz
Dot DLP 3075

Son Of Word Jazz
Dot DLP 3096

Next!
Dot DLP 3196

Word jazz Vol. II
Dot DLP 3301

plus

Colors
Philips PHM 200-224

also

wiki Ken Nordine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Nordine
(I just found this myself while writing)

and I think I have a fan site around someplace as well.

and check the Rhino catalog. Rhino put out the cd:
"Best of Word jazz Volume 1."

• Word Jazz

Yes, olive is a great color. So many ideas in so few words.

I sometimes miss things if I'm not directly in the
'thread path.' So if you get this by mail, see the message
in this thread below. It has all the Ken stuff I know about.

They still keep in print my favorite Christmas song by The Waitresses.

The link has a reference to Ken Nordine with Jerry Garcia
and Tom Waits.

It's a bid item.

Also someone has the Dot recordings up for bid under $40.

• Devout Catalyst

Spaulding Grey is one of the great monologists/raconteurs.

Vhs video is available of his one man show called "Swimming To Cambodia."

A search of Amazon or someplace may turn up a dvd or two.

Swimming To Cambodia was filmed by Jonathan Demme in a small
experimental theatre in New York. I don't recall from my last
viewing of it if he even used any notes. It's loosely about how
he got hired and worked on the film The Killing Fields.

Grey died during the past year. It was a cover story on New York
magazine.

In black turtleneck and with his Cherman Acksent, Theordore made
numerous appearances on the Tonight Show usually around
Halloween.

His stories are amazing-- literally sounding like he is coming
unhinged in the telling and with a long shcok of blonde hair
dropping in fron if his face, sort of like Flock of Seagulls.

Theordore was the nephew of Albert Einstein or he may have been the
son of Einstein's mistress at one point. I'm vague on this.
Prob'ly the only sources for the out of print work of Brother Theodore
is Point 2 Point File sharing. Look for "Lisa Lotte Bindle."

Information at fan websites is available through google and there
may be some P2P's or cds available.

I suppose you'd call Buckley a comedian but in the telling of his
stories as in those of the Boston native "Brother Blue" the hipster
jargon of the time is used to tell parables, stories of historical
figures and alegories in a language that makes you here the
telling of these fresh and in a new way.

Buckley may seem quaint today-- sort of like the Geneva Convention.

But in those days of first hearing the story of The Hip Einie or
"The Bad Rapping of the marquis De Sade-- King of the Bad Cats, well
it is a part of history.

it is a part of history because it is said that during the period of
Civil Rights and Black Power that Buckely met an untimely end.

It was never proved. But he died in the prime of life.

As recently as 10 years ago there was a one-man show tribute
done for the stage by a Los Angeles actor. Unfortunately there is
no film or tape that I know of that was made of this. At the
time there was a feature about it in the LA Times entertainment
magazine. That Buckley website has the info.

I've added these as I recall them because the spoken word story
tellers are important. I think it was in Arabian Nights where it
says, 'the stories are important because they tell us how to live.'

Oh, and the best one.... on the shape disk it's hard even to look
those up from lists because there was something off about
the label printing but I'll try to find it from my old
playlists if you want.

What it was was the best "Silent Night" ever made. Female vocalist
punk backbeat. Trust me, this thing worked like anything. I
actually get misty when I hear it. It's not just a Christmas
song done against type or style-- that's not it. It just
works as a piece of music. And I'm sure that the James Dobson
crowd would hate it and call it blasphemous or something. But the
job of the artist is to have you hear things in new ways. I
consider it one of the best pieces of all time. It's totally forgotten except in that I hold it in my memory and it is now part of
my 'oral tradition' like a personal history. So I talk about it when I can.

See other posts with new entries about Brother Theodore and Lord Buckley too.

Other the last couple days I've been making samples of Ska and
swing bands for next year's Waterfest which is held throughout the
Summer here on Thurs. nights. I've seen Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
at one of these events and also Los Straightjackets with the
World Famous Potani Sisters.

Voodoo Daddy is swing of course and Los Striaghtjackets play
surf, surf punk and twist party music. I had heard of this
act before I actually saw it. Worth seeking out.

For next year I am making samples of ska by The Scofflaws and swing
by Royal Crown Review and The Mighty Blue Kings.

The pick of the new entertainment as opposed to stuff I know
is definately the Los Straightjackets. I had a chance to talk
to some people at the event who knew the band. It looks
like a novelty act what with the Potan... excuse me, The World Famous
Potani Sisters, but some of the members have been playing since
the surf punk revival in the 80's with bands like The Ray Beats
and Agent Orange. Where they picked up the Twist thing I'll
never know. The twist tunes are recognizable from the likes
of Chubby Checker. Waterfest is an outdoor pavillion event with
a brand new band shell. These party tunes worked out real well.

Gas prices have kept me off the road, but I may make an exception
to go see Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums. One of my favorite
pieces from the swing reval of the late 90s is Lucky's "Rumpus Room
Honeymoon." It sounds like an impromtu wedding with a bunch
of methamphetamine tweakers to a jump blues beat.

• The World Famous Potani Sisters