Make Those Dishes Dance!

A Belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrated it yesterday, and a more belated wish of the same to those who celebrated it in October.

My guess is that more dishes are washed across the United States on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year. And in honor of that supposition, here is an absolutely marvelous song-poem titled "Dance of the Dishes", from our friends at Tin Pan Alley, and led by the enthusiastic Lillian Mars, a record which is compilation worthy as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know what it was about Tin Pan Alley - maybe the places that they chose to advertise? - but they certainly seem to have had more than their share of genuinely witty or at least humor-enhanced writers who took part in their little scam. This is a prime example - with everything from the fork complaining of not being able to dance, due to his "four feet" to the bewitching soup bowls - and the tiny three piece combo is lead by a pianist who is clearly having just as much fun as the vocalist is, with this material. A first-rate winner.

Download: Lilian Mars - Dance of the Dishes
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I do not, unfortunately, have anything so complimentary to say about the flip side of this disc, a turgid, badly sung number called "Paradise Valley", in which Lillian Mars is joined by label favorite Phil Celia.

Download: Lillian Mars and Phil Celia - Paradise Valley
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Stay At Home Mom

Before I get to this week's record, a links that I've been planning to share for ages, and keep forgetting/delaying. Here is a link to Darryl Bullock's marvelous blog, "The World's Worst Records": http://worldsworstrecords.blogspot.com/ Darryl knows a LOT about song-poems and their history, and has shared a lot of information and music with me, over the years. He frequently features song-poems, and as of this moment, his newest feature is a Norm Burns special. His definition of "worst" doesn't always match up - in fact, I love that Norm Burns number - but his featured material is almost always great. And now, on with the countdown:

  Today's title was actually going to be "Stay At Home, Mom", but I thought I'd prolong the facts of this record for readers a few more moments by removing the comma. The previously unknown (by me) Lillian Mars gives a sassy shout-out to a woman whose "child lives in the gutter", and who apparently really needs to get back home. It's a toe-tapper for sure!

Download: Lillian Mars - Mother, Dear, Give Up Your Job

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On the flip side, we get some painfully poor lyrics about a meetup, which led to the singer's loving relationship, all accompanied by the slightest of piano-bass-drums trio backing:

Download: Lillian Mars - How My Laddie Found Me

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