Roulette winners of 1964

I've been relatively silent for a day or two. I hope you didn't miss me too much. I've been quite busy, actually. I really am cooking a book. Two books actually, but who's counting?

I'm feeling sassy, let's take a gamble on a compilation from Roulette Records. You're a winner! Wait a minute, what did these bands win? Great news guys, you're so popular, we're going to publish one of your songs on this compilation and give you no royalties a month for the next two years (then whack you)!

Thumbtack shoulder smack, i wish i could unhear My Boy Lollipop by Millie Smalls. How was that enjoyable, even in 1964? Maybe that's unfair, but there is absolutely no preparation for her nasally cheese grater of a voice. It just smacks you right in the temple, then disappears into more familiar 60s Soul.

Nevertheless, this is a surprisingly good comp. Cue the laughing out loud, it's a "mob label" formed in a desperate attempt to pay off gambling debts. I was just joking when i phrased it that way, but damned if it isn't actually a real life Genovese front. Levy funded the Sugar Hill Gang and thus started rap before finally getting arrested? Nice. It's just a tombstone in the Warner cemetary now, but that's a fascinating origin story.

It really is good though, assuming you can still stand to listen to these incredibly big hits knowing that the musicians got seriously ripped off every waking moment of their careers. Then there's Leader of the Laundromat by The Detergents, a ridiculous spoof on Leader of the Pack. A true classic.

In the bizarre chance you actually run across this album somewhere, you really should grab it. You can feel the irony seep right into your bloodstream like it's soluble in DMSO as you hold it in your hand. Good times.

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