1979 Exxon industrial musical STRANGE & FABULOUS - STILL SEALED

$

77

If you've seen "Bathtubs Over Broadway" or read "Everything's Coming Up Profits," you know that private pressing "industrial musical" souvenir albums are some of the rarest and weirdest records in existence. These motivational musicals were only for dealers, salesmen, distributors and other industry insiders at sales meetings and conventions, and the souvenir vinyl records were not available to the public. And many of these shows boasted outstanding music and performances along with the bizarre corporate subject matter.

I'm the collector and historian profiled in the documentary "Bathtubs Over Broadway," and the co-author of "Everything's Coming Up Profits - The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals." I'm thinning out my stash of duplicates, and offering an assortment of records that range from the scarce, to the very rare, to the "you'll probably never encounter this again."

Here's a rare chance to get a great though relatively common show, "Put Yourself In Their Shoes," the 1979 Exxon retailers convention musical -- with the twist that it's STILL SEALED.
Written by the team of Ted Simons and John Allen, this Exxon show boasts some prominent cast members: Lenny Wolpe played Harry the beleaguered Exxon dealer, and future Tony winner Chuck Cooper is also in the mix.
There's a lot of fun to be had here (ASSUMING YOU OPEN THE ALBUM AND PLAY IT) -- "An Exxon Dealer's Wife" is a country-inflected homage to the long-suffering women who support their Exxon dealer husbands, "The Best In The Business" and "You Can Count on Exxon" are stirring if somewhat hokey claims by the company that it really, really appreciates the guys in the field, "Once Around The Car" is a musical reminder of what kind of service customers expect. "Fugue For Dealers" is a parody of the "Fugue" song from "Guys and Dolls." And "Major Surgery" is a big lush brassy number about how independent off-brand stations can undercut the "majors" like Exxon -- which is why it's so important to go the extra mile with service.
And "False Start" is very strange -- a rah rah number which dissolves into screams and chaos, then silence. I've not yet been able to find out what happened at that moment in the stage production.

An interesting front cover design which is repeated on the record labels. The back has credits, song listings, and cast photos.
This copy is perfect -- STILL SEALED. 

NOTE: the images of the labels ARE FROM A DIFFERENT COPY OF THE RECORD, and ARE FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. No human being has seen the vinyl of this copy since it was sealed 43 years ago!
Don't miss this chance to grab a key and very entertaining late period industrial show souvenir album. And if you're a gas/oil memorabilia collector, don't let industrial show collectors have all the fun!

Check out my other listings for many more killer examples of this deliciously strange and secret slice of American musical and corporate history, including another Exxon show that's also STILL SEALED.

Buyers of multiple records get a break on shipping charges.