FLIPPERS Discotheque '66 ORIG GARAGE PSYCH FUZZ LP HEAR

$

200

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

THE FLIPPERS "Discotheque"

ORIGINAL 1966 LP on the Colombian ZEIDA CODISCOS label, MONOFONICO LDZ-20326

Cover:  VG++, spine split but it's in tight plastic wrap so hard to notice

Vinyl:  Handling scuffs, all light, plays VG+ with light crackle, mostly under the music.  There's a sticker on one side of label, initials written on other side.

There's one other copy currently for sale on line, and that's selling for $541 (and change).

Well now, if the Flippers weren’t the single rowdiest, nastiest and LOUDEST garage psych bands of the whole Colombian 60’s scene, I’d sure like to hear the band that beat ‘em.  Discotheque comes from the mean ol’ year of 1966, and if the title’s giving you images of Yvonne Elliman and Studio 54, don’t worry – calling this rip-roaring hotwired collection of garage punk scorchers “discotheque” music is like calling the Electric Prunes “zydeco.”  Instead, think of “discotheque” as referring to the 60’s dance and go-go clubs around Bogota.  And then think of how many girls lost limbs trying to dance to this stuff.

Discotheque kicks right off with a bang – or, to be more exact, a flurry of trippy electric guitar scrapings buried under a sea of echoplex like some pre-take-off shout-out to the Smoke’s “My Friend Jack.”  Someone shouts out “Hail Flippers!” and suddenly we’re off into a twangy echoed-out surf garage wailer called “Impromptu Jazz A Go-Go.”  And if you haven’t already guessed, the Flippers suck at guessing musical genres, so this ain’t jazz and it might be impromptu and it’s only a-go-go if your arms and legs are made of rubber.  It’s also got a rhythm section like a runaway freight train, a throbbing Chris Berman rumblin’ stumblin’ bumblin’ bassline, frenetic thrash ‘n’ burn drums, and a wailing fuzz guitar that shreds great swaths of electric distortion over the whole thing.  Any American garage band would’ve KILLED to have a theme like this, and probably wouldn’t have mistaken it for jazz either.

“Ain’t No Beatle” follows, in case you were somehow confusing the Flippers’ frantic fuzz-laden punk sound for an old Ringo Starr number.  But to be fair they also claim in the song that they “ain’t no Rolling Stone” either.  Although they make no claim of not being Zombies or Human Beinz, so start your own rumor.  At any rate, the song itself is a super catchy slice of garage pop very similar to how the Monkees sounded when they didn’t play their own instruments.  Hmmm, they didn’t say they weren’t no Monkees either.

“Stop Action,” the third track here, is yet another KILLER twangy surf garage instrumental in the vein of the leadoff track, once again drenched in echo and played at three times the legal speed limit.  Unfortunately, Track 4 follows, and all I can say is – why, oh why, sweet baby Jesus why did every band in the 60’s insist on covering “Winchester Cathedral”? 

Skip it, and move on to Track 5, where the band shows much better taste in covers - a blistering take on the Yardbirds’ “Over Under Sideways Down,” sung in Spanish and sped up a few notches too.  It’s cruder than the Yardbirds’ version, but that’s prolly ‘cuz it was recorded in a tool shed outside of Bogota rather than the EMI 8-track studios.  But its looser, rawer and more garagey vibe makes it sound more like an in-studio party than ever.  And that throbbing foundation-shaking bassline that only shows up near the end of the original song is right up front for the duration of the Flippers’ cover.  The boys round up Side 1 with another twangy instrumental, given the super-cool title “Master Flipper.”  Which either refers to how well they’ve already mastered the garage punk sound on Side 1 of this record, or a ninja dolphin.

“Lado Dos,” as they say South of the Border, features a cover of “Ruta 66” and the Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” which gets a much-needed fuzz guitar kick up the a**.  No vocals on this one, just a taco stand full of that throbbing bone-rattling bass, and redline-smashing levels of overdriven fuzz guitar recorded in a box down the street and phoned in from another dimension.  The album ends with a track called “Last Night,” which you should recognize immediately from the opening staccato fuzz guitar blast.  It’s actually a cover of the Electric Prunes’ “(I Had Too Much To Dream) Last Night” minus the parenthetical bit, and, once again, the Flippers nail it with another fuzzed-out, echoed-to-eleven snotty Spanish punk take.  A brilliant way to end a relentlessly killer album (excusing that Winchester Cathedral part), and I can’t imagine there being a wilder bunch than these guys in all of Colombia, if not South America.  It’s the Spanish language equivalent of the first Pretty Things album, or the Rolling Stones’ Aftermath, or the Seeds’ Raw and Alive with a side of salsa.  And the only way I’d even consider this “disco” music is if you strapped a fuzz guitar onto Gloria Gaynor and blew her up with a stick of dynamite.  You might get a sound that’s similar.

 HEAR IT!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS REQUIRE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA 75 CENTS.  Air mail shipping to Canada starts at $10 US, each additional record $2 shipping.  Air mail shipping everywhere else in the world starts at $16 US, with each additional record only $3 shipping.  ALL FOREIGN ORDERS REQUIRE CERTIFICATE OF SHIPMENT, WHICH IS AN EXTRA $1.10.  I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

And finally, I include delivery confirmation on all shipments inside the US.  This is my proof of shipment, and also helps us to track your package if it doesn’t arrive when it should.  I will email you within 2 days of shipment and give you the confirmation number at that time.  Insurance is always optional, but for larger orders, it’s highly recommended.   I DO NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL FOREIGN BUYERS PAY AN ADDITIONAL $1.10 FOR PROOF OF SHIPMENT.  IT'S A NOMINAL FEE AND THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR ME TO PROVE THAT I ACTUALLY SHIPPED YOUR PACKAGE AND DIDN'T JUST POCKET YOUR MONEY AND SKIP TOWN.  For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.