GOLDEN CUPS Vol 2 ORIG 1968 WILD FUZZ PSYCH LP LISTEN

$

128

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

THE GOLDEN CUPS "Album Vol. 2"

Original 1968 LP on the Japanese CAPITOL label, STEREO CP-8473

Cover:  NEAR MINT, tiny corner dings

Vinyl:  RED WAX, clean, plays VG+ to VG++ with light steady surface, drowned out by music

Inner booklet looks great!

“Hey, the Golden Cups!” shout a crowd of cute Japanese schoolgirls (probably in sailor outfits), and with a flurry of fuzz guitar and a Motown-by-way-of-Godzilla shake and pop rhythm, the Golden Cups are off and running through another Sixties Greatest Hits J-pop style, here on Golden Cups Volume 2!  Since they’ve been given the freedom of exploration by the two little girls who guard Mothra, it’s no big deal if the Cups go off on a jazzy little break during “Shotgun,” because every time the lead singer says anything, the little girls shout like they’ve just seen Cheap Trick in their living room.  They even throw in a little drum solo now and then, although at only 23 seconds, Ginger Baker doesn’t even acknowledge it as such.  It’s all about keeping the girls excited for the Golden Cups, and they do it well.  “Money” gets a frenzied workout, with buzzing organ and epileptic guitar, and a jazzier “Spooky” gets some groovy cocktail piano and an Astro Sounds string section.  A pair of ballads gets all the girls’ panties in a swoony bunch, later to be sold in a vending machine in the back alleys of Tokyo.

But something very strange happens on Side 2.  Someone in the band drops acid, and suddenly the Cups drench their groovy little approximations of the hits in big bucketloads of echo and reverb, and everything seems positively infested with fuzz.  They’re Gods now, and they don’t even think twice about tackling “Strange Brew,” which explodes off the grooves in so much fuzz and echo, you’d swear it was being sung by a giant Toho Studios radioactive wasp inside an empty reactor core.  “Gimme Little Sign” is almost unrecognizable, and the groovy Japanese-language “Baby, Please Don’t Run Away” is all gogo soundtrack horns, swinging rhythm and freakishly-echoed disembodied female backup vocals, the whole thing once again punctuated by that ear-piercing Wasp Monster fuzz guitar.  “I love you, I love you, forever more” they plead on the fade, the only English in the entire song, but by then it’s too late.  The schoolgirls have packed up and left, not willing to accompany their heroes on this bizarre new acid trip.  Don’t worry, girls, it won’t be long before Cheap Trick comes around.

But the real clincher here on Golden Cups 2, the true monster freakout acid casualty, is a little something called “Happening at 3 O’Clock AM,” possibly loosely (very loosely) based on the Yardbirds “Happenings Ten Years Time” but bearing no similarity at all.  It’s a band original, and there’s really nothing this twisted on the rest of the record, or in most of Japanese music.  This is one truly demented, way way out-there freakout, starting with a sped-up advertisement for a Cry Baby guitar pedal that sounds like the Smurfs jamming with a wah wah.  A lumbering drumbeat enters, followed by that skull-clearing fuzz, and then someone starts moaning like they’d just seen King Ghidorah outside their balcony with a pink slip.  “Monday morning, 3 o’clock, someone told me 3 o’clock” a stoned voice sings, barely making sense, until Dad cuts in and yells “Forget it buddy, you’re alive!  A good-for-nothing!”  More bad trip moaning ensues, followed by more fuzz, this time sped up.  And as Sadako crawls from the well once more, the singer curls up in a fetal position in the corner of the room, awaiting death by blue-faced boy, moaning “Monday morning, 3 o’clock” over and over and over, until the song finally fades away in a cloud of radioactive smog over Tokyo Bay.   It’s one truly shining moment of demented genius on a great album that seemed like it was gonna be a crowd-pleasing frat rock party until someone took something they shouldn’t have, and all psychedelic paisley Toho Studios hell broke loose.  Japanese music has never been this insane.  Unless you count Pink Lady and Jeff.

 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.