Off The Charts Companion CD Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2004)
• Original Release Date: February 1, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Red Rock Records/Complex Corporation
• ASIN: B0001H0CNW
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,682 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Human Breakdown of Absurdity (Norm Burns and the Singers)

2. "The subjects I write about..." (Caglar Juan Singletary)

3. Non-Violent Taekwondo Troopers (David Fox)

4. Danish Radio Intro

5. Caravan (David Fox)

6. Blind Man's Penis (Ramsey Kearney)

7. I'm a Ginseng Digger (Gene Merlino and the Sunburst Studio Musicians)

8. Jimmy Carter Says Yes! (Gene Marshall)

9. The Day Snowflakes were Born (Rod and the MSR Singers)

10. Little Rug Bug (Rod Rogers with the Swinging Strings)

11. Ecstacy(sic) to Frenzy (Rodd Keith)

12. Aliases

13. The 23rd Channel (Gene Merlino and the Sunburst Studio Musicians)

14. The Thing (David Fox)

15. The Flitting Firefly (Rod Rogers)

16. Annie Oakley (David Fox)

17. "Eddie's not gonna come back..." (Gene Merlino)

18. Out in the Woods (Gene Merlino and the Sunburst Studio Musicians)

19. "Iowa Mountain Tour" (Gary Forney)

20. Three-Eyed Boy (studio version) (Gary and Josh Forney)

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Human Breakdown Of Absurdity, December 24, 2004

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Off The Charts Companion CD Soundtrack (Audio CD)

This is an amazing CD. I highly recommend watching the DVD from which these gems were pulled before listening. I also warn you not to listen to this while driving your car or operating heavy machinery.

I have been a fan of odd and outsider music since the late 1970s, and now there is a documentary explaining the wonders of the genre to everyone. I had actually heard many of these songs before, but here there are actually remakes of some of the originals by Gene Merlino and crew. I am especially fond of "The 23rd Channel" by Merlino, a religious song about television, "I am a Ginseng Digger" about, well, digging ginseng (I couldn't make this up), and the classic by Ramsey Kearney (which he apologized for in the film) which will remain nameless in this review for reasons of good taste, but will be extremely evident when you listen to the CD. I also love the David Fox stuff written by Caglar Juan Singletary, especially the ode to his super-bicycle, Angeleria, titled "Non-Violent Taekwondo Troopers." Singletary's "Annie Oakley" is also structurally very interesting; when I watched the DVD I felt very fond of him, he seems a bit odd and strange, but extremely sincere.

There are other outsider music CD's out there (check out Jim Nayder, "Songs in the Key of Z," and of course the original outsider divas, "The Shaggs," who Frank Zappa declared "better than the Beatles") but this CD and the companion DVD are thoughtfully made and really humanize the people making this music. Sure this isn't great music, but it really makes these people happy, and I defy anyone to listen to this CD and not smile, albeit with an occasional grimace, too. I highly recommend this CD and the companion DVD of the same title.