04/22/2021


"MtFYFABYL First Movement: Milkshake", Stanyan Records SRQ 4015 (1974)

This week's theme: The music of Heins Hoffman-Richter

People often tell me the music I collect is very obscure.

I don't think that's quite right - most of the time :-)

Some of it is famous - some less so - okay, some a lot less so.

I usually just go by whether I like the song or not - obscure or otherwise.

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But today I have to admit, this record is VERY obscure.

It's by Heins Hoffman-Richter "... recognized reconteur, genius, composer, musicologist, conductor ...."

Well, that's what it says the album jacket anyway :-)

The full title of this Album is:

"Music To Freak Your Friends And Break Your Lease
HEINS HOFFMAN-RICHTER: SYMPHONY FOR TAPE DELAY,
IBM INSTRUCTION MANUAL, & OHM SEPTET"

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People sometimes ask me "Don't you have any MODERN music?"

I assume by that they mean something from the 1960s or 1970s.

Well, of course I do - in fact I bought this record new in 1974.

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You know it's funny, but I haven't played this album in over 40 years.

I never forgot that I had it - I just never played it.

It's in pristine condition - just like brand new.

Funny ...

I see this record selling on E-bay for $150 to $200.

It may be the most VALUABLE record in my entire collection :-)

THAT freaks ME out and breaks MY lease and I don't even rent :-)

The more I've played this recently though, the more I like it - it kind of grows on you in a weird way.

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For those of you with a "modern" sound system (you know - circa mid 1970s) this record is SQ Quadraphonic encoded for Four Channel Surround Sound. (I think that's why I bought it :-)

"STANYAN SURROUND SOUND
IN QUAD, THE ULTIMATE IN
QUADRAPHONIC SOUND, IS COM-
PLETELY COMPATIBLE WITH
BOTH STEREO AND MONO
PHONGRAPHS, THIS RECORD-
ING MAY BE PLAYED ON
ANY PHONOGRAPH"

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Evidently "Heins Hoffman-Richter" was actually a pseudonym used by Rod McKuen (the "best-selling poet of all time").

The experimental noise music of Rod McKuen "Although it sounds like a string of non-sequiters, America’s favorite poet, under the hilarious pseudonym Heins Hoffman-Richter, was behind this 1974 quasi-experimental music record. And y’know what? It’s not half bad as far as quasi-experimental music goes!"
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_experimental_noise_music_of_rod_mckuen

Record Collector Magazine - Bob Stanley
https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/bob-stanley-20

Rod McKuen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_McKuen

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I just saved you $150 from having to go out and buy this record in order to hear it.

You're welcome :-)

Stay freaked!
--Tom Swezey
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