It’s not everyday that you see a group of marching, accordion-playing shrimp, but then again, Coney Island’s Mermaid Parade isn’t an everyday event. This shot catches the ladies of the Main Squeeze Accordion Orchestra squeezing their way through last month’s parade and sporting some truly fantastic shrimp hats. (Check out their costumes from last year’s parade, too.)
Update: For more accordion shrimp, check out this excellent photoset from one of the Main Squeezers.
Hummel fanatics, look no further. We’ve found the auction for you — plus a couple for those who don’t have $40k to throw around on accordion figurines:
World’s Largest Lot of Accordion Figurines I’ve never been big on accordion figurines; to me, if you’ve seen one accordion-playing angel/Santa/hobo, you’ve seen them all. But for the serious collector, this is the mother lode: over 1,000 pieces claiming to be “potentially the world’s largest accordion Figurine and Collectible collection.” Before you start clearing space in your curio cabinet, though, the asking price is $39,500. (For the merely curious, $15 will get you a one hour VHS/DVD describing the collection.)
Disneyland for Accordion This vintage book of accordion sheet music dates from Disneyland’s 1955 opening and includes accordion arrangements of eight Disney classics, including “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” and “He’s a Tramp.” Sorry, no “Hakuna Matata.”
Learn to Play the Accordion… Subliminally I’ve heard of using hypnosis to stop smoking or lose weight, but… playing the accordion? “Use your subsconscious mind to learn how to play like an experienced professional accordionist!” On the first three tracks, all you can hear is “the soothing sounds of ocean surf,” while the fourth (and last) track contains nothing but “ultrasonic silent subliminal programming.” Seriously. I wish I was making this up.
Happy bidding!
Posted April 28th, 2007 in Bizarro!, eBay · Comments off
Check out this fantastically decorated accordion, which belongs to a member of the Shadow Circus Creature Theatre in San Francisco. I’d like to think this is the accordion that the devil would have used in Those Darn Accordions’ rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
Like American Idol, the annual Eurovision Song Contest is one of my favorite musical guilty pleasures. Ridiculously cheesy songs delivered with over-the-top drama, usually in a language I can’t understand… what’s not to like?
I wrote about Israel’s controversial entry, “Push the Button”, last month but today I came across some lighter fare. “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” is the Ukraine’s entry — a high-energy dance number (with accordion, of course) sung by a cross-dressing guy who calls himself Verka Serduchka. He reminded me of San Francisco’s accordion-playing drag queen, Kielbasia, but if she had stayed in the old country and become a pop diva.
From the Saskatoon Star Phoenix comes this odd news item about a 66-year-old Regina man who shot his accordion during a domestic dispute. The article is short on details, but he was described in court as being “deeply upset over a church-related matter” at the time of the incident. Maybe he was angry because his church wouldn’t have a polka mass?
It’s probably because I watched The Sting too many times while growing up, but Scott Joplin’s ragtime classic “The Entertainer” was the song that inspired me to learn to play the piano. (Years later, it’s still the only song, besides “Chopsticks”, that I can play from memory.) I fumble around with accordion renditions occasionally, but none quite like these two I found on YouTube.
The first is an all-accordion orchestra from the Netherlands called Accordeonola. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about ten or more accordionists playing together that restores my faith in humanity.
And for something completely different, the second clip is a 30-second commercial for a Japanese pachinko chain. It features one-man band Mark Di Giuseppe (“The Straniero”) playing the Stranierofono, a combination accordion/bass clarinet that he invented.
Posted February 10th, 2007 in Bizarro!, Videos · Comments off
There’s nothing like a lazy Saturday spent trolling for strange and unusual accordion-related goodies on eBay. Let’s see what the Internet’s biggest garage sale has in store for us this week:
Accordion-Shaped Bar Set Anna and I saw one of these in a Fresno antique store, but couldn’t pull the trigger (they wanted $75!). It includes two bottles, a set of four shot glasses and, when you take out the bottles, it plays a song. Classy!
Myron Floren’s Disco Polka We’ve written about this rare disco/polka mashup before; here’s your chance to own it! How can you pass up disco-fied versions of “How High the Moon” and “Beer Barrel Polka”?
Accordion Man, Signed by Dick Contino Accordion Man is Bob Bove and Lou Angellotti’s 1994 biography of Dick Contino, chronicling his rise (Ed Sullivan shows), fall (indictment for draft dodging), and subsequent return to glory. This copy is signed by Contino himself and includes an autographed photo, too.
1966 Western States Accordion Festival Program Step back in time with this souvenir from the 11th annual Western States Accordion Festival, held at the Lafayette Hotel in Long Beach, CA. It’s 38 full pages of contest winner and committee member photos, as well as advertisements from the big accordion vendors of the time: Cordovox, Sonola, Titano, Giulietti, Lo Duca, and many more. (There’s one from the 1967 festival, too.)
If the Chicago Bears needed any more motivation for their playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, they’ve got it now. Vlasta, the (self-proclaimed?) “International Queen of Polka” has resurrected the polka she wrote for the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl run and hopes it will inspire this year’s team to bring home another championship.
If the Bears go all the way, will Vlasta’s polka become the new “Super Bowl Shuffle”?
Forget race-car shaped beds; your kids need this one-of-a-kind accordion-shaped dresser. Designed by Judson Beaumont, each dresser is custom-made and available at PoshTots for a mere $5,600. (There’s a reason it’s called PoshTots!) There’s also a vertical version available for just $5,000. A small price to pay for living in Wonderland…
Anna and I spent our holiday weekend in Fresno — catching up with family, eating pumpkin pie, and even doing some antique shopping on Christmas Eve. While we’re still kicking ourselves for passing up the accordion-shaped bar set (with shot glasses!), we did bring home this novelty record featuring Fresno accordion legend Dick Contino and comedian Bobby Volare.
Recorded in 1983 as a tribute to the Fresno State men’s basketball team — which won the NIT that year and brought Fresno some rare positive press — the single features two songs: “Bulldog Polka” (a cheesy reworking of “Beer Barrel Polka”) and “New York, New York” (I’m surprised Sinatra didn’t have Volare “whacked” for this rendition). Contino’s playing is solid, but given the material, neither tune will be appearing on his greatest hits record.
If you’re a fan of bad novelty records, go ahead and listen to “Bulldog Polka.” Otherwise, steer clear of the link below. You’ve been warned.
Crustacean Accordion Orchestra, uploaded by sameffron
There’s nothing like a lazy Saturday spent trolling for strange and unusual accordion-related goodies on eBay. Let’s see what the Internet’s biggest garage sale has in store for us this week: