This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

Rustix, Bedlam (Rare Earth-Motown, 1969)

Rustix (or “The Rustix,” depending if you go by the album notes and record label) are a Rochester, NY, pop-rock group mainly known as the first all-white band to be signed to a Motown label, in this case Rare Earth.

The claim seems a little imprecise to me: Rare Earth released their first Motown album before Rustix, as did The Pretty Things. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that they were the first Anglo band to debut on a Motown label (or maybe Rustix signed their contract before everyone else did--but Motown did name the label after Rare Earth, which succinctly documents that band’s early presence).

According to this site, Bedlam spent two weeks on the charts, peaking at number 200. There was a second album in 1970, with singles released into 1971. A mysterious third album was said to have been recorded but never released. You can dig their cool Holiday promotional shot here, and there’s a whole flickr set on the band, by a child of bassist Ron Collins.

Rochester had a number of promising 1960s bands who managed to get label deals, but never quite achieved national prominence. Given the area’s size, there really seems to have been a lot of talent. However, there doesn’t seem a site devoted only to the Rustix, and I don’t know what led to their break up.

Chuck Brucato, songwriter and co-frontman (with Albe Galich), turned to jingle-writing and production, and he seems to have done well. Guitarist Bob D’Andrea owned a comedy club for a while. This gentleman apparently briefly played with or for the Rustix. And, although he does not appear in the Bedlam line-up, Sam Nicolosi says he was a member and has returned to performing with his son, according to this article.

This out-of-print album is pretty worn, so be prepared, and enjoy this .zip archive.

Last Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

Morton Subotnick, Silver Apples of the Moon (Nonesuch, 1967)

This is a relatively well-known electronic composition (designed specifically as an album-length work) by living American composer Morton Subotnick. You may have heard of him. This album, no longer in print in the US, is available as an import CD at Amazon and at Subotnick’s own website. According to this site: “The exciting, exotic timbres and the dance-inspiring rhythms,” of Silver Apples, “caught the ear of the public -- the record was an American bestseller in the classical music category, an extremely unusual occurrence for any contemporary concert music at the time.” It is a pretty cool, abstract piece.

This 2005 page here at Head Heritage, by The Seth Man, pretty much explains what this album is like, as well as the hows and whys of its creation. I feel no need to repeat The Seth Man’s accurate and insightful review.

Read the Amazon reviews: people love this work. Similarly, Woebot says, “Side B is justifiably classifiable as the original techno record, grasping before (m)any recordings electronics' motorik power.” Even these folk like the composition.

A somewhat scratchy version is available here as a .zip file.