Various - Mad Mike Monsters Volume 1 - A Tribute To Mad Mike Metrovich download free

Even if the records compiled on this series weren't any good it would still be worth picking up all three volumes just to read the amazing sleeve notes and the story of Mad Mike Metrovich. This guy was a record fanatic and collector out of Pittsburgh whose life was ruled by vinyl 45s. In his prime Mad Mike ruled the radio waves and the dancefloors of Pittsburgh playing his brand of music which he termed 'Mad Mike's Monsters' or sometimes ' Mad Mike's Mouldy Oldies'. Basically these were records just a few years old but the music scene was moving so fast in those days that 18 months in the early or mid '60s was like about 25 years today.There's too many Mad Mike stories than I've got room for here - but he was a digger before such a term existed.... he also jealously guarded his finds - utiising the 'cover-up' technique which was employed by Northern Soul DJs a few years later. He would go to a record warehouse and buy a job lot of 10,000 records at one cent a time.... and listen to the lot just to find a few good ones. It's said that he only ever sold a record ONCE - and that was when he ran out of petrol and needed to buy some gas. Otherwise he would only trade records - never sell. The dances where he played these Mad Mike Monsters were pretty rough by all accounts.... you could buy a knife from the knife stall there!The music ranges from '50s doo wop and rhythm n' blues through instrumental blaang, crazy vocal jibba jab, jungle jive and all 99 shades of novelty rockin'. Another amazing series from the folks at Norton. I store these next to the Kim Fowley comps that they put out - they seem to like being together in my collection.