This is The GO Mechanism, an audio odyssey that will take you through a journey to the empty place in my fire engine. It is hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and initially airs as a Saturday Night Special on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle—this one on September 23. It is important for the listener to reference this Boogaloo Bag entry when digging the GO in order to reach a full understanding of The GO experience. During the audio portion of the program, songs are not back-announced so this information may be helpful.

An hour into the trip there is a Science Corner—the segment of the show were The GO Mechanism producers bring a subject of no importance to your attention. For this edition of The GO Mechanism, we present three great rhythm & blues records that deal with Santa Claus.

First up is “Santa Done Got Hip” by The Marquees. This was a vocal group from Los Angeles and shouldn’t be confused with several other groups of the same or similar name, especially the group from Washington, D.C. that included a young Marvin Gaye. Somehow, this group was under the guidance of brothers Bob and Dick Sherman. With the Sherman brothers writing most of the songs, The Marquees released three professionally sounding records on Warner Bros. Records—including “Santa Done Got Hip,” which they co-wrote with The Marquees’ singer Andrew Fisher. Around this time, the Shermans wrote a hit for Annette Funicello which brought them to the attention of Walt Disney Productions where they would ply their trade for about a dozen Disney musicals. The Marquees, however, weren’t so lucky. In fact, no one seems to know the names of all the members of the group.

“Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby)” was written by Devora Brown, who was co-owner, along with her husband, of Fortune Records, a small but mighty company based in Detroit. Singer Nathaniel Mayer was one of the label’s stars and his earthy, expressive voice brings this record home. For more information on Nathaniel Mayer and Fortune Records it is strongly suggested that one reads Mind Over Matter: The Myths & Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records (Kicks Books). Written by Billy Miller and Michael Hurt, they tell Nathaniel Mayer’s story way better than any attempt by The Boogaloo Bag writers.

Not much is known about Horace Williams, whose “Santa Goofed (And Fell Off the Roof)” is another great Santa Claus record. One would suspect that he is another Detroit singer, as this record was issued on Magic City—another independent Motor City record company. However, we know a lot about the leader of the backing band—Choker Campbell. Campbell was a tenor saxophonist who cut some jump blues 78s in the late forties and early fifties, during which time he also led a band that backed artists on tour and he recorded with Big Joe Turner. During the sixties, Campbell was the touring bandleader for Motown Records revues. He also cut a cool album of instrumentals for Motown.

Tapper Zukie is a Jamaican toaster who may still be around. “Man a Warrior” is from the album of the same name that was reissued in the U.S. on Mer Records—a company run by Lenny Kaye. We dig this track for its clever use of the “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” bass riff.

About a dozen years ago, The GO Mechanism producers purchased some records from a friend who often traveled to Thailand. This one, “Waiting for an Answer” by Yordrak Salakjai, is one of our favorites. Salakjai, whose real name was Niphon Praiwan, was a popular singer in Thailand and he seems to also have been a police corporal. He died of liver cancer in 2008 at the age of 52.

Les Yper Sound was a rock/pop project by French composers Michel Colombier and Pierre Henry. Colombier composed the score for a bunch of movies and worked with pop stars. Henry was pioneer in electronic music. A 1967 collaboration resulted in four very groovy attempts at mixing electronic concrète sounds with pop music. The songs appeared on an EP in France, and then an album. In the U.S., the album was called Mass for Today/The Green Queen on Limelight Records. One of the songs, “Psyché Rock,” was the basis for the theme to the cartoon show Futurama. “Teen Tonic,” the track heard in this episode of The GO Mechanism, was issued as a single in America as “Far Out” but credited to The Hip Sound. And so it is.

In GO Mechanism Number Fifteen, we heard a B-side of a Phil Spector-produced record by The Ronettes that didn’t feature any Ronettes. It was an instrumental. GO Eighteen presents another B-side instrumental, “Nino & Sonny (Big Trouble).” It is the flip to Darlene Love’s “A Fine Fine Boy.” “Nino” refers to Nino Tempo, who was a sax player on many of the records Phil Spector produced and it is most likely Tempo taking the first chorus. “Sonny” refers to Sonny Bono who played percussion on some of Spector’s records and perhaps it is he on the vibraphone. Like the other instrumental, this track fades exactly at the two-minute mark.

Just before we get into The Science Corner, Ranking Jeffrey Lee performs a novelty number called “This Old Hammer” and it is presented here for the first time anywhere. This is Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who was writing songs long before he formed The Gun Club. His early band, The Red Lights, cut some demos that were actually released a few years ago. Some time between The Red Lights and The Gun Club, he handed GO Mechanism host Phast Phreddie a tape of songs he recorded on an acoustic guitar (most of them have appeared on the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series of previously unreleased songs). “This Old Hammer” was on the tape. Incidentally, no cats were harmed during the recording of the track and The GO Mechanism producers do not endorse the message of the song.

Big Jay McNeely is one of the most fabulous tenor saxophonists of all time—man that cat can honk! However, presented here in The GO is a more relaxed, jazzy performance by him called “Whipped Cream.” It is from his album Big “J” in 3-D.

Susan Barrett was a cabaret singer whose repertoire consisted mostly of show tunes and similar ditties. She cut two albums for Capitol (1959, 1960), two singles for Philips (1963, 1965), four more singles and an LP for RCA Victor (1966, 1967). The best ones are the two Philips singles (including a fantastic version of “Chico’s Girl”) and this RCA Victor 45 with her cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “It’s No Secret” backed with her version of “What’s It Gonna Be,” a track made famous by Dusty Springfield—but Barrett’s may have been the first one released. She was also known as Marie and she was married to the songwriter/bluegrass performer John Hartford.

The Spiders were a Japanese rock’n’roll band from the sixties. In Japan, they were one of the most popular proponents of the Group Sound movement. The group recorded nine albums, more than 40 singles and appeared in about a dozen movies. The song presented here, “Mira Mira,” is from a double 7” EP soundtrack to a movie called Attack of the Spiders.

In this episode of The GO Mechanism, we close with another Greatest Record Of All Time. Here is another Santa Claus record, but a rockin’ one by Bob Seger & the Last Heard. Yes, this is the same Bob Seger who came to prominence during the seventies with his take on corporate rock. However, in 1966 and 1967, Bob Seger & the Last Heard released five fantastic singles. In a perfect world, Bob Seger would be inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame for these records alone! One of these 45s is “Sock It to Me Santa.” It starts by riffing on James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” then goes on to raise some Xmas hell! It is a tremendous achievement in recorded sound and it is most definitely one of the Greatest Records Of All Time!

The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it and it incorporates exclusive, copyrighted Vitaphonic, Ultra-sonic and Quasi-Tonal methods in order to provide a higher standard of standardness. Legacy GO Mechanisms may be found on the Mixclouds as well as here in the Boogaloo Bag.

The GO Mechanism originates on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. We thank the Luxuria Music powers-that-be for giving us the opportunity to present this program over their deluxe electronic audio delivery system for your edification. Please support Luxuria Music any way you can. We suggest you get as much money as you can—preferably unmarked tens and twenties—load it all into a shoe box and send it to Luxuria Music. Or just go to the Luxuria Music web site and buy something from the store.

Here is a complete list of all the songs played on GO Mechanism Number Eighteen:

• Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
• Thelonious Monk—Humph (Blue Note)
• Orchestra Ambros Seelos—Drum Diddley (from LP Beat and Sweet; Saba; Germany)
• unknown—Satisfaction (Super-Discoteque, France)
• Tapper Zukie—Man a Warrior (Stars; Jamaica)
• Yordrak Salakjai—Waiting for an Answer (Wan Setthi, Thailand)
• The Kingpins—Ungaua (United Artists)
• Lothar & the Hand People—Machines (Capitol)
• Crash Craddock—I Want That (Columbia)
• Miles Davis—Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (from LP Bitches Brew; Columbia)
• —- Audre Lorde reads her own Dahomey
• James Brown presents His Band—The Scratch (King)
• The Swingers—Out to Lunch (from soundtrack to Swingin’ Summer; HBR)
• Fela Ransome Kuti and the Africa ’70 with Ginger Baker—Egbe Mi O (Regal Zonophone; UK)
• A.C. Reed—Boogaloo Tramp (Nike)
• Afrosound—Cumbia en la Jungla (Discos Fuentes; (Colombia)
• Lyn Taitt and the Jets—Bat Man (Merritone/Dub-Store; Japan)
• Freddie Hubbard—Caravan (from LP The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard; Impulse)
• —-Jack Kerouac—San Francisco Scene
• Les Yper Sound—Teen Tonic (Far Out) (Fontana; France)
• Ensemble Sincron-Bukarest—Einsame Pappelin (Amiga; Hungary)
• Darlene Love (session musicians)—Nino & Sonny (Big Trouble) (Philles)
• Zombie Rev—Illudium Q-36 (unreleased)
• Ranking Jeffrey Lee—This Old Hammer (unreleased track)
• —Science Corner
• The Marquees—Santa Done Got Hip (Warner Bros.)
• ***Nancy Gardner—Nancy’s Bells (unreleased)
• Nathaniel Mayer—Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby) (Fortune)
• Horace Williams with Choker Campbell & His Magic City Orchestra—Santa Goofed (And Fell Off the Roof) (Magic City)
• Les Paul—The System (London)
• Ray Rivera Orchestra—Guava (M-G-M)
• Perez Prado—Pata Pata (from album Las Estrellas Del Fonógrafo)
• Big Jay McNeely—Whipped Cream (from LP Big “J” in 3-D; King)
• The Tempters—Let’s Live for Today (Philips; Japan)
• Big Walter and the Thunderbirds—Watusi Freeze Part 1 (Myrl)
• Susan Barrett—It’s No Secret (RCA Victor)
• Mark & the Escorts—Get Your Baby (GNP Crescendo)
• Mr. Bear and His Bearcats—Radar (Groove)
• The Spiders—メラ･メラ (MIra Mira) (from EP “Attack of the Spiders” ザ・スパイダースの大進撃; Philips; Japan)
• The Nomads—Good Times (Parlophone; Australia)
• Nina Simone—Erets Zavat Chalav (from album Anthology: The Complete Colpix Years; Rhino)
• Steel Pulse—Klu Klux Klan (from album Handsworth Revolution; Island)
• The Temptations—No More Water in the Well (from LP With a Lot of Soul; Gordy)
• Mahlathini—Umkhovu (from album King of the Groaners; Earthworks)
• Illinois Jacquet & His Orchestra—Mambocito Mio (Clef)
• Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (closing theme—Curtom)
• Bob Seger and His Last Heard—Sock It to Me Santa (Cameo)
• Zombie Rev—The Purpose of This Record