Mad Magazine "Twists" Rock 'N' Roll Mort Drucker Alfred E.Newman 1962 1st Press

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 Mad "Twists" Rock 'N' Roll Label: Big Top ?– 12-1305 Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono  Country: US Released: 1962 Genre: Pop Style: Parody Tracklist A1 Throwing The "High School Basketball Game" A2 She Got A "Nose Job" A3 "Please Betty Jean" Shave Your Legs A4 "Somebody Else's Dandruff" On My Lover-Baby's Shirt A5 "Blind Date" Yaaaaaaaahhh! A6 "Agnes" The Teenage Russian Spy B1 "Let's Do The Pretzel" And End Up Looking Like One B2 Even If I Live To Be 22 "I'll Always Remember Being Young" B3 He Fell In Love With Me "When My Pimples Turned To Dimples" B4 "She's A Serious (Yeah, Yeah) Teenager In Love" B5 All I Have Left Is "My Johnny's Hub Cap" B6 I Found Her Telephone Number "Written On The Boy's Bathroom Wall" Credits Artwork – Mort Drucker Featuring – Jeanne Hayes, Mike Russo (4), The Dellwoods Producer, Written-By – Norm Blagman*, Stan Bobrick
Venerable humor magazine Mad has endured for more than half a century with their unique mix of pop culture, counter-culture and political satire, recently celebrating their 500th issue. Over the years, there's also been seemingly more than 500 repackagings of all that material -- along with many often-unexpected ways of promoting the brand. There's been a board game, and the long-running series of ads for posters of mascot Alfred E. Neuman -- suitable for framing or wrapping fish. And in the late '50s, the mostly instrumental Musically Mad LP appeared on RCA, with a nifty cover painting of Alfred E.
A second LP surfaced on Big Top in 1962, more directly satirizing a subject dear to the adolescent and teen audience that loved Mad: rock 'n' roll. Mad 'Twists' Rock 'n' Roll has never been released on CD, and when the LP does turn up it's nearly always been played to death. When a copy in good condition turned up recently I couldn't resist satisfying my longtime curiosity, and re-affirming my Mad fandom.
. The Internet turns up their names as co-writers together and with others on a few other early to mid '60s singles by artists such as Timi Yuro and Elvis Presley, and, coincidentally, Elvis sound-a-like Ral Donner. Bobrick went on to be a playwright; Blagman's name can be found on Mad-associated recordings into the disco era.
History on the performers is even more obscured by the mists of time; female vocals are by Jeanne Hayes, male solos by Mike Russo and vocal group tracks by The Dellwoods. I can find references to an LP by a Mike Russo from the late '60s, but it's on folk label Arhoolie, and unlikely to be the same person. Doo-wop discography sites list The Dellwoods as also recording as The Dynamics.
But what of the music? It's surprisingly straightforward teen-era rock 'n' roll, and by not being excessively over-orchestrated actually has weathered better than many of the Frankies, Jimmys and Peggys it is parodying.
I don't recognize anything here as a straight re-do using another song's music or melody, and lyrically the songs do a decent job of matching Mad's off-kilter look at society. Topics range from zeitgeist-capturing teenage Russian spies to throwing basketball games, and to more calculated-to-offend-parent themes like phone numbers on bathroom walls. Separated from the source, a few of these songs would be hard to differentiate as parody when compared to other records from the era. "Blind Date" wouldn't be out of place slightly trashed up on a Kingsmen album, and the car race/crash opus "My Johnny's Hub Cap" isn't any sillier than much of the teen death ouevre.