TANGERINE ZOO 1st LP ORIGINAL MAINSTREAM FUZZ PSYCH MINDBLOWER LP not re LISTEN

$

76

TANGERINE ZOO "TANGERINE ZOO" LP

ORIGINAL 1968 LP ON THE US MAINSTREAM LABEL, STEREO S/6107

COVER in VG++ shape, very small cutout hole and some minor moisture damage on back, lower edge

VINYL plays VG+ to VG++

Bad decisions killed these kids.  Two really, really bad ones.  Still, they were one of the few Mainstream label bands to get two albums out, so they certainly had the chops and the songs.  This one, Tangerine Zoo’s first from 1968, is a classic slice of heavy psych and one of the best on the label.  No surprise they opened for Vanilla Fudge back then, because their album opener was a fuzzed-up roided-out heavy psycho rendition of Them’s “Gloria,” in the Vanilla Fudge style, all sweeping organ and hotwired psycho-punk fuzz guitar.  As a matter of fact, it’s like the Vanilla Fudge if the Fudge were more of a teen garage punk band.  The funky weirdo mind-fryer “Trip To The Zoo” sounds like Kim Fowley writing for the Bonniwell Music Machine, with a very Fowley-esque midsection – “You’re a rock and roll flop!”  “They picked my brai-ain-ain!”  The moody quivery organ popsike of “Please Don’t Set Me Free” sounds like vintage Strawberry Alarm Clock, and makes a nice and necessary change of pace, while the trippy all-out head-rush of “Symphonic Psyche” pits some cerebellum-numbing organ washes against swooping, swirling and wailing fuzz guitar like a dream blend of the Doors and Jimi Hendrix.  Tangerine Zoo, the album, is a brilliant collection of psychedelic songs, with only two of the eight songs not written by the band.  Unfortunately, one of the songs they recorded but left off the album was Harry Nilsson’s “One,” which launched the career of one Three Dog Night just three months later.  Yup, that was bad decision number one.  In late 1969, after the release of their second album, they were invited to play a small East Coast music festival called Woodstock, but declined due to “prior commitments.”  So yeah, apparently they had better things to do than Woodstock.  Bad decision number two.  And sadly, they didn’t get another album out.  If you haven’t already heard their albums, this is a great place to start, and a nice solid keeper copy of album one.  Pass up on it, and that would be bad decision number three.

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.