LE FORTE FOUR - BIKINI TENNIS SHOES - LAFMS - VERY RARE

$

92

This is the incredibly hard to find, Bikini Tennis Shoes by Le Forte Four, this was the first release by The Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) (001-B1) 1977 I know it says Bootleg on the label, it's a bit confusing, but I think they intended it to be that way, or perhaps this is the bootleg edition, I do know that only 200 were made, unless anyone knows otherwise? This lp comes with loads of artwork and notes (see photos), just read the notes below, maybe you'll get an idea what there all about, when you do, let me know!!!!!! Both the cover and vinyl are in very good+++ condition, looking unplayed, there is still a price sticker on cover, I paid $18.00 for it, so if knowbody bids it up, I'll only make a dollar on the deal!!!! I did play it a few times, but very, very carefully!!!!!!

The following are the original (nearly) unaltered liner notes.

While sitting around snapping our fingers, playing our clavicals and not really concentrating, we measured the days work pressures on conveyors. Perhaps this is why the album was a three year project, why none of it ever got out before.* Despite damage to the Palace of Living Bongos, production proceeded behind schedule. There you have it. Still, we can hold the waistline below the bustline and above the timberline.

* Le Forte Four began as a nameless association between Rick Potts and Chip Chapman. In 1973, Joe Potts, Rick Potts and Chip merged temporarily with Patients. The threesome coagulated into the Los Angeles Free Music Society in 1974 for the production of Ka-Bella-Binski-Bungo. LAFMS became Le Forte Four in 1975, and later that year Tom Potts was absorbed into the company.

BIKINI TENNIS SHOES LE FORTE FOUR

"SIDE A" 1. KA-BELLA-CHA-CHA Chip, electronics and dialogue; Rick, dialogue and turning the wrong knob; Joe, silent piano. The melody, written and orchestrated by Rick, drifts through specific time values as Rick attempts adjustments of Chip's Buchla programming by turning the wrong knob. This song was originally produced under the sanction of the LAFMS (ask Joe about it). It is part of the epochal Ka-Bella-Binsky-Bungo. 1973.

2. SOME PROBLEM WITH THE CORD OR SOMETHING Chip, his guitar cord shorts out causing electrical feedback which was recorded at "0" db; Chip speaks his reaction; Rick, sax valves and imitation Yoko Ono vocal sounds. This recording documents an event which occurred in B-303 (CIA) in 1974. It is typical of plugging in noises at a Sunday night recording session.

3. KA-BELLA-BINSKY-BUNGO (excerpt) Prelude: JOE'S FIRST BUBBLE SOUNDS. Theme: KA-BELLA MELODY Chip, projector, electronics, dialogue, vocals; Rick, plastic violin, dialogue, motor noises, duck lips, and boogie talk; Joe, Buchla (prelude), plastic violin, avant vocals, throat music, silent piano; Tom, garbled background bikini vocals; and the whole Ka-Bella-Binsky crowd. Sections of live Ka-Bella tape are combined with different sections of the same piece which have had tracks added by Chip and Joe. There are no existent versions of the original material. 1973.

4. GOOD WORKER Chip, electronics. This piece, composed and arranged by Chip, features the HEW film of the same name as altered by the B-303 projector and tape delay ("To make it sound like the Starlite Drive-In Theater"-Chip). 1975.

5. AYE MA MA (I'M AMOK) excerpt from material found by Chip at the Saugus Swapmeet. 1975.

6. MEANWHILE BACK AT THE TULIP BOAT, STINKY AND GUS MAKE WARPLANES Another KBBB fragment, this one features dialogue by Rick and Chip. Splicing and electronics by Chip. 1973. + YOUR LIVING CONSTITUTION (DIES) Chip, Buchla. A study for the uncompleted "American Landscapes" by Chip. The source material is a Union 76 collectors record purchased by Chip at PooBah Records in Pasadena. 1975.

7. BEFORE DOCKING IN SPACE Chip, electronics. White noise with filter by Chip. 1974.

8. CANDY WRAPPER BLUES Chip, candy wrapper; Rick, sax; Joe, unknown instrument (Martian Tunesnooteck); Tom, drinking beer. Recorded live in B-303 (CIA). 1975. + A LITTLE SLOPPY STILL Chip, plastic bag, dialogue; Rick, dialogue. This excerpt from "IÕm Dreaming of a White Xmas" features Silvertone hum (60 cycles). 1974).

9. BIKINI TENNIS SHOES (one pair) Overture: STAR SPANGLED SPRING RITES Chip, electric guitar, vocals; Steve Jackson, electric bass; Steve Braunstein (special guest from N.Y.) Contra Baboon. Recorded live in the Music Hall (CIA) at 3 in the morning 2/8/74, after everyone else went home. Main Theme: BIKINI TENNIS SHOES Chip, electronics, vocals; Rick, plastic violin, vocals; Tom, vocals. The synthesized miracle of multi-track reality made the production of this song (composed by the group in 1975) possible.

10. JOE'S NOSE SOLO Chip, rhythm guitar, editing; Rick, electric piano; Joe, nose; Tom, snare drum, slide guitar. It erupted spontaneously through Joe's nasal cavity in a recording session and was subsequently altered to its present form. 1975.

11. SONG OF THE ELECTRIC DRILL Chip, Echoplex, arranging; Rick, vocals; Steve Nash, piano. This piece was created despite the supervision of William Waddleton, SGHS, in 1972. Echoplex, courtesy of Pedrini Music. Special thanks to Donald Sickler.

12. I CAN'T EVEN THINK Bill Dunn, dialogue. An outtake from Chip's soundtrack for a movie by Bill. 1974. + ON THE DAWNING OF A GIANT FACE Chip, guitar; Rick, sax, vocals; Joe, electric piano, vocals. Written by Joe, remembered by Rick. 1973. + JOE'S DEAD/BOZO'S MARRIAGE/TWINKLE Tim Chapman, announcer and Priest; Chip, electronics (on Twinkle). Featuring Harry "Duke" Simmons as dead Joe Hedge. 1972.

13. WHAT DO YOU DO, RADIATOR? Chip, electric guitar, Buchla, vocals; Rick, plastic violin, vocals; Joe, vocals; Tom, vocals. This piece arose mysteriously during a Sunday night session. 1975. + THE GROCERY STORE IS MY HEAVEN Chip, electric guitar; Rick, sax; Joe, Univox; Steve Jackson, electric bass; Bill Dunn, missing vocals. A version of this tune would have appeared in the soundtrack of a movie, but Bill couldn't find the vegetable market where he was to be shot. 1974.

14. FADE IT OUT Chip, electric guitar, vocals; Rick, vocals; Tom, vocals; with mystery tapping noises. Note the real acoustic reverberation! There is something you don't hear very often on an electronic album. 1975.

"SIDE B"

15. THE POPE SPEAKS From the Pope's opening ceremonies observing the beginning of the Holy Year 1950. Transcribed by Rick and Tom. 1975. "Thank you for carrying me across to the sensuous intensely orphans immensely. The scallop of She-She on the sockets all omnibus. Peculiarly small malt poured tuna the dent to. Duke University toured our morbid Christianity. Spirituality boosts the restaurant, he's sick Chris at the saw rays. No sermon of the sewer is beyond avocado."

16. CRANK UP THE KIDS Chip, electric guitar, screaming feedback (Ampex style); Rick, sax, toy xylophone; Joe, piano. Arranged by L-44, 1974. Special thanks to Ampex 4-track with sel-sync.

17. BONGO MADNESS Chip, record, electric guitar, electronics; Rick, sax, dialogue; Joe dialogue. At its premiere playing (CIA TAPES II) the tape recorder was turned off by fellow student composer Walter Harvey before the piece was completed. 1974.

18. KA-BELLA REPRISE

1. RETURN

2. LOUIE THE TURKEY

3. RING MODULATED CHANTS

4. THE FARM

5. SLY DOUBLE RETURN

This segment was taken from the "Swedish Version", which was accepted and then later rejected from an electronic music festival in Hovikkoden, Norway. Hal Clark, in his rejection notice to the group, comments, "Free ears and minds are one thing, but what about aesthetics?" Ka-Bella-Binsky-Bungo's premiere finally took place in 1974 during a poetry reading at U.C. Riverside. It was greeted with silence by a small audience. A tip of the Dodger cap to F.Z. for loaning Larry (Louie?). No thanks to Ingram Marshall for hiding the duck call, taking most of the tape machines and two reels. Chip, vocals, electronics, tape distortions, dialogue; Rick, vocals, stupid jingle-bells, paper, mike stands, dialogue; Joe, vocals, piano, Revox tape-delay antics, dialogue, some of his noises; with Clutch Cargo and friends (public domain). Ka-Bella-Binsky-Bungo, a version of which this excerpt was taken from, was originally to be the title of this album. However, the group decided that nobody would be able to remember that title and opted for the more commercial one that it now bears. None-the-less, it remains the solid foundation from which Le Forte Four has grown.

19. STEVEN, STEVEN Chip, electrically altered voice. This ballad of Steve Nash was dreamt, written, and recorded by Chip within a 10 hour period of time. 1975.

20. SONNET Tom, dialogue. This poem was written so that when it was played backwards it would have the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet. 1975.

21. BALLAD DE FORTE FOUR Chip, bass, on electric guitar; Rick, dialogue and sax; Joe, piano; Tom, modified snare drum. This traditional song by John Lennon and Saul McBongobuck was arranged by L-44. 1975.

22. IT'S RAINING BONGOS Chip, bongos, vocals, accordion; Rick, bongos, vocals; Joe, bongos, tinker toy mallets, vocals. Written by Rick in 1974 and arranged by L-44. Special thanks to William "Smokey" Dunn for loaning us his aunt's accordion.

23. THEY ARE ASLEEP Chip, defective electric rhythm guitar; Rick sax; Joe, bass; Susan Farthing, rhythm flute; Dan Weiss, 2nd base, Mystery Drummer (Jay Ross), drums. A group composition (everyone has something to say). This one was recorded live and unrehearsed in the Potts' living-room during a practice with Patients for the "Job" which took place at Ethel's Tempura in Alhambra. It was also rejected from the Swedish electronic music festival. 1973.

24. MUSIC HALL BOOTLEG (excerpt) Chip, aside comments, electric guitar; Rick, probably downstairs; Joe, piano (Steve Reich style), putting on record; Karen Kato, Waynna Kato, Carolyn Kawaye, silent on assorted styles of miscellaneous mischievous instruments; Steve Jackson, bass. Special thanks to Kato's aunt for use of Kato's Koto. More special thanks to Mr. X in the office for giving us the key to the Music Hall. 1974.

25. PAINTING THE ROSES RED Chip, guitar and electronics; Rick, sax; Joe, guitar; Tom, piano. We thought we'd lost this old favorite, but stumbled upon it in a batch of misplaced tapes during the compilation of this disc. 1975.

26. ENOUGH FUN Chip, electric guitar, vocals; Rick, vocals; Joe, vocals. L-44. 1974. "Backwards tape is just another form of mechanical master-invasion"- Ardent Carbuncle

+ THAT FEEDBACK AGAIN Rick picks up Chip's guitar and holds it directly in front of a Silvertone amp (attractively located in a fake guitar case). 1974.

Now I hope that makes everything clear!!!!!!!!

BIDDING REQUIREMENTS:

Sorry I have to do this, but anybody thinking of bidding on my records must have at least 10 positive feedbacks, I tried to leave this auction open to everybody, but have had problems with new bidders who don't really know what's going on, or how Ebay works.
Also, please wait for me to send you an invoice after the auction so I can make sure all the details for shipping are correct, I will try to get your item(s) mailed out to you the next day following your payment but on occasion it may take me a day or two at the most, if your sending a money order or well concealed U.S. dollars, please let me know so I can have an idea what's going on.
This is not a business, it is not a record store, even though I have far more rare records than any store could imagine, they are all mine, which I have collected since 1960, I collected records like some people collect baseball cards, but now find myself surrounded by thousands of records, and they must all go!!!!!
 
SHIPPING INFO:
I ship USPS.   US -- $6 for the 1st LP (Priority) insurance included, $1 for each additional item, 

Canada is $8.00, rest of world $12.00, $2.00 for each additional item, I ship Global Priority where possible.

Please contact me if you have any questions, I prefer Paypal but will except Bidpay and money orders in U.S. Dollars, please contact me within 3 days of auction end, must recieve payment within 14 days of purchase, item ships when payment recieved.

Please note shipping costs, I use Priority and Global Priority for the simple reason that the faster the item gets to you, the less risk of loss or damage to the item, there are countries that do not except Global Priority and I will adjust the price accordingly, if you really want to save a few dollars on shipping, I will do this for you, but please just be aware of the risks involved, if you have any questions, please ask before bidding.

Feedback:

If you are not satisfied for some reason please contact us prior to leaving feedback so we can fix the problem.
We do want to make you happy, and love giving as well as getting positive feedback, all records are checked under a bright light and played before putting them up for auction, I won't sell it unless it meets my high standards!

Grading Definitions:

Mint (M): Absolutely perfect in every way - never played, possibly sealed. (Mint grading used sparingly if at all)
Near Mint (NM or M-): Near Mint is the highest grade listed in all Goldmine guides. Many dealers won't give a grade higher than this, implying (perhaps correctly) that no record is ever truly perfect. The record shows no obvious signs of wear. Lp should look new, just purchased. No creases, folds, seam splits or visual defects.

Very Good Plus (VG +): Very Good Plus will show signs that it was played, and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it. Record surfaces may show slight signs of wear and may have scuffs or light scratches that don't affect one's listening experience. (Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK) NOTE: None of my records are warped!!!!!

Very Good (VG): Many of the defects found in VG + will be more pronounced on a VG disc. Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages and during intros and fades, but will not overpower the music otherwise. Groove wear will start to be noticeable, as with light scratches that will affect the sound. This is the lowest price grade used by Goldmine listings, no need to go any lower than Very Good (VG) I won't sell it if it's not at least Very Good!

Please remember, these are records and not cds, and even a mint copy of a record will have a minimal amount of surface noise, the more +++ after very good, the closer the record is to near mint, I don't think any record is mint unless it is still sealed, and even in that case, there are some manufacturers who have poor quality vinyl, I'll try to indicate this when I can, I won't try to rip you off, I will do my very best to give you an accurate description, and will do my very best to assist you in any way I can, I want you to have a pleasant experience and that is my main goal, so have fun, and please, ask me any questions you may have before you bid, I'll try to give you all the info I can! - THE DROOGSTER

BOOKMARK MY EBAY SITE, I'M SELLING A LIFETIME OF COLLECTED LPS, MOST HARD TO FIND AND VERY RARE, I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER, EVERYTHING MUST GO, LOW MINIMUM BID, NO RESERVE!