RARE 45 7” The Puddle Red Rover, Red Rover Happy Like This VG- Candy Floss CF104

$

38

CONDITION & DESCRIPTION:

Ultra rare - one of only two sold on eBay. The last one sold for $175+!

• Vinyl---------I Visual Grade unless noted

This grades VG- -??Plays wells with fair amount of background noise.  ?

From Bubblegum Reviews: 

This obscure track comes to us from Minneapolis label Candy Floss Records, which released pop and garage  45s during its 1967- 69 existence.  The song was recently re-released on this interesting-looking compilation of their music. The only individual performer on it whom my research can identify is Arne Fogel, who would later become a prolific jazz singer and musician.

“Red Rover” is a well-done K&K knockoff and an entry in the subgenre of bubblegum songs based on children’s games.  It opens with bouncy, rubbery bass and stabs of guitar, and there’s a call-and-response thing between the main guy and the backup singers doing a variation on the “red rover” ritual chant: “Red rover red rover, I’m coming right over, coming right over to staaaaay!  Red rover red rover, I’m coming right over, and nobody gets in the waaaaaaaaaaaay!”  A series of two-line stanzas tell a story of adulthood and its discontents: A guy and a girl used to play Red Rover as children, but “then a year later, we’d start to date, and play the game much closer/ You’d give me a call, a ring and hang up, I’d jump out of bed and come over!” A year?  How old were these people? There’s a funky soul breakdown presumably.  Everything drops out but a propulsive bassline and handclaps, and the singer voices such James Brown-inspired interjections as “UH!  Chah! chah! chah! All right!”, presumably indicating the kind of unbridled passion that is unleashed when on 13-year-old booty-calls another 13-year-old in the middle of the night.  The backup singers nonsensically interject “red rover is easy, red rover is breezy/ red rover is nifty, red rover is swifty!” This break is actually very well done and reasonably funky-sounding.   When the story resumes, it is on a sad note: “Now that we’re older, we’ve seemed to change, we have no time for our games/ But if you feel it, just give me all call, I’ll be over [inaudible] todaaaaaay!”

The singer has a high, nervous-sounding, vibrato-laden tone that I quite enjoy.  His slightly strangulated tone may be a result of trying to sing outside his natural range.   The narrative offered by the lyrics is appealingly economical: Naivete is followed by adolescent sexual awakening and, finally, adult disillusionment.  Songs in this vein, such as “1-2-3 Red Light,”  tend to focus on a speaker’s frustration that a girl isn’t following the rules of a game she played with the speaker as a child.  Presumably trope this is an expression of displaced nostalgia for a time when courtship proceeded according to well-defined rules (or at least, it was imagined to have done so), and thus women’s behavior was easier to predict and control.  However, “Red Rover” tweaks the formula a bit by having the lady be in charge of their encounters, leaving the speaker in the emasculating position of waiting for the phone to ring.

“Red Rover” has everything you could want from a Kasenetz-Katz-style pop song: catchy bassline, melismatic chorus soaring over the bouncy instrumentation, bridge featuring a silly homage to a more legitimate genre of music, impactful production, and a runtime of under 2:30.

All of the grading is done by visual inspection. I pack each record with care and attention to detail to ensure safe shipping and handling. All records are shipped outside of the jackets to prevent seam splits unless they are sealed.   Please remember that your listening experience will vary tremendously if you use a top notch player versus a budget player.  Also all records should be cleaned prior to use.   Some records may in need of a good bath! I take pictures of the inside sleeve if it is included as long as it is not a plain white one so you can see it's condition as well.   Some records may not have sleeves.  I will ship these in a new sleeve.

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 ****GRADING:  PLEASE READ BELOW***

MINT (M) ~ Never will grade here

NEAR MINT (NM) ~ Looks as if it just came from a store and was opened for the first time. Possibly played a few times if ever, with little evidence of play/wear. Overall in “like new” condition. May have a few small visible flaws that do not affect play.

Excellent (EX) ~  These records will show faint signs of wear such as light scratches/blemishes/scuffs. However the marks are superficial for the most part should  not affect the quality of the sound too much. A Excellent record will play with little surface noise (if any) and will have a great listening experience. Jacket may have 2-3 of the following: light ring wear, wear on the corners/ seams, small names, stickers, notch/ corner cuts, creases, and light discoloration. Labels may have spindle marks, small writing such as initials, and small stickers.

 VERY GOOD PLUS (VG+) ~  Shows signs of wear, light scuffs or scratches may be present but they should not affect playback significantly. Nothing felt by fingernail.  Jacket may have a 3-4 of the following: ring wear, shelf wear, seam splits (less than 1” long), writing, creases, discoloration, names, stickers, notch/corner cuts .  

VERY GOOD (VG) ~ These records show more obvious signs of wear and handling. Record has surface noise that is noticeable in some spots but perhaps is quiet and clean in other spots. Clicks and pops may be heard, especially during a song’s intro/outro. Some of the scratches can be felt with a fingernail. The jacket can have more pronounced ring wear, shelf wear, stickers, marks, staining, seam splits on any or all 3 sides but they are still fairly intact, writing, cuts, and discoloration.

GOOD PLUS (G+) ~ Significant and obvious wear and handling including surface noise throughout, audible scratches which cause clicks and pops and crackle but no skips or repeated grooves. Jacket may have significant ringwear and/or staining, seam splits and all 3 sides, cuts/rips/tears. shelf wear, stickers, and discoloration. Jacket may have writing, names, stickers, be partially peeled off, and can have numerous spindle issues.