Meco The Wizard?

[Videoskooter]

Today I finally found a (mint) copy of this one. And yes...I'm having so much fun with this record. Camp to da maxx :icon_lol: Others who dig this one? (and yes I know this is for the very open-minded :icon_eek:)

[johnnyd1788]

These are great! Which tracks did you use from the album for the videos? I only have a short medley that includes "Over The Rainbow" and "We're Off To See the Wizard," which I believe was a part of the single if I'm not mistaken. My favorite part of the first one is where Dorothy and the Scarecrow are dancing on beat. I laugh every time I saw it! lol

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Thanks so much! I'd forgotten how much I liked this when it came out. I see it in my collection all the time, but I pass over it.

FYI: There was the 7" mix, LP mix, 1st 12" was a & b sides, edited down to about 12 mins, 2nd 12" was a 6-7 minute edit.

The US LP and 1st pro 12" were on translucent yellow vinyl. And the Holland LP was on solid yellow vinyl.

[Videoskooter]

This is the one that's in the DMC vault:

Meco The Wizard Of Oz (LP) DiscoMusic.com



A full tracklist:
Side A:

1 Over The Rainbow
2 Cyclone
3 Munchkinland
4 Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
5 Munchkinland (Again)
6 We're Off To See The Wizard (The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz)

Side B:

1 Poppies
2 The Spell
3 Optimistic Voices
4 The Merry Old Land Of Oz
5 The Haunted Forest
6 March Of The Winkies
7 Dorothy's Rescue
8 If I Were King Of The Forest
9 Over The Rainbow
10 he Reprise

Follow the Yellow Vinyl! It's fun!

[remicks]

I love this one !!

Have I gotten totally confused , or didn't the Salsoul Orchestra do a stunning OZ composition also ??:icon_rolleyes:



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[Videoskooter]

Have I gotten totally confused , or didn't the Salsoul Orchestra do a stunning OZ composition also?

Maybe you have "Up The Yellow Brick Road" in mind?

Salsoul Orchestra Up the Yellow Brick Road (LP) DiscoMusic.com



But...speaking about this album, "The Fiddler On The Roof Medley" is great, GREAT I tell ya:



And another and longer Wizard soundclip:

[remicks]

*****


Ya that's it ......although it appears to be THE WIZ song ..... and not WIZARD OF OZ : ( ???? still can't recall)

Side A
Ease on Down the Road 5:40
West Side Story Medley 11:50


That WEST SIDE STORY MEDLEY is stellar by the way ..... has that churning horn punching Blue Notes DON'T LEAVE THIS WAY vibe about it that I love......

*****

[kdavid13]

Absolutely campy and oh so wondeful !!
Makes me kind of sad that I got rid of my copy years ago...

I love the YouTube clip of the yellow vinyl Millenium record playing on the turntable.I could watch a record play for ages !!

Lovely...

Thanks for the memories !!

[remicks]

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I'm noticing something .....isn't the artwork very similar??


*****

[SandraDee]

Makes me kind of sad that I got rid of my copy years ago...

You can have mine.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

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I'm noticing something .....isn't the artwork very similar??
*****

Only in so much as they're both illustrations.
The Camoflage cover was Meco's concept, but the artist was someone else. (I'm not home, so I can't give the name. And it seriously looks like he got his 15 year old niece, or nephew to do it as an 8th grade art project.)
The Wiz cover was a standard 'Gribbit!' cover, like all Casablanca releases. Except... If you look at the back of the Wiz cover you'll see an illustration of two couples dancing. Then go the the cover of Eddie Drennon's "It Don't Mean A Thing" LP. Same couples, only in their actual photo. Then go to D.C. LaRue's "Confessions" cover. Same couples, again. Someone at Gribbit! got a tad lazy, it seems. Recycling the same images 3 times.

But my main reason for signing back into this thread again, is...

At 18-19 years old, I didn't really appreciate the end of this LP. But all this talk has made me go back and re-listen. At the end of side 2 is a piece called "The Refrain". Actually, it's more of an overture, just tacked-onto the end of the LP. Now, with a more patient and mature ear, I found it to be magnificently beautiful. And, more importantly, it shows how these men were more than just pop-music machines. They had serious training and classical backgrounds. Particularly Harold Wheeler. If you take away the drums, percussion and basslines, you have mini-symphonies. That are almost obscured by their Disco overtones.

As a child of show-biz parents, by the time I was 10, I knew the difference between a Producer and an Arranger. And I knew how much influence the latter could have on a recording. "Overtures" were a form of music, unto themselves. The greatest examples being "Funny Girl", Hello Dolly", Okalhoma", etc. It was the Arranger who took these multiple melodies and wove them into one roller-coaster piece that set the tone for the entire show.

Harold Wheeler's work on this LP's last track, "The Refrain", holds up against any of the great overtures. Considering he arranged "Never Can Say Goodbye", How High The Moon" and "Be Mine", which are my Gloria faves , you can see why I pay attention to his name. (Go back and listen to them without focusing on the Disco aspect. The string arrangements, alone, are phenominal!)

So, go to track 9 on side 2 (listed as "Over The Rainbow", or "Grand Finale", depending on what pressing you have), and listen to (quite possibly) Meco's greatest build to a BIG finish, ever. And when the cello's fade-out, let it keep playing. Then a sad oboe, playing "There's No Place Like Home" will lead the full orchestra back-in, for an inspiring medley. And, (as quickly as people will jump to dog Meco's material) I promise, (whether you care for the actual LP, or not) you'll appreciate the talent, experience and work that went into making that LP.

[remicks]

*****

Only in so much as they're both illustrations.
The Camoflage cover was Meco's concept, but the artist was someone else. (I'm not home, so I can't give the name. And it seriously looks like he got his 15 year old niece, or nephew to do it as an 8th grade art project.)
The Wiz cover was a standard 'Gribbit!' cover, like all Casablanca releases. Except... If you look at the back of the Wiz cover you'll see an illustration of two couples dancing. Then go the the cover of Eddie Drennon's "It Don't Mean A Thing" LP. Same couples, only in their actual photo. Then go to D.C. LaRue's "Confessions" cover. Same couples, again. Someone at Gribbit! got a tad lazy, it seems. Recycling the same images 3 times.

"his 15 year old niece/nephew 's 8th grade art project !" :icon_eek: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:

I thought similarly .....pretty amateur .....but perhaps a little more at the City College level

So........ maybe the niece/nephew graduated with an AA in fine arts and got hired on at Gribbit ... especially after having already scored doing a Meco cover .... and two years later was a little better an artist .....but not enough so to not recognize the style .

First look at the compositions and the perspectives ... both as if looking down and into the scene , then the same progression/movement of the people included --- both heading for the main event which is placed in exactly the same spot on both covers and both given about the same amount of compositional space ... in one case a stage , the other a wizard's head ! :icon_mrgreen: Check out the similar postures and forms of the people.... leg stances .....



Look at Dorothy and then the woman's head on the left on the "Camouflage" cover ...the angle ... the shading . Next look some more at Dorothy ....kind of odd proportions ... really long legs ... (she sorta looks a bit like a quarterback in the pocket and about to pass) ...then look more closely at all the characters ....hmmm, reminiscently not that well drawn .

I wouldn't be surprised if an additional artist drew the Wizard's Meco's(?) head ... but the rest ? ....definitely the same artist ! I'd bet my own personal pair of red ruby slippers on it (uh no, .... they're not props from the movie )

You bring up points that I wonder about Stephen .....its Meco who gets his name on the work .... but how much of the sound is more so the result of Harold Wheeler ? How much/which part is Meco?

I ask the same about Barry White. Would he have come up with anything that was anywhere near his identifiable sound without Gene Page ?

You know lofty projects like this ....thank goodness they got approved and were taken on under the guise of making "disco". Even though dance floor failures ... too complicated .... they now today provide good disco listening .... and since that is what we do mostly with disco nowadays ... listen to it as oppose to dance to it .... these are now turning out to be the real gems of the genre !! Sweet justice .

And now these Casablanca/ Gribbit! artwork covers to go back and compare ! Good fun !!
Thanks !!



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[SandraDee]

And, (as quickly as people will jump to dog Meco's material) I promise, (whether you care for the actual LP, or not) you'll appreciate the talent, experience and work that went into making that LP.

Oh I totally agree. What's great about almost any disco from the classic 70s/ early 80s period is that it was always lovingly crafted to the highest degree, whether you like the stuff or not.

[remicks]

*****







This Shalamar cover also strikes me as being done by the same artist.

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[Chap2Power]

*****



"his 15 year old niece/nephew 's 8th grade art project !" :icon_eek: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:

I thought similarly .....pretty amateur .....but perhaps a little more at the City College level

So........ maybe the niece/nephew graduated with an AA in fine arts and got hired on at Gribbit ... especially after having already scored doing a Meco cover .... and two years later was a little better an artist .....but not enough so to not recognize the style .

First look at the compositions and the perspectives ... both as if looking down and into the scene , then the same progression/movement of the people included --- both heading for the main event which is placed in exactly the same spot on both covers and both given about the same amount of compositional space ... in one case a stage , the other a wizard's head ! :icon_mrgreen: Check out the similar postures and forms of the people.... leg stances .....



Look at Dorothy and then the woman's head on the left on the "Camouflage" cover ...the angle ... the shading . Next look some more at Dorothy ....kind of odd proportions ... really long legs ... (she sorta looks a bit like a quarterback in the pocket and about to pass) ...then look more closely at all the characters ....hmmm, reminiscently not that well drawn .

I wouldn't be surprised if an additional artist drew the Wizard's Meco's(?) head ... but the rest ? ....definitely the same artist ! I'd bet my own personal pair of red ruby slippers on it (uh no, .... they're not props from the movie )

You bring up points that I wonder about Stephen .....its Meco who gets his name on the work .... but how much of the sound is more so the result of Harold Wheeler ? How much/which part is Meco?

I ask the same about Barry White. Would he have come up with anything that was anywhere near his identifiable sound without Gene Page ?

You know lofty projects like this ....thank goodness they got approved and were taken on under the guise of making "disco". Even though dance floor failures ... too complicated .... they now today provide good disco listening .... and since that is what we do mostly with disco nowadays ... listen to it as oppose to dance to it .... these are now turning out to be the real gems of the genre !! Sweet justice .

And now these Casablanca/ Gribbit! artwork covers to go back and compare ! Good fun !!
Thanks !!



******

Gene Page's Atlantic album with "All Of Our Dreams" track is # 1 A on my CD want list behind Marsha Hunt's album on Aves Germany...

Vince

[remicks]

*****







Everything about the stylizing and the composition of this cover says to me that it is also done by the same artist:




and this time there's a name credited to it:

Artwork By [Sleeve] – Robert Stace

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the Shalamar cover mentioned: