Guest
After a successful release of Günter Fuhlisch's “Tip Top Rag“ [“Тип-топ“ - Г. Фулиша on this label], some group in East Germany/GDR [ГДР] decided to record a version similar to the original [right down to the Doo-Wacka-Doo homage] - or, rather, they were instructed to do so. In spite of that, I've yet to find the original Amiga issue, as this isn't a dubbing of the West German Telefunken release, yet every other GDR-representative track on Soviet “Around the World“ [Вокруг Света] vinyl was on Amiga - even if it originated in West Germany. It's an energetic recording, a bit more so than the original, but it's not quite as off-the-wall in spots as the 1973 Fuhlisch recording [though all three are tame compared to what the likes of Spike Jones would have done]. Many of these were recorded in 1957 as part of the “6th World Festival of Youth and Students“, which included music performances from groups abroad. Alfons Zschockelt's ensemble had won one of these festivals prior to his 1957 defection to the West, so perhaps it was one of these? The setup is rather like Günter Gollasch and the Berlin Radio Dance Orchestra's “Dixieland Band“ playing Gerhard Honig's “Bienen Dixie“ - / [alternate take] As stated earlier, this is from the very first edition of “Around the World“ [Вокруг Света 1 Серия], issued in 1959 - this is on side Д-5379 [5378 is the flipside]. This pressing, however, is a later one - late enough that it's not on a factory-specific label, but rather the All-Union Melodiya [Мелодия] label. The government standard reference, ГОСТ 5289-68, indicates this was pressed when the state spec was updated in 1968 [it was next revised in 1973, indicated on record labels soon thereafter]. This pressing was made at the Aprelevka plant [former Metropole Records, est. 1910], near Moscow, the most prominent record pressing plant in the Soviet Union, and one of Europe's largest overall. While Melodiya was established to maintain standardization and monopoly on Soviet record production, early issues had typographic and other label quirks unique to each factory [which, prior to Melodiya's start in 1964, had their own imprints despite issuing material usually dictated by Moscow]. This pressing has a white label on one side, and a semi-pink label on the unlike other plants' Melodiya re-pressings of Вокруг Света, it doesn't indicate Side 1 or 2 [2 сторона, Side 2 in this case]. The vinyl is okay, but not as smooth as post-1970s issues. The dubbing seemed to be very loud on this particular issue, though I don't know why [others are sometimes very quiet]. Ah, well, all part of the novelty.
