Various - History Atomic Platters: Single Warhead Edition w - bonus tracks

1-CD Digipak with 80-page booklet , 32 tracks. Total playing time approx. 74 mns.

• , ,  ,On one jam-packed disc you get 32 of the wildest, most radioactive Cold War tracks.
• , ,  ,This collection also features several vintage public service announcements by Bomb-savvy stars Johnny Cash,Connie Francis and Groucho Marx!
• , ,  ,This set has five bonus tracks not heard on the original 'Atomic Platters' box set!

Think of Bear Family’s new 'Atomic Platters: Single Warhead Edition' as a musical Manhattan Project on a budget. On one jam-packed disc you get thirty-two of the wildest, most radioactive Cold War tracks ever recorded by artists like Wanda Jackson, Bill Haley and His Comets and The Louvin Brothers. From country and rockabilly to pop and blues and rock, it is all here. This collection also features several vintage public service announcements by Bomb-savvy stars Johnny Cash, Connie Francis and Groucho Marx! And to top things off like a mushroom cloud, this set has five bonus tracks not heard on the original 'Atomic Platters' box set! With exhaustive liner notes in a full color booklet by Cold War historian Bill Geerhart, this collection is your ultimate tac-tical warhead of atomic music!


ATOMIC PLATTERS: Single Warhead Edition


Back in 2005 Bear Family Records dropped a six disc multimedia musical payload on the market titled 'Atomic Platters: Cold War Music from the Golden Age of Homeland Security.' The weighty box set featured over one hundred radioactive rockabilly, country, blues and novelty songs. It also included atom age public service announcements, spoken word LPs, civil defense films and an illustrated coffee table book of liner notes. In the vernacular of the arms race the release was overkill on a grand scale. And while this anthology quickly became one of the prestigious label's biggest critical hits, the retail cost of the product left many atomic music fans out in the cold. This 'single warhead' version is for the masses that may not have had the money (or the shelf space) for the full set. Think of it as the Manhattan Project on a budget. And like the payload from a tactical nuke, this incarnation of 'Atomic Platters' still packs quite a wallop. Indeed, the disc collects some of the best atomic and red scare songs from the original issue and adds five fantastic bonus tracks. And, of course, all of the songs and artists are carefully examined in the notes that follow. With over an hour of Cold War music from a variety of genres, this collection guarantees Mutually Assured Delight. So push the button, let the countdown begin, and be sure to take shelter with your Hi-Fi set in your Bomb bungalow!

1. Intro: CONELRAD Radio Alert 'Real Thing' (WBEN AM, Buffalo, NY) >P< 2005
Thankfully, this 1953 recording sat unused for half a century at the transmitter site of a Buffalo, New York radio station before an observant engineer discovered it sitting in a dusty drawer. One glance at the red underlined title at the top of the smudged label signaled the 12" disk's eerie significance: REAL THING. Indeed, this record, with its announcer's impossibly smooth (and calm) voice, would have been the last 'thing' hundreds of thousands of Buffalonians would have ever heard had it become necessary to be played. It seems only appropriate then to begin this compilation with an announcement of THE END.
Note: CONELRAD, which stands for CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation, was the first emergency broadcasting apparatus …

2. Peter Scott Peters Fallout Shelter*
Of all the songs ever written about Cold War panic (or lack thereof), Peter Scott Peters' amazing 45 single Fallout Shelter may well be the coolest. The two-minute, thirty-three second opus begins with a driving jazz beat that leads the listener to a slightly menacing spoken word refrain: "I'm not scared, I'm prepared, I'll be spared." The hepcat singer then brags about his bachelor pad bomb shelter being fully equipped for the atomic duration:
I've got a fallout shelter, it's nine by nine A Hi-Fi set and a jug of wine Let the missiles fly from nation to nation It's party time in my radiation station …

3. Slim Gaillard Quartette Atomic Cocktail
Quite possibly the ultimate 'Atomic Platter,' Slim Gaillard's unforgettable jazz vocal composition celebrates, with impeccable cool, the wonders of a radioactive cordial ("the drink you don't pour"). Not only does the song neatly encapsulate the immediate impact the Bomb had on the culture, but it was also cut on the Atomic, Inc. label, whose logo features a figure swaying in a blast wind. What more could the Cold War music obsessive ask for?
Atomic Cocktail is emblematic of the first wave of naïve Bomb songs. Recorded in December of 1945 while Hiroshima and Nagasaki still glowed, the attitude of this comical tune mirrors the blissful ignorance of the western world to the true horror unleashed on Japan. Additionally, the lyrics "push a button, turn a dial, your work is done for miles and miles" reflects the popular notion of the day that the Bomb had ushered in a carefree new era of easier living—not to mention killing—through science. …

4. Fay Simmons You Hit Me Baby Like An Atomic Bomb
A number of Bomb songs were released (and, in some cases—such as this one—not released) that took full advantage of the atomic sex motif discussed elsewhere in these notes. And no other female artist gave better voice to the suggestive power of the Bomb than Fay Simmons. The sultry and ridiculous lyrics "Want to hug and kiss you and give you a squeeze. You make me radioactive all in my knees" and the song's distinctive roller rink organ accompaniment is almost enough to justify the expense of the Manhattan Project…

5. The Buchanan Brothers Atomic Power
Atomic Power was written the morning after the bombing of Hiroshima by North Carolina country artist and radio personality Fred Kirby. It is without a doubt the most popular of the country Bomb songs (the lyric referencing Nagasaki was presumably added shortly after the atomic strike on that city). Kirby immediately began singing his new song on his radio shows including a program called 'Hillbilly Star Time.' According to Kirby, in a 1977 interview with country music scholar Charles K. Wolfe, a representative from Leeds Music Corporation traveled from New York to negotiate publishing rights for the song. Leeds then apparently showed the song to Bob Miller, who was The Buchanan Brothers' manager. Miller offered Kirby a contract with RCA in New York, but Kirby turned him down and instead chose to work with Sonora, a much smaller company that contracted with him for eight sides and $2,000. Miller then had his act, The Buchanan Brothers, record the song around the same time that Kirby entered the recording studio to lay down his own cut of Atomic Power…

6. Sam Hinton Old Man Atom (Vern Partlow-Irving Bibo) ABC Eagle 230 Columbia 38 929 >P< 1950
Vern Partlow spoke for many nervous human beings when he came up with the unforgettable lyric invoking Albert Einstein's famous reservations about atomic energy: "Einstein says he's scared, and when Einstein's scared I'm scared." This semi-satirical, talking blues folk tune is a call to action to control and limit the proliferation of atomic weapons. It is, indeed, that rarest of early Cold War tunes, the anti-Bomb song. The first generation of atomic music, as has been clearly demonstrated on this compilation, was overwhelmingly Pro-Bomb, but this track is rarer still because Hinton's release was actually popular. It was the influential New York DJ Martin Block who broke the song on his 'Make Believe Ballroom' program and his audience ate it up. Soon Columbia had acquired rights to its distribution and The Sons Of The Pioneers issued their hurried-to-release, watered down version of the tune. Reportedly, even Bing Crosby was going to record a cover for Decca, but right-wing attacks on RCA Victor and Columbia (condemning the labels for promoting a Communist ideology) influenced the labels to pull the song from distribution. Despite angry editorials over the labels' cowardice published in 'The New York Times,' 'Variety,' 'Life,' and 'The Saturday Evening Post,' the record remained pulled. The song, however, rose again as part of the folk revival of the '60s and was performed by numerous artists…

7. The Five Stars Atom Bomb Baby
Tunes like Atom Bomb Baby practically made this compilation inevitable. One listen and you will know why. For sheer ridiculousness it is hard to beat a line like "Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb, I want her in my wigwam, she's just the way I want her to be, a million times hotter than TNT." It is the kind of lyric that demands to be shared with the world by any means necessary…

8. Skip Stanley Satellite Baby
In a compilation jammed full of guilty pleasures, this strange sci-fi/rockabilly hybrid is near the top of the heap. It isn't enough that this record percolates with other-worldly sound effects, it also has lyrics that cause even more aural rubbernecking: "Nuclear baby, don't fission out on me" and "Geiger counter daddy loves your atomic energy" being just a couple of examples. …

9. Wanda Jackson Fujiyama Mama (Earl Burrows) Capitol F 3843 >P< 1957
This blistering, take-no-prisoners rockabilly tune is one of Wanda Jackson's best loved recordings and a song that hits the unprepared listener like a concussive device. Jackson told country music expert Rich Kienzle that she first became aware of the incendiary tune when she heard R&B artist Annisteen Allen's 1954 version playing on a juke box when she was still in school in 1955. Jackson recalled for Kienzle that she "just flipped over it."…

10. Connie Francis Civil Defense Spot: Be Prepared Tody, For Survival Tomorrow
Singer and actress Connie Francis (Who's Sorry Now) reinforces gender stereotypes with her entreaty targeted towards female listeners to always keep the kitchen stocked. Ms. Francis, whose catalogue is well represented on the Bear Family label, continues to record and tour…

11. Sheldon Allman Radioactive Mama
Make no mistake, Radioactive Mama is a novelty song, but does it sound any less ridiculous than such alleged non-novelty songs on this compilation as Skip Stanley's Satellite Baby or The Five Stars' Atom Bomb Baby? That is the beauty of the genre of Cold War music: It is often difficult to distinguish between a comedy record and a 'serious' one.
The lyrics for this and other tunes on 'Folk Songs for the 21st Century,' an early 'concept' album, were intended to humorously convey what folk music of the future might sound like (and now that we know what 21st century folk music sounds like, most people of taste will probably prefer Allman's vision to the real thing)…

12. Bill Haley and His Comets Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)
Thirteen Women is the prototypical atomic fantasy song that features a working stiff dreaming about being the only male to survive an H-Bomb attack. The creeping beat, the plucked electric guitar chord (that signifies the hydrogen explosion) and the risqué lyrics make this tune a landmark Bomb tune and the king of its own subgenre -- the Atomic Sex Song. Reportedly Dickie Thompson's original lyrics did not reference the Bomb and that it was Bill Haley's producer, Milt Gabler, who 'atomized' the record…

13. Billy Chambers Fallout Shelter
Pop culture historians and music scholars have long noted that the so-called teenage 'death' songs of the late 1950s and early 1960s (1959s Teen Angel, 1960s Tell Laura I Love Her 1962s Patches, etc.) were, in effect, allegorical Bomb songs. These dire, yet catchy songs about train accidents, car wrecks and double suicides channeled the atomic angst of America's youth into mainstream hit singles.
The unforgettable 1962 release Fallout Shelter takes a more direct approach in conveying the fears of teenagers everywhere over nuclear annihilation. Its melodramatic storyline of a boy who wants to share his family's shelter with his girlfriend and his father's intervention is a perfect blending of elements from the overt and the allegorical/subtle Bomb song…

14. Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers When They Drop The Atomic Bomb
In one of the most vicious Bomb records released, the singer gleefully anticipates the use of atomic weapons by General Douglas MacArthur on the 'Commies' to quickly end the Korean War. In stark contrast to the track's virulent and simplistic lyrics is a playful country instrumentation that would be right at home at a barn dance.
There were many other songs that championed General MacArthur's Korean command such as Roy Acuff's Doug MacArthur (1951), but none quite as definitively as Mr. Doll and his Pickled Peppers. Of course, President Harry S. Truman had quite another opinion of the general and his was the only one that counted. President Truman relieved the general of his command duties on April 11, 1951…

15. Lowell Blanchard and the Valley Trio Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb
The son of God was used to great effect on a number of Bomb songs (such as Jesus Is God's Atomic Bomb by Swan's Silvertone Singers which can be heard on the Atomic Platters box set, BCD 16065), but this composition is particularly memorable for its judgmental tone. Lowell Blanchard's country version heard here (You can hear The Pilgrim Travelers' gospel take on the tune on the Atomic Platters box set) is full of fire and brimstone and acts as an admonition to those who are more concerned about earthly peril (caused by the Bomb) than the second coming and salvation…

16. Johnny Cash Civil Defense: Help Ourselves
The Man in Black (1932-2003) preaches self-reliance in this civil defense public service announcement. Amen. You can hear a lot more of Mr. Cash on his many releases in the Bear Family catalog.

17. Karl & Harty When The Atom Bomb Fell
When The Atom Bomb Fell, a hymn-like country track, is significant for being one of the earliest atomic songs as it was recorded on December 4, 1945. However, this tune with its references to "cruel Japs" and how the Bomb was "the answer to our fighting boys' prayers," has more to do with World War II patriotism than it does with the gestating Cold War. Therefore, this song could be considered a musical bridge between the two eras.
The record's lyrics imagining the Japanese reaction to the Bomb as one of religious awe ("They must have thought it was their judgment day") are interesting because it is both an effort to humanize the enemy and reinforce the theme of the Bomb as being somehow divine…

18. Sonny Russell Fifty Megatons
Fifty Megatons is a singularly bizarre rockabilly record about a man who is blown out of bed by the Bomb and winds up on the moon being swallowed by a "floating space alligator." The song is notable for its (pre-drug era) hallucinatory lyrics and the strange sound effects to suggest lunar reptiles. This is the kind of tune that Jethro Bodine of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' would have interpreted as science fact…

19. The Louvin Brothers The Great Atomic Power
This beautifully harmonized, gospel inflected song likens the advent of atomic power to that of the second coming Christ.
In Charles K. Wolfe's 1996 biography of The Louvin Brothers, 'In Close Harmony,' Charlie Louvin is quoted recalling that co-writer Buddy Bain was responsible for the basic theme of the composition: "The song was his idea, something he came up with after they dropped the big one. Buddy was trying to write it and he wasn't too lucky in getting the song to say what he wanted it to say. Ira took his title and his notes he had and finished the song for him."…

20. Ray Anderson and the Homefolks Sputniks And Mutniks
West Virginia native and World War II Army veteran Ray Anderson returned to topical recording (he had previously cut Stalin Kicked the Bucket which can be heard on Atomic Platters box set, BCD 16065) in this 1958 masterpiece of hillbilly paranoia concerning the second Russian satellite. In the frantically paced song, the singer wonders aloud if Sputnik 2 is "atomic" and then, for no apparent reason, champions the "American hound dog" over the Soviet "mutnik," Laika. If ever there was a song that illustrated the absurdity of the space race, this is it…

21. Al Rogers and his Rocky Mountain Boys The Hydrogen Bomb
In this track the song's narrator laments his bills and taxes and seems to be resigned to being blown to "dust" by the then relatively new hydrogen bomb. The song conveys the world weariness of the working man dealing with technological advances that only serve to destroy on a larger scale, but, in the end, don't make a whole lot of difference to him because he's in a state of constant terror regardless of the size of the Bomb: "And with folks saying things will get worser than now, I'm scared to death all the time anyhow."…

22. Hank King with Bud Williams and his Smiling Buddies Your Atom Bomb Heart
This song modernizes a popular theme in country music, the cautionary tale about a female heartbreaker. Indeed, the woman who possesses the "atom bomb heart" of the title has "just one ambition" and that is "to conquer men of the town." In other words, she isn't just the horse-and-buggy harlot of yore—she's atomic. In an interview, the composer Howard Vokes stated he seized on the idea of incorporating the atom into this tried and true tale as a way of doing something new with the theme, or as he put it, "approaching something in a different way for a love song." He certainly succeeded…

23. Glenn Barber Atom Bomb
A rollicking rockabilly record that tells the frantic story of a hillbilly's cartoonish efforts to escape the Bomb by running to the mountains. This track is notable for echoing the popular sentiment of the time that if one could simply move far enough away from an urban center, one could ride out World War III with nary a scratch.
Side note: The extremely rare 1953 atomic comedy 'Run For The Hills' starring Sonny Tufts and Barbara Payton essentially dramatizes this 'abandon the city' approach to civil defense and plays it for laughs. The tagline for the low-budget movie was "Run for a Cave!...and be sure to take a beautiful doll…"
Singer-songwriter, musician, painter and carpenter, Martin Glenn Barber was born in 1935 in Hollis, Oklahoma, but was raised in Pasadena, Texas where by age six he had learned how to play guitar and had started listening to country music. In subsequent years Barber, a veritable one-man-band, would also master the banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, dobro, bass and drums. In high school the budding artist had a band and won many local talent contests. At age sixteen Barber cut his first single, Ring Around The Moon for 'Pappy' Daily's Stampede label. Daily also served as the singer's manager for ten years. In 1958 Barber recorded Hello Sadness/Same Old Fool Tomorrow. Starting in 1962, in addition to his music career, Barber was a DJ on KIKK in Houston where he spun discs until 1968. He also had a regular show on the station with his band, The Western Swingmasters…

24. Elton Britt Uranium Fever
This galloping celebration of uranium prospecting does an excellent job of summarizing one radioactive cowboy's experiences in the modern gold rush. Elton Britt knew of what he sang as he reportedly prospected for uranium during one of his periodic show business retirements in the '50s.
Elton Britt was born James Baker, the youngest son of James M. and Martella Baker in the tiny town of Zack, Arkansas in 1913. 'Elton' was added to his name in honor of Dr. Elton Wilson, the physician who cared for the sickly child during the first year of his life. Britt was raised primarily in the Osage Hills of Oklahoma where his father James was a well-known fiddler. When Elton was still in grade school he was given a guitar from a mail order catalog and his father taught him to play. The child improved his skills by listening to country and western records, especially those of Jimmie Rodgers. Soon Elton was entertaining at neighborhood parties and dances….

25. Lew Tobin's Orchestra with Vocal by Jerry Allen Uranium Lou*
If the lyrics weren't so darn radioactive, this little romantic ditty would feel right at home in the 1920s or 30s. But the lines "Of all the gals I've ever seen, you're my atom queen" and "I am going to stake my claim on you, Uranium Lou" place this song squarely in the period of the uranium mining craze of the '50s.
Lew Tobin was born in 1904 and graduated from Harvard University as an undergraduate. He went on to earn a J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. While practicing law as a personal injury attorney, Tobin nurtured his love of music by starting a well-known dance orchestra, writing hundreds of songs and forming the song-poem label, Sterling Records. For a time he was also the musical director for Boston radio station WEEI. Tobin composed the song Sunburst that was performed during President John F. Kennedy's inauguration parade in 1961…

26. Fred Kirby When That Hell Bomb Falls
Kirby, who also wrote the seminal Atomic Power (heard as covered by The Buchanan Brothers elsewhere on this collection), returns to similar religious themes in this early Korean War song. The tune, which echoes the then current political rhetoric of Korea being a battleground for democracy ("Yes, it happened in Korea where our boys are bravely fighting/Fighting for the peaceful way of life/And our democracy...") is more concerned with presenting a straightforward prophesy of destruction ("When that Hell bomb falls/When that Hell bomb falls/There'll be screamin', dyin', prayin'/When that Hell bomb falls")…

27. Mark Spoelstra The Civil Defense Sign*
On December 2, 1961 Americans picked up their newspapers and saw for the first time what would quickly become an indelible symbol of the Cold War: The yellow and black National Fallout Shelter Sign. The sign's purpose was to mark spaces designated by the United States government as having been certified for public shelter in the event of a nuclear attack. The shelter program was initiated by President John F. Kennedy's administration and continued, more or less, for the remainder of the Cold War. Over the years thousands of spaces were marked by the ominous upside down triangles and they soon faded into the background of everyday life. But it was during the panic of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962—when shelters were being marked at a furious pace—that Mark Spoelstra wrote his haunting ode to the sign and all that it represented. This topical folk song first appeared on 'Broadside Ballads Vol. 1'—the same version heard on this collection. A live rendition was included on Spoelstra's Folkways LP 'Mark Spoelstra Recorded at Club 47 Inc.' Lyrics to the song appeared in Broadside Magazine # 22 (1963) alongside an artist's rendering of the familiar survival symbol…

28. Melvin Gayle Khrushchev Twist*
For thirteen days in October of 1962 the Cuban missile crisis put the entire world on edge. Americans wondered if Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was crazy enough to push the nuclear button and Russians wondered the same thing about U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Fortunately for humanity neither side unleashed their missiles and the Cold War was allowed to return to its default temperature. Just one month before the crisis erupted, this novelty rock song that imagines Khrushchev dancing The Twist while "thinking about megatons" was issued on a small Houston, Texas label called Castle Records. One of the tune's co-writers, T. Randell Karber, said in an interview that he and his brother Bill (the brothers also co-owned Castle Records) were inspired by Nikita himself: "Well, it was just seeing his crazy antics on TV and everything. We wanted to make a comment on it." Karber added that it was Herb Remington (perhaps best known for playing steel guitar for Bob Wills) who acted as session leader for the recording and rounded up the musicians and the backing vocal group heard on the track. According to Karber, who also produced the song, Paul Buskirk played lead guitar and Red Novak played drums. He could not recall with certainty the names of the rest of the session personnel. Melvin Gayle, also interviewed for this collection, remembered that the production was quick and took only "two or three takes." Unfortunately, the song was unable to harness the chart-topping power of The Twist and it quickly faded from view. Karber explained the circumstances in his interview: "At the time, it was hard to get any of the radio stations to play it. It was kind of controversial, so we didn't get a lot of airplay." …

29. Dude Martin's Round-Up Gang Atom Bomb Baby
"There's no if, no or maybe, this atom bomb baby made a total wreck out of me." An accordion-driven pop-country number (not to be confused with The Five Stars' song of the same name that is also heard on this collection) that serves as another hummable guilty pleasure from the Cold War. This tune likens the destructive energy of an atomic bomb to that of a temperamental, conniving (and redheaded!) woman.
Dude Martin was born on his father's cattle ranch near Plainsburg, California in 1915. As a child he learned how to play his father's banjo and by the age of 15 playing that instrument and competing in rodeos were Martin's favorite pursuits. It was in high school that he started a band, The Nevada Nightherders, in order to take part in a school show. The band continued to play as an act after the school show and before they knew it, they were offered a slot on KLX in Oakland. By 1939 the band had increased to ten members and was known as 'Dude Martin's Roundup Gang.'…

30. Thelma Farmer and Hal McKinney Orchestra Atomic Love*
This modern love song has our female singer declaring her starry-eyed joy right up front:
They've got atomic bombs, They have atomic subs, But ooh hee hee I've got atomic love.
But in a nod to the controversy over fallout, she adds that her love is safe and pure: "Atomic love is forceful and there is no doubt, there isn't any danger of real fallout."
Thelma Farmer was likely a native of Detroit, Michigan where her atomic platter was recorded for Shelby Records. The equally romantic B-side was Fantasy Lover and both songs were written by Ella Mayberry. Farmer cut at least one other 45 for Shelby: Love Of My Life (0301) b/w I've Got A Magic Lantern (0302)…

31. Dr. Strangelove and the Fallouts Love That Bomb (Suggested by Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove)
This deliriously wacky song was released as a promotional tie-in to the 1964 Stanley Kubrick classic 'Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb).' The tune with its bent lyrics and sound effects certainly captures the anarchic spirit of the film and then some.
As indicated in the Columbia Pictures pressbook for 'Dr. Strangelove,' this single, as well as a limited distribution 'lobby record' version of the song were good marketing tools for the movie: "Colpix Records is releasing a special recording of the song 'Love That Bomb' as sung by ' Dr. Strangelove And The Fallouts.' Reverse side of the recording carries 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,' played by Laurie Johnson And His Orchestra…"…

32. Groucho Marx Civil Defense Spot: Excellent Chances >P< 1953
The secret word is atomic. Groucho Marx, a certifiable comic genius and cultural icon, was an ill-suited choice to impart deadly serious civil defense information, but if it was name recognition that the government wanted, they got it. One can only imagine how odd it was for the casual Cold War listener in 1953 to turn on their car radio and hear the lead Marx Brother say in his familiar cadence, "Did you know…that your chances of surviving an atom bomb attack are excellent?" Even today the listener half-expects Chico Marx to chime in with some rejoinder about there being no 'Sanity Clause.'….