Vanguard Squad is pleased to announce the release of the first ever Mingering Mike record, 38 years after it was recorded. Mike and his cousin, The Big "D", recorded "There's Nothing Wrong With You Baby" at Mike's house in 1969. The tune is a vocal duet (with "D" slapping an afro pick against a phone book for rhythm) dedicated to a young woman, encouraging her to be unique, to stay in school, and not let the schoolboy detractors get her down. This release is a benefit. All profits will go to Mike. For those of you who may not know, Mingering Mike grew up in Washington DC, an introverted young man influenced by the soul groups of the day, he dreamt of becoming the next James Brown or Marvin Gaye. In place of having real albums to release, Mike started making fake records out of cardboard--something to use as a place marker until he had a real record. Throughout the '60s and '70s Mike drew fake album covers on cardboard for records that didn't exist, by artists that didn't exist. After creating a cover for his imaginary band, Mike would make a cardboard record to fit inside. Over the years, Mike created hundreds of fake records, wrote thousands of poems, and recorded himself singing (often with his cousin).Mike was drafted for service in the military during the height of the Vietnam War. After boot camp, Mike went AWOL, hiding from the military police and the troubles of Vietnam. Living underground pushed Mike further into his imaginary world, and those years proved fruitful for his art, if troubling for his state of mind. When President Carter established a program for amnesty for war resisters in 1977 Mike was free to live a regular life and come out of hiding. With his newfound freedom, adult life and a full-time job, Mike had less time for art. The fake albums, reels of recordings, and his poetry all went into storage. Mike's career as a soul superstar had happened all in the privacy of his home. On January 15th, 2004, Soul Strut's very own Dori Hadar found Mike's belongings and
posted some photos of the Mingering Mike records in the spirit of our traditional "weekend finds." Dori looked to Soul Strut to help understand what he found. In typical Soul Strut fashion, the board went nuts. For those of you who were witness to this explosion, I'm sure you'll agree it was one of the best things to happen to this forum, if not
the best.With the help of Frank (Fatback) Beylotte, Dori tracked Mike down, told him he found his artwork (which had been dumped by the storage company after a few missed payments) and asked if Mike was interested in sharing it with the world.Flash forward three years; Dori has acted as a loyal liaison between Mike and the outside world. I can't imagine a better person to receive this incredible, imaginary world of wonderful work. From first glance, it's clear that Mike is unique, to say the least, and Dori has worked tirelessly (even quitting his job for an extended period to dedicate more time to, as he said, "full-time mingering") on making sure Mike's art was treated with the respect it deserves.
Vanguard Squad exists outside of the entertainment industry as an outlet for the creative pursuits of our friends. We are humbled to have friends like Mike and Dori. In the two years we've been working on this record, I've given considerable thought to Mike; his past, the dreams of his adolescent years, the choice to keep his creativity to himself, and the explosion of interest that has hit him like a ton of bricks years after he had put his treasure to bed.Mike's story is the stuff of fantasy, absolutely unbelievable... but undeniably
real. It's also a story of complicated contradiction. As a young man, Mike dreamt of being a soul superstar, yet kept it all to himself. As an adult, Mike built a life outside of his teenage dreams, and has been quietly delighted to see so many people engaged by his work. It's like having your diaries published while you're still alive. To have strangers pouring over the utopia of your salad days must be weird.This is exactly the kind of record we had in mind when we started this label. Mike's music, not to mention his art, is indescribably unique. When you listen to him it's clear that he is completely into the song, 100 percent. I root for anybody who can put it all on the line like this, and I am instantly attracted by hearing someone un-self-consciously doing their own thing with no consideration for anything outside of the song. Over the years there have been discussions on this board about "great" music and what makes a "great" song. I have always contended that those who work outside of any pre-ordained 'good' strategy make music that is truly engaging, timeless, and capable of making me weep like a baby. The first time I heard Mingering Mike I was startled and amazed. I didn't know if the sound was terrible or not. He was attempting to play a kind of music I was familiar with, but the actual sound was utterly his own. If you don't appreciate this record as an untempered piece of genuine expression, then I predict you and I will continue to disagree in future threads about "great" music.Mike's extreme shyness makes his recordings the perfect example of a private press. Comparisons to Wesley Willis, Jandek, Daniel Johnston, or other "outsider" artists are only half-right. Mike may share the same obscurity as his fellow outsiders, but his work isn't driven by eccentricity, novelty or psychosis. His art is a result of his healthy imagination, but to label it simply "outsider" (or worse yet, "weird") is to do it a terrible disservice. The catalyst and necessity of his work must be understood as it existed even before it was expressed as art. The work is the result of his introversion, his surroundings and his fantasy. Mike's art is the result of his extraordinary way of looking at the world. Hopefully, those of you that come for something "weird" will stay because of the conviction and content of the work. Mike's sincerity is far more outstanding than his eccentricity.
As a token of thanks to those of you who were here when this began, we've decided to offer our allotted promotional copies of this 45 to the folks who posted in the original Mingering Mike thread. The thread fell off the face of the internet years ago, but I went through it and collected all the names of the board members who posted. We've got about 50 freebies, and there are about 72 of you, so if your name appears in the list below, please 1)
contact us here, 2) tell us your board name, and 3) give us your name and mailing address and we'll send you one. Peace to those of you who've kept the same name...1980BeatzAgent45AlienIVERSONBirdman9CahootscentrschriscoldsweatcrazypoprockdayDCarfagnadCastillodeepstankDIGGADIGGAdiscjockingmostDizzy_BulldjannadjdazeDocBeezydollar_bindrewnedubFunky_GuzzoGamblegibla74handcorkscrewhcrinkHotsauce84iDOXindiana45siron_monkeyjamesJawnny_Cashjinx74johmbolayaJRootKARLITOkojacklandonLaserWolflongtallsimonLooksLikeSinbadluceroMeasureUpMikeFreedomRockMingMikeFanmylatencyNateBizzobr
/>nessODubolden_style_hatsonthe1optimusprimepacmanPhill_Mostpj4533Plantain_ChipsPlantweedRaystarredclayritmo69Secret_ChimpSensiRidersimssoulmarcosataiconderogaTerry_ClubbupTREWtripledoublewaxjunkyYemskyyoungEINSTEIN
The record is a limited edition picture sleeve 45. The artwork, 45 labels and insert are all exact duplicates of Mike's original art. We took great care in transferring the original 1/4-inch 7ips reel-to-reel tapes. We did not impose any production aesthetic on the music, so what you see, as well as what you hear, is how Mike planned.You can purchase it online from Vanguard Squad for $7. If you're afraid of the internet, you can purchase it from various board members who own record stores: Good Records NYC, Jump Jump (Portland), Som Records (DC), among others.The record is distributed by the good folks at Dischord Records in Mike's hometown of Washington DC, so it should be available at your local independent record store before long.Judging by the amount of emails we've gotten, this record won't last long. We're offering it to you first. Get it in! You're standing on the verge of getting it on,
really getting it on.I guess I had a lot to say... let me end this with in the tradition of another long lost thread:
What It Do On Some Hot Links?Buy It Now!Listen to "There's Nothing Wrong With You Baby""Defining Private" (A longer biography of Mingering Mike)
Home of all things MingeringDischord RecordsGet Dori's book,
The Amazing Career of an Imaginary Soul Superstar while you're thereThanks for reading. Peace & Power to All Man Kind,~Bambouch??
Bambouche
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Comments
Now's your chance to give back to the man, the myth, the minger. Buy with abandon, and share with your loved ones.
You won't regret it ever.
JRoot
Just...wow.
what he said
When the Mingering Mike thing was unfolding I was at a job I had at the time and I just remember my heart was pumping so hard... it was really something special...
This thing right here is crazy...
I will definitely get on this... can't believe I didn't post in the OG thread...
thank you.
I will have copies at the Night Owl Record Show Saturday night. These are limited numbered additions, and I have low numbers.
Thank you Bam, Thank you Dori, Thank you Frank, Thank you asprin and most of all Thank You Mike!
And the fact that it's all going to Mike, is wonderful.
Dope that discord is distributing it, so he will get his:)
most def, will buy a few copies!!!!
Just ordered a few, Mike's music is as cool as his artwork. Truly amazing
I thought I did but I guess not. I was knee deep in school at that time. Still remember reading the thread from the begining and being blown away.
i registered like a week after that mega event/thread started, and only understood it after a lot of catching up. wish i'd had the guts to post in that thread but i was too green. Very happy to contribute the $ now though!!! Bought the book when it came out, its so well done.
Really, this is as cool a thing as is going down right now. Nice job.
One question though, why did you press it on a small-hole 45?
Probably to display more of Mingering Mike's artistic goodness!
I appreciate the gesture, but please, dude. My ticket stub is my recompense. You've got PayPal.
I remember things really jumping off that Friday--the day after Chimp's post--and I remember having a hard time sleeping that night, knowing that something like this was coalescing, both out there and in here. The whole thing was sustaining and redemptive in a way that I don't think any of us believed that anything so deeply record-related could still be. And it's still just extrordinary.
anyways...congrats to everybody involved and thanks for the record dori!!! the packaging is ultra-proper.
good work fellas
On my move to Germany in August, I carried only one record: the Mingering Mike 45 Bam handed me two days before I flew.
If the records I shipped had been lost, I would be living with only the MM45.
I think I could have survived with that.
Congrats mike. It's real.
This may be of benefit to some
http://web.archive.org/web/2004041416274...b=5&o=7&fpart=1
I was at the flea market the morning Dori found the covers and last week he brought Mike by the shop and presented the record to him for the first time. It was also when Mike first heard the single in its final form. I feel blessed.
I still have a few left if any DC heads need them.