7/29/16

Train Your Bird To Talk (Eagle Record Company, 1976)

Before you ask, yes, yes this is a real thing.  I'm not even going to make fun of it.  Well, okay, I bought it because it seemed hilarious, so there.  But what I can't do is tell you whether it works or not.  If you own a bird, you have a huge benefit over people that purchased this album originally:  you have the technology (to quote the opening of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN), and by that I mean, you can use the digital version of this album, set your device to replay it infinitely, and probably end up with a bird that says "HI, BABY" a thousand times in a row.  (Seriously, how 70's is that. I am surprised there's not a track for "What's your sign?")  There, I said I wasn't going to make fun of it, and now I'm getting off track.  Here is the back cover:
There's a helpful and serious article about bird-owning there, as well as a list of birds that talk, some of them I've never even heard of.  Here's a closer look at the tracks included:
They are nice enough to tell you that it's a female voice doing the talking, and it appears that she's not looped, from what I listened to.  Oh, and I should tell you about the music!  When you first start the record, you think you are in for an acoustic-prog experience, because that's what happens, but it fades down to nearly nothing when the woman's voice starts talking, staying on the very edge of audibility, until the end.  I was surprised at this, because I've read that birds will imitate most anything if they hear it enough (birds in pool halls make "racking and breaking" billiard sounds; my mother had a parakeet that would beep out the alarm-setting keypad noises)...so why would you include a bit of music on a record that solely exists for birds to learn from?
Eagle Records has the hits! We've got them all, including "How Are You," and who could forget "Hello Pretty Bird"?!...wait, that was "Silver Eagle Records" I was thinking of, a sort of K-Tel subsidiary back in the day.  Nevermind.

LINK:  Train Your Bird To Talk (Eagle, 1976)

3 comments:

Chris Sobieniak said...

I miss those days of pointless bird singing/talking training records! We lived in such an enlightened time back then!

Sampoerna Quatrain said...

Me too! That is exactly what I was trying to convey!

Anonymous said...

Hey, amazing! Can you please do a repost? <3