Creepy Clown Pictures Cavalcade!

Let me just say, I love thrift stores.  I spend as much of my time as possible in thrift stores and various places of such repute.  I will dig through the scummiest crates or shelves in the lousiest of flea markets, looking for treasures.  Once, in a dingy hole in a bad part of town, I thrust my hand under a pile of stuff and stabbed something (I will never know) so far under my fingernail, I ended up having to get a tetanus shot. I have dragged Children and loved ones regularly through garage sales, estate sales, and auctions, but my favorite prime slices of Americana are thrift stores.  

That said, I have noticed of late that there is a disturbing amount of Creepy Clown Paintings that are appearing in the places I frequent.  At first, I stopped to photograph one in particular, because it is the scariest thing I have ever laid eyes on.  But yesterday, I had to take some more pictures, because the sheer amount of these things showing up lately may be a sign of the collapse of civilization.

I bet I've seen fifteen of these things lately. In different places......so where are they coming from? And why? Did Red Skelton's private vault explode? I will probably never know, but I'm determined to document this phenomenon from now on.  

I hope you are ready for the most terrifying thing I have seen in years.....you have been warned.  Look at this. Batten down the hatches.  Hide the children.

This is so wrong on so many levels......I'm a little queasy at the moment, and I think I have to stop typing.

"Actual Wild Turkeys Recording" (WE Record, circa 1961)

I'm going to let this record speak for itself....there's not much I can really say that won't make me look like I need to be in a padded room somewhere for buying this...

What I can tell you, though, is what the PURPOSE of this record was. Apparently, there was a thing called a "Call of the Wild Record Player," made by Wightman Electronics in 1961.  This was a portable children's record player in a steel case, and only took 12 or so D batteries.  You can imagine how heavy it must've been.  The idea was, a young, intrepid explorer would haul the thing into the woods, plug in a speaker, hang it in a tree or something, and use the recordings of real animals to...well, that's where my story breaks down.  What WAS he supposed to do? Call herds of wild turkeys in to attack him? Shoot them with his Red Ryder BB gun? Train them as his own personal army and attack the schoolhouse? You've got me.  I did find some photos of the actual record player in various places, and here's what it looked like:

You have to marvel a bit.  This was the era of wood-burning kits and lawn darts....but then again...today we have toys designed to make children sound like "T-Pain."

Godzilla Movie Poster Collection (part four)

So what do you do when you only want one-half of a Double Feature framed? Just fold it the way you want, and it looks like this:

I was about out of wall-space, anyway!

The Death of Ray Bradbury (and his importance here)

We lost a good one this week.  The great Ray Bradbury has a link, you may not know, in the creation of Godzilla.

How, you ask? Well, it goes like this.  He wrote a short story (entitled "The Foghorn" I believe) about a beast coming out of the sea, attracted by the titular object.  This story was published in a magazine, which in turn inspired/was stolen/absorbed into a movie called THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS. (He and the equally great Ray Harryhausen remained close friends.)  Well, it just so happens that two equally great men from Toho were in the United States, and saw the film (which I would say is also great, but I've used up my allotted quota of "greats" by now).  Flying home to Japan, and looking out into the ocean, the idea for Godzilla descended like a beam of inspiration straight from heaven.

If you ever saw the great (oops) series THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER, which dramatized various stories of his, it began with beautiful shots of his office, crammed full of books, papers, and artifacts.  If you looked with a keen eye, you would see, in one corner, a Shogun Warriors Godzilla, apparently painted white or at least light gray.  I always thought this had to do with him being not the father, but at least the grandfather, in Godzilla's lineage!

Rest in peace, and thanks for all your work; the team of living luminaries is now even smaller.

Godzilla Window Cards (1963-64)

One of my latest acquisitions is a pair of cool Godzilla window cards.  Window cards are different from movie posters or lobby cards because, well, as the name implies, they were designed to be posted on the glass of the theater or ticket window.  There is usually a blank space at the top for the theater to print showtimes (often you will see these handwritten), but I lucked out here, in that these are unused.  

After scoring a movie poster for GODZILLA vs. THE THING (1964), I was after something that showed the "other" artwork associated with the film; specifically, the amazingly brave marketing campaign that obscured the identity of Mothra (strangely, from a modern perspective, all I can think about when I see those writhing tentacles is Biollante).

The first thing I noticed about these was that they are a bit bigger than lobby cards, and are printed on heavier cardboard. One thing that makes the KING KONG vs. GODZILLA (1963) one very different is that the artwork (from the movie poster) is flipped, and Kong is on the right. Both cards are printed by the Benton company, as it says in the fine print.

All in all, a very nice addition, and would be extremely cool framed...if I could find an inch of empty wallspace these days!

Some of My Personal FAILs... (part four)

Also known as a "bass".....

Godzilla Movie Poster Collection (part four) & KOTM Coloring Book (1977)

I've really lucked out in the last few weeks, and obtained some treasures. I never thought I could be patient enough to wait for these particular items to finally become available, but I guess patience really does have a value after all.

First up, here is the GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS coloring book, published by Resource Publishers in 1977.  This is another of those things that I would have devoured as a child, but never knew it existed.  It's an interesting book, beginning by concentrating on Godzilla and his abilities, and then sort of turning into a book about various dinosaurs in the process.  They actually say that Godzilla is a particular dinosaur (an Allosaurus, I believe), and then use that as a transition.  "Therefore he would have met these other interesting dinosaurs..." Of course, in the pages about Pterodactyls, there is no mention of Rodan...heck, there's no mention of any other kaiju with dinosaur characteristics, like Angilas or Gorosaurus.  So, that shows you how limited Toho licensing was at the time.  The strange thing is, there are three full pages of black and white, actual movie stills randomly placed in the book, from GODZILLA's REVENGE and SON OF GODZILLA, so other kaiju do appear, such as Minya and Gabara, they just aren't acknowledged.  Weird. Either way, I've been dying to add this vintage jewel to my collection, and thrilled to finally do so.  

As a bonus, I bought it in a lot that included another gem, a 1977 coloring book published by Whitman called THE INCREDIBLE HULK AT THE CIRCUS! That one's a riot.

And now to the issue of the final movie poster, and a bit of a history lesson.  An interesting thing happened when 1974's GODZILLA vs. MECHAGODZILLA was brought to the United States.  With the mid-70's mania surrounding ABC's "The Six Million Dollar Man" (and later, "The Bionic Woman" of course), the distributors decided to change the title to......GODZILLA vs. THE BIONIC MONSTER.  Well, this went over like a diaper in the proverbial punchbowl, and ABC promptly leveled a lawsuit at Cinema Shares.  After all, the use of the word "Bionic" would clearly be confusing to the ignorant movie-going public, who would pay for tickets fully expecting Godzilla to be battling Steve Austin, right? Right? Well, that makes no sense to me either, but let's keep moving.  The film had already been released, and although I'm sure plenty of posters were printed, I betcha that tons of them were recalled or destroyed.  I lucked into one recently, and am quite proud of it.

Note the unusual use of the artwork from the Japanese poster; this was a rarity for American posters, and you can tell it was done with permission when you compare it to the Japanese one.  In other words, they received original elements, or else it would have been cropped much more severely to hide the Japanese title and other stuff.  Now, even though it's completely awesome, I have to complain a bit about the overachieving aspects of the painting.  It is really trying to be way too much at once....note how Mechagodzilla is firing from every orifice of his body, Godzilla is blasting him back, and yet they still tried to cram in Mount Fuji, as well as a spectral, floating demonic "thing" in the background that is supposed to be King Caesar, but where the rest of his body went, I have no idea.  And poor Angilas' eye is blank, as if he's been blinded from the fifty explosions all around him!

Fast forward a bit, as the distributors cave into ABC's deep pockets, and speedily re-title and re-release the film as GODZILLA vs. THE COSMIC MONSTER.  (No word on whether the Silver Surfer tried to sue them over use of the word "Cosmic.")  This may seem like an unnecessary slap in the face to kaiju fandom, but it resulted in one of the greatest paintings ever done for a movie poster in the history of God's green earth.

My photo isn't exactly stellar, but no doubt you are familiar with the work, painted by Basil Gogos. (It was also used for the cover of FAMOUS MONSTERS #135 in 1977). Without a doubt, this is one of the best depictions of Godzilla I have ever seen.  He didn't just capture the facial expression and design of the particular suit; he nailed it.  And the Mechagodzilla is equally stunning, right down to the MG on his arm.  Just note how much better the action is, compared to the Japanese painting.  The two are locked in combat, and MechaG is firing an entire volley of finger-missiles too late, as Godzilla closes in, while the first poster is simply everything blowing up.  It's like comparing a Michael Bay movie to...well, a real movie.

This probably goes without saying, but while I will treasure the BIONIC poster as a historical rarity, the COSMIC one is going on display in my final bit of wallspace!

Godzilla Movie Poster Collection (part three)

I have picked up more original, theatrical Godzilla posters lately, and I should (hopefully) soon be done with a complete set of everything that played theatrically in the United States (including GODZILLA 1985 and GODZILLA 2000). Here are my latest additions:

Whoops--the barcode isn't part of the poster. 
It's on the shrink-wrap of the frame!

First off, a word about the famous poster from the original, 1956 American version of the first film.  Real specimens are rare as hen's teeth, and can easily command a thousand dollars.  I have seen ONE real McCoy in the last several, several years on Ebay, and it was completely trashed....to make matters worse, the seller pulled it down, and didn't even complete the auction.  And yet, there are hundreds of copies on Ebay at any given time....this has to be the most-copied poster, and indeed, many of the ones on Ebay state in all honesty that they ARE reprints.  The problem is, some of these are done on big ink-jet printers, and they are of pitiful quality.  Some are photographically copied, and are quite blurry.  You will also see several of the 11x17" ones that various kaiju sellers offer.  These are excellent in quality, and very frame-worthy if you are limited on space.  They often come in huge protectors, sort of like expensive trading cards are put in. They are very affordable, and I would say nothing negative about them....but for my purposes, I'm looking for 27x41". So what is someone to do, who's looking for a full-sized KING OF THE MONSTERS poster?

I found the answer quite by accident, and the short version is, in the late 1980's (probably around or just after the time of GODZILLA 1985), a certain company offered a high-quality, super-sharp reprint of the KOTM poster, on heavy stock, and it's superb.  I bought one a few weeks ago from an honest Ebay seller....the problem is, many aren't so honest, and many THINK they have something really rare, when they don't at all.  In fact, there is one of these on Ebay right now, this week, for an $1800 Buy-It-Now....um, if this was a real 1956 movie poster, shouldn't there be some obvious clues? Or how about this: shouldn't it at least have FOLDS? Remember to use your head, folks, when you are looking at these types of things.  You should probably pay somewhere between $50-75 for one of these, and I can vouch for its awesomeness.

Next up is a real find indeed....I also recently scored an extremely nice 1964 GODZILLA vs THE THING poster.  This has been one of my top wants, and I've always been impressed with the marketing gimmick that kept Mothra a "secret" from the public.  Nobody does that sort of thing anymore! It's gorgeous.

Finally, for this round, we have a weird one.  There are two cases where classic Godzilla films were included in Double Features in the USA:  one being alongside another Toho film (MONSTER ZERO/WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS), and the other....not so much.  For some reason, GODZILLA'S REVENGE was paired with an obscure British pseudo-Hammer film called, in reality, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT.  Leave it to America to re-title it ISLAND OF THE BURNING DAMNED.  Even though it included both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, the plot is--and I'm not kidding here--aliens land in the wintertime and make it really hot.  Sigh.
I haven't yet framed this one, but I think I'm going to fold it in half when I do so, and just display the important part.  After all, I am fast running out of wall space!

In fact, I have room for one final full-sized, vintage movie poster...but what will it be? Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!

POPEYE - OYLE ON TROUBLED WATERS (Peter Pan Records, 1976)

Not too long ago, but then again maybe two years ago, I received an unopened copy of this read-along from a collector who was unloading lots of extra stuff from his collection.  I re-discovered this item over the weekend, opened it (remember kids: old shrink-wrap just KEEPS SHRINKING over the years!), scanned the book, and ripped the record.

If you were a child in the 70's, then your experiences often included items from Peter Pan/Power Records.  The very thorough listing in the back of this book only shows 45-sized items.  There were comic-sized read-alongs, and scores of long-playing albums, often using very talented actors. 

There are pros and cons to this Popeye story.  The biggest "pro" is that Popeye is voiced by the late, great Jack Mercer, and thank goodness for that.  And also, I have to give the artist they hired credit for a decent and passable job trying to re-create the feel of the Bud Sagendorf era of Popeye comic strips...in fact, it's unusual for this size of read-along that the entire book is done in comic-strip format, and that is interesting in itself.  There's also a bit of the KFS-era cartoon feel, in that we have "Brutus" rather than "Bluto."  (Still wish it was Jackson Beck, though.)

The "cons" are weird, though.  It's very sparse on sound effects...there's not even a whistle for the pipe-blowing at the end of Popeye's theme song; Mercer has to vocalize it.  The story is rather nonsensical and anti-climactic, and the title, while a decent play on Olive's name, has no meaning to the story itself, as she is just along for the ride, and there's hardly much of a ride.

The worst part to me is the deus ex machina of the whole thing...Popeye eats his spinach, SAYS he's going to do something magical, and does it, without so much as a sound effect to indicate this....and then Olive congratulates him on saving the day...all in one panel.  This could have been executed so much better!

Wha? Did WHAT?! Is he The Flash now or something?

But, at the end of the day, it's a classic Peter Pan read-along, so what are you gonna do.  Plus, it was fresh out of the package (but shouldn't brand-new, unplayed vinyl NOT be crackly? That is suspicious, like it was duped from another record....but I cleaned it up, so worry not). Enjoy!

Dig that poor kid's 70's Game-Show host blazer!

CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS Model Sheets (1978, Hanna-Barbera)

Note the Bat-8-Track Player (?) and TWO ACCELERATORS!

I have a real treat for you today.  Here is a set of model sheets from that seminal classic of my youth, CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS.  If I had to list the animated series that defined my childhood, the many incarnations of Superfriends would rank just under BATTLE OF THE PLANETS.  The Hanna-Barbera version of the Justice League of America dominated Saturday mornings (and afternoon syndication) for 12 straight years, and most of the 214 adventures are available on DVD....but not all! (Do you hear us, Warner Brothers??? Economy be damned; give us our Superfriends!)

Anyhow, these are pretty much solid awesome.  You will notice that some are from the first group of model sheets for the original series, and re-titled for this specific production (after all, the original Alex Toth designs continued to be used).  But that doesn't mean you won't get to see some really unusual items, such as the dashboard of the Batmobile, Clark Kent, and lots of things that were new for 1978, including Legion of Doom members!

Here's an interesting Factoid:  I read an interview yesterday with  Darrell McNeil, who was a young animator at HB, and he said the original concept for the team of villains was to be called "The League of Evil" and include Dr. Sivana (as Captain Marvel was to be included in the Superfriends at that time), The Joker, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman! You can read the interview, and many more, comprising an entire "history of the Superfriends" at this amazing blog I discovered, called Noblemania, at http://noblemania.blogspot.com/. 

"Solomon Grundy punch Solomon Grundy!!!"

Model Sheets back up for a limited time!

Challenge of the Super Friends Model Sheets

Some of My Personal FAILs... (part three)

Actual image from dog-training book.

Not only is this "model" terrifying, but...anyone up for a game of PING-PANG?

I love it when Southeast Asia produces animated videos about American History. 
No wonder our children are stupid.

This is actually a page from a 1928 book of "Riddles" I found.

Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012)

 It is with great sadness that I note the passing of one of my last living heroes, Ralph McQuarrie.  

My personal list of living heroes and luminary figures of unbridled creativity is dwindling at an all-too-quick pace.

I once wrote to him, and he sent me a page from his sketchbook, with a lovely hand-written reply, that I treasure to this day. Rest in piece, one of the last true Geniuses of this age.

In the book I wrote last year, THE CANTINA COMPENIUM, here is the paragraph I composed to introduce him:

"On the short list of names without whom we would have no Star Wars, McQuarrie’s name should be just under that of Lucas. Besides designing Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Stormtroopers, the droids, and several sets for the film, contributing heavily to the overall look of Lucas’ story, his amazing fingerprints are all over the rest of the first trilogy. His vibrant, painstakingly-drafted masterworks are true treasures, combining the lines and discipline of a master draftsman with the unbridled creativity
of a true visionary."

Godzilla (Hanna-Barbera) Model Sheets! (1978)

My first exposure to Godzilla, like many American children of the 1970's, was this animated series.  Even though it was strangely out-of-sync with all that I came to know about Godzilla, and more akin to Jonny Quest in style, my epiphany went something like this:  I was five years old; I woke up one Saturday morning, went downstairs to the typical 1970's behemoth, wood-paneled color television, and positioned myself in front of it, only to find (after it warmed up) the "Calico Clones" episode....yes, this was Godzilla, I knew about him! I used to go to a friend's house around that time and we would battle giant Shogun Warriors! This was the same Godzilla! It was one of those moments that you remember forever, and I still love this series.  Yes, it exists in its own unique universe and style, but I have made it a point to begin my own Children's indoctrination with it, and they have all loved it.

EDIT: By the way, Sony/Classic Media...will you PLEASE release the second season of this series on DVD? You've half-done the job, and now all of those are out of print.  Ok, if you did a boxed set of the whole show, I would re-buy it...but don't tell anybody!

LINK: Model Sheets

LEARN-PLAY BONGOS WITH "MR. BONGO" (Liberty, 1961)

You know, recording an old LP, converting it, and cleaning it up is a royal pain--but every once in a while, I run across something that I just can't resist.  This is one of those items.

Whether you are serious about learning bongos, (and, if you require an instructional album to teach you, you have my sympathies) or, whether you are looking for some primo sampling material, or, whether you are bored out of your skull, then this album is for you.

I couldn't present it here without scanning the inner sleeve, which includes some useful information for the aspiring bongo student.....and somebody who owned this LP was, because the thing was so well-played, if was about fried.  I had to do maximum clean-up work to it!

Although there is no trace of a date on this album anywhere, I learned that it was released in 1961, which would be right in the midst of the American Bongo Craze, which here we will call "Beatnikmania," and involved lots of Dobie Gillis viewers.   Other kids had yo-yos and hula-hoops, but if you had bongos, man, you were cra-a-a-azy cool.

Let me just call your attention to the cover.  In a strange prediction of the artwork for Led Zeppelin's "Presence" album, we have different members of the 1950's nuclear family, all posed with the same object. But just feast your eyes on the photo at the top left:  the mother/housewife, complete with apron (only the pearls are missing, and I bet she's in high heels).  She isn't even HOLDING the bongos; they are on a stool or step-ladder or something...in fact, she seems to be pawing the air, and not even facing in the right direction...perhaps she is imagining herself strangling the husband (second photo), or perhaps his mistress.  Apparently she has run for the shelter of her "Mother's Little Helper" a few too many times that day...whether all this is a commentary on the American Family of 1961, I will leave to you, dear reader, to decide.

As a fun factoid of the day, "Mr. Bongo" is STILL performing and touring!

Tom Lehrer Rarities Volume 5 (Leaping Fox)

The wait is over.  The bad news is, this looks like the final volume in this series, unless I can track down the handful of elusive bits that are out there, somewhere on the planet. (Discussed below.)

 As I mentioned before, Sphinx patron Arthur Castro's help was invaluable in pointing me in the direction of the full Bob Claster tapes (which have been cleaned to remove the tape hiss, and boosted a bit), as well as the two parodies that Mr. Lehrer prepared for Garrison Keillor's "American Radio Company" show, both for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Not only that, but he also was kind enough to point out that there were TWO performances of the "Hey Mr. Producer" show (sounds like a volume of HEY, MR. SPACEMAN, now that I notice it).  The one recorded for album release was the NIGHT BEFORE the one released on video.  Therefore, we now have an additional "Poisoning Pigeons" to enjoy.

While we are on the subject, and as I prepare a package to mail to Mr. Lehrer, let's briefly discuss what's left "out there" that would make a splendid Volume 6:

1) THE REMAINDER OF "THE PHYSICAL REVUE"  This exists, and I would hope the owner of the very old wire recorder-made tape would be interested in me improving it, as I did the rest of the songs (see Volume One). 

2) "THE SAC SONG" The Tom Lehrer Discography website says there's a soldier who claims to have a recording of Mr. Lehrer performing the whole song, perhaps as a guide for the film-makers working on "A Gathering of Eagles."  Who knows if this is even true.

3) WTBS INTERVIEW (October 20, 1965)  The rest of the tape that gave us "The Subway Song" contains at least one further in-studio performance.

[2024 EDIT]: This is now on the Tom Lehrer Discography website for download.

4) "WITHOUT AN S" Ah, the "lost" Electric Company song.  I can't tell you how many VHS tapes of old episodes I have dug through trying to get lucky here, how many fruitless trades, and how many Internet Search Hours I have wasted.  I have researched this quite a bit, and I can tell you it was sung by the great Rita Moreno, it was a parody of a song entitled "Without a Song" (which may be the reason for its elusiveness: rights), and that it was aired in one of the early seasons.  The hunt continues.

5) "TREES" This was a song that was newly-recorded for the REMAINS OF TOM LEHRER boxed set, and then not used.  It WAS, however, issued on "promo cassette" versions of the set.  I seem to recall reading it was a cover, but I can't find my source at the moment. [2024 EDIT]: This has now been officially released on THE CONDUCTED TOM LEHRER!

There you have it.  Worry not; I'm on the case. 

LINK:  Tom Lehrer Rarities Volume 5
NOTE: Please see elsewhere on this very blog for other volumes, Voices of Vista, and MORE!

GODZILLA Board Game (Ideal, 1963)

I have added one of the Holy Grails to my collection, the GODZILLA BOARD GAME made by Ideal in 1963.  Not only does is this game rare as hen's teeth, and not only does this game boast gorgeously beautiful artwork, BUT I read on one website that it was the second Godzilla item ever produced, barring one tin toy in Japan. More importantly: the FIRST AMERICAN GODZILLA ITEM!

Now, common sense tells us that this might be a bit of an exaggeration...you mean by the third Godzilla movie, Japan, toy geniuses of planet Earth, had only made one Godzilla toy between the years of 1954 and 1963?   But I digress, let's talk about the game!

I have to be careful not to drool on it.  It's just that lovely to behold.  It's wonderfully complete--I have seen some on Ebay that came with an instruction sheet, but mine has the instructions printed on the inside of the box lid. The game was made during the excitement surrounding KING KONG vs. GODZILLA, which, as I've said below, was a big hit on both sides of the ocean.

I'd be remiss if I didn't plug the great Vintage Board Game Guru I bought it from--if you are looking for a vintage board game,  you absolutely must check out GAMES GONE BY and talk with Desi.  Not only does he have a huge and amazing collection, and literally wrote the book (two, in fact) on the subject, but he also has an entire page of classics for sale.  You'll be glad you did!

KING KONG vs. GODZILLA (1963) Vintage Poster!

I'm happy to add the eleventh vintage American Godzilla movie poster to my collection--this is a spectacular poster that I recently picked up (it was a Christmas present, in a roundabout way), and it's in excellent condition.  Not only was this iconic film the first Godzilla film in color, and the most successful of the series in the United States, but it, more than any other, cemented Godzilla into American culture permanently. 

Tom Lehrer Rarities Revisited - Volume 4 (Leaping Fox)

It's a funny thing.  I started this blog to upload strange or interesting records that I find at flea markets and thrift stores, and occasionally talk about collecting.  But mostly it's been a way to feature my own compilations, and in doing so, I get to correspond with lots of interesting people. 

Last Christmas, when I unleashed my remastered collection of TOM LEHRER RARITIES upon the world, little did I know that it would end up putting me in touch with Mr. Lehrer, the man, himself! (By the way, he was very happy with the discs, and I was privileged to send him a copy personally, and exchange letters with him!) My one goal was to celebrate his work, and point more people in the direction of buying it, of course.

It's been one of the most popular downloads here, and even appeared on some torrent sites for download.  And then, I got a very nice comment from a Sphinx patron, Grammarian, who shared with me an hour-long BBC special that Tom Lehrer narrated, called "Self Biopic."  It was then I knew that there would be a Volume Four.  Add to that a couple of other items that have surfaced over the last year, and you have a finished disc.

The other "new" items in question are an additional performance from "The Frost Report," and the soundtrack to the "Pollution" environmental short, made by Astrafilms, and viewable on YouTube. There are actually two versions--the first (1966) uses the original live performance of the song that was released on LP, and the second (1967) is of even more interest, since Mr. Lehrer recorded a new studio version of the song especially for the film.

 So, therefore, I think this is this year's "Christmas present to the world." I hope it is enjoyed.  And, I'll have to be sure and send Mr. Lehrer a copy! Let's hope that some more "holy grails" surface for 2012.

LINK: Tom Lehrer Rarities Volume Four
NOTE: Please see elsewhere on this very blog for other volumes, and more!