No matter what folks say or write about how great the Helen (Erich) Keller record is. You’ll never get it until you listen to it. As you might hear it’s not some gutter punks fooling around in the studio. These guys have some real talent and knows exactly what they’re doing. It could’ve resulted in some so so jumping on the bandwagon record but no no they manage to crank out the exact right feeling. I wonder what they wanted to achieve with this release? 200 copies pressed with a white stamped sleeve. Did they just want to hand it out to friends and family to show off that they could play punk too?
Ryan has digged out some info:”The “band” was the demented brainchild of a man who mainly produced commercial jingles for a living, Norman Durkee. Some of Seattle’s persistent rain had obviously soaked through his skull and settled on his brain, and a “speed punk” concept developed. Friends and acquaintances from the “studio scene” were brought in to play.”
Country: USA
Year: 1978
Label: Blitz
Format: 7″
Songs:
Surfin With Steve And E.D. Amin.mp3
Dump On The Chump.mp3
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Thanks for posting this, I’d never heard it before, and it caused chronic bonerz.
You’re welcome Jerk Ass. Helen Keller a punk rockers Viagra?
It most certainly is
Surfin’ is a fantastic song! We all know who Idi Amin is, but who the hell is Steve?
Fucking killer, one of the best 7″s I ever heard! I only wonder what the story is behind all these copies on ebay in the past month or so.
I heard there was a French guy named Pierre who found a box of 10 copies in some small village in the south of France.
Some Durkeeana, courtesy of “George from Ottawa”: “A fellow by the name of Norman Durkee plays piano on this song. The story behind his performance on the song is that Mr. Durkee was a pizza delivery guy who dropped into the wrong studio with a pizza (apparently that had been ordered by Steve Miller who reportedly was in another studio in the building) and he commented to Randy Bachman that the song needed some spicing up with a bit of honky-tonk-like piano and he showed Randy what he had in mind. BTO decided to give the idea a try and liked it and made the recording with Mr. Durkee. He gets piano-playing credit for the song on the album cover.”
Good Lord.
Sorry, I was so shocked that I forgot to mention that “this song” refers to is “Takin’ Care of Business,” recorded for BTO II in Seattle in 1973.
And this has something to do with Helen Keller?
Man,
do you have Buzz, Jeff Hill Band and Sneeky Pete?
Sometimes, you just gotta say “fuck”
Fuck!
Never heard this. Fuck! What a great record, thanks!
just found this site and love it… this song… amazing! I have to find it myself
this record is a fucking ripper. i spent 6 months in seattle and saw no hellen keller for me to find. the copies going up on ebay must have been in somebodys basement a long time. and i totally would have bought those up had i been at that yardsale… now im in LA, anybody got an opus 45 they dont want?
Apparently, it’s 300 copies made and not 200. Got a copy from the recent around $50 batch, ok record but nowhere as near as DOGS slash your face or HOLLYWOOD SQUARES.
Who cares?
I heard the copies going on ebay are from some one in the band. They have been going up pretty steadily on ebay and the prices have been falling.
Great record.
somin dat i read i said she wuz raped by her dad
that is not the time if it was 1049 i would be sleepin but it iz 2.49
anybody ever find that isuzu commercial they used surfin on?
Vic, the Steve in Surfin’ is a play on words: There was a singing group, a married couple named “Steve and Edie Gourmet.” Norman just dropped their last name and put in Amin, and swapped Idi for Edie.
Dylan, I have a copy of the 2003 re-release with Mein Death Kampf Shuffle, Rats! (With Cocks This Long), and a reprise version of Dump on the Chump, in addition to the two songs heard on this website. Are you interested in that? It’s never been played.
Holy fuck. Putain chiotte bordel.
If you close this blog, I’ll kill 1000 random people, then I’ll kill myself, then I’ll track you down and kill you too.
It’s just like a punk Captain Beefheart !!!
Or maybe my sick brain is the only one thinking that ?
no there were 300 pressed on this one
Norm Durkee died January 2014.
The Helen Keller Band:
Norman Durkee – Keyboards, Vocals
Dan Dean – Bass
Beckowitz: Guitar, Vocals
Fred Zeufeldt – Drums
Recorded at Kaye Smith Studio B by Dick “Doctor A” Maltby
thanks. i like this a lot.