2.19.2007
MORE PLEASE!
Uge Mad Charles b/w Mad Charles Love Theme 45 (WGW, 1974)
Why is the moon made of cheese? Is the ocean really filled with God's tears? Who buys midget porn? What was the event, the force, the explosion that resulted in Uge's Mad Charles? These are all questions which have no answer, riddles that will plague us until our dying day. Perhaps there is no explanation for a record about a robotic karate master who seeks peace but will fight and destroy when need be. Maybe there is no explanation for why a song that sounds like it was made some time between 1966 and 1969 has a release date of 1974. And why the song doesn't go on for another five, nay ten minutes so Mad Charles can fight every single stereotype known to man is something we will never know. I think it might be a good idea just to let the genius of Uge be.
I lucked into this record. I was behind the counter at the bookstore one day when Mike Trouchon walked in and gave me the Uge 45 with the words, "You are gonna dig this." I thanked him and he disappeared.
# posted by Scott Soriano : 07:53
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"Mad Charles" slays me every time I hear it. Eugene Viscione (a.k.a. Uge or Geno) certainly had a way with words and music, didn't he? Oddly enough, "Mad Charles Love Theme" wasn't the record's first b-side. It was originally released in '74 with "Sophie the Polish Chicken Hen" as the flipside. "Sophie.." is a hoppin' county-tinged pop psych number about a not too bright chicken (c'mon, she's Polish and it's 1974 after all) who almost gets run over by a train. Geno is perhaps best known by garage collectors as the producer of The Werp's "Love's a Fire" (also on WGW). "Uge" wasn't Geno's only attempt at stardom as he can also be heard a few years earlier ranting on the Time Masheen's "The Big Black Bird" (WGW 329). A friend who used to be in contact with Geno said he's just as much of a character when he isn't behind a microphone. Imagine that. Let's hope there's more Viscione genius to be unearthed out there. Thanks for the post, Scott. - Trouchon
I was standing in line at the bank when this came on my music player. It made all conventional notions of economic and fiscal rectitude immediately null and void. Now I'm broke but happy.
I was gonna play this, then read the comments and decided to hold out for a copy with "Sophie The Polish Chicken Hen" on the flip.
Hey, It's Great Shakes is now unretired.
Todd
Hey, It's Great Shakes is now unretired.
Todd
Sadly, Eugene "Uge" Viscione has gone to that big recording studio in the sky. He was truly a visionary and a creative genius.
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