One Million Dollar Records, June 1999
All of the tracks on this CD are available at this YouTube link.
Back in the late 1990s, the indie music CD scene was booming and the local City Paper free weekly tabloid, as well as various hipster zines, were never short of reviews of oddball discs. So it was that in 1999 I ordered this CD from the long-since-gone German indie outfit 'One Million Dollar Records'.
The concept certainly was cool: compile 15 songs, all themed to Spaghetti Westerns, from a lineup of various indie rock bands (mostly of German and European origin). While I didn't recognize all of the participating bands, I did recognize Polo Del Mar, a well-regarded surf-rock band from the late 90s.
There are some duds in 'Spaghetti !', such as the opening track - a two-minute rendering of the theme from 'Hang 'Em High' on fuzz box guitar, by Hank Ray and Thee Executioneers.
But once you get into track two, 'Have
a Good Funeral' by The Hellbenders, then the best of the album comes through, and you'll be hard pressed not to throw on your gun belt and poncho, stick a cigar in your mouth, mount up, and ride forth for stolen gold.
While some tracks stay true to the classic Spaghetti Western music of the late Enio Morricone, others - like the Daytona's 'Baked Beans and Chicken' - meld the Spaghetti and Surf Rock sounds into something with a little of both.
According to Discogs, CDs and vinyl versions of 'Spaghetti: Duck You Suckers !' have rather steep asking prices, and one guy on eBay is wanting $158 for a 'mint condition' CD.
Needless to say, this is ridiculous. Judging from my listening to the CD in my possession, the tracks available at YouTube have more than adequate audio quality........I recommend adding them to your own personal song repositories.
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