One day in 2003 a vinyl collector was sorting through some records at a flea market and noticed a collection of unplayable cardboard discs with amazingly intricate, hand-drawn covers. These soul and funk "records" were by unheard-of artists like Audio Andre, Rambling Ralph, The Outsiders and Mingering Mike. Many were shrink-wrapped with prices attached, but all were handmade with scrap cardboard and felt pens. Turns out these were all artifacts of the fantasy life of one African-American man in Washington, D.C. from the 60s and 70s. His daydream alter-ego was Mingering Mike, a famous soul singer so influential he nurtured the careers of many other artists, whose cover art he also imagined. Mingering Mike wrote over 4,000 songs, including film soundtracks, comedic song albums ("Boogie Down at the White House," featuring "the likenesses of Richard Nixon, Frank Sinatra" and others) and an album tribute to Bruce Lee. Mike doesn't like to reveal his real name, but his vinyl creations have been exhibited and apparently the film rights to his life have been optioned. Read more about this fantasy soul superstar
here.
One day in 2003 a vinyl collector was sorting through some records at a flea market and noticed a collection of unplayable cardboard discs with amazingly intricate, hand-drawn covers. These soul and funk "records" were by unheard-of artists like Audio Andre, Rambling Ralph, The Outsiders and Mingering Mike. Many were shrink-wrapped with prices attached, but all were handmade with scrap cardboard and felt pens. Turns out these were all artifacts of the fantasy life of one African-American man in Washington, D.C. from the 60s and 70s. His daydream alter-ego was Mingering Mike, a famous soul singer so influential he nurtured the careers of many other artists, whose cover art he also imagined. Mingering Mike wrote over 4,000 songs, including film soundtracks, comedic song albums ("Boogie Down at the White House," featuring "the likenesses of Richard Nixon, Frank Sinatra" and others) and an album tribute to Bruce Lee. Mike doesn't like to reveal his real name, but his vinyl creations have been exhibited and apparently the film rights to his life have been optioned. Read more about this fantasy soul superstar here.
1 comment:
Oh Mingering Mike is the man! I saw a lot of his pieces at a music-themed art exhibition last year, and it was awesome!
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