Cartoons in Stereo was the brainchild of Bob Prescott, a prominent sound effects artist from the (g)olden days of network radio (he worked on such high-profile programs as Cavalcade of America and Lux Radio Theater). On this early stereo LP, Mr. Prescott and friends make the many and varied noises, while veteran voice artist and commercial pitchman Cy Harrice (pronounced like “Sigh Harris”) provides the spoken parts for a series of 23 short, minimalistic comic vignettes punctuated by bursts of hyperactive player-piano music. I suppose you could call these “blackout skits” but for the fact that this is a record and you can’t see the lights go down. (more…)
Dan Rowan and Dick Martin were in the comedy business long before Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, the famous 1968-1973 TV series of which they were dual hosts. In fact, the LP “Rowan & Martin At Work,” which appeared in 1960 on the Trey Records label, demonstrates that they had their two-man shtick well down and polished before the age of color TV and go-go dancing. (more…)