Music

Robert privately produced a record that he called One Man Band -- Bob Vido, ca. 1974. I found a copy at a flea market in Los Angeles. It’s slathered with his postcard-sized reproductions of his artwork, a photo and some typically strange writing that references his comic “The World Beyond” and his triumphantly strange book “Rhizology”.

News! In early 2008, collector Bob Perry contacted me about his recent discovery: a hitherto unknown single-sided Vido LP titled High Speed from ca. 1975! Read on for the story...

One Man Band LP and Single

One Man Band's first side (labeled “Songs” in red pen) is all Robert solo on accordion doing erratic versions of original, old-fashioned sounding ditties with titles like “The Fridgenometer” and “Jam Ride”.

Upon flipping the record to side two (labeled “Horns”), we are treated to serious Vido over-dubbage, as he maniacally accompanies himself on drums, sax, trumpet, clarinet and organ.

LP Details

Introducing himself as Robert Vidoloff in front of nearly every track, things get more and more cacophonous until he reaches his opus “Total Creative Music”, a barrage of pseudo-mantra chanting, organ-droning free jazz which beats the listener senseless for 5 minutes…just before launching into his 7-minute excerpt of his Sun Ra-like Piano Concerto.

What’s great about his record is of course, like a lot of “outsider” music, is its earnestness. Bob means every note that he plays, and he’s out to have a good time. And that makes it unique.

It is my hope that this record will eventually be released on CD - perhaps as a limited edition.

Interestingly, there was a single stuffed into the record jacket also credited to Bob Vido, One Man Band. Two non-originals: "Shine" and "Tiger Man" (basically "Tiger Rag"). It was probably produced around the same time, though there’s no date. In fact, after diligent research, I cannot find any record of him playing anywhere on any session! Who knows where Vido residue may turn up?

The Bob Vido LP is available in its entirety on iTunes. Click here to check it out.

High Speed - single-sided LP, ca. 1975

Collector Bob Perry of Florida turned up a rarity. A single-sided LP that Bob Vido had created, presumably around the same time he was promoting his One Man Band record.

Musically, it contains 5 tracks from his full-length: High Speed, Rockin' the Blues, Girls Delight, Total Creative Music, and the Piano Concerto.

Design-wise, it is similar, but with a number of interesting differences, the most interesting being a beautiful, hand-drawn back-cover with a brilliant paragraph about his background.

Thanks to Bob for discovering this totally new piece of Vido history.