So, I’m at our local twice-a-year vintage festival, “A Whole Lot of Lulu,” possibly spring of last year. Sometimes we call it Lulufest, because the store that sponsors it is also called “A Whole Lot of Lulu,” and distinguishing between the store and the vintage festival . . . well, that’s definitely a lot of Lulu. So I’m there, and there are a few record vendors in among the vintage clothes, typewriters, and metal stepstools from my grandmother’s house — the kind that were gloriously chrome and turquoise seat pads but that would also slice your finger off if you weren’t careful when you opened them. Prettier than anything we have today, and deadlier. And going through the boxes of one of the better vendors, I see an old familiar sight that I have to admit I don’t run across often in Pennsylvania’s used record stores: Blotto’s “Hello1 My Name is Blotto. What’s Yours?”
Well, that’s the cover, anyway, and that’s the title — but this is not the four song EP that launched a hundred summer porch parties. This is, if anything, a sort of best of collection. Unlike their other releases, this is not on Blotto’s own label, but on Attic Records, a Toronto label. Apparently it came out in 1983; I have no idea where it was distributed. It includes five songs from Combo Akimbo as well as “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard” and “(We Are) The Nowtones” from their EP of the same name, and “My Baby’s The Star of a Driver’s Ed Movie” from “Across and Down.” So, I was super confused when I found this at Lulufest, because I had never seen it before, and I can’t recall another instance where a band has reissued most of one album under a previously used title from another album. Was Canada clamoring for Blotto? Possible. Don’t know.
“Contents are sold by weight not volume. Some settling may occur during shipping. For additional volume, turn up your stereo.”
Hello! My name is not Blotto!
Canada – or at least Ottawa – had a bit of a buzz for Blotto. Local commercial radio station CHEZ-FM played some of their music, as I recall – especially “Metal Head”, by 1983. The note of thanks to Harvey Glatt probably indicates he was instrumental in Blotto’s popularity north of the US border. Glatt owned CHEZ-FM, as well as a bunch of local record stores (among other interests) and likely had some influence with Attic Records, at the time. There is a Wikipedia page for Mr. Glatt; I recommend viewing it (also one for Attic Records – though Blotto is not listed).
Because of the air-play Blotto received on CHEZ-FM, this album was added to my own collection at around the same time. I cannot recall whether I bought the LP before, after, or at the time I went to witness their show (at a small, hotel basement venue, here in Ottawa). I can, however, vividly remember what a blast of fun I had on the occasion!
Even these days, every time I see a “Hello – My name is” sticker, my default is “Blotto”!
Thanks for the distractions!
Great story, thanks for sharing! Sorry it took so long to approve the comment – didn’t get the notification.