Mr. Turnkey, Cary Lynn Javes - Zager & Evans (1969)

[eddiem1111]

Lovlier than oil rights???

[mrmjb1960]

Both Lp's were on a Domestically-Issued CD a Couple of Years ago,I believe..they were "In the Year 2525(Exordium & Terminus)/Zager & Evans"..it was on a German Import,too,with both the Lp and 45 version of "Mr. Turnkey",one as a Bonus Track.

[skipstreet]

TgwDrAltoid...according to Wikipedia" Mr Turnkey" is about a rapist. He gets arrested and then nails himself to the prison wall.

[weirdal27]

I found a record today that is 2525 with Mr. Turnkey as a B-side. I can't find any reference to this 45 anywhere, weird.

[goldsmice]

By the way, he is saying "lovelier than oil lights." Not "oil rights." I say this because I have read reviews which derided this song for its lyrics, and citing the latter as an example. Well, it's not - they are saying "oil lights," although I know it sounds a little like an "R" sound. Oil lights as in, from an oil lamp. That is quite lovely, although oil rights are lovely too (if you're Daniel Plainview, for instance.)

[dunskie]

Mr. Turnkey, she was lovelier than "oil rights"?

[oilwell1946]

I remember when Mr.Turnkey was released after 2525. Sad to say it never even broke into the Billboard top 100. It was bubbling under, I think around 103 or 104. I always thought it was a great song. Never have figured out why it didn't catch on. What a waste.

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

cant tell the record label...

[wilkes85]

RCA Victor

[oilwell1946]

They recorded on RCA

[goldsmice]

I just want to know how he brought a hammer into the jail cell. And are the walls made of wood?

[wilkes85]

He could have used any blunt object as a hammer, and you can hammer a nail in the mortar between bricks, or in the cracks in cement.

[goldsmice]

HOW were these two guys able to sync their voices so perfectly? It's so obscure, this song (the second one in particular) but, Christ, I don't think I can think of any pop group of before or since with two male vocalists who harmonized this well.

[Rightsideup]

@goldsmice I'd say the Everly Brothers were just as tight.

[FiswaT]

cool

[kloppek2]

thanks for all this nice music made b4 year 2000

[goldsmice]

Aces! Amazing song especially the second one. These songs aren't even on fucking iTunes...WHY OH WHY? I was on a job the other day and the foreman brought in a radio and tuned it to the pop station...I swear I heard that motherfucking "Disco Stick" song by Lady Gaga nine thousand times. I want to completely annihilate the atrocity which is modern mainstream pop music. Zager and Evans should be rich and famous, not these untalented hacks of today.

[Fever655]

@goldsmice The pop stars of today are creating music that is much different from the music of zager and evan's era. To call them "untalented hacks" just shows your ignorence. Many people enjoy their music as much as people enjoyed music like this video. The young people of today tend to like the pop music played nowadays because it's good for dancing in clubs. That's the popular lifestyle of young people, so artists are creating music that reflects this lifestyle.

[Fever655]

@goldsmice Continuing... I don't mean to say that modern pop music is any better than this music, but I am trying to say that it isn't worse. It's so completely different that it's impossible to create a rational scale to compair them on. I enjoy this type of music for what it is very much. I also appreciate artists like Lady Gaga who create bizzare, intriguing music with a strong beat to dance to. So please don't bash modern pop music, it's not for everyone but that doesn't mean that it's crap.

[goldsmice]

@Fever655 There are some decent pop acts today. The White Stripes is OK. Some of John Mayer's melodies are good although I hate the sound of his voice. I guess it depends what you mean by "pop". I don't think there's anyone on mainstream radio stations targeted towards 15-25 demographic who's really any good. Lady Gaga is definitely a hack...I will never agree with you on that. There is absolutely nothing that she's done which wasn't already done (better) by Madonna or Cher decades ago.

[goldsmice]

@goldsmice furthermore: pop music today is totally void of instrumental skill. It's completely created by dorks in the studio who get no recognition at all, while the figurehead performer who can't play any instruments gets all the glory. Autotuners (we don't even hear true voices anymore), everything is synthesized, "singers" lip-synch in concerts, and samples are ripped off of older songs. The whole scene has zero originality. No, there is nothing Lady Gaga has ever done that's original.

[goldsmice]

@goldsmice There were some phenomenal female acts in the 1990s: The Cranberries, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Alanis Morisette, etc. They played real instruments and they used real human beings in their bands and their lyrics were interesting. This is the female songer tradition carried on from Joni Mitchel, Stevie Nicks, etc. There was some real originality back then and there were women who were sexy because they put all their heart and soul into the music. Gaga is just an overproduced circus-act.

[Fever655]

@goldsmice Yes indeed it is true that most mainstream music is created without instruments, but you must give credit to the people working on their computers to create the sound. I've used programs like ableton, logic and even fruityloops to create electonic music and it's quite difficult. It isn't entirely true that they get no recognition. Artists like David Guetta, Deadmau5 and Tiesto have been wideley recognised alongside producers such as Redone.

[Fever655]

@goldsmice As for Lady Gaga, we could argue about her all day. One thing I will agree on is the Auto Tuning. I would rather listen a singer hit a few wrong notes but know that it's genuine than listen to a perfect version of the song that I know has been altered. I also agree that people shouldn't be using older music for their song's choruses. I don't know how you feel about the rap scene today, but I think if there is one area where we can find talent it would be there.

[Fever655]

@goldsmice Rapping has changed over time, and gotten less decent and more profane, but there are still artists who spew well thought of lyrics. When I say this I'm speaking about Eminem, Drake, Lil' Wayne, Kanye, Dre, etc. Anyway, like I said before, mainstream music is to be enjoyed for what it is. When I listen to it, I don't think about whether or not the artist is talented, I think about whether or not I like the song. And quite often, I do, but that's just me personally.

[TheDrAltoid]

holy crap, i'm only 15 but i'm addicted to this stuff!

btw, who's mr.turnkey; is he like the prison guard?

[Fly1ngP0t4t0]

@TheDrAltoid nah hes a rapist who nails his hands to the prison wall. wikipedia is awesome.

[spuddy345]

@TheDrAltoid

Mr turnkey is the rapist.

[massdrewski]

@TheDrAltoid yes. he is repenting before what sounds like his impending doom. it really shows how ones self will hide our shame until our lives are at stake. We will repent and admit to all. great song. Check out 'I've Gotta Get a Message to You' by the Bee Gees -1968. similar song genera and age

[dunskie]

August 16th 1969 was Day Two at Woodstock.

Hey Turnkey!!!

[fable1995]

wher is the song little kids from zagar and evans

on the b side from in the year 2525?

[BamberClarte]

How can you nail your wrist to the wall?

You need one hand to hold the nail and another to hold the hammer!

This can't be a true story.

[SpoonEM1]

It's actually quite simple to do that. Without holding the hammer, place the nail into your wrist by pushing on it. When it's firmly in, pick up the hammer and hammer away!

[BamberClarte]

good thinking - but I'm still cynical about the availability of nails and hammer-like implements in prison cells.

[Madrocker1954]

You've got to remember that back when this incident happened (1969), jail/prison buildings didn't have security cameras/closed circuit TVs. Just every so often security checks on the prisoners. Suicides did happen although hanging by bed sheet was the pretty common method.. But, it wouldn't have been all that unusual for a person to have found another way. My guess here is that the man found a loose nail in the wall or took one in and no one caught it.

[TheElectricHeat]

sorry, you mean skeptical. but cynics do tend to also be skeptics. just ask my ex!

[SounzNice]

I've never heard such blended harmonies as these two singers especially on Cary-Lynn Javes! It's as if there is only one singer. It's amazing. One of my favorite songs too.

[tttar]

I just know that any day now you'll log on to gemm and get that rare single they did called Hydra 15,000 and play it here for us. A real Zager and Evans fan would, you know. ;-)

[tempemoore]

I heard Cary Lynn Javes only once on the radio about 40 years ago. I loved it. Thanks!

[Zacomonta]

The tale told in "Mr. Turnkey" was supposedly based on actual event, in which a man raped a woman while drunk. And upon sobering up while in jail and realizing the horror and shock of his crime, committed suicide. It was amazing RCA released the song as a single. Not the kind of stuff for a Top 40 song.

[breness1]

Thank you so much for posting these!

[DessertFoxProduction]

im only 29 and i heard 2525 for the firt time yesterday and now i'm relly enjoying these guys! :)

[aridrums]

me too!:) i'm younger than you,but I only knew in the year 2525 played by ten years after

[brianjharkins]

WOW

Take me back !!!!!!

[PWitness]

And you thought they couldn't do anything more unsettling than "In the Year 2525".

You were wrong.