(Oh no! Not) The beast day!
March 21, 2011 9:17 AM Subscribe
Owner of this iconic afro? Singer on the amazing "(Oh no! Not)The Beast Day!"? Muse for "Brown Sugar" and mother of Mick Jagger's child? Star of the musical Hair? The third stage breast cancer survivor? Author of these books? Not several people but one Marsha Hunt.
She recorded a nice version of "Walk On Gilded Splinters" among other songs, as well.
posted by jonmc at 10:07 AM on March 21, 2011
posted by jonmc at 10:07 AM on March 21, 2011
Damn that song rocks. Thank you for introducing the holy fucking awesome into my otherwise stupid Monday.
posted by thivaia at 10:19 AM on March 21, 2011
posted by thivaia at 10:19 AM on March 21, 2011
Wow, her version of 'Walk On Gilded Splinters' is the only one I've heard that I like as much as this one.
What an amazing person, thanks for this post! I was looking for books to read on a upcoming trip and I think I might try one of her novels.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:27 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
What an amazing person, thanks for this post! I was looking for books to read on a upcoming trip and I think I might try one of her novels.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:27 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Claudia Lennear was the inspiration for "Brown Sugar."
posted by raysmj at 10:45 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by raysmj at 10:45 AM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Blog says that there are no CDs of her music for "one very good reason" - and then completely fails to say what that reason is. Anyone?
posted by caution live frogs at 11:02 AM on March 21, 2011
posted by caution live frogs at 11:02 AM on March 21, 2011
Marsha's version of Walk on Gilded Splinters (and the album it came off) was in constant rotation among my friends when it first came out.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:28 AM on March 21, 2011
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:28 AM on March 21, 2011
This picture of Hunt with her daughter Karis Jagger is severely cute. I also like this picture of Karis with her father, grandfather, and half-sister.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:28 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:28 PM on March 21, 2011
I really like these pictures. what a stunning smile.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:28 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:28 PM on March 21, 2011
This picture of Hunt with her daughter Karis Jagger is severely cute.
Karis looks exactly like her dad. That's really uncanny.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:58 PM on March 21, 2011
Karis looks exactly like her dad. That's really uncanny.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:58 PM on March 21, 2011
Claudia Lennear was the inspiration for "Brown Sugar."
Don't let Marsha hear you say that.
posted by mediareport at 2:34 PM on March 21, 2011
Don't let Marsha hear you say that.
posted by mediareport at 2:34 PM on March 21, 2011
Her records are out of print and quite collectible. anyone know where the can be heard for research purposes?
posted by macadam9 at 3:26 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by macadam9 at 3:26 PM on March 21, 2011
"Guilded Splinters"
/pedant
/wrong
No, looks like he's actually right, and I was wrong.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:41 PM on March 21, 2011
/pedant
/wrong
No, looks like he's actually right, and I was wrong.
posted by lumpenprole at 3:41 PM on March 21, 2011
I also like this picture of Karis with her father, grandfather, and half-sister.
Grampy Jagger looks absolutely adorable!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 4:23 PM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Grampy Jagger looks absolutely adorable!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 4:23 PM on March 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Note that in lumpenprole's link, the song is "guilded" on Dr. John's 45, but "gilded" on hers. Hence the confusion?
posted by pasici at 4:48 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by pasici at 4:48 PM on March 21, 2011
GAH! I really want a copy of her (Oh No, Not) The Beast Day but it's incredibly unavailable.
posted by kernel_sander at 4:55 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by kernel_sander at 4:55 PM on March 21, 2011
Holy crap. I had never heard of her before, and now I'm mourning the fact that I'm not going to be able to run out and buy everything she made. Damn you, rongo.
posted by Aversion Therapy at 5:21 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by Aversion Therapy at 5:21 PM on March 21, 2011
Holy shit, I have never heard that song, (Oh no, Not) The Beast Day, I always thought that was some silly little ditty dreamed up by the band Guadalcanal Diary for the last track, called "Vista" off of their album Flip Flop. Shows how much I know....
Great post, thanks!
posted by msali at 8:20 PM on March 21, 2011
Great post, thanks!
posted by msali at 8:20 PM on March 21, 2011
ThatCanadianGirl: Grampy Jagger looks absolutely adorable!
And his dad looks mighty spiffy too!
posted by hangashore at 9:30 PM on March 21, 2011
And his dad looks mighty spiffy too!
posted by hangashore at 9:30 PM on March 21, 2011
Wow, (Oh No Not) The Beast Day was a song we used to sing at Girl Scout campfires. I always kind of wondered where the heck it came from.
posted by troublesome at 10:40 PM on March 21, 2011
posted by troublesome at 10:40 PM on March 21, 2011
Wow, (Oh No Not) The Beast Day was a song we used to sing at Girl Scout campfires. I always kind of wondered where the heck it came from.
My wife, who grew up in Orange County, tells me something similar: she swears she remembers the tune of this song from skipping in the playground. I told her she must must have gone to the most achingly hip school - but maybe the skipping chant pre-dates Marsha Hunt's version?
Having drawn a complete blank about where to obtain a commercial copy of this song I found an MP3 copy here. Most of the material on youtube appears to be from ripped 7inch singles rather than from albums. Even getting hold of a discography was beyond me but her albums seem to include the above mentioned Walk on Gilded Splinters as well as Woman Child as well as this Disco Album. It is about time somebody re-released her material.
posted by rongorongo at 1:59 AM on March 22, 2011
My wife, who grew up in Orange County, tells me something similar: she swears she remembers the tune of this song from skipping in the playground. I told her she must must have gone to the most achingly hip school - but maybe the skipping chant pre-dates Marsha Hunt's version?
Having drawn a complete blank about where to obtain a commercial copy of this song I found an MP3 copy here. Most of the material on youtube appears to be from ripped 7inch singles rather than from albums. Even getting hold of a discography was beyond me but her albums seem to include the above mentioned Walk on Gilded Splinters as well as Woman Child as well as this Disco Album. It is about time somebody re-released her material.
posted by rongorongo at 1:59 AM on March 22, 2011
Damn! It looks like "(Oh No! Not) The Beast Day" features the chant from the clapping song "Down down baby, down by the roller coaster" - the link shows "normanthepig" demonstrate the whole thing while standing on his office chair.
posted by rongorongo at 2:25 AM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 2:25 AM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bizarre: I remember all of "Beast Day" EXCEPT the part taken from "Down Down Baby" as a game chant from a day camp I went to as an 8-year-old. No idea what we used to do along with it. Actually it may have just been a call-and-response song--this particular day camp was big on those. It was also where I learned this classic.
It NEVER occurred to me that "Beast Day", which I always imagined being spelled "veastday" or "beestay", was anything but a made-up chant passing from person to person, until today. Thanks for the post!
posted by gillyflower at 11:04 AM on March 22, 2011
It NEVER occurred to me that "Beast Day", which I always imagined being spelled "veastday" or "beestay", was anything but a made-up chant passing from person to person, until today. Thanks for the post!
posted by gillyflower at 11:04 AM on March 22, 2011
It sounds like she was also singing a bit from "Eeny meeny sizzleiny/dessameeny" too - so that is maybe the part which sounded familiar - believe it or not Julia Bishop has written a 44 page academic paper on this song. Somebody could do a great FPP about clapping games really.
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 PM on March 22, 2011
posted by rongorongo at 3:19 PM on March 22, 2011
And if anybody at all is still reading at this point: I sent an email to Julia to ask if she knew what the missing song was: Kuma la Vista it turns out (many thanks). It does sound like all these rhymes are commonly put together into a medley. It is a great idea for making a hit record - which is why it is such a shame it turned into merely an expensive collectable.
posted by rongorongo at 4:16 AM on March 24, 2011
posted by rongorongo at 4:16 AM on March 24, 2011
Oooh! That's my version, complete (with a few odd words here and there), on page 24 of the Julia Bishop paper! Very exciting! Thanks rongorongo!
posted by gillyflower at 12:44 PM on April 4, 2011
posted by gillyflower at 12:44 PM on April 4, 2011
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posted by doctor_negative at 10:05 AM on March 21, 2011