UGE –Mad Charles

UGE –Mad Charles/Mad Charles Love Theme –WGW Records HMR-889 (1975 USA)

Not sure if this is going to be everyone’s bag, but in my opinion this is one of the most remarkable and truly insane releases from the Seventies. Mad Charles is a tin-helmeted Superhero (the world’s first karate robot!!!) who wreaks untold violence on the A side but gets all tender and squidgy on the B side. Greg Shaw may have coined it perfectly in an RPM review by calling it Garbage Psychedelia… I could even go one further and just call it plain retarded! Not sure who UGE is, but the label was based in Somerville, NJ and the credits indicate that this is a Laser Dynamics Inc production- there's even a picture of a laser machine on the label!

Thanks and curses to Collin for turning me on to this one! Now the really scary part: There may be another “B” side to this single entitled Sophie The Polish Chicken Hen. The flipside on this release has the letter C following the catalogue number, so in fact it may only be the C side… God forbid if there’s an unreleased album in the vaults of some derelict laser factory in New Jersey!

Listen to an edit of both sides of the single