MAD Magazine "It's A Super-Spectacular Day/ Mad Super Special Summer 1980" (MAD, 1979)
Yanked from the comments section, a totally cool anonymous reader has uploaded ALL EIGHT ENDINGS to the "MAD Mystery Sound" flexi "It's A Super-Spectacular Day"! Copywritten to 1979 but released with the 1980 Summer "Super Special", this marvel of engineering would play a random ending with every spin of your turntable thanks to the multiple grooves that it had allsmashedalongsideeachother. Like tons of other looney kids, when this came out I was obsessively driven to hear (and in my case, record) all eight endings, resulting in the song being lodged v-e-r-y d-i-s-t-i-n-c-t-l-y in my head, no doubt for life. Playing all 8 MP3s in a row can really only minimally replicate that experience (maybe if you do it about 70 times at random before you allow the final version to complete you'll get close), but I guess since time is so much more valuable these days than it was 26 years ago it's all for the best.
Thanks again to the reader who added the files!
Link Removed
posted by Jason at 4/29/2006 12:59:00 PM
46 Comments:
Wow. Very cool deal. I'd never heard of this one.
That CD-ROM of every mad magazine issue would be awesome. Unfortunately there'd be no back cover to fold...lol. Oh well. Thanks again jason, and to your reader wsho contributed this one.
Dave
4/29/2006 3:04 PM
I pretty much never ever thought I'd hear this song again. Very cool!!
Katy
4/30/2006 5:30 PM
Actually, I have that CD of every MAD (6 CD's actually)... and you CAN fold the back covers.
The fold-ins let you drag by mouse. The only one that doesn't work is one where the fold in was on a diagonal for one issue.
5/01/2006 10:29 AM
This is amazing! Thanks so much for posting it. . . the rest of your blog looks really great too!
5/01/2006 10:30 AM
This is GREAT - thank you! When I had the disc as a kid, it almost always played the version that begins, "You go out for a spin and the sunroof caves in...". I tried and tried to play all eight, but I think I only managed three.
5/01/2006 10:41 AM
I bought that Mad issue from a local grocery store ("The Open Pantry") when I was a kid. I bet if I dug around my parents’ records the next time I visit them, I might even be able to find it.
I had forgotten all about that. AHH... MEMORIES! It makes me want to take the summer off, ride my skateboard, eat a few Charleston Chews, and drink Vernor's Ale 'til I puke!
5/01/2006 11:32 AM
Holy crap! I remember playing this 'disk' obsessively that summer - the result being that I still remember all the words to the first part - and am still quite happy to sing it for the uninitiated. I cannot thank you enough! My friends, however, might want to have a word with you....
5/01/2006 12:21 PM
i don't suppose anyone has ripped a copy of another Mad flexidisc: "Makin' Out"? i bought a copy of that issue when i was a kid, but i never owned a record player. my collection is long gone, now.
5/01/2006 1:13 PM
i remember this one... probably still ahve it my old box of 45s... anyone remember the other MAD song, "Nose Job?"
5/01/2006 1:23 PM
Thanks for this... fun stuff...
And, I'm with dave... anyone have this one...
"All I'm makin' out from all this makin' out,
Is that everyone's makin' out... but meeeee."
5/01/2006 1:37 PM
I remember Monty Python had a three sided record, caused no end of fun trying to get the right side.
http://www.snopes.com/music/media/groove.htm
5/01/2006 1:49 PM
I've actually got "Making Out" laying around, I'll see if its flexi-condition is fit enough for a transfer (I think it also appeared on Kid Rhino's "Mad Grooves" CD which, though out of print, is probably still getable).
As for "It's a Gas" you can snag it right here, along w/ the rest of the "Fink Along With Mad" LP. Enjoy!
5/01/2006 2:40 PM
This is going to drive my kids crazy, they have NO IDEA why I've been singing this song all of their lives, but are about to find out. Thank you so much!
- Stu
5/01/2006 2:49 PM
I have seen several of these Mad record titles on ebay. Keep checking or perhaps put it down as a favorite search, and you'll be notified whener one shows up. A lady just had all 3 of the Mad flexi records on sale with a lot set of about 40 other 45 rpm records. She was going to sell them to me separately if the auction went unsold. Unfortunately, at the last minute the bidding wars began, and they got sold.
Dave
5/01/2006 4:01 PM
Oh, Man. I remember this. And "It's A Gas".
My favorite one was, I think, a "tribute" to disco. My personal favorite was a dance called "The Disco Clap"
5/01/2006 6:54 PM
Thank you! thank you! thank you!!! I remember having this flexi-disk as a kid! Who knows where the record got to, but the words of the song were burned into my young brain! I see I am not the only one who played it a million times to see how many songs there were - and to make sure I had heard all of them!
5/01/2006 8:42 PM
Thank you so much! I thought I was immune to nostalgia by now, but no.
I also remember spending countless hours trying to hear all eight endings, and how some were less likely to play than others.
5/01/2006 8:54 PM
Thanks for this. I completely remember sitting with my best friend trying to hear all eight endings.
5/02/2006 6:47 AM
There actually is a CD Rom collection of every Mad Magazine, up to 1998. Broderbund released them a few years back, I got them for about 20 bucks.
It has Super Spectacular day on it, and you can "Fold" the pictures on the back.
Wonder what I can get for it on Ebay?
5/02/2006 1:44 PM
Oh holy crap, this is amazing! I still get that song in my head from time to time, along with another old MAD flexi, "Makin' Out".
As I recall, after awhile I got so practiced at dropping the needle in the groove, I could just about play any ending I wanted at will. It took some finesse, and a willingness to hear the first bar all smooshed, because you had to drop the needle first, and then start the turntable spinning.
5/02/2006 2:22 PM
You can find the *.mp3 for MAD's 'Makin Out' here:
http://www.archive.org/details/MadMagazine
5/02/2006 9:25 PM
the person that posted about "OPEN PANTRY" & "Vernors" HAS to be from Michigan ?!
I bet I could even guess the city. :)
5/03/2006 2:45 PM
I just got this off ebay:
Mad Bytes It
It came as an extra in some of the Mad Magazine Issue #350. Someone was selling this seapartely for $5.00 with shipping.
5/04/2006 4:41 PM
the person that posted about "OPEN PANTRY" & "Vernors" HAS to be from Michigan ?!
lol..i was thinking the same thing when i seen that post,
im in Mi and there used to be a open pantry near here.
and yw to all ..im the one who posted the super spectacular day files.....it was pure luck i was able to get them.....someone had posted a bit torrent of all the disks but stopped seeding at 53%......was dumb luck the .iso file containing those was at 98%.
ill see if i can extract those others or anything else from them.
5/08/2006 6:18 AM
Super and spectacular...
...until...
6/06/2006 10:56 AM
You are the greatest person that has ever lived! I was just talking about this and was saying that I would cut off my right leg to get a copy of this... I was only halfway through the bone when I found you. You have no idea what joy you have brought me. I am seriously totally in love with you and your site!
6/16/2006 6:34 PM
I had this record as a kid in the 70's. Really funny stuff.
6/23/2006 12:25 AM
absolutely hilarious. I had forgotten how funny this song is. I agree, somebody needs to dig out "Makin' Out", but this is wonderful.
7/07/2006 2:11 PM
Wow! Thanks for posting "It's A Super Spectacular Day"! I still have this flexi-disc, but I've never gotten around to digitizing it. I did, however, digitize the MAD Disco flexi-disc:
http://homepage.mac.com/gchase67/idiskpublicfolder/FileSharing10.html
7/22/2006 3:42 PM
WORD up. I love this I had it and played the shit out of it when i was little... lost it in the many moves and yougner sibilings ruining my things!
!!! super SPECTACULAR DAY!
aaaahahah
10/25/2006 3:42 PM
I never had the flexidisc, but I downloaded the album yesterday and awoke with it echoing in my head... The "Fink" Mad album (as well as "Makin' Out," which I just found here in the comments section) just strike me as silly novelty songs -- but "Super Spectacular" managed to capture the spirit of Mad Magazine in song form. Kudos to whoever took the time to fumble with the disc and rip all 8 versions!
11/01/2006 10:37 AM
I am having a problem with the file for the super spectacular day song. Has it been removed?
12/26/2006 7:26 PM
Try here for the 8 mp3's. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
http://awesomelyawful.blogspot.com/index.html
1/05/2007 9:32 AM
This site is great! I love the mad flexi discs. I have the mad disco flexi but it's in bad shape. If someone could post that I would greatly appreciate it.
Jim
3/07/2007 6:42 AM
What Me Worry?
3/13/2007 2:27 AM
It's great to find this on the Web. I had the magazine, with this record, when I was a kid; I think it was fourth grade. I'm glad it was posted. The next step is to find the Mad Disco record from 1980.
There was a CD released in the 90s called "Mad Grooves" that had a lot of tunes on it, including a couple from that disco record, and "Makin' Out," but it didn't have "Super Spectacular Day" and several others.
9/30/2007 1:50 PM
is nobody noticing the someone posted the disco flexi earlier? anyway. this is great a little before my time but im still a fan none the less
10/05/2007 10:00 PM
In case anyone was looking (i have been for awhile) heres the Broderbund 7 cd set of Totaly Mad from 1952 to 98
http://avaxhome.info/magazines/full_year_collections/totallymad.html
11/17/2007 7:53 PM
What about a collection of all MAD premium records and commercial vinyl, combined?
1/19/2008 3:12 PM
I was listening to this today (on shuffle on my ipod so versions pop up unexpectedly) and I got to thinking about the "until" that links to the various endings...I have heard it somewhere else, I thought...a little bit of digging and I confirmed that it sounds very much like the "until" that links two sections of the Dead Kennedys classic, Chemical Warfare...both tracks recorded and released in '79-'80...coincidence...or connection? Mad Kennedys?
8/26/2008 5:58 PM
Hey, can someone repost the link? I'd love to get these recordings... ah memories :)
10/12/2008 9:05 AM
Either I'm crazy or there was a REALLY SPECIAL release of this record. I have the beginning of a NINTH ENDING in my head and I swear it's real!!!! It starts wit the "Until..." and then goes:
You're head honcho at MAD and you feel kinda bad,
'Cause your deadline has passed and your bos has just asked,
... can't remember the rest. Does ANYONE other than me remember this ninth ending?
11/09/2008 4:30 AM
Thank you internet. I found it!!! This made my year!
mirror: http://rapidshare.com/files/170078312/ssdmad.zip
12/04/2008 12:08 AM
I thought the magazine claimed it would play a different ending each time, but it would occasionally repeat the ending. I also thought that final runoff portion was how it worked, as opposed to a different explasnation I'd seen elsewhere. The way I interpreted the appearance of the record and its reactions was that the same intro plays out each time. At what it nearly the end, the stylus can follow any of several ronoff grooves that are randomly entered each time, perhaps like overlapping, open spirals. I haven't looked at the flexi in years but came to this assumption of how it worked, when I played it after it came out.
4/04/2010 1:19 PM
Does anyone remember the one about the phone company splitting up?
10/10/2010 3:19 PM
This was the morning song I often sang to my wife, then later to our three kids. Usual response was heads hiding under pillows :0)
7/27/2014 5:38 AM
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