The Ernie Kovacs Centennial Comes to Omnivore Recordings with Expanded CD Premiere

May 21, 2019 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

January 23, 2019 would have marked the 100th birthday of comedy legend Ernie Kovacs. While the pioneering comedian, actor, television personality, and writer tragically died at age 42 in 1962, his influential, off-the-wall brand of comedy endures to this day. The Kovacs centennial is hitting record stores this summer with the July 5 reissue on Omnivore Recordings of the Grammy-nominated The Ernie Kovacs Album, originally released in 1976 on Columbia Records.

The Ernie Kovacs Album: Centennial Edition captures eleven tracks of comedy gold from the late Kovacs including appearances from memorably zany characters like the flamboyant Percy Dovetonsils, Pierre Ragout, and J. Walter Puppybreath. The original LP has been newly remastered from the original sources for this debut on CD and digital formats. Omnivore’s reissue has been expanded with six previously unreleased bonus tracks including a take on Frank Loesser’s Hans Christian Andersen classic “The Inch Worm.” Liner notes have been provided by television critic Diane Werts, and the booklet also includes previously unpublished photos, and the original album artwork including Mort Goode’s original notes. The release marks the fourth audio collaboration between Omnivore, Ediad Productions (so named for Kovacs’ onscreen partner and offscreen wife Edie Adams, who saved and preserved Kovacs’ legacy after his passing), and The Ernie Kovacs Estate. Previous titles include The Edie Adams Christmas Album featuring Ernie Kovacs, Percy Dovetonsils…Thpeaks!, and a holiday-themed 10-inch vinyl EP from Dovetonsils.

The Kovacs centennial continues with special events in Kovacs’ hometown of Trenton, New Jersey (a tribute at the NJ State Museum Auditorium on Wednesday, May 22) and Jamestown, New York (a Centennial Exhibit at the National Comedy Center opening August 7 as part of the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival). A coffee table celebration of Kovacs will arrive next year from acclaimed publisher Fantagraphics Books.

In the meantime, look for The Ernie Kovacs Album: Centennial Edition from Omnivore Recordings on July 5 on CD and digital platforms. It can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Ernie Kovacs, The Ernie Kovacs Album: Centennial Edition (Columbia PC 34250, 1976 – reissued Omnivore Recordings, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Tom Swift
J. Walter Puppybreath/Albert Gridley
World’s Strongest Man/Man’s Best Friend
Droongo: “John”
Percy Dovetonsils: (a) Ode To Stanley’s Pussycat/(b) Ode to An Emotional Italian Knight
Mack the Knife/Percy Dovetonsils: (a) Happy Birthday to a Bookworm/(b) Cowboy
Strangely Believe Its
Pierre Ragout
Mr. Question Man
Uncle Buddy
Oddities in the News/Closing “I’ve Had It….Arrivederci”

Previously Unissued Bonus Tracks

Hot Nudniks (6/9/55 ABC Radio)
Your Own Crime Syndicate (6/13/55 ABC Radio)
Little Kapusta Cyclotron Kit (6/13/55 ABC Radio)
Choco-Spin Factory (from Kovacs Unlimited, 1953)
The Inch Worm (9/10/56)
It’s Been Real

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.