2003 JUNE 29 #180
Tammy Faye Bakker... and her puppets, Allie the Alligator and Susie Moppet.
In 1975 Tammy and her husband Jim Bakker recorded two albums that appeared on the Singcord Record label (the same label that released a number of records by Little Marcy). Over the years I have only come across 3 recorded atrocities by Tammy Faye (who played both parts of Susie and Allie). Tammy has released a number of standard pop-country-gospel records and PTL inspired songs that could fill a small bookshelf, but these three albums stand on their own as incredibly strange torture devices that God would forcefully condemn from entering the Pearly Gates.
from 1000 Interlocking Pieces #2:
Tammy was born in International Falls, Minnesota. She met Jim in bible college, and eloped. Jim"s father never forgave him. The Bakkers traveled the country, ministering at various churches. One day, Tammy had an epiphany: why not have a puppet ministry? So the Bakkers melted the ears off of a shampoo bottle shaped like a pig, glued a blonde wig on it, and Susie Moppet was born. Pat Robertson was desperate for programming on CBN at the time, so he gave Jim and Tammy a children"s show. The show became the most successful thing on CBN, so Jim had enough clout to launch "The 700 Club", a "Christian version of the Johnny Carson show", Tammy said. Everyone at CBN hated them, though, partly because they were so popular, and partly for the same reason everyone hates them now. They were phony, materialistic, and downright goofy. They decided to leave because they were being snubbed. When they left, the CBN staff threw a party, and trashed the set of their children"s show, destroyed the tapes, and split Susie Moppet"s Head with an ax.
- Otis Fodder
TT-5:42 / 6.5MB / 160kbps 44.1khz
Track 1 from the LP, "Oops! There Comes A Smile"
(Singcord ZLP-948) 1975
Track 2 & 3 from the LP, "Building On The Rock"
(Singcord ZLP-963) 1975
Track 4 from the LP, "Christmas With Susie &
Allie" (PTL Club PTL-1848) 1984
Peggy writes:
Finally catching up on the June postings, and I had
to thank you for the Tammy Faye puppet posting. I have
her tedious religious albums (the covers are the best
part -- scary as anything I've ever seen!), but of course
the rare puppet albums are hard to find and expensive.
During a period of unemployment in the summer of 1985
I used to watch Perry Mason at 10 AM; the show on before
Perry was (yep!) the PTL Club. I'd get up around 9:15
and turn on my tv and Tammy would be singing and talking
-- by 9:20 she'd be crying, mascara running down her
face. She'd disappear for repair work and a new paint
job, and I'd take my shower & feed the cats. When
I would return to the tv, Jim would finish talking with
his guests and around, oh, 9:45 Tammy would start singing
again and, a couple of minutes into it, she'd start
crying again, her newly touched-up eye makeup streaking
her face. Every day. Later I found out that she, Kobo
Abe (the Japanese existential novelist) and I were all
born on the same date (not year, thank god -- that'd
be tooo scary). Kobo Abe and Tammy Faye... Talk about
cultural polar opposites. Thanks again for these wonderful
treasures. Your site offers me the opportunity to make
some of my friends very happy and some of my coworkers
very miserable!