LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.

His publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press he died at his home.

Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.

Donate $5 or more to LuxuriaMusic.com between Monday June 23 and Monday July 21 and you will be automatically entered into a raffle to win nine brand new Arthur Lyman two-fer CD's (a whopping 18 lp's worth of exotica!!) courtesy of Collectors Choice Music. The winner will be announced on July 21 by Strike during his show "Strike's Kitsch Niche. "

EVERYONE that donates during this promotion will receive a LuxuriaMusic bumpersticker. What have you got to lose?

To enter the contest, just go to our donations page and float us at least five bills.

Here's what you might win...

 Bwana’A / Bahia.
Recorded on the heels of Lyman’s million selling Taboo these 1958 and 1959 releases offer 24 tracks of quintessential exotica. Possibly the purest exotica of the bunch.

One of the mainstays of the big band circuit, the Glenn Miller Orchestra actually spent a mere half a decade with its namesake at the helm. Miller built his his legendary band, with its unique clarinet-centric signature sound in 1938. But by 1942, he was making music for the United States Armed Forces, struggling to add jazz touches to traditional military marching band music. Two years later, while still in the service, Glenn disappeared somewhere over the English Channel. Two years after that, Glenn’s estate drafted sax player/vocalist Tex Beneke to lead the first Miller “ghost” orchestra.

Come To The Sunshine returns to Luxuria for an all new series of shows starting Monday June 30th at 4PM (PDT).

Here's a sneak peek at what is in store:

June 30 - 4 to 6 PM PDT Come To The Sunshine Summer Special (2 hours of fun in the sun featuring the entire Fantastic Baggys "Tell 'Em I'm Surfin'" album in MONO).

July 7 - 4 to 6:30 PDT Come To The Sunshine episode 41 (extended show featuring loads of recently discovered 45 RPM MONO single Nuggets and more than an hour of The Searchers '60s studio and live recordings).

July 14 - 4 to 6:30 PDT Come To The Sunshine episode 42 EVERLY BROTHERS SPECIAL (extended show commemorating the 35th anniversary of their
Knott's Berry Farm meltdown - more than an hour of their best '60s studio recordings + one full hour of live performances from 1963-1971).

Such a cool guy...I got to know him a bit a few years ago...very sad.

 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

Cheeta, 76-year-old thespian, APEstract artist and friend of LuxuriaMusic was yet again denied a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This marks the seventh submission by Cheeta's people, who have nominated the chimp for his long service to the entertainment industry as an animal actor in such films as Tarzan and Bedtime for Bonzo.

Recently, we were thrilled to discover the artwork of Chris Reccardi at a group show in Palm Springs. We were equally thrilled to learn that Chris was himself a fan of Luxuria, per his recent testimonial/bulletin on MySpace: 

"Hello Friends,