Many people are nostalgic about their record collection, and I understand that–I’m very partial to my record of “Where the Wild Things Are” read by kooky Amanda Plummers’ equally kooky mother, Tammy Grimes. However, tape recording really speaks to my generation, and I started taping myself/my friends/eventually dragging my tape recorder to school long before the Internet changed my er, priorities.

Nevertheless, I still dream about returning to tape recording frequently–last year I requested a boom microphone for Christmas (I got a serger instead–hello Pettipants Revolution!), and I’m definitely still more than a little obsessed with tape recording, so when I heard about the documentary “Shut Up, Little Man! An Audio Misadventure” I couldn’t WAIT to watch it.

“Shut Up Little Man” is the title of a collection of tape recordings–called “audio verite” (found audio recordings and prank phone calls), made by Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell D..

Eddie and Mitchell moved from middle America to San Francisco in 1987 to a bright pink apartment building in Haight, eager to embark on their new, exciting life in the big city.

Their first week.

They very quickly discovered that their next-door neighbors, two men named Peter Haskett and Raymond Huffman, were quite possibly the Neighbors from Hell. Peter (flamboyant gay) and Raymond (unrepentantly homophobic) were two alcoholics who didn’t have jobs–their full-time occupation was getting shitfaced and screaming at each other at the top of their lungs all hours of the day (but mostly night).

After 9 weeks.

Although first horrified, anxiety and insomnia-riddled, Eddie and Mitchell eventually turned a nasty situation into comedy gold by blatantly tape recording their awful neighbors, obsessively, over a period of 18 months.

They gave the tape recordings to their friends, the friends gave them to their friends, and…a cult sensation was born!

Eddie and Mitchell were fond of wigs.

The first “Shut Up, Little Man!” c.d. was released in 1993, followed by other volumes. The recordings gained a cult following, and were adapted into comic books, zines, a theatrical production, and the 2002 independent film “Shut Yer Dirty Little Mouth”.

Eddie and Mitchell today.

The 2011 documentary does an excellent job of weaving together old photographs of Eddie and Mitchell, the actual audio recordings of Haskett and Huffman and several interviews from “superfans” of the sensation, as well as artists (like Daniel Clowes, author of “Ghost World”), directors and writers who have all found inspiration in the recordings.

It also poses the question: Is it Art? Or did Eddie and Mitchell simply take advantage of a couple of sad old drunks? Check out the official website here, it’s hysterical! Definitely a documentary worth watching. Now, where’s my tape recorder?