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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Space Chasin'

Space Chasin'
The Starliners
Bowie High School, Bowie Maryland
Edgewood Recording Studio, Washington, D.C.
MM-273 Vol. 1

Cooking jazz LP from a high school band "average age: 15 1/2".

The album was recorded in 3 1/2 hours on 21 May 1967.

Very good music and cover art from a very youthful production. There is one fun standout track (for me) and that is the theme from Batman.

Enjoy!

Whistling Rodeo Polka

Whistling Rodeo Polka
Whistler Old "Doc" McCrock and Yodeler: Bill Hart
The Record Guild Of America, Inc. N.Y.

6.5 inch children's picture disk.

Git Along Little Dogie


Git Along Little Dogie
Vocalist: Andy Gainley and Doug Martin
The Record Guild Of America, Inc. N.Y.

6.5 inch 78 rpm children's picture disc.

Home On The Range

Home On The Range
Vocalist: Rue Knapp - Guild Chorus
The Record Guild Of America Inc. N.Y.
6001P

6.5 inch 1940s children's picture disk

Night Herding Song


Night Herding Song
Vocalist: Doug Martin
The Record Guild Of America, Inc. N.Y.
6001P

6.5 inch 78 rpm children's picture disc

Rusty Warren Bounces Back


Rusty Warren Bounces Back
Jubilee 2039
1961

Fourth in line of Warren "blue" albums sporting great Atomic Age cover art.

Warren's website: rustywarren.com


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Blue Chiffon - George Shearing Quintet


The George Shearing Quintet
Blue Chiffon
Capitol Records ST1124
1958

Another wonderful easy listening/jazz album with one of the sexy covers that Shearing Capitol albums are known for.


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Like Wild! - Ray Anthony

Like Wild
Ray Anthony
Capitol Records T1304
1960

I think this is the mono release. Who hasn't heard a version of Peter Gunn? Anthony's cover apparently is the best selling recording of that classic. Gunn is on this LP. For the most part, this album keeps that space age groove percolating throughout.

For more info check out this great site: spaceagepop.com


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Dances Wild - Russ Case And His Orchestra

The Salior's Dance
Dances Wild
Russ Case And His Orchestra
Vik LX-1085
1957

Great space age pop album on Vik. With interested I discover that Russ Case, at the time of his death, was arranging for The Jackie Gleason Show and for a number of Gleason's albums from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gleason's work is amazing.

Apparently Doll Dance, which is on this album, was released on a bachelor pad CD collection. But I'll be darned if I can find the tune anywhere online. For my money, that is the best track on this LP. But to avoid any hassles, I'll post another cool sample that also features great percussion. Smokin' hot... just like the cover!

WIth Bells On - Sid Bass And His Orchestra

The House Is Haunted
With Bells On
Tintinnabulation
Sid Bass and His Orchestra
Vik LX-1112
1958

Original Vik cover and first release. Wonderful atomic age art and space age music. Sid Bass is an inventive artist/arranger. I have two of his albums now (see From Another World). The gimmick Bass features on this album are "bells". No, the sound doesn't become annoying. There is a wide range of bells tones, and for the most part they are used sparingly. The LP is very cool. Can't be found on CD. To bad!

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, July 18, 26 and August 1, 1957.

The engineering on this LP is very good.

With Bells On
Sid Bass and His Orchestra
RCA Camden CAS 501
1959

Korla Pandit - Latin Holiday

Latin Holiday
Korla Pandit
At The Pipe Organ

Who would have thought "Latin" flavored music played on a pipe organ by a self-created mystical character could be so much fun? Pandit pulls it off on luscious blue vinyl. This was his third album on the Fantasy Label.

The rear cover notes, written by Terrence O'Flaherty, go on at length concerning Pandit's "hypnotic" effect on women.  He paints a picture of women staring at Pandit on a TV screen seen in an appliance shop window on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, between a funeral parlor and a hamburger stand which features something called "Fun On A Bun."

"He's a real experience," sighed one woman as she lifted her shopping bags and walked off into the night.

All this might seem humorous and "made-up". But you need to watch video that exists of Pandit doing his show. The surviving footage is fabulous and if you put yourself into a 50s mindset you can easily understand that Pandit was mighty unique and could have easily held the attention of common housewife.

By way of example, above is a clip from Pandit's Hollywood TV show.


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Korla Pandit Album Covers

I'm posting the Pandit albums I have in my collection to help me keep track of what I've got. But also to aid in indexing my Pandit Blog Posts. You can click on the title and load that post if you are interested

Korla Pandit Selections From The Grand Moghul Suite - 1951
Korla Pandit's Musical Gems - 1951

Tropical Magic - Korla Pandit

Tropical Magic
Korla Pandit
At The Pipe Organ
Fantasy 3288

Pipe organ music make you all bored? They you haven't listened to Korla Pandit!

This is another exotica release from the wonderful and mysterious Pandit playing the organ at The Whitney Studio in Glendale, CA. The pressing is on a nice translucent red vinyl.

There is mention on the jacket notes of Pandit's hypnotic eyes that "Wilts women and makes men nervous." Apparently Pandit made such an impression for his appearances on a San Francisco TV station (KGO-TV) that he won a popularity poll 6 months after he was off the air.

You can't help but love the mystic Pandit built up around himself. On this album Pandit is quoted: "Music may not save your soul, but it will cause your soul to be worth saving."

Pandit's percussive style is at the forefront of this album. This is an wonderful exotica effort with exotica staples such as The Beeze And I.

There is an especially nice cover of an exotica staple, The Breeze And I on this LP.  Much of Pandit's music is available on CD.


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Cowboy Two Step

Cowboy Two Step
Cowboy Two Step
Melody House Publishing, Oklahoma City, OK
MH-35

This record was created to teach "western swing dancing". If you don't care about western swing dancing, then the first track is hypnotic and annoying. I post it for people searching the web in an effort to find rare and unusual hypnotic and annoying music. There are many of you out there.

If you learned how to cowboy dance from this LP. Good for you! I have no idea how you managed it. The instructions quickly go from the simple to the complex. Frankly, I don't understand any of the instructions. But then, I think Pogoing is way too complicated.

Jackie Gleason - Music, Martinis and Memories

Jackie Gleason Presents
Music, Martinis And Memories
Capitol Records SY-4518
Originally released in 1954 on Capitol W509

The back of the LP is white with a simple track list and a note that the LP is a "Special Re-Issue". There is also an EMI logo on the back cover.  SY-4518 doesn't appear on the Wikipedia Gleason Discography so I don't know the release date.

Once again, if you follow my blog you know that I love Gleason and think his work is in a league of its own. I call his work "Romantic Music", rather than easy listening. Still, I've got a large stack of records here that I'm working through. I tend to reach for other albums that I'm more excited to listen to. But, always, when I put a Gleason album on the platter, I'm immediately taken it by the mood and enjoy it throughly.

This album charted #1 on Billboard. Needless to say, I'm not the only one who loved and loves his work.


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Hal Aloma - Songs Of The Islands

Song Of The Islands
Hal Aloma
Songs Of The Islands
Pickwick SPC-3099
1968

Very nice LP that exotica lovers can warm up to. Hal Aloma was know for his hot steel guitar work.

This album was previously released on the Dot label. In what form, I can't tell. I can't find a track for track copy on Dot. Not much info is available for reference.

Hawaiian Love Chant (as listed on the label) is listed on the jacket as Hawaiian Love Song.

Love the tan line on the "Islander".

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Million Sellers - The Today People - Grazin' In The Grass

Grazin' In The Grass
More Million Sellers
The Today People
Vocalion VL 73883
1969

Even well known labels like Vocalion (founded in 1916), but at this time, a Decca budget label (a division of MCA) are guilty of marketing "hits" LPs by cover bands. But unlike many other fake records made by cover bands, this one isn't lame or horrible. The recordings don't strive to be exact copies of the originals. They are expertly done and nicely engineered. There is a cover of "My Way" on the LP. This is a song that is almost always butchered. It sounds pretty good.

Even a cover of The Beatles, Get Back, is catchy. Here's a dreamy cover of Grazin' In The Grass composed by Philemon Hou and first recorded by Hugh Masekela, released in 1968 and reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The only mention I can find on the web concerning this album is a listing in September 1969 issue of Billboard.

Apparently the recording was made in England by Shaftesbury Production. Makes me wonder who the studio artists where who worked on the project.

More Million Sellers - The Today People

Israelites
More Million Sellers
The Today People
Vocalion VL 73883
1969

Even well known labels like Vocalion (founded in 1916), but at this time, a Decca budget label (a division of MCA) are guilty of marketing "hits" LPs by cover bands. But unlike many other fake records made by cover bands, this one isn't lame or horrible. The recordings don't strive to be exact copies of the originals. They are expertly done and nicely engineered. There is a cover of "My Way" on the LP. This is a song that is almost always butchered. It sounds pretty good.

Even a cover of The Beatles, Get Back, is catchy. A cover of Grazin' In The Grass is really cool. But a track titled, Israelites stands apart from the rest of the songs. The song is written by Desmond Dekker. Dekker is his "stage" name and his birth name Dacres is listed on the back cover of this album. The song was released in 1968 and is the first reggae song to reach the US top ten. This cover has a nice horn arrangement that the Dekker version does not.

The only mention I can find on the web concerning this album is a listing in September 1969 issue of Billboard.

Apparently the recording was made in England by Shaftesbury Production. Makes me wonder who the studio artists where who worked on the project.

Real Living Is Christ

Let Your Heart Cry Out
Real Living Is Christ
April Turner
Artist's Records, Cincinnati, Ohio

197? Private press from a Cincinnati, Ohio artist.

The sample posted is a curious easy listening track. Interesting arrangement backing up a classically(?) trained vocalist who is singing pop.

Vogue Picture Record Set - The King's Jesters

Sepulveda & G'Wan Home  Your Mudder's Callin'
Sepulveda & G'Wan Home Your Mudder's Callin'
The King's Jesters
Jay Livingston And Ray Lyans
Ralph Freed & Sammy Fain
Vogue Picture Record R766

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

18 Golden Hits Of 1971 - Maggie May

Maggie May
18 Golden Hits Of 1971
Million Selling Songs
The Sound Effects
Alshire International / QMO Products QMO-111

I need counseling, but I always have fun listening to these cheesy "hits" records.

Records of this nature were created and marketed in an effort to fool the unwary record buyer into thinking they were, in fact, buying real songs on the cheap. Very low budget fakery. But what do you want for $2.50 (the shelf price in '71).
The songs contained within are, for the most part, pale covers of pop hits made by studio musicians. You can imagine how hard it is to copy a popular song. The fun is that you can compare the cover to the original. Most tracks turn out to be wonderfully bad. Sometimes, the producers don't even try to mimic the original song and just do with what they got. Check out the cover of The Faces, Maggie May. Man... that is such a close cover Rod Stewart! Oh boy!

18 Golden Hits Of 1971 - Proud Mary

Proud Mary
18 Golden Hits Of 1971
Million Selling Songs
The Sound Effects
Alshire International / QMO Products QMO-111

I need counseling, but I always have fun listening to these cheesy "hits" records.

Records of this nature were created and marketed in an effort to fool the unwary record buyer into thinking they were, in fact, buying real songs on the cheap. Very low budget fakery. But what do you want for $2.50 (the shelf price in '71).

The songs contained within are, for the most part, pale covers of pop hits made by studio musicians. You can imagine how hard it is to copy a popular song. The fun is that you can compare the cover to the original. Most tracks turn out to be wonderfully bad. Sometimes, the producers don't even try to mimic the original song and just do with what they got. In the case of Proud Mary (one of history's most butchered songs) the producers do their best to... well... butcher it badly.

The Fantasy Film World Of Bernard Herrman

The Fantast Film World Of Bernard Herrmann
Conducting The National Philharmonic Orchestra
Phase 4 Stereo Decca/London Records
1974

If you like exotica and don't mind that some "exotica" albums tend to blur the line between exotica and soundtrack (or visa versa) then you will like this 1974 recording.

The Day The Earth Stood Still, spanning 11:15 on the B side, followed by Fahrenheit 451 are particularly wonderful mood setting pieces. Both tracks flow nicely together. The music is full of engaging experimentation and complex twists and turns.

Much can be found online about Herrmann. I just wanted to mention this LP because I collect exotica and like music that takes you for a journey.

The Phase 4 engineering is excellent on this record.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Jackie Gerard


Jackie Gerard
Ray Star Records

Disco Sorpresa Fundador

Escuchando A Los Clasicos
Here's another curious promotional record from Fundador (Founder Brandy).

This sample is the entire side of a 45, including the commercial insert.

Fun and unique music.

Enjoy!

Disco Gold Atomic Bomb

Disco Gold
Top Tunes Of Today
Dimensional Sounds
Goldendisc Industries

Out of all the goofy things I find that reflect my actual life... this find today makes a great mirror.

This is a disco record with very little disco on it, the tracks are recorded by a fake band and the cover sports a bad atomic bomb explosion photo that requires a moment of study to figure out what the blob represents. Unbelievably, there are at least SIX albums in this series, but this copy found at the thrift has Disco Gold number TWO inside. God knows where number six is today.

How does this find reflect my life? Most days I feel like I don't fit my skin. As if I am an old AM pop song done over by a lame cover group and served up smothered in cheesy atomic age icing. I'm the wrong person in the wrong number 6 jacket lost on a sagging shelf in a run down thrift. Worse yet...  my life appeals to me.

All that aside... this is both the wrong record in the right jacket and the right record in the wrong jacket. I love fake "top hits" cover albums. And there are some great horrible tracks on this one.

Korla Pandit - Music of Mystery And Romance

Korla Pandit
Music Of Mystery And Romance
A Concert Performance Of The Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ
Fantasy 8061
1960

If anyone can make the Wurlitzer Pipe Organ sound like anything more than a droning machine built to play Church music, it will be Pandit.

And on top of exotic music coaxed out of the pipe organ Pandit throws in an exotica cover and, of course, lush blue vinyl!

The video is a performance of Pandit doing Trance Dance, a song found on the B side of this LP.


I refrain from posting samples when CDs or downloads are available or if find I that an artist is active and you can buy music from them. I always try and link to artist websites.

As always, if there is a problem with any post, let me know and I will attempt to make corrections.

Pagan Festival

Pagan Festival
An Exotic Love Ritual For Ochestra
Dominic Frontiere
Columbia CL 1273
1959

Pagan Festival is included, on Wikipedia" as one of the 13 "prominent albums of the exotica genre". It's lovely, but I have to note that none of Arthur Lyman or Korla Pandit's (or a number of other artist's) albums are listed.

Due to the style of orchestration, this record sounds a bit like a soundtrack to me.

The cover was hard to scan as this is an Alcoa foil jacket. The foil reflects light strangely. So you will find all kinds of weird reproductions. Foil print jobs required 5 colors on the press, one for white and then four process colors. In other words, an expensive jacket to print.

Dominic Frontiere worked on many TV and film projects, including The Outer Limits, Rat Patrol, The Immortal and Hang 'Em High.

He was also charged and convicted in a big time ticket scalping scheme in which he obtained 1980 Super Bowl Tickets from his wife and Los Angeles Rams Owner, Georgia Frontiere.

Frontiere worked on the film Color Of Night as recently as 1994. He has lived a colorful life to say the least.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Korla Pandit Universal Language Volume 1


Korla Pandit
The Universal Language Of Music Volume 1
400 Series Private Collection
India Records
Recorded By Korla Pandit Productions
1954

This is the red vinyl release of Pandit's excellent three record "Universal Language Of Music" set of records.

This is a great exotica album with spoken word voiceovers. Pandit experimented with his instrument, the organ and piano to create something that goes beyond your typical exotica offering. The music is quirky and the voiceovers simply add to the strangeness.

Pandit, very early on in pop music history, understood how to package himself for maximum effect. He created a mystical personality cult. His work is wonderful and highly interesting to collect.

You can check out my autographed copy of Volume 3 here.

More information can be found on korlapandit.com

The Sounds Of Exotic Island - The Surfmen

The Sounds Of Exotic Island
The Surfmen
Somerset SF-10500
1960

This record was also reissued as The South Sea Serenaders, Tradewinds: Romance From Hawaii To Tahiti, Somerset SF-25100.

The Surfmen made two records, both on Somerset. This record being the best of the two in my opinion.

Somerset Record label Chief D. L. Miller gave the musicians the task of doing a Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman exotica styled record.

In another post, I suggested that the second Surfmen release, The Surfmen In Hawaii, was perhaps not as polished as a Martin or a Lyman project, but I think this earlier record is killer exotic and holds up nicely as compared to the sound of the Kings Of Exotica.

Study In Blue - Blue Skies & Alice In Blue

Blue Skies & Alice In Blue
Study In Blue
By The Hour Of Charm All Girl Orchestra Under The Direction Of Phil Spitalny
Vogue Picture Record
I was very lucky this week to find an actual set of Vogue Picture Records in their original cardboard jacket. I've never seen an actual jacket before, so this is very exciting. The jacket is made out of heavy cardboard that you find on other 78 jackets of the time. The notch you see at the top allows for you to pull out card board "flats" that the record sits in.
Enjoy these very lovely versions of Blue Skies & Alice Blue Gown (records pictured above) Check my earlier post for Rhapsody In Blue parts I and II (the art for Rhapsody In Blue is the same on both records).