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Glorious looking day here. Here’s some more recent purchases.

Alan Tew: 'Don't look at me, listen to the music' (LP; Pye; 1973)
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Alan Tew is another famous name in British arrangers, but this is my first record by him. The title is an amusing observation on the trend of having attractive women on album covers.

This LP takes a little while to sink in, but it's really very good indeed.

The first track is funny because it’s ‘Flamingo’, one of my favorite standards, but arranged so that it sounds a bit like the Grange Hill [UK school drama] theme – all bouncy and jaunty. ‘Tom Hark’ turns out to be a familiar tune that everybody knows. Some kind of a children’s melody. In fact, most of the tunes on this LP are very familiar, even though I didn’t know their names before. ‘I wish I knew...’ is the old theme to ‘Film 8x’ with Barry Norman. This version is nice, with a strong but very minimal beat. ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ is a cool 60s Laurie Johnson style theme that was featured on one of those Sequel ‘Loungecore’ compilations.

Side 2 opens with a cool ‘Ironside’. This was also on a compilation. I looked for my copy and then remembered either selling it or giving it away when we left America. Oh well! Looking at the tracklisting of that compilation, I picked up a LOT of this stuff on vinyl in this batch. ‘Pink Panther’ is the next cut. It starts off as you would expect, and then breaks into a cool funk version. Very slow funk, but funk! This would work well on a ‘Mancini Funk’ compilation, perhaps alongside Mancini’s own version of ‘Lujon/Slow Hot Wind’ on the Symphonic Soul album. I’ll have to uncover funk versions of Moon River and Charade. They must be out there somewhere! This Pink Panther track is really very cool. Wicked spooky strings and percussion. The LP’s production is excellent throughout, but the funk effect doesn’t work so well on 'Wimoweh'! On ‘The Odd Couple’ he plays it straight. It’s a nice version, but he uses flutes instead of harpsichord, so it was never going to really cut it for me. The bongos also seem kind of superfluous on this occasion. The final track is interesting – a version of Horst Jankowski’s ‘A walk in the black forest’. Alan tries to fit it into the big funky drum template, but the tune doesn’t really fit; at least not in the main melody section. In the bridge sections it works a bit. So the track is fun, but winds up sounding slightly like a cheesy classical adaptation.

Overall, this is a very inventive album.

Alan Tew: 'This is my scene' (LP; Decca Phase 4; 1967)
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The cover of this record is extremely cool! It's a nice LP of reasonably straightforward mid-60s easy listening with a few twists.

Winchester Cathedral is as you would expect. ‘Detroit City’ is quite cool - funky with a twangy guitar. Nothing else really grabbed me until ‘Yeh yeh’ (an ok version, but the girly vocal bits are done on violins and trumpets, so nothing special really). The version of ‘these boots are made for walking’ is familiar from the Dig It compilation from a few years ago. It’s silly, but fun.

The musicians are all the usual suspects, including Jim Sullivan, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Alan Parker.

BBC Radiophonic Workshop: 'The Radiophonic Workshop' (LP; BBC; 1975)
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'Geraldine' by Roger Limb is a decent poppy one. The rest is all cool moogy farty noises. Nice stuff to have!

BBC Radiophonic Workshop: 'Fourth Dimension' (LP; BBC; 1973)
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An interesting LP. Everything here is by Paddy Kingsland, who did a lot of library work at the time. This album features lots of themes for regional radio shows. They have a very strange 70s electronic sound. ‘Vespucci’ is a nice slow funky number and the standout track.

Brian Fahey and his Orchestra: 'Classics Go Latin' (LP; EMI; 1972)
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I couldn’t leave this one there. I nearly did, actually, until I heard the monster bongo breakbeat at the beginning of ‘Toreador’s song from Carmen’.

There are actually quite a few very nice tracks. ‘Overture from Marriage of Figaro’ has a nice insistent beat, and ‘solveig’s song from Peer Gynt is done in a very pretty way. These LPs are never quite as wonderful as I would like, but there are a few nice tracks that make this one worthwhile.

David Snell: 'Harp Transplant' (LP; Pye; 1971)
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A fun pop-harp album. David Snell is one of those names I've been looking out for carefully, because I love the sound of the harp, and the era in which he recorded, along with his library music connections, seem promising. I once had an LP by him from the mid to late 60s that sounded great.

This later LP has some beautiful Bacharach arrangements and pop hits of the late 60s on one side, and pop arrangements of classical stuff on the other. The first side is better. I’m all for pop-classical, but wouldn’t have chosen pieces like ‘eine kleine nachmusik’ and ‘fur elise’. Still, it's all quite tastefully done. My LP is Quad; shame I don't have the system to check that out!

Mike Leander: 'Migration' (LP; MCA; 1969)
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This seems quite nice, if slightly bombastic. I had heard of Mike Leander before, but had never actually seen his record. This is the later of the two I have. There’s a reasonable version of ‘the letter’ and a fun ‘Let the sunshine in’ that has a nice funky beat when it gets going. There’s also a nice rich arrangement of ‘wichita lineman’. Definitely an interesting record that is worthy of further listens.

Pete Moore: 'Everybody's Talkin'' (LP; Rediffusion; 1971)
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Pete Moore was clearly a very solid arranger, but without meaning to sound fickle, nothing I've heard as ever quite matched up to the wonder that is 'Catwalk' from The Exciting Sounds of Tomorrow (featured on the legendary In-flight entertainment compilation).

This LP is quite nice, but even when it's upbeat and funky, it lacks the good taste and classy feel of 'catwalk. ‘Everybody’s talkin’ is a rather goofy arrangement that uses a bassline like the riff from ‘Day Tripper’. Fun, but not really my thing. ‘Honey come back’ is funky and a bit more straight ahead and appealing. ‘Downhill racer’ (the theme to the film, which I watched the beginning of the other dayl; nice photography; very slow moving; fell asleep after half an hour) is rather plain, slow and unmemorable. ‘Come Saturday Morning’ is a more memorable theme, but I’d rather hear it as a vocal. ‘Return to Montana’ is kind of cheesy without being that interesting. ‘Midnight Cowboy’ is always a banker for me, and I like this version, with its tasty electric piano and strings. There's nothing really remarkable about it though.

'True Grit' is a nice mid-tempo orchestral big band thing with a funky beat. ‘Leavin on a jet plane’ is quite fun too. Nice organ work, although I’m not sure this one was ever meant to be funked up; it sounds very ‘easy cheesy'...‘Bridge over troubled water’ gets a similar treatment. The beat is quieter, but it’s there in the background.

Overall I think this will take a few listens to get into.

The Sound Symposium: 'Paul Simon Interpreted' (LP; Dot; 1967)
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Overall, this is only an 'OK' record. There are nice, quite full arrangements with drums and harpsichord. But it's rather middle of the road, and there's nothing that's really going to set the world on fire. As is often the case with Simon/Garfunkel covers, 'Scarborough Fair/Canticle works best. ‘Homeward Bound’, with a sitar, is quite interesting too. 'Mrs Robinson' is quite hip, but you get the feeling they're trying too hard.

Xylos Inc: 'Pretty Percussion' (LP; Polydor; 1971)
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A very nice LP in the Polydor 'circles of sound' series, a group of easy listening records from the early 70s that featured incredibly ugly sleeves and some interesting music.

The album has extremely nice orchestrations, and the layered percussion and recording date give it a similar feel to Les Baxter’s Que Mango. It's a nice mix of contemporary pop and older standards, all done in the same neo-tropical style. There's no standout groovers like Que Mango's 'Tropicando', but it's very pleasant stuff anyway.

I’m still buzzing from last week’s record haul. I’ve listened to maybe 20 or 30 or the 80 records I picked up, and the overall standard is excellent. Here’s the first batch of reactions. The reviews might be a little insubstantial; hopefully I’ll revisit them in the future.

James Last: 'Well Kept Secret' (LP; Polydor; 1975)
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This is a really nice album from 1975. Everything is in a nicely arranged gentle funky style, and the arrangements are quite spare and appealing. ‘Bolero '75’ was featured on one of the Mojo club compilations from Germany. My favorite track so far is ‘Slaughter on 10th Avenue’. ‘Question’ is bizarre – at the beginning, it has a strange fast-strummed chord sequence that makes it sound just like My Bloody Valentine (but without the distortion!). It turns into a pretty dippy vocal, although the instrumentation is still cool. The final track ‘Theme from Prisoner of second avenue’ is a fun, bouncy track with strings. Kind of a bridge between early 70s easy listening and disco.

Jimmy Jacobs and The Nite Spots: 'Swingin Soho' (LP; Gargoyle; 1961)
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Described as ‘Surely one of Britain’s most exciting rhythm and blues groups’, this actually sounds like quite average pleasant small combo piano jazz. Vibes and stuff. Then ‘rock’n’roll’ comes into play. ‘Write myself a letter’ is a vocal with sax. ‘Whirlwind’ is a fun fast latin style piano number. An unusual record, but not in the way I wanted it to be (I would have preferred smokey/bluesey early rock'n'roll).

Compilation - John Gregory: 'Gregory Conducts' (LP; Philips; 1967-1972)
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This is an early 70s 'sampler' compilation of lots of different John Gregory albums.

It actually contains some very nice material indeed. ‘Fire and Rain’ is a very cool early 70s instrumental with strings, beats, etc.

Hawaii 5-0 is so-so. Onedin Line is a pleasant enough slow stringy romantic theme. The version of ‘Sunny’ is very nice – upbeat and jazzy. A face in the clouds is a Gregory original. Very nice beaty, vibey track; the rhythm at the beginning reminds me of ‘bubbles’ by The Free Design. Shaft is nice. Somehow cooler than lots of takes on this tune. 'Softly whispering I love you' is a breezy and rather twee pop song with wordless vocals.

Aquarius is absolutely outstanding, with a huge breakbeat and a very imaginative arrangement. La Mer is a bit of a letdown after that, but it’s actually quite a nice version of Trenet’s tune. ‘Spies and dolls’ is a nice original (kind of a 12-bar blues actually) in the style of a detective theme with bongos and blaring brass. Meditation is a homely adaptation of a Massenet theme. ‘Softly Softly’ is the only track on here that I’d heard before; I think it’s on the ‘detectives’ LP that I have. It’s a cool theme with big brass and bongos.

I've seen dealers attempt to hype this up, but still fail to sell it on ebay for a few pounds. Although not as rare as some of his other albums, I think this is well worth getting hold of, particularly in light of that irresistable take on 'Aquarius'.

Compilation - John Gregory: 'Spotlight on Chaquito' (LP; Philips; 1962-1972)
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This is a 2 LP set compiling Chaquito recordings from 1962–72. It's quite pleasant, with a mixture of Latin American and Brazilian stuff, plus some standards (‘it’s magic’) etc, all played in blaring brassy style with lots of bongos. I've had some of these albums before, and while they're quirky, they're not as outstanding as some of Gregory's other work as an arranger. The highlight for me on this set is the 1972 version of ‘Upa Neguino’, which is excellent. I wonder if the original album it comes from is as good.

John Gregory: 'A Man for All Seasons' (LP; United Artists; 1974)
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This is a weird one. A concept album featuring classical/hymn music, with a bizarre cutout new-agey looking cover. Also included are three absolutely storming upbeat hybrid easy listening/funk tracks of the highest order: jetstream, jaguar, and earthshaker. Jaguar in particular has it all – really cool chord changes, heavy drums, organ, brass, thick sheets of smooth strings. Jetstream and Jaguar are both on the ‘sound gallery’ compilation, but I had never heard the beaty ‘earthshaker’ before; cool stuff!

John Gregory: 'Melodies of Japan' (LP; Fontana; 1965)
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The first track, ‘drizzling rain’ is really lovely. Very gentle with a nice melody and some tasty strings. The strings and flutes and vibes imitate the sound of falling rain very well. This is the real standout. The rest of the LP is also nice, but slightly kitchy and almost 50s sounding to my ears. I definitely need to go back and listen some more in the future though

John Schroeder: 'The Dolly Catcher' (LP; Pye; 1967)
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An interesting concept album about catching 'dollies' - birds I guess. There are some reasonable/middling tracks and a few stormers. One of these, ‘But she ran the other way’, was on the ‘easy project’ compilation. The other two winners to my ears are ‘explosive corrosive joseph’ and ‘I was made to love her’, which are both very hip almost-funky tracks with nice percussion and organ.

Keith Mansfield: 'All you need is Keith Mansfield' (LP; CBS; 1969)
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Quite a rare one I think. Very nice upbeat Swinging London style stuff with occasional vocals. Much more of a soul edge than most of the records I picked up. Still not exactly soul, but just more beaty and with more insistent basslines. Towards the end of the first side comes ‘Soul Thing’, a very cool beaty piano version of a tune I’ve heard in an organ funk version on compilations of KPM library material. The side ends with a version of ‘Moanin’ with a nice Hammond organ and some interesting vocals; the only other vocal version of this track I had heard was Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. This one is more hip, with latin percussion, organ and big brass. The second side opens with a tasty version of ‘Walk on by’ (they’re all pretty tasty for me). There’s another good original called ‘Boogaloo’. A very nice album

Tony Hatch: 'Love Sounds' (LP; Pye; 1976)
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This disco-era album is actually surprisingly enjoyable for me! What are you doing the rest of your life is very entertaining: an upbeat disco romp through this slow song, which I know best via Scott Walker’s version. The album continues very nicely with ‘Love in the Morning Sun’. It’s slightly bland proto-disco music with some nice strings. I like it! It goes off a bit, but there’s a couple of other nice disco versions of standards – ‘ebb tide’ and ‘I’ve got you under my skin’. The album ends with the funkier ‘Brazilia’. While this is the 'hip' track that would probably be picked out by DJs, it's actually kind of annoying. I'm happier listening to the bastardized disco versions of standards.

Tony Hatch: 'Downtown with Tony Hatch – The Tony Hatch Sound' (LP; Marble Arch; 1966)
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This is a cool sounding record. ‘Man Alive’ is a nice mid-60s jazzy instrumental that appeared on one of the sequel ‘loungecore’ comps. ‘Where are you now’ is a Bacharach-like instrumental. Really nice. There’s something very appealing about this record that just works well. Almost every tune is a Hatch or Hatch/Trent original, so perhaps that just helps give it a freshness that some of his later records don’t have. ‘Round every corner’ is another very cool jazzy instrumental that’s familiar to me from one compilation or other. Overall, a very tasty record that's a cut above a lot of other similar easy listening albums.

Tony Hatch: 'What the World Needs Now' (LP; Pye; 1971)
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This is an okay record, but I’m actually not crazy about some of the arrangements. Hatch tries to be clever in a way that doesn’t really appeal to me. It’s innocuous enough, but doesn't really press my button. Having said that, some of the arrangements work pretty well. 'Walk on by' is probably the best track. 'I say a little prayer' and ‘the look of love’ are nice too.

Tony Hatch: 'Brasilia Mission' (LP; Pye; 1969)
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I don’t think any Tony Hatch albums are going to live up to what my expectations once were for them. I was dreaming of something really rich – layered strings and solid percussion. I’ve known for some time that the records aren’t really like this. But they’re not bad at all.

In a nutshell, this is pleasant piano-led orchestral easy listening without much of a bite. It’s nicely arranged and can be really quite tasty when the songs are good, recalling Dudley Moore’s work on the quieter Bedazzled tracks. ‘On a clear day’, ‘Love song’, ‘The dangerous age’ all come across very well. ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Light my fire’ are good too, although I’ve heard too much of these songs recently to be too impressed. ‘Endora’ is a Tony Hatch ‘original’ which bears more than a passing resemblance to Joao Donato’s ‘Amazonas’. And it’s all the better for it!

The album concludes with ‘Brasilia Mission’, a simple but very catch track with similar instrumentation to the rest of the album, but slightly jazzier piano.

A superb, legendary record day! For years I’ve read on the exotica list about people who come upon large collections and are able to find a bunch of amazing records all in one place for not too much money. Well it happened to me! I met a guy on ebay when I bought a record, and today I went to his house and bought 80 more! Mostly great and obscure late 60s and early 70s UK-issue easy listening. Some very nice stuff. I’ve only listened to about 10 or 15 records so far, but they sound great. I’ve been making notes and will review them here.

It’s time for a long-overdue hitlist. When Calle from Sweden came over to see Marcos Valle play, he brought with him a CD compilation for me, containing several nice tracks. We also talked about music a lot and he alerted me to Francoise Hardy’s La Question album from 1971. I had heard about this before, but perhaps because its title is so generic sounding, it had never stuck in my head. It’s a great album.

Viens – Françoise Hardy

• The opening track on La Question, this starts off sounding very like a song from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Henry’s Dream. Strummed guitar, slightly funky drums and lots of strings. Yes, the production on this record is much nicer. But unlikely as it sounds, there’s a genuine similarity.

Pa Regnbuevej (Make It With You) – Birgit Lystager

• I got to really appreciate this tune via Ronnie Aldrich’s great stringy/piano easy listening version. Birgit sings it in Danish with an equally lovely arrangement.

O Trem Azul – Anamaria E Mauricio

• A track from Calle’s compilation, this one really knocks me out. Nice early 70s arrangements, great vocal performances, and a stunning composition.

Sunny – Os 3 Morais

• This is from an early release (their debut?) from 1967, which I had never heard before. It never quite continues after the heights of the wonderful harmonized introduction, but is pretty nice all the same. The album also includes a great version of ‘Moonglow’.

Pandora’s Golden Heebie Jeebies – Association

• Apparently this is from their Renaissance album. This really irritates me, because I owned that album for several years before giving it away last year, and I’m sure I never heard this track! I think my 25-cent copy of the record was in just poor enough condition to stop me really making the effort to get into it. That’s a great shame, because I missed this superb psychedelic pop number, which has some wonderful Beach Boys style harmonies towards the end.

Berimbau – Luiz Henrique

• Luiz never fails to delight, and this vocal version of Baden Powell’s famous song is great. The English lyrics used sound different to ones I’ve heard before.

A Taste of Soul – Les Baxter

• This came from an unexpected treat – a previously unheard-by-me album of Les’s from a period by him I really like – the late 1960/early 70s. This is the era of Que Mango, and this album, called Million Sellers (perhaps ironically, since the tracks all seem to be never-recorded-again originals) sounds pretty much just like that, except a bit less tropical. So it’s all nice brass/strings/drums, very bouncy and hip. It’s all cool. This and a couple more of the tracks really stand out. I will have to make a ‘Hip Baxter’ compilation some time. It would stand nicely alongside overviews of his exotic work.

I know you love me not – Julie Driscoll

• From a charity shop purchase, I recommended this over at musical taste. A dramatic Scott Walker/Dusty Springfield style ballad with unusual vocals and a superb arrangement.

R Walter – Changeover A (Conroy Library 1974)

• A short little interlude with brass, organ and big beats. Nice chord sequence.

Boys Keep Swinging – Associates

• The obligatory lone post-1974 track! My pal Robert has made us big Associates and Roxy Music fans, and I actively sought out this early Associates cover of one of my favorite Bowie songs. Billy Mackenzie sounds very sincere. The instrumentation is very plain and well done.

Grass Roots – The days of Pearly Spencer

• Being the age that I am, I knew this mostly via Marc Almond’s version. The vocal effect on the chorus is bizarre! It’s like an over-the-top telephone effect. The song is a little goofy but very enjoyable.

Always you – The Sundowners

• I put this on a compilation recently, and perhaps I’ve played it too much, but it really is a winner. A Roger Nichols song that was recommended at musical taste by eftimihn.

Airport love theme – Magnetic Sounds

• I bought an album by these people when I was in Brazil. This is on the follow up. I thought the first album was funny, but this is the funniest track I have ever heard in my life. What’s even better is that the musical backing is the ‘Airport love theme’, which is a tune that I’m very fond of. The whole point of the group seems to have been to do low-budget ‘Je t’aime’ cash-ins.

Him: Hey

Her: Me?

Him: Yes. I’m talking to you.

Her: Please! I don’t know you.

Him: It doesn’t matter. where are you going. can you tell me?

Her: What for?

Him: I want to go the same way. It’s going to be great to be together. It’s going to be wonderful.

Her: Oh no

Him: Let’s fly together. You and me. Up in the sky.

Her: No. No.

Him: Are you very afraid? Let me hold your hand. I knew it. They are cold. Very cold.

Her: Leave me alone, please

Him: No, I can’t. I just can’t. But to blame your lips, or your eyes ????

Her: No, please

Him: Let me hold you in my arms. Please. Let me hold you. So

Her: No

Him: Let me tell you about love. How love, you, me and not else besides. besides.

Her: Besides what?

Him: one kiss. One night. One kiss?

Her: No, No

Him: Please, Please

Her: No, No

Him: One kiss, please

Her: No

Him: Stay in my arms. Tell me you want my kiss. Tell me please!

Her: No, No

Him: Please

Her: Yes, Yes!

Him: Please

Her: Yes! Yes! YES!

Him: Kiss me!

Her: Yes! Yes!

Funky Robot – Dave “Baby” Cortez

• I was unfamiliar with Cortez’s funky work before. But this is pretty cool. Ok, maybe not really cool, but it’s so contrived that I find it rather charming.

Mr. Lucky – Jimmy McGriff

• Fantastic – Mancini in a funky early 70s style! The whole album (Groove Grease), in spite of its slightly humdrum looking tracklisting, is actually fantastic – all of it in the same organ/bouncy beat style. I get a kick out of the sound of 1960 (or was it 61?) being played in 72.

Afro Mania – Preson Epps

• This was recommended by our old pal tinks at musical taste a few years ago. Quite hard to come by and extremely cool – a bongo/groovy guitar driven track with some nice whistly /flute sounds. It’s basically all one big blues jam, with very little variation. I don’t mind though.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy – Rita Chao

• I had to put something on from the oriental volume of Girls in the Garage. This is very cool. I don’t have the inlay, so I can’t say where Rita comes from, but she’s very enjoyable to listen to.

Until next time….

Apologies for the lack of posts. I have made quite a few nice compilations over the last few months that I’ll post soon. I’ve also slowly started buying a few records again, although not many. Now I’m far away from Academy Records, I buy hardly any CDs!

Here’s a gig report, half way through my summer schedule:

Jorge Ben played at the Barbican with Trio Mocoto supporting. Trio Mocoto were fun, although most of their songs are very simple. Jorge had an accelerated romp through his hits, mostly played in a beaty and slightly smooth 80s rock style. Perhaps this might have worked for me in a smaller venue, but sat at the back of the Barbican concert hall, it wasn’t so appealing. The reggae version of ‘Oba, la vem ela’ was inventive and quite interesting. Unfortunately I remember the rest of the gig for being just too in-your-face; the subtlety of my favorite Jorge Ben recordings was nowhere to be found.

By contrast, last night’s Marcos Valle show was quite outstanding. Playing in a tiny cellar venue in a smart west-end restaurant, Marcos played a mixture of classics and tracks from his recent albums. Both came across well, although I was glad there was slightly more of an emphasis on the older tracks. His band were excellent, consisting of a drummer, bassist, sax/flautist, percussionist, and an extra female vocalist who joined him for some tracks towards the end. Marcos himself played electric piano and some guitar. The whole band was outstanding, and I must say I can hardly remember being so excited to be at a show. Even the recent tracks that are slightly too ‘acid jazz’ for my taste seemed to come over well. I had a brief opportunity to meet Marcos and thank him in advance before the show, and delicado reader Calle from Sweden (who flew over especially for the show) even got to have his photograph taken! A great evening. Brian Wilson is tonight; Lee Hazlewood is next week.

I don’t think I mentioned this, but there is an amazing purple patch coming up for live concerts in London. In the next four weeks, I will be seeing Jorge Ben, Marcos Valle, Brian Wilson, and Lee Hazlewood.

I’m amazed that all these legends are coming here this summer, but I’m glad I’m around to appreciate it…

I Belli Di Waikiki – Sleepwalk

   A nice version of the Santo and Johnny classic by a modern combo from Italy! The band seem cool.

Bobby Goldsboro – Summer (The First Time)

   Esther assures me this is an AM staple, but I’d never heard it before a few weeks ago. Entertaining narrative, and a superb repetitive piano line in the accompaniment.

Joanie Sommers and Rick Nelson – Try To See It My Way

   Joanie was pretty cool. Here she sings with another favorite of mine (well, I’m partial to a few of his tracks anyway), taking on ’Try to see it my way’, which was also sung by Peggy March.

Luiz Henrique – Listen to me

   Another recommendation from Musical Taste, this is a jazzy late 60s pop piece that manages to be both gentle and hip sounding.

Brasilia Modern Six – Tomorrow’s Love (Morir Un Poco)

   Less subtle than Luiz, but still very appealing, with a nice reverby guitar and a relentless beat. I didn’t know the song before, but it sounds like a generic late 60s soundtrack song. The instrumentation also includes piano, organ and wordless vocals.

Marvin Hamlisch – Big Splash

   A very cool sounding soundtrack piece from 1968 (from The Swimmer, and also featured on a Cafe Apres-Midi compilation), this instrumental features a jazzy piano and beautiful Mancini style vibes and strings.

The Left Banke – Shadows Breaking over My Head

   A Musical Taste recommendation. This cut is a revelation to me. Beautiful and haunting string arrangement, and a very catchy chord sequence. Lovely harmonies as well. The whole thing is rather serious. Stunning stuff.

Anita Kerr Singers – Are You There (With Another Girl)

   I’d had my eye on this LP for a while. The whole thing is pretty brilliant and features some superb arrangements, but this is probably the standout track for me. The percussion is strong, and the vocal performances are out of this world.

Dieter Reith – Wives and Lovers

   More Bacharach (where will it end?!). This is a nice Jazz trio version of a cut that I probably find more listenable as an instrumental.

Frank Barber – Theme 18

   An unusual track from another album I’ had my eye on for a while, Deep Percussion. It has a slow and cinematic introduction, with sound effects and some thumping low piano notes. Then it turns into a beautifully arranged late 60s pop instrumental with wordless vocals. Some nice Moog touches add to the charm.

Tema 3 – Amazonas

   I can’t really get enough of either Joao Donato or this track. Tema 3’s version is extremely cool. Their simple blend (piano, bass and drums) is very nicely put together, and the performances are excellent.

Claudia – Pois e, seu ze

   I picked up a copy of this LP (Deixa eu Dizer) from a guy in France or Belgium. It’s pretty cool. This track is dramatic with lots of shouting in the background. I’ve heard a lot more of both Claudia and Evinha since I started mentioning them, and it seems to me that Claudia was more consistently interesting. I’m looking to getting hold of more Evinha material (there’s an album from 1974 available on CD that looks good); the vocals on some of the stuff I have now are a bit too tame for my taste.

Joyce – Nao muda nao

   A lovely, early sounding Joyce track. This is from a Cafe Apres-Midi compilation, and wasn’t on the Essential compilation.

Bobby Hackett, Billy Butterfield, Luiz Henrique (with Mary Mayo) – Dancing in the Dark

   This came from a long-deleted Verve album that was made available by Magnus. A nice mix of wordless vocals, guitar and trumpet, all in a warm late-60s bossa nova setting.

Kane Triplets – Theme From Mission Impossible

   We’re now in the silly section. This is the only vocal version of this track I’ve ever heard (or heard of). Amazing stuff! I had high hopes for my Marlene Van Planck version, but it turned out to be just vocalized/wordless (although very cool!), without lyrics.

Alan Corb – Feuerball

   It’s ’Thunderball’ in German!

Nichelle Nichols – Theme From Star Trek

   I’m a few years behind on this one I expect. I knew this vocal version of the Star Trek theme existed, but I’d never heard it (other versions also exist that I’d like to check out, including one called ‘A star in time’ by Shaun Cassidy).

Carmen McRae and David Brubeck – Take Five

   More vocals applied to a famous instrumental. This is cool, although not as cool as the Swedish version by Monica Zetterlund! (I’ll put this one in a future hitlist).

Hirut Bèqèlè – Ewnètègna Feqer

   Very cool and groovy instrumental from the Ethiopiques series of African music, which seems outstanding.

Janko Nilovic – Concerto for a Star

   This sounds like a generic 70s TV theme (a serious and mysterious drama perhaps).

Marc Moulin – Humpty dumpty

   Nice fusiony instrumental. I knew nothing of this guy, but the track was recommended at Musical Taste, and it’s pretty nice. The sound is quite restrained and tasteful, with lots of organ, electric piano, drums and a wah-wah guitar, as well as some brass backing.

Jackie Lee – The Town I Live In

   Cool dramatic 60s pop track recommendation from Musical Taste.

Billy May and the Out-Islanders (vocal Loulie Jean Norman) – The Moon of Manakoora

   A nice exotic piece with great wordless vocalizing. I had been hoping for some lyrics, but I guess I can’t have everything.

The Supremes – Sleepwalk

   I managed to track down a vocal version of Sleepwalk! How I celebrated! I figured one must exist, but I was surprised to find the Supremes did one. They do a nice job. The track was apparently unreleased until the mid-1980s. A few years ago an exotica list member did a nice radio show compiling vocal versions of songs that were primarily known as instrumentals. Now that we have the internet (both as a research tool and as a means of tranmitting the songs), putting together a collection of tracks like this is much easier, and more and more oddities can be found. I hope to put together such a compilation before too long. Aside from anything else, it would be cool to collect all these lyrics together!

We finally just got round to changing the CDs in our 100-disc CD changer. It’s really great to have the machine (it’s nearly four years old now, but has never given us any trouble), but it really does take a while to change the discs over. This time I left it so long that I was really tired of some of the things in it. Below is a list of what I just took out:

1. Hildegard Knef – Box set Disc 1

2. Quarteto em Cy – Quarteto em Cy (1972)

3. Radiohead – Ok Computer

4. Ramsey Lewis – Maiden Voyage

5. Ray Barretto – Hard Hands/Acid

6. Raymond Scott – Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights

7. Saint Etienne – So Tough

8. Santo & Johnny – Best of

9. Scott Walker – Scott 1

10. Scott Walker – Climate of Hunter

11. Serge Gainsbourg – Vol 5 1970-71

12. Simian – Chemistry is what we are

13. Simon Warner – Waiting Rooms

14. Slowdive – Souvlaki

15. Smiths – Best II

16. Spell – Seasons in the Sun

17. Spiritualized – Pure Phase

18. Getz-Gilberto

19. Stereolab – Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements

20. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

21. Sylvia Syms with Kenny Burrell – Sylvia is!

22. Terry Callier – Essential, the very best of

23. Mamas and Papas – People Like Us

24. Mazzy Star – She hangs brightly

25. Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs

26. Mick Harvey – Intoxicated Man

27. Mina – Incontro con Mina

28. Les Baxter/Harry Revel – Perfume set to music/Music on the moon

29. Morrissey – Vauxhall and I

30. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

31. Neu! – Neu 2

32. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Live Seeds

33. Nick Drake – Time of No Reply

34. Nico and the faction – CameraObscura

35. Nina Simone – Compact Jazz

36. Orpheus – The very best of

37. Pale Saints – In Ribbons

38. Percy Faith – Chinatown/Summer Place ‘76

39. Percy Faith – Angel of the Morning/Black Magic Woman

40. Peddlers – Comin’ home baby

41. Pixies – Surfer Rosa + come on pilgrim

42. PJ Harvey – To bring you my love

43. Pulp – This is Hardcore

44. Satie – Piano works, Pascal Roge

45. Esquivel – Exploring new sounds/Strings aflame

46. Eumir Deodato – Tremendao

47. Faure – cello works – Isserlis/devoyon

48. Finzi – clarinet works

49. Faure Requiem/Durufle Requieme – Michel Legrand/Philharmonia orchestra

50. Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim

51. Brian Eno – Ambient 1/Music for Airports

52. Gabor Szabo – 1969

53. Janko Nilovic – Rythmes Contemporains

54. James Brown – The Payback

55. Various – Samba Jazz Vol II

56. Various – The Joe Meek collection – Intergalactic Instros

57. John Cale – Paris 1919

58. Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison and San Quentin

59. Jorge Ben – Brazilian Collection (from A to Z)

60. Joy Division – Closer

61. Julie London – Julie is her name/Julie is her name volume 2

62. Gilberto Gil – 1969

63. Hefner – We love the city

64. Henry Mancini – More Music from Peter Gunn

65. Lalo Schifrin – New Fantasy

66. Antonio Carlos Jobim – Urubu

67. Air – Italian thing

68. David Bowie – Low

69. Cocteau Twins – Milk and Kisses

70. Cinnamon – The Courier

71. Carpenters – Ticket to Ride

72. Burt Bacharach – Burt Bacharac (1971)

73. Broadcast – The noise made by people

74. Hayden – Paukenmess/Mozart – Vespers, K339/Choir of St. Johns College, Cambridge/George Guest

75. Various – Magpie – 20 Junkshop Pop Ads and Themes

76. Tindersticks – Waiting for the Moon

77. Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

78. Elis Regina – En Pleno Verao

79. Elis Regina/Toots Thielemans – Aqualera do Brasil

80. The Beatles – The White Album (disc 1)

81. The Beatles – The White Album (disc 2)

82. Roxy Music – Siren

83. Dorothy Ashby – Jonny compilation

84. Eternity’s Children – Collection

85. Jackie Gleason – Romantic Moods (disc 1)

86. Jackie Gleason – Romantic Moods (disc 2)

87. Lee Hazlewood – complete MGM recordings (disc 1)

88. Lee Hazlewood – complete MGM recordings (disc 2)

89. Marcos Valle – Previsao do tempo

90. Serge Gainsbourg – Le cinema de (disc 2)

91. Colin Blundstone – One year

92. Claude Nougaro – Claude Nougaro/Frances Faye – In Frenzy

93. Paul Desmond – From the Hot Afternoon

94. Les Baxter – The Exotic Moods of (disc 2)

95. Walter Wanderley – The boss of bossa nova (disc 1)

96. Michel Colombier – Capot Pointu

97. Ride – OX4 (the best of)

98. Chris Connor – Warm Cool (the Atlantic Years)

99. Jimmy Scott – The Source

100. Luiz Bonfa – the composer of Black Orpheus plays and sings Bossa Nova

Off the top of my head, I hate Radiohead and Tindersticks, and I hit shuffle pretty much as soon as either of those came on. Other antihits were as follows:

· Scott Walker’s Climate of Hunter (very hard to deal with when you’re not in the mood)

· Simian’s Chemistry is what we are (the title track is amazing, but not exactly pleasant to listen to. Some of the others are just annoying)

· Spell’s Seasons in the Sun (Boyd Rice and Rose MacDowell’s take on off-beat 60s pop. I might start liking this album again in a few years, but right now I’m sick to death of it)

· Spiritualized’s Pure Phase (I could put together a good Spiritualized album. It would have maybe 9 or 10 tracks on it. I don’t think any of them would be taken from this album)

· Stone Roses – Stone Roses (I’m now at ease with the fact that I’m no longer 16)

· Terry Callier – Essential (Only one or two Terry Callier tracks are actually essential for me. This is a UK release aimed at a UK market that enjoys a different breed of soul music from the kind I like)

· Mamas and Papas – People Like Us (I used to think this was a cool album. Very offbeat sounding at first, but it became annoying very quickly)

· Neu! – Neu 2 (I have to say, I never really got this one)

· Nico – Camera Obscura (I’ve made a mental note to listen to this sparingly in future)

· Nina Simone – Compact Jazz (RIP Nina, but again, there’s only so much I can take in one sitting)

· PJ Harvey – To bring you my love (my interest in post-Dry PJ Harvey seems to have disappeared completely)

· Brian Eno – Music for Airports (I enjoyed this for a couple of months before it started to grate)

· Gilberto Gil – 1969 (simultaneously great and annoying)

· Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (one of the few albums in this list that was probably actually meant to be annoying)

· Beatles – White Album (my big joke when this first came on was to say ‘what the fuck is this!’ I meant it though!)

It really feels wonderful to have new discs in there. I’ll report back on how they went down in a few months when I get around to changing them over again.

Well, here are some more recent hits, some of which will make their way onto Musical Taste before long.

Sandie Shaw & The Smiths – Jeane

I always loved this one, but for some reason I hadn’t thought of it for years until the other day. To me, this lovely spare version (with Johnny Marr’s outstanding acoustic guitar playing) is vastly superior to the Smiths’s own rather flat version, which appeared on the original ‘This charming man’ 7″.

Sylvia Telles – Sol de Meia Noite (midnight sun)

A very cool dramatic version of ‘Midnight Sun’, sung in Poruguese with some beautifully over-the-top string arrangements.

Elis Regina – Poema

An early Elis track in a similarly dramatic style, although this one is more percussive.

Esquivel – Gypsy Lament

A cinematic track from his ‘Strings Aflame’ album. The album is less accessible than lots of his work, but great all the same. This reminds me of some of Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks (which were all recorded several years later).

Raymond Lefevre – In the hall of the mountain king

A ridiculous funky version of the Grieg piece. It starts off sounding very cool, although I concede that it gets a bit hard to take towards the end.

Ozzie Torrens – Tijuana Grass

His Boogaloo in apartment 42 album sounds good, even if the tracks all seem to start with the same riff, in the same key!

Serge Gainsbourg – L’Alouette

This track is bizarre. It has a 70s piano feel that is similar to the Michel Colombier album that I have, Capot Pointu. I wouldn’t be surprised if Colombier was involved here. The piano plays some Bruce Hornsby-esque chords (cool, huh!), and meanders about, before the track explodes with some drums. The chord sequence kind of echoes ‘hall of the mountain king’, come to think of it.

Wilson Das Neves – Don’t go breaking my heart

This is a Brazilian instrumental pop version of the Bacharach song, and it appears on a record called Juventude 2000, a battered copy of which I picked up in Peru in 1998. The album is pretty cool, and the names and composers mean much more to me now than they did then!

Beaga Band’s – You Only Live Twice

A budget-sounding Brazilian band plays John Barry! This is very odd, with a slightly muted and out-of-tune bunch of players, with prominent woodwinds. The piano works quite well with the chords of the song to give it a really strange feel.

John Barry – Follow Me (Main Title)

I was familiar with the tune from the version on one of Barry’s 70s Polydor LPs. It’s cool to hear a vocal version, and the arrangement is beautiful.

Sven Libaek And His Orchestra – Misty Canyon

Apparently a notorious beaty library piece, this was recommended on Musical Taste. As I noted there, the secondary tune is borrowed from Bacharach’s ‘What the world needs now’. It’s a lovely instrumental with a strong beat and nice vibes.

James Brown – King Heroin

Another Musical Taste recommendation. Brown narrates a dark and depressing tale over a groovy backing.

Nancy Holloway – Sand and Rain

In a somehow similar vein to James Brown in the previous track, Nancy relates some nuggets regarding love, to a slightly more beaty and very cool backing.

Christiane Legrand – Cent Mille Poissons Dans Ton Filet (O cafona)

To be honest, this is one of the most annoying tracks ever! But I’m mentioning it because I think it’s remarkable that this French language translation of Marcos Valle’s scat-filled 1971 song ‘O cafona’ was ever written, let alone recorded! There seems to have been an increased awareness of quality Brazilian pop in France; I had no idea that tracks like this were really even known outside Brazil at the time. Christiane was Michel Legrand’s sister, and she sounds great. There is very little available by her on CD, aside from a compilation of early recordings, and isolated tracks that (like this) appear on Japanese compilations. Also, it doesn’t help that the store Dusty Groove insists on incorrectly referring to her as ‘Christine’.

Juan Torres – Jesuchristo (jesus cristo)

Another ‘difficult’ track! This bizarre organ version of the Roberto Carlos’s hit is from a record I bought in Peru called ‘Organ melodico vol. 11′. The album is pretty terrible – full of casio style meanderings. This track is ridiculous, but there’s something compelling about it. Some nice drums and backing vocals occasionally break through the organ sound.

Golden Boys – Chuva De Verao

Thanks are due to a commenter on Musical Taste called Galt for recommending this nice beaty Golden Boys track, which has some beautiful string arrangements. It’s not up there with their version of ‘Berimbau’ (one of my top tracks ever), but it’s pretty good.

Chris Montez – Keep Talkin

Chris sings Joao Donato’s ‘amazonas’ with words! It actually works really well! Thanks to Don aka opl3003 for hooking me up with this one, which is taken from the one A&M; album by Chris that I don’t have.

Donovan – Wear your love like heaven

This is a cool one. Donovan is ridiculous, but I think he knows it, and it’s entertaining to hear him over-enunciate lines like ‘crimson ball sinks from you’. The arrangement is super groovy with organ and drums. This was pointed out to me by my brother (the lazy one who never recommends anything at Musical Taste, even though he registered several years ago)

Jackie & Roy – Didn’t want to have to do it

I would love to get the original album this came from, ‘Changes’. It’s compiled on the ‘Get Easy’ sunshine pop compilation. This is of course a superb Roger Nichols-Paul Williams composition, and Jackie and Roy’s version is wonderful.

Bob Azzam – Mr Dieingly Sad

Another alternative version of a sunshine pop track, this came from Magnus (www.bellybongo.com)’s album of the week. Thanks Magnus!

Walk on by – Jack Mcduff

This is from an album I’ve had and loved for years, a Prestige issue called The best of Jack McDuff and the big soul band. A really nice version of this song, which as you might have gathered, I’m obsessed with.

Bobby Byrne and his Orchestra – Made in Paris

More Bacharach, but this time a more obscure soundtrack cut, recorded on the Command label. It’s a fantastic arrangement. It starts off sounding like a standard twist number, but has some wonderful string flourishes and some outstanding guitar playing from Tony Mottola, as well as superb organ work from Dick Hyman.

Richard Rome – Ghost a go go

I know nothing about this track, but it’s a groovy ‘graveyard bounce’ track with spooky organ and a super cool spare sound. This is what Stretcher Case wanted to sound like!

Sharon Tandy – One Way Street

I read about Sharon in last month’s Mojo, where if I remember correctly, she was described as ‘The South African Dusty Springfield of Swinging London’. I didn’t wind up enjoying the compilation quite as much as I had hoped to based on this fantastic track, which was the first I heard. It’s a soulful pop track that bounces along very nicely. Her voice is cool, but the arrangements are often a bit to rocky and guitar heavy for my taste.

Santo & Johnny – Bulls-Eye

A cool early track from my old favorites (note my spelling here. Am I English or American? Spelling-wise, I don’t seem to be able to decide). Like many of their tracks, this walks the tightrope between being beautiflly raw and being unlistenably out of tune. It just about falls the right side of that line.

Kai Winding – Spinner

A Claus Ogerman composition performed by Kai with Kenny Burrell on the More album. Very nice twangy neo-Hawaiian stuff.

Chaquito – Callan

Super cool laid-back late 60s/early 70s crime jazz from a record that constitutes the best 35p I’ve spent in my life.

Tommy McCook – The Shadow Of You Smile

A nice Ska version of this track (thanks to don aka opl3003 for this one).

Sound Dimension – Soulful Strut

Another ska version of one of my favorites, from the Studio One Soul compilation.

Brother Jack McDuff – Oblighetto

Finally, another Musical Taste recommendation. I’m a big McDuff fan, but had never picked up Moon Rappin’, from which this great track is taken. It’s long and jazzy with some spooky and appropriately other-worldly wordless vocals.

It would be kind of nice to throw tracks like the ones I mentioned yesterday out to the world in a radio show. But I don’t think there are any Internet radio stations that allow you to do that anymore without paying. I see that live365 would charge me $9 a month for the privilege, and that they would allow only 25 simultaneous listeners, as well as inserting a ton of ads. Somehow this doesn’t appeal! Hopefully some day I will sort out an outlet for at least a bi-weekly radio hour; in the meantime I hope these ‘recent digs’ playlists are of some interest…

Lee Hazlewood: 'Poet, Fool or Bum/Back on the Street Again' (CD; EMI; 1973-1977)
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After the rash of superb reissues back in 1999 on the Smells Like Records label, things had gone quiet in terms of Lee Hazlewood reissues. Then last year came the 2CD compilation of Lee's 1960s MGM work. And now EMI in the UK have reissued two more LPs. I had heard a few tracks from 'Poet...' on a bootleg, but it's nice to have the proper album.

That said, these recordings aren't as immediate as the other reissues I mentioned. The instrumentation is similar to classic Lee - guitars with a slightly country feel, jerky basslines, strings, and occasional backing vocals. But somehow it's not all that magical this time. I think perhaps the compositions aren't quite as good as his earlier work. There are also cover versions of songs by both Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. The latter makes him sound very much like mid-90s Nick Cave.

Back on the Street Again has a slightly different production. The vocals sound icy and cool, but the backings are pretty wacky. 'Your thunder and your lightning' is mildly disco influenced and bit cheesy. Synthesizers and Lee just don't go together in my head. The rest of the album has a country feel most of the time.

I'm glad to have these albums, and they might grow on me, but right now they're not really up there with Cowboy in Sweden, The NSVIPs and his MGM albums. Apologies for this rather simplistic review, which I will revisit later.