Siganme Los Buenos, Bailables

Artist: M.C. Miker "G" & Deejay Sven

LP: Siganme Los Buenos, Bailables - Volumen 11
Song: "Holiday Rap (La Cotorra En Vacaciones)"
[ listen ]

Artist: Stop

LP: Siganme Los Buenos, Bailables - Volumen 11
Song: "Wake Up (Despiértate)"
[ listen ]

This 1987 various artists LP, made in Colombia, is filled with great '80s Spanish-language dance music. for some reason it also includes "Holiday Rap" from the Dutch duo M.C. Miker "G" and Deejay Sven, which was evidently a hit in Europe 20 years ago, but didn't fare as well in the USA. maybe it topped the charts in Colombia too. anyway, here's an extra little treat, though "treat" might be too strong a word:

M.C. Miker "G" & Deejay Sven on YouTube:
[ "Holiday Rap" ]

I've also included an instrumental number by the group Stop from the same LP. I'm no exercise fanatic, but whenever I play this song my body automatically begins to aerobicize.

Spitballs

Artist: Spitballs

LP: Spitballs
Song: "Knock On Wood"
[ listen ]

Here's a great (but unfortunately short) cover of the 1978 Amii Stewart disco hit, originally written and performed by Eddie Floyd in 1966. From what I can find online, this seems to be Spitballs' one and only album (released in 1978), but it's pretty fantastic. Not sure if this band photo on the back of the LP is to be believed, since their music doesn't sound like a 21-man enterprise. my guess is that the core of Spitball is the four gents in dark suits and that the rest of these guys are just dancers.

Billy Mure's Supersonic Guitars

Artist: Billy Mure's Supersonic Guitars

LP: Fireworks
Song: "Firecrackers"
[ listen ]

Here's some pretty nifty supersonic guitar action from Billy Mure, who still performs regularly in Sebastian, Florida at the age of 92! (This according to the Billy Mure MySpace fan page, which you can see [ here ] and which features four more terrific Billy Mure tracks, including "The Peanut Vendor" from this "Fireworks" album.) Some notes on the back of the LP inform us that "Each tune in this collection sizzles and glows like a Roman candle on the Fourth of July, but each one also has a staying power that means it will be just as hot on the fifth." Well to me it still sounds plenty warm at the end of September!

The Warner Bros. Military Band w/ Henry Mancini conducting

Artist: The Warner Bros. Military Band w/ Henry Mancini conducting

LP: Sousa In Stereo
Song: "The Thunderer"
[ listen ]

Old musical genres constantly flare up again years later to be played in clubs or on college radio for younger generations to go nuts about. As someone who keeps a finger on the pulse of the underground club and music scene to predict the next big thing, I assure you that this is it. You should probably jump on the bandwagon now, 'cause there might not be much room for you later on.

Bill Saluga

Artist: Bill Saluga

LP: 7" single
Song: "Dancin' Johnson"
[ listen ]

Hey, has anyone ever seen a dancin' johnson?

David Sereda

Artist: David Sereda

LP: Chivalry Lives

Song: "Mark"
[ listen ]

As an openly gay pop musician in 1981, with few role models who didn't either look like this or like this, David Sereda was impressively ahead of his time. This love song to a guy with the musically unfortunate name of "Mark" is from Sereda's first album, made when he was just 17 years old. The song, and the entire album really, is pretty awful... but it's the kind of awful that lots of other singers didn't start producing until the late '80s or early '90s, so again I'm impressed with Sereda's foresight. You can read more about David Sereda and what he's been up to lately on Wikipedia here. Coincidentally, there's another sorta' famous David Sereda who was also born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in the 1960s, but this other David Sereda saw a UFO when he was 7 and then later he discovered Pamala Anderson. If you want, you can read about that David Sereda here.

Tim Chandell

Artist: Tim Chandell

LP: The Loving Moods of Tim Chandell
Song: "The Nearness of You"
[ listen ]

I went digging through my collection this past weekend to find some romantic songs for my friends' upcoming wedding. One of the neat things I found is this 1977 cover version of the old standard, originally written by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics) back in 1938. These are some notes from the back of the LP:

Sit down (or cuddle close to the one you love) relax and
enjoy THE LOVING MOODS OF TIM CHANDELL.

TIM CHANDELL, who was influenced earlier in his singing career
by the smooth voice of SOLOMAN BURKE, has concocted
ten (10) love portions in the form of songs and delivers
them onto an unexpecting public. The result, I am sure
you will find pleasingly irresistible.

An ardent lover of SOUL MUSIC, Tim had a burning ambition to
record a Long Player of SOUL BALLADS. With this in mind, he
and his producer SONNY ROBERTS has come up with this
well put together ALBUM.

I do hope that this ALBUM will launch him on a lucrative
road to show business success.
-- V.H. Crichlow

It seems to have worked, since Tim Chandell is evidently still making music - though I hadn't heard of him until now.

Tina Yothers

Artist: Tina Yothers

LP: 12" single
Song: "Girlie Girlie"
[ listen ]

With her cutesy, all-American-girl-next-door looks, people often forget that "Family Ties" actress Tina Yothers was actually born and raised in Jamaica.

Nu Girls

Artist: Nu Girls

LP: 7" single
Song: "Can We Talk About It?"
[ listen ]

Commonly known as "the black Bananarama," Nu Girls here capture the very essence of my 8th grade year at West Valley Junior High. Mixed by The Fly Boys and featuring rap by Daddy 'O', "Can We Talk About It?" reached #71 on Billboard's Hot 100 R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart in the spring of 1989.

The Waikikis

Artist: The Waikikis

LP: Midnight Luau
Song: "Nowhere Man"
[ listen ]

Everyone loves The Beatles, even the Hawaiians. some people will declare this a travesty, but the folks at Kapp Records are one step ahead and they've included a message for you on the back of the LP:

It's midnight, and the best-loved songs of the Islands have been played
again and again. Now it's time for The Waikikis to play some of
today's favorites to round out the Luau.

The Waikikis, one of Kapp Records' best-selling groups, make midnight
magic in this, their seventh Kapp album.

Listen to the haunting sound of the Islands, the steel guitar and flute and
low-pitched organ, in such world-wide favorites as Michelle, Yesterday,
Eleanor Rigby, and Girl. There's Hawaiian feeling in every
modern bar of these performances.

You Like Me Too Much, Here, There and Everywhere, and Nowhere Man
are as traditional-sounding as Aloha.

Let the wonder of The Waikikis happen. Let the sound of the Islands
breathe a different life into some of your modern favorites.

Have a midnight Luau every time you play this album.

Anytime you play it.

It's true, it really works--even though I was playing it at 8:15 in the morning.

The Lonely Swashbuckler

Here's a mix I threw together over the past few days... music for listening in the car as summer changes to autumn.

side one:
01. Etude in C-sharp Minor: Op. 42, No. 5 - Alexander Scriabin [piano: Piers Lane]
02. Hatched Upon the Age - Comets On Fire
03. Amazing Creature - Pascal Schäfer
04. Valley-Hi! - Stereolab
05. Minoi, Minoi - Chango & The Polynesians
06. Efitepsa Mia Lemonia [I Planted a Lemon Tree] - Trio Bel Canto
07. Conversation Quotidienne - Claude-Michel Schönberg
08. The More You Live, the More You Love - A Flock of Seagulls
09. L.A.D.Y.O. - Fancy
10. Peter's Dream - Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
11. That Old Black Magic - Glenn and Brenda Derringer
12. The Roses Blow Away - Monique Leyrac
13. Twogether - The Addrisi Brothers
14. Dreaming About You - The Blackbyrds
[ listen ]

side two:
01. Etude-Tableaux in A Minor: Op. 39, No. 6 - Sergei Rachmaninov [piano: Vladimir Ovchinnikov]
02. The Unbearable Phatness of Being - Dykehouse
03. Colleen - Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band
04. Echo Yodel - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys w/ Darla Daret
05. Poema - Hermanos Arriagada
06. Paris Bells - Marianne Faithfull
07. I'm a Man - Jobriath
08. My Latin Brother - George Benson
09. Born to Be Blue - The George Shearing Quintet w/ Nancy Wilson
10. Your Eyes Close - Michael Cashmore w/ Antony
11. Komori Uta [Japanese Lullaby] - The Toshiba Singing Angels
12. Wild Billy's Circus Story - Bruce Springsteen
[ listen ]

The Monks

Artist: The Monks

LP: Suspended Animation

Song: "I Can Do Anything You Like"
[ listen ]

Not to be confused with that other band called The Monks, this one was formed in the late '70s by members of The Strawbs. "Suspended Animation" was their flop 2nd (and last) LP that was evidently released only in Canada back in 1981. This track is one of those early-'80s-comically-offensive songs, in this case highlighting a prospecting phone call made to EMI by the singer of a versatile East Indian band.

The Green Hornet!

Artist: The Bus Lines

LP: Green Hornet Theme

Song: "Green Hornet Theme"
[ listen ]

It's time for Saturday morning cartoons!

Mr. Campell and Family

Artist: Mr. Campell and Family

LP: 7" single

Song: "Ya-Ya-Ya"
[ listen ]

Here's an instrumental ditty (instrumental in getting me out of bed this morning) from Germany in 1968. as my mother always used to say, kazoos and Fridays go together like carousels and cotton candy.

Armenia

while posting the Armen tracks below, I discovered I was a little mixed up as to Armenia's location in the world (I was confusing it with Albania). I did a Google image search and found some maps and also this beautiful picture of Armenia's Mount Ararat with a guy holding some grapes.

Albert & Jenny Armen

Artist: Albert & Jenny Armen

LP: Albert & Jenny... With Love
Song: "Disco Tango"
[ listen ]
Song: "Kefie Yerk (The Party Song)"
[ listen ]

I stuck the formidable "Disco Tango" on my last mix, but I think it deserves a private spotlight--even just so people can see Jenny Armen's pretty white dress. there's some info about the Armens on the back of the LP, written by "M. Garbedian," which is obviously a pseudonym for one Albert Armen:

Albert Armen presents ten of his original hits; Jenny Armen sings all of Albert's
compositions. Jenny has been performing for 15 years in night clubs; on TV, radio
and record albums. This talented Armenian couple have their own unique style,
especially after Albert spent 7 years training Jenny's voice. This extra training
helped to enhance her voice and personality, causing many of the live audiences
to comment on her charisma and magnetism--setting her style far above ALL
other Armenian singers.

Albert Armen, the great composer and conductor is full of energy and style--just
what Armenians need today. Many Armenian musicians hesitate to play his songs
because his special styling, along with unique rhythm and punch, seems to have an
extraordinary quality which is almost impossible to duplicate. -- M. Garbedian

Jenny must have been a real drag before Albert came along. in any case, since he spent 7 years working on her personality and voice, I figured I should post two songs from their album instead of just one.

Adrian Munsey

Artist: Adrian Munsey

LP: 12" single
Song: "C'est Sheep (part one)"
[ listen ]
Song: "C'est Sheep (part two)"
[ listen ]

Produced by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, this dance single was a surprise hit throughout all of Iowa and Wyoming when it was released back in 1979. part two is pretty much the same as part one, except it's longer and the sheep seem angrier.

Moments

Artist: Moments

LP: Moments With You

Song: "Come In Girl"
[ listen ]

One side of this 1976 LP from the Moments features slow songs, starting with a beautiful version of "Don't Cry Out Loud." the other side features up-tempo numbers and kicks off with the best track on the album, "Come In Girl." The Moments (Harry Ray, Al Goodman and William Brown) changed the group's name to Ray, Goodman & Brown in 1978 and continued making hits together through the 1980s. Ray died from a stroke in 1992, but according to Wikipedia, Goodman and Brown continue to record and perform together today.

Michael Sembello

Artist: Michael Sembello

LP: Bossa Nova Hotel
Song: "Automatic Man"
[ listen ]

2008 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Sembello's highly controversial, career-ending LP, "Bossa Nova Hotel." Fresh off the success of his #1 hit single "Maniac" from the Flashdance soundtrack, Sembello was reportedly feeling professionally invincible when he decided to stick two floating, oiled-up new-wave heartthrobs engaging in light incidental groping on the cover his first full-length LP.

One of the figures wears a diaper and features a Jesus-like piercing of his left side, while the other has a large chain holding two small green sacks draped around his neck. Nobody could tell for sure what it all meant, but they knew that it wasn't right. As Sembello's follow-up single, "Automatic Man," stalled at #34 on the U.S. charts, a mob of conservative watchdogs attacked his home in Laguna Hills, California in the middle of the night. Running for his life, Sembello fled the country with nothing but some jeans, a photo album, a tennis racquet and two pairs of pajamas.

After cutting a zigzag pattern southward through Mexico, Sembello landed a job teaching European cooking at one of Guatemala's top universities. In 1994, Sembello hooked up with a 4-piece Latin jazz combo known as Los Pesados, and can still be found with them on Monday and Thursday nights performing "Maniac" and a roster of Spanish-language pop standards at Guatemala City's popular Café del Arco.

Edie Adams

Artist: Edie Adams

LP: Behind Those Swingin' Doors
Song: "I've Got Rings On My Fingers"
[ listen ]

I knew I was in for a treat when I found this LP from actress Edie Adams in the dollar bins last week. I've always enjoyed one of her other records I added to my collection about eight years ago. all the songs on this one are great, but "Rings" is still a standout. from the back of the record jacket I learned that "...[Edie's] slinky, provocative performances in a series of television commercials for Muriel Cigars were rewarded with the 1961 award as Commercial Spokeswoman of the Year."

Edie Adams on YouTube:
[ "Muriel Cigars" ]

The Joyous Celebration

Artist: The Joyous Celebration

LP: People Get Together
Song: "There's a Reason"
[ listen ]

There's no date listed on this Seattle Christian group's "People Get Together" LP, but I'm pretty sure it's from 2007 or 2008, because I saw that lanky blond sideburns guy and that gal with the huge hair working at the Safeway at 15th & John last week. There's a game on the back of the LP cover where they've hidden the six group members in a wooded setting. Can you find them all?

Jean Houben

Artist: Jean Houben

LP: Glamorous Holiday
Song: "Rio De Janeiro"
[ listen ]

Here's some breezy organ music to whisk you away on a "glamorous" tropical holiday to Rio de Janeiro... Europe.

France Joli

Artist: France Joli

LP: France Joli
Song: "Let Go"
[ listen ]

In this lively and infectious disco song from 1979, France Joli throws in some spoken word, rap, handclaps, voice echoes, congas, that rattlesnake sound... the only two things I can think of that she didn't use are tambourine and tuba. On the back of her self-titled LP, the Montreal-born Joli includes "P.S. THANK YOU GOD," probably for letting her hair turn out like this:

Eavesdroppings

Overheard when: 8:37pm on Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Overheard where: Scarecrow Video at 5030 Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle, WA [ map ]
Overheard who: a short blond 22-year-old-looking guy behind me in the checkout line, responding to his taller friend's question, "You've had some roommate troubles of your own, right?"
Overheard what: "Yeah, there's that girl Christy, she turned out to be totally stupid. And then that girl Rebecca turned out to be totally stupid too. We got in a really big fight last night and I got hella mad at her. She couldn't find her DVD cable and she asked me where it was and I was like, 'I don't know.' So when I got home from work last night, I found out she had taken my DVD cable and I was like, 'what the hell!?' and she was like, 'you can have your cable back when you find mine,' and I was like, 'WHAT!?' I got hella pissed off at her... and my roommates were like, 'what's the big deal, it's just a DVD cable,' but they totally don't get it. It's not about the DVD cable, there's a bigger picture here. I mean, it's about being a decent person. It's not even logical for someone to take another person's DVD cable just because they can't find their own. I got hella pissed at her, it was a pretty big fight. And my other roommates have had problems with her too, like one-on-one."

Peter Gordeno

Artist: Peter Gordeno

LP: 7" single
Song: "Get Out of the Kitchen"
[ listen ]

Born in Rangoon, Peter Gordeno combines the best of Tom Jones and Count Dracula in both looks and singing style. But somehow I get the feeling he's not very helpful around the house.

Eavesdroppings

Overheard when: 6:29pm on Monday, September 1, 2008
Overheard where: near intersection of NE 47th Street and 9th Avenue NE in Seattle, WA [ map ]
Overheard who: a roly-poly bearded man with a Dom DeLuise voice talking to his wife and two half-grown kids as they passed me on the 9th Avenue sidewalk.
Overheard what: "It's a movie! It's a fantasy! It's fun! It's different! It's weird!"