Metro

Artist: Metro

LP: Metro

Song: "Black Lace Shoulder"
[ listen ]

Released in the U.S. on the Sire label in 1977, Metro's self-titled LP was the work of singers-musicians-clothes horses Peter Godwin and Duncan Browne. You can read about Godwin here, Browne here.

I found this one at the other Ernie November location in Sioux Falls—pic below.

[ Duncan Browne, left . Peter Godwin, right ]

* * * * * * *

[ Ernie November . 1912 West 41st Street . Sioux Falls, SD ]

The Emeralds

Artist: The Emeralds

LP: Bird Dance
Song: "The Bird Dance—Version II"
[ listen ]

Song: "Rivers of Babylon"
[ listen ]

Here's one I picked up for a dollar at the Goodwill thrift store in Mitchell, South Dakota. I had pulled into town to see The Corn Palace, but spent the night in this quaint little place so I wouldn't have to keep driving in a huge midwestern rain storm—and plus, I wanted to watch the new Johnny Depp movie. To learn the bird dance, please follow these simple steps found on the back of the record:

* * * * * * *

[ The Emeralds ]

Jerome Carlson

 Artist: Jerome Carlson

LP: 7" single

Song: "Sunday Mornings"
[ listen ]

UPS should be stopping by today with the bulk of the records I found on my Dakota road trip. In the meantime, see if you can make it through this horrible thing I picked up at one of the Ernie November stores in Sioux Falls.

[ Ernie November . 1801 West 12th Street . Sioux Falls, SD ]

Faye Tucker

Artist: Faye Tucker

LP: Blues From a Broken Hearted Country Gal
Song: "Don't Love Tonight"
[ listen ]

Song: "Bill Bailey Please Come Home"
[ listen ]

As one might expect, there were lots of great country records to be found in North and South Dakota. I picked this one up for $2 at an antique mall in downtown Bismarck. There's not much info about singer Faye Tucker on the web (guess she didn't win the sweepstakes), but if you like her sound, you can get a copy of this 1968 LP here. These notes are from the back of the record:

When a country gal is broken hearted she lets
you know it. Faye Tucker is the latest entry in the
Nashville sweepstakes for top girl country singer.

With a great feeling for the blues, Faye sings her
heart out as she empties her soul in these great
country blues ballads. Some are old, some are
new, none are borrowed—all are blue.

Eavesdroppings

Overheard when: 11:20pm on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Overheard where: Mexican Village restaurant, located at 814 Main Avenue in Fargo, ND [map]
Overheard who: three clean-cut white guys in the booth across from mine (all in late teens or early 20s, one blond, the other two with sandy brown hair, all in t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops) and their tall and skinny waiter—a white guy, early-to-mid 20s, messy brown hair, nasal voice, friendly-but-robotic manner, in waiter uniform of red shirt with black shoes and pants.

Overheard what:
Sandy-haired guy #1: (to blondie) "So how's your new girlfriend?"
Blondie: "She's good..."
Sandy-haired guy #1: (to sandy-haired guy #2) "He's going out with a black girl and she's huge!"
Sandy-haired guy #2: "No way, dude! You're going out with a black girl!?"
Blondie: "So what? I don't judge a book by its color. I like her. I can have conversations with her, we talk about things..."

Sandy-haired guy #2: "How did you guys meet?"
Blondie: "There's some tall skinny white chick we were hanging out with, and she's one of her friends."
Sandy-haired guy #1: "When I saw her come into Sam's I started making fun of her, and then she came over and sat down with us!"

[waiter approaches table]
Sandy-haired guy #1: (to waiter) "Man, this guy's dating a really big black girl!"
Waiter: "Big or small, fuck 'em all..."
Blondie: "See? He gets it—he understands me... I bet I'm gonna' be bangin' her by tomorrow night—at least once!"
Sandy-haired guy #1: "Dude, your dick is gonna' fall off. She's gonna' break it in half!"

Doris Day

Artist: Doris Day

LP: Doris Day Sings Songs From Calamity Jane and The Pajama Game

Song: "The Black Hills of Dakota"
[ listen ]

So I'm off to the Dakotas! Will be back soon... unless I end up running away to live with a boy named Sioux.

Music For Orchestra and Two Dakotas

...or, Music For Driving Through Two States Where You Hardly Ever Have to Turn the Steering Wheel.

side one:
01. Under the Pines - Bodies of Water
02. Keys to the City - The Go! Team
03. Sugar Free - Wa Wa Nee
04. Spirits In the Material World - The Police
05. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - John Barry
06. The Broads - Minotaur Shock
07. The Lonely Goatherd - Maria and the Children
08. Last Day of Magic - The Kills
09. Los Extraterrestres - Mister Chivo
10. Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
11. What's On Your Mind - Brass Construction
12. Stay With Me This Summer - Michael Henderson
13. Invitation - José Melis
[ listen ]

side two:
01. Stop the World - The Big Pink
02. The Big Hurt - Scott Walker
03. Yours - Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra
04. Michael - Peter Nardini
05. Elle - Didier Barbelivien
06. Give - Missing Persons
07. Are You the One? - The Presets
08. Ripped Knees - No Age
09. A Nice Bottle of Wine - St. Thomas
10. Canton Boy - Akiko Yano
11. Ecoute Mon Coeur - Ria Bartok
12. Turquoise - Milt Buckner
13. A Guy Is a Guy - Doris Day
14. Pitcher of Martinis - Leith Stevens
15. Doomsday - Elvis Perkins
[ listen ]

Barrabas

Artist: Barrabas

LP: Música Caliente

Song: "Wild Safari (Safari Salvaje)"
[ listen ]

Embark on a wild safari with this group of hunky Spanish bohemians! You can read about Barrabas on Wikipedia here.

Hugo Montenegro

Artist: Hugo Montenegro
LP: Magnificent Hugo Montenegro!

Song: "Heartaches"
[ listen ]

These have got to be the happiest heartaches I've ever heard. Read all about magnificent composer-conductor Hugo Montenegro here, see a picture of him as the cutest sailor in all maritime history here (on the right, obviously) and read the liner notes from the backside of this 1968 LP right here:

It's said that Hugo Montenegro tried 200 combinations of
instruments before coming up with the right orchestration
for one of his prize-winning film scores. The story tells
a lot about composer-conductor Montenegro—a man who
isn't afraid of a lot of hard work to get just the right sound
combination to achieve a particular effect; a musician
who knows as much about sound reproduction and high
fidelity as he does about composing and performing; a man
who's equally skillful at turning out a highly-regarded score,
conducting a best-selling recording or TV orchestra;
and arranging hit tunes for other musicians to play.

It seems like such a simple way to make a living—taking
somebody else's tune, arranging it for plenty of brass,
lots of violins and violas, and conducting the finished
score while the engineers get it down on tape. As
fellow musicians who marvel over Hugo Montenegro's
finished scores well know, it's not as easy as it sounds.
"Part of his success is coming up with a finished score that
sounds so natural, so right that you're not even aware of it."
Some arrangers want to tell the public, 'look at me, look
how clever I am and how complicated I've made this
arrangement,' says a violinist who's sat in on Montenegro
dates, "Hugo would never do that." What Hugo does is
to search for combinations which are different—yet
completely natural to the listener.

Selected to receive the Montenegro magic touch on this
record are nine all-time favorites like "The Song of India,"
"Dardanella," "Chanson d'Amour" and "Heartaches." Each
receives the full orchestra treatment in arrangements
you'll have to hear to appreciate and full-throated stereo
sound that really shows off your stereo sound system.
It's really music that surrounds you—for adults.
— Liner notes by Robert Angus
Editor, Modern Hi-Fi

[ Hugo Montenegro: September 2, 1925 — February 6, 1981 ]

Two Two

Artist: Two Two

LP: 7" single

Song: "Kwagayo"
[ listen ]

Here's a neat song released by London's Chiswick Records back in 1982, a year before the label shut down. I hope nobody's offended by all the nudity on the cover.

Julie Wilson

Artist: Julie Wilson

LP: Julie Wilson at the St. Regis
Song: "A Woman Without Experience"
[ listen ]
Song: "Twelve Good Men and True"
[ listen ]

Song: "A Bad Bad Woman"
[ listen ]

My friend here in Seattle who's also named Julie Wilson and I concur: If we'd been born 45 years earlier, we'd be this other Julie Wilson's best and closest friends. We'd take her to the airport in L.A. when she had shows in London, we'd babysit her Shih Tzu and water her plants while she was out of town and we'd even pick up her red sequined gown from the cleaners if she asked us to. But at night, the three of us would take the town by storm! You can find a list of Julie's TV and film appearances here, see her perform "A Bad Bad Woman" here and read all about Julie's exciting life and career and find out what she's up to nowadays on her official website here. These are the notes from the back of the LP:

JULIE WILSON AT THE ST. REGIS
with The Marshall Grant Trio

ABOUT JULIE

Naïve little Marylou Wilson made up her mind she was going
to become a star, and no one in Omaha, where she was
born, had any doubts that she would make it. From the
day Julie named herself Marylou after one of her dolls,
she was acting and she liked every minute of it—
so did her audience.

Julie wasted no time—she was determined and willing to
work hard. In her anxiety to rush her career, she entered
the Miss America Beauty Contest and was chosen Miss
Nebraska; however, since she was under 18 Julie
was disqualified. Drama classes at Omaha University,
singing in a trio with Earl Carroll's Vanities, dancing in
the line at the Copacabana and modeling followed.

All of a sudden, people sat up and took notice of a svelte
and sophisticated beauty appearing in motion pictures,
musical comedy, and supper club performances. No longer
wearing a calico gown, but sleek and chic creations and
having a twinkle in her eye, Julie now sings about the
naïve little girl who left the farm for the big city.

Julie made it. How could she miss. She can charm her
audience with a warm smile, tease them, flirt a little bit,
and at the same time, reassure them that it is one
great big wonderful party—and it's all in fun.
— Ethel Nagy

* * * * * * *

ABOUT THE ALBUM

If you were sitting ringside at the Maisonette (as I was)
near the witching hour on May 27, 1957, you would have
been thoroughly enchanted by a sultry-voiced young
woman who looked awfully good in the spotlight. Julie
Wilson grinned at the people, flicked a hip, and tore into
a tune with her distinctive brand of naughty nasality:
"I'm a bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
woman...." Behind her the piano made mad arpeggios;
she waited a moment for the giggles to subside, then
threw back her pretty curls and roared "...but
I'm good good good company."

Everyone—but everyone—in the plush St. Regis nightery
agreed. Lovely-to-look-at, delightful-to-know and heaven-
to-hear Julie Wilson was living it up in her most sophisticated,
tongue-in-cheek fashion—and the crowd loved every minute
of it. Lurking behind a richly brocaded curtain, by the merest
chance, a crew from Vik was taking it all down on tape
for our permanent delectation.

Deft comedienne Julie has had the great good sense to
attach herself in this collection to the witty, literate and
unabashed lyrics of wizard word-wielders Cole Porter,
Allan Roberts, Rowland Leigh and Bob Allan, to name a
few. Armed with the wicked where-withal, Julie belts out
comments on such brazen big-city phenomena as the
sugar daddy, the gold digger, and the terribly transient
nature of Man. After listening to JULIE WILSON AT THE
ST. REGIS, you'll agree that this miss has a name (plus
a voice and a style) you simply can't forget.
— Hugh M. Hefner, Editor-Publisher—Playboy

* * * * * * *

THE REVIEWS

"Julie Wilson's song style combines the smooth, the smoky
and the sultry. She's the perfect supper club performer—as
easy on the ears as she is on the eyes."
— Dorothy Kilgallen

"Lovely Julie Wilson is one of the most refreshing talents
I've ever presented on my show, and a swell girl."
— Ed Sullivan

"She's not my daughter, but after hearing this I am sorry she isn't."
— Earl Wilson

* * * * * * *

Recorded at the Maisonette in the St. Regis Hotel, New York
City, May 29, 1957. Arranged and conducted by Marshall
Grant. Produced and directed by Herman Diaz, Jr.

Ilan & Ilanit

Artist: Ilan & Ilanit

LP: Shuv Itchem
Song: "Shuv Itchem"
[ listen ]

Song: "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"
[ listen ]

This record has no release date listed, but I'm guessing it's from the early '70s. Go here to discover what Israeli singing sensation Ilanit sees when she looks back and also to find out Ilan's real name. The many pictures plastered all over the record sleeve are included below. As my mother always used to say, "Gadzooks! There's even hippies in Israel!"

Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band

Artist: Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band

LP: Yours Truly

Song: "Give More Tempo"
[ listen ]

This Tropical Rainstorm Steel Band LP was released on Seattle's Topaz Records back in 1978. You can read a bit about the label and how it helped influence the city's music scene here. And from Norene Gilbert—aka. "Miss Washington, USA of 1976," here's some gibberish about tropical rainstorms from the back of the record:

On the subject of
Tropical Rainstorms. . .

I stood gazing
through my window eyes—
deep into the storm—
it thundered in me
through me. . .
enhancing my transparency

droplet to droplet
puddle to puddle. . .

rolling waves into waters

I became the storm

following one without
the other. . .

thundering. . .
the rains of a thousand tropics

. . .I am my own mirages
following away

. . .the silence. . .

--Norene Gilbert

Ubiquity

Artist: Ubiquity

LP: Starbooty

Song: "Starbooty"
[ listen ]

Yolanda's girlfriends looked on with incredulous envy as she shamelessly threw herself at the biggest and most popular star on the dance floor.

The Andrews Sisters

Artist: The Andrews Sisters

LP: Sing! Sing! Sing!

Song: "Piccolo Pete"
[ listen ]

This isn't a collectors' item or anything, just a bunch of songs thrown together to cash in on the success of Patty and Maxene's hit Broadway show "Over Here!" in 1974. ("Piccolo Pete" was first issued as a single on the Decca label back in 1953.) I bought it mainly for the cool picture of the Andrews Sisters with '60s hair and makeup. If she were still alive, LaVerne (on the right in stripes) would be turning 98 today! Sadly, she was the first of the sisters to go—way back in 1967. (Her death is the proverbial "elephant in the room" in the LP liner notes, included below.) Maxene was the next to leave us, in 1995, but Patty (center, in yellow) is still alive and (hopefully) well. You can read about Patty, Maxene and LaVerne and their tumultuous-but-incredibly-successful career as The Andrews Sisters here. The sisters' legacy lives on even today—especially when Halloween rolls around.

THE BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE GIRLS ARE BACK!

Patty, Maxene and LaVerne Andrews, the swing sisters,
brightened a lot of corners in the '40s with their fascinatin'
rhythms and hepped-up harmonies. Now we've swung full
circle and two of the Andrews Sisters are back, in a bouncy,
bustling Broadway musical called "Over Here." It's a logical
progression: they'd already done movies (22), radio and
TV (their own shows), and, of course, records (900 sides
recorded, over 75 million records sold, with 19 gold records).

They're older and wiser but just as ebullient as they were
when they started out on the Minneapolis amateur hours.
From there they went on to the U.S. vaudeville circuit—Patty,
the youngest, was only 10 when they turned professional.
Their first smash, "Bei Mir Bist Du Shöen," was picked several
years later by their new-found manager, Lou Levy, who went
on to marry Maxene, and to find them other hits such as
"Rum & Coca Cola," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," and,
of course, "Sing, Sing, Sing" and "In the Mood," both
included on this boogie woogie record.

The Andrews Sisters were singing symbols of an era.
Patty says today, "We were such a part of everybody's
life in the Second World War. We represented something
overseas and at home—a sort of security." Crowds at the
Paramount and Roxy Theatres when they were doing five,
six, seven shows a day testified to their
ever-increasing popularity.

When the trio disbanded, Patty continued as a single and
Maxene taught theatre at a college in lake Tahoe as well
as forming a foundation to work with drug addicts and
delinquents. The glitter of the footlights has now captured
them again as a sister act, and they are captivating their
Broadway audiences and bridging the generation gap with
their happy harmonies and swinging syncopation. Bette Midler
recently revived one of their all-time hits, "Boogie Woogie
Bugle Boy," which is patterned so closely on the sound
of the Andrews Sisters that it's eerie.

If you want the original sound, look no further than this
album. This is vintage nostalgia, the genuine product, dating
back to the first heyday of the Andrews Sisters. Peppy,
perky pop tunes are here to tantalize your ear—right here,
so don't sit under the apple tree, just give a listen to
the original triumphant trio, the Andrews Sisters.
--Judy Granger

[ Maxene Andrews: January 3, 1916 — October 21, 1995 ]

[ Patty Andrews: born February 16, 1918 ]

[ LaVerne Andrews: July 6, 1911 — May 8, 1967 ]

Connie Smith

Artist: Connie Smith

LP: Connie's Country

Song: "Seattle"
[ listen ]

There hasn't been a cloud in the sky in Seattle for the past 5 days, which is really something for a city that's famous for its rain. Connie Smith taught herself to play the guitar while recuperating after a horrible lawnmower accident. You can read all about Connie's life and career here and see her perform her smash hit "Once a Day" here—a song which holds the record for the most weeks (8) spent atop the country singles charts by a female vocalist. And by the way, the skies really are a nice shade of blue here—come and see! Notes from the back of this 1969 LP:

AN IMPORTANT SINGER OF OUR TIMES

Like many artists, Connie Smith is somewhat reticent
when it comes to discussing herself, but not long ago
she granted an in-depth interview. She talked about
why she sings, what she likes to sing and what she
looks for in songs she chooses to record. Connie is an
important singer of our times and her singing makes an
impact on the lives of millions of people. So producer
Bob Ferguson thought that a semidocumentary liner
for CONNIE'S COUNTRY would be opportune. Brief,
documented, song-by-song descriptions have been
compiled with the idea of enabling the multitude of
people who are moved and helped by Connie's styling
to better appreciate her. In general, this sincere and
talented singer—as you will see—brings her art to
bear only on material which, in some way, illuminates
life and has meaning. Here are country songs, carefully
selected by Connie, some old and some new, but all
excellent and proper vehicles for Connie Smith.
--JESSE BURT, Ph.D.

SEATTLE— Connie's preference for melodic songs and
her way of making a pretty song even prettier make
this band highly appealing. Ernie Sheldon and Jack Keller
did the writing. Connie Sings it with warmth and joy
and makes you glad you're living.