Sean Connery [1930-2020] / Matt Monro

Artist: Matt Monro / John Barry
 LP: From Russia With Love

Song: "From Russia With Love"

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Song: "James Bond With Bongos"

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Song: "Opening Titles - James Bond Is Back"

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This morning I woke to the sad news that actor Sean Connery had died; he was 90 years old. I grew up watching the 007 films and for me Connery was the REAL James Bond. "From Russia With Love" is my favorite Bond film. British crooner Matt Monro does a fine job on the film's theme song (with John Barry doing dynamite work with the music for the film), but sadly, the Bond film tradition of having the vocal version of the theme song blazing hypnotically over the film's sexy opening title sequence hadn't yet taken hold when this second 007 film was released in 1963. (It was the next film that began the trend, when Shirley Bassey crooned the immortal "Goldfinger" over that film's opening credits in 1964.) If I remember correctly, Matt Monro's theme song for "From Russia With Love" is merely heard (only partially) in a beach scene, playing through the speaker of an AM radio stuck in the sand. 

 

Unfortunately, when I told my work colleague Amir, who is from the Middle East, about Connery's passing, I ended up with my foot in my mouth again in another of my infamous and regrettable situations where I'm accidentally racist because I'm just no good at comprehending foreign accents. Amir expressed sadness over Connery's passing, and then told me he really liked the actor in the film "Zurock." He asked me if I'd seen it, and I repeated the title several times aloud, trying to recall if I'd even heard of it before: "Zurock...Zurock..." I told Amir I'd seen Connery in the strange '70s sci-fi film "Zardoz" and asked it that's the movie he was talking about. It wasn't. As I was busy assuming that "Zurock" was some small-scale, made-for-cable film Connery had been in, probably about some conflict in an Iraqi city called Zurock that I'd never heard of before, Amir was on his phone looking up the film he was trying to tell me about: It was this one. Embarrassed, I told him I absolutely loved it. 

 

You can read about Sean Connery's life and career on Wikipedia here, find his BBC obituary here, see a sexy photo of Sean without a shirt on here, and read all about singer Matt Monro over here.

 

[ Matt Monro: December 1, 1930 — February 7, 1985 ]

 

Sean Connery

[ August 25, 1930 — October 31, 2020 ]

We will miss you, Sean.

Mrs. Mills

Artist: Mrs. Mills

LP: Everybody's Welcome At Mrs. Mills' Party

Song: "Chicago/Avalon/Who's Sorry Now"

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I'm taking some time out this evening for a party with Mrs. Mills. Everybody's welcome at her parties. Can you imagine this kind woman turning anyone away? Neither can I. According to Wikipedia, Mrs. Mills was "discovered" and was taking England by storm at about the same time as The Beatles, but sadly, her chapter in the history of British pop music has been edited out of most recent editions. 

 

Personally, I "re-discovered" Mrs. Mills in a dank basement record "store" called Play It Again during my trip to Astoria, Oregon this past weekend. Speaking of re-discoveries, back in 2006 or 2007 I was driving to the Oregon coast with Eduardo and as we were heading down the highway, I saw a sandwich board sign next to the highway that just said "Records" and had an arrow leading passers-by down a small hill to a huge silver warehouse. Turns out the warehouse was stacked high with records! As we were on vacation to the Oregon coast and hadn't yet actually arrived there, I wasn't allowed much time for browsing, but I did manage to find a neat old LP by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. So the next time I went to the Oregon coast, several years later, I kept an eye out for the magic warehouse full of records...but it had totally disappeared. 

 

Well, Play It Again is the same store! It's the same guy, with the same unruly collection! He said he's moved 22 times in the past 23 years, or something like that. He also said he had recently hired a 20-year-old employee, but "You know how that goes" and he mimicked the slashing of his wrists. I guess I don't know how that goes, since I have no idea what he was trying to say. Do all 20-year-old record store employees commit suicide? Maybe he should try hiring someone who's 23. Anyway, I'd better get back to the party. I've included a Mrs. Mills video clip below. Enjoy!

Mrs. Mills on YouTube:

[ "Save All Your Kisses For Me" ]

[ Mrs. Mills: August 29, 1918 — February 24, 1978 ]

Diana Ross

Artist: Diana Ross

LP: 7" single

Song: "Swept Away"

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A few weeks ago when I stopped by Daybreak Records in Fremont they were playing this 1984 Diana Ross song, and they were playing it loud. I hate to have to say it, but...I was swept away! Diana Ross is one of my favorite singers of the 1980s, but it seems like her hits from that decade have mostly been forgotten (guess how many of them I've heard on Seattle's two '80s radio stations over the past year. ZERO!), perhaps overshadowed by her spectacular earlier work with The Supremes. 

But I still remember Diana's cover of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (#7 in December of 1981) as one of the popular songs I liked most when I first began paying close attention to what was playing on the radio in early 1982...and then her campy follow-up single, "Mirror Mirror" (#8 in March of 1982), was even better! I had just missed out on basking in "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" during their actual heyday, since they were hits for Ross in 1980 (#1 and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively), but I turned the radio volume knob a few notches higher whenever either of those came on. Oh, and speaking of camp, does anybody remember Diana's breathy hit called "Muscles" (#10 in November of 1982), written by Ross' good friend Michael Jackson? I Endlessly Love that song.

"Swept Away" was written and produced (so I just discovered) by Daryl Hall, of Hall & Oates fame. That's also Daryl on guitar for the zippy solo, and he's contributing his chords to the backing vocals too. The song only peaked at #19 (in October of 1984; the album's follow-up single, "Missing You," performed better, topping out at #10 on the Hot 100 in April of '85) but here tonight "Swept Away" is #1 on my singles chart. And I'm playing it loud. 

[ Diana Ross ]

Exuma

Artist: Exuma

LP: Reincarnation

Song: "Brown Girl"

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Song: "Metastophaliese"

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Song: "Pay Me What You Owe Me"

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Exuma (aka. Tony McKay or, originally, Macrfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey) is my favorite new discovery! Born on Cat Island in The Bahamas in 1942, McKay went to New York City to study architecture when he was 17. He promptly ran out of money and, according to Wikipedia, some friends gave him an old guitar and McKay began performing in Greenwich Village clubs alongside the likes of Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Richie Havens, and others. 

 

McKay had moved to New Orleans by the 1980s and performed regularly there at nighttime hotspots in the French Quarter. In the mid-1990s he lived for a time in Colorado, reportedly inspired by the area's peacefulness. As for posterity, Wikipedia says "McKay fathered many children..." which makes it sound like he's fathered so many that nobody's been able to keep track! Shout-out and thanks to my sister Chas for the birthday money that led me to the record store (as if there's not already a well-worn path) where I found Exuma's 1973 "Life" LP, which, in turn, inspired me to obtain this 1972 LP from seller Riffs-Ahoy on Discogs. It arrived yesterday! 

 

[ Tony McKay: February 18, 1942 — January 15, 1997 ]

Sacha Distel

Artist: Sacha Distel

LP: 7" single

Song: "Adios Amigo"

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Song: "Mister Casanova"

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After work today I stopped by Golden Oldies Records to rummage through their Air Supply. Of course, according to the alphabet you have to go through ABBA to get to Air Supply, and for whatever lucky reason, somebody had plopped this Sacha Distel record right into the middle of ABBA...like, between the Bs: ABSachaDistelBA.I love any song that includes whistling, but even better if the song's in German with a Spanish chorus!

[ Sacha Distel: January 29, 1933 — July 22, 2004 ]

Zdravko Čolić

Artist: Zdravko Čolić

LP: Ako Priđeš Bliže

Song: "Glavo Luda"

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This is the second LP, released in 1977, from "the Tom Jones of the Balkans," Zdravko Čolić. I got my copy in the mail today from a guy named Vladan in Jagodina, Serbia. What happened was this: A few weeks ago I found a copy of this record by Yugoslavian group Srebrna Krila up at the Aurora Antique Pavilion in Lynwood, WA. Along with that record, there was also a nice copy of Zdravko Čolić's fourth LP, "Malo Pojačaj Radio," inside the sleeve. I went online to find a copy of "Malo Pojačaj Radio" with its own outer sleeve, and found Vladan's shop on Discogs. He had "Malo..." and a copy of this amazing-looking earlier record by Čolić too! And a bunch of Yugoslavian disco singles! Anyway, now they're mine. Enjoy!

[ Zdravko Čolić ]

Lionel and The Clipper Trio

Artist: Lionel and The Clipper Trio

LP: On a Calypso Cruise

Song: "Wings of a Dove"

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Song: "Clipper Lounge Cha Cha"

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Song: "Mary Ann"

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If magically given one hour to travel to any destination at any point in time, I can never decide if I would go back to 1998 to have another eggs, sausage patty and toast breakfast at The Hurricane Cafe, which has been destroyed, or spend my hour on board a calypso cruise enjoying a Lionel and The Clipper Trio show live and in person. I could even bring this 1973 LP to have it signed by Lionel and his gang! I wonder if I'd be allowed to split my time into two 30-minute segments. In that case, I think I'd first go to The Hurricane, and then zip down to my calypso cruise, since I'd probably end up with sausage grease all over my autographed LP if I attended the cruise performance first, followed by the egg and sausage breakfast. 

I don't know if the magic will allow it, but if it does I'll try to bring you with me, since that may be the only way you'll get to properly hear Lionel and his Clipper Trio. The LP was recorded in some annoying form of stereo that my mp3 producing mechanism is not able to grasp, so it sounds like the vocals are being performed from a separate cruise entirely, one that only occasionally passes by the ship we're lounging on with The Clipper Trio. In any case, that's Lionel Lotmore on vocals for "Wings of the Dove," and, not that you can hear him, but that's William Anderson handling the vocal duties on "Mary Ann." 

Grady Tate

Artist: Grady Tate

LP: Windmills of My Mind

Song: "The Windmills of Your Mind"

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Song: "Don't Fence Me In"

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Grady Tate is primarily known for his drumming (he played and recorded with the likes of Jimmy Smith, Simon and Garfunkel, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Astrud Gilberto, Count Basie and many others) but he also had an amazing voice! This 1968 LP I found at Daybreak Records the other day (now open at their new location!) is the first of six that Grady released as lead singer between 1968 and 1974. He also contributed vocals to several songs in the iconic "Schoolhouse Rock" series of educational tunes. His rendition of "The Windmills of Your Mind" (with Herbie Hancock on organ!) is probably one of the most beautiful things I've heard today. True, it's only 5:53am, but still. Wouldn't you kill to have windmills of the mind right now? Seems all anybody's got nowadays is helicopters.

[ Grady Tate: January 14, 1932 — October 8, 2017 ]