Victor Silvester y su Orquesta de Cuerdas

Artist: Victor Silvester y su Orquesta de Cuerdas

LP: Latin-American Dance Parade [10" EP]

Song: "Sierra Madre"

[ listen ]

Wouldn't ya just know that my supposedly rare, vintage Columbia 10" EP (CL 6308) of "Latin-American Dance Parade" by Victor Silvester and his Orquesta de Cuerdas turns out to be nothing but a cheap 1953 re-issue of the original that was released in 1950 under catalog number FL 9516 with a nice yellow cover instead of blue. Oh well. Victor Silvester was born in England in the formerly quaint town of Wembley just after the turn of the last century. He served in WWI after lying about his age, and then after the war he turned his attention to dancing. He was one of the first post-war dancers to feature the full natural turn in the slow waltz, which helped him snag the top prize (with partner Phyllis Clarke) at the first World Ballroom Dancing Championship in 1922. (He competed again in 1924, but lost to Maxwell Stewart, who had invented the double reverse spin. Clearly, poor Victor didn't stand a chance.) Silvester eventually developed a chain of dance studios where throngs of people, including Merle Oberon, were able to indulge their passion for ballroom dancing. Frustrated by the general lack of "strict-tempo" dance music being released on vinyl at the time, Victor assembled his own five-piece group of talented musicians and began recording under the name "Victor Silvester and His Ballroom Orchestra." Their first release, "You're Dancing on My Heart," (!) hit stores in 1935, sold over 17,000 copies, and launched a recording career that would last for decades. You can read all about that here, and my re-issued liner notes are included below.

[ Victor Silvester: February 25, 1900 — August 14, 1978 ]

Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra

Artist: Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra

LP: Carnival Tropicana

Song: "No Taboleiro de Bahiana"
[ listen ]

This past Sunday I was playing the organ for a church (long story) up in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline, and on my way home my car automatically turned into the parking lot of a large GoodWill Thrift Store a few blocks from the church. Their records were just .99¢, and one of the things I found was this Columbia LP by Russian conductor Andre Kostelanetz, one of the pioneers of easy listening music. I'm not a huge fan of Kostelanetz's music, since the listening is a bit too easy for me (how can you record Latin-American songs without any percussion?) but I still picked this one up, mainly for the great cover art. "No Taboleiro de Bahiana" is one of two songs on the LP that does actually have a bit of percussion and isn't just strings and woodwinds. The record's inner sleeve features helpful tips (with drawings!) from Columbia Records on how to take good care of your LPs, so that alone was worth the 99¢. I'll have to include Columbia's tips later, as I'm putting this up during my lunch break at work, and I've run out of time. You can read about Andre Kostelanetz here, where you'll also see his long discography, but for some reason they left this one out.

[ Andre Kostelanetz: December 22, 1901 — January 13, 1980 ]

Dave Bacal

Artist: Dave Bacal

LP: The Latin Touch of Dave Bacal

Song: "Dengozo"

[ listen ]

Ironically, Dave Bacal started his career by "beating it out in theatres," which, in more recent years, is just the sort of thing that could bring a successful career to a sudden and abrupt end. Before releasing this terrific Latin-themed album on the Crown Records label in 1960, Dave Bacal worked with fitness guru Jack LaLanne who, as a troubled youngster, once set his house on fire and attacked his brother with an axe. After recovering from sugar addiction, LaLanne got his own fitness show on TV in 1951, for which Dave Bacal provided improvisational accompaniment on the organ. You can read more about Jack LaLanne, who died earlier this week at the age of 96, on IMDB here, on Wikipedia here, and find his Los Angeles Times obituary here. The notes from Dave Bacal's "The Latin Touch" LP are included below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 [ Dave Bacal: December 12, 1908 — September 12, 1986 ]

Hamilton Bohannon

Artist: Hamilton Bohannon

LP: Keep On Dancin'

Song: "Dance With Your Parno"
[ listen ]

Hamilton Bohannon was first hired on to play drums for Stevie Wonder's touring group before going on to become bandleader and arranger for some of Motown's big acts. You can read more about Hamilton Bohannon here. All songs on Bohannon's 1974 "Keep On Dancin'" LP are superb, as Wayne Joell says, but I especially like "Dance With Your Parno" for using chain-gang-type call-and-response in a funky dance number. Here are the LP liner notes:

Keep on Dancin' is the title of a new collection of songs
written, arranged, directed, produced and performed by
Hamilton Bohannon. Bohannon, who was Motown's Band-
leader for a number of years is finally coming into his own.
Bohannon's ability is amazing. I would like to know why
has he been hid from the public all these years. He is truly
a new Star. Check out this album, it's superb! Make sure
you listen to the beautiful ballad "Have a Good Day," it has
to be one of the best ballads of the year. Along with Hamilton
Bohannon one Rad Lumpkins, Fernando Sanders, David Pruitt
and Lorenzo Brown, truly all Giants. Bohannon makes his debut as
he sings for the first time. Check him out. Ladies and Gentlemen,
boys and Girls, Have a Good Day and Keep on Danging with the
unique rhythms of Bohannon.

"WAYNE JOEL"
Program Director
WDAS—FM Phila.

[ Hamilton Bohannon ]