Continent Number 6

Artist: Continent Number 6

LP: 7" single

Song: "Afromerica"

[ listen ] 

I recently ordered the "I Have Love" single by Typhoon Saturday online so I'd have their complete set (I'd found the group's other two singles at a store in the University District years ago, but I didn't have "I Have Love!").

(Un?)fortunately, my order didn't meet the seller's minimum dollar amount required for shipping something all the way to the USA...so I had to browse through their catalog to find eight or so late-'70s and early-'80s disco and new wave singles for my collection to make it worth their while! "Afromerica" by Continent Number 6 is one of the best of the bunch I got. CN6 is described online as, "an afro-funk outfit group composed of studio session artists." (Un?)fortunately, they also released an entire LP in 1978 (the same year as this single) that includes songs with titles like "Jungle Jamboree," "Eh Yeh Oh," and "Hunky Funky Lion," so...last night I had to place an order for THAT one too!

Nancy Nova

Artist: Nancy Nova

LP: 7" single

Song: "No Way"

[ listen ] 

Nancy Nova is one of my top favorite recent musical discoveries! (Nowadays, "recent" means sometime within the past twelve years.) I found two of her singles at the local record shop a while back, and then ordered all of her other singles online. "No Way" is her very first one, released in 1978. 

There's not a heap of information online about Miss Nova (real name: Carol Ann Holness), but she was one of the founding members of Toto Coelo (Nancy Nova's sister remained in the band!), and she wrote songs and sang background vocals for Lena Zavaroni!

Roland Shaw and His Orchestra

Artist: Roland Shaw and His Orchestra

LP: The Return of James Bond — In "Diamonds Are Forever"...and Other Secret Agent Themes

Song: "Diamonds Are Forever"

[ listen ]

I grew up watching the '60s and '70s James Bond films on TV. Even when I was a kiddo I loved the films' theme songs and the sensual opening credits sequences. Roland Shaw must have loved them too, since he was rather prolific when it came to releasing James Bond movie music records in the 1960s and early '70s. I picked up this two-LP collection a few years ago at Daybreak Records (according to the price sticker anyway; my memory is shot) but until this evening I hadn't opened the album (or had I?) to reveal, not only its full gate-fold centerpiece glory, but also a signed head-shot of Sean Connery somebody stuck inside my copy! (You know, the marketing team might have put one of these in every copy of this record when it came out back in 1971. Who knows.) (But still...)

[ Sean Connery Is Forever ]

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is notable for marking Connery's return to the screen as British Secret Agent 007 after model George Lazenby took on the role for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, released in 1969. I think most 007 aficionados would agree that DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER has one of the most riveting theme songs of any in the Bond franchise (sung, of course, by the legendary Shirley Bassey...it also happens to be one of my own karaoke greatest hits!) Likewise, I don't think anyone could argue over the fact that the film has one of the most dynamite 007 posters of any ever made. And though DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is certainly of interest for featuring an early appearance in cinema of a gay male couple (as a pair of villains...played mostly for laughs, unfortunately and of course), I'm fairly certain Bond fans and critics alike would solemnly nod in agreement when I say... This film stinks.

I don't need love...

For what good would love do me?

Diamonds never lie to me.

And, when love's gone... 

They luster on!

[ Roland Shaw: May 26, 1920 — May 11, 2012 ]

Eavesdroppings

Overheard when: 11:58am on Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Overheard where: Wallingford Route 44, swing 5, while delivering mail and passing a vacant home that's currently being renovated, at 552 N. 70th St., Seattle, WA 98103 [map]
Overheard who: Two construction workers; one Caucasian female, 5'2" and heavy-set with dark hair, and one dark-haired Caucasian male, about 6'2" and lanky. Both probably in their late 20s or early 30s, and both wearing work clothes. They were chatting on the front porch while taking a short break; she was holding a measuring tape and he was wearing work goggles.
Overheard what: 
Gal construction worker: "Women always give me a hard time about my height. I'm five-foot-two." {Holds measuring tape in front of guy construction worker, from his foot to his head} "Six foot two...but of course I had to go over the top of your glasses. Still...dude, can I borrow a few inches from ya?
Guy construction worker: "I can't remember the last time a girl asked me that."