Lee Towers

Artist: Lee Towers

LP: A Christmas Song For You

Song: "A Christmas Song For You"

[ listen ]

Tonight I post a Christmas song for you. According to Wikipedia, Lee Towers (born in The Netherlands in 1946 with the name Leendert Huijzer) was discovered in 1975 when he became known as "The Singing Crane Mechanic" while working (repairing cranes, I assume?) on the docks of Rotterdam. I find this fascinating, but I am also rather jealous, as I have been impatiently waiting for 18 months to be discovered as "The Singing Mail-Carrier." Maybe I need to change my repertoire. I wonder what songs Leendert sang as a crane mechanic that led him to becoming discovered. Lee, if you're reading this, PLEASE TELL ME! I really could use some pointers. Tom Jones? Celine Dion? Lisa-Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force?

Anyway, Lee went on to become world-famous. This Christmas record was his second, released in 1976. It was not one of his most popular recordings, peaking only at #37 on the Dutch album charts. But Lee has had many hit records since then, and in 2019 he cut the ribbon on two residential high-rises that bear his name. I suppose this means they are officially known as "Lee Towers"...and, if Lee were ever to end up moving into the place, he would suddenly turn into a 1981 Gino Vannelli song. 

[ Lee Towers ]

Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: Lots of Luv'
Song: "The Night of Love"

[ listen ]

I took the day off work to relax, but instead I spent my time dealing with a malfunctioning smartphone (so-called), and engaging in auto repair (I replaced the bulbs for my driver's side headlight and the passenger side front turn signal). And now I'm in need of a perfect and perfectly frivolous pop song. This one from Luv's 1979 "Lots of Luv'" LP fits the bill. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[ Luv' ]

Dolly Dots

Artist: Dolly Dots

LP: Dolly Dots

Song: "(They Are) Rollerskating"
[ listen ]

Song: "Moviestar"
[ listen ]

This 1979 Dolly Dots record is one of the things I found at Rocade Musikk in Bergen, Norway earlier this year. The Dolly Dots have come up with one of the best album covers I've ever seen! They're all on roller-skates, apparently skating through outer-space, and they've named themselves "Dolly Dots," for heavens sake. I was certain I'd struck roller-disco gold. (Rocade doesn't have a listening station, so I was judging books entirely by their covers.) 

At the height of their popularity in The Netherlands and Belgium and Turkey and Japan, Dolly Dots had their own television show, there were Barbie dolls fashioned after each of the Dots, and you could reportedly even paste Dolly Dots wallpaper upon your bedroom walls (of course no one's actually dared to post photographic evidence of this online). But the music. What about the music? Well...to be honest, it's like what you'd expect if you were to put on a soundtrack for a sloppy, half-baked off-Broadway GREASE impersonation set at a 1958 post-sock-hop slumber party, replete with lots of jazz hands, pillow fights, and jumping on the mattress. But on roller-skates! This record is fucking awful.

[ Dolly Dots ]

Theo Vaness

Artist: Theo Vaness

LP: Back to Music

Song: "Nobody But You" 
[ listen ]

Ugh. Last night I went to see the new Acupuncture Wherewithal movie, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOR, at Northwest Film Forum. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to blow the 'Emperor's New Clothes' whistle on this one. Aside from one medium close-up of a guy pooping in the bushes, the actors all spend the entire film mumbling and whispering to each other about this far away from the camera. I went right to sleep. I've enjoyed some of this guy's other films (UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES and TROPICAL MALADY) but this one just doesn't cut the mustard, if you ask me. It doesn't even cut the mayo. Of course critics have declared it a masterpiece. 

Anyway, I arrived on Capitol Hill over an hour early so I'd have time to walk the three-and-a-half miles to the theater from where I'd likely be able to find parking. I had a few extra minutes to pop into Everyday Music before the movie started, and I found this delectably danceable disco record in the New Arrivals bin there. Theo Vaness, originally from Holland, made a bit of a splash in the USA during the disco era with the release of several LPs. He started feeling homesick, however, so, according to what I read on the disco-disco website, he eventually returned to his homeland where he continues to perform non-disco music today.

[ Theo Vaness ]

The Great Gavioli

Artist: The Great Gavioli

LP: Holland's Most Famous Barrel Organ

Song: "Gavioli Galop" 
[ listen ]

I can't believe I've only ever posted one famous Holland street organ record in all the seven years I've been putting stuff on this blog. It's high time for another, so here it is. From Capitol Records' Capitol of the World series in 1960, it's "the Big Daddy of Dutch street organs"—De Grote Gavioli!

[ Amsterdam ]

Wij Houden Van Oranje

Artist: Wij Houden Van Oranje

LP: De Allergrootste Voetbalkrakers

Song: "Olé, We Are the Champions"

[ listen ]

In case you live on Mars or one of the other planets besides Earth and so you haven't yet heard...Philip Seymour Hoffman died today from drugs. Not only that, but the Seattle Seahawks are Superbowl champions! (In case you live in the USA or one of the other countries besides Holland, "Wij Houden Van Oranje" translated to English means "We Just Won the Fucking Superbowl.") I never thought I'd be posting sports logos and statistics on my blog (did I mention that the Seahawks beat the Broncos 43 to 8?), but these guys have earned it. The Seahawks have the entire city going nuts, they've made everyone in the state happy and friendly (and drunk), and I have to admit it's all pretty gosh darn contagious. Well done, guys!

Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: With Luv'

Song: "You're the Greatest Lover"

[ listen ]

Today the sun was brightly shining, I didn't have to go to work, I rode the bike out to get coffee and donuts and, in case you haven't heard, the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl! And I don't even CARE about football! This Luv' song somehow made the perfect soundtrack for a rare gem of a day like today. It's been stuck in my head for hours. If you listen to just one pop song at top volume while driving on the freeway in your car in 2014, I recommend this one. You will not be disappointed.

Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: 7" single

Song: "Trojan Horse"

[ listen ]

Have you ever wondered what Bananarama would sound like if they'd made disco in the Scottish Highlands? On the one hand I'm amazed and a little annoyed that I'd never heard of this lovely Dutch trio before finding this catchy 1978 single at Som Records in Washington, DC last month. But on the other hand, I'm probably only now finally mature enough to handle knowing about them while still maintaining my dignity. If I'd seen Luv's televised performance of "Trojan Horse" when I was ten, I'd have been prancing around the playground singing "1-2-3-4-5, you say I'll be your wife!" while mimicking the group's dance moves—thereby thrusting myself even further down the rungs of Robertson Elementary's popularity ladder. Knowing about Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, and ABBA at that tender young age was making life difficult enough. You can read about Luv' on Wikipedia here.

Luv' on YouTube:

[ "Trojan Horse" ]

Street Organ / Drehorgel "De Arabier"

Artist: Street Organ / Drehorgel "De Arabier" [owner: G. Perlee]

LP: Daar Waar De Molens Staan / Where the Windmills Are

Song: "K.L.M. Mars"

[ listen ]

Here's a jaunty little number featuring "the colorful music of Holland's best known street organ, 'De Arabier.'" I especially like the organ's robust percussion section. The song is called "K.L.M. Mars," so I was hoping there might be other-worldly sci-fi sound effects thrown in, but I guess "Mars" probably means something different in Dutch. The English and Dutch-language liner notes and some neat old photos from "Daar Waar De Molens Staan / Where the Windmills Are / Wo Die Windmühlen Stehen" are included below. I'll be at the Bellingham Gay Pride Parade this weekend, and I'm really hoping to find some candy-striped activist groups gaily marsing to the cheery tunes of a horse-drawn barrel organ there.