Manolo Otero

Artist: Manolo Otero

LP: Sus Grandes Éxitos

Song: "Maria Nomas (María Ninguem)"

[ listen ]

My other recent record-buying relapse was late one evening last week when I stopped in at Half Price Books on Capitol Hill to see if they had any old copies of Sinclair Lewis novels that I haven't found yet. They didn't, but they did have some neat old European records, including this Grandes Éxitos LP from Spanish singer Manolo Otero. You can read a bit about him here, translated to English from Spanish, and visit Otero's official website here, where you will find hardly any information at all. Sadly, someone wrote to say that Manolo died in São Paulo, Brazil just a few days after I posted this.

 [ Manolo Otero: June 25, 1942 — June 1, 2011 ]

Blue Mink

Artist: Blue Mink

LP: Real Mink

Song: "Good Morning Freedom"

[ listen ]

Good Morning Fogbank is more like it. My bike-ride to work this morning was completely shrouded in mystery. This 1970 Blue Mink LP is one of the things I found up in Bellingham over the New Years holiday. Blue Mink was making music from 1969 to 1974, featuring vocals by British singer/songwriter Roger Cook along with Madeline Bell, who's originally from New Jersey. The group had six top-twenty singles in the U.K. during their five years together, including "Good Morning Freedom" which made it all the way to #10. You can read about Blue Mink on Wikipedia here, find a comprehensive biography for singer Madeline Bell on her website here, and find the "Real Mink" liner notes and group photo right here: