Perennial

Artist: Perennial

EP: You're the Ones

Song: "Rock and Roll Evenings" 
[ listen ]

The derivative early '80s heavy metal band Perennial hailed from Seattle, which explains why they're screaming about "Rock and Roll Evenings" instead of "Rock and Roll Nights." Seattle is still known as a fairly sleepy town where residents go to bed pretty early. Perennial could have even gone so far as to call the track "Rock and Roll Brunch" and it would have made perfect sense around here.

According to the info on the back of their 1983 4-track EP, Perennial's manager, Redvers Watson, worked out of Edmonds, a suburb just north of Seattle. I tried in vain to track Redvers down today, mainly just to ask if they knew what brand of shampoo the group used to produce such stunning highlights. You can read a little about Perennial here, and I've included a video for "You're the Ones" below. It's uncanny in their video how much all four members of Perennial look exactly like Mrs. Welsh, my 4th grade teacher at Robertson Elementary. Except for the wardrobe, of course.

Perennial on YouTube:
[ "You're the Ones" ]

[ Perennial ]

Shinichi Mori

Artist: Shinichi Mori

LP: Woman of Sighs

Song: "Mother Love Life" 
[ listen ]

Here's the final track from prolific Japanese crooner Shinichi Mori's 1967 debut album. He really puts a lot of emotion into his vocal delivery. And don't you love it when there's talking in the middle of a song...especially when it's Japanese? You can read more about Shinichi Mori on Wikipedia here. Lyrics are included below in Japanese and English (Google translate English, anyhow) so you can sing along.

Mother Love Life

Fall distant night sky mother Hoshiko star

Fall is so tears if you look

I cried with that daughter of the same set

Although came is accustomed to heartless town of

Oh mother, mother, mother miss nostalgic

It will become the support of mind for us two people Sai

Get along with everyone, please pray the class date

Mom!

Friendly dream of his hometown

Without Tokyo is really painful

While Unazuki that it is so good going

Red flower bloom two of life

Oh mother, mother, mother miss nostalgic

Change of heart is not even dead

Would such a woman and a man

Live without erasing also light of breast

Such as is referred to as a fast come

Oh mother, mother, mother miss nostalgic

[ Shinichi Mori ]

Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch

Artist: Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch

LP: Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch

Song: "Closer, Closer" 
[ listen ]

Don't know about you, but I need a sweet disco chaser after yesterday's bitter posting. This 1977 track by Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch should do the trick.

[ Celi Bee ]

Carol Chase

Artist: Carol Chase

LP: Sexy Songs

Song: "Disco Devil" 
[ listen ]

Have you ever wondered what you'd get if you mixed late-'70s disco with the early '80s Nashville sound? Carol Chase is here to tell us: DISASTER! I recommend not listening to this one—I'm posting a track only out of tradition. Suffice it to say that "Disco Devil" is the musical equivalent of Carol's outfit on the cover: A stale hunk of wedding cake stuffed into a pair of bluejeans. 

As we learn from her 2004 interview with some French people, Carol has fine musical tastes—ranging from Etta James to Carol King; from Led Zeppelin to Janis Joplin. So I'm dying to know what juicy bit of scandal someone used to blackmail her into recording "Sexy Songs" and posing in that preposterous getup.

Dūrocs

Artist: Dūrocs

LP: 7" single

Song: "It Hurts to Be In Love" 
[ listen ]

Rather than all the ridiculous romantic nonsense or heart-shaped boxes of chocolates (50% off at Fred Meyer, starting tomorrow!), I'd like to focus on other things today—like the bitter, squabbling couples I've overheard in restaurants or on the bus; significant others who can no longer even imagine going to a movie or to breakfast by themselves; better halves who are unable to vacation where they'd like because of ongoing romantic compromise; toilet seats left up. Happy Valentine's Day!

[ Dūrocs ]

Billy Larkin & the Delegates

Artist: Billy Larkin & the Delegates

LP: Hole In the Wall

Song: "Agent Double-O-Soul" 
[ listen ]

These past few days I took another little getaway to Oregon—this time to Cannon Beach, over on the coast. Honestly, record stores were the last thing on my mind, since my friend Trevor and I would be passing through nothing but small towns and countryside—and yet, like a month drawn to the flame, I somehow managed to sniff one out! I gasped when I caught sight of Classics & Oddities on the historic main street of downtown Longview as we made our way through town to find some big bridge that would reportedly lead us into Oregon. They had some neat stuff at the store, including this 1965 Billy Larkin & the Delegates LP. Not a lot of info on the web about Mr. Larkin, but it seems he may have made music in Portland in the early 1960s. There's also a bit to read here, and liner notes from Richard Oliver (this might be his son!) are included below.

 

[ Classics & Oddities — Longview, WA ]

The American Breed

Artist: The American Breed

LP: Pumpkin, Powder, Scarlet & Green

Song: "Welcome, You're In Love" 
[ listen ]

Vancouver is now a two-record-store town! Once again, a local small-town paper annoyingly reports a vinyl store's opening as if nobody has ever seen or heard of records before. I mean it's not like records are one of these. Do Scott Hewitt's readers know nothing of the world in which they live? I guess it's quite possible that they don't. Anyway, I've heard of records, thankfully, so I stopped in at the fabulous new 1709 Records (at 1709 Broadway Street) in Vancouver and found all sorts of interesting artifacts. 

One of them was this terrific 1968 LP by '60s Chicago pop group The American Breed. Formed in 1962, the band was called Gary & the Knight Lites until 1967, when they picked a new name by pulling it out of a hat. You can read more about The American Breed here. Sadly, singer Gary Loizzo (on the cover in blue) died a few weeks ago of pancreatic cancer; he was 70 years old.

[ The American Breed ]

 [ 1709 Records — Vancouver, Washington ]

Julie London

Artist: Julie London

LP: Julie

Song: "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" 
[ listen ]

"Emergency!" was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid, so it's crazy that I never realized until just now that it was Julie London I was watching as nurse Dixie McCall all those years ago! Anyway, I stopped by Jackpot Records in Portland's Hawthorne District (the downtown store is gone!) and picked up something there I hope I won't be posting for at least another decade...

[ Jackpot Records — Portland, Oregon ] 

...but I didn't really hit pay dirt again until I stopped off at Everybody's Music in Vancouver, WA on my way back to Seattle. Amongst other vinyl treasures, I found this 1957 LP by smokey-voiced crooner and TV nurse Julie London, accompanied by jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles, a native Washingtonian from Spokane. Everybody's Music has lots of great stuff in their $1 bins; I'd recommend stopping by if you're ever in the neighborhood. Notes on the TRANSISTORIZED-Spectra-Sonic-Sound process and a letter from the office of Si Waronker are included below.

[ Everybody's Music — Vancouver, Washington ]

[ Julie London: September 26, 1926 — October 18, 2000 ]

Los Impalas

Artist: Los Impalas

LP: Regresan Los Impalas
Song: "Cada Vez Que Vienes a Mí"
[ listen ]

Song: "Todo Gira" 
[ listen ]

I swore I'd stay away from record stores when I was visiting my brother in Portland two weekends ago. But of course we all know how that goes. The first store I ended up at was Music Millennium. It's a super cool shop with lots of nooks and crannies, but they mainly sell CDs and new vinyl. I picked up the new David Bowie CD there.

[ Music Millennium — Portland, Oregon ]

Once I stopped pretending I wouldn't be going record shopping in Portland, I was eager to check out Crossroads Music, which, according to people on the Internet, held a collection of vinyl inventory supplied by more than 20 different dealers. I was not disappointed, it was sublime. This 1975 release by Los Impalas from Venezuela is one of the things I picked up there. I'm guessing it's a retrospective collection, since, according to their Wikipedia entry, Los Impalas were active from 1959 to 1970. Plus, from looking at the cover, I'm pretty sure bands weren't still wearing duds like these and recording Beatles covers in 1975, not even in Venezuela. But who cares. It's good stuff. You can read more about Los Impalas and listen to some of their other songs on the Barraezo website here.

 [ Los Impalas de Venezuela ]

 [ Los Impalas de USA ]

[ Crossroads Music de Portland, Oregon ]