The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[Rudy]

This was a pleasant surprise. My pal "Dr. Bob" mailed me a copy of this record on cassette back in 1998, full of "love crackles" as he called them. The album was released in 1957, and he and his wife counted it among their favorite albums. I found a copy or two myself that were mostly clean, and I think my dad had a copy that wasn't in any better shape than Bob's. (This was also one of those albums unfortunately reissued in 1962 with the Duophonic fake stereo that Capitol was fond of.)

But I have been checking online for a while, waiting for a CD version. Looking at Discogs, it appears there was a CD released in Japan in 2011, but I never saw it listed anywhere.

So, guess what I found on Qobuz yesterday?



George Shearing Quintet--Latin Escapade. It's nice to finally hear this album so cleanly.

Needless to say, it's in my cart. It's a great sample of the sound of the Shearing group back in the day. He was one of the pioneers in bringing Latin sounds to the jazz world, and Cal Tjader performed with his group for a short time while his own Latin jazz career took off.

I'm wondering who the model is on the cover. It looks like Sandy Warner. She was popular on many exotica and Latin album covers back in the day, especially for Martin Denny's records. And thanks to different makeup and lighting, she was able to change her appearance quite a bit in those photos.

This page shows her on various album covers (although about halfway down the page, there are a lot covers that are not Warner).

The Exotica Girl on album covers – musiceureka

Posts about The Exotica Girl on album covers written by ruudverkerk

musiceureka.wordpress.com

Another site shows some of the same photos, along with her appearances in a couple of television series.

Sandy Warner: Exotica King Martin Denny's Cover Girl

You’ve seen Sandra Sandy Warner on Martin Denny's album covers, even if you're not sure who Martin Denny is. The albums had titles like Exotica, Primitiva, Quiet Village, Afro-Desia, and The Enchanted Sea, and the music Martin Denny played was in the very dated genre known as exotica. Sandy...

groovyhistory.com

 

[GDBY2LV]

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Something along the lines of a Martin Denny album. They’re really fun to listen too. Sometimes a bit bizarre like Exotica. Great find.

 

[Rudy]

This one was a hit before the exotica craze came along, so there's a lot of good playing. Although in typical Capitol jazz back then, the tunes tend to stay under three minutes long.

YouTube has it via an official upload, but gathered together as a playlist. Maybe I'll tackle that later when I have some time.

 

[rockdoctor]

Many years ago, when I was a teenager, I used to hear John Barry- We Have All The Time In The World instrumental on the radio and loved it. Eventually, I found the On Her Majesty's Secret Service soundtrack in a cutout bin but the version that I heard was not on that album. In the late 8o's I was at a used record store in the area and found a copy of Ready When You Are JB. I bought that LP and that is the version that I truly like of the song. I still have it and John Barry is one of my favorite composers for movie soundtracks and I have a number of them that he has done. My personal favorite is John Williams.

 

[AM Matt]

The late Norman "Hurricane" Smith follow up to his 1972 self - titled album called "Razzmahtazz Shall Inherit The Earth" on EMI Records (division of Capitol) & the 45 single "Sam" failed to chart on Billboard. (all 11 song tracks recorded on vinyl) NOT available on Apple iTunes.

 

[JOv2]

My personal favorite is John Williams

His score for Jaws is excellent. (I have a few of his s/t from the '60s -- when he was known as Johnny Williams.)

 

[Rudy]

I've only had the promo 12" single of "I Know" from this album (the "extended dance mix" which is only a lengthened album version), but today is the first time I'm hearing Philip Bailey's Continuation, his first solo record outside of Earth, Wind & Fire. Found it on Qobuz while flipping through a few artists in EW&F. George Duke produced this album, where his second album, Chinese Wall, was produced by Phil Collins (and hosted the hit "Easy Lover").



So far, so good. It has a typical 1983 sound to it, similar to where George Duke was at during this time (understandably). The songs don't quite grip like they do in EW&F but they are still quite good.

 

[Rudy]

Prior to Philip, I played this one, which I haven't really gotten into yet. The big question--did Horace ever catch the 27th Man?



A nice album though. Enjoyed it! It's updated from his 60s sound just a little, but not enough to change his basic style.

 

[Rudy]

...and looking back at my last two posts, the common theme seems to be "album cover photos with one foot off the ground"....

 

[Harry]

 

[Rudy]

Well, now there's three in a row with one foot off the ground...

 

[Harry]

 

[Rudy]

And there's four.

Hate to break the streak, but this is playing at the moment:



This one is in the style of other mid 70s soul albums. Some of it works on this album, and a couple don't quite ignite. But she does offer two songs she co-wrote, two by Bill Withers ("Who is She, and What is She to You?" and "Let Me In Your Life"), one by Stevie Wonder ("Creepin'"), and even a James Taylor song ("Chili Dog").

 

[Rudy]

Premiering on YouTube at the moment:

 

[JOv2]

in the style of other mid 70s soul albums

(In other words: the scruffy '60s bite is replaced with the smooooth '70s strut)

 

[Rudy]

She wasn't quite shakin' her groove thang, but it was close!

 

[AM Matt]

The British pop rock group Unicorn "Blue Pine Trees" (Capitol Records from 1974) & produced by former Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. The only album that charted in Billboard Top 200 Albums peaking at # 129 in November of 1974. If you like America or Crosby, Stills & Nash!!

 

[Rudy]

This one is still getting some play, since I did the needle drop a few weeks ago.




I've done a needle drop for Urgh! A Music War but haven't had time to split the tracks yet. I'm still debating including the video-only tracks.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Recently I've been digging the second Looking Glass album, Subway Serenade.

Looking Glass is best remembered for their 1972 #1 hit, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," which still gets regular rotation on classic rock radio. Unfortunately their first album didn't contain a lot of other great material, at least in my opinion.

The second album contains what should have been a follow-up hit, "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne," but that single didn't do as well, only reaching #33. The album overall in my opinion, is WAY better than their first album, but since they couldn't keep the hits flowing, that was their final LP. Other good tracks include "Wait," "Wooly Eyes," "Sweet Somethin'" and "Sweet Carolina." My second favorite song (after "Jimmy") is "City Lady." But all of Side One is great.

One interesting thing about Looking Glass was, they had two lead singer/songwriters who split those duties equally: Elliot Lurie, who has the unique voice heard on about half of their material, including the hit singles; and bassist Pieter Sweval was the singer on the remaining songs. Their styles are different enough that it sometimes gives the impression you're hearing two different bands on the same record. Lurie's voice is the far more memorable of the two, so his songs tend to resonate the longest, I think.

If the hit "Brandy" is one of those songs from that era that you enjoy, you're sure to love the Subway Serenade album too.

 

[AM Matt]

This is my favorite song by Looking Glass from their 1972 album "One By One" (also flip 45 B side of the remix bongos version of "Brandy" which has the whole 6:01 playing time).

 

[AM Matt]

The Looking Glass song "One By One" reminds me of Carole King!!

 

[Mr Bill]

Rudy, when tackling Urgh!!! keep in mind there are several versions of the movie out there. There are a number of websites that discuss this and how it happened. Fortunately the confusion is minimal because (thankfully) no version has a different songs replaced by alternatives by the same artist, despite each act being filmed for three songs each.

Some songs were edited out in some markets (notably Surf Punks "My Beach" for nudity in the Bible belt in those days and Dead Kennedys on principle). Over the years I've managed to see the other two songs by Oingo Boingo and The Cramps and one of the others from Wall of Voodoo.

I suspect other acts were filmed but ultimately left out of the film. I've seen marquee photos of the cuts from the Santa Monica location and date and I.R.S. act Wazmo Nariz is listed. And I've seen one cut from him (and the Wazband) on video that is clearly from that venue. I'd love to see a list of every act that was filmed and the titles of the three songs that were filmed by each. That footage is likely sitting in a vault somewhere (hopefully not Universal, LoL) and a deluxe extended (or multi-volume) DVD would be something to see,,, even though the market for such would be small at this point.

The soundtrack album primarily carried A&M and I.R.S. artists because, well, the album was A&M (and was produced by Miles Copeland).

You can order the movie on DVD but they are "print on demand" DVDs. According to several artists, it is NOT the full released version and it has some tracks omitted. Also, none of the artists get royalties for these "on demand" sales which is why some (Jim Skaish most loudly among them) urge fans NOT to buy these. They also add that they don't always lay well in all players. This may be true, but may also be something they say to disincline someone from buying it.

--Mr Bill

 

[Rudy]

I found a digitized version of the VHS copy, so I think that one might have most of the tracks. (My VHS copy is buried somewhere in storage.) I agree--all the songs that were filmed would be a treasure trove for some of us. Not knowing film technology back in those days, I don't know if the audio would be part of the original film--wouldn't it be synced up from audio tape later?

 

[Rudy]

Been looking for this song for years. Finally found it buried on one of my Ben Liebrand compilations.


A mashup of Billie Jean and Do It Again.

 

[jfiedler17]

That Billie Jean/Do It Again mash-up is absolutely ingenious!!!! Without a doubt the best mash-up experiment I think I've ever heard.