The latest episode of Car Boot Vinyl Diaries is now on Mixcloud, with all sorts of car boot bangers and chazza choons. The Featured Album is a collection of BBC Sporting Themes, there's a a great French-language Kinks cover from Petula Clark, and the rest of it runs the gamut from Tom Waits to Tweety Pie.
Use the player below or visit the CBVD Mixcloud page https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/
Car Boot Vinyl Diaries
Showing posts with label 50s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 50s. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Friday, 3 February 2017
5x7
As I've mentioned before, I don't always have the patience to look through boxes of 7" singles, but when albums are thin on the ground I sometimes have a rummage, and somehow over the past 12 months I've amassed quite a few. Here's a somewhat random selection.
Bought for 50p at a car boot sale last August was this well-known record from British vocal trio The Avons.
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| The Avons - Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat b/w Alone At Eight (1959) |
After an inauspicious start, sister-in-law duo The Avon Sisters (stepsisters Valerie and Elaine Murtagh) dropped the "Sister" part of their name and teamed up with singer Ray Adams. Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat was their debut single and their biggest hit, topping out at no.3 in the UK. The song was first recorded earlier that year by US singer Paul Evans, who took it to no.9 in his home country.
I'm very fond of this cheeky but wholesome pop song about a frustrated motorist (driving what must be a fair sized vehicle considering the passenger load) and his polyamorous pal, especially the pleasing "de-doody-doom-doom" backing vox.
From the same seller and also costing 50p was another old favourite on Columbia, this time from Bobby Vinton.
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| Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet b/w Is There A Place (Where I Can Go) (1963) |
Blue Velvet was a top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, then The Clovers in 1955 and The Statues in '59. Vinton had the most success with it, his piningly nostalgic rendition bagging two weeks at the top spot in the US in 1963. Although it didn't dent the UK chart, it eventually achieved a no.2 placing in 1990 when it was re-released, four years after it had been heavily featured in David Lynch's noir of the same name inspired by the song. The most recent version was Lana Del Ray's brooding interpretation, used in a TV ad for H&M in 2012.
Car boot season isn't up and running in my part of the world just yet, so I've been relying on the local charity shops for second hand music fixes. This has meant mostly CDs, but a couple of weeks ago I bought the first lot of chazza vinyl of 2017; a handful of 50p singles including this on Disques Vogue from Pet Clark.
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| Petula Clark - Il Faut Revenir (You'd Better Come Home) b/w Un Jeun Home Bien (1965) |
Founded in 1947, Disques Vogue began by releasing jazz by American and French artists, expanding into pop towards the end of the '50s. Petula Clark signed with the label in 1957 and started having French-language hits in Europe as well as continuing to chart at home in the UK on Pye Records with songs sung in English. She also recorded material in Italian, Spanish and German, and her worldwide smash Downtown was released in four different languages.
Il Faut Revenir (You'd Better Come Home) came out in 1965, and the b-side is a very tasty French-language cover of A Well Respected Man by label-mates the Kinks. This cover was also released as an a-side the same year on the Vogue Productions imprint, with a song called Las Vegas on the flip.
Also on Disques Vogue is this by François Hardy, bought at a boot sale last summer (another 50p-er).
Parisienne swoon-inducing pop singer Hardy joined Vogue in 1961, and like Clark sings in Italian and German as well as French and English. This single (the titles translate as If This Is It and I'll Be There For You) was a British release, made in England and distributed by Pye. Both sides are lovely; Si C'est Ca features just minimal guitar behind Hardy's enchanting vocal, but the slightly more produced b-side Je Serai La Pour Toi just edges it for me.
Il Faut Revenir (You'd Better Come Home) came out in 1965, and the b-side is a very tasty French-language cover of A Well Respected Man by label-mates the Kinks. This cover was also released as an a-side the same year on the Vogue Productions imprint, with a song called Las Vegas on the flip.
Also on Disques Vogue is this by François Hardy, bought at a boot sale last summer (another 50p-er).
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| François Hardy - Si C'est Ca b/w Je Serai La Pour Toi (1966) |
Parisienne swoon-inducing pop singer Hardy joined Vogue in 1961, and like Clark sings in Italian and German as well as French and English. This single (the titles translate as If This Is It and I'll Be There For You) was a British release, made in England and distributed by Pye. Both sides are lovely; Si C'est Ca features just minimal guitar behind Hardy's enchanting vocal, but the slightly more produced b-side Je Serai La Pour Toi just edges it for me.
Pye's association with Disques Vogue meant that they put out this next single on both imprints. I bought a copy in a local E.A.C.H. (East Anglian Children's Hospice) shop at the very end of December last year for a pound. (Sadly mine is the UK Pye version, not the rather sought-after French release.)
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| The Honeycombs - Have I The Right? b/w Please Don't Pretend Again (1964) |
The Honeycombs were a squareish sixties London beat group, and were unusual for their time in having a female drummer; Ann 'Honey' Lantree, an ex-salon assistant to founding member and former hairdresser Martin Murray (rhythm guitar). Have I The Right? was written by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikely, who'd later go on to write for many other artists, including Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick & Tich, Pet Clark, Lulu and, er, Rolf Harris. Produced by Joe Meek, the thumping beat of HITR? was bolstered by band members stomping on the stairs to the studio, to which Meek had attached a series of microphones using bicycle clips. This beefy stomp plus the novelty of a big-haired girl drummer helped propel the single to the top of the charts in the UK plus three other countries, with worldwide sales estimated at a million. Pye's canny practise of putting out multi-lingual releases was employed, with the German-language version reaching the same place in the German chart a month after the English original, and the label's penchant for artistic cross-pollination resulted in the band's fourth single being a cover of a Kinks song. It was called Something Better Beginning, and it flopped. Here they are with their smash hit to see us out.
You can keep up with all of my car boot and chazza finds by clicking the Twitter follow button at the top of the page, and hear me playing some of them on the all-vinyl cloudcast here: https://www.mixcloud.com/carbootvinyldiaries/
Saturday, 24 December 2016
Car Boot Christmas Countdown 2016 - Day 10
It's Day 10 of the 2016 Car Boot Christmas Countdown, which means it's also Christmas Eve, and today is the turn of the Christmas crooners. Let's begin with the King Of Cool, and a record I nabbed for a pound at a car boot sale on this year's May Bank Holiday weekend.
The Dean Martin Christmas Album was Dino's second festive offering, the first being 1959's Winter Wonderland, which shares a few tracks including the tenuous inclusion of The Things We Did Last Summer. Aside from this, many of the old chestnuts are here, such as a delightful Marshmallow World, a Blue Christmas to rival that of Elvis, and of course everyone's favourite, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, as so memorably used in Die Hard.
On the making of the album the sleeve notes state,
Less uplifting, despite the title, is A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, which I bought for 50p in August 2015.
First released in 1957, my copy is a slightly later US issue with Capitol's "rainbow" label. Assisted by the "orchestra and chorus of Gordon Jenkins" (the chorus being the Ralph Brewster Singers), like many before and after him Frank brings us one side of popular Christmas songs and one of carols.
I found the album to be rather leaden and samey, and in particular Frank's delivery isn't suited to the carols, which for me fall flattest. But as a nice bit of background music it's pleasant enough, and no doubt could act effectively as a soothing accompaniment to that post-Christmas dinner booze-snooze in the armchair.
In the '60s the album was briefly issued as "The Sinatra Christmas Album" with a different cover image. When it was reissued on vinyl in 2010, the original title and artwork were restored.
Last but by no means least is A Jack Jones Christmas, which cost me a pound in March 2015.
Like Dean Martin, this RCA release was Jack's second Christmas album, coming after 1964's equally imaginatively titled "The Jack Jones Christmas Album" on Kapp Records. After Frank 'n' Dino's Burgundy baritones, Jack's easygoing tenor makes for a nice change, and as well as the usual parade of suspects he throws in some curveballs like gospel number Little Altar Boy, Bacharach and David's Christmas Day from the Broadway musical Promises Promises, and a look at the different ways Jesus is perceived around the world in Some Children See Him. There's also the inexplicable inclusion of Oh Happy Day; an odd choice, but it fits in quite well.
The highlights for me are his a cappella version of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, the aforementioned Little Altar Boy, and best of all his absolutely winning rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, the latter making the perfect signing-off track for Car Boot Christmas 2016, which you can listen to using the player below.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
Thanks for joining me; I hope you've enjoyed this year's countdown and the accompanying cloudcast, and I also hope you can pop back in the new year to see and hear what other records I've been liberating from car boot sales and charity shops here on the Suffolk coast.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas, whatever it is you're up to.
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| The Dean Martin Christmas Album (1966) |
The Dean Martin Christmas Album was Dino's second festive offering, the first being 1959's Winter Wonderland, which shares a few tracks including the tenuous inclusion of The Things We Did Last Summer. Aside from this, many of the old chestnuts are here, such as a delightful Marshmallow World, a Blue Christmas to rival that of Elvis, and of course everyone's favourite, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, as so memorably used in Die Hard.
On the making of the album the sleeve notes state,
"'Twas the ninth of September, a very warm night, and we were in California. And on this hot desert night, not a sleigh or a jingle bell in sight.... Dean Martin sauntered into his friendly neighbourhood recording studio and made himself an album of song. Christmas song."His vocals must have been dubbed separately, as there are plenty of bells here, as well as tinkling xylophone, jaunty strings and sweet backing vocals. The combination of these with Dino's laid back, nonchalant style results in a seemingly effortless, gently swinging, warm and breezy record that's completely uplifting and a joy from start to finish.
Less uplifting, despite the title, is A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, which I bought for 50p in August 2015.
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| A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra (1957) |
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| Alternative cover and title |
First released in 1957, my copy is a slightly later US issue with Capitol's "rainbow" label. Assisted by the "orchestra and chorus of Gordon Jenkins" (the chorus being the Ralph Brewster Singers), like many before and after him Frank brings us one side of popular Christmas songs and one of carols.
I found the album to be rather leaden and samey, and in particular Frank's delivery isn't suited to the carols, which for me fall flattest. But as a nice bit of background music it's pleasant enough, and no doubt could act effectively as a soothing accompaniment to that post-Christmas dinner booze-snooze in the armchair.
In the '60s the album was briefly issued as "The Sinatra Christmas Album" with a different cover image. When it was reissued on vinyl in 2010, the original title and artwork were restored.
Last but by no means least is A Jack Jones Christmas, which cost me a pound in March 2015.
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| A Jack Jones Christmas (1969) |
Like Dean Martin, this RCA release was Jack's second Christmas album, coming after 1964's equally imaginatively titled "The Jack Jones Christmas Album" on Kapp Records. After Frank 'n' Dino's Burgundy baritones, Jack's easygoing tenor makes for a nice change, and as well as the usual parade of suspects he throws in some curveballs like gospel number Little Altar Boy, Bacharach and David's Christmas Day from the Broadway musical Promises Promises, and a look at the different ways Jesus is perceived around the world in Some Children See Him. There's also the inexplicable inclusion of Oh Happy Day; an odd choice, but it fits in quite well.
The highlights for me are his a cappella version of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, the aforementioned Little Altar Boy, and best of all his absolutely winning rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, the latter making the perfect signing-off track for Car Boot Christmas 2016, which you can listen to using the player below.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
Thanks for joining me; I hope you've enjoyed this year's countdown and the accompanying cloudcast, and I also hope you can pop back in the new year to see and hear what other records I've been liberating from car boot sales and charity shops here on the Suffolk coast.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas, whatever it is you're up to.
Minibreakfast xxx
Friday, 23 December 2016
Car Boot Christmas Countdown 2016 - Day 9
Welcome to Day 9 of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown 2016. On this penultimate festive blog post we're looking at two LPs that are both over 50 years old. Both are in remarkable condition despite their age and the fact that they were found languishing at car boot sales.
First up is Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers - We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which cost 50p last October.
Born Joseph Raymond Conniff in Massachusetts in 1916, Ray was a prolific bandleader and arranger, having 28 albums in the US Top 40 between 1957 and 1968. His most successful output was that with his "Ray Conniff Singers", numbering 13 men and 12 women at any one time.
Here they present all the Yuletide favourites you'd expect, plus a couple of other less commonly covered numbers; for instance Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) from the film White Christmas appears as part of a medley. In fact the album is mainly composed of medleys, with just two standalone songs; Ring Christmas Bells (aka Carol of the Bells) and a surprisingly enjoyable version of the normally tedious The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Conniff was renowned for his vocal arrangements, and the harmonies here are unmatched, the highlight for me being O Holy Night, where the soaring layers of voice give me genuine tingles. Unsurprisingly the album went gold in 1963, and it continued to chart year after year in the 1960s. It remains a bona fide Christmas classic, and for those who grew up with it playing in their home, a veritable time machine.
Track list.
Side 1.
1. Medley: Jolly Old St. Nicholas; The Little Drummer Boy.
2. Medley: O Holy Night; We Three Kings of Orient Are; Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly.
3. Ring Christmas Bells.
Side 2.
1. Medley: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep); We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
2. The Twelve Days of Christmas.
3. Medley: The First Noel; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; O Come, All Ye Faithful; We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
I paid £1.50 for a copy of Harry Belafonte's To Wish You A Merry Christmas in April this year.
Compared to the cheery sound of the Ray Conniff Singers this album comes as a bit of a downer. Although Belafonte tackled all kinds of folk music, he's best known for hits such as Jump In The Line and Island In The Sun, but if you were expecting this album to deliver a calypso Christmas you'd be in for a disappointment. That's not to say it has nothing to offer; if you like your carols delivered solemnly with traditional, sparse instrumentation, then you'll enjoy this low-key collection. As well as the well-worn carols there are others less familiar, such as A Star In The East and Jehovah the Lord Will Provide. Harry's soft voice is matched by the gentle playing of guitar virtuoso Laurindro Almeida, and the most upbeat the album gets is the marching pipe and drums on Christmas Is Coming. Verdict: tender and mild.
Track list.
Side 1.
1. A Star In The East.
2. The Gifts They Gave.
3. The Son of Mary*.
4. The Twelve Days of Christmas.
5. Where The Little Jesus Sleeps.
6. Medley: The Joys of Christmas; O Little Town of Bethlehem; Deck The Halls; The First Noel.
Side 2.
1. Mary, Mary.
2. Jehovah the Lord Will Provide.
3. Silent Night.
4. Christmas Is Coming.
5. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; O Come All Ye Faithful; Joy To The World.
6. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.
Be sure to come back tomorrow - Christmas Eve! - for the final installment of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown, with three great albums by some beloved crooners. You can hear me playing the best selections from my festive record boxes on the family-friendly Car Boot Christmas 2016 cloudcast. Use the player below or follow the link to Mixcloud.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
First up is Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers - We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which cost 50p last October.
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| Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers - We Wish You A Merry Christmas (1962) |
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| 1970s reissue with cropped image, also found last year. |
Here they present all the Yuletide favourites you'd expect, plus a couple of other less commonly covered numbers; for instance Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) from the film White Christmas appears as part of a medley. In fact the album is mainly composed of medleys, with just two standalone songs; Ring Christmas Bells (aka Carol of the Bells) and a surprisingly enjoyable version of the normally tedious The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Conniff was renowned for his vocal arrangements, and the harmonies here are unmatched, the highlight for me being O Holy Night, where the soaring layers of voice give me genuine tingles. Unsurprisingly the album went gold in 1963, and it continued to chart year after year in the 1960s. It remains a bona fide Christmas classic, and for those who grew up with it playing in their home, a veritable time machine.
Track list.
Side 1.
1. Medley: Jolly Old St. Nicholas; The Little Drummer Boy.
2. Medley: O Holy Night; We Three Kings of Orient Are; Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly.
3. Ring Christmas Bells.
Side 2.
1. Medley: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep); We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
2. The Twelve Days of Christmas.
3. Medley: The First Noel; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; O Come, All Ye Faithful; We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
I paid £1.50 for a copy of Harry Belafonte's To Wish You A Merry Christmas in April this year.
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| Harry Belafonte - To Wish You A Merry Christmas (1958) |
Compared to the cheery sound of the Ray Conniff Singers this album comes as a bit of a downer. Although Belafonte tackled all kinds of folk music, he's best known for hits such as Jump In The Line and Island In The Sun, but if you were expecting this album to deliver a calypso Christmas you'd be in for a disappointment. That's not to say it has nothing to offer; if you like your carols delivered solemnly with traditional, sparse instrumentation, then you'll enjoy this low-key collection. As well as the well-worn carols there are others less familiar, such as A Star In The East and Jehovah the Lord Will Provide. Harry's soft voice is matched by the gentle playing of guitar virtuoso Laurindro Almeida, and the most upbeat the album gets is the marching pipe and drums on Christmas Is Coming. Verdict: tender and mild.
Track list.
Side 1.
1. A Star In The East.
2. The Gifts They Gave.
3. The Son of Mary*.
4. The Twelve Days of Christmas.
5. Where The Little Jesus Sleeps.
6. Medley: The Joys of Christmas; O Little Town of Bethlehem; Deck The Halls; The First Noel.
Side 2.
1. Mary, Mary.
2. Jehovah the Lord Will Provide.
3. Silent Night.
4. Christmas Is Coming.
5. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; O Come All Ye Faithful; Joy To The World.
6. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.
Be sure to come back tomorrow - Christmas Eve! - for the final installment of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown, with three great albums by some beloved crooners. You can hear me playing the best selections from my festive record boxes on the family-friendly Car Boot Christmas 2016 cloudcast. Use the player below or follow the link to Mixcloud.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
Sunday, 18 December 2016
Car Boot Christmas Countdown 2016 - Day 4
It's already Day 4 of this year's Car Boot Christmas Countdown, and after yesterday's trio of country gents it's time for something completely different.
Budget labels abound at car boot sales and charity shops, and Non-Stop Christmas Disco by The Roller Disco Orchestra is on Pickwick Records, a subsidiary of Pickwick International Inc. (GB) Ltd.
I know that for some folks the words budget + disco + Christmas = nightmare, but in my world the sheen and glitter of disco go well with the joy and triumph of Christmas music, and are a match made in Greenland. This two-disc set is all I'd hoped it would be, i.e. funky orchestral disco with the whiff of fromage and a liberal sprinkling of sleigh bells. I'll let the slightly deranged sleeve notes explain more:
The non-stop segued set is a mostly frantic affair aside from Deck The Halls with its reggae beat and fart-along Moog, plus a few chilled grooves like Little Drummer Boy with whispered "rum-pum-pum-pum", and a sort of bump 'n' grind We Three Kings. It's largely instrumental apart from some occasional breathy vocals as decoration, and has become a firm favourite in the Car Boot Vinyl household, being one of the first records I reach for when December arrives.
It's now available on CD as well as to download or stream. The updated cover art is rather generic, but thankfully the music is untouched and just as batshit.
I picked up The Bells of Christmas by Eddie Dunstedter back in April of this year for a pound.
American composer and organist Dunstedter was active through the 1930s to the 1960s, and The Bells of Christmas was recorded after he'd already established a career scoring and playing music for TV and film. This version of the album was reissued in the UK in 1965 by Music For Pleasure. Eddie presents 18 carols played on a "4-manual, 24-rank organ containing approximately two thousand separate pipes", accompanied by xylophone, glockenspiel, celeste, marimba and vibraharp.
The sleeve notes claim "Any voice, even the thin wavering tones of a child, can give meaning to Christmas carols; but the majestic voices of a great pipe organ* give them the most fitting expression of all."
It's a curious recording, quite muffled and very slow-paced, except for a brief step up in tempo on second track March of the Three Kings, after which it returns to a ponderous plod for the remainder. It might be quite good for lowering the blood pressure, but I find it far too samey to maintain my attention, and I'd say it's probably best enjoyed in small doses (and perhaps accompanied by large doses of cherry brandy).
Do swing by the blog tomorrow (Monday the 19th of December) for Day 5 of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown where we'll be going Totally Tijuana! Until then you can hear me playing tunes from Eddie, The Roller Disco Orchestra and loads more on the 2016 cloudcast; use the player below or click the link to go to Mixcloud.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
*
Budget labels abound at car boot sales and charity shops, and Non-Stop Christmas Disco by The Roller Disco Orchestra is on Pickwick Records, a subsidiary of Pickwick International Inc. (GB) Ltd.
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| The Roller Disco Orchestra - Non-Stop Christmas Disco (1979) |
I know that for some folks the words budget + disco + Christmas = nightmare, but in my world the sheen and glitter of disco go well with the joy and triumph of Christmas music, and are a match made in Greenland. This two-disc set is all I'd hoped it would be, i.e. funky orchestral disco with the whiff of fromage and a liberal sprinkling of sleigh bells. I'll let the slightly deranged sleeve notes explain more:
"A chance to whiz round the disco in your own living room!... Could you ever believe you'd be bopping to GOOD KING WENCELAS (sic) or WE THREE KINGS?
THE ROLLER DISCO ORCHESTRA present 10 tracks to roll into your hearts and leave you steaming on the carpet. Hang on to your mistletoe lovers - this one's guaranteed to keep you floored!
HAPPY CHRISCO TO YOU ALL!"
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| Reissue cover image |
It's now available on CD as well as to download or stream. The updated cover art is rather generic, but thankfully the music is untouched and just as batshit.
I picked up The Bells of Christmas by Eddie Dunstedter back in April of this year for a pound.
 |
| Eddie Dunstedter - The Bells of Christmas (1959) |
American composer and organist Dunstedter was active through the 1930s to the 1960s, and The Bells of Christmas was recorded after he'd already established a career scoring and playing music for TV and film. This version of the album was reissued in the UK in 1965 by Music For Pleasure. Eddie presents 18 carols played on a "4-manual, 24-rank organ containing approximately two thousand separate pipes", accompanied by xylophone, glockenspiel, celeste, marimba and vibraharp.
 |
| Original US cover art |
It's a curious recording, quite muffled and very slow-paced, except for a brief step up in tempo on second track March of the Three Kings, after which it returns to a ponderous plod for the remainder. It might be quite good for lowering the blood pressure, but I find it far too samey to maintain my attention, and I'd say it's probably best enjoyed in small doses (and perhaps accompanied by large doses of cherry brandy).
Do swing by the blog tomorrow (Monday the 19th of December) for Day 5 of the Car Boot Christmas Countdown where we'll be going Totally Tijuana! Until then you can hear me playing tunes from Eddie, The Roller Disco Orchestra and loads more on the 2016 cloudcast; use the player below or click the link to go to Mixcloud.
https://www.mixcloud.com/CarBootVinylDiaries/car-boot-christmas-2016/
*
 |
Friday, 25 March 2016
Little Box Of Horrors - The Singles
This time last year my other half undertook the unhappy and somewhat daunting task of clearing his late parents' house, and one day he came home with a 1970s Philips portable record player and a small box of assorted singles.
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| Philips portable player, now in full working condition. The stylus flips over to a needle for playing 78s. |
A couple of weeks ago I began delving into the box of 45s. I listened to them all - indeed I listened the heck out of them, even the b-sides - and can report that it's largely an horrific collection of Benny Hill, Perry Como and the Singing Nun, but there are a few gems too.
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| The box contained 22 singles/EPs in all, several unsleeved or in paper bags. |
Lets have a look at some of the best, as well as some of the, shall we say, more interesting ones.
The Tornados - Telstar b/w Jungle Fever (1962)
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| The Tornados' rhythm guitarist was George Bellamy, father of Muse's Matt. |
The excellent B-side Jungle Fever was recorded during the same hurried session as Telstar, and is full of animal sound effects, plus some more muffled vocalisations from good sport Goddard.
Renée & Renato - Save Your Love b/w Love Is Not The Reason (1982)
Renato Pagliari trained in his home country of Italy as a professional waiter, and used his vocal talents to attract customers by bursting into song, ensuring that he was always in demand in the restaurant trade (it would have made me run in the opposite direction). After moving to the UK he entered the TV talent show New Faces in 1975, where he was spotted by songwriter Johnny Edward, who felt sure that Renato's operatic tenor would be perfect for a ballad he'd written called Save Your Love. After several business-related setbacks, in 1982 female singer Hilary Lester joined Renato as "Renée" to record it, and this shmaltzy, overblown monstrosity reached the top of the charts in December, remaining there for four weeks over Christmas. "Renée" didn't appear in the music video as by this time she'd already joined another group, so a model acted as a stand-in.
The duo were contracted for two more singles, both of which flopped. Luckily they weren't in the box of singles or I'd have been obliged to listen to them both; frankly, having to hear Save Your Love was trial enough, and the less said about its b-side the better.
The Shadows - Wonderful Land of The Shadows EP (1962)
This sadly rather trashed EP dates from the 18-month period when the group's line-up consisted of Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Warren Bennett and Brian Locking, and is a great little collection of the Shad's trademark instrumental surf-rock. It was obviously well loved and much played as it now couldn't be graded higher than FAB (Frisbee At Best). It's certainly one of the better records in the box, which makes its poor condition rather ironic next to the almost mint Renée & Renato disc.
Track list:
A1. Wonderful Land
A2. Midnight
B1. Stars Fell On Stockton
B2. 36-24-36
Stars Fell On Stockton was written by Bennett, who'd just replaced Tony Meehan on drums, and the single release of Wonderful Land with 'Stars...' on the flip was a UK no.1, where it remained for eight weeks; longer than any other single of the entire 1960s. 36-24-36 was originally the b-side of Kon-Tiki, which had topped the charts in 1961. The EP peaked at no. 6.
The Barron Knights - Call Up The Groups (Medley) (1964)
The Barron Knights began life as a straight pop group, even playing in Hamburg during the early sixties, as was the trend. Skilled mimics, they eventually turned their hand to novelty records when hordes of screaming girls failed to materialise. Call Up The Groups (split into two parts over the disc) was their breakthrough record and is a comic medley where bands of the day sing about various aspects of military conscription (which had been abolished 4 years previously). So among others, we get the Rolling Stones complaining that they don't want to get their hair cut and join the Navy, and the Searchers singing about "hutments and tinware" to the tune of Needles & Pins.It's not that bad, but unfortunately its no.3 placing in the UK charts only encouraged them, and the Knights went on in this vein for the rest of their career, inflicting "hilarious" parody songs such as Live In Trouble and The Topical Song on the great British public, until they finally gave it a bloody rest in the early '80s.
ABBA - Fernando b/w Hey, Hey Helen (1976)
Fernando is famously ABBA's best-selling single of all. In the year of its release alone it sold 6 million copies worldwide, and total physical sales are estimated at an astonishing 10 million. It was originally recorded in Swedish and with very different lyrics, by Ann Frid for her solo album "Frid ensam" (Frida Alone) the year before.It was the foursome's first single not to appear on an album, and came in the the middle of a run of three consecutive no.1s for the group, between Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia. The b-side Hey, Hey Helen is a cheery-sounding glam rocker on the rather less cheery subject of divorce and single motherhood. So, a perfect ABBA song then.
The New Seekers - I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) b/w Boom Town (1971)
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| Someone had put it in a red Columbia sleeve, which made my brain itch a bit. |
I was stunned to learn that it was a re-worked version of the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" TV ad song - I'd always assumed that it was the other way around! The New Seekers hurtled to no.1 in the UK with this drippy cringe-along MOR dross, and refused to budge for a month. The song holds the no.17 position in the list of the 30 bestselling singles of the 1970s, and another song of theirs, You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me, is in this top 30 too, at no. 27. It too was in the box, but thankfully I've blanked that one out now.
The New Seekers were ridiculously (and inexplicably) successful, being chosen to represent the UK in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest and scoring a dozen top 40 singles here. There's nowt so queer as folk.
Stevie Wonder - Uptight (Everything's Alright) b/w Purple Rain Drops (1965)
1965's Uptight was a breakthrough for Stevie as a songwriter, being his first co-write to breach the US top 20, peaking at no.3 on the Billboard chart. It's a classic Motown 45; busy and dense with that relentless pounding beat, red-hot horn section, thunking bass, chiming guitar and cooing female bvs.Berry Gordy was keen for his company's records to sound good on a car radio, and the Motown Sound was designed to cut through traffic noise and poor reception. No wonder it sounds so flippin' great on the portable's single speaker, even though this particular copy, like nearly all the best records in the box, is a conservative PWC (Played With Chisel).
Leo Sayer - When I Need You b/w I Think We Fell In Love Too Fast (1976)
The unspeakably awful yet totally earwormy When I Need You is from little Leo's Endless Flight album, a charity shop and car boot perennial. The single went Gold in both the US and UK, topping the charts in both territories and staying at no.1 over here for three no doubt interminable weeks for young Top Of The Pops viewers. It's since been covered by such alternative icons as Julio Iglesias, Celine Dion and Cliff Richard, which doesn't really bear thinking about.The b-side, I Think We Fell In Love Too Fast, is about a high school romance, and is a decent enough little pop song with the sort of '70s studio sheen and mildly funky edge that would appeal to fans of Steely Dan.
Connie Francis - Who's Sorry Now b/w You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love) (1957)
This absolutely belting country song by Italian-American pop singer Connie Francis is the oldest single in the box by a full five years. Connie's first ten releases flopped, with only one piercing the US top 100 (and only just - it stalled at no.99!). Who's Sorry Now was recorded at the end of what was to be her final session at MGM before she left, as they'd decided not to renew her contract.She didn't want to cover this 1920s popular ballad, but lost the battle of wills with her father, and a good job too. The single was released in November '57 and an appearance on American Bandstand gave it an enormous boost, helping it to sell over a million copies by the summer. It had reached no.1 in the UK by April, and although it remains her biggest hit Connie went on to have a further eight top 40 records before the decade's end. Her life and career were a bit of a rollercoaster from then; I highly recommend you read her fascinating, often heartbreaking Wiki bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Francis
Clinton Ford - Why Don't Women Like Me b/w Dandy (1966)
Former Butlins Redcoat Clinton Ford (real name Ian Harrison) had his biggest success in 1962 with a song called Fanlight Fanny (yikes). This cover of George Formby's Why Don't Women Like Me four years later didn't chart at all here, although it reached no.2 in Australia, making me wonder how on earth Mr. B's mum and dad ended up with a copy. Still, it's a pleasant enough novelty song, with poor old Clinton looking around him and seeing no end of cauliflower-eared ugly mugs with fit birds on their arm, and wondering what exactly it is he's doing wrong.The flip is a cover of the Kinks' Dandy (more famously covered by Herman's Hermits), with Clinton's club-singer style suiting this music hall-influenced song rather well.
I've made a playlist of all of these songs for your listening pleasure*, except for Renée and Renato, who sadly aren't on Spotify (I think they're holding out for the physical/download market - won't be long now!). Oh, and the New Seeker's b-side Boom Town isn't there either, but if you're desperate to hear it I'm sure it's on Youtube. I hope you've enjoyed this look through the Little Box of Horrors - The Singles. There was one other interesting music-related object in the box, but you've probably had enough for now, so it'll do for another time.
*or y'know, something
Monday, 22 December 2014
Car Boot Christmas Countdown - Day 8
On a sunny September morning this year I bought a stack of 50p albums from a car boot seller, including Selections From Irving Berlin's White Christmas:
White Christmas the movie was based on the 1942 film Holiday Inn, both starring Bing Crosby. This album is not a true soundtrack however; because Crosby and co-star Rosemary Clooney were signed to different record labels at the time (Decca and Columbia respectively), Decca enlisted Peggy Lee to record Clooney's parts. Columbia released its own not-quite-a-soundtrack-either the same year featuring just Clooney, called Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
Still with me? In the film, Clooney's character has a sister; actress and dancer Vera-Ellen, whose singing parts were over-dubbed by Trudy Stevens, except for in the duet Sisters, where Clooney sang both parts. On this album, however, as Clooney was unable to record, both parts are performed by Peggy Lee. So in fact neither of the female stars of this well-loved Christmas movie appear on the album!
It doesn't matter a bit though. From the opening salvo of The Old Man and Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army to the closing White Christmas, it's a lovely reminder of a great film (which I saw on TV this year as early as November 24th!) and a must for any festive record collection, even if the only properly Christmassy songs are the title track and the pretty awful Snow ("snow, snow, snow, snow..." - yes, we get it!).
Tracklisting
Side 1.
1. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - The Old Man.
2. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army.
3. Peggy Lee - Sisters.
4. Danny Kaye with The Skylarks - The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing.
5. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, Trudy Stevens - Snow.
6. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Blue Skies.
7. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Mandy.
Side 2.
1. Danny Kaye with The Skylarks - Choreography.
2. Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.
3. Peggy Lee - Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me.
4. Peggy Lee - What Can You Do With A General.
5. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, Trudy Stevens - White Christmas.
Another seasonal find from the seemingly long-ago days of September, this time for £1, was Festival Of Carols:
Here Music For Pleasure pack in a total of 20 carols, all previously released by MFP and recorded during the 1960s by The Guildford Cathedral Choir, The Sunbury Junior Singers of the Salvation Army, The Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral and The Choir of Westminster Abbey.
Christmas wouldn't be complete without some proper traditional carols, and the choirs and organists here all do a fantastic job of turning me into a dewy-eyed old fool. Moving stuff indeed.
Tracklisting
Side 1.
1. Once In Royal David's City.
2. While Shepherds Watched.
3. The Holly And The Ivy.
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
5. Unto Us Is Born A Son.
6. As With Gladness Men Of Old.
7. O'Little Town Of Bethlehem.
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
9. I Saw Three Ships.
10.Silent Night, Holy Night.
Side 2.
1. In Dulci Jubilo.
2. The First Noel.
3. In The Bleak Mid-Winter.
4. Good King Wenceslas.
5. The Rocking Carol.
6. The Coventry Carol.
7. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.
8. Away In A Manger.
9. Ding Dong Merrily On High.
10.O'Come All Ye Faithful.
Come back again tomorrow (Tues 23rd Dec - getting close now!) for a real Christmas cracker of an album. You can hear me playing my favourite selections from this year's Christmas vinyl haul on the Car Boot Christmas 2014 cloudcast using the player below, or by following the link to mixcloud. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it - it's sure to get you in a festive mood if you're not quite there yet!
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| Selections From Irving Berlin's White Christmas (1954, this re-issue 1985) |
White Christmas the movie was based on the 1942 film Holiday Inn, both starring Bing Crosby. This album is not a true soundtrack however; because Crosby and co-star Rosemary Clooney were signed to different record labels at the time (Decca and Columbia respectively), Decca enlisted Peggy Lee to record Clooney's parts. Columbia released its own not-quite-a-soundtrack-either the same year featuring just Clooney, called Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
Still with me? In the film, Clooney's character has a sister; actress and dancer Vera-Ellen, whose singing parts were over-dubbed by Trudy Stevens, except for in the duet Sisters, where Clooney sang both parts. On this album, however, as Clooney was unable to record, both parts are performed by Peggy Lee. So in fact neither of the female stars of this well-loved Christmas movie appear on the album!
It doesn't matter a bit though. From the opening salvo of The Old Man and Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army to the closing White Christmas, it's a lovely reminder of a great film (which I saw on TV this year as early as November 24th!) and a must for any festive record collection, even if the only properly Christmassy songs are the title track and the pretty awful Snow ("snow, snow, snow, snow..." - yes, we get it!).
Tracklisting
Side 1.
1. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - The Old Man.
2. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Gee, I Wish I Was Back In The Army.
3. Peggy Lee - Sisters.
4. Danny Kaye with The Skylarks - The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing.
5. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, Trudy Stevens - Snow.
6. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Blue Skies.
7. Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye - Mandy.
Side 2.
1. Danny Kaye with The Skylarks - Choreography.
2. Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.
3. Peggy Lee - Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me.
4. Peggy Lee - What Can You Do With A General.
5. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Peggy Lee, Trudy Stevens - White Christmas.
Another seasonal find from the seemingly long-ago days of September, this time for £1, was Festival Of Carols:
 |
| Festival Of Carols: 20 Christmas Favourites from Guildford Cathedral, St. Paul's Cathedral& Westminster Abbey (1980) |
Here Music For Pleasure pack in a total of 20 carols, all previously released by MFP and recorded during the 1960s by The Guildford Cathedral Choir, The Sunbury Junior Singers of the Salvation Army, The Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral and The Choir of Westminster Abbey.
Christmas wouldn't be complete without some proper traditional carols, and the choirs and organists here all do a fantastic job of turning me into a dewy-eyed old fool. Moving stuff indeed.
Tracklisting
Side 1.
1. Once In Royal David's City.
2. While Shepherds Watched.
3. The Holly And The Ivy.
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
5. Unto Us Is Born A Son.
6. As With Gladness Men Of Old.
7. O'Little Town Of Bethlehem.
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
9. I Saw Three Ships.
10.Silent Night, Holy Night.
Side 2.
1. In Dulci Jubilo.
2. The First Noel.
3. In The Bleak Mid-Winter.
4. Good King Wenceslas.
5. The Rocking Carol.
6. The Coventry Carol.
7. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.
8. Away In A Manger.
9. Ding Dong Merrily On High.
10.O'Come All Ye Faithful.
Come back again tomorrow (Tues 23rd Dec - getting close now!) for a real Christmas cracker of an album. You can hear me playing my favourite selections from this year's Christmas vinyl haul on the Car Boot Christmas 2014 cloudcast using the player below, or by following the link to mixcloud. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it - it's sure to get you in a festive mood if you're not quite there yet!
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Car Boot Christmas Countdown - Day 7
I'd been hoping to find a copy of Elvis' Christmas Album on vinyl this year and it didn't take long at all, for in August I found three copies on the same boot stall. They were priced at 50p but the seller was kind enough to give me one of them for nothing:
Since its initial release in 1957 the album has been subject to several changes to both tracklist and artwork. The biggest of these came with this 1970 Camden version and the complete dropping of the four gospel songs on Side 2 (originally from his 1957 EP Peace In The Valley) and the addition of the single If Every Day Was Like Christmas and the not-at-all-Christmassy b-side Mama Liked The Roses from his '69 Memphis sessions.
So, apart from Silent Night and a beautifully solemn O Little Town Of Bethlehem, it's secular songs all the way, beginning of course with the definitive version of Blue Christmas. (At this point I must confess a preference for the Shakin' Stevens version because it was the first one I heard, plus my treasured copy of his Greatest Hits was much played during my childhood.)
The rest is split between more R'n'B/rock'n'roll songs like the lip-curling Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) and the Teddy Bear-ish Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me), and ballads such as If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Top of the Christmas tree for me is the innuendo-ridden rocker Santa Claus Is Back In Town, which the king Elvis-es his way through wonderfully, with mentions of a black Cadillac, instructions to his baby to "hang up your pretty stockings" and a cheeky "Santa Claus is coming down your chimney tonight". Excellent!
What really makes the album for me though, are the incredible backing vocals. The Jordanaires and soprano Millie Kirkham are entirely responsible for injecting the Christmas spirit throughout, but particularly on slowies like I'll Be Home For Christmas, the two carols and of course Blue Christmas.
During next year's car boot season I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for an earlier version so I can get my mitts on those great gospel tunes, but for now I'll have to rely on Spotify:
Pop back tomorrow (Monday 22nd Dec) for Day 8 of the Countdown, where you'll find two great Yuletide albums waiting for you under the tree. Stream the Car Boot Christmas cloudcast below for 1½ hours of festive tunes gathered from the car boot sales and charity shops of Suffolk. I really hope you enjoy listening!
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| Elvis' Christmas Album (1957, this revised re-issue 1970) |
Since its initial release in 1957 the album has been subject to several changes to both tracklist and artwork. The biggest of these came with this 1970 Camden version and the complete dropping of the four gospel songs on Side 2 (originally from his 1957 EP Peace In The Valley) and the addition of the single If Every Day Was Like Christmas and the not-at-all-Christmassy b-side Mama Liked The Roses from his '69 Memphis sessions.
So, apart from Silent Night and a beautifully solemn O Little Town Of Bethlehem, it's secular songs all the way, beginning of course with the definitive version of Blue Christmas. (At this point I must confess a preference for the Shakin' Stevens version because it was the first one I heard, plus my treasured copy of his Greatest Hits was much played during my childhood.)
The rest is split between more R'n'B/rock'n'roll songs like the lip-curling Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) and the Teddy Bear-ish Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me), and ballads such as If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Top of the Christmas tree for me is the innuendo-ridden rocker Santa Claus Is Back In Town, which the king Elvis-es his way through wonderfully, with mentions of a black Cadillac, instructions to his baby to "hang up your pretty stockings" and a cheeky "Santa Claus is coming down your chimney tonight". Excellent!
What really makes the album for me though, are the incredible backing vocals. The Jordanaires and soprano Millie Kirkham are entirely responsible for injecting the Christmas spirit throughout, but particularly on slowies like I'll Be Home For Christmas, the two carols and of course Blue Christmas.
During next year's car boot season I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for an earlier version so I can get my mitts on those great gospel tunes, but for now I'll have to rely on Spotify:
Pop back tomorrow (Monday 22nd Dec) for Day 8 of the Countdown, where you'll find two great Yuletide albums waiting for you under the tree. Stream the Car Boot Christmas cloudcast below for 1½ hours of festive tunes gathered from the car boot sales and charity shops of Suffolk. I really hope you enjoy listening!
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