mp3: Bobby Day - Teenage Philosopher Teenage Philosopher was released in 1960, two years after Bobby Day's breakout smash, Rockin' Robin. Both tunes were written by Leon René, who set up two LA based labels I'm very fond of, Rendezvous and Class. Unfortunately, the length of time since René was himself a teenager (about 50 years) is glaringly obvious in the lyrics of today's selection. I can't imagine the condescending "beware beware beware" tone resonating with the youth of any era. Still, like Rockin' Robin, Teenage Philosopher has a swinging Earl Palmer rock'n'roll [...]
It's true, in a couple of Saturday's time I'll be back behind the decks at one of Dalston's two favourite late-night trendy/divey party pubs, The Haggerston. Joining me on record selecting duties will be DJ Dapper Dad. Come down for good times guaranteed and be sure to say hi.
mp3: Jerry Green and The Passengers - Puerto Rico When Puerto Rico was released on Atlantic in 1964, drummer Jerry Greenberg already had his own label and was immersed in the music business. Ten years later, aged just 32, he became President of Atlantic records; apparently the youngest person to ever to head a major. He went on to work with ABBA, Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson, among many others. But, who really cares about all that? Today's selection is a top-notch Latin-infused tittyshaker -- that's the main thing.
mp3: James Brown - I'll Go Crazy A sweet slice of R&B goodness from James Brown and The Famous Flames is today's pick. The Famous Flames -- Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett and Lloyd Stallworth -- all contribute backing vocals on I'll Go Crazy, originally released in 1960. Two years later, they belted out a slightly more punchy version to open a performance at the Apollo Theater in Harlem that will go down in recording history.
mp3: Freddy King - The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist Released on the Federal label in 1963 by Texas via Chicago 6-string maestro, Freddy King (aka Freddie King), The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist is far better than its name implies. Rather than just a weak attempt to cash in on several of the popular dance crazes around at the time, King's offering is a superbly smooth original R&B guitar groove.
mp3: The Marvels - Forget About That Mess Pt1 mp3: The Marvels - Forget About That Mess Pt2 When I began researching today's selection, I was drawing a blank. This is not the first time that has happened to me, but usually the record is more obscure, rare or weird. This recording seems to be reasonably well known and available, and is definitely listenable, but, even using my ninja-like Google searching skills, I've struggled to find out about it. Of course, there are various leads. A label called [...]
mp3: The Champs - Caramba From 1959, here are The Champs who, in my estimation, are a fairly under-rated group. Everyone knows and loves Tequila, but I'm often faced with surprise when I tell people that they've got several other instrumental gems in their repertoire. Perhaps it's because none of them stray too far from Tequila in terms of their general sound, but when your first release -- originally the b-side -- sells millions and rockets to number one, it's not surprising that you might try and replicate it. Caramba, which, according to [...]
mp3: Thurston Harris - Be Baba Leba In a couple of Friday's time, I'll be helping out behind the decks at a new night with DJ Andy Smith . It's called Jam Up Twist and is to be held in a brand new venue in Stoke Newington, the La Sera Club . I'm extremely thrilled about this as DJ Andy Smith, through his seminal The Document mix CD, was a massive early influence on me as a Deejay. I was introduced to him through the guy who did the [...]
mp3: Johnny O'Keefe - Don't You Know mp3: Johnny O'Keefe - Come On And Take My Hand Okay, so, I'm back from the land down under. I didn't do much record shopping there, but did manage to pop into a great secondhand book and vinyl shop at the lower end of Smith Street. They had some very reasonably priced 45 bins and while getting my fingers dusty I happened upon today's selection. If you've been paying close attention to this blog over the last year or so, you'll [...]
mp3: Big Jay McNeely - Big Jay Shuffle mp3: Big Jay McNeely - The Goof Today's choice cuts will be a real treat for fans of honking instrumental R&B. Californian saxophonist, Big Jay McNeely, is pretty much the master of the genre and this 1952 record is one of his finest. Big Jay Shuffle has a relentless swing that inspires me to take those dance classes where you twist your feet, grab your girl's hand and spin her round and round, under your arm and back again. The Goof just [...]
mp3: The Parkays - Green Monkeys mp3: The Parkays - Purple Tigers Everything about The Parkays draws comparisons with the similarly named The Mar-Keys. Green Monkeys, released in 1962, sounds a lot like The Mar-Keys' big instrumental hit from 1961, Last Night -- which is obviously good thing. I can't ascertain if there was a connection between the two groups, but I suspect not. It's probably just another case of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. I do like that the song titles on both sides of today's selection [...]
mp3: Maurice Williams - Stay Just the other day I was in Nukuʻalofa, the captial of the Kingdom of Tonga. One night, I ventured out to a bar where a local cover band was entertaining the revillers. With a seemingly endless series of rotating vocalists, they were mainly dishing out southern rock staples; CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. As I found out, swampy tunes suit tropical climes. But, when they slided into a version of today's selection, I knew what my next blog post had to be. Stay is an absolutely georgeous [...]
mp3: Bo Diddley - Diddy Wah Diddy This is a multifaceted blogpost. Firstly, I recently became aware that I've neglected to provide you with a rip of Bo Diddley's 1955 recording of this blog's namesake song, Diddy Wah Diddy. So I'm hereby correcting that. Secondly, a few weeks ago, a very nice hardcover book of Robert Crumb's music related drawings was delivered to me, unannounced. It includes the classic Cheap Thrills cover and some of his Heroes of the Blues, naturally, but there's also much more. The Complete Record Cover Collection [...]
mp3: B. Bumble & The Stingers - Mashed #5 mp3: B. Bumble & The Stingers - Rockin-On-'N'-Off Can't believe it's taken me so long, a matter of months, to post this -- one of my favourite recent vinyl acquisitions. If you're familiar with the work of B. Bumble & The Stingers, it's possibly through their biggest hit, a UK #1, Nut Rocker -- which was a rockin' interpretation of the most familiar part from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. This time the same group (read about them here and [...]
mp3: The Edsels - Rama Lama Ding Dong Here is a very welcome new addition to my collection of great fun doo-wop boppers. The Edsels originally named themselves The Essos, after the oil company, before settling on being named after a model of Ford car -- perhaps they were hoping for an endorsement deal. They recorded and first released their biggest hit, Rama Lama Ding Dong, in 1958, but it didn't catch on until 1961. It's referenced in Barry Mann's Who Put The Bomp, also from 1961, which in turn is referenced in [...]
mp3: Ray Anthony - The Hokey Pokey mp3: Ray Anthony - The Bunny Hop It reckon today's offering will be the last in this series of songs used in John Waters films, but maybe the most fun. I bought this record especially, and somehow accidentally ended up with a re-issue, which other vinyl collectors might be able to sympathise with. For the purpose of this post, however, it doesn't make a lick of difference. This version of The Hokey Pokey was used in a hilarious dance scene in 2004's Dirty [...]
mp3: LaVern Baker - Jim Dandy mp3: LaVern Baker - Tra La La This record is what I refer to as a double-sider. Both sides are great. LaVern Baker captures the 50s Atlantic Rhythm & Blues sound which is very close and related to Rock'n'Roll. Today's selection came out in 1956 and Jim Dandy, written by Lincoln Chase, climbed to #1 on the R&B charts. It has the basic beat of a swinging Rockabilly track and was used in the trashy (in a good way) John Waters flick, Pink Flamingos. [...]
Chubby Checker - The Fly Here's one from Hairspray, the 1988 John Waters original version. The Fly was released in 1962, around the time Chubby Checker's uber-hit, The Twist, entered and then topped the charts for a second time as the twisting dance craze got crazy again (after it's initial burst in 1960). I just learned that Checker's name, it's a stage name, is a play on words on Fats Domino. Wow! Anyway, I dig this tune for the buzz and the drums. Enjoy.
mp3: Chubby Checker - The Fly Here's one from Hairspray, the 1988 John Waters original version. The Fly was released in 1962, around the time Chubby Checker's uber-hit, The Twist, entered and then topped the charts for a second time as the twisting dance craze got crazy again after it's initial burst in 1960. I just learned that Checker's name, it's a stage name, is a play on words of Fats Domino. Wow! Anyway, I dig this tune for the buzz and the drums. Enjoy.
mp3: Earl Bostic - Jungle Drums I like it when I google a record and it brings up an old Billboard magazine entry. This from 24 April 1954: "It started off strong in New York, Buffalo, St. Louis and Cincinnati, and was also reported good in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Nashville and Atlanta." It doesn't say anything about Baltimore, but Earl Bostic's Jungle Drums is another tune featured in John Waters' Cry Baby. The record was actually released in 1953 and has Bostic on alto sax and a young Stanley Turrentine on tenor.
Diddy Wah
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