Hoagy Carmichael

I have neglected to uplaod some Hoagy Carmichael for far too long. I've had this LP for years and just re-discovered it. It's full of great songs and some novelty items which make me smile every time I hear them like the great version of Barnacle BIll The Sailor.

Wikipedia says-

"Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Carmichael was the only son of Howard Clyde Carmichael and Lida Robison. He was named Hoagland after a circus troupe “The Hoaglands” who stayed at the Carmichael house during his mother’s pregnancy. Howard was a horse-drawn taxi driver and electrician, and Lida a versatile pianist who played accompaniment at silent movies and for parties. The family moved frequently, as Howard sought better employment for his growing family. At six, Carmichael started to sing and play the piano, absorbing easily his mother’s keyboard skills. By high school, the piano was the focus of his after-school life, and for inspiration he would listen to ragtime pianists Hank Wells and Hube Hanna. At eighteen, the small, wiry, pale Carmichael was living in Indianapolis, trying to help his family’s income working in manual jobs in construction, a bicycle chain factory, and a slaughterhouse. The bleak time was partly spelled by four-handed piano duets with his mother and by his strong friendship with Reg DuValle, black bandleader and pianist known as “the elder statesman of Indiana jazz” and “the Rhythm King”, who taught him piano jazz improvization."

Discover more about Hoagy Carmichael HERE.


Hoagy Carmichael - Washboard Blues

Hoagy Carmichael - Moon Country

Hoagy Carmichael - Cosmics

Hoagy Carmichael - Sittin'& Whittlin'

Hoagy Carmichael - Stardust

Hoagy Carmichael - Lazy River

Hoagy Carmichael - Barnacle Bill The Sailor


These SendSpace files are available for seven day or until exhausted.

The Original Super 5 Of Africa

Sadly this Tabansi label LP has parted from it's sleeve at some point before I bought it. Not much to be gleaned about The Original Super 5 Of Africa on the internet. I think they are from Nigeria. This record was released in 1977.


Super 5 Of Africa - Veamama

Super 5 Of Africa - Super 5 Of Africa


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Mighty Sparrow - Calypso Maestro

This LP on the RA label was recorded in 1974 at the Caribbean Sound Studios in Trinidad. Calypso is beginning to turn into Soca ( Soul of calypso ) with its more up-tempo disco beat and use of synthsisers etc. I much prefer the earlier acoustic sound but still we have some amusing songs here despite the synthetic sounding instruments and production.

"With his ultra-sweet vocals and lyrics that speak of romance and topical politics, Mighty Sparrow (born Slinger Francisco) has risen to the upper echelon of Trinidadian calypso. Best known for his hits "Jean And Dinah" in 1956 and "Carnival Boycott" in 1957, Sparrow is an 11-time winner of the calypso monarchy and an eight-time winner of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival Road March competition. Born to a poor working class family in Gran Roi, a small fishing village in Grenada, Sparrow moved to Trinidad at the age of one. Learning to sing in the boy's choir of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, he became the head choirboy. At the age of 14, he formed a steel band to perform at the Carnival, sparking his interest in calypso. Teaching himself to play guitar, Sparrow began to write his own songs. Winning the Carnival competition with "Jean And Dinah," he received a grand prize of 40 dollars. In protest, he wrote a scorching indictment of the Trinidadian music industry, "Carnival Boycott." Despite his refusal to compete in the Carnival contests for the next three years, Sparrow became one of the Caribbean's most successful artists."


Mighty Sparrow - Wine Back

Mighty Sparrow - Ah Diggin Horrors

Mighty Sparrow - Songs Of Your Land

Mighty Sparrow - Wife And Boat

Mighty Sparrow - Poopsin Poopsin


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Spike Milligan - The World Of Beachcomber

A "Golden Hour" LP on Pye that used to sell for 21 shillings - they had a similar label called Golden Guinea. IT's from the late 60's and contains several extracts of comedies that were popular on the radio and television at that time including Round The Horne, The Frost Report and Marty ( with Marty Feldman ).

" The World Of Beachcomber was based on J. B. Morton's Daily Express Beachcomber Column and the BBC TV series.
Produced by Duncan Wood and John Howard-Davies.
starring SPIKE MILLIGAN AND GEORGE BENSON, CLIVE DUNN, PATRICIA HAYES, HATTIE JACQUES, JULIAN ORCHARD, NADIA REGIN, SHEILA STAEFEL, LEON THAU, FRANK THORNTON
with The Mike Sammes Singers.
Record produced by John Hill Productions. Editing Engineer - Malcolm Eade.
J.B. Morton's material adapted by Barry Took and Neil Shand
with additional material by Ken Hoare and Spike Milligan."

Discover more about Beachcomber HERE.


Spike Milligan - The World Of Beachcomber


This SendSpace file is available for seven dasy or until exhausted.

Orch. Carte Blanche Du Zaire

Not many boot sales around yet so forced to dig deep into the archive for this one on the Flambeau label (1985)- Printed and designed in Nigeria it says but the music is very much the soukous we know and love from Zaire (formerly the Belgium Congo ).

Not much info. gleaned on the interent about Orch. Carte Blanche so here is a brief description I found of the early soukous scene in the Congo-

"During the 1950s, when they experienced rapid urbanization and a relatively booming economy, the two French-speaking colonies of the Congo area (capitals in Brazzaville and Kinshasa) witnessed the birth of an African version of the Cuban rumba played by small American-style orchestras (called "kasongo", "kirikiri" or "soukous") with a touch of jazz and of local attitudes: Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasselleh's African Jazz (that counted on vocalist Tabu Ley, guitarist "Docteur" Nico Kasanda, saxophonist Manu Dibango), Jean-Serge Essous' O.K.Jazz (featuring the young Franco), Orchestre Bella Bella, etc. Each orchestra became famous for one or more "dances" that they invented. So soukous (as Ley dubbed it in 1966) is actually a history of dances, rather than one monolithic genre (Ley's definition originally applied only to a frenzied version of rumba). A guitarist named Jimmy Elenga introduced "animation": instructions yelled to the crowd in order to direct their dances. Animation eventually became part of the dance, delivering both the identity of the dance, the (ethnic) identity of the band and a (more or less subtle) sociopolitical message. As dictators seized power in both Congos, musicians emigrated to other African countries, to Europe and to the USA, thus spreading soukous around the world, while in Zaire (Congo Kinshasa) soukous bands were used for Maoist-style propaganda purposes ("l'animation politique").


Orch. Carte Blanche Du Zaire - Miky

Orch. Carte Blanche Du Zaire - Muana Kindou

Orch. Carte Blanche Du Zaire - Umba

Orch. Carte Blanche Du Zaire - Home D'Afaire


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Oh! What A Carry On

Here's almost a whole side of this album which features several of the gang who took part in the many "Carry On" films of the 50's and 60's. None of these were culled from the soundtracks of the films which sadly didnt include much music despite many of the stars producing novelty songs, some of which reached the lower reaches of the "hit parade".
Heres a segment of the blurb on the back of this Music For Pleasure release from the early 70's-

" In 1958, a Bristish comedy film starrinf among others William Hartnell and Bob Monkhouse and titled "Carry On Sergeant" unobtrusively started off a whole chain of box-office smashes....On this album we have gathered together 8 of the successful list of comedians and comediennes who have contributed to this series..... When "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" came to the West End stage, Frankie Howard was given the leading role. His very individual form of comedy patter has become a landmark in British entertainment, most recently in the BBC TV series "Up Pompeii".

Surprisingly, 1971 had found Kenneth Willimas starring on the London stage opposite that great actress Ingrid Bergman. The tracks included here feature him in his acclaimed role of Rambling Syd Rumpo, a character from the radio series "Round The Horne"."

Find out more about the Carry On films HERE.


Jim Dale - Be My Girl

Bernard Bresslaw - You Need Feet

Frankie Howard - It's Alright With Me

Kenneth Williams - Green Grow My Nadgers Oh

Joan Sims - Spring Song


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Listen To The Banned

I can't remember where I found this LP on the Living Era label released in 1984. Its full of great novelty songs that were considered too risque for the BBC back in the 20's and 30's. They all seem pretty tame by today's standards.

The label notes by Brian Rust say-

"This LP gives us twenty examples of what, in the thirties and slightly earlier, were considered unfit for presentation on the air-waves (recording ofcourse was a different matter; the Puritans had less control over that....)
Ofcourse, to the pure, all things are pure, as we are often reminded, and if you go out with a moral geiger-counter, looking for radio-active material, shall we say, you will find it."


Mae West - A Guy What Takes His Time

Billy Cotton Band - I've Gone And LOst Me Little Yo-Yo

Durium Dance Band - She Was Only The Postmaster's Daughter

Ross & Sargent - Nellie, The Nudist Queen

Dawn Davis - My Private Affair

Jimmie Rodgers - What's It?

Sphie Tucker - He Hadn't Up Till Yesterday

Ronald Frankau - Winnie The Worm

Cliff Edwards - I'm A Bear In A Lady's Boudoir


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until nexhausted.

The New Temperence Seven - Repost by request

Not the Temperance Seven that hits in the early 60's with "Pasadena" and "You're Driving Me Crazy" but containing maybe one or two members from that influencial ( Bonzo Dog Band, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band etc.) group who recreated some of the best jazz and dance tunes of the 20's and 30's.

"The Temperance Seven were formed at the Royal College of Art during 1957. The band usually had nine members (one over the eight!) and dressed in the style appropriate to the late 1920s jazz they played.

The members generally gave themselves fictitious titles. John R.T. Davies used the pseudonym Sheik Wadi El Yadounir and wore a fez. On the first hit numbers vocals were provided by 'Whispering' Paul McDowell who was replaced later by Allan Moody Mitchell. The band once appeared in Spike Milligan's 'The Bed Sitting Room' and spawned new interest in the styles of the 1920s."

See earlier Temperance Seven post HERE.


New Temperance Seven - I Ain't Got Nobody

New Temperance Seven - 11:30 Saturday Night

New Temperance Seven - Willie's Cakewalk

New Temperance Seven - Rio Rita

New Temperance Seven - No. 2

New Temperance Seven - Four Or Five Times


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Lord Christo - Re-post by request

Another calypso record from Brick Lane picked up in the 80's. It's on the cleverly titled Kalypso label and released in 1963.

"Christo made a living as a cabinet-maker and sang in church choirs before he became the lead singer for the John "Buddy" Williams Band in the 1940s. His calypso career began in 1952 when he appeared at Atilla the Hun's Victory Tent. He then joined the McLean Brothers and accompanied them on a tour of the USA in December 1952. He later moved over to the Young Brigade Tent in 1955. The Young Brigade Tent became the Original Young Brigade Tent (OYB) in 1956, and Christo continued to sing with the OYB until he left for Chicago, Ilinois, USA, where he appeared at various nightclubs and on television. He returned to Trinidad in 1960 and continued to sing at the OYB for the rest of his career. Although he never won a title, Christo's popular songs "Miss Universe" and "Chicken Chest" were tailor-made for steelbands and were played extensively on the road during the 1957 Carnival."

A great archive of old calypso HERE at Irwin Chusid's radio show in the last hour. Well worth a listen if you like this kind of stuff. The first couple of hours is good too!


Lord Christo - Englishman

Lord Christo - Johnathan

Lord Christo - Bad Luck Man

Lord Christo - Injection

Lord Christo - Dr. Francis

Lord Christo - Obeah Beach


These Send Space files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Albert Whelan ( requested re-up )

Some scratchy old 78's dubbed to minidisc here courtesy of Angel Radio who kindly sent me these when I was searching for novelty songs a few years back. There have been a few versions of Barnacle BIll The Sailor and this is one of the best despite the pops and crackles.

"Albert Whelan, Florrie Forde, and Billy Williams were the three most famous Australians who graced the stage of the British Music Hall. Born in Melbourne, Whelan first made a name for himself entertaining the miners in the goldfields of Western Australia. Emigrating to Britain, he debuted as a “scarecrow” dancer at the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square, but his versatile talents soon led him to singing and piano playing. Whelan invented the “signature tune,” and always came on stage whistling a waltz from Die Lustige Brüder [The Jolly Brothers]. Music Hall historian W. Macqueen-Pope (1950, 374) describes Whelan as having “an individual style which defies imitation, because it comes from his own inherent talent; he has, too, that perfect clarity of diction which was such a feature of Music Hall."

You can find a CD of Albert Whelan at Windyridge Records.


Albert Whelan - Pass Shoot Goal!

Albert Whelan - Barnacle Bill The Sailor

Albert Whelan - In My Bell Bottom Trousers

Albert Whelan - Oh Sailor Beware


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Orchestra O.K. Jazz

The first side of this LP on the Parlophone label from 1965 is by Orchestra O.K. Jazz but the other side is split between Orchestra Bantous and Orchestra Cercul, two other exponents of the Congolese rumba and merengue etc.

This is the first side by O.K. Jazz withthe exception of the first track which sadly jumps rather badly due to a big scratch I had not noticed before.

"OK Jazz (later TPOK Jazz, short for Tout Puissant Orchestre Kinshasa) was a Congolese rumba band, founded by Jean Serge Essous and Francois Luambo Makiadi in the 1950s. The original name, OK Jazz, comes from a bar called the OK Bar, but has also been said to refer to Orchestre Kinois. OK Jazz quickly became one of the two giants of Congolese popular music in the mid-20th century, along with Grand Kalle & l'African Jazz. Many musical stars emerged from one or both of these bands. The original name actually came from "Oscar Kashama", the owner of the bar. He invited Francois Makiadi to be a regular performer in his night club, exposing the band for the first time to the public. He named the band "Oscar Kashama Jazz", hence, OK Jazz."


Orch. O.K. Jazz - On A OseLe Dire

Orch. O.K.Jazz - Polo

Orch. O.K. Jazz - Bolingo Ya Bougie

Orch. O.K. Jazz - Si Tu Bois Beaucoup

Orch. O.K. Jazz - Le Temps Passe


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Marty Feldman

This record is called "The Crazy World of Marty Feldman" and came out in 1969. I don't think it's ever been issued on CD. Tell me if I'm wrong. It certainly should be as its a great album and full of very funny songs like the eight samples here. Written not by Marty but by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly who all later went on to write songs for the Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise etc.Marty is mainly remembered for his work with Mel Brookes and such films as Young Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes Younger Brother and the ill-fated Yellowbeard but it was in radio he got his start writing for such shows as Round The Horne. Later he worked in television with the Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show etc. He also wrote for the Army Game and Bootsie and Snudge.He had his own TV series in the late 60's early 70's and another record was issued using the soundtrack to some of these sketches.Although a vegetarian, he was a heavy smoker and died of a massive heart attack at the age of 49 in Mexico whilst filming Yellowbeard.

Discover more about Marty Feldman HERE.


Marty Feldman - Waltzing With You

Marty Feldman - District Nurse Hargreaves

Marty Feldman - Worlds In Rhyme

Marty Feldman - The Elephant Song

Marty Feldman - Eurovision Song

Marty Feldman - Ilford Town Hall

Marty Feldman - Kensington High Street

Marty Feldman - La Sauce


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Barry "Bazza" Crocker

Dubbed from a cassette that someone sent me a while back- this LP on the Transatlantic label was released in 1972 not long after the film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie.

"THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY MCKENZIE was based on satirical comic strip "The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie", drawn by New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland and written by Humphries for Private Eye magazine in the 60s by. Humphries' story of the Ocker innocent abroad gave him and Beresford a chance to lampoon both the Australians and the British in the broadest and bawdiest 'Carry On' style -- but always with a laconic Aussie twist.

Aussie critics (typified by National Times' windbag P.P. McGuinness) were appalled by its gauche ockerism and they panned it. Audiences adored it and it was a runaway success, becoming the most successful and popular all-Australian film ever made up to that time. In many senses it was the first truly Australian feature film for decades, even though most of the action takes place in London. It makes an interesting counterpart to THEY'RE A WEIRD MOB, filmed in Australia with a mostly Australian cast, but made by a British director and starring an Italian actor. In the 1980 book The New Australian Cinema producer Phillip Adams remarked on the casting, saying that that few local actors had ever played a broad Australian role or could "do" the ocker accent. Australian imitations, he said, were reserved for comedians. 'Serious' performers affected a mid-Atlantic drawl (or a BBC English accent).

If you accept its limitations, and understand the time and context in which it was made, you'll find that the movie is for the most part hilarious. Crocker's outrageous performance has never been bettered -- he is perfect for the part, and Humphries too does a star turn, playing four parts, including Barry's aunty Edna Everage (pre-damehood), "Hoot", the English jesus-freak hippie musician, and "Dr Delamphrey" (a role he reprised in the sequel).

The plot is simple -- young Barry, chaperoned by his Aunty Edna, must travel to London in order to collect an inheritance. Arriving in Blighty, he meets up with his old mate Curly and proceeds through a series of misadventures at the hands of assorted "Pommy bastards", charming numerous Pommy sheilas along the way."

Some of the songs were written by Barry Humphries .

Barry went on to become a big star in his native Australia.
Barry has his own My Space page HERE.


Barry "Bazza" Crocker - A Pub With No Beer

Barry "Bazza" Crocker - Earls Court Blues

Barry "Bazza" Crocker - Bridle Hanging On The Wall

Barry "Bazza" Crocker - Where Have They Gone?

Barry "Bazza" Crocker - Washed Down The Gutter

Barry "Bazza" Crocker - Swaggie Jock


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Harry Stewart/ Stan Freeberg

No boot sales at the moment until the Spring (around here at least ) so delving in the archive found this compilation LP of some novelty songs by various people including Yogi Yorgesson and Harry Kari and the Saki Sippers, both the creation of Harry Stewart.
He was born to Norwegian parentage in Washington state in 1908. His excellent website informs us -

"Harry was raised in the Proctor District, attended Washington Grade School then Stadium High School in Tacoma. When Harry was age 15 or 16, he acquired tuberculosis, which resulted in one lung removal. He was a bellhop at the Carlton Hotel also worked graveyard shift from midnight to seven A.M. at the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. Harry just "hung around" the then new radio station "KVI" and was eventually given a job as an announcer, weather reporter, news man and banjo player in 1927. In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles, California, with the hope of getting an announcing and banjo playing job with one of the larger stations. In those days, both announcers and banjo players were too plentiful. If he wanted to continue in the radio field, he had to think up a new act or forget about eating. He had not written or acted any comedy, but the character named Yogi Yorgesson, Swede-Hindu mystic, born of the need for survival, CAME TO HIM after starving in the area for a while. "Yogi" was a cross between Ivar Haglund, (locally famous as owner of Ivar's Acres of Clams, Seattle) and Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu Spiritualist. He tried out his routine on the nationally broadcast show "Merrymakers". It was six months before he got a job with Al Pearce and his gang, whom he was with for about three and one half years (1934-1937). His character for the show was "Yogi Yorgesson," (the Hindu mystic from Stockholm, Sweden) with a Swedish comedy touch. Yogi: "mystical" and Yorgesson: "comedic Swedish name." He gazed into a small fish bowl turned upside down as his "crystal ball" and would make statements such as, "I can see my face on da udder side." That was his line, but his skit also answered questions that were posed to him by listeners. Actually, the listeners’ questions were simply part of the script that he wrote. He used an exaggerated Swedish dialect to add to the humor. One routine done on that show is remembered by his son Steve which went like this: A lady called in and asked, "My baby just swallowed some bullets, what should I do?" Yogi answered, "Give him some caster oil and don't point him at anybody!" His costume consisted of Swede boots, Hindu loincloth, lumberjack shirt and a Hindu turban."

Harry went on to create other characters including Harry Kari,Claude Hopper, and Klaus Hammershmidt.
He died in 1956 in a car wreck whilst driving back from a fishing trip.

Also on the LP is Stan Freeberg-

"Stanley Victor Freberg (born August 7, 1926 in Los Angeles) is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, puppeteer, and advertising creative director.

The son of a Baptist minister, Stan Freberg grew up in Pasadena, California. His traditional upbringing is reflected both in the gentle sensitivity which underpins his work, despite his liberal use of biting satire and parody, and in his refusal to accept alcohol and tobacco manufacturers as sponsors (an impediment to his radio career when he took over for Jack Benny on CBS radio), as Freberg explained to Rusty Pipes:

"After I replaced Jack Benny in 1957, they were unable to sell me with spot announcements in the show. That would mean that every three minutes I'd have to drop a commercial in. So I said, 'Forget it, I want to be sponsored by one person like Benny was, by American Tobacco or State Farm Insurance,' except that I wouldn't let them sell me to American Tobacco. I refused to let them sell me to any cigarette company."

Discover more about Stan Freeberg HERE.


Stan Freeberg - John & Marsha

Yogi Yorgesson - The Bees & The Birds

Stan Freeberg - St. George & The Dragonet

Harry Kari - Yokohama Mama

Yogi Yorgesson - The Object Of My Affections

Stan Freeberg - Little Blue Riding Hood


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Charlie Drake

Another boot sale find which is rather wsorse for wear. I hope you will forgive the occasional pop and crackle. Sadly Charlie died a couple of years ago in obscurity and poverty but these silly songs bring back some happy memories of his TV shows and a brief recording carreer where he reached the charts on a couple of occasions.


"The diminutive Charlie Drake, who had a fine line in slapstick and pathos and a catch-cry of "Hello my darlings", featured in this BBC comedy series (which followed his successful 1959 - 1960 Charlie Drake program).

The Charlie Drake Show was scripted by Drake and Richard Waring, and produced by Ronald Marsh. It featured slapstick-style sketches and situations which brought out the pathos and genius of this much underrated comedian.

Meanwhile on ITV, Charlie featured in a comedy-music series (also called The Charlie Drake Show) in 1963 under producer Colin Clews with scripts by Drake and Lewis Schwarz. A very young Olivia Hussey also appeared in some of the routines.

Drake also starred in The Worker from 1965 - 1970 and then in the early 70's had a show called Slapstick and Old Lace in which he involved viewers in singalongs and madcap sketches in a Vaudeville style (7 x 30 minute episodes).

Charlie Drake was no stranger to accidents, but his narrowest escape was in the first of a new series entitled Bingo Madness. The plot called for Drake to be hurled through a bookcase by two villains, feign unconsciousness, fall to the floor and then be picked up and thrown out of a window.

The stunt nearly ended in tragedy as Drake really was knocked unconscious when he came through the bookcase. It was a live show and the actors, not realize anything was amiss, carried on, picking him up and bundling him through the window. Drake's head crashed against a stage weight.

After the initial applause, there was a hush as everyone realized something was wrong. The director blacked out the screen as millions of people witnessed what could have been the death of Charlie Drake. He lay in a coma for days, and the rest of the series was cancelled."

Charlie also had a successful recording career throughout the 50's and 60's- two of his biggest hits being "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" and "Please Mr Custer".


Discover more about Charlie Drake HERE.


Charlie Drake - Hello, My Darlings

Charlie Drake - I've Lost The End Of My Yodel

Charlie Drake - Starkle Starkle Little Twink

Charlie Drake - Don't Trim My Wick

Charlie Drake - Splish Splash

Charlie Drake - Charles Drake 007


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Orchestra Bantous

The first side of this LP on the Parlophone label from 1965 is by Orchestra O.K. Jazz but the other side is split between Orchestra Bantous and Orchestra Cercul, two other exponents of the Congolese rumba and merengue etc.


"Dance band formed in Brazzaville, Congo, '59; became one of the longest- established acts in African music as leading interpreters of Cuban rumba. Co-led by saxophonists Dieudonne (Nino) Malapet and Jean Serge Essous; made local impact followed by ambitious tour of West Africa '60. Best early work on series of singles, reissued on Africain label LPs Les Merveilles du Pass‚ 1962--4 (3 vols). Launched new dance and new sound Le Boucher '65, seen as renewal and revitalization of rumba; then Soukous '66: the successful dance became generic name for Congolese music. After recording trip to Paris Essous decided to stay there (but remained member of band), Malapet took over leadership; more personnel changes with proclamation of official cultural policy 'Authenticit‚' '67. Carried on '70s with tight, exciting rhythms, virtuoso soloists, and singers: Kosmos (Come Mountouari), Pamelo Mounk'a, Tchico; also Nedule Papa Noel and Samba Mascott on guitars; saxes of Malapet and Essous. The musical wheel turned full circle when the band toured Cuba in 1974."


Orchestra Bantous - Pa' Vacillar

Orchestra Bantous - Bantous Pachanga

Orchestra Bantous - Endiable Merengue

Orchestra Bantous - Nous Brazza


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Larry Grayson

Another boot sale find on the York Records label from1972. Larry sings few oldies including the Marrow Song we heard recently from Billy Cotton and Co. Also some songs written especially for him featuring characters from his stage act.

Wikipedia says-

"Born in Banbury in 1923 to unmarried parents, (he never met his father), ten days after he was born he was adopted by Alice and Jim Hammond, a poor, coal mining family in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. His foster mother died when he was six years old and he was raised by his eldest foster sister, Flo.[2] When he was eight he discovered that his mysterious aunt Ethel was in fact his natural mother, though he always considered Flo as his mother.[3]
He left school at the age of 14, and was soon working professionally under the name of Billy Breen as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit, and over the next thirty years he toured the UK not only in male revues and drag shows, but also in variety shows.

Grayson was one of the first television comedians to suggest a openly gay persona. He did not achieve stardom until he was in his fifties and had his own television show. An early TV appearance in the 1950s had led to many complaints about his act being too outrageous and Grayson had resigned himself to a career off television. He was very popular in review and working men's clubs with a unique and very gentle anecdotal style of comedy. It was usually based around his various 'friends' such as Everard, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice and the postman 'Pop it in Pete'. A lot of this was observational. Grayson's family had had the only telephone on the street as a kid and he used to listen to his neighbours using the phone.
Following a hit run of guest spots on ATV variety shows in the 1970s, he was rewarded by Lew Grade with his own award winning show, Shut That Door! (1975).
Grayson's popularity peaked when he moved over to the BBC to present The Generation Game in 1978."

Discover more about Larry Grayson HERE.


Larry Grayson - Apricot Lil

Larry Grayson - I've Got It Here

Larry Grayson - Just A Gigolo

Larry Grayson - Slack Alice

Larry Grayson - The Marrow


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or exhausted.

Dynamic Brothers

Better late than never- just found this 45rpm single in a pile of old ska and reggae in my workroom. A festive song on the "B" side called Xmas Ne New Year on the Zimbabwe Teal Record label from 1989. Maybe one of a batch that DJ Charlie Gillett sent me after a trip to Zimbabwe in the early 90's before the recent troubles began.

Discover more about african music HERE.


Dynamic Brothers - Xmas Ne New Year

Dynamic Brothers - Gadzirai Mudzimu



These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Billy Cotton Band

Growing up in the 60's meant the Billy Cotton Band Show on the radio at Sunday lunchtime whilst the roast and gravy was being dished up is ingrained into me. His catch phrase of "Wakey-wakey!" was hollered at the start of every half hour of music and family oriented merriment.
His dance band was big throughout the 40's and 50's with numerous hits including "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts","Friends and Neighbours and "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus". In the 60's he had a regular Saturday night show on the BBC TV that last many years.
On this 45 E.P. I found at a boot sale (?) the vocalist is Alan Breeze who sang with his band for over 40 years.


Billy Cotton Band - The Woodpecker

Billy Cotton Band - The Marrow Song

Billy Cotton Band - Lulu Had A Baby

Billy Cotton Band - Sweet Violets



These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Barry Andrews

I think I found this Virgin single at Brick Lane back in the 80's. I can't find that much about Barry, only that he was in the punky pop band XTC for a while and left to join Robert Fripp in the League of Gentlemen and eventually Shriekback who may or may not still be around? In between he made this fine single that sadly wasn't a hit and a solo album I forget the name of. Maybe looking HERE will help fill in these gaps in my woeful blurb.

Barry Andrews - Win A Night Out With A Well-Known Paranoiac

Barry Andrews - Rossmore Road


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Sangam Soundtrack

Probably from Brick Lane market, this EP on the EMI/HMV label out of Pakistan was released in 1964. It has a couple of great songs on it especially the amusing "I Love You" which is just the words "I Love You" sung in several languages with what sounds like a Greek bazouki backing!

Heres a review of the film from the Channel 4 site-
"
Director/actor Raj Kapoor reworks the popular love triangle theme in this lavish production, one of the first Hindi films to be shot in foreign European locations. Nearly all Kapoor's films were romances and big box-office hits; he himself was a huge star in China, Russia and the Middle East. The appeal of his films is largely due to their excellent music by Shankar-Jaikishan. Sangam is stirring entertainment using the essential elements of Hindi cinema: melodrama, star charisma and music."


Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh - O Mere Sanam

Lata Mangeshkar - Main Ka Kareen

Mukesh - O Meh Beeba

Vivin Lobo - I Love You


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Anton Karas

I thought I had uplaoded some Anton Karas before but I just checked the archive and couldn't see him. I always loved the "Harry Lime Theme" and it's a great British film(The Third Man) too which you must see if you haven't already. The version on this EP on the Decca label from 1963 is slightly different from the film soundtrack I think though equally as good I think.

The sleeve notes say -

"The producer of THE THIRD MAN, Carol Reed, was fascinated by the wonderful melody being coaxed out of the zither. Anton Karas was playing at that time in one of the many wine-gardens in the city of Vienna where Reed was looking for locations....

After the films release, offers poured in to Anton, from variety theatres, record companies and night clubs. His fans included King George VI and Princess Margaret to thousands who attended his music hall and bill topping tours around the country.

Evenetually Anton returend to Vienna and opened his own wine-garden, appropriately enough called "Zum Dritten Mann", or if you prefer, at the sign of The Third Man."

You can see Anton Karas playing "The Third Man" theme HERE


Anton Karas - The Harry Lime Theme

Anton Karas - Cafe Mozart Waltz

Anton Karas - In Grinzing

Anton Karas - Lili Marlene


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Paddy Roberts

Another EP found in a charity shop last year featuring whimsical songs about subjects not normally sung about in that strange olde worlde voice of his.

"Paddy Roberts (1910 - 1975) was a popular songwriter, having previously been a lawyer and a pilot (serving with the RAF in World War II). He was born in South Africa and died in the United Kingdom. He enjoyed success with a number of songs in the 1950s and 1960s and wrote songs for several films. He released several LPs and EPs of his own material, often featuring what were, for the time, slightly risqué lyrics."

Buy Paddy Roberts HERE.

Paddy Roberts - Auntie Bridget

Paddy Roberts - Our Little Village

Paddy Roberts - I Remember Tilly

Paddy Roberts - The Rabbi & The Priest



These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Tubby The Tuba

A children's novelty record that plays at 78. The garish cover first attracted me to it. I bought several others of the same ilk - nursery rhymes and songs including Roy Rogers singing "Home On The Range".
It's on the Cricket Records label which makes the astonishing claim on the back of the sleeve that it sells 20 million copies each year! There is also a blurb which reads "As Advertised in LIFE" and another which states that Cricket Records have won the Certificate of Award- The Child Life Seal of Selection, signifying a high quality product in recognition of meeting superior standards! It's enough to make you throw it in the bin!

Discover more children's records HERE.


Cricket Records - Tubby The Tuba

Cricket Records - Billy Boy/ Georgie Porgy




These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.

Eddie Lund & His Tahitians

"And here the fourth TAMOURE which leaves enunmoisa sorrow... While waiting cinquieme and the continuation... I think that it will be the maeillor: Because, more rapid that a Caravel, TAHITI invaded Paris in one night... Because for this insane night of the Holy Club Hilaire the TAMOURE has had gane its letters of nobility and the friendship of French the Paris Whole... of the islands it became Parisian! And I am on malgre the cold and the gray of the winter the sun and the chaleureaux sky of the islands will regneront On bets this season..."

From the Babelfish translation of the french on the back of the cover of this 45 EP I found many years ago at Brick Lane flea market. Some frantic ukulele playing and delightful vocal refrains make this a record to treasure!

Tahitian folk music sounds not unlike Hawaiian folk music but played at the wrong speed!

A short biography about Eddie Lund HERE


Eddie Lund - Tau Mafatu

Eddie Lund - Mama Iti E

Eddie Lund - Toku Tokaringa

Eddie Lund - E Ua Reka E


These SendSpace files are available for seven days or until exhausted.