Heroes & Villains Concert 1982

An LP on the Dakota label from 1982. A concert recorded on 21st September the same year at the Hammersmith Odeon to celebrate 15 years of BBC Radio One. Profits from the concert went to the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Centre charity.

Mostly stars of the 60's here who have come out in force and by and large sound pretty good - playing their big hits to an enthusiastic audience.

Tracks are as follows -

Side One.

1. Flowers In The Rain - Carl Wayne & Magnum

2. One Way Love - Cliff Bennett

3. Little Things - Dave Berry

4. He's In Town - Rockin' Berries

5. There's Always Something There To Remind Me - Sandie Shaw

6. Sorrow - The Merseybeats

7. Hallelujah Freedom - Junior Campbell

8. Tobacco Road - Nashville Teens

Side Two.

1. Out Of Time - Chris Farlowe

2. Hippy Hippy Shake - Swinging Blue Jeans

3. Yesterday Man - Chris Andrews

4. Game Of Love - Wayne Fontana

5. Wild Thing - The Troggs

6. Wondrous Place - Billy Fury

7. Legend Of Xanadu - Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

8. What'd I Say - Ensemble

Various - Side One

Various - Side Two

Perspectives In Percussion

Another LP from the Hospice Shop today. This time some rather ordinary exotica/ stereo testing music - big band with added percussion . It's on the Somerest label and made in Canada in the 60's I would guess. It says on the sleeve " The world's greatest percussionists, solists and section men (?) recorded in Hollywood without attenuated dynamics ( whatever that is?)"

Orchestra lead by Skip Martin.

Space Age Musicmaker says of Skip Martin -

"Raised in Indianapolis, Skip Martin studied clarinet and played with local orchestras through high school and while attending Indiana University. After graduation, he took a job at radio station WLW in Cincinnati. Around 1936, he began playing alto and baritone sax for a series of big bands, including Charlie Barnett, Jan Savitt, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman. He also wrote an occasional arrangements. Count Basie recorded a number of Martin's compositions in the 1940s, including a minor hit, "Tuesday at Ten." After a stint with NBC and CBS radio in New York, Martin was enlisted in the Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot.

He settled in Los Angeles and went into studio work. He worked mainly as a fill-in, contributing individual arrangements, such as Les Brown's hit, "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," but rarely handled a whole album. He assisted Leo Arnaud on the score for the Red Skelton movie, "Excuse My Dust," and conducted the orchestra on the soundtrack for Fred Astaire's movie, "Royal Wedding." He also worked with the Pied Pipers and Tony Martin in the early 1950s. After a short spell as a staff arranger for NBC television, he moved back to Hollywood and went freelance. In the late 1950s, he produced several albums for Somerset that rank among the best of the "percussion" craze. The list of players includes some of the best West coast jazz players of the time: Jimmy Rowles, Pete Candoli, Frank Rosolino, Larry Bunker, Irv Cottler, and Don Fagerquist. Martin also arranged a selection of composer Dave Kuhn's theme and incidental music for the 1958-59 TV series, "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," that RCA released to ride on the coattails of the success of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" LPs."

Tracks are as follows -

1. I'll See You In My Dreams

2. And Then There's Bells

3. Red River Cha Cha

4. Night train To New Orleans

5. C'est Magnifique

6. Tampico

Perspectives In Percussion - Side One

Mike Terry

Initially attracted to the smiling face of Mr. Terry and his Clackers I was sadly disappointed when I played this LP on the Joy label from 1972. It's a kind of poor man's Russ Conway/ Mrs. Mills record and hardly worth a second listen. I upload one side so you can see what I mean.

The sleeve notes say -

"Mike terry has built himself quite a reputation around the Northern Clubs as a honky tonk pianist, reputation which is spreading South with each record and each appearance. And when you count amongst these appearances one with Dorothy Squires at her second epic making Palladium concert you can imagine the strength of the invasion. Dorothy, in fact, has a lot to do with Mike's success; she taught him stagecraft - and who better to instruct in the art of holding an audience. The story starts some 28 years ago when Mike was born in Leeds. At thirteen he was taking piano lessons from a local teacher and at fiteen had won a local honky tonk contest. The prize was Winifred Atwell's "other piano". A prize that Mike treasures to this day."

Tracks are -

1. In Apple Blossom Time/ The Honeysuckle & The Bee/ Moonlight & Roses

2. Scotalnd The Brave/I Love A Lassie/ Roaming In The Gloaming

3. I Cant Give You Anything But Love Baby/ Side By Side/ Happy Days & Lonely Nights

4. Always/ My Wonderful One/I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

5. Conkers

Mike Terry - Side One

Flanagan & Allen

An LP on the EMI label from the Hospice Shop today. Songs and patter from the 30's up until the 50's on this compilation obviously taken straight from old 78's due to the background hiss and crackle on most tracks.

Wikipedia says -

"As music hall comedians, they would often feature a mixture of comedy and music in their act; this led to a successful recording career as a duo and roles in film and television. Just prior to and throughout the Second World War they appeared in several films helmed by Marcel Varnel and John Baxter. Flanagan and Allen were both also members of The Crazy Gang and worked with that team for many years concurrently with their double-act career.

Flanagan and Allen's songs featured the same, usually gentle, humour for which the duo were known in their live performances, and during the Second World War they reflected the experiences of ordinary people during wartime. Songs like 'We're Gonna Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line' mocked the German defences (Siegfried Line), while others like 'Miss You' sang of missing one's sweetheart during enforced absences. Other songs, such as their most famous, 'Underneath the Arches' (which Flanagan co-wrote with Reg Connelly), had universal themes such as friendship. The music was usually melodic, following a binary verse, verse chorus structure, with a small dance band or orchestra providing the accompaniment. The vocals were distinctive because while Flanagan was at least a competent singer and sang the melody lines, Allen used an almost spoken delivery to provide the harmonies.

The recordings of Flanagan and Allen remain popular, and the duo are frequently impersonated by professionals and amateurs. Royal Variety Performances often feature people 'doing a Flanagan and Allen', notably Roy Hudd and Christopher Timothy, Bernie Winters and Leslie Crowther. In 1980 the latter two featured in a one-off musical drama about the duo produced by ATV for the ITV network.

The later comedy team Morecambe and Wise, who often expressed their admiration for Flanagan and Allen, recorded a tribute album, Morecambe and Wise Sing Flanagan and Allen (Phillips 6382 095), in which they performed some of the earlier team's more popular songs in their own style, without attempting to imitate the originals. Fans of either comedy team may be slightly disappointed by this album, since all of the selections are performed absolutely straight, with no comedy except for a brief amount of banter after one of the songs. Run Rabbit Run was one of their best hits in World War Two."

Songs are -

1. "Oi!" Intro: A Million years

2. Life Begins Again

3. |Memories Medley: Part 1 - Wanderer, Dreaming, Where The Arches Used To Be.

4. Memories Medley: Part 2 - Can't We Meet Again, A Million Tears, Underneath The Arches.

5. Down And Out Blues

6. I'm Sending Out An S.O.S.

Flanagan & Allen - Side One

Bill Tapia RIP

Bill Tapia playing in Japan a couple of years ago. He died the other day aged 103.

Learn more about Bill = http://www.billtapia.com/