Billy Costello

I think i have mentioned Billy Costello here before but no excuses for uploading some more of his Popeye personna. Not sure if these were from the days of Max Fleischer but they sound pretty old to me. Above is "Blow The Man Down" send on a tape from a kind person who knows I like this sort of thing.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Popeye The Sailor-

"Popeye the Sailor is a famous comic strip character, later featured in popular animated cartoons. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar[1] (who would sign some of his early Popeye comic strips with a cigar because it sounded the same as his name) and first appeared in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929. Popeye quickly became the main focus of the strip, which was one of King Features' most popular strips during the 1930s. Thimble Theatre, carried on after Segar's 1938 death by artists such as Bud Sagendorf, was renamed Popeye in the 1970s. Today drawn by Hy Eisman, Popeye continues to appear in first-run strips in Sunday papers (daily Popeye strips are reruns of older strips).
In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios adapted the Thimble Theatre characters into a series of Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. These cartoons proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and Popeye at one time rivaled Mickey Mouse for popularity among audiences. After Paramount assumed control of the Fleischer Studio in 1942, they continued producing the series until 1957. Future Popeye cartoons were produced for television from 1960 to 1962 by King Features, and from 1978 to 1982 as well as 1987 to 1988 by Hanna-Barbera Productions."


Billy Costello - Nobody's Sweetheart Now

Billy Costello - Teddy Bears Picnic

Billy Costello - Merry-Go-Round Broke Down

Billy Costello - Tiger Rag


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The Mighty Sparrow

"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, "arnival 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."



"Maria", a track from the LP "Sparrow - Calypso King" on the RCA International label released in 1970.
This compilation is a strange mixture of calypso and more pop oriented songs like Hucklebuck and The Great Pretender. he certainly sounds more comfortable with the calypso songs on here.


Mighty Sparrow - Yvonne Sorry Now

Mighty Sparrow - Hucklebuck


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Psycho Serenade

A few strange records found on an LP called Psycho Serenade on the Beware label that came out in the 80's. Mostly trashy novelty songs and weird rock 'n' roll obscurities mixed in with old ads. and film trailers etc.

The sequence goes as follows-

1. Come With Me To The Casbah - Ganimian and his Orientals
2. Souie Baby Souie - Nanine
3. Cailifornia Hippy Murders - Red River Dave
4. Shake Your Tail Feather - The Five Du-Tones
5. The Riddler - The Riddler
6. Mad - The Social Outcasts

They Played The Empire

A double LP found some time ago in a charity shop in Basildon I think. The Empire was a group of variety theatres that flourished like so many others between the wars and some right up to the 50's. A motely selection of artistes included here including Sandy Powell, Tessie O'Shea, Larry Adler and Norman Wisdom. I've chosen a few who make me smile for one reason or another. Above is Borrah Minnevitch' Harmonica Rascals accompanied by the Three Ginx singing "The Music Goes Round And Round and Comes Out Here".

Borrah Minevitch, the harmonica virtuoso, American born but a frequent visitor to Britain, began his recording career as the soloist in a group called the "Dizzy Trio" in 1924. He and his Harmonia Rascals appeared at Command Perfomances at the Palladium and Coliseum in 1947 and 1949.

Cyril Fletcher born in Watford in 1913, comedian of radio and stage fame first appeared in London at the Holborn Empire in 1939. He is probably more firmilar for his "Odd Odes" and sitting in his armchair on the long running "Thats Life" on BBC TV during the 70's.

Lupino Lane actor, singer, dancer and director was born in London in 1892 and died in 1959. A comic and acrobatic dancer specializing in cockney roles, his biggest in "Me And My Girl" in 1938 and his famous rendition of "The Lambeth Walk". He was the cousin of Stanley Lupino who appeared in and directed films.

Tommy Handley was born in Liverpool and graduated from the chorus to concert party and variety. He's worked with Jack Hylton and Ronald Frankau. He later found fame in the long running and influencial radio show "ITMA" leading to films and television. He died in 1948 at the age of fifty five.



Tommy Handley - We Don't Want To Be Jiggered About

Lupino Lane - Who Are You A-Shovin' Of?

Elsie & Doris Waters - Please Leave My Butter Alone

Cyril Fletcher - Dreamin' Of Thee


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The Merrymen

This LP from Barbados was found in a charity shop some years ago. Recorded in the late 60's in New York on the West Indies Records label. The above song is "Bang Bang Lu Lu".

Wikipedia says -

"The music of Barbados includes distinctive national styles of folk and popular music, as well as elements of Western classical and religious music. The culture of Barbados is a syncretic mix of African and British elements, and the island's music reflects this mix through song types and styles, instrumentation, dances and aesthetic principles.
Barbadian folk traditions include the Landship movement, which is a satirical, informal organization based on the British navy, tea meetings, tuk bands and numerous traditional songs and dances. In modern Barbados, popular styles include calypso, spouge and other styles, many of them imported from Trinidad, the United States or elsewhere. Barbados is, along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the Virgin Islands, one of the few centers for Caribbean jazz."

The Merrymen are still going strong today and you can buy there albums HERE.



The Merrymen - Foolishness

The Merrymen - Callalou vs. Cou Cou

SWAPATORIUM: Harry Belafonte


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Paddy Roberts

Delighted to find this at the boots sale today for 50p. One I had been searching ages for. The sleeve alone is worth 50p!
Following on from his first Lp "Songs For Grown-Ups" this one on Decca was made in 1963 and full of slightly risque songs . Probably raised a few eyebrows back then but quite harmless now ofcourse - quaint even.

"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."


Paddy Roberts - Three Old Ladies

Paddy Roberts - Down In Dury Lane

Paddy Roberts - Don't Use The W.C.

Paddy Roberts - Ten In A Bed

Paddy Roberts - The Woodpecker's Hole


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Oldies But Goodies

A fantastic old scratchy Melodisc LP from Brick Lane market I found many years ago. It has the most wrong sleeve ever as all the song titles are mixed up and the label on the disc itself is Side One on BOTH sides! So I had to listen to the lyrics to get the titles but some of the instrumentals might be wrong? Anyway all the songs are from the 60's when Ska was at it's height in Jamaica and one can clearly hear the influence of New Orleans and American rythym and blues and jazz here.

"Ska Music originated in Jamaica as a result of Jamaican musicians adopting and personalising many different forms of American music. By the early 1950's Jamaican bands were taking inspiration from American artists and forming bands like Eric Deans Orchestra featuring the talents of trombonist Don Drummond and guitarist Ernest Ranglin. By the end of the 1950's, jazz, r&b, and mento (a style of calypso) influences were merged into a new style called Shuffle. Shuffle gained popularity through the works of such greats as Neville Esson, Owen Grey, The Overtakers, and The Matador Allstars.
In 1962, a time when Jamaica was copying the musical style of America, Cecil Bustamente Campbell, later known as Prince Buster, knew that something new was needed. He had his guitarist Jah Jerry emphasize the offbeat instead of the downbeat. To the present day, the offbeat is essential to Jamaican music styles. Ska Music was born.

Despite the primitive mono recording facilities, it was the determination of the ska enthusiasts which enabled ska to become the first truly commercial Jamaican Music. In fact, the ska was later named the national dance and music of Jamaica.

In the 1970's the Rude Boy ideals were revitalized and expressed in the fusion of reggae and punk by bands such as The Clash (Rudie Can't Fail). In the mid to late 1970's, bands such as The Coventry Automatics chose to use ska instead of reggae because, according to Jerry Dammers, it was easier. The Coventry Automatics later became The Automatics then The Specials AKA The Automatics, then The Special AKA, then The Specials."


The Folks Bothers - Oh Carolina

Buster Allstars - Down Beat Burial

Winston & Errol - Fay Is Gone

Jamaica Greatest - It's Burke's Law

The Prince - Feel Up

The Flames - Helena Darling


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The Real Bahamas

An LP on the Nonesuch label from 1965. Field recordings made by Peter K. Siegel and Jody Stecher. Some fine spirituals and folk oriented gospel by the Pindar Family, Same Greene, Frederick McQueen etc. I have chosen tracks featuring Joseph Spence, the renowned Bahamian guitarist who I first heard when Ry Cooder played some of his favourite records on a radio show back in the 70's.

Here's what Wikipedia says about him-

"Joseph Spence (born August, 1910 in Andros, Bahamas - died March 18, 1984 in Nassau, Bahamas) was a Bahamanian guitarist, singer and blues musician. He is well known for his vocalizations and humming while performing on guitar. Several modern folk, blues and jazz musicians, including Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Woody Mann and John Renbourn were influenced by and have recorded variations of his arrangements of gospel and Bahamanian pop tunes. The earliest recordings of Joseph Spence were field recordings by folk musicologists such as Sam Charters. Nearly all of the recorded songs are in a Drop D tuning, where the sixth string is tuned to a low D rather than E, so that the guitar sounds, from sixth to first D A D G B E. The power of his playing derives from moving bass lines and interior voices and a driving beat that he emphasizes with foot tapping. To this mix he adds blues coloration and calypso rhythms to achieve a unique and easily identifiable sound. He has been called the folk guitarist's Thelonious Monk."


Pindar Family & Joseph Spence - We Will Understand It Better By & By

Joseph Spence - Don't Take Everybody To Be Your Friend

Joseph & Louise Spence - Won't That Be A Happy Time


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Max Bacon

"Max was the larger-than-life drummer with the Ambrose Orchestra for many years, who also had a unique Jewish-style humour. Prior to joining Ambrose in late 1927, he had been with Leon van Straten's band in 1926 and also was briefly with Fred Elizalde's band (which seems to be made up of Ambrose musicians) and Al Starita's Kit-Cat band (probably a temporary substitute for Eric Little). He was a regular member of Ronnie Munro's band which recorded for Parlophone and Imperial from 1926 to 1929, and also with Arthur Lally's band at Decca in the early 1930s. His stint with Ambrose lasted until 1940 and his wry comments may be heard on a number of comedy titles, including the famous number "Cohen the Crooner (The Crosby of Mile-End)" which is extant on film. On leaving Ambrose, Max went into variety, and also acting, taking small parts in films and television shows."

These two tracks were sent on a cassette from a chap who dubbed them from old 78's using the "oil" method, whatever that means. He said it made for smooth running of the needle through the grooves of scratchy old wax discs. This style of crazy jewish humour reminds me of Stanley Unwin and his nonsense language.


Max Bacon - William T-Hell

Max Bacon - Little Red Hooding Ride


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Vote for old posts!

Here's a chance to vote for your favourite posts again or any you may have missed in the past. Just leave the name of the post or the artist in the comments. Cheers!

Warren Smith

Part of one side of an LP on the Harvest label that came out in 1978. A concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London U.K. on April 30th 1977. Four Rock'n Roll legends including Charlie Feathers, Buddy Knox and Jack Scott. Here are the 4 tracks by Warren Smith-

1. Ubangi Stomp
2. Rock 'n' Roll Ruby
3. Blue Suede Shoes
4. I'm Movin' On

The sleevenotes by Geoff Barker say-

" Warren Smith is rightly introduced on the record as "The guy we've waited twenty years to see". Born in Mississippi in 1933, he was one of the many young rockabilly singers recorded by Sam Philips In Memphis, Tennessee for his legendary Sun record label. While the labels stars ( Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash) were making it in a big way, there were a host of others laying down some equally innovative recordings. Warren Smith's first single issude in March 1956, was a Johnny Cash song - Rock 'N' Roll Ruby. This sold well around the Memphis area, and the follow-up Ubangi Stomp became a rockabilly standard, first coming to the attention of Britsih audiences via Jerry Lee Lewis's first album."

Lonnie Donegan

Another EP by Donegan that I found at the weekend for 25 pence. Recordings form the Festival Hall Jazz Concert of 1954 and in the studio at around the same time with Chris Barber (Bass), Beryl Bryden (Washboard) and Pat Halcox (Piano).

"He formed his own group, the Tony Donegan Jazz Band, in 1952. They were successful enough that the National Jazz Federation asked the band to play a show at Festival Hall with American ragtime pianist Ralph Sutton and blues/jazz legend Lonnie Johnson. The Federation had brought to the two over to England in defiance of a Musicians' Union ban on all foreign performers and needed a non-union band like Donegan's to play support for the two guests. The master of ceremonies at the show made a mistake in his announcement, introducing the American guitarist as "Tony Johnson" and the British banjo man as "Lonnie Donegan." The name stuck.

Donegan and his band eventually hooked back up with his old friend Chris Barber, who'd kept his band going throughout the previous two years, and eventually Barber and Donegan linked up with fellow jazzman Ken Colyer, into a kind of supergroup led by Colyer. The Ken Colyer Jazzmen, as they were called, specialized in Dixieland jazz, and built a formidible reputation, their shows popular in every club they played. It was during these shows, between sets by the full band, that Donegan would come on stage with two other players and perform his own version of American blues, country, and folk standards, punched up with his own rhythms and accents, on acoustic guitar or banjo, backed by upright bass and drums. The name "skiffle" was hung on this music as a way of referring to it on the group's posters. The word, according to Donegan, was suggested by Ken Colyer's brother Bill, who remembered an outfit called the Dan Burley Skiffle Group, based in Chicago in the 1930's. It seemed to fit, and it caught on; the Ken Colyer Jazzmen became almost as popular for Donegan's between-set skiffle songs as they were for their Dixieland music. "

Here's a previous post about Lonnie Donegan - SWAPATORIUM: Lonnie Donegan Showcase

Lonnie Donegan - Diggin' My Potatoes

Lonnie Donegan - John Henry


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Burl Ives

Another found today in the same box as the Zillertaler Trio. Burl Ive's childrens songs were regularly played on the BBC's "Childrens Favourites" radio show of the 50's and 60's especially songs like There was An Old Lady and Blue Tail Fly etc.
This MFP LP was released in the 70's I would imagine. No date on the sleeve.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about him-

"Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (14 June 1909 – 14 April 1995) was an acclaimed American folk music singer, author and actor.
Born near Hunt City in Jasper County, Illinois, Ives is probably best remembered for his music. He dropped out of college to travel about as an itinerant singer during the early 1930s, earning his way by doing odd jobs and playing his banjo. He was jailed in Mona, Utah, for singing “Foggy Foggy Dew”, which the authorities decided was a bawdy song.
Ives from 1927 to 1929 attended Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in Charleston (now Eastern Illinois University), where he played football. During college he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He dropped out of college because of poor grades and in 1930 landed on WBOW radio in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In 1940 Ives began his own radio show, titled The Wayfaring Stranger after one of his popular ballads. The show was very popular, and in 1946 Ives was cast as a singing cowboy in the film Smoky. His first book, The Wayfaring Stranger, was published in 1948.
Other movie credits include East of Eden (1955); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958); The Big Country (1958), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; and Our Man in Havana (1959), based on the Graham Greene novel.
In the 1940s Ives popularized several traditional folk songs, such as “Lavender Blue” (his first hit, a folk song from the 17th century), “Foggy Foggy Dew” (an English/Irish folk song), “Blue Tail Fly” (an old Civil War tune) and “Big Rock Candy Mountain” (an old hobo ditty)."

Read more about Burl Ives HERE.


Burl Ives - Whistling Rabbit

Burl Ives - Riddle Song

Burl Ives - The Man On The Flying Trapeze



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Zillertaler Trio

An EP of uncertain date found at car boot sale today just before the thunderstorm. I presume it's a German record as the label is printed in Germany. I was hoping for some yodelling and sure enough there is some. I have no idea what they are singing about but assume its about milk-maids and the joys of the mountains, leather shorts and the healthy outdoor life.
Perhaps a kind German person can enlighten us?


Zillertaler Trio - Im Zillertal Drinnen

Zillertaler Trio - Zwisch'n Zwoa Berg Im Tal


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Fezcast 2

Big Al Davies spins a few of his favourite tracks but keeps a low profile this time. Tunes from Sandie Shaw, Ivor Cutler, Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain, Loudon Wainwright III, Rolf Harris, Paul Giovanni and Magnet and Claude Vasori - not particularly in that order.

Chicken Rock

No excuses for featuring this track again. One of my favourite "chicken songs". I saw this LP on Brick Lane market many years ago and imagined it was all songs about chickens! Sadly this was the only one but later I was able to make up my own cassette tape comp. of Chicken Songs to annoy my friends with. The title track is my Fat "Daddy" Holmes.

Here are some other rockabilly tunes from the same LP.


The Beaumarks - Rockin' Blues

The Champs - Roots

Scottie Stuart - Little Rocker

Carl Bonafede & The Gem Tones - Story That's True



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Tom Lehrer

One of three Tom Lehrer I have found cheaply but this is the cheapest as it was absolutley free - sent in the post by a kind lady who didn't have a record player and so thought I might like it! It's full of great songs- all very short and very funny.

Here's what Wikipedia says about him-

"As an undergraduate student at Harvard University, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" (1945). Those songs later became (in a joking reference to a leading scientific journal) The Physical Revue. Influenced mainly by musical theater, his style consisted of parodying the then-current forms of popular song. For example, his appreciation of list songs led him to set the names of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major General's Song".
Inspired by the success of his performances of his songs, he paid for some studio time to record an album, Songs by Tom Lehrer, which he sold by mail order. Self-published and unpromoted, the album, which included the macabre ("I Hold Your Hand In Mine"), the mildly risqué ("Be Prepared"), and the mathematical ("Lobachevsky"), became a success via word of mouth. With a cult hit, he embarked on a series of concert tours and released a second album, which came in two versions: the songs were the same but More Songs by Tom Lehrer was studio-recorded, while An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer was recorded live in concert.
By the early 1960s Lehrer had retired from touring (which he intensely disliked) and was employed as the resident songwriter for the US edition of That Was The Week That Was (TW3), a satirical TV show. An increased proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as pollution ("Pollution"), Vatican II ("The Vatican Rag"), race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), American militarism ("Send the Marines") and nuclear proliferation ("Who's Next?" and "We Will All Go Together When We Go"). He also wrote a song which satirized the alleged amorality of Wernher von Braun. A selection of these songs was released in the album That Was The Year That Was."

Find out more about Tom Lehrer HERE.


Tom Lehrer - The Old Dope Peddler

Tom Lehrer - Be Prepared

Tom Lehrer - The Wild West

Tom Lehrer - I Wanna Go Back To Dixie

Tom Lehrer - Fight Fiercely, Harvard


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Will Fyffe

This LP on the World Record label is a compilation of songs by the scottish comedian Will Fyffe which I always get mixed up with Sir Harry Lauder. Mostly from the late 20's and early 30's.

"He started his career in childhood touring with his father's dramatic company and made his debut as Little Willie in East Lynne.
At 15 he played Polonius in Shakespeares Hamlet. He then moved to the Music Halls doing sketches featuring Scottish characters many of which were recorded on to 78 rpm records. He appeared at the London Pavilion in 1921 and also appeared in a number of films during the 1930's.

He was presented with the C.B.E. for entertaining the troops during World War 2. He is best known for his recording of "I Belong To Glasgow" but made many other fine recordings demonstrating that he had an excellent singing voice and in my opinion was a superior entertainer to the better known Sir Harry Lauder."


Will Fyffe - I'm 94 Today

Will Fyffe - He's Been On The Bottle Since A Baby

Will Fyffe - The Railway Man


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Fiddler's Dram

Another LP from the bootsale on Sunday. Their one and only hit "A Day Trip To Bangor" has surfaced on a couple of folk/novelty compilations and I was keen to see what else they had done. Mostly ordinairy folk rock from the 70's that reminds me of Steeleye Span and The Yetties etc.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about them-

"Fiddler's Dram were a British folk band of the late 1970s. They were mainly known for their hit single Day Trip to Bangor (1979), although the sound of this record was not representative of the acoustic songs and tunes they had been performing for several years at folk clubs and festivals.
The members of Fiddler's Dram were:
Cathy Lesurf - vocals, bodhran
Alan Prosser - guitar, fiddle, bowed psaltery, bones
Chris Taylor - bouzouki, harmonica, appalachian dulcimer, mandola, tenor banjo
Ian Telfer - fiddle, bowed psaltery

They met at the University of Kent at Canterbury and were residents at Duke's Folk Club in Whitstable. With other club members including John Jones and Ian Kearey, they formed the Oyster Ceilidh Band c.1976, with Cathy Lesurf singing and later assuming the role of caller at dances.
Bassoon-player Will Ward had joined the Oyster Ceilidh Band by 1978, and became the fifth member of Fiddler's Dram on their eponymous second LP, recorded hurriedly to follow up on their unexpected success in the singles chart. The band were unable to achieve subsequent success however - in the words of Ian Telfer Day Trip To Bangor was "the kind of success you don't easily recover from. Fiddler's Dram did one more tour then gratefully took the money (and the gold discs) and ran".
Day Trip To Bangor was actually inspired after a day trip to Rhyl (a seaside resort 35 miles east of Bangor, North Wales), but because Bangor had an extra syllable and slipped off the tongue easier it was used ahead of Rhyl. This caused an outcry from Councillors and businesses in Rhyl who complained that the publicity would have boosted the resort's tourist ecomony.
The Oyster Ceilidh Band continued as both a dance and concert band however, changing their name c.1982 to Oysterband. Cathy Lesurf subsequently left the Oysters for a spell with the Albion Band."


Fiddler's Dram - Mama's Ill

Fiddler's Dram - Johnny John

Fiddler's Dram - Fedora


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Wavy Gravy

A short segment of a cassette some kind person sent me a few years back called "Wavy Gravy". Not sure if this was an official release or not. Can't find any record of it. probably a limited edition on obscure record label. Seems to be lots of garage bands mixed with old shlock film trailers.

Tracks are-

1. Bo Diddley - The Juveniles
2. Hambone Hunter - Ho Ho laughing Monster
3. The Motions - Bacon Fat
4. Igor & The Maniacs - Bumble Bee '65
5. Moses Longpeice - The Big Green

You can find it HERE.