Sir Victor Uwaifo

A record in the wrong sleeve Ive just discovered. It's not by Apola King Idowu after all but Sir Victor Uwaifo who comes from Nigeria. Some splendid Afrobeat from 1975.
Amazing claims on his website-

"RESEARCH AND DISCOVERIES:
Sir Victor Uwaifo, a research scholar, discovered the structural rightness in sculpture that stands without a supporting base. Most of the works which adorn the Revelation Tourist Centre in Benin City were done personally by him.
Sir Victor Uwaifo designed and constructed a functional sculpture of Aeroplane House, now the largest man – made sculpture in Africa and second to the Tower of Liberty in New York, USA.
Victor Uwaifo stands out tall as the first artisit in igeria to sculpt a motorized giant kinetic sculpture also the first in Nigeira “The Dancing Chief” in form to Oba Akwnzua II Cultural Complex, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.



SPECIAL INVENTIONS:
The maestro not only plays the guitar with his fingers which is normal, but also with his jaw, his toes, his teeth, from behind his neck and back which are unusual, then, he spins the guitar 360 degrees suspending in the air with amazing speed faster than sound in a phenomenon.

He invented the double-neck guitar with 18 strings fashioned after the Mammy-water esoteric encounter in 1967 while looking for inspiration during a late night outing at the Barbeach, Lagos.



A VISIONARY:
A man full of dreams and accomplishments, Victor Uwaifo is the founder of the Revelation Tourist Center which stands as the key to the historical events, horrors tragedies, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Beautiful.



OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS:
Sir Victor Uwaifo 50 years of music and stage performance was celebrated by N.T.A. with a golden jubilee award and broadcast live to the world in 2006.

Victor Uwaifo, the Living Legend, twanging of the guitar in quick successions, the up-and-down strokes by hand on the strings have exceeded 5 million kilometers accumulated length measured at an average speed of 10 strokes per second and combined with the movement of the left had to and fro on the guitar neck are long enough to go round the planet earth. "

Discover more revelations at his website HERE.


Sir Victor Uwaifo - Okokoko Sasakosa

Sir Victor Uwaifo - Amuwa Ekassa

Sir Victor Uwaifo - Ilobi Ekassa

Orch. T.P. Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou

An album on the Tangent label made in Paris in the 80's I would guess. Curious mixture of soukous and tinny synth sounds and funk guitars.

"Arguably West Africa’s best kept secret, Benin's finest band spent the 1970s mixing funk and Afrobeat with the bewitching rhythms of their native Voudoun tradition. Their output, both in quantity and quality, was astonishing - and live they're still producing revelatory psychedelic grooves.
'It's like feeling that a doll in your image is being pierced through and that the needles are in the hands of James Brown.' Les Inrockuptibles

The cultural and spiritual riches of traditional Beninese music had an immense impact on the sound of Benin’s modern music. Benin is the birthplace of Vodun and two Vodun rhythms dominate the music of Orchestre Poly Rythmo: Sato, an amazing, energetic rhythm performed using an immense vertical drum, and Sakpata, a rhythm dedicated to the divinity who protects people from smallpox.
Both rhythms are represented here mixed in with Funk, Soul, Crazy organ sounds and Psychedelic guitar riffs."


Orch. T.P. - Semassa (Zero+Zero)

Orch. T.P. - Belle Belle

Alphonse The Horse

Not much to say about this one. A slightly creepy horse to scare children at their Christmas parties! Sleeve art done by a horse with a crayon. On the Alphonse Productions label from 1977.


Alphonse The Horse - Space Ride

Alphonse The Horse - Jungle Safari

Alphonse The Horse - You're A Star

Alphonse The Horse - Silly Statues

Slip Fingers O'Reilly

Not much found about Mr O'Reilly. This E.P. was found at Brick Lane a few years back I think. Again it was the amusing sleeve that made me buy it. The curious renditions of classical works fused with cockney knees-up pub piano and honking saxaphone would make most lovers of Brahms and Lizst reach for the ear-plugs!


Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Chopin's Nocturne

Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Schubert's Serenade

Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Bizet's Toreador Song

Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Tchaikovski's Melodie

Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Tchaikovski's Waltz Swan Lake

Slip Fingers O'Reilly - Verdi's La Donna Mobile

Hank Snow

Happy to upload some more Hank Snow from an EP I found a couple of years ago from the early 60's I imagine although these tracks seem much earlier. Nice country and western/ rockabilly cross-over style , more upbeat than the maudlin C&W of that era.


Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was born on May 9th, 1914 in the sleepy fishing village of Brooklyn, Queens County, on Nova Scotia's beautiful South Shore, just down the tracks from Liverpool.

"As a boy, Hank faced many difficulties and shortcomings. He had to face the trauma of his parents' divorce at just eight years old and he was forced to stay with his grandparents. He then had to deal with an abusive grandmother who forbid him to see his mother. He regularly sneaked out at night and walked the railroad tracks to Liverpool where his mother was living. Not willing to return to his grandmother, who would often beat him for visiting his mom, he would sometimes seek shelter in Liverpool's railway station, now home of the Hank Snow Country Music Centre.

Both his parents had musical talent and Hank picked up his basic guitar-playing skills from his mother. In 1926, Hank went to sea as a 12-year-old cabin boy on fishing schooners based out of Lunenburg to escape his abusive step-father and never returned to school. With his first earned income he bought his first guitar, a T. Eaton Special for $5.95. While at sea, Hank would listen to Jimmie Rodgers on the radio and began to imitate him and entertain the crew. It wasn't long before Hank had picked up his own style."

Discover more about Hank Snow HERE.


Hank Snow - A Fool Such As I

Hank Snow - The Star Spangled Waltz

Hank Snow - The Golden Rocket

Hank Snow - I Don't Hurt Anymore

Frankie Lymon

EP on the Columbia label from the early 60's I would guess. I've had this one for a while and can't remember where I bought it. I've always had a soft spot for a bit of Doo-Wop and this is some of the best despite the orchestral accompaniment.

Wikipedia says -

"Frankie Lymon was born in Harlem, New York City to a truck driver father and a mother who worked as a maid. Lymon's father, Howard Lymon, also sang in a gospel group known as the Harlemaires; Frankie Lymon and his brothers Lewis and Howie sang with the Harlemaire Juniors (a fourth Lymon brother, Timmy, was a singer, though not with the Harlemaire Juniors). The Lymon family struggled to make ends meet, and Lymon began working as a grocery boy at age ten, augmenting his legitimate income with proceeds gained from hustling prostitutes and was known for having relationships with women twice his age.

At the age of 12, Lymon heard a local doo-wop group known as the Coupe De Villes at a school talent show. He befriended their lead singer, Herman Santiago, and he eventually became a member of the group, now calling itself both The Ermines and The Premiers. Dennis Jackson of Columbus, Georgia was one of the main influences of Lymon's life. His personal donation of $500 helped start Frankie's career.

One day in 1955, a neighbor gave The Premiers several love letters that had been written to him by his girlfriend, with the hopes that he could give the boys inspiration to write their own songs. Merchant and Santiago adapted one of the letters into a song called "Why Do Birds Sing So Gay?" With Lymon's input, the song became "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". The Premiers, now calling themselves The Teenagers, got their first shot at fame after impressing Richard Barrett, a singer with The Valentines. Barrett, in turn, got the group an audition with record producer George Goldner. On the day of the group's audition, Santiago was the original lead singer but Santiago was late. Lymon stepped up and told Goldner that he knew the part because he helped write the song."


Frankie Lymon - I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent

Frankie Lymon - Love Is A Clown

Frankie Lymon - Teenage Love

Frankie Lymon - Am I Fooling Myself Again?

Paddy Roberts (Re-UP)

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 - The Little Village

Paddy Roberts - I Remember Tilly

Paddy Roberts - The Rabbi & The Priest

Tabou Combo (Re-up)

A record from that tragic country that has been in the news so much lately. A record found at a flea market some years ago. This record was recorded in 1974. The two tracks featured here are the title track "8th Sacrement" and " Pace Domine".

"Formed in the Port-Au-Prince suburb of Petion-Ville by the Chancy brothers, Albert on bass and Adolphe on guitar, this young band won the Radio Haiti mini-jazz competition in 1968. They relocated to Brooklyn in 1971, and their song "New York City," which spoke of the difficulty of life in exile, reached #1 on the Paris pop charts in August 1975. They competed with Ska-Shah for top band honors in the 70s and 80s and fought "musical duels" similar to the Weber Sicot/Jean-Baptiste Nemours battles of the 50s and 60s.

An irresistible live band, Tabou Combo takes Haitian compas to the widest of audiences. From their regular appearances in the '80s at the famous Zenith Theatre in Paris, to an audience of 20,000 in New York's Central Park, to the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, in football stadiums throughout the Caribbean, and on the turntables of the top DJs, this band makes people dance. Influenced by funk and soul in their adopted home, Tabou took on the likeness of the Commodores on the covers of their late-'70s releases. They even made a demo tape with hopes of a Motown contract. Their desire to reach the Black US market remains unsatisfied, but they should be proud that popular musicians such as Kassav' from the Antilles/Paris and Wilfrido Vargas from the Dominican Republic have absorbed their music."

Visit the band's official website HERE.
HERE.

Jimmy Cliff

An early Island label 45 from 1963. I couldnt find out much about Sir Percy who does a great B side here.

Wikipedia says -

"Cliff was born in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica. He began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour's sound system. In 1962 his father took him to Kingston to go to Kingston Technical school where he ended up sharing his cousin's one rented room in East Kingston. He sought out many producers while still going to school, trying to get his songs recorded without success. He also entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me," he writes in his own website biography. After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when his "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit, while he was aged 14. It was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff would remain until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971. Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings", "Dearest Beverley", "Miss Jamaica" and "Pride and Passion". In 1964, Cliff was chosen as one of the Jamaican representatives at the World's Fair and Cliff soon signed to Island Records and moved to the UK. Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience, but his career took off in the late 1960s. His international debut album was Hard Road to Travel, which received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.

"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. Bob Dylan called "Vietnam" the best protest song he had ever heard. Also during this period, Cliff released a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" as a single, but it was not included on his Wonderful World, Beautiful People album."


Jimmy Cliff - King Of Kings

Sir Percy - Oh 'Yeah

Bingy Bunny & The Morwells

A 45 from the ska box which also contains some later reggae including this one probably bought because I liked the sound of the name.

"The Morwells were originally formed by Maurice 'Blacka' Wellington and Eric 'Bingy Bunny' Lamont in 1973. Later friend Errol "Flabba" Holt was brought in. During the mid to late 1970's the Morwells released a string of singles on their own "Mor-Well-Esq" label with Bingy Bunny usually singing lead vocals. Their first album "Presenting the Morwells" is a cult classic and its companion dub album "Dub Me" has been reissued by Blood and Fire. The Morwells released a total of four vocal albums: "Presenting the Morwells", "Crab Race", "Cool Runnings", and "Kingston 12 Toughie". During this period Bingy and Flabba were also working in the Kingston studios as session musicians. Bingy on Guitar and Flabba on Bass. The Jamaican studios of the late 1970's were a bee hive of musical creativity. Bingy and Flabba joined forces with Dwight Pickney on guitar, Style Scott on drums and Gladstone Anderson on piano and began laying down tracks for some of the great Jamaican artist of the day; Gregory Isaacs, The Wailing Souls, Isreal Vibration, Bunny Wailer, Prince Far I... Prince Far I called them the "The Arabs" but it was Bunny Wailer who gave them the name that the world would come to know them by: "The Roots Radics." The rest, as they say, is history. Sadly, the world lost Bingy Bunny in 1993."


The Morwells - Greenwich Road Skank

Bingy Bunny & The Morwells - Swing & Dine

Baba Brooks

Another ska single on the Doctor Bird label from the late 60's. No idea who the Saints were on the A side they do a ballad called Brown Eyes but the B side instrumental by Baba Brooks is a top tune- a version of Making Whoopee called King Size.

"Oswald Baba Brooks started his musical career as a trumpet player with the Eric Dean Orchestra in Jamaica in the 1950's. The Jamaican bands played mostly Folk, Afro, Jazz, they played at clubs, big hotels and sometimes on local radio. This was an exciting scene at the time but began to die out towards the end of the fifties. Band members began to move into the recording studios in Kingston that were emerging at the time with the advent of the Sound System. The records that were produced kept the musicians well employed. Most big bands began to die out and only a few managed to survive into the sixties and beyond. One such band was Byron Lee, they became the Islands premire band and established many talented musicians including Baba Brooks. He soon became a popular session man working for many of the top record producers and featured on many of the great Ska tracks during the golden period from 1963 - 1967. He was riding high in 63' with three hits in the Jamaican charts, Musical Communion, Bank To Bank and his version of Watermelon Man. This was a year before the Skatalies had been formed as a band, with whom he was to play on many occasions."


The Saints - Brown Eyes

Baba Brooks - King Size

The Blue Beats

Another old Blue Beat single from the dusty box from 1964. No info. on Red Price who takes lead vocal on this. Sounds strangley MOR and not what you would expect from the label at the time. Covers of show tunes? An old Vera Lynne song? Very odd.

"The Melodisc label was originally dedicated to releasing Jazz and Blues imported from the US featuring artists such as Charlie Parker and Woody Guthrie, as well as UK recorded Jazz from early Jamaican artists such as Joe Harriotts 1953 e.p: Cool Jazz With Joe. Shallit also released African Highlife records from acts like Ambrose Campbell & His West African Rhythm Brothers, Rans Boi Ghana Highlife Band, Ayinda Bakare & His Meranda Band, and The Nigerian Union Rhythm Group. Trinidadian Calypso was also a big mainstay of the 1950s Melodisc catalogue and many sides were issued from artists such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner, Trinidad All Star Steel band, and The Sparrow.

Revolutionised by jazz arrangements inspired by US big bands from multi-instrumentalist Rupert Nurse, and featuring noted Caribbean musicians like saxophonist Al King Timothy, and trumpeter Rannie Hart, the Calypso sound took on new dimensions on Melodisc, and gained much popular acclaim. A big seller of the time was Marie Bryants amusingly titled Dont Touch My Nylonswhich was written by the late Al Timothy. According to Timothys obituary, the song was also recorded by an artist known as The Charmer who subsequently emerged as Louis Farrakhan - currently leader of The Nation of Islam.

Jamaican Mento was another type of music which Shallit pioneered, and due to the lack of recording facilities in Jamaica the earliest recordings were made in London using Jamaican musicians, for example: Louise (Miss Lou) Bennetts Melodisc 78 Bongo Mandates from 1949, was recorded in London, and is possibly the first ever Rastafarian record.

In 1952 Jamaican entrepreneur Stanley Motta started making his own recordings in Kingston, inspired by Bertie King, an ex Alpha School Musician who had been resident in the UK since 1938 and was well known on the British Jazz circuit. King had released a few British recorded Mento records in the UK on his Limbo label, and when he returned to Jamaica in the early 1950s he suggested to Motta the idea of setting up his own recording facility and producing his own records for sale to the local JA market as well as exporting to the UK - in direct competition with neighbouring Trinidad, which was achieving much international acclaim for Calypso. "


The Blue Beats - Blue Beats Over

The Blue Beats - Kiss The Baby

The Piranhas

A 3 track 45 on the Sire label from 1980 I found in a charity shop in Crewe the other day. I vaguely remember seeing the Piranhas ( from Brighton ) play live at a pub in south London in about 1979. Very good they were too. Tom Hark was a medium sized hit but they didn't do much after that as far as I know.

Wikipedia says -

"They were formed in 1977, and were originally part of the Brighton punk scene, first coming to prominence when DJ John Peel started playing their single "I Don't Want My Body" on his BBC Radio 1 programme, but achieved their biggest success with their cover version of the South African kwela song "Tom Hark". This had been an instrumental hit in 1958 for Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes, and had already been covered in a ska style by Millie Small. With new lyrics written by the band's frontman "Boring" Bob Grover, it was a Top 10 hit in the UK in 1980.[1] It was the first song to feature on BBC Television's pop music programme, Top of the Pops, when it returned in 1980 after being blacked out for several months by industrial action. It also became a popular chant amongst British football fans the tune being used for songs such as "Premier League, You're Havin' A Laugh". It is also popular at limited-overs cricket games, often being played when a boundary is hit, and the tune was also used in the novelty World Cup song "We're England", performed by the presenters of the radio station talkSPORT with adapted lyrics for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals. Two years later the band's version of Lou Busch's "Zambesi" - produced by Pete Waterman - was a Top 20 hit in the UK Singles Chart.

The band were however not involved with a song that entered the UK charts in 2005, a remake of their biggest hit entitled "Tom Hark (We Want Falmer)", recorded under the name of Seagulls Ska, featuring Brighton resident Attila the Stockbroker and members of the ska band, Too Many Crooks. This was to help raise money for a new stadium for Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. (nicknamed "The Seagulls") at Falmer.

"Boring" Bob Grover still lives in Brighton, and is currently gigging around the UK with his new band 'Dates'. They released their debut album, First Party, Fire and Theft on Hah! Records in March 2007.

Guitarist Johnny Helmer went on to become a songwriter. He is best known for writing lyrics for Marillion's second incarnation with Steve Hogarth after the departure of Fish. He also published a novel entitled Mother Tongue in 1999. As a day job, he works in marketing for a Brighton company (as of 1999)."

Eli Buckett

A CD from one of my contacts that I've had a few years safely locked away in the cowshed. Maybe it should have stayed there? Anyway I thought I would give it an airing as you have all been so good and deserve cheering up ( is that the right phrase? ).
I dont know much about Eli but heres a blurb about a show he does-

"Goring resident Rod Scriven is presenting the popular West Country character Eli Buckett at the Kenton Theatre, Henley, on Friday, September 12th.

It Makes I Laugh will feature Eli and his band The Haybalers in an evening of comedy songs, stories and good natured country humour.

Rod has performed the character in theatres and clubs across the country and internationally, with tv and radio appearances and even released a single, The Yodelling Cockerel.

“People can come to the show and expect a lot of fun and a really good laugh,” said Rod.

“I’ve been performing as Eli for several years. If you split me down the middle, I’m a quarter Rod and three quarters Eli Buckett.


“It’s a good old West country show, with buckets of laughs,” he said. "


Eli Buckett - Somerset Born

Eli Buckett - Stooper's Hill

Eli Buckett - Her Romeo Just Walked On By

Eli Buckett - Oh Ah

Eli Buckett - When I'm Cleaning Windows (Cowsheds)

Raymond Harper

Some old ska singles now that I have put up from time to time. I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing. I have a huge box full of Blue Beat and Ska beat singles from the 60's and will try and feature a few from time to time.

Cant find anything much about Raymond Harper or the Vibrators. He seems to have been a trumpet player who played on many sessions. Any info. greatly appreciated.


Raymond Harper & Carib Beats - Amour

The Vibrators - Sloop John B

Lord Tanamo

Some old ska singles now that I have put up from time to time. I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing. I have a huge box full of Blue Beat and Ska beat singles from the 60's and will try and feature a few from time to time.

"Lord Tanamo (born Joseph Abraham Gordon, 2 October 1934, Kingston, Jamaica) is best known as a mento and ska performer and songwriter. He helped create the sound we now know as ska, by combining elements of calypso gleaned from Lord Kitchener, with the lilting mento rhythms of his childhood. He has been based in Canada for over thirty-five years.

Tanamo played the rumba box (also known as a bass lamellophone), an essential element of mento. He enjoyed hits as the lead vocalist for The Skatalites, such as "I'm In The Mood For Ska", in 1965. He continued to record at least through the late 1970s, with singles and albums for record producers, Coxsone Dodd, The Pottingers and Bunny Lee.

In 1970, he recorded a cover of Brook Benton’s "Rainy Night In Georgia", which was a number one hit in Jamaica for seven weeks. During another trip home he recorded the album Calypso Reggae, for Bunny Lee.

By 1999 a compilation album, entitled Skamento Movement, was released on the Imaj record label.

In July 2002 in Toronto, Canada, a two night 'Legends of Ska' concert was held. Reuniting were Skatalites Lloyd Knibbs, Rico Rodriguez, Lloyd Brevett, Lester Sterling, Johnny Moore and Lynn Taitt; along with Prince Buster, Alton Ellis, Owen Gray, Lord Creator, Justin Hinds, Derrick Harriott, Winston Samuels, Roy Wilson, Derrick Morgan, Patsy Todd, Doreen Shaffer, Stranger Cole and Tanamo himself.

In January 2008 it was stated in a Jamaican newspaper that Tanamo was in a nursing home in Canada after suffering a stroke that has left him unable to speak."


Lord Tanamo - Mattie Rag

Baba Brooks - Mattie Rag

Titus Turner

Some old ska singles now that I have put up from time to time. I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing. I have a huge box full of Blue Beat and Ska beat singles from the 60's and will try and feature a few from time to time.

"If you’re a collector of R&B and soul, then the name Titus Turner should loom large. Turner – though no slouch in the performing department – made his mark as a writer of some of absolutely dynamite songs, among them ‘Sticks and Stones’, ‘All Around the World’ (aka Grits Ain’t Groceries), and ‘Leave My Kitten Alone’.
Turner himself had a two decade long career as a recording artist, spending most of the 50s recording mostly for Okeh and King, and then the 60s waxing sides for no less than a dozen different imprints."


Titus Turner - Way Down Yonder

Titus Turner - Miss Rubberneck Jones

Joe Mansano

Some old ska singles now that I have put up from time to time. I've always had a soft spot for this kind of thing. I have a huge box full of Blue Beat and Ska beat singles from the 60's and will try and feature a few from time to time.

"Joe Mansano was born in Trinidad and Tobago, moved to the UK in 1963 to study accounts, became a record producer and returned in 1980 to his country.

In the UK reggae world he is best known for his production work for Trojan Records, the company that offered him also a record label, called Joe.

With Rico Rodriguez on trombone he produced an LP Brixton Cat in 1969.

Over the re-release of the LP Mansano was not informed until he came to England in 2002. Negociating with Sanctuary Records they agreed over royalties and the release of a compilation of his work on 7" sides that were long out of print.

Joe The Boss was released in November 2006 and containes several tracks with Rico on trombone who were not available on CD until now. "

The Chimes Family

"The Chimes Family is a leading harmonic group with an inimitable style. It consists of Michael Chimes and his three sons, Gilbert, Craig and Michael Jr.
Michael Snr. at an early age was a member of the "Borrah Minevitch's Harmonica Rascals"> he has appeared in leading TV shows such as Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Garry Moore and has been featured again and again on every major radio and TV network. His harmonica can be detected in most of the leading commercials. he has featured with prominent artists such as Harry Belafonte, Robert Russell Bennett, Keely Smith, the New Christy Minstrels, Johnnny Mathis and The Weavers and too many others to be listed.
The Three sons joiedn the act at the age of 6. This highly unusual family group has played all over the world and appeared in every major city in Canada."

This LP on the Request label was found at a boot sale recently. It reminds me of those old variety acts that you don't see anymore like the Morton Frazer Hamonica Gang and the The Three Ginx. Every week on the London Palladium they always seemed to have a juggler, and ventriloquist and a harmonica band!


The Chimes Family - Hlybokah Kernysya

The Chimes Family - Kucheryaya Kateryna Pro Divchynon Koo

The Chimes Family - Veyav By Ta Bandooroo

Twisting The Oldies

An LP on the small Valmor label that put this out in the early 60's when the Twist dance craze was at it's height. All instrumentals of old rockers like Dream Lover, Splish Splash and Kansas City etc.

"The thrill of the late 1950s and the phenomenon of the early 1960s --the dance anyone can do-- was the twist. Nearly the hula-hoop movement without the hoop, the twist paved the way for the frug, watusi, monkey, pony, swim, snake, hully gully, etc., and even the limbo, mento, ska, and a new dance called the "regay" in some liners. Yes, these were the last days of teenagers and the older dancing generation sharing phonograph and stage.

The basics were Chubby Checker with the hit song (and endless variations), the Isley's "Twist and Shout," and Joey Dee & the Starlighters creating a scene at New York's Peppermint Lounge. All this healthy activity led to attempts at the twist by big bands, high-society orchestras, Latin artists, and of course rock and soul bands. (The list below excludes most of the obvious twist sources, such as the Champs, Coasters, Joe Houston, Louie Prima, Huey Smith, etc.)

The twist made its most interesting impact abroad, on French pop, Tahitian, and presumably even Indian and Hawaiian artists. It is a goofy legacy, but after all, it is where rock and social dancing parted company."

Valmor discography and brief history of the label HERE.


Night Owls - Be My Guest

Night Owls - Don't Be Cruel

Night Owls - I've Had It