The Armpit Jug Band

From a cassette of an LP called Live At The Laughing Academy. They have been around a while it seems and still functioning today though the personel of the band has changed a bit.

The bands website says -

"If life is like a tale told by an idiot, then being in the Armpit Jug Band is a lot more like life than we realised. What Strange Chemistry connected this band?

Before the Armpit Jug Band there was the Gosford Armpit Band. And before that there were several disparate and desperate individuals wandering the mysterious and joyous landscape of the early 60s.

Jazz Beasley and Hot Lips Haines, his surly companion in schoolboy criminality, were struggling out of the musical straightjackets of the Boys Brigade to form the ill fated Tame Valley Juke Stompers. It foundered on the rocks of discordant incompetence. Little Wedge Beasley was kicking at his pushchair straps and beating his Tommee Tippee in time to Budgie and Iron Maiden.

Somewhere on the others side of the Birmingham tracks, in the depths of Shard End, was T-Bone "Axeman" Jones, treading the solitary path of a blues Visionary. He was to be a catalyst in the evolution of Fleetwood Mac . . . He told Peter Green to give all his money away.

In the days when Fred West was just another cowboy builder with a spare bag of cement .... somewhere in Gloucester was Stringbean, the tortured aesthete standing alone in the shadows of the match factory . . . England's Glory! He tossed a coin up into the foggy glare of a sodium lamp and lost his bus fare home.

Jazz and Stringbean, with others too inept to mention, became the Gosford Armpit Band while students in Coventry. At first it was just holding hands . . . but before they knew it they were going steady. There were hours of rehearsal . . . ( was it 3 or 4?) . . . in a tiny room made of foetid with the secretion of bodily odours and the acrid smouldering of Park Drives.

At last they were ready to thrust themselves into the world of musical history. "


Armpit Jug Band - I'm Satisfied With My Girl

Armpit Jug Band - Chritopher Columbus

Armpit Jug Band - Wild About My Lovin'

Bembeya Jazz National

An Lp on the Syliphone label from Paris. The band itself are from Guinee in West Africa. I have feaured them before some years ago and so well overdue for another airing. The brass always sounds a little out of tune to me but that just adds to it's charm somehow.

Wikipedia says -

"In the aftermath of the Guinean Independence in 1958 and through the cultural policy of "authenticite", which encouraged cultural pride, numerous bands were created throughout the regions of Guinea. Guinea's President, Ahmed Sékou Touré, disbanded all private dance orchestras and replaced them with state-supported groups, such as Keletigui et ses Tambourinis and Balla et ses Balladins. The most popular was Bembeya Jazz National, formed in 1961. Specializing in modern arrangements of Manding classic tunes, Bembeya Jazz National won 1st prize at two national arts festival's in 1964 and 1965 and were crowned "National Orchestra" in 1966.

Initially an acoustic group, featuring a Latin-flavored horn section of saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet, Bembeya Jazz National reached its apex with the addition of lead singer Aboubacar Demba Camara. The group toured widely, and became one of the most well-known groups in Africa. Among their biggest hits were the songs "Mami Wata" and "Armee Guineenne".

Bembeya Jazz National’s most ambitious album, Regard Sur Le Passe, released in 1968, was a musical tribute to the memory of Samory Touré, who founded a Mande conquest state in much of what is now northern Guinea in 1870, and who became a nationalist emblem following 1958."








Bembeya Jazz National - Deuxieme Partie

Lord Buckley

A cassette on Frank Zappa's "Straight" label from the 70's I would imagine. Not much info. on the sleeve. Two tracks from Side One called marquis De Sade and Governor Slugwell. I can't quite see the appeal but somebody out there might like it.

Wikipedia says -

"Born to English immigrants in Tuolumne, California, Buckley's earliest years are unclear, although he's referred to as an "ex-lumberjack". By the mid-1930s he was performing as emcee in Chicago at Leo Seltzer's dance marathons at the Chicago Coliseum, and worked his own club, Chez Buckley, on Western Avenue through the early 1940s. During World War II Buckley performed extensively for armed services on USO tours, where he formed a lasting friendship with Ed Sullivan.

In the 1950s Buckley hit his stride with a combination of his exaggeratedly aristocratic bearing (including waxed mustache, tuxedo and pith helmet) and carefully enunciated rhythmic hipster slang. Occasionally performing to music, he punctuated his monologues with scat singing and sound effects. His most significant tracks are retelling of historical or legendary events, like "My Own Railroad" and "The Nazz". The latter, first recorded in 1952, describes Jesus' working profession as "carpenter kitty." Other historical figures include Gandhi ("The Hip Gahn") and the Marquis de Sade ("The Bad-Rapping of the Marquis de Sade, the King of Bad Cats"). He retold several classic documents such as the Gettysburg Address and a version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." In "Mark Antony's Funeral Oration", he recast Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" as "Hipsters, flipsters and finger-poppin' daddies: knock me your lobes."

Buckley adopted his "hipsemantic" from his peers Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, Pearl Mae Bailey, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra, as well as Hipsters and the British aristocracy.

Buckley enjoyed smoking marijuana. He wrote reports of his first experiences with LSD, under the supervision of Dr. Oscar Janiger, and of his trip in a United States Air Force jet. Ed Sullivan reflected "...he was impractical as many of his profession are, but the vivid Buckley will long be remembered by all of us."

Lord Buckley made an amusing appearance on Groucho Marx's popular TV programme "You Bet Your Life" where he recited a few lines of his monologues."





Lord Buckley - Marquis De Sade/Governor Slugwell

Morecambe and Wise

A charity shop find from a few years back. This LP on the Philips label is was released in 1971 and features songs made famous by another great comedy duo Flanagan and Allen.

"The theatrical/TV impresario Bernard Delfont gave Morecambe and Wise their own ITV show after the pair appeared frequently on the small-screen in 1960, notching up 12 spots on Val Parnell's Sunday Night At The London Palladium. Now the same network pitched them into a show of their own, teaming the comedians with another double-act, the writers Sid Green and Dick Hills. Sid and Dick, as they soon became known to the nation, also ventured out from behind-the-scenes to feature in front of the cameras with the comics.

The first ATV series - broadcast live each week from the Wood Green Empire in north London - was so successful that a second run was commissioned and given a Saturday primetime slot; from here on, after seven years of irregular TV appearances, Morecambe and Wise were firmly established as stars of the medium and Britain's best comedy double-act. Catchphrases soon developed, with Eric as the wag and Ernie the butt of all jokes: Morecambe would grab Wise by the throat and remark 'Get out of that!'; Morecambe would claim that Wise possessed 'short fat hairy legs'; the two comics, with their scriptwriters, sang a catchy comedy song that attained national fame, 'Boom Oo Yatta Ta Ta'; and every programme ended with the first line - but never more - of the age-old dirty joke 'There were these two old men sitting in deckchairs...'.

As a result of these marvellous ITV shows, Morecambe and Wise branched out into the cinema with three starring feature films, The Intelligence Men, That Riviera Touch and The Magnificent Two, released in 1964, 1966 and 1967 respectively."

Side one tracks are - Underneath The Arches, Run Rabbit Run, Umbrella Man, Are You Havin' Any Fun, Strollin' and A Shanty In Old Shanty Town.
Side two tracks are - Down And Out Blues, Nice people, Hometown, Dreaming, Can't We Meet Again and Where The Arches Used To Be.

Go HERE to find out more about Eric and Ernie.


Morecambe & Wise - Side One

Morecambe & Wise - Side Two

Byron Lee

More ska and rock steady from 1966 on the Atlantic label of all places. One thinks of Atlantic as a soul and rock label but obviously they tried to branch out further afield. Not sure how many other reggae artists they represented.

Wikipedia says -

"Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father (a language teacher) originally from Kowloon, Hong Kong. His mother was from Auchtembeddie, where mento and junkanoo were popular musical forms, and his family actively upheld the cultural and musical traditions of their African ancestors. The family moved to the Mountain View Gardens area of Kingston when Lee was around 8 or 9. He learned to play piano at a convent school in Mandeville, but put music on hold when he became a member of the Jamaican national football team. He taught himself to play bass on a homemade instrument, and around 1950, along with his friend Carl Brady, he formed the first incarnation of the Dragonaires, named after the college football team that they played for, at that time concentrating on mento. The band turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas.

In late 1959 or 1960 Byron Lee is known to have introduced the electric bass to Jamaica. However, the reason Lee began to use the electric bass as opposed to its stand-up counterpart had nothing to do with sound. Rather, it was a way for Lee to avoid carrying the large and heavy stand-up bass to the truck to move from gig to gig. The bass guitar soon gained popularity throughout the country and soon became the standard. The electric bass' louder, clearer, and more in your face sound soon changed the entire sound of Jamaican music entirely, especially after Skatalites bassist Lloyd Brevett took a liking to it.

Lee also worked as a producer, producing many of the ska singles by The Maytals, and his entrepreneurial skills led to him setting up the Byron Lee's Spectacular Show tour, which involved several Jamaican acts (including The Maytals) touring the Caribbean. He also became the head of distribution in Jamaica for Atlantic Records. Lee purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios from Edward Seaga after fire had destroyed the pressing plant on the same site, and renamed it Dynamic Sounds, soon having a new pressing facility built on the site. It soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones. Lee's productions included Boris Gardiner's Reggae Happening, Hopeton Lewis's Grooving Out on Life, and The Slickers' "Johnny Too Bad". Dynamic also acts as one of Jamaica's leading record distributors."


Byron Lee - Riverbank Jump Up

Byron Lee - Benwood Dick/ El Negrito

Byron Lee - The Road March

Byron Lee - Jamaica Jump Up

Byron Lee - Happy Wanderer

Jackie Mittoo

An LP on the Coxone label from Jamaica from 1968. Ska and Rock Steady instrumentals with an infectious shuffling beat.

Wikipedia says -

"He was born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, and began learning to play the piano when he was four under the tutelage of his grandmother.

In the 1960s he was a member of The Skatalites, The Rivals, The Sheiks, The Soul Brothers and The Soul Vendors. Among Mittoo's contributions in the mid to late 1960s were "Darker Shade of Black" (the basis for Frankie Paul's "Pass the Tu Sheng Peng"), Freddie McGregor's "Bobby Babylon", Alton Ellis' "I'm Still in Love with You", The Cables' rocksteady anthem "Baby Why" and Marcia Griffiths' first hit, "Feel Like Jumping". He played for Lloyd "Matador" Daley in 1968 and 1969.

He emigrated to Toronto, Canada at the end of the 1960s. There he recorded three albums, Wishbone (Summus), Reggae Magic (CTL) and Let's Put It All Together (CTL). He also set up the Stine-Jac record label, as well as running a record store.

In 1970, his song "Peanie Wallie" was versioned by The Wailers, becoming the hit "Duppy Conqueror". He had a hit with Wishbone in 1971. He performed in local Toronto lounges throughout the 1970s. Mittoo assisted Toronto-area reggae musicians, including Earth, Roots and Water, Esso Jaxxon (R. Zee Jackson), Carl Harvey, Lord Tanamo, Boyo Hammond, Carl Otway, The Sattalites, Jackie James and Jason Wilson. Mittoo continued to record for Jamaican producers in the 1970s, mostly Bunny Lee.

In the 1980s, he worked regularly with Sugar Minott. In 1989, Mittoo joined the reunited Skatalites, but health problems soon forced him to bow out. In 1989 and 1990 he recorded Wild Jockey for Lloyd Barnes’ Wackies label.

Mittoo entered a hospital on 12 December 1990 and died of cancer on 16 December at the age of 42. His funeral was held at the National Arena in Kingston, Jamaica, on 2 January 1991. Hortense Ellis, Neville 'Tinga' Stewart, Desmond "Desi Roots" Young, Ruddy Thomas, Tommy Cowan, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd were among the attendees. A memorial concert was held around the same time, with performances by Vin Gordon, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Glen 'Bagga' Fagan, Pablo Black, Robert Lynn, Michael "Ibo" Cooper, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, Carlene Davis, Tinga Stewart and others."


Jackie Mittoo - Hot Milk

Jackie Mittoo - Autumn Sound

Jackie Mittoo - Full Charge

Jackie Mittoo - Hot Shot

Jackie Mittoo - Rock Steady Wedding

Jackie Mittoo - Drum Song

Les Gipsons

Another Cheshire Street find from the 80's. On the Magic Tirelir Disques label produced in Paris, France around the same time I imagine. Originally from the Antilles I believe but not quite sure as very little on the internet about Les Gipsons - nothing in fact!
Side two comprises Rive Nous Rive, Monia and Dynamite Gipsons.

Wikipedia says -

"The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the Northern and Eastern portion of the North Billerica. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American musical complex, being a mixture of African, European and indigenous American elements. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them.

The ex-British colonies include Trinidad and Tobago, whose calypso style is an especially potent part of the music of the other former British colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe share the popular zouk style and have also had extensive musical contact with the music of Haiti, itself once a French colony though not part of the Lesser Antilles. The Dutch colonies of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba share the combined rhythm popular style. The islands also share a passion for kaseko, a genre of Surinamese music; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk and popular styles that are connected enough to the Antilles and other Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader context of Antillean or Caribbean music."






Les Gipsons - Side Two

Orchestra Chepin

Another Cheshire Street find I think from the 80's. No date on this Siboney label LP from Cuba but imagine its early 80's or maybe even the 70's.
Very little gleaned about Orchestra Chepin only this bad Google translation -

"La Orquesta Chepin-Choven sesentenaria arises l932 June 24 in the city of Santiago de Cuba. Has been to elect directors Horruitinier Rosell (Chepn) and Bernardo Chaovn (Choven), Orestes and currently Choven desempea Garbey Jos Ramon Hernandez. Agrupacin is a dedicated to the development and dissemination of popular dance music Cuabana.

It has a band jazz orchestral format.

An important moment in the history of this versartil agrupacin he has sown points to be followed by other musical and dance are 14, what is its presentation in the ler reorganizaciny. Disc Festival in the eastern provinces (l971)

Its repertoire is composed of various genres of music and cultivated mainly bolero, Creole, guaracha, son, danzn, Son Montuno and rhythm chepinsn.

Major activities involved include:

The ler. Disc Festival in the eastern provinces, the Creator Musical Festival "Benny More" World Festival of Youth and Students Festival Danzn, Matanzas, Festival del Son "Miguel Matamoros, Guatnamo, Festival of the Arts Caribbean, ler. Chepn in Memoriam, Morn, EGREM Prize, International Festival "Matamoros Son/94" to quote."


Orchetra Chepin - De Nuevo Con Chepin

Orchetra Chepin - El Son De Nicaragua

What Passing Bell

This seems appropriate to uplaod just before Rememberence Sunday - a factory pressing of what seems to be an Argo label LP of poems and prose from the Great War (1914 - 18 ). Not sure who is reading on here as no sleeve available or info. found on the internet. Certainly very moving and sad reminder that war isn't such a great idea.

Just found a copy with sleeve visible on eBay which says the people reading the poems and prose include Hugh Burden, Michael Horndern, C. Day Lewis, John Stride, Gary Watson and Patrick Wymark.


What Passing Bell - Side One

Gregory Isaacs 1951 - 2010

Greatly underrated reggae singer who died a couple of weeks ago. This LP on the Taxi label was produced in the 80's by Sly and Robbie.

Wikipedia says -

"In his teens, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut with a duet with Winston Sinclair, "Another Heartache", recorded for producer Byron Lee. The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with two other vocalists (Penroe and Bramwell) in the short-lived trio The Concords, recording for Rupie Edwards and Prince Buster. The trio split up in 1970 and Isaacs launched his solo career, initially self-producing recordings and also recording further for Edwards. In 1973 he teamed up with another young singer, Errol Dunkley to start the African Museum record label and shop, and soon had a massive hit with "My Only Lover", credited as the first lovers rock record ever made. He recorded for other producers to finance further African Museum recordings, having a string of hits in the three years that followed, ranging from ballads to roots reggae, including "All I Have Is Love", "Lonely Soldier", "Black a Kill Black", "Extra Classic" and his cover version of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper". In 1974 he began working with producer Alvin Ranglin, and that year he had his first Jamaican number one single with "Love Is Overdue". Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Cocoa Fill Basket"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sidney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop"). By the late 1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, and only challenged by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley. Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.

International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film Rockers, in which he performed "Slavemaster". The Cool Ruler (which became one of his nicknames) and Soon Forward albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected, although they are now considered among his best work. In 1981, he made his first appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival (returning annually until 1991), and he moved on to the Charisma Records offshoot Pre, who released his The Lonely Lover (another nickname that stuck) and More Gregory albums along with a string of increasingly successful singles including "Tune In", "Permanent Lover", "Wailing Rudy" and "Tribute to Waddy". He signed to Island Records and released the record that finally saw him break through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label (Night Nurse (1982)). Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was hugely popular in clubs and received heavy radio play, and the album reached #32 in the UK."


Gregory Isaacs - Soon Forward

Gregory Isaacs - You'll Never Know

Gregory Isaacs - Motherless Children

Stars Of Zaire Vol. 2

Another old african LP picked up in Brick Lane market many years ago I think. I thought I had uploaded tracks from this already but a quick check didn't find any so here is side one for your listening pleasure.

Wikipedia says -

"Since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo's capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation, ranking alongside Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Abidjan in influence. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s.

Like much of Africa, Congo was dominated during the World War 2 era by rumba, a fusion of Latin and African musical styles that came from the island of Cuba. Congolese musicians appropriated rumba and adapted its characteristics for their own instruments and tastes. Following World War 2, record labels began appearing, including CEFA, Ngoma, Loningisa and Opika, each issuing many 78 rpm records; Radio Congo Belge also began broadcasting during this period. Bill Alexandre, a Belgian working for CEFA, brought electric guitars to the Congo.

Popular early musicians include Feruzi, who is said to have popularized rumba during the 1930s and guitarists like Zachery Elenga, Antoine Wendo Kolosoy and, most influentially, Jean Bosco Mwenda. Alongside rumba, other imported genres like American swing, French cabaret and Ghanaian highlife were also popular.

In 1953, the Congolese music scene began to differentiate itself with the formation of African Jazz (led by Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasele), the first full-time orchestra to record and perform, and the debut of fifteen-year-old guitarist Francois Luambo Makiadi (aka Franco). Both would go on to be some of the earliest Congolese music stars. African Jazz, which included Kabasele, sometimes called the father of modern Congolese music, as well as legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and keyboardist Manu Dibango, has become one of the most well-known groups in Africa, largely due to 1960's "Independence Cha-Cha-Cha", which celebrated Congo's independence and became an anthem for Africans across the continent.

Big bands (1930s–1970s)
Into the 1950s, Kinshasa and Brazzaville became culturally linked, and many musicians moved back and forth between them, most importantly including Nino Malapet and the founder of OK Jazz, Jean Serge Essous. Recording technology had evolved to allow for longer playing times, and the musicians focused on the seben, an instrumental percussion break with a swift tempo that was common in rumba. Both OK Jazz and African Jazz continued performing throughout the decade until African Jazz broke up in the mid-1960s. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr. Nico then formed African Fiesta, which incorporated new innovations from throughout Africa as well as American and British soul, rock and country. African Fiesta, however, lasted only two years before disintegrating, and Tabu Ley formed Orchestre Afrisa International instead, but this new group was not able to rival OK Jazz in influence for very long.

Many of the most influential musicians of Congo's history emerged from one or more of these big bands, including Sam Mangwana, Ndombe Opetum, Vicky Longomba, Dizzy Madjeku and Kiamanguana Verckys. Mangwana was the most popular of these solo performers, keeping a loyal fanbase even while switching from Vox Africa and Festival des Marquisards to Afrisa, followed by OK Jazz and a return to Afrisa before setting up a West African group called the African All Stars. Mose Fan Fan of OK Jazz also proved influential, bringing Congolese rumba to East Africa, especially Kenya, after moving there in 1974 with Somo Somo. Rumba also spread through the rest of Africa, with Brazzaville's Pamela M'ounka and Tchico Thicaya moving to Abidjan and Ryco Jazz taking the Congolese sound to the French Antilles. In Congo, students at Gombe High School became entranced with American rock and funk, especially after James Brown visited the country in 1969. Los Nickelos and Thu Zahina emerged from Gombe High, with the former moving to Brussels and the latter, though existing only briefly, becoming legendary for their energetic stage shows that included frenetic, funky drums during the seben and an often psychedelic sound. This period in the late 60s is the soukous era, though the term soukous now has a much broader meaning, and refers to all of the subsequent developments in Congolese music as well."



L'Orchstre Conga 68 - Tambola Na Mokili

Ochestre Veve - Fifi

Orchestre O.K. Jazz - Lumunba Heros National

Et L'Orchestre Comete Mambo Techeza - Monthana

Fly Me To The Sun

Not sure where this record came from but I've had it for a while , tucked away in the deepest recesses of a cupboard. Best place for it I hear you all cry. I must admit I was hoping for more than the kitsch sleeve delivered - it being mostly soulless lift musak and MOR orchestral schmalzh of a most tedious kind. I'm not sure how the likes of Les Paul got in there. Put together for the Dutch airline Transavia in the 60's on the Transavia Holland label. One presumes they gave it away to customers to lure them to all those sunny places they mention in the tunes - Granada, Spanish Harlem, Madrid, Isle Of Capri etc.
Included in this selection are Les Paul, Franck Pourcel, Joe Loss, Vittoria and Manuel.


Fly Me To The Sun - Side One (extract)

Marino Marini

More rather battered vinyl from Liverpool - this time an LP on the Durium label from the late 50's I would guess. A fun group of Italians who are kind of cross between Mike & Bernie Winters and the Spike Jones band.

"Marino Marini (1924-1997) was an Italian popular musician who achieved international success in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was born into a family of musicians on 11th May 1924 in Seggiano in the Grosetto region of Italy. After briefly studying electronics, he studied piano, violin and composition at the Conservatorio Rossini at Bologna, teaching music on his graduation. In 1947, after military service, he was appointed artistic director of the Metropolitan music hall in Naples, where he developed a liking for Neapolitan music. In 1948 he visited the United States for six months, meeting Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton and Charlie Ventura. American jazz was also a formative influence.

On his return, Marini wrote music for films and revues and played in cabaret in Rome and Naples.

In 1955, he placed a newspaper advert seeking “young musicians without experience, singing in tune. If not cheerful, don't apply." From the many applicants he chose Tony “Toto” Savio (guitar), Sergio (drums) and Ruggiero Cori (bass and vocal) for a quartet, Marini playing piano and occasionally singing solo. This quartet played together from 1955 to 1960, a period regarded[1] as the Marino Marini Quartet’s most prolific and successful.

They made their first recording on the Durium label in 1955. The following year they appeared on Italian TV. Their recordings of Marini’s compositions Guaglione, Don Ciccio o' piscatore, Rico Vacilon, La Pansè, and Maruzzella were very popular, Guaglione becoming the first European single to sell more than five million copies. (It was used on the soundtrack of the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley.) Following this successful debut, Marini commenced touring with his quartet, in the following years performing in hundreds of concerts in western and eastern Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Japan.

Marini's recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s included covers of Domenico Modugno’s Volare, Come Prima and Ciao ciao Bambina and Rocco Granata’s Marina. In 1960, he won the first and the second prizes in the Naples song festival with Serenata a Margellina and Uè uè uè che femmena. In 1958 he performed Mikis Theodorakis's The Honeymoon Song in Michael Powell's film Honeymoon."



Marino Marini - Lisbon Antigua

Marino Marini - Chella 'lla

Marino Marini - Whatever Will Be Will Be

Marino Marini - Donne E Pistole

Marino Marini - La Piu' Bella Del Mondo

Marino Marini - Only You

Marino Marini - Guaglione

Lonnie & Lottie

Another scratchy record from the junk shop in Liverpool on the Paragon label in Canada - signed by both Lonnie and Lottie on the reverse, From the 60's I would guess. Versions of old standard country songs like Stand By Your Man and The Games People Play etc. I suppose I was rather attracted by the odd sleeve photo - shame it had been scrawled on by some idiot.



"Lonnie and Lottie were a brother and sister act that were popular with the fans in the southwestern Ontario, Canada area in the 1960s. While many fans might associate a band name of Po' Folks with another country legend, that was the name of the band that backed this popular duo.

Both of them were born in the city of Maniwaki, Quebec, located due north of Ottawa.

The two of them began singing together at an early age. Audiences were listening to their singing talents on stage, radio and television when they were both teenagers.

An album of theirs entitled "Just Between The Two of Us" gives the listener a taste of their harmonies. They also did solo numbers of popular tunes of the day. Backing Lonnie and Lottie on that album were Larry Dyer on lead guitar, Bob Wingrove on steel guitar, John Scott on bass, Gary Nugent on drums, M. DeBenidictis on the piano and organ.

Lonnie and Lottie made appearances on the well-known country music shows that were airing in Canada in that era. They appeared on the famous CHML Main Street Jamboree show that broadcast out of Hamilton, Ontario. Another famous show they appeared on was the CKNX Barn Dance, billed as the largest traveling barn dance show that originated out of Wingham, Ontario.

Other shows included the Gary Buck show that broadcast over CKCO-TV in Kitchener; the Red Barn Jamboree over CKLB in Oshawa.

During their career, they also had their own radio show on CHIQ in Hamilton. "



Lonnie & Lottie - Just Between The Two Of Us

Lonnie & Lottie - Tippy Toe'n

Lonnie & Lottie - So Afraid Of Losing You

Anna Russell

Bumper crop of old scratchy records from a junk shop in Liverpool the other day whilst going round the Biennial. I have already featured Anna Russell here some years ago and she is due for an update. This is a very worn LP on Philips from 1958 when she was obviously at the top of her performing abilities. Hard to describe her comedy really - a quaint kind of female Hoffnung crossed with Joyce Grenfell. Sounds very dated now but still mildly amusing and I've always been a sucker for songs about bananas!

Wikipedia says -

"Russell was born in Maida Vale, London, England, though some sources say her birthplace was London, Ontario. She was educated at St Felix School at Southwold, Suffolk, at Harrogate College and in Brussels and Paris. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She had a difficult childhood, and particularly a difficult relationship with her mother, who often shipped her off to live with other relatives for some time. Russell was twice married and divorced, first to John Denison and second to artist Charles Goldhamer. In her "Who's Who" entry she described herself as single.

Russell's early career included a few engagements in opera (including a disastrous appearance as a substitute Santuzza in a British touring production of Cavalleria rusticana, where she clumsily tripped on a set piece and pulled it down – an event later used in her comedy) – as well as appearances as a folk singer on BBC radio in 1931. Russell's mother was Canadian, and the family returned in 1939 to Toronto, after her father's death, where she began to appear on local radio stations as an entertainer. By 1940, she was beginning to find success as a soloist on the concert stage in Canada. Russell's first one-woman show as a parodist was sponsored by the Toronto Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1942, though it was the Canadian conductor Sir Ernest MacMillan who really set her on her international career as a "musical cartoonist", when he invited her to take part in his annual burlesque Christmas Box Symphony Concert in 1944. Russell made her New York City debut in her one-woman show in 1948, which she toured throughout North America, Britain, Australia and the rest of the English-speaking world."





Anna Russell - A Practical Banana Promotion etc.

Anna Russell - Poetry In The Cellar

Charlie Gillett - E.T.Mensah

Another old radio show from the 80's with DJ Charlie Gillett talking to guest E.T. Mensah from Ghana. The usual fascinating chat and great record choices - mostly Ghanaian "Highlife" and some calypso. Also studio guest Ted Hawkins plays a couple of songs in session.



"Highlife, dance music played mostly in Ghana and Nigeria, represents one of the century's first fusions of African roots and western music, and before 1970, it ruled dancefloors across much of West Africa. The World War II era introduced American swing to the highlife mix, already a blend of Trinidadian calypso, military brass band music, Cuban son and older African song forms. Trumpeter and bandleader E.T. Mensah, pioneered the development of the swing-jazz influenced highlife dance-bands that were so popular throughout West Africa in the 1950's and 60's. Indeed, these urban dance bands became the musical zeitgeist of the optimistic period of early independence.

Mensah played music from childhood starting out in 1930 as a flautist in that Accra Orchestra, a band of school children. With his brother Yebuah, Mensah formed the Accra Rhythmic Orchestra in the late 30s. World War II brought an influx of Europeans to Accra, including musicians with jazz training, who had an impact on the local scene.


In 1948, Mensah formed the Tempos and began playing a new music, highlife, bringing the freedom of jazz and older local guitar styles into the more formal dance band music of the pre-war era. The band soon began touring in Nigeria, where they signaled a sea change that would soon sweep the region. The Tempos' songs in English, Twi, Ga, Fante, Ewe, Efik and Hausa seduced admirers as far away as England. In 1956, Mensah's career reached a peak when he performed with the great Louis Armstrong in Ghana. With the rise of Congolese music in the 1960s, highlife's golden era ended. But Mensah continued to perform, as did other top big bands, Jerry Hansen and his Ramblers International, and Uhuru. In the Tempos' wake came many guitar highlife outfits, including Nana Ampadu and his band the African Brothers as well as the City Boys and A.B. Crentsil. Nana now operates a recording studio where he produces releases for the African Brothers, the City Boys, and other highlife groups. Dr. K. Gyasi and his Noble Kings pioneered a sound called sikyi highlife, a lulling, wistful take on the classic dance music. Gyasi too still records, as does Kumasi-based sikyi highlife singer Nana Tuffour. They are all the musical descendants of E.T. Mensah."



Charlie Gillett - E.T.Mensah Side 1

Charlie Gillett - E.T.Mensah Side 2

The Sound

Another dusty cassette from the 80's. This time a band who deserved more success than they got at the time. Here they play a short set on the In Concert spot on BBC Radio One back in the mid 80's just after their second album came out. I think its DJ Pete Drummond who you can hear briefly at the end.

"Founded from the remnants of The Outsiders, the original lineup of The Sound consisted of Adrian Borland (vocals, guitar), Graham Bailey (bass), Mike Dudley (drums) and Benita "Bi" Marshall (keyboards, saxophone, clarinet). In 1979, the band signed a contract with Korova Records, a small label under Warner Brothers, to produce three albums. They debuted with Jeopardy, which received favorable reviews.

The second album, From the Lions Mouth, saw the replacement of keyboard player Marshall with Colvin "Max" Mayers, and more accolades from the critics, but neither record caused the band to break beyond a cult status. Korova pressured Borland and his mates to come up with a more commercially successful third album. In an act of rebellion, the band responded with All Fall Down, an album that took them even further away from that direction. Drummer Mike Dudley told it this way: "We thought [the label wasn't] giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth they hadn't really done....So when they turned around and said 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs,' we thought, 'Fuck you,' and went ahead and produced All Fall Down."

During the early 1980s, The Sound toured throughout Europe, covering the UK and much of the continent. Like their contemporaries, the Comsat Angels (whom they toured with in 1981), they enjoyed perhaps their greatest success in the Netherlands, developing a substantial following there. The Sound recorded several Peel sessions and performed the single "Sense Of Purpose" on the TV show Old Grey Whistle Test (circa 1981). In 1983 and 1984, they made two short tours of the US."


The Sound - In Concert

SUD Sound 1992

Another cassette from the dusty box. This one is a bit of a mystery. I assume its from Sudan but I could be wrong. The Arabic writing doesnt give many clues. If anybody has an inkling of where this comes from I'd love to know.


Sud Sound - Side One

Daab

Another cassette from the cupboard which hasnt seen the light of day for a while. I think someone sent me this from Poland back in the 80's when I exchanged many mix tapes and compilations through the mail art network - a forerunner of this blog it could be said.

Wikiepedia says -

"Band was founded in 1983 in Warsaw by Dariusz Gierszewski, Andrzej Zeńczewski, Artur Miłoszewski and Piotr Strojnowski. In few months the band took three other artists Waldemar Deska, Andrzej Krzywy and Jarosław Woszczyna. In that time they played songs like Do plastica and Przed nami wielka przestrzeń.

They played in Holland, France, Denmark and USSR. In 1985 they released their new album called DAAB which had a hits like Kalejdoskop moich dróg, Fala ludzkich serc, W zakamarkach naszych dusz, Fryzjer na plaży (instrumental), Ogrodu serce. The latter was the best song in Daab history ever. After this some changes in the band occurred. They added a new member Tomasz Pierzchalski and removed Jarosław Woszczyzna and Piotr Strojnowski.

Andrzej Krzywy left the band soon for a new founded group, De Mono In 1989, because of their friendship, they returned to the band to make a new album, ///. The band restructured into an organisation. The main members were Zeńczewski, Miłoszewski and Gierszewski. They worked with guitar players Michał Grymuza and Grzegorz Rytka, Piotr Korzeniowski, Jacek Wojcieszuk."


Daab - Do Plasticka

Daab - Ogrod u serce

Daab - Po trzykroc pytam

Daab - Wieczny pielgrzym

Daouda

A cassette that looks very dodgy with a thin paper sleeve and very little information on it - originally from Cheshire Street market in the 80's I think.Seems to have come out originally on the TCD label in 1985.
Including tracks Cherie Coco, La Femme De Mon Patron,Je men Fouts, Soungourou Ba, and Kanan Djanfa.

Very little can be found out about him on the internet. All I know he is from the Ivory Coast and had a big hit with "Mon Coeur Balance" in the 80's which Charlie Gillett played quite often. Probably recorded in Paris like so man Soukous records at that time.



Daouda - Side One