78s fRom HeLL: The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - 'In The Mood' b/w 'Skokiaan' (1954)

In 1947, when the nation of Zimbabwe was still known as Southern Rhodesia, musician August Msarurgwa first recorded his instrumental composition Skokiaan.
(the title refers to a kind of local moonshine)

By 1954, Msarurgwa and The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band had released a version of it on the London label.

It then became a huge worldwide hit (perhaps the first international hit record to come out of Africa), and spawned many cover versions recorded in a variety of styles by many artists over the years.

(ADDENDUM, 9/01/08: Happily, the wikipedia entry on 'Skokiaan' and its history has grown substantially since this was first posted. Please follow the link for more information!)

*** BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FLIP SIDE ?? ***

I absolutely love this.
Glenn Miller's slick and classic big band number is turned on its head and given new life by a small African dance combo.
I'll assume the vocals are in Shona, the language of the area.

(ADDENDUM: I assumed incorrectly! Please see the comments on this post for translation info!)

Is it Msarurgwa singing?
Who knows... Enjoy!!

Listen to:
Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - In The Mood (click for audio)

Listen to: Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band - Skokiaan (click for audio)


⬇ ADDENDUM, 10/31/07: The small story below delves just a bit into the 'Skokiaan phenomenon', as the record first became popular and begat its numerous cover versions.

I recently found this article in an old copy of Downbeat magazine, dated September 8th, 1954.

(link:) Don Martin...Science Fiction Artist!?!

ADDENDUM, 8/16/07: I've just re-posted this piece in an updated and expanded version. (click to link)

Some additional images, etc...

*******************************

Don Martin's artwork first began appearing in the pages of MAD magazine in 1956.
By 1964, his cartooning style had settled into the familiar look most of us remember oh-so well.

But his earlier work had a slightly harder, more angular look to it. It's a style that shows up in his earliest MAD pages, and was also found in the jazz LP covers he produced in the 1950's (see three of them below). I've long sought out more examples of that earlier style, with little luck.

Recently I was overjoyed to stumble upon images of Don Martin's late 1950's work for classic science-fiction magazines like Galaxy - - a facet of his career I hadn't known existed.

PLEASE direct your attention to Datajunkie's blog to check out his super-cool post!


Don Martin...Science Fiction Artist!?!(click to link)

What a trove !! More! More!

Y'know, if you poke around the web, you'll find just a bit of info about Don Martin's years with MAD and a few examples of that art, but not much else. It's a shame, sez I.

Does anyone know - - Have there been any retrospectives of Martin's artwork?

Isn't it about time for a nice career-spanning coffee-table book?
Am I alone in my nerdly ranting??

Wouldn't you like to see more of the 'unseen' Don Martin...?

If you can point me to more examples of the type of stuff I'm describing (Pre-, Post-, other than- MAD) or more info as to what exists - - Golly gosh, but I'd sure appreciate it.
Comment on this post, or hit my e-mail link towards the bottom of the sidebar. Thanks!

(Click on album covers for enlarged images)

Rev. Carey Landry's 'Giant Love Ball Song' (from the 1973 LP 'Hi God!')

When we were both deejays at KALX radio in Berkeley, my dear friend Snappy The Alligator turned me on to this special piece of vinyl, and of course the favored selection was 'The Giant Love Ball Song'.

I'd often play it around Valentine's Day, or sometimes when the opening narration seemed to sync well with whatever had been on the air before it.

It always received a favorable response. Seldom would it air without someone calling in to ask about the song or comment on it.

I'd guess that most of the calls were from people who'd heard the 'Hi God!' album in their youth - - in school (or Sunday school), in daycare, at bible camp, etc.

It seemed that they all were surprised to discover that they remembered it so clearly after so many years, and to discover that they remembered the album fondly.

Listen to: Rev. Carey Landry with First and Second Grade Children from St. Thomas Aquinas School, Indianapolis Indiana - Giant Love Ball Song (click for audio)

I gather that Rev. Landry left the church somewhere back in the 1980's. I'll guess there's a story there somewhere...

...until then, we can all be like love balls.

Smashing Time with Rita Tushingham

Just taking a quick opportunity to recommend one of my favorite 'High-Sixties' British film romps...

















Released in the UK in 1967, 'Smashing Time' stars Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave as the two working-class Northern girls who come to Swinging London seeking fame, fortune, and maybe a nice bloke. 'Hilarity ensues' as they go from one comedic episode to another in their struggle, and a young Michael York (cast in 'the David Hemmings role') co-stars as the love interest who may drive a wedge between the two friends.

Click here for more movie info at imdb

It's a broad and silly movie, and great fun. It's a send-up of the various pop-culture 'scenes' of the '60's, written by British satirist, singer and surrealist George Melly. Check it out if you find the opportunity!

- - And just for kicks, here's a favorite from the soundtrack LP...

Listen to: Lynn Redgrave - While I'm Still Young (click for audio)

Whether performing highbrow or lowbrow, Lynn Redgrave is a great actress, but I've always been a complete sucker for the lovely and riveting Rita Tushingham. She's so wonderful to watch. She's still working, but I admit I'm partial to her earlier films made in the 1960's, maybe because that's where I signed on...

The Knack ...and How To Get It, A Taste Of Honey, The Leather Boys, The Trap...

...You need to see these films if you haven't already, and I need to see more of Ms. Tushingham's recent work.

SEGUE TO LINK - - Regardless of your current Tushingham status, we should all congregate at the splendid Rita Tushingham Home Page. (click to link)

Truly a labor of love, the fan site gives detailed background on 'Tush''s life and career, with some details and memorabilia provided by the actress herself. Great info, and nice gallery pages. Most of the photos in this post are from the site - - You can check out their page of photos from 'Smashing Time' here.

Last but CERTAINLY not least, in an earnest effort to make the films of Rita Tushingham available to a wider audience, the R.T. Home Page is generously offering excellent DVD copies of some of her hardest-to-find films at an exceedingly reasonable price (ie: no profit margin). Go to the website and seek out 'DVD Info' on the homepage.

(gasp!) Here come The Double Deckers!

I *knew* I hadn't made this up...!

I've had a lingering memory of this TV show from when I was a kid.

I think it might have been my absolute favorite thing about Saturday morning for a couple of weeks back then.

I'm sure at the time it tapped in to all my burgeoning Anglophile leanings.

How could it not?



The show ran for one season, airing in the US in 1970. For an astonishing trove of info on this show, please be sure to visit the 'Here Come The Double Deckers' Official Fanclub Website!!

Update, 3.26.09: Click here to watch an entire episode at Veoh!

Further Update, 5.29.10: Ooooh! A dozen or more episodes, now on YouTube! Click here for more Double Deckers at Dr. Markway's Channel!

The Mamas and The Papas in Eastern Europe: The Rebels - Creeque Alley

In 1967, The Mamas and The Papas released their song 'Creeque Alley' (pronounced "creaky alley").

The lyrics of the song document the origins of the group; the members toiling in obscurity with their fellows amid NYC's Bleecker & MacDougal folk scene, before coming together and making the trek to L.A. where they'd eventually hit it big.

(NOTE: Please click this link to visit an amazing, exhaustively detailed site devoted to analyzing the lyrics of this song relating to the history of the band!)

In 1968, in what was then Czechoslovakia, The Rebels released their LP, 'Šípková Růženka' (Sleeping Beauty) on the Supraphon label. One side of the album is fairly standard pop/rock originals in Czech, while the other side is in English and devoted to covering tunes recorded by The Mamas and the Papas.

To me, their version of 'Creeque Alley' stands out. Not just because I've always liked the song and I enjoy a good Eastern European accent, but I'm struck by the oddness of *anyone* covering that song, much less a Czech band working outside of their native language.

I LOVE a good cover tune (which this is), but this particular song just seems so very specifically tied to the people who wrote and performed it. They're the main characters in their own personal song. It's sorta like you sitting down and telling me all about my own vacation trip to Las Vegas. Something doesn't fit...

...and THAT'S what makes this interesting and special, he said.

More about The Rebels, (bless this wacky intra-net!) quoted from a translated page on Czech rock music (sic):

"The Rebels

"legendary Czech rock band. Started shining brightly in 1967 with the west-coast repertoir almost completely taken from the Mamas & Papas. Two years later a total change in style, playing R&B influenced by The Cream. Ended in early 70's, Jiri Korn moved to (the band) Olympic for a while, then definitively changed to an amorphous pop together with Helena Vondrackova and other "artists of merit" of the communist era. Trying to comeback in the late 1990's.

"Members: Jiri Korn voc,gt,bg; Josef Pliva voc,gt; Svatopluk Cech bg,voc"

Listen to: The Rebels, with Orchestr Václava Zahradníka - Creeque Alley' (click for audio)

Reasons To Be Cheerful: week of 04/06/07

1. Spring weather, Spring blossoms, Spring color. But ask me again in a few weeks when/if my hayfever kicks in this year.

2. Some DVD boxsets releasing this July:
- The first in a series of 'definitive' Popeye cartoon sets. The ownership issues have been settled, apparently. Starting at the beginning with the Max Fleischer era, 'Volume One: 1933 -1938' will contain 60 uncut and unedited cartoons taken from original masters.

- In addition to Cartoon Network's 'Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law Vol. 3' set coming in July, the ongoing Hanna-Barbera back-catalog reissue will focus on two of their 1960's action-hero series' : 'Birdman & The Galaxy Trio' and 'Space Ghost & Dino-Boy'. I'm looking forward to seeing all the neato Alex Toth designs again...

3. The latest label-sampler CD from Vampisoul Records is titled 'Movers! A Collection of greasy soul, sleaze funk, psychedelic cumbia, fuzzy jazz and more...' - - which pretty much says it all. Very eclectic, and successful in inciting you to seek out more from each artist. Programmed with tight segues like a party mix, a joy to groove to.

4. I'd never heard of the Dust-To-Digital CD label out of Atlanta, GA, but last year they put out a BEAUTIFUL 3-CD boxset: 'How Low Can You Go? Anthology Of The String Bass (1925 - 1941)'. Gorgeous. Vintage blues, jazz, country, calypso, Hawaiian and more. Great sound, and pretty to look at with an exhaustive 96-page accompanying book. Golly.

5. I managed to find a relatively inexpensive copy of the art book, 'Miguel Covarrubias: Four Visions', and so far it's exceeded my already high expectations. As a kid, there was a big print of his 'Flora and Fauna of the Pacific' mural hanging in the bathroom. I knew of Covarrubias' art of the Pacific - - some of the Bali stuff, the Mexican culture stuff, but was completely unaware of the breadth of his styles, his drawings, and his commercial work. This book does a good job of roping it all together. SO cool.
Hey, maybe you should check out a little of his artwork - - ? Maybe try here, and here, and also here...

(UPDATE 2/4/08: Here's a link to a GREAT 'Homage to Covarrubias' video slideshow at YouTube.

78s fRom HeLL: Jimmy Boyd - (I've Got Those Wake Up 7:30, Wash Your Ears They're Dirty, Eat Your Eggs And Oatmeal, Rush To School) Blues

Jimmy Boyd was 12 years old in 1952 when his insanely popular hit record 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' was released by Columbia.

More hit records followed, as did numerous nightclub appearances. He guested on many TV shows of the era, and at 13 he had the distinction of being the youngest performer ever allowed to play Las Vegas.

By the late 1950's he'd tired of all the touring, put the singing on hold, and settled in Hollywood to work as an actor in film and TV. From 1960 to '62 he was married to actress Yvonne Craig, a few years prior to her TV role as Batgirl.

I saw not too long ago that a 'best of' Jimmy Boyd CD had been released, including his duets with Frankie Laine and Rosemary Clooney.

One that wasn't included was my favorite of his: '(I've Got Those Wake Up 7:30, Wash Your Ears They're Dirty, Eat Your Eggs And Oatmeal, Rush To School) Blues' - - A song which may have once been credited as holding the record for longest title ever, but that's hardly important.

It's a good tune, with the slightest tinge of 'proto-rockabilly' flavor. Hope you enjoy!


Listen to: Jimmy Boyd - (I've Got Those Wake Up 7:30, Wash Your Ears They're Dirty, Eat Your Eggs And Oatmeal, Rush To School) Blues (click for audio)

I saved a wrinkly old bag

(Click on image to ENLARGE)

I think I'd wandered into this old 'respectable' men's clothing store looking for a dress shirt to go with the tux I'd rented for my high school graduation.

I wasn't terribly excited by that shirt, but I sure loved the bag it went into when I bought it. I think the store had been around since the early 1960's at least, and was closed by the mid-'80's, if memory serves.

I'm still kind of mesmerized by the repeating graphic, trying to find its boundaries...

Deceptive Packaging

(Click on image to see inside the box)

I don't know its origins, but I came upon this little wind-up toy probably around the first half of the '90's, sitting by itself on a shelf at the astonishing Kimono My House in Emeryville, CA.

I haven't been there in several years (I recommend you make the pilgrimage, if you haven't been), but it used to be that along with all their fabulous anime- and kaiju-related toys you'd occasionally find such oddball items. My guess was that amidst the usual stuff on buying trips to Japan there would be bits and pieces of old warehouse stock that'd been languishing for some time.

I have to think that there was some repackaging involved in whatever marketing had gone into this toy. It had been one idea, it became another. It makes me wonder what was motivating the choices, who made them, and why.

It doesn't keep me up at night, but it's kinda - - y'know - - curious.

Raymond Legrand - 'Istanbul' in French

'Istanbul (Not Constantinople)' became a big hit for a second time when a cover version was released in 1990 by They Might Be Giants.
The first time came in 1953, as recorded by The Four Lads.

With a melody seemingly based upon 'Puttin' On The Ritz', it was written by Nat Simon and lyricist Jimmy Kennedy.

Kennedy also penned lyrics for 'Red Sails In The Sunset', 'Teddy Bear's Picnic', and 'My Prayer', among others.

Raymond Legrand (1908 - 1974) was a French orchestra leader, having formed his own group after working as arranger for Ray Ventura's band.

He was also father to renowned film composer Michel Legrand.

Looks to me like this LP was released in the mid-1950's, the 'Istanbul' arrangement following fairly quickly on the heels of the Four Lads' hit.

Listen to: Raymond Legrand et son orchestre - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (click for audio)

Cover Gallery: 1940's Paperback Mysteries (flickr link)

I dropped by flickr and posted a few examples of some juicy cover art from a batch of fun trashy novels.

Mostly Dell Mysteries - - they featured the 'crime map' on the back cover, and I've included a couple of examples. There's also a few from Popular Library; no crime maps, but some pretty artwork in a similar vein.

Check it out. Hope you enjoy!



Link to my flickr set:
Cover Gallery: 1940's Paperback Mysteries


(ADDENDUM, 2/6/08: 2 new titles added to set, yielding 5 new images.)