This heavy little 45 comes from the great state of Ohio, I have to assume it dates from the early ’70s based on the sound and the lyrical content of the b-side. All I know about Captain Foam is that the guy was billed as a one man band, I guess he played live with […]
Ray Columbus & The Invaders were the most commercially successful of New Zealand’s R&B based beat bands. Formed around 1960 in Christchurch, they went through a number of lineup changes before disbanding in 1965. 1962-63 saw them move north to be based in Auckland before leaving for Sydney, Australia for 1964 onwards. Their early 1964 […]
The first time I heard this 45 with it’s slick vocals and great horns I started to jones. Possibly one of my favourite jazz 45’s [audio:LeeStone_45.mp3]
This 45 Columbia version differs significantly from the Scat vocal / acoustic guitar led LP cut. One of my favorite Jazz 45’s that recently got crossed off the wants list. [audio:Rankin_45.mp3]
A decent hypnotic example of Ethio jazz. This track makes me want to a) Visit Ethiopia. B) Charm Snakes. [audio:Mulatu_45.mp3]
John & Ed Strickland seem to have been something of a none to one almost hit wonder group, it’s actually been pretty tough to find any information on these guys or this 45. The actual A side is a nice mid/slow version of Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City Blues” that draws equally from country & R&B […]
This was exactly what the world needed back in 1975, another version of “Tobacco Road”. It’s one of my favorite songs ever & has been covered by every man & his dog worldwide. This 45 is a version of it by a band that I’d never heard of & a label I’d never seen before […]
Welcome to the magical world of Edna Mae Henning. A very special country singer from rural Pennsylvania. She is in many ways what I had always dreamed of in an older woman singing good ol’ fashioned country music. She has a way of capturing the soul of what is truly wonderful about the world around […]
Crazy beatnik jazz from the 50s, heavy on the scat, bongos & humour. They have another EP before this one but I don’t know of anything else this group did apart from these two EPs on King. I suspect they both featured smilarly excellent cover art & the longer tracks (“Who Parked The Car” & […]
Joe Cobb was a well known radio DJ on Chicago’s WVON for many years in the 60s & 70s. He cut this 45 for the local Ex-Pect-Mo label in 1972 & it was then picked up nationally by Cutlass out of Nashville who gave the record the much more colorful label & slightly altered X-Pect-Mo […]
Since there seems to have been something of a run on UK jazz on Waxidermy lately, here is an interesting 45 to share. Alan Clare was a UK pianist who had a pretty long career & a touch of mainstream success from the 40s through to the 80s. Most of the online discographies for Clare […]
I believe Choreo was a company that specialised in instructional dance records. This 45 has a couple of nice jazz tracks that feature somewhat quirky intros before hitting with some pretty nice jazz grooves. Does anyone have more information on the label, or know if they have other worthwhile releases? [audio:Choreo_Blues.mp3]
This 45 is a pretty good piece of late 1950s rockabilly from New Zealand. Back in those days it seems that New Zealand rock & rollers would do songs about anything “Pie Cart Rock & Roll” & “Blackberry Boogie” come to mind. This song written by on Dood Williams (cool name) comes to us on […]
There has to be heaps of them, the budget “cash-in” labels, every country has them, every record collector knows them. There are labels dedicated to “cash-in” LPs only, 45s only also. The “Hit” label is one of the 45 ones, a reasonably prolific one at that. According to the label discography ( http://www.globaldogproductions.info/h/hit.html ) there […]
Everyone knows Roy Budd for his later soundtrack work, but this 45 was the first thing I ever owned by him & it still holds a special place in my heart. This 45 (“Birth Of The Budd”/”M’Ghee M’Ghee”) came out in 1965 & was Budd’s first release. It doesn’t have a whole lot in common […]
Quite possibly the finest & most fully realised R&B band to emerge from a sixties New Zealand scene that had a number of fine bands. The Breakaways were the first to get a taste of national success, inspired by bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Kinks & the Pretty Things. “I Can’t Explain” was […]
Here’s a good synth-bass, tabla, rhythm box, banjo, sax, accordion and female vocals combination from India. Music is composed by Charanjit Ahuja and this stuff was released in 1980. It sounds like it could have been from anything between 1958 to 2020. Certainly not something you hear every day. There are four songs on the […]
Polish mostly synthesized music from I don’t know when. On the Polskie Nagrania Muza label (who had rad sleeves). The A-side is comprised of 5 or 6 short synth experiments. The b-side is similar but halfway through some singing comes in. I wish it didn’t. Here’s one of the bit’s off the a-side: czeslaw_clip Also, […]
Great 60’s pop that’s as addictive as the street pharmaceuticals discussed in the song. The lyrics, which deal with serious drug addiction, are cheerful and bouncy. But what really keeps me coming back (ha) are the breezy background harmonies. The flip, “She’s got secret (to hide)” is also a great tune in a similar style. […]
Australian band The Whispers were probably the best & most successful blue eyed soul group in Australia during their original run of success from 1964-66. The band really loved the burgeoning soul scene coming out of the US at the time & laced their live sets with choice covers. They also had the fortune to […]
Obscure acid rock stomper from Grand Rapids Michigan: fuzzy dual guitar shredding and psychedelic Leslie speaker vocals are backed by clattering drums & shaker action. An imaginative friend of mine once wrote that this group was likely “aiming for Cream, but ended up with something hipper, a band likely to appear on a 1968 bill […]
Blerta was the brainchild of legendary New Zealand drummer, bandleader & actor Bruno Lawrence. He formed Blerta in 1971, with the name standing for “Bruno Lawrence Electric Revelation Travelling Apparition”. Blerta was held together as a band through to 1975 & it’s ever revolving membership included actors as well as musicians. It was conceived & […]
Sweden had a pretty thriving modern jazz scene back in the fifties that produced a number of talented players. Many of the sessions recorded there by either visiting or expatriate US artists or local players were often recorded & performed to a high quality. I especially like the european penchant for releasing picture sleeve 45s […]
Pzazz was a small label out of Hollywood that released a real variety of stuff in the few years it was in business. It was the baby of Paul Gayten who was a music industry veteran having been a force in the 1950s New Orleans R&B scene as a musician, bandleader & talent scout. Gayten […]
If you’ve ever been sitting there watching Sesame Street & thought “damn, wouldn’t it be cool if Cookie Monster fronted a funk band?” Then this is the 45 for you, not only do you get two sides of nice Monk Higgins arrangements, you also get it all topped off with Big Daddy Crimson’s gruff, half […]