Tony Mansell - Hits From Burt Bacharach

Smooth and surprisingly classy - think Singers Unlimited meets Mike Sammes and you'll get the idea. Satisfyingly dense harmonies, and of course A-list material....

I can't find any biographical info on Tony (Wikipedia - how could you let me down!!). Any words of wisdom from lounge gurus welcome in the comments.

01 - This Guy's In Love With You
02 - I Say A Little Prayer
03 - Close To You
04 - What Made You Go
05 - What The World Needs Now Is Love
06 - The Look Of Love
07 - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
08 - A Very Good Year For Young Love
09 - Trains And Boats And Planes
10 - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
11 - Do You Know The Way To San Jose

RS
Tony Mansell - Hits From Burt Bacharach

MU
Tony Mansell - Hits From Burt Bacharach

Mr Snookles

ps. some of my previous rips have sounded a bit grungy - alas worn records that simply did not restore well. This one is back to the normal Mr Snookles Standard of Excellence (MSSOE), so you can download without fear or favour.

The Sounds of our Times - Galveston

Here's a few uploads from Shadrac that have been sitting on the HDD for a while. first up, and belonging to that special genre - "Albums With Front Covers That Show Young Lovers Kissing in a Field" we have the anonymous but surprisingly good "The Sounds of our Times - Galveston".

Full of "Now Sound" arrangements - check out Scarborough Fair with its harpsichord accompaniment and bassoon/oboe melodies.

No musos listed - produced by George Cates for Mod Productions.

01 - Galveston
02 - I've Gotta Be Me
03 - Scarborough Fair
04 - Cast Your Fate To The Wind
05 - Somewhere My Love
06 - California Dreamin'
07 - Fly Me To The Moon
08 - If You Go Away
09 - Wichita Lineman
10 - Lalena
11 - Goodnight My Love

RS
The Sounds of our Times - Galveston

Shadrac Blintz Via Mr Snookles

Benders - Distance

Shadrac Says:

The Benders were a Sydney jazz band who existed from 1983 to 1985. The band comprised Chris Abrahams (keyboards), Dale Barlow (sax on E), Jason Morphett (sax on False Laughter & Distance), Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Andrew Gander (drums).
Chris Abrahams (born 1961 in New Zealand) is a Sydney-based pianist, best known for his jazz work. ...
Lloyd Swanton (born 1960) is an Australian jazz bassist and composer, based in Sydney.

Discography

* E (Hot, 1983)
* False Laughter (Hot, 1984)
* Distance (Hot, 1985)

Swanton and Abrahams later formed The Necks with percussionist Tony Buck.

01 - Verandah
02 - Tozan
03 - Ice
04 - Monsoon
05 - The Brunt
06 - Spirit Of Progress
07 - Algebra
08 - Propaganda
09 - The Island

RS
Benders - Distance

Shadrac Blintz via Mr Snookles

Glenn Long - Success Show Music

Shadrac Says:

"... This album of show music successfully captures the nostalgia of a bygone era. The artist is a young talented keyboard performer; between his versatile organ and his piano, Glenn Long has created a variety of moods and images from show that will bring many nostalgic memories flooding back to you."
They don't write album notes like that any more - they don't make albums like this for them to go on.

Includes the theme from Ernest Bluntpencil, a genuine Australian rarity.

01 - There's No Business Like Show Business
02 - The Summer Knows
03 - Nobody Does It Better
04 - On A Clear Day
05 - Can You Read My Mind
06 - Lullaby Of Broadway
07 - The Earnest Bluntpencil Theme
08 - You Light Up My Life
09 - Copa Cabana
10 - Speak Softly Love
11 - Moonlight Serenade
12 - The Stars And Stripes Forever

RS
Glenn Long - Success Show Music

Shadrac Blintz via Mr Snookles

Tommy Garrett - Takes You To Hawaii

Our convivial co-blogger Mr Lounge "I never met a Martini I didn't like" Tracks did some arithmetic in one of the comments due to the abundance of 101 strings and 50 guitars posts - Well LT time to get your calculator back as Tommy and his gaggle of guitarists gear up for some more laid-back exotica goodness.

I've seen a low bitrate version of this posted before in the bloggosphere, but having found a good-quality vinyl version, I decided it's time to see it back online. Let the Summer of Lounge (you northern hemispherites will have to settle for the Winter of Discontent) continue...

01 - Blue Hawaii
02 - Hawaiian Wedding Song
03 - Pagan Love Song
04 - My Little Grass Shack
05 - Now Is The Hour
06 - Hawaiian War Chant
07 - The Hukilau Song
08 - Song Of The Islands
09 - Lovely Hula Hands
10 - Sweet Leilani
11 - Moon Of Manakora
12 - Aloha Oe

RS
Tommy Garrett - Takes You To Hawaii

MU
Tommy Garrett - Takes You To Hawaii

Mr Snookles

Christmas at Home

I upload this primarily to annoy my brother who used to cringe when my dad insisted on playing this record at Christmas. Bless him, Dad meant well, probably attempting to get engender some Xmas atmosphere but, frankly, it's corny pap of the highest order.
I used to like 'Little Drummer Boy' and 'Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer'.
It's a real nostalgia jerker for me and the only Christmas LP I'll ever have anything to do with.

By some technical sleight of hand track 5 - Silent Night is missing. Agghh!

Merry Christmas from Shadders and Snooks!!

RS
Christmas at Home

MU
Christmas at Home

Shadrac Blintz

p.s. Welcome to Peet - our new South African friend. - check out his blog here.

Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies

It’s a double album, it’s in quadra-frickin-phonic, and its got a ga-roovy psyche-couple grooning meaningfully together on the front.

It’s Enoch ‘Knocker’ Light (and many of the world’s greatest musicians) playing the beeg heets of the seventies. Well, the early seventies at least.

A plethora of banjos, harmonicas, a hint of steel guitar, mandolin and, great heavens, tabla pick out these well known tunes ably supported by EL’s crack team of session musos.

You’ve heard them all before but here you can imagine gaily sunning ones self on the poop deck of the Love Boat as ‘Isaac’ the smiling bartender serves your pina-colada whilst “You are the Sunshine of my Life” pipes tunefully through the PA system.

Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies (Disc 1)

01 - I Feel The Earth Move
02 - The Candy Man
03 - Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree
04 - The Entertainer
05 - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
06 - Alone Again, Naturally
07 - Sing
08 - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
09 - Song Sung Blue
10 - Baby I'm A Want You
11 - You've Got A Friend
12 - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

RS
Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies vol1

MU
Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies vol2

And yes, here's volume 2...

RS
Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies vol2

MU
Enoch Light - Big Hits of the Seventies vol2

Shadrac Blintz

Leo Addeo - The Magic Of Hawaii

Hear Ye, Hear Ye:

I, Mr Snookles, in my official capacity as a Furry Composite Being of Impeccable Musical Taste do hereby declare 2009 to be The Summer Of Lounge (Southern Hemisphere Only).
Let the cheesy strains of our chosen music bring peace and contentment to all and sundry, soothe the malcontented, and give succor to the afflicted.

And what better way to kick off The Summer Of Lounge than with some easy-vocal renditions of Hawaiian standards from 1968? As inconsequential and fluffy as it gets...perfect.

01 - One Paddle, Two Paddle
02 - Lovely Hula Hands
03 - My Little Grass Shack
04 - Beyond The Reef
05 - The Hukilau Song
06 - Pagan Love Song
07 - Hawaiian Wedding Song
08 - South Sea Island Magic
09 - Tiny Bubbles
10 - Mauna Loa

RS
Leo Addeo - The Magic Of Hawaii

MU
Leo Addeo - The Magic Of Hawaii

Mr Snookles (Official Ambassador to The Summer Of Lounge)

Lubomir Pleva - Harmonica Magic

LUBOMIR PLEVA, b. July 31, 1929, at Grygov near Olomouc, Is a true master of the harmonica, or rather the chromonica, a version of the instrument which features all 12 notes in the octave.

I know this because when researching Lubomir, I found a post of his at a previously unknown blog - Audio Design Studio - and shamelessly pinched some of his extended commentary about him. Looks like a great blog - check it out.

01 - Ciocirlia
02 - Danza Espanola
03 - Clair De Lune
04 - Hora Staccato
05 - Air On A G String
06 - Sabre Dance
07 - La Mer
08 - Mexican Dance
09 - Lonely Night Rider
10 - Stardust
11 - Isn't It Romantic
12 - Le Grisbi
13 - Make Love To Me

RS
Lubomir Pleva - Harmonica Magic

MU
Lubomir Pleva - Harmonica Magic

Mr Snookles

101 Strings - Gypsy Campfires

And from the even more prehistoric year of 1958 we have Gypsy Campfires (file under Gringo Gypsy??). The multudious strings are well suited to the Romany sound and throb with suitable Gypsy passion. Does anyone know how many albums these guys made? They seemed to be around forever. Correct answers in the comments please...

01 - Dark Eyes
02 - Slavonic Dances
03 - Two Guitars
04 - Gypsy Song No. 4
05 - Hungarian Dance No. 6
06 - Golden Earrings

RS
101 Strings - Gypsy Campfires

MU
101 Strings - Gypsy Campfires

Mr Snookles

101 Strings - The Soul Of The Blues

Here's a 101 Strings album from 1960 to add to your Easy Orchestral collection (you do have your easy listening albums sub-categorised don't you?) Some of those strings sound distinctly like muted trumpets, and a sedate sense of swing permeates this white-blues effort from our favourite century of strings...

01 - Birth Of The Blues
02 - St Louis Blues
03 - Mood Indigo
04 - Slow, And With Soul
05 - Goodbye
06 - Symphony For Blues
07 - Blues Pizzicato
08 - Definitely Blues
09 - The 'In-Crowd'

RS
101 Strings - The Soul Of The Blues

MU
101 Strings - The Soul Of The Blues

Mr Snookles