Category: Music

So yesterday, I found myself at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton annual sale, and they had a couple of boxes of records. I found a couple that looked interesting and bought them along with a couple of glass vases to etch.

Then, I found myself at Relics Antique Mall as my wife is looking for some wall decorations for the guest room that we painted three years ago and have had bare walls since. While she looked for something to match her tastes, I flipped through some bins of records. Some of the bins are getting nuts as far as pricing goes–one of my go-to end caps had some priced at $14 or $24 dollars (although the sign said half off of everything, that’s still a little much for my taste). However, another stalwart end cap still had records for $3 each, and I’m getting more comfortable with buying records at that price.

So here’s what I got:

• The capstone is Blow Your Own Horn by Herb Alpert. After the 1970s, his music was selling more on cassettes, I guess, so it’s rare to find something of his from the 1980s. Unfortunately, it skips a bit on the first song.
• Knock on Wood by Amii Stewart.
• Stephanie by Stephanie Mills, best known around these parts for singing “Bit by Bit” on the Fletch soundtrack.
• Uptown by the Neville Brothers. I just got an Isley Brothers album, and I sometimes confuse the two acts. By building my collection, I’ll get them straight.
• Welcome Back by John Sebastian. I’ve seen this on this end cap before and thought I’d buy it someday for his rendition of the Welcome Back, Kotter theme song. Today was that day. I also noted some albums that I’ll buy later, someday, but I’d better make it sooner rather than when the prices go up to $5 each and I won’t be so inclined to explore.
• Fred Astaire’s Greatest Hits. I’m not sure what his greatest musical hits are, actually, and the album cover itself does not say (and, like a fool, I did not look at the album itself, so I hope it’s in there).
• Today’s Romantic Hits / For Lovers Only vol. 2 by Jackie Gleason. Someday, I might have a pretty comprehensive collection of these.
• Jackie Gleason Plays The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. Ditto.
• I’m Looking For A Four Leaf Clover by Jo Ann Castle. It features a comely lass on the cover, so I expected a songbird from the middle 1960s. Apparently, the artist is the ragtime piano player from the Lawrence Welk show and is not the young lady on the cover.

So it was about $20 total.

I also bought a new circular saw so I can continue on my construction of the new record shelves today. Unless I spend the whole day blogging, I guess.

A poor unenlightened soul refuses to acknowledge the primacy of Eydie Gorme in all things musical, so I feel the need to offer a direct comparison.

We’ll take Keely Smith on her home turf, with “I Wish You Love”, the title track from her 1957 debut album.

Here is Eydie Gorme doing what she does best, which is everything:

As I had said to Friar, I’ve got another Keely Smith album (Be My Love) that hasn’t really stood out, and I think it’s because Keely sounds like a lot of other female big band vocalists I’ve heard, where the delivery is flat and a bit projected since there’s generally an orchestra behind them whereas Eydie is more pop/jazz influenced, where the notes are rounder and the presentation more intimate.

Your actual mileage may vary, but understand that no matter what scientific measurement you apply, Eydie Gorme is always the best. Because no matter what your subjective understanding of reality is at any given time, reality is as it is.

WSIE played Ashley Pezzotti’s version of “We’ve Only Just Begun”, and I was taken with it, so I bought her debut album of the same name.

I was a very low order number on her Web site.

Here she is singing her own composition “That Way”:

She’s already learned the secret to not losing head-to-head musical competitions with Eydie Gorme here on MfBJN: Write your own material.

So, how many times have you listened to that CD so far, Brian J.? you might ask. I shall simply say “More than once.”

So I was doing the evening chores, and I found myself singing a bit of “Ew wah ew wah ew wah ew wah.”

Unlike when I found myself ruminating on the melody of Marty Balin’s “Hearts” in February, I knew where this came from.

Dwight Yoakum’s “Pocket of a Clown”.

Although I did have to search for it to make sure I wasn’t crazy (“Pocket of a Clown”? No way that’s a real song.).

I had Dwight Yoakum’s This Time album when it was fresh. It’s weird; I think of my college years as mostly steeped in pop music, but I listened to my share of country at the beginning of the 1990s as well.

Why it came up in my mind’s rotation, I have no idea. I am pleased, though, that the radio station that I can listen to while mowing the lawn has, after a couple of years, backed off of the all-bro-country format and returned to a mix of today and oldies. And by “oldies,” I mean things current when I was an adult.

Friends, somehow this spring’s book sale sneaked up on me, so I only found an opportunity to visit it on half price day today. Which worked out all right for me, as I only spent thirty some dollars on records.

Which is 61 LPs, double-albums, and boxed sets.

I got:

1. Asilos de Abandonados Miguel Aceves Mejia
2. Entre Copa y Copa Miguel Aceves Mejia
3. Canta…Los Huapangos de Oro Miguel Aceves Mejia
4. Con Mariachi Los Panchos
5. Midnight Time The Three Suns
6. Help Is On The Way Melissa Manchester
7. Romantic Jazz Jackie Gleason
8. Trumpet A Go Go James Last Band
9. El Nuevo Trio Los Panchos Trio Los Panchos
10. Greatest Hits Boots Randolph
11. Court and Ceremonial Music of the 16th Century Roger Blanchard Ensemble with the Poulteau Consort
12. Songs of Italy 101 Strings
13. Sings Spanish and Latin American Favorites Connie Francis
14. 1100 Bel Aire Place Julio Iglesias
15. The Sound of Boots Boots Randolph
16. The Best of Vicki Carr Vicki Carr
17. The Yakin’ Sax Man Boots Randolph
18. Heart Like A Wheel Linda Ronstadt
19. Songs of the Seasons in Japan 101 Strings
20. The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer
21. Maynard Ferguson Maynard Ferguson
22. Forever Gold The Isley Brothers
23. Fall Into Spring Rita Coolidge
24. Love Me Again Rita Coolidge
25. Everything Under the Sun The Three Suns
26. Men of Brass Massed Brass Bands of Foden’s, Fairey Aviation and Morris Motors
27. 1980 Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
28. Como Swings Perry Como
29. Miriam Makeba Miriam Makeba
30. Lead, Kindly Light The Three Suns
31. Cocktail Piano Frankie Carle
32. So Early in the Spring Jackie Collins
33. 30 Hits of the Tuneful ’20s Frankie Carle
34. Look to the Rainbow Al Jarreau
35. El Gallo Colorado Miguel Aceves Mejia
36. A Treasury of the Award-Winning Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass The Longines Symphonette Society
37. Lo Mejor De Miguel Aceves Mejia (box set) Miguel Aceves Mejia
38. Lo Mejor De Amalia Mendoza (box set) Amalia Mendoza
39. Lo Mejor De Jose Alfredo Jimenez Jose Alfredo Jimenez
40. It Must Be Him Vicki Carr
41. Le Monde Musical de Baden Powell Volume 2 Baden Powell
42. Ecos de Cuba Trio Matamoros
43. Even in the Quietest Moments Supertramp
44. Sweet Talk Boots Randolph
45. Spanish Fly Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
46. Love Is A Season Eydie Gorme
47. Louis and Keely Louis Prima and Keely Smith
48. Cocktail Time Frankie Carle
49. The Fantastic Boots Randolph Boots Randolph
50. Portrait of My Love Steve Lawrence
51. Golden Saxophones Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra
52. Come Waltz with Me Steve Lawrence
53. Cantos de Amor Campriano Miguel Aceves Mejia
54. Para Cantar Yo Naci Miguel Aceves Mejia
55. Classical Cats
56. A Man and a Woman (Un Homme et Une Femme) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
57. Die Große Stereo-Starparade – Folge 3
58. Soulful Dionne Warwick
59. The Road to Romance Dorothy Lamour
60. Bourbon Street Pete Fountain and Al Hirt
61. Also Sprach Zarathustra Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Honey, I didn’t buy 100 LPs, I told my beautiful wife via text message to soften her up.

I am not sure it worked.

I jumped on someone’s former collection of Miguel Aceves Mejia; on first listen, it’s more traditional Mexican music than the pop that I have tended to favor. I got a couple of other box sets akin to his that will likely prove similar.

I got some more Frankie Carle, The Three Suns, Boots Randolph, and Vicki Carr to add to my catalog of their LPs.

I’ve also started the slide into 80s pop (Supertramp and Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) since that music is coming on 35 years old now. As close to today as Sinatra was to us. You might hear a song or two on the radio from these bands, maybe, but I really need to pick up the source material because the stuff on radio playlists is so shallow in breadth. Can you be shallow in breadth? On this blog, you can!

I also got some books, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what I got.

You know, my beautiful wife owns a number of Styx albums, including at least one on vinyl, but I really don’t like many of their songs.

But one, “Show Me The Way”, struck a chord with me.

It came out in 1990, when I was transitioning from an awkward high school student into an awkward college student. I moved from small town Missouri back to the city of Milwaukee, and I certainly could have used some guidance.

I still can.

I often think of Styx as a seventies band, but this hit was from 1990.

Kind of how I think of the Rolling Stones as a sixties band, but they charted records well into the 1980s. But the radio playlists really focus on the greatest hits of both bands, which are the early hits.

Well, Gimlet didn’t say this recently. He mentioned in 2012 that I was not familiar with Iron Maiden’s “Phantom of the Opera”.

You know, when I worked in an office, I played Iron Maiden at my desk all the time. My beautiful wife’s Iron Maiden, if I must confess all.

But working remotely, I haven’t listened to much Iron Maiden in the home office. Sometimes I do, but it’s not the go-to metal. Perhaps I rely a lot on my latest metal albums too heavily. I don’t even have any Iron Maiden on my gym playlist.

I should probably listen to some now. Care to join me?

Iron Maiden’s repetoire is so literate.

This week’s Bleat by James Lileks has a banner image of a comely woman reclining on a scattered collection of LP covers (and, presumably, LPs, but it’s a drawing, so we’re actually assuming everything).

Last year, I did a couple of posts about the album covers hanging at Classic Rock Coffee and how many of the albums I have (I and II).

So how did I do vis-à-vis the Bleat banner?

2. Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years and Dean Martin’s Houston.

And that’s a good thing.

A new jazz crush: Morgan James, here with Postmodern Jukebox, covering Aerosmith’s “Dream On”:

I may not have used Amazon’s official social media buttons, but I’ll share with you, gentle reader, that I just ordered her albums Hunter and Reckless Abandon.

What can I say? When I fall, I fall hard.