JAMES LAST "VOODOO PARTY"

By request, "America's Most Nonsensical Band," The Korn Kobblers", are back on-line. This time using Google Drive, the latest candidate in my search for a good file-sharing platform. For those of you keeping score at home: Rapidshare and Div-Share are no more, Mediafire removed all of my files, Zippyshare suddenly decided to stop being cooperative, and when I tried The Box, it got mixed reviews from you-all. So the most recent posts have been using Google Drive. Yay or nay?

The Grim Reaper has been a busy mutha lately, hasn't he? Ornette Coleman, Christopher Lee, and now apparently we've seen the last of James Last. The German E-Z maestro has been a familiar face in the bargain bins for years, but one of his albums is actually quite sought-after by record collectors, and no wonder - it's the weirdest thing he did, and the most out-there album by a supposedly easy-listening artist since the 101 Strings infamous "Astro-Sounds From Beyond The Year 2000" space-age extravaganza. 

"Voodoo Party" is a strange beast of no known musical genre, which is quite an admirable feat in itself. Covers of such non-EZ artists as Sly & The Family Stone and Marvin Gaye are mixed with originals, almost all smothered in tons of manic percussion. And then amidst all the bongo fury, there's "Mr. Giant Man," which has to be the greatest children's '70s glam rock stomper ever. It all leads up to "Voodoo Ladys Love," a kitch-adelic spectacular that has to be heard to be believed. 

Far too upbeat and loud to be exotica, too brass-band/schalger to be rock-n-roll, "Voodoo Party" may not have much to do with any African-derived Haitian religions, but it certainly is a party. Funky funk! Moogy Moogs! Santana covers! EZ vocal choirs! And a version of "Babalu" that Ricky Ricardo would not recognize. R.I.P. Herr Last.


JAMES LAST "VOODOO PARTY" (1971)

HUBBA HUBBA!: The Big Band Beat of Bad Girls and Burlesque

Back up by request: Roky Erickson's kids party, and "Carnival in Paradise."

Seeing as how our previous collection of mid-century sleazy-listening music is, by a wide margin, the most popular post of the year so far, I guess I'd better keep feeding you cool cats and crazy kitties more rarities and vinyl obscurities from the Golden Age of Bad Taste:

In the heydey of burlesque, dancin' goils twirled their tassels and bumped their rumps to live bands, not to a dj playing Salt n Pepa or Motley Crue. MCs, specialty acts, and comedy teams were also on the bill if for no other reason than to keep up the pretense that these were "variety shows" - something for everyone! - and not just lewd displays of wanton flesh. Tho the burlesque show format may have been created to skirt (so to speak) the censors, it ended up working quite well as an all-around entertainment package, surviving to this day. There's probably a 'burly-q' revival show near you now.

But this stuff is from the original era, the 1940s - 1960s (I'm aware that burlesque preceeds the '40s, I just don't know of any earlier music). The first track is  apparently   recorded live "in the field" from an album called "Burlesque Uncensored." I was gonna post the whole album, but it's actually in print thru Smithsonian Folkways (your tax dollars at work?)

Apart from the expected bump-and-grind jazz, there's also some wild early rock n roll, exploitation movie radio ads and dialogue, low-budget lounge combos, and show-tunes (e.g. Natalie Wood in "Gypsy," the Gyspy Rose Lee biopic, and another version of the "Take it off the E-string" song that was featured on vol 1).  And then there's the one musical moment from the infamous '60s S&M sound-effects album, "Tortura!"

I also recorded some burlesque film soundtrack music off videos, performed by anonymous sleaze-meisters. This was some years ago when I recorded these, and I can't find most of those films on the YouTubes now.  Too bad, the "Snakes" one in particular was great: a campy guy shouting "Snakes!" and running off camera, followed by a girl dancing with an actual, live enormous boa constrictor-type beastie. Towards the end, she even starts to put the snakes' head unto her mouth. A search for "snakes + burlesque" didn't come up with anything, but if any of you-all know this one, send us the links, pleeze!

And for some great reading whilst listening to this music, check out our pals at  
Decadent History for a plethora of fascinating articles. Learn your history, kids! 

Lowbrow Vol.3 Hubba Hubba! - A MusicForManiacs Collection

01 "Burlesque Uncensored" - lobby talker-chorus line-strip tease
02 Natalie Wood-Let Me Entertain You [from "Gypsy," 1962]
03 "Angels Wild Women"
04 Perez Prado - Exotic Suite of the Americans (excerpt)
05 Kay Kyser His Orchestra - Strip Polka [The Andrews Sisters also recorded this popular '40s Big Band number]
06 Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - Take It Off
07 "Varietease" - Betty Page, Bobby Shields [video soundtrack]
08 "The Naughty Stewardesses"
09 Dick Contino & Eddie Layton - Blues in the Night [accordionist Contino isn't just a James Ellroy character; in fact, he's real, alive, and still performs] 
10 Barbara Stanwyck - The G-String Song [from the 1943 film "Lady of Burlesque", recorded off video]
11 Big Jay McNeely - Striptease Swing [sax wildman, veteran of LA's legendary Central Ave scene, is also still alive and blowin']
12 Eddie Wayne [actually surf/session guitarist Jerry Cole] - Dig Ye Deep
13 Jayne Mansfield - Suey [the great blond bombshell is backed here by a pre-fame Jimi Hendrix!]
14 Ricky Vale & The Surfers - Ghost Surfin'
15 "Nurses for Sale"
16 John Barry - The Stripper [nope, not the David Rose hit (see below); yep, the James Bond soundtrack guy]
17 Ernie Freeman - The Stripper [Freeman's the man who brought Sinatra into the r'n'b scene with "That's Life"]
18 "Porno Photos"
19 "Tortura" - untitled (Track 21)
20 "Snakes"
21 Snakes! [burlesque film soundtrack]
22 The Knight Beats - Going To Town
23 Hal Blaine & The Young Cougars - Gear Stripper [Blaine is possibly the most recorded drummer in history; he's certainly one of the few to record a drag-race/burlesque fusion song]
24 The Bangers - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box, Part 1 [this r'n'b shouter is, of course, referring to the lady's piano]
25 John Buzon Trio - Ill Wind
26 Voodoo Virgin - [burlesque film soundtrack]
27 Stan Kenton - Blues In Burlesque [No, that's not Tom Waits singing, it's drummer Shelly Mann, with Maynard Ferguson blowin', from 1951]

All tracks safe for work! We like wholesome sleaze around here.

Music For People Who Really, Really Really Like to Limbo Dance

Does anybody still dance the limbo? You know, you bend over backwards to shimmy under an ever-lowering pole, to the catchy strains of calypso music.  Don't know if any actual Caribbean peoples did the limbo, but plenty of post-war suburbanites who'd sipped a bit too much rum sure did. And this has to be one of the strangest artifacts of the limbo craze - a instrumental version of the hit Chubby Checker song "Limbo Rock" stretched out for the length of an entire album. Hollywood session vet Billy Strange (that's his guitar on Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang," among a million other credits) and his crew keep things interesting throughout, with funky percussion breaks, and exotica-like atmospheric interludes featuring grown men a-whoopin' and a-hollerin'. There's plenty of soloing, ranging from cool jazzy to almost rock 'n' roll. 

Exotica music is fine and dandy for polite cocktail sipping, but when the drinks kick in, what are you gonna dance to, eh, eh?  I'll tell you what: "Limbo Rock pt 1" and "Limbo Rock, pt 2".  For those moments when you want to, quite literally, drink someone under the table.

Billy Strange and Telstars - Limbo Rock

Now if only a band called Billy Strange and the Limbo Rock did an album-length version of "Telstar"...

The Brigitte Bardot Show

An extremely rare example of a celebrity who made actual good records, French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot used her alluring personality, and the genius of collaborator Serge Gainsbourgh, to make a series of super swell Sixties sides. Like one of Serge's other gals, Jane Birkin, Ms BB isn't a great singer. But rather than try to fit into a standard pop singer mold - the downfall of so many singing-actor records - Bardot sings cute and sexy over music that is tailored for her. There's a psych-rock edge to many of the songs here.

This 1968 tv special soundtrack features a couple of familiar classics ("Harley Davidson," and "Contact"), some great songs I wasn't familiar with (the rocker "Ce N'est Pas Vrai", the kooky tablas-a-go-go "Oh Qu'il Est Vilain"), and the instrumental interludes of Francis "Theme From A Man and A Woman" Lai. His "Saint-Tropez" is one of the best tracks on this album.  If I had a radio show this would be my opening theme.

The Brigitte Bardot Show

A1	Harley Davidson	2:30
A2	Marseillaise Générique	2:10
A3	Mister Sun	3:12
A4	Ay Que Viva La Sangria	2:30
A5	Ce N'est Pas Vrai	1:38
A6	Gang Gang	2:00
A7	Saint-Tropez	1:10
A8	Port Grimaud	0:30
B1	Oh Qu'il Est Vilain	2:25
B2	Paris	1:35
B3	Je Reviendrai Toujours Vers Toi	2:23
B4	On Déménage	2:03
B5	Le Diable Est Anglais	2:40
B6	David B...	1:10
B7	Contact

Thanks again to that international master of musical mystery, Count Otto Black!

Be Stoned! Dig: Zipps

There's 'beat' as in the Beat literary movement that produced beatniks, and poetry read over (usually) jazz music.  And there's 'beat' as in the European '60s rock'n'roll-inspired pop. The kooky, sometimes hilarious Dutch band The Zipps combine both: yes, a Beat Beat group.

Their music's fine in a basic mid-'60s garage kinda way (some tunes are quite catchy), but the real distinguishing characteristic of The Zipps is singer/guitarist Philip Elzerman's English-as-a-second-language vocals, which are either nonsensical, or obscured by his thick accent. Or both. In the Ramones-y titled, Byrds-y sounding "Kicks and Chicks" Elzerman claims that he "read all the books of Jack Kerouac," but he pronounces that Beat icon's name as "Ker-acky." Two lengthy tracks called "Beat and Poetry" are live all-Dutch language spoken word over peppy rock music, not jazz. An odd combination. Tho in the hysterical "Hipsterism," one of the greatest, funniest '60s nuggets I've heard lately, Elzerman says "I always like to listen to good jazz/You're a square! And you don't like it, I guess!" Followed by a solo on that most rock'n'roll of instruments, the flute. Having said that, the groovy a-go-go instrumental version of "Lotus Love" is one of my faves off this career-spanning collection. Wish I could hear all of "LSD 25" minus the interview on top of it, it's a great Seeds-y proto-punk stomper.

The Zipps - Be Stoned Dig Zipps.zip

Thanks again to our psychedelic nugget farmer, Count Otto Black!

1	–	Highway Gambler
2	–	Roll The Cotton Down
3	–	Kicks And Chicks
4	–	Hipsterism
5	–	Beat & Poetry Part 1
6	–	Beat & Poetry Part 2
7	–	Marie Juana
8	–	The Struggle For Ice-Cold Milk Of Benzi The Bassplayer Or How To Promote Original Dutch Milk
9	–	When You Tell It, Tell It Well..!
10	–	Lotus Love (demo - vocal version)
11	–	Walking On This Road To Mine Town (previously unreleased live track)
12	–	The Beer Hall Song (previously unreleased live track)
13	–	Kicks And Chicks (previously unreleased live track)
14	–Philippe Salerne* & Zipps, The*	Avec De L'Italie
15	–Philippe Salerne* & Zipps, The*	Venez Voire Comme On S'Aime
16	–	Lotus Love (instrumental - previously unreleased demo version)
17	–	The Struggle For Ice-Cold Milk Of Benzi The Bassplayer Or How To Promote Original Dutch Milk (previously unreleased stereo version)
18	–	Kicks And Chicks (previously unreleased stereo version)
19	–	LSD 25 Interview

VOODOO DANCE DOLL: 1950s/60s Rock'n'Roll Exotica

Bongos in the Congo!  Apes in the jungle! Tikis, cannibals, and witch doctors! Grown men making tropical bird calls! Sound familiar? But this ain't no jazzy Martin Denny-style exotica for grown-ups' cocktail parties. No, my teen-age hoodlum friends, this sampler of exotic rock (rock-xotica?) + relevant soundbites marks this blogs' return to weekend-starting sleazy-listening sounds from the Golden Age of Cool. As with the first collection that kicked off this on-again/off-again project, many of these tracks were recorded off my vinyl, songs that hopefully have not been featured on similar comps like the "Jungle Exotica" series. My records are in various states of preservation, so I did track down some digital replacements when available. But most of this is out-of-print wax whose occasional pops and cracks can be thought of as the crunching of jungle undergrowth beneath the furious feet of Watusi exotic dancers (in all senses of the phrase).

Ingredients: surf rock, doo-wop, rhythm 'n' blues, novelties, some actual ethnic peoples, movie clips, radio ads, excerpts from a record meant to accompany a slideshow or filmstrip about the Congo, Africa (unfortunately, it did not contain the visuals), and some loungey things, but with a backbeat. There are a few well-known hit-makers here like Eartha Kitt, the Dave Clark Five, and Santo & Johnny, but as these records are from the gloriously unself-conscious pre-rock critic era*, many of these artists have been lost to the mists of history. 

Voodoo Dance Doll - an M4M Collection.zip

01 congo slideshow- weekend dance
02 Mel Taylor & The Magics - Bongo Rock
03 The Vistas - Tiki Twist
04 Leni Okehu and his Surfboarders - Hawaiian People Eater
05 Eartha Kitt - Honolulu Rock And Roll
06 congo slideshow - superstition dance
07 Muvva Hubbard & the Stompers Congo Mombo
08 "Alligator Man"
09 The Dave Clark Five - Chaquita
10 The Pyramids - 
Koko Joe
11 "100 Percent Gorilla"
12 The Rocking Vickers - I Go Ape
13 Billy Mure - Tabu
14 congo slideshow - witch doctor
15 Werner Hass - Oh-ee-oh-ah-ah
16 Dick Dale & The Del-Tones - Jungle Fever
17 Jerry & Mel - Cannibal stew
18 "Zombie Island Massacre" - Zombie Attacks Honeymooners
19 congo slideshow - drumming
20 Mel Taylor & The Magics - Drums A Go-Go
21 Thurl Ravenscroft - Dr Geek From Tanganyika
22 Buddy Morrow And His Orchestra - One-Two-Three-Kick (The Original Conga) pt1.
23 Roger Craig - Song of India
24 The Fugitives - Human Jungle
25 Bela's "Jungle Hell"
26 Roy Estrada and The Rocketeers-Jungle Dreams Part 2 
27 Busby Lewis - Jerk
28 Susan King-Drum Rhythm
29 Yngve stoor - Hula Rock
30 Perez Prado - Cuban Rock
31 Leni Okehu and his Surfboarders - Hawaiian Rock
32 Freddy Cannon - Everybody Monkey
33 Johnny and Santo - Caravan
34 congo slideshow - watusi
35 Big Walter and the Thunderbirds _ Watusie Freeze part 1
36 "shrunken heads" ad
37 Buddy Morrow And His Orchestra - One-Two-Three-Kick (The Original Conga) pt2
38 Marti Barris - Ahbe Casabe
39 Sandy Nelson - Casbah 

Thanks to Count Otto for the Rockin' Vicars!

*Cartoonist/record collector Robert Crumb has described the early rock he really liked as "proletariat," and indeed, there may be some class-ism behind the critical dismissal of so much rock prior to the mid-'60s: once rock scrubbed off all of that honky-tonk/ghetto stank and adopted such middle-class, college-educated features as "poetic" lyrics and classical European influences, then it finally merited the status of High Art. But of course, the music wasn't really improved so much as it simply changed - from fun, funny, energetic, sexy, and atmospheric to...not as much. Rock didn't get better, it just moved to the suburbs.

Spike Jones: 1941-1948

To make up for my lack of posts during my winter break, here is every single record Spike Jones and His City Slickers released in their first 7 years, 106 songs in all (split up into three sections). More radical than most academic avant-gardists, but a damn sight funnier,  bandleader/ drummer/ occasional vocalist / sound fx maker Jones and his numerous cronies weren't the first novelty orchestra (bands like the Korn Kobblers preceded them by a few years), but they did set the standard that musical anarchists have been striving for ever since.
  
As familiar as Jones is, it's still enlightening to listen to all these songs in chronological order, as one can hear the development of the band from a compact unit specializing in a kind of crazed Dixieland jazz, to an increasingly open-ended project, incorporating more and more musical styles, guest vocalists, and tracks that are more like sketches than songs. And tho I knew about their biggest hit single "Der Fuehrer's Face" (and the infamous "You're A Sap, Mister Jap"), I didn't realize how many WWII songs they did record. In "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma", a song celebrating a sons' return home, the sense of relief that the war is finally ending is palpable.

As Spike used to deadpan after every song in concert: "Thank you, music lovers."

Spike Jones 1941-1948  pt1

1. Barstool Cowboy From Old Barstow

2. Behind Those Swinging Doors

3. Red Wing

4. The Covered Wagon Rolled Right Along

5. don`t talk to me about women  (1941)

6. Yankee doodler  (1942)

7. Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag

8. Three Little Words

9. When Buddah Smiles

10. You're A Sap Mister Jap

11. Never Hit Your Grandma With A Shovel

12. Horsey, Keep Your Tail Up

13. Camptown Races

14. John Scotter Trot

15. Love For Sale

16. Moanin' Low

17. Cheatin' On The Sandman

18. Come Josephine In My Flying Machine

19. The Sailor With The Navy Blue Eyes

20. Der Fuehrer's Face

21. Hotcha Cornia (Hotcha Chornya-Russian Folk Songs)

22. I Wanna Go Back To West Virginia

23. Water Lou (Drip, Drip, Drip) 24. Clink, Clink, Another Drink 25. Little Bo-Peep Has Lost Her Jeep 026 - Dinah  (1942) 027 - 48 reasons why  (1942)

28. The Sheik Of Araby

29. Oh! By Jingo

30. I'm Going To Write Home

31. Hi Ho My Lady

32. I Know A Story

33. St-St-St-Stella

34. Hotcha Cornia (Hotcha Chornya-Russian Folk Songs)

35. Down In Jungle Town

Spike Jones 1941-1948  pt2

36. As Time Goes By

37. People Will Say We're In Love

38. G.I. Haircut 039 - hitch old dobbin to the shay again  (1943)

40. It Never Rains In Sunny California

41. Wang Wang Blues

42. My Little Girl

43. The Sound Effects Man

44. Ragtime Cowboy Joe

45. The Vamp

46. He Broke My Heart In Three Places

47. Besame Mucho

48. I'm Goin' Back To Where I Came From

49. There's A Fly On My Music

50. Row, Row, Row

51. I Wanna A Gal Just Like The Gal That Married Dear Old Dad

52. Jingle Bells

53. Cocktails For Two 054 - they go wild, simply wild about me  (1944)

55. And The Great Big Saw Came Nearer And Nearer 056 - paddlin` madeline home  (1944) 057 - oh! how she lied  (1944)

58. Red Grow The Roses

59. Jamboree Jones

60. Whittle Out A Whistle

61. Casey Jones

62. At Last I'm In First With You

63. Down By The O-Hi-O

64. Holiday For Strings

65. Cocktails For Two

66. Leave The Dishes In The Sink, Ma

67. Serenade To A Jerk

68. Drip, Drip, Drip (Sloppy Lagoon)

69. Chloe

70. The Blue Danube

71. Black Bottom

72. Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye

Spike Jones 1941-1948  pt3

73. MacNamara's Band

74. Siam

75. Liebestraume

76. You'll Always Hurt The One You Love

77. That Old Black Magic

78. Mother Goose Medley

79. Hawaiian War Chant 080 - i gotta girl i love (in north and south dakota)  (1945) 081 - hedda hopper`s hats  (1945) 082 - george m. cohan medley  (1945)

83. Old McDonald Had A Farm

84. I Dream Of Brownie In The Light Blue Jeans

85. The Glow Worm

86. Laura

87. Jones Polka

88. The Jones Laughing Record 89. My Pretty Girl 90. Rhapsody From Hunger (Y) 91. I'm In The Mood For Love 92. When Yuba Plays The Rhumba On The Tuba 93. (I'm Forever) Blowing Bubble Gum

94. William Tell Overture

95.  Love In Bloom

96. The Man On The Flying Trapeze

97. Popcorn Sack

98. Our Hour (The Puppy Love Song)

99. My Old Flame

100. People Are Funnier Than Anybody

101. By The Beautiful Sea

102. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

103. I Kiss Your Hand Madame

104. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)

105. Ill Barkio (Il Bacio)

106. None But The Lonely Heart (A Soaperetta)

2 ALBUMS OF AUTHENTIC BURLESQUE MUSIC

This blog is now 10 years old. And amidst all the media hype, the presidential pronouncements, and the parades, one lovely maniacs actually sent me an email headed: "I love Filthy Fridays and want to give you money." Well... okay! Hadn't thought about it before, but if someone wants to click on the new PayPal button to your right, that's up to you. We all celebrate in our own ways. And this is how I celebrate: by continuing our series of weekend-starters from the mid-century Golden Age of Sleaze. 

What to read/look at whilst listening to these instrumentals? Why, take a gander at the gams on this website (makes wolf whistle): "Decedent History," a site of particular interest to those in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but any dedicated sleaze-ologist worth his/her weight in tassels should find it fascinatingly filthy fun.

Listening to a burlesque show?! Who'd want to do that? Well, for starters, the millions who bought David Rose's bump-n-grind big band instrumental, "The Stripper," a record that went to #1 on the American charts in 1962. Which of course, lead to records released designed to cash in on Rose's success, inc. 2 albums by Rose himself, "The Stripper," and "More! More! More! of the Stripper," both of which are in print.

So yes, one of today's albums does indeed include a cover of "The Stripper," but these records weren't just cash-ins. "Bald" Bill Hagan & His Trocaderons were an actual burlesque show band that performed at Philadelphia's still extant Trocadera Theater, tho nowadays it's a concert venue. The music is mostly the kind of Dixieland jazz played as a slow grind that typifies burlesque music, but also dips into rock'n'roll ("The G-String Twist"), and psuedo-Middle Eastern belly-dance exotica ("Erotic Fantasy" is a version of that exotic antiquity "Song of India"), another common style found wherever 'torso tossers' were found strutting down 'varicose alley' (aka: the runway.) And compared to Rose's studio slickness, these fun records sound a little more raw and loose - probably closer to what it actually sounded like at joints like the "Troc".  The recording dates would seem to put these at the tail-end of the original burly-q era.

Both albums recorded from vinyl. The first one starts off a bit scratchy, during the MC intro/phony applause effects, but improves. Va-va-voom!

Bald Bill Hagan And His Trocaderons - Music To Strip By (1966)

Bald Bill Hagan And His Trocaderons - Music For A Strip Tease Party (1967)

Music To Strip By:

A1	A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody
A2	Bumps And Grinds
A3	Frankie And Johnny
A4	G-String Twist
A5	Temptation
A6	Night Train
B1	The Stripper
B2	Party Time
B3	Bedroom Blues
B4	Second Honeymoon
B5	Girdles Aweigh
B6	My Heart Belongs To Daddy

 Music For A Strip Tease Party:

A1	I'm In The Mood For Love
A2	Stripper's Delight
A3	Erotic Fantasy
A4	C Cup Blues
A5	Vampin' And Campin'
B1	A Good Man Is Hard To Find
B2	Fascination
B3	Koochie Galore
B4	Cha Bump
B5	Makin' Whoopee