Archive for the ‘Giles Peterson’ Category

Noel Harrison

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

noelharrisonyoungusa, Noel Harrsion, Charles Aznavour, London, Decca, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
noelharrisonyoung, Noel Harrsion, Charles Aznavour, London, Decca, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Listen: A Young Girl / Noel Harrison
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Everyone was drawn to teenage death records, it wasn’t just me. They would even get radio play and chart on BILLBOARD. ‘A Young Girl’ did just that (US #51 in ’66), and got played heavily on my local Top 40, WNDR. Possibly helped onto the airwaves by his role in NBC’s The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., one of many b&w spy/comedies of the mid 60′s, or his famous Dad, Noel Harrison’s English adaptation of this Charles Aznavour song indeed still sounded both very French and rather menacing. If you told me The Pet Shop Boys were influenced by it, I’d believe you.

It was an ear catching song to hear on the radio in the day and has become a perfect period piece, frozen in time while simultaneously disappearing into the black hole of never-to-be-airplayed-again records.

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Posted in Billboard, Charles Aznavour, Decca, Giles Peterson, London Records, Noel Harrison, Talkin' Loud, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., The Pet Shop Boys, WNDR | No Comments »

The Main Ingredient

Monday, September 28th, 2009

mainingredient, The Main Ingredient, RCA, Talkin' Loud, Giles Peterson

Listen: Everybody Plays The Fool / The Main Ingredient MainIngEverybody.mp3

I think there were some redeeming moments out of many seemingly formula soul acts, I guess you’d call them, in the early 70′s. They appeared pretty faceless to me then: The Chi-lites, The Dramatics, New Birth. I was very put off by the decade’s version of 60′s Motown fashion, by then having evolved into leisure suits of questionable pastel colors. On further investigation, there were some great singles in there.

I overlooked the image straight away when it came to The Main Ingredient. I mean the sleeves to their albums were almost psychedelic, some designs resembling Hypnosis. I doubt it was intentional, but those albums helped plant the acid jazz seed that years later dj’s like Giles Peterson and and labels such as Talkin’ Loud would coin.

‘Everybody Plays The Fool’ got and, still deservingly, gets heard. I never switch it off.

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Posted in Giles Peterson, Hypnosis, New Birth, RCA, Talkin' Loud, The Chi-lites, The Dramatics, The Main Ingredient | No Comments »