Listen: Sound Museum / Ken Nordine with The Fred Katz Group
Sound

A rather quirky one from ’59, not unlike some TWILIGHT ZONE episode. The whole EP is a fun, bachelor pad meets lounge listen. Nice sleeve too.

Ken Nordine was a well known voiceover artist of the 50′s with his deep resonance being featured in many commercials and movie trailers. One critic wrote, “You may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you’ll almost certainly recognize his voice.”

I guess jazz does double for anything the media can not easily categorize.

Check out the sound effect around the 2:20 mark. M.I.A., not only did you make a disrespectful fool of yourself on the Super Bowl half time show, you’ve also been punk’d. Please do something original.

Listen: Sugar Shack / Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs
Sugar Shack / Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs

I’m guessing this was submerged into my childhood DNA, because I seem to remember it vividly despite having peaked at #1 in ’63. I can only assume my cousin Peggy played it a lot while babysitting. I get transported back to whenever each time I listen.

Certainly, the obvious similarities with Buddy Holly’s signature sound appeal to me greatly. Given this was recorded at Norman Petty’s Clovis, New Mexico studio, where Buddy Holly had previously launched his career, explains the similarities. But those are all positives.

What kind of keyboard is that anyways? Regardless, ‘Sugar Shack’ makes use of it as the song’s biggest asset, instead of the thousand and one US garage bands from the 60′s that should have been exterminated for just the opposite.

Listen: Bottle Of Wine / The Fireballs
Bottle Of Wine / The Fireballs

Dropping the Jimmy Gilmer moniker, but not Jimmy Gilmer himself, the band signed to Atco and in ’68, released a killer cover of Tom Paxton’s ‘Bottle Of Wine’, complete with finger on the pulse contemporary swagger, swing and sneer.

Listen: Go Home Girl / Arthur Alexander ArthurAlexanderGoHomeGirl.mp3

If you aren’t familiar with ‘You Better Move On’, probably his most successful song, you can pretty much hear it when listening to ‘Go Home Girl’. Not that this is a bad thing, which one might logically assume. Together with a few others he wrote like ‘Anna’ and ‘Everyday I Have To Cry’, Arthur Alexander is credited with premiering southern country soul. No idea if that’s true, but happy to jump on board.

Listen: Everyday I Have To Cry / The Gentrys Gentrys.mp3

Who doesn’t love The Rolling Stones version of ‘You Better Move On’. As well, The Gentrys rendition of ‘Everyday I Have To Cry’, both released in the mid-60′s.

The way history is written, you’d believe the days when original RnB records reaching white kids by anyone other than Pat Boone ended in the late 50′s. Not really true.

Listen: Love Heals / Colours ColoursLoveHeals.mp3

A lot of great records were released in ’67, especially during that year’s summer. Decades later, and yet another genre from the day has found it’s own identity: Sunshine Pop. Not someone who happily admits to being a fan, without question there were some fine, no denying it singles to transport you right back to the moment if in fact you lived it. You couldn’t turn on the radio for more than half an hour and avoid a classic waiting to be. The Forum, Sagittarius, The Avant-Garde, The Cyrkle and The Third Rail all had their airplay moments with mid chart, near hits. Seldom lamented, Colours’ ‘Love Heals’ sits perfectly amongst the crop. Undeniably tinged with British influence, very Beatles to be specific, these one (near) hit wonders even spelled their name the UK way. Not sure about the album, but definitely find the 7″.