New Years Eve with Guy Lombardo!

Guy Lombardo - "New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians" (1973) - MCA Records

Hello Friends,

Holy crapola!  Can you believe its New Year's Eve already?

Seems like just yesterday we got rid of our 2016 New Year's hangover!

Well tonight we're counting down to midnight with the immortal Guy Lombardo, Mr. New Year's Eve himself.

This, undoubtedly, is one of our favorite drinking records of all time!  The record player is cranked and the high balls be flowing!

This record has it all!  Of course, there's Auld Lang Syne.  But there's also fun, upbeat versions of classic dance hall hits: "The Music Goes Round & Round", "Bye Bye Blues", "Beer Barrel Polka", "When You're Smiling", "Bill Bailey" and the super-creepy, "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad)"!  YECH!

But the last track is one of the greatest, end-of-the night drinking ballads, "Show Me The Way To Go Home".  It's the ultimate You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here exit music:

Show Me The Way To Go Home

I'm tired and I want to go to bed

I had a little drink about an hour ago

And it's gone right to my head

Wherever I may roam

On land or sea or foam

You can always hear me singing this song

Show Me The Way To Go

Show Me The Way To Go

Show Me The Way To Go Home....

HAPPY NEW YEARS FRIENDS!  

RATING: 4 Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot out of 5

Merry Christmas! Tom Waits - "Silent Night & Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis"

Merry Christmas Friends!

And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day!

Make it a good one!

Drink a lot, eat a lot and be kind.

Hi-Fi Holidays: Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music

Perry Como - "Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music" (1956) - RCA Victor

Hello Friends,

Well friends, like they say, Christmas just ain't Christmas until you hear Perry Como croon a few classic holiday standards on the ol' holiday turntable.

This LP has been a staple in the Tugent household since little Ned was about knee-high. It's an all-time classic and may have been in more Catholic households than those records of famous JFK speeches. 

Side One contains songs from Como's 1953 sessions with bandleader Mitchell Ayres and has definitely more of a "modern" feel (i.e. "Twas the Night Before Christmas", "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S", etc.)  The songs on Side Two date back to 1946 & 1947 with Como being backed by Russ Case and his orchestra and reek of nostalgia (i.e. "That Christmas Feeling", "I'll Be Home For Christmas", etc.)   

Each and every song is solid; even Como's take on the otherwise awful "12 Days of Christmas" is pretty tolerable here.

The singer is in fine form throughout.  His velvety voice and casual, no-fuss phrasing remind us of a simpler, more relaxed time.  A time far less cynical than today.  A time when it seemed like everyone had a certain spring in their step in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. A time when it seemed like the house smelled like fresh pine and warm baked cookies for the entire month of December.  When every wrapped present posed a universe of possibilities.  A time when Christmas Eve had a quiet electricity and an air of mystery surrounding it.  

They don't make 'em like they used to friends, that's for sure!

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

RATING: 5 saving us all from satan's power out of 5

Sufjan Stevens - "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (2012)

Hello Friends,

Christmas blues still got ya down?  Well if this video doesn't put you in the festive mood, we're not sure what will!  

Nothing quite says 'Merry Christmas' like a slow motion video featuring little girls, creepy Santas, tied up clowns, crime scenes and lumberjacks.  This is probably how David Lynch celebrates the Holidays!

Enjoy!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Psych-Out Christmas

Various Artists - "Psycho-Out Christmas" (2013) - Cleopatra Records

Smoke 'em if you got 'em tonight friends!

Great LP compilation of some really twisted xmas tunes.

Seventeen whacked-out songs to help make your late night holiday chill-out sessions a bit more merry & bright.

SIDE A
1. Intro - Christmas Monster Party (Len Maxwell)
2. Christmas Time (Is Here Again) - Elephant Stone
3. It s Christmas Day - The Cosmonauts
4. Silent Night - Quintron & Miss Pussycat
5. Jul Song - Dark Horses
6. What Child Is This? - Sleepy Sun
7. No More Christmas Blues - The Vacant Lots
8. Time of the Season - Sons of Hippies
9. Santa Claus - The Fuzztones

SIDE B
1. Christmas Tears - Eli Cook
2. Little Drummer Boy - The Movements
3. Jingle Bell Rock - Quintron & Miss Pussycat
4. Frosty The Snowman - The Candy Store
5. Run Rudolph Run - Psychic Ills
6. Mele Kalikimaka - Dead Meadow
7. Jingle Bells - HE 5
8. White Christmas (Guitar Stooge Version) - Iggy Pop


There's some melody-laced Beatles-influence (Montreal's Elephant Stone); VU-inspired guitar rock (California's The Cosmonauts); whacked-out exotica-tinged noise rock (Quintron); warm and cozy dream pop (England's Dark Horses); Pink Floyd-inspired psychedelic jams (California's Sleepy Sun); shoegazing-indie rock (Burlington, Vermont's The Vacant Lots and Sarasota, Florida's Sons of Hippies); and some good ol' fashioned three chord garage rock (NYC's legendary Fuzztones covering a Sonic's classic!)

And that's just Side One!

Side Two contains even more eclectics with some OKAY modern blues courtesy of Billy Gibbons Eli Cook; some more noisy space rock (The Movements, Quintron, Dead Meadow); some Phil Spector-inspired pop (The Candy Store); and some more retro-sounding garage rock (Psychic Ills & HE 5).

Everything comes to stunning conclusion thanks to Iggy Pop's crooning take on the Irving Berlin Classic, "White Christmas".  

Yowsa! For a second we thought the record was playing on too slow a speed, but that's just Iggy's inimitable baritone (plus whatever drinks we've been ingesting!)

There's plenty of guitars, spacey keyboards, weird sound effects and beats to keep your after hours holiday party rolling deep into the nigh.  This record is a must hear especially for fans of Pink Floyd, space rock, The Flaming Lips, Spiritualized and early 90's indie rock.

As Merry Monster MC Len Maxwell states in the intro to the LP, "you should not play this record when the sun is up!"  Agreed!  Who plays records during the day anyways?

RATING: 4 it just doesn't feel like christmas until iggy pop sings white christmas out of 5

The Spirit of Christmas - Mabel Beaton Marionettes and Bell Telephone AT&T (1953)

Hello Friends,

We found this A-MAZING clip online.

Apparently this annual Christmas program starring marionettes and Bell Telephone employees aired every year starting in 1953 on local Philadelphia television station WHYY-TV12.

Ask anybody who grew up in Philly in the 50's or 60's and they'll fondly remember this as one of the first made-for-tv annual holiday specials!  Before Peanuts, before Magoo, before those Rankin-Bass stop-motion classics was "The Spirit of Christmas"!

Enjoy!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas Joy

George Melachrino and his Orchestra - "Christmas Joy" (1959) - RCA Victor

Hello Friends,

Enjoying some Christmas Mood Music tonight at the ol' tiki bar while we get busy testing out various Christmas cocktails! 

Christmas Joy is a fun instrumental album with 16 holiday standards.  Featuring very economical arrangements of the songs that almost sound like they could be used in television episodes or commercials.  Lots of lyrical strings and woodwinds upfront, with brass and percussion used as tasteful window dressing.  Throw in the occasional skating rink-sounding organ and you got yourself an xmas album!  

Decca Records had such great success with Mantovani records in the late 50's that RCA came up their own "Mantovani" in English bandleader George Melachrino.  (Columbia Records had Percy Faith, Capitol had Jackie Gleason, etc.)  The music is moody, pleasantly dated and totally NOT annoying-- a trait that unfortunately plagues many of the orchestral-style records found in your grandparents' closets!

Extra points for the cozy looking album cover!

RATING: 3.5 Good King Wenceslases on the Feast of Stephens out of 5

Hi-Fi Holidays: Chansons de Noel

Various Artists - "Chansons de Noel - Christmas Carols of France" (1956) - Vanguard Recording Society

Bonjour Friends,

Here's a record of eighteen very relaxing Christmas Carols direct from France!

Perfect for an afternoon tea in a fancy Parisian hotel like the ones in those Madeline books!

Hey, at least she's not racist like those Tintin books!

For the most part, we have no idea of what they're singing about as its all in French, however because of the generally reverent tone we figure its mostly about Jesus and Shepherds and croissants and stuff.  Pass the baguette please!

Some songs feature a creepy children's choir while others feature a creepy adult choir.

There's also some fancy (albiet creepy) harpsichord and harp playing throughout.

French stuff = creepy stuff.

Also, minus some points for no "Pat-A-Pan".

A gal by the name of Martha Schlamme is featured as a solo vocalist on some songs and she really brings her holiday "A" game.  Schlamme has a very pretty voice and apparently she was a pretty famous singer in Europe until she emigrated to the United States in the late 40's.  This record seems to stand out a little in her repertoire as she made her bones mostly as singer of Yiddish and German folk songs.  Oy vey!

Once in the U.S., Schlamme made a name for herself performing at nightclubs in the Catskills and the "Borscht belt", while finding time to do the occasional Broadway play or television appearance. 

This records makes us go Oui Oui!  (but so do these martinis!) 

RATING: 3.5 bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabel, bring a torch out of 5

Glen Campbell & Cher - "Jingle Bells" (1969)

Hello Friends,

Here's another clip we found from Glen Campbell's Goodtime Hour Christmas Special from 1969 performing a funked-up version of "Jingle Bells" with the one and only Cher.

In all likelihood, Campbell was under a mountain of "christmas snow" before filming began!

Enjoy!

Glen Campbell - "Old Toy Trains" (1969)

Hello Friends,

Here's a great throwback clip of Glen Campbell performing Roger Miller's "Old Toy Trains" on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Christmas Special from December 1969.

Enjoy!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas With Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell - "Christmas With Glen Campbell" (1971) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

This 1971 Capitol Records release is a bit of a hatchet job.  It's a record with only five Glen Campbell holiday tunes, most of which already appeared on Campbell's 1968 album, That Christmas Feeling.  The rest of the tunes on this LP are pretty much filler courtesy of The Holiday Pops Orchestra and a choral group who call themselves The Voices of Christmas.

Still, Campbell's takes on "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "Silent Night" and Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen's "It Must Be Getting Close To Christmas" are alone worth the price of admission!

RATING: 3 wives charcoal broiling steaks coming up with dishes they'd refuse to make* out of 5 

* These are actual lyrics in the song "It Must Be Getting Close To Christmas" which also includes the humdinger:

Suddenly your slightest wish is their command,

And all at once your favorite things are close at hand, 

And suddenly Lombardo is their favorite band,

It must be getting close to Christmas...

Charles Brown - "Merry Christmas, Baby" (1984)

Its the holidays friends!

Here's some slow & low nightclub blues courtesy of Mr. Charles Brown to help you through your holiday Friday!

Enjoy!

Cheap Trick - "I Want You For Christmas" (2012)

Who doesn't love a little Cheap Trick to you beat those Holiday Blues?

Bing Crosby - "Do You Hear What I Hear" (1963)

Hello Friends,

This familiar holiday song was written by a married couple, Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker, in October 1962 as a plea for peace during the very tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  As the Western World teetered on the brink of all out nuclear annihilation, this song (as performed by the Harry Simeone chorale) became a top-selling hit for the 1962 Holiday season.

A year later, Bing Crosby would record his own hit version which would reach # 2 on the Billboard charts, as well as provide a melancholic backdrop to the days and weeks following the assassination of JFK.

Might be a good Holiday theme song for 2016!

Cheers!

Hi-Fi Holidays: The Nutcracker

Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra - "Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, op. 71 - Complete Ballet" (1955) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

Another edition of Sunday Morning Classics.  Drinking some strong black coffee and cleaning the empty bottles and ashtrays from last night.  

And there's no better way to dance a holiday hangover away than with Tchaikovsky's famous Nutcracker Ballet from 1892.

This is a nifty double-album of the complete Nutcracker Ballet with some pretty impressive packaging.  

Mercury Records claims that this is the first complete recording of Tchaikovksy's most famous work.

Everyone, of course, is very familiar with the far more famous, Nutcracker Suite, which is pretty ubiquitous this time of year.  The suite runs usually about a half an hour whereas the complete version runs closer to 90 minutes; its like the Nutcracker's Greatest Hits.

Pretty extensive liner notes with some cool Wes Anderson-y illustrations throughout the accompanying pages.

RATING: 4.5 Sugar Plum Fairies out of 5

RIP Greg Lake - "I Believe In Father Christmas" (1974)

Man, another one bites the dust in an evergrowing list of dead rock stars in 2016!

We just found out that Greg Lake passed away at the age of 69.

We'll always love Greg Lake for his work on that first King Crimson record, as well as most of the stuff he did with prog rock juggernauts, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  (Especially the early stuff... no thank you Love Beach!)

Plus, 'tis the season... we've always been suckers for his prog rock lite take on the holidays on this song penned by Lake and Peter Sinfield, whose credits include penning lyrics ELP, as well as for those first four Crimson records! 

RIP Greg Lake... oh what a lucky man you was!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Happy Holiday

Peggy Lee - "Happy Holiday" (1965) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're off to a pretty swinging start this year!

Happy Holiday is Peggy Lee's second Xmas LP, following 1960's Christmas Carousel. Actually, Happy Holiday is more of a re-packaging of the former LP with 9 of its 12 songs already existing on the former.

Pretty decent record overall.  There's definitely some jazzy, swinging tracks to help make your cocktails go down a little too easy ("Winter Wonderland", "I Like A Sleighride (Jingle Bells)", "Happy Holiday"), but there's a few cornball tracks thrown in that are kind of like inviting little kids to a late night soiree at the tiki bar!  No thanks!

Peggy Lee has always been at her best with a smoky & sultry ballad and here we get three great ones: Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song", Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn's "The Christmas Waltz" and Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".

Its getting late... Time for another cocktail!

RATING: 4 don't get caught under the mistletoes out of 5

Hi-Fi Holidays!

December's here kids and you know what that means!  We're getting ready to crank up good old fashioned holiday cheer on the holiday turntable!  

We got the records picked out.  Candles are lit.  The tree is up and ready to go. The tiki bar is decorated and well-stocked.  Its cold outside but its as warm as a glass of eggnog in here! 

2016 has been a year full of highs and lows, but we can't say that we'll be sad to see it go! Its nothing a little nostalgia and whiskey won't cure! 

D Generation - "Piece of the Action" (2016)

Happy Friday Friends!

Thank god for some good ol' fashioned rock & roll.

NYC's D Generation has released their first record in over 17 years earlier this year and its a welcome return to the fold for Jesse Malin and the boys.

Like we said, good ol' fashioned rockin' & rollin'.  Like your dad used to like!

Enjoy!