Saturday, June 26, 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pete Moore Orchestra - Exciting Sounds Of Tomorrow (1970)





















Pete pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa Moore is probably best-known for the 13 seconds of Asteroid, AKA the Pearl and Dean theme.  However, there was a lot more to him than that, as this fantastic album clearly shows.  The album is not only packed with great covers; Green Onions, Route 66, etc but also includes two well-known self-penned monsters, Catwalk and Take 8.

I'm not saying it's my favourite album of all-time, but it's certainly in my top one...

Monday, June 21, 2010

R.I.P Frank Sidebottom





















Totally unrelated to my blog I know, but I was sad to hear that Frank Sidebottom, AKA Chris Sievey died after collapsing at home during the night, aged only 54.  Frank gave me a lot of pleasure over the years and I saw him live many times during the 80s and 90s.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Alan Tew - The Magnificent Swingers (1970)




















To be honest I wasn't going to post anything else for a couple of days, but it's getting on here at In-Flight HQ and the weekend is nearly over, so I thought I'd share this little gem from Alan Tew to cheer myself up before the working week begins.  I really must start buying those lottery tickets...

Apologies as this is annoyingly crackly in some places.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Harry Stoneham - Solid Gold Hammond (1971)




















Great album from our man at the BBC.  I'm a big fan of Harry, so there'll be lots more to come.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Norrie Paramor and his Orchestra - Law Beat (1974)





















Fantastically funky version of Theme From New Scotland Yard on this.

Popular Guide To Stereo (1973)




















Now like a lot of people I'm a big fan of labels; Studio 2 Stereo, Phase 4, etc.  One of my favourites is Rediffusion, who in the 60s used to run a TV Network here in the UK.  They lost their licence towards the end of the decade and moved into music. 

This is a nice example of one of their samplers.  There is some narration by BBC science boffin James Burke (whatever happened to him?).  They'v even thrown in a stereo balance check for good measure!  Some lovely stuff from Pete Moore, Alan Moorhouse and Ray Martin.  

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Marvin Hamlisch - Bond '77 (1977)





















My favourite James Bond theme interpretation.  This is a great single as it has the equally lovely Ride To Atlantis on the flip.  A different mix to the album version.

A few years back my wife and I went to see a Bond Night at the Birmingham Symphony Hall with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.  The evening was hosted by the lovely Honor Blackman.  The music was, of course, fantastic.  The orchestra did both of these tracks.  Their version of Bond '77 was amazing!

If you've never heard this version of the famous theme then you're in for a real treat.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Total Sound (1969)




















Nice Studio 2 compilation this one.  Tracks from Enoch Light, Tony Mottola, etc

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Les Reed Sound - New Dimensions (1968)




















The Les Reed Sound - New Dimensions (1968)

Jerry Allen - Get Your Party Organised (1965)




















OK, so some of the tracks on here are a little "difficult" to listen to.  For example, I dislike March Of The Mods whoever it's by.  However, there are some crackers, particularly the self-penned tracks such as Organ And Blues.  There's an excellent version of Can't Buy Me Love on here too.  They've even managed to wangle the word organ in the title.  Genius. I love it when they do that.

Not sure who that is on the cover.  Frank Sidebottom's dad perhaps.