Seventeen tracks, ripped from both stereo and mono LPs, with (alas) no provision for a stereo-to-mono change for individual tracks. Hence, the mono tracks aren't channel-summed, but life can be like that. I'm now using VinylStudio as my stand-alone ripping and editing program (since my "ancient" MAGIX software has ceased to operate properly), and after a couple hours of learning the basics, I experienced a complicated glitch--one which had both me AND the AlpineSoft (makers of VS) help person puzzled. And, somehow, I was the first to figure out the problem. Namely, I had "cut" several sections of the audio project file, but upon saving/exporting the tracks, those deleted areas remained (not being "recognized" as deletions, which threw off my track indications). I communicated my theory to the tech, he confirmed it, and he promised that the issue would be fixed. How about that?
Meanwhile, I went to extra trouble to rescue these tracks--Namely, by burning them to CD-R (directly from VS), then RE-burning them and labeling everything in Mp3tag. For some reason, the ripping software initially auto-identified the project as a Lena Horne album. Yeah, no one sounds more like Carmen Cavallaro than Lena, I must say.
As ever, my "VA" collection hosts no theme, beyond an emphasis on fun and interesting tracks. (I think so, anyway.) We start with Lester Lanin's Salute to the Beatles, one of the earliest Fab Four acknowledgments in the post-teen-listener realm. (Other "pioneers" in this regard include Henry Mancini, Herman Clebanoff--who is in this list--, and the Johnny Mann Singers.) And, no offense to Arthur Fiedler, but his ridiculous take on I Want to Hold Your Hand turned me off to any and all Boston-Pops Beatles treatments. Pretentious in a truly obnoxious way, that performance is sheer middlebrow junk. A portent of "Pops" to come. (No, I'm not a Pops fan. How did you guess?)
Lanin's Salute to the Beatles, by contrast to Arthur, is great fun--and surprisingly effective. It rocks! Clearly, composers Lowe (?) and Lanin set out to faithfully capture the Invasion sound, and they did fine. Carmen Cavallaro's 1951 Deep Night will always be one of my most favorite cuts, and though it's not technically exotica, it sounds very much like same. So, in that regard, it is exotica. Gimmick-free exotica, its impact owing to genius musicianship from all involved. Andre's You and the Night and the Music is, to my ears, perfect mood music, and it dates back to at least 1950, if not earlier. Then, Clebanoff's terrific 1964 EZ-ized "P.S. I Love You," credited to "McCartney-Lennon." From the conductor's Teen Hits LP, which unfortunately contains too few genuinely "teen" numbers.
Day Dream is from the amazing 1957 Joe Reisman LP, Door of Dreams, and it was penned by Irving Joseph and Joseph (Psycho) Stefano during the latter's brief songwriting stint. Joe went on to write the brilliant screenplay for Hitchcock's Psycho, and he produced the first season of the best sci-fi show in TV history, The Outer Limits (as in, the original; don't get me started on the reboot). Hard to believe that it's already 17 years since Joe's passing! Stefano's least celebrated (but highly-rated) effort was the TV movie, Snowbeast. I've seen it, and it's bad. I hope JS got a Bigfoot-sized paycheck, anyway.
Joey's Song (did somebody say "Joe"?) has Joe Reisman presenting his own song in an especially catchy version. On to Bobby Vinton, still with us and an unusually talented teen-idol singer whom I saw in person at the 1965 or 1966 Lucas County Fair. The big surprise was that my Dad, a jazz musician and highly vocal nonfan of rock and roll, was pleased by Vinton's performance. And we have 1965's Tina, co-written by Vinton and gorgeously produced, plus the Burt Bacharach-conducted (and redundantly titled!) Forever Yours I Remain, miscredited to "David Bacharach." Hm. One of Burt's brothers? Anyway, one of the finest little-known Burt numbers.
Above: Vic Damon Sings
Vic Damone's superb 1959 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes is not the equally memorable Bobby Vee number, and unfortunately we're hearing it in faux stereo. Which takes nothing away from the expert performance and score, of course. Probably my favorite Damone side, and sometimes I think this fabulous vocalist don't get enough respect. Then, speaking of Bacharach-David soul/R&B, we have Tom Jones' excellent 1968 rendering of I Wake Up Crying. I recall it was sometime during the 1980s that I realized I love Tom Jones. His singing, that is. This great talent is still with us, and I'll never forget his NPR interview in which Tom demonstrated a razor-sharp sense of humor and humble sense of self. Talk about a "real"-person celebrity. Then, some extremely well-done 1961 Ray Ellis (and Chorus) renderings of School is Out, Pretty Little Angel Eyes, and Little Sister (forgive the slightly early cutoff). Ray Ellis, sounding in 1961 like the musical director for Grease. Uncanny.
1954's Stomp and Whistle is an expertly performed rock and roll side by David Carroll, of all people. (Harry James also covered this number.) And the Ray Charles Singers' 1968 Windy is pure "EZ" Top-40 as it once existed on FM. Lovely nostalgia. Great jacket, too.
More EZ, courtesy of Horst Jankowski, with a fine cover of the Jimmy Webb classic, Mac Arthur Park (or, if you're Richard Harris, Mac Arthur's Park), and a Jankowski-co-written instrumental And We Got Love (Ein Hoc der Liebe), which I found irresistible. And it was in the mid-1980s that EZ radio stations suddenly dropped the classic, relaxing Jankowski/Kostelanetz/Conniff style in favor of an annoying thump-a-dump variety clearly designed to please my generation's love for what I term "thump-thump." The change seemed to occur overnight--weird. That's when I gave up on EZ. (A good book title, there.)
To the music...
DOWNLOAD: Various Artists March 2025.zip
Salute to the Beatles--Lester Lanin, 1964
Deep Night--Carmen Cavallaro, piano with orch. and female sextette, 1951
You and the Night and the Music--Andre Kostelanetz and His Orch., 1950 or earlier
P.S. I Love You--The Clebanoff Strings and Orch., 1964
Day Dream--Joe Reisman and His Orch., 1957
Joey's Song--Same
Tina--Bobby Vinton, Arr. and Cond. by Charles Carello, 1965
Forever Yours I Remain--Bobby Vinton, Arr. Burt Bacharach, 1965
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes--Vic Damone, Glenn Osser Orch. and Cho., 1959
I Wake up Crying--Tom Jones, 1968
School Is Out--Ray Ellis Orch. and Chorus, 1961
Pretty Little Angel Eyes--Same
Little Sister--Same
Stomp and Whistle--David Carroll and His Orch., 1954
Windy--The Ray Charles Singers, 1968
Mac Arthur Park--Horst Jankowski, 1968
And We Got Love (Ein Hoch der Liebe)--Same
Lee
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