So, I'm back--and I've joined the FLAC community. A very simple matter of two or three program settings. And it's almost ironic that I'm utilizing a lossless format for an SPC LP!! That's almost a contradiction in logic.
But this is great, great stuff. The Crescendos, though their fame was limited to Oh, Julie, were an unusually talented doo-wop quintet (and they were a quintet, despite the four-member pose used for this LP). As far as I know, and thanks to my friend Brian McFadden's wonderful Rock Rarities for a Song and the handy listings at Discogs, my guess is that half of these cuts were either demo recordings or simply unreleased Nasco or Scarlet label sides. In fact, I'm partly echoing one of Brian's conclusions. Anyway, the Crescendos' only LP, and it's a budget exploitation-product containing a mere eight tracks. But the music, to my ears at least, is rock and roll gold.
And these guys clearly had fantastic potential, and it's too bad their potential wasn't properly fulfilled. But they gifted us with these sides, so... And I've augmented the eight tracks with (you'll never guess) two budget knockoffs--one from Broadway/Eli Oberstein, and the other from Hollywood (original source unknown). And a reminder that Oberstein's Halo/Ultraphonic/etc. LPs utilized Broadway material (masters released, in turn, on Broadway's "Value" sublabels). My Halo Tops in Pops LP was too hammered, and so I ripped the first Oh Julie (aka, Oh, Julie) knockoff from a choppy but salvable Value Hit Parade Tunes release (12 Hit Parade Tunes). This stuff gets complicated.
But this is great, great stuff. The Crescendos, though their fame was limited to Oh, Julie, were an unusually talented doo-wop quintet (and they were a quintet, despite the four-member pose used for this LP). As far as I know, and thanks to my friend Brian McFadden's wonderful Rock Rarities for a Song and the handy listings at Discogs, my guess is that half of these cuts were either demo recordings or simply unreleased Nasco or Scarlet label sides. In fact, I'm partly echoing one of Brian's conclusions. Anyway, the Crescendos' only LP, and it's a budget exploitation-product containing a mere eight tracks. But the music, to my ears at least, is rock and roll gold.
And these guys clearly had fantastic potential, and it's too bad their potential wasn't properly fulfilled. But they gifted us with these sides, so... And I've augmented the eight tracks with (you'll never guess) two budget knockoffs--one from Broadway/Eli Oberstein, and the other from Hollywood (original source unknown). And a reminder that Oberstein's Halo/Ultraphonic/etc. LPs utilized Broadway material (masters released, in turn, on Broadway's "Value" sublabels). My Halo Tops in Pops LP was too hammered, and so I ripped the first Oh Julie (aka, Oh, Julie) knockoff from a choppy but salvable Value Hit Parade Tunes release (12 Hit Parade Tunes). This stuff gets complicated.
Where was I? So, one Nasco cut (the title track), plus three from Scarlet Records. And the Crescendos' impressive versality shines through in this short playlist, I think--and their supporting harmonies are exceptional. The female voice which appears on two (three?) cuts belongs to Janice Green. Now you know.
I honestly never gave Oh, Julie much thought, and it certainly wasn't on my list of favorite 1950s r&r hits. But it is now. I have a junk-label gem of an LP to thank for this. And, actually, the front jacket almost makes this release look like a "legit" one--i.e., from a non-rack-jobber label. Emphasis on almost.
With each listen, this is becoming one of my favorite LPs. And... I added an image in 11's Media Player app, but it doesn't seem to have taken. Ah, the new, totally useless Windows Media Player. And the FLAC folder link might noy be working properly--let me know. It seems to be taking me back to my OneDrive folder, which is NOT what I want.
I honestly never gave Oh, Julie much thought, and it certainly wasn't on my list of favorite 1950s r&r hits. But it is now. I have a junk-label gem of an LP to thank for this. And, actually, the front jacket almost makes this release look like a "legit" one--i.e., from a non-rack-jobber label. Emphasis on almost.
With each listen, this is becoming one of my favorite LPs. And... I added an image in 11's Media Player app, but it doesn't seem to have taken. Ah, the new, totally useless Windows Media Player. And the FLAC folder link might noy be working properly--let me know. It seems to be taking me back to my OneDrive folder, which is NOT what I want.
DOWNLOAD: Oh Julie SPC.zip FLAC
Oh Julie (Nasco, 1958)
Julie Anna
Katie Doll
Angel Face (Scarlet Records, 1961)
Without Love
I'm So Ashamed (Scarlet Records, 1961)
Let's Take a Walk (Scarlet Records)
Oh, Julie--The Corwins, 1958 (Value VLP-107)
Oh Julie--(Unknown, from The Nation's 12 Big Hit Recordings, Broadway LPH-139)
Lee
12 comments:
I can hear the tunes, but see no way to download.
I know NOTHING about One Drive. Gotta "sign in"? Gotta "have an account"? Or?
Additionally...for whatever reason, I can't even get a comment published here using Firefox. Had to switch over to Chrome. Didn't used to be that way. The new normal?
Okay, I think I got it right this time. I just put the FLAC folder in a zip file, and now it seems to be showing up properly. Sorry about the problems. It should be fine now.
Good....working OK now. Shows a message regarding no preview available, but still downloads fine.
Got it ok why do flac not show the art in the file when you play them?
Apesville,
I wish I knew. I tried twice to affix the image in the Media Player app, but for some reason it didn't take. Probably some minor technicality. MP worked pretty well in 10, but in 11 it seems prone to all kinds of issues...
So great to finally have you back! For several years, I had the SPC Four Seasons Guest Star LP that had both sides of the Four Seasons Gone 45 ("Bermuda" and "Spanish Lace") and had the Crescendos tracks listed as by "The Barrons." There are some great selections on this album, including "Katie Anna." I now have an original pristine 45 of "Oh Julie" that was in a 45 case that had several pristine original pressings of such artists as Elvis and Bill Haley, with several of them having the original 45 EP and picture sleeves! Got the whole case for $4.99 at Goodwill, who has now raised their prices from a quarter to 49 cents for most of their product; some big names LP's range from 99 cents to $1.99. That is still cheap compared to some Goodwills in this country.
Also, if you have the SPC version of the Tijuana Jail, you can post it alongside either the Tops Tom Dooley or the SPC A Worried Man for a snazzy fake Kingston Trio video over at Lee's Fake Hits. Looking forward to more new posts!
Hi Lee,
On my advanced Windows 11 edition, I belong to the Insider Program, and Windows Media Player says it could not modify some FLAC files. So, I converted them all to MP3 @ 320kbps. Then Windows Media Player attached the artwork without any problems.
But I know what you mean. In the past, I have had some problems with Windows Media Player attaching artwork.
Other than this, the album is quite interesting. Nice choice in sharing it.
Oh, no problem with using FLAC, but any FLAC and iTunes M4A files, I need to convert them anyway. While they play on my computer, they do not play on my MP3 players.
Hey Lee, thanks for the share! I've recently started using Windows Media Player on a new laptop, and I've noticed it doesn't play well with FLAC files and images. I use a little piece of software called MP3Tag to add images as well as handle the bulk of my tagging now. Contrary to it's name, it handles many files formats other than MP3. Been very happy with it other than some mismatches between how it and some of my other softwares handle the composer credits and images for WAV files. But otherwise it's great. (WAV files didn't used to let you have any metadata at all, so being able to even tag those files with basic data is a huge help to my workflow) Give it a try if you get a chance, I use it a dozen times a day. And welcome back to Blogging Land!
Bryan,
I discovered the Windows Media Player Legacy (different app--older, maybe?) allows me to affix images. And my first attempt at adding "art" with Mp3tag didn't work, but it must have been some error on my part. And my VinylStudio are WAV files prior to being exported, and so I can simply burn them to CD-Rs as such. And glad you enjoyed the album--it's a budget-bin gem!
Ernie,
Thanks for the welcome back! And, as noted above, I had no success when I tried Mp3tag, but I must have done something wrong--I'll give it another go. And, re WAVE files and metadata, with my old MAGIX Cleaning Lab software, I was able to do some limited tagging, though I lost a good 50 percent of what I'd added whenever retrieving tracks from CD-Rs. And program mismatch is something my OCD brain worries about, but not much we can do about that!
Er, WAV files... I only use WAVE files for surf music.
Hi Lee,
While it is rare that I use Legacy, which is much older, I never knew you could add artwork to the files. When I open it, it starts going through my computer, adding MP3 albums to it in storage.
Besides, being a Windows Insider, they are always updating the Windows program. When they do, certain things I have set up to act a certain way revert back to the original setup. Annoying, to say the least.
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