Bob McFadden & Dor - Songs Our Mummy Taught Us

Robert "Bob" McFadden (19 January 1923 — 7 January 2000) was a singer and voiceover actor best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His best known characters were Milton the Monster, Cool McCool, and the ThunderCats' Snarf. In cereal commercials, he played Franken Berry and others.

McFadden was born in East Liverpool, Ohio and was in the United States Navy in World War II when he got his start as a singer and impressionist. He went on to do an opening act for the likes of Harry Belafonte in Pittsburgh where he worked at a steel mill. McFadden continued in this vein for years until a move to New York in the mid 1960s, which resulted in a great deal of voice-over work in commercials and animation. In the late 1950s he collaborated with Rod McKuen on a single entitled "The Mummy", the "B" side "The Beat Generation" parodied the then-emerging literary community of the name; on this record, McKuen used the pseudonym "Dor" and later claimed that Bill Haley & His Comets were the band used for the recording session, though this has not been confirmed. McFadden and McKuen also released a full-length album in 1959 called "Songs Our Mummy Taught Us" (Brunswick 54056). In 1963, McFadden released the parody album "Fast, Fast Relief From TV Commercials" (Audio Fidelity AFSD 6112).

He lived in Leonia, New Jersey. McFadden continued to work until the late 1980s, when poor health put him into retirement. He died in Delray Beach, Florida in 2000, twelve days before he would have turned 77.

01 - The Mummy
02 - The Shreik Of Agony (Shreik Of Agony-Cha Cha Cha)
03 - Shake, Rattle And Roll
04 - I Dig You Baby
05 - Frankie And Igor At A Rock And Roll Party
06 - Noisy Village
07 - Son Of The Mummy
08 - More Sing Along With The Mummy
09 - Bingo
10 - The Children Cross The Bridge/Inter/Colonel Bogey March
11 - The Beat Generation
12 - The Beverly Hills Telephone Directory Cha Cha Cha


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Cozy Cole - Cozy Cole Hits!

Who ever said jazz drummers couldn't rock??

Here we have one of the greatest & wildest drummers, Mr. Cozy Cole himself!

This is a very hard-to-find album, in which figures his best known masterpiece, "Topsy Parts I & II", and a lot of lost treasures.

Every single song starts with a "big" voice introduction, which makes me smile everytime, and of course the Allan Hartwell big band is really heavy.

I wouldn't say it's definitely my favorite jazz album, because it doesn't seem only restricted to that kind of music to me.. it's somethin' like "Big Beat"! Yeah that's it, if you dig that sound!

01 - Topsy I (Original Version)
02 - Bad
03 - Turvy I
04 - Afro-Caravan
05 - Topsy-Turvy I
06 - Topsy II (Original Version)
07 - Charleston
08 - Turvy II
09 - Late & Crazy
10 - Topsy-Turvy II
11 - Crescendo
12 - Topsy (Part I)
13 - Topsy (Part II)
14 - North Beach
15 - Let There Be Drums
16 - Ol' Man Mose
17 - Sing! Sing! Sing! (With A Swing)
18 - Big Noise From Winnetka (Part I)
19 - Big Noise From Winnetka (Part II)
20 - Christopher Columbus
21 - A Cozy Beat
22 - Rockin' Drummer
23 - Indian Love Call (Part I)
24 - Indian Love Call (Part II)


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R.I.P. Dale Hawkins

The rock & roll tornado lost his long battle with cancer, on february the 13th.
Dale's music will never be forgotten, he had a lot of wild presence in his voice and all the instrumentals were outstanding. I don't really know what to say about him because I didn't know him personally, but I can confirm he was a real cool cat.
My thoughts go to his family...

The Equals - A Retrospective Journey

 

Line-Up :

Derv Gordon - Lead vocals 

Lincoln Gordon - Guitar 

Eddy Grant - Guitar 

Pat Lloyd - Bass guitar 

John Hall - Drums

What to say about this awesome & forgotten band? At first, I didn't know this band before watching a Senders live video @ CBGB's, covering "Baby Come Back".. yeah, I came across internet, listening to the original version, and instantly thought "Damn, I sure have heard this tune at least three times!". So four times a fool! Whatever...

Some call The Equals a "skinhead band", others a "pop group", personnally I'd define it as true R&B.

From Wikipedia :

They started rehearsing on a council estate at Hornsey Rise, North London in 1965. In 1966 the group released the "Hold Me Closer" / "Baby Come Back" single, which did not capture much attention in the United Kingdom. However, in Germany and The Netherlands it went to #1 - a position its re-issue would later reach in the UK. Thus, the racially mixed London group gave President Records their only number one hit. A gold disc was presented to the group in June 1968 for a combined one million sales of the record. The year 1968 saw the release of "I Get So Excited" which appeared in the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. It was reported in September 1969 that all five members of the group had been injured in Germany, when their car ran off a motorway in a gale.

A string of single releases followed up to 1970, all of which charted in the UK. The group also attracted attention as one of the few racially integrated bands of the 1960s, which was reflected in the group's name: The Equals.

Following a collapsed lung and heart infection which put him out of action at the beginning of 1971, Grant went home to Guyana. He promptly left The Equals to pursue his solo career. In the late 1970s and early 1980s released several Top 40 singles, including "Living On The Front Line", "Electric Avenue" and "Romancing the Stone". Grant also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1982 with "I Don't Wanna Dance". Although The Equals never charted again after Grant's departure, they remained a popular live act, performing into the late 1970s and beyond.

In the late 1970s, The Clash recorded a successful cover version of The Equals' song "Police On My Back". In 2006 Willie Nile released his cover of "Police on My Back" on his Streets of New York CD.

The Equals' song "Green Light" was covered by The Detroit Cobras, on their 2007 album, Tied & True.

The song "Baby Come Back" refused to go away. It returned in 1994, when Pato Banton scored an unexpected UK number one with his cover.

01 - Baby Come Back
02 - I Get So Excited
03 - Laurel And Hardy
04 - Viva Bobby Joe
05 - I Won't Be There
06 - Michael And The Slipper Tree
07 - Green Light
08 - Help Me Simone
09 - Have I The Right
10 - I Can't Let You Go
11 - Police On My Back
12 - Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys
13 - Diversion
14 - Honey Gum
15 - I Can See, But You Don't Know
16 - Funky Funky
17 - Softly Softly
18 - Rub A Dub Dub
19 - Giddy Up A Ding Dong
20 - Hold Me Closer


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Here's a great gig in Germany, '66 :

1: Baby Come Back/2: Baby You're Sad/3: I Won't Be There/4: Hold Me Closer

And here's the great cover of "Baby Come Back" by The Senders @ CBGB's, '90 :