Tag Archives: 1961

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Jump Up

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Jump UpSpice up your mundane Monday with a splash of enthusiasm with Mr. Harry Belafonte and his 1961 smash hit, Jump Up Calypso. The follow-up to 1956’s straight-shooting Calypso, Jump Up is a hurricane in all kinds of weather. Aside from offering both Angelina AND Jump in the Line, Jump Up Calypso was the unofficial soundtrack to the 1988 Tim Burton comedy, Beetlejuice. Listen to this, then watch that, and count how many times this album pops up. I count five, but I haven’t seen the film in a few years.

Monday’s don’t have to be banal. Sprinkle in a dash of Calypso, and your feet will feel as light as Caribbean air.

Also, if you’re in the states, don’t forget to vote tomorrow!

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French, Level One

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FrenchLearn to speak fluid French the laborious way with this 14x 7″ collection from 1961 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. Housed inside a tenacious and stable cardboard box, these flip-tastic records are guaranteed to survive for legions of future French-lovers eager to learn an outdated approach to a beautiful, and alluring language.

Offered on only 28 sides, French Level One will have you screaming, “Mon amour pour les retournements de dossiers ne connaît pas de limites” until you lose your voice.

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Duophonic

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DuophonicThe cheap man’s stereo, Duophonic was little more than a 1961 marketing ploy devised to capitalize on the illuminating craze of stereo LPs, while simultaneously rehashing mono recordings to fool the listener into “hearing” (or “not knowing the difference”) true stereo sound. This Wikipedia article spends a lot more time on the subject than I’m willing to offer this evening.

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Capitol’s “Songs Without Words” Contest

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Songs Without WordsEither Capitol Records was exceptionally hard up for decent songwriters in 1961, or their “Songs Without Words” contest was one of the most dream-fulfilling opportunities ever to hit the record-hoarding public. American Idol for songwriters, and some 41 years prior, Capitol’s “Songs Without Words” contest was an unprecedented marketing ploy that boasted a $500 advance against royalties for publication rights to the Better Homes & Gardens reading, fuel pump-changing, plastic hat-wearing, Leave it to Beaver-style, June and Ward Cleaver-minded entrepreneur with aspirations for stardom, and a little free time on their hands.

The skinny, in a sleeve-shaped nutshell is this… all the enthusiastic, future Paul Simon had to do was acquire the “Songs Without Words” contest album (Capitol Records T-1601 and ST-1601, mono and stereo respectively), listen to the ten, instrumental tracks of varying genres (6x popular, 2x Country & Western, and 2x Rock ‘n’ Roll), isolate the one, don’t mess this up or your future is doomed track that spoke to the lyric-writing demon inside of them, and print or type their lyrics in the space provided on the entry blank located on the back of this sleeve (sleeve desecration was required, and scissors were necessary for cutting along the printed, dotted lines).

BackEntries were, quite stylishly, judged against three separate categories, each based on a 33 1/3 point system (all totaling 99.9 possible points… I see what you did there, 1961 Capitol Records. Kudos to you!) based on the following:

– Appropriateness and suitability (the manner in which the structure and content of the lyrics fits the melody)

– Composition, distinctive style and poetic flair

– Commercial appeal (suitability for presentation to today’s listening audiences)

Apparently nobody (on the internet) knows who any of the 10 winners with executive-pleasing lyrics were, but little forgotten moments in record publishing history like this are certainly entertaining to discover on an otherwise, calamitous Thursday morning.

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Viva Cugat!

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Viva CugatWhile finishing up yet another spin of 1961’s Viva Cugat! by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, and immediately before launching a Taiwanese bootleg of The Best of Frankie Lane, I felt inclined to gander upon the heavily worded inner sleeve to the vivacious Viva Cugat! For reasons that are not entirely clear, Hal Mooney, Mercury Recording Director, made sure to include diagrams to the band arrangement for the three differing recording sessions (spanning three days) used to create this exciting Airport Lounge album. (I’m now using the term Airport Lounge when referring to late 50s, early 60s easy listening lounge of an international nature.)

Xavier CugatI’ve been heavily into the space age pop, easy listening, cool lounge vibe lately. I’m not entirely sure why this particular genre is monopolizing my ear, but Viva Cugat! is certainly a welcoming addition, which has yielded multiple spins within the past week. Stick with what’cha dig, I suppose. On a side note, I just learned that the plural for cello is celli, so, that’s something.Arrangement

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AVLINNN!!!

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ChipmunksUrgency is the name of the game. Be it sped up dialogue from unknown voice actors, or last minute post writing by yours truly. As a kid growing up in the 80s (oh, how I miss the 80s), I’d solely known the Chipmunks from the animated classic, Alvin and the Chipmunks. You remember Alvin and the Chipmunks, don’t you? Do-do, dodododo! No, well… isn’t my face as red as a raging radish?!

This 1961 release from Mistletoe Records features these playful little rascals harmoniously banging out such classics as Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Up on the House Top, and many others. It’s difficult not to like the Chipmunks, but like most everything around the holiday season, they’re best kept at bay, or at the very least, in a rusted cage where they belong.

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The Hottest LP Album in the Teen World!

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Teen-Age Best Sellers“It’s Pony Time” here at The Prudent Groove, and we hope you didn’t forget to pack your fluffy turtlenecks, your mid-Roxanne singing face, your spotted checker board (a chubby thickness is preferred, but not required), and of course, “one of the most popular albums in the history of the record industry!”

Apparently, by 1961, the one-two punch of Bobby Rydell & Chubby Checker was considered one of the greatest musical achievements the world has ever seen! I’m certainly not knocking either Bob or Chub, but it’s somewhat easy to see how the explosion of teen-friendly, NON-twist-inspired music was so effective when it hit the unsuspecting faces of vocal-chord-screaming teens just a few years later.

Milked within in inch of its life, The Twist, and the plethora of deviations it spawned, lived an extremely short life when considering what timeless masterworks would follow it with the onslaught of the British Invasion. Twisting, it seems, is like the Macarena. You never really forget how to do it, but there are certainly times when you wish you could.

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The World’s First Stereo Scored Orchestra

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Hits Cover101 Strings, not unlike Dalmatians, is a wondrous sight to behold. Apart from being a monumental mass of “the finest musicians in Europe today” (circa: 1961), the wistful beauty discharged from these prominent performers is seductively pleasing to both the visual, as well as the hearing senses. Coupled with (The Wondrous World of) Stereo Fidelity, a US based subsidiary of Somerset Records, these 10 Italian hits that make up, well, Italian Hits, emerge from the stereo with a protuberant level of piercing and erotic joy, that is seemingly unheard of today, let alone in 1961.

Hits BackTouching upon such Italian classics as Volare, Cha-Cha Italiano, La Dolce Vita, and Ciao Ciao Bambino (which translates into “Hello Hello Baby”), Italian Hits, as far as I can tell, does a satisfactory job of representing exactly what the back cover boasts: The Biggest Popular Hit Songs from Italy in the Past Ten Years. A “Pop” Program in the Sound of Magnificence.

I’ve never been to Italy, but thanks to 101 Strings and the four, straw-sucking minxes on the cover, I feel as though Italy is as close as a car jam on the 405.Stereo Fidelity_smaller

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The First Man in Space

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JoseIt’s not often that ignorance yields new chapters in listening entertainment. Take for example, if you will, Jose Jimenez The Astronaut: The First Man in Space. Don’t actually take it, I’m still listening to it. Acquired for its early-60s-kitchy-spaceage cover (and for only $3), I was comfortable that whatever ear-food was pressed on either side of this record would be worth my time, worth exploring (as in, out in space), and certainly worth $3. What I found was a sliver of comic history that I never knew existed.

José Jiménez was a fictional character played by the comedian Bill Dana, who is neither Hispanic, nor an astronaut. First appearing on The Steve Allen Show back in 1959, José Jiménez, or rather Bill Dana portraying this character he’d invented, gained considerable popularity throughout the 60s, appearing on television (The Steve Allen Show and The Ed Sullivan Show) as well as releasing seven LPs and two singles.

Jose BackBill Dana would tread José Jiménez through various professions before landing (a little space humor) on his most popular role, the astronaut. This character’s popularity was so strong, that he was properly (and all official-like) made an honorary Mercury astronaut.

José Jiménez, the character, has been referenced in everything from Seinfeld to Mystery Science Theater 3000, to The Right Stuff, to The Wonder Years, to Get Smart, and even The Larry Sanders Show.

It’s amusing to discover hidden pockets of pop culture that date back over five decades. This record was released in 1960, and it traveled 53 years to reach my ears. Well done, Mr. Jiménez … well done indeed.Jose Poquito