Merry Christmas

Various Artists - A Popcorn Christmas

Let's jingle jangle Popcorn style, 30 tunes to help you to get into that Christmas mood.

Tracklist in the comments.
Download links part 1 & 2:
http://rapidshare.com/files/8533697/APC1.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/8534587/APC2.zip.html

Various Artists - A Jamaican Christmas

Another christmas compilation for you, this time from Jamaica. Here it is for you a tropical Christmas jamboree.

Tracklist in the comments.
Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/7669459/AJC.zip.html

Documentary: Motown 40

Here's a great documentary about The Motown label and it's artists in 4 parts. Some of you Popcorn oldies lovers will especially like some of the rare clips shown in this documentary, check it out !

Len Wade - Which Way Do I Go

By special request i uploaded this nice song by Len Wade released in 1966. Here you go Michel.

Download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O42V527I

Theo Dumoulin's Popcorn Radio Show

If you like Popcorn oldies then i recoment Theo Dumoulin's Popcorn radio program. The quality of his radio show is very good and he gives a lot of background info about the tunes he plays. Theo moved from Radio 192 to Laserradio a couple of years ago, he's one of the first Dj's who promote the "Popcorn" sound in the Netherlands. His radio show can be heared every first saturday of the month from 20:00 - 22:00 (Eur.), thats from 2 - 4 pm (Est.)

His show can be listened to in 2 ways:

1. By internet radio:

http://abmedia.goldenxs.nl:8001/laserradio/listen.pls

2. By Podcast (old broadcasts):

http://podplaza.nl/index.php?action=showpage&show_id=179

So check his show out and listen to those forgotten oldies.


http://www.laserradio.nl/

Dion - Ruby Baby

Dion, Scopitone style.

James Darren - Because You're Mine

A Scopitone from James Darren plus some sexy girls, woopie.

Zanini - Tu Veux Ou Tu Veux Pas

Another Scopitone, this time a French tune.

Dick & Dee Dee - Where Have All The Good Times Gone

Another nice Scopitone.

Joi Lansing - The Web Of Love

Here is a very sexy Scopitone by Joi Lansing, purrrrrrrrrrrr.

What's A Scopitone?It's a "Film Jukebox" invented in France in the early 1960's (from surplus World War II airplane parts!) and also the films (the precursors of todays music videos) which played on it.

I will post more Scopitones clips soon.

Link: http://www.scopitones.com/

Various Artists - A Doowop Christmas Pt. 2

Thanks for all the comments, as promised here is part 2.

Tracklist is in the comments.
Download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/6837045/ADCP2.zip.html

Various Artists - A Doowop Christmas Pt. 1

It's december so time for some christmas music. First some doowop, here is part one of "A Doowop Christmas". Just let me know if you like this and i will post part two also.

Tracklist is in the comments.
Download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/6498917/ADCP1.zip.html

The Bell Sisters - Bermuda

How cute, the original version of "Bermuda" by The Bell Sisters on the Dinah Shore show in 1952.

Various Artists - Fever Part One

"Fever" a tale of passionate love was originally recorded by a singer named Little Willie John. In 1937, he was born William Edgar John in Arkansas. He was one of the first R&B singers, fairly popular in the late '50s and early '60s. Although he was a major influence on Soul singers of the '60s, he remains relatively unknown today. His nickname came from his slight height - he was only 5'4". After stabbing a man to death, he was jailed for manslaughter and died in prison when he was only 30 years old. The cause of his death is disputed - with reasons given ranging from a heart attack, pneumonia, asphyxiation, or as the result of beatings received in prison. His songs have been covered by many artists - The Beatles recorded "Leave My Kitten Alone" for the Beatles for Sale sessions, but never released it (It did appear on their Anthology 1 cd-set). Little Willie John was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

There is some controversy over who wrote this, but according to Otis Blackwell, he wrote it with Eddie Cooley. Otis Blackwell was a singer/songwriter/pianist, but most well-known for his songwriting. Some famous songs he wrote/co-wrote are "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," "Return To Sender," "One Broken Heart For Sale," "Easy Question," "Great Balls of Fire," "Just Keep It Up," and "Handy Man." Cooley was a songwriting partner on many of his songs, and according to Blackwell, they had an agreement that Cooley would split his weekly paycheck as a jeweler with him. They would pen songs together and Blackwell would go to New York City to "hustle" them. Blackwell had this credited to the name John Davenport (his stepfather) because he was under contract at RCA and was concerned he wouldn't get royalties for it. Blackwell said in an interview that Little Willie John didn't want to record this at first because he didn't like the finger snapping.

Peggy Lee recorded the most famous version of this song. She was born Norma Deloris Egstrom on May 26, 1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota. Her break came when she was discovered by bandleader Benny Goodman. Lee was a Blues-influenced Jazz singer and also a songwriter, with such hits as the songs from Disney's Lady and the Tramp, in which she also sang and voiced a few characters. A triple-threat of her day, she was also an actress with a role in a remake of The Jazz Singer and was nominated for an Oscar for her role as an alcoholic Blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues.

There are many more artists who recorded "Fever". This is a compilation of a couple of them. The last four songs on this compilation are not the song "Fever" but have the same instrumental drive. Check it out.

Tracklist in the comments.
Download link (Rapidshare):
http://rapidshare.com/files/5345649/FPO.zip.html
Download link (Bestsharing):
http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ms001179525/FPO.zip.html

Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano

Various Artists - Popcorn Cha Cha Girls

Here's another Popcorn Cha Cha compilation for you to download, especially for Franky from Belgium. Check out La Lupe's "Take It Easy", a latin version of The Skatalites "Corner Stone".

Tracklist in the comment.
Download link: http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ms001179450/Popcorn%20Cha%20Cha%20Girls.zip.html

The Jokers - Taboo

Here are The Jokers from Antwerp (Belgium) with their "Popcorn" version of Taboo (Tabu).

Various Artists - Vigerton Two

More early reggae, this time instrumentals from other producers then Coxsone Dodd. If you have a good musical ear you will hear a couple of musicians appearing in more then one group. For example Jackie Jackson (Bass), Winston Wright (Organ) And Hugh Malcom (Drums) appeared in The Crystalites, The Upsetters, The Dynamites, The Rhythm Rulers, ofcourse The Supersonics and many more studio groups.

The song "Vigerton Two" was a song written by King Stitt. Stitt who hang around with Coxsone, in the beginning didn't got the chance to record for him, because Coxsone thought then that King Stitt couldn't make a record. Clancy Eccles, a young starting producer then, tought he could and recorded "Fire Corner". Two months later he saw Coxsone at his shop with a trousy (long) face, Stitt recorded first for Clancy and not for him. So together with Jack Ruby Stitt came up then with the idea of "Vigerton Two" (Vigerton Two was a tonic wine they used to advertise on the Jamaican radio in the 60's).

"Look how you sad and blue,
I King Stitt has got a new discovery for you,
The thank god Vigerton Two, lord have mercy...."

The tracklist is in the comment.
Download link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/3370179/Vigerton_Two.zip.html

The Blues Busters - I Don't Know

Here are The Blues Busters live with Byron lee & The Dragonairs at The Sombrero Club in 1962.

The Skatalites - Corner Stone

Here is the Jamaican Ska version of Xavier Cugat's "Take It Easy" performed by The Skatalites, recorded for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Label. Check it out.

Download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/1482404/The_Skatalites_-_Corner_Stone.mp3.html

Various Artists - Rock Steady Scorchers

When ska began its change into the more sophisticated-sounding Rock Steady during 1966-'67 singers came into their own. While the tempo remained about the same Rock Steady carried a relaxed rhythmic density.

In Rock Steady the guitar only strums on beats 2 & 4, and the bass guitar emphasizes beats 1 & 3.

Drums are less prominent in Rock Steady as their rhythmic role was being taken over by the bass guitar. Drums provided accents, or were inaudible. Less predominant horns and less-rigid beat offered more vocal possibilities. Rock Steady was perfect for romantic group vocals.


The Birth Of Rocksteady.

Ska desperately needed to move on. By the summer of 1966 it had been around for more than half a decade, and while the songs had grown in sophistication, the basic rhythm and arrangements hadn't. There was still the defining off-beat emphasis over a walking bass pattern. The rock steady concept brought the new idea ska sought.

The rhythm was experimented with," noted Barrow, "and it was slowed down because of what was happening with the rude boys in the dancehalls. Roy Shirley says he made "Hold Them" in 1965. He could have done it as a slow rhythm, but I don't think it was rock steady. Hopeton Lewis went in to do a ska tune, "Take It Easy," and he couldn't manage it on the rhythm, so he said to play it slow. They played it half-speed, and when it was done, someone said to him, 'That rock steady, man, that's rockin' steady.' And that's how the name came about. He claims he was before Studio One, Beverley's, everyone with rock steady (the record was released on Federal)."
"Although ska had flared briefly in England, the flame didn't take full hold until rock steady hit."
That's one version of the history, and perhaps more likely than some others. The advent of rock steady has also been attributed to an extremely hot summer, which forced all the dancers to move more slowly - to rock, instead of move wildly - and that was reflected in the new sides appearing. It's also been said the sound came from musicians' dissatisfaction with the ska beat, and the search for something new. Whatever the true reason, it was decidedly different from ska.

"It broke up the rhythm," explained Barrow. "It had the effect of making the bass play in clusters, a pattern, rather than a continuous line. The drums and everything fell in with that. [Guitarist] Lynn Taitt was the guy who orchestrated that. Not enough people mention him. He was one of the great unsung heroes of Jamaican music, and he was a Trinidadian." Inevitably, the new rhythm proved very popular ("Take It Easy" sold 10,000 copies in a single weekend) party because it was new, and also because dancers didn't have to expend so much energy and could stay on the floor longer.

Whereas Coxsone Dodd and his Studio One label had dominated ska, it now became Duke Reid's turn in the pole position, as Treasure Isle quickly established itself as the home of the new sound. He took Alton Ellis from Dodd, to add to his stable, which included the Paragons and Dobby Dobson, all backed by a new studio band, the Supersonics, led by Tommy McCook. After the 1964 breakup of the Skatalites, McCook recalled, "Coxsone formed the Soul Vendors, and I was asked to lead it. I said I didn't want to right then, I needed some rest after being under pressure. About a couple of weeks later I did say okay, and renamed the band the supersonics. All I had to do was play music and rehearse the band, unlike the Skatalites, where I'd had to do everything. We had a steady weekly gig, they were playing salaries, and that made it easier. Then we became a Treasure Isle recording group. A lot of the pressure was off me, and we were doing pretty good."

Among the vocal groups they backed for Reid were the Techniques, one of the best of the era. With hits like "Queen Majesty" and "Love Is Not A Gamble" they were a major force, and a training ground for a number of singers who'd progress to solo careers, like Slim Smith and Lloyd Parks, who worked with the core of Winston Riley and Frederick Waite. But the change hadn't edged Prince Buster out of the picture. Having scored hits himselfduring the time of ska, as well as being one of its leading producers, he continued to release material, with "Judge Dread" in particular becoming huge, its castigation of the Rude boy style triggering a number of like-minded songs from other artists.

The tunes on this compilation were recorded between the end of 1965 And early 1968 to show you the transistion from Blue Beat To Rock Steady To Early Reggae. The recording band are The Soul Vendors, musical producer is sir Coxsone, so get ready let's do rock steady.

the tracklist is in the comment.

Download link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/492139/Rock_Steady_Scorchers.zip.html

Jodi Sands - Sayonara

Popcorn Boppin' Oldies Party: Back To The 60's

For more info check: http://www.clubcliche.com + more
info in the comments.

Robert Parker - Let's Go Baby

Brenda Holloway - When I'm Gone

Joannie Summers - Don't Pity Me

Another Boppin' Popcorn Oldie.

Esther Philips - Just Say Goodbye

PopCorn City

Elvis Presley - Angel

Johnny Taylor - Rome Wasn't Buid In A Day

This is a great clip of Johhny Taylor doing a superb cover of Sam Cook's "Rome Wasn't Buid In A Day". Check it out!

Jamaica Ska

Not many people can ChaChaCha. Not everybody can do the Twist. But everybody can do the Ska. It's the new dance you can't resist..

Ska Va Voom

Another Studio One compilation, this one is Jamaican Ska at it's best featuring The Skatalites as studio band. Like Delroy Wilson said: "At first i heard the Ska, it thrills me through the bone....",
so let's do the Ska.

Tracklist is in the comment.

Download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/5348216/SVV100.zip.html

Barbara Lewis - Baby I'm Yours

The Record Rendezvous

Tune in every friday at The Doowop Café were i'm hosting "The Record Rendezvous", playing oldies but goodies. From 2 till 4pm (EST U.S.A. time), 20:00 till 22:00 (Eur. Central time)

Tune in Dial Up:
http://www.doowopcafe.net:8000/listen.pls
Tune in Broad Band:
http://www.doowopcafe.net:8005/listen.pls

Popcorn Cha Cha Cha Vol. 1

Well i just heard that the weather is going to be beautiful soon so i'm in the mood for some Latin Music. This is one of my own compilations, i made specially for a good friend from Belgium a couple of months ago. The tracklist is in the comment.
So let's Cha Cha Cha...

Download link:
http://rapidshare.com/files/955642/Popcorn_Cha_Cha_Cha_Vol._1.zip.html

Earl Palmer - Percolator Twist And Other Twist Hits

Here are 12 great twist performances-tunes that'll keep yourparty twisting around the clock-and around the calender!
Along with a lineup of smash twist hits are such hit titles as "Hey! Baby" and "I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)". Although not originally written as twists, they're absolute "naturals" for twisting. Give them a whirl. You'll see!
(liner notes from the album Percolator Twist And Other Twist Hits)

Here's the link to download the album:
http://rapidshare.de/files/24082519/Earl_Palmer_-_Percolator_Twist.zip.html

Earl Palmer

He is one of the main architects of modern music.
He is one of the inventors of rock & roll.
He is mister Back Beat...
His name is Earl Palmer.

Earl Palmer was a first-call drummer on the New Orleans R&B recording scene from 1950 to 1957. Talk about a supreme recommendation — in a city renowned for its second-line rhythms and syncopated grooves, Palmer was the man, playing on countless sessions by all the immortals: Little Richard, Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Dave Bartholomew, and too many more to list here.

Born to a mother who was a vaudevillian, little Earl was learning rhythmic patterns as a tap dancer at age four. Such contacts led him to be around drum kits on a regular basis, and it didn't take him long to master them. Bebop jazz was his first love, but R&B and blues paid the bills starting in 1947, when Palmer joined Bartholomew's band after a stint in the army. He recorded extensively with Bartholomew protege Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis and other New Orleans artists at Cosimo Matassa's famed J&M studio. He also played on the seminal rock and roll recordings of Little Richard, who wrote in his autobiography that Palmer "is probably the greatest session drummer of all time."

Palmer remained the king of the traps at Cosimo Matassa's fabled recording studio until 1957, when a Shirley & Lee session led to an A&R offer from Aladdin Records boss Eddie Mesner. Palmer found studio work just as plentiful in Los Angeles, making major inroads into the rock, jazz, and soundtrack fields as well as playing on countless R&B dates with his frequent compadres Rene Hall on guitar and saxist Plas Johnson. Occasionally, Palmer would record as a leader — the instrumental "Johnny's House Party" for Aladdin, a couple of early-'60s albums for Liberty.

He's played on literally thousands of rock, jazz, R&B and soundtrack sessions over the years. From his home base in Los Angeles, Palmer drummed for producer Phil Spector and for Motown. His list of session credits includes artists as diverse as Ritchie Valens, Eddie Cochran, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Duane Eddy, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Otis, Neil Young and Elvis Costello. Though Palmer's first love was jazz—"I lived in a jazz world," he allowed in his 1999 autobiography Backbeat: Earl Palmer's Story—he laid the foundation for rock and roll drumming with his solid stickwork and feverish backbeat.
But even the best session men grapple with a certain sense of anonymity.

So the next time you pull out Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti," Smiley Lewis "I Hear You Knockin'," Lloyd Price "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," or Fats Domino "The Fat Man," please keep in mind that it's Palmer feverishly stoking that beat — with a saucy second-line sensibility that drove those songs in fresh, utterly innovative directions. (From http://www.allmusic.com)

Here are some links:
If you want to buy his biography:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560988444/002-6820257-4289647?v=glance&n=283155
This is a great compilation on Ace records:
http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=683

The Dick Baker Combo - Heartless Lover

This second post is a great tune by Dick Baker & His Combo on the Kit Kat label. I couldn't find any information about him, the only thing i know is that he was a jazz pianist and this is not his only recording. There are two tunes on this A side the instrumental version plus the vocal version of "Heartless Lover". Both versions are very popular Popcorn tunes. If you like this then send me your comments and i will post the B side too.
Here are the links:
http://www.mytempdir.com/752593
http://www.mytempdir.com/752610

Margie Rayburn - Unexpectedly

Here's my first upload and i hope this will work.
Margie Rayburn is known for that one hit she recorded in 1957 "I'm Available". Though she recorded a couple of other songs like "Ooh What A Doll", "Maker Of Raindrops And Roses", "The Get Acquainted Waltz", and "Freight Train". She was born in 1924 Madera, CA, U.S.A. and died the 14th of june 2000 of an heart attack. She started as a member of The Sunnysiders ("hey Mr. Banjo") and she also toured with The Ray Anthony Orchestra. During her life she only recorded one album for Liberty Records in 1959 called "Margie". But my favourite Margie Rayburn song is "Unexpectedly" recorded in 1958 for Liberty Records. the orchestra is conducted by Don Ralke and you hear some great session musicians like Earl Palmer on drums.

Here's the download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/67639718/Margie_Rayburn_-_Unexpectedly.mp3.html

Hello Music Lovers,

Welcome to this new blog. The reason i started it is because i like to share my ideas and thoughts of the music that i like. Ska, Rock Steady, Popcorn, Latin, Jazz and many more. Just music from the days that a musician had to play an instrument well before they could record it in a studio. Once in a while i will upload some music from my own collection. And if you have any ideas or comments then let me know.


Greetings,

V-Tone