Bob Blaine - Country Music for Bedtime

 I wasn't sure what to expect from this judging by the cover; it looked like a comedy album but it's just a load of laid-back country music provided by Bob Blaine. He's not a big name in country music; perhaps because he was born in Liverpool.

It might have been very amusing to have his songs performed in a scouse accent, but alas it was not to be. The gun he's sporting on the back cover must have come in handy though.

Although my tastes lie more towards the rockabilly end of things, I often state to friends that I'm a 'country member', and they reply with 'yes, we remember'.

Bob Blaine - Country Music for Bedtime 260kbps VBR

Klaus Wunderlich - Hammond Concerto

Travel with me back to around 1960; a young, fresh-faced Herr Wunderlich has grown concerned that the car boot sales and thrift stores of future decades may not have enough records. He's decided to do something about this awful dearth of cheap old schallplatten, producing his opening opus - Hammond Concerto - in mono.

Keen to capitalise on this philanthropic gesture, Telefunken soon decides to add to the pile with a stereo version which found its way into my arms via the Brighton Marina car boot sale over 50 years later. 

Unfortunately the picture of Klaus which was used for the original was accidentally sat on and badly creased, so it couldn't be used for the stereo version. Below is a picture of the youthful Klaus from that original record. He's almost unrecognisable but for that hard stare we all know and love.

The content of 'Hammond Concerto' can definitely be classified as light music; it reminds me of short low budget films produced in the USA at about that time, in which first dates at wiener roasts might be portrayed.

After the visual treat above, the cover of my record is a little lacking but the promise of stereo almost makes up for it. 

 

Klaus Wunderlich - Hammond Concerto 260kbps VBR

The Edward Woodward Album

Edward Woodward's acting prowess is well known, but not so many are aware of his singing talent as displayed on this special record which is posted here for your lasting enjoyment.

You'll notice the vibrato technique he employs throughout. A few methods were tried to achieve this; at first he would sit on a washing machine which has entered its spin cycle, but it would get a bit noisy for the studio and he'd have to stop and get off whilst fabric softener was added. Not ideal.

Then a London bus was seen as the solution. However he could only get one or two lines out whilst the bus was picking up passengers and the orchestra was very confused by the conductor.

Finally the production crew settled on a soundproof room, placed on top of a cart which was slowly moved up and down a cobbled street. I think you'll find that all the effort was worth it.

You'll be pleased to hear that the bass, midrange and treble are in perfect proportion on the record, so this rip did not need the bass, midrange or treble adjusting.

..includes a faithful rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' which I always find ironic.

The Edward Woodward Album 260kbps VBR

 

By the way, many visitors here may not be aware of the classic series Callan in which he starred. Here's a link to start you off. I'm sure you won't be put off by the black and whiteness of the first series, but Callan does go to colour later and there's also a decent colour feature film if you look for it (the 1974 one).

 

Frank Sidebottom - Frank's Firm Favorites (and Other Bits)

Of all papier-mache headed people from the Greater Manchester area, Frank Sidebottom is perhaps the most well known and with good reason. His talent for cover versions knew no bounds; for instance his tribute to Queen and Kylie is a work of true genius. Much as I would like to own more of his records and CDs, it's increasingly hard to find them (at least for somone as tight-fisted as me). I'm now reduced to picking up scraps, although I've spotted a nice cache of Frank here which I'll be checking out.

 

These offerings were perloined from one of the many streaming services active these days and as such, it's a bit patchy. As well as a complete copy of 'Frank's Firm Favourites', I have a selection of tracks from his SciFi EP. There's no exact match on Discogs so I have to assume that a few tracks were left out due to licensing issues and.. hang on, is anyone still reading this bit?

 

 

Frank's Firm Favourites was recorded in 1985 and so the tracks are inspired by music from around that time in the UK. The medley is the high point, where his transitions can be jarring but we're too busy laughing about the last bit so we don't care.

 

The Sci-Fi bit is an incomplete collection of tracks as I said, but in a 'this or nothing' situation I've not been a choosing beggar so I took what I could and was grateful for it. If you had listened to your mum, you would be too.

Frank's Firm Favorites (and Other Bits) 260kbps VBR

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (The Proper One)

Gesundheit! Here's one of those soundtracks which really got under my skin when this film was on telly back in the 90s. So much so, I recorded both the start and ending themes onto a cassette from my video recording if memory serves. 

Then fast forward about ten years, when whilst flicking through some CDs in MVC (remember that?) I found this gem. I don't know if the shop had subsidence problems, but I found it got very shakey at about that time and I found myself hanging on to a cardboard cutout of Shania Twain for support.

 

There's plenty here for anyone planning a heist; as for shooting one person a minute however, the gunshot noise and attendant screaming is going to interfere with your particular enjoyment of this soundtrack. 

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (The Proper One) 260kbps VBR

Matt Berry - Television Themes

As a nice follow up to the previous Rainbow post, here's the multitalented overactor* and musician Matt Berry with an offering reminiscent of those 'cover version' TV theme records of years gone by. As is usually the case with those old records, there are several tweaks here and it all works rather well!

With the first track 'Are You Being Served?' we're treated to a particularly loungey but faithful presentation, 'Blankety Blank' has a nice improvised addition and Dr Who gets a glam rock makeover which reminds me of KLF's 'The Timelords - Doctorin' the Tardis'.

The theme from Ronny Corbett's 'Sorry!' is overhauled with a reggae flavour and there are several TV ident jingles sprinkled amongst it all for good measure.

 

 Matt Berry - Television Themes 260kbps VBR

 

*With the term 'overactor', I am giving a compliment as he does it so well and to great cominc effect as seen in this clip from 'The IT Crowd':

 

Telltale - Songs From The Thames Television Children's Programme Rainbow

 This has to be one of my slower rips, as this one has languished on my hard drive since 2009! In the meantime I lost the record and found it again recently, so now I can take a decent picture of the front and back covers for your perusal.

 

This record is nearly 50 years old believe it or not, and comes from a time when rainbows were merely white light which has been refracted, rather than symbols of subversive social movements. Indeed, this Rainbow would never have considered dressing in drag in order to entertain children, although one costume in particular is very suspect here.

This release is from before my Rainbow viewership began and some of the puppets appear to be a bit strange; I'm not sure what those hand puppets are or what might have happened to them. Perhaps Zippy ate them in the green room, or Bungle sat on them.

Whilst looking around at Rainbow-related matters, I was appalled to find that Geoffrey Hayes had died back in 2018, so rest in peace Geoffrey - I hate to think of the state of the place now that you've gone.

Despite the cover there are no appearances by George, Zippy et al. but the record is filled out by the show's resident workshy layabouts of that time - Telltale. They are responsible for the show's famous theme tune which is first up, but don't stop there as some of the tracks have some decent hooks and they're pretty competently put together.

There's 'Autumn's really here' which characterises that season by the proclivity of some birds to congregate on telephone wires. What about the groovy 'Bookworm Song' which lays down some fine nursery rhymes and there's 'Everything in the Garden Smells Sweet' which on occasion sounds suspiciously like 'Everything in the Garden Smells of Weed'. Bloody hippies.

Telltale - Songs From The Thames Television Children's Programme Rainbow 260kbps VBR

Christian Bruhn - Captain Future

After another extended absence, more fine items are to be added to this blog in a manner of fits and starts, fitting and starting with Christian Bruhn's excellent Captain Future soundtrack.

Due to the worldwide flu rebranding which the last couple of years has brought us, the author of this blog died - but was reborn after benefitting from a special experimental suppository produced by Pfizer and installed by CEO Albert Bourla himself.

The results were so spectacular that Albert's mind was briefly distracted from his stinky fingers.

Please do remember to take precautions however and squirt sanitiser into both ears before listening.

This is one of those soundtracks which I love but I've never watched the thing and don't intend to. After watching Stridulum (or The Visitor) which is a film accompanied by another soundtrack I love, I've learned not to push my luck.

This upload is of the soundtrack made (I presume) for a German audience, but as a special extra, I've added a single of the theme from the Italian redub. The B side is amazing!

 

Christian Bruhn - Captain Future

 

Micronauti - Capitan Futuro

Credit to original ripper 260kbpsVBR