It's A Scandal! Songs For Soho Blondes - various artists compilation

 

Compiled by Bob Stanley and Martin Green, It's A Scandal! harks back to the heady world of Soho clubland in the years immediateley before Swinging London, an environment evoked on record through risqué material sung by the likes of Diana Dors, Shirley Bassey and Elke Sommer. This was the milieu for many of the characters caught up in the Profumo Affair, satirised by the Miss X single and further exploited by Mandy Rice-Davies. Most of this material is hard to find on CD, and all will appeal to the aficionados of burlesque.

1 Miss X– Christine

2 Mandy Rice-Davies– Close Your Eyes

3 Shirley Bassey– Sex

4 Lucille Mapp– Chinchilla

5 Diana Dors– Roller Coaster Blues

6 The Knightsbridge Chorale– Make Mine Mink

7 Elke Sommer– Be Not "Notty"

8 Anne Heywood– Love Is

9 Maxine Daniels– Lola's Heart

10 The Barry Sisters– Why Don't You Do Right

11 Eric Winstone Orchestra*– Picadilly Third Stop

12 Sheila Buxton– Shakedown

13 Lynn Cornell– Demon Lover

14 Jeri Southern– Run

15 The Beverley Sisters– The Sphinx Won't Tell

16 Valerie Masters– Say When

17 The Jazz Stars– The Jazz Scene

18 Beryl Bryden– Moanin'

19 Linda Laurie– Ooh, What A Lover

20 Marion Ryan– An Occational Man

21 Anita Lindblom– Mr Big Wheel

22 Toni Eden– Send Me

23 Sylvia Sands– Love Me Now! Love Me Now! Love Me Now!

24 Eve Boswell– Wimoweh Cha Cha

25 Miss X– S-E-X

 It's A Scandal! Songs For Soho Blondes

Esquivel And His Orchestra – Other Worlds Other Sounds

 

Mexican bandleader Juan Garcia Esquivel enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and, more importantly, hipness in the ’90s, thanks in large part to a lounge culture revival and his influence on bands like Stereolab. In the exotica pantheon, Esquivel has a unique place, bringing together big band, Latin jazz and space age pop sounds in a big, campy explosion. His music is at times cartoonish, with dramatic brass competing with a silly “zu zu zu” and a Hawaiian guitar that sounds like the opening of a “Looney Tunes” cartoon. That said, it’s an infectious and delightful kind of cartoonish-ness. 

Esquivel sets a space age bachelor pad scene stylishly and with a smirk on Other Worlds, Other Sounds, nicely matching the vixen-in-space cover art with his own set of rocket age mambo and cha-cha. Certainly, his take on “Night and Day” is a bit cheesy, but “That Old Black Magic” is more on the romantic side of the spectrum, and “Nature Boy” actually lives up to the promise of something exotic. 

And since I brought up Stereolab, those lovable kraut-lounge experimentalists actually borrowed elements of “Magic is the Moonlight” on their Dots and Loops album. But perhaps the most impressive piece of all here is the arrangement of “It Had to Be You,” which has the nastiest use of a trombone mute I think I’ve ever heard. Bravo, Esquivel. Bravo. (https://www.treblezine.com/hold-on-to-your-genre-exotica/)

1 Granada 4:10

2 Begin The Beguine 3:12

3 Night And Day 2:40

4 Poinciana 3:05

5 Playfully 2:57

6 Adios 3:08

7 That Old Black Magic 2:36

8 Nature Boy 2:42

9 Magic Is The Moonlight 2:37

10 Speak Low 2:42

11 Ballerina 3:04

12 It Had To Be You 3:10

Esquivel And His Orchestra – Other Worlds Other Sounds

Henry 'Red' Allen 1929-1936 - Jazz Classics In Digital Stereo

 

Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist, born in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of the bandleader Henry Allen Sr.

Allen's trumpet style has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong, and to develop an emphasis on phrasing. Allen's recordings received much favorable attention. His versatility is shown by his winning of DownBeat awards in both the traditional jazz and the modern jazz categories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Allen

1 Fats Waller And His Buddies– Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad

2 Luis Russell And His Orchestra– Jersey Lightning

3 Luis Russell And His Orchestra– The (New) Call Of The Freaks

4 Luis Russell And His Orchestra– Feelin' The Spirit

5 Walter Pichon*– Doggin' That Thing

6 Henry Allen And His Orchestra*– Roamin'

7 Henry Allen And His Orchestra*– Spring Pretty Songs

8 Henry Allen And His Orchestra*– Patrol Wagon Blues

9 Henry Allen And His Orchestra*– I Fell In Love With You

10 Billy Banks And His Orchestra– Bugle Call Rag

11 Spike Hughes And His Negro Orchestra– Sweet Sorrow Blues

12 Spike Hughes And His Negro Orchestra– Sweet Sue

13 Horace Henderson And His Orchestra– Minnie The Moocher's Wedding Day

14 Benny Morton And His Orchestra– Get Goin'

15 Henry Allen And His Orchestra*– Whos Honey Are You?

16 Mills Blue Rhythm Band*– Ride, Red, Ride

17 Mills Blue Rhythm Band*– Yes! Yes!

18 Mills Blue Rhythm Band*– Barrel House

Henry 'Red' Allen 1929-1936