Come On Ring Those Bells - 1975

I am not really too sure who the "A Reason To Sing" television family is or was, but I am guessing that it has something to do with a Christian TV show or television network from the 70's.  I'm gathering that from the group names like "New Life" and Jericho Brass." Most of these songs definitely focus on the Christ part of Christmas and not so much on the man in the big red suit.  That is fine by me.  I think you have to have both.  This record has something beyond just the traditional carols and some good arrangements which is why I like it.  There is also a thin layer or 70's cheese on these tracks as well that I find enjoyable as well.  "Go Tell It On The Mountain" is a virtual cheese fondue of 70's goodness.  Reminds me of the effervescence of the Up With People choir from the 70's. "Christmas Shopping" is also an extra cheesy gem.  It may even cross the line into comedy it is so happy.  I can picture this song being performed on some super white bread show like Lawrence Welk with lots of teeth and smiles.  It also brings to mind perhaps an SCTV parody making fun of this whole wholesome genre, except this is genuine and not ironic.  To me that makes it all the more better.  So give the songs a listen.  They'll brighten up your holiday season.

01 Come On, Ring Those Bells - T.A.C.T. Singers and New Life
02 The Secret Of Christmas - Reflection
03 The Christmas Song - Jericho Brass
04 Do You Hear What I Hear_ - Jerry Nelson and New Life
05 O, Little Town Of Bethlehem - Brotherhood II
06 Go Tell It On The Mountain - New Life
07 O, Holy Night - Lee Stalling and Daybreak
08 Where Has He Gone_ - T.A.C.T. Singers
09 Christmas Shopping - Brotherhood III and Reflection
10 Hark, The Herald Angels Sing - Jericho Brass
11 Everybody Will Be Praisin' The Lord - Keith Showalter and New Life

Enjoy!

Come On Ring Those Bells

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Broadway Records - Christmas Songs - 1968

My favorite thing about this record is the caption at the bottom of the cover that says "vocals and orchestration by popular radio and television artists".  I love it because nowhere on the record does it ever tell you who those artists are.  I guess we are supposed to use our imagination as to who those "popular radio and television artists" are.  So I've just listed the artist as Broadway Records.  The second thing I love about the record is the cover artwork.  I have this hanging in my hallway this year I love it so much.  The music is not bad, but it isn't great either.  Generic is probably the best word to describe it.  It covers all the standard Christmas selections.  Nothing new or original.  Still not bad for a spin.  The tracks are:

01 Joy To The World
02 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
03 O Little Town Of Bethlehem
04 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
05 O' Come All Ye Faithful
06 Deck The Halls With Holly
07 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
08 Good King Wenceslas
09 Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
10 Jingle Bells
11 Auld Lang Syne
12 Oh Tennenbaum
13 12 Days Of Christmas
14 Silent Night
15 The First Noel


Enjoy!

Christmas Songs

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Guitars Inc. - Guitars At Christmas - 1959

I picked up this record this past year.  I honestly can't remember if I bought it or if it was one of the many records that were given to me this year.  I'm leaning toward buying it.  Guitars Inc. was a group of studio guitar players here in LA back in the day.  From what I've read, they were some of the better musicians.  The group consisted of Al Hendrickson, Howard Roberts, Bobby Gibbons, Tommy Tedesco & Bill Pitman.  This is a very fun instrumental record.  The arrangements are light and playful.  I will be using some of these tracks in Christmas mixes in the future for sure.


Enjoy!

Guitars At Christmas

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Bielefelder Kinderchor - Christmas In Germany - 1965

Have you been asking yourself how come I don't have more German music at Christmas?  Well I've got a record for you.  This is a record of German choir Christmas music.  It is all very traditional choir music.  I personally don't speak any German so I don't understand any of the lyrics, but I do recognize a few of the melodies.  Surprisingly, though, there is no "Oh Tannenbaum" which may be one of the more famous German carols.  That is okay, you can find that on many records.

My basic internet research pegged the date of this record at 1965.  The previous owner of the record wrote on the front and the back "about 1960."  I find it funny how it was just not the practice to put dates on old records.  I don't know what the thinking was, but it sure makes writing about these records years later a little more challenging.

Most of the tracks are a children's choir.  At least that is what I gather from the photo on the back and my basic German translation that assumes Kinderchor means children's choir.    The track listing can be read on the photo of the back jacket.

All in all the record is okay.  It works if you are in the mood for the more traditional sounds of Christmas.  None of these tracks will liven up a Christmas party, though.  The record isn't pristine, but I've cleaned it up the best I can with what I've got.

Enjoy!

Christmas In Germany

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The Three Suns - The Sound Of Christmas - 1955

I first became acquainted with The Three Suns back in the 90's when the whole lounge music thing saw a resurgence.  I bought a bunch of different lounge music compilations and then over the years I have picked up many of those artists on vinyl.  The Three suns have a bit of a cheese factor that is the product of the 50's.  They have applied a layer of that same cheesey goodness to some Christmas standards.  What I love about their approach is that even though this are songs you have heard a thousand times before, they put in plenty of surprises in their arrangements.  The music is playful and keeps you guessing.  I think their versions of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" are a good example of this.  This is a record I just picked up this year and it has already worked its way into some regular rotation.  I won't be surprised if one or two of these tracks end up on a Christmas mix in the future.


Enjoy!

The Sound Of Christmas

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The Pixie Helpers And Santa Claus - Sing Along With Santa's Helpers - 1959

As you can see by the images this was a kids' record at some point. The crayons are a dead give away that this record was loved.  When you hear it you'll hear that the record is a little trashed as well.  It is still very listenable and fun.  I also love the artwork.   The album takes on the guise that the songs are being sung by Santa and his "Pixie Helpers."  In reality what that means is a chipmunk style record knock off.  So if you like that sort of thing, then this is the record for you.  The funny thing to me is that it sounds like whoever the real artists are, they didn't really have the whole chipmunk thing down.  Some of the dialogue and singing is really measured and not very natural.  I think this is because the speaking and singing had to be done slow and then sped up which is an unnatural process.  I assume that the producers of this record saw the success of the chipmunks and thought it would be easy to replicate.  This record shows that it wasn't.  It isn't a total disaster, but it isn't the chipmunks.


Enjoy!

Sing Along With Santa's Helpers

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Claremont High School - Christmas Gems

I picked this record up at a thrift store some time earlier this year.  I love rolling the dice with these high school or college choir albums.  They seemed to have been quite popular in the late 60's and 70's.  This one I think is particularly good not only in the quality of the performance, but the record is in pretty good shape as well.

01 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
02 Fum, Fum, Fum
03 To Bethlehem, Singing
04 A Christmas Noel
05 The Holly And The Ivy
06 Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
07 Ring Those Christmas Bells
08 The Carolers
09 What You Gonna Call Yo' Pretty Little Baby
10 Christmas Tide
11 Be Joyful, Be Merry
12 A Mountain Carol
13 Behold That Star
14 Christmas Day
15 Trepak
16 O Holy Night
17 Gloria In Excelsis

Enjoy!

Claremont High School - Christmas Gems

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SAP Music Christmas Mix 2013

It is the Christmas season once again which of course means it is time for this year's Christmas Mix.  Every year I wonder if I am going to run out of songs or movie clips and every year I seem to be able to find a fresh new crop of songs to go together.  This year I started the mix nice and early.  I began searching youtube for audio clips several months ago so that when it came time to do the mix I had plenty to choose from.  I am particularly happy with some of the clips this year.  The music is as always an eclectic mix of traditional and nontraditional songs.  There is a mix of secular and religious as well as serious and comedic.  There are some good mash-ups this year.  There aren't any that I can take credit for.  I wasn't that ambitious.  Merry Christmas and enjoy!

Download here.

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SAP Music - Fahrenheit 3000 Opening Mixes

At work the some of the artists have pulled together a bar.  Every Thursday after work they hold a happy hour.  Originally they called the bar Fahrenheit 399.  The 399 came from the cubicle number of the guy who pulled it all together and the bar was next to his cubicle.  The Fahrenheit came from the simple fact that the bar that they bought had flames on it so they went for a Farhenheit 451 theme.  Well recently the department had to move to another area on the floor, which meant that the bar had to move.  The cubicle and office numbers in the new location are all in the 3000s so the new bar is to be named Fahrenheit 3000.  The new location is actually a larger communal location so they are spending some time and money making this bar even better.  I was asked to pull together some music for the upcoming grand opening party.  So that is the reason for this mix of music.  I pulled together two discs worth of music.  The first disc is based around the themes of fire and drinking.  The second disc is just some songs that I thought might be nice at the party, which really just means they are some songs I've been liking recently.  So hopefully you'll have fun with this collection.

Enjoy!

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Disc 1
Disc 2

SAP Music Morricone Halloween 2013

As promised here is my grand experiment for this year.  I had the idea actually a few years ago when I was listening to a lot of Ennio Morricone soundtracks.  I found so many creepy and scary songs and I thought it was interesting because scary and creepy isn't what I think about when I think of Morricone.  Of course everyone thinks of the spaghetti westerns and some of his great Hollywood work later in the 80's and 90's.  However he does have such a huge catalog that he has a bunch of scary tracks as well.  So I decided to make a mix of just his scores.  Some of the tracks are layered over each other creating something entirely new.  So hopefully you like this.  It works great if you want to just have some Halloween mood music for an hour or so.  This stuff will get you unsettled. 

Enjoy!

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Download


You can download a CD insert here.

SAP Music Halloween Mix 2013

It is that time of year again to get out the spooky and creepy music for one of my favorite holidays.  I'm not actually big on the whole dressing up thing, but I love all the decorations.  I love breaking out my Universal Monster movies.  And I love the music.  This year I challenged myself with the task of making two mixes.  This being the first of the two.  This is most like mixes from the past.  One thing I didn't really get to this year was any sort of really original mix or mashup.  There are some minor mixing of tracks to make something new, but not to the extent that I have done in the past.  I used that extra time to make the second mix which I will be posting soon.  As per usual you can read the track names on the images.  You can see the selections are eclectic as usual.  Many tracks aren't traditionally Halloween oriented, but there is something about the songs that can relate to the season.  They are either dark in theme or creepy in their lyrics for instance.

Enjoy!

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Download


You can download a CD insert here.

Ike & Tina Turner - Greatest Hits - 1969

Earlier this summer I visited my family in Arizona and my sister had a small box of records for me.  There were all pretty beat up.  This Ike and Tina Turner record was one of the records.  I finally threw it on the turntable last weekend and was blown away by it.  I never really looked too closely at the liner notes so I didn't realize that his isn't really a greatest hits compilation.  It is a collection of live recordings of some of their hit.  Also the so called hits aren't the big ones that come to mind covering other rock bands.  These are soul hits and all the energy of their live performances come through.  One of the great tracks is the closing of side one where Tina is basically talking with the audience in the club.  There so much passion and emotion in the performance.  I've since tracked down some of the studio recordings of these songs like "Early in the Mornin" and while they are good, this live performance is amazing.  Many times while listening Janis Joplin comes to mind.  I'm sharing this record because I found it surprisingly hard to find.  There was this vinyl release back in 1969.  There was another vinyl release in the 80's under some other title.  Then it was released on CD around 1996.  That seems to be long out of print as far as I can tell.  I even did some initial torrent searches for it and didn't find it.  So while the record is beat up I did my best to rip a decent copy.  It isn't perfect, but you get the vibe of the record which is electric.  Makes me wish I could have been around to see them in one of these venues in Texas when they made these recordings.

One other thing I like about this record is what it says on the back.  "A jumbo helping of soul as Ike and Tina Turner turn up the heat on their greatest hits."  That they certainly do.  

Enjoy!

Ike and Tina Turner's Greatest Hits

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Bill Monroe And His Blue Grass Boys - Columbia 37565 - Will You Be Loving Another Man B/W Blue Yodel #4

Here is a fun record from the stack of 78s.  Side one "Will You Be Loving Another Man" is Lester Flatt and Bill Monroe.  How's that for legends.  You can't really do much better than that.

From what I've gathered from some internet research is that this record was released in 1945.   Some of these dates on these records kind of boggle the mind.  Hard to believe that not only was it recorded so long ago, but that the actual record was pressed that long ago and still sounds pretty good.  All these country 78s I picked up at once and were part of a collection.  I have been thoroughly pleased with how well they have been preserved and sound.

Side two is "Blue Yodel #4" which is a song written by Jimmie Rogers, another giant of a legend.  The track is pretty good and features as you might have guessed some cowboy yodeling.

Enjoy!

Download

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Jack Guthrie - Capitol 341 - The Clouds Rained Down B/W Oakie Boogie - 1947

This is another 78 from Jack Guthrie and I'm sure you see that like the last one, this one has "Oakie Boogie" as the b-side.  Clearly the song was a favorite worth recycling onto another record. The a-side is "The Clouds Rained Trouble Down" and it a pretty good number.  It has some twang and a little bit of swing.  The b-side is the exact same version of "Oakie Boogie."  According to Wikipedia "Oakie Boogie" was a hit in 1947 reaching number 3 on the charts.  In fact is was this record Capitol 341 that was the record that reached number 3.  It also says that it is considers a candidate for the first rock and roll record.  That probably explains why I love that song so much.  Another interesting fact I learned from Wikipedia is that Jack Guthrie died of tuberculosis in 1948 the year after this record's release.  Kind of sad.  He was only 32.

One other interesting factoid from Wikipedia is the fact that Jack Guthrie did not have a band and so there were no Oklahomans even thought the record says "Jack Guthrie and His Oklahomans."  He worked with some seasoned studio musicians on this and his other records.

Enjoy!

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Download

Jack Guthrie - Capitol 15266 - Oklahoma Hills B/W Oakie Boogie 78 - 1948

This is the first record I am posting that is a 78.  For father's day I picked up a cheap turntable that plays 78s.  My regular player doesn't.  That hasn't stopped me from collecting 78s here and there.  This record is part of a big collection of country records I picked up years and years ago.  After all these years I finally have a way to listen to them and digitize them.  They are 78s so there is a bit of surface noise and I've done what I can to clean up the audio.  I'm sure someone with more talent than me could do better.  The two tracks are both great.  "Oklahoma Hills" is by Jack and Woody Guthrie.  It is a real swinging number that will get your toe tapping.  The B-side "Oakie Boogie" is also a real gem.   I have this song on another 78 and on a 45.  I can't listen to it enough.

01 "Oklahoma Hills"
02 "Oakie Boogie"

Download

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Enjoy!

SAP Music Summer Mix 2013

 
So here is this summer's mix.  There are a handful of songs actually relating to summer in some fashion, but there are also a number of songs that are just songs I've stumbled upon recently and have liked.  As per usual the track listing is on the artwork to avoid pesky searches.

I'll be honest that I didn't spend too too much time on this mix.  As usual I have been throwing songs into a folder through out the year that I thought might be summer related.  I had quite a bit, but they didn't all work together so some of those songs have been save for future years.  Then I just filled the hour out with songs of note in my iTunes from the last 6 months or so.  And by that I don't mean released in the last 6 months.  I mean that I have listened to them in the last 6 months and thought this is a really good song.  It should be on a mix somewhere.

One reason for the kind of rush job is that I really wanted to start work on the Halloween mix for this year.  I've got two ideas and I'd love to get feedback on which may be preferred.  The first idea is to just do what I usually do and pull together an eclectic mix of songs from all genres that are Halloween related, throw in some sound effects and sound bites.  The other idea I have had for a couple years now and have just failed to do is make a Halloween mix with just Ennio Morricone scores.  I might through in some movie sound bites and sound effects as well, but I'll avoid everything else.  While primarily known for his Spaghetti Western scores, Ennio has a huge range of music and a lot of it can get down right creepy.  I almost did that mix last year, but chickened out thinking people really want the old format.  So if anyone is reading and if anyone cares, I'd love to get your opinions on what you think.  I hope to start pulling things together in the next few weeks.

Download here
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Enjoy!

Steve Dahl & Teenage Radiation - Do You Think I'm Disco - 1979

This is a record I was so excited to find on Record Store Day.  I grew up in the Chicago area and when I was a kid just getting into pop and rock music Steve Dahl was at his height.  I actually started listening a couple years after this record, but I do remember some of the media coverage of his "Disco Sucks" campaign.  One song I remember by Steve Dahl was "Crew Cut Hero", which was a parody of Foreigner's "Jukebox Hero."  General James Lee Dozier was kidnapped by terrorists in 1981 and this song was in reference to that.  Dahl also had another song about serial killer John Wayne Gacy called "Another Kid in the Crawl."  Pretty dark stuff, but as a dumb kids we thought it was funny.  Check out the YouTube clips below.

Enjoy!

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Steve Dahl & Teenage Radiation

Snoopy and His Friends The Royal Guardsmen - 1967

I've wanted this record for a long time.  I saw it a few years back in a records store, but I didn't have the money to buy it.  I found it again this past record store day.  Side one is great because it has the original Snoopy vs the Red Baron and Snoopy's Christmas, which I already had on record.  It also has The Return of the Red Baron, which I had never heard before, but is just as good as the other two.  Side two has all songs that were new to me.  These are a little more straight forward pop songs, but as you can tell from the titles they can be related to Snoopy.  A song like Behind Enemy Lines works as a song on this Snoopy record, but is also works as a song on its own.  Click the image to read the track listings.  The image should be clear enough.

I'll have a link up for a while.  The password is "sapmusic2013".

If I take the link down, just e-mail me and I'll see if I can hook you up.

Enjoy!

Alberto Vazquez - El Estilo Ranchero De Alberto Vazquez Vol. 2

Here is a little something for Cinco de Mayo.  It is a beaten up record, but I think it might get you into the spirit of the festivities.  I digitized this record long before I had Click Repair and I haven't gone back to clean it up.  It is listenable, thought.

I can't tell you much about Elberto Vazquez other than he sang Ranchero music and apparently is popular enough to warrant a second volume of tunes.  The first track is one of my favorites and I think will liven up any Cinco de Mayo party.  How could it not?  It is called "Viva Mexico."  I also really like track 7 "Ay! Jalisco No Te Rajes."  I don't speak any Spanish, but the song sounds like a celebratory song, an eating or drinking song perhaps?  I have no idea really.  I just think it sounds like another good Cinco de Mayo song.  I'm probably way off and it may be completely inappropriate.  Give it a listen and you decide.

Enjoy!

01 Viva Mexico
02 La Embarcacion
03 Por Un Amor
04 La Carcel De Cananea
05 Brindo Por Ella
06 Traigo Un Amor
07 Ay! Jalisco No Te Rajes
08 Que Manera De Perder
09 Anillo De Compromiso
10 Corrido De Chihuahua
11 Psicosis
12 No Volvere

El Estilo Ranchero De Alberto Vazquez Vol. 2

The Cure - Rare 12" Versions - 2007

I bought this album a few years back.  It was an impulse buy on a visit to Amoeba Records.  By that I mean I did not go there to buy the record, but when I saw it I had to pick it up.  There are some good remixes on this record that I had never heard before.  I have a feeling the record isn't in print anymore because I see it going for quite a few bucks on ebay.  I guessing that means that it is out of print.

Another thing I think I am going to do is now post any direct link to download, because it is The Cure.  By that I mean, they are mainstream enough and have the backing of a big label so I think posting a link will just invite trouble.  However as always, if you are really interested in listening to the tracks, drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do about sharing the music with you.  In the mean time you can enjoy the album artwork.  Below is the track listing.

Enjoy!

01 Closer To Me (Closer Mix)
02 Love Cats (Extended 12" Version)
03 Why Can't I Be You (FK Mix)
04 Boys Don't Cry (New Voice Club Version)
05 Lullaby (Extended 12" Version)
06 Hot Hot Hot (Extended Mix)
07 Pictures Of You (Extended Dub Mix)
08 The Walk (Everything Mix)

Music City Orchestra & Tom Walls - The Stripper B/W Speedy Gonzales 7-Inch - 1962

This is one of the records I picked up on Record Store Day.  I knew The Stripper by David Rose and I have the David Rose records, so it wasn't like I needed a new version of the striptease classic.  However the B-side Speedy Gonzalez sounded like it might be a little treasure of a track.  I was so happy when I dropped the needle and discovered a really fun song.  I'll be honest the song has become one of the ear worms drilling into my head over the past few weeks.  If you've never heard it before, I recommend giving it a listen.

Enjoy!

 

The Stripper B/W Speedy Gonzales 7-Inch
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SAP Music Train Mix 2013

I have loved trains since I was very young.  In fact the artwork for this mix was actually done when I was in high school.  Yes, SAP was around way back then.

I have had the idea for a train mix for years.  I noticed a long time ago that trains, much like rain is used in music over and over again to sometimes talk literally about trains, but more often than not as a metaphor.  One could say it is over used, just like the metaphor for rain is perhaps over used.  You can come to your own conclusions on that.  What I do know is that it means I have lots and lots of songs talking about trains in some form or another. This mix isn't supposed to be my list of the best train songs ever.  I'm sure there are some better ones out there.  There are certainly some more well known ones, but I figure if you really want to hear "Crazy Train" or "Peace Train", then you can go buy that wherever you like to purchase your music.  My thoughts behind this mix is that the songs are good for one and secondly that they kind of work together.  I had many other songs go on and then off the mix.  To be honest I've been sort of collecting and gathering songs for several years now into a playlist.  When it came to making the mix there were just some songs that didn't fit.  Maybe they will make into onto another train mix some day.  I certainly have enough songs for another entire CD.

You can check out the track listing on the artwork.  Below is a high resolution image to print out it you want a CD insert.

Enjoy!

SAP Music Train Mix 2013 - Password:sapmusic2013