Beauty And The Beast/The Beast Lets Belle Go 7" - 1991

This one is a one day only type thing. The 7-inch single from Beauty and the Beast. I'm not even really sure why I'm posting this. You can get these tracks anywhere and I don't plan on keeping them up long. Also my rips have plenty of pops and crackles so you might just want to get the soundtrack on CD or downloaded from your favorite digital store. I guess I thought the scans might be interesting for people to see.

Enjoy!

01 Beauty And The Beast - Celine Dion.m4a
02 The Beast Lets Belle Go (Instrumental).m4a

Two in one zip.
Celine Dion - Beauty And The Beast-The Beast Lets Belle Go 7" - 320K.zip

The Hobbit - 1977

Having a bit of a rough day. Thought that maybe by giving something back to the world I might feel a little better. This record set is basically the entire soundtrack to the animated movie The Hobbit. If you haven't heard it in a while it is a real treat and a blast from the past. So put it on and take yourself on the greatest adventure.

Enjoy!

01 The Hobbit side 1.m4a

02 The Hobbit side 2.m4a

03 The Hobbit side 3.m4a

04 The Hobbit side 4.m4a

Pope Paul VI - First Visit To The Americas

I've been waiting for a good reason to post this record and being the beginning of Lent seemed like a good reason.

I find records like this so very interesting, because they truly don't exist anymore. Today if there is a significant historic event, there is no need to really own it or own the audio, because you can find it on the internet. Want to hear a famous speech? Want to hear the audio of the moon landing? It's just a few clicks away. But I've got a collection of records such as these that people would buy, and I assume listen to more than once to be inspired or whatever. This one requires a little more work because of the language and I'll be honest, it is hard to hear sometimes. But none the less. This was an historic event and if you are Catholic I'm sure it really meant something to have the Pope visit the USA. So relive the historic trip as you start your observance of Lent.

Enjoy!

01 Arrival At J. F. Kennedy Airport.m4a
02 Prayer Of Thanksgiving At St. Patrick's Cathedral.m4a
03 Blessing The Unicef Children At The U.N..m4a
04 Mass For Peace At Yankee Stadium.m4a
05 Farewell Address.m4a
06 Message Of Peace To The United Nation's General Assembly.m4a

Pope Paul VI_ First Visit To The Americas - Side 1.zip
Pope Paul VI_ First Visit To The Americas - Side 2.zip

Frosty's Winter Wonderland - 1976

This was one of those Christmas specials that didn't play regularly when I was a kid. In fact I probably only saw it twice. To me it was a treat when it was on. I loved the story of Frosty getting married as a kid. I remember telling other kids about Frosty getting married as if it were a real event. It just added to Frosty's whole mythology and story. The best installment of Frosty's life is the one special where he and I think Crystal and their kids end up in a town when it is summer. Ben Franklin is in the story and the 4th of July (Independence Day) somehow works into the story. I can't remember which special that is. I think Rudolph may have been a part of it as well. It was an all star extravaganza. But back to this special and this record. This record is just a recording of the entire soundtrack to the tv special. I've made up my own track breaks, since there are no official ones. Hopefully they work for you.

Andy Griffith narrated this one and sings verses of Frosty throughout the show. This show brought new verses about Frosty and Crystal to the world. He also sings "Winter Wonderland" with someone else, but I don't know who the other voice is. This reminds me of one of the fun aspects of this special. They used elements of the song "Winter Wonderland" into the story of Frosty and Crystal. They get married by Parson Brown. The genius of this is that they made a song that wasn't about Frosty, now have to be about Frosty. I'm pretty sure that for a long time as a kid I thought "Winter Wonderland" was written for this show and specifically about Frosty and Crystal. Very clever. Hope this brings back lots of fond memories.

Enjoy!

All the tracks in one zip.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland.zip

Or the whole thing as one big file.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland 1976.m4a

Or the tracks as I have broken them up.
01 Opening Credits.m4a
02 Kids Miss Frosty.m4a
03 Frosty Had To Hurry On His Way.m4a
04 Frosty Misses The Boys and Girls.m4a
05 Winter, The Only Season Of The Year.m4a
06 Jealous Jack Frost.m4a
07 Fastest Belly Whopper.m4a
08 Frosty Meets Jack.m4a
09 Eliminate The Hat.m4a
10 Sleigh Ride To The Skating Pond.m4a
11 Look At Frosty Skate.m4a
12 Jack Gets The Wrong Hat.m4a
13 Frosty Is Lonely.m4a
14 Building Crystal.m4a
15 A Horses Hat.m4a
16 Crystal Is Born.m4a
17 Frosty And Crystal.m4a
18 No More Frosty.m4a
19 Gonna Need A Preacher.m4a
20 Best Man.m4a
21 Winter Wonderland.m4a
22 Springtime.m4a
23 Down To The Village.m4a
24 The Traffic Cop.m4a
25 Goodbye.m4a
26 End Titles.m4a

E.G. Daily - Mind Over Matter 12" - 1987

I don't know what it is, but I'm a big fan of E.G. Daily. If you're a child of the 90's or the new millennium you probably don't know her face or who she is. However you would probably know her voice. She does a lot of voice over work and is probably most notably recognized as the voice of Tommy Pickles on Rugrats. E.G. Daily however was in a bunch of films in the 80's and had a little bit of a music career to boot. Now to be fair, she's still recording and even had a dance track playing in clubs just this last year. If you are a child of the 80's and grew up then like me then you may recognize her from Valley Girl or Pee Wee's Big Adventure. She was Dottie. She was also in Loverboy and a long forgotten B horror called One Dark Night. I think it may have also been called something like Night in a Mausoleum or something like that. It was PG or PG 13 and basically was about a bunch of teens in a mausoleum and the dead come to life. It however was done on the cheap and because of the rating is pretty tame. Even as a kid I thought it was cheesy, but I still saw it a couple times in the theater and would watch it on cable. Anyways she's in that too.

But back to her singing. In my opinion the best E.G. Daily songs are in the movie Better Off Dead where she is singing at the dance. The song "One Way Love (Better Off Dead)" is great. I wish I had that soundtrack. If anyone has a copy I'd love to get a copy. In the mean time I just have to enjoy the song when I watch the DVD.

That isn't the case with this song. Not only do I not own the the DVD to Summer School with Mark Harmon, but I don't think I've ever seen it. I do remember the movie, I've just never suffered through it. That movie is of course from whence this track came. I can however put on this twelve inch, which I really enjoy. I found this in a cheap record bin at a local record store this last year. I had never heard of the song or even know she sang in Summer School, but because I just love E.G. Daily I picked up the record. I've never regretted it.

Enjoy!

01 Mind Over Matter (Remix).m4a
02 Mind Over Matter (Edit).m4a

Banana Splits - We're The Banana Splits - 1968

Remember the Banana Splits? I think if you have the cable Channel Boomerang you might be able to still catch episodes. We had Boomerang a few years ago and so my kids were exposed to the fun that was the Banana Splits.

A little piece of trivia for people is that Richard Donner (Superman, Goonies, Lethal Weapon) directed the running live action serial named Danger Island that ran on The Banana Splits. That thing always kind of weirded me out.

When I found this record the only song I knew off the top of my head was the Tra La La song, which was in the opening credits. I don't know if any of these other tracks were on the show or if they were done just for this record. I kind of don't really care, because I'm just so thrilled by the actual quality of the songs, so nostalgia doesn't play much into my appreciation of the record. The songs sound like there were done by a couple different bands or performers. About half the songs are bubble gum pop ala the Archies. But then the other half of the songs are 60's psychedelic and soul goodness. "I'm Gonna Find A Cave" really cooks. This may be a bold statement, but it reminds me of a little Sly and The Family Stone. "Doin' The Banana Split" also is pretty great. I don't know who the lead vocals is on these tracks, but this guy is simply great.

The funny thing is that coming off real jams like tracks 2 and 3 you get this silly "Toy Piano Melody" song, which just sounds like it belongs on a kid's show. It so doesn't jive with the other songs.

The on "Soul" we're back to the great soulful tracks. This song stands on it's own. I would never think of connecting this song with a kid's cartoon show. This may be the best song on the record.

"The Tra La La Song" probably comes in 2nd as far as best songs, but mostly becase of the huge nostalgia factor.

The last of the really good R&B/Soul numbers is track 9 "You're The Lovin' End". Great vocals, and a great band behind it all.

I've been focusing on the songs that have the Soul bent to them, but like I said there are song with totally different vibes. The other one I suggest checking out is track 11 "Two Ton Tessie" which reminds me of something Ray Davies and The Kinks might have been recording at this same time. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

These handful of songs are really great treasures that I never expected to find on this record and I think you might feel the same way.

Enjoy!

01 We're The Banana Splits.m4a
02 I'm Gonna FInd A Cave.m4a
03 This Spot.m4a
04 Doin' The Banana Split.m4a
05 Toy Piano Melody.m4a
06 Soul.m4a
07 The Tra La LA Song (One Banana, Two Banana).m4a
08 Wait Til Tomorrow.m4a
09 You're The Lovin' End.m4a
10 In New Orleans.m4a
11 Two-Ton Tessie.m4a
12 Don't Go Away - Go-Go Girl.m4a

Here's the whole thing Banana Splits - We're The Banana Splits.zip

Flashdance 7" - Irene Cara & Helen St. John - 1983

I feel like I'm really slacking on the blog. Not a great way to start off the year. Work has just been really crazy. The frustrating thing is that I did a bunch of prep work and digitizing over the holidays, and now that I'm back at work I haven't had the time to do the final things like uploading and writing of entries.

So I'm going with a backup that I had set up a long time ago. It's good to have some posts ready to go as back ups for just these circumstances.

So today it is Irene Cara's song for Flashdance. I really liked her song for Fame even more if I'm being honest. The B-Side is a fairly forgettable instrumental. Maybe if you saw the movie it would mean something to you. Myself, I've actually never sat at watched Flashdance through. I've seen bits and pieces on TV, but never the whole thing. I don't know if I ever will either. There are just too many other movies that I know are better than this movie to watch.

So that's it. Short, and maybe not so sweet. But at least it is a little something to tide you over for a few more days.

Enjoy!

01 Flashdance... What A Feeling - Irene Cara.m4a
02 Love Theme From _Flashdance - Helen St. John.m4a

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

I remember a lot of the Rankin and Bass specials, but I don't remember this one. Maybe you do and this will bring back all sorts of warm and fuzzies. If it does, I'd love to hear about them.

Enjoy!

01 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.m4a

Deniece Williams - Let's Here It For The Boy 7" - 1984

This is actually my favorite song off of the Footloose soundtrack. I know that may sound lame because this song is pretty light weight, but it is a perfect pop song. This is one that as a kid I loved, but never would tell anybody. I even got a copy of the Footloose soundtrack and never really told anyone. I especially didn't tell anyone that I loved this song. The video for this song was pretty lame and worth a watch for the cheese factor. It was cheesy then and the cheesy factor has only gone up over the years. The part that really made an impression is the bit on the football field. Talk about bargain basement production. Couldn't they have gone to a real football field. I mean really.

Enjoy!

01 Let's Hear Is For The Boy.m4a
02 Let's Hear It For The Boy (Instrumental Short Version).m4a

And here's an extra bonus from the 80's.

Cole Porter - Cole Porter's Anything Goes - 1977

If you are into showtunes, this is a fun record. This collects old recordings of many of the cast from the original Broadway cast. The back of the record says, "An archival reconstruction of the original production". So you've got Ethel Merman belting out these songs the way they were meant to be belted. You hear these recordings and you can understand why she was such a hit on Broadway. It certainly wasn't her looks. It was the fact that she could belt out these songs to the back row without a microphone.

Most interesting, though, for me the tracks of Cole Porter singing his own songs. I think they are basically like demos of the songs. He wasn't really a singer and I think recordings of him singing are kind of rare, which is why I find them so interesting.

On a side note if you don't know much about Cole Porter, see the movie "De-Lovely". It got mixed reviews when it came out, but I really enjoy the film. It also features some great modern takes on his music. The soundtrack is worth the purchase as well.

Enjoy!

01 I Get A Kick Out Of You - Ethel Merman.m4a
02 All Through The Night - Jack Whiting.m4a
03 Sailor's Chanty - The Foursome.m4a
04 You're The Top - Cole Porter.m4a
05 You're The Top - Ethel Merman.m4a
06 Anything Goes - Cole Porter.m4a
07 Blow, Gabriel, Blow - Ethel Merman.m4a
08 Blow, Gabriel, Blow - Jeane Aubert.m4a
09 Scene In The Ship's Brig _ Be Like The Blue Bird - Jack Whiting & Sidney Howard.m4a
10 Be Like The Bluebird - Cole Porter.m4a
11 Gypsy In Me - The Foursome.m4a
12 You're The Top - Jack Whiting And Jeanne Aubert.m4a

Cole Porter's Anything Goes.zip

Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies R Good Enough 7"

I wanted to post this one mostly because of the goofy cover. I actually had this record without the cover and then came across another copy with the sleeve and I bought it again just for the sleeve. In the back of my mind I knew that one day I'd get this whole blog thing going and that I would love to share this one with the world.

I mean seriously, what they hell is going on there. Cyndi is screaming at a corpse. I know it is one of the dead pirates from "The Goonies", but still it makes for one great image.

The song is pretty good too. It wreaks of 80's synth pop. Actually if Cyndi's voice didn't kick in you might think this was just some generic 80's soundtrack music. But Cyndi does kick in giving the song some distinction. You may not remember the song of the top of your head, because it wasn't exactly a huge radio hit, but I think after a listen you'll be humming the chorus.

Mostly the song brings up good memories of the movie, which is just great. I've watched this movie a couple times in recent years as part of my kids education of 80's cinema. They loved the movie too, of course.

The B-Side "What A Thrill" is kind of a punky raver of a number. It kind of reminds me something by T-Rex. That initial guitar hook really reminds me of a specific song, but for the life of me I can't bring it to mind. I think it might be "Solid Gold Easy Action", but I'm not sure. Maybe someone out there can chime in with their thoughts. Anyways, I think you'll find the song a refreshing alternative side to ole Cyndi.

Enjoy!

01 The Goonies R Good Enough.mp3
02 What A Thrill.mp3

Please, Please, Please, Ferris Bueller Let Me Get What I Want

Today's entry is a small one. One song really.

I believe my quest for this song began after listening to a podcast called Stuck in the 80's. I highly recommend it. If I remember correctly one episode was dedicated to the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and in that podcast the hosts talked about the fact that there was never an official soundtrack released for the film and that the Dream Academy's instrumental version of the Smith's

"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" has never been released anywhere. Actually they didn't specify the instrumental and just said the song had never been released. Coincidentally at the time I was putting together a mix for some coworkers of music I thought might be new and interesting for them and so I decided this might be a nice little gem for someone to have. So I put the DVD in my computer and just digitized the music from the museum scene in the movie. It was great because there is only the music. No ambient noise or sound FX. It is that rip that I am sharing with you today.

I have since learned and found on the internet that Dream Academy did release a version of this song with lyrics on some b-side to a 12 inch or something like that. You should be able to find it on e-bay of your file sharing program/network of choice.

My thoughts on the actual song are that it is magic. The original is one of the great songs from the 80's and this version used in "Ferris Bueller" just sums up a lot of feelings I have growing up in the 80's in a suburb of Chicago. I have fond memories of day trips into the city and going to museums or walking the streets and awe of how beautiful the city is. In fact many of those trips where with my high school sweetheart who is now my wife. That should give you context for how special those memories are to me.

The image that immediately comes to mind and brings a smile to my face every time is the scene where Ferris, and Sloan insert themselves into the line of elementary school kids holding hands. Pure innocence and joy.

Download, relax and have a nearly 2 minute blissful listen here.

The album tag on the file is not name's "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", but has the name of the mix from which I took this. I'll probably share some other songs from that mix as well in the future.

Enjoy!