Honey LTD - Come Down - L.I.V.E [!][!][!]

Another amazing video of the lovely ladies has surfaced - this time of "Come Down", sung live o... shhh, well just watch!!!!! Enough said!

Grégory - LSD, Chaussures et Moutons

Grégory Ken, or Monsieur Jean-Pierre Trochu to give his full alias had a long and varied career in the world of music. First as a guitarist in the group Claude et ses Tribuns, then for acts such as Annie Cordy and France Gall. However not content with being behind the scenes, he embarked upon a solo career circa '66 with his premier and most sought after EP, LSD et Système D - one of the most swingly awesome odes to the drug. Not content with one dedication to cultural phenomena, he also debuted with another ode to the heroes of the modern age - Gadgets! Writing with his partner Joe Galigan, he released at least two further EP's before the decade closed, Je Fais La La La, and Un Trou Dans Ma Chaussure, a cover of the group Traffic's Hole In My Shoe. With Un Trou... Mr Ken broke out to experiment with more eastern sounds, while Je Fais... concentrated on more established freakbeatisms - all with great results! After these he embarked upon a career in musicals, initally with a role in the French production of Hair plus Jesus Christ Superstar and Mayflower. He is also notable for creating the character of Ziggy in one of the first rock operas, Starmania. After that he a pop duo in 1981 by the name of Chargrin D'Amour. Finally he branched out into the commercial jingle genre from 1991 - till his death from cancer in 1996. This collection I've compiled includes his first 3 EP's - and breakdown like this ::

LSD et Système D (1966)
LSD et Système D
Les Héros Modernes (Gadgets)
Les Grands Chemins
Pars

Je Fais La La La EP (1967)
Je Fais La La La
Il Faudra Bien M'y Faire
Les Trucs Anglais
Les Moutons

Un Trou Dans Ma Chassure EP (1967)
Un Trou Dans Ma Chassure
De Toute Les Couleurs
Ne T'en Fais Pas
Plus Un Mot De Toi

Please preview the songs in the links within the songs titles, and dowload some pill popping tunes below!

TAKE A TRIP WITH GREGORY HERE!

Zümrüt - Turkey's Cover Girl

The music of Turkey has long been home to a diverse array of influences, both homegrown in regional terms and externally, including Persian, Balkan, Byzantine and both popular and classical western music. The resulting mix has produced a vast array of genres over the decades, but the one concerning this post, is the one by the name of Aranjman, or literally "Arrangement". This genre was a dominant force in the Turkish music in the 60's, 70's and early 80's before it fell temporally out of favour and is basically the interpreation of foreign pop songs (mainly French, English, Spanish and Italian) into Turkish by homegrown artists, albeit sometime with traditional flair. Fecri Ebcioğlu's version of French singer Bob Azza's C'est écrit Dance le Ciel in 1961 is generally regarded as the first instance of this, and was so popular that a craze was born and so subsequently many artists joined the frame with their own slants on their westernly neighbours hits. The main propenent of these was blonde beauty Ajda Pekkan, who continued to have a long and popular career - but the focus this month is on a lass who goes by the name of Zümrüt. Recording a slew of singles and an album in the late 60's and early 70's she is the more poppier of the recording artists, and whose covering reportoire includes The Beatles, Sandie Shaw, Ray Charles, Sylvie Vartan, and US girl group The Toys. So not too bad a starting point eh! I've managed to collate most of her output from various Turkish forums, but improved the sound quality to make the listening experience a bit more pleasant! The full rundown goes as follows ::

1. Zümrüt - Anya Manya Kumpanya
2. Zümrüt - Aşk Sönmesin (Long Live Love)
3. Zümrüt - Aşk ve Sen (Rain and Tears)
4. Zümrüt - Bir Sevenin Şarkısı (A Lover's Concerto)
5. Zümrüt - Bir Zamanlar (Those Were The Days)
6. Zümrüt - Bu Benim Şarkım (This Is My Song)
7. Zümrüt - Bu Hikaye Boyle Bitsi
8. Zümrüt - Dönüş (Aranjuez D'amour)
9. Zümrüt - Ne Zormuş Unutmak (A Hard Day's Night)
10. Zümrüt - Samanyolu
11. Zümrüt - Sen Olmadan (Where Do I Begin?)
12. Zümrüt - Seni Gidi Çapkın (If I Were a Rich Man)
13. Zümrüt - Sevgim (My Love Is Warmer Than The Sunshine My Love Is Warmer Than The Sunshine)
14. Zümrüt - Şeytan Tüyü (Caro Mozart)
15. Zümrüt - Son Dans (The Last Waltz)
16. Zümrüt - Yanimdaki Golgen

Interestingly enough her strongest song, Anya Manya Kumpanya, is an original by acclamied and sadly the very recently departed Turkish composer Selm Andak. The fusion of the Turkish and Latin rhythms work very nicely indeed! Cover wise her take on Sandie Shaw's Long Live Love is very worthy, but close enough to the original that it sounds like it uses the same backing track! A Hard Day's Night gets more of a makeover, and stands up pretty well too. Ok, so discover the jewel that is Zümrüt below!

Preview Anya Manya Kumpanya
Preview Ne Zormuş Unutmak (A Hard Day's Night)
Preview Aşk Sönmesin (Long Live Love)

Dive into Zümrüt's Emeralds
(Part 1)!
(Part 2)!

The Go Go World of Lada Edmund

Perhaps one of the most legendary of go-go girls was a dancer known to the masses as Lada Edmund Jr., where many a viewer in mid-sixties America tuned in every week to watch her perform the "frug" amongst others, sometimes and sometimes not doing so whilst in a bird cage. Music show Hullaballoo was her home, and where she made her name. However, Lada first came to prominence at the young age of 13 when she starred on Broadway in the role of Penelope Ann in Bye Bye Birdie. As a result she scored a record deal with Chancellor records, releasing the cut Foxy/The Answer in 1961. Foxy was also recorded by labelmate claudine Clark for her album, Party Lights. Giver her tender age, Lada gives a surprsingly raucaus and forward performance. Later in 1962 came her second record, now recording under her new alias of Lada Edmund Jr., with the release I Want A Man/This Time, this time on the Roulette label. And again a record that sounds quite charged for its time. Written by. After a gap of 4 years, Lada's third single was released on the . Now an established dancer on Hullaballo she adopts a softer tone of voice of this release. Lada was also given the chance to perform I Know Somthing on the show, as you can see below in the clip! Next came what is now considered a classic Northern soul staple, The LaRue. Backed with Soul a Go Go it was released in 1966 on Decca, and after a listen, theres is no wonder why it is held in such high regard. The last release came the following, the brilliant Trouble, a release which combines intense production, snappy lyrics and Lada's trademark flirtatious lilt to great effect. You can find all of these records apart from Soul a Go Go in the download below - you can preview the best on the relevant links too! For more on Lada's career and recent happenings please check her great site out, with some lovely pictures and information here which I very much urge everyone to check out. Here's the full rundown of the zip too.

The Answer / Foxy (Chancellor 1094) 1961
I Want A Man / This Time (Roulette 4449) 1962
I Know Something / Once Upon A Time (Decca 31937) 1966
The Larue (Decca 32007) 1966
Trouble (Is His Middle Name) / Boopsie (Coral 62534) 1967

Preview Foxy
Preview I Want A Man
Preview The LaRue
Preview Trouble

Go LaLa Over Lada Here!

The What Four Story!

Just came across this amazing set of videos on Youtube showcasing the music of one of the fabbest 60' all-female-band - The What Four! Best known for their song "I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy" and as featured on the Ace Records compilation bearing the same name! The vids include interviews with the band members too! 0__0 Fascinating stuff! Plenty of beautiful photographs too.....

Part One

Part Two

The All Girl Latin Beat of Las Mosquitas!

One of the most talented female bands I've had the joy to come across have been four fab females from the fair country of Argentina - behold, Las Mosquitas! Comprising of Pupé, Nita, Nené and Diana - their appropriation of traditional Latin rhythms with beat backed with solid playing skills works a treat! Pupé, 20 (at the time of the recording of their album), came from the distinguished Saltena family, loved to cook and was characterised by a melancholy, almost sad persona. She studied classical music from an early age till she dropped Liszt's sonatas for the modern rhythms! Nita, 21, hailed from Buenos Aires. By her parents' will she studies classical music and ballet until she discovered the "twist." However apparently it did not stop her pursuing some late night hobbies - philosophy and painting! Nené, 20, was the shy member of the group. She abandoned her plans to study medicine when at the age of 14 she decided she wanting to don a habit and become a Nun - almost! The notes also urge young bachelors to note that Nené's final hobby...is cleaning! Final member Dina, 18, is the most joyous and playful of the group - preferring too to be pampered and spoiled by her those around her. Hailing from La Rioja - she left school and headed to the capital to carve out a career in the music industry. All girls sing while Nené and Pupé strum guitar, while Nita wields the bass and Dina drums the drums. Here's what the English blurb had to say about the fab foursome ::

There's something international about the music of today. You can hear the blues inflection in that Liverpool sound. The Motown beat is distinctive and distinguished. There are young groups and new sounds in Germany and Australia and Japan. It's happening all over the world these days.

The music of today is happening in Argentina, too. There it's a totally new sound. This time it combines a Latin beat with Rock. This is the sound and style of Las Mosquitas, four young an attractive beatle-haired girls who sing an shake their way to fervent performances. They've affected audiences in Spain and Latin-America and other European arenas.

This is the first album of a collection of Las Mosquitas songs. Included is Si Llorar Si Ries, which won first prize at the San Remo festival.

These four girls do it all by themselves. They have the traditional musical combination, 2 guitars, a bass guitar and drums. There is nothing timid or dainty about their approach. These talented females come upon each song with fresh and dramatic accompaniment. They engender a weird and wonderful feeling.

Few people - once they hear Las Mosquitas - fail to be moved by the vitality and warmth of their performances. They've given birth to an intense music. It's most unusual.

Somethign new is coming out of South America these days. It's not traditional Latin tempo. This time it's the sound of Las Mosquitas - four beautiful girls who sing and play a Latin-Rock rhythm that will keep the youth of the world bouncing.

And now to the music! You can preview three tracks here.... And download their full sole album below!

Tembleque
Do Re Mi
Siempe Bailo Con La Mas Fea

CATCH SOME MOSQUITAS HERE!

Honey LTD - Live in Vietnam!

Sorry to post yet another video - but this is worth watching! Some great soul has uploaded a video of the original line-up of Honey LTD performing on a Bob Hope show in Vietnam - just incredible! Watch and let your jaw drop!