September 2007

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Teen Age Dance Party

Put this record on today and any teenagers in earshot are likely to tell you to take your dusty old records back to the nursing home. It’s hard to imagine that any teenager ever thought it was cool to dance the Hokey Pokey, but here its. But despite the hokeyness, there are some solid standards, including Mambo No. 5 and Tico-Tico. There’s some quality musicianship on this record, unlike the crap we foist on our teenagers today. And the teenagers back then not only had better music, they lived a life of leisure unknown to today’s modern teens. According to the back cover, “never before have teen-agers had so much leisure time to devote to dancing. With shorter school hours, less homework, and greater amounts of free time, the teen-agers of today have turned more to dancing as a means of relaxation and pleasure.” Kids, don’t let your parents fool you. They clearly had it much, much eaiser than you.

Everyone do the Walter Winchell Rhumba:

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Warning: According the the record jacket, “there can be no doubt as to whom this album is directed. The audience is young and spirited and composed entirely and exclusively of teen-agers.”

Teenage Dance Party.zip (31MB)

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Greek Party

Greek Party Volume 2

It’s Labor Day weekend, and that means two things. Time to put away the white shoes for the year, and time to head to the annual Greek Festival here in my town. To get in the mood, I’ve posted Greek Party Volume II. I think there is a series of these “party records.” I have a Polka one that I will post down the road, and I’ve seen others. They sound fairly authentic and you can hear people mingling and chatting in the background. I believe whoever took the jacket photos had one too many Ouzos. Just think, these were the best ones of the evening. I can imagine him in his dark room the next day, nursing a hangover and cursing over each blurry, out of focus print of yet another person’s back.

Get in the party spirit with “Sirtaki.”

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Greek Party.zip (37MB)

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Mambo Royale

Mambo Royale

Here’s a little 10-inch record from 1954 on the Royale label that features Ralph Font and the Royale Latin Orchestra. Looks like “Cooties” were the official Mambo mascot that year. Solid mambo music here.

Have a listen to Bing Bang Mambo:

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Royale Mambo.zip (19MB)

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