From: Doug Newlin Subject: Newbie jumps in Date: 03 Feb 1995 16:09:13 MST Well, I guess I never thought the word "exotica" described my little obsession, but . . . "a forum for collectors of unusual LP, EP, and single releases from the 1950s and 1960s" probably does. I am a "LP Engineer" (read that, technical documentation writer) for Hewlett-Packard out in Fort Collins, CO who is more than quite a bit obsessed with Big Band Swing Music of the 40's, 50's and, yes, the 60's. Big Band Swing WAS still alive in the 60's but not in this country! My area of expertise is in British Big Bands, most notably the fabulous Ted Heath Band from 1945 to 1969. I also collect the Four Freshmen, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and some really obscure bands like Sauter-Finnegan, The World's Greatest Jazz Band (Bob Haggert, Yank Lawson, et. al) and singers like Anita O'Day, June Christy and Chris Connor. Am I in the right group? - -- ___ / _ \___ __ ______ Douglas R. Newlin, LPE / // / _ \/ // / _ `/ HP OSSD UDL LPG FC CO /____/\___/\_,_/\_, / newlin@hpfcma.fc.hp.com /___/ 303-229-4087 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: James.Langdell@Eng.Sun.COM (James Langdell) Subject: Re: Newbie jumps in Date: 03 Feb 1995 15:59:14 -0800 Doug, Out of the Big Bands you mentioned, Sauter-Finnegan is solidly in the Exotica category, at least as my humble opinion defines it. Lots of weird instrumentation and voicings. Growing up I heard their LP "Adventures In Time" frequently on my dad's Hi-Fi. S&F did some of the wildest band arrangements Benny Goodman ever used, in the late 1940s. - --James Langdell jamesc@eng.sun.com Sun Microsystems Menlo Park, Calif. - ----- Begin Included Message ----- From owner-exotica@xmission.com Fri Feb 3 15:54 PST 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Doug Newlin Subject: Newbie jumps in Date: 03 Feb 1995 16:09:13 MST Well, I guess I never thought the word "exotica" described my little obsession, but . . . "a forum for collectors of unusual LP, EP, and single releases from the 1950s and 1960s" probably does. I am a "LP Engineer" (read that, technical documentation writer) for Hewlett-Packard out in Fort Collins, CO who is more than quite a bit obsessed with Big Band Swing Music of the 40's, 50's and, yes, the 60's. Big Band Swing WAS still alive in the 60's but not in this country! My area of expertise is in British Big Bands, most notably the fabulous Ted Heath Band from 1945 to 1969. I also collect the Four Freshmen, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and some really obscure bands like Sauter-Finnegan, The World's Greatest Jazz Band (Bob Haggert, Yank Lawson, et. al) and singers like Anita O'Day, June Christy and Chris Connor. Am I in the right group? - -- ___ / _ \___ __ ______ Douglas R. Newlin, LPE / // / _ \/ // / _ `/ HP OSSD UDL LPG FC CO /____/\___/\_,_/\_, / newlin@hpfcma.fc.hp.com /___/ 303-229-4087 - ----- End Included Message ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dx@netcom.com (dx) Subject: Elevator Music, by Joseph Lanza Date: 03 Feb 1995 08:44:01 -0800 A couple of people asked if I'd repost this review to the list. So here it is: ====================================================================== * Elevator Music * by Joseph Lanza * St. Martin's Press, 1994 Considering this is the confluence of one of my main musical interests, and a writer of obvious depth of background, I'm still a bit mystified as to why I found this such an unsatisfying read. One thought is that a good deal of the book seems to be little more than Lanza's personal musings about Muzak and other easy listening musics. Some of the text is nothing more than quotes cribbed from the liner notes of record albums. This all adds up to nothing new to those of us who've been collecting and listening to this music. For those who haven't, the ephemeral album-cover marketing descriptions of the music simply don't convey much. What's missing, especially in the first 2/3 of the book, are first-hand accounts and interviews. Virtually none of the great composers, arrangers, song-writers and musicians discussed in the book are actually interviewed. In some cases, they have passed on, but in others, either Lanza couldn't track them down, or simply chose not to. It's a shame, because what's left reveals virtually nothing about the people behind the music. The last 1/3 of the book, especially the section about Beautiful Music radio, provides a hint of insight, but again, falls short of providing any sort of authoritative historical account. Overall I found the structure of the book to be difficult to follow. The chapters don't add up to any sort of traceable arc, and the text within the chapters is often scattered and without discernable point. In some ways this reads like a Re/Search collection of essays, but I found many of the individual chapters uninteresting. The overall collection doesn't have a focus (except the huge umbrella of "Elevator Music"). It's too bad that Lanza's editor didn't do a better job of keeping the book focused, and finding a more readable outline. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig Norton Subject: Big Bands Date: 05 Feb 1995 01:07:19 -0800 (PST) On Fri, 3 Feb 1995, James Langdell wrote: > > Out of the Big Bands you mentioned, Sauter-Finnegan > is solidly in the Exotica category, at least as my > humble opinion defines it. Lots of weird instrumentation > and voicings. Growing up I heard their LP "Adventures > In Time" frequently on my dad's Hi-Fi. Agreed - good stuff, as well as a couple of other Big Band type artists worth seeking out. Alvino Rey with his Hawaiian guitar that had a voice of it's own. And Boyd Raeburn who did some interesting and unusual BB work in the late 40's, then cut more mainstream LP's for Columbia in the '50's such as "Teen Rock". Craig N. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Craig Norton Subject: Re: Newbie jumps in Date: 05 Feb 1995 00:57:08 -0800 (PST) On Fri, 3 Feb 1995, Doug Newlin wrote: > I also collect the Four Freshmen, Count > Basie, Stan Kenton and some really obscure bands like Sauter-Finnegan, > The World's Greatest Jazz Band (Bob Haggert, Yank Lawson, et. al) > and singers like Anita O'Day, June Christy and Chris Connor. > Am I in the right group? Doug, I'm not aware of a big band mailing list, but there is a newsgroup called alt.music.big-band (or similar) that we can't get at our site. There is or was a mailing list called 78-L for 78 collectors and music of that era. I enjoy the Four Freshman harmonies having gotten into their sound through the Beach Boys connection. I also have a few good June Christy recordings. She had a great voice but I don't know if she is still alive. I don't know whether BB/Vocalist stuff is considered "exotica", but there sure needs to be a forum of some kind to discuss that music. I've just spent the evening listening to Margaret Whiting and Jo Stafford and they were far more exotic than the last Pink Floyd release. Craig Norton ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dx@netcom.com (dx) Subject: Alvino Rey Date: 05 Feb 1995 08:19:07 -0800 > Agreed - good stuff, as well as a couple of other Big Band type artists > worth seeking out. Alvino Rey with his Hawaiian guitar that had a voice > of it's own. Rey didn't play a Hawaiian guitar, per se, he played a console slide guitar. Anyone know if his version of "Forever" (with the talking guitar gimmick) is available anywhere? If not currently, what LP was it on? Rey is the feature on one of the stupidest Exotica releases of all time: the *mono* release of the "Ping-Pong!" LP. The back cover excesses about the stereo ping-pong effects, but the vinyl is locked dead center in its one mono channel. (Yes, and I've never found a stereo copy...) - -dx