Sneaking Sally down the alley
Another great cover from Sweden courtesy of Lp cover lover, ULF.
Moog Indigo Created by Jean Jacques Perrey. Vanguard Records. (1970)
After establishing himself at the vanguard of electronic music as one half of Perrey & Kingsley, Jean Jacques Perrey continued to pursue his own uniquely space-age brand of humor-oriented pop throughout the 1970s. One of the best examples of his work during this time is Moog Indigo, an album built around Perry’s experiments with the Moog synthesizer. This album has been popular with the electronica crowd thanks to the presence of “E.V.A.,” a funky synth excursion that became popular with remixers (Fatboy Slim turned in a memorable remix of this tune on Best of Moog). The remainder of the album divides its time between funky lounge-pop and experimental tracks that mix avant-garde electronics with novelty pop. One of the big highlights in the lounge arena is “Soul City,” a funky instrumental where Moog synthesizers take the place of horns in a guitar-heavy slice of R&B. There is also a swinging take on “Hello Dolly” that sounds like cocktail jazz from another planet. As for the strictly novelty-styled tunes, the most memorable is “Gossipo Perpetuo,” a clever tune that mixes tape loops designed to sound like chattering voices with a fast-paced synthesizer samba groove to create a genuinely smile-inducing slice of novelty pop. Serious electronic music fans may find Moog Indigo’s humor-oriented style too lightweight, but everything presented here is tight and catchy and there is no denying that Perry has assembled his songs with amazing technical skill. In the end, Moog Indigo is a solid pick for lounge fans with a sense of humor. ~ Donald A. Guarisco, All Music Guide
An incredible record of funky moogy grooves — possibly one of the best of the genre! Jean Jacques Perry really outdid himself on this record — going past the simple cut ups of his work with Gershon Kingsley, and hitting a style that was more groovy, and more song oriented. The best example of this is the album’s fantastic funky tune “EVA” — a monster break/moog cut that’s been sampled by Gang Starr for “Just To Get A Rep”, and more than a few other artists over the years! The rest of the record’s just as great — and cuts include “Soul City”, “18th Century Puppet”, “Gossipo Perpetuo”, and “Passport To The Future”. — Dusty Groove America
“Shock Treatment” The Mel Henke Group on Tempo Records. Nice red vinyl on this one.
Tracks include: Cocky Cuckoo Clock; Pennies From Heaven; Paradis Toccata; In A Mist; Little Rock Getaway; Frenzied Flight; Shock treatment; I Surrender Dear; Dance Of The Cavemen; Kakachurian Toccata; I Can’t Believe you’re In Love With Me; In A Little Spanish Town
Coming up in a variety of Chicago bands in the ’40s, this pianist had an unusual career that included recording downright weird tunes such as “Shock Treatment,” “Cocky Coo-Coo Clock,” and “Frenzied Flight,” as well as creating what might be one of the masterpieces in the genre of lounge music, although experts in this style have been a bit relaxed about establishing an exact opinion. Henke shows up in the rhythm section on some Louis Armstrong records, and meanwhile over in Nashville, he once successfully placed a song with Conway Twitty. Henke was trained to please in writing ad copy, an influence that has been considered both a pro and con factor in his recorded works. Perhaps Henke’s greatest influence as a musician was in the advertising field itself, as he was innovative in mixing music and sound effects as an attention-grabbing factor in the commercials of the ’60s.
By the early ’40s he had settled in Los Angeles, leading his own trio on the side. This outfit landed a deal to make a pair of albums on the Contemporary label, which is where jazz buffs inevitably come across him. Fans of the type of challenging jazz often presented on this label may find the concoctions of Henke a bit bubbly; his followers seem to drift in more from the aforementioned loungey or space age waiting rooms. In 1955 he went to work for Disney’s television department, writing material for a great deal of the studio’s commercials as well as incidental music for the Disneyland television series. Henke ran his own production company as well, and was known for experimenting with sound effects and the concept of mixing dialogue into musical passages. Inevitably, he created a series of albums combining these techniques with full-length musical performances and instrumental skullduggery. La Dolce Henke, worth hunting down for its title alone, is considered his masterpiece. – Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
Mr. Dress Up aka Fancy Pants. From a Canadian Broadcasting Company TV Show. I guess like their Capt. Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans.