Starlets and Pin-ups

Jayne Mansfield: “Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me” MGM Records. (1964) Jayne recites Shakespeare’s sonnets and poems by Marlowe, Browning and Wordsworth against a background of Tchaikovsky’s music.

Opening / How Do I Love Thee / The Indian Serenade / Good Night / You Say I Love Not / If This Be Love / The Lady’s “Yes” / She Walks In Beauty / Cleopatra / Was This The Face / Whiteness, Or Chastity / Madrigal / Jenny Kiss’d Me / Verses Copied From The Window Of An Obscure Lodging House / The Enchantment / The passionate Sheperd To His Love / Upon The Nipples Of Julias Breast / Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes / The Lovers / To the Virgins, To Make Much Of Time / Inclusions / When You Are Old / Daffodils / Take, O, These Lips Away / Mark How The Bashful Morn / Oh! Dear, What Can The Matter Be? / The Millers Daughter / The Fire Of Love / The Constant Lover / Why Should A Foolish Marriage Vow / Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms / Love Me Little, Love Me Long

The New York Times described the album as the actress reading “30-odd poems in a husky, urban, baby voice”. The paper’s reviewer went on to state that “Miss Mansfield is a lady with apparent charms, but reading poetry is not one of them.”

Bridget Bardot.  Microfon from Argentina.  Bai La Mos Papi?

“Sleepy Beauty Ballet” on Hollywood Records.  Fifties pin-up fave and TV idol villian — Cat Woman, Julie Newmar.

“Tina”  “Her Portrait in Hi-Fi”  Tina Louise sings.  (1957)  Louise made four record albums, this one and “It’s Time for Tina” on Concert Hall, and two others on the Urania label in 1958 and 1959.  Before being forever remembered as Ginger on the TV Land staple, “Gilligan’s Island”, Tina Louise was in films like “God’s Little Acre,” on Broadway in the musical “Lil’ Abner (with Batman’s future “Catwoman” Julie Newmar) and one of the favorite pin-up girls and models of the fifties, appearing in Playboy and many other men’s magazines of the time.  Her last notable film role was in 1975’s “Stepford Wives”.

A great shot of French film actress Annie Cordy.

Beautiful, sexy Brigitte Bardot on the cover of “Guitare Magique” by Johnny Smith.  CID Records

Bettie Page - The “Carmen” cover.  On the Acorn budget label.   One of just three Bettie covers from the late fifties/early sixties.

Elvis for Everyone!  Including Ann Margret and Nipper.

Jayne Mansfield.

Here’s a rare Marilyn Monroe lp cover on Musidisc. “Los Violines Magicos”

Incredible. A 10 in my book. Iconic beauty. A quintessential cheesecake cover.

Brigette Bardot.  Philips 10″ from France.

Jerry Lee Lewis “Fools Like Me” from the movie “High School Confidential” with a sexy Mamie Van Doren. Check out a cool clip from the movie.

Bettie Page in her famous Africa USA photo shoot in Boca Raton, Florida as shot by Bunny Yeager. Page is posed in a leopard print swimsuit holding the chains to two (stuffed) cheetahs. This is one of (at least) three covers used by Halo with the same photo.  All the music is just generic chorus and orchestra pablum.  This one is “The Best Musical Comedy Songs” (1957).

“Wild Christmas”  Mae West from 1966.  Includes “Santa Come Up and See Me Sometime”  On “My New Year’s Resolution”, Mae purrs over a “Hang On Sloopy” rip-off riff, “I’m gonna have goodwill towards men…and the more men, the more I will.”  West recorded three albums; “The Fabulous Mae West,” “Way Out West,” and “Wild Christmas.”

Classic Jayne Mansfield photo on alternate  cover from Argentina.

From the U.K.

This listing marks the one year anniversary of lpcoverlover.com.  This is the 1,111th posting.

Cover model Bridgette Bardot. Made in Bogota Colombia.

Original movie soundtrack to “Bedazzled” written by and starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Produced and Directed by Stanley Donen. Also featuring Raquel Welch “as Lust”.

One of the grooviest soundtracks of the late 60s! The film Bedazzled’s gotten a lot of attention in recent years — thanks to a so-so remake — but the original film’s far far better, if only for this fab soundtrack! The music was handled by Dudley Moore, one of the stars of the film — and it’s a great mix of jazzy numbers, groovier tunes, and a few wild vocal tracks with a mad mad sound! Among these are the fuzzy-breakbeat classic “Bedazzled” and Peter Cook’s mad rocker “Love Me”. Other tracks are a perfect blend of styles that recall the best of Henry Mancini or Neal Hefti from the same time — and titles include “The Millionaire”, “Moon Time”, “Strip Club”, “Sweet Mouth”, and “Cornfield”, a lively jazzy groover!  - Dusty Groove