ManzeROCK

Edita Pieha et L'ensemble Druzhba - Dozhdik (1960)

2009-07-31T20:22:00.016+02:00

I already introduced ensemble Druzhba before and here I go again. The song "Dozhdik" ("A Little Rain" or "A Little Summer Rain") was recorded for Leningrad TV in 1960.

Originally this is a Polish song "Deszczowy Fokstrot" ("Rain Foxtrot"). Music written by Andrzej Markiewicz and Jerzy Mart, words by Bogusław Choiński and Jan Gałkowski.

Edita sings this song in two languages: Polish and Russian. Russian text was written by Aleksander Bronevitsky, the piano player and leader of Druzhba ensemble. The video is a pretty good example of harmonising performance.

Big thanks to Russian friends for the information, photo and original file. I've just made a little restoration. I also found the way how to upload a video directly on the blog :-)

Dozhdik (21 MB)

Re-uploads

2009-07-27T07:50:00.001+02:00

Three soundtracks have been re-uploded:

The Amphibian Man (Mosfilm, 1961)
Operation 'Y' (Mosfilm, 1965)
Posledniy Zhulik (Rīgas Kino Studija, 1966)

Happy listening! :)

K.

Music for Sunday Date # 25

2009-05-29T09:10:00.019+02:00

Hello, my firends!

Summer is coming, so lots of things to do on the open air instead of sitting in the front of monitor ;) However, I found the time to make a brand new compilation for sunday date. These tunes are harmonising with the sun and summer fun.

Ozzie Warlock is actually Tony Osborne, British composer and arrenger. In the 1950s he was working for the major companies of the day, and he formed his own band, the Brass Hats, for weekly appearances on the BBC TV teenage show, Six-Five Special.

When that was superseded by "Juke Box Jury" show in 1959, Osborne wrote and recorded the theme song, "Juke Box Fury", under the name of Ozzie Warlock and the Wizards. Yeah, that's the programm where Sex Pistols have appeared in the 1970s ;)

Piero Piccioni, established composer and band leader, wrote "The Rendezvouz" for the "The 10th Victim" movie, based on the novel by my fav sci-fi writer Robert Sheckley.

Jonas Mašanauskas recorded this song about young city Elektrenai in the old Latvia. Scored by Latvian Radio and TV orchestra and chorus.

The last track is an instrumental number "Sochi". It was written by Kirill Molchanov for a panoramic movie about USSR "Shiroka Strana Moya". Sochi was and still is one of the most favorite Russian resort cities.

There are more nice tunes here, hope you enjoy them.

Have a nice weekend!

Ozzie Warlock & The Wizards Juke Box Fury (UK, 1959)
Danny Fisher Be Mine (Belgium, 1961)
Margarita Vilcāne Man Šodien 18 Gadu (Latvia, 1964)
Kilima Hawaiians Hawaiiaanse Krijgszang (Netherlands, 1962)
Piero Piccioni e la sua Orchestra The Rendezvous (Italy, 1965)
Paula Ribas Se Tu Me Queres Beijar (Portugal, 1962)
Jonas Mašanauskas Elektrėnų Žiburiai (Lithuania, 1964)
Miroslav Kefurt se svou skupinou Bílé Skály (Czechoslovakia, 1964)
Hazy Osterwald-Sextett Schokolata (Switzerland, 1961)
Lucky Blondo Filles (France, 1963)
Werner Müller Tanzorchester Lisboa Antigua (Germany, 1957)
Victor Knushevitskij et son Orchestre Sochi (USSR, 1958)

31 MB

Big thanks to Twist and Frit', Andreas Michalke, Boris and another Boris.

Mina - Renato (1962)

2009-05-10T13:29:00.005+02:00

The music was written by Argentinian born singer and composer Alberto Cortez.

The original version was recorded as "Renata" by Alberto Cortez with Ernie Freeman combo. It was originally released on Moonglow records in 1961.

Then, Italian songwriter Alberto Testa wrote Italian lurics, Gosio Piero made arrangements, and the song was recorded by Mina with Tony De Vita orchestra. The Italian version was released on Italdisc records in 1962.

After that, the song became popular worldwide and has been recorded many times during the 1960s.

Now, here are excerpts from Italian movie "Appuntamento in Riviera" where Mina performed this great twist song.

And the lyrics, offcourse:

Renato Renato Renato
ti voglio bene non l'hai capito
Renato Renato Renato
se non mi baci non vivo più.

Renato Renato Renato
a casa tua tu mi hai invitato
Renato Renato Renato
e ci ho trovato papà e mammà.

Scommetto che nessuno bacia come te
però chissà perché non lo dimostri a me
se tu ti decidessi a dirmi almeno un sì
io non sarei ridotta così.

Renato Renato Renato
così carino così educato
Renato Renato Renato
mi porti al cinema e guardi il film.

Scommetto che nessuno bacia come te
però chissà perché non lo dimostri a me
se tu ti decidessi a dirmi almeno un sì
io non sarei ridotta così.

Renato Renato Renato
come vorrei non averti amato
Renato Renato Renato
tu sei un mostro di ingenuità.

Renato Renato Renato
la serenata che ti ho cantato
Renato Renato Renato
vuol dire che morirò per te.

Renato Renato Renato
la serenata che ti ho cantato
Renato Renato Renato
vuol dire che morirò per te.

Renato Renato Renato
la serenata che ti ho cantato
Renato Renato Renato
vuol dire che morirò per te.

Twist-Twist (27.5 MB)

Music for Sunday Date # 24

2009-05-03T00:01:00.003+02:00

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and Radio Manzerock is on the air.

I've received many letters regarding music of Eastern Europe. Here I tried to make a whole Eastern programm.

All of the countries below were parts of the former USSR. I think it's interesting to make a journey through some rare sounds of these partly unknkown music scenes.

Not many informarion of this tracks, I even didn't put years of recordings as I'm not sure what years they were recorded. But I'm sure they're from the 1950s-1970s.

If you have interest in certain performes I'll try to answer in the comments.

Have a nice weekend!

Aino Bāliņa Slezinki (Latvia)
Zhan Tatlyan Gitarovo (Armenia)
L'ensemble Samotsvety Molodo-Zeleno (USSR)
L'ensemble vocal Narochanka Ekspromt (Belorussia)
L'ensemble Norok Deti Solntsa (Moldova)
L'ensemble Alma-Altinskii Electron Poyushaya Gitara (Kazakhstan)
Polad Bul Bul Ogly Sheik (Azerbajdzhan)
Batyr Zakirov Ty Daleko (Uzbekistan)
L'ensemble Orera Ty Mne Verish Ili Net (Georgia)
Nemuno Žiburiai Elegija (Lithuania)
L'ensemble Kobza Progulka (Ukrania)
ER Meeskvartett Romantika (Estonia)

34.8 MB

Beatniks - Music for Sunday Date # 23

2009-04-23T08:58:00.048+02:00

- Ah, say there Brutus, like, where is this King's pad?

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and Radio Manzerock is on the air!

We've talked about Sputniks, and now it's time for Beatniks. After discovering the great gem by Nero & The Gladiators, I inspired to choose something similar from all over the continent. Bad boys playing bad music. Here's the result, it's good or bad - you decide.

As you might know, Peer Gynt is a half-folk, half-real character from Norwegian fairy-tales. Writer Henrik Ibsen and composer Edvard Grieg made him popular back in the late XIX century. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" sequence is from Greig's suite, describing Peer Gynt sneaking into the Mountain King's castle.
Nero and The Gladiators recorded it back in 1961. It was an original band, very stylish. Ah, and that great guitar play of Joe Moretti here!

Irish writer Abraham "Bram" Stoker wrote novel "Dracula" in 1897. Dracula is a vampirish aristocrat, who now is well-known as the King of vampires.
ZZ en de Maskers from Amsterdam recorded song about him in 1966. I also have their English version, but I think that ZZ's Dutch vocal fits very well in this song.

I've aired Romanian big-beat band Sincron before, and here I go again. Their cool version of The Shadows' "F.B.I." became "Melodie", but with the full copyright credits on the Electrecord Records sleeve. And again, great guitar work by Alexandru Arion.

Not much known about Alye Parusa. They were a big-beat band from Soviet city of Odessa. Later, some musicians played in Korabely ensemble. The band's name probably taken from Alexander Green's novel with the same title, written in 1923. Or, most possibly, from the beautiful movie from 1961 based on the novel...
This track was recorded from the Russian radio station in the late 1960s or early 1970s. If you have any more info on that nice band - drop me a line.

Alec Palao has chosen this Los Bravos song when he was producing UK version of the "Nuggets II" compilation. Sounds very familiar to Palao’s early works from The Sting-Rays days: melodical garage, if ya can imagine such cocktail. If not - here you are!

The Tramps are a five-piece band from Antwerpen. They recorded a few singles on Fontana label. "Murder" was released in 1962. Before The Tramps, vocalist and solo guitarist played in another Antwerp beat band The Jokers.

Czech big-beat band Olympic from Prague were formed in 1962. The frontman is Petr Janda, one of the first Czech beat musicians and guitarists. The song "Dynamit" was written by Janda and Zdeněk Rytíř, and recorded in 1970 for Supraphon label.

Italian big-beat band The Meteors recorded instrumental version of "Peter Gunn Theme" in 1964, for their first LP.
Peter Gunn was a private investigator from the TV series with the same title, which aired from 1958 to 1961. The track was written and originally recorded by the great Henry Mancini.

The 5 Dorados are from Switzerland. "Tilt" was written by Franco Bussmann and Fredy Enz. Released in 1964 on Luzern label Layola. Nice piece with crazy screams and cool organ sounds.

The Rocking Ghosts are a four-piece band from Denmark. They were formed in 1962, and after two years they won the Copenhagen championship in Rock at Nora Bio, which lead to a record deal with Metronome Records and producer Jørgen Ingmann (you know this guy, don’t you?). One of their best known hits is “Belinda”. However, I decided on a great "Shakin' All Over" cover. This song was originally recorded by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates. Some Liverpool boys later named the Beatles, agreed that this is a very influential song from the early British beat music.

And the last track today is by the Swedish band called Bread. They are from the city of Malmoe. "Motortown Beat" is kinda a new dance for the bad boys and girls, represented by Bread in late 1960s. Philips recording company put a lot of money into this recording. And it was worth it. About 10 additional musicians were invited. It resulted in this funky song with soul flavor and simple but great, I like it!

Here's the complete track list:

Nero and The Gladiators In the Hall of the Mountain King (UK, 1961)
ZZ en de Maskers Dracula!!! (Netherlands, 1963)
The Tramps Murder (Belgium, 1962)
Sincron Melodie (Romania, 1967)
L’ensemble Alye Parusa Escape (USSR, ?)
Olympic Dynamit (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
I Meteors Peter Gunn (Italy, 1964)
Los Bravos Going Nowhere (Spain, 1966)
The 5 Dorados Tilt (Switzerland, 1964)
The Rocking Ghosts Shakin’ All Over (Denmark, 1965)
Metro együttes Nincs Kegyelem (Hungary, 1965)
Bread Motortown Beat (Sweden, 1967)

I'm a Bad Boy
I'm a Bad Girl

Rocking Cosmonauts # 2

2009-04-11T14:00:00.010+02:00

Hello everybody, hi all, this is Karel and Radio Manzerock is on the air.

12th of April is coming, and so it's time for Rocking Cosmonauts. On this day, Bill Haley recorded “Rock Around the Clock” and Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth!

I just noticed that shortly after the first “Rocking Cosmonauts”, The European Space Agency (ESA) started an interesting competition. They asked young people from all over Europe to suggest the most suitable playlist for the astronauts living on the International Space Station.

After two months, the winner was chosen. It was Therese Miljeteig, 14 yo girl from Norway. Here’s Teresa’s playlist: Here Comes The Sun – Beatles, Come Fly With Me – Frank Sinatra, Rocket Man – Elton John , Up Where We Belong – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, Imagine – John Lennon, Flashdance – What A Feeling – Irene Cara, Walk of Life – Dire Straits, Fly – Celine Dion, Rockin' All Over The World – Status Quo, I Believe I Can Fly - R Kelly.

Other national winners mentioned on the web-site are: Aricia Planchenault from Belgium, Luisa di Valvasone from Italy, Sebastiaan Van Doornik from Netherlands, Lucìa Aparicio from Spain, Frederik Heimark from Denmark, Adam Viaud from France, Erik Guenther from Germany, Jean-Philippe Green from Sweden and Andrew Hale from Switzerland.

I dedicate this sampler to all the ESA winners, maybe some day they will be cosmonauts! Wish I was one of the competitors :-)

First track is simply called “Spoutnik”. This little gem was written by Belgian accordeon player Hector Delfosse, and recorded by Hector himself with two unknown (to me yet) musicians on lead and rhythm guitar in the late 1957.

Hector Delfosse was a successfull composer, he played with his ensemble, accompaniate to Belgian and French singers, received several golden discs, toured all over Europe, especially in France.

The second track is called “Teach You to Rock”. It was written by Freddie Bello, an Italian-American singer. Freddie recorded it in 1958 with his band The Bellboys.

The same year the song was recorded on the other side of Pacific by Peppino Di Capri and his band Rockers. Note space guitar solo by Mario Cenci in the middle of the song!

“Red Sputnik Rock (Red Planet Rock)” arrived from Great Britain. It was written and recorded by Don Lang in late 1957. Don Lang’s real name is Gordon Langhorn. When Rock’n’Roll movement has started, he was already a professional jazz musician.

After touring over Europe he decided to form his own combo. In 1956, Don Lang and His Frantic Five were chosen to be one of the cornerstones of the BBC teenage show “The Six Five Special”. And for two years they appeared as resident accompanist and in their own right.

Instrumental number called “Orbit” was recorded in 1963 by The Hurricane Strings – four-piece big-beat band from Rotterdam. Very nice melody with spacewomen backing vocal.

Russian “Rocket” was recorded by Aleksandr Vladimirtsov orchestra from Leningrad and written by K. Martiyanov, as it states on the EP sleeve from 1961.

Vladimirtsov formed his first orchestra in the early 1940s, and in the 1960s became official band leader of the Leningrad Radio orchestra. “Rocket” is an instrumental orchestra number, with cute swingin’ flavour.

The song “Satelliitti Kahdelle” (“A Satellite for Two”) has Finnish roots. It was recorded by established singer Kai Lind for Finnish National Final in the early 1964. As you know, the winner of the National Final would proceed for Eurovision contest.

However this song received only the 2nd place in National Final. But, if it was a Spacevision contest, I guess it will proceed ;-)

Serbian big-beat band Detlići (translated as “Woodpeckers”) play driving “Moonshot”. Originally , it’s a “Gunshot” written by The Fireballs. Thanks to The Spotnicks, this track became known as “Moonshot”. Detlići’s version was recorded for Novi Sad radio in 1965.

Next moon track comes from Spain. Gelu sings the song called“La Luna, el Cielo y Tú” (“Moon, Heaven & You”). Being written by Italian-Spanish composer Torrebruno in 1961, it first appeared in a movie “Horizontes de Luz” (“Horisonts of Light”).

Looks like the song became popular in Latin world soon, as I have more versions, like Brazilian. But I like Gelu’s version most of all – outstanding vocal, arrangement, lyrics. Everything is here in one bottle, err… rocket.

When it comes to romantic songs, one of my favorites is a Czech song “Orion” (you can see these stars if you’re in equator). It is about girl who’s talking to the stars. Female singer Judita Čeřovská recorded it in 1962.

Another romantic song is “Kosmos–Maa” (“Cosmos–Earth”) comes from Estonia. It was written by composer Alex Rasmussen and Estonian songwriter Heldur Karmo, who’s been writing both for jazz and light music. Vocals are by experienced musician and singer Kalju Terasmaa, and female singer Anu Anton-Õunapuu. The song was recorded for radio in 1966. Accomponiation by Emil Laansoo ensemble.

“Echo Boogie” was written and recorded by Danish guitarist Joergen Ingmann in 1961. It’s interesting, that the A-side of this 7” inch is “Apache” – a version that appeared to be a competitor to the Shadows "Apache" back in those days.

Joergen was one of the first and famous Danish electric-guitar players. He was also popular on the pop-scene, but I like his instrumental solo-works most of all.

And last, but not least, French girl Dani (or Danièle Graule, as her real name) sings a song called “Partir Pour la Lune”.

Have a space week!

Space Intro (Manzerock)
Hector Delfosse Spoutnik (Belgium, 1957)
Rockin' Intro (Manzerock)
Peppino Di Capri Teach You to Rock (Italy, 1958)
Don Lang and His Frantic Flive Red Sputnik Rock (Red Planet Rock) (UK, 1957)
The Hurricane Strings Orbit (Netherlands, 1963)
Aleksandr Vladimirtsov et son Orchestre Raketa (USSR, 1961)
Kai Lind Satellitti Kahdelle (Finland, 1964)
Detlići Moonshot (Yugoslavia, 1965)
Gelu La Luna, el Cielo y Tú (Spain, 1961)
Judita Čeřovská Orion (Czechoslovakia, 1962)
Anu Anton-Õunapuu ja Kalju Terasmaa Kosmos-Maa (Estonia, 1966)
Jørgen Ingmann Echo Boogie (Denmark, 1961)
Dani Partir Pour la Lune (France, 1965)

Beep-Beep!

P.S. Big thanks to Dima, Andrej, Max, Misha and Si for the big help with this one.

Music for Sunday Date # 22

2009-04-03T06:04:00.005+02:00

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and Radio Manzerock is on the air. Today we’ll surf through nice cover songs and great originals from the 1950s and 1960s.

De Strangers were formed as a vocal quartet in 1952 from Gust Torfs , Alex Boeye , Pol Bollansee and John De Wilde. They started to make funny cover versions of the hits of the day. At first they sang mainly in English, and then switched to covering songs in Antwerp dialect.

So, “Casetta in Canada” became “T.V. Truut”, which they recorded in 1960 with Jean Vanhoren ensemble. Nice song, even funny if you understand the dialect ;) with Eurovision vocal intro and outro. That was also their first Antwerp record. Dialect records made them very popular between Flemish people.

Edoardo Lucchina is Italian composer, band leader and accordeon player. The song “Geppyna” is written by Mogol Mangeri. This record was made in the best traditions of Italian 1950s combos. Everything is great here.

Vocal quartet Four Cats is from Helsinki, where they first appeared in Autumn 1958 as Esa Laukan kvartetti. Three members of the quartet started The Four Cats in 1960 as Pentti Lasanen, Esa Laukka, Kai Ruohonen and new member Kaj Lindberg. In the 1960s The Four Cats recorded many successful songs and appeared in a few films. This song was recorded in 1961 for their first solo EP.

Die Montecarlos (a.k.a. Die Blauen Jungs) was an Austrian vocal quartet formed in 1955. Members were Jörg Maria Berg, Leo Hoppe, Rudi Resch and Rudi Kreuzberger. With song “Andrea” The Monte Carlos had their first success in 1956. The following year of 1957 the song “Warum Strahlen Heut' Nacht die Sterne So Hell” got to the 9th place. Originally it is called “Singin’ the Blues” written by Melvin Endsley in 1956. The song was made popular by Croatian-American singer Guy Mitchell, soon followed by Tommy Steele and Marty Robbins.

Not much known about the following Monaco Danceband: where they’re from or who are the members. If you have any info – drop me a line.

The same goes to Swedesh female singer Maj-Britt Asp. Have no much info. Exept her song “Slut, Slut, Slut” (Final, Final, Final) was released on Swe Disc Records in 1965. Accompaniation by Lars Samuelson orkester. You can see the sleeve on the left. Some say, this fury song reminds them an outstanding version of "Shout". Well, just a bit ;) Also, this frenzy song is 1:50 lenght only, so don't be surprised!

The song “I’m Sorry”, which Ronnie Self wrote for Brenda Lee, became “Roň Slzy” in Czech language. The new text was written by Jiří Štaidl and recorded by 16 yo female singer Yvonne Přenosilová. I like this "blues" performance very much.

Stjepan Stanić, nicknamed “Džimi” or “Jimmy”, is one of the greatest Croatian singers of evergreen and jazz. Here is a cover version of a song “Bernardine”, that was written by Johnny Mercer for the film with the same title. Released on Jugoton label in 1959 or 1960 with Croatian lyrics.

Swiss singer Lys Assia was born in a big family, youngest among 12 brothers and sisters. At the age of 16 she debuted as a ballet dancer, in 1942 recorded her first 78 rpm as a singer. Here’s a song from 1959, when Lys was on the top of her fame.

There are more nice songs for today, like famous duo of Gitte Haenning and Rex Gildo singing love song “Sweet Hawaii”, Geoff Stephens’s novelty hit “Winchester Cathedral” sang by John Carter with The New Vaudeville Band formed by Geoff, and Belgian “Bon Appétit” by the great Al Verlane and his so-called Villa Montebello orchestra.

That’s all for now, see you soon. Have a nice weekend!

De Strangers T.V. Truut (Netherlands, 1960)
Edoardo Lucchina Geppyna (Italy, 1959)
Four Cats Si Si Si Napoli (Mais Oui) (Finland, 1961)
Monaco Danceband Something Different (?)
Die Montecarlos Singin’ the Blues (Austria, 1957)
Maj-Britt Asp Slut Slut Slut (Sweden, 1965)
Yvonne Přenosilová Roň Slzy (Czechoslovakia, 1963)
Stjepan “Jimmy” Stanić Bernardine (Yugoslavia, 1960?)
Lys Assia Caballero (Switzerland, 1959)
Gitte und Rex Gildo Sweet Hawaii (Denmark/Germany, 1964)
John Carter Winchester Cathedral (UK, 1966)
Al Verlane Bon Appétit (Belgium, 1964)

34.6 Mb

Radio Nord

2009-03-30T18:05:00.006+02:00

Radio Nord was an offshore radio station, operating for one year in the early 1960s. While the main office was in Stockholm, the station itself was located on a ship - cargo vessel MV Bon Jour.

I guess Radio Nord that was the first Swedesh offshore station traslating popular music. Equipment included 10 000 watts AM transmitters. The station was heard in Sweden, southern Finland and parts of eastern Europe.

There were own and regular Top 20 lists transmitting every month.

The station was also one of the first stations in Europe to use radio jingles. I believe the jingle below was recorded by Norwegian vocal ensemble The Monn-Keys. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Photos courtesy of Soundscapes (1 - testing the reception; 2 - top 20 promotion at the music records shop; 3 - top 20 list from a newspaper).

Radio Nord jingle

Trio Lescano

2009-03-19T03:35:00.007+01:00

Sometime I like to refer back to some of my old favourite records. Today is the day for a beautiful female trio from the 1930s. The three girls were born of an Hungarian father and a Dutch Jewish mother. They were from Holland, where they made their first vocal steps.

Then they left their motherland for Italy, and became Trio Lescano over there. The youngest sister was only 15 years old back then. However, they took Italy by storm.

Band leader Pippo Barzizza, with his orchestra, recorded many of Trio Lescano's highlights, remembered that they were hard workers. I guess that's one of the reasons that their songs and harmonies are so free, light and full of fresh air.

So, let's give an air for three sisters: Alexandra, Judith and Kitty Leschan, which remains three young and beautiful girls - Trio Lescano.

Tulipan (Tu-Li-Tulip-Time)
Parlophone GP 93080 (1940)

Colei che debbo amare
Parlophone GP 92540 (1939)
(big thanks to Paolo)

Radio ads

2009-03-17T23:23:00.011+01:00

Music for Sunday Date # 21

2009-02-21T15:59:00.045+01:00

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and radio Manzerock is on the air. Since last time I’ve received lot of requests regarding certain songs and performes. Today, I’ll try to satisfy some of you :) Also, I have a chance to make this programm is 192 Kbps.

Well, the first song in today’s programme was recorded by Children’s choir and orchestra of Yugoslavian Radio Zagreb in the year of 1954.

Nikolay Istratov was Russian double-bass player and accomponiator. He played with different dance ensembles and accomponiated to different singers during the 1950—1960’s. This instrumental track written by Domenico Modugno was recorded by Nikolay Istratov own ensemble in the early 1960’s. The original title, as you might know, is “Nel Blu di Pinto di Blu”!

Instrumental number “Kogda Prihodit Vecher” (“When Evening Comes”) was composed by Soviet Armenian composer Aleksander Arutunjan (b. 1920) and was recorded by Armenian Radio sextet in the 1950’s. Arutunjan successfully mixed ethnic tunes with modern music tendencies in his theatre works. And this jazzy record is an example of his innovation.

Vocal duo Butterflies were two brothers: Luc and Godert van Colmjon from Amersfoort, Holland. They formed the duo in 1956 when they were 13 and 17 y.o. and became very popular with their cover-songs and Dutch ones. Song “Dixieland” was their big hit in 1957!

Not much known about the next performer — mystery James Award orchestra. French guy whoops, who originally digitalised this record, said that it was a pseudonym of more or less known French conductor: "since all the tracks he has recorded are credited to A. L. Prevost, i believe that this is his real name". I suppose, this would let him to record on a small label and accomponiate to many singers. However, James Award recordings are worth to mention.

German organ player Klaus Wunderlich (b. 1931), a son of a police-inspector, got his first piano at the age of 7, and became a performer at the age of 16. He always preferred dance music to classical, so he arranged music for orchestras and formed his own band in 1951 where he played piano and accordion. In 1955 the guitarist of his band had rented a new Hammond organ and the new sound of the band was born. “The organ is my life!", Klaus stated later.

I’ve aired Italian trumpet player Gastone Parigi before, and here we go again. This song “La Mia Donna” is from his early repertoire. It was written by Ovale Testoni and recorded by Gastone Parigi quintet in 1959. Vocal is by Gastone himself...

Speaking of pseudonims, Danish singer Gustav Winckler (b. 1925) was also known as Gunnar Winkler in Germany and Sam Payne in England. In his teens he studied painting together with his brother, but soon decided to become a singer. In 1948 he won a singers contest in Copenhagen and his crazy popularity has begun. Wikipedia states, that “he participated in Eurovision Song Contest 1957 where he sung "Skibet Skal Sejle i Nat" ("The Ship Is Leaving Tonight") with Birthe Wilke. They ranked number 3, and stunned television audiences with a 32-second long kiss at the end of their performance”. Wow! Here he sings the song "Patricia" in English language. It is from a rare 78 R.P.M. record.

Vico Torriani is one of my fav singers. He sings “Siebenmal in der Woche” here – the song that was written by Austrian composer and band leader Erwin Halletz together with German songwriter Hans Bradtke. This danceable tune was released in 1957 and reached #1 in all three countries that have been involved in its birth: Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Cherry Wainer arrived in London in the middle 1950’s from South Africa, where she was born.
Cherry’s talents as a dancer and organ player made her a star within a very short time – rare thing in showbusiness! I chose this tune because one of my mates asked me, if I know who is playing on his old tape. I listened – and that was her! This recording has stood the test of time for sure!

Iceland is presented by a song performed by singer Egill Ólafsson (b. 1953) who is also a composer and lyricist by himself. Anyway, this popular tune “Anna Maja” wasn’t written by him, but by composer Henni Rasmus and songwriter Tómas Guðmundsson.

And last, but not least, Anni-Frid Lyngstad — Frida of the late ABBA fame! Before she met her band mates, she won a prize as a singer and was given a chance to make a record. This song from 1967 could be translated as “Weekend” or “A Day Off”. It was written by composer B. de Filippi and Swedish lyricist Bengt Sten. The tune was scored by Marcus Österdahls orkester.

See you next time, dudes!

Dječji Zbor Radio Zagreba Pjesma o Tati (Yugoslavia, 1954)
L’ensemble de Nikolay Istratov Volare (USSR, 1960?)
Le Sextet du Radio de Armenia Kogda Prihodit Vecher (Armenia, 1960?)
Butterflies Dixieland (Netherlands, 1957)
James Award et son orchestre Atout Surf (France, 1963?)
Klaus Wunderlich Teufelstanz (Germany, 1964)
Gastone Parigi e Il Suo Quintetto Donna (Italy, 1959)
Gustav Winckler Patricia (Denmark, 1956?)
Vico Torriani Siebenmal in der Woche (Switzerland, 1957)
Cherry Wainer More (UK, 1964)
Egill Ólafsson Anna Maja (Iceland, 1973?)
Anni-Frid Lyngstad En Ledig Dag (Sweden, 1967)

47.5 Mb

Olav Wernersens kvartett

2009-02-06T23:39:00.004+01:00

Olav Wernersen was born in 1936 in Fredrikstad, Norway, where Roald Amundsen was born, too. Since childhood he became interested in accordeon and showed a big talant in it. In 1952 he won Scandinavian accordeon contest, aired on radio and soon went on tour with famous Norwegian singer Jens Peter Book-Jenssen.

Back in Oslo he played with several dance orchestras (i.e. Bristolorkesteret and Alf Søgaard orkester) in restaurants "Humlen". At that time he also practiced and played on double-bass. He was much interested in popular music and recorded lots of dance tunes since 1954 together with his ensembles. Olav composed own music, too.

In 1960 he went and settled down in Sweden, where he continued to play accordeon and double-bass and study music with famous teachers, like professor Knut Gulbrandson and studied harmony with Josef Brinnè. Olav was great figure on Swedesh jazz scene, played with talented swdesh and foreign musicians, like Dizzy Gillespie. In 2004 he was honored with Stockgolm Musical Academy award.

Here is his first record on 78 rpm issued on Odeon label. These tracks were recorded by Olav Wernersen quartet on February 23, 1954 in Oslo. First track is an international jazz hit "Whispering", which is one of my favorite tunes. The second track is a famous Russian tune called "The Dark Eyes". Note, that Olav was only 18 when he recorded these.

Olav Wernersens kvartett
Whispering / Sorte Øyne
Odeon ND 7189 (1954)

Benelux orkest

2009-02-06T18:36:00.007+01:00

This is Benelux orchestra. The photo was taken in Luxembourg in the early 1960s. Maybe somebody can put the light on this orchestra?

Re-uploads

2009-01-31T21:48:00.006+01:00

Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3

More to come in better quality :-)

Music for Sunday Date # 20

2009-01-25T07:58:00.006+01:00

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and radio "Manzerock" is on the air. Today's programm contains:

Optimistid Boogie (Estonia)
Hana Zagorová Svatej Kluk (Czechoslovakia)
Klan Wait and See (Bulgaria)
Paul Würges Olympic Nights (West Germany)
Caterina Caselli Sono Qui Con Voi (Italy)
Eskos Habitat 736 (Portugal)
Eglutes Dainą apie Kauną (Lithuania)
ZZ en de Maskers Beat Girl (Netherlands)
Koncz Zsuzsa Rohan az Idő (Hungary)
Gamblers Little Girl (Austria)
Forminx Jenka Beat (Greece)
Phoenix Vremuri (Romania)

I'll write notes someday!

Link to download

Happy listening and see you next time!

Music for Sunday Date # 19

2008-12-31T10:11:00.005+01:00

And another one, with Best Wishes :)

I'll write notes someday here too!

Cheers,
Karel.

Orchester Max Greger Maxi-Rock (Deutchland)
Latin Combo East of the Sun (Spain)
Barbro Skinnar Ingen Tvist om Twist (Norway)
Cristian Popescu Liliana (Romania)
The Freedom Riders Pizzicato Twist (Belgium)
Aspalathos Brass Sjecanje Na Granadu (Yugoslavia)
Tony de Matos Vocês Sabem Lá (Portugal)
Fred Frohberg und die Babsis Die Sterne der Heimat (DDR)
Mieczysław Wojnicki Jabłuszko Pełne Snu (Poland)
Karin Kent Loop Nou Niet Weg (Netherlands)
Janice Peters A Girl Likes (UK)
Öijwind’s Creole Jazz (Sweden)

Downloading

Music for Sunday Date # 18

2008-12-31T10:07:00.007+01:00

Hello!

Thanks everybody for keeping in touch with me and for your interest! Hope in the next year there'll be more music here :)

I'll write notes someday!

Until than, Happy New Year and all the best,

Sincerely,
Karel :)

Vocal quartet Accord Princess of the City (USSR)
Jan og Kjeld When Irish Eyes are Smiling (Denmark)
Anita Hegerland Hutte-tutte-tei (Sweden)
Irma Sokhadze Orange Song (Georgia)
Dalida Le Petit Gonzales (France)
Lille Eris Jeg Vil Ha en Liten Hund (Norway)
Kovács Eszti A Pancsoló Kisgyerek (Hungary)
Diny Snyder De Rock School (Netherlands)
Dana Pustinová a J. Strnad Motýl Kosmonaut (Czechoslovakia)
Alicia Soy Asi (Spain)
Vladislav Lynkovskij Me and Kinder Garden (Latvia)
Danuta Rinn i Bogdan Czyżewski To Est taka Gra (Poland)

Downloading

Aloha from Europe - Music for Sunday Date # 17

2008-02-03T02:48:00.014+01:00

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and radio Manzerock is on the air. Today I'll take you back in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. That was when Hawaiian music really spreaded all over the world, including our motherland Europe.

The early traces of Hawaiian culture in Europe lead back to the late XIX century. That was when lots of foreign ensembles visited Europe with music performances. Some of the artists (the names are unknown to me) presented exotic sounds of Hawaii island.

Soon, European ensembles began to include Hawaiian themes in their repertoire and put them on records. Today we'll listen to just a couple of them, just to give a clue what it looked like in Europe.

I can comment just a few artists presented here. Russian singer Ivan Milovidov recorded the song "Hawaii" in 1933. The session was scored by Leningrad artists: Jakov Skomorovskij orchestra and steel-guitarist John Danker (one of the first and most famous in USSR, I believe). Yngve Stoor from Sweden recorded this song in 1943. German vocal ensemble Comedian Harmonists recorded this version of "Blume von Hawaii" with Marek Weber orchestra back in 1931. And that’s all I can put in here. Most of these records are from the 1930s. The last three are 1950s recordings for sure.

Some of the ensembles need a historians attention, 'cause just a little information I know about them yet.

Hawaiian music was a part of culture in European countries. Not just an exotic music as it was in the beginning.

So, have a joyful trip, and if you've liked this - drop me a line. Maybe you know something interesting...

Aloha!

Ansamblul Mihai Daia O căsuţă mică (In a little hula heaven) (Romania)
Instrumentální soubor Karla Slavíka Maui no la ka oi (Czechoslovakia)
Ivan Milovidov Gavai (USSR)
Kostas Bezos Ta aspra poulia sta vouna (Greece)
Malihini Hawaiians Moonlight and shadows (Denmark)
Yngve Stoor med sin Hawaiiorkester Sjømannsjul på Hawaii (Sweden)
Waikiki Serenaders Bei mir bist du schön (UK)
Gino Bordin et son Orchestre Hawaii-marche (France)
Comedian Harmonists Blume von Hawaii (Germany)
Sylvia Mayer en de South Sea Hawaiians Aan 'tmooi Waikiki strand (Holland)
Lys Assia mit Aloha Islanders Die weissen blüten von tahni (Switzerland)
Onni Gideon ja Hänen Aloha-Hawaijiyhtyeensä Palmujen alla (Finland)

49.2 Mb

Music for Sunday Date # 16

2008-01-12T00:21:00.003+01:00

I'll write notes someday!

The Jokers Sabre Dance (Belgium, 1965)
Adriano Celentano Ciao ti Dirò (Italy, 1959)
Nora Brockstedt Jag Trodde (Norway, 1958)
Atlantis együttes Szöcske (Hunagry, 1966)
Benny Quick I'm Coming Home (West Germany, 1964)
Beti Jurković i Marko Novosel Autobus Calypso (Jugoslavia, 1959)
The Hubbubs Express to Gloryland (Austria, 1967)
Britt Damberg Jocke Jukebox (Sweden, 1962)
The Danish Sharks Rock-A-Beatin Boogie (Denmark, 1964)
Luisita Tenor Yeh Yeh (Spain, 1965)
Vadim Ludvikovskiy Orchestra Night In Paris (USSR, 1968)
Karel Vlach Orchestra It's Not an Ordinary Day Today (Czech, 1962)

Have a nice weekend!
ask for the link, please

Music for Sunday Date # 15

2007-12-15T22:16:00.004+01:00

I'll write notes someday!

Cor Steyn Tune (Netherlands)
Muslim Magomaev Watussi (USSR)
Willy Alberti Marina (Netherlands)
Lolita Seemann, Deine Heimat Ist Das Meer (Austria)
Jumping Jewels Guitar Tango (Holland)
Cliff Richard Livin' Lovin' Doll (UK)
Conny Froboess Mariandl (West Germany)
Siw Malmkvist Danke für die Blumen (Sweden)
Rex Glido Zarina (DDR)
Cousins Kili Watch (Belgium)
Karel Duba Wheels (Czechoslovakia)
Ansambl Stjepana Mihaljinca Sjena (Yugoslavia)

Have a nice weekend!
ask for the link, please

Music for Sunday Date # 14

2007-12-02T11:18:00.004+01:00

I'll write notes someday!

Jumping Jewels Darktown Strutter's Ball (p) 1962 (Holland)
Adriano Celentano Il Tuo Bacio E' Come Un Rock (p) 1959 (Italy)
Orchester Erwin Halletz Der Puls Von St. Pauli (p) 1967 (Austria)
Freddy Sunder Calling Car Boogie (p) 1963 (Belgium)
Gitte Hænning Basin Street Blues (p) 1960 (Denmark)
Tercet Florida Singing the Blues (p) 1959 (Yugoslavia)
Les Quatre de Paris Daisy (p) 1957 (France)
Alice Babs After You've Gone (p) 1963 (Sweden)
Caterina Valente Cherokee (p) 1964 (West Germany)
Andrzej Kurylewicz Big Band Wieczorem po Marszałkowskiej (p) 1964 (Poland)
Allanovy Sestry Dej si Říct (p) 1953 (Czechoslovakia)
Orchester Max Greger Chattanooga Choo Choo (p) 1967 (East Germany)

Have a nice weekend!
ask for the link, please

Music for Sunday Date # 13

2007-11-09T04:27:00.004+01:00

Romanian vocal duo Fratii Mentzel with an opening tracks called "Curcubeul". In fact, it is a cover version of the song called "Over the Rainbow". And intro is taken from Ted Heath's record called "Skin Deep". Quite outstanding, eh??

I'll write full notes someday!

Have a nice weekend!

Fratii Mentzel Curcubeul (Romania)
Vocal quartet Gaya Geyran (Azerbaijan)
Kjell Öhman I Saw Her Standing There (Sweden)
Les Milady's Guantanamera (France)
Kvartet 4 M Buona Sera, Signorina (Yugoslavia)
Filipinki Mr. Wonderful (Poland)
Karel Štědrý a Inkognito kvartet Bonbon (Czechoslovakia)
Melody Sisters & Black and White Sh-boom (Holland)
Quartetto Cetra Aveva un Bavero (Italy)
Oktáv vokálegyüttes Tánczenei Randevú (Hungary)
Vocal quartet Akkord Dancing Teens (USSR)
Orchester Hugo Strasser Tintarella di Luna (West Germany)

ask for the link, please

Music for Sunday Date # 12

2007-10-30T10:38:00.003+01:00

I'll write notes someday!

Klaus Wunderlich Delicado (West Germany, 1959)
Freddy Quinn So Geht das Jede Nacht (Austria, 1956)
Milva Flamenco Rock (Italy, 1960)
Duo Dinamico ¡Oh! Carol (Spain, 1960)
Körmendi együttes Csing-Csing Twist (Hungary, 1962)
Maria Koterbska Parasolki (Poland, 1960)
Rudolf Pellar Červená Aerovka (Czechoslovakia, 1960)
Stef Meeder A Dedicated Follower of Fashion (Netherlands, 1969)
L'ensemble Grammophone The Sun (USSR, 1969)
Alice 'Babs' Love in Swingtime (Sweden, 1956)
Zvonko Špišić Milioner (Yugoslavia, 1962)
Kjell Karlsens Orkester Lappland (Norway, 1965)

Have a nice weekend!
ask for the link, please

Music for Sunday Date # 11

2007-08-18T17:26:00.004+02:00

Hi, friends, this is Karel and radio Manzerock is on the air. Today we will tour all over Europe.

Grass skirts and leis, hula-dancing babes with fire in their eyes, tropical nights under the palms... that was how Hawaii appeared to Europeans in the first place. Dozens of bands saluted the islands in music and song.

The Waikikis spearheaded this movement. Behind the scenes, producer Horst Fuchs promoted the band's career and pulled the strings. Composers such as Hans Blum and Michael Thomas created their repertoire. The Waikikis - all of them Belgian studio musicians - sold their colorful island reveries by the millions, and some of the instrumentals made their way into the charts in several countries.

Peter Hinnen was a popular Swiss singer & yoddler. He sang pop songs, country and offcourse he did some pretty rock'n'roll tunes.
"Moonlight-Kss" is a nice version of Douglas Cornell's "Hey, Cool" from 1958 (written by Beverly Ross and Julius Dixon). This version has got German lyrics.

Kilima Hawaiians were founded in 1934 by Aris-Jereke Buijsman and his wife Mary Buijsman. The band played a Dutch variant on the exotic Aloha music. Its heyday the band enjoyed in the 1950s, also in neighbouring Germany. Until 1989 the Kilima Hawaiians performed live concerts.
"A Song of Old Hawaii" was written by Gordon Beecher and Johnny Noble in 1937.

Die Optimisten were formed in 1952 from Peter Alexander, Erni Bieler and Erwin Halletz. All of them soon became the stars of Austrian pop music. Erwin Halletz was a band-leader, he made many top records with Austrian and German singers.
"Jambalaya" was originally written and recorded by Hank Williams in 1951. It means a french fish dish which is very popular in French speaking States of America. German lyrics by Kurt Feltz.

Conny Froboess is a German singer, made her first hit in 1951 and never stopped since then. She starried in many teeenage musical films in the 1950s and 1960s, sang rock'n'roll and pop songs. Here's a 1962 hit "Lady Sunshine".

France Gall, a popular singer, was born in Paris. Her father was lyricist. In the early 1963 he encouraged his daughter to record some songs and send the demos to a musical publisher. In July she was signed with Philips. After the song "Sacré Charlemagne" whose lyrics were penned by her father, was an enormous hit in 1965, selling more than 2 million copies around the world, Gall was then selected to represent Luxembourg for the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. With the song "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son" she took the Grand Prize. And here's a romantic song from her 1966 album.

Four Hawaiians is a Danish quartett with Hawaiian influence. Here's a song "Stop den Lille Kaenguru" ("Stop the Little Kangaroo") wich was recorded in 1963 and released on 7" Columbia Records 45-DD 721 (see the picture sleeve).

L'ensemble de Mescherin is unique in its way. Led by the legendary producer Vyacheslav Mescherin, the ensemble made their first record in 1957, especially for the 6th International Youth Festival in Moscow.
One interesting thing was that the ensemble played on electric instruments only: electric guiars, organs, hammonds, and other nameless experimental instruments. This made them one of the most original and unique groups on the Soviet music scene.
Vyacheslav Mescherin was like a pioneer when he experimented with the sound, recording process and instruments, many of which established in music forever.
Music of his ensemble still surprises and sounds original even today. Here's an example of his late recordings, the instrumental track called "On the Beach". It was recorded in 1969 and is a jolly danceable number.

Not only Mescherin was experimenting with space age sounds. Some of the other early electronic recording in Europe were produced in the late 1950s by Dutch composer/keyboard player Tom Dissevelt and technician Kid Baltran. Their 1957 debut album included this composition called "Song of the Second Moon". And in fact, The Electrosonics were Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan. Their music was way too experimental in composer way, not very danceable but interesting to listen to.

I like vocal of Anca Agemolu very much. She's from Romania, became popular in the 1960s and recorded some great songs on Electrecord label. Here's a song from the late 1960s.

Hungarian singer Korda György was born in 1939. At the age of 18 he performed at music festival and at the age of 19 started to record songs. His first hit was "Szeretni Kell" in 1958.
Here's an example of his early repertoire - a song that was written by composer Deák Tamás. With Deák Tamás ensemble György recorded many songs, including "Nem Vagyok Ideges". It means "I'm not Nervous" in English.

Ticky Show Quintet was a Swedish instrumental band formed in the 1960s. Led by guitarist Lennart Carlsson they released some nice records. This popular number "C'est Si Bon" was written by French composer Henri Betti back in 1947.

Here's the full track-list:

The Waikikis Tahiti Tamoure (Belgium, 1962)
Peter Hinnen Moonlight-Kiss (Switzerland, 1962)
Kilima Hawaiians A Song of Old Hawaii (Holland, 1955)
Die Optimisten Jambalaya (Austria, 1953)
Conny Froboess Lady Sunshine (West Germany, 1962)
France Gall Quand on est Ensemble (France, 1966)
Four Hawaiians Stop den Lille Kænguru (Denmark, 1963)
The Electrosonics Song of the Second Moon (Holland, 1957)
L'ensemble de Mescherin On the Beach (USSR, 1969)
Anca Agemolu De-aş Avea Un Baby (Romania, 1967)
Korda György Nem Vagyok Ideges (Hungary, 1958)
Ticky Show Quintet C'est Si Bon (Sweden, 1963)

Have a nice weekend!
ask for the link, please