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From '50s NYC clubland, a Yma Sumac-inspired version of "Babalu" by jazz/calypso singer Phyllis Branch.
Author Archives: Little Danny
Desert fauna
I’ve talked a lot about the ascendance of the guitar instrumental in the interstices of ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll and ‘60s rock, how the nascent rock ‘n’ roll was sustained by the instrumental form during those years, how bands like … Continue reading
A note to kind Office Naps readers
Some of you have noticed that your author, who has made it a habit to drop things for months at a time, then to only suddenly reappear like that errant stepfather, has done it again. A bit of explanation. When … Continue reading
No car, no woman, no money
Whither the hard-luck lounge singer? The dark-lit cocktail lounge at city limits, its few patrons and the décor both well past their prime. The nightclub singer, somewhere between down-on-his-luck and end-of-his-rope, staring pathos in the eye. This week: everything that … Continue reading
The War of the Roses
Boys and girls singing duets: not a new thing. You can probably trace an unbroken line from show tunes like “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” (1937’s On the Avenue) and “Do I Hear You Saying” (1928’s Present … Continue reading
Cool, man, cool
These selections are noteworthy not only for their curio factor, but also for their contributions to the same aesthetic that made Cozy Cole’s “Topsy” (hear excerpt here) and the Viscounts’ “Harlem Nocturne” popular. They seem to speak the same Lonelyville … Continue reading
Office Naps Winter 2008 Psychedelic Pop mix
The latest version of the psychedelic pop mix, streamlined and scratchier than ever. If anything, people tend to remember the decade for the sitars and sunshine harmonies and fuzzed-out guitars. The reputation is not entirely undeserved. But I am here … Continue reading
Oh, Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! wanted to be provocative in the worst possible way. Released Off Broadway in 1969, the musical revue featured sketches of various sexual neuroses and peccadilloes, and included frontal nudity – only the second major musical after Hair to … Continue reading
Booker T. and beyond
Booker T. and the MG’s contributed so much to the popularity of Memphis’s Stax Records in the ‘60s, and were so fundamental to the label’s sound – sharp, soulful, and classy, never flashy – it’s impossible to separate the histories … Continue reading
