[.ca] Pt1 On The Rocks Rock N Roll

I'm really in the groove, now...:
The British Invasion, it should be noted, contained Miss Peggy Lee. That's right, the Peggy Lee of "Fever". Peggy Lee, you see, was the 5th Beatle. This disc is evidence of that, as you hear Peggy belt out "A Hard Day's Night". Yeah, baby! Oh, and you also get a special version of "Light My Fire"--a version that I think Ed Sullivan would have approved. Come on baby, light my fire. Mel Torme, Wayne Newton--now THAT's counter-culture, man. So put on your fringe vest, those rose-colored Lennon specs, and take a step back in time to some real anit-Establishment venom!

A Veritable Smorgasbord of Bad Taste--and that's the idea!:
The 1960s was the most tumultuous decade of the 20th Century. There were a great many events to commend it and condemn it. It produced the Apollo space program to put American astronauts on the Moon and some of the best original popular music as just two commendable events. Assassinations and the divisive Vietnam War were events certainly to condemn the sixties. Listening to Capital Records' "On The Rocks, Part 1"-part of the Ultra Lounge series-- has convinced me there is something else that gave the sixties a black eye. It spawned some of the worst rendition music ever to waste valuable recording studio time. As I mentioned before, the sixties produced some of the best popular music, and always sounded best when released by the original artists. However, this left the door open for others deluded into thinking they could take a top 40 hit and resuscitate their lagging career, or take a perfectly successful recording career and sending it into the ground. The On The Rocks Part 1 (& Part 2) CD is a compilation of some of the worst the 1960s and 1970s had to offer in rendition music. Better examples of a total lack of judgment probably cannot be found. Take, for example, Mel Torme singing Sunshine Superman, or Peggy Lee singing "Hard Day's Night"-please! Even Julie London took leave of her senses to record "Mighty Quinn'. Most painful to listen to. The indignities don't end there. Imagine the Hollyridge Strings performing the Theme from Shaft, or the Lettermen mis-performing the Doors tunes "Hello I Love You" and "Touch Me." Even the impeccable Nelson Riddle can step on the proverbial wet bar of soap, musically speaking of course, and produce their sad rendition of "Winchester Cathedral." If you have a morbid curiosity or want a great gag gift for your fellow Loungers, this is definitely the disc to get.

A New Level Of Kitsch:
Mel Torme singing 'Sunshine Superman'? Julie London warbling 'Quinn, The Eskimo'? Exotica Supremo Martin Denny taking on 'Incense & Peppermints'? No, you haven't gone insane, you're just listening to the ultimate curveball CD from 'Ultra-Lounge' This may be one of the most mind-warping albums I have ever heard; extremly tasteless and misguided takes on your favorite 60's pop hits by desperate loungeurs trying to be 'relevant' to 'the kids'. They miss the boat entirely, but the result is this strange hybrid; not quite lounge music, not quite rock, not really muzak...but it is (in the words of The Firesign Theatre) 'weirdly cool' . On first listening I didn't know WHAT I was hearing, but this disc has become strangely addictive... Particular faves are a kinda science-fictiony sounding 'Shaft', Lord Sitar(!) doing a faux Indian take on 'Daydream Believer', Zacharias & his spooky violin on 'Light My Fire', and what must be the strangest 'Heartbreak Hotel' since Dread Zeppelin's...plus the vocal numbers mentioned above. If you are an auditory adventurer, and you 'get' the whole 'lounge' vibe...bend your head around this one!

• Light My Fire - Zacharis
• Sunshine Superman - Mel Tormé
• Incense and Peppermints/A Beautiful Morning - Martin Denny
• Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Henry Jerome
• Green Tambourine
• Tired of Waiting for You - Stu Phillips, Stu Phillips
• Mellow Yellow/We Gotta Get Out of This Place - David McCallum
• Gimme a Little Sign - Buddy Morrow
• Hard Day's Night - Peggy Lee
• Whiter Shade of Pale - Mariano Moreno
• Heartbreak Hotel/Don't Be Cruel - Hollyridge Strings
• As Tears Go By - William Gutierrez
• Evil Ways - Al DeLory
• Get Back - Little Big Horns
• Hello, I Love You/Touch Me - The Lettermen
• Dizzy - Royal Blue
• Theme from Shaft - Hollyridge Strings
• Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) - Julie London
• Day in the Life/I Am the Walrus - John Tartaglia
• Daydream Believer - Lord Sitar
• Winchester Cathedral - Nelson Riddle
• Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) - Wayne Newton
• Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In