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Posts Tagged 1950s

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December 19, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 195

Bill Haley & The Comets, Rock Around The Clock (1968) Bill Haley – the name is linked forever to the TV show Happy Days for me, and a little later that Jive Bunny album which I loved for far too long really. Simple rock’n’roll music – amazing to think that it was lock-up-your-daughter stuff; doesn’t […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1950s, 1968, Billy Haley & The Comets, Compilation, Happy Days, Jive Bunny, LP, Record, Rock Around The Clock, Rock'n'Roll, Skinny Minnie, The Comets, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 195, Vinyl ·

Archive

April 23, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Completing the 1001 Albums Challenge 

I had the 2005 version of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die – I’d owned it for years and had a flip through the pages, but never really studied it. And then someone asked me how many of the albums I had heard – was it half? Was it all? I figured the […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 00s, 1001, 1001 Albums, 1001 Albums Challenge, 1001 Albums To, 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, Albums, Book, Challenge, Completing, Completing the 1001 Albums Challenge, Library, Music, Spotify, The 1001 Albums Challenge, Wellington Public Libraries, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, YouTube ·

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August 18, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The 1001 Albums Challenge # 5: Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio – “At Mister Kelly’s”

I love Sarah Vaughan but I really know her – mostly – from compilations. Well, no, I have a couple of the original albums – but I had never heard this. And it really is a treat; such a wonderful, relaxed feel to it, fluffed lines, and scatting in place of forgotten lyrics, a bump […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1001 Albums, 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die, 1950s, 1958, At Mister Kelly's, How Long Has This Been Going On?, Jazz, Jazz Vocalist, Jimmy Jones, Live, Richard Davis, Roy Haynes, Sarah Vaughan, Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio, Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio – “At Mister Kelly's”, The 1001 Albums Challenge, The 1001 Albums Challenge # 5, The 1001 Albums Challenge # 5: Sarah Vaughan and Her Trio – “At Mister Kelly's”, Trio, Vocals, When Your Lover Has Gone ·

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August 8, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The 1001 Albums Challenge # 3: Tito Puente – “Dance Mania Vol.1”

This challenge could get expensive – here I am now, three for three, that’s three great albums in a row, that I had not previously heard; all three of them I want for my collection. I love Tito Puente and have some albums featuring him, a terrific, 50-track double-disc compilation being my go-to, and I’ve […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged “Dance Mania Vol.1”, 1001 Albums, 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die, 1950s, 1958, Big Band, Blow By Blow, Dance Mania, Hong Kong Mambo, Jazz, Jeff Beck, Latin-jazz, Mambo, Oye Como Va, Percussion, Santana, Sheila E., The 1001 Albums Challenge, The 1001 Albums Challenge # 3, The 1001 Albums Challenge # 3: Tito Puente – “Dance Mania Vol.1”, Timbales, Tito Puente ·

Archive

August 7, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 520

Nat ‘King’ Cole, Night Lights (1957) A fairly random purchase this – a wee ep from Nat ‘King’ Cole, I like Nat ‘King Cole – how could you not? And even though I do already own some of his recordings – and have listened to plenty more – I have no doubt I bought this […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged [45], 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, 1950s, 1957, Crooner, EP, LP, Nat Cole, Nat King Cole, Nelson Riddle, Record, Single, The 1001 Albums Challenge, The Vinyl Countdown # 520, Vinyl ·

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September 19, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 629

V/A, Let’s Have A Party: The Rockabilly Influence 1950-1960 (1981) I found this record the other day in the store, hadn’t ever seen it before – pretty nifty compilation. I knew most of the names on it. Still, one or two new things (as should always be the way with a compilation). Most of the […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1950-1960, 1950s, 1960s, 1981, Billy Briggs, Chew Tobacco Rag, Compilation, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Burnette, Let's Have A Party, Let’s Have A Party: The Rockabilly Influence 1950-1960, LP, Record, Rock'n'Roll, Rockabilly, The Rockabilly Influence, The Vinyl Countdown # 629, V/A, Various, Various Artists, Vinyl, Wanda Jackson ·

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May 5, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 702

V/A, Lookey Dookey/Talking Trash (2000) One of several 50s/60s garage-rock/r’n’b comps I’ve gathered in recent years. I probably started hooking up with these things when I started doing 6-8 hour DJ sets at a couple of bars; in most cases they were compilations I recognised from when I worked in the CD store and knew the […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1950s, 1960s, 2000, 50s, 60s, Champion Jack Dupree, Comp, Compilation, DJ, DJ Set, Garage, Lookey Dookey!, Lookey Dookey/Talking Trash, LP, R'n'B, Record, Rock, Rock'n'Roll, Shim Sham Shimmy, Talking Trash, The Vinyl Countdown # 702, V/A, Various Artists, Vinyl ·

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December 17, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 777

V/A, The Leopard Lounge (2003) Spotted this one in the ‘Rare and Interesting’ pile, always a good place to look. I remember this – and other compilations like it – (on CD) from my days in music retail. Some of them were great comps, good ways of collecting a few favourites, kitsch and otherwise. And […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 2003, Archives, Carmen McRae, Compilation, Jazz, Leopard Lounge, Lounge, LP, Rare and Interesting, Record, Soul, The Sound Of Silence, The Vinyl Countdown # 777, Vinyl, Warners ·

Archive

October 23, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1003

Chuck Berry, The Great Twenty-Eight (1982) There it was all of a sudden – right before my eyes in the store (it had probably been there before). But on that day (yesterday) it was there (once more) and I had to have it. The CD version was no longer enough, it gets played on the […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1950s, 1982, Best, Chuck Berry, Compilation, Greatest Hits, LP, Maybellene, Rock'n'Roll, The Great Twenty-Eight, Vinyl ·

Archive

September 4, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Johnny Cooper

Sad news, one of New Zealand’s rock’n’roll pioneers – Johnny Cooper (“The Maori Cowboy”) has died, aged 86. Cooper retired in the 1990s and lived a reclusive life. Despite the early stages of Alzheimer’s he remained independent until the end, living along in a flat in Lower Hutt. Cooper was born and raised in Hawke’s […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1950s, Eulogy, John Dix, Johnny Cooper, NZ, NZ Music, Pie Cart Rock'n'Roll, R.I.P., Rock Around The Clock, Rock'n'Roll, Stranded In Paradise, The Maori Cowboy ·

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