Track A – Hoshi Kara No Tayori (A Letter From The Stars)
Here is a “drifty” sweet release from Kiyoko Ito with a beautiful sprinkling of psychedelia. Perhaps more tempered and whimsical than my normal up beat dancers from the sixties gals, but it’s too good to not share this one!
There’s not very much I can find on Kiyoko, other that she was born on January 24, 1947, possibly in the northern island of Japan, in Sapporo, Hakkaido. After graduating from Aoyama Gakuin High School in 1964, she entered Takarazuka Music School. She passed the audition for Toho’s International Dancing Team and appeared as a dancer in the musical “No Strings” in June, but gave up dancing due to Achilles tendonitis. As a result, she dropped out of the music school.
Focusing on the folk songs that were popular among Japanese youth at the time, she decided to become a singer, and made her debut at the 1st Folk Song Festival held at The Nippon Theater on December 19, 1965. The following year, in May 1966, she passed the audition (of over 300 Japanese singers) for the popular American folk group New Christie Minstrels and became an official member. A group not really to my tastes, but they did have have amazing talent go through the ranks, such as Kim Carnes and Kenny Rogers. She went straight to the United States and remained with the group until her Visa expired in October.
After returning to Japan, she signed a contract with Watanabe Preofessionals, and had her debut single in June1967 on Nippon Columbia’s CBS label with the song “Hana to Kojisan” written by Kurunosuke Hamaguchi . This became her first hit! For some reason, I cannot find this in any of her catalogue listings, let alone a recording or clip, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere. I’m sure it’s just lost in translation. Ito then would go on to record twelve 7″ singles with the CBS/Sony label, as well as three albums, between 1967 to 1975.
This featuring track “Hoshi Kara No Tayori” (A Letter From The Stars), is actually the B side to her euphonious upbeat Mishiranu Sekai single, one of three releases from 1968. Both sides of the single also appear on her 1969 LP Ballads Of Love. The year 1968 and sitars go hand in hand, and so many pop artists would experiment with introducing this sound with at least one song release of that year. And I’m ever so thankful for that! The trippy sitar introduces the song, a beautiful flavor that mixes in with the percussion and that 60’s bass that soon enters. A sweeping harp, then we receive Ito’s voice. I really wish I had a translation to this song. Of course it’s not always needed, especially in this case, as we are taken away and fall lusciously into her vocal clouds, but I do imagine the lyrics are about spirit, love and innocence. And it does after all translate to A Letter From The Stars.
As far as other release from Kiyoto Ito that take me away to that faraway dreamy place, she released the beautiful “Namida no Binzume” as a 1969 single, and is just as delightful as the featured track, sans sitar and psychedelics. This track also appears on the Ballads Of Love LP. I also love “Hana No Madonna” also from 1968, and a bit more of a dancer. And for your exotica lounge soiree, the 2 sider “Talking To Myself” and “Soon Will Be Morning” 7 inch from 1972, is an absolute goodie!
So there you have Kiyoko’s sweet, psychedelic love song release, and after a few listens, like a whispering haze, I’m sure it will seep delightfully into beating heart. I would love to be enlightened on anything more about this wonderful singer, from anywhere out there in the world.
Jazz influenced classical music composer-conductor, Andre Previn was responsible for one of the most funkiest spaced out film tracks you will ever hear, called Executive Party, released for the Rollerball soundtrack in 1975. Although I had watched this movie numerous times, the first time I really gave this track some serious and well deserved attention, was when I purchased the The Mighty Mellow (A Folk – Funk Psychedelic Experience) compilation in 1997, from the infamous Sydney record store Good Groove, which was recommended by the owner Tom. The comps linear notes and information was vague, mixed up and song titles were incorrect. I was certain that Andre Previn was incorrectly credited until I discovered it was from his Rollerball soundtrack.
Previn was born in Berlin to a Jewish family, with three children of Charlotte and Jack Previn, a father who was a lawyer, judge, and music teacher. All three children received piano lessons but André was the one who enjoyed them from the start and displayed the most talent. At six, he enrolled at the Berlin Conservatory. In 1938, Previn’s father was told that his son was no longer welcome at the conservatory, despite André receiving a full scholarship in recognition of his abilities, on the grounds that he was Jewish.In 1938, the family left Berlin for Paris, and Previn’s father enrolled him into the Conservatoire de Paris where he learned music theory. In 1938 his family left Paris and sailed to New York City, then their journey continued to Los Angeles, and Previn learned English, his third language after German and French, through comic books, reading the dictionary, and watching films.
In 1946 he graduated from Beverly Hills High School, but had already started working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a composer-conductor, and arranger, after their music department noticed his work for a local radio program and hired him. Previn recalled that MGM was “looking for somebody who was talented, fast and cheap and, because I was a kid, I was all three. So they hired me to do piecework and I evidently did it very well”. Previn focused his attention on film scores and jazz, and stayed at MGM for 16 years, but despite the secure job and good pay, he had come to feel increasingly confined, and consequently desired to pursue classical music outside of film scores. He resigned from MGM at 32, wanting “to gamble with whatever talent I might have had”.
Previn would branch out into classical music, theatre, easy listening music and contemporary classical music. His jazz recordings, as both leader and sideman, were primarily during two periods: from 1945 to 1967, and from 1989 to 2001, with just a handful of recordings in between or afterward. Previn was involved in creating the music for over 50 films and won four Academy Awards* for his work, and in 1966, Previn was the first person in the history of the Academy Awards to receive three nominations in one year. Some of his releases that I lean towards to, are two collaborations…Ravi Shankar & André Previn – London Symphony Orchestra Concerto For Sitar & Orchestra, from 1971, and the Valley Of The Dolls soundtrack, which was conducted by John Willams, and feature song composing by Previn and his then wife Dory, who was a poet, lyricist and singer song writer. I’m also a admirer of his Holst release of The Planets, Op. 32, in 1974.
Rollerball is a classic seventies sci-fi action film, with a large cult following and a very iconic look. It was directed by Norman Jewson, who had also directed The Cincinnati Kid (1965), In The Heat Of The Night (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), amongst others. These all did well for him, and taking on this dark, futuristic, violent action film, must have been a challenging curve ball he was looking for.
The Storyline: In a futuristic society where corporations have replaced countries, the violent game of Rollerball is used to control the populace by demonstrating the futility of individuality. However, one player, Jonathan E., rises to the top, fights for his personal freedom, and threatens the corporate control (IMDB – Jeff Hansen). The film is based on a short story by William Harrison’s “Roller Ball Murder”, first released in Esquire magazine in 1973. Although Rollerball may first look like a science fiction sports movie, it’s actually a deep philosophical look into a dystopian future, and looks into government control versus free will. James Cann plays the hero Jonathan, the ultimate champion and hero of Rollerball, and is adored by masses of fans of the blood sport. But he is getting on, well for a demanding sport that is evolving by becoming increasingly more violent. However the head of the energy corporation who runs society, wants him to retire, but when Jonathan refuses, things get intensely dangerous, and the game becomes a fight for his life. The film demonstrates that the individual can triumph over insurmountable odds and cautions against corporate control of society.
Jewson was a big fan of A Clockwork Orange, and used the film as a reference point for defining a world of concrete and steel imagery. He also adopted the idea of using classical music for this fierce movie, because of Clockwork, and also 2001 A Space Odyssey, and believed the timeless score would less likely age the film in the future. Previn composers The London Symphony Orchestra to perform Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 movements to establish tone, mood, and atmosphere for certain scenes, and also cunningly uses Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz for action and drama. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor plays during the opening title sequence and again at the final scene, book-ending the film. Previn wrote the space jazz track Executive Party and it’s lounge accomplice Executive Party Dance, and as isolating as they may seem on the album, they sit well within the more laid back dining scenes in the movie. Unfortunately Executive Party, one of my most favourite soundtrack instrumentals of all time, clocks in at only 1. min 47sec. But there’s also something nice about that.
These two tracks may feel odd or misplaced on the LP, amongst Previn’s composed The London Symphony Orchestra works. And I’m sure many like myself, that knew this track, before finding a copy of the soundtrack, were expecting and hoping for more wigged out grooves, like these featured tracks. But it shows us the diversity and dexterity of Previn’s mind, and how he was an artist of all musical styles. After learning more about Previn and this soundtrack, I like how the tracks sit amongst the classical tracks on film and on vinyl. I do admit I wish there was more of this to be found in his extensive catalogue, but I’m ever so grateful that these tracks not just made their place onto the LP, but also were released as 7″ singles.
* Previn won four Academy Awards for Gigi (1958), Porgy And Bess (1959), Irma La douce (1963) My Fair Lady (1964) and was nominated 11 times.
Previn was married four times which included 9 years with Mia Farrow.
Newsom has been nominated for the Academy Award Best Director three times in three separate decades for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Moonstruck (1987).
Japanese and French movie poster releases.
If you like this kinda stuff, check out some other soundtrack titles I’ve dug into….
Legendary master composer Ennio Morricone, is behind the soundtrack for the 1970 film Città Violenta, and this Japanese single release gifts us with two outstanding tracks from Sergio Sollim’s film. Italian soundtrack collectors…you need this!
Morricone was the unquestionable leader for scoring Italian cinema, and although he achieved wide recognition with Sergio Leone’s series of Westerns, we all are aware of his diverse range of colour, style, methods and moods. He was always exciting and knew how to create atmosphere, even if it was a totally new angle, and opposing the predictable. I get this feeling, when Ennio was composing scores for these kind of action thrillers of the 60’s and 70’s, it’s like he’s at the wheel of a Ferrari Dino 246, steering us in and out of dangerous and intense situations, speeding up, slowing down, then flooring it even more. And when things are calm, you’re still anticipating the unexpected. Morricone knows how to create atmosphere. He invented it for this era of cinema, and today we still love it, because it just belongs…it’s the right time and place for his mastery. Yes, we all are aware of Morricone’s talent, but what we have to keep reminding ourselves, is the amount of work he was producing and the variety of projects he was taking on. In 1970, the year Città Violenta was released, I count Morricone’s soundtrack tally to 15 films just for that year alone!
Directer Sergio Sollim’s crime thriller is released as Città Violenta in Italy, but it also had two additional releases in the US, the first as Violent City, then a later and wider release as The Family. This was an intentional name change for the 1973 release, to try and jump on the success of The Godfather that had been released the year earlier in 1972. The marketing department were even influenced by the famous Godfather font, with some blatant borrowing. This would be Sollima’s 7th (I think) feature film and would call on Morricone again, for his talents to score his new film as he had done with 3 of his earlier films, The Big Gun Down, Face to Face and Run, Man, Run, featuring Christy. I can assume their working relationship together was reverent and successful, however all Sollima’s three previous films they collaborated on, were westerns. I’m not sure how Sollima discussed or briefed sound concepts with Morricone for Città Violenta, but with hindsight, it would definitely become a new sound for his film catalogue.
Città Violenta carries some good acting talent as well, with Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson and his fairly new recent wife, Jill Ireland (Ireland’s former husband-actor David Mc Callum, first introduced them on the set of The Great Escape in 1963). Bronson was just becoming a major star in Europe after the success of recent and broad films such as London Affair, Adieu l’ami, and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, and for a good period of the seventies, he would rival Clint Eastwood as the biggest movie star in the world.* So it’s great to see Bronson here at this important part of his acting career, and working alongside his wife. That same year and Bronson would also star in Cold Sweat, directed by Terence Young, and again co staring Ireland.
Synopsis – Jim Heston (Bronson) a professional hit man, is left for dead after a double cross murder attempt by a his wife Vanessa Shelton (Ireland) and another hit man. The set up costs him four years in jail, but when he gets out, he sets out to take revenge on his wife and the mob who put her up to it. He finds himself blackmailed by a powerful crime boss (Savalas), who wants the fiercely independent gunman to join his organization. Jeff who wants to leave that line of work, refuses, and is hunted by killers for the effort. Vengeance and love drives him through detrimental roads of uncertainty and it’s consequences.
The opening title sequence is beautifully stylised and features the main theme Città Violenta, straight up creating a mood of excitement, intrigue and suspense. And what soon follows, is a exceptional and insane thrilling car chase in the small streets of a tight Italian country town, where Sollim decides to take away the music for impact, and unusual but very effective decision for action sequences. I know when I’m discovering a new soundtrack track list, I usually go straight to the “car chase” theme, as it’s usually the one with the big beats and drive. So audiences are right in from the get go, and you already can tell this is no novice in the directors chair. Sollim knows about the film making and how music can be used to paint, just as much as visuals. And he wouldn’t be afraid to NOT use it, if he felt it may deter from story or action, or if it felt too predictable or typical to do so. The track Città Violenta gets a good run through the film as does a few nicely composed variations on the theme, but it is all for a reason. Svolta Definitiva is the perfect background music to a bar sequence where the patrons are the in-crowd… a bit hippy trippy, but an exclusive scene. Models, dancers and gangsters. It’s perfect! I have loved this track for many years before I knew this movie, and I was so please to discover that it belonged in such a great sequence! Later in the film we get some memorable hard hitting and surprising moments, and again Sollim creates such an impact with his music direction, and how effectively he uses it, and again, not uses it. Together the movie and music direction entwine effortlessly and results with a strong action film of it’s time, that both hold proudly in their catalogue of successes.
And this is also why Morricone’s music is so revered today. The impact it leaves on the audiences. His scores are often considered as much as part of the experience, as the story or cast of the film. A lot of the times, his scores are more remembered than the films itself. But in this case Città Violenta is a perfect score to a great crafted Sollim film. – Piero Sgro
Here is a link where you can watch Sollim’s Violent City, which is a nice print, but note that it will only on the occasion, revert to Italian dialogue every now and then. But it’s a good source.
Other Ennio Morricone scores for Sergio Sollima…
The Big Gun Down 1967 (La resa dei conti) lit. ’The Settling of Scores
Face to Face 1967 (Faccia a faccia)
Run Man Run 1967 featuring Christy (Corri uomo corri)
Agent 3S3: Passport to Hell 1965 (Agente 3S3: Passaporto per l’inferno)
Agent 3S3: Massacre in the Sun 1966 (Agente 3S3, massacro al sole)
* Sergio Leone once called Bronson “the greatest actor I ever worked with”, and had wanted to cast Bronson for the lead in 1964’s A Fistful Of Dollars. Bronson turned him down and the role launched Clint Eastwood to film stardom. The film was the biggest hit of 1969 in France.
Image 1 – Ennio Morricone (photo credit unknown)
Image 2 – Charles Bronson and fellow actress wife Jill Ireland (photo credit unknown)
Italian composer, conductor, arranger and bassist Berto Pisano is behind this wild score for Romain Gary’s 1971 film Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! This Japan release of the single includes the explosive main track with Doris Troy providing some beautifully brutal vocals, and also includes the lovely instrumental main title theme on the flip! Stand back! This is explosive!
As brilliant as Pisano’s work is, I can’t help feeling his musical accomplishments are still very overlooked, and when I went searching for anything on this incredible musician and important composer, I really couldn’t come up with much at all, which may sound familiar… and it’s unforgivable! I do know Umberto Pisano (real name) was born in Cagliari,on October 13, 1928 and passed on January 29, 2002, and was the younger brother of Franco Piano who would also in time, become a composer and conductor. Berto began his career as a jazz musician playing the bass, first in Quintetto Aster (this was during WWII, then working for the allied radio and Radio Sardinia) and later in Orchestra Gli Asternovas along with his brother on guitar. This group would release around ten singles, more in the style of Latin pop jazz, between 1960 to 1961. Really quite a lot of records in a short time span.
When I look through Berto’s discography, his first soundtrack release is in 1966, a single release, the track is called Ma Se Tu Vorrai featuring Ella Gaby, for the film La Spia Che Viene Dal Mare (directed by Lamberto Benvenuti and starred the statuesque model Janine Reynaud). I’m not sure how Berto made this transition into Italian film scores, but already you can hear something pretty strong developing here, that would be a trade mark staple sound. Big band Bond-esque like orchestration with big dramatic Italian vocals by Gaby, would become a popular style for Italian cinema in the sixties. I also wish I could find out more about Ella Gaby, who only had one other single release that same year in 1966.
1967 draws the release of Pisano’s western soundtrack to the film Bill Il Taciturno, also titled Django Kills Softly and one of many films that were given a “Django” title in order to cash in on the success of Sergio Crobucci’s 1966 masterpiece “Django”. Directed by Massimo Pupillo, a film from what I read from quite a few reviews, follows a lot of typical western formulas of that time, and I feel I have to say the same about the score. Both tracks on the single release are great, but yes, sounding very “borrowed” from the Morricone path that was already heavily cemented. This really isn’t a bad thing as it really ties in well with the genre, with big iconic horn instrumentation and chorale. I did find the whole film on line so I am keen to have a good watch, although I will have to brush up on my Italian.
Interrabang was Pisano’s followup single in 1969 and this one is a delight and more towards my erotic kitsch tastes! So this is the storyline… A photographer is sailing with his wife, her sister and his nympho-maniacal model. He leaves the three women alone to get a part for his boat. A mysterious man shows up, who might just be an escaped criminal the police are searching for. This doesn’t alarm the three women too much, and he rapidly seduces all three of them. Directed by Giuliano Biagetti and starring the radiant actresses Beba Loncar, Haydée Politoff and Shoshana Cohen, this is again another film I have yet to see in it’s entirety, but what I have seen, is pure 60’s kitsch Italian film making with it’s adult vibrancy, Pucci paint strokes and it’s stunning water locations. Pisano has managed to bring in the great Edda Dell’Orso for this soundtrack, which is always the exact right thing to do, and takes things up to the next level. You can hear her beautiful distinctive voice on the single release of Il Colore Degli Angeli. This film would also give Pisano his first LP soundtrack release in 1970. *
KILL! So here we are, 1971, and Berto Pisano presents the soundtrack to Romain Gary’s second film after Birds In Peru (1968). Where do I start? This film was also released as Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill, and starred Romain’s wife Jean Seburg, Stephen Boyd (Fantastic Voyage) and also one James Mason who starred in one of my favourite childhood movies Journey to the Center of the Earth. If you have the opportunity to watch this movie, you will need to hang on with both hands as it’s a bizarre roller coaster ride which will go off the rails! When the story begins, a big-time drug kingpin is inexplicably released by a judge, and as a result, most of the drug detective agents resign in protest. Hamilton, a Federal Narcotics Bureau Chief Inspector (Mason) remains on the job and is sent by his boss to Pakistan with $5 million worth of heroin, in hopes of unmasking a global narcotics kingpin. At the same time, heroin dealers around the world are being assassinated. Hamilton’s bored wife Emily (Seberg), secretly follows her husband in hopes of joining him on this insanely dangerous mission. Emily is soon lost and alone in a foreign land, is stalked by hitmen, but is also aided by rugged, ex-cop, potentially unhinged American Brad Killian, who by the way, has a personal mission to slaughter everyone involved with the heroin biz – transporters, processors, corrupt cops, scumbag lawyers…everyone! Brad also takes home movies of his executions and enjoys watching them afterward, with an equally-drug-loathing 12 year old Arab boy (yeah…pretty weird right?). Emily quickly falls for Brad, although she tells him she hates him and he’s insane…possibly because she craves the excitement of his murderous ambitions?
Pisano’s Kill! Them all! is the perfect savage and explosive introduction to this film, which embraces the high powered voice of R&B singer Doris Troy! Immediately your punched in the face 4 times with the impact of the opening horns. The driving bass, background fuzz, and the spine chilling grit of Troy’s voice, to Romain Gary’s lyrics, is absolute! The whole structure of this composition is pure accomplishment, with it’s build ups and it’s quiet junctures, and I will say this has to be one of the top of all time, title themes for any thriller action film, period! The film would also have an LP release is with original copies of course being incredibly difficult to get your hands on. Again Pisano brings in Edda Dell’Orso for the beautiful track To Jean, which alone makes this LP a must have. But there’s also beautiful instrumentals including the dizzying Allucinazion, the transcending Indian inspired Khanpur, and further hypnotic tracks Il Deserto and Souk Tawil. As a side note, Tennessee blues artist Memphis Slim performs in a surreal nightclub sequence filled with trippy sensual naked women, which does not appear on the LP release.
I couldn’t imagine anyone else fronting this killer big beat track other than Doris Troy, and when I first heard this, I had to check it was the same Doris that gave us Just One Look and What’cha Gonna Do About It? The daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister, that cut her teeth singing in her fathers choir, with parents that both disapproved of “subversive” forms of music like rhythm & blues. A hard and more gutsy song perhaps for Doris, but it shows us a side of her diversity, which would bet proven more and more times in her future recording career. She would go on and contribute her voice to The Rolling Stones, Carly Simon (You’re So Vain), Pink Floyd (Dark Side Of The Moon), and also Nick Drake, Dusty Springfield and a heap more.
This Japanese release featured here, has an exciting flip, an instrumental less abrasive version of Kill Them All! It has beautiful cover art with striking font, and the production quality on this is super clean and loud (as most of these Japan pressings are). There’s also an Italian release on General Music which includes a surprising Jean Seberg track Hiasmina, also composed by Pisano. Her only recording that I could find and although she’s not really “singing”, it is a lovely treasure that exists.
Pisano would further more, work on jazz instrumental albums and soundtracks and would continuing recording with Edda Dell’Orso, including on the soundtrack La Novizia (recorded in 1975 but just properly released by Four Flies) and La Svergognata (1977). While his recording legacy isn’t as accomplished and extensive as some his other colleagues, I highly recommend if you haven’t already, to take a dive into his works! And like I said, I would place Kill Them All! extremely high up and as one of the best and sublime film theme tracks of all time!
* An interrabang (more commonly interrobang) is a non-standard punctuation mark combining through superimposition a question mark and an exclamation point. It was invented in 1962 by an American advertising executive Martin K. Speckter.
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Well it’s HALLOWEEN again, and that means it’s time to pull out some of my dearly beloved spooky records from under the bed! This year I’ve chosen to feature this incredible Kay Bell and the Spacemen track, because in my eyes it’s one of the absolute best if you’re up for spooks and frightful delights! EVERYBODY SCREAM!!!
Kay Bell was at one point, one half of the youthful and famous pop duo, The Bell Sisters, the other half being her big sister Cynthia Strother. Born in Kentucky, they have four sisters and one brother, and as performers the duo would adopted their mother’s maiden name of Bell. Cynthia 16, and Kay, being only 11, were discovered on October 31, 1951, singing “Bermuda” on a Los Angeles television program called “Peter Potter’s Search for a Song.” The song was released in 1952, it reached #7 on the Billboard charts and sold in the millions, and The Bell Sisters pretty much became a household name, particularly in the US.
They enjoyed a roller coaster ride of success, eventually releasing eleven records (22 songs) for RCA and hitting the charts again with “Wheel of Fortune” (#10). They appeared on many popular radio and television programs, including The Johnny Carson Show, The Frank Sinatra Show, The Perry Como Show and The Dinah Shore Show. They appeared some 14 times with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and opened for Nat King Cole in Los Angeles and also worked with greats Kay Starr, Rosemary Clooney, Lucille Ball, Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mel Torme. They took their act on the road (during school breaks) and performed in big cities including New York, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
They also made it onto the big screens, working on the movies Cruisin’ Down the River (Columbia, 1953), Those Redheads from Seattle (Paramount, 1953) and Les Brown Goes to Town (Universal).
Kay Bell would start venturing into solo projects around 1959, singing in ballrooms and performing and broadcasting on radio. In the early sixties, Kay worked with the Space Men (Johnny Schmidt and Sonny Anderson) and scored a residency at the Disneyland Space Bar (now known as Tomorrowland Terrace). She performed with them as many as 6 nights a week, even while attending Long Beach State College for her Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She recorded a single as Kay Bell & The Tuffs called Surfers’ Stomp in 1961, written by Schmidt and Anderson and released on Dot.
Kay performed on a couple of live television broadcasts from Disneyland in 1962, on what was a regularly Saturday night screening “Meet Me at Disneyland”, on the Tomorrowland theme episodes Swingin’ Through Space and Talent On Parade. In September 1963, Kay Bell and the Spacemen recorded live two tracks, Surfer’s Blues and Scream Along With The Monster, written by Kay Bell herself (and W. Anderson).
Scream Along With The Monster starts with a VERY familiar “Comin’ Home Baby” groove, which is fantastic, as many innocent listeners would believe they know what they are expecting, when I play this track. But the twist is quick, and Kay Bell is superb in her delivery, preparing you for with what you need to do when you hear green eyed monster’s horn! The energy becomes more frantic as the song progresses, and after two short versus, you can’t help but feel an obsessive need to join in with the screams! I love that this was recorded live! Surely they must have prepared the audience to give them their all, before they pressed record! It’s so much fun but just too quick, but then again, like a fast roller coaster ride, it can leave you out of breath! Surfer’s Blues starts as a bit of a Jazzy stroller but quickly unleashes into a bit of a grinding savage beast with raunchy chaos and beats! Kay really enjoys showing off her vocal skills on this one and it’s such a bonus to have it on this single!
Unfortunately this was the only release from Kay and her Spacemen, and it makes me wonder about all the fun that would be had, listening and dancing to all those live performances they all played together, in those years of the sixties.
Now it’s important I mention, everything I found about about Kay and Cynthia, and the Spacemen, is attributed to the Bell Sisters official website put together by their nephew, who has nicely packaged and categorize a great amount of articles, photos and timelines, he’s been able to unravel about his aunties. So please jump over and dig in, and find out so much more about these incredible talented ladies. There’s also a great FaceBook page with a heap of great images, memories and dedications (links below for both).
Scream Along With The Monster is the ultimate Halloween party track to have, but I really believe it’s just too good to play once a year, so if you are lucky enough to have a copy, people always need a good scream, so spread it out there!
I’m a bit of an Italian “disco” victim and can go weak at the ginocchia (that means knees apparently) when I hear that particular chemistry of new wave electronica, a breathy Italian voice, and a polished spaced out production, combining as one beautiful moment of sound. This lovely track from Patrizia Pellegrino, came out in the early 80’s when this sound was in it’s element. It is a specific genre from a particular time, with a tone I’ve always loved, maybe because it takes me back to my very early teen days, when this “new” exciting style was emerging. While I never had access to this particular Italian style of new wave synth disco back then, it somehow still feels like it fits in to the hair gel scene was I discovering in the early eighties. I’ve been obsessing over this era of Italian dance music for some years, and thought this track from Patrizia, would be a good one to share.
Patrizia Pellegrino was born on July 28, 1962 in Torre Annunziata, Campania, Italy. She is an actress, producer and TV presenter, and today is still a much admired celebrity figure. She released 6 singles between 1981 and 1991, on various Italian labels, and most to me, feel very aimed towards the commercial pop dance floors. It’s very difficult to find any sales numbers for any of these singles, as it was such an inclusive euro market and scene, but that’s not to say her songs weren’t popular. I’m sure they were well loved sound tracks to many.
The stand out for me in Pellegrino’s catalogue is this track Automaticamore, which happens to be the flip side of her debut single Beng!!!. Arranged and directed by Jean-Pierre Posit (real name Claudio Gizzi), a name unfamiliar to me, but after looking up his credentials, looks like he was responsible for releasing quite a number of “easy listening” instrumental recordings throughout the seventies and eighties. After a bit of a dig into his library, Saint-Blas from 1975 would be my top pick which has a really nice synth jazz percussive soundtrack feel to it.
The production on this beautiful mid tempo track is clean and bright, and has a classy Giorgio Moroder feel to it. Pellegrino’s distant whispery voice is mixed so nicely with the defined bass lines and the period correct staccato muted guitars, along with the bright and saturized keyboards and synthesized choir lines. It’s so beautifully eighties and a perfect journey into the stars! This is a nice one to play over a cocktail in a dark room, or late into the night to a beautiful chilled out room.
Pellegrino also had an acting career that started in the early eighties, appearing both on the TV and the movie screens. In 1984 she starred in Breakdance Sensation ’84, about a an Italian dance group that travels to a break dance competition in New York (Pellegrino plays Sharon, one of the key dancers). Directed by Vittorio De Sisti, the film came out to exploit the current break dance craze, but actually featured very little break dancing other than some (presumably second unit) footage of the notorious breakdancer, Mr. Robot. I was able to discover one clip only of the Disco dance contest sequence, which features the “break dancing” contest. See the link below…it’s pretty fun! While Pellegrino wouldn’t appear on any of the recordings, the songs included on the soundtrack including Shannon’s Let The Music Play, make it a respectable record to get a hold off. The film has heavily promoted in Germany, and is sometimes referred with the title Dance Music.
Pellegrino would also star in Italian Boys, around the same time, a film about a group of young DJs who embark on a disco challenge to win the money they need to save their radio channel, Trip Radio. Due to a total economic loss, the rebellious group decides to kidnap the popular DJ Umberto, so as to gain an audience for the broadcaster. However it is soon feared that given Umberto’s success, radio station owner Doctor Viganò decides to keep only him and fire the others. Anyway, reading various descriptions (I have yet to see this film), it seems to get a bit twisted with different parties running scams to either suit their own advantages or save the station. But again, the finale looks like it has another contest of sorts, between a popular rival station and a dj challenge thrown down, to see who can gain the bigger audience. Whoever wins will be rewarded with a lot of money and a flamboyant classy car.
Pellegrino looked like she had a pretty good run with film appearances around this time, starring in Se tutto va bene siamo rovinati (1983), and also being included in the film Final Justice (1984) aswell as starring in Vacanze d’estate (1985). You can see a full list of her film and TV appearances on her current official website (see link below).
As far as further recordings, Pellegrino would release only a small number of singles in the following years, with her final release in 1992. If this feature track is doing it for you, I do suggest have a listen to Musica Spaziale, released a year later in 1982. It’s pretty great. However while none of the later recordings are really my cappuccino, they seem to all be highly sort today, proving she still has a strong fan base, and probably not just in the vinyl collecting world. But I myself, am very content on playing the timeless Automaticamore on endless rotations, for many years to come!
Here is a real fire cracker from Raffaella Carrà! After losing her just a short time ago (on 5 July 2021), I thought this would be a good time to post what I think is one of her best tracks! Shine on Raffaella!
Raffaella was definitely NOT obscure or unknown by any means, especially in Italy where she was adored for a lifetime. She oozed that Italian sassy-ness and bravado and was always a glamorous shining light whether singing on stage or on the screens as an actress or presenter. She was also appearing and performing up until a couple of years before her death, so there is plenty content on line about this wonderful woman, but here’s a brief run down I think you may find interesting.
Carrà was born on 18 June 1943 in Bologna to Raffaele Pelloni and Angela Iris Dell’Utri, her parents, however, separated shortly and Carrà spent most of her childhood between her mother’s bar and the ice cream shop in Bellaria – Igea Marina. She grew up watching the television programme Il Musichiere, a game show that required guests to sing, learning by heart the most popular songs. When she was only eight years old, she left the Romagna Riviera to continue her studies directly in Rome at the National Academy of Dance. At the age of 9, while walking with her mother in Rome and through a family friend, she met the director Mario Bonnard who cast her in his film Tormento del passato, in which she played the very young character of Graziella. At the age of 14 she dropped out of ballet classes.In 1952 she began her studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to study the art and technique of cinematography and film, until she graduated in 1960. Carrà landed a few smaller roles in a couple of films in 1958 and 59, but she really made her debut as a recognized actress in 1960 in the film Long Night in 1943.
SWORDS AND SANDALS: Carra’s film roles would follow with a handful of “swords and sandals” films, an Italian film genre also know as peplum films, a sub-genre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics, that attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Ten Commandments.
She would appeared in films, including Fury of the Pagans (1960), Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops (1961), Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961) as Princess Salirah, Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules (1962), Pontius Pilate (1962) (with the dashing Cocteau star Jean Marais as Ponzio Pilato) and Caesar the Conqueror (1962) with Dominique Wilms as Queen Astrid. There’s not a lot of public images around, with Carrà in these roles for some reason. Maybe she didn’t look at this early stage of her career as her best work? I did not know about this path of Raffaella! Most these films are available on line and look like so much fun! I’ve booked marked them all and so looking forward to watching them!
MUSICALS, COMEDIES AND ACTION THRILLER FILMS: Carrà soon landed opportunities to play more popular roles, in a few comedies, musicals and action films, such as 5 Marines Per 100 Ragazze (1961), The Terrorist (1963), The Organizer (I Compagni) directed by Mario Monicelli and starring Marcello Mastroianni (1963) and La Celestina P… R… (1965). In 1965, Carrà moved to Hollywood after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox, following in the footsteps of her fellow artists Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren and Virna Lisi, Carrà. She appeared in the film Von Ryan’s Express alongside Frank Sinatra, Edward Mulhare and Trevor Howard. But feeling homesick and not liking life in Los Angeles, she decided to return to Italy that same year, and would star in more “local” productions such as the french film Le Saint prend l’affût (1966), Il Vostro Super Agente Flit, an Our Man Flint parody (1966), Why Did I Ever Say Yes Twice? (1969), and the french thriller Cran d’arrêt (1970).
1970’S AND THE MUSIC: In 1970 Carrà participated as a guest actress on Io, Agata e tu, a TV show hosted by the great Nino Ferrer. It was here where she could really show off her singing and dancing talents, which rocketed onwards!
She also presented the musical contest Canzonissima 71, which featured some pretty glamorous fashion, some back breaking dance moves on amazing sets, and a incredibly talented and dynamic house band that played some wild compositions just as “out there”! Here she would she release her hit single “Ma che musica Maestro“. She would also host the Canzonissima 74 edition.
After her success on the Italian market, in 1975 Carrà made her first appearance in Spain when she performed in the variety show Señoras y señores. During these years Carrà concentrated more on her singing career, achieving success in countries including Spain, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, England, Greece, and in particular Latin American countries.The world was becoming well aware of Carra! And there was no stopping her!
Carrà would release a good number of LP’s and singles in the seventies and did well out of them. Her first LP simply titled Raffaella, I’m just discovering is a rare beauty, and also includes this featured single, Chissa Chi Sei (Sookie Sookie). Many would recognise this immediately, as a cover of Steppenwolf’s “Sookie Sookie” from the first their self-titled studio album Steppenwolf, released in January 1968. And it likely is the most well know version. But in truth, the original version is from Don Covay & The Goodtimers, released in 1966 (later released in March 1967 just credited and released by Don Covay).
The song was co-written by Covay alongside Steve “The Colonel” Cropper, who was a big co writer for Stax and Atlantic, co-writing classic songs such as Knock On Wood, The Dock Of The Bay and In the Midnight Hour. This early version is gritty soul and tight, and a real dance floor number, and apparently Cropper plays guitar on the track. The Goodtimers had an incredible line up including Bernard Purdie on drums and Buddy Lucas on tenor saxophone!
Carra’s version is an absolute banger! Why? Well for starters it has Carrà singing it in Italian with her undeniable Carrà determination! Her energy along with the fiery production takes this song onto a far bigger dance floor! Great percussion throughout, with big horns and Hammond organs (sounding very Brian Auger-ish), this is the best version in my book! The great Paolo Ormi E La Sua Orchestra takes the credit for the arrangement, and if you’re into Italian big beat-psycho beat records of the seventies, you will recognize Paolo Ormi’s name associated with tracks like Spiaggia Libera, Cocco Secco and No No No, and also the rare LP releases of P.O.X. Sound 2 and Tastiere.
The LP also includes and amazing version of Foot Prints In The Moon by Johnny Harris Orchestra, titled Conta Su Di Me. This blew my mind! I have never heard a vocal version of this and I’m assuming Carrà wrote the lyrics. Although after a quick Google translate, I was a little disappointed the lyrics weren’t about anything to do with the moon, nor any space travel concepts. Composers Francis Lai and Liberace (I’m not kidding) would both release beautiful versions of the track also in the early seventies.
While many albums followed, and were very successful for Carrà….not a lot of tracks are to my taste to be honest. But she is fun to dig on line for, as there’s some pretty great performances, especially the live clips. She’s a joy to watch and had some great outfits! One absolute amazing performance is her pairing up with Adriano Celentano, singing the great Prisencolinensinainciuso, likely in 1972 or 73! There’s also a great clip of her singing Superman from her 1974 album Felicità Tà Tà, and I also suggest the great Italo disco track Dreamin’ Of You.
Carrà would continue to work in TV for many years, as an actress and presenter, well into the 80’s, 90’s and the 2000’s. She’d continue with her music path as well, and would appear again on euro vision, would do support benefit gigs and kept releasing records up until 2021. In October 2020, the musical film Explota Explota, based on Carrà’s songs and directed by Uruguayan Nacho Álvarez, was released in Spanish cinemas, a country where she was very much love by for a big part of her life. Carrà died in Rome on 5 July 2021, at the age of 78
Other notable Sooki Sooki covers (all pretty great)…
Philips 6136 001 Série Parade Couleurs France 1970
Track 1 – Xango
Track 2 – Umbanda
The life of the beautiful Tuca was sadly short lived, but she left behind for us some truly glorious musical gifts, including this outstanding 7″. She also played a very important part of a particular album from an artist I have loved my for a big part of my life, Francoise Hardy. So much to celebrate regarding Tuca, but with heart break, there should be so much more.
Brazilian singer, guitarist and songwriter Valeniza Zagni da Silva was born on 17 October 1944 in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1957, Valeniza began to compose while studying classical music at the Conservatory of São Paulo, and a little later during the mid-sixties, she participated in several TV talent-shows while being part of the Group of Popular Music at the University of Architecture and Urbanization of São Paulo. She made her first steps as a professional musician, writing the music for Homem de Verdade, penned by Consuelo de Castro and recorded by singer Ana Lúcia in 1962. Valeniza made her singing debut on the television show Primeira Audição, produced by João Leão and Horácio Berlinck, and would further participate in several very popular Brazilian TV singing contests.
In 1965, Valeniza came up with her new stage name Tuca, and the year saw the release of her first LP Meu Eu. She composed the music on twelve songs of the thirteen, and wrote the lyrics on three, while co writing all the others, including six tracks along side Mexican pop-folk-singer, songwriter, actress, politician and vedette, Irma Consuelo Cielo Serrano Castro, later known simply as “La Tigresa”. Not an easy album to find these days with no re-release. The following year in 1966, in the second Festival Nacional da Música Popular Brasileira, she performed with Airto Moreira a song called Porta Estandarte which was awarded first place, and won them the 1966 Berimbau Golden Award. She followed that prize with a second place position in the 2nd International Music Festival – National Sector, with her composition O Cavaleiro. These award winning songs would then of course also be released as a singles in 1966.
In 1968, she signed a contract with Philips Records who would release her next album, simply self titled Tuca. Similar to her previous album, this release also contains quite complex arrangements and dynamic rhythms and pacing, but also with some absolute soft tones as within Verde and O Cavaleiro E A Virgem. She would also compete in the Festival Nacional de Música Popular Brasileira, singing one of her composition Paixão segundo o amor (Passion according to love) with soprano Stella Maris, which won third place. You really start to comprehend the broad talent of Tuca, and what she was capable of, when you hear tracks like this. The songs from these performances and artists were released on the LP O Brasil Canta No Rio in 1968.
In 1969, due to political issues and rising tensions in Brazil, Tuca went to Europe and settled in Paris and would perform every night at a Brazilian restaurant called La Feijoada. It is here it is believed, in 1971, where she was noticed and befriended by French singer and songwriter (and Goddess) Francoise Hardy. Tuca and Hardy connected very well; the singer later described their meeting as “love at first sight”, personally and artistically speaking. With Tuca’s expressive mind and her Brazilian influence, Hardy was confident she could escape her marketed pop look and sound, and could now really explore new boundaries. Hardy was particularly infatuated with Même sous la pluie, a song Tuca had written for another artist but eventually gave to Hardy. Together they began working on her eleventh album, Hardy’s magnum opus “Françoise Hardy” (also known as La Question, and Un Recueil De Mes Poésies – A Collection Of My Poems in Japan). Lyrically, the album encompasses themes of love, anxiety, eroticism and fear, attributed to instabilities in Hardy’s relationship with Jacques Dutronc at that time. Tuca was also suffering from an unrequited love at the time of the recording. She desired and wanted to be with the Italian actress Lea Massari, who in contrast, had no romantic connection nor was that way inclined. It is believed that this would also shape the album’s content.
The album was not well received by French audiences and radio stations upon release, but today it is celebrated as one of the most important works in Hardy’s discography, now viewed as a turning point in her career, in which she moved toward a less commercial and more sophisticated style. Tuca composed the music for all but one song on the album (Doigts), and rehearsed them with Hardy every day for a month before recording the album (with Guy Pedersen on bass) finishing each track after three takes. After the recording sessions, the duo took a break in Corsica, returning later to compose the string arrangements. For this, Tuca played different themes on a piano for Hardy; once they were chosen, Raymond Donnez was asked to write them. Thus, the making of La Question also marked the first time Hardy “participated in such a crucial choice”. With Tuca’s musical direction and guitar playing, this is truly an incredible album from Francoise! It’s my favourite LP of hers, and apparently also the record Francoise is most proud of and revered. I am falling in love again with this album, rediscovering it, and it’s helping me through this current tough lock down time.
Tuca would release two singles in 1970. The first single was Negro Negrito, which also had the B side Que C’Est Bon L’Amour, and had three separate pressings, from France, Italy and Brazil. The second 7″, this featured single, includes two incredibly fiery tracks, Xangõ on the A Side, and Umbanda on the flip side. Xango is new territory for Tuca with it’s tribal beat and frantic pacing, and unlike anything she had produced before. The B side is even faster and more up tempo. I couldn’t find any production credits other than “Tuca” with this release. This single would also come with a Venezuela release in 1972, and would end up being her final single. Neither of these releases were met with success, and her contract with Philips was subsequently broken.
However in 1974, on her return to Brazil, Tuca would sign with Brazilian label Som Livre, giving her now the belief she would have the opportunity to really express her music from deep within her soul and with all her musical abilities. Her masterpiece, Dracula I Love You, would be her final album. Recorded with Mario De Castro in Michel Magnes’ Château D’Hérouville Studios, where artists such as Pink Floyd and David Bowie would record, the album is a journey through darkness and light, sometimes experimental, and sometimes with tradition. It’s a blessing that Tuca had the opportunity to make this final art work. With no official re release, this album is incredibly difficult to find, which is a real shame as it really is a testament to Tuca and her artistry. I discovered a great article by Diego Olivas, who writes about this album and recommend you have a read (see fondsound.com link below).
As astonishing as her last album was, it also didn’t receive the sales or accolades it deserved, and with the label reluctant to promote the album, I’m sure investing towards any further recordings wasn’t a high priority for the recording company.
Tuca had a big voice and personality and perhaps a demanding passion that went with it. She comes across as fun and radiating when you see footage of her, but with the media always asking about her weight, diet and appearance, and less about her art, well this would have affected her deeply. She was a musical genius, and far too complex for most to comprehend, and maybe management would have found that difficult to market.
Due to complications from aggressive and intense dieting, and a draconian weight-loss program, resulting in inanition starvation, Tuca would leave us in São Paulo on May 8, 1978 at the age of 33.
– del Piero
NOTE – In 1970 Tuca also played guitar for her compatriot Nara Leão, on her album Dez Anos Depois, a double album of Bossa Nova standards and haunting ballads.
Research and references:
Tuca fan page with great pics, videos and tributes
Top right photo of Tuca by Eustaquio Trindade Neto.
Dracula I Love You article by Diego Olivas fondsound.com
Tuca – Vídeos Raros ( Rádio Retrô AM ) – This link includes incredible footage of Francoise Hardy singing Même sous la pluie, and also features Véronique Sanson alongside Tuca.
Entrevista da cantora TUCA na Argentina no começo dos anos 70 videoraridade
I feel many of these incredible artists, who in my opinion are the top singers and performers of the time, seem to be constantly hidden in a faraway past, with very minimal traces of timelines and successes. Perhaps there’s some personal experiences that should stay in the past? Or maybe in some places, those pivotal moments and events that happened, are still living strong in many hearts, and that’s enough? Perhaps in Brazil, Rosa Maria is still celebrated and gets the recognition she deserves? But to an outsider and fan like myself, that today lives and breathes this music, and who really wants to learn more and more about the artist, it really is a struggle to find facts and details, as is the case with this wonderful singer. I was grateful to discover an interview she did for Museu da Pessoa in 2012. I have referenced some of this information from that source and have tried to translate as best as I can, but please forgive me if I have misinterpreted anything.
This truly is one of my most prized Brazilian records, and one that gets played a lot, and will always excite me on every drop. So here’s what I can find out the lovely Rosa Maria.
Rosa Maria Batista de Souza was born Febuary 27, 1945, in Machado, Minas Gerais, a large inland state in south eastern Brazil, and was the daughter of Jorge Batista de Souza and Armanda Costa de Souza. When she was three years old, her mother took her to the Tabuleiro da Baiana in Rio de Janeiro, where a children’s singing contest was being run. She sang Chiquita Bacana, which was popular at the time by Emilinha Borba, and won first place. It was always in her blood. Her parents separated when she was very young, and Rosa would live with her paternal grandmother in Machado, until she passed (on the day of the feast of São Pedro). Rosa was only 8 when she passed away. “It was the biggest tragedy of my life! It was torture. She was everything to me. My ground, my sky, everything”.* Rosa then move in with her father, in Sao Paulo, and this part of her life sounds like a particular difficult time for her. Her father had “many wives”, but Rosa says she really struggled with a particular step mother that wasn’t a nice person to her at all, especially when she was growing into a young lady, which I feel must have been a frightful experience for Rosa.
She started working in her father’s dry cleaning business, and at the age of 9, and was responsible for the employees, with all the money she made going back to her father. At the age of 12, the Juvenile Court came to pick her up. The first days spent in the court were frightening and terrible for Rosa. The girls were the worst they had. She didn’t mix with the offenders, so they would burn her with cigarettes and hurt her with needles. Rosa would spend time at a boarding school and working at a plastics factory. But soon she would be offered a place to stay at Pensionato Maria Gertrudes. She describes this time as wonderful and the best phase of her life, because there she would get to study. She would take courses in ceramics, botany, cooking and embroidery. It was subsidized by Diários Associados, TV Tupi and Radio Difusora. And on the corner was Wilma Bentivegna’s house, and when she came home, passing by on the street, the girls would say: “Wilma’s there!” Rosa would run upstairs to the bathroom to sing, to see if she could find her. But Mrs. Maria José said that she shouldn’t and couldn’t be a singer, and that Rosa had to be a teacher. She said that a singer was a slut!
The Diários Associados would send the records that the radio stations no longer wanted, to the Pensionato. These would land into the hands of a very excited Rosa, and this is how she discovered and became infatuated and hooked with classical music, jazz, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and so many more artists. She would learn and sing along to all the great songs and arrangements.
Some time passed, Rosa had turned 18, and she would decide to move back to Rio de Janeiro and live with her mother. Rosa describes her mother as a very bubbly person, who liked people, long nails, and painting herself a la Carnival, but it was sad for her to see her mother drinking beer, and going to the Carnival. Rosa hated it and knew she was the exact opposite of her mother. She would struggle living in a house with so many rooms and being so close to domestic fighting and arguing. She just wanted to sing!
With all her books and a Barsa (English Portuguese) dictionary she had bought, Rosa studied long and hard, and soon she would be giving classes around the community teaching English, and making some money. She taught in the mornings and afternoons and would look for more work during the day. She was always trying to search for her dream, trying to get spots on the local radio shows. The first time she went to Rádio Mairinque Veiga, on a program called Papel Carbono, she thought it a good idea to do a Angela Maria piece. She was “gonged” but that didn’t make the determined Rosa give up. At Rádio Tupi, where Rossini Pinto presented Today É Dia de Brotos, she sang a song in English and another in Portuguese. Pinto of course invited her back. **
He would introduce Rosa Maria to Jair de Thaumaturgo, one of the main broadcasters from Rádio Mairinque Veiga, where he had a program called Alô Brotos that featured young singers playing rock music, and this is how it is said Rosa got introduced to TV interest. In 1964, the artist started to collaborate for TV Tupi and TV Rio, and in 67 she was hired by TV Record. Many were proposing Rosa to perform American music including conductor, arranger, DJ and singer Erlon Chaves who had a program called Embalo. Rosa was popular on Blota Júnior’s music game show Essa Noite se Improvisa also around this time. This family favourite show aired on Thursday nights for 3 years, and every week, 6 music guests would come on arguing facts about songs and lyrics. Some artists had a prodigious musical memory and would always win. This was the case of Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Carlos Imperial, Silvio César, Rosa Maria and the MPB4 group (Música Popular Brasileira 4), who would always be represented by one of its members, Aquiles. Rosa recalls how she was treated with great affection and attention because they knew where she had came from. “In my first show with Wilson Simonal, he took care of me”. Through television, she was discovered by Roberto Menescal and André Midani, who saw her and invited her to record their first album.
But while all this radio and TV direction was developing, Rosa had already started her music career, singing bossa nova and jazz at the infamous Beco das Garrafas, the name given to a cul-de-sac on Duvivier Street, which housed a group of popular nightclubs in the 50’s and 60’s. This was the meeting place for young Brazilian musicians including Sergio Mendes, Luis Carlos, Bebeto and Wilson das Neves and so many more. Also many now legendary singers would meet here including Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, Sylvia Telles and Simonal.
Bossa Nova was the bones of this exciting movement, but the fact is, that almost all of those artists from the lane, really liked jazz. Bossa would present a handful of songs that would serve as standards, but with so many musicians meeting and exchanging experiences and ideas daily, a revolution and new progression that would be the keynote in the 60’s, would form, a new Samba Jazz style. Groups began to emerge, such as the Tamba Trio, the Bossa Três , by Luís Carlos Vinhas, the Sextet by Sérgio Mendes and Sambossa 5 among dozens of others.
Rosa adapted well to the Bossa, Samba and jazz repertoire, and in 1965 she recorded her first EP for Odeon, which included the upbeat Tudo Rosa and also Vai Em Paz, a cover of Walk On By composed by Burt Bacharach. The following year she released the single of Pãozinho Do Leblon with the very great Samba Jovem on the B side. Also 1966 would see her first LP by the name of Uma Rosa Com Bossa and would included the outstanding tracks Capoeira De Oxalá, Minha Filosofia, Fica Só Comigo (with Wilson Simonal) and the brilliant Peter Gunn themed O Grito. This album is so rich and timeless. Orchestrated by João Theodoro Meirelles, composer, arranger, saxophonist and flutist, credited as one of the originators of Samba-Jazz and an important figure in the Bossa Nova movement. And produced by Lyrio Panicali, conductor, arranger and pianist. This would be her only LP release for quite some, up until 1980 on the release of Vagando. But she would release over a dozen singles before that LP release, and some are real rippers, with standouts from 1972, Deixa não deixa and Avenida Atlantica, and also the big Rio Da Felicidade in 1976.
Rosa’s first musical theater experience was in 68, in the production Hair. “It was a revolutionary piece. People were naked. I didn’t get naked because I was already a singer and it wasn’t good for my image to be naked, but a lot of actors did. It was a wonderful experience, it made me smarter about the world.”* She would perform in Hair for a good year.
From the beginning of the 80’s, Rosa Maria established herself as a jazz singer, playing alongside the Traditional Jazz Band. She would release 8 more LP’s from 1980 to 1992. A department store TV commercial in 1988 that included her version of California Dreamin by The Mamas & The Papas, lifted her to the top of the charts. In the late 90’s Rosa changed her name to Rosa Marya Colyn. In 1991, she was honored in her birthplace, Machado, in the state of Minas Gerais, in a gala night at the Clube dos 30, with the Cidade Presépio Award, for her body of work. She would also appear on a few popular TV shows over the years, presenting her acting talent.
I strongly suggest for readers to have a listen to the Rosa Maria interview linked below from 2012. It’s lovely hearing and watching her talk. You can clearly see her eyes light up when things were good, and get that understanding when they weren’t so good. I loved learning a bit more about the wonderful Rosa Maria. -del Piero
** Rossini Pinto was one of the most important names in the Jovem Guarda movement, and helped establish several artists, including Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos, with his own compositions and Portuguese versions of British and American rock songs.
I have always been a big fan of the Fire label and this single from Gay Poppers, as far as I’m concerned, is one of their best releases! Please any doo wop and rhythm and blues experts please feed me more info on this one! I’ve searched for information for too long and nothing! I want to know!!!!
Their first release was under the name The Gay Poppers (losing the “The” on following releases) and released on the Savoy label. Savoy was founded in 1942 by Herman Lubinsky, specializing in Jazz, R&B and Gospel and played an important role in popularizing bebop. Savoy recorded some of the biggest names in jazz including Miles Davis, Erroll Garner, Dexter Gordon, J. J. Johnson, Fats Navarro, and Charlie Parker. But regardless of the success of the label, Lubinsky didn’t sound like a particular nice person and was commonly hated by many. If you want to know a bit more about the Savoy label check out the Wiki page link below. The A side is a great stroller called You Better Believe. The flip side carries the track I Need Your Love with both tracks listing Graham-Donn as writing credits. This single is far less sort after and quite attainable, and actually not a bad one at all to have.
The next release for “Gay Poppers”, was on the Fire label in 1960, (from New York under the parent label Fury), a label that was co founded by songwriter and producer Bobby Robinson. He was also a legendary Harlem record shop owner (Bobby’s Records And Tape Center and Bobby’s Happy House), and penned and produced numerous hit records from the 1950s up to the 1980. The BIG A side titled I Want To Know, is a dance floor monster. “Do you love me….Do you really care…I want to know… I want know… I want know now”. The opening lines are now an infamous introduction, and unless you have some kind of problematic hearing condition, this is when you drop everything and head quickly towards the dance floor, if you’re not already there. Truthfully, I wouldn’t play this out very often. This is a special one, and that would only come out for a very particular special occasion. I always believed the dance floor would need to earn this one. The flip side that is I’ve Got It, does not deserve to be ignored either, but it definitely is more suited for those gospel stomping lovers. Nathaniel Black gets writing credits for both these tracks along with Bobby Robinson as producer.
Gay Poppers final single release was again on the Fire label just a year later in 1961. The A side is a track called You Got Me Uptight written again by Bobby Robinson, but also alongside Fury Records owner Clarence L. Lewis, who is best known as co-writer of Lee Dorsey’s 1961 hit song Ya Ya. Uptight is a well paced and perhaps typical rhythm and blues track, but a pretty damn good one. However the moody B side Please Mr. Cupid, I find quite astonishing as it has that irresistible haunting mood and tempo I just die for! Nathaniel Black gets the credit for writing this beautiful piece.
You have to move quite a few years forward into the disco era actually, before any further Gay Poppers related recording is released, well at least as far as I can make out. There is a single solo release by Nathaniel Black called Keep On Steppin‘, released on NDR Records, a late-1970s era North Carolina record label, that only released another 2 singles with separate artists. With a track called Freak All night on the flip, this single, which I didn’t know about until now, seems to go for big money. I’m guessing the pressing had a very short run which would add to its desirability.
So yeah that’s it! That’s all I could really gather together regarding the Gay Poppers group, who is responsible for this killer R & B single. Always grateful for anything else! Some one out there must know something surely?
After returning to Japan, she signed a contract with Watanabe Preofessionals, and had her debut single in June1967 on Nippon Columbia’s CBS label with the song “Hana to Kojisan” written by Kurunosuke Hamaguchi . This became her first hit! For some reason, I cannot find this in any of her catalogue listings, let alone a recording or clip, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere. I’m sure it’s just lost in translation. Ito then would go on to record twelve 7″ singles with the CBS/Sony label, as well as three albums, between 1967 to 1975.
Seven45rpm 
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