Regular visitors to the humble home of Dougsploitation know that the "LP wall" is a revolving gallery of the finest long playing record art imaginable. The holiday season is always the hardest time of the year to decide what records to frame because I own so many great ones - and I acquire new ones each year. This year's six:
Not to be confused with the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, Christmas in the Stars is the STAR WARS Christmas Album. I found this recently at Amoeba Records, and didn't have time to listen to it before it made it to the wall. It features the original voices of R2D2 and C3PO!
As a companion I have the soundtrack to the 1977 Nelvana animated holiday special, A COSMIC CHRISTMAS featuring songs and music by Canadian Crystal Gayle lookalike Sylvia Tyson.
Christmas: A Gift of Music Vol 3 featuring a creepy collection of Christmas dolls and a selection of songs from a variety of artists from Dinah Shore to The Korean Orphan Choir. Those orphans can really sing!
Next up is last year's favorite Sing with Marcy. I won't go on about her again. I swear.
Santa and the 3 Bears is another animated soundtrack. This one is from a 1970 low-budget theatrical release which turned up on local stations in the late 70s as an hour-long special. The album came with a dimensional Santa decoration (still intact) !
Last, but certainly not least is Elvin The Little Black Elf from 1982, described as "A Musical Christmas Special About Our Newest Christmas Hero." I don't think the special was ever made, but it's nice to know the soundtrack was released. I love Elvin. Here's a few of my other favorites that didn't make this year's wall.
Four exciting Christmas adventures of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. Bionics and Christmas go together like Superheroes and Christmas...
Exciting Christmas Stories starring Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. I miss Peter Pan Records.
Christmas at Home starring a big, scary baby.
Christmas with the King Family...one of my childhood obsessions.
Christmas with Colonel Sanders - he brought the world greasy, artery-clogging fried chicken so therefore he must know a lot about Christmas.
So much so that he even had another Christmas album - though it looks like the old guy may not make it through the evening.
Speaking of not making it through the night, I always read this album's title as "Merry Christmas from the Hillside Stranglers."
And finally, one of my all-time favorites, Imagine the Joys of Christmas presented by Sylvania light bulbs and featuring a family that clearly forgot to pay their electric bill. Sad.
With news that Jeff Lynne is working on a new ELO album. I thought maybe it was time for me to rerun this post from May 2009. Hold on Tight! The Electric Light Orchestra is my all time favorite rock group. I can't explain why, I just knew the first time I heard an ELO record that it was what I liked. A lot. The seamless blend of rock n roll and neo-classical music just spoke to me. With their epic, cascading string sections and over-the-top vocal pyrotechnics, every song was like an aria. 30 years later, just seeing the Jet Records logo gives me goosebumps.
A product of the 1970s, the timeless songs of ELO are now being rediscovered by a new generation of music fans through covers, remixes, sampling and the seemingly endless use in on the soundtracks of films, ads and TV shows.
ELO, under the guidance of Jeff Lynne, recorded 12 studio albums and released 28 hit singles. At their peak between 1974 and 1981, ELO had 9 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.
The band also holds the unusual distinction of having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any band in U.S. chart history without ever having a #1 single.
During the 70s and 80s, ELO was one of the biggest arena attractions, with spectacular shows that included a massive flying saucer stage set, fog machines and state of the art light and laser shows. I luckily got to see them perform twice.
ELO begin humbly in the earlier 1970 as offshoot of 60s UK band The Move. Roy Wood was behind the initial concept of a rock band augmented by a string section that included cellos, violins, horns and woodwinds . The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in the UK in 1971 (in the US as No Answer) - if you listen to it today, you can hear that they were struggling to find their sound.
After Wood left the group - Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bev Bevan on drums, joined by Richard Tandy on the Moog synthesizer. ELO released their second album, ELO 2 in 1973, and had their first U.S. chart hit, a rousing cover version of the Chuck Berry classic Roll Over Beethoven.
On the Third Day was released in late 1973, with the string-infused Showdown becoming a hit single.
With Eldorado, the band's fourth album, Lynne hired an orchestra and choir - and their sound had now fully evolved into symphonic rock. The first single off the album, Can't Get It Out of My Head became a U.S. Top 10 hit and the album became ELO's first gold album. This was the first ELO album I bought, it might have had something to do with the Judy Garland/Margaret Hamilton cover photo. The awesome burlesque-inspired Nobody's Child is my favorite track.
Kelly Groucutt (who recently passed away) joined the band as a bassist and vocalist for Face The Music and the hit singles Evil Woman and Strange Magic soon followed. The instrumental Fire On High, with it's creepy Satanic-sounding backward masking is a masterpiece.
. Other great tracks include Nightrider and Down Home Town.
1976's A New World Record gave the band 4 top 10 hits Livin’ Thing, Rockaria!, Telephone Line and a cover of The Move's metal athem Do Ya - making them international stars. Tightrope and So Fine are also outstanding songs.
1977’s Out Of The Blue, a double-album was a worldwide smash and featured global hits Turn To Stone, Wild West Hero, Sweet Talkin' Woman (which was released on clear purple vinyl) plus Lynne's greatest musical achievement, Concerto for a Rainy Day which culminates with the epic Mr. Blue Sky.
By 1978 ELO was one of the most popular acts in the world, appearing on TV shows like NBC's MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.
Around this time future Pixar songsmith Randy Newman recorded a parody/homage to ELO titled The Story of a Rock and Roll Band.
Discovery in 1979 consolidated that worldwide success with the singles Shine A Little Love, Don’t Bring Me Down, and Last Train to London -which was re-imagined as a catchy pop hit in the 2000s by Atomic Kitten as Be With You.
In 1980 came the film soundtrack Xanadu.
Despite the film's poor box-office showing, the soundtrack went double platinum.At the time some ELO fans were mortified that the band was part of a pop music collaboration with Olivia Newton-John - but time has shown that the songs Lynne contributed to the film (and eventually the Broadway show) are as timeless and beloved as any of the tunes that came before.Don't Walk Away is possibly the best song Jeff Lynne ever wrote - and as performed by super hunky Cheyenne Jackson on Broadway - a true classic.
ELO took a turn towards rockabilly with the hit Hold On Tight from the sci-fi concept album Time.
Other standout tracks included Twilight, The Way Life's Meant to Be, Here Is the News and Ticket to the Moon.
The silly rockabilly ditty Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King was a hit from 1983's Secret Messages, though the title track is infinitely more satisfying. That same year Bev Bevan left ELO and joined Black Sabbath while Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy contributed songs to the Electric Dreams soundtrack.
Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1985 for Balance Of Power–the final ELO album. The single Calling America was a minor hit.
From 1987 onwards, Jeff Lynne became a highly sought-after songwriter and producer, collaborating with artists such as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Brian Wilson. With George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Del Shannon and Bob Dylan, he formed the Grammy-award winning supergroup Traveling Wilburies. Meanwhile, Bev Bevan in 1989 formed ELO Part II, with Louis Clark (Hooked on Classics). Former ELO members Mik Kaminski and Kelly Groucutt joined them for a second album, Moment Of Truth, in 1994. The remaining members continue to tour and record as The Orchestra.In 2000 Jeff Lynne released an 3-disc ELO box set, Flashback, containing–among other things–a new, unplugged version Xanadu. In 2001, Lynne released a new ELO album called Zoom. Richard Tandy was back, with George Harrison and Ringo Starr as guests.
In 2004 a tribute album wincingly titled Lynne Me Your Ears, this cover anthology featured ELO standards performed by artists such as Todd Rundgren, Sixpence None the Richer, and a host of others.
Another tribute to ELO, L.E.O., features songs are written in Lynne's style and mimic ELO's orchestration and production. The Pussycat Dolls even sampled Evil Woman in their hit Beep.
Most recently, Surrender, a lost song from 1976 was released as a single, followed by Latitude 88 North, another lost song. So if you are looking for a lyrical escape from the sorry state of music in 2009 - turn back the clocks to a time when The Electric Light Orchestra changed what rock music sounded like and Roll Over Beethoven.
I really haven't had the chance to do much blogging lately, but when my talented friend Mary Edwards sent me the link to her new album, Eastern/Central & Mountain/Pacific,I knew I just had to tell the world about it. This musical trip through time sounds and feel like it was made just for me - and I know some (if not all) of my readers will feel the same way. Let's take a look at it song by song.
The opening track, Time and I justsweeps you away to a luscious stoned soul picnic where echoes of The Fifth Dimension and Swing Out Sister drown out all the noise of the surrounding madworld and set the tone for the rest of the addictive playlist.
The Girl Who KnewTomorrow is the theme from that lost Susan Dey ABC Movie of the Week she did after The Partridge Family, but before L.A. Law. You know the one where she's a college student with ESP who falls for a married professor played by Ted Bessell? Set the dvr for that one.
Bouleversant invokes a warm spring day at an outdoor cafe, where everything should be perfect, but something is very wrong. Melancholia sets in as memories of a love lost overwhelm the mood, but not enough to spoil the day.
Eventual World is, of course, the theme song from Karen Valentine's Room 222 spin-off that follows Alice Johnson to San Francisco as she takes a job as an legal assistant at a Union Square-based law firm. Co-starring David Hartman, Barbara McNair and a young Robert Urich. God, I loved that show. All 13 episodes.
Neil Simon's Daydream Window was a TV-move that adapted his little-known play and starred Barbara Harris as a disillusioned divorcee and Jack Klugman as her TV-producer ex-husband. Turns out Jack was creating a sitcom based on their divorce, and Barbara hires lawyer Tony Roberts to stop him! Look for Robert Guillaume in a breakout performance as Roberts' best friend.
Low Soft Shoulder takes me away to a sultry Southern night, minus the Glen Campbell, thank you.
Close Up brings back visions of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson sipping Martini & Rossi on the rocks. Say "yes".
And lastly, Something in the Sunshine is the gorgeous closing theme to the Dusty Springfield Variety Hour with this week's guests The Carpenters, Laura Nyro, Herb Alpert and Mary Edwards.
Here's a repost from 2009. Enjoy!
Anybody who has been over to my house for any kind of viewing party already knows that I've been obsessed with Nancy Sinatra's MOVIN' WITH NANCY special for about ten years now.Originally broadcast on NBC in 1967, this amazing hour-long showcase features Nancy in a series of short films, both alone and with guest stars Lee Hazelwood, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., dancer David Winters and her dad, Frank. The special aired in conjunction with the release of the Movin' with Nancy LP.Pre-dating MTV by more than a decade, each song is performed as an individual "music video"-and even the commercials for sponsor Royal Crown Cola (RC, the one with the Mad, Mad taste) are works of art. The show opens with Nancy exclaiming I Gotta Get Out of This Town–as she does just that - in her inimitable Nancy style. After an introduction by Art Linkletter telling us about RC Cola is made, we are treated to the first fabulous commercial...
Back to the show and Nancy is still moving - this time in a hot air balloon as she croons the Fifth Dimension classic Up, Up And Away.Two Lee Hazelwood duets follow, sandwiching an epic RC Cola ad featuring somebody named Robie Porter that has got to be seen to be believed! Unfortunately I don't have that clip to show you. Following the second number with Lee, Nancy goes solo again – performing to a with a bunch of mannequins in downtown LA with This Town. Yes, it is as sick and wonderful as it sounds. Next up are two songs with her godfather Dean Martin and then a totally groovy RC Cola ad freaturing Dino (Martin), Desi (Arnaz, Jr.) & Billy (somebody).
After a visit from uncle Sammy, Nancy performs another solo number, Wait Till You See Him and then daddy Frank shows up for two songs. After which, Nancy's second and even more crazy RC Cola ad runs:
Just when you think you've seen the Mad, Mad, Madest performance - Nancy pulls out all the stops with a medley of three spooky songs set at an abandoned amusement park. Friday's Child, See The Little Children and Who Will Buy?
I should mention that choreographer David Winters and his very flexible dance troupe appear throughout the show. David even received an Emmy nomination for his work on this show.
So, if you are ever in the mood for a good, old-fashioned 1960s musical journey starring a certain bubbly blonde Italian-American songstress. Just sit back, pour yourself a chalice of RC Cola and lose yourself in the splendor known as MOVIN' WITH NANCY!As a special bonus, here's a fab RC Cola print ad from 1969 - when it looks like they were transitioning from their old Royal Crown Cola logo to the more familiar 1970s RC Cola design. The model bears a resemblance to Meredith MacRae.
The Electric Light Orchestra is my all time favorite rock group. I can't explain why, I just knew the first time I heard an ELO record that it was what I liked. A lot. The seamless blend of rock n roll and neo-classical music just spoke to me. With their epic, cascading string sections and over-the-top vocal pyrotechnics, every song was like an aria. 30 years later, just seeing the Jet Records logo gives me goosebumps.
ELO, under the guidance of Jeff Lynne, recorded 12 studio albums and released 28 hit singles. At their peak between 1974 and 1981, ELO had 9 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.
The band also holds the unusual distinction of having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any band in U.S. chart history without ever having a #1 single.
During the 70s and 80s, ELO was one of the biggest arena attractions, with spectacular shows that included a massive flying saucer stage set, fog machines and state of the art light and laser shows.
I luckily got to see them perform twice.
ELO begin humbly in the earlier 1970 as offshoot of 60s UK band The Move. Roy Wood was behind the initial concept of a rock band augmented by a string section that included cellos, violins, horns and woodwinds . The resulting debut album The Electric Light Orchestra was released in the UK in 1971 (in the US as No Answer) - if you listen to it today, you can hear that they were struggling to find their sound.
After Wood left the group - Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bev Bevan on drums, joined by Richard Tandy on the Moog synthesizer. ELO released their second album, ELO 2 in 1973, and had their first U.S. chart hit, a rousing cover version of the Chuck Berry classic Roll Over Beethoven.
With Eldorado, the band's fourth album, Lynne hired an orchestra and choir - and their sound had now fully evolved into symphonic rock. The first single off the album, Can't Get It Out of My Head became a U.S. Top 10 hit and the album became ELO's first gold album. This was the first ELO album I bought, it might have had something to do with the Judy Garland/Margaret Hamilton cover photo. The awesome burlesque-inspired Nobody's Child is my favorite track.
Kelly Groucutt (who recently passed away) joined the band as a bassist and vocalist for Face The Music and the hit singles Evil Woman and Strange Magic soon followed. The instrumental Fire On High, with it's creepy Satanic-sounding backward masking is a masterpiece.
1976's A New World Record gave the band 4 top 10 hits Livin’ Thing, Rockaria!, Telephone Line and a cover of The Move's metal athem Do Ya - making them international stars. Tightrope and So Fine are also outstanding songs.
1977’s Out Of The Blue, a double-album was a worldwide smash and featured global hits Turn To Stone, Wild West Hero, Sweet Talkin' Woman (which was released on clear purple vinyl) plus Lynne's greatest musical achievement, Concerto for a Rainy Day which culminates with the epic Mr. Blue Sky.
Discovery in 1979 consolidated that worldwide success with the singles Shine A Little Love, Don’t Bring Me Down, and Last Train to London -which was re-imagined as a catchy pop hit in the 2000s by Atomic Kitten as Be With You.
At the time some ELO fans were mortified that the band was part of a pop music collaboration with Olivia Newton-John -
but time has shown that the songs Lynne contributed to the film (and eventually the Broadway show) are as timeless and beloved as any of the tunes that came before.
Don't Walk Away is possibly the best song Jeff Lynne ever wrote - 
and as performed by super hunky Cheyenne Jackson on Broadway - a true classic.
The silly rockabilly ditty Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King was a hit from 1983's Secret Messages, though the title track is infinitely more satisfying. 
That same year Bev Bevan left ELO and joined Black Sabbath while Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy contributed songs to the Electric Dreams soundtrack.
Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1985 for Balance Of Power–the final ELO album. The single Calling America was a minor hit. 
With George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Del Shannon and Bob Dylan, he formed the Grammy-award winning supergroup Traveling Wilburies.
Meanwhile, Bev Bevan in 1989 formed ELO Part II, with Louis Clark (Hooked on Classics). 
Former ELO members Mik Kaminski and Kelly Groucutt joined them for a second album, Moment Of Truth, in 1994. The remaining members continue to tour and record as The Orchestra.
In 2000 Jeff Lynne released an 3-disc ELO box set, Flashback, containing–among other things–a new, unplugged version Xanadu. In 2001, Lynne released a new ELO album called Zoom. Richard Tandy was back, with George Harrison and Ringo Starr as guests.
In 2004 a tribute album wincingly titled Lynne Me Your Ears, this cover anthology featured ELO standards performed by artists such as Todd Rundgren, Sixpence None the Richer, and a host of others.
Another tribute to ELO, L.E.O., features songs are written in Lynne's style and mimic ELO's orchestration and production. 
The Pussycat Dolls even sampled Evil Woman in their hit Beep. 
Anybody who has been over to my house for any kind of viewing party already knows that I've been obsessed with Nancy Sinatra's MOVIN' WITH NANCY special for about ten years now.
Originally broadcast on NBC in 1967, this amazing hour-long showcase features Nancy in a series of short films, both alone and with guest stars Lee Hazelwood, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., dancer David Winters and her dad, Frank. 
The special aired in conjunction with the release of the Movin' with Nancy LP.
Pre-dating MTV by more than a decade, each song is performed as an individual "music video"-and even the commercials for sponsor Royal Crown Cola (RC, the one with the Mad, Mad taste) are works of art. 
The show opens with Nancy exclaiming I Gotta Get Out of This Town–as she does just that - in her inimitable Nancy style.
After an introduction by Art Linkletter telling us about RC Cola is made, we are treated to the first fabulous commercial...
Two Lee Hazelwood duets follow, sandwiching an epic RC Cola ad featuring somebody named Robie Porter that has got to be seen to be believed! Unfortunately I don't have that clip to show you.
Following the second number with Lee, Nancy goes solo again – performing to a with a bunch of mannequins in downtown LA with This Town.
Yes, it is as sick and wonderful as it sounds. Next up are two songs with her godfather Dean Martin and then a totally groovy RC Cola ad freaturing Dino (Martin), Desi (Arnaz, Jr.) & Billy (somebody).
Just when you think you've seen the Mad, Mad, Madest performance - Nancy pulls out all the stops with a medley of three spooky songs set at an abandoned amusement park. Friday's Child, See The Little Children and Who Will Buy?
So, if you are ever in the mood for a good, old-fashioned 1960s musical journey starring a certain bubbly blonde Italian-American songstress. Just sit back, pour yourself a chalice of RC Cola and lose yourself in the splendor known as MOVIN' WITH NANCY!
As a special bonus, here's a fab RC Cola print ad from 1969 - when it looks like they were transitioning from their old Royal Crown Cola logo to the more familiar 1970s RC Cola design. The model bears a resemblance to Meredith MacRae.
