Our Lady of Perpetual Obsolescence Vinyl Rescue Mission and Orphanage

Our latest share brings you this offering from Marco Valenti, a “singer’s singer’” who “possesses the qualities of which stars are made”. A protege of Liberace, Mr. Valenti appeared in the pianist’s Las Vegas review in the seventies and also made an appearance on the Tonight Show in 1979. Although the LP’s title promises ‘many’ moods, Mr. Valenti tends to concentrate on one - love. Whether it is regretfully reminiscing over words not said, breaking up with lovers who take him for granted, or singing the song of a dying man to his son, Mr. Valenti’s, “abounding talent, magnetism, and personal charm” give him, “unique awareness for the meaning and feeling of a lyric”. Of the many sounds produced by Mr. Valenti on this album, he seems to be most fond of his falsetto range (used often as a dramatic device to heighten emotion and bring the arrangements to a close) and his heroic vibrato abilities. The album was produced by Jack Plies, who also expertly wrote and conducted the backing arrangements. Have fun listening and as always, Enjoy!

Download individual tracks:

1. Angelica

2. If Only It Were Yesterday

3. Darlin’

4. I’m Leaving You

5. And I Love You So

6. Italian Medley

7. Old Fashioned Love Song

8. Danny Boy

9. If It Isn’t In Your Heart

10. The Lady Is Waiting

11. This Is My Life

Or get the all the mp3s and cover art in one 52 MB Zip file.

If you like to smile then you owe it to yourself to pick up the new album, ‘The Happy Electropop Music Machine’, a collaboration between Jean-Jacques Perrey (master of the Ondioline and composer/tape editor extraordinaire) and Dana Countryman (former editor of the sorely missed Cool and Strange Music Magazine and modular synthesizer wiz). This collection of fun melodic synth tunes features mostly Perrey-Countryman original compositions that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. In addition to the formidable talents of Messrs. Perrey and Countryman, the album boasts some excellent drum work from Rick Bowen, and guest contributions from Robert Drasnin (sax), Vinnie Bell (banjo), Dick Hyman (calliope), and a tasty remix by The Bran Flakes. Order the CD here and be sure to check out this collection of videos from their recent concert tour as well.

If you haven’t already, Pastor McPurvis is urging everyone to download this seriously scary and awesome set of tracks brought to you by the fine folks over at Oddio Overplay. 31 frightening tracks (not a novelty song in sight) to set the mood for the 31st. Don’t listen to it with the lights out!

During a recent rescue sweep, we uncovered yet another album by that fabulous mystery lounge band The Populaires. This will be the fourth album from the boys that we have shared and this time around we are happy to be able to give you some backstory on the group. Seems that one of the drummers from the group, Bill Purcell, saw that we had been sharing the Populaires’ albums and that were looking for info about the group. He responded with a very nice email with a wonderfully detailed history of the band.

We were correct in our assumption that the group was the house band at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The original group started playing in the ‘Old White Club’ (the cocktail lounge of the hotel) around 1949. The original line up consisted of Bill Walz on bass and vocals, Bill Sloane on keyboards and vocals, Chuck Bills on sax and vocals and Mike Powers. Eventually Mike Powers and Chuck Bills left to be replaced by Constantine ‘Conny’ Thymius playing multiple woodwinds and trombonist/vocalist Kenny Martin. Mr. Martin had a successful career in the big band world prior to joining the Populaires playing trombone and singing with Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, and Guy Lombardo (that’s him singing on the Lombardo band’s recording of ‘Hello Young Lovers’, a hit in 1951). Mr. Purcell joined the group in 1975 and played with them until 1978, but continued to sit in with the band periodically. The group retired from playing in the late 80s/early 90s.

With this album, we again find the boys playing a mix of older standards mixed with contemporary (for 1970) hits. The put a boppy spin on ‘Proud Mary’, take a stab at ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’, and offer up an odd version of ‘My Sweet Lord’. There’s also a nice, mellow instrumental arrangement of ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ that really grew on me with repeated playings. Have fun listening and as always, Enjoy!

Download individual tracks:

1. Take Me Home Country Roads.

2. The Mood I’m In.

3. I Don’t Know How To Love Him.

4. Proud Mary.

5. My Way.

6. My Sweet Lord.

7. Time For Love.

8. For the Good Times.

Or get the all the mp3s and cover art in one 50MB Zip file.

I can tell from perusing the access logs that a lot of folks are coming here looking for the old Pickwick sound effects LP ‘Sounds to Make You Shiver’. Traditionally we have hosted the album here at the Orphanage around Halloween. Sorry to disappoint, but we have decided to forgo sharing the album this year. However, we are pleased to be able to point you in the direction of Forbidden Crypts Of Haunted Music!, where you will find not only the album in question, but enough other scary sounds to satisfy any Halloween jones you may be harboring.