Friday, February 26, 2010

"HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, KID"



Henry Mancini was an award winning film score composer best known for The Pink Panther theme.

Mancini learned to play the flute and piano as a child, and went on to formal music education at the Julliard School of Music, although being drafted during the Second World War interrupted his studies. After the war he worked with the Glen Miller Band, although it was his move to Universal Studios that marked the beginning of the career for which he is renowned. During his time there, he worked on "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "This Island Earth," "The Glenn Miller Story" and over one hundred other films.

He set up his own writing company, and was approached by film director Blake Edwards to write for the TV series "Peter Gunn." This was the beginning of a long term partnership, and Mancini would go on to write for most of the directors output, including "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "10" and "The Pink Panther" series of films. He also wrote for other directors, with "The Glass Menagerie" and "The Great Waldo Pepper" amongst his credits.

The track "Here's Looking At You, Kid" comes from one of his coolest records--The Return of the Pink Panther. Grand Puba sampled this track for "I Like It."

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

BARE WITH ME...



That newspaper you see up on those windows means we've been quite busy lately getting Hall of Records ready for our April/May grand opening.

Needless to say, I've been neglecting the blog the last few weeks. Hang in there while we finish up some construction. Priority #1 is Getting Our Store Open.

And once we do, we promise it'll have been worth the wait.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

RADIOPHONIC ODDITIES: FEBRUARY 2010



Straight from vinyl to your consciousness.

Come and get the new February mix right here.

Friday, February 5, 2010

"SOFT SOUL"



There's hardly anything "soft" about Lavell Kamma's little-known Afro Soul Review, judging from this rare 45 on the Tupelo Sound Label out of Mississippi. From what we know, Kamma was an R&B/jazz alto sax player and produder who built up a strong funk following in Florida, of all places.

The song features an insistent, funky mid-tempo groove, a punchy horn section, and plenty of "Good God!" shouts from Lavell Kamma himself. Needless to say, the Afro Soul Review seemed to be absorbing a lot of fellow southerner James Brown's deep funk sound.