Ultra-Lounge: On the Rocks, Pt. 2
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Free Music Notes for Ultra-Lounge: On the Rocks, Pt. 2
Free Music Review: give these guys a spotlight !!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Ultra-Lounge: On the Rocks, Pt. 2 is an excellent CD of hits from way back when that can still make the airwaves sizzle today! These tunes are great for mood music and some of them are good for dancing, too. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very, very nicely done. Great!
The Johnny Mann Singers begin the track set with their hit entitled "Heart Full Of Soul." "Heart Full Of Soul" has that rockin' `60s lounge flavor to it--all wrapped up in one package! They sing and play this to perfection and I'm sure that you will enjoy this opening number very much especially if you like lounge music with vocals. David McCallum's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" has a great beat that mirrors the hit by The Rolling Stones; and the brass is used very well in the musical arrangement. In addition, "Games People Play" from Mel Torme really works so well on many levels all at once. Mel Torme sings this so well there's no doubt as to why he was revered by fans and his peers alike.
Buddy Morrow does great on his version of "Summer In The City" by The Lovin' Spoonful; the horn work is superb and the overall arrangement is really cool! I really like "Summer In The City;" it's easily a major highlight of this album. Guy Lombardo and His Orchestra do a very solid rendition of "Mrs. Robinson" from the movie called The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman; and listen for a great medley of "Wear Your Love Like Heaven/Workin' On A Groovy Thing" by David Rose and His Orchestra. David Rose was a very talented man and just one listen to this tune proves it amply! Julie London plays along as she delivers "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" with panache--she was capable of singing ballads that were so much more substantial but I admire the way she plays the good sport and sings this one out proud anyway!
There's a fine medley of "Baby Love/Respect;" "Baby Love/Respect" is performed with lots of feeling by Zacharias. Zacharias really knows their stuff and their talents work well to make the medley of "Baby Love/Respect" another highlight of this album. Mel Torme returns to perform a rousing rendition of "Happy Together;" "Happy Together" features Mel swinging brightly to make this number shine! Mel Torme really could sing just about anything and make it sound grand.
The Hollyridge Strings do their medley of two Beatles tunes, "Can't Buy Me Love/Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band;" this medley uses the brass and strings with the piano to make a terrific melody that is catchy as well. The CD closes nicely with Kurt Russell performing "Sugar Sugar;" this cover of the song by The Archies is excellent and I'm sure The Archies would be proud!
Overall, Ultra-Lounge: On the Rocks, Pt. 2 is a great CD for lounge and mood music fans who like tunes that are either instrumental or with lyrics. I highly recommend this album for these people and newcomers to lounge and mood music will find this CD to be a great introduction.
Free Music Review: LOVE ULTRA-LOUNGE!
Hit: 5 Stars
Love this kind of music - can't get enough - have most all of the CDs. Excellent New Jersey-based company with excellent foresight and retro-understanding for the best party and jazz combos. Excellent choice for any kind of day or evening, party or relaxation time.Free Music Review: Cross our hearts and we hope to die.
Hit: 4 Stars
These recordings date from 1964 to 1972. During this time period, there were two kinds of "pop" music. There was the kind for teenagers, which featured the likes of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Ohio Express. And then there was pop music for the parents of teenagers, featuring the likes of Mel Torme, Peggy Lee and the Hollyridge Strings. This CD features teenage pop songs as performed by pop artists for the older folks. Boy, talk about a style clash! Can you imagine Peggy Lee singing "Everyday People", or Julie London singing "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy"? Well, you don't have to imagine it, you can get this CD and hear it for yourself. There are some strange renditions of songs that will be familiar to anyone who ever turned on an oldies radio station. Most of the songs are instumentals, although I wouldn't call it "elevator music", for the most part. Special mention to the Little Big Horns, who include sounds of an Indian attack in their version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Little Big Horn = Custer's Last Stand, get it?). Fans of "kitsch" should dig this CD. Free Music Review: Get Part 1 instead
Hit: 2 Stars
I think they used up all the 'good' songs on the first On The Rocks compilation - this one seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit. Part 1 is highly recommended for lovers of things tacky, but Part 2 is a bit thin.Free Music Review: Mel Torme, Peggy Lee and Kurt Russell (?) sing rock 'n' roll
Hit: 4 Stars
Just think of it: Kurt Russell as the Hillary Duff/Lindsay Lohan (take your pick in that contemporary turf war) of his generation. When Russell found himself in a series of successful movies for Disney he was quickly signed to a record deal where he covered bubblegum classics like Tommy Roe's "Dizzy" and The Archies' "Sugar Sugar," which is the final track on "Ultra-Lounge: On the Rocks, Part 2." Make no doubt about it, this is a collection of what would be considered "classic" kitsch 'n' roll (or rock 'n' kitsch if you like). You probably will never be able to get a CD version of Kurt Russell's self-titled debut album, or any of the other bizarre albums that attempted to make rock 'n' roll more palatable for the masses or were simply produced by people heavily into drugs (e.g., "Sebastian Cabot, Actor, Bob Dylan, Poet," "Jayne Mansfield: Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me," Jack Webb's "Just the facts of life, ma'am," or Tony Perkins' "On a Rainy Afternoon"), but you can get this collection of misses and misses (and, to be fair, you can get Robert Mitchums' "Calypso is Like So...," Tony Perkins' self-titled album, and, of course, the mother-lode itself, William Shatner's "Transformed Man").
Overall there are two types of songs included in these 23 tracks. First there are essentially instrumental distortions, er, versions of classic rock songs, such as "Carry That Weight" by Francis Lai. But be prepared for anything because this is an album where "I Can't Get No Satisfacation" begins with the opening notes played on a dulcimer. There is a touch of psuedo class here, with the Hollyridge Strings (NOT the "Hollywood" Strings mind you) doing a Beach Boys medley of "I Get Around/California Girls." Peter Duchin shows up to do "Superfly," which was a bit of a shock. Other instrumentals include "Summer in the City" by Buddy Morrow, "Mrs. Robinson" by Guy Lombardo, and my favorite of the bunch, Deep Purple's "Hush" by the Royale Blue. If you like sitar music you get a double dose, with Lord Sitar joining Sandler & Young for a Beatles medley of "Blue Jay Way/Blackbird" and then returning solo to do the Who's "I Can See for Miles." But expect lots of strings (e.g., the Hollyridge Strings with "Can't Buy Me Love/Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and John Andrew Tartaglia's "Light My Fire") and horns (e.g., Little Big Horns' "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and Henry Jerome's "Oh Pretty Woman").
Then there are the songs were singers actually do some singing. These range from "chorale" type versions of songs, such as "Heart Full of Soul" by the Johnny Mann Singers, which opens up the album, to covers of familiar songs by familiar artists, like Mel Torme doing "The Games People Play" and "Happy Together," while Peggy Lee does Sly Stone's "Everyday People." Julie London does a really slow version of "Yummy Yummy Yummy," but that is really it for recognizable names. Then we jump to the other extreme and have the likes of Mrs. Miller doing Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", the fun-loving senior who I would have given the final spot in the collection to, because after mangles that song (including her breathless "Yeah" at the end of the first chorus) there is no place to go and you might not actually being aware the Russell is doing "Sugar Sugar" until the silence afterwards pierces your consciousness. I have a definite preference for the songs with singers in terms of the kitsch quotient here because the instrumental tracks at least can be categorized as elevator muzak, which takes a star away from the rating because if a song on this album goes not make part of your groan in delight, it is just not doing its job.
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