WILDEST DREAMS - "Gypsy Eyes" (2014)

 

The other day I was trying to find out info about a 1980's L.A. band called The Wildest, and while I didn't find anything out about that band, I stumbled onto this image from an album by a band called Wildest Dreams, and I was like, hey, that's almost exactly the same as the cover of Randy California's album titled "Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds" from 1972.

 

I was wondering what the connection was and it sounds like Wildest Dreams was pretty enamored with the music of Randy California, and I also thought they sounded like some of the Bob Welch era Fleetwood Mac, or in other words, Wildest Dreams are a pretty cool band. I like their sound.

WILDEST DREAMS - "Gypsy Eyes"

I never did find out anything about a band called The Wildest.

CHRIS KENNER - "I Like It Like That" (1961)

 

 A top 10 song in 1961 was "I Like It Like That" by Chris Kenner. Chris wrote this song and it made it to number two on the charts.

Chris also wrote and recorded the killer song "Land Of A 1000" dances, but his version only made it to number 77 in 1962. The more popular version was recorded by Cannibal And The Headhunters that hit number 30 on the charts in 1965.

Chris died of a heart attack in 1976 at the age of only 46.

CHRIS KENNER - "I Like It Like That"

HUEY "PIANO" SMITH AND THE CLOWNS - "Don't You Just Know It" (1958)

 

Let's go back to Louisiana for a couple of days, and the hit songs of my youth.

Huey "Piano" Smith was a prodigy and wrote his first song at 8 years old, and by the time he was 15, he was already playing in clubs.

After performing with many people including Little Richard, Huey and his band called The Clowns recorded this hit record that made it to number 9 on the charts.

Unlike many musicians from this time period, Huey lived to be 89, and just passed away in 2023.

HUEY "PIANO" SMITH AND THE CLOWNS - "Don't You Just Know It" 

LOS CUATES DE SINALOA - "Pegando Con Tuba" (2009)

 

Just one of the great things about the TV series "Breaking Bad" was the clever choices of music, and this song by Los Cuates De Sinaloa was a good one. It was just all too perfect!

Cousins Gabriel and Nano Berrelleza were originally from Sinaloa, Mexico but are now based in Phoenix, Arizona! 

LOS CUATES DE SINALOA - "The Ballad Of Heisenberg (Negro Y Azul)" 

IT'S NOT THE BIBLE, AFTER ALL

 

Rich here. As a Methodist pastor's son who went to Sunday School virtually every week for the first 18 years of my life, you can understand why, when I saw the title of the 1987 album by The Silencers, "Letter from St. Paul," I immediately thought it was a biblical reference. After all, a whole section of the New Testament is referred to as the "epistles," that is, "letters," and many of those letters are said to have been written by Saint Paul.

 

Boy, was I ever wrong! 

 

Turns out "A Letter from St. Paul" refers to a letter presumably written to the band from a female fan in St. Paul, Minnesota! 

 

It's basically a prominent bass and seductively slinky guitar instrumental accompanied by an atmospheric harmonica riff and a droning piano note. And though the song has no lyrics, per se, from time to time a whispery female voice interjects into the mix, reading portions of the "Letter from St. Paul." 

 

God, if you're listening, I love this track.

THE SILENCERS - "A Letter from St. Paul" 

THE PASTEL SIX - "Cinnamon Cinder" (1963)

 

Out of nowhere, this song just popped into my head tonight.

Cinnamon Cinder was the name of a small chain of clubs owned by game show host Bob Eubanks.

This popular song by The Pastel Six made it to number 25 in 1963.

We used to listen to this song and crack up when the goober guy says 

"It's a very nice dance!" 

Seven members in the band and three of them played the sax! 

THE PASTEL SIX - "Cinnamon Cinder" 

THE MORLOCKS - "Easy Listening For The Underachiever" (2006)

 

Recorded in 2006, but it sounds like it was recorded in 1966, The Morlocks had that retro sound down perfectly, and this album titled "Easy Listening For The Underachiever" proves just that.

 

Retro to the max, even their name came from the classic 1960's film "The Time Machine!

THE MORLOCKS - "Dirty Red"