Go Go West!

A recent quirky local 60s find. This EP is best described on its sleeve as 4 "Country and Western numbers with the a-go-go beat". Says the sleeve:

"Rocky Wong, the 'Singapore Hill Billy Singer', also nicknamed as the 'Cowboy from Pasir Panjang Hills', and whose style of singing resembles that of Slim Whitman, is no stranger to the music scene. Rock had competed in the "All Malaya Amateur Talentime Competition" during the 1950s and had since then appeared in many variety shows, nite clubs, the British Forces, Radio and Television."

Rocky Wong & The Dick Day Group - I Remember You (EDIT: now a Box.net link)

Eux Autres!

Eux Autres is a brother-sister duo, Nicholas and Heather Larimer, from Portland. If you're a fan of happy cheery 60's-inspired pop tunes in the vein of Saturday Looks Good To Me, you won't be disappointed. Their second full-length album, Cold City, was released in 2007. I just got my copy last week (ordered it from Darla.com!) and I'm excited about sharing this wonderful find!

Eux Autres - The Deadball Era (Megaupload link)

Eux Autres' official site, here.
Allmusic's review of Cold City, here.

Nicholas Larimer directed and animated this pretty video for 'Anne Boleyn':

Hey, Baby!

Dusty Springfield called Baby Washington her all-time favourite singer. With her powerful, moving and soulful voice, it's easy to see why. Baby Washington sang first in a vocal group, The Hearts, before branching out as a solo singer in 1956.

Baby Washington - Hey Lonely (Megaupload link)

Baby Washington on Wiki, here.
Baby Washington's Sue Singles, at Amazon, here.

Zouzou!

Zouzou is an iconic French model, actress and singer of the 1960s and early 1970s. She dated several famous men in her heyday, including Brian Jones, and Jack Nicholson.

Zouzou - Il Est Parti Comme Il Etait Venu

More about Zouzou at Wikipedia, here.

Mod-ified Music Ep 12 - 17 June 2008

Mod-ified Music Ep 12 on Unpopular.Radio

Tues / 17 June 2008 / 10PM - 11PM

Listen

Above shows a film still from 'Blow Up', which Modcentric is super excited to catch this Thursday at the National Museum. Film features 60s Beat Girls Jane Birkin and Gillian Hills! And not forgetting The Yardbirds!

(yousendit links below):

Gillian Hills - Qui A Su
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - La DÈcadanse

Youtube Finds:

Blow Up Trailer


The Yardbirds in Blow Up.

Holiday In A Totebag!

A chance find in Bangkok. I thought this was a compilation at first (and the cd came bundled with a cute tote bag too), but Melting Holidays turned out to be a twee pop band from Japan. And their lead singer has a whispery voice, exactly like Kahimi Karie! Their last album was released in 2005, but they have contributed to several compilations since. While I'm at it, I must say that Smallroom label is a Thai indie pop fan's dream, as they locally distribute tons of international indie acts (lots of twee pop eg. Elefant releases) besides Thai indies. Do keep a lookout the next time you visit Thailand.

Melting Holidays - Rainbow, Rainbow

Melting Holidays on Wiki, here.
And their official website, here.

More Be My Baby!

Be My Baby is still one of my absolute favourite songs. And discovering new cover versions of your favourite songs is always something special. French Ye Ye girl Sophie covered this in her 1963 EP.

Sophie - Reviens Vite Et Oublie (Be My Baby)

Read about Sophie at Ready Steady Girls, here.
More Sophie sleeve art, here.

Mod-ified Music Ep 10 - Local by Locals

My latest radio show over at unpopular.radio is a must-listen for all those who enjoy local 60s Singaporean pop. As many of you would have realised, it was popular for Asian acts in the 60s to cover international hits (eg. Nancy Sinatra, The Beatles, etc). But there were also Singaporean acts who chose to cover other local acts. So in this episode of Mod-ified Music, you'll hear covers of Naomi & The Boys, Shirley Nair (above), and others. It's Singaporean music covered by fellow Singaporeans. How cool is that?

Download here:
Mod-ified Music Ep 10

Mod-ified Music show on unpopular.radio runs every alt. Tues at 10pm-11pm (SG time). Do tune in Live if you have the chance, elsewise you can download the recorded episode from the unpopular.radio site by the following week. The next show is on 3rd June.

To download my previous episodes, check out unpopular.radio's Broadcast Repository here.

Chicas Ye Ye!

This is not a genre I'm very familiar with, but this compilation is a good introduction to the world of 'Chicas Ye Ye'. I was lucky enough to stumble on it on eBay, and I'm most pleased with it. Volume 1 presents songs by Adriangela, Silvana Velasco, Ivana and Lorella.

Adriángela - Me Gusta La Gente

ChaChaCharming has a fascinating article on the Spanish Girl singers scene, here.

Sing The Bossa!

I found this curious cd while on holiday last week at Bangkok. Holidays for me are a great chance for music shopping, and this trip was no exception. So I got this cd primarily based on the pretty cover, not knowing much about the "teen idols" performing the bossa-nova covers. While in all honesty, this cd is nothing much to shout about (some of the arrangements and instrumentation sound very karaoke), this track got the ye-ye fan in me excited.

Laura - La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser