R.I.P. Willie Colón, 1950-2026

His political views aside, trombonist/songwriter Willie Colón's significant contribution to Latin music history is beyond reproach. 

Numero Group knocks out a "soundtrack" for imaginary spy flick

Numero Group needed a hook to hang their most recent random collection of rare recordings and decided on a spy film soundtrack.

 

Here's the scoop from Numero HQ...

The opening act of Louis Wayne Moody’s mid-century spy caper trilogy, 1962’s Call Me Old Fashioned put a tail on Agent Cara Seaworth’s debut undercover operation, fresh out of the Eastern Star Spy Academy for Young Ladies. Her assignment: to pose as songbird and nest, one thrush-like performance at a time, deep under the skin of widower Jack “Frenchy” Hammerli, proprietor of Jack’s Riverside Inn supper club. Her quarry: both an unblemished 1822 American Half Eagle piece—gone AWOL since the Academy’s turbulent Reconstruction-era founding—and Jack’s own beating heart. When the mobbed-up Sauk City, Wisconsin, night spot proves a tough coin to flip, Seaworth’s estranged father and celebrated numismatist “The Man” gets called up to the Not-So-Big Leagues. Will Cara pinch the minted MacGuffin and cooly cash in on a couple dozen missed birthdays, or wind up feeding walleye at the bottom of Mud Lake?

Struck for circulation after 63 years in hock within the Lou-Mood Pictures vault, this previously unissued soundtrack traffics in the high-tone timbre and highball-sipping swoon of pop’s post-war years. Muddling together sugar-lipped divas, barrel-aged big bands, and “zoo be zoo be zoo” zest, with a Latin jazz Luxardo for garnish, Call Me Old Fashioned is a 40-minute stereo-sonic adventure for the 7 & 7 spy-fi fanatic. You can get a copy of Call Me Old Fashioned LP via Bandcamp right here or try the Numero Group site over here. 

Call Me Old Fashioned

1. Pony Sherrell - Don't Do Anything Til You've Heard From Me 

2. Margo Guryan - More Understanding Than a Man 

3. Charleen Houston - Just Like a Fool 

4. Dolores White - Lovers Paradise 

5. Charlene Knight - If My Dreams Come True 

6. Darla Hood - Un Momento Mas 

7. Manny Lopez - Terra Bella (Que Bonita Es Mi Tierra) 

8. Nun Plus - Walk About The Craters Of The Moon 

9. Arnie & Chise' Trio - Three Cherries 

10. Carmen - Ukulele Mambo 

11. Jeanne Hatfield - Time 

12. Doris Drew - Aba Da Aba Du 

13. April Yen - If and When It Happens 

14. Birdlegs and Pauline - Mist of a Dream 

Jim Cuddy & Friends "Country Classic" Benefit @ The Horseshoe, Sunday

The annual Country Classic fundraiser for the Daily Bread Food Bank feat. Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and pals is now sold out. 

Lost 1968 recording by Nanaimo's Glass Cage finally gets released!

Marcus Pollard found a mysterious acetate in a Port Alberni thrift shop which turned out to be the 1968 demo of Nanaimo's Glass Cage. 

In the summer of 1968, five Nanaimo, BC teenagers recorded an exciting six-song demo of West Coast garage psych. Cut to an acetate then lost to time for 50+ years. Until now. Watch the story of the Glass Cage's lost recording right here and below. 

“A remarkable discovery. The Glass Cage show impressive creativity and versatility as they transition between hard-hitting, organ-driven Northwest R&B slammers and dreamy, harmony-based psychedelic numbers.” – Mike Stax, Ugly Things

“I LOVE the Glass Cage!” – Grant Lawrence, CBC Radio

“Newly unearthed garage rock classic ... terrific California-style psychedelia”

– Craig “Rockin’ Prof” Morrison, Ethnomusicologist

“A garage rock gem” – John Dwyer, Osees

Restoration & remastering by Peter Conheim, deluxe 8-page booklet with story, photos and posters. Cover art by Bob Masse Studios. Get a copy of The Glass Cage's 1968 recording released by Supreme Echo as "Where Did The Sunshine Go! via Bandcamp right here.

LINKS
Times Colonist Thrift store find leads to new life for Nanaimo band, The Glass Cage 

Happy Birthday Poison Ivy!

Raising a glass to Poison Ivy – The Cramps guitarist, composer and producer – with some interview & performance footage.

Here's a bonus shot of Poison Ivy with The Cramps featuring Miriam Linna on drums circa 1976. 

One For The Weekend: The Creation from Albuquerque, NM

Here's the scoop...

The Creation were a short-lived but regionally influential psychedelic garage band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, active in the late 1960s. Centered on brothers Al O’Donnell (lead/rhythm guitar) and Mike O’Donnell (bass) together with Ernie (Earnie) Phillips (rhythm guitar), the trio wrote and sang their material collectively while hiring session players for drums and keyboards. Listen to "No Silver Bird" off their second single for Centurion from 1968 –both sides of which were covered by Hooterville Trolley who didn't share any members with The Creation – recently reissued by Guerssen Records and available digitally here. Incidentally, The Creation's first single "What The Daises Know" b/w "Sun and Stars (I Miss Her So) was also on Centurion and issued in December,1967. You can read more about The Creation on the Garage Hangover site right here. 

Ryan Bingham's They Call Us The Lucky Ones out May 15th

Ryan Bingham's new album "They Call Us The Lucky Ones" is out May 15th. You can pre-order it here. Check the clips.