Is this babe someone you might see at one of your parties? Then this 1950s vintage Tops album might be for you.
It's a schizophrenic mix between saccharine-sweet 40s type ballads and some upbeat swinging tunes. Highlights include a delightfully pointless cover of Perry Como's "Hubba Hubba Hubba"--the gleeful references to bombing of the Japanese might have been considered morally acceptable immediately post WWII, but by the mid 50s (when this album appears to have been released) it's pretty dicey indeed. But hey, how can there be too many versions of Hubba x 3 (called "dig You Later" here)? The boppish One o'Clock Jump satisfies, as does a chock-full-of-hoy-hoy version of the Honeydripper. Leave out the ballads, but the rest of this is party-ready.
Party Favorites
Tops Records L1526
Note: the liner notes list the performer of "The Gypsy" as Jeannie McKeon, who was a finalist for the voice of Disney's Cinderella. If this is indeed McKeon, she lost the part for sounding too butch--so I attributed the cut to Al Sack, with whom McKeon performed on several Tops albums. And the sappy vocal version of Deep Purple is really Jack McVea, of Open the Door Richard, and Wino fame? Uh, OK.
Side One
The Honeydripper - Buzz Adlam & Orchestra
You Made Me Love You - Henry King
Blues Serenade - Bob Heyward and the Mellotones
Jam Boogie - Ella Logan
The Gypsy - Al Sack
I May Be Wrong - Jan Garber
Side 2
One O'Clock Jump - Wilbert Baranco
Deep Purple - Jack McVea
Sometimes I'm Happy - Gerald Wilson
Night and Day - Sammy Franklin
They Say It's Wonderful - Will Osbourne
Dig You Later (Hubba Hubba Hubba) - Buzz Adlam
3 comments:
Thanks for this post. The TOPS records weren't always the best (some of them had top name artists), but each had a charm of it's own. Back in the days when a name LP cost a whopping $7.98 to $10.98 USD, the $1.98 TOPS records went well with L&M beer (4 quarts/$1.00). Please post anymore you have. They are the best of the bad.
I played this at my New Year's Eve Party - the one nobody showed up for - again. My Zoloft prescription had run out and I couldn't get to Walgreens because the buses weren't running because it was New Years Eve. I came so damn close to emptying my revolver in my forehead... but then I realized: that's just what THEY'D want me to do! So I drank some Hawaiian Punch and ate cold toast. Happy New Year, everybody.
Yikes! Here's to a better 2010 for you!!
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