Bobby McFerrin:

Simple Pleasures:(1988)

I'm sure you can guess the exact reason I own this record. Now, sure, this album contained a top ten hit with, Don't Worry Be Happy. And, never mind that Bobby McFerrin has won ten Grammy Awards. I dig that he has attained the mythical status of "Urban Legend". It must have been around the time I was in eighth grade when the story circulated that the man who sang Don't Worry Be Happy had committed suicide. A darkly humorous bit of fiction. I remember being in an English class when I heard the "news". Our teach butted in, and asked what we were talking about. He laughed out loud when we told him. Then he told us that it was a funny story, but couldn't true because his mother had just seen McFerrin the night before in concert in Florida. And as it stands in March of 2017, the Jazz vocalist known as Bobby McFerrin is still very much alive.

Frankie Laine:

Command Performance:(1955)

I own this record for one reason only... Leonard Cohen sang, "Frankie Laine, he was singing Jezebel. I pinned an iron cross to my lapel. I walked up to the tallest, and the blondest girl, I said, 'Look you don't know me now, but very soon you will" on his 1977 album, Death Of A Ladies Man. That was it, I had to know what this Jezebel song sounded like, as it had come out way before my time. Fortunately, the local thrift store always had a decent selection of old vinyl for a quarter a piece.  

Spike Jones:

Dinner Music (for People Who Aren't Very Hungry): (1957)

Best of: (1975)

The first time I recall hearing Spike Jones' name as in the song, Up On Cripple Creek by the Band... "now me and my mate was back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box. She said, I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk." I truly can't think of anyone like Spike Jones, ok, maybe Weird Al comes close, but they're also miles apart. It's mind blowing to think that all of Jones musicians are having to come up with all these complex sound effects live in the moment, making his one of the tightest bands ever. And, come on, anybody that conducts their band with a starter pistol has to be cool.

Hot Butter:

Popcorn:(1972)

Hot Butter is really Steve Free, who had been a member of the First Moog Quartette. Synths were a fairly new thing, and instrumental albums like this enjoyed a bit of success. Which is where the song Popcorn comes in to the picture, as it was actually a hit. Free lifted the song from it's composer and fellow First Moog Quartette member, Gershon Kingsley. I know the song mainly from being in public school in the early 80's, where they would use it as accompaniment to a stupid dance they'd occasionally make us do in P.E. Still, it's stands as an example of early synth pop music.

Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass:

Whipped Cream & Other Delights: (1965)

Going Places: (1965)

Sounds Like...: (1967)

Yes, I own, and enjoy these records. A friends of mine was recently disparaging bargain bin records that you can find by the truck load in any second hand store or trash pile, and mentioned Herb Alpert. But, for there to have been so many all over the place, somebody had to have been buying them. And they were. The "A" in A&M Records stood for Alpert. Not to mention, the work of the famed Wrecking Crew is all over these records, so the playing is superb. Whipped Cream & Other Delights has a cover that people still reference. But why do I like 'em? They make me smile. They seem so unpretentious and fun. Come on...play one...and I dare you not to smile. Come on, grab a drink, and play one, and try not to enjoy it...even if it's just a little.