An excellent gimmick from the United Artists label – a way of mixing their strong run of 60s soundtrack hits with the world of jazz – thanks to Count Basie and his group taking on a whole host of themes from the successful James Bond films! Count Basie brings a soulful swing to the work of John Barry, who scored most of these cuts – hitting hard on the tracks with his own smoking piano, and an orchestra filled with some of his best players – including Al Grey on trombone, Eric Dixon on saxes, and Freddie Greene on guitar – plus guest tenor work from Eddie Lockjaw Davis, an artist who wasn't credited on the session at he time. Arrangements are by Chico O'Farrill and George Williams – and titles include "Thunderball", "From Russia With Love", "007", "Girl Trouble", and "Goldfinger". (Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure US set from UK maestro Ron Goodwin! LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of work by Francis Lai – the great French soundtrack composer who's best known for his magical work with Claude Lelouch on films like A Man & A Woman and Live For Life! The set features tracks from films that stretch back to 1966 and up into current years – and together, they offer a picture of Lai that shows a more serious, almost orchestral approach to his music – with plenty of darker themes that still contain the charm of early years, but which show a more traditional sense of soundtrack scoring. Still, there's plenty of nicely warm and romantic tracks – which are always his strongest suit – like "Live For Life", "Theme To Catherine", "Zoom", "A Man & A Woman", "Stronger Than Us", "Today It's You" and "124 Miles An Hour". (Soundtracks, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the greatest work you could ever find by Lenny Bruce! This set is a brilliant re-creation of a live show that Lenny cut at midnight at Carnegie Hall on February 4, 1961. Unlike some of his LPs from the time - which often featured a lot of set routines – this one just has Lenny improvising freely, telling jokes, doing schtick, and bad-rapping on a variety of topics from pills, to homosexuality, to airlines, to the KKK, to VD, to other contemporary comedians. The album's one of the few to really capture Bruce's brilliance as a performer and a thinker – and the spontaneity of the very long recording is astounding. (Comedy, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest albums by the guy who did so many groovy versions of the score to his own hit musical. This one's got the famous "Ripped Open by Metal Explosions" sample, plus some other great stuff that wasn't in Hair. Very groovy, choppy, and groovy/funky stuff here – and a real tough LP to find these days! Other tracks include "Colored Spade", "Hashish", and "Freakout". (Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A goofy mix of groovy instrumental tracks with a weird "Apache"-esque instrumentation made up of some nicely processed guitars. The album's sort of funky in parts, with arrangements by Vince Montana that were recorded at Sigma Sound – and which have a late 60s Philly soul vibe to them. You may know the title cut, a goofy instrumental mini-hit, and other tracks include "Storm Warning", "Rain Dance", "What Does It Take To Win Your Love", and "Geronimo". Kind of Philly soul meets the Ventures! (Soul, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work from Francis Lai – that famous film composer from the French scene of the 60s and 70s – stepping out here on a host of instrumentals done as a non-soundtrack project! Many of the tunes are themes that Lai did for movies – including some from fairly rare soundtracks – but they're mixed here with non-film tunes, and served up in fresh versions – all of which make for the kind of nicely unified record that shows why Francis was to French cinema what guys like Armando Trovajoli or Stelvio Cipriani were to Italian movies! Titles include "Smic Smac Smoc", "La Fontaine", "Snow Frolic", "I Think Of You", "On Croit Que C'Est L'Amour", "Les Nuits Sont Trop Courtes", "La Solitude", "Les Petroleuses", and "Adagio Por Orgue Choeur & Cordes". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Riddle – a bandleader who always did great work with other singers, but who could really be sleepy on his own, until the late 60s, when he started to change his groove a lot, and really open up his sound! This album's a perfect example of that move – as it's got organ, electric guitar, and Fender bass mixed with Riddle's already well-arranged horn sextion – creating a lilting groove that really kicks the best tracks along nicely, giving them a slightly funky sound that's similar to the work that Riddle later did for MPS. Titles include "Gentle On My Mind", "Tell Someone You Love Them", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Where Do I Go", and a great cover of "Light My Fire". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard to tell if these are new versions of songs, or simply ones lifted from Barry's UA soundtracks – but from the notes and the music, the album seems to be a unique one. Barry's sounding nice and lean here, working his way through his own work – like "The James Bond Theme", "Goldfinger", "From Russia With Love", and "Zulu Stomp" – plus tracks like "Spanish Harlem", "Moody River", "Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White", and "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads". (Soundtracks, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

18 exotic groovers from the glory days of the bachelor pad! The set's a well-chosen bunch of rare ones from the catalogs of labels like Capitol, Liberty, and United Artists – and the tunes are tied together with a Latiny theme, as you've probably already expected from the "bongo" in the title! Tracks include "Latin Fever" by Jack Costanzo, "Caravan" by Dick Hyman, "Balinese Bongos", "The Young Savages" by Martin Denny, "Moderna Muchacha" by Joe Loco, "Club Caballeros" by Laurindo Almeida, "Bernies Tune" by Al Caiola, "Dr No's Fantasy" by Elliott Fisher, "Taboo" by Leo Arnaud, and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" by Terry Snyder. CD