The second album by The Freedom Sounds – a very cool west coast soul jazz collective, headed by Wayne Henderson, and featuring a great mix of jazz, soul, and Latin rhythms! This set's a little more ambitious than the group's first album – with a number of tracks that groove in a very strong Latin jazz mode, sounding a lot like some of the best work on Atlantic at the time by Mongo Santamaria, Hubert Laws, and others. Henderson's trombone is still a key solo instrument, but the album also features some incredible sax work from Willie Gresham – a player we know little about, but who makes the album cook in the same fantastic way that Hubert Laws and Sonny Fortune did for Mongo's best work of the 60s! The grooves are very right-on, with plenty of excellent percussion work – and titles include the originals "Love-Out", "Behold The Day", and "Soul Sound System", plus some groovy covers, like "All You Need is Love", "What The World Needs Now Is Love", and "Are You Sure?" – all done with a great Latiny groove! LP, Vinyl record album

One hit wonders – but oh what a hit! Friend & Lover's "Reach Out Of The Darkness" is a really unique little tune that brings together folksy vocals and funky rhythms – a solid jammer that brushed off the cobwebs of the aging folk scene of the 60s, and sprung into the charts with a trippy groove that still sounds great today! The rest of the record has a really similar feel – much heavier bass and drums than the usual folk outing, creating a sound that's nicely funky on some of the best numbers, and always groovy on all the others. Vocals are by "Friend" Jim Post and "Lover" Cathy Conn – harmonizing together nicely – and titles include "Reach Out Of The Darkness", "Saturday's Hero", "Zig Zag", "Boston Is A Lovely Town", "I'm A Woman I'm A Man", "Ode To A Dandelion", and "If Love Is In Your Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare spiritual jazz session from the Full Moon Ensemble – a very groovy French group headed up by drummer Claude Delcloo – who was better known for his avant jazz work on sides for the BYG/Actuel series of albums! This time around, Delcloo is working in much trippier territory – a style that still shows some of the freedoms of the post-68 generation of French jazz, but which also takes on some strong spiritual tones too – mixing spoken passages with rich organic sounds on percussion – and these bold, snaking lines on Fender Rhodes and guitar that really help hold the whole thing together! The record works as one long suite on side one, and continues that groove on side two – and although the band's jamming great in the studio, there's still a sense of structure and purpose that really drives the music. In addition to Delcloo on drums, the group also features Jeff Sicard on alto and tenor, Gerard Coppere on tenor and soprano sax, Mratine Tourreil on Rhodes, and Joseph Dejean on guitar – and the vocals bits are by the enigmatic "Sarah". Titles include the side a suite "Tribute To Bob Kaufman" – plus "101 W 85th Street" and "King Kong". LP, Vinyl record album

Garner grooves nicely here – finding an almost renewed energy for the 60s, but still hitting all those highly-rhythmic modes we love so much in his early work! The recording quality is great – lots of bold echo from the piano, and even a bit of Erroll's grunting vocalizations somewhere in the mix – kind of an extra added emphasis that sounds great next to the bass of Eddie Calhoun and drums of Kelly Martin. Titles include "Just One Of Those Things", "Blue Lou", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Dreamstreet", and the groovy "Mambo Gotham" – an especially jaunty little number! CD

Garner grooves nicely here – finding an almost renewed energy for the 60s, but still hitting all those highly-rhythmic modes we love so much in his early work! The recording quality is great – lots of bold echo from the piano, and even a bit of Erroll's grunting vocalizations somewhere in the mix – kind of an extra added emphasis that sounds great next to the bass of Eddie Calhoun and drums of Kelly Martin. Titles include "Just One Of Those Things", "Blue Lou", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Dreamstreet", and the groovy "Mambo Gotham" – an especially jaunty little number! LP, Vinyl record album

A great Erroll Garner double-header – two 60s albums back to back on a single CD! First up is Dreamstreet – a record in which Garner grooves nicely, finding an almost renewed energy for the 60s, but still hitting all those highly-rhythmic modes we love so much in his early work! The recording quality is great – lots of bold echo from the piano, and even a bit of Erroll's grunting vocalizations somewhere in the mix – kind of an extra added emphasis that sounds great next to the bass of Eddie Calhoun and drums of Kelly Martin. Titles include "Just One Of Those Things", "Blue Lou", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Dreamstreet", and the groovy "Mambo Gotham" – an especially jaunty little number! One World Concert is a set with an ambitious title, but a nicely earthy feel – a live recording that features Erroll Garner's trio with Eddie Calhoun on bass and Kelly Martin on drums – stretching out strongly in front of a live audience. Titles include "Mack The Knife", "Misty", "Dancing Tambourine", "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe", and "Sweet & Lovely". CD

A key late 60s country crossover set, but one that also inspired a fair bit of funk as well! The title cut's a well-known gem – one that's been covered instrumentally in some break-heavy versions, but which sounds even more amazing here in Bobbie's original version – one of the moodiest pop tunes we've ever heard, with lyrics, and a way of presenting them, that still leaves us breathless all these many years later. There's also some other funky bits here too – Gentry's raspy "Mississippi Delta" – an original number that almost seems to unseat Tina Turner for down-home soul – and the groovy "Sunday Best", "Niki Hoeky", "Papa Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You", and "Chickasaw Country Child", all numbers that echo the same lilting acoustic guitar grooves of "Billie Joe". LP, Vinyl record album

A very groovy batch of tracks that's got a sweet and easy feel – one that features Stan blowing to arrangements by the great Johnny Pate, recorded at a time when both of them were at the height of their powers! Although Pate's style is usually a bit funky, on this set, he's amazingly laidback – setting Stan up in a wash of strings and soul that creates space for some wonderfully breathy solos. The tunes are a mix of late 60s numbers – some of them pop, but not in a bad way – as Stan and Johnny really work some incredible sounds with titles that include "Mandy Is Two", "Didn't We", "The Shining Sea", and "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album

Despite the innocence of the title and cover image, the grooves here are pretty darn mature – really hard-jamming fusion tracks served up with Jerry Goodman on electric guitars and violin, and Jan Hammer on a wealth of groovy keyboards! Hammer's still a bit restrained at this point – not nearly a schlocky as in later years, and with a good ear for unusual sounds from the Moog, Oberheim, and electric piano – all used nicely here with plenty of cool effects. Goodman himself sings a bit on the record, but not much – and the whole thing has a fusion feel that's very much like other releases at the time on the Nemperor label. Titles include "Steppings Tones", "Night", "Full Moon Boogie", "No Fear", "I Remember Me", "Country & Eastern Music", "Topeka", and "Earth (Still Our Only Home)". LP, Vinyl record album

A really groovy album from Brit easy maestro Ron Goodwin – a set that's a follow up to his earlier Arabian Nights record, but which has an even cooler vibe overall – Lebanese sounds, but done with some of the richer scoring that Ron brought to his soundtrack material, and some nice exotic elements too! LP, Vinyl record album

We can't get enough of this stuff! Another fab collection of groovy soundtrack bits, and oblique dialogue from just about our favorite TV series of all time. This batch has more of the dramatic moments, chase scene buildups, sonic scene setting and electronic tones tied together in one long collage of mod sounds. 32 tracks in all, including "janet's Party", "European Drive", "Exploding Ball", "Poisoned Beer", "Turkish Bath", "Boxing Booth", "Attack On The Bulldozer" and "Regression". CD

A warm batch of funky jazz groovers from longstanding master stylists the Greyboy Allstars – their first studio set of the 2000s! Given the scarcity of new releases from the group, What Happened To Television might have just as easily been titles What Happened To The Allstars – but rest assured, their trademark blend of 70s style jazz funk and sound library style sounds are still groovy and masterfully played – with DJ Greyboy himself in the production booth! Some of the tunes are on a sly, laidback tip, with funky flute & sax, vamping guitars and keys, and a thumping bottom end of bass, drums & percussion. Welcome back! Titles include "V Neck Sweater", "Deck Shoes", "Left Coast Boogaloo", "What Happened To TV?", "Still Waiting", "How Glad I Am", "Back In The Game", "Old School Cylons", "Knowledge Room" and "Give The Drummer Some More". CD

A tasty session of tracks recorded in Brazil, during the Carnival in Rio! The Far Out team took a bunch of legendary Brazilian percussionists into the studio and recorded this album of funky batucada tracks that includes the cuts "Mama Samba", "Ona Leve", and "Percussion Livre". Wilson Das Neves, ex-leader of Os Ipanemas, heads up the group, and other featured players include Mamao, Chacal, and Zezinho. Groovy batucada sounds, with the usual high Far Out quality. CD

One of those unusual litle records on the Ampex label at the start of the 70s – a groovy rock group with a nice current of soul in the instrumentation – almost a Muscle Shoals sort of vibe – topped with nice vocals from Carol Breval, who's got this deep vibe that sounds nice next to the Hammond and horns! LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing, simply amazing – and light years ahead of the staid sounds that Chico Hamilton was cutting in the 50s! Hamilton's one of those players who has an amazing range to his music – almost all of it really incredible, as Chico always shifts things up over time – continually trying new things, and new modes of expression – even though, given his popularity, he could have just kept recording the same things year after year. This album is true testament to that propensity for growth in Hamilton's music – a wonderfully unbridled set that's filled with unusual rhythms, odd instrumentation, and even some of the first touches of psychedelic jazz to appear in the 60s! Players include Sadao Watanabe on alto and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, Jimmy Cheatham on trombone, and Willie Bobo and Victor Pantoja on percussion – all working together in a really wonderful range of modes from track to track – always groovy, but also pretty far-reaching and exploratory too! Titles include "El Moors", "Helena", "Strange", "Marcheta", "El Chico", and "Conquistadores". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic Herbie Hancock from the early years – and a great mix of soul jazz and modernist inspiration! The record include a nice groovy "hit" – Herbie's "Blind Man Blind Man" – an obvious follow-up to "Watermelon Man", but still a standout track with a lot of imagination, and a fierce soul jazz hook that just won't quit! The rest of the record, while also groovy, starts to show many more signs of Herbie's far-reaching conception – especially shared with players like Tony Williams on drums, Grachan Moncur on trombone, and Chuck Israels on bass – who all work with Herbie in a larger than usual group that also includes Grant Green on guitar, Donald Byrd on trumpet, and Hank Mobley on tenor. The lineup is as great as it sounds on paper – and the larger setting really helps expand Herbie's new ideas – on tunes that include "Blind Man Blind Man", "And What If I Don't", "A Tribute To Someone", "King Cobra", and "The Pleasure Is Mine". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing set – all four of the legendary Warner Brothers albums by harmony giants Harpers Bizarre – plus bonus tracks too! First up is Feelin Groovy – the fab first LP by Harpers Bizarre! The group were one of the strangest pop ensembles operating in the seminal LA scene of the mid 60s – ostensibly a sweet harmony vocal group, but with a strangely childish approach that also had an ear open for the mind-blowing production styles of the Brian Wilson era. Van Dyke Parks was a big supporter of the group – and they perform a sublime version of his tune "Come To The Sunshine" as the leadoff track on the album – and even though Van Dyke didn't handle the arrangements of the record, the style of the music is very similar to his own, with guitar, bass, and drums coming into play with strings, woodwinds, and baroque orchestral touches. The record is as dark as it is sublime – one of those pop gems that hit big, but which has a brooding depth bubbling underneath the sugary coating – ala Pet Sounds. Tracks include "Happy Talk", "The Debutantes Ball", "I Can Hear The Darkness", "Raspberry Rug", and their huge hit version of "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin Groovy)". Next is Anything Goes – the group's second album – and while it has a lot of similarities with the first, it's also a lot deeper of an expression of their strange blend of harmony vocals, sweet 60s pop, and the nostalgia for the early 20th century that was running through the Burbank Warner scene that included a young Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Lenny Waronker, and other LA underground of the mid 60s. The whole record fits together beautifully – beginning with an old-timey radio kind of announcer, then sliding into sublimely crafted harmony tunes that include originals from the LA luminaries and the group, plus a few other surprising covers. Titles include the hit version of "Anything Goes", plus "The Biggest Night Of Her Life", "Milord", "Virginia City", "High Coin", "Jessie", "This Is Only The Beginning", and "You Need A Change". The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre is the third album by Harpers Bizarre – and one that shows them growing in leaps and bounds with each new release! The record is a sublime fusion of sweet pop California 60s harmonies (ala The Sandpipers or The Lettermen), baroque arrangements with a fake dreamy nostalgia (ala Van Dyke Parks or Randy Newman), and drug-addled underground takes on the eazy sound of the generation (ala Brian Wilson or Love). This album is one of their most perfectly-realized visions, and it features a great blend of older songs, all hipped-up to modern LA arrangements by the likes of Nick De Caro, Perry Botkin, and others. The record has an approach that's simply mindblowing when you consider the amount of funds and effort that must have been put into a record that would only be truly appreciated 40 years later – and it's filled with great titles that include "Me, Japanese Boy", "Look To The Rainbow", "Funny How Love Can Be", "Mad", "Green Apple Tree", and "Las Mananitas". Last up is the group's fourth album, unfortunately, the last Warner album by Harpers Bizarre – one of the few testaments of genius left to us by this incredible group! The record shows the group moving past the sweet pop and dreamy nostalgia of earlier albums – tentatively stepping into the haze of the late 60s LA scene with a blend of songs that share a lot musically with earlier work, but which also seem to have a more adult approach to some of their themes. Arrangements are by the group mostly – with help from pop geniuses like Jack Nitzsche, Nick De Caro, Lenny Waronker, Harry Nilsson, and Perry Botkin Jr. The harmonies are sublime – and the group effortlessly blends original tunes like "Soft Soundin Music", "All Through The Night", "When The Band Begins To Play", and "There's No Time Like Today, along with bizarre covers like "Hard To Handle", "Something Better", "I Love You Alice B Toklas", and Jim Pepper's "Witchi Tai To", which is worth the price of the record alone! Bonus tracks include "Both Sides Now", "Small Talk", "Poly High", "If We Ever Needed The Lord Before", "Malibu U", "Cotton Candy Sandman", "Lost My Love Today", and "Bye Bye Bye". CD

Killer stuff – and an amazing album that not only showcases the varitone sax talents of Eddie Harris, but also features some fantastic arrangements by Chicago soul genius Charles Stepney! Harris plugs in right from the start – blowing an electric sax that comes up with some groovy groovy sounds – perfect for Stepney to work with on the backdrops – mixing together funky orchestrations, off-kilter strings, and even some prepared piano, ala John Cage – similar to the mode he used with Ramsey Lewis at Cadet! Tunes are wonderful – offbeat, funky, and plenty darn soulful – and titles include "Live Right Now", "It's Crazy", "Winter Meeting", and "Theme In Search Of A TV Commercial". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice keyboards and other groovy sounds – with a feel that's very similar to some of Hugo Montenegro's late 60s work on RCA! Also features a very groovy choice of tunes, too – with cuts that include "Theme From Take The Money & Run", "Ice Station Zebra", "Killing Of Sister George", and "For Love Of Ivy". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime girl group sounds from the great Lee Hazlewood – the complete recordings of Honey Ltd – an obscure Hazlewood project from the end of the 60s! The style here combines all the depths of Lee's own music with some of the sweeter Sunshine Pop sounds you'd expect from the cover – a really unique mix that has these moodier moments coming forth at times that really surprise us – and which takes the music way way past that of any of the girls' hipper contemporaries – especially the similarly-named Honeys! The harmonies are incredible – definitely rooted in jazz, with a complexity that goes way past pop – and in a way, the group remind us a bit of the incredible Third Wave group who recorded for MPS around the same time – although these gals definitely get a more sinister sound from Lee's help in the studio. Songs are mostly originals by the group – penned with some very compelling lyrics – and the album features great arrangements from Ian Frebairn Smith, who really does a great job of mixing the baroque with the groovy! The set features the full rare album by the quartet, plus two single tracks, and some unreleased cuts as well – titles that include "The Warrior", "Silk N Honey", "Come Down", "For Your Mind", "I've Got Your Mind", "Tomorrow Your Heart", "Eli's Coming", "I'm So Glad", "Love The Devil (backing track)", and "Silver Threads & Golden Needles". CD

A killer funky group from early 70s Japan – a slightly large ensemble, but one with some really heavy drums at the bottom – plus some great use of organ and electric guitar! There's a tight brace of horns at the top – flute, tenor, trumpets, and trombone – but the rhythms are what really drive the record, and give the whole thing a sometimes-funky, always-groovy quality that never lets up! The mode is almost soundtrack funk at times – jazz, but filled with some rich colors and expansive tones too – and there's a sophistication here that really rewards repeated listenings, but never gets in the way of the groovier moments too. Titles include "Theme Mustache", "Tak's Tune", "Joint", "Monster", "Lullaby For Yuh", and "Scotland Scene". CD

One of the grooviest albums ever from the legendary Milt Jackson – an upbeat, almost funky set of soul jazz tracks – played with some great grooves on the bottom! Those trademark Jackson vibes are firmly in place, but the setting is quite different from the staid sounds of the MJQ – more in the soulful swinging sound of late 60s Verve and Impulse, with lots of mod elements thrown in for good measure! Backing is by the Ray Brown big band, who give Milt a nice fat bottom to groove on – and the whole thing's very groovy, with titles that include "Braddock Breakdown", "Uh Huh", "Sound For Sore Ears", and "Queen Mother Stomp". LP, Vinyl record album

At the end of the 60s, Milt Jackson and Ray Brown cut some very groovy records together – teamed up in a great pairing of styles that pushed both of them way past the more standard sounds of earlier years! This album's one of the best of the bunch – as it features pianist Monty Alexander joining the pair, bringing in some warmly soulful elements on piano – in ways that are a great bridge between his work for MGM and MPS! The set also features great tenor from Teddy Edwards – blowing with a deep tone and a sharp edge – and in addition to vibes by Jackson and bass by Brown, the group also features Dick Berk on drums. The set was recorded live at Shelly's Manne-Hole – and titles include Alexander's "That's The Way It Is", plus "Blues In The Basement", "Wheelin & Dealin", and "Tenderly". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little record – very different than anything else that Hank Jones ever recorded! The album features arrangements by Oliver Nelson – done in that mod 60s pop-jazz style that he was using on his best work – and about half the record features Jones playing electric harpsichord, one of those groovy instruments that we can never get enough of! Needless to say, the combination of these two factors pushes the record far away from Jones' usual straight jazz piano trio approach – as does some tight added horn work, and an overall feel that's right up there with the grooviest sounds that Impulse or Verve had to offer in the 60s. Titles include "Broadwalk Samba", "Happenings", "Funky But Blues", "Fugue Time", "Jazztime USA", "Mas Que Nada", and "Cul De Sac". LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy 70s sounds from the fab vocal arranger – with keyboards by David Briggs, bass from Tommy Cogbill, and a touch of steel guitar from Robert Seymour – on titles that include "I'll Play For You", "At Seventeen", "I Love", "Every Time You Touch Me I Get High", "Love Will Keep Us Together", "The Masterpiece", and "Your Love's Return". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that recreates the sweet harmony style the first four King Sisters brought to the music world in the late 50s – but updates their sound wonderfully with some hip 60s flair! Ralph Carmichael handles the arrangements, and he borrows from a lot of the best sorts of 60s pop vocal modes – touches of bossa here, groovy jazz there, mixed in with the warmer strings that are usually the Carmichael approach! There's a bit of Jimmy Bowman-esque bass bumping along the bottom at times, which makes for an especially nice groove – and titles include "Goin Out Of My Head", "Girl Talk", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", "Call Me", "I'm Old Fashioned", "Bluesette", "I Get The Blues When It Rains", and "Don't Go To Strangers". LP, Vinyl record album

2 excellent early albums from overlooked saxophone genius Eric Kloss! Grits & Gravy is a really incredible little set – with a varied approach that we love! About half the record has Kloss blowing with a quartet that includes Jaki Byard on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums – going for a style that's more towards the soulful end of Byard's modern approach – and featuring some incredibly well-crafted alto solos for his young age. The other half of the album features a strange but cool larger group – one with Teddy Charles on vibes, Billy Butler on guitar, and even some female backing vocals! The approach on these sides is like that on some of the George Braith and Freddie McCoy sides for Prestige – a great blend of groovy and funky, with a soulful undercurrent that's really sent home by Kloss' solos! A stunning album with a really unique blend of sounds – and titles that include "Repeat", "Grits & Gravy", "Gentle One", "Slow Hot Wind", and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". First Class Kloss catches the young saxophone genius at a perfect point in his career, right when he was stretching out from the organ jazz roots of his first few records, but in a way that's not as noodly as in some of his later recordings. The group's incredibly hip – with Jimmy Owens, Cedar Walton, Leroy Vinnegar, and Alan Dawson – and the record bounces with that soulful pre-funk mode that crept into only the best of the Prestige sides of the late 60s. Titles include "African Cookbook", "Chittlins Con Carne", "Comin Home Baby", and "The Chasin Game". 16 tracks in all, including one previously unissued track – "Psychedelicatessen Rag". CD

Groovy work from this X-side project – the famous punk group's country band! CD

A western soundtrack, but one that's a bit different than usual – thanks to lots of groovy touches from Angelo Lavagnino! Right from the start, the music steps out with a fresh flavor – a cool instrumental theme that has a nicely heavy bottom that grooves things along – followed by a blend of tunes that range from dramatic to playful, often using some standout instrumentation that changes the flavors up nicely – a bit of ragtime piano here, some malleted percussion there, and even some echoey, abstracted sounds that are especially nice! There's way more to offer here than just the usual spaghetti sounds from the time – and the reissue package has great sound, and a total of 21 tracks that include "Allegro Saloon", "Oggi A Me Domani A Te", "Inseguimento A Cavallo", "Valzer Saloon", "La Furia Di Elfego", "Caccia Spietata", "Scoperta", and "Tensione Mortale". CD

Weird 60s pop from Sweden! Singer Lill Lindfors is best known for her bossa nova work – which you'll hear here on a number of groovy tunes – but she's also a great singer with an icy voice that sounds cool on the album's non-Brazilian tunes, a melange of European numbers and jazzy bits, done in a swinging style that features some great 60s pop styles and occasional jazz arrangements. Includes a great version of "Upa Neguinho", sung in Swedish – plus the tracks "Boink", "Mitt Lilla Fejs", "Alskar Du Mej Ocksa Nar Du Vaknar", and "Bara Ord". LP, Vinyl record album

2 of very best LPs ever cut by the Louvin Brothers – Tragic Sounds Of Life and Satan Is Real – back to back on CD complete with bonus tracks! Tragic Songs Of Life is quite possibly THE greatest record that the Louvin Brothers ever made – and a haunting batch of songs filled with death and disaster, sung in a crystalline harmony style by Ira and Charlie! Includes the oft-quoted "Kentucky", plus loads of other great ones, including "Take The News To Mother", "What Is Home Without Love", the bone-chilling "Knoxville Girl", and "Mary Of The Wild Moor". Great stuff, and completely essential! Satan Is Real is a fantastic record of country harmony spirituals, cut during the height of their years at Capitol! The record's a treasure all the way through – from great songs like "Satan is Real", "The Drunkard's Room", and "Dying From Home, And Lost" – to the groovy cover that has the Louvins smirking next to a flaming pile of garbage with a self designed statue of Satan. Incredible stuff! Other titles include the Gram Parsons epiphany "The Christian Life", "Satan's Jeweled Crown" and "I'm Ready To Go Home" and more. The CD also includes 4 bonus tracks of 45 sides: "Blue From Now On", "Red Head Hop", "Read What's In My Heart" and "My Heart Was Trampled On The Street". CD

Pure wonderfulness from Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton – one of the hippest duos ever to record a jazz record! The duo are a bit like Jackie & Roy at their best – in that Dave plays piano (including a bit of Fender Rhodes) and sings duet vocals with Vicky Hamilton in a sweetly swinging way that sounds very very groovy. Yet the overall sound is even groovier than Jackie & Roy – touched with influences from Sunshine Pop and the hipper side of the jazz spectrum – in a style that's extremely inventive, and unlike anything else we can think of! Tunes are mostly originals penned by the pair, and instrumentation on the record includes flute and saxes from Ira Schulman and guitar from Joe Pass – alongside keyboards from Dave, plus bass and drums. There's a beautifully breezy feel to the whole record – really the blueprint for countless 70s jazz vocal efforts to come from others – and titles include "Happying", "If I Ask You", "4 Ira", "See My Rainbow", "Peek A Boo", "Free", "Silent", and "Reach Out". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic take on the "Batman" hit of the 60s – one that moves the tune from camp TV theme to sweet rock instrumental territory – in a manner that prefaces later takes on the tune by The Who and The Jam! The track may well be the biggest ever by The Marketts – and showcases their ability to step way past the usual surf instrumental modes of the time – and work within the larger studio genius of Warner Brothers to create some very groovy sounds! Dick Glasser heads up production – and moves the music into territory that's still instrumental, yet much more varied than usual for a rock album of the type – almost soundtrack-oriented in points, but mostly handled in a small combo mode. In addition to the "Batman" hit, other titles are all caped crusader-related – and include "Dr Death", "The Joker", "Bat Cape", "Cat Women", "Bat Cave", and "Bat Signal". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty compelling stuff from Brit arranger Ray Martin! Sound Of Sight – a record that's exactly what it's titled at – a very visual set of sounds, made up mostly from music, but also featuring some cool sound effects as well – all laid out over original tunes by Martin, which act almost like these mini-movies in sound! The scoring is quite dramatic, and most numbers go for much longer than usual for the average Phase 4 album – and the 1963 date of the record makes for a handful of groovy touches mixed in with the more traditional cinematic styles. Titles include "Hoodunit", "Tearjerker", "Egyptian Epic", "Westorama", "Flagwaver", and "Cartoonik". LP, Vinyl record album

Two very cool, very unusual albums from The McCoys! Infinite McCoys is really weird, wonderful work from The McCoys – a group who've definitely drunk deep of the psychedelic brew since the years of their more soulful "Hang On Sloopy" hit! There's a richly expanded set of instrumentation going on here – all arranged by the group, with all sorts of things going on – including organ, ondioline, harpsichord, vibes, tablas, and a whole host of other things – like whip, bottle, machinery, and other things used to create odd sounds throughout the record! The set has a few more direct numbers mixed with some much more experimental ones – and includes some great jazzy use of horns, including alto from Freddy Lipsius and trumpet from Randy Brecker. Titles include "Hell", "Rosa Rodriguez", "Faces", "Resurrection", "Genesis Through A Window", "Melodrama", and "Union City Waltz". On Human Ball, the McCoys really let their hair down and freak flag fly – coming across in all sorts of really great ways that are light years beyond their early material! The set moves effortlessly between material that's groovy, bluesy, and sometimes warmly harmonic – all with the same sense of experimentation the group brought to their great Infinite album, but a bit more compact in terms of arrangements and expression! Titles include "Clergy Lies", "Daybreak", "Only Human", "Human Ball Blues", and "It Really Doesn't Matter". CD

An overlooked gem from Jimmy McGriff – a swingin' groovy live set, with a tight combo that races through a good bunch of material – and sounds a lot better than the live groups on some of Jimmy's Sue albums from the time. The whole thing was recorded in Newark, NJ – the home of pure organ grooves – at the legendary Front Bar. Includes the good originals "Upper Ground" and "Frugal Bugle", plus some nice soulful covers. LP, Vinyl record album

Dreamy loveliness from Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66! The album's one of their true 60s classics for A&M – a sublime blend of female vocals, Brazilian rhythms, and jazzy instrumentation – groovily dancing with a light and breezy sound that influenced a generation, and which still sounds pretty darn fresh to our ears today! The album's filled with great versions of Brazilian tunes – and titles include Marcos Valle's "Viola", Edu Lobo's "Crystal Illusions", Milton Nasimento's "Empty Faces", plus "Song Of No Regrets", "Salt Sea", and "Dois Dias". Nice stuff, and very groovy! LP, Vinyl record album

Super-heavy funk from late great Desco Records scene! The Mighty Imperials were one of the best funky 45 groups to record for mighty deep funk Desco label – and their first album never properly saw the light of day, thanks to some pressing and distribution messups before the demise of the company. Now, the whole thing's finally out officially – a funky treasure that sounds like a lost 70s gem, and which has almost as much mystique, given the status of the original record! The core combo features organ, drums, bass, and super-heavy guitar – and the album also features them recording with some additional vocal help from Joseph Henry! Henry sings in a mode that's very similar to Lee Fields' work with the deep funk scene – and his vocals are on a number of tracks on the album – leaving the rest as groovy funky instrumentals with a nice heavy late 60s sock-boogaloo sound! Includes covers of "Never Found A Girl" and "Cold Sweat" – plus originals "Soul Buster pt 1", "Chico's Barnyard", "Kick The Blanket", "Thunder Chicken", and "Joseph's Popcorn". CD

Moby Grape's self-conscious, but hardly less groovy late 60s excursion into loose, free form and largely instrumental psychedelia – the sweet and therefore appropriately titled Grape Jam! GJ is really a world away from their earlier rock regalia – with superstar special guests Al "How Does It Feel" Cooper and Mike Bloomfield brought in the flesh out the open-ended sounds. The sounds roll from walloping instrumental rock, to bluesier jams, to some driving nearly funky bits! Titles include "Never", "Boysenberry Jam", "Black Currant Jam", "Marmalade" and "The Lake". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best ever efforts from the Monkees – really the first album where Mickey, Peter, Davy and Mike took creative control from the TV people – and created and album of groovy late 60s pop to rival those of their influences! Headquarters famously features a lot more original material than previous LPs – and it still sounds remarkably fresh! It really doesn't feature any of their huge hits, so it stands up really well without the crutch of nostalgia! Titles include "You Told Me", "I'll Spend My Life With You", "Band 6", "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind", "Mr Webster", "Sunny Girlfriend", "Zilch", "No Time", "Early Morning Blues And Greens", "Randy Scouse Git". LP, Vinyl record album

Pre-moog work from Hugo Montenegro – but a set that's still pretty darn groovy! The Beach Boys reference in the title is very well put, as Hugo's using some cool harmony vocals for the record – a chorus that definitely takes some of its inspiration from Brian Wilson, singing here both with lyrics, and some wordless modes – not on every track, but used enough to give the record a really Sunshine Pop sort of appeal! Other instrumentation is great too – electric bass underneath fuller strings, offbeat woodwinds, fuzzy guitar, and even a bit of whistling – which has a cool sort of electronic feel. The blend of sounds is amazing – very unique, and already showing that Montenegro's one of the hippest talents of the 60s. Titles include "Classical Gas", "Rosemary's Baby", "Night Rider", "Lady in Cement", "A Future Left Behind", "Tony's Theme", and "Good Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the rare mid 50s treasures from the team of tenorist Jack Montrose and baritonist Bob Gordon – a great pairing from the LA scene of the mid century! Although both players were steeped in the sounds of their scene at the time, they also have a way of moving past cliche and common expectations – offering up music that's filled with surprise and delight, and which is always arranged with a great balance between tightness of execution and open personality of the players. Montrose arranged the album, and wrote a good number of the tunes – and other players include Paul Moer on piano, Shelly Manne on drums, and Bob Gordon on baritone – on titles that include "April's Fool", "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town", "A Little Duet", "The News & The Weather", "Dot's Groovy", "Cecilia", and "Paradox". LP, Vinyl record album

Acid rocky moogy stuff! The record's one of those "let's do a lot of pop covers on the moog" – and it features moogy updates of 60's tunes like "Get Back", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Feelin' Groovy", "Yummy Yummy Yummy", and "Time of the Season", which sounds the best of all the tracks. Russ Barnard put the whole thing together, and it's got a very groovy sound! LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool little record that's exactly what it promises in the title – a killer combination of American jazz and Romanian roots – played here by a group with some especially nice work on reeds! At its best moments, the album's got a sound that takes us back to some of the best jazz-meets-world projects from the European scene of the late 60s and early 70s – as traditional Romanian numbers are reworked into jazzy groovers, with a nice emphasis on groovy rhythms, plus some exotic sounds from the soloists. Sam Newsome plays soprano sax throughout – working with Lucian Ban on piano, Alex Harding on baritone sax and bass clarinet, Sorin Romanescu on guitar, Arthur Balogh on bass, and Willard Dyson on drums. Titles include "Bucharest (parts 1 & 2)", "Colinda", "Home", "Carol", "Transilvanian Dance", and "Danube Stroll". CD

One of the greatest soundtracks we've ever heard from Bruno Nicolai – a wonderful array of lightly groovy tunes that's as fantastic as any of the Mondo Morricone work from the same time! The main theme of the film has a catchy La Donna Invisible sort of feel – building on waves of sound with piano over orchestrations, skipping along to an altered bossa beat – showing up in a number of different variants throughout the score. Other tracks are darker and moodier, but really vary things up to fit the moods of the scene – using Morricone-styled bits of harpsichord, violin, or strings to come up with some incredible sounds. The CD reissue features 26 titles in all – many of which are restored from the shortened versions in the movie, in a way that presents a huge amount of music never heard before! CD

A nice one! Although the 101 Strings did some lousy work in their time, this album is a groovy package of tracks with a late 60s swing – all wrapped up in a very strange cover emblazoned with the words "Adults Only"! Bebe Barron contributes "exotic" lovemaking sounds to the breathy "I Remember", there's some nice sitar funk on the track "Karma Sitar, there's a good organ on the cut "Don't Leave Me Like This", some more Bebe Barron vocals on the funky cut "Instant Nirvana", and a nice choppy guitar on the easy-funk track "Besame Mas". Great stuff, and an excellent package! LP, Vinyl record album

Riz Ortolani did the soundtrack for this groovy film about 3 Americans (Peter Lawford, Telly Savalas, and Phil Silvers) returning to Italy after the war in a reunion with the woman who is the mother of a child that belongs to one of them. Sounds odd – and it is (believe us, we've seen the film!) Most of the score kind of has a romantic "vet returning to Italy after the war" feel – but there are some nice groovy moments – including the title theme "Buona Sera Mrs Campbell", a great vocal number by Jimmy Roselli! Other tracks include "Carla Is In Love", "Gia's Theme", "A Blessed Event", "Contessa Theme", "Fiesta In The Pizza", and "Braddock's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

You might not be able to understand the lyrics, but you'll definitely be moved by the instant charm of Malaysian rocker Adnan Othman – a singer who works here in a groovy blend of fuzzy guitar, mod rhythms, and all the other great sounds we love from late 60s French and British tracks of the time! In fact, there may be more French elements at work here than some of the more typical Anglo-influenced singers in Southeast Asia at the time – especially those romping rhythms and jangly guitar lines of the yeh-yeh generation, which really get these tunes moving even before Othman comes in with his vocals. By the end of the set, Adnan's expanding his sound a bit – moving from the work with The Rhythmn Boys that takes up most of the collection, to singing with The Wanderers and Flamingoes – all documented nicely in the notes and images in the package. Titles include "Bila Kah Gembira", "Doa Ku", "Bershukor", "Sapu Tangan", "Hari Bahagia", "Berlenggang", "Merana", "Mormah", and "Hidupu Tambah Gembira". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the moogiest records of all time – a legendary LP of "electronic pop music of the future" – sourced and claimed as an influence by everyone from Stereolab to the Beastie Boys! The legendary team of Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perry are working here in early tape experiments that chop up quirky analogue electronics – and uses them to produce moogy songbits and space sounds, all with a really groovy beat! There's a simple magic here that has made the album hold up for years, and stand apart from a legion of later imitators with a clear, simple, and effective style that makes the best of all the bleeps and blonks in the set! Titles include "Unidentified Flying Object", "Spooks in Space", "Barnyard In Orbit", "Swan's Splashdown", and "Girl From Venus". A loving musical space party! CD

One of the moogiest records of all time – a legendary LP of "electronic pop music of the future" – sourced and claimed as an influence by everyone from Stereolab to the Beastie Boys! The legendary team of Gershon Kingsley and Jean-Jaques Perry are working here in early tape experiments that chop up quirky analogue electronics – and uses them to produce moogy songbits and space sounds, all with a really groovy beat! There's a simple magic here that has made the album hold up for years, and stand apart from a legion of later imitators with a clear, simple, and effective style that makes the best of all the bleeps and blonks in the set! Titles include "Unidentified Flying Object", "Spooks in Space", "Barnyard In Orbit", "Swan's Splashdown", and "Girl From Venus". A loving musical space party! LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual setting for the tenor of Houston Person – in that the four-person group features very prominent trombone work from Mark Levine, whose soulful sound is a great match for Person – plus hammond from Charles Boyston, a player we don't know at all, but who sounds great here – and drums from Frank Jones. The sound is a very groovy one – similar to some of Person's work with Johnny Hammond's combo – and the tracks have a bit more of a bite than some of his later prestige work. Titles include "Ballin", "The Pimp", and "Underground Soul" – which should give you an idea of the nature of the proceedings! LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked 60s gem from Oscar Peterson – one of his great sides for Limelight Records, and possibly the most soulful of the bunch! The group's a trio – with either Sam Jones or Ray Brown on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – and they've got a really great feel, one that's a bit different than some of Oscar's earlier groups of the 60s. Hayes' work on drums is nicely sensitive, and almost takes backseat to Peterson's rhythmic piano lines at times – and Jones' work on bass is always a treat, and kicks some of the best tracks here into a really great groove! The record's got a few great original titles, too – like the midtempo groover "Bossa Beguine", and the groovy "L'Impossible", a cool little instrumental that sounds like it was from a soundtrack by Francis Lai or Michel Legrand, and the title track "Blues Etude". Other titles include "Let's Fall In Love", "Shelley's World", "I Know You Oh So Well", and "Stella By Starlight". CD

A pair of late 70s albums from Esther Phillips – '77's You've Come A Long Way, Baby and '78's All About Esther Phillips – together in a single set! The cover of You've Come A Long Way, Baby which has Phillips standing in front of a limo, might be a bit "on the nose" – but the album itself has some really nice tracks, thanks in part to production and arrangements by Pee Wee Ellis, who always managed to get the best out of Esther during the 70s! The groove's got a lot top shelf clubby soul and easygoing funky swagger – and Esther sounds great out front! Tracks include "Into The Mystic", "Love Addict", "If I Loved You", "In A Soft & Subtle Way", "My Prayer", and "Somewhere Along The Line". This version includes "My Prayer (Previously Unreleased Extended Mix)". All About Esther Phillips is a sweet 70s Wayne Henderson-produced set – quite a different groove for Esther! It's got elements of the lightly funky soul of some of the immediately preceding records, but this one has some elements in the arrangements that bring a more gentle touch – particularly the chimes & strings. Groovy stuff! Titles include "The Man Ain't Ready", "Native New Yorker", "SOS", "Pie In The Sky", "If I Fall In Love By Morning" and more. CD

One of the first great soundtracks we ever heard from Piero Piccioni – and still one of the best! Colpo Rovente has this really special sort of sound – jazzy, but not really jazz – bassy, but not really funky – and often done with spare, stark sounds – but never in a way that's too atonal or horror-based either! Piccioni brought a really special sort of genius to the record – a way of using each instrument with a very unusual sound or tuning – and isolating each element in just the right way, but with a different style than that used by Morricone at the time. Some tracks get nice and groovy, but lots more hang back in a style that's almost pensive – and titles include "Kintabu", "Colpo Rovente", "Easy Dreamer", "Chinatown Drugs", and "LSD". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning jazz soundtrack from Piero Piccioni – much more like some of the classic French new wave jazz scores of the late 50s than some of his groovy, mod sounds to come later in the 60s! The instrumentation here is a beautiful mix of piano, bass, vibes, and some occasional stronger horns – used mostly on tracks that are short, but extremely haunting – very evocative, with lots of echoes of American crime jazz, but served up with the more subtle, more tonally rich qualities we love in the early years of Piccioni – stepping here directly from his roots in the Italian jazz scene, and delivering superb sounds throughout! This CD marks the first time the music has ever been issued – as there was an original 45rpm EP scheduled in the 60s, but never issued – and that is presented here with a huge amount of bonus tracks – 31 numbers in all that make for a fantastic soundscape in jazz. CD

Tempting sounds from the great Piero Piccioni – two late 60s horror scores on a single CD! First up is Temptation – a soundtrack that's got some wonderful organ lines and slow-moving grooves – of the sort that were covered by the Easy Tempo series years back, when we first fell in love with Piccioni's music! There's a slow swell and soft step to the music that's mighty nice – almost a perfect distillation of the Italian bossa influences that made for some of the best film scores of the time! The CD features 13 numbers from the film – all of them great, and the kind of variations on a single groovy theme you might find in Armando Trovajoli's La Matriarca. La Figlia Del Capitano is a bit richer, with more strings in the music, and a few more dramatic spots too – yet overall, the mood nicely fits that of Temptation – with a sense of holding back, then running forward – which suits the music very well. CD features 10 tracks from La Figlia – for a total of 23 in all. CD

Rare late 60s psychedelia from blue collar Rockford, Il – a totally great lost album of pop psych tunefulness from Pisces – who had an incredible knack for experimental sounds that weave in and out of the hallucinatory pop structure! The group centered around core players Jim Krein and Paul DiVenti, and a number of the tunes have fragile, beautiful lead vocals by Linda Bruner, bringing in a bit of Velvets style stark, haunting loveliness – and most of the tracks languished unreleased all this time! This is essentially the first real release of almost all of the tunes, and the best shot at finding an adventurous audience any of it has ever had! We think this stuff would have been hugely influential had it found an audience in its time, hell, it sounds to us like it actually did influence countless groups, even though that's hardly even possible! There's a tunefulness at the center that bears the fruits of the experimental pop sounds that came from benchmark scenes of the era, from Haight Ashbury to Abbey Road – but the found sound ephemera, tape manipulations, and tripped out atmospherics really bring in some far out vibes! An essential discovery from Numero that's as exciting, insistently groovy and eclectic as any of the rock oriented stuff they've dug up to date! Titles include "Dear One", "Children Kiss Your Mother Goodnight", "Motley Mary Ann", "Say Goodbye To John", "The Music Box", "Like A Hole In The Wall Where The Rat Lives", "Elephant Eyes", "Circle Of Time" and more – plus the "extended play" bonus tracks "A Flower For All Seasons" and "In The Summer A Grape Grows". CD

One of the best entries in RCA's classic "our man in..." series – and a nice one by Perez that has him breaking the format of his other releases for the label. In this one, he hits a lot of more modern grooves than on his 50's work – and he also introduces the "bongoson", a mixture of twist and Cuban "son" that sounds pretty groovy. Titles include "Uno", "Pachito E Che", "Tico Tico No Fuba", "Guares", and "Canto Siboney". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most romping tunes ever recorded by Prince – the kind of cut that was an instant dancefloor stormer back in the day, and still sounds mighty groovy all these many years later! The song is featured here in it's very extended version – and is backed by the fantastic non-LP cut "Erotic City" – a masterpice of slinky funk! The track grooves for over 7 minutes – and if you were to ask us the one Prince tune we remember most fondly from the 80s dancefloor, this would be it! 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of the most romping tunes ever recorded by Prince – the kind of cut that was an instant dancefloor stormer back in the day, and still sounds mighty groovy all these many years later! The single is backed by the fantastic non-LP cut "Erotic City" – a masterpice of slinky funk! 7-inch, Vinyl record

One of the most romping tunes ever recorded by Prince – the kind of cut that was an instant dancefloor stormer back in the day, and still sounds mighty groovy all these many years later! The single is backed by the fantastic non-LP cut "Erotic City" – a masterpice of slinky funk! 7-inch, Vinyl record

The genius of Jerome Richardson – remixed! Richardson's funky flute and searing tenor work have appeared on some of our favorite jazz groove classics – both European and American – and here, two of his tunes are made by Nicola Conte and Panoptikum! Conte uses a host of extra musicians – vibes, piano, alto, and vocals – to expand Richardson's "Way In Blues" with an incredibly groovy and snapping sort of sound. Schema jazz meets the classic MPS groove – with incredible results! Panoptikum go for a more modern approach with "Minor Flute" – snapping the beats a bit more, but still allowing plenty of space for Richardson's wonderful work on flute! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great stuff from Lalo Schifrin – his under appreciated score for young George Luca's paranoid sci fi thriller! THX 1138 has that sort of Ayn Rand, clean-clothed tyrannical government thing going on, and Lalo's score couldn't be more haunting and perfect! It's full of stark, clean kinda chamber orch sounds to go with the oppressively sterile threat in the film – but it's full of those groovy, moddish touches that make Lalo's work from the era so amazing! Tracks include "Be Happy", "Loneliness Sequence", "You Have Nowhere To Go", "First Escape" and more. CD

SE Rogie's a hell of a guitarist – a real standout even in the legendary African scene of the 60s – and he's also kind of a one-man combo, adding in some rhythms and vocals along with his lines on the electric guitar! This set brings together a range of different singles that SE recorded and issued on his own Rogie label, mostly during the 60s – wonderfully groovy tracks that often just feature vocals and guitar, the latter of which does a tremendous job of moving between rhythm and solo moments! A few cuts add in additional instrumentation, but never too much – and titles include "Long Live Our Woman Mayor", "Are Sorry For You", "Not When I'm In Town", "Waitin Make You Do Me So", "Nor Look Me Lek Dat", and "Kpindigbi". LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy, far reaching blend of moddish funk rock, organ groovers, and sounds both spacey and laidback from the Shadows – a mix of rock & soul instrumental covers tight arrangements that leave just enough room for the players to bring just enough intensity to their parts! The instrumentation is very impressive, with the legendary Alan Hawkshaw lighting up his Hammond organ, but it's impressive stuff all the way, with some innovative production touches, too. Includes versions of "Proud Mary", "My Babe", "Lucille", "Paperback Writer", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Get Back", "Memphis", "What I Say", "River Deep Mountain High" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Bud Shank takes on the sounds of The Beatles – and a whole host of other 60s pop stars as well – all with results that are as jazzy as they are groovy! The album's one of a few that Bud cut for Liberty in this format – alto and flute spread out over fuller backings from Bob Florence, a great arranger who knows how to make things swing by bringing in some wonderful 60s touches! There's a bit of guitar at times, some compressed horns – ala A&M – and some overall mod rhythms that help change things up nicely from tune to tune. Titles include "Michelle", "Yesterday", "Blue On Blue", "Sounds Of Silence", "Turn Turn Turn", "As Tears Go By", and "Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include the classic "Sounds Of Silence" – plus "Richard Cory", "A Most Peculiar Man", "We've Got A Groovy Thing Going", "I Am A Rock", "Leaves That Are Green", "Blessed", "Kathy's Song", and the beautiful "April Come She Will". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous little soundtrack – even if you've seen it a million times! Simon & Garfunkel always had a really dark quality to their music, but it never seemed to show as much on the pop charts as it did when used brilliantly by Mike Nichols in this important film. Their tunes emerge in slightly different versions, with a style that's a bit more adult and more off-center than we remember – all sitting next to some groovy instrumental tunes score by a young Dave Grusin, and shifting the mood nicely from track to track. Titles include "Whew", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "The Singleman Party Foxtrot", "April Come She Will", "On The Strip", "The Folks", "Mrs Robinson", and "Sounds Of Silence". CD

A tremendous little soundtrack – even if you've seen it a million times! Simon & Garfunkel always had a really dark quality to their music, but it never seemed to show as much on the pop charts as it did when used brilliantly by Mike Nichols in this important film. Their tunes emerge in slightly different versions, with a style that's a bit more adult and more off-center than we remember – all sitting next to some groovy instrumental tunes score by a young Dave Grusin, and shifting the mood nicely from track to track. Titles include "Whew", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "The Singleman Party Foxtrot", "April Come She Will", "On The Strip", "The Folks", "Mrs Robinson", and "Sounds Of Silence". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic early bossa session from Wilson Simonal! His deep soulful voice is in perfect form – and it sounds super next to sweet lilting arrangements by the great Lyrio Panicalli – who uses larger orchestrations to open up that soulful side of Wilson's vocals – the sort that made him a key precursor of the 70s samba soul generation! The whole thing's upbeat and groovy – in a way that really points towards some of Simonal's giant work to come – and titles Include a version of Marcos Valle's "Tudo De Voce", plus the tracks "Telefone", "Lagrima Flor", "Menino Triste", "Samba E Verbo", and "Balanco Zona Sul". LP, Vinyl record album

Here's a guy with a great gimmick – whistling! Jack Smith was a youngster, but he could blow with the best of them – whistling his way through the massive international pop hit "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" – a tune that's as groovy as it sounds, with a crashing goofy approach that's really really great! Smith wets his whistle on 11 other tracks on this one and only album – mixing in a bunch of cool arrangements from Ivor Raymonde that have a nice 60s Brit feel. Titles include "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman", "Song Of The Steppes", "Happy Wanderer", "Union Jack", and "Early One Morning". LP, Vinyl record album

This is the third movement in the fantastic pop symphony that is Spanky & Our Gang! The record's perhaps their oddest to date – and mixes groovy vocal stylings with some fairly advanced production approaches that work perfectly with the incredible songs written by Stuart Scharf and Bob Dorough. The voices swirl about in a mad rush – interweaving lines of melody and poetry, punctuated by strange sounds, spacey airy instrumentation, and wonderful little rhythms. Titles include "Anything You Choose", "1-3-5-8", "Without Rhyme Or Reason", "Give A Damn", and "Nowhere To Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic bit of vocal jazz, sung by the legendary Swingle Singers in a style that shaped easy listening and soundtrack music for years to come! The French group had roots in vocalese jazz traditions – from groups like Lambert Hendricks & Ross or Les Double Six – but for this groundbreaking album, they moved into a semi-classical vein, and did these great jazzy takes on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The whole thing sounds hokey, but it's plenty groovy – and it was a huuuuge influence on easy and soundtrack work for decades to come, including the wonderful work of I Cantori Moderni and some of the groovier French composers. Titles include "Sinfonia", "Prelude No 9", "Bouree", "Aria", "Choral No 1", and "Fugue In D Major". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest albums ever cut by guitarist Gabor Szabo – a set that also has him playing sitar as well! The album's got a sound that's as groovy as you'd expect from the title – a mix of Gabor's usual jazz modes, which are already pretty darn great, and some of the Indian music sounds that were bubbling under in the 60s – a wicked little blend that makes for an album we've treasured for years! Rhythms often hit that breezy Spellbinder mode of Gabor's Impulse years, but the addition of sitar and tablas makes for a great change too – one of the best chapters in Szabo's legendary 60s years. Bernard Pretty Purdie plays drums on all cuts, and titles include "Raga Doll", "Search for Nirvana", "Ravi", "Krishna", "Sophisticated Wheels", "Comin Back", "Summertime", "Mizrab", and "Walking On Nails". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet Latin licks from Clark Terry and Chico O'Farrill – cut in a mode that's very similar to O'Farrill's best Verve work of the 60s! The vibe is kind of a mod take on Afro Cuban sounds – not really Latin soul, but with a playful vibe that mixes together jazz and Latin with equal parts – letting Terry solo over the top with sweet trumpety licks, while Chico sets up a crack ensemble that features lots of horns, Latin percussion, and some tasty guitar! The mix of modes is plenty nice – not authentically Latin, but extremely groovy – and titles include "Joonji", "Que Sera", "Tin Tin Deo", "Spanish Rice", "Angelitos Negros", and "Happiness Is". CD

Sweet Latin licks from Clark Terry and Chico O'Farrill – cut in a mode that's very similar to O'Farrill's best Verve work of the 60s! The vibe is kind of a mod take on Afro Cuban sounds – not really Latin soul, but with a playful vibe that mixes together jazz and Latin with equal parts – letting Terry solo over the top with sweet trumpety licks, while Chico sets up a crack ensemble that features lots of horns, Latin percussion, and some tasty guitar! The mix of modes is plenty nice – not authentically Latin, but extremely groovy – and titles include "Joonji", "Que Sera", "Tin Tin Deo", "Spanish Rice", "Angelitos Negros", and "Happiness Is". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing soundtrack from German maestro Peter Thomas – even weirder and more electric than some of his famous 60s recordings! Thomas scored the music for a spooky 70s film about the possibility of aliens on earth – and did so with a bit more tension than some of his other records – mixing in some dark tones, weird sounds, and other odd elements amidst some more familiar space age-styled themes. Instrumentation often mixes conventional orchestrations with electronics and offbeat percussion – the latter of which brings an earthy, organic undercurrent that you might not expect, and which really sets the record apart from anything else at the time. A few key cuts have the trademark groovy feel you'd expect from Thomas – including the classic "Stars & Rockets" – and other titles include "Reminiscences Of The Future", "Popular Myth & The Destruction Of Sodom", "The Red Sea", "Gods From Strange Planets", "Returning To The Stars", "Rocket Science", and "Easter Island". LP, Vinyl record album

Very groovy set of vocal tracks recorded by Mel during his years with Verve, and featuring some haunting arrangements by Russ Garcia. The title track – "Swingin' On The Moon" – is a goofy uptempo number of the sort that sometimes doesn't work, but which sounds very nice here, thanks to Mel's witty interpretation. The rest of the tracks, though, have a beautiful mellow spacey sound, as the Velvet Fog rolls in, and washes over the arrangements with vocals like "Moon Song", "No Moon At All", "The Moon Was Yellow", and "Moonlight Cocktail". Comes complete with a very cool cover that has a blonde model wearing a space helmet! CD

Totally wonderful spy soundtrack work from Piero Umiliani – done in his best groovy style of the 60s, with a brilliant mix of jazz and mod elements throughout! Umiliani's extrapolating from the more famous spy sounds of Bond and Barry, and takes things very strongly into his own territory with a blend of light woodwinds, moody Hammond, snapping snare, and a bit of strings as well – interwoven with a really fresh feel that includes a bit of the bossa styles you'd hear in other Italian work of the time! Given the obscurity of the film, the soundtrack's a great discovery – and steps out boldly here on this set of 21 tracks from the movie. CD

Sounds sleepy – but it's totally groovy!! The mad talents of Italian soundtrack genius Piero Umiliani are turned towards his love of Duke Ellington – and the result is an incredibly groovy batch of tracks that mix up jazz, electronics, and plenty of great keyboards! The bulk of the material on the set was recorded in 1974 – and it features Umiliani playign moog and ARP, in a strange sort of "tribute" to Ellington that takes the usual Duke tunes, and turns them into hard grooving little numbers, with lots of bubbling electronic bits and weird sound effects. The first cut on the set is a mad mad version of "Caravan" which leaps and churns all over the place, sounding funkier than you could ever imagine! As the set progresses, some of the tracks are more traditionally jazz-based, but everything is played by a larger group, and the groove is still pretty darn excellent! Titles include "Ode To Duke Ellington", "Solitude", "Dreaming Of Duke", "Jeep's Blues", and "Never Together". CD