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One of Hugo Montenegro's greatest soundtracks ever – and one of the grooviest 60s scores we can think of! The album's filled with incredible jazzy tracks – darkly tinged, but bubbling, strident, and wonderful – the kind of hard-driving numbers that make a soundtrack like this so great, and which you rarely find in such strong form overall. A few tunes are standards, but even these are handled well – and titles include "Lady In Cement", "Jilly's Joint", "Kit", "The Shark", "Yale's Pool Room", "Ruby's Burlesque", "Again", and "Tony's Theme".

A groovy moogy classic! This was one of the first records to apply the moog sound in a pop idiom in a major way – and boy, is it a resounding success with us! Hugo Montenegro scores a number of pop tracks and originals in the same cool jazzy style that he used on his best 60's soundtracks, then, he builds in a lot of groovy moog parts, and peppers the tracks with some vocals by male members of his chorus. The tracks have a lot of nice sharp bits that might be used as samples, with good quirky moog moments, and occasional heavy drums. Tracks include "Moog Power", "Dizzy", "You Showed Me", "More Today Than Yesterday", "Hair", and a very cool cover of "MacArthur Park".

A massive look at the mad pop of Hugo Montenegro – not just the moogy bits he's best-remembered for, but also his incredibly charming Sunshine Pop vocal numbers, soundtrack-styled cuts, and other gems as well! Hugo's one of those guys who always sounds groovy, no matter what his style – and this fab CD features an insane amount of wonderful tracks that fully bring his rich talents to light – a treasure trove of late 60s/early 70s cuts that explode with fresh energy at each new twist and turn! There's lots of moog on some of the 70s tracks, and lots of the late 60s ones feature these offbeat harmony vocals that are kind of a left-field turning of Brian Wilson modes to odder themes – often underscored by cool keyboards or fuzzy guitar, and produced with a really dynamic sense of sound. The CD features a whopping 29 tracks in all – plus full notes too – and titles include "Theme For Three", "There's Got To Be A Better Way", "Classical Gas", "Lady In Cement", "Love Is Blue", "The Godfather", "Dizzy", "Good Vibrations", "Bitter Love", "Happy Together", "Lullaby From Rosemary's Baby", "Boo Bam Boo Baby", "Jungle Heat", "Solo On A Raft", "Theme From I Spy", "My Way", and "Run Spy Run".

A weird and wonderful record – the early hits of Neil Diamond, played on the moog and ARP by the mighty Hugo Montenegro! The approach to the set is pretty darn cool – as it takes 10 of Neil's best early tunes, and runs them through arrangements by Montenegro that run from funky to groovy to dreamy – and which feature some very strange use of electronics! Sparkling and weird all the way through – with versions of "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show", "Sweet Caroline", "Two-Bit Man Child", "Porcupine Pie", and more!

The groovy groovy soundtrack to the first Matt Helm film – starring Dean Martin as a 60s master of intrigue! Elmer Bernstein handled the soundtrack with a really great approach – jazz, swinging, and with plenty of mod 60s bits – very much in some of the same territory as Lalo Schifrin or Hugo Montenegro at the time! And equally great, the record also includes a few great vocal tracks by Vikki Carr – "The Silencers" and "Santiago" – both of which are very groovy numbers that swing with a wonderfully cheesy sort of sound! Other tracks are instrumentals, and titles include include "Tun Tzee", "Tina's Waltz", "Matt Helm's Blues", and "Early To Bed".

Excellent soundtrack work by Jerry Goldsmith – possibly his greatest ever! Jerry's usually a bit staid with some of his scores – but working here on the soundtrack to this James Coburn spy spoof film, he's truly fantastic! The approach mixes strings and bossa-inflected grooves with some spookier instrumental touches – either on electric guitar, sax, or a "tortured" Thomas organ and a Solovox – and the overall feel of the album is on a par with the best work of the sort by Lalo Schifrin or Hugo Montenegro! Titles include "Doing As The Romans Did", "All I Have To Do Is Take A Bite of Your Apple?", "Tell Me More About That Volcano", and "Our Man Flint".

Early work by Hugh Masekela – recorded way before his big hits of the late 60s! The format is different than those recordings, too – with Hugh soloing on trumpet, over larger arrangements by Hugo Montenegro that have sort of a stock African soundtrack-y quality to them. The jazz component of the album is quite high, and all the playing is fairly lively – which makes for a fresh album that stands out strongly in Hugh's early catalog. Titles include "Satisfying Song", "Umhome", "Ox Drivers Song", "Click Song", "He's Gone Away", and "Sit Down".

A rare Morricone spy spoof soundtrack – written for a film that starred Sean Connery's kid brother! The film – also known as Operation Kid Brother in the US – was a blatant attempt to cash in on the fame of James Bond, as the director hired Sean Connery's brother (who'd never acted before) to star in the lead role, so that the film would have a clear James Bond connection without paying any royalties! Fortunately, Morricone's brilliant scoring gets past the gimmick of the film – and grooves out nicely in a set of tunes that rival the best 60s spy scoring by Lalo Schifrin, Jerry Goldsmith, and Hugo Montenegro! The style here is very much in the mode of American spy films of the time – a bit of bossa, a bit of driving jazz, and a few moodier mellow tracks – all given the slightly off-center Morricone twist, which makes for a more memorable score than you'd expect for a film like this! The title tune "Man For Me" is sung in English by Christy – and other tracks include "Diapostive", "Gli Enigmi", "Connery", "A Passo D'Uomo", "Primo Amore", "La Preda", and "Missione Segreta". Lots of bonus tracks too!

The title only gets it half-right, because although these 18 tracks contain some cool folksy groovers by folks like Barbara & Ernie, Christine Harwood, and Keef Hartley, they've also got some very cool stripped down jazz funk tracks with a spare sample-laden groove. Cuts like this include "Holy Thursday" by David Axelrod, "Midnight's Theme" by Manzell, "Stringtronics" by Tropicola, "Higher Ground" by Hugo Montenegro, "Crab Apple Jam" by Jayson Lindh, and more by Andre Previn, Bill Conti, Ronnie Foster, and The Heath Brothers. Nudie cover, too!

The title only gets it half-right, because although these 18 tracks contain some cool folksy groovers by folks like Barbara & Ernie, Christine Harwood, and Keef Hartley, they've also got some very cool stripped down jazz funk tracks with a spare sample-laden groove. Cuts like this include "Holy Thursday" by David Axelrod, "Midnight's Theme" by Manzell, "Stringtronics" by Tropicola, "Higher Ground" by Hugo Montenegro, "Crab Apple Jam" by Jayson Lindh, and more by Andre Previn, Bill Conti, Ronnie Foster, and The Heath Brothers. Nudie cover, too!

The funky soundtrack entry in the Vibe series – devoted to the basement soul jazz, funk, and lost groove from the late 60s-70s RCA/BMG universe! You get an excellent cross section of pulpy soundtrack grooves with this one – from the rubbery Hollywood funk of Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini, to the spaghetti detective stylings of Riz Ortolani and Armando Trovaioli, to the Latin percussion of Hugo Montenegro and beyond! As with the other great titles in the series, there are plenty of deeper nuggets in the set, too – including funky numbers from the Johnnie Spence Orchestra and Zulema! Tracks include "Serena E Lomunno" by Riz Ortolani, "Crianca" by Franco Micalizzi, "Peter Gunn" by Henry Mancini, "Doin The Jerk" by Johnnie Spence Orchestra, "Salt Chase" by Zulema, "Twist Della Balera" by Amando Trovioli, "Early To Bed" by Elmer Bernstein and more!