The Mariachi Brass featuring Chet Baker

When one thinks of Chet Baker, one doesn’t immediately think of “Tijuana Brass”. But by 1966 – after years of drug addiction, prison sentences, deportation, and a rather nasty case of having his teeth knocked out – Baker was in need of money. So, as was the norm for hard-up jazz musicians, he cashed in on whatever musical fad was about at the time. In 1966 it happened to be Herb Alpert’s Tijuana sound. I seem to have about five hours of music that is all people cashing in on this craze... not all of it stellar.

Four LPs were made, on which Chet played flugelhorn in order to support his family. The albums were surprisingly successful, considering that the content is often entirely devoid of Latin history. Songs such as “Pennsylvania 6-5000” and “In The Mood” are injected with only the slightest Latin flavour, making these albums delightfully kitsch lounge music. Never released to CD, you might be able to find them in your local charity shop; the covers feature beautiful females (always staring at you) in sultry locations, often sporting a large flower in their hair, or Cordobés hat about their person.

Here is a sampling of these tracks which, whilst they were made to cash in on a fad and make easy money, are still very pleasing and make excellent lounge or mood music. The Mariachi Brass’ version of “Flowers On The Wall” is one of my top played tracks out of my music collection.

Download HERE (35mb)

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Body Workout

There’s not much I can really say about this.

It’s a workout mix, with narration and motivation by your workout partner, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It’s also one of the campest things I’ve ever had on my iTunes, and will sit nicely next to your Arnold Schoenberg collection.

So let’s do push ups to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey!

Warm up time to Gladys Night & The Pips!

Biceps curls to It’s Raining Men!

Work those triceps to Blue Oyster Cult!

I’m not joking.

Download HERE (55mb)

Fred Buscaglione

Fred Buscaglione (23 November 1921 - 3 February 1960) was an Italian singer and actor, popular in the late 50s who cultivated a public image in both his films and songs of a slick (if comical), ruthless gangster whose only weaknesses were whiskey and women. Taking inspiration from hardboiled detective stories and the gangster of New York and Chicago, his racy songs of gangsters and their molls caught the Italian public’s attention and by the late 50s Buscaglione was a national superstar, appearing in television, film, and advertising.

Il Favoloso is essentially a Best Of collection, putting together twenty of his hits from his 1955 debut single Che Bambola (What A Babe!) which sold over a million copies with almost no promotion and catapulted him to fame, to, well, I can’t say “his later recordings”, as he only recorded up to 1959. At the age of 39, in February of 1960, Buscaglione was killed in a car accident when his pink Ford Thunderbird collided with a truck in the early hours of the morning, in front the US Embassy in Rome. This compilation features all his hits, including Teresa non sparare (Theresa, Don't Shoot!), Eri piccola così (You Were This, This Little), Guarda che luna (Look, What A Moon),Love in Portofino, Porfirio Villarosa, Whisky facile (Easy Whiskey) and Che Notte (What A Night!).

The songs are great. This isn’t an album of an actor singing (which is usually a terrible, terrible sign), rather it is an album of a singer who also acted. Buscaglione attended the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin as a child, and as a teen he performed in night clubs, singing jazz, and was proficient in both the double bass and violin. During World War II he was incarcerated in an American internment camp, but soon found work in an allied radio station’s orchestra. It was perhaps this experience that allowed Buscaglione to experiment with American musical styles in a country that had banned most foreign music.

The American influence in his work is incredibly apparent in the tracks on this compilation. Buscaglione’s whole style was modelled on Chicago and New York gangsters, albeit with a comical touch, so the songs are replete with the hallmarks of American jazz and swing. Brushed snare, trumpets and sax all feature heavily, complimenting Buscaglione’s singing, which ranges from gravely spoken work (“Ciao Joe”, “Che Notte”) to songs where he actually displays a pleasing light-baritone (“Guarda Che Luna”). The songs are playful, brilliantly arranged songs about fights, whiskey and dames performed with aplomb by one of Italy’s most popular entertainers of the 1950s

Download HERE (74mb)