So without further ado, lets get back to the audio. This time its Scott Walker performing ‘Mathilde’ from Jacques Brel.

Yeah, call me a repeat offender since I’ve already posted these tunes before, in a way. However, the performance and the stylings show how Brel is an influence to many people.

Also, don’t you just love a performance that’s being introduced by the Queen of Blue-Eyed Soul herself?.

Here we have a hit song featuring a duo that only plays drum and bass. No, its not Dillinja or Goldie because these are actual instruments. Also, its not Local H or The White Stripes because the time period is the late 1930’s.

Now, I’m not sure which Winnteka they’re talking about… either the droll suburb of LA or the suburb of Chicago where Laurie Dann did that killing spree that motivated their cops to regulate Uzi machine guns for their officers after that tragedy. Maybe that explains the “big sound.”

I bring you Bob Haggart & Ray Bauduc!

Bob Haggart & Ray Bauduc were part of the rhythm section for a band called The Bob Crosby Orchestra who did some swing stuff from the late-thirties into the fifties. He was especially known for a Dixieland Jazz group called The Bobcats which featured these two backup men, one on bass and the other on Drums.

Bauduc is very well known for his drumming style, and this song was even a radio hit. His colourful style, making full use of woodblocks, cowbells, the Chinese cymbal and tom-toms, marked him out from most drummers of the swing era, and made him one of the few white drummers (George Wettling, Dave Tough and Gene Krupa were the others, but they were not so obvious) to be directly influenced by Warren “Baby” Dodds.

You can’t miss Scott Walker’s baritone and how singers like Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey and David Bowie have all been influenced by his unique voice. I just liked the fact that when he went solo, he released 3 albums simply titled “Scott.” Whats the hurt in that?

What some people may not realize is that The Walker Brothers were not even real brothers. It was all marketing, kinda like how all of The Ramones weren’t related. But like The Webb Brothers (who are related), the band had more chart success in the UK than the US. Maybe its because you had other bands like The Everyl and Righteous Brothers over here who some may have thought were similar, but the songs here are more moody and better in a lyrical sense.

Dig this early music video from the guys and don’t giggle when Scott makes emotional hand gestures.

Unfortunately, in my honest opinion, this isn’t one of Dietrich’s finer moments, but you can see where the legend one stood.

But I digress…. Andy Williams (another classic singer who I’ll focus on in later posts) had a show that lasted from 1962-1967 which was kinda like those Bob Hope specials we used to watch as kids. You had some comedy sketches, some singing and some whatever else. Its a “Variety Show” for a reason.

I have a feeling you won’t see shows like this ever again now that Bob Hope is no longer with us. Sure, there may be the over-produced Christmas Special with (insert underwhelming entertainer here), but I can’t really see these coming back anytime soon. Stuff like this makes me want to pick up those DVD copies of ‘The Andy Williams Show’, ‘The Dean Martin Comedy Hour’ and of course, ‘This is Tom Jones.’

Now that we have the internet, MTV and our short attention/multi-tasking culture, variety shows like this where the talent is full and the activity is limited don’t have much of an audience as once the act repeats itself, you change the channel or skip the program on your Tivo. However, now that you have the internet, and great sites like YouTube, you can enjoy the special moments like this as they sing ‘The Language of Love’ for The Andy Williams Show.

In any case, music shows like Hullabaloo gave him a chance here in 1965 with the song “I Love Being Here With You.”

I can sorta understand why he went back to acting after going through this performance, it sounds like talking more than singing. In any case, he has a spot in my book for some record-hunting at some point. Here’s to George!

NOTE: You may have to go directly to YouTube to watch this as the uploader asked the video to not be embedded in blogs. Respect.

Here comes another somewhat foreign post, but its Petula Clark. Yes, the woman who brought us the tune ‘Downtown’ also sang songs in French. In fact, you could call her the “British Nana Mouskouri.”

After the success of her French recordings, she ventured into German, Spanish and even Italian songs that garnerd her worldwide acclaim. She even did some songs penned by Serge Gainsbourg. I wonder what would have happened if she took the place of Bridgit Bardot or Jane Birkin? Maybe songs like ‘” or “” would have sounded a bit mroe innocent.

In any case, soon after the success of her European tunes, a composer approached her with an English song that was originally intended for The Drifters, that song soon became her signature hit, ‘Downtown.’

Let’s take a look back at this scopitone of Ms Clark performing one of those French songs.

Brel was the quintessential French Cabaret singer from the 50’s until his death in the late 70’s. For those who love Edith Piaf and those other classic torchlight French singers, Jacques is the man.

He was such an influence not only to Scott Walker, but his songs were also performed in English by people like Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Robyn Hitchcock, Cyndi Lauper, Nana Mouskouri, Olivia Newton-John, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Vinton and Andy Williams.

Grab a glass of pernod or cafe creme, light up one of your cherished Gauloises and engulf yourself in the dark-yet-lovely poetry of Jacques Brel Brel.

In 1963 he became the frontman for a band called Tommy Scott and the Senators. Clad all in black leather, Tom soon gained a reputation in the South Wales area. The Senators were still unheard of in London.

After some tracks were laid down, producers noted he was the centerpiece of the group so they got him a solo contract and changed his name Tom Jones (yes, after the book). Record companies were finding his style and delivery to be too abrasive and raw. Tom’s vocals were considered to be too raucous, and he moved like Elvis. But eventually, Decca Records let Jones record his first single, Chills And Fever in late 1964. The single didn’t chart, but the follow-up, It’s Not Unusual, was an instant smash hit, released in early 1965. The rest is history.

Maybe I should do a Tom Jones post every Tuesday and call it, what else, Tom Jones Tuesday!

This time its Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim performing a medley of duets on a tv show from November 1967. I especially love Frank’s Intro as he’s fiddling with a cigarette in his hands and says:

The instrument – guitar
The beat – Bossa Nova
The artist – One of the inventors of this exciting, all new sound, Antonio Carlos Jobim.

This is a great intro to one of my favorite albums of all-time (I have both the LP and CD – I’m such a nerd). I’d highly recommend purchasing it for your bachelor pad, study hall, next party, office cube, home collection or whatever. I love the fact that Frank seems to one-up Jobim by referring to himself in his full name as well.

So sit back, relax, pull up a wicker chair and, sure, take a smoke break like Frank does in the performance.