This is the first in a series of posts that will celebrate leading American session guitarist and pioneer of electronic effects Vincent 'Vinnie' Bell.
One of the two or three greatest guitar geeks of the Space Age Pop era, Vinnie Bell will go down in musical history as the inventor of the 'water guitar sound' that was a big fad in instrumental recordings during the '60s.
Used most prominently on Ferrante and Teicher's 1969 Top Ten cover of the theme to "Midnight Cowboy", and on his own rendition of the "'Airport' Love Theme" in 1970, the effect became one of the most-copied technique among guitarists until the wah-wah pedal became standard equipment in the '70s. Among the other essential records that feature his trademark sound, we should at least mention Dick Hyman / Mary Mayo's "Moon Gas", released in 1963 and available here on Stereo Candies..
Originally a Brooklyn boy, born just about a mile from Coney Island, Bell started to learn to play the mandolin when he was four years old according to the old method: solfeggio and a good swat for every mistake. Then, at eight years of age came the switch to guitar, and at the ripe maturity of twelve years the start of his professional career.
His training was informal, but with some good teachers like Tony Mottola and Carmen Mastren. Mottola taught him the basic all-around fundamentals and made him his protégé, while Mastren taught him the rhythm guitar. He also studied under Everett Barksdale and Mickey Baker.
Long before any company commercially produced guitar effects pedals, Vinnie Bell was tinkering and inventing with his own electronic custom effects pedals for his guitars. He constantly invented new effects using fuzz distortion and wah-wah pedals, before anyone else had them. This gave him an edge over most other guitarists in the '60s recording world, and producers loved to bring him on their sessions to get his unique guitar effects. Bell soon became an in-demand session guitarist. The list of artists who benefited from his work is huge and includes Louis Armstrong, Simon and Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, Donovan, The Mamas & The Papas, The Four Seasons, The Lovin' Spoonful, Bobby Darin and many more...
As I'm still working to provide you with an extended biography, for the time being I strongly invite you to check this page on the great Space Age Pop website to read more information about him.
Vincent Bell as pictured on the back cover of his debut album, circa 1960
Here's the track list for this 7" single:
01. Lead Guitar (1:45)
02. Quicksand (2:17)
Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in January 2017 and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the original release.
As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.
Produced by Monte Bruce, the "Lead Guitar / Quicksand" single was released sometimes in early/mid 1960 by Independent Record Company, a small label distributed by Laurie Records, which only produced three Vincent Bell releases - all of them during the same year - and nothing else.
The single marks the debut of Vincent Bell as a solo artist, and was released before the album "The Soundtronic Guitar of Vincent Bell", whose release date is often wrongly placed in 1959. As a matter of fact, Billboardinformed record dealers that such LP had a «limited sales potential» no earlier than November 21, 1960, so I guess that a late 1960 release date for the album is more correct. Anyway, how cruel is that? Isn't it...?
I guess that this single is one of the most rare Vincent Bell records. Although it is not worth a fortune, it took some time before I could lay my hands on it. My copy comes in a white sleeve and is sooooo wooooorn that I almost can't believe it plays without any skips on both sides, phew!
Since it was originally distributed by Laurie Records, it is more than speculation to believe that, at the time of release, the single came in a company sleeve similar to the one I decided to use in the first picture of this post.
Both tracks are composed by Bell and are credited to his birth name, Vincent Gambella, on the centre labels. The two short numbers on offer here are literally stuffed with effects and tricks that Bell had in part already adopted when he guested on a few releases during 1958-1959 (...namely "Jersey Bounce" by The Spacemen, "Smoke Rings" by The Overtones and "Barracuda" by The Gallahads - all of which will be posted here on Stereo Candies soon...) and that he will expand on his following full-lenght releases.
The following clips offer a complete preview of the remastered single, enjoy "Lead Guitar" and "Quicksand"!
More information about Vincent Bell is available here:
If you have any other useful information about Vincent Bell - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!
I've been on the road, I've been on vacation
I've been traveling light to reach my final destination
Now I'm coming home
So tell the girls that I am back in town, you'd better tell them to beware
Where they may go or they might try to hide, I follow on and I'll be there
So tell the girls that I am back in town, and if it's true I do not know
That every girl around had missed me since I decided to go
I could be your friend, I could be your stranger
I could be the one your mother said would be your danger
Now it's up to you
So tell the girls that I am back in town, you'd better tell them to beware
Where they may go or they might try to hide, I follow on and I'll be there
So tell the girls that I am back in town and if it's true I do not know
That every girl around had missed me since I decided to go
[excerpt from the lyrics of "So Tell the Girls That I'm Back in Town" by Jay-Jay Johanson, 1996]
Jay-Jay Johanson is one of my heroes. Yes, no less than that. So, what can I add? I remember the very first time I watched the promotional clip for his first single "It Hurts Me So" back in 1996: what a coloured and strong voice in such a pale and frail body!
The lyrics and general atmosphere of the song have instantly entrapped me in melancholy and I never recovered since then... No, seriously, I have thought about it many times and now I would like to publicly state that, in this life, Jay-Jay Johanson is the only worthy artist that I discovered stumbling by chance upon MTV at 3:00 a.m., really! Since then I enjoyed each and every album he has made and I never get tired of listening to them.
A few years ago, in the early days of the blog, I already dedicated a few posts to Jay-Jay and you can findthemhere. The collection of edits, remixes, live recordings, rare tracks, etc. that I'm delighted to feature in this post covers the years 1996-2000 or, if you prefer, his first three albums, namely "Whiskey", "Tattoo" and "Poison". Each of these releases is a trip hop M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E that can easily stand between Portishead's firsttwo albums without being ashamed.
Jay-Jay Johanson at home in Stockholm, 1997
In his twenty-year career, Jay-Jay Johanson has released ten albums and is currently working on his eleventh full-lenght release that will be released sometimes in mid/late 2017. His latest available offering is entitled "Opium" and was released in 2015 on Kwaidan Records. Needless to say that it is another fine example of his great art and I strongly encourage you to check it out, you won't regret it.
The following review of "Opium" was written by French journalist Pierre Siankowski; it fairly summarize Jay-Jay's distinctive features and was used as the album's official press-release:
«It was in 1996 that Jay-Jay Johanson, a young man from a cold climate, fascinated by the Bristol sound they called trip-hop and Portishead in particular, first tapped delicately on our eardrums. The intoxicating album that definitively put this rare and elegant Swede on the map was called "Whiskey". It was the beginning of an enthralling adventure. In only a few songs he revealed a family tree that spread its roots far and wide: on one branch Lee Hazlewood, or pop from Talk Talk or Harry Nilsson, on the other John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman, and a whole army of calm jazz or symphonic recordings sampled from everywhere imaginable. Almost twenty years later he has returned with an incredible new album. This new release is called "Opium" and it contains the very essence of Johanson's music: an ease with inventing melodies, a voice that gently caresses, and the jacked up, heady rhythms that lift and carry the songs. From the peaceful harmonica opening of "Drowsy / Too Young To Say Good Night" to the smoke-wreathed love song "I Don't Know Much About Loving", via titles with a sporadic and light groove ("NDE", "Alone Too Long"), "Opium" is a courageous offering. Johanson opens his heart with fearlessness and modesty, gracefully lowering his guard and evoking the questions that torment men of his age: love, solitude, immaturity. The songwriting is unerring, the words have a suppressed poetry. This new Johanson is the work of a guy who has survived the avalanches, who is no longer looking for answers and is content to sketch out the perspectives in as many songs. Some titles are serious ("Harakiri"), but others immediately take up the reins casting a more gentle, peaceful light, like "Scarecrow," a collaboration with Robin Guthrie that would not have sounded out of place on a Cocteau Twins album, or of the strange positivity of "Be Yourself" or "I Love Him So". The strength of "Opium" is that it asks questions that don't necessarily have an answer; it offers a collection of songs freed from any certitude but which convince through their modesty, through their precision. In short, Jay-Jay at his best.»
Jay-Jay Johanson, 1997
Here's the tracklist of "Travelling Light 1996-2000":
Disc 1
01. It Hurts Me So(Single Edit) (4:14)
02. So Tell the Girls That I Am Back In Town(Radio Edit) (3:49)
03. Mana Mana Mana Mana(Bang Bang Remix) (4:09)
04. Milan. Madrid. Chicago. Paris.(Radio Edit) (3:52)
05. BANG BANG feat. JAY-JAY JOHANSON - Two Fingers (4:32)
06. She's Mine But I'm Not Hers(Remix by Cherno) (4:23)
07. Alone Again(Remix - An Arthur Ashe Experience) (3:31)
08. Keep It A Secret(Radio Edit) (4:01)
09. Believe In Us(Piano Mix by Laurent Levesque) (4:08)
10. I Fantasize of You(Black Session, 30.04.97) (5:40)
11. The Girl I Love Is Gone(Black Session, 30.04.97) (3:53)
12. It Hurts Me So(Black Session, 30.04.97) (4:54)
13. So Tell the Girls That I'm Back In Town(Black Session, 30.04.97) (5:06)
14. Mana Mana Mana Mana(Black Session, 30.04.97) (5:50)
15. I'm Older Now(Black Session, 30.04.97) (4:18)
16. Suicide Is Painless(Black Session, 30.04.97) (3:32)
17. BANG BANG feat. JAY-JAY JOHANSON - Two Fingers(Instrumental) (4:34)
Disc 2
01. It Hurts Me so(Live at Studio Eefinanny, Stockholm, 1997) (5:52)
02. Milan. Madrid. Chicago. Paris.(Live in Strasbourg, 15.11.97) (5:00)
03. Mana Mana Mana Mana(Live in Strasbourg, 15.11.97) (5:22)
04. I'm Older Now(Live in Strasbourg, 15.11.97) (4:16)
05. She's Mine But I'm Not Hers(Live in Strasbourg, 15.11.97) (3:24)
06. Keep It a Secret(Remix - A Tribute To Venus & Serena) (4:25)
07. Believe In Us(Trip Listening Mix by Amadeus Tapioka) (4:46)
08. Far Away(Radio Edit) (4:12)
09. She's Mine But I'm Not Hers(Remix by Robin Guthrie) (4:25)
10. Neon Lights(Kraftwerk cover) (5:43)
11. Fire(Deep Deep Wood Mix) (3:10)
12. La Confusion des Genres Theme(Vocal Version) (3:22)
13. La Confusion des Genres End Theme(Alone Again Remix 2) (3:47)
14. Seven Inch(Vocals by Sadie & Alex Wollf) (4:56)
15. Alone Again('La Confusion des Genres' hidden track) (1:53)
16. It Hurts Me So(Kareokee Version) (6:12) FIDGET feat. JAY-JAY JOHANSON - Hey Little Sister (3:23)
All selections were compiled and mastered in late 2016 / early 2017 and are available in FLAC lossless format along with printable artwork.
Before burning this compilation to CD-R using the provided CUE files you must convert the original FLAC audio file to WAV format using an appropriate software. Please have a look here if you need some help.
As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.
Some of the tracks contained on "Whiskey" - or more probably, the whole album - were recorded as early as 1994-1995, while "Poison" was probably already finished by the end of 1999... The "1996-2000" part in the title of this collection refers to the years the tracks were released for the first time. Here's more details about them:
tracks 1.01 and 2.16a are taken from "It Hurts Me So", CD single, 04.04.1996
The following is a rich selection of original promotional clips, remixes and live tracks that are pertinent to the collection presented in this post, enjoy!
More information about Jay-Jay Johanson is available here:
I'm a dirty little hustler, I am a dream sleaze disease
You know I'm nitro injected, I am your trembling love machine
Baby make my motor burn, make it burn with your gasoline
Welcome to your forbidden dream, welcome to my hidden dream
Welcome to our dreams, in a black cadillac we'll meet (Hot in Hollywood)
Try my candy stick so sweet (Hot in Hollywood)
A glamourous loving treat (Hot in Hollywood)
Baby turn on the heat
I'm a cool rock'n'roller with a hell of a heartbreak plan
I'm the hip shaking daddy, I'm your loving hoochie-coochie man
Sweet drops we'll be licking, in fantasy lipstick land
Welcome to your forbidden dream, welcome to my hidden dream
Welcome to our dreams, in a black cadillac we'll meet (Hot in Hollywood)
Try my candy stick so sweet (Hot in Hollywood)
A glamourous loving treat (Hot in Hollywood)
Baby turn on the heat
[From the lyrics of "Hot in Hollywood"]
Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.
In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.
The twentieth Sheep Records release was a CD single by Swiss Glam-Punk band Gutter Queens: as far as I know, this is the only Sheep release that was exclusively pressed in this format. Since the single is a sort of 'enhanced' re-press of the band's debut 7" single - also released by Sheep the previous year, see here - it makes sense. The single was released in August 2001 and, although it was indicated as an 'unlimited' release on the label's website, I guess that no more than 1.000 or 2.000 copies were pressed.
Here's the track list and the credits:
01. Hot in Hollywood (4:14)
02. Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll (3:41)
03. Teenage Wasteland (3:12)
04. Suffragette City (3:05)
Recorded, mixed and mastered in August 2000 (tracks 02 and 03) and June 2001 (tracks 01 and 04) at the Artag Studio in Zürich.
Engineer: Voco FauxPass
Produced by Gutter Queens and Voco FauxPass.
All songs written by Andreas Ziegler, except "Suffragette City" by David Bowie.
All songs performed by Gutter Queens.
With the help of Popkredit der Stadt Zürich, Cassinelli-Vogel-Stiftung, Kanton Schaffhausen, Stadt Winterthur, Voco FauxPass, Linda Bertin (backing vocals on "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and "Hot in Hollywood"), Dieter Enz, Chris and Egi.
Special thanks to: Gavin Maitland, Beppe Lanna, vipcars.ch
Cover photo by Dieter Enz.
All tracks were remastered from the original CD single release in January 2017, and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the complete original artworks.
As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.
The following text is taken from the original Sheep Records press-release...:
«Sheep Records releases a silver disc (yes a CD!) by our beautiful glam punks the Gutter Queens. "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and "Teenage Wasteland" already appeared in their almost sold out debut 7". This release brings you also "Hot in Hollywood" and "Suffragette City" by David Bowie. Join the Gutter Queens in their limousine and take a trip to Sleazeland.»
...and here's an excerpt from the Gutter Queens bio available on their own website:
«The Gutter Queens call themselves Rock Sluts and are probably the most exciting and spectacular band to come out of Switzerland. They're ready to conquer the world with lots of charme, make-up, high heels, feather boas, glitz and glamour, and are the "new Definition of Glam Rock". With a sound reminding of the good old days when Rock'n'Roll was a lifestyle, they create a fresh, high energetic and unique mix of 70s Glam, 80s Sleaze and a delightful scent of Punk-Rock. Live they're a sight to see and outrage on stage. A wild show topped with glamtastic outfits, in-your-face attitude and an untamed Rock'n'Roll. Sometimes they get compared to bands like the Stooges, Hanoi Rocks, Cramps and of course the New York Dolls, which certainly had an impact on their attitude and music. Furthermore they count Mötley Crüe, Turbonegro and Guns N' Roses to their influences. Originally founded in Spring 1992 in Schaffhausen, they're now based in Zürich.»
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Gutter Queens, circa 2001-2002
The following clips offer a preview of the remastered single, enjoy "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and the official music videos of "Teenage Wasteland" and "Suffragette City"!
In early 2002 Gutter Queens has self-released an album entitled "Viva Las Divas", which actually is their only available release. I strongly encourage you to support the band and purchase it on iTunes or Amazon. The album is great, you won't regret it!
More information about Sheep Records and the Gutter Queens is available here:
The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!
Wenn ich dich sehe KOMMA
Denke ich DOPPELPUNKT
Der Junge macht mir Kummer
Ich möchte PUNKT PUNKT PUNKT
Dass er mir sagt GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN
Bitte komm mit zu mir
Ja, wann denn FRAGEZEICHEN
Heute um PUNKT vier
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ausruf AUSRUFEZEICHEN KLAMMER AUF, KLAMMER ZU
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ich in deinen Armen, GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN und PUNKT
Heute um PUNKT vier
SEMIKOLON seh ich dich
Du wirst mich abholen
Dann machen wir BINDESTRICH
Du sagst zu mir GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN
Bitte komm mit zu mir
Wozu denn FRAGEZEICHEN
Es liegt allein an dir
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ausruf AUSRUFEZEICHEN KLAMMER AUF, KLAMMER ZU
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ich in deinen Armen, GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN und PUNKT
[From the lyrics of "Dactylo-Rock"]
"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single, front
During winter 1992-93, Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring were living in the same neighborhood in Berlin and the legend has it that they casually met while shopping in a bakery in Adalbertstraße.
Françoise was about to close her experience with the French girl-garage-punk-R’n'R-BandLolitas (...they released six albums in Germany and France and toured all over Europe and America, for more information about them have a look here...) and Brezel was keeping himself busy with an Experimental-noise-copyright-ignoring-tapeloop-soundeffects project called Sigmund Freud Experience (...he released three vinyl records under this guise, 100 copies each...).
In 1993 they started playing together. Their first recording was a ten minute cooking-recipe, in which all ingredients had sexual connotations. The recording is sadly lost... In 1994 they started rehearsaling and recording in Hamburg at the Alien Sound Studio of Peter Stein, and began to perform concerts in small venues in Berlin and Germany.
In those early days, the band logo consisted of two tits that were originally painted on a mix-tape Françoise made for Brezel entitled "Stereo Total", and I easily guess this is how the band's name was born... The logo was later shown on the backside of their first album "Oh Ah"; here you can have a look at the inlay-card of the CD version.
At this time the line-up included Françoise (vocals and drums), Brezel (vocals, guitar, organ and synthesizers) and Lesley Campell from Scotland (distorted guitar). With their unusual mix of music influences and languages, it wasn't easy then to find a label... The band used to play French Chanson, Disco, Rockabilly and Garage in a very minimal, simplified, essential way, often with self-built guitars and cheap electronics; lyrics were both written in French and German.
"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single, back
At last, in 1995 Desert Records released their first 7" EP entitled "Allo... J'ecoute...", available here on Stereo Candies. This single is strongly linked to Lolitas, in fact the track "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" was recorded in New Orleans by Alex Chilton - who had produced the group's "Fusée d'amour" back in 1989 - and "Avec ma valise" was originally included on "Séries Américaines" in 1987.
During the same year, Palestinian bassist Ghazi Barakat, a.k.a. Iznogood - ex member of the Hardcore / Experimental combo Burst Appendix - joined in and for some time the band became a quartet.
In January 1996, Stereo Total finally released their first album entitled "Oh Ah", which included tracks recorded during 1994 and 1995 at the aforementioned Alien Sound Studio in Hamburg, and a lot of 4-track home recordings.
The album spawned two singles which, once again, were divided equally betweeen the labels: Peace 95 took care about the release of the "Miau Miau" 7" EP, available here on Stereo Candies, while Little Teddy Recordings released "Dactylo Rock" in the form of a CD single.
At the same time, a 500 copies white label 12" blue vinyl of "Dactylo Rock" marked the beginning of Stereo Total's tenure at Bungalow and, as you already guessed, today is the subject of this post.
A picture taken during the same session the produced the "Dactylo Rock" CD-single cover, 1996
Here's the track list for this release:
01. Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock) (2:34)
02. Dactylo Rock (MS 20 Dactylo by Chrislo Haas) (2:22)
03. Dactylo Rock (Tijuana Dactylo by Sons of '68) (1:48)
04. Dactylo Rock (Atatak-Mix by A Certain Frank) (2:36)
05. Dactylo Rock (Dactylo Pop by Pop Tarts) (2:07)
06. Dactylo Rock (Hyper Modern Jazz Mix by Alec Empire) (4:10)
07. Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen Inferno by Le Hammond Inferno) (4:44)
08. Dactylo Rock (Bossa Dactylo by Sons of '68) (2:20)
All tracks were remastered from the original CD single and 12" vinyl release in January 2017, and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the complete original artworks.
As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.
"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, front
The "Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single was one of the earliest records released by Bungalow, the great Pop and Electronica German label founded in the mid '90s by Marcus Liesenfeld and Holger Beier a.k.a. Le Hammond Inferno. Compared to the original CD single issued by Little Teddy Recordings, this release offers an improved track list, with a total of eight tracks instead of seven.
The record is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. The number of each copy is usually written on one of the white center-labels, but the copy in my possession is not numbered, so I speculate that a few more than 500 copies exist, or maybe not all of them were numbered... The colour of the vinyl itself, the transparent stickered sleeve and the limited pressing make it a nice collectable item anyway.
Side A opens with the original version of "Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)", a track that has become a favourite during live concerts and perfectly expresses Stereo Total's ability to create simple but very effective little songs. The German lyrics written by Françoise Cactus offer many puns based on the names of punctuation marks as used in written and printed text, and the basic rhythm track is aptly performed on a... typewriter!
A "Tijuana Dactylo" version performed by the mysterious Sons of '68 follows. As per its title, the song is played in a Lo-Fi Mariachi style with a faster tempo and French lyrics. In my opinion Sons of '68 is just an alias for Stereo Total themselves... Of course I may be wrong, but this version sounds like a garage rehearsal with guest trumpeteers, and the voice belongs to Françoise Cactus beyond the shadow of a doubt...
First side ends with the "Atatak-Mix" created by A Certain Frank, who are no less than the founders of the German Ata Tak label. Their version is close to the original, but adds interesting tape-machine noises, samples and dance floor-friendly elements.
"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, back
As first track on Side B we find "Dactylo Pop" by Pop Tarts, a now disbanded young Pop/Punk German band that we'll hopefully be able to feature on this blog in the future. Just like much of their early output, their contribution was recorded live in a Lower than Lo Lo-Fi mode, with rough samples layered on top... You can't help but have a fondness for them!
An "Hyper Modern Jazz Mix" by Alec Empire follows. This version is entitled "Ausrufezeichen" on the CD single track list, but it is the same mix... I must admit that I'm not a big fan of Empire, although I enjoyed some of his earliest work, "Generation Star Wars" above all. I find the 13/27 rhythm track (...or whichever its time signature is...) mostly irritating, and in my opinion the only tiny vocal element sampled from the original is not enough to call this a remix: it is a completely different track and, although variety is usually a positive element when you collect several remixes in a single release, it doesn't fit quite well with the rest of the material, sorry.
Le Hammond Inferno, a.k.a. the Bungalow Records bosses deliver their "Sekretärinnen Inferno" remix, which is a cavalcade through different music styles that also offer a sample of their, ehm... sampling techniques and subtle sense of humour. Well done!
The single ends with another version created by the Sons of '68, entitled "Bossa Dactylo". As the title implies, the song is played in a vague Bossa nova style. Once again this seems to be a live recording and the lyrics are sung in French. Strangely enough this version was not included on the CD single, but was later added as a bonus track on the "Oh Ah" CD released by Bungalow in 1998, along with the aforementioned "Dactylo Pop" version created by Pop Tarts.
Here's the short credits list that appears on the CD single:
"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, disc
The following clips offers a preview of the remastered single, enjoy four "Dactylo Rock" remixes by Chrislo Haas, A Certain Frank, Le Hammond Inferno and Sons of '68!
As a bonus, here's the original videoclip for "Dactylo Rock"...
...and a 2013 live performance of the same song filmed in Leipzig, enjoy!
More information about Bungalow and Stereo Total is available here:
If you have any other useful information about Stereo Total - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!
Pancy Lau (Lau Fung Ping, 劉鳳屏 or 刘鳳屏, also referred to as Liu Feng Ping) was born sometimes in the late 40s / early 50s in a family of musicians; her father Lau Bak Lok (劉伯樂) - also known as Tin Ngai (天涯) - was a well-known Cantonese Opera Star. He was her very first music teacher, and guided her through the entertainment world.
Her career started when she was around 8 or 9 years old singing Cantonese Opera. As a teenager she transitioned to singing songs she enjoyed: Pop music. During the early 60s she participated two times in the Sing Tao Daily Singing Competition in Hong Kong with no significant results.
In 1965 at last she won the Mandarin section of the 6th edition of the contest with the song "三年" (Three Years). Upon winning the competition, she became a resident singer at the prestigious Golden Crown Night Club (金冠).
Television Broadcasts Limited (電視廣播有限公司), commonly known as TVB, commenced broadcasting in Hong Kong on 19 November 1967. Pancy Lau was one of the first musical artists who participated in the popular show "歡樂今宵" (Enjoy Yourself Tonight), which was the longest running variety show in Hong Kong's television history.
In 1968 Fung Hang Records released her debut album entitled "My Heart Is Beating - 我的心蹦蹦跳". The album was the first in a long series of recordings that continued for more than fifteen years.
Following two EPs entitled "水長流" ("Water Flows Long") and "山前山後百花开" ("When the Flowers Bloom On Mount Qian Shan"), Pancy Lau's second album was finally published in late 1969. "快回頭望一望" ("Quickly Take a Look Behind"), contained twelve songs, including the eight tracks already released on her previous EPs.
The record was a huge success with no less than four editions published - and sometimes also bootlegged - by different labels in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. At the time, a lot of popular music was coming from being featured on television or were theme songs from television drama series. The album, however, did not need any push from the media to become an instant hit, as it contained enough fresh material to estabilish itself as a modern classic.
It's not easy to come up with an exact chronology of Pancy Lau's early output because in a few years she released many records and none of them includes a release date. I suppose that FHEP 623 "莫負青春" (Don't Turn Your Back on Youth), the subject of this post, was released in 1970 but I'm not completely sure about it...
Anyway, as a matter of fact, all the four songs on the EP were also included on Pancy's third album, "劉鳳屏之歌" (Pancy Lau's Songs), released by New Wave Record Co. (新風) in 1970, which is pictured on the back cover along with two other previously released EPs.
All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl release in December 2016 and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the complete original artwork.
As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.
Here's what I discovered searching information about the songs included on this EP:
"莫負青春" (Don't Turn Your Back on Youth) is a song from the movie with the same title; it was originally performed in 1947 by singer / actress 周璇 (Zhou Xuan), one of China's seven great singing stars. You can listen and watch the original version here.
"我還是永遠愛著你" (I Will Still Love You Forever) is an old Taiwanese folk love song, and during the years it has been performed by many famous female singers including 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng), 湯蘭花 (Tang Lang Hwa) and 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan).
"暗淡的月"(A Dim Moon) is a cover of a Taiwanese pop song originally written and performed by 吳晉淮 (Wu Jin-huai) in 1957. The original version is available here.
"淚的衣裳" (Dress of Tears) is a Mandarin version of a Japanese song originally recorded by 翁倩玉 (Judy Ongg) in 1969. This was also part of the repertoire of 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), 謝雷 (Xie Lei), 林竹君 (Lena Lim) and many more...
The following clips offer a preview of the remastered EP, enjoy the title track "莫負青春" (Don't Turn Your Back on Youth) and "淚的衣裳" (Dress of Tears)!
More information about Pancy Lau is available here:
I'm currently trying to compile a Pancy Lau exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.
All my posts dedicated to Pancy Lau are available here.
As a last note, I'm still struggling to find somebody who can help me with translations: if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!
