MORA 1
Heralding 14 terrific titles with photos of 9 of them on the back this sampler is positive proof of both advance planning from Decca and careful budgeting too as they don’t include any tracks from the sub-licensed lps like Saxy or Hawaiian.
It’s a lousy compilation that opts for tunes that are well known rather than tunes that are well done excepting Stan Kenton’s live version of Peanut Vendor which shines out like a shilling on a chimney sweeps arse.
This must have sold well as it still resides in UK charity shops that sell records. Forumusic would wager Decca were banking on the ‘must-collect-the-set’ effect. Maybe it was just us.
MOR 2
4 Ronnie A’s, 3 Mantovanis, 3 Frank C’s plus a brace of Werner M and Stanley B. Not a drugs recipe for a great night out but artist credits for a romantic night in. Mantovani; the guv’nor who lead this fistful of arrangers deep into the valley of cascading strings, was shaman of the style and not its creator.
Working-class organist Ronnie Binge from Derby, England originated the style when he arranged Charmaine for Mantovani in 1951, gifting Van the Man worldwide success in the process. Forumusic favourites here are Stanley Black’s To Wait For Love and Werner Muller’s Forgotten Dreams.
Headline: Elegant Italian forges healthy career stealing skills from a Derby player
MOR 4
Before you woo-hoo, yeeea-up or start limbering for Latin dance heat remember these are polite Latin tracks from Phase 4 lps not imports from the barrio.
This is tight-fitting sequinned tuxedo Latin for shimmying on polished dance floors hence the inclusion of inane latin-ised versions of songs like A Man and A Woman. Affix your camp head firmly to shoulders with spray tan and needle drop on the whipcrack marimba flavour of Edmundo Ros’ version of My Cherie Amour. It's fun anyway.
Werner Mullers’s Eso El Amor also raises a smile with it’s faux drama horn stabbing and kettle drum thunder. So there are a couple of kitschy fun ones poking maracas out of the easy quicksand at least.
MOR 3
The light-fingered Italian scores 4 on this, all recorded many years before he was name-checked by Siouxisie and The Banshees in their song Paradise Palace. 4 Frank Chacksfield too, recorded long before his Apres Ski song was featured on X-Box 360 game Saint’s Row.
It may be pushing it to prefix a track as ‘killer lovely’ but Ronnie Aldrich’s self-composed Theme from In The Dark is just that. It’s a gorgeous tune with soaring strings and counterpoint to die for.
Maurice Larcange polishes a minor gem with She but completely fluffs My Way his way. Some tunes just aren’t accordion-friendly. Van the Man’s Summertime here is a masterpiece of OTT strings.
MOR – R5
Sally James? Is that you? This is the first Sounds to contain non- Phase 4 tracks and it’s utterly dreadful.
Peter Nordisk is the alto saxophonist credited but Google searches provide zero information about him beyond this one lp.
It sounds suspiciously like professional session players and harmony vocalists instructed to whack out cover versions of pop chart hits as middle-of-the-road and smoothly as possible.
The musicianship is pristinely clean and utterly soulless. Non-existent Nordisk and his ultra-professional band make Grover Washington sound gritty. Truly horrendous.
MOR 7
Further tracks from the live Stan Kenton Today Recorded Live in London lp and they’re awesome.
They’re also supported by good tracks from Benny Goodman and Ted Heath. Goodman’s version of Willow Weep For Me is another live track that’s strutting, strident and ever-so-slightly menacing. Heath’s Fever is similar but recorded in the studio with customary Phase 4 crispness and punch.
Kenton’s Chiapas on Side Two is a revelation. It’s a multi- tempo, multi-layered tune over predominantly military style drumming.
Kentons Yesterdays is also ace. Easy listening? No. Excellent? Yes.
MOR 6
Amanda Holden? Is that you?
Two utterly kicking live tracks from Stan Kenton. Malaga and Bogota crackle with raw energy, the former supported by what sounds like a battery of drummers.
Recorded in London in 1972, Kenton’s orchestra were at their peak at the exact point when his personal life was destroyed by his alcoholic past.
Much of the rest of the lp pales in the shadow of the Kenton tracks excepting a damn groovy and thoroughly play-outable Hit The Road Jack from the ever reliable Ted Heath tucked onto the end of Side Two.
MOR 8
Show tunes done EZ? Theoretically terrifying but fortunately not as bad as you may imagine and nowhere near as dire as the Nordisk disc.
There are three tracks worth hearing. First up is the ultra-lite lounge jazz version of My Favourite Things from Aldrich plinked out on two pianos with support from some deftly plucked harp. It’s an unexpected pleasure as is the string-filled Bali Ha’i from Stanley Black. Replete with cooing harmonies Black creates a genuinely ethereal sound with an exotica edge.
Mentioned before in our Phase 4 article, Aldrich’s Aquarius opens with surprising fuzz guitar that should have hung around a lot longer. Headphones reveal some intriguing studio shouting too.
MOR 9
The ‘R’ signifies a sub-licensed recording. The only other one so far was Saxy. Oh dear. There are some excellent Hawaiian lps out there but for some reason the selections made on budget or series compilations like this always seem to be drawn from an extremely narrow range of well-known Hawaiian songs or worse, covers of pop tunes done Hawaiian style.
Hilo March on Side Two is reminiscent of speedy trad jazz but wore thin fifteen seconds in when the I'm really clutching at straws to find something of merit on this lp - penny dropped with a clang.
When an easy listening lp is this much hard work Trading Standards Officers should be notified.
MOR 9
The Big Country. Gone With The Wind. A Countess From Hong Kong. Zorba The Greek. Fiddler On The Roof. A Taste of Honey. On The Waterfront. Stagecoach. Slaughter On Tenth Avenue. The Longest Day. Exodus. Dr. Zhivago. High Society. The Third Man.
No twists, turns, unexpected fuzz guitar or break beats, just faithful renditions of melodies from a period of film-making when the notion of a film also being a show still held some sway.
I fidgeted through several of these tedious big screen movies in a draughty Granada cinema in Harrow that still had a working Wurlitzer. It's no bloody wonder a whole generation grew up loving James Bond movies so much.
MOR 11
Blatantly disregarding any accepted dance moves up to and including that strange shoulder driven greasy biker / Status Quo / Mud / Tiger Feet one the Sounds series proudly slap the word danceable on yet another latin-lite ballroom collection.
This is not a good compilation at all but in deference once again to Eclectic Mud DJ Fuz’s love of finding a Redeeming Feature there is a punchy maracas in the air Mambo Jambo from Werner Muller who definitely started to up his Big Band game at the cusp of the 70s.
The usually reliable Edmundo Ros is disappointing here excepting a happy, clappy and super fast stab at Mambo Number Five.
MOR 13
A no-brainer comp given the volume of spring, summer, autumn and winter songs on Phase 4 lps.
This is the most sleep-inducing collection from the Sounds series so far. Deliberately selecting the most somnambulistic arrangements the tracks roll you gently from one warm orchestral cushion to another. It’s the closest thing on vinyl to sitting in a comfy chair after a particularly heavy lunch in a warm, dark lecture theatre listening to a quietly spoken and monotonous professor.
Some Aldrich piano intermittently plinks drowsily from the ether but not significantly enough to counter the powerfully anaesthetic strings. An eyelid closer extraordinaire. Restful in the extreme.
MOR 12
It’s blinkered and bad but regular readers will already know 60s Trad and banjo lps are an ordeal for Forumusic.
Trad staples like When The Saints... and Bill Bailey Won’t You Please...engender a sicky feeling deep in the stomach which increases incrementally when inane humour of the late 50s and early 60s is added to the mix. George Melly sings since making whoopee became all the rage, it’s even gotten to the old bird cage on My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes. Painful or what?
At some point in the history of musical tribe rivalry the Mods and Rockers should have teamed up to batter Trads with deckchairs. Harsh but fair.
MOR– R14
Or more accurately, Paraguayan Harp Folk music. The Paraguayan harp was often used in church as an alternative to organ or harpsichord. Here it’s played alongside Spanish guitar for a mixture of traditional polkas and the slower melancholic rhythms and melodies of the Guarania style.
The elegant Sombras is the standout polka and Los Ovnis En La Tierra is an atmospheric blend of complex harp rhythms and intertwining melodies played on a variety of instruments with a beautifully economic recorder melody at its centre.
We'll overlook the headband adorned with UK 10 pence coins and will not ask what the the short bald man is doing in front of her either.
MOR 17
Almightily pleased with Sounds Harpy, Decca sewed more floating petals of pre-emptive PINA into a water-lily of meditative sound. Botticelli and his Orchestra perform Wings’ classic My Love with choirs of angels and saxophone.
This compilation narrowly avoids the eyelid weighting sink-hole of strings that made Seasons so soporific. With pastoral sounds like Mike Leander’s Dear Heart and an exotica-flavoured Scarlet Ribbons from Frank Chacksfield this is a more balanced affair.
Play this at night to mellow any harsh from the day before trudging up the apple and pears to bed. Skip over Max Harris' version of Candle In The Wind though because it’s rubbish.
MOR– 15
The easiest to find Sounds release, this is a repackage of The Subtle Sound of David Snell.
Snell has for many years been the UK’s number one harp player, credited on numerous classical, jazz, folk and pop recordings. He has also worked as a conductor for the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted scores in the studio for numerous films including Oliver Twist, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat.
This is cool jazz and bossa nova all the way. The lightest percussion forces Snell and the bass player to syncopate the melodies in a rhythmic way. All the songs float like meringues on fluffy clouds so file under early PINA.
MOR 18
Listening to this in August is mildly depressing not because it’s too early for Xmas but because it’s a poor compilation. Far too many songs sound like they’re sung by perma-smile Christians with glowing white teeth and the instrumentals are without exception dull and uninspired.
There are a host of other worthwhile Xmas lps to look out for that regularly appear in charity shops and at car boot sales. They're not necessarily the type of lps that will bowl you over with their brilliance but thay are at least fun in a jaunty and Schlager-ish kind of way.
We'll try and pull our finger out to feature a bunch of the cheap and ubiquitous UK ones on Forumusic in November.
MOR – R 21
Was it unwritten law in the 70s for every self-respecting record collection to contain at least one Hawaiian and one steel band lp?
A majority of steel band lps are horribly homogenised affairs and nowhere near as exciting as hearing a live steel band.
The Sun Islanders Steel Orchestra deliver a selection mainly comprised of lesser known traditional songs though one pop cover crept on here alongside the mandatory Islands In The Sun and Yellow Bird.
In truth this is a resoundingly plain affair despite intriguing titles like Zombie Jamboree and Shame & Scandal In The Family.
MOR 19
Kenny ‘Organ’ Salmon brings jaunty Hammond heat on the first Sounds lp that attempts to get with it. Studio2Stereo, Stereo Gold Award, Contour, Avenue and a host of other labels who churned out cover versions of standards and chart hits in the 70s got with it in a similar way.
Jaunty and with it probably best describe the sound of session players endeavouring to get funky and raw with unfunky material armed only with a Hammond organ. Hard to describe, the sound is sort of desperate and great all at once.
The Poor People Of Paris is killer in this respect with the drummer and Salmon battling to shape a funk purse from a polka ear. Serenata and Little Rock Getaway attempt similar alchemy.
MOR 23
All credit to the Sounds series for keeping things multicultural but as with steel drums and Hawaiian guitars, fourteen balalaika tracks are a lot to stomach in one sitting.
A reissue of an earlier Decca release, the best track on here is the elegant There Is More Than One Path Across A Field.
Classical in nature its massed balalaikas are augmented subtly by plucked and bowed orchestral strings. Beyond The Fast Running River is similar in sound but less dramatic.
Balalaika classic Kalinka is also present alongside several sound-a-likes.
MOR 25
It’s strange listening to music and feeling no connection with it. There’s melody, rhythm, and understandable lyrics and yet it sounds alien.
Hooks, tension, release and killer chord changes are absent from these 30s and 40s tunes. Even the classic Stardust sounds flat and linear here in its original form. Four generations on tunes like Shine On Harvest Moon and White Cliffs Of Dover sound like they are from another planet.
How many generations will it take for huge swathes of music produced in the 20th century to sound completely defunct and will YMCA, I Will Survive and Please Mr Postman still be played at end of year office parties in the year 3000?
MOR 24
Tzigane is a rhapsodic composition by Ravel, the name derived from the generic European term for gypsy. This is a compilation of tunes inspired by the popular notion of the music of Romany gypsies.
Mainly lead by solo violin and Romantic in style there are a few absolute beauties on here for anyone who appreciates a full-sounding orchestra heavy on waltz tempo and strings. Czardas sets the tone for the whole lp with its dramatic waves of heavy melancholic strings.
As on the Circle Of Sound Ralph Elman Lp, the excellent tune Dark Eyes is wrecked once again. This time the culprit is Werner Muller trying too hard to funk it up and jaunting it in the process.
MOR 26
History proves nostalgia precedes or accelerates the expiry of ideas, styles and even communities. With a weakening pulse Decca trawled the back catalogue for Sentimental, AKA nostalgia’s bastard child.
Titles containing the words summer, autumn, remember, yesterday, leaving and gone all figure here in selections ranging from 1958 to 1974. An unsurprisingly maudlin listen, it was the final time Decca wrung income from old recordings before the label itself expired in 1981 roughly three years after this series finished.
In poetic fashion Mantovani and Chacksfield feature as largely on this as they did on the first Sounds compilation.
MOR 28
MOR 27 is listed as Sounds Fairground on the back sleeve of Bouncy but we think it never got pressed. If it did we’d like to think the organ wheezes out of tune as the waltzer horses spiral slowly to a halt.
Dying animals often chirp up slightly just before they drop dead and so it is with Bouncy; the death rattle of Decca Sounds. Puppet On A String, Waterloo and Y Viva Espana all lie flaccid on the turntable twitching in fits and spurts of parped J-funk.
Great to see Decca subtly reflecting the title Bouncy by including a spacehopper on the cover tastefully hidden between a models legs in the shadow of her exposed breasts.
