Very interesting piece, Richard. Seeing those album covers brings back memories, as my mom had some. 'Exotic' foreign cultures were certainly a big thing in both records and films when I was growing up in the US in the 60s.
Thanks Ellen. I was showing some of the records to a colleague at work today and it brought up many memories for both of us, not just the holiday themes but also the emphasis on sound recording, stereo and fidelity that were a large part of the cover information from that era.
Thank you! Great to have you commenting. Thanks, too, for the wonderful books, which made me want to start collecting these records again! Yes, those Juno & Vale books are brilliant, aren't they?
Thank you for this wonderful essay Richard. One I will be re-reading. So much to listen to here. I also appreciate the book recommendations!
I am very interesting in reading Fado and the Place of Longing - the copies I can find out there beyond my budget. Have you published any excerpts on your Substack?
Also, as you must know, there was so many Cuban records, particularly in the 50s, that fit this Holiday category. And taking it further, 1956, Panart Records teamed with Cubana airlines to give an album to all passengers as they boarded its new New York-Havana direct flight.
Thank you Judy. That's really interesting about Panart. Borgerson & Schroeder include a chapter on Cuba travel records in Designed for Hi-Fi Living, though their focus is on US labels.
I have the introduction and the first two chapters available as PDFs and would be happy to send them to you (the intro is e-text, the other two are photocopy scans). I don't have an e-text of the full book, unfortunately. Let me know my message here of email if you'd like me to send what I have.
I have James Last's super fun and groovy 'Voodoo Party' and a couple of Mandingo albums that are a blast ('Primeval Rhythm of Life' and 'Sacrifice'). I wonder if these qualify as exotica? I assume the James Last album does, as he and his German band of session musicians tried to evoke the sounds of Africa and Haiti by saturating their music with percussion and wah. I also have an album by Last called 'Well Kept Secret,' but I don't think he was trying to recreate an exotic sound on that one.
Another interesting read, Richard! Thank you for allowing us to "fly" around the world with you and for giving these often ignored records the attention they deserve. You have certainly opened my eyes to a world of records that I usually skip past in the shops.
Thanks Michael. I have ‘Voodoo Party’ too. I’m told it was once quite sought after by hip hop DJs. I did consider a section just on Last as I have a few of his globetrotting albums. Maybe fuel for another post!
James Last would be an interesting choice for another post. I believe he has sold more records in Germany than any other musician (that includes Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift)! However, ask any American, and most likely they will say they have never heard of him. I would expect most of the British public might say the same. And, let's not forget... he was incredibly prolific! My god, his discography is never ending!
I only own the two, but I stumbled on 'Voodoo Party' several years ago and was intrigued and curious. I threw it on the listening station, and his Sly cover on side one instantly sold me. But then again, I think I paid $3 for it! I mentioned it to somebody at some point, and they highly recommended I search out "Well Kept Secret," which I also found for ridiculously cheap.
I'd love to read a piece on JL, and you are just the guy to write it!
Thanks for the challenge! I'll give it some serious thought. On sourcing James Last records cheaply, that's been the case for me too. I very much doubt I'd have picked any up if they weren't in the 50p to £2 range, but I'm glad I did, if only to test my preconceptions about them. I remember selling so many when I worked in a record shop at the turn of the 80s/90s and I also remember what I thought about them then, without probably ever listening to them.
An interesting piece Richard. I've always had a soft spot for Sam Cooke's 'Cooke's Tour', a 'travelogue' record in the style of those you mention by Crosby, Bennett, and Sinatra. Cooke's RCAs have often been judged harshly, but I love them all, especially the aforementioned album.
Good to see you mention those (once) charity shop staples, 'Music of Greece' and such like. You write: 'these records have [mostly] become homeless objects in a way that seems to mock their once brazen attempt to sell the pleasure of travel.' Very nice, Richard.
Very interesting piece, Richard. Seeing those album covers brings back memories, as my mom had some. 'Exotic' foreign cultures were certainly a big thing in both records and films when I was growing up in the US in the 60s.
Thanks Ellen. I was showing some of the records to a colleague at work today and it brought up many memories for both of us, not just the holiday themes but also the emphasis on sound recording, stereo and fidelity that were a large part of the cover information from that era.
Wonderful article! Great examples and nice to see those classic Incredibly Strange Music books mentioned.
Thank you! Great to have you commenting. Thanks, too, for the wonderful books, which made me want to start collecting these records again! Yes, those Juno & Vale books are brilliant, aren't they?
Thank you for this wonderful essay Richard. One I will be re-reading. So much to listen to here. I also appreciate the book recommendations!
I am very interesting in reading Fado and the Place of Longing - the copies I can find out there beyond my budget. Have you published any excerpts on your Substack?
Also, as you must know, there was so many Cuban records, particularly in the 50s, that fit this Holiday category. And taking it further, 1956, Panart Records teamed with Cubana airlines to give an album to all passengers as they boarded its new New York-Havana direct flight.
Thank you Judy. That's really interesting about Panart. Borgerson & Schroeder include a chapter on Cuba travel records in Designed for Hi-Fi Living, though their focus is on US labels.
I published some excerpts of the fado book on a blog called The Place of Longing closer to the time it was published (https://theplaceoflonging.com/). I've reworked some of this material for two posts on Substack: https://songstudies.substack.com/p/all-of-this-is-fado-i and https://songstudies.substack.com/p/all-of-this-is-fado-ii.
I have the introduction and the first two chapters available as PDFs and would be happy to send them to you (the intro is e-text, the other two are photocopy scans). I don't have an e-text of the full book, unfortunately. Let me know my message here of email if you'd like me to send what I have.
I have James Last's super fun and groovy 'Voodoo Party' and a couple of Mandingo albums that are a blast ('Primeval Rhythm of Life' and 'Sacrifice'). I wonder if these qualify as exotica? I assume the James Last album does, as he and his German band of session musicians tried to evoke the sounds of Africa and Haiti by saturating their music with percussion and wah. I also have an album by Last called 'Well Kept Secret,' but I don't think he was trying to recreate an exotic sound on that one.
Another interesting read, Richard! Thank you for allowing us to "fly" around the world with you and for giving these often ignored records the attention they deserve. You have certainly opened my eyes to a world of records that I usually skip past in the shops.
Thanks Michael. I have ‘Voodoo Party’ too. I’m told it was once quite sought after by hip hop DJs. I did consider a section just on Last as I have a few of his globetrotting albums. Maybe fuel for another post!
James Last would be an interesting choice for another post. I believe he has sold more records in Germany than any other musician (that includes Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift)! However, ask any American, and most likely they will say they have never heard of him. I would expect most of the British public might say the same. And, let's not forget... he was incredibly prolific! My god, his discography is never ending!
I only own the two, but I stumbled on 'Voodoo Party' several years ago and was intrigued and curious. I threw it on the listening station, and his Sly cover on side one instantly sold me. But then again, I think I paid $3 for it! I mentioned it to somebody at some point, and they highly recommended I search out "Well Kept Secret," which I also found for ridiculously cheap.
I'd love to read a piece on JL, and you are just the guy to write it!
Thanks for the challenge! I'll give it some serious thought. On sourcing James Last records cheaply, that's been the case for me too. I very much doubt I'd have picked any up if they weren't in the 50p to £2 range, but I'm glad I did, if only to test my preconceptions about them. I remember selling so many when I worked in a record shop at the turn of the 80s/90s and I also remember what I thought about them then, without probably ever listening to them.
An interesting piece Richard. I've always had a soft spot for Sam Cooke's 'Cooke's Tour', a 'travelogue' record in the style of those you mention by Crosby, Bennett, and Sinatra. Cooke's RCAs have often been judged harshly, but I love them all, especially the aforementioned album.
Good to see you mention those (once) charity shop staples, 'Music of Greece' and such like. You write: 'these records have [mostly] become homeless objects in a way that seems to mock their once brazen attempt to sell the pleasure of travel.' Very nice, Richard.
Thanks Martin. I'd forgotten about Cooke's Tour, a great one to mention. Going to listen to it this weekend.