Christmas In July-The Thirteenth Day

OK, I'm back with the last installment of Christmas in July 2010 that will actually fall in July.  Don't worry, though, I'm planning on keeping this train rolling for a while yet.  It's just that we'll be in the wrong month.  Whoever heard of Christmas in August?  So, what have I got for tonight?  Let's begin with Sammy Davis, Jr. And Carmen McRae With Orchestra Directed By Jack Pleis singing that great duo wintertime song Baby It's Cold Outside.  This hails from their LP Boy Meets Girl (Decca DL 8490, Mono, 1957).  Sammy doesn't play it at all straight on this one, and I'm not sure if I like it that way.  But give it a listen.  Track two is the ever popular Skater's Waltz as performed on the organ by Shay Torrent And Ralph Bell from the LP Hammond Organ Fantasies (Mercury MG 20135, Mono, 1956).  Third is Winter Wonderland by Brazen Brass creator Henry Jerome And His Orchestra from Designed For Dancing (Lion (MGM) 10" E70004, Mono, 1954).  Need some fine, quality handbell music?  Track four is Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy as performed on the handbells by a group called Belles & Beaus.  This is from the album Canfield Choral Music Dept. Presents The English Handbell Sounds Of The Belles & Beaus (Canfield High School 7074N4, Stereo, 1976).  At least two places on the LP, they call them handballs, not handbells.  I guess it takes college level private pressings to include spell checking.  Last on tonight's list is something called Vibraholiday by Lionel Hampton With Rhythm And Reeds from Golden Vibes (Columbia CS 8110, Stereo, 1959).  It may not be Christmas but it's nice.  That concludes today's sharity, here's a download link, have a good one.  See you next month!

REYKJAVÍK - sunna, sæbraut, 07/08/10

The photos of the two first days at LungA Festival in Iceland are up on my visual diary.

REYKJAVÍK - líf, gunnarbraut & elisabeth, grasagarðurinn, 07/11-12/10

Christmas In July-The Twelfth Day

Hello?  Anybody still out there?  I've been gone for a bit, but I'm back again.  Got too busy there with some company that came into town, first with getting the place cleaned up and then with hanging out and doing touristy stuff with my guests.  But here I am with five more songs for you to download and enjoy.  I'm going to try and keep going for a while now, and I may have to go out into August, but we'll see.  Anyhow, let's see what sort of goodies I have for you this evening.  After such a long wait, I'm sure anything will sound good.  We begin with Ave Maria (the Schubert one) as performed by Montini And His Orchestra from a very early Westminster LP, Music In The Night (Westminster WP 6005, Mono, 1956).  From there we move into Don, Dick 'N Jimmy performing June In January from their album Spring Fever (Crown CLP 5005, Mono, 1957).  Yep, it's the budget label, but the music is still pretty good.  Next up is a track I teased you with earlier, White Christmas by Matt Dennis from another budget label album, Saturday Date With Matt Dennis (Tops LP1596, Mono, 1957).  And that leads into track four, Dance Of The Toy Flutes from Evening At Pops by Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops Orchestra (Polydor PD 5032, Stereo, 1972).  That's a pretty late date for stuff on this blog, don't ya think?  Bringing up the rear is a track from the great Hugo Winterhalter and that album I've shared with you quite a bit this July, A Season For My Beloved (ABC-Paramount ABCS-447, Stereo, 1963).  This time around it's Summer Green & Winter White.  All good stuff and I think you'll enjoy them.  Here's the download link.  I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time.  Thanks for all the concerned comments on that last post.  Sorry I didn't give you any warning about my absence.

Question:  Do any single women ever drop by here?  I'm lonely.  Drop me a line.  I'm serious.  :)

OSLO - marianne, hegdehaugsveien, 07/24/10

OSLO - nathalie, frogner, 07/25/10

A lot of babies to see in the new Reykjavík photos posted on my visual diary.

OSLO - ingrid, grünerløkka, 07/23/10

The photos of the 6 first days of my stay in Reykjavík are up on my visual diary.

REYKJAVÍK - miðbærinn, 07/09&12/10

The photos of my first four days in Reykjavík are up on my visual diary.

PARIS - sam, rue saint-honoré, 07/20/10

PARIS - inna, jardin du palais royal, 07/19/10

The photos of my two first days in Reykjavík are up on my visual diary.

SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR - lunga festival, 07/17/10

REYKJAVÍK - miðbærinn, 07/08-09/10

All the photos of my trip to Poland are up on my visual diary.

REYKJAVÍK - miðbærinn, 07/06-08/10

The photos of my road trip Warsaw-Sopot and of my 1st day at the Open'er in Gdynia are up on my visual diary.

MY 10 NEXT DESTINATIONS...

Jul. 15-18: Seyðisfjörður (little fjörd in Eastern Iceland), LungA Festival
Jul. 19-21: Paris
Jul. 22-25: Oslo
Jul. 26-30: Switzerland
Jul. 31-Aug. 3: London
Aug. 3-4: Riga
Aug. 5-7: Tallinn & Robotaanika Park (electronic music festival held on a Baltic Sea sand beach in Northern Estonia)
Aug. 7-10: Helsinki
Aug. 11-14: Copenhagen Fashion Week, Blogger Camp
Aug. 16-18: Stockholm Fashion Week by Berns


Reykjavík, July 2010

FACEHUNTING IN TORONTO

Special thanks to The Society & Coty for making this experience possible.

Christmas In July-The Eleventh Day

Well, here I am, falling further and further behind.  But I'm making good progress at getting my place cleaned up for company.  I'm also running out of music to share, so slowing down is really helping to stretch things out.  I've got five songs here for you tonight, but no time to tell you what they are.  I'll eventually get in here and edit this post to tell you what you're downloading, but until then, here's the download link, you'll just have to trust me that it's worth your download.

PARIS - men's fashion week ss 11, bonus 1, 06/27/10

Check out the photos of two days in Warsaw on my visual diary.

REYKJAVÍK - elín hansdottír exhibition opening, i8, 07/09/10

All my photos of Men's Fashion Week in Paris & The Brandery opening party in Barcelone are up on my visual diary.

Christmas In July-The Tenth Day

Another day, more Christmas music. Let's see what's on tap today.  Up first is a song simply entitled Christmas by Fred Karlin.  I found this on Yours, Mine And Ours (United Artists UAS 5181, Stereo, 1968), one of those 60's soundtracks from a movie you've never heard of.  Second is the great Arthur Fielder And The Boston Pops doing their version of the great Christmas commercial song I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing from Evening At Pops (Polydor PD 5032, Stereo, 1972).  Those of you with excellent record collections will know that this record features Julia Child, but apparently only on the first side.  I've had a scratchy copy that skipped badly for a couple of years, but I finally found a clean copy this year, so I'm able to share it with you.  Track three is another track from Woodwinds And Percussion (Mercury PPS 6013, Stereo, 1961) by Hal Mooney And His Orchestra, this time it's I've got My Love To Keep Me Warm.  That seems to be a very popular song around here this year.  Up next is Swiss Sleigh Ride as performed by The Swiss Band Organ, and it's the third track I've shared with you this year from the LP Folk Songs Of The Alps (Tradition (Everest) TR 2081, Stereo, 1968).  Last on the list is Winter Wonderland (sorta...) by ethnic comedians Doug Setterberg & Stan Boreson.  No, this isn't from their Christmas LP, it's from Yust Try To Sing-a-long In Swedish (Golden Crest CR 3079, Stereo).  You'll recognize the tune, but I suspect these aren't the words you remember.  That's it for tonight, here's the download link, see you back here tomorrow.

Christmas In July-The Ninth Day

Good Evening!  Welcome to day nine, which is actually happening on day ten.  Odd, that.  Let's jump right in, shall we?  Track one is a new one from Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra And Chorus.  Surprisingly, this doesn't come from that ABC-Paramount record I've been slowly distributing, but from an RCA budget release called Big And Sweet With A Beat (RCA Camden CAL-443, Mono, 1958).  I'm not sure but I think this LP collects up random sides recorded previously by Mr. Winterhalter.  The track is entitled Blue December, and I think it's a keeper.  Track two is Christmas Night In Harlem by Paul Whiteman & Orchestra With Johnny Mercer And Jack Teagarden from the LP Fiftieth Anniversary (Grand Award 2xLP 33-901, Mono, 1956).  This is a nice collection of remakes in nice sound of tracks from Mr. Whiteman's past.  I was a little shocked to discover a Christmas song hidden in there since I already had a copy of this LP, and had had it for years.  I guess you have to pay attention.  Track three is I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm from Country Club Saturday Night (RCA Camden CAL-332, Mono, 1956) by Jerry Jerome And His Country Club Orchestra.  No idea who these guys are, really.  Track four is Hanover Winter Song by Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians.  Anything by Fred Waring is more than welcome here at the blog.  This comes from his LP Alma Mater Memories (Capitol ST1949, Stereo, 1963).  Track five is another one by The Bellwethers, this time it's Ukranian Carol Of The Bells.  I don't know what makes this Ukranian, it sounds like the same old Carol Of The Bells to me, but perhaps it's originally Ukranian.  Anyhow, this is from The Bells Of Crystal Cathedral (The I.T. Verdin Company/UA Recording UAS-989-9297, Stereo).  Doesn't look like today is the day I'm gonna get caught up around here.  I'm putting records into boxes, and you can only imagine how long that takes...  Anyhow, here's the download link, go get it!

REYKJAVÍK - hulda & snædís, miðbærinn, 07/09/10

Christmas In July-The Eighth Day

Here we are, celebrating the Eighth day of Christmas in July on July the Ninth.  I know it doesn't make any sense, but I was busy yesterday and didn't get to throw up a share.  I'll try to make that up this weekend and get back on track.  To make up for my tardiness, I'm giving you what I think is my best track of the season, Go Tell It On The Mountain by Brook Benton.  This is a really great song, and it's buried away in the middle of If You Believe (Mercury MG 20619, Mono, 1962), an album of sacred music.  Oh, this is good stuff.  I wish all my finds could be this nice.  Next is a version of the Bing Crosby classic Christmas In Killarney, here performed by The Bill Shepherd Singers from the LP Irish Sing-Along (Decca DL 4053, Mono, 1963).  This one is pretty good, too, but not as good as Bing.  Third is classic piano bar crooner Matt Dennis from a budget label release Saturday Date With Matt Dennis (Tops LP1596, Mono, 1957).  The track is titled Hitch Up The Sleigh, and it's not the only song from this album that you'll hear this month.  Fourth is another track by Hugo Winterhalter from his LP A Season For My Beloved (ABC-Paramount ABCS-447, Stereo, 1963), A Marshmallow World.  That brings us to the final track, Waltz Of The Flowers, a slightly different version by David Rose And His Orchestra, Tenor Sax Solo By Bob Cooper, from the LP Concert With A Beat (MGM SE3852, Stereo, 1960).  The credit for saxophone should tell you that this isn't your normal run of the mill Tchaikovsky.  That's it, five more tracks for your Christmas in July enjoyment.  Here's the download link, see you tomorrow.

REYKJAVÍK - anna maria & vaka, downtown, 07/08/10

All my Miami photos are up on my visual diary.