The Mad Musical World of Mel Henke - La Dolce Henke (1962)

In 1952, Mel Henke was a commercial industry composer and songwriter who came up with this sweet little jingle for Chevrolet:

Ten years later, the "swingin' 60's" were in full effect when Mel released a very swingin' (in more ways than one) album called La Dolce Henke. Here, he gathered plenty of his friends from the world of commercial jingles - musicians, voice actors, singers, Foley artists - and composed a poppy Cocktail Jazz album full of innuendo, naughty winks and nudges, wacky sound effects, and plenty of moaning ladies.

This is the album that Austin Powers would have recorded if he were a musician/real person. 

ENJOY.

Purple People - Paisley Punk Promo (1998)

First off, yesterday was Record Store Day, and it is safe to say that I have acquired plenty of interesting gems to keep this blog awesome for many months to come. This song was not one of my finds - I have actually had this for several years. This is a white label 12", meaning that there is absolutely no information about the song or artist on the sleeve or on the record itself, besides a small, round purple sticker with the words "Purple People Paisley Punk Promo" in bold white letters. These words (and the color of the sticker), sent one clear subliminal message to my brain: "This has something to do with Prince." And I was right.

This is the only song that turns up on Discogs for the person/group Purple People, but if it is a trusted source, then this was released in 1998 in the UK. What "Paisley Punk" turned out to be, is a fairly standard-sounding 90's House remix of Prince's song "1999." This started several debates in my brain, bouncing back and forth between 'What's the point? "1999" was already a perfect dance song, why did they have to dumb it down into some 4-on-the-floor club fodder? This is offensive.' and 'Ooh! Prince done up to sound like a 90's Fatboy Slim song!!' 

At the end of the day, both of my brains were right. This song does a solid job of dumbing down a really great dance song that everyone is already familiar with, but it's also kind of cool how the Purple People, whoever they may be, used Prince's cool drum rolls, kept the mix really lo-fi and muddy, and threw in a thick-as-pea-soup bass line that nearly wipes out the rest of the track. Okay, so it's not amazing, but it's a lot of fun just for the novelty of hearing Prince, Lord and Master of Copyright Law, being remixed in such an unambitious crowd-pleasing manner. Enjoy.

The Puppies - The Puppies (1994)

I think it's fair to say that The Puppies were one of the greatest brother/sister lil' kid Rap groups of all time, although I can't think of many others. Even outside of this gimmick, The Puppies definitely hold their own and made an extremely entertaining party record in 1994, simply called The Puppies, which earned them a bona fide top-40 hit with "Funky Y2C":

The rest of the album lives up to, or exceeds the fun quality of "Funky Y2C," and the production, kept in the family and handled by their father and uncle Calvin Mills II and Carlton Mills, is pretty top notch. The beats will make you dance, and the bass will probably make you vomit if you stand too close to the speaker. Which is a good thing.

The members are made up of little brother Big Boy, who fills the Uncle Luke role in the group as the yelling guy who gets the party hype, and big sister Tamara Dee, who is more of a "rapper's rapper." All in all, this venture feels like the effort of a genuinely talented family rather than a couple kids being exposed by their parents. The Puppies handle diverse subject matter ranging from Summertime fun, puppy love (ha), and shaking booties. The lyrics are all clean of course, but it doesn't give you that nauseating Kidz Bop feeling, so it really is fun for the whole family. Enjoy!

HERE.

Michael Jackson - E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Steven Spielberg. John Williams. Quincy Jones. Michael Jackson. Not much more to say. This album had a short lifespan when it first dropped in 1982, because MJ's label, Epic Records, sued MCA for dropping this project the same month as his album Thriller. 

This album is absolutely stunning - they couldn't have picked a better narrator than Michael Jackson. His genuine, child-like wonder really shines when he is telling this story. Rumor has it he felt he related to E.T.'s character, and I think you can feel their shared experience - much like Elliott in the film - when you listen to his narration. Unfortunately my copy is missing the actual story book that the audio is meant to accompany, as well as the full-sized poster (!!) of the above image. 

Nonetheless, with two versions of Michael's E.T. song "Someone In The Dark" and a full narration of the story, this album is quite a gem, especially for someone of my age who grew up worshiping both of these special beings.

HERE.