Retro Vinyl: Al Bowlly - The Big Swoon Of The Thirties (Music For Pleasure, 1967)

The launch of EMI's budget label Music For Pleasure in the mid-60s allowed the label to plummet a wealth of material from bygone eras for subject matter for their albums, an approach that kept them in good stead well into the 1990s.

The Big Swoon Of The Thirties is an early example of the label providing a compilation featuring one of the first ever "pop" stars Al Bowlly (before Bowlly the stars were merely the band leaders).

Mozambique born Bowlly was a popular singer/bandleader of the 1930s who met an untimely death in London during 1941 when his flat was hit by a Luftwaffe parachute bomb.

This album revisits 12 of Bowlly's most popular songs including Love Is The Sweetest Thing and Goodnight Sweetheart, both which have since very much became standards.

I actually enjoyed listening to Bowlly's singing on this album finding his voice both dramatic and passionate while gentle.

Its easy to see why he was so popular in the thirties and a shame to learn he died so young.

As well as the wonderful music there is also great packaging, including a tiled art inspired cover which is almost Victoriana meets pop art, wonderfully retro and certainly in keeping with the albums original 60s release.

There are also detailed sleeve notes by Roger St Pierre and an attempt to date most of the original recordings. Interestingly, the album label carries the title So Many Memories rather than the title The Big Swoon Of The Thirties.

Al Bowlly: The Big Swoon Of The Thirties
(Music For Pleasure, Mono, MFP 1178)

Side 1

1. Love Is The Sweetest Thing
2. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
3. Marie
4. In My Little Red Book
5. Something To Sing About
6. Goodnight Sweetheart

Side 2

1. Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind
2. It Was A Lover And His Lass
3. Have You Ever Been Lonely?
4. You're A Sweetheart
5. I'll String Along With You
6. Only For Ever

This track listing has been adopted and adapted for subsequent Al Bowlly releases over the years.

A further compilation from 1983 on EMI's Golden Age label entitled The Golden Age Of Al Bowlly  rejigs the track list with the addition of two further tracks, and featuring a revised writing of Roger St Pierre's sleeve notes.

Al Bowlly: The Golden Age Of Al Bowlly,
(Golden Age, Mono, GX2512)

Side 1

1. Love Is The Sweetest Thing
2. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You're Grand)
3. Marie
4. In My Little Red Book
5. Something To Sing About
6. Walkin' Thru Mockingbird Hill
7. My Melancholy Baby

Side 2

1. Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind
2. It Was A Lover And His Lass
3. Have You Ever Been Lonely?
4. You're A Sweetheart
5. I'll String Along With You
6. Only For Ever
7. Goodnight Sweetheart

Both The Big Swoon Of The Thirties and The Golden Age Of Al Bowlly  are currently available as MP3 downloads from Amazon.

Saturday Superstore: Tony Blackburn's ChartBuster Game

Chartbuster Advert,
Hotspur, 1971

Visiting Newport markets comic fair today I purchased around 12 vintage comics from the 1970s.

Not only are these comics great for the artwork they feature but also for some the adverts contained within them.

Although the regular Saturday Superstore feature ended some time ago, I thought this great little advert featuring Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn (from Hotspur, dated October 23, 1971) was worth a look.

It promoted the Chartbuster game which as Tony describes in the ad "...creates all the thrills and excitement of the pop world. it makes you the pop star, getting bookings, recording and trying to get your songs in the charts. It's a great game!"

I wonder how many people found this among their presents on Christmas morning, 1972?

For more details on the game itself visit games2collect website

Ten More Music For Pleasure Album Covers

Blast From Your Past - Ringo Starr

Blast From Your Past by Ringo Starr was reissued on MFP in the early 1980s using a photo of Ringo on its cover from The Beatles White Album!

Cliff Richard - Live!

This Live Cliff Richard album from the mid 70s gave UK fans to hear an album that had previously been released abroad. It had previously been released under the title Cliff Goes East and as well as featuring members of The Shadows backing him also had backing vocals by Olivia Newton John.

The Stars Sing 
Lennon & McCartney

Several albums paid homage to the songwriting talents of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, The Stars Sing Lennon and McCartney was released in the mid 1980s featuring contributions from artists such as Peter Sellers, Lulu, Ike and Tina Turner and The Bedrocks.

Sinatra 
Sings Music For Pleasure

Back in the 60s Music For Pleasure launched their easy listening series with style featuring albums from the likes of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra Sings Music For Pleasure from 1966 featured several late 50s tracks from Frank, a stylish album cover and a Capitol record label!

The Best of The Monkees

The Best of The Monkees started off life as Refocus in 1972 before been reissued on several labels around the world as well as twice on Music For Pleasure. The Retrospace history of the LP can be found here!

Benny Hill Sings Ernie

TV Comedian Benny Hill reached Number One in 1971 with his single Ernie, he also released an album on Columbia Records which later got a reissue on Music For Pleasure.

Walkin' With The Shadows

The Shadows first Music For Pleasure album Walkin With The Shadows was a compilation of album tracks and B Sides.

Favourites of The Forties

By the 1980s Music For Pleasure, had several decades worth of music to create compilation albums from. Here's a  rarer visit to the 1940s, Favourites Of The Forties was made up of tracks from Carmen Miranda, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como and Nat Cole before he became a King.

Impact 

Heres an MFP reissue of Impact, a record that was previously issued as part of EMI's Studio Two Series including stereo tracks from Joe Loss, Norrie Paramor, Acker Bilk  and Manuel & The Music Of The Mountains!

Daydreamin' 

Vince Hill had much chart success in the late 1960s, his best known hit was Edelweiss. Here's a 1971 album by Vince called Daydreaming featuring standards such as Danny Boy and covers of songs such as The Kinks Waterloo Sunset. This album was released on Music For Pleasure's Sounds Superb label.

10 Music For Pleasure Album Covers

Here's a selection of 10 Music For Pleasure album covers I've recently featured on Instagram. Although Music For Pleasure was EMI's budget record label they frequently pushed the boat out with several sleeve designs covering a variety of genres in the 60s and 70s. 

Stardust  - George Melachrino

Stardust is a light orchestral album from the 1960s released shortly after Melachrino's tragic death. It had originally been released under the Regal label in 1960 and features a starscape image from the California Institute of Technology.

I'll See You In My Dreams - Max Jaffa

Max Jaffa was a regularly featured musician on BBC Radio in the days before they went pop. I'll See You In My Dreams is a reissue of an earlier Columbia LP featuring show tunes and pop standards.

Songs of A World At War -
Janet Webb & The Naafi Singers

Forever remembered as the lady who came down at the end of The Morecambe and Wise Show to thank the audience for watching, it appears Janet Webb also took part in the recording of an album songs recalling the days of World War II.This release neatly tied in with Thames TV's World At War documentary series.

The Most Of The Animals
-The Animals

The Most Of The Animals was one of MFP's most enduring releases from their The Most Of... series. Featuring The Animals 1964 smash it The House Of The Rising Sun, it originally surfaced in 1971 and was still available well into the CD era.

Pat Boone sings Irving Berlin
- Pat Boone

Several American crooners were snapped up for reissues on the Music For Pleasure label in the late 1960s, Pat Boone's 1959 tribute to the music of Irving Berlin been the case here.

The Hollies -
The Hollies

Popular music acts had been mainstays of Music For Pleasure budget releases from the mid-1960s, by the early 70s some albums got straight reissues with new covers. Such was the case for The Hollies 1967 Parlophone album Evolution, simply retitled The Hollies.

Walkin With The Shadows
- The Shadows

Music For Pleasure releases were also popular abroad as was this Shadows release from Germany, which had several cover variants. The Shadows were depicted here as cartoon birds!

The Stars Sing Lennon & McCartney
-Various Artists

Although Music For Pleasure didn't obtain any rights to actual Beatles material until 1980, they did release several albums celebrating Lennon and McCartney as songwriters. The Stars Sing Lennon and McCartney culled together many hits by the likes of Billy J Kramer, Peter and Gordon and Cilla Black.

Big Bond Movie Themes -
Geoff Love & His Orchestra

Geoff Love possibly carries the record for releasing the most albums on the MFP label. Here's a release from 1975 focusing on the world of Big Bond Movie Themes. The album sleeve got into a bit of trouble for not acquiring permission to use images of film stars, it was later withdrawn.

The Big Swoon Of The Thirties -
Al Bowlly

A fabulous example of 60s art meeting popular culture of decades previous, as 1930s crooner Al Bowlly gets a retrospective on MFP in the mid 60s. This cover has to be one of the most creative even though the title The Big Swoon Of The Thirties doesn't seem to have been retained for the record label in which its called So Many Memories.