That we have King Curtis and Don Covay’s Music for Dancing: The Twist with us at all in the 21st century is sort of a minor miracle. That this set even got recorded and released in 1961 was entirely a matter of market happenstance, since the LP was never meant to be more than an attempt to cash in on the dance craze that Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” had created at the time. DJs in the clubs needed more Twist tracks to spin and practically anything with that name attached to it would get a shot, so to that end, King Curtis (a tenor saxophonist who was mostly known at that time for his session work on the Coasters’ hits) and his club band were brought into a New York studio to record a half dozen Twist tracks as quickly as possible, with the balance of the sessions spent on amped-up versions of big band hits from the 1930s and 1940s. A vocalist was needed, though, and Don Covay — then at the start of his career and in town looking for a deal — was called in to sing. Everything was done quickly and the resulting LP was released by RCA Records soon after the sessions ended in 1961. It sold a few copies because it had the word Twist in the title, and then the pop world spun on to the next big new thing, like it always did, and that was that.

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1. Saturday Looks Good to Me – All Your Summer Songs
Picking a favorite record of any time frame is always tricky business with so many factors to consider that it’s usually impossible to be totally confident with your choice. Not this time though. I had no problem with making All Your Summer Songs my favorite record of the decade, really there wasn’t any serious competition. Everything about the album hit me just right; the sound, the songs, the cover art, the voices and the emotion. And it stayed with me too; the time elapsed since the record’s release has done nothing to lessen the feeling of warmth I get from listening to it. It’s really corny to say a record changed your life, so we’ll skip the embarrassment and just say this record made my life much. much better.

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It is interesting to note that the pop calypso (as opposed to real calypso) boom of the mid 1950s was engineered largely by a charismatic singer born in Harlem and a Julliard trained composer from Brooklyn. Both Harry Belafonte, whose mother was from Jamaica, and Irving Burgie, who spent his childhood in a West Indies neighborhood in New York, had musical roots in the Caribbean, certainly, but their version of the islands was largely an imagined one, although imagined so well that their collaborations have actually filtered back into the folk music of the region.

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Although marketed as a surf band, Minnesota’s Trashmen were decidedly landlocked by geography, but not by spirit. The group’s odd mix of surf, R&B, sneering garage pop, and psychotic instrumentals made them one of the most eccentric and interesting of the groups that sprang up around the surf craze of the early 1960s. Essentially a northern cover band that wasn’t afraid to take chances, the Trashmen played every gig like it was Saturday night. Sundazed’s Live Bird ‘65-’67 collects several rare live tracks of the band in action on the dance circuit, and it captures the kind of offhand, humorous dementia that they channeled into their shows, climaxing in a near-six minute version of the group’s wacky masterpiece, the manic “Surfin’ Bird.” But this was a surprisingly versatile and nimble band, and their live versions of Booker T. & the MGs’ “Green Onions” and James Brown’s “Mashed Potatoes” spotlight a funky little R&B groove, while “Same Lines” sneers along with the best of 1960s garage punk, and “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby” is skillfully executed faux doo wop. Two of the songs in the Live Bird set, “Bird Dance Beat” and “King of the Surf,” were recorded at the Home School for Girls at the Saux Centre in Minnesota in 1966, and the mere thought of young, impressionable girls listening to this band of goofy maniacs is a sobering one.

 
Hey kids, have a great weekend! Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do! Also, enjoy these fine examples of 1980’s dance music by Shalamar, Nu Shooz and Five Star.

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Do you like pop music? Do you like snappy visuals? Well, 2006 was a pretty good year for both. I’m a big fan of Camera Obscura’s loving recreation of early 60s advertising, the Long Blondes’ wittily cinematic split screens, the Bicycles’ endearingly DIY-goofiness, Love is All’s invigorating live performance, and the Golden Dogs’ all-out energetic charge through one of the great unknown pop anthems of the last decade.

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The early to mid ’90s was a good time for lovers of smoothed out — but still soulful — female vocal groups. Not exactly a golden age, like the early ’60s were for girl groups, but pretty darn close. Whether it’s the glass shattering vocal skills of a group like En Vogue, the sweet-as-pie harmonies of Zhane, the sassy girl power of TLC, or the kick ass first, ask questions later style of Jade, many viable variations of the girl group were cranking out jam after jam. Call it New Jill Swing if you want, call it whatever you want … we call it awesome. (Mini playlist after the jump!)

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If I remember the summer of 2002 correctly it was hot, it was sunny and it was summery. Just the right conditions for summer jams! This playlist pretty much captures what was blaring out of the windows of my 1993 Dodge Camry as I cruised the main drag looking for action. Or ice cream. Preferably something candy bar based — man, that stuff is delicious! Anyway, on to my summer jams of 2002…

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