Sharda – Kisi Ke Dil Ko Sanam (Kal Aaj Aur Kal, 1971)
An ornate waltz festooned with nutty strings and an accordion, composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Despite being a favorite of Shankar, Sharda was never able to reach the top bracket of singers in India, a failure she attributes to dirty politics. Still, she had the distinction of being the only college graduate among the female singers of the era. Lata didn’t even get her GED!
Mahar – Chhodo Mujhe Chhodo (Jaanoo, 1985)
Manhar Udhas came from Gujrat to Mumbai in search of a job in mechanical engineering. One evening while strolling on Chowpatty Beach he met the great composing duo Kalyanji Anandji, and the rest was history. The jaunty exuberance of this song is hilarious and somehow life-affirming.
Kemayo & K. System – Bami Bami
(Tam Tam Song, 1978)
Recorded in France by the part-time Cameroonian guitarist & full-time wardrobe stylist.
Joe Cannon- Mr. Gone (City Boy’s Country Dream)
While growing up in Rhode Island, Joe Cannon used to dream of living in the country. So naturally he moved to Los Angeles. “I thought that was the country!” Joe says. But the closest he got to real country life in L.A. was at Universal Studios where he worked as a horse barn cleaner. It was there his true talent was discovered and he was given a role on the television show “The Virginian” as a singing horse barn cleaner. “Singing made the difference in how my clothes smelled at night” Joe confesses.
Eventually Joe’s manure melodies got a bit stale, so he moved up to San Francisco and got a regular gig at the Tarr & Feathers Saloon, singing songs he’d learned in his room 20 years ago. He finally settled down in Sun Valley, Idaho. “This is it, the country, or about as country as I’d like to get after living in the city for so many years.” City Boy’s Country Dream is an album of all original compositions, released by JDJ Records in Sun Valley, Idaho. There is no date on the record. Any guesses?
Evi Edna Ogholi – The World (1988)
Babla & his Orchestra – Jam Chalne Laage (1985)
According to urban dictionary the word “babla” is hindi slang for female mammaries, while metaphorically it refers to “everything that’s nice in the world squeezed into one small bundle”. I was surprised that Babla, Benny, and Vijay were able to squeeze so many nice instrumental grooves onto a single record, but by golly they did. Babla Plays Ghazal Hits was released in 1985.
Babla & his Orchestra – Lazzate Ghum Badha Dijiye (1985)
Ronnie Prophet – Eleanor Rigby (1970)
Ronnie Prophet enjoyed a brief but illustrious career as Quebec’s leading square dance MC, but his biggest success came as a country music singer, and as evidenced below, the greatest one-man show that Chet Atkins ever saw (although I gotta admit Chet’s handwriting is suspiciously similar to that of my uncle Dimitri, who borrowed the record last month). Incidentally, this is the third cover version of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ that we’ve featured here at Ponytone, which is curious considering the original probably wouldn’t crack the top 50 on my list of favorite Beatles songs. Uncle Dimitri worships it, though.
Tony Okoroji – Onyinye Chukwu (Mama & Papa, 1982)
Recorded at Oregun Rd. studios in Lagos, Nigeria, with production, arrangements, guitars and keyboards by Tony Okoroji.
Dave Sarkys – Rhythm Punch (News Power, 1980)
I don’t know why a library musician would ever need a pseudonym but “Dave Sarkys” is actually Roger Roger, the bibliotechnician extraordinaire. Some crazy guy in Omaha told me Roger Roger’s middle name is also Roger, but that would make him Roger Roger Roger, and that’s about as believable as my friend who claimed to know three brothers who are all named Tudor Bologna.
Dennis the Fox – Piledriver (Mother Trucker, 1972)
Seattle native Dennis Caldirola recorded a handful of demos in the early 70’s and shopped them around LA in the hopes of scoring a record deal. No such luck. After being told repeatedly that the music was “too versatile”, he released the songs himself on the Musart label (only 1000 copies were pressed). He then went on to much more glamorous careers as a cruise director, charity auctioneer, and the leader of an Italian rockabilly group. “Piledriver” has been a favorite of mine since around 2002, although the closest I’ve ever come to actually owning the original LP was grabbing an acquaintance’s copy in the middle of the night and making a run for it. I was wearing heels so I didn’t get very far, and now I wish I’d never even seen it because it completely shattered my idea of what a fox named Dennis should look like.