Penfro Sounds

Frank Sinatra Everybody's Twistin' / Nothing But The Best Reprise R 20063 (1962) A cash in by Frank Sinatra on the twistin' craze that hit the early 60s. It was recorded 27 February 1962 and the arranger was Neal Hefti.  The track appears on the album  Frank Sinatra & The Swingin' Brass . To be honest this is not much of a twist record and it could not have been a favourite of Frank's as there is no record of him singing this live as far as I can tell. FLAC

Jonny Chingas Phone Home CBS CBS A3121 (1983) Better known by his stage name of Jonny Chingas, Raul Garcia (1939-1992) was a Mexican American musician known for his electronic and soul songs, such as "Se Me Paro". Born in Mexico he arrived in the US in the 50s where he formed his first band Raul Garcia and Imperials. He started using the Jonny Chingas stage name during the 80s. He was popular with the Mexican American lowrider community and his songs featured on many lowrider compilation releases. FLAC

Bobby Curtola Hitchhiker / My Love Tartan TA-60-1007 (1961) Bobby Curtola (1943-2016) was a Canadian teen idol who began performing in the late 50s in a band called Bobby And The Bobcats.  He became a solo artist in 1960 and had numerous hits in his native Canada and also in the USA.  Several of his singles were issued worldwide and he saw chart success in countries including Australia, UK and New Zealand.  He was the first Canadian artist to have an album go gold and for this he was awarded a RPM Gold Leaf by Juno.  During his career, the singer achieved 25 Canadian gold singles and 12 Canadian gold albums. Although by the end of the 60s he was losing his appeal to the teen audience, he continued singing and during the 70s he was playing at Las Vegas casinos and in the 90s he could be found performing on Princess line cruise ships. FLAC

The Black Belles Honky Tonk Horror / Dead Shoe Third Man Records TMR 094 (2011) The all female garage band originally put together as the backing band for Olivia Jean when she first recorded with Jack White's Third Man Records. The band's name was inspired by by the legend of Bell Witch Cave located in Adams, Tennessee.  This was the 4th single released by the group. FLAC

Pokey LeFarge Central Time / St. Louis Crawl Third Man Records TMR 210 (2013) Pokey LeFarge was born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Illinois 26 Jun 1983. His music is described as a mix of Americana, early jazz, ragtime for string instruments, country blues, Western swing, Vaudeville, and Appalachian folk. His group see themselves as  "artfully dodgy ambassadors for old-time music, presenting and representing the glories of hot swing, early jazz and ragtime blues" who have "made riverboat chic cool again." Releasing his first album in 2006, Pokey came to the attention of Jack White's Third Man Records in 2011 when he recorded a 45 titled " Chittlin' Cookin' Time In Cheatham County" as part of the label's blue room series. In 2013 he signed with Third Man Records and this 45 was taken from his self titled album. FLAC

Marvin Hamlisch Bond '77 - The James Bond Theme / Ride To Atlantis United Artists UP 36301 (1977) Both tracks on this 45 are from the James Bond movie " The Spy Who Loved Me ". Released in 1977 featuring Roger Moore in the staring role. It was the 10th movie in the series and the 3rd to star Moore. A useless fact, the film took it's name from the 10th Ian Fleming novel in his James Bond series but the movie does not contain any elements of the novel's plot. The theme song from the movie was Carly Simon singing " Nobody Does It Better ".  Marvin Hamlisch composed the soundtrack for the movie. Marvin was born in Manhattan in 1944 and was one of a handful of people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards, a feat dubbed the "EGOT".  Along with composer Richard Rodgers he is one of the only people to have won those prizes and a Pulitzer Prize "PEGOT". FLAC

The Animals The Animals Is Here EP Columbia SEG 8374 (1964) An early EP from the original lineup of the band namely vocalist Eric Burdon, guitarist Hilton Valentine, bass guitarist Chas Chandler, keyboardist Alan Price and drummer John Steel.  The group formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during 1962 and 1963 when Burdon joined the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo and they performed as the Alan Price Combo. They later changed their name to the Animals. They were supposedly dubbed "animals" because of their wild stage act, and the name stuck. Known for their gritty, bluesy sound, they balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US. FLAC

Frantique Strut Your Funky Stuff / Getting Serious Philadelphia International S PIR 7728 (1979) The band (Tricia Lynn Cheyenne, Florence Raynor & Denise Roselle) were signed by Philadelphia International Records in 1979 and in the same year released this 45 and their self-title album. Two further 45s followed, Disco Dancer in 1979 and Steady With Teddy in 1980 and then, as quickly as they appeared, it was all over and the band disappeared. This 45, a disco favourite that still sounds good today, reached #10 in the UK charts. FLAC

Esther Phillips Disposable Society / Doing Our Thing Kudu KU-922 F (1974) Esther Phillips (December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer. Phillips was known for her R&B vocals, but she was a versatile singer, also performing pop, country, jazz, blues and soul music. This 45 was released during her time at Kudu records where she released seven albums and several singles including the GRAMMY nominated " Home Is Where The Hatred Is ". She continued to release music until her early death aged only 48 due to liver and kidney failure, both relating to drug use. FLAC

The Stranglers 5 Minutes / Rok It To The Moon United Artists UP 36350 (1978) Sung by the bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel, it gives an account of a rape that occurred at a shared flat in London he lived in during 1977. The lyrics, sung in both English and French, convey Burnel's frustrations over finding the five men who committed the attack.  The title of the song refers to Burnel's apartment being located in a dangerous area of London just five minutes away from The Bishops Avenue, one of the wealthiest streets in the world, and the juxtaposition of the two communities. The video below is the flip side (I prefer it to the a side!) FLAC

Roxy Music Pyjamarama / The Pride And The Pain Island WIP 6159 (1973) Single #2 from Roxy Music. Like their debut single both sides of this 45 did not appear as album tracks. It was recorded in early February 1973 at AIR Studios, London and was released later that month. The single reached #10 in the UK charts. FLAC

Roxy Music Virginia Plain / The Numberer Island WIP 6144 (1972) The debut 45 from Roxy Music released in the UK in August 1972. Written by Roxy frontman Bryan Ferry, the song was recorded by the band in July 1972 at Command Studios in London. The song did not appear on early copies of their debut album but was included on later pressings.  On the flip side is another non-album track "The Numberer", an instrumental written by Andy Mackay. This 45 reached #4 in the UK charts and was ranked #348 in Rolling Stones 2024 list of the "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time". FLAC

The Lurkers New Guitar In Town / Little Ole Wine Drinker Me Beggars Banquet BEG 28 (1979) The Lurkers were formed in 1976 by Pete Stride - Guitar, Nigel Moore - Bass, Pete (Esso) Haynes - Drums, and Howard Wall - Vocals. Dubbed the British Ramones for their high energy exciting recordings and their electrifying live shows they became an integral part of Punks first wave along with The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Buzzcocks etc. Noticed by the newly formed Beggars Banquet Records The Lurkers noteably became the label's first signing and recorded two chart albums and seven chart singles. Their first album 'Fulham Fallout' is widely regarded as a Punk Classic and their fifth single 'Just Thirteen' was listed in Mojo magazine's top 100 punk singles of all time. This 45 was their 11th (and last) release on Beggars Banquet. It scraped into the UK charts at #72. The flip is a cover of the country pop song first recorded by Charlie Walker in 1966.  Other artists who ...

My Bubba Gone / You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go Third Man Records TMR 409 (2017) For several years musical artists traveling through Nashville have been invited to stop by to record a song or two, in most cases with Jack White as producer at Third Man Studio. These 7" recordings are referred to as the Blue Series, named for their cover photos captured in the Third Man Nashville Blue Room. One such band to have recorded is My Bubba.  My Bubba is a duo consisting of Icelander Guðbjörg Bubba Tómasdóttir and Swede My Larsdotter. They sing and play music in a minimalistic, vocal-oriented folk style as is apparent on this 45. While their prior work was recorded almost entirely as a duo, "Gone" sees My Bubba joined in Third Man Studios by a backing combo comprised of bassist Jack Lawrence, keyboardist Dean Fertita, and legendary Nashville drummer Whip Triplet. "Gone" is the first of their songs written on a century-old lap harp, which was procured from a...

The Lucid Dream Hits Me Like When I'm Stoned / Try A Little Sunshine Regal Crabomophone WINKLE 05 (2012) Originating from Carlisle in the north of England this band was formed in 2008 by Mark Emmerson and Wayne Jefferson along with Luke Anderson and Mike Denton. Although the majority of their releases were on Holy Are You Recordings, this was a one off  limited edition of 750 copies (375 on olive vinyl and 375 on blue)  released on the Fruits De Mer label subsidiary, Regal Crabomophone. The 7" single plays at  33⅓ r pm.  The a side features a Mark Emmerson composition and the flip is a cover of a 60s psychedelic track originally recorded by The Factory.  The Lucid Dream have been compared to the likes of Spacemen 3, Suicide and The Jesus and Mary Chain, along with comparisons citing The Byrds, Primal Scream and The Monkees.  Despite acclaim from the likes of NME and BBC6 Music, at the end of 2023 the band decided to call it day and parted ways. FLAC