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7"
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POPC 158EP
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Marvelously macabre popcorn magic from Chance Halladay, last seen on the popcorn label with his great take on "13 Women". Here he is in a much more sombre mood, as he laments on his sins and wrong-doings and pleads to be sent to his only fitting redemption place - the grave. All set to the delicious, slinky minor key melody and swinging jazz rhythm that typifies the popcorn sub-genre. The flip side "Deep Sleep" is only slightly less sinister, as Chance promises to hypnotize his lover into a state of slumber.
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POPC 157EP
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Jo Ann Campbell's "I Changed My Mind Jack" is a male and female call-and-response duo answer to Ray Charles's "Hit The Road Jack", set to a barnstorming, up-tempo backing which will cause fireworks on the dancefloor. On the flip side, a more familiar popcorn tempo with a terrific rendition of "I Really Really Love You".
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POPC 155EP
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Moody and malevolent, male vocal popcorn burner from jazzy crooner Lew Conetta. On the flip, is an alternate cut of bluesman Jimmy Rogers's super low-down "What Have I Done", a track so similar to "You Got Me Crazy" that it must have provided the inspiration.
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7"
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POPC 142EP
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Two cracking covers of the evergreen popcorn standard "Fever." The top side a seductive, swaggering turn from Little Caesar with doo wop style/group backing vocals from the Romans, and on the flip is Sandra Meade's sexy and sassy rendition with wild, wailing horn accompaniment.
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POPC 149EP
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Two big and brash sides from Canadian born singer Marty Hill, who was just 18 at the time he wrote and recorded them - proving they just don't churn out talent like they used to! Both "Mr. Oracle Of Love" and "Red Lips" boast lavish production values, with full string sections adding drama and excitement to the mix. And of course, both are guaranteed to burn up the dance floor.
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POPC 147EP
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Cool double-sider full of swinging, foot-tapping, finger-popping vocal jazz rhythms from Oscar Brown Jr. "Humdrum Blues" oozes early '60s mod-jazz cool while on the flip, a quirky, percussive take on "Sixteen Tons".
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POPC 145EP
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Two sides of swingin' mid-century vocal jazz from the multi-talented Bobby Scott. Both "I Gotta Run" and "Moanin" have been picked and primed for the dancefloor and are sure to add an air of easy sophistication and class to any party, night club, or soiree.
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POPC 146EP
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Another two renditions of perhaps the greatest popcorn standard of them all, "Fever." On the top side, Barbara English's version is a groovy, early-'60s workout with an infectious rhythm and cool female backing vocals. Turn it over and hear Earl Grant give Little Willie John himself a run for his money with a smoldering, jazzed-up, organ-and-sax-led take.
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POPC 144EP
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Two over-generous servings of irresistibly sleazy R&B back-to-back. With both sides boasting the writing and arrangement skills of New Orleans legend Dave Bartholomew and featuring superior vocal turns from Faye Adams and Roy Brown respectively, you should know already that this is an essential pick up. Adams's "Johnny Lee" is based on a unique mid-tempo groove driven by a taut guitar riff and filthy sax break, while Roy Brown's piano-and-percussion-led "Slow Down Little Eva" is just a magnificent piece of blues exotica.
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7"
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POPC 143EP
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Leslie Podkin's fantastic "You Won't Need No Money" is a real oddball tune that shows the extent to which the original popcorn DJs dug deep to find records from every angle. Defying strict genre conventions, this is neither rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, nor Latin, but instead has a strong flavor of all of them. Best just to call it popcorn then, and really superior popcorn it is. On the other side, as ever, another winner for your money: a female vocal-led mid-'50s big band R&B showstopper in the form of "Ooo-Poppa-Doo" by Lilyann Carol.
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POPC 140EP
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Originally recorded in 1946 by Merle Travis, "Sixteen Tons" went on to become a standard in many circles, and somewhat against the grain, it's an example of a song originally performed by a country artist that crossed over widely into jazz and blues circles. So it is that we have a cracking popcorn R&B-style rendition from Eugene Church here, swinging and as snappy as you like. On the back, a top side from the great Titus Turner, whistling and singing an ode to a girl named "Coralee."
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POPC 138EP
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Most prolific as a session player, Buddy Lucas nevertheless recorded a good-sized handful of truly great R&B sides through the '50s. His "I Can't Go" is probably the most dancefloor-friendly, a stripped-back exercise in rhythm, riff, and atmosphere. Flip it over for a slow 'n' sleazy number about an unwanted encounter with a pesky fly.
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POPC 141EP
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Beautiful group vocal rhythm and blues from Vernon Green & The Medallions. "A Lover's Prayer" is a shouldering gem guaranteed to get the dancefloor moving. Laid back, subtle, and played in minor key, the song also epitomizes the kind of moody mid-tempo R&B tunes that caught on with the Belgian popcorn scene -- records with an understated feel that meant they were likely neglected on other music scenes for a good while. But not now!
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POPC 139EP
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"St. James Infirmary" has existed in American folk traditions since the 18th or 19th century, but it entered the modern popular music lexicon with Louis Armstrong's 1928 rendition, after which numerous blues and jazz singers recorded perhaps a thousand times or more. Hal Waters's fantastic version from 1960 is notably up-tempo and swinging, complete with conga drum breakdowns and jazzy horn stabs. Gene Stridel's "Let Her Go" is a riff on "St. James Infirmary," with lyrics that play out as a kind of sequel to the original. The backing music, mid-tempo and heavy on atmosphere and drama, is pure popcorn!
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POPC 137EP
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Two male vocal sides, topped with Billy Williams's "Pied Piper," a pretty up-tempo sound by popcorn standards, but undeniably full of character and easy charm. Much the same could be said of "Too Much Rosita" from Nick Todd (interestingly enough the younger brother of Pat Boone), a swinging little number very much in the Belgian mold.
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POPC 132EP
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Originally recorded in 1936 as "Weed Smoker's Dream" by The Harlem Hamfats, the drug references were significantly toned down for Lil Green's 1941 update "Why Don't You Do Right." Since then the song has become a jazz standard, perhaps reaching a peak of fame with its inclusion in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Paired here are two smoldering, female vocal takes on the song, both from the late '50s R&B era so cherished by popcorn collectors and DJs.
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POPC 136EP
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Two beautiful covers of Eden Ahbez's evergreen standard, "Nature Boy." As first recorded in 1948 by Nat King Cole, the song went on to be performed by just about everybody, from Frank Sinatra to David Bowie! Here, two complimentary versions by female jazz vocalists -- Etta Jones and Lorez Alexandria -- both slow, sultry, and simmering, tipping them into the popcorn sphere.
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POPC 134EP
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Two sublime sides from femme fatale Sylvie Mora. Both "Summertime" and "Taboo" are of course well established standards, but the treatment here of each is really unique. "Summertime" gets a truly expansive work-over, switching between soft- and slow-paced a cappella vocal sections that then erupt into explosive brass- and drum-led riffs. On the other side, "Taboo," perhaps the quintessential jazz exotica work of the early- to mid-century, sounds more seductive than ever before by virtue of Mora's sultry, slinky vocals, and once again the backing orchestra is fantastic.
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POPC 135EP
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Two contrasting takes on the biblical tale of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Vocal group The Wanderers' version is an up-tempo, bopping doo-wop rocker, while jazz siren Ruth Price performs an almost scat vocal over a sparse but energetic beatnik-style drum backing.
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POPC 131EP
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Two low-down, sleazy, moody popcorn masterpieces from the deep, deep baritone-voiced Jimmy Ricks and his backing group The Raves. "Daddy Rolling Stone" is a great mid-tempo cover of Otis Blackwell's signature piece with a swinging, early soul feel, while "Homesick" is a downbeat, bluesy piece which evokes the atmosphere of traditional gospel spirituals.
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POPC 128EP
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Just in time for the summer, rather appropriately, here's two glorious renditions of Gershwin's evergreen "Summertime." Female singer Carl Henry Hall's version works the timeless melody into a groovy, horn-led riff which keeps on building. A great dancefloor worker. On the flip, Jimmy Randolph's take is a slower, jazzier piece, with finger-snapping rhythm and swaggering, deep male vocals.
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POPC 130EP
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Linda Willoby's "Big Boy You're Through" is a smooth and slinky, minor-key popcorn gem that oozes class. Downtempo, sophisticated, jazzy and moody, this is the kind of sound which defines the popcorn genre. An obscure one for sure, and very scarce on its original release. The flipside features a more upbeat R&B mover from Bobby Brookes, and a cracker in its own right, making this another essential two-sider.
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POPC 129EP
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Long-established R&B essential floor-packer that has somehow not been reissued until now. From Sonny Til's long-running Baltimore-based vocal group The Orioles, this was cut in 1962 and carries that nascent early soul sound that still sounds so fresh all these years later.
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POPC 127EP
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More brooding, dancefloor popcorn R&B, this time featuring the sweet and sassy tones of jazz siren Dakota Staton. "A Little You" is a real swinging, finger-snapping, romping humdinger, with a great sleazy sax riff and solo. On the flip-side, a jazzed-up, big band workout on Little Walter's Chicago blues classic "My Babe."
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POPC 125EP
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Two super-nice early '60s versions of an age-old spiritual, here given a popcorn R&B feel, with a low tempo still prime for the dancefloor, and vocals from some of the best voices in soul and R&B history -- Jackie Wilson and Linda Hopkins on the top side, and Big Maybelle on the reverse. Both versions were previously only available on albums, making this handy pairing their 45rpm debut, and a great DJ tool.
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