Not My Vinyl Sharity

I've had a copy of this album, A Midnight Christmas Mess, for close to twenty years, and I was going to rip and post it for the holidays--but The Tuna Melt has beaten me to the punch! I recommend this album for the wonderful Screaming Jay Hawkins track, "It's Christmas (Time for Giving)," which is super-fantastic, the girl-group Wednesday Week's "Christmastime Here," a celebration of yuletide Manahttan (and a critique of the holiday experience everywhere else), and The Point's "On Comet," which is just sweet reindeer-oriented pop. Following proper etiquette, I'm linking the blog, not the link. So let me encourage you to visit, do some reading, and get the album.

The Tuna Melt also has Midnight's sequel album, which I am presently enjoying.

This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

Various Artists, RCA Victor Pop Shopper (RCA, 1955)

This label sampler is pretty much what it claims to be: a bunch of mid-fifties popular music free of Rhythm-and-Blues and Rock-and-Roll. There are some nice selections--the Como isn't that bad, there's Prado, and who doesn't like Eartha Kitt? The Geller seems to be part of a really weird, ambitious project, and the Natural Seven is pretty fun. I thought the Hank Snow to be a particular treat.

Track listing:

1. It's a Good Day - Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres' Orchestra and The Ray Charles Singers
2. The Rivers - Harry Geller and His Orchestra
3. They All Laughed - Jaye P. Morgan with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra
4. Corrine, Corrina - Chet Atkins
5. Jack's Kinda Swing - Al Cohn's Natural Seven
6. France: Le Rêve Passe, Auprès de Ma Blonde, Il Était une Bergère - The George Melachrino Orchestra
7. Hey Jacques - Eartha Kitt with Henri René's Orchestra and Chorus
8. Voodoo Suite (Part I) - Perez Prado and His Orchestra, Featuring Shorty Rogers
9. Cuba Rhumba - Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger, and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
10. Solo for Joe - Sauter-Finegan Orchestra
11. The Wayfaring Stranger - Eddy Arnold
12. Pump - Milton Hinton

The .zip file is right here at rapidshare.com.