This Month's Thrift Store Vinyl Sharity

Poco Loco Guitars Plus Brass, Love Songs South of the Border (Power/ Apple Honey Series, <1966)

This undated budget release is pretty much a mystery: the act and label aren’t well-known, and there’s not a lot of information on the web. There are two other Poco Loco albums; all are on the Power/Apple label. Love Songs seems to be their second release. The first is Si, Si, Señor Bandido (Apple Honey 399), and Lightly Latin (Apple Honey 401) is the third. This site claims that Lightly Latin is a 1966 release. Power/Apple Honey also had another Latin Brass act called the Bravado Brass. Their album Brass Busters was Power/Apple Honey 411. Perhaps they were the same studio talent.

As for this album, while there are guitars, there’s also a lot of piano; it just isn’t a very guitar-focused production. I suspect that this is a generic in-house studio jazz combo; they do the Latin flair pretty well, but there’s no way these performers would call themselves the Poco-Loco Guitars.

As for this budget label, Power/Apple Honey seems to be related to a SPC of Newark NJ. A Power Records was later a sister label to Peter Pan Records, which also was headquartered in Newark. Maybe these Powers are the same; Peter Pan had a couple of relatively generic “adult” labels in the 1990s, too. Now the company is called InspiredCorp, selling adult fitness material as well as kid’s records.

The album tracks and art are available here.

Poco Loco Guitars Plus Brass, Love Songs South of the Border
Power/ Apple Honey Series S-400 (SPC, Newark NJ)
Side 1: Adios Marquita Linda; Estrellita; La Paloma; Noche de Rondo; Cielito Lindo
Side 2: Amor; Besame Mucho; Sabor Ami; Magic is Moonlight; Maria Elena