Tommy Hunt - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

Warning! This record is not cut for the dancefloor and certainly not for the faint of heart. I love a good heartbreak record. In times where I've got something good going they help me appreciate what I've got. During blue days, they are the best companion I can think off. Nothing helps more than a good Soul record to really let it all hang out.

Tommy Hunt's version of this great Burt Bacharach song is about as good as a heartbreak record gets. The feeling is, I think, universal. Everybody goes through this after they lost a love. You really do need to refind yourself, find ways to deal with yourself. Everybody has been there, but it is good to have big men like mister Hunt to remind you of that.



Available on The Biggest Man

Ned Towns - BINGO!

My grandmother loves to play bingo. Unfortunately she's too old to shake her hips to this curious 45. I never had the stomach for bingo, I simply couldn't stand the tension. This fine platter is the ultimate tension releaver though. I never knew my granny had this much fun! B-I-N-G-O!!!

Marv Johnson - Come on and Stop

Nobody pleads quite as convincing and casually as Marv Johnson. Particulary on this great record produced by the late great Bert Berns. Most Pop and rock fans know Berns because of his affiliation with the young Van Morrison. But Berns produced some of the finest R&B singles of the sixties. In creativity he could easily compete with Phil Spector or Leiber & Stoller. His use of symphonic influences and exotic rhythms was a huge influence on the Beatles and their generation.

Come on and Stop is one of his most catching and overlooked 45s in my book. It perfectly captures how we sometimes in our playfulness and carelessness manage to hurt those closest. Marv's plea illustrates how hard it is not to. In other words, this is a killer make up and kiss record. The dancing is just a bonus on this one.



Available on The Bert Berns Story Volume 1: Twist & Shout 1960-1964

The Jewels Smokie Joe's

There are lots of Smokie Joe's in the world of R&B. Most famously used in a song by the Coasters. Maybe it is a real place, I don't know. If it is, it sure sounds like a hell of a party on most records. My favourite Smokie's is the one by the Jewels. This fine mover was written by Ashford and Simpson, who went on to do great things at Motown. The record was produced by James Brown. So the Jewels kind of sound like the love child of Berry Gordy and the hardest working man in show business.



Available on The Real Thing: The Songs of Ashford, Simpson and Armstead