Our pal DJ Pete Pop is the King of Boss Action in the Newburgh area and everyone knows it. So, when the groovy waterfront tiki bar Jet Set desired groovy music on a Friday night, Pete Pop got the call. He assembled a few DJs, including Martiki and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, added the exotic Watusi dancer Sheba Shake and called the event Jet Set a’ Go-Go. It took place on September 22nd and it went off with a bang.
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo OmnibusMartikiPete Pop
The pink flamingo at Jet Set!
The Jet Set is a super fabulous exotika bar located in the heart of Newburgh’s waterfront. It’s got a swingin’ modernist vibe and totally happening atmosphere. One can watch boats float up and down the mighty Hudson River as one eats the delicious vittles that the joint has to offer. Plus, these folks know how to mix a drink.
Sheba!Sheba!!Sheba!!!
On that particular Friday, it was definitely the place to be. The Jet Set’s palatial rooms were echoing with the fabulous music these DJs played. Sheba Shake even took some time away from holding up the bar to delight folks with her artistic rhythmic gyrations. That’s not all, Miss Nancy the official Boogaloo Bag photographer has become the Boogaloo Baker with her vegan brownies and chocolate cookies—so yummy!!!
Miss Nancy’s yummy treats!
This just in: Management of the Jet Set have shown interest in making the Jet Set a’ Go-Go scene happen every Friday! Wow, that Pete Pop is going to be busy!
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at Pete Pop’s Jet Set a’ Go-Go:
This is The GO Mechanism, an audio odyssey that will take you through a journey to the empty place in my fire engine. It is hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and initially airs as a Saturday Night Special on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle—this one on September 23. It is important for the listener to reference this Boogaloo Bag entry when digging the GO in order to reach a full understanding of The GO experience. During the audio portion of the program, songs are not back-announced so this information may be helpful.
An hour into the trip there is a Science Corner—the segment of the show were TheGO Mechanism producers bring a subject of no importance to your attention. For this edition of The GO Mechanism, we present three great rhythm & blues records that deal with Santa Claus.
First up is “Santa Done Got Hip” by The Marquees. This was a vocal group from Los Angeles and shouldn’t be confused with several other groups of the same or similar name, especially the group from Washington, D.C. that included a young Marvin Gaye. Somehow, this group was under the guidance of brothers Bob and Dick Sherman. With the Sherman brothers writing most of the songs, The Marquees released three professionally sounding records on Warner Bros. Records—including “Santa Done Got Hip,” which they co-wrote with The Marquees’ singer Andrew Fisher. Around this time, the Shermans wrote a hit for Annette Funicello which brought them to the attention of Walt Disney Productions where they would ply their trade for about a dozen Disney musicals. The Marquees, however, weren’t so lucky. In fact, no one seems to know the names of all the members of the group.
“Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby)” was written by Devora Brown, who was co-owner, along with her husband, of Fortune Records, a small but mighty company based in Detroit. Singer Nathaniel Mayer was one of the label’s stars and his earthy, expressive voice brings this record home. For more information on Nathaniel Mayer and Fortune Records it is strongly suggested that one reads Mind Over Matter: The Myths & Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records (Kicks Books). Written by Billy Miller and Michael Hurt, they tell Nathaniel Mayer’s story way better than any attempt by The Boogaloo Bag writers.
Choker Campbell
Not much is known about Horace Williams, whose “Santa Goofed (And Fell Off the Roof)” is another great Santa Claus record. One would suspect that he is another Detroit singer, as this record was issued on Magic City—another independent Motor City record company. However, we know a lot about the leader of the backing band—Choker Campbell. Campbell was a tenor saxophonist who cut some jump blues 78s in the late forties and early fifties, during which time he also led a band that backed artists on tour and he recorded with Big Joe Turner. During the sixties, Campbell was the touring bandleader for Motown Records revues. He also cut a cool album of instrumentals for Motown.
Tapper Zukie is a Jamaican toaster who may still be around. “Man a Warrior” is from the album of the same name that was reissued in the U.S. on Mer Records—a company run by Lenny Kaye. We dig this track for its clever use of the “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” bass riff.
About a dozen years ago, The GO Mechanism producers purchased some records from a friend who often traveled to Thailand. This one, “Waiting for an Answer” by Yordrak Salakjai, is one of our favorites. Salakjai, whose real name was Niphon Praiwan, was a popular singer in Thailand and he seems to also have been a police corporal. He died of liver cancer in 2008 at the age of 52.
Les Yper Sound was a rock/pop project by French composers Michel Colombier and Pierre Henry. Colombier composed the score for a bunch of movies and worked with pop stars. Henry was pioneer in electronic music. A 1967 collaboration resulted in four very groovy attempts at mixing electronic concrète sounds with pop music. The songs appeared on an EP in France, and then an album. In the U.S., the album was called Mass for Today/The Green Queen on Limelight Records. One of the songs, “Psyché Rock,” was the basis for the theme to the cartoon show Futurama. “Teen Tonic,” the track heard in this episode of The GO Mechanism, was issued as a single in America as “Far Out” but credited to The Hip Sound. And so it is.
In GO Mechanism Number Fifteen, we heard a B-side of a Phil Spector-produced record by The Ronettes that didn’t feature any Ronettes. It was an instrumental. GO Eighteen presents another B-side instrumental, “Nino & Sonny (Big Trouble).” It is the flip to Darlene Love’s “A Fine Fine Boy.” “Nino” refers to Nino Tempo, who was a sax player on many of the records Phil Spector produced and it is most likely Tempo taking the first chorus. “Sonny” refers to Sonny Bono who played percussion on some of Spector’s records and perhaps it is he on the vibraphone. Like the other instrumental, this track fades exactly at the two-minute mark.
Just before we get into The Science Corner, Ranking Jeffrey Lee performs a novelty number called “This Old Hammer” and it is presented here for the first time anywhere. This is Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who was writing songs long before he formed The Gun Club. His early band, The Red Lights, cut some demos that were actually released a few years ago. Some time between The Red Lights and The Gun Club, he handed GO Mechanism host Phast Phreddie a tape of songs he recorded on an acoustic guitar (most of them have appeared on the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series of previously unreleased songs). “This Old Hammer” was on the tape. Incidentally, no cats were harmed during the recording of the track and The GO Mechanism producers do not endorse the message of the song.
Big Jay McNeely is one of the most fabulous tenor saxophonists of all time—man that cat can honk! However, presented here in The GO is a more relaxed, jazzy performance by him called “Whipped Cream.” It is from his album Big “J” in 3-D.
Susan Barrett was a cabaret singer whose repertoire consisted mostly of show tunes and similar ditties. She cut two albums for Capitol (1959, 1960), two singles for Philips (1963, 1965), four more singles and an LP for RCA Victor (1966, 1967). The best ones are the two Philips singles (including a fantastic version of “Chico’s Girl”) and this RCA Victor 45 with her cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “It’s No Secret” backed with her version of “What’s It Gonna Be,” a track made famous by Dusty Springfield—but Barrett’s may have been the first one released. She was also known as Marie and she was married to the songwriter/bluegrass performer John Hartford.
The Spiders were a Japanese rock’n’roll band from the sixties. In Japan, they were one of the most popular proponents of the Group Sound movement. The group recorded nine albums, more than 40 singles and appeared in about a dozen movies. The song presented here, “Mira Mira,” is from a double 7” EP soundtrack to a movie called Attack of the Spiders.
Bob Seger & the Last Heard
In this episode of The GO Mechanism, we close with another Greatest Record Of All Time. Here is another Santa Claus record, but a rockin’ one by Bob Seger & the Last Heard. Yes, this is the same Bob Seger who came to prominence during the seventies with his take on corporate rock. However, in 1966 and 1967, Bob Seger & the Last Heard released five fantastic singles. In a perfect world, Bob Seger would be inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame for these records alone! One of these 45s is “Sock It to Me Santa.” It starts by riffing on James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” then goes on to raise some Xmas hell! It is a tremendous achievement in recorded sound and it is most definitely one of the Greatest Records Of All Time!
The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it and it incorporates exclusive, copyrighted Vitaphonic, Ultra-sonic and Quasi-Tonal methods in order to provide a higher standard of standardness. Legacy GO Mechanisms may be found on the Mixclouds as well as here in the Boogaloo Bag.
The GO Mechanism originates on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. We thank the Luxuria Music powers-that-be for giving us the opportunity to present this program over their deluxe electronic audio delivery system for your edification. Please support Luxuria Music any way you can. We suggest you get as much money as you can—preferably unmarked tens and twenties—load it all into a shoe box and send it to Luxuria Music. Or just go to the Luxuria Music web site and buy something from the store.
Here is a complete list of all the songs played on GO Mechanism Number Eighteen:
…That’s the day I’ll always remember, because that’s the day of the Seafood Boil at the Funky Brunch! For this event, DJ Pete Pop asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to join him in order to swing at Mama Roux. This was a particularly fun Funky Brunch since it was the day before Labor Day—no school the next day—which called for a Seafood Boil to be tacked on at the end.
The Boog and Pete Pop swing at the Funky Brunch!Pete Pop does his thing at the Funky Brunch!
Plus, the Funky Brunch DJ crew were able to partake in some especially good Mama Roux vittles! Pete Pop had the shrimp & grits, Boogaloo Bag photographer Miss Nancy had the Burrata Shakshuka (man, she loves that!) and the Phast Man had a shrimp po’boy.
DJ Pete Pop and the Phast One played their usual assortment of funk, mambo and New Orleans records—the kind that keeps the Funky Brunch faithful coming back for more every week. The two DJs played records until about five o’clock or so, then packed up. Afterwords, a seafood boil event took place on Mama’s outdoor patio. The local New Orleans music band The Big Easy Crewe played some funky rhythms and everybody chowed heavy on the seafood boil—a stew of sorts that included crabs, crawfish, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes and spicy sausages in a yummy broth. How do the Mama Roux folks do it? Food is GOOOOOOD!!!
Shrimp & GritsBurrata ShakshukaShrimp Po’Boy
The Big Easy Krewe
Seafood Boil!
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Funky Brunch:
boogaloobag 