Now it's time to give these weird sounds the credit they deserved.
It's amazing; just LOOK WHAT I HAVE FOUND in thrift stores, second hand markets and sometimes even IN THE TRASH CAN.
Thanks to CD I was able to save these unusual tunes on 45 rpm 7" records. It's obvious that these 45s have been played a lot, so surface noice is almost obligatory. No hi-tek cd quality, but just back to the times where no one had ever heard of digital recording studios.
All the songs on these compilations are from the original 45 rpm records released prior to 1980 when CD took over the world of warm vinyl sounds. I've tried to exclude any song that's been compiled before, but as I don't own each and every compilation album ever made, there might be some songs that you already own on another compilation album. Look, listen and enjoy...
LABEL: In The Trash Can Records
CAT # : GARBAGE31
Subtitle: Stop Slop Top Pop - 16 songs by 6 artists and still no hit in their own Belgium
All together these Belgian artists released more than 100 singles between the late 50s and the early 70s and yet there wasn't a single top hit release. Some did enter the charts but it was not until years later that they finally got the credits they deserved...
(RCA Victor 74-16078 from 1970)
Andre Brasseur was the best known pop organ player in Belgium and maybe in Western Europe with his multi-sound organ one man band. He had a worldwide hit with his �Early bird, his second 45 released in 1965. �Scarabee� is unknown to most of us, but it still remains one of this best efforts.
2. cousins jack - the j.j. band
(Palette PB25.790 from 1968)
With a rocksteady r&b backbeat this instrumental by the Jess & James backing band who started first as Les Croque-Morts, Les Babs et Les Babbettes.
3. electricity - jack hammer
(Ronnex R1309 from 1963)
A jazzy sleazy vocal madison jiver by Earl S. Burroughs released after the great �Ali Ben Ghazi� 45 and prior to one of his hit singles �Kissing twist�.
4. money and love - brian
(Ronnex 1415 from 1969)
First I thought it was another Jess & James song because the beginning sounds like their �Something for nothing�, but then it turns into a happy pop tune with a fuzz guitar, an organ and the typical horns section. It�s one of his lesser known recordings. Few seem to remember that he wasn�t a Belgian singer. He lived in Belgium but he originated from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
5. waiting for you - andre brasseur
(Palette PB25.610 from 1967)
One of the very few vocal tracks by the one man band with his multi-sound organ. To me it sounds strange to hear Andre sing and it�s even weirder that the arrangements sound pretty bizarre for 1967; it could�ve been a 1970 recording, but no: it�s from 1967! Very rare 45!
6. venus - les chakachas
(RCA 47-9254 )
Sung in Spanish this homage to the goddess of love is an exciting cha cha tune.
7. move - jess and james
(Palette PB25.648 from 1967)
Move or a song about keep on dancing� People don�t dance as much as they used to. These Portuguese Belgian brothers brought Stax and Motown to Belgium and it�s no surprise that �Move� was smash hit and not only in Belgium. In the Spanish discotheques the gogo girls were swirling night after night to this dance tune.
8. spanish hully gully - the jokers
(Discostar 1072 from 1963)
A Mediterranean hully gully dancing song by The Jokers. In the 90s another Belgian instrumental band covered this song: Fifty Foot Combo. Actually they recorded a Jokers song for all their releases!
9. racing time - andre brasseur
(Path� 2C006-10.130 )
This must be a 70s release, but I can�t find the exact year. He released 3 or 4 singles on EMI Path� during the 70s, one of the best being this cool tune.
10. change - jess and james
(Palette PB25.881 from 1968)
A freaky Hammond groove tune with female backing vocals. It was their 6th single release and after this the J.J. Band left the brothers (see their members on the notes of the last song on this volume). Years later �Change� was reissued together with �Move� on EMI Bestseller.
11. stop slop - jack hammer
(Ronnex R1300 from 1963)
Jack Hammer was master of most of the dance crazes of the early 60s like the Madison, the twist, the boogie woogie, the slop, the bossanova, the cha cha, the mashed potato and even the charleston and of course the wiggle which made him world famous (at least in Belgium)
12. give and take - brian
(Ronnex R1385 from 1968)
Brian�s third 45 (of nine in two years time) and one of his biggest sellers together with his first 45 �Poinciana�. This could have been a Kasenetz-Katz release; crazy Belgian bubblegum. 13. now that you're gone - andre brasseur
(Palette PB25.610 from 1967)
And this is the flipside to his vocal recording �Waiting for you� and surprise surprise Andre is singing again and this time it�s about love, about the devil and about leaving town.
14. �a c'est du poulet - les chakachas
(RCA 47-9356 )
This is very rare occasion to hear Les Chakachas sing in French I was thinking, but only the song title is French, the rest is Spanish, as usual. Still this is high quality cha cha cha.
15. nicky's at the pc - the j.j. band
(Palette PB25.790 from 1968)
The J.J. Band included some very well known session musicians such as Francis Goya who had a worldwide hit with his �Nostalgia� and was a good friend of celebrities such as Jackie Collins and Michael Jackson. Further you could find Garcia Moralez, Douglas Lucas, Bruno Castelluci, Leslie Kent, Ralph Benatar and a lot more. As this is without Jess & James, it�s an instrumental of course and it should�ve been a discotheque a-go-go classic on mod parties, but because it failed to appear on a compilation nobody has ever heard of this heavy Hammond monster.
16. football boogie - the jokers
(EMI 4B006-60420 )
Another unfamiliar mid-60s recording by the Belgian Ventures. Twangy twangy bang bang stop slop top pop. No voice, just a swinging guitar tune as the end of this Belgian volume.
