Wow! A website dedicated to bringing back dynamics into modern recordings. I applied there with Tiki Traveling. Hopefully they accept that recording. I will do my best to support the project. I recorded TTWKK in the consciousness of making an anti-loudness record. Being mainly for soundtrack use, I could more easily fight the temptation of being competitive with music recorded for radio, music-tv or a teenager’s music collection, but aimed for the late fifties/early sixties hifi stereo sound instead. Think Command LPs with Bauhaus covers (Enoch Light’s label). I mixed and mastered for a good, enduring listening experience.

These records say: Turn me up! Your stereo deserves being turned up as much as your guitar amp or vehicle. Simply sounds better. Dials are more precise up the scale, too.

I wrote about the so called loudness wars earlier on this blog.

Quote from Turn Me Up!

Turn Me Up!™ is a non-profit music industry organization
campaigning to give artists back the choice to release more dynamic records. To be clear, it’s not our goal to discourage loud records; they are, of course, a valid choice for many artists. We simply want to make the choice for a more dynamic record an option for artists. …

Turn Me Up! | Bringing Dynamics Back To Music

Here’s another link to an article on over-compression of music.

via Moritz ®

A film by Denny Tedesco
What is the Wrecking Crew?

The Wrecking Crew were a group of Studio Musicians in Los Angeles in the 60s who played on hits for the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, Jan & Dean, The Monkees, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mamas and Papas, Tijuana Brass, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Rivers and were Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. The amount of work that they were involved in was tremendous. …

here’s the trailer

Song List (the links go straight to iTunes):

5th Dimension
Let the Sunshine in/Aquarius
Stone Soul Picnic
Up Up and Away
One Less Bell to Answer

Association
Windy
Never My Love

Beach Boys
California Girls
Don’t Worry Baby
Fun Fun Fun
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
I Get Around
Sloop John B

Byrds
Mr. Tamborine Man
Turn Turn Turn

Glen Campbell
By The Time I Get to Phoenix
Gentle on My Mind
Wichita Lineman

Captain and Tennille
Love Will Keep Us Together

Carpenters
Close to You
We’ve Only Just Begun

Cher
Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
Half Breed

Chipmunks
Chipmunks Theme

Nat King Cole
Ramblin Rose

Sam Cooke
Twisting the Night Away
You Send Me

Crystals
And He Kissed Me
Da Doo Ron Ron
He’s A Rebel

Bobby Day
Rockin’ Robin

Defenders
Taco Wagon

Shelley Fabares
Johnny Angel

Richard Harris
MacArthur Park

Jan & Dean
Dead Man’s Curve
Surf City
Little Old Lady From Pasadena
Balboa Blue

Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Everybody Loves a Clown
Sure Gonna Miss Her
This Diamond Ring

Barry McGuire
Eve of Destruction

Mamas & Papas
California Dreaming
Creque Alley
Dedicated to the One I Love
Monday Monday

Henry Mancini
Pink Panther

Marketts
Out of Limits
Surfer Stomp

Dean Martin
Every Body Loves Somebody

Scott McKenzie
Are You Gonig to San Francisco

Monkees
Mary Mary
Valerie

Chris Montez
Let’s Dance

Ricky Nelson
Fools Rush In

Wayne Newton
Danke Schoen

Jack Nitzsche
Lonely Surfer

Harry Nilsson
Everybody’s Talking At Me (Echoes)

Partridge Family
Come on Get Happy

Elvis Presley
A Little Less Conversation
Viva Las Vegas

Paul Revere & the Raiders
Indian Reservation

Righteous Brothers
Unchained Melody
You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling

Rip Chords
Hey Little Cobra

Johnny Rivers
Poor Side of Town

Tommy Roe
Dizzy

Ronettes
Be My Baby
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Routers
Let’s Go

Sandpipers
Guantanamera

Lalo Schifren
Mission Impossible

Simon and Garfunkel
Mrs. Robinson

Frank Sinatra
Strangers in the Night
That’s Life

Nancy Sinatra
These Boots Were Made for Walking
Drummer Man

Sonny and Cher
The Beat Goes On
I Got You Babe

T-Bones
No Matter What Shape Your Stomach Is In

Nino Tempo & April Stevens
Deep Purple

Tijuana Brass
Lonely Bull
Spanish Flea
Taste of Honey
Whipped Cream
Zorba the Greek

Ike and Tina Turner
River Deep Mountain High

Ritchie Valens
Donna

Bobby Vee
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Ventures
Hawaii 5-O

Mason Williams
Classical Gas

Roger Williams
Born Free

Now I know which movie this tune is referring to in the Making Out At the Movies album by The Boss Guitars.
I think it’s a Vinnie Bell composition, going back to the Whistle Stop album. There’s also a 45 with a Fink reference in the band name, that’s yet another version.
The track’s title Bazooki refers to Vincent Bell’s invention, the Danelectro Bellzouki. This was the first electric twelve string guitar. And was developed because the greek bouzouki was becoming requested after the soundtrack to Never On A Sunday became such a hit.

Rat Pfink A Boo-Boo at YouTube

Quote from Lulu:

The Ventures The Story of The Ventures
by Del Halterman

Description:
The definitive historic account of The Ventures, the world’s number one instrumental group that had a worldwide smash hit in 1960 with “Walk-Don’t Run.” Their second biggest hit came nine years later with “Hawaii Five-0” but they didn’t quit there, continuing non-stop on a fifty-year career of touring and making wonderful instrumental recordings. …

Walk-Don’t Run – The Story of The Ventures by Del Halterman (Book) in Biographies & Memoirs

What I like about this is the spirit and performance. They obviously got the hang of surf instrumentals – great sound, especially the Fender Jazzmaster guitar. The songwriting is focused and quite enjoyable (maybe even more so on this track). They are young and play pretty tight and avoid approaching any sloppy pseudo guitar/drum/bass hero antics. The purity really comes across well. This music is meant to be played in a cool way, with a good punch. And let me tell you, three piece instrumental bands act under a big magnifying glass. You can really hear all the details – I can only second the comment somebody else made about them: Good Job!

Now this japanese guy is one hot Uke player, I tell you. Interesting to see Pacific Longboarder write about him:

‘08 Monday, 11 February 2008Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row) is recognized as one of the world’s top ukulele (oo-koo-LAY-lay) musicians, and one of the most jaw-dropping performers of any instrument. Renowned for lightning-fast fingers, revolutionary playing techniques, and wildly eclectic repertoire, Jake views the ukulele as an ‘untapped source of music with unlimited potential.’ It is no coincidence that Jake is the first ukulele player ever invited to perform as a solo artist at the Sydney Opera House! Playing jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco and rock, Jake plays beyond all musical boundaries.It began when his mother gave him a ukulele lesson at age four. ‘When I played my first chord I was hooked,’ says Jake. Evolving from the heavily amplified riffs that earned Jake the reputation as ‘Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele,’ now Jake masterfully extracts the pure ‘clean’ natural acoustic sound of the uke, delicately making a single note smile or cry on his most recent releases, Gently Weeps and My Life. The highlight of Gently Weeps is Jake’s cover of George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’ The video clip of Jake playing this in Central Park appeared on YouTube, and made Jake the medium’s first global superstar with over 3.5 million hits. When Jake had the honor of meeting Harrison’s widow, Olivia, backstage at his show with the Honolulu Symphony, she described feeling George’s presence with her when Jake played his rendition of Gently Weeps. From a modest beginnings at a Honolulu café, Jake has gone on to play at venues such as the House of Blues and The Knitting Factory (Los Angeles), The Birchmere (Alexandria, VA), Tipitina’s (New Orleans), Joe’s Pub and Knitting Factory (NYC), Ottawa Blues Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, The Bumbershoot Festival, The Fuji Rock Festival (Japan) and many others. Touring with Jimmy Buffett in ’05, ’06 and ’07 gave Jake ‘a priceless experience’ of playing to crowds of over 100,000. Jake’s first national TV slot was in December ’05 on NBC’s The Late Show with Conan O’Brien.

continue reading here Pacific Longboarder News / Reviews / Events

From DJ Lemonsqueezer:

Aloha hou!

FASCHING HAWAII
Rosenmontag 04.02.07 21.00 -4.00
Im Atomic Café,
Neuturmstr. 5 München

Live auf der Bühne: HONOLULU SIXPACK
Honolulu Sixpack spielen Hawaii Rock’n’Roll der mit Calypso, Surf
und anderen exotischen zutaten aufgelockert wird. Seit Ihrer Gründung
vor ca. 2 Jahren ging es in der Szene mit der Band steil nach oben.
Bisheriger Höhepunkt war sicher Ihr Openair Gig bei der legendären Hawaii
Party in Senigallia vor ca. 4000 begeisterten Fans. Mit Ihrer 6 Mann
Besetzung (incl. Ukulele, Lapsteel-guitar, Percussions, Piano & Organ)
bieten sie einen breiten, selten so live präsentierten Rock’n’Roll
Sound, der in die Beine geht!

& DJ Lemon Squeezer (Atomic Café) spielt:
Hawaiian Rock’n’Roll, Swing Hapa Haole Songs, Tamouré, Surf, Calypso,
Limbo & Latin Exotica

https://myspace.com/hularock
http://www.rock-a-hula.de/

Spreeblick made me aware of this interesting YouTube video. You have a guitar on your iPhone to play chords, single notes and even vibrato the notes. Well the vibrato needs work. It’s apparently called PocketGuitar. It won’t hurt your fingers as much as real steel strings, you can do it anywhere, but it’s not quite as sexy as a Mosrite or a Jaguar.

Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster authority and accomplished surf guitarist Mel Waldorf writes at Surf Guitar 101 about an american tv-show (HGTV) they (himself and Jessica Lindsay) participated in and got their home office re-designed.

This is when the action takes place
Air times:
.January 26, 2008 5:30 PM ET/PT
from the HGTV website:

‘Tropical Tiki Office
As avid collectors, homeowners Mel Waldorf and Jessica Lindsey have a jackpot of fun finds to use, so creating a very personalized space is easy. While incorporating bright and fun elements, host Karen McAloon and the Design Remix team give the room purpose, clear up clutter and form functioning workspaces. The result is a home office that’s practical, yet playful and as tempting as a tropical tiki island.’

Disclaimer: The show’s director strongly encouraged us to behave like imbeciles… we were acting…really.

I really would love to see this.

One of these days I have to learn them all, hopefully I already do some of them, without knowing their names. Exotic scales are what sets Surfmusic apart from earlier forms of instrumental rock’n’roll, and connects it with jazz (like early George Benson and Gabor Szabo) and Exotica.