Novelty pop from two American sisters of Italian origin. About their teachers telling them off after a visit to the zoo (?!). Their portrayal of authority figures is very like that in Charlie Brown - "wha wha wha whaaa....".
from the single Straighten Up And Fly Right (Sunbeam S-106)
An underrated, forgotten gem of perfect sunshine pop. Why this is rather little known is completely beyond me, since the song just has it all: breezy, swirling, lush strings, tight rhythm section, sweeping french horns and great male/female vocal harmonies. It's an uplifting uptempo song, pretty much in the vein of the 5th Dimensions' "Up, Up and Away".
from Flying Up Through The Sky (Gear Fab GF168), available on CD
17 Apr 07 ·artlongjr: This is gorgeous! Great title, too. I've never heard of this band before. 24 Jun 09 ·Major Minor: YES! The Oxfords have three of my favorite Sunshine Pop tracks: Flying Up through the sky, My world and Lighter than air... all great sunshine pop... however be warned much of the rest of the album seems to my ears to be fairly awkward Blues rock attempts that just don't work to my ears.... but those three tracks are Sunshine Pop perfection!
When you consider just how wonderful it is, Les Baxter's 'exotic' work is under-represented on this site. From a superb and reasonably easy-to-find album, this cut is an intoxicating mix of shimmering 50s style strings and gentle bongo rhythms.
'Nightingale' is a Xavier Cugat original that is very much in the style of classic Lecuona songs like 'Taboo'. Melodically, it also reminds me of another standard, 'Invitation'.
from Carribean Moonlight (Capitol T-733) available on CD - The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter (Capitol)