Between 1945 band 1956 alone, Joe Turner scored 17 top ten hits on the R&B charts. The ten tracks featured here include his first big #1 hit "Honey Hush" from 1953, "Corrine, Corrina" and the rock-a-billy classic "Flip, Flop and Fly". Not to mention his original version of the title track, that Bill Haley was to later take into the top ten.

Whether you're a Swinger or a Greaser this disk will fit just as well between your Louis Jordan and Treniers collections as it would between your Bill Haley and Gene Vincent records. Without pioneers like Big Joe Turner, rock and roll would never have been born.

The Shadows "The Shadows Are Go!" (Scamp Records)
If you’re into the Ventures, Los Straitjackets, or any other surf greats, but have somehow missed out on the British quartet The Shadows, then this is your chance to rectify the omission. This is the first time a Shadows album is being made domestically in the States, and you couldn’t ask for a better introduction. This collection features 23 killer vintage cuts of Shadows surf, recorded between 1960 and 1966, including 12 of their top ten hits (4 number ones) and the themes from "Stingray" and "Thunderbirds". Even the artwork is cool, with models of the Shadows alongside the real Thunderbirds.

I grew up listening to the Shadows on the radio, but I had totally forgotten just how great they were. You see, back in England, these guys weren’t considered rebels or anything, they were just there! But while the Ventures were showing America that you don’t need vocals, they were back in Blighty doing the same thing.

BLUES JUMPERS "Wheels Start Turning" (Ridge Recordings 1997)
The Blues Jumpers are a six piece swing combo from Rutherford, New Jersey. They go more for the lighter side of swing jazz than the jump blues that their name would imply. This record would make good background music at your favorite piano bar, but I don’t see a need for swing kids to rush out and buy it. Having said that I would probably check the band out live, as sometimes recording don’t do a band justice, but I’d skip the CD.

BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY "You And Me And The Bottle Makes Three Tonight (Baby)" (EMI-Capital/Coolsville Records 1997) 3 track CD single.
All three tracks on this CD single are taken the self titled major label debut album by BBVD, but it is still worth getting due to the fact that it is a limited edition and has a great cover, which is an imitation of a match book, with the players heads forming the heads of the matches. You’re probably already familiar with the title cut, as it was featured in the movie Swingers. The other two cuts included here are the classic "Minnie the Moocher" and "Jumpin’ Jack".

VARIOUS ARTISTS "Swingers" (Miramax/Hollywood Records 1997)
The main reason to get this soundtrack, as far as I can see, is to get Big Bad Voodoo Daddy doing the Jungle Book classic "I Wanna Be Like You" (the other two BBVD cuts will be on their new album). If you do buy this record you will also get Louis Jordan’s "Knock Me A Kiss", as well as a few cocktail lounge classics by Bobby Darin, Dean Martin and Count Basie/Tony Bennett. 

SPIES WHO SURF "Calling All Martians" (Monsterdisc 1993)
The only real mistake the Spies Who Surf made was coming too soon. They were playing surf to enthusiastic crowds around Chicago before there was any kind of surf revival on a larger scale. Perhaps if they’d been a touring band they could have started it themselves, but if they were around today the crowds that dig Link Wray, Dick Dale, Los Straitjackets and the Exotics to name just a few would totally be into the Spies. Their one and only release was this 1993 disc "Calling All Martians" and for ages even this was really hard to find, but it is currently available direct from Monsterdisc, at (312) 266 5770 and it cost $15, but it's worth getting if you dig surf.