I'LL TAKE LAS VEGAS: A LOUNGE COMPILATION

As I wrote last year, "Here's a repost of a lounge singer's original ode to Vegas (Mike Hudson - "I'll Take Las Vegas") and a slew of brilliant and/or hilarious lounge versions of rock hits performed by totally unknown (well, except for Louis Prima, of course) performers' private press releases that were probably only available at their shows (often autographed), which I have lovingly ripped from vinyl. I've been collecting these for years, searching used record store bargain bins, garage sales, and thrift shops."

These are tunes that I've posted here over the years, and since they got knocked off-line, I've thrown 'em into a zip folder, along with stuff like Paul Anka's version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," though it is most certainly not a lounge record in the strictest sense - it was released on a proper label, not a private press, and Anka is, of course, a main-room headliner, not an obscure lounge cat playing 3 shows a night, six nights a week.

New! Some very brief TV production tunes by Moog-master Mort Garson, a swingin' instrumental cover of the Kinks' "All Day & All The Night," finger-snappin' singers doing CCR's "Proud Mary" and The Who's "I Can See For Miles," a non-surf version of "Miserlou," and another jaw-droppingly hideous medley from Art Casara (by request!), a guy I first featured on the 365 Days Project.

It's always special when a lounge album features, amongst the predictable standards, original compositions, and we have a few here: the title track, and songs about tennis, and Los Angeles.

Let's be honest: there's often a reason why these cats never made it out of the lounge to the big time. These albums can be a bit bland sometimes, but they're worth picking up for those occasional amazing, transcendental tracks (as featured here) that reward the patient crate-digger, and because these albums have no collector's value and can be had for next to nuthin'.

I'll Take Las Vegas

01 Mike Hudson - I'll Take Las Vegas 02 Paul Anka - smells like teen spirit 03 Mort Garson - TV Production Music4 04 Frankie Randall - I Can See For Miles 05 Chet DeMilo - Sunshine Superman-The In Crowd 06 Carmen D'Oro - Something 07 Mort Garson - TV Production Music2 08 Louis Prima - Mrs Robinson 09 Keith Williams Big Band - Proud Mary 10 Black Diamond - I'm a Believer 11 Mort Garson - TV Production Music6 12 Kathy & Tony Rich - Miserlou 13 Camarata (feat.Tuttis Trombones) - All Day and All The Night 14 The Note-ables - Roll over Beethoven 15 Mort Garson - TV Production Music5 16 Dick Burns - Bad Bad Leroy Brown-All of Me 17 Everett Covin - Everybody's Playing Tennis 18 Mort Garson - TV Production Music1 19 Jose Maria Band - Light My Fire 20 Candi - Philadelphia Freedom 21 Don Ho - Hawaii5-0 QuietVillage 22 New York New York - Bill Lamphier 23 Murray Ross - You've Got It L.A. 24 Mort Garson - TV Production Music3 25 Wayne & Marin Foster - (Can't Get No) Satisfaction 26 Art Casara - Medley No.1 (If You Really Love Me/For Once In My Life/Who Can I Turn To)