As it's Christmas, and we've already observed the tradition of Roasting The Bono, I thought we'd follow that up with a few Carols. Feel free to sing along if you know the words...
THE CAROLS #1
We start today with some Detroit Carols, led by Tommy Edwards, active since the late
40s when they won an amateur contest at the Frolic Show Bar. Included below are
the A and B sides of their first release on CBS… “Drink Gin” was not well
reviewed in Billboard, to say the least.
The Carols - Please Believe In Me / Drink Gin
THE CAROLS #2
Next up, some LA-based bluesy-vocal harmony Carols from 1957…
The
Carols – My Search Is Over
THE CARROLS #3
One time only backing singers for Brenda Holloway on this
track from 1964…
Brenda Holloway & The Carrolls – I Ain’t Gonna Take You Back
THE CAROLS #4
Three British sisters from the late 60s – Caroline, Helen
and Marion Samuels – but only one of them won the band name competition. Were
also known as The Carolines, to rub salt further into that sibling-rivalry
wound.
The
Carols - Everyday I Have To Cry Some
THE CARROLS #5
From 1966, here’s a Scouse band whose actual surname was Carroll – led by Eunice, with her three brothers, Lee, Ron and Mike. Eunice
would later change her name to Faith Brown and broaden her act to include
comedy and impressions… here she is with Sooty & Sweep.
The Carrolls – Surrender Your Love
CAROL #6
Carol, singular, a Japanese rockabilly band from the esteemed year of 1972.
CAROL #7
And another one - a very 1981-sounding Carol from Belgian. She would later
join the band Rive Gauche.
CAROL #8
Wannabe Lionel Richie, with his bontempi keyboard, from New Britain,
Connecticut, in 1985.
Carol – All I The Game Of Love
CAROL #9
Turn your speaker down before listening to these hardcore
punks from Germany in 1996. Prefab Sprout, they ain’t!
CAROLS #10
No definite article for these Carols from Seattle in 2014. “I
might record vocals on this later once I get around to buying a good vocal mic,”
the lead (only?) Carol admits on her bandcamp page. I’m presuming she’s still
saving up. Still, at least there’s a Christmas connection in the song title.
It’s A Wonderful Life… if you don’t weaken.
THE CARROLS #11
Belgium Britpop-influenced Carrolls from 2015…
The Carrolls - Waltz For Those Who Know It Ain't No Waltz
C.A.R.O.L.S. #12
New York “½ man/½ woman” Carols with a festive-sounding offering from 2017.
THE CAROLS #13
Punky Carols from Seattle in 2018…
THE CARROLS #14
Jangly indie from 2020 made by West Yorkshire lads Andrew
Pankhust and Robert Kennedy – one now lives in London, the other in Scotland,
and they hadn’t met in person for 10 years when they recorded this, via the
interweb, doing the covid lockdown. Far more information than you will ever
need to know about them can be found on their bandcamp page.
CARROL #15
Finally, bang up to date for this Philadelphia Carroll who
haven’t yet worked out how to take a photo without red eye.
Which Carol makes you go Fa-la-la-la-laa la-la-la-laa?
#3 is the best song but that is solely down to Brenda Holloway not the backing singers so I'm not counting that.
ReplyDelete#5 is probably the pick of the bunch, #4 next. In both cases greatly helped by covering songs by great songwriters.
Although the Japanophile in me has a passing interest in #6, predictably it's #11 and #14 - Britpop-influenced Belgians and jangly indie - that do it for me.
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