Pérez Prado Best Selection

Universally known as the King of the Mambo, Pérez Prado was the single most important musician involved in the hugely popular Latin dance craze. Whether he actually created the rhythm is somewhat disputed, but it's abundantly clear that Prado developed it into a bright, swinging style with massive appeal for dancers of all backgrounds and classes. Prado's mambo was filled with piercing high-register trumpets, undulating saxophone counterpoint, atmospheric organ (later on), and harmonic ideas borrowed from jazz. While his tight percussion arrangements allowed for little improvisation, they were dense and sharply focused, keeping the underlying syncopations easy for dancers to follow. Prado played the piano, but was often more in his element as the focal point of the audience's excitement; he leaped, kicked, danced, shouted, grunted, and exhorted his musicians with a dynamic stage presence that put many more sedate conductors and bandleaders to shame. With this blueprint, Prado brought mambo all the way into the pop mainstream, inspiring countless imitators and scoring two number one singles on the pop charts (albeit in a smoother vein than the fare that first made his name) as the fad snowballed. He was a star throughout most of the Western Hemisphere during the '50s, and even after his popularity waned in the United States, he remained a widely respected figure in many Latin countries, especially his adopted home of Mexico.

5CD box set anthology of the legendary instrumental rock band including their greatest hits, covers from Japanese pop bands like Southern Allstars and The Spiders, film music and live recordings from their Japanese tour!

Best Selection captures great moments of Yellow Magic Orchestra during their golden period, between 1978 and 1981. The record is also a good way to discover the band as it is mainly composed of two parts: the first one is consecrated to punchy synth pop tracks from their first albums of the 70s, whereas the second part is dedicated to their darker 80s' cold wave pieces.

40/40: The Best Selection is a comprehensive double-disc career overview of Olivia Newton-John designed to celebrate her four decades in show business. Yes, the compilation runs 40 tracks, but this is not designed to showcase each era of Olivia's career in equal measure. Perhaps there are a few more latter-day cuts than most audiences would know, and maybe there are a few more early tracks than needed, but all the big hits are here, from the early mellow country-rock to the slick soft rock and melodic disco of the turn of the '80s. Compared to the U.S. compilation Gold, this isn't quite as good - there's too much of the two bookends of a long career - but it does have what most casual audiences require: all the hits, all sounding as good as they ever have.

Sam Taylor - Best Selection (2013) {Universal Japan SHM-CD UICY-15212 rec 1950's-1960's}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 385 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 143 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1950's-60's, 2013 Universal / USM Japan | UICY-15212
Jazz / Jazz Blues / Saxophone

The 2009 compilation album Best Selection brings together a nice cross section of saxophonist Sam Taylor's recordings from the '50s and '60s. Included are such songs as "Harlem Nocturne," "Danny Boy," "Red Sails in the Sunset," and many others.