Uploaded February 2015 | Updated September 2026, 27 minutes ago
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE CHARTS - 1979
Song that entered the charts : "Music Box Dancer"
Performed by : Frank Mills and His Orchestra
HCP = 3 - The song was composed by Frank Mills.
BERNIE LOWE
Bernie Lowe was an American songwriter / record producer / arranger / pianist and bandleader.
Lowe was the founder of Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He asked Freddie Bell to rewrite the lyrics of "Hound Dog" to appeal to a broader radio audience. Teen Records and the group had a regional hit with this version of the song, which was one of four songs the group did with Lowe. It was this same version that Elvis Presley heard in Las Vegas, Nevada, adopted, recorded, and made his own. Lowe went on to co-pen with Kal Mann the chart-topping song, "Teddy Bear", for the same singer.
Lowe founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Cameo Records in 1956, and Cameo was later expanded into the Cameo-Parkway Records label. The owners then signed a then unknown singer, Ernest Evans, to their burgeoning label. Evans would soon change his name to Chubby Checker, whose success helped Cameo-Parkway become one of the largest independent record labels in the United States. Lowe is credited with co-writing the song "Butterfly" which helped launch and further the career of Charlie Gracie, the eminent 1950s rock and roller, just as the term was entering into the cultural lexicon. Lowe also launched the careers of Dee Dee Sharp, Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, and The Tymes.
Lowe occasionally recorded some easy listening "big band style" albums, doing the arrangements, conducting and production all by himself.
CALCUTTA
An instrumental version by American bandleader and TV host Lawrence Welk on the 1961 Dot Records album Calcutta! was a chart hit, the most successful of Welk's career, and the only tango-based recording to hit nbr1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The tune was written in 1958 by the composer Heino Gaze. The original title was "Tivoli Melody", but it was re-titled several times, until it became known as "Calcutta". Hans Bradtke wrote the German lyrics, which made reference to the Indian city of Calcutta. The American songwriting team of Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss later wrote English lyrics, celebrating the charms of the "ladies of Calcutta."
Numerous versions (most of them instrumentals) were recorded by other bands and instrumentalists.
MHO
One of my all-time favourites is "Calcutta" (made famous by Lawrence Welk, see above) and here we can enjoy a big band version of the tune, recorded back in 1962 by "musical octopus" Bernie Lowe. Nice combination of melody and improvisation with the sax section doing most of the "work". Lot's of great music here in a downsized package ... Enjoy !
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE CHARTS - 1979
Song that entered the charts : "Music Box Dancer"
Performed by : Frank Mills and His Orchestra
HCP = 3 - The song was composed by Frank Mills.
BERNIE LOWE
Bernie Lowe was an American songwriter / record producer / arranger / pianist and bandleader.
Lowe was the founder of Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He asked Freddie Bell to rewrite the lyrics of "Hound Dog" to appeal to a broader radio audience. Teen Records and the group had a regional hit with this version of the song, which was one of four songs the group did with Lowe. It was this same version that Elvis Presley heard in Las Vegas, Nevada, adopted, recorded, and made his own. Lowe went on to co-pen with Kal Mann the chart-topping song, "Teddy Bear", for the same singer.
Lowe founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Cameo Records in 1956, and Cameo was later expanded into the Cameo-Parkway Records label. The owners then signed a then unknown singer, Ernest Evans, to their burgeoning label. Evans would soon change his name to Chubby Checker, whose success helped Cameo-Parkway become one of the largest independent record labels in the United States. Lowe is credited with co-writing the song "Butterfly" which helped launch and further the career of Charlie Gracie, the eminent 1950s rock and roller, just as the term was entering into the cultural lexicon. Lowe also launched the careers of Dee Dee Sharp, Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, and The Tymes.
Lowe occasionally recorded some easy listening "big band style" albums, doing the arrangements, conducting and production all by himself.
CALCUTTA
An instrumental version by American bandleader and TV host Lawrence Welk on the 1961 Dot Records album Calcutta! was a chart hit, the most successful of Welk's career, and the only tango-based recording to hit nbr1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The tune was written in 1958 by the composer Heino Gaze. The original title was "Tivoli Melody", but it was re-titled several times, until it became known as "Calcutta". Hans Bradtke wrote the German lyrics, which made reference to the Indian city of Calcutta. The American songwriting team of Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss later wrote English lyrics, celebrating the charms of the "ladies of Calcutta."
Numerous versions (most of them instrumentals) were recorded by other bands and instrumentalists.
MHO
One of my all-time favourites is "Calcutta" (made famous by Lawrence Welk, see above) and here we can enjoy a big band version of the tune, recorded back in 1962 by "musical octopus" Bernie Lowe. Nice combination of melody and improvisation with the sax section doing most of the "work". Lot's of great music here in a downsized package ... Enjoy !
