Song Of The Day 11/30/2012: James Last - "Voodoo Ladys Love"

German bandleader James Last may be, and I say this with all affection, the tackiest musician to ever stroll the byways of the earth. He really has no American equivalent, especially with his unexpected longevity. In Europe he's huge, having released a series of records under the umbrella title Non Stop Dancing. They were sort of like third-generation photocopies of whatever was popular at the time, and a possible precursor to the lamentable "Stars On 45" fad of the disco era. He did have one American Top 40 entry, "The Seduction," which was the "love theme" to American Gigolo. It peaked at #28. #22 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

But forget all that, because he also released a head-scratching platter of Awesome called Voodoo-Party in 1972. For the most part this album is "influenced" by voodoo culture, represented here with bongos and some respectable breakbeats. Maybe not as impactful as the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," but perfectly decent. Voodoo-Party also contains some extraordinarily silly vocals on the tracks "Mr. Giant Man" and today's SOTD, which only add to his reputation as a slightly more organized, less streetwise Herb Alpert. If you really want to piss off your teenage kids, or raise genuine concern from your parents, crank up the Last, baby. I waive all liability.