Jamaica Ska, Byron Lee & The Dragonaires (1964) Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee formed the Dragonaires while attending St. George’s College in the early 1950s. Originally playing mento Jamaican music, they expanded into calypso, soca, rock steady, reggae and ska. Their recording of Jamaica Ska was covered by Fishbone (with Annette Funicello) in the 1987 schlock comedy Back to the Beach.
Danny’s All-Star Joint, Rickie Lee Jones (1979) Rickie Lee Jones, aka The Duchess of Coolsville, “released her self-titled debut album in 1979 to critical and commercial success. It peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and spawned the hit single Chuck E.’s in Love, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went platinum later that year, and earned Jones four Grammy Award nominations in 1980. […] The album included guest appearances by Dr. John, Randy Newman, and Michael McDonald.” [Wiki] Note: Malwarebytes detected riskware at her official website.
[Top image: Paranoia panda balloon found here.
“Johnny Panda” was photographed during the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in the UK, 08 August 2026.]
Love Theme from The Flight of the Phoenix, The Brass Ring (1966)
The Brass Ring, a group of NYC studio musicians led by saxophonist and arranger Phil Bodner, turned a classic Italian song into The Now Sound (cigarette commercial music) popular in the 1960s. Senza fine (the original version) was written by Italian singer-songwriter Gino Paoli and first recorded in 1961 by Ornella Vanoni. The film version was recorded by Connie Francis, and retitled The Phoenix Love Theme.
