I'm a big fan of Taschen's books. So far I have purchased their two advertising books from the 1950s and 1960s. The 50s book is the newer edition with only some 350 pages, the first edition had over 900 pages, but it seams that it is out of print now. I was lucky to find the 60s book at the swank department store Harrods in London last year. If you are into Googie design or just like the colorful, simple, but yet elegant designs of that period, be sure to get the advertising series from Taschen.

This is a photo from Disneyland probably taken in the early 1970s. It depicts an attraction called The Peoplemover. It was meant as a demonstration of futuristic technology, suitable for moving people around urban centers, airports, shopping malls and what not. It was introduced in 1967 and took the passengers for a ride around Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Los Angeles, with the light weight tunes of Buddy Baker playing in the background. The ride was unfortunately closed in 1995.

This Jerry Lewis movie from 1963 is a real classic. It was scored by Walter Scharf, with additional songs by Les Brown and Jimmy McHugh. The score is still unreleased so I've decided to record the music from the 5.1 mix on the DVD and release it here. The complete score will be added soon (when it's done).

The Seattle World's Fair in 1962 with the theme Century 21 has to be the coolest fair ever! Go from downtown Seattle on the monorail, speeding along high above the streets of Seattle. The fair was home of the Space Needle, one of the most famous Googie architecture landmarks in America, it still stands there today if you want to visit it. It was also home of the Bubbelator science ride, which took up to 150 people in a transparent sphere with the eerie space music of Attilio Mineo playing in the background. Do not forgot to take the Gayway and visit the Swedish exposition for a bite of their famous Smorgasbord.

This Les Baxter piece was released circa 1966-1967 around the same time as the press book for the movie "The Sand Pebbles" was published. Although it isn't a official song from the soundtrack (which Jerry Goldsmith produced), it was released as a promo 45 RPM vinyl by Crescendo (GNP Crescendo 382) with Balan Samba (Bandeira) from Brazil Now (GNP Crescendo 2036) on the back side, and it seams to me that it is a quite rare record to come over. Les version of the love theme from the movie is a beautifully orchestrated piece with playful flutes, a semi-latin beat and of course Baxter's excellent chorus. Originally released in mono, I decided to clean up the song and remaster it in stereo for your enjoyment.