S q u e e z y t u n e s

Old Forgotten Piano

Old forgotten Piano, originally uploaded by dpinkston (Derek).

A wonderful photo here by Flickr user dpinkston.

The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda

The Talbot Brothers of Bermuda were a popular calypso band in the 1950s and apparently appeared regularly on the Ed Sullivan show. They were brothers Archie (lead singer, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Austin (acoustic guitar, harmonica), Bryan, a.k.a. "Dick" (tipple, a large 10-stringed ukulele), Ross, a.k.a. "Blackie" (electric guitar) and Roy Talbot (on a wonderful one string home made bass), and their cousin Cromwell "Mandy" Mandres on accordion!

There are no videos of them on YouTube or Google Video, and not many traces of them elsewhere either.

Here though are two MPs, the first is one of their well known songs 'Is She Is or Is She Ain't', the second is a gentle croon called 'Bermuda Affair'. Perfect music for a lazy weekend barbecue.

Talbot Brothers of Bermuda - Is She Is Or Is She Aint

Talbot Brothers of Bermuda - Bermuda Affair

About Squeezytunes

After three and a bit years I've finally worked out why Squeezytunes exists - what its purpose is, it's reason for being.

Squeezytunes is a CELEBRATION of the types of instruments I like.

I'm fascinated by how instruments such as the accordion have migrated round the world and become integral parts of many, many regional types of music. There are lots of obvious examples like the bandonions of Argentinian tango and the cajun accordions of Louisiana. But there are lots of less well known styles of music out there, and the more I look the more I keep finding.

Also, I'm fascinated by the many variations in instruments that I like, from the early pioneers such as Cyril Demian (why doesn't he have a page in Wikipedia ?) to the cutting edge innovations that are continuing to this day.

And finally I'm just addicted to the power that music has. Music above any other art form has the power to affect us homo sapiens deep, deep inside. Why ? Music has no practical value unlike say, farming and hunting. So why then do so many people make music ? Why does every culture of the world that has ever existed have music as a fundamental part of its culture ? As Wikipedia puts it,

'Listening to music is perhaps the most common and universal form of entertainment for humans.'

And so, let the celebration continue. Here is one of my favourite tracks of all time, by a British group called 'The Rubettes' from 1974 this is 'Sugar Baby Love'. Kick off your shoes, push back the chairs and dance dance dance ! I know I will.

Accordion Reggaeton from Panama

If you ignore the video this piece of reggaeton from Panama with lots of accordion is pretty cool.

It's a remix of a tipico track originally by Nenito Vargas y su Plumas Negras. Here's a version by Luis Perez singing on some kind of Pop Idol competition. The judges don't seem to like it. I'd be quite happy if someone sang this on the UK Pop Idol though.

Anyway, the remix is by an artist called Comando Tiburon who seems to specialise in very catchy commercial reggaeton, such as this, which I'm sure I heard being played all the time in the Philippines recently (unless there's another version floating about by someone else).

Caribbean PVC Marimba Children's Orchestra

I happened upon this great video of a school who have made their own low cost marimbas out of PVC yesterday.

Since then I've discovered lots more about marimbas that I'll share one day. For now there, here is the school.