Retro Shopping Volume 1 - Music to Buy Toasters By
Since it is summer and very hot outside (at least here in Sweden), many people prefer to stay indoors in a temperature-controlled environment. So why not spend some time at your local mall? This is a exclusive custom made compiltion for this website, to celebrate the mood and feel of the American malls from the 1950s and 1960s. This compilation has everything a mall need to make their vistors feel relaxed. From "happy-go-lucky" fast-paced rythms to swank fashion show mood music. It even features a Christmas themed song for the holiday season! There are 24 tracks in total and the length of the compliation clocks in at about 70 minutes. Enjoy! (A special thanks to Keith from Malls of America for the postcards).
01. Charles Williams - Workroom
02. Ivor Slaney - Window Gazing
03. The Metro Strings - Vacation Time
04. Walter Scott - Fun in the Sun
05. Eddie Thomas and his Orchestra - Park Lane Stroll - Park Lane Stroll
06. Bernard Herrmann - Twisted Nerve (Third Phaze Edit)
07. Walter Scharf - Tango of Hope
08. Ivor Slaney - Early Dusk
09. John Seeley and William Loose - Fashion Fox Trot
10. Special Recordings - Hoedown
11. Ivor Osborne - Around the House
12. Roger Roger - Through The Town
13. The Metro Strings - Christmas
14. Clive Richardson - Mannequin Melody
15. The Price Is Right - Spring Waltz
16. The MGM Studio Orchestra - Fashion Show
17. Buddy Baker - Monorail Song
18. Dominic Frontiere - Sophisticated
19. Harold Smart - Bright Spark
20. Roger Roger - Haute Couture
21. Richard and Robert Sherman - Music to Buy Toasters By
22. Richard Addinsell - Invitation Waltz
23. J. Rhodes - Shopping Spree
24. Walter Scharf - Fantastic Rhumba
Download via MegaUpload
Download via WW filedump
Labels: compilations, music
Posted at 11:01 PM | 36 comments | links to this post 
My name is Chris and I live in Sweden. I love the 50s and 60s lifestyle and design. I am very fascinated by the architecture of the period too, for instance googie, modernism, the work of Joseph Eichler, John Lautner and Arne Jacobsen's international style. I have a large archive with space-age, library, bossa, cocktail, retro soundtracks and exotica music. I also believe that things were better in the old days.
36 Comments:
Hi Chris!
I'm listening to your fabulous mood music compi for malls. Incredible selection, sure it is!
And i want to make you a question, cause i'll be in Stockholm on August, and i wanted to know some adresses to buy lounge old records, and vintage stuff (clothes, watches, design furniture...) I know you're a vintage fanatic, and i wanna discover the vintage spaces at Stockholm. Can you help me, Chris?
Thanks. Kisses from Spain
July 10, 2006 11:59 AM
Wow, a fantastic job, Chris!!! Tho I'm sure you prolly figured I'd love this. Heh. ;)
This is an awesome collection you've culled together, man! Keep up the great work and bring on Volume 2!!! lol. BRAVO!
July 10, 2006 1:12 PM
Thanks Phil and Keith!
Keith:
To answer your question about shops in Stockholm, I'm not really sure. Haven't lived in Stockholm for 4 years and back then I wasn't really into the retro / vintage thing. But I know that there's some kind of Tiki themed bar there, have forgot the name of it though. And I'm sure there are lots of old vintage stuff to be found at some various shops on "Södermalm".
Keith:
Yeah I was hoping you were going to like this compilation! I have loads of more music in the same style and a second volume of this compilation will most likely surface in the future. Maybe with some old Mall jingles and commercials? :)
July 10, 2006 3:44 PM
Hello Chris,
Is there any chance that you will be uploading "Mmm, Nice!" - Bob Thompson?
Thank you in anticipation,
Mel.
July 11, 2006 7:00 PM
Hi Mel, not sure about future album shares. I have lots of requests of albums people want shared, but I haven't got much free time to work on stuff like that right now. Besides, my version of "Mmm, Nice" is a mono version, the stereo version is way cooler.
July 11, 2006 8:52 PM
Hello Chris,
I have just finished listening to RSV1-MTBTB - I love this type of music (Bob Farnon, Sidney Torch et al) and have a large collection, but all except Mannequin Melody were new to me. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
Thank you for your reply about the Bob Thompson - I'll keep my fingers crossed until you can find the time - and I would gladly accept the mono version.
All the best, Mel.
July 11, 2006 9:05 PM
Hi, Chris!
Just wanted to tell you how much I love your compilation! I play it in the car on my way to work and while I'm at work - it's awesome! Looking forward to volume 2!
August 4, 2006 12:57 AM
Thanks Esther, always glad to make people happy! Volume 2 will most likely surface sometime in the future, keep an eye out!
August 4, 2006 2:14 AM
I LOVE this music! Reminds me of Ren & Stimpy. If possible PLEASE find more Hi-Q recordings and share them. I'm so bookmarking this blog.
Thank you!
August 21, 2006 6:35 AM
I have more Hi-Q albums, and I will very likely use some more tracks from them on the next volume of "Retro Shopping". Thanks for your comments Cap'n!
August 21, 2006 3:14 PM
Wow, This must be one of the best collections of recordings in this genre, absolutely fantastic, a real joy - thaaanks!
August 24, 2006 1:35 PM
Thank you Anonymous! Always happy when people appreciate my work.
August 24, 2006 3:36 PM
I agree with all the positive comments regarding this Retro CD.
I was so happy to have come across it and I look forward to any you do in the future.
August 31, 2006 12:48 AM
huge into retail history and this is fantastic for me! check out lostbuffaloretail.blogspot.com. new blog but the photos of the store there provide a perfect and ghostly listening venue for this album! also listen to it on my way to work at Lord & Taylor. i need more of this kind of thing to take my mind off the terrible stuff they play in stores today.
joe
September 20, 2006 12:48 AM
Hey Joseph! Thank you for your kind comments! Rest assure, a second volume of this compilation has been requested by lots of people and I will of course do that soon enough! Looked at your blog, very cool stuff! I love abandoned places, reminds of the game "Condemned" which features a very eeire abandoned old mall.
September 20, 2006 2:11 PM
I just listened to your "Retro Shopping Vol. 1" again. Loved it! I can't wait for volume 2. Thanks for the good work.
September 22, 2006 5:23 PM
Chris-
Just recently found your site, and I'm absolutely loving the music you've shared! This compilation is my favourite, especially the Disneyland music (Buddy Baker's "Monorail Song" and the Sherman Brothers' track from the original "Carousel of Progress").
Thanks for putting up such an amazing site. I really appreciate it, and hope to see more good stuff in the future!
Looking forward to hearing your holiday compilation.
Merry Christmas!
December 8, 2006 9:08 AM
Hi Chris -
Thanks for all your great work!
One quick note - as of Dec 30 2006 the WW download link for your Retro Shopping Volume 1 music no longer works.
But thanks again anyway!
Tom
Los Angeles, CA
December 30, 2006 2:38 PM
Thanks Tom, I will re-upload the compilation as soon as possible.
December 30, 2006 3:56 PM
Hi Chris -
I guess I spoke too soon - I searched on ww.com for "Shopping" and found this URL which seems to be DL'ing just fine right now, Dec 30 2006:
http://files.ww.com/files/18062.html
I _really_ want to thank you again for taking the time to put this together and sharing it.
Have a great 2007!
Tom
Los Angeles
P.S. - my father's mother's last name was Bergquist, from Sweden. Growing up in Michigan we would observe St. Lucia day on I think Dec 13th.
December 30, 2006 8:17 PM
Tom, you are right the link is working again so I have linked back to it again.
Lucia is celebrated on december 13th as you said. Pretty cool that you have Swedish "relatives".
December 31, 2006 1:52 AM
Wow. I had an abstract thought of making a flash animation with happy shopping music in the background, so i typed "Happy Shopping Music" in google, not really expecting anything..
Brilliant! Its just what i needed, i love the music of this era, it just gives you an uplifted feeling!
:)
January 5, 2007 12:03 AM
HI.
Loved the selection & really looking forward to the next one.
Just a note on Tracks 10. It's actually "Barbarina" by Bruce Campbell, played by the Melodi Light Orchestra on the well known Chappell label.
Warmest thanks again for great music.
SEASY
April 6, 2007 1:25 AM
Thank you so much for telling me about this Seasy! I always wanted to know where these SS Kresgne tracks came from, found one of them on a Chappell record, which made my suspect that all the others come from them too. Thank you for clearing that up!
April 6, 2007 2:45 AM
Hi,Thanks for posting this music!!this music has been a long time obsession with me since I was a kid and remember hearing it in Gumby and Davey and Goliath,the John Seeley and associates music,Capitol Hi-Q,Apm,Kpm etc is the best!
Ren and Stimpy further cememeted my love of this stuff.
As a child I was always fascinated by the old buildings,cars,products and music of the 50's and 60's,in my opinion there was no other time in american history when everything was so sleek and futuristic.I have several finned 50's mopars including a 59 dodge custom royal 2 door hardtop and a 58 belvedere.these cars epitomized the optimistic outlook on the future we had at the time.Even Ward Cleaver got to drive a futuristic finned jestons car to work each day! then seeminly in the mid to late 60's all that changed and people became much more cynical and disenchanted,the hippie movement was a big part of this,society no longer believed in this wonderful jetsons world waiting just around the corner.
to me it all started to end when the fins shrank to a nub and then vanished from the cars.
they are the perfect cultural barometer for the end of the wonder and belief in better times around the corner.
to me the 50's and early 60's were the zenith of art and culture.
thanks for posting this great music.
P.S. the Seeburg background music systems used a lot of the capitol music on special 16 rpm record.
Even as young as I was I remember being amazed at this strangely futuristic music,it was as though it came from some strange and happy other world
May 4, 2007 7:32 PM
Jim Rockford, thank you for your long post, you are making a very good point. The 50s and 60s were so space age and futuristic. I would say that pretty much all of southern California looked like a big theme park with Googie signs and buildings, twinkling lights and neon. It looked like a bright and happy time, wish I could have experienced it.
May 4, 2007 9:57 PM
I've just discovered these fabulous compilations and I'm very excited!!! Many thanks from Athens,Greece.! Keep on the good work!
May 17, 2007 3:11 PM
Thanks very much for these compilations, they are absolutely fantastic! From someone who is only just getting into the space age music. Agree with your architecture sentiment though, that era's designs were intruiging.
July 23, 2007 1:17 AM
Hej Chris!
Tack för dom fantastiska skivorna. Alla som har försökt sätta ihop den ultimata samlingsskivan förstår vilket otroligt jobb du lagt ner. Du har verkligen lyckats med stämningarna. Skickligt!
Kerstin i Stockholm
October 25, 2007 1:15 AM
Tack för kommentaren Kerstin! Ja det är inte lätt att sätta upp en samlingsskiva med rätt stäming, det är därför jag brukar lägga ner så mycket tid på dom, vill inte hasta igenom dom för att få ut dom så fort som möjligt :)
October 25, 2007 1:26 AM
I downloaded this a few months ago and I just wanted to let you know how much I love it. I'm an illustrator whose style skews to the playful and happy side of the spectrum and this is the music I listen to as I work. It never fails to make me smile and put me in the right headspace to create my silly drawrings.
I can't wait for Volume 2.
Thank you SO much for this...it's been a wonderful gift in my world.
November 9, 2007 7:17 PM
Thank you for your comments Rob! If you haven't noticed it already, volume two was released this summer. You can download it from the blog.
November 9, 2007 11:40 PM
THANK you! I hadn't seen that Volume Two was up. I have it now and I'm absolutely beside myself with delight.
And now, I'll run off to draw more Mambo-ing mice with a heart full of happy...
November 10, 2007 1:19 AM
Hi there. Nice work. Just a reminder that the track you used from the old Kresge record I ripped and have been sharing all these years is not actually titled "Hoedown." All the titles are simply descriptive names. The recording has no actual track titles. -katya oddio
December 14, 2007 9:58 PM
Oddio Overplay, thank you for you input. I actually found that rip through the 'Malls of America' website way back and think it's a amazing record. I know that you had to make up the names for the tracks. I am guessing most of them come from the Chappell library since I found one of them on such a record.
"Invitation Waltz" by Richard Addinsell was called "Dreamy Aisle Waltzing" on your rip. And "Hoedown" is actually "Barbarina" by Bruce Campbell, played by the Melodi Light Orchestra, also on the Chappell label. But I didn't find out about that last until after I released the compilation. Thank you for the heads up Seasy!
December 16, 2007 5:06 PM
Thank you so much for this music! I googled "happy retro music" and found you -- This is great, I love it! I'll have to come back and check out your blog again!
Jeanne
February 10, 2008 9:16 PM
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home