Peckerwood Manor

Do you sizzle when you burn? Does your bomba go boomba? Of course it does. DJ Li 'l Scratch knows this, and he's only too happy to provide you and yours with tunes to keep the fires burning at "The Smokin' Pole," the Manor's exclusive after-hours lounge. Speaking of all things sizzling and going boomba in the night,  is your figure is svelte as Helen Grayco's? Probably not, but then Helen had lots of competition growing up - being the tenth of eleven children born to her Italian Catholic parents  - plus, she got her very first singing gig when she was just eight-years-old. "She sings like Hollywood!" exclaimed her earliest fan, Bing Crosby, and from there, she was on her way.  She dabbled in movies for a bit, but really hit her stride with singing, collaborating with the starry likes of Stan Kenton, Chuck Cabot, and fellow singer and comic, Spike Jones, whom she'd later marry. And let's be blunt, Helen was a dish. Which meant that every m...

Welcome, fellow felines, to Manor Music Monday! There's a bit of a chill in the air, so tonight - at the Manor's exclusive Cooch Cork Lounge - DJ Li'l Scratch will be blasting tunes to warm your spirits. Yes, it's true, he's letting Caterina Valente have free reign.  And goodness, just look at Caterina! All shiny and pink - and with a startling, gleaming yellow background. I swear the illustrator must have been flying on dexies because it's all so bright-bright-bright!  And so unreal, but then maybe that's as it should be, because Caterina, the multitalented, French-born daughter of itinerant Italian circus performers - her mother was a clown; her father played accordion - sounds as if somebody combined one-part Charo, two parts Carmen Miranda, a dollop of Sophia Loren, then pressed puree on a blender. Wheeeeee! How can she be real? But she is. And she's wonderful. Caterina spoke six languages fluently - and sang in them, too, recording hundreds upon hu...

It's February, hors, or as DJ Li'l Scratch laments, the shortest damn month to gather up your mortgage or rent. Which means he's taking on extra gigs at the Manor's Tickle Stick Lounge, but, hey, gotta keep that catnip and Alaskan cod coming, amirite? Today, Li'l Scratch presents you with an artist you're likely very familiar with. She has many sobriquets: Madge. Nonnie. Esther. Vadge. Gammy. So many names for a pop star who's determined to stay "relevant." Is she succeeding? For many decades she did, and then - ka-boom! - she ran out of gas, drove off a cliff and exploded in a fiery blaze of meh, whatever and pff with her 2008 release, "Hard Candy," her first album in which, as many critics noted, she followed pop music trends instead of making them, utilizing near-passe hit producers, like Timbaland, The Neptunes, and, of all people, Justin Timberlake, whose careers were already flagging or soon to extinguish. Every song is lazy, prog...

Welcome, party hors, to another Manor Music Monday - plus a very special holiday surprise. But first, DJ Li'l Scratch has pawed his way into the Manor's Beeftube Lounge, ready to spin you some tunes. Today, he's all about the one and only Ann Richards. Are you familiar with Ann? Back in the day, she gained fame for her jazz vocals and notoriety for her sizzling spread in "Playboy" magazine in 1961 (one of the more demure shots is above, sans staples). The "Playboy" spread tended to overshadow her accomplishments as a vocalist, yet ever since a salacious 2010 book about Stan Kenton, whom she was married to, was released, there's been renewed interest in her music and life. Amongst the book's many details: their son Lance was arrested in 1978 for attempted murder after putting a rattlesnake in his lawyer's mailbox (you can't make this stuff up). But let's put all that messy violence aside (and agree that Stan was a horrible person who...

Greetings from DJ Li'l Scratch, who's thrilled to be back at the Manor's Beeftube Lounge . Moreover, he's delighted to be spinning tunes from the fabulous Kitty White.  "Hey, ya'll, Kitty's here!" I really hope someone called that out when Kitty played a gig at their local jazz club. She looks like an approachable, fun-loving star, doesn't she? The kind of gal who's "just folks" - until she opens her mouth and sings. Then you know; there's nothing "just" about her at all. Kitty, as you may know, never achieved great fame, but on the West Coast in the 1930s and early 40s, she was "it." Born in 1923, and likely influenced by the burgeoning jazz scene on Central Avenue, the nerve center of the Black community where visiting luminaries stayed at the stylish Hotel Summerville , Kitty and her twin sister Maudie started their careers in vaudeville at the age of three - three! - and while Maudie later sang with Duke E...

DJ L'i'l Scratch is in the hizzy, yo! Isn't that what the kids used to say? What do they say now? Subscribe and like? DJ Li'l Scratch doesn't care, because he's already on his 12th life - at least - his longevity credited to a regular diet of the 'nip, tuna and whiskey. Oh, and the ladies, including this fine specimen: Va-va-voom. Cherchez la femme. Ommph. All are appropriate responses to Belgian-born Monique Van Voreen, who hot-cha-cha-cha'd her way to heaven only five years ago. Monique, as you may know, had a highly eclectic and unusually long career. I say "unusually," because a long career is not generally associated with an actor who's first introduced like this: Back in the 1950s, she was the movie's latest sex-bomb. Yet she kept on working - well past the regulation sell-by date for sex symbols - in roles both large and small. She even conquered the Broadway stage (twice!). And, oh, yes, in her spare time, she published a succe...

It may be lazy-times before New Year's Eve, but DJ Li'l Scratch is still pumping the tunes in the Manor's Tubesteak Lounge for all your fun and naughty times. Speaking of naughty, j'adore Ana Gasteyer and loved her "Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas" on "Saturday Night Live." And, yes, Martha approved: But did you know? In addition to being a witty comic actor (who trained at The Groundlings) (because of course she did), she also sings. Actually, she's had quite the Broadway musical career and originated the role of "Elphaba" in the musical "Wicked" during its first run in Chicago in 2005, then performed the role on Broadway . She's continued to trod the boards, thrilling audiences in Broadway productions of "Once Upon A Mattress," "Threepenny Opera," "Kimberly Akimbo," "Hair," and many more. In 2014, she released her first jazz LP and, yes, it's a delight. Make no mistake,...

Are you off work yet? Are you ready to throw a swingin' party? That means making party music mixes, right? And, yes, you must throw in a WTF song in the middle of the mix just to mess with everyone. For example, say you're throwing a New Years Eve party with a bunch of cooler-than-cool jazz or house music tracks; in the middle if it, throw in this song . I guarantee everyone will squeal with delight. In fact, throwing that song into any mix is always a good move.  Want more ideas for WTF songs to drop into your mixes? DJ Li'l Scratch has got you covered. But first, let's pause for a moment. This is important. Why? Because this is the definition of beauty: The face: like a pale, English Cream Custard (which is just a bit overcooked). The jewelry: made from the finest diamonelles money can buy. The eyes: with their exquisite baby tarantula eyelashes (the eye shadow is their after-birth). I'm overcome, I can barely breathe. And, no, this is not RichBitch. She is, of c...

"What-whaaaaat, my bitches!" cries DJ Li'l Scratch at the Manor's "Tubesteak Lounge." Right now he's spinning Etta Jones. Yes, Jones.   Etta Jones is not Etta James (let's clear that up right away).  Have you heard of her? I hadn't until my bestest galpal introduced me to her years ago, and I've been hooked on her ever since. She's another one of those singers who was popular with the public for a wee bit, then forgotten, then rediscovered to a certain extent through YouTube and blog sites in the early 2000s. But she's never been forgotten by jazz aficionados. They've been devoted all along. Born in the 1920's and coming into her own professionally in the 40's and 50's, Etta endured long, grim years of struggle,  toiling at rough factory jobs during the day, then  performing at night with a 'who's who' of jazz performers. Years later, she partnered with sax legend Houston Person for nearly thirty years on t...

Come on in, hepcats! DJ Li'l Scratch is spinning some fine tunes at The Manor's "Tubesteak Lounge." What inspired this week's selection of artist Bev Kelly? Two words: Earthquake, earthquake! San Francisco had a shake-shake-shake last week, dont'cha know, and luckily it was fairly mild. But it did make me think of Jeanette MacDonald - and gosh, how brave she was in " San Francisco " ( Judy does it better ) - and the Golden Gate Bridge and beatnik coffee shops and the always delightful 1950s and 60s-era jazz chanteuse Bev Kelly, who recorded several LPs in good ol' Fog City (see how neatly that all fits together?). Though largely forgotten by mass-market jazz aficionados (and she really shouldn't be), Bev was playing classical piano at age five, and by the time she graduated college, she was already touring the nation's top jazz clubs and recording albums. She continued performing well into the 1970s, but her family soon took priority - a...

Are you ready? DJ Li'l Scratch is bringin' the fire to the Manor's "Tube Steak Lounge" tonight with the alluring, the incomparable Miss  Abbe Lane. This hot-cha Broadway, movie and nightclub bombshell is the perfect way to heat up the holiday season, though honestly, she's welcome all year-round.  Did you know? She was called  "the swingingest sexpot in show business"  during her heyday in the 1950s and early 60s, and once said, "Jayne Mansfield may turn boys into men, but I take them from there." For that quote alone, how can you not like her?  Of her marriage to Francesc "Cugat" de Deulofeu, the famed and notoriously volatile Cuban-born bandleader - she was a teenager and he was thirty-years her senior! - she offered this terse sum-up, "Oh, those gossip columnists. He was never really mean to me. Just Latin." Or was there more to it? In 1992, she wrote the novel " But Where Is Love? " I haven't read it y...