Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Music Manor Monday, today served with hair-raising peril and moody, heart-stopping music. By the way, have you noticed how DJ Li'l Scratch only appears in black-and-white? Sorry, there's no work around for this, no matter how colorful the setting you may find him in. As a hard-boiled creature of night and shadow, he will always look as if he's just stepped out of a film-noir crime-drama. Hissss!   I've always had a special place in my chilled heart for film-noir (and for  John Garfield , the ultimate dumb-luck hunk). And yet it's not just the skewed camera angles, concealing shadows, tempting femme fatales or nefarious storylines that have pulled me in. The music adds to the fun, and most of it makes for great listening (even out of context). Take Elmer Bernstein's landmark, daddy-o jazz score for 1955's "Man With The Golden Arm, " which is both rhythmic and menacing, a stunning innovation...

Greeting music tramps, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a lovely songstress and a whiff of scandal. Speaking of the latter, DJ Li'l Scratch has had many lives, as you know, and let's just say that he's never been snipped. In other words, if you notice your own puddytat half-closing their eyes and grooving to cool jazz, then they're surely a descendant of the DJ. All cats love jazz, of course, but his progeny really and truly feel that backbeat rhythm. If you believe your cat is a scion of DJ Li'l Scratch, they may be entitled to compensation in the form of extra treats, hugs and gentle patty-butt spanks. So very groovy, right? Speaking of groovy, say hello to Miss Georgia Gibbs: Though she found success and love as an adult, Georgia's life began in tragedy. Her father died when she was six months old, causing her and her siblings to spend nearly a decade at an orphanage where they were visited by their destitute mother only once a...

Greetings music tramps, and welcome to annother edition of Music Manor Monday. Today, we're diving into some far-out jazz from London Town in the late 1950s/early 60s, a time when DJ Li'l Scratch was kickin' it at The Flamingo Club and chord chasing with the best of them. Hollywood hadn't quite caught on to the sound, though it would, yet low-budget moviemakers were keen to exploit it, along with it's youthful, daddy-o ethos.  If you yearn to be slutty (no judgement here) (obvi), why not do it old-school and inspire yourself with some prototypical slut music? This is what got the kids hot and pervy in the late 1950s. You can hear it all when DJ Li'l Scratch plays music from a distinctive composer from the era, tonight only at "Street Squish," the Manor's exclusive and filthy nightery.  \ The music is from "Beat Girl," a 1960 exploitation movie which one appalled reviewer at the time called "machine made dirt!" Is the movie any ...

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. But not just any edition, for today, a giant of jazz has entered the Manor. We don't always get to celebrate a singer universally acclaimed by critics and taken to heart by the masses - a rare feat, but she did it, and for over 50 years. Top that current pop tarts! So be sure to swing by the Manor's exclusive "Tubesteak!" after hours bar and lounge, because DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing her tunes all night long.  Yes, it's Gloria Lynne, who burst onto the scene to instant acclaim at The Apollo Theatre when she was only 15 years old. She lied about her age in order to qualify. From there she was off, signing with the legendary  Everest Records and soon after scoring hits like "June Night" and "I'm Glad There Is You." Audiences loved her, and not only at her sold-out club dates, but nationally on TV specials with the likes of Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald a...

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with heavy dollops of sass, class and brass from a pioneering jazz songbird who overcame several jaw-dropping life challenges and obstacles, yet remained as upbeat as the day she was born. Tonight you can revel in her tunes with DJ Li'l Scratch at the Manor's exclusive "Find 'n Grind!" after-hours saloon. You'll want to stop by, I swear.  Also, dear lord, we're in the midst of September, nearing October and Halloween, then there's Thanksgiving, which means it's almost time for a gaggle of December holidays, and then New Year's and then - what? January bloat? A zombie apocalypse? One of those "Eat! Drink! Paint!" events at Applebee's? Kill me now. Or rather, don't. Let's hope our music will get us through the rough spots. Lucky us, since classy-lassy Lee Wiley can always be trusted to whisk away the blues no matter the time of year. Conside...

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with two - count 'em, two - wonderful, mostly forgotten jazz songbirds. Yet they're not forgotten by DJ Li'l Scratch, who's lived many lives, as you know, and has seen and heard so much, and in fact was born with a brood of five wee kittens in the smoky backroom of " The Green Mill Jazz Club."  But that's a story for another day.  Tonight only at the Manor's "Shuck 'Em and Funk 'Em" after-hours lounge and taqueria, DJ Li' Scratch will be spinning tunes by two chanteuses from the "cool jazz" period in the late 1950s through the early 1960s, or tunes with hushed tones, smooth, steady tempos and complex harmonies. First we have Joy Bryan, the epitome of the All-American girl-next-door, don't you think? Yet looks can be deceiving - and all is not vanilla. Joy was yet another one of those terrific, highly regarded late 1950's-era West...

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday! Can you hear birds whistling tuneful songs? Or little animals singing cheerful ditties in three-part harmony? If so, then you are psychotic and should really speak to a doctor about your visual and aural hallucinations. I kid, I kid, because we all see and hear singing birds and animals, right? Right? Anyway-I-swear-I'm-not-on-Thorazine, the songstress we're celebrating today is both famous and not famous. And sang with animals.  Confused? You won't be if you swing by "Rumpy-Pumpy Wowza-Powza," the Manor's newest after-hours club and sausage-sizzle eatery, where DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing this gal's sweet-as-syrup and twice-as-nice LP that just might make you feel all kinds of gentle and good. "It was another time," as they say, and gentle and good was allowed. Look! Singer Ilene Woods was so pretty she just popped to life. "Wait," you ask. "Ilen...

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, Hotsy-Totsy Late Summer Edition! It's that time of year when we all need to be sitting on our porch or by the pool, preferably with a nice cool mint julep , and definitely with some cool jazz playing at just the right volume; not too loud, not too soft, but just noisy enough to wrap around you like a balmy breeze.  If you're up later, you really should slink over to the Manor's "Pump it Down!" after-hours lounge and dinette, because DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing some fine summer jazz by a swoon-worthy, yet forgotten, jazz bird, Claire Austin. Not much is known about her, or at least not that I could find out. A busy nightclub singer on the West Coast from the 1930s to the early 1950s, Claire cut only a few LPs, then - poof! - all but vanished from public consciousness. What makes Claire still interesting and her music worth listening to are all those giants of West Coast jazz that...

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a cool breeze from more innocent times. How innocent? Let's just say that tonight at the Manor's "Booty Bang" lounge and dinette, the singer DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing, who first hit it big in the 1950s, is the epitome of sweetness and light. If you're looking for lewd innuendo or dirty-minded growls (You: "Always," Me: Same, bitch"), then you won't find them here - and I mean that in a good way. Especially now, in the brutal heat of summer, we could use some breezy, carefree, and yes, innocent, music, don't you think? Me, too?  And truly, there's no one more breezy and carefree than Joanie Sommers. Wheeee! Peppy Joanie had a varied career from the 1950s through the early 80s, going back and forth from jazz to standards, and with the advent of rock 'n' roll, pop-rock tunes. All the while, she was appearing at top-flight night clubs ...

Greeting music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a little hi-dee for your ho-dee . We could all use that, couldn't we? It's the dead of summer, the world is broiling and even Tan Mom - yes, her - has stepped back from extreme suntanning. So what's one to do? Visit the myriad of Manor nighteries, of course, because in addition to their usual giggles and debauchery, they're all gloriously air-conditioned. Tonight, be sure to swing by the after-hours "Two in the Pink!" music and pancake lounge - with real Canuck maple syrup! - because DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning tunes from a true musical giant. Yes, none other than Cab Calloway, one of those evergreen legends many people take for granted. In Cab's case, that's too bad, because there's no more joyous jazz legend than Cab, nor one so equally talented and groundbreaking in his live performances. Also, fun fact: he was listed as Ja'net Dubois' biolo...

Greetings, fellow hors and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with added mystery, since virtually nothing is known about the songstress DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning for you tonight at the Manor's "Pearl Splash!" bar and dinette. You know what's not a mystery these days? The weather, amirite? It's hotter than an INCELS sex potato (you know, when they heat up a potato in the microwave for 5 minutes, cut a hole in it, rub butter on the inside and fuck it) (ouch!). Someday someone smart will come up with a surefire way to instantly solve the climate crisis, but until then, we have music. Let's thank our lucky stars. And let's thank those same stars for powerhouse performer, Rhonda Washington. Why isn't she more celebrated? Hailing from St. Louis, Rhonda joined "Hot Sauce," a short-lived, early-1970s, Southern Soul group which should have had a much longer run. But tragically, it was not to be. Can you guess why? Nope,...

Greetings music luvuhs, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Mondays, today with a singer who's guaranteed to work you over like the world's best anti-depressant. No, for reals. Feeling down in the dumpity-doo and want to feel happy? Feeling happy but want to feel happier? Then this is the gal for you. Tonight only at the Manor's exclusive "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me" lounge and dinette, DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning all of her tunes, and just wait, you'll be giggling and dancing and drinking and doing who knows what-all because if it. Ready? Make way for "Chee-Chee!" Rose "Chee-Chee" Murphy, to be specific, who had a happy, trilling voice you won't soon forget. If you've only heard her sing a few numbers, you might think her vocals are gimmicky and perhaps not worth a full album, much less a whole bevy of them. Think again. However she did the voodoo she do, she found incredible variety in her high, birdlike voice, ...