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, ...

Greetings music hussies, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a Broadway spin - or jazz lightly inflected with a touch of hot-cha! Meanwhile, did you survive your 4th of July weekend? Did the nation? And if you're in another country, are you still laughing at the cheeseball spectacle known as "Salute to America 250 Celebration" on the National Mall? If it helps you to stop, know that most of us were embarrassed, even mortified. But anywaythat'stoopolitical, let's swing back to music, life-saving music.  Tonight, at the Manor's exclusive "Knob-Slapping" after-hours club and taqueria, DJ Li'l Scratch will grand jete forth, as only he can do, and spin wonderful tunes by the delightfully multitalented Kay Cole. Recognize the name? Woo-hoo! Congratulations! You're officially an old , because she was in the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line," being one of three dancers who both inspired and performed ...

Greetings music sluts, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday! Today, DJ Li'l Scratch is bringing you an unsung modern jazz diva who's not as celebrated as she really ought to be. But then isn't that most of us? Are you unsung and uncelebrated? Maybe it's time you did something about it. Speak up, flaunt your feathers, point out your attributes. If no one else is, then you'd better, amirite? But anywayI'mgettingofftrack, tonight at the Manor's "Yes, Yes! Now Make a Circle!" bar and lounge, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing this diva who's not only a jazz chanteuse, but an actress, composer, playwright and published author. Feeling lazy? Don't hang around her. Oh, and do you think you have to move to New York when you're young in order to chase fame and become a jazz great? Yeah, she blew past that old saw, too.  Question: Is her first name pronounced "Nina" or Nena?" Enquiring minds want to know. But reall...

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Today, we're going to meet a ghost - but not the spooky kind. This is a "ghost singer," one of the select few who did not make a name for themselves by providing the singing voice for popular movie stars during Hollywood's Golden Era. It was all very hush-hush. For years this ghost singer remained silent, as her contract forbid her from saying a peep, but tonight, at the Manor's "Bean Flick Lounge," DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing some of her best tunes sung for other people - and more. So let's unveil her, shall we? Why, it's that ghost-tacular singer herself, India Adams, who began her career as a high school lass singing with a friend's three-piece band, performing at various clubs around Los Angeles. It didn't take long for an MGM talent scout to take notice and to hire her for a prime ghosting role in 1953: providing the singing voice for none other th...

Greetings, bed-hoppers, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday - today in a laidback, after-bang mode, if'n you know what I mean. And I know you do. For such times, when blasting 80s hair metal just won't do, you need the stylings of a lass whose singing is both skilled and chill like a lotus. Intrigued? Be sure to come to the Manor's "Crossing Swords" lounge at around 4am (or before closing at sunrise).  That 's when DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing tunes performed by a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a sphinx. Yes, it's another Mystery Lady™. Or yet another jazz songbird who recorded only one LP, then - poof! - vanished into oblivion. Unsurprising, since her LP dropped in the late-1950s during the inexorable rise of rock 'n' roll, which decimated the jazz songbird market. In the case of Easy Williams - what a name! - it's a shame, because her slinky-gal vocals are smooth, intimate and a lot of fun - and well suited to...

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday! Today, DJ Li'l Scratch is completely chillaxed from a vaca across the pond and so needs a bright and lively singer to shake him alive - but with joy, mind you, only joy. It's a singer we're all familiar with, but have perhaps taken for granted. She has, after all, been in most of our lives since the very beginning, yet look - and listen - closely, because she's an astonishment that keeps on giving. Tonight at the Manor's exclusive "Pitch-a-Tent" bar and grill, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing scads of her bestest tunes ever.  Are you surprised it's Pearlie? You shouldn't be. In 1957 alone, Pearl Bailey's self-titled LP was one of seven released under her name. That's seven as in s-e-v-e-n. Can you imagine any pop-tarlet even approaching that kind of output today?  Her career lasted decades, so let's just bounce-bounce-bounce around a few career and person...