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[00:00:00]
Jason Croft: It's the Atomic Age cocktail party. I'm Jason Croft, and this week we visit the penthouse pad. Welcome to the Atomic Age Cocktail Party featuring music from the golden age of the hi-fi and beyond. David Rose and his orchestra and a cool vibes and string version of Like Young, a song I like to think of as the unofficial anthem of the hep set. This is from his 1967 album, Holiday for Strings.

This week on the program, we're spending our time in the penthouse [pad]. This is another program suggested by a listener and fan of the show, [Joel O'dano]. As he put it, quote, the penthouse pad is that stylish mid-century modern hideaway where the smart set gathers for cool school, hi-fi jazz, chic cocktails, and a touch of swing sophistication. This isn't the beatnik basement with bongos and existential discussion, and it's certainly not the polite pop comforts of the Percy Faith crowd. No, the penthouse pad lives in that sweet spot between modern, witty, lightly ironic, and always tuned to the hippest frequencies of the era. So that's what we're doing this week. It's a martini shaker filled with bebop, West Coast cool, swinging vocal jazz, and just the right touch of cocktail cool.

On the way, Sarah Vaughan sings you a lullaby, the instrumental stylings of Nat King Cole and Henry Mancini's musical homage to a movie star pal. Right now, it's modern-day swingster Joey Altruda, and something that seems very appropriate for this week's program. It's the tune that was originally used for the TV show Playboy's Penthouse. It's Playboy's theme, and it's right here on the Atomic Age Cocktail Party.

[00:11:46]
[MUSIC: Playboy's Theme - Joey Altruda]

[00:17:02]
Jason Croft: It's music that makes hi-fi's happy. It's the Atomic Age Cocktail Party. I'm Jason Croft. Penthouse Pad is our show this week, a listener-[suggested] theme. Swank cocktail cool meets hi-fi hepness.

The silky smooth sounds of piano player George Shearing and a ship without a sail. This is a Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers composition originally from the 1929 Broadway musical Heads Up. Shearing's version comes from his [Satin rass] record, which was released in 1960.

Before that, the great vocal jazz trio Lambert, [Hendrix], and Ross, Dave Lambert, John [Hendrix] and Annie Ross, and two for the blues. This is from Sing a Song of Basie from 1958. It's a great example of vocalese, where you add lyrics over existing songs. This song was originally written by [Neil Hefty] for none other than Count Basie in 1955. And the lyrics were written by the aforementioned John [Hendrix], who made a whole career of doing just this sort of vocalese thing.

And that set started with modern-day bass player and bandleader Joe Altruda and Playboy's theme written by Cy Coleman for the original version of Hugh Hefner's Playboy's Penthouse. It was a musical and variety TV show, which ran for two seasons starting in 1959. It's where Hef would walk around this swank party in his own TV penthouse. It was filled with comedians and musicians and other members of the nightlife elite, and things would happen. Joey [Otruda], very much one of those folks who tapped into that highballs and high fives vibe during the 1990s, he was part of the lounge revival, and what we heard was from his great 1995 disc, Cocktails with Joey.

We're spending time at the Penthouse Pad this week, where the cool crowd connects with hi-fi hipness. For you now, it's the great Nat King Cole away from the microphone, letting his fingers do the singing on the piano keys. It's Laugh Cool Clown, and it's right here on the Atomic Age Cocktail Party.

[00:27:59]
[MUSIC: unable to identify]

[00:30:33]
Jason Croft: It's the Atomic Age Cocktail Party. Thanks for being here. Our show this week is Penthouse Pad, an hour of mid-mod musical cool as suggested by listener [Joe Lodano] and the wonderful smoky voice of Chris Connor and I Only Want Some, giving us a nice bit of swing and torchy swagger with that. That's from a 45 single of hers from 1960. It's a tune written by the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the pair responsible for a lot of Elvis Presley's hits in the 1950s. And you can kind of get a bit of that Elvis vibe going on with this Chris Connor number.

[Le of Stevens] before that and some movie music, [I'm inhibited] is the name of that one. This is from the soundtrack to the medical drama, The Interns, released in 1962. The Marty [Paige] Octet were also in there with the breezy tune [Line for Lions]. Lots of West Coast cool going on there. This first appeared on the 10-inch EP the Marty [Pig] Octet, released in 1955. It was expanded to a full LP a year later and retitled Tenors West. Marty [Paig] worked with all the big names of the era, including Peggy Lee, Stan Kenton, Dave Pell, Jack Jones, and especially Mel Torme. The two of them had a very long professional relationship working together on albums from the mid-1950s through the 1980s.

And Nat King Cole started that set with an instrumental number, Laugh Cool Clown, the name of that one. Yeah, because of his great voice, most people forget what a talented piano player Nat King Cole was. And this song, made even better with a heaping helping of bongos. This is from King Cole and his [rio] Volume [o] released in 1949. And that man on the bongos, it's only the man known as Mr. Bongo, Jack Costanzo.

More penthouse pad coolness for you right now, courtesy of Henry Mancini and something for sellers. And it's right here on the Atomic Age Cocktail Party.

It's the Atomic Age Cocktail Party. We're styling in the penthouse pad this week. It's an hour of hi-fi hepness as suggested by listener [Joel O'dano]. Shorty Rogers and his giants there with a nice jam that's called Martians Go Home. This is an original composition from Rogers. It's from the album The Swinging Mr. Rogers from 1955. Shorty Rogers, a great trumpet and flugelhorn player, he was also one of the real cool cats of the era who was always pushing against the edges of capital J jazz. Always a good time when you put one of his platters on the record player.

And we started that set with a man I like to call the king of swink, Henry Mancini, and something for sellers. The sellers in question, of course, being comedian Peter Sellers, who appeared in many movies that Mancini wrote music for. This track in particular is from the 1963 soundtrack to the first Pink Panther movie, where the world was introduced to Peter Sellers' now iconic character, Inspector Clouseau.

Well, you're listening to the Atomic Age Cocktail Party, celebrating music from the golden age of the hi-fi and beyond. If you like what you're listening to, don't forget to stop by our website at atomicagecocktailparty.com for playlists, show archives, and a lot more. If you have any show ideas or comments, you can get a hold of us there as well. atomicagecocktailparty.com.

One more set of music left in our Penthouse Pad program, and time now for a little doodling. It's a group known as the [poll] Winners, and they're right here on the Atomic Age Cocktail Party.

[00:48:21]
[MUSIC: Lullaby of Birdland - Sarah Vaughan]

[00:55:01]
Jason Croft: Wrapping up our penthouse [pad] program here on the Atomic Age Cocktail Party. It's bebop cool, hi-fi hipness, and so much more.

More West Coast cool there from Jerry Mulligan and his quartet, and Knights at the Turntable. That's a tune that Mulligan wrote and it comes from the quartet's self-titled 1952 release. Mulligan on the baritone sax and Chet Baker on trumpet.

The great Sarah Vaughan before that and Lullaby of Birdland. That's from her self-titled album from 1955, featuring Clifford Brown on the trumpet.

And the [pole] winners kicked off that set with the [Ho] Silver tune Doodling. Now, the group was a trio. It was Barney Kessel on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Shelley Mann on drums. And as the story goes, in 1956, each one of them won a reader's [pole]. In particular, the ones held by Downbeat, Playboy, and Metronome magazines. And as such, they got together and christened their group, The [Pole] Winners. This is from their third album together, The [Pole] Winners Exploring the Scene, which was released in 1960.

Well, that just about does it for our show this week. Make sure you're here again for more fun from the golden age of the hi-fi and beyond. And I want to thank listener [Joe Lodano] again for his great suggestions for this week's program.

Gonna leave you with one more. This is another bit of West Coast cool. It's from a modern-day octet known as Octopop. This is from their 2004 release After Dark. It's their take on the Shorty Rogers number [Lotus Bd]. Until next time, this is Jason Croft saying, keep swinging. The Atomic Age Cocktail Party is a production of Illinois Public Media.