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What's Your Favorite Pop Instrumental(s)?

Bongwater

Bongwater

My all-time favorite is "Wonderful Land" The Shadows (1962).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF9AS0zte5U

The Shadows were probably the UK's answer to The Ventures. In spite of the fact the song was written about America as a "wonderful land", this song didn't even crack the Billboard US Top 100, but it was a MASSIVE hit in Australia and Australians have more or less adopted this song as a pop standard. I'll bet you probably heard it a lot as instrumental filler music between the last vocal and the top of the hour network news on many an automated radio station of the '70s........

Others include:

"Green Onions" Booker T & The MGs - An earworm if there ever was one.

"Stranger On The Shore" Mr. Acker Bilk (Is it just me or was the early '60s the last golden age of the pop instrumental?)

"Popcorn" Hot Butter

What's YOURS?
 
LOL - You're not going to believe this... Never knew about The Shadows, but I thought that clip reminded me a lot of "Pipeline" by The Chantays or that song "Apache." I couldn't remember Jorgen Ingmann's last name, so I did an internet search and found this...

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2211

No wonder it reminded me of "Apache."

Bongwater said:
What's YOURS?
Click to expand...

"That Happy Feeling" by Bert Kaempfert
"Hungry For Love" by San Remo Golden Strings
"The Dis-Advantages Of You" by The Brass Ring
"Soul Coaxing" by Raymond LeFevre
"Calypso Melody" by David Rose
"Swinging Sweethearts" by Ron Goodwin
"Keem-O-Sabe" by Electric Indian
"The Happy Whistler" by Don Robertson
"Joy" by Apollo 100
"The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass
"Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Sounds Orchestral
"Telstar" by The Tornadoes
 
Otto Maddock said:
LOL - You're not going to believe this... Never knew about The Shadows, but I thought that clip reminded me a lot of "Pipeline" by The Chantays or that song "Apache." I couldn't remember Jorgen Ingmann's last name, so I did an internet search and found this...

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2211

No wonder it reminded me of "Apache."

Bongwater said:
What's YOURS?
Click to expand...

"That Happy Feeling" by Bert Kaempfert
"Hungry For Love" by San Remo Golden Strings
"The Dis-Advantages Of You" by The Brass Ring
"Soul Coaxing" by Raymond LeFevre
"Calypso Melody" by David Rose
"Swinging Sweethearts" by Ron Goodwin
"Keem-O-Sabe" by Electric Indian
"The Happy Whistler" by Don Robertson
"Joy" by Apollo 100
"The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass
"Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Sounds Orchestral
"Telstar" by The Tornadoes
Click to expand...

It's weird, but for years I too have been hearing Shadows tunes without even knowing who they were. So have a lot of you out there.....

I picked up a copy of their greatest hits CD Shadows Are Go! on Amazon today.....
 
I don't know if these are considered "pop" or not, but a few instrumentals that stand out for me are:

"Celtic Excavation," Van Morrison
"Doc," Earl Klugh
"Love Is You," Santana
 
http://lounge.cwtv.com/showthread.php?p=4537686

I'll add "Hot Butter", "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy, "Gonna Fly Now", "TSOP" by MFSB, "Fly, Robin Fly" by Silver Convention to that list. Technically, there are some vocals in those last three. I'm not going to put any of these in my fantasy instumentals iPod because there's a limit on how long the post can be, and a real iPod would cost so much per song.
 
Midnight In Moscow - Kenny Ball and His Jazz Men
Theme From Romeo & Juliet - Henry Mancini
Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith
 
Jeez, that's almost like asking which one of your children do you love.

But here are a few:

"No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In", T-Bones (these guys later went on to become Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds)

"M Squad" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"-(tie) Ralph Marterie and his Marlboro Men (March of the Marionettes never swung like this)

"Lujon"-Henry Mancini (makes me want to sit on a beach in Kauai, sipping Mai Tai's and go floating out with the tide)

"Lightly Latin"- Richard Maltby and his Orch. (this is from his Mr. Lucky album which is great listening all the way through)

"Tres"- Percy Faith (his own composition and one of his last recordings. Nice, tasteful solo from Faith)

"Etude in the Form of Rhythm and Blues"- Paul Mauriat (his own composition and he does a wicked piano solo here)

"Coral Reef"- Neal Hefti (his own composition and classic Hefti. You want to jump up and shout when you hear it)

"A Hard Days Night"-Henry Jerome (Plas "Pink Panther"Johnson does the horn work and it is delightful)

"A Swingin' Safari"-Bert Kaempfert (Bert needs a shout out here. Can you listen to this song and NOT think of the 60's TV game show, "Concentration"?)

"Roundabout"-Don Ellis (Don was trying to do a mainstream album while still showing his usual scorn for the 4/4 time signature)

"Hollywood Dream (Instrumental)"-Thunderclap Newman (Andy Newman and his multitrack)

"All of Me"-Art Van Damme (actually anything from Art's 50's Columbia recordings are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The guy's 88 and still playing).

So, there are a few of my picks. I've got lots more. Well, you asked for it.

C5
 
Well, since everyone has left the room, I'll add another fave instrumental:

"Lady Madonna"-Jose Feliciano (Recorded in 1968. Terrific latin-tinged version of this Beatles classic)

Somebody stop me!

C5
 
Heard "Cotton Candy" by Al Hirt the other day & wanted to add it before this thread fades away. Another good one by Al Hirt which you never hear is "Al's Place."

Still more favorites for the list... "Mexico" by Bob Moore; "You've Got To Pay The Price" by Al Kent; "Pearly Shells" by Billy Vaughn; "Zorba The Greek" and "Casino Royale" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass; "Comin' In The Back Door" by The Baja Marimba Band

There certainly were some great instrumentals over the years, weren't there?
 
Wow, what a wonderful list! Just beautiful. All mine are there: San Remo, LeFerve, Faith. There's nothing left to add...until I went away and came back as other titles popped in my head.

Scorpio - Dennis Coffee & The Detroit Guitar Band (drum track used in Ton Loc hit "Bust A Move")
Sleep Walk - Santo & Johnny

Eric Records (remember them?) has a wonderful series of Pop Instrumentals @ www.ericrecordss.com and I have some of the "Hard To Find" series and can tell you they are like Rhino...the correct versions, correct takes and wonderful fidelity.
 
I have (IMO) The 100 Best Instrumentals Of The Rock Era availible at www.themusicmaestro.proboards40.com. --take a look--comments are welcome. let me share a few of my favorites that you may have forgotten:

#91--"Lily Was Here", by Dave Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer (1991)
#81--"More", by Kai Winding (1963)
#53--"Alley Cat", by Bent Fabric (1962)
#49--"Satin Soul", by The Love Unlimited Orchestra (1975)
#21--"Calcutta", by Lawrence Welk (1961)--a #1 Pop single, by the way!
 
Hey Larry----what a great question to pose......here are my "JJ Hemingway" personal favorites


Soul Coaxing/Raymond LeFevre
Footprints On The Moon/Johnny Harris Orchestra
Classical Gas/Mason Williams
Love Is Blue/Paul Mauriat
Love In Every Room/Paul Mauriat
Licorice Stick/Pete Fountain
Mexican Shuffle/Herb Albert & TJB
Love's Theme/Love Unlimited Orchestra
Route 66 Theme/Nelson Riddle Orhestra
A Walk In The Black Forest/Horst Jankowski

OK--a few more

Keemosabe/The Electric Indian
Viva Torado/El Chicano
Our Winter Love/Bill Pursell
Song From M*A*S*H/Al De Lory
Seduction(Love Theme From "America Gigolo")/James Last
Java/Al Hirt
Cotton Candy/Al Hirt


Again--what a great question---thanks for asking!
 
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
More - Kai Winding


"Lily Was Here" is a classy little strip number for around the house just about dinner time, but that's just me.
 
Silkie said:
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
More - Kai Winding


"Lily Was Here" is a classy little strip number for around the house just about dinner time, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

"Lily Was Here" Candy Dulfur....I assume? Smacks too much of "smooth jazz"...but a good song still....if you're a hot looking babe and strip.....
 
Bongwater said:
Silkie said:
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
More - Kai Winding


"Lily Was Here" is a classy little strip number for around the house just about dinner time, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

"Lily Was Here" Candy Dulfur....I assume? Smacks too much of "smooth jazz"...but a good song still....if you're a hot looking babe and strip.....
Click to expand...

Nah, anything I have I acquired after it was too late to do anything with it.
 
More - Kai Winding
Mr. Lucky - Henry Mancini
Telstar - Tornadoes
So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey
Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer
Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini
Cotton Candy - Al Hirt
Soul Coaxing - Raymond Lefèvre
Route 101 - Herb Alpert
Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra

....and many more!
 
I heard "Patricia" by Perez Prado this morning. That's a nice but lively number. Jeff Rollins was talking about how people came from south of the border. He listed Ricky Ricardo and apprarently a bunch of people jumped on him because a few minutes later he apologized for listing a fictional character.
 
Carmine5 said:
"A Swingin' Safari"-Bert Kaempfert (Bert needs a shout out here. Can you listen to this song and NOT think of the 60's TV game show, "Concentration"?)
Click to expand...

Carmine5, I wonder if you meant "The Match Game." Billy Vaughn had a hit with "Swingin' Safari," but I have heard the Bert Kaempfert version as well.

My list of instrumental favorites is an eclectic mix for sure. I'll add here some I don't think I've seen mentioned yet (although the previously mentioned "Soul Coaxing" by Raymond LeFevre may be my all-time favorite).

"Autobahn" Kraftwerk
"Overture From Tommy" Assembled Multitude
"Tubular Bells" Mike Oldfield
"The Happy Organ" Dave Baby Cortez
"Stranger On The Shore" Acker Bilk
"Music Box Dancer" Frank Mills
"Theme from Mission Impossible" Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen
"Nadia's Theme" Barry DeVorzan & Perry Botkin Jr
"The Homecoming" Hagood Hardy
"Amazing Grace" Royal Scots Dragoon Guard
"Outa Space" Billy Preston
"Theme from The Molly Maguires" Henry Mancini
"Near You" Roger Williams

...and these were not hits but I did hear them on the radio, so I guess that counts...
"Love Theme from Mary Queen of Scots" Percy Faith
"The Rare Ould Times" James Last (a beautiful version of the Dubliners' Irish folk tune)
"San Francisco (Flowers In Your Hair)" Paul Mauriat

...and for Christmas... "Christmas Bells" Mantovani; "All Around The Christmas Tree" John Klein; "Jingo Jango" Bert Kaempfert; "The Christmas Tree" David Rose.
 
Forgot to add these from the world of new age...

"Behind The Waterfall" David Lanz & Paul Speer
"Celestial Sodapop" Ray Lynch
"Chattahoochie Field Day" Patrick O'Hearn
"The Memory Of Trees" Enya
 
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