Crossed Combs - retro, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, tiki and all that jazz.

Wanda Jackson live in London!

July 27/28 are the dates for the Wanda Weekend at The Luminaire, London NW6. The queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson returns to the UK. This legendary artist, who turns 70 in October, released her debut record in 1956 and is regarded as the first female rock and roll singer.

Main support on the 27th is provided by London's Hot Rocket Trio. "Like a cranked-up mix of the Rev. Horton Heat and the Stray Cats and with a electrifying live show", allegedly. Opening up is J.D. Smith, a London-based blues/punk/rockabilly soloist. On day 2 of the Wanda Weekend, main support are Slim's Cyder Co. an accordion led brew of rockin' swamp country swing. Lil' Lost Lou opens.

More info about the Wanda Weekend on the Luminaire website

Via Ace Records

Out on the floor

A rug shaped like a surfboard, isn't that what every home needs?

Available to buy on-line from TikiOutlet.com, this rug measures 5 feet long (1.5 meter) and it's machine washable with non-slip backing.

Yours for $39.95. Find out more at TikiOutlet.com

Meteor Records t-shirt

Spotted this t-shirt in the Planet Bop eBay store yesterday. Nice one!

Meteor Records released records by artists like Jimmy Haggett, Brad Suggs, Elmore James, Steve Carl, Charlie Feathers, Woodrow Adams, Bud Deckleman and many others.

This fine garment is only £9.99. Find out more at the Planet Bop eBay store.

And if you visit the Crossed Combs own little store, You can find some nice Meteor Records compilation cd's.

Crescent City Bounce: from Blues to R&B in New Orleans

Amazing 4 cd box with artists like Archibald, Little Sonny Jones, Big Boy Myles & The Sha-Wees, Bobby Marchan, Tommy Ridgley, Roosevelt Sykes, Joe Harris and others.

Covers the rapid development of the blues scene and the R&B explosion in New Orleans during the 1950s. With over 100 tunes, this is value for money!

Find out more about the Crescent City Bounce box set at Amazon

Tiki Oasis 7 - Hawaii a go go

August 16-19 sees the 7th installment of the Tiki weekender in San Diego, California USA.

On stage and behind the turntables:
The Blue Hawaiians (Los Angeles), Ernie Menehune show (Tucson), The Tiki Tones (Orange County), The Martini Kings (Los Angeles), Bardot a Go-Go/DJ Cali Kid (San Francisco), Mimi LeMeaux (San Diego), Burlesque As It Was (Denver), Lucy Fur (Los Angeles), Sven Kirsten, DJ Jack Hughes, Domenic Priore, Wahine Tyra Nanihana Simoni, King Kukulele (Hollywood), The Devil-Ettes (San Francisco), The Maikai Gents Featuring The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa (Napa), DJ Tony the Tyger (San Diego), The Engine Room (Los Angeles), DJ Lee (Los Angeles), Calypso Cats (Orange County), KCR DJs Clint Beachwood and guest Tiki Tena, Beachbum Berry (Island Of Mahukona), DJ Patrick (LA/Denver), Bosko (Escondido), Otto von Stroheim (San Francisco).

Find out all you need to know at www.tikioasis.com

Luck be a lady tonight

Have you recharged for another night of voodoo exotic sound waves, ready to rumble rock, surf the mambo bop or juice the latin cha cha, it don't matter at the end stompin' crunch blues will get you !

LADYLUCK is back on Thursday 28 June, with live set from BIG AL & THE FIRE FLYS offering some red hot r'n'b jump boogie jive blues.

To arouse your blood pressure: BURLESQUE show with LELIA DOMINI

At Soho revue bar, Walkers court, Soho w1, London England. £10 before 11pm.  £14 after 11pm. STOMPIN' - 10PM - 3AM

LADYLUCK London's first burlesque & grind joint, where the champagne and cocktails flow, the hep cats burn shoe leather and the ladies come from the film noir pin-up fashion magazines.

Birth of Soul volume 4

Another great installment in the Birth of Soul series of cd's by Kent Records, loaded with goodies from the time when r&b was becoming soul. This volume contains tunes that have seen some dancefloor action in recent years such as Marv Johnson 'Come on and stop', Hal Miller 'On my own two feet' and also 'Catch that teardrop' by The "5" Royales.

After my second listen to this cd I went on-line and found a copy of 'Please don't cry anymore' by Ketty Lester. With 28 great late 50s and early 60s tunes, chances are that you will find your own favorite on here! Call it doo wop, blues, r&b, popcorn - this is a perfect mix of tunes that all are a piece of the puzzle that gave us soul music. Great informative booklet with liner notes by Ady Croasdell.

Find out more about Birth of Soul volume 4 at Amazon

Visit Record Envelope!

Check out Record Envelope - the little library of factory sleeves. This is a sister site of Crossed Combs, where illustration artist Kavel Rafferty is building a reference library of vintage record sleeves. Of interest to both vinyl geeks and graphic designers.

Follow this link to Record Envelope

Jersey Beat

Stonkin' compilation box recently released. Yes, Frankie Valli was the guy who sang the Grease theme tune, and yes, he was also in the Sopranos.

The Four Seasons had over 25 Top 40 hits. The nice people at Rhino has put together this box, featuring three CDs filled with 76 tracks of the band's biggest hits along with terrific album tracks, top-notch B-sides, plus a DVD including performances from a 1963 Steve Allen show and a 1971 appearance on Britain's Top of the Pops. An 84-page booklet accompanies the set.

You can buy buy this on-line from Amazon

Adidas Rod Laver Vintage sneakers

Adidas comes up with this stylish black leather basket weave version of the classic Rod Laver shoe.

Perhaps not suitable for the tennis court but a rather suave shoe for everyday wear. Quality! You can pick them up online from the Cali website, priced at approx $128.

Find out more at Cali