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Ventures, The ?– Going To The Ventures Dance Party!

Label: Liberty ?– LBY 1110 Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono, Album 
Country: UK Released: 1962 Genre: Rock Style: Surf, Rock & Roll

TracklistHide Credits

A1 Mr. Moto Written-By – Richard Dilvi 2:04 A2 Theme From Come September Written-By – Bobby Darin 2:34 A3 Ya Ya Wobble Written By – Bogle-Strange-Taylor-Gates 1:57 A4 Night Drive Written-By – Nole Edwards 2:19 A5 Venus Written-By – Ed Marshall (2) 2:05 A6 The Intruder Written-By – Billy Strange 2:28 B1 Gandy Dancer Written-By – Don WIlson 2:08 B2 Sweet And Lovely Written By – Arnheim-Daniels-Tobias 2:44 B3 Limbo Rock Written-By – Billy Strange 1:52 B4 Lolita Ya Ya Written By – N. Riddle-B. Harris 2:06 B5 Loco-Motion Written-By – Goffin-King* 2:08 B6 Gully-Ver Written By – C. Bedford 1:56

Credits

• Producer – Bob Reisdorff, Josie Wilson

Notes

Laminated flip-back cover, black labels with silver text.

AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder  [-]

This is a pleasant album, though some of it lacks the edge and focus of its direct predecessor. And, yet,Going to the Ventures' Dance Party! is notable on several levels, most especially the drumming, which, at this late date in 1962, was being provided by Mel Taylor; he's the most impressive part of this record, playing circles around the rest of the band on "Mr. Moto," "Ya Ya Wobble," and much of the rest, just throwing in these fills and rolls that weave in and out of the sound like he's in a whole different universe from the rest of the band, except that he keeps a beat like nobody's business. Even more astounding is that his virtuosity is presented as quietly and easily as it is, no mean feat on the drums. On "Venus" he is as much a part of the piece as Nokie Edwards' lead guitar, yet one never loses the melody, and similarly, on "The Intruder," he's out in front without overwhelming the group's sound or the song. On "Gandy Dancer," he almost goes a little too far with the high-hat, but holds back enough to prevent this from becoming the rock-era equivalent of some of those unfortunate, mismatched Gene Krupa showcases of the 1940s. Side two of the original LP (i.e., the last six cuts) was a killer, either as dance music or a virtuoso musical showcase, perfectly balanced even as pop music in the sweetly lyrical renditions of "Limbo Rock" and "Lolita Ya-Ya"; one sort of wishes they'd tried to pull off "Loco-Motion" without the female chorus, but the mix of an almost-breathless, soto voce female chorus and Edwards' guitar is fun and almost impossible to resist.

Artist Biography by John Bush

Not the first but definitely the most popular rock instrumental combo, the Ventures scored several hit singles during the 1960s -- most notably "Walk-Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O" -- but made their name in the growing album market, covering hits of the day and organizing thematically linked LPs. Almost 40Ventures' albums charted, and 17 hit the Top 40. And though the group's popularity in America virtually disappeared by the 1970s, their enormous contribution to pop culture was far from over; the Venturessoon became one of the most popular world-wide groups, with dozens of albums recorded especially for the Japanese and European markets. They toured continually throughout the 1970s and '80s -- influencing Japanese pop music of the time more than they had American music during the '60s.

the Ventures' origins lie in a Tacoma, Washington group called the Impacts. Around 1959, construction workers and hobby guitarists Bob Bogle and Don Wilson formed the group, gigging around Washington state and Idaho with various rhythm sections as backup. They recorded a demo tape, but after it was rejected by the Liberty Records subsidiary Dolton, the duo founded their own label, Blue Horizon. They released one vocal single ("Cookies and Coke"), then recruited bassist Nokie Edwards and drummer Skip Moore and decided to instead become an instrumental group.

the Ventures went into the studio in 1959 with an idea for a new single they had first heard on Chet Atkins' Hi Fi in Focus LP. Released on Blue Horizon in 1960, the single "Walk-Don't Run" became a big local hit after being aired as a news lead-in on a Seattle radio station (thanks to a friend with connections). In an ironic twist, Dolton Records came calling and licensed the single for national distribution; by summer 1960, it had risen to number two in the charts, behind only "It's Now or Never" by Elvis Presley. After Howie Johnsonreplaced Moore on drums, the Ventures began recording their debut album, unsurprisingly titled after their hit single.

Two singles, "Perfidia" and "Ram-Bunk-Shush," hit the Top 40 during 1960-61, but the Ventures soon began capitalizing on what became a trademark: releasing LPs which featured songs very loosely arranged around a theme implied in the title. The group's fourth LP, The Colorful Ventures, included "Yellow Jacket," "Red Top," "Orange Fire" and no less than three tracks featuring the word "blue" in the title. the Venturesput their indelible stamp on each style of '60s music they covered, and they covered many -- twist, country, pop, spy music, psychedelic, swamp, garage, TV themes. (In the '70s, the band moved on to funk, disco, reggae, soft rock and Latin music.) the Ventures' lineup changed slightly during 1962. Howie Johnson left the band, to be replaced by session man Mel Taylor; also, Nokie Edwards took over lead guitar with Bob Bogleswitching to bass.

One of the few LPs not arranged around a theme became their best-selling; 1963's The Ventures Play Telstar, The Lonely Bull featured a cover of the number one instrumental hit by the British studio band the Tornadoes and produced byJoe Meek. Though their cover of "Telstar" didn't even chart, the album hit the Top Ten and became the group's first of three gold records. A re-write of their signature song -- entitled "Walk-Don't Run '64" -- reached number eight that year. By the mid-'60s however, the Ventures appeared to be losing their touch. Considering the volatility of popular music during the time, it was quite forgivable that the group would lose their heads-up knowledge of current trends in the music industry to forecast which songs should be covered. The television theme "Hawaii Five-O" hit number four in 1969, but the Ventures slipped off the American charts for good in 1972. Instead, the band began looking abroad for attention and -- in Japan especially -- they found it with gusto. After leaving Dolton/Liberty and founding their own Tridex Records label, the Ventures began recording albums specifically for the Japanese market. The group eventually sold over 40 million records in that country alone, becoming one of the biggest American influences on Japanese pop music ever.

Nokie Edwards left the Ventures in 1968 to pursue his interest in horse racing for a time, and was replaced by Gerry McGee; though he returned by 1972, Mel Taylor left the group that year for a solo career, to be replaced by Joe Barile. (Taylor returned also, in 1979.) By the early '80s, the Ventures' core quartet of Wilson, Bogle, Edwards and Taylor could boast of playing together for over 20 years. Though Edwards left the band for good in 1984 (replaced again by Gerry McGee) and Mel Taylor died mid-way through a Japanese tour in 1996 (replaced by his son Leon), the Ventures continued to pack venues around the world.