The Manhattan Transfer - Bop Doo-Wopp (1984)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD.

Atlantic Records threw together a covers album with some live cuts alongside a few studio leftovers. 10 cuts clocking in at under 30 minutes. Sounds like a recipe for mediocrity (and it is), but there are a few good tunes here, Billboard chart entries, and a live version of a Grammy award winner. Go figure.

Billboard, December 15, 1984, p. 62

Described by the folks over at allmusic as "a peculiar, disjointed collection that only a Transfer collector would love." I don't love it, but I don't exactly hate it, either. Purchased primarily for nostalgia's sake and the tracks checked below.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #127
• Billboard Jazz: #11
• CashBox jazz: #8
• CashBox: #75

Tracks:

1. Route 66 (✔) - live version of the 1946 standard recorded in Tokyo, November 1983. Same recording later appeared on the 1996 release Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo. A studio version of this song by the quartet appeared on the 1981 soundtrack album to the Burt Reynolds feature Sharky's Machine. That earlier studio version reached #78 on the Hot 100, #22 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group in 1983. 
2. Jeannine - live version of the 1960 Duke Pearson standard recorded in Tokyo, November 1983. Same recording later appeared on the 1996 release Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo.
3. My Cat Fell In The Well (Well! Well! Well!) - a novelty tune originally released in 1939 by The Merry Macs. Backing tracks recorded in 1976 (maybe for their Coming Out album?), vocals in 1984. See memory below.
4. The Duke Of Dubuque - live version of a tune originally released by The Four Vagabonds in 1941. Recorded in Boston for PBS's Evening At The Pops series.
5. How High The Moon (✔) - live version of the 1940 standard recorded in Tokyo, November 1983. Same recording later appeared on the 1996 release Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo. Best known as Ella Fitzgerald's signature tune.
6. Baby Come Back To Me (The Morse Code Of Love) - doo wop tune originally released in 1962 by The Capris. Reached #83 on the Hot 100 and #14 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
7. Safronia B - originally released in 1950 by the songwriter, Calvin Boze.
8. Heart's Desire - live version of a song originally released by The Avalons in 1958. Recorded in Tokyo, November 1983. Studio version by The Manhattan Transfer was previously released on the group's 1975 self-titled album.
9. That's The Way It Goes - live version of a song originally released by The Harptones in 1956. Recorded in Tokyo, November 1983.
10. Unchained Melody (✘) - studio version of the 1955 standard. Bears little resemblance to the popular version originally released in 1965 by The Righteous Brothers.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I must have picked this up around the time of its release in late '84 because I have a memory of riding around Houston with my girlfriend as she was visiting me during our college's Christmas break. (You may remember this girlfriend from this earlier tale.) Track 3 of this album, My Cat Fell In The Well, has the vocal quartet singing the lines, "I woke up this morning with a feeling of despair. I looked for my pussy but my pussy wasn't there" and so on throughout, which this woman found hysterical. I mean, I caught the juvenile humor of the double entendres, but I didn't think it was worth laughing hysterically every time those lyrics came around.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo (1996)
Tonin' (1994)
The Christmas Album (1992)
The Offbeat of Avenues (1991)
Brasil (1987)
Vocalese (1985)
Bodies and Souls (1983)
Mecca For Moderns (1981)
Extensions (1979)