Exotica!
  Ben

01. Cowboy Church Sunday School - Open Up Your Heart (And Let The Sunshine In)

"Entered Billboard 1/1/55 for 21 weeks, peaking at #8 on the best selling singles chart," according to the kind soul who posted this on alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era. Easily the best darn song I've heard this year.

02. Ella - O Lumapit Ka

I thought I should include something from my country (the Philippines), so here's something; the title means "Come Near." From the '70s album "The Best of Manila Sound." Ella del Rosario still sings in Las Vegas somewhere.

03. Richard Hayman - Goin' Out Of My Head

From "Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine." A quite literal translation, in a way.

04. Hiramatsu Eri - Holy Hot Xmas

Something I added mostly because of the chorus and title -- though because I don't understand Japanese, all I can pick out is "holy hot Christmas" and "salvation." Dubbed from a tape and onto an mp3, so the quality isn't that great. A wonderful song in any case.

05. The Hollywood Studio Orchestra - The Pink Panther Theme

From the "Ultra-Lounge: Cocktail Capers" CD. 1964.

06. Cecil Holmes Soulful Sound - Also Sprach Zarathustra

From "The Sound Spectrum" anthology. Classical cheesefunk.

07. Kahimi Karie - Candyman

From the eponymous 1998 album. Listen to this when you wake up in the morning and it will be a good day all day. Really.

08. Juliette LeBlanc - Theme from "Nights of Sin"

One of those "moan 'n' groan" tracks that still made it to this comp. I think it's from a comp entitled "Sexopolis."

09. Marcy - Join The Gospel Express

From the RE/Search Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 2 comp.

10. Billy May and His Orchestra - Patricia

Sorry, I don't have the CD in front of me, but it's from the Ultra-Lounge: Organs in Orbit CD.

11. Denny McLain - Laura / More

Also from Organs in Orbit -- this one straddles the border between brilliance and cheese. A real home run.

12. 101 Strings - Whiplash

One of the extra tracks off the Astro Sounds from Beyond the Year 2000 album.

13. Riz Ortolani - Beat Fuga Shake

From the Beat at Cinecitta Vol. 1 comp. Absolutely awesome.

14. Jean Jacques Perrey - Gossipo Perpetuo

Also on one of the Incredibly Strange Music comps. Electronica of the highest order.

15. Roberto Pregadio - Iena Sequence

Also from the Beat at Cinecitta Vol. 1 comp.

16. Line Renaud - Sexe

From the Ultra Lounge: Cocktail Capers CD.

17. William Shatner - Hamlet / It Was A Very Good Year

From the classic album The Transformed Man. His rendition of the Sinatra chestnut (used to great effect recently on "The Sopranos") is criminally underrated, as opposed to the popularity of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man."

18. April Stevens - Teach Me Tiger

From the "Ultra-Lounge: Cocktail Capers" CD. 1959. Mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah.

19. Don Swan and His Orchestra - Tico Tico (Samba)

From the Ultra Lounge: Mambo Fever CD.

20. The Third Wave - Cantaloupe Island

And last but not least, more Filipinos -- this time, Filipino Americans transplanted in Stockton, recording this with George Duke in Villingen. From the "Here and Now" CD.