MY TOP 20 FAVORITE VANGUARD TUNES
by Jean Jacques Perrey
1) "The Little Man From Mars"
"This is the very first recording I did for Vanguard. It
is special to me because it was the very first experiment with
tape loops, despite Pierre Shaeffer's (negative) advice!" 
2) "Spooks in Space"
"The first one I made with the crazy loops. The idea
of crazy tape loops had been inspired to me by a dream I had about
Jean Cocteau and Edith Piaf."
3) "E.V.A."
"Because it had been suggested to me by Walt Disney, and
it is timeless and futuristic. Also, it is a tribute to the first
man who walked on the moon."
4) "Baroque Hoedown"
"This was a "co-composition" with Gershon Kingsley.
I'll put "Baroque Hoedown" down because it became the
theme song for the Disneyland's Electrical Parade, 6 years after
Walt Disney passed away. But Walt is still alive in my heart and
my soul."
5) "Visa to the Stars"
"It became an Esso commercial , co-composed with Andy Badale
(Angelo Badalamenti,) and also has something related to science
fiction."
6) "Flight of the Bumble Bee"
"Because it impressed Salvador Dali so much. I'll never forget
how he jumped out of his chair when he heard it !"
7) "Strangers in the Night"
8) "Third Man Theme"
""Because I loved these tunes and wanted to make crazy
adaptations."
9) "The Little Ships"
10) "Frère Jean Jacques"
"Because I have happy memories of my mother singing me to
sleep with these tunes when I was a child."
11) "Four Three Two One"
"I made this with my friend Billy Mure. It was exciting to
do!"
12) "Minuet of the Robots"
13) "Gypsy in Rio"
"Because it reminds me lot of fun I had working with Harry
Breuer on these tunes. "Gypsy in Rio", by the way ,
is a kind of tribute to my idol Spike Jones, but with crazy electronic
sounds instead of acoustic effects."
14) "Gossipo Perpetuo"
"It was also a lot of work in manipulating the small pieces
of the tape where the voices were recorded. I remember (arranger)
Harry Breuer was laughing so much, when I recorded this!"
15) "Country Rock Polka"
16) "18th Century Puppet "
"With my good friend Harry Breuer."
17) "Passport to the Future"
18) "Pioneers of the Stars"
"These were dedicated also to space themes, and were masterly
arranged by my good friend Angelo Badalamenti."
19) "The Elephant Never Forgets"
"Because I love elephants, and the middle part sounds fantastic
to me, because of the good arrangement of my much-missed friend
Harry Breuer."
20) "Swan's Splashdown"
"This was a crazy idea, and a modern tribute to Tchaïkowski
who is, I think, one of the best Russian composers for ballet
music! My daughter Patricia was still a ballerina during the time
I recorded this. I also wanted to pay tribute to my former idols
who were at the origin of my decision to stop medical studies
and become a Electronic Music composer: Tom Dissevelt and Kid
Baltan, who I consider as my Masters, and real Pioneers of
modern recreative Electronic Music."
