Strange Italians Dept. - The Music Asylum

Italy! Home of the most beautiful cities, the most beautiful women, and the best cars, art, food and wine this planet can offer! Also, some of the best music to ever come out of New Jersey! And, bafflingly, it's where The Music Asylum come from, genetically if not culturally. A big hand for Louis Luzzi, a couple of Leonards (Conforti and Argese), and, confusingly, another Louis and another Argese (one guy, Louis Argese), who is credited with Straw, Whistles, Phaser Gun, Harpoleen, and backing vocals. We're liking these gentlemen already!

I picked this up on vinyl way back when, because Louis Argese's Catskills cocktail lounge look altered my brain. That, and song titles like Flite Of The Tick Bird, Tube Along With Me, Garbage, screamed BUY THIS ALBUM! It was not a regret purchase. The few descriptions you'll find of this fall over themselves to place it in a genre. There's a light-n'-crispy deep-pan rock base with a zesty jazz topping, and ... well, it's melodic, adventurous, fun, beautifully sung ... I give up. It's delicious.

Here's Louis in later life [left - Ed.], still rocking the same acconciatura. Edited from his obit (he died at sixty):

"Born in Brooklyn ... lived in Totowa for most of his life ... Musician, Piano Player, Partner in Bioya Recording Studios, Paterson, NJ. ... played with many famous artists and traveled around the world in his career ... wrote music for movie soundtracks, radio and T.V. Commercials and T.V. Movies ... wrote CD Albums for different artists and was also a music director for Our Father's Music Business."

And this from a PR release for the Plant The Seed album (me neither): 

"An exhilarating musician who has been playing music since age 11. By the age of 18 Louis was on the road playing with greats like Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis and Sammy Davis, Jr., and amongst the artists he has recorded and arranged for are Jay and the Americans, Tommy James and Frankie Valli. Louis has also played on theme music sessions for HBO."

This one's for you, Lou!