Hell's Belles

Vintage sounds, dusty grooves, and 21st-century freaks.

No hidden pass/agg message here, I just adore this song and can never play it out because it’ll depress the hell out of everyone.  Makes me happy though.

Mad Men enthusiasts looking for a musical equivalent of Betty Draper need look no further than Julie London.  She’s probably best known for lounge-tastic numbers like the mid-50s “Cry Me A River”, but she’d become decidedly slinkier by the time she recorded her 29th- and  final – album for Liberty Records in 1969.

“Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” is one of my favourite Julie tracks.  As a kid, I’d always loved the original bubblegum version by The Ohio Express (the one 8-track (!) tape my grandma had that wasn’t Barry Manilow), but Julie’s version, with her languid vocals and louche string arrangements, twists the sickly-sweet original into a super-saucy gem.

I first came across this track via the bootleg Lux ‘n Ivy’s Favourites compilation series.  As far as I know, it’s only been re-issued as a Japanese import in 1995.  The prices have since come down, but it looks like it may be out of print again (Amazon has only 2 copies and the rest are private sellers) so if you like what you hear, snap this one up quick.

Julie London – Yummy, Yummy, Yummy by hells-belles

MP3: Julie London – Yummy, Yummy, Yummy

Julie London on eMusic