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Staff Picks

Music for a bachelor's den: Think we're kiddin'? You'd have to have ice water running through your veins not to get turned on by Eartha Kitt's torchy rendition of "I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch." Michael Amsler Saxual Pleasures THANKS TO THE COCKTAIL NATION, crooner Tony Bennett became an MTV star--no small feat when you're up against such TV competition as ex-centerfold Carmen Electra, the crass host of The Grind--and such '60s lounge greats as Henry Mancini, Julie London, and Les Baxter are stretching last call through the latest round of retro bossa-nova beat fever. Local hepcats and swingin' kittens know where to buy the best in lounge music--the Last Record Store. This venerable institution--picked by readers this year as the best place to buy both old and new records and CDs--sports a stylish section of lounge hits, old and new, catering to swingers of all ages. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy--as seen in the trendy buddy pic Swingers--is there. So are the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and their Zoot Suit Riot. As for Afro-Desia: The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny? It's required listening. Esquivel! Space Age Bachelor Pad Music? No respectable cat worth his goatee would get caught without it (all those electronic squeaks, squawks, and squanks have an irresistible affect on the opposite sex, perhaps recalling Sputnik's subliminal beep-beep-beep that lulled us to sleep as wee babes). Martinis, bikinis, spy music. Swingin' rhapsodies. Atomic-age audities. Mambos and bongos. The lounge section at the Last Record Store is a horn-a-copia of saxual delights. The Last Record Store, 739 Fourth St., Santa Rosa; 525-1963. G.C. [ Sonoma County | MetroActive Central | Archives ]