Best known as the musical director Tennessee Ernie Ford or Burt Tillstrom’s Kukla, Fran and Ollie television program, Jack Fascinato was also a top secret space-age bachelor. Though he cut only three albums under his name, all are mid-century hi-fi fever dreams etched into wax.
Fascinato’s independently-issued singles for KāHill and Fraternity were collected on 1957’s Arranges Things, issued by Norman Forgue’s Evanston, Illinois-based Stepheny label. Featured on the LP are the barber-wop quartet the Mellowmen and sultry exoticism from Doris Drew. Fran Allison’s liner notes boasted that “confirmed hi-fi fans will adjust their woofers and tweeters so that when they hear the bells in ‘Abada,’ they'll practically be able to see a camel train coming down the street.” Despite intense pandering, the LP managed to completely miss hi-fi enthusiasts and was quietly remaindered when Stepheny closed its doors at the decade’s end.
Track List
- Jack Fascinato Happy Medium
- Jack Fascinato Aba Da Aba Du
- Jack Fascinato Drum City
- Jack Fascinato There Will Never Be Another You
- Jack Fascinato Diggin’ Duggan
- Jack Fascinato Be My Lovin’ Baby
- Jack Fascinato Fifty Fathoms
- Jack Fascinato Rainbows In The Sky
- Jack Fascinato I’m Alone But Never Lonely
- Jack Fascinato Custer’s Last One-Night Stand
- Jack Fascinato Tea For Two
- Jack Fascinato Road Runner
- Jack Fascinato The Moment We Met
- Jack Fascinato I Love To Sing