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Interrobang: punctuation mark invented in 1962 combining interrogation with exclamation (read the fascinating history here ); also, 1969 film featuring a wonderful Morricone-esque score by Berto Pisano.

Arranger extraordinaire/Gainsbourg accomplice/”French David Axelrod” Jean-Claude Vannier’s 1971 collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent. It really starts cooking at 1:09.

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when they describe, far too often, music as “breezy” (it’s even called “Sun-Kissed Chicks”). From the CD that accompanies this awesome book of library LP covers.

FACT: My braided money tree actually sprouts dollar bills when I play this Mort Garson record, which was given away with Simmons mattresses in the mid ’70s.

Brian must have been listening to Wave when he wrote this. My 2nd favorite song of all time after “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”.

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The first 8 bars of this Tlahoun Gèssèssè track (Ethiopiques Vol. 17) are begging to be sampled. Don’t forget to mail me a royalty check!

Dorothy Ashby (whom Sean O’Hagan memorializes on the excellent Can Cladders) offers a funky, groovy interpretation of the Baden Powell/Vinicius de Moraes jam.

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His early albums may be established touchstones of kitsch, but I find Spock’s countrified, socially conscious turn on 1970′s The New World of Leonard Nimoy to be pretty great, sans irony.