Yamaha Superstar - Koichi Oki

Liner Notes:
The tracks on this album “Yamaha Superstar” were specially created for the Yamaha EX42 by Koichi Oki, the world’s leading Yamaha Electone player.
On this album Koichi Oki uses many of the sounds which are exclusive to the Yamaha Electone and which are revolutionizing the field of electronic organ sounds.
The first Yamaha organs—seventy-eight reed organs—to be exported to Britain were shipped in 1892 only five years after Torakusu Yamaha built Japan’s very first prototype. Since that time the company, renamed Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd., has gone from strength to strength and while its musical instruments have steadily improved in range and excellence, it has also diversified into many other fields. Not so long ago, after all, the name “Yamaha” in Britain meant motor cycles and not musical instruments at all. Had our climate been other than it is we should know the name for its sno-cats and and skis made of the revolutionary new Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic, while boats and archery equipment of the same material obviously have a great future here.
It is, however, in the sphere of music that the Company’s greatest efforts have been expended and here is to he found its greatest achievement.
In the organ field Yamaha have scored many “firsts”, most notable being their revolutionary flat speaker based on the principle of a piano soundboard. It is to this speaker which enables the sound of the organ to travel across its surface that the Yamaha “Natural Sound” must be attributed.
Turning to the EX42, the scope of the organ is such that it gives ample expression to any type of playing from popular melodies, so ably demonstrated by Koichi Oki, to classical.
No other organ in the world has Yamaha’s exclusive “Touch Response” combined with the again exclusive “Touch Vibrato” which, for the first time, enables an organist fully to express mood and to translate the force in his fingers into volume and tone colour.
Koichi Oki recorded for AD-RHYTHM Records, London by courtesy of YAMAHA FOUNDATION FOR MUSIC EDUCATION, Japan.

Hit-Guitar - Karl-Heinz Kästel Und Seine Gitarren

Comment:
Every so often, an album cover attracts my attention, not for its visual appeal, but for its blandness. Dispite the simplicity of design, the recording reveals a treasure trove of hits from the 60's. Taking into consideration that a few of the tracks were hits in 1967, it would be quite safe to say that this record, "Hit-Guitar", was made around 1968. The sound is German. Close listening - such clean precise sounds that seem to be a well-known feature of German record engineering.
What kind of album is it? A collection of party medleys fuelled by wine and beer. But wait, it's about to become very strange. If wierd and unusual music is your thing, look no further. Track 5, the "Latin Party" brings instant madness into your living room.
The backing singers are one of the standout aspects of this album. Listen for the whispered "Jackson, Jackson, Jackson" on track 4. Also, listen for the interesting vocal effects mimicking brass instruments in "Immer Nur An Eine Denken" at the beginning of track 7.
Yet there is no information whatsoever about Karl-Heinz Kastel, the orchestra or the backing singers. Internet searches bare nothing at all. What information is available shows that at least three other albums have been produced featuring him, "Hit Guitar 2", "Hit Guitar 3" and "Guitar in Gold".