Ha ha! Who plays with Laughing Sam's Dice anymore?!?

My favorite genre! Jive Time in Fremont has a whole section for "Squares Do Rock", which always throws up some real gems. It's even more awesome to think that in many cases the guys playing on the track are the same as the pop hit original. Jazz versions of pop hits are often rewarding, too.

Check out the Soulful Strings doing "Paint it Black" http://youtu.be/n5i2lnJIbh4

Or Percy Faith's "Black Magic Woman": http://youtu.be/7lfzae3ox9M

Martin Denny's more usual tiki style is one of the great musical movements of the 20th century, though I prefer the closely related Latin jazz of Cal Tjader. I was fortunate enough to see the great Arthur Lyman before he died some years ago; just solo vibes, in a roomful of 90-year-olds. Wonderful. And for the record, we were digging "Quiet Village" more than a decade before that Re:Search book.

Miley Cyrus vocal on Flaming Lips Lucy in the Sky remake?

(I vote yea.)

"pop sike hit" ???

Do you mean psych, as in psychedelic?
I'm pretty sure that 'sike' is an unfortunately common misspelling that occured bcz people didn't know [of/how to spell] the word psych and they just guessed. Even Urban Dictionary sez so, multiple times.

A Sike is actually a british term for a type of small stream that dries up in summer.

@4, you have obviously never seen a copy of Shindig or Ugly Things. The spelling has been a mainstay of crate diggers for thirty years. I think it's more a nod to "pop-sike" to suggest the dubiousness or softness or ridiculousness of some of the output (though ridiculousness is never a disqualification for greatness).

Further clarification: nobody calls Jimi Hendrix "sike". But there can be no better word to describe the magnificence of Twinn Connexion: http://youtu.be/j2bwPrG-HX0

Strawberry Alarm Clock are still around.

@4 what 5 said. "Sike" is knowing head/record nerd slang. It's telling of newbs when they use descriptors like "psych-rock."

@6 Twinn Connexion!! YEAH!! Got the LP!! (swoon)