I'm lucky enough to have Volumes 1 & 2 of both Persuasive Percussion and Provacative Percussion on vinyl.  Amazingly, I had one volume of each and my wife contributed the other volume for each when we got married and combined our collection.
In my opinion, these are some of the finest Hi-Fi Lounge albums ever.  I'm especially fond of the Provacitive Percussion series because of the amazing West Coast Jazz studio orchestra.  I recently transferred those two to CD so I could listen to them when I'm not at home.
Persuasive Percussion is great, too.  They have the best liner notes!  The liner notes tell you exactly how each track will tax your Hi-Fi system to its limits.  The music is wonderful, too.
Now, my Percussion Tribute to Glenn Miller featuring the Frankie Capp orchestra is another matter.  It's pretty lousy.  I recently read that the percussion effects were added to a previously recorded Glenn Miller tribute session when the percussion album fad hit.                   

                     

I am curious as to how you transfer LP's onto CD?  What's the trick?

Transferring isn't too difficult or expensive, but it does take some time.  It's definitely possible to make higher quality transfers than I do, but I don't think it would be worth the additional expense.

I use my computer's CD-RW drive and a program called Audio Cleaning Lab, it's made by a company called Magix.  I bought a little adapter that lets me hook the right and left audio outputs on my turntable to the line in jack on my sound card.  I play the record and Audio Cleaning Lab records it and automatically sets up the track division (I usually have to change a few of the track start times, though).  After the entire record is copied to my hard drive I use some of the tools in the program to take out any obnoxious pops or hissing and then the program burns it to CD.  You can even enter the track names into the program so they'll show up if you have a CD-text CD player.  The CD player I DJ with has CD-text and it's pretty neat when I use my burned CDs.

If you already have a CD burner on your computer it shouldn't be too expensive to get started.  When I bought Audio Cleaning Lab, Staples was running an instant rebate that made the program about $10, I think it usually sells for around $30.  Of the similar programs I've looked at, it's by far the best.  It's easy to use, it actually improves the sound on some of my records that received "tough love" before I became their custodian, and it's really affordable.

After I burn the CD, I usually scan in elements of the record's original cover art and make a jewel case insert.  I can sometimes fit two LPs on a CD, especially when there are one or two tracks that I remove because of scratches.

Let me know if you start transferring records.  I'm willing to help with any advice I can give.                   

                     

Now if I could just get the wires to run from my phono (downstairs) to the computer (upstairs), we'd be in business.  (I'm not much for disassembing either system and carting it around, even if it might be the simplest thing to do!)

I have the same problem.  I'm always moving my turntable up and down the stairs.  I'm hoping to pick up another one that I can leave hooked up to the computer.  What would that be, a 12" disk drive?

BTW, what type of sound card are you using?  (I don't think I have one.   *rummaging through the manuals*)

I have a SoundBlaster Live: Value edition.  As long as you have a line in input it should work.  My mother-in-law's computer doesn't have a real soundcard (it's built onto the motherboard), but it still has a line in.                   

                     If you are looking to purchase some great Cocktail music you can pick up some great stuff from <a href="http://www.footlight.com">Footlight Records</a>. They ship to anywhere in the world and have a lot of stuff that wou can't find anywhere else. Oh, and they deam "Cocktail Music/Lounge" as "Easy Listening". So click the EL option.

Tell 'em Joe sent ya!                   

                     Yes, Esquivel is high in my list, but unfortunately high priced on vinyl, also.  That's one artist that people know is worth $$$.  I ususally pay less than a dollar for my records, but I would pay more for his if I could find them.  Maybe that site smilin' buddha joe recomends would be worth a shot.                   

                     Hi MoonMoth & welcome!   Yes, the UltraLounge collection is one of my favorites.  If you can find the 2 sampler CDs (the Leopard Skin sampler & the Tiki sampler) somewhere, they are excellent introductions to lounge music, mostly.  Some of the selections are just plain weird, though (not that there's anything wrong with that); they don't seem to contribute to the overall mood. 
     I prefer to buy lounge music on vinyl only, & its a lot of fun digging through stacks of stuff at used record stores.  Usually they're really cheap (under $1) and have great cover art/photos.  You may even find some of the albums the UltraLounge collection samples from (all Capitol records), which are real finds.  They also have more continuity than the CDs, since they're usually the same artist.
     Here are some to look for, if you're so inclined:  Henry Mancini (early stuff, like you already mentioned), Jackie Gleason (the one and the same), Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Esquivel (all exotica), George Shearing, anything that looks "Hawaiian", anything with "percussion" in the title, and anything else that just looks good to you.  Have fun!                   

                     Would that be Jack Costanzo, a.k.a. "Mr. Bongo"?  I haven't found anything credited to him on LP yet, but I think I have seen some of the 45's that would have been included with the purchase of a new set of bongos back in the 50's.                   

                     Bob Thompson is a new one to me-- I will definitely keep my eyes open for some of his stuff!

Yes, Mr. Thrill, there are lounge lizards at Atomic!                   

                     Lounge is a very eclectic musical genre, defined in retrospect like film noir, so its perimeters are a bit fuzzy (everything from moog to the Carpenters is included in Lounge guides, no one knows exactly where the line should be drawn - the book "Elevator Music" is the most comprehensive thing I've read on "easy listening".) But as Susie suggested, anything from the "Ultra Lounge" series is the perfect primer, particularly the two sampler comps, one has a leopard cover, the other a tiki cover, and both provide exemplary selections from the 18 or so CDs. Other favorite Ultra Lounge comps (each separated by theme) of mine are "Mondo Exotica", "The Crime Scene", "Rhapsodesia"  "Bachelor Pad Royale", "Cocktail Capers" and "Bottoms Up!" (as already suggested.) Of course I also love the different volumes devoted to organs, saxs and bongos, the movie and TV themes,the latin music comps, and...hell, I love ALL of 'em, , just get the two samplers and take it from there, you can't lose, they're all primo. There are also UL sub-series such as "Wild Cool and Swingin"', each volume featuring different vocalists including Bobby Darin, Louis Prima and Wayne Newton (better than you'd think); "On the Rocks", two volumes devoted to bizarre rock covers by lounge artists, such as Mel Torme crooning "The Games People Play" and Julie London sounding really nasty on "Yummy Yummy Yummy"....and of course the two Christmas Cocktails comps are esstential holiday mood-setters.
Check out www.ultralounge.com for the full scoop, you can download sample selections from each volume, too.
Or: Captiol put out two CD sets of some of its lounge all stars, inlcuding Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Jackie Gleason, all highly recommended.

Lounge lizards of the world....unite! cheers.                   

                     FedoraFella, I would definitely start with the 2 UltraLounge samplers, or some of the ones mrthrill recommends.  Like I mentioned above, I usually buy only vinyl, so I can't really help much beyond that.  I do have a reissue of a Les Baxter CD that is really neat, though; it's a double issue of "Tamboo/Skins", 2 albums originally on Capitol but rereleased by Collectables (EMI-Capitol).

You may have better luck on Amazon than in some chain record stores!                   

                     That is true; I have seen that book myself for around $5, although I can't vouch for its contents beyond the CD.  Another decent guide to lounge music is called "Forever Lounge".  But it is rather short on commentary and long on lists, which were not even as complete as I expected.                   

                     A certain Jet Setter has hepped me to Jazz for the Jet Set by Dave Pike (1965).  It is available as an import CD:

Remastered from original analogue tapes. The cult vibraphonist leads a combo including Clark Terry, Billy Butler and Herbie Hancock making his all time debut on organ, on an album that captures the heartbeat of an era: fast, funky, resonant with soul and passion.

Just ordered it via Amazon.  Can't wait to get it!