Here is an interesting track by Funktion Freeks on Purple Reign Records, released in 1986. Wet dreams make for bizarre songwriting material, but maybe his bedroom looks like the one pictured above with 1937 Altec /Lansing/RCA horn system powered by a Marantz 8B. Lots of drum machine clatter in there and lots of jankeyness. It is definitely halfway between garage house and freestyle. It catches its stride in the final third. Funktion Freeks - So Hard Up For Your Love
I played this dub version out last night and made a point to post it up today. Nona Hendryx needs no real introduction, super star solo artist and member of LaBelle with lots of disco and electro funk, and funk rock releases to her name. This record though, as guest vocalist with one off production outfit The Cage is a bit of a weird one, an odd electro cover of a much earlier T-Connection track. Nona's vocals are good, but I like the dub instrumental on this.
This cassette has been on repeat in my motor vehicle as of late. I love the fact that my car stereo is shit and this beat up tape from 1979 sounds like absolute crap. Sometimes its just better to go lo-fi in order to achieve the proper sonic experience.
Harvey Scales was once considered Milwaukee's "Godfather of Soul". I often used to pass up this Cassablanca release in the Milwaukee thrift stores as it looked sort of ridiculous (yet amazing) and I already had some of his earlier funk 45's which was more to my interest than glam disco at that particular time. I was fortunate enough to see Harvey play live at a few Bar Mitzvah's and Weddings back in the day, although I doubt I ever saw him perform this gem. Harvey Scales - Keeps Getting Better
Here are some of my favorite Frankie Knuckles remixes. These are from an era of soulful deep house, before thick neck British blokes with shaved arms took over. Here is also a live mix from Gallery 21 in Chicago from 1987. Sorry for the marginal sound quality, please hit us up if you have any high quality mixes.
Frankie Knuckles Playlist:
K.I.D.: Hupendi Muziki Wangu?! (You Don’t Like My Music)
So I dropped the ball with the Halloween post that never materialized. I was going to put up, 'Fear' by Easy Going, but that was hardly an inspired imaginative stretch, so you didn't miss out too much.
I was out of town all weekend in Las Vegas. I managed to get away from the strip and go digging around some of the local record stores, it was a pleasant surprise. Record City has at least 5 or 6 stores, the two I went to were in beyond thunderdome, desert town empty strip mall neighborhoods and were within a couple of blocks of one another. An impressively fucked up looking pimp got upset at me walking up and down between the two, past his girls on the corner with my records, acting strange. He had blood seeping from a bandaged hand and one of his lady friends hissed at me. It was well worth it, as three decades of gigging casino club DJ's and local hopefuls had left these spots laden with awesome 12"s.
This track comes out of my weekend haul. On the excellent Amherst records, like Kelley's previous post, Funn by Gunchback Boogie Band, this 1984 synthy funk monster was also produced by Anthony T. Johnson. Awesome and hard hitting..
I created an exclusive new DJ mix at the request of my friends Remy and Lamar aka Portland's Monorail Boys. These guys throw the best parties in Portland hands down and do a damn fine job on their blog as well. Indicative of my current DJ sets, this mix leans heavily on the boogie-funk tip with a bit of early house, italo and late era disco thrown in for good measure. As always its all live, hastily mixed at home after a long, shitty day a couple weeks back. Anyways, go to the Monorail blog, download the mix and take a look around. You will also find some other stellar mixes by the likes of Ulysses 82 and San Serac amongst other goodies.
I also have posted the Stimulation title track here on this blog. Stimulation is a semi rare and ultra heavy vocoder track by The Strangers from the Salsoul Records stable circa 1983.
Stimulation Tracklist:
Prestige - Cheating Squirmin Herman - Move and Shake Your Body (Inst.) The Strangers - Stimulation Pleasure - Sending My Love (Inst.) Aurra - Baby Love (Shep Pettibone's Mastermix) Slave - Feel My Love Wizardz - Boogie Slyde Sinnamon - I Need You Now (The Fierce Reprise) Jamie Principle - Your Love Inner Life - (Knockout) Let's Go Another Round Stephanie Mills - Put Your Body In It Weeks and Co. - Go With The Flow (Inst.) Leather - Nervous Electrik Funk - On a Journey (Inst.) Eazy - Project Funk (Inst.) A Number of Names - Sharevari Kano - Now Baby Now
Its my day to post and I couldn't get to my recording rig, so I'm putting up an edit I did a while ago for a set that never happened that I just found on my mp3 player and put up from this borrowed computer. Paparazzi were a short lived British New Wave band that released a couple of singles on MCA before breaking up and having their debut album unfortunately shelved, although there is a bootleg recording of it floating around. Their 12" 'Stop' has some great synth work, I stripped out some of the vocal bridges and chorus lines to make it a little more compatible for contemporary dance floors, but still left the instrumental parts of the arrangement pretty much as was.
I could tell you a few things about this song. Maybe you would like to know that it's written and produced by Arthur Russell. Or maybe that it is mixed by Larry Levan. Perhaps you would like to know how it's got amazing piano, horns and whistling. But really, you probably just want to listen to this track and get your ass up and dance around your room in your underwear. Or, is that just me?
This is a very nice upbeat track from Cleveland, OH based artist Frederick. Move On was buried on the B-Side of a throwaway ballad 12" entitled Gentle (Calling Your Name) released in 1984 on private label Time Trax and later reissued on LA Based Heat Records in 1985. I really like the sanguine gospel feel to this cut, reminds me of a less polished Leroy Burgess-Stan Lucas production. I apologize for the impurity of this rip, but I had to chop off the sliding piano line in the intro. It was just too cheesy and distracting to an otherwise great track.
Here is something smooth for you to enjoy this Monday evening. Pieces of a Dream was produced by the late Grover Washington Jr. and they put out three albums. Their sound was very tame and smooth with polished production. While many of their tracks are a bit too smooth, this one has a nice poppy snap that is reminiscent of a Change record. Dexter Wansel helped pen this one. Pieces Of A Dream - Fo-Fi-Fo
I came across this 12" recently in a deep stack of what seemed like mostly jazz records. It's by Rory and Rick Starr, also known by the moniker Magnum Force, under which they released some sought after funk and boogie LP's, in the late seventies through to the early eighties. This record though dates from 1984, and goes into my limited collection of what I would identify as one of the earliest examples that I own of pure Chicago house. I don't have anything that can be pinned down to that genre from 1983, close, but not quite. Both the A side and B side are well worthwhile, definitely a little too polished to have been made by a 17 year old with a Roland drum machine in his bedroom, but clearly influenced by them and the electronic sound being played on Chicago radio at the time as well.
I'm also posting Persia's Inch By Inch as was requested. All time roller boogie classic.
In 1975 Patrick Cowley and Jorge Socarras began a friendship and musical partnership that spanned several years and the end result was an LP's worth of material that saw the light of day in the United States for the first time just yesterday. The story of how things got to this point is an interesting slice of San Francisco history. It all started when DJ Ken Vulsion of Honey Soundsystem spun some records with legendary SF producer/ DJ John Hedges at Cafe Flore about 3 years ago. Hedges took over running Megatone Records with Marty Blecman after Cowley's death in 1982 from a mysterious and deadly new virus called GRID. Hedges was already a legendary disco DJ since the mid 70's at this point having been the house DJ at The Mineshaft and the City Disco. When Marty Blecman passed due to complication from the Aids virus in 1991, Hedges became the steward of the huge Megatone back catalog.
About a year after the gig, Kenvulsion received a call from Hedges informing him that he was selling his old studio and house in Buena Vista Park and moving to Southern California. He would be giving away a huge chunk of his personal record collection and all of the Megatone back catalog. Several of the honey guys found their way over to John's house with a large truck and raided the basement storage space they came to call the Mineshaft. After digging through over 4,000 records, Ken and co. discovered 4 boxes of quarter inch tapes. Half were session copies, others were totally unreleased masters by Cowley. One of the reels ended up being the pre-Megatone full length recording entitled Catholic produced with Jorge.
Fast forward to 2009, the honey guys did a few parties to celebrate their massive record score and easily persuaded German label Macro to issue Catholic for the very first time. The beauty of this recording is that it displays Cowley as much more than just a disco producer. This early period shows him in another pioneering mode: Post Punk. Before the genre even existed. The seemingly timeless Catholic sessions would fit nicely as a DFA release or could have been a celebrated gem on 4AD or Mute back in the day. These recordings further solidify the fact that Cowley may have been the most important and groundbreaking producer San Francisco has ever seen. This Sunday, Honey Soundsystem hosts two events to commemorate Patrick's 59th birthday and the release of Catholic. All of the details are here and suffice to say there will be special guests (Paul Parker and John Hedges!) in attendance and one can expect these events to delve much more deeply into Cowley's backstory and the history of SF disco than I have been able to explain today.
I should probably be building an arc right now because California is going to be washed away into the sea in a couple of hours. I have been practicing parting water, and I think I may have it figured out just in the nic of time. Manu Dibango - New Bell
I have played this for a few people over time and I have gotten mixed responses, perhaps they were just not in the right mindset, or perhaps the heart felt, atonal, choppy English as a fourth language vocal put them off. Its a weird tune for sure, but I think maybe Lowell's No Matter is one of the unsung Italo greats, dark and brooding, with a touch of electro and soul, sang by a light Swiss version of Tina Turner circa 1985. Its not Italian, it is Swiss, and I think all of the recordings off of the short lived Tam Tam label were made in Switzerland. Extremely hard to find, often a little off color somehow.
I haven't been home much lately. I haven't posted much lately. I haven't been to the gym much lately. What I have done though is work, work, work. But it's Friday, it's Fleet Week in SF and I finally remembered on the right day it is my time to post. What I have this week is Edgar Winter's instrumental track "Above & Beyond". It's bad ass and full of amazing sonic ear candy. It's cosmic, it's weird and it is made Mr. Winter who looks as though winter landed all over him. I scored this record, actually 2 copies of the white label, nicely filed in alphabetical order whilst digging at a record store. Talk about a score. Enjoy.
Thought I would switch it up for a change and post an 80's synth pop track from the legendary Factory Records stable. This cut from Section 25 was a staple of mine some years back when I incorporated quite a bit of new wave and post punk into my DJ sets. I dusted this record off in anticipation of the upcoming Section 25 show at Mezzanine in SF and it served to remind me that I still love this kind of stuff. The British in particular were damn good at making new wave/synth tracks. They tended to add a more soulful element that their American counterparts were not quite as adept at pulling off. Looking From a Hilltop was released in 1984 as the first single off of the From the Hip LP which was produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order.
"Jack boldly declared: 'Let there be house!' And house music was born."
Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers produced this record in 1986. This record was a follow-up to his 1985 release Mystery Of Love. Early in his music career he was in a jazz fusion group with Adonis (whose music also has a similar sound). He later fronted the group Fingers Inc. and started producing tracks under several monikers. His tracks ushered in the deep house sound with an ethereal, serotonin laced groove that can give you a sense of the elation that those dancers felt on the dancefloor of The Warehouse in the mid-80's. This is the instrumental version, the more common version features a Dr. King like sermon about Jack and the origins of house music. Mr. Fingers - Can You Feel It(Instrumental)
This picture is of Khalis Bayyan's living room. At least his living room in 1983. I'm not posting any of Khalis' or Kool And The Gang's tracks, I just like the picture. It looks like my mum and dad's living room in England, apart from with analogue synths in it.
San Francisco on the other hand is jumping this weekend, my neighborhood is locked down with the lovefest meth techno activities, the police put blockades up either end of my street, so I sort of feel trapped inside, alone with my records. These two were the highlight of my day, excuse the Craig Peyton record if it sounds a little warbly at the beginning, my copy has a slight warp the first inch or so. Would love to mint up on this one:
This was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force's first record and was released in 1984. It was released on a European label as a single and was featured on the compilation album Breakdancing. In 1985, their first full length came out and it was a big success. LL&CG along with production by Full Force was a winning combination and led to the team dominating pop radio throughout the 80's.
A seriously deep modern soul/synth boogie record here from San Francisco circa mid 80's. There is debate over the year of release as it is not listed on the sleeve. I would lean towards '87 if I had to make an estimate. One thing is for certain, everything about this LP from the crusty production to the sleeve is just so dusted and killer. If you live in the Bay Area and spend enough time in the thrift stores, you might just dig up this private press gem on Treasure Records. Here are a few of the LP's Highlights. Prophet - Right On Time Prophet - Stick Around Prophet - You Really Turn Me On
This image was taken from a Korg trade publication from the early eighties. This is how they envisioned a sophisticated gentleman's living room should look like, your Korg synths up on breeze blocks, your Korg brand reel to reel machine, a shelf of quarter inch tapes for your listening pleasure, and a couple of bottles of fine cognac. Its odd how spot on they got it, how forward thinking Korg's marketing team were to have predicted successfully that one day every bachelor's living area would look exactly like this. I know mine does more or less, except I have hardwoods, a signed Nagel print up on the wall and beanbags stuffed with coke ridden hundred dollar bills for my guests to sit on.
I was in my Korg inspired living room listening to some modern track with a vocoder on the vocal line. I'm not saying anything against vocoder vocals, saying they are played out is like claiming a guitar or piano is played out, they have been on lots of records since the dawn of time too, I don't think using a vocoder is necessarily gimmicky, just should be used a little more sparingly perhaps. What do I know anyway, like I said before I'm not Beethoven, but it did inspire me to try and record a few under appreciated and under the radar vocoder jams from the device's (first) heyday, when a vocoder wasn't a default plugin in your download from a Russian torrent site, but instead was a about half the size and weight of a small car engine and likely to cost you twice as much.. I didn't do very well though, I only managed two before the dust from my epic crates started to make me sneeze and I gave up..
Here we have a very hard release entitled Boogie Slyde from the year 1984 that has been floating around the internet for a few months. 1984, eh? It was pretty much unheard of for an obscure funk group to do an instrumental only one sided 12" in the early 80's as they would be trying to push an A side vocal to get radio play. Still, I can see how one could be confused by such a heavy hitting and authentic sounding cut. It was almost a bit painful to watch some people spend top dollar for this joint on ebay for a minute there. That being said, there aren't too many of these babies floating around so it might just be worth it. Don't blame Disco Tom for keeping this release on the sly, he finally just received his personal copy from the head Wizard only yesterday and he played guitar on this record!
A shout out to Sheela for the wizardz image as well as the fresh new BE logo.
This is my favorite song about gay male prostitution. It was produced by Alessandro Zanni in 1984 and was Ken Laszlo's first record. Zanni produced a lot of my favorite italo hits including those by Baby's Gang, Hipnosis, Cyber People, and Koto. The strange subject matter and the non-decipherable beginning give a lot of charm to a well produced textbook italo-pop track. This is the original remix on Memory Records. There is also a cheesed out US remix out there that is a little too macho.
No complaining that I don't know what these are. No whining about early cut offs or janky recording. Here are over a thousand recordings of 45's made by a record dealer over the past few years since he started selling online. Lots of pricey rare stuff in here, some standards too. Its mostly soul, but there is some funk, boogie and disco in there as well. I haven't even dented it yet, so if you find something that stands out please post it in the comments so we can start cataloging the gems.
How many fools have this record? This rare 45 on Life World? This is a mid tempo joint that has proven to completely blow the world of boogie and funk fans away. This record alone proves why inferior pressings can command higher praise than their 12" counterparts, as evidenced by their Popsike trail. Check it! Pyramid Plus - Comin At Cha Pyramid Plus - Comin' At Ya (MP3)
I went and saw the Richard Avedon exhibit last weekend at the SF MOMA. There's something in the way he photographs people that is so raw. His ability to capture such depth of emotion in the eyes is really beautiful and moving. There's a series he did based on rural life in the American West that was so stunning, I can't stop thinking about it. On a completely different note, here's a track I really love. Herbie Hancock and Sylvester are an amazing team. Obviously a true testament to Sylvester's brilliant talent and vocal range as this song is sung low and deep. Herbie Hancock - Magic Number (Disco Mix)
While I agree with my friend LeBaron and the BBC science department that our race will split into several subspecies, I disagree with the timeline in which this is all going down. Judging by the video below I believe this new survival of the fittest (or lack thereof) is currently upon us.
Ugh. So anyways, not only are we here at Beat Electric imploring you to Funkacise, y'all better double down and throw in a little Funkincise just to keep squarely on the path towards genetic and spiritual enlightenment. Gift Of Dreams - Funkincise Gift Of Dreams - Funkincise (Instrumental)
Beat Electric is gonna let you in on a little secret. The human race is at a critical stage and the choices that you make can effect your DNA in the future. Many generations in the future your DNA will have no choice but to chose one of two subspecies. Your future seed can be the well endowed, built to conquer gracile species or human robustus; the hunched over goblin like fellow who fights by unleashing kitschy homosexual pornography on hotlinkers. Getting into an excercise routine is very difficult, especially since there are so many entertaining tweets to follow. I guess, what works best is to find an activity that you like to do. BT Magnum practices yoga in conjunction with tantric sex, Black Shag does biathalon on his Wii with a very heavy firearm, Kelley B roller skates with pompoms, Disco Tom plays dodge ball, Safety Scissors likes to fish, and I like to bowl with little people. However you do it, get your ass in gear and funkacise that body for the good of your future generations.
I think I'm going to do a series of posts on records with 'Lets Rock' in the title. I think I can manage about four or five. It's usually a mark of quality I find.
Producer Rick Tarbox had a couple of act's which rhymed with his lastname, Hotbox and Starbox included, both of which are great electro funk acts. Starbox's Let's Rockett has a not uncommon space travel theme, so instead of a picture I'm including this Space Invaders game, put your mouse over and play it if you have some time to kill. This is the hard hitting instrumental version.
In advance of the show on Friday I felt it necessary to post a couple of tracks as well as a mix Dâm-Funk did for BBC radio whilst on his most recent European tour. As I have been following him over the last couple of years, it is interesting to see how Dâm has so heavily developed and evolved this style of music he has aptly coined Modern Funk. Give it a few years and if we are all lucky, the man will own a radio station or two in just about every market.
I hacked us. I was playing with our hotlink filter and didn't test it, that fate was supposed to be reserved for sites piggy backing our content. Sorry if it caused your eyes to bleed.
Contrary to popular belief, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's 1991 hit Good Vibrations was not the first hip house track. Fast Eddie invented it; Tyree laid claim to the first hip house track on wax with the 1989 release of Turn Up The Bass, but UK's the Beatmasters say they preceded him by three years. As seen in this documentary, there are fine lines between hip house, rap house, house rap and you name it. The genre grew a lot in the 90's and saw a lot of success on the radio but it morphed into something very 90's. These Chicago early hip house cuts show a lot of classic house and acid elements. Tyree and Fast Eddie's earlier tracks were classic acid house with little, if any, vocal. Tyree - Turn Up The Bass (Hip Hop Version) Tyree - Nation Of Hip House Fast Eddie (feat Sundance) - Git On Up
Many people have been inquiring what the BeatElectric crew actually look like. It seems to be a real point of interest, which is a shame, as the blog was supposed to be about rare dance records and not our perceived celebrity status, which doesn't really mean anything to us as we are millionaires who live outside and above the normal restrictions and tier structure of society, but seeing as so many of you asked I'm posting the above picture of Kelley B, taken the other night at our two year anniversary party roller dance jam. This is a rare photo of Kelley smiling and as such is now a treasured part of the BE archives.
Today I'm posting three records that happened to be sat on the top of my stack, there is no theme or thread that links them other than I listened to them yesterday. An overlooked, weird disco banger, a mellow electro funk instrumental, and probably my favorite megamix record of all time...and so, with that, on to the crusty vinyl..
Blackwell's Boogie Down And Mess Around was my first signature disco tune. Its an album cut that was popular on the danefloor's of Spain (?) back in 1979, I have found two copies on separate occasions of Thrift Town, the ghetto thrift store on Mission in SF, both with the special edition strawberry red vinyl, and both with the awesome album cover of the naked chicks chasing one another. This should be an all time peak hour disco classic, why am I the only one that I know of who plays it? I gave my spare copy away, and that DJ doesn't play it either, wtf, am I off the mark on this one?
DO NOT BE IMPATIENT AND SKIP THROUGH THE TRACK..WAIT..sit through the intro and wait for the drop on this, it destroys dancefloors..
I picked up this Fatback record in Norwich for a few quid, I hadn't heard of it before, its a lovely dubbed out electro boogie instrumental with a mellow swing to it. I will be playing it as I bbq octopus for the rest of the crew this afternoon. Life sucks.. Fatback - The Girl Is So Fine (Dance Version)
International press agencies like to claim that I'm the greatest DJ to ever come out of San Francisco via Norwich, and I'm flattered, but really instead of long articles about me, my fluctuating weight and the suicidal angst of whomever I have just kicked to the curb/broken up with, they should be writing about the true king of San Francisco, my man Cameron Paul. Producer of Salt'n'Peppa's Push It, collector of platinum records, and an early mentor of LeBaron's prior to LeBaron's tragic fall from grace with the bay area nightclub community of that period. A tale deserving of a post in itself.
I found this megamix at the famous yard sale in Redwood City, it was on the Mixx It label, a DJ subscription service and was on the B side of maybe Mixx It Volume 44 from 1993, the A side having some exclusive Janet Jackson remixes on it. I can't find the record right now, I lost it about 5 minutes after recording it, but I think the mix is called something like Journey Into The Old School (The Final Chapter) pt. 3 . If you have parts 1 and 2 of this mix off of earlier Mixx It records, then please, for the love of god, write in as Cameron Paul no longer picks up my calls. Short Ableton edited megamixes are popular right now, but has anyone of those kids put together a 15 minute mix of 30 or tracks that compares to this? He probably did this in the studio, with a bored look on his face, on the turntables in one take without a single time stretch or cracked serial number. Cameron Paul - Journey Into The Old School (The Final Chapter) Part 3
I don't check our email nearly often enough, but I just came across a really cool note from a gentleman in the UK who has been a modern house DJ for 10 or so years. Long story short, the man had an epiphany between a party he went to and some of the content he found on our site. He is now on a serious mission to dig up old wax and start a new party in Brighton based on the classic sounds he is sifting through. Today is the two year anniversary of Beat Electric, and I must say it is messages such as this one that inspire us to continue curating this blog.
I received another recent email requesting we post the Instrumental Tee Scott mix of Music Turns Me On by Sparque, and in the spirit of the moment I am happy to oblige.
Also posted here is a lovely modern soul stepper from the very obscure Ohio outfit Satellite entitled You're The One I Love and a classic Ron Hardy Edit of Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principles Your Love.
This record by Patti Austin was released in 1981 on Qwest Records. It was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones (who also owns the label) and longtime writing partner Rod Temperton. With her sweet soul vocals and Quincy's polished production work, this uplifting modern soul tune is great. This is one of the few modern soul jams that has a searing guitar solo that works.
Oh, and here is a picture of Yoda getting down at a party.
I was just going through the stack of records I brought back from the UK. Digging there in the big cities was, for me at least, a fairly fruitless experience. Its a nation of record collectors and taste makers, the dealers are educated in all genres down to the last most obscure detail, and people have deep pockets when it comes to vinyl. You never want to be going head to head with a British or Japanese record nut with access to liquid assets. Forget it. But, the best thing about digging in the UK was that all the younger collectors seemed to congregate in London, Manchester and these sorts of places, and wouldn't be seen dead in a provincial town or small city, and these sorts of places are my natural habitat and bread and butter. The coastal boonies are full of killer records left over from the 70's/80's UK soulboy DJ circuit.
I went into a small record shop with pictures of Elvis and 60's garage acts all up over the walls. I asked the tea drinking proprietor politely if he had any disco or eighties dance music, and he casually points over to two boxes I passed as I walked through the door, both with big hand written scrawls on the side saying "ONE POUND EACH". Now a pound sterling equates to about $400 USD or thereabouts it seemed, but still, its pretty much the smallest denomination possible in Great Britain. I asked him why the boxes were almost placed out the door and in direct sunlight, and he said it was so if anyone came in to try and steal records they would just take the easy route, nick some disco and leave, his rock'n'roll records safely untouched by their thieving hands. We had a chat and he gave me a stack from the boxes for a fiver. He knew tons about disco, modern soul and it's current market value. He just hated it that's all. Here are three I picked out that were interesting.
Fashion were a darkwave dance act from the early eighties London scene, I have a couple of their other records, but I had never seen this one before, it was a double 12" single. The bands producer 'Zeus B'Held' often created dub versions of the bands instrumentals that he would term 'mutant remixes', this one comes off the flip of the bonus disc:
The shop owner said an old rep for Pye Records who was now living in Essex came in and dropped a bunch of promos off that were sitting around his garage. Pye would carry releases from a lot of English independents in the late seventies, particularly small glam rock labels, and some of these glam acts would often put a disco B side on their singles in an attempt to cash in. David Boydell was a pure disco act, there is an LP of his out there somewhere, this single came on cool white vinyl, Red Light is a quirky disco funk instrumental that appears on the flip"
A very sick group here, The Ice Band with Unique Pleasure. They back up the great name with their monster ghetto disco tune "Live People". Here is quick edit! Ice Band w/ Unique Pleasure - "Live People" (edit)
Let's Go Another Round is probably my favorite Inner Life AND Rainbow Brown track. Both released in 1981, the Rainbow Brown version was produced by Patrick Adams and featured Fonda Rae singing lead while Inner Life's had Jocelyn Brown on vocals and Greg Carmichael handling production duties. Stan Lucas wrote and co-produced both versions. Obviously with its drawn out breaks and funky synths, the Inner Life version is more suited for the dancefloor. Flanked by soaring string lines, the Rainbow Brown interpretation falls more on the classic tip of the disco spectrum. Either way, It is quite nice to hear frequent collaborators Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams go head to head and display their different production flourishes.
All the B-Boy's will know the origins of this one, but less known is that in 1983 Larry Levan made a remix of this Jimmy Castor Bunch dance battle classic. I picked up a clean copy for a few euros when I was traveling through Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago on the classic dutch Ramshorn re-release label. I love Ramshorn, it was so well curated, whoever picked out the tracks that that label re-pressed during the 80's for the european market deserves a blog entry all to themselves, if only I knew who that person was.
I heard some funk purist say that Levan should never have touched this, but thats just aging B-Boy crazy talk as a result of brain damage incurred from too many failed headspins. Levan's version hits hardest.
Keeping it short and sweet this time. Here is a quick edit of a nice little tune from Twilight's 2nd LP. An amazing 2 man band from Vallejo, CA. Twilight - "You're In Love" (Tom Noble Edit)
Tomorrow evening Saturday 8/22 I will be spinning records in the lovely city of Portland with my good friends Patricia Furpurse (Discoworkout.com) and the Monorail boys, Remy and Lamar. Check out this post on the excellent Monorail Blog for some exclusive tracks and more information about the event. We are pulling out all of the jams, so come early and stay late. There may be some afterparty action as well, stay tuned.
I'm pretty sure for the entire time I have been listening to "dance music" this song by Candi Staton has been a track that always seems to speak right to whatever I am feeling. I can remember dancing my ass off to the Frankie Knuckles version on Trax as a youngster, throwing my hands up and singing along loudly not a care in the world. But as I get a bit older, just the littlest bit, it's the House Appela that always gets me straight in the heart. This week, in light of some serious house posting by Black Shag, it seems fitting to post this track. That, and the fact that in the midst of weekly stresses and work, this track provides such an amazing soundtrack to coping with the hard times in life. It builds and climbs and though it never really goes all the way; it's subtlety is its genius. Of course lyrically this is a seriously amazing song. Yeah, I love this track...it's just really, really good.
We should probably take a breather for a few months while you all digest the collection that Black Shag just posted; but I think you might appreciate this mix.
Beat Electric reader Gretchen from Milwaukee sent me this cassette full of ghettoblaster jamz to rip and post on the blog. It is in the red the whole time, but what a killer set of tracks. Unfortunately, it looks like side B was taped over with Earth Wind and Fire, which cuts off the first two tracks and then resumes. Enjoy!
Midnight Star - Headlines Lisa Lisa - Can You Feel The Beat Davina - Rock, Shake, and Roll King MC - What Have I Done For Your Lately Carmen - Throw Down World Class Wreckin' Cru - Mission Possible Hanson & Davis - Tonight (Love Will Make It Right) Model 500 - No Ufo's Model 500 - Time, Space, Transmat Johnny Kemp - Just Another Lover Download - Gretchen's Illin' Tape
God bless this band. The fucking bollocks of the dog mate. What totally amazes me about The Clash is their ability to rule any genre, or sometimes accidentally create one (ahem, punk.)
They did rock pretty badass, but their reggae tune "Bank Robber" is among one of the hottest dub dance tunes I can think of. They also nailed the 1st B-Boy movement with "Magnificent 7", and then grabbed a foothold in disco history by simply releasing an instrumental version, "Magnificent Dance".
This tune here is called "Cool Confusion" and was originally the B Side to "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", pulled here from the wicked "Super Black Market Clash" 10" collection. No edits, no funny business, this is straight from the tap. Recorded in 1981 at Electric Lady Land Studios, NY (see photo above for a candid session shot.) This song is in it's own league entirely. I like to think of it as the nasty predecessor to the tune "Straight To Hell", which most people probably know now due to MIA's ripping a version of that. If this had more instrumental sections, I'm sure it would've been flipped by an aspiring R&B candidate already, but it hadn't, and it hasn't. May Joe Strummer rest in peace on that notion.
The Planet Doesn't Mind is an electro boogie cover of a classic new wave track by British group New Musik featuring Tony Mansfield of the Nick Straker Band. X-Visitors Hail from the South Bay, California and had one other release on their own imprint Dancing Bear Records entitled Hokey Pokey. I found my copy at an outdoor $1 record blow out in Redwood City, warped and beat to shit. Now, I don't really have any desire to upgrade this one, but I got a good enough rip and find the mp3 to be a pleasent listen on my ipoon.
I had been torturing myself for months and I couldn't take it anymore. I nearly poisoned my mind with that other cartridge I was using. Gladly, it is now poisoning someone else's mind in Audiogon land. All of my rips had been so dull sounding lately so I replaced that cart with a new shiny gold one with a boron cantilever.
This smooth as silk Billy Ocean track was produced by Nigel Martinez, a Brit from Leicester in 1981. Nigel holds the distintion of being the only Brit to ever produce a Motown track. Our own Kelley B Lived in his hometown for a year. The other track, from 1980 by J.R. Funk and The Love Machine is the instrumental B side of an annoying track full of James Brown vocal bits.
I probably should have posted this one right when we started the blog several years back. Of course I felt Oliver Cheatham's dancefloor classic was just a little too well known, much too sampled, etc...
But screw it. Today is Saturday, it's warm and sunny in SF and all I can think about is staying in and chilling as is there is not a damn thing to do tonite in the city.
So yeah, go out and get drunk. Dance to some trance or hip hop at some shit club. I'm gonna stay home, and in the words of Mr. Cheatham, "make love and listen to the music." Oliver Cheatham - Get Down Saturday Night
Let me start off by saying I am not the biggest fan of San Fran-Disco. The two biggest SF labels were Moby Dick Records and Cowley's own Megatone. Although Megatonewas the far superior of the two, both labels were mostly responsible for that over the top pre-hi nrg sound that makes me cringe. Now with that being said Patrick Cowley was a brilliant songwriter and producer. His early synth work was reminiscent of his obvious hero, Giorgio Moroder.
Released in 1981, Get A Little was the lead single off of his first solo LP Megatron Man. Also his most sought after 12" single, Get A Little had that perfect blend of late period disco and early synth pop. Sadly Cowley was an early aids casualty, passing away in 1982. Although he was in the prime of his career when he passed, Cowley left behind an impressive body of work.
Here is another mental latin disco song. Problem with this tune is that you really only need about 1/16th of the song to make it danceable. I've heard people play this before trying to act like the vocal part works.... not happening, just ain't happening people. Here is a chopped up and rearranged dance edit I did about 4 or 5 years ago. Still sounds good.
So I think I've decided that the grand masters of this boogie funk record digging scene aren't hip urban twenty/thirty somethings with blogs, or studious trainspotting bearded art school dropouts with DJ nights or jive talking beat producers, no, its none of them, its slightly overweight middle aged men in small cities in the UK, France, Holland and Belgium. These guys are on a while different level. Above is a picture I took in a record store the other day in the English urban metropolis of Norwich, the poster is for a night happening at a small pub this evening into the wee midnight hours of, well, 12am midnight. Look at the production values on that flyer. With a font and photocopy job like that you know its for real. The owner of the record store has promised me in his local dialect that he will school me hard, and I believe him, as all these country record dealers seem to have at some point seen or owned everything that the United States ever produced. Which explains why I never see any of it in the US.
Next Friday, the 7th, I will be representing the West Coast (and Norwich) at the Computer Boogie party at The Star in Bethnal Green, London. Check out the flyer on the side bar. I should be fresh from a digging excursion in Amsterdam, and I brought all vinyl, along with some cuts I haven't played out anywhere yet.
Ulysses82 are putting the party together, a production outfit from the UK who are known for their electro funk remixes and creative sampling. I really like them so I'm looking forward to hearing them play. I'm including a couple of their boogie reworks here, along with a southern scene UK underground classic, Light Of The World's 'Time'. Disco Tom was telling me that Kon or Amir played him the 7" of this one and told me to keep an eye out for it whilst I was here, so I will go one better and put up the 12". If you are from England and don't know Light Of The World, don't worry, they are still in business and are apparently available to play weddings, corporate events with either their own material, covers or a special George Benson tribute set.
My head is pounding this morning from the endless supply of free vodka consumed last nite so I need to keep it short and sweet before I drag myself into a hot shower and seize the day. Here is a very nice track by the trio Plush. Rene Moore, Angela Winbush and Bobby Watson handled the songwriting and production on this one and Tee Scott did the remix. Smooth.
Electronics were really pretty in the Cold War era. Technology was changing so rapidly and a new modern style was emerging. I think a lot of people that had a Nakamichi 600 also had a DeLorean in the garage and a digital Seiko LCD watch on their wrist. If you were an audiophile with an extra $600 in your pocket, this was the deck for you. I happened to pick it up in the sticks for $40. Nakamichi didn't stop at one beautiful piece of gear though. They created the System One, which is the sexiest stereo ever made; it is sexy enough in black, I have never seen one in silver. I have been looking for a lazer soul cassette that would allow me to share with you digital media whores some fine analog gear. That said, this tape was mastered with a lot of distortion and it doesn't make for the best rip!
These lazer soul jamz from Ivy were released on their sophomore 1985 Ivy II cassette on Heat Recording and Filmworks out of Akron, Ohio. There are more than a few smooth jamz on this tape but these choice cuts have a lot of lazer soul flavor.
PARIS READERS: I will be visiting your fine city this coming weekend. Help me figure out where I can go to dance to some good music!
Alright first off, Carmen is Black Shag's baby. He brought her into this world, reared her proper and we love him for his efforts. Thank you Shag! That being said his beat to crap copy of the Throw Down 45 is even more jacked than my VG- piece of junk. It's been almost a year since he covered Carmen's first single Time To Move and I could not wait any longer to post this second release on Kevin McCord's Detroit indie label, Presents Records. Pictured above is the one sheet and press photo from the promo copy of Time To Move released in 1984. For more info on that cut, check Black Shag's original post here.
The now 14 year old's follow up single Throw Down was written and recorded by McCord. Although this track is a little more rare and sweated than Time To Move, I equally covet both of these songs. Throw Down is considered a Proto classic and although it was produced in the slightly advanced year of 1986, this track keeps it very real. Thanks to LeBaron I have included the 12" mix of Time To Move as well. Carmen went on to record a few more freestyle tracks in the late 80's and early 90's but none of the releases came close to the grandeur of her two Presents Records singles. Carmen - Throw Down (7" Mix) Carmen - Time To Move (12" Mix) Carmen - Time To Move (7" Mix)
ok next up we have:
VIN SOL PRESENTS - TRIED, TESTED, TRUE
Here it is. The ubiquitous SF DJ Stalwart's fine new Boogie-Funk mix entitled Tried, Tested, True. Vin and I spoke on the phone last week and he declared to me that "The fucking hipster electro thing is done for!" Well if Vin says that shit is over, then it's over. Don't mess with Vin. Anyways, this mix is dope and we have it here with an exclusive tracklist. Get down with this.
1. Remote Control- Love Addiction 2. The E.T's - I Like It (Corn Flakes) 3.Baheeja- Action Speaks Louder Than Words 4.La She Ba- You Been Hunchin 5.(Phenomenon)- One Two Three 6 Tony Silverster and the Main Ingredient - Pazuzu
7.Amra- Special Kind Of Love 8.Unlimited Touch- Searching to Find the One 9.Art School and The Mighty Motor Gang - Hold On 10.Randolph Baker- Getting Next to You 11.Sylvia Striplin- Toy Box
12.Donald Byrd and the 125 street- Love Has Come Around 13. John Davis Monster Orchestra - Bougie Bougie 14.Ojeda Penn- Brotherson 15 Hamilton Bohannon- Me and The Gang 16.TMS- Get the Feeling
17. Cania - Visions 18 Marini - Lets Get It On 19. Taxie- Rock Don't Stop 20. Gwen McCrae- Keep the Fire Burning 21.Arthur King - Fear 22.Brenda Rusell- Your Free
23. World - Brothers and Sisters 24. Soft Touch- Plenty of Action 25. Gloria Ann Taylor - Love is a Hurting Thing
If you are in NYC check out Vin's release party Thursday. Details here
and finally:
The SWEATER FUNK 1 Year Anniversary
San Francisco, do you know how good you truly have it here? For a solid year now these champs have been hauling their awesome soundsystem into the basement of the Li Po Lounge every Sunday evening just for you. There never is a cover charge and these guys throw down the best damn music this city has to offer. It's all for the love of boogie, 2 step and modern soul. Get off your asses and go to their one year anniversary party and boogie down in the basement! In the spirit of the event, I have included a track from Salsoul legends, Skyy. Thanks to Marky for this one.
Sipho Mabuse aka Hot Stix, was a member of the South African group Harari. He put out a few records as a solo act in the mid eighties. This jam from 1984 is great. It came from the EP Burn Out, which features two modern dance singles and two traditional Afro soul tracks. It is hard to peg the influences of this track, but it sounds more Kano than breakdance electro.
This picture is actually an old boss of mine as a kid in southern california during the height of the space race, all tooled up and ready to fight communists on the moon. he had it on his facebook page, I didn't ask his permission to use it but then I don't think he has much of a taste for deep cosmic disco anyway and the chances of him happening upon it posted on BE should be slim.
I'm getting ready to head to Europe on Tuesday and didn't think to record enough tracks this weekend to post up whilst I'm away, but then I haven't done my laundry or watered my plants yet either so it will have to go to the back of the to do list.
I was at a record store near San Jose last week and came across this Space 12". I like the Space album that everyone knows that has Magic Fly on it etc well enough, I'm not the biggest cosmic disco nerd in the world, but the Carry On, Turn Me On 12" is probably their finest, rarest and most sought after work. Made in France in 1977 it sounds like an Air record twenty years ahead of it's time, but a little funkier. This was famously sampled by Moody Man to great effect, although in it's own right it was already a slab of perfect house.
Action, a hot radical new group from the mind of Curtis Knight. Curtis Knight was going to be the next Jimmy Hendrix, except Curtis lived into the disco era. Owing nothing to his past affiliatinos with Hendrix, here Curtis is with his band Action, likely a one-time-only all session band. What it lacks in hesh guitar force is replaced with an equivalent of sleaze and rhythm. Here is an edit I'd made of it years ago. Action - Disco Dip
I think I have hit a record. This is my 14th hour at the computer and I believe my eyes are turning not only square but a demonic shade of red. To say I am short on wit and intellect at this point is putting it mildly. That said, this is a straight up jam. I love this song and I have to dedicate this one Black Shag as this happens to be the very first LP he "owned", having lifted it from his dad. I should have relinquished this posting right to him, but I am a brat and am posting it myself. I can safely say that if I could have someone sing the soundtrack to my summer, I would have to throw Randy Crawford in the mix (I am extremely partial to Etta James and I adore Patti LaBelle, but you know...variety, life, spice, etc). I'm going to get a glass of champagne and listen to the sweet sax solo at the beginning with my eyes shut. Enjoy. The Crusaders - Streetlife
Nancy Martin, also known as Nancy Martinez, released this sultry jam in 1982. This track is one of a handful she released using her more Anglo sounding moniker in the early eighties. Her first releases came out on her Canadian home label Neige. This one was produced by Dominic Sciullo and Rick Annett.
This track, like many produced in Canada, shows a lot of italo influence. It seems to have equal parts Robotnick and Sharon Redd with a bassline could easily be warped into a modern minimal techno track. This cut was a crowd pleaser at the Garage, which is easy to imagine. It is hard to see how this track would fly in a club nowadays, I would bet that it would require a good crowd with a particularly high serotonin level.
I have the Atlantic promo release, but the original looks way cooler. The Neige release is also a minute longer. Nancy Martin - Can't Believe (Vocal)
I didn't get to post last weekend, as along with the rest of BeatElectric crew I went on a spiritual journey to our Shamen, LeBaron's, tribal compound in the ancestral lands outside of Sacramento. I thought I had encountered my animal guide until I realised it was just BT crawling around on all fours throwing up on LeBaron's vintage shag carpet. Now my brain has recovered slightly I can make amends.
Boytronic were a German electropop outfit from the early nineteen eighties that I believe were recently revivied by one of the founders. They has a couple of underground sleeper dance hits that were popular in both the dark wave and high energy nightclubs of Europe at the time. Here is both the vocal and dub of their sought after new wave electronic 12" You:
And to make up for not posting last week here is the B side from an Italo mega mix record I came by, I would post the A side but I didn't get round to recording it, the B side had all the best tracks on it anyway..as per usual, proove your chops and try and spot them!: Discottantatre (weird italo megamix)
My apologies in advance of this entry but I am taking a break from posting deep joints for a quick moment. I have to keep a few gems close to my chest or else I will have nothing to surprise people with when I get booked for another DJ gig sometime in this lifetime. So here we have a couple of damn fine dollar bin jams by the group Feel.
When The Players Association disintegrated in 1981, two of the main songwriters Chris Hills and Danny Weiss went on to form Feel. Compared to their previous project, Feel had more limited success on the Sutra label. Released in 1982 I'd Like To has a very similar vibe to Armenta's 1983 classic I Wanna Be With You. In fact, if you pitch one of these records up and the other one down a bit you might just have a seamless mix on your hands. I also put a rudimentary instrumental edit I threw together of the follow up single Let's Rock (Over and Over Again).
And yes, I know this is a picture of Shalamar but I doubt we will blog about them again anytime soon. Nonetheless, this picture is way too awesome and felt right for this post.
This is quite possibly the heaviest electro jam ever recorded. The Jonzun Crew was formed by brothers Maurice Starr, Michael and Soni Johnson in Boston in 1981. This track came on the seminal 1983 Tommy Boy release Lost In Space. This track doesn't share the sparse production that is featured in many electro tracks from the era. The sound is thick and dark with killer vocoders and synths. It is as much at home on a disco dancefloor as it is on a breakdancer's cardboard. The mix was done by John "Jellybean" Benitez. Michael Jonzun and Maurice Star would go on to produce New Edition and New Kids on the Block.
Here is a quick "summer" edit of the fantastic Jewel song "Paradise". Lotus Land records has just furnished a new limited vinyl 7" pressing for the summer, available HERE Jewel - Paradise (disco tom edit)
South African born singer Richard Jon Smith put out a host of 12 inches and a self titled LP on Jive Records in the early 80's. With his over the top vocal delivery and super slick production, it seems to me that Jive's A & R department had optioned him to be their breakout success story. Of course he never did blow up all that hard but amidst the flurry of releases was a single called "Baby's Got Another". I feel this track due in no small part to the production work of frequent Jive collaborator Darryl Payne. The tasty guitar stabs and dirty vocoder bits gave an otherwise decent tune that much needed edge. Now go find yourself a copy on discogs for $5.00. Richard Jon Smith - Baby's Got Another (Extended Mix) Richard Jon Smith - Baby's Got Another Dub
Thanks to everyone who read my rant last week and sent in their weird, newly discovered disco joints. It meant a lot and I will contact you individually to see if it's cool to repost them. Please send more in, if they are new on me (as they mostly are) I will put them all in a post and give you the credits. I think I worked out that there must be some electro blog haus mailing list floating around and we got on it somehow, but if you read my post and decided to send me your bedroom produced electro banger despite me calling you all out as fame hungry spammers then more power to you, keep hustling.
Speaking of remixes, many of the Europeans amongst you may recognize East Coast's The Rock as the origin of the main sample used in a mainstream dance hit in the late nineties, I know I do at least, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. It had a male vocal over the top and got tons of radio play. Anyone have less damage to their long term memory centers than me?
This is the 12" mix, with beautiful extended percussive sections, and the phased out bass line is perhaps I think one of the most standout in all disco. It was produced by a then young Charles Wallert, who went on to become successful with artists such as Dione Warrick and George Benson, and was originally released on the small indy Family Records, but after the DJ's responded to it RSO picked it up just weeks later.
Have you ever wondered about Latin Disco? New York was the Disco & Latin HQ for america, it only makes sense there would be some unstoppable latin disco joints made. I can't think of any latin disco songs that were hits, and I'm definitely not counting Yambu's version of "Sunny".
Many NYC Latin groups did decide to go disco, and in turn definitely made their own niche in the disco world. Groups like Charanga 76, Eastcoast Connection, as well as giants like Joe Bataan & Eddie Palmieri went there as well.
Here we are checking out an edit from the music of Alfredo De La Fe. He is a classically trained violin player from NY (via Cuba), who played with too many legends to mention. He recorded his own solo LP, "Alfredo" on Criollo records and his tune "Hot To Trot" is the only disco song on this record. Scorching hot breaks and "first time ever talking into a microphone" vocals make this a winner.
Right. So, at first I was all excited thinking I had found some Sting record that was all obscure. Through various misinformations, I believed this to be true for far too long (as in up 'til earlier today). Turns out this is not Sting as in Gordon Sumner of The Police Sting. I was far too hopeful I suppose thinking he had made something like this, and shame on me for not doing more research. This is made by a far lesser known Sting, a female and male trio on ABC Records with a penchant for falsetto. "Pleasure" is not an all out stormer but one of those summer type grooves that sits back just enough and invites the listener to either tap their foot or get up and shake it. The falsetto and backed by the strings and the solid rhythm section, it just works. One thing I really enjoy about this track is the breakdown. There are so many intricate little pieces nestled in the background that really give it a laid back party feel. Produced by Jay Ellis and written by C. Spencer, C. Blandon, E. Pitt and J. Ellis, "Pleasure" is a sure fire song for the summer (not Sumner).
Michael Jackson died today, June 25th 2009. In tribute, here are a couple of our favorite tracks. Also included is a rare Mizell brothers production with young Michael singing.
I've never found the bay area to be a record digger's paradise but as of late have been enjoying some good medium rare scores. I have been thinking about this record for some time now and was quite pleased when it turned up recently in an east bay dollar bin. Northend was a studio project consisting of Tony Carbone, Russell Presto and the insanely prolific producer Arthur Baker. The trio was also responsible for a few other twelve inches on Emergency Records featuring vocalist Michelle Wallace. Her Jazzy Rhythm single is well sweated but this one seems to be the record most are looking out for. Michael Jonzun of the Jonzun Crew handled co-production and Tee Scott gave the final touches on the mix making this flawless blend of boogie and proto house an all star collaboration. Northend - Happy Days Northend - Tee's Happy
Crusty rap jamz like this really make we wonder how things would have turned out if the rap scene didn't become plagued by violence. Here we have Dr. Dre in 1984 being as un-hardcore as you could ever imagine. It is hard to put the pieces together how just two years later he would co-form N.WA. and change the face of rap for eternity.
The Wreckin' Cru was an LA electro rap group that had alternating members, including, Dr Dre and DJ Yella, among others. The group as fronted by the veteran DJ Lonzo Williams who also owned the LA old school hip-hop hangout Eve After Dark. The Wreckin' Cru' changed thier name slightly a couple of times through the 80's and drop the electro for a musical baby making gravy sound. The Wreckin' Cru' - Surgery
Please send more electro nu rave banger fidget remixes, we love them, and when I open the mail box and see thirty odd emails from teenagers trying to make it big with nothing more than a dream and a stolen ableton live serial number it brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. Then I delete them without listening to a single one and continue digging through to see if someone sent us something related to some deep disco joint they found, but alas, more electro promo. Not to criticise a genre, I'm not Beethoven or anything, what do I know, but still..
Speaking of nu rave, I'm a hypocrite as here is a heavy edit I did of some new wave dollar bin jam that doesn't sound far off. Loop it for five minutes, stick your name on it, don't give anyone credit and get internet famous kid. Prepare for my promo email in your inbox very shortly:
FAMILY OF EVE: modern soul gold from Pittsburgh, PA. Most people know about this group from either Kenny or Keb's long out of print singles BBE. Most people play the other tune "I Wanna Be Loved By You", originally released on Jeree Records (see photo for real Jeree letterhead). Excellent studio, was also the same studio and engineer (Don Garvin!!!) where Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music Whiteboy" was recorded. Nile Rogers allegedly visited the studio seeking the next unsigned talent, and Family of Eve was NOT mentioned to him. Classic tale of white devilism? I'd say not, as studio head Don Garvin released many of Pittsburgh's finest underground black records of the late 70's (satin whip, steel city connection, etc).
About one year later local indie label Full Sail re-released "I Want To Be Loved By You" on blue vinyl, and cut one more single for the group, "Having It So Bad For You".
"Having It So Bad For You" is the group's completely slept on follow up to "I Want To Be Loved By You". Strong beat, infectious hooks. I've been itching to surgically remove one section of this tune, last night finally did it. Here is the unofficial extended dance edit below: FAMILY OF EVE - Having It So Bad For You (Disco Tom Edit)
"I'm Going To Go" by Jago is a synth masterpiece. The simple yet effective bass line stands out in front as the rest of the song grows around it. It's not a terribly complex song, each piece has its moment to shine and then sort of ducks back into the arrangement. What it is for me is just a wonderful display of melody and structure that really grooves on the dance floor. I prefer the instrumental to the vocal, which I feel is less over the top Italo. The 12" recorded here was released in 1983 on Full Time Records.
In contrast to its musical predecessor, boogie was defined by slower rhythms and more of a bouncy, dirty and synth oriented groove. But really who came up with this sound? The true answer is Prince, P-Funk and the Gap Band. These were the guys that were playing the gritty, synthy funk tracks in the late 70's. That's not to say that Leroy Burgess and his writing partners Sonny T. Davenport and James Calloway were not on the forefront, they were indeed. Thing is, I like to think of boogie as a sort of indie genre and to the people that have the tasteful hindsight to appreciate it, it is quite arcane. Overall, most of us like to hunt down the rarest records on esoteric and private labels. But these obscure bands that were popping up all across the country in the early 80's were most likely not taking their cues from Convertion or Logg songs, they were doing their best to emulate artists on the level of Prince.
At the end of the day, Leroy Burgess and his Convertion producer Greg Carmichael were very deep in the game, many of their projects were groundbreaking and definitive. Recorded and released in 1980 Let's Do It was one of the very first tracks that clearly defined the "Boogie-Funk" sound of the 1980's. It's also an amazing fucking record.
Both Convertion and Logg performed live shows at the Paradise Garage in the early 80's. Need that damn time machine again.
Harari was a soul group from Johannesburg South Africa. They were originally called The Beaters. Party, produced by Michael Stokes was released in 1980. The track became a pretty big club hit in 1982 and soon after, the group broke up with it's members pursuing solo acts. Band leader, Sipho Mabusse went on to put out a cool electro track called Burn Out in 1985 (which I will cover in the future).
Party is a Loft classic that is loaded with feel good party energy.
I had to go to LA last minute for a couple of days and don't have access to my records, but I have a laptop with me that has some recordings and some edits buried on it, and so I'm going to post one those. Don't be scared off, I'm putting up something that is fairly faithful to the original, Benny Golson's 'I'm Always Dancin to the Music' is a great tune in it's own right, but some of the bridges and passages make it difficult to play for a modern, mixed crowd dancefloor (I think at least, hence the edit).
Benny Golson is a legend of the jazz scene, I think he plays tenor, but I would imagine his best known piece is the theme tune from M.A.S.H. He came back after a ten year hiatus from the music industry with this disco dance single, to much derision from the jazz heads, the snobby indie rockers of their day.
Its 90bpm, and has a willfully difficult to mix intro (that I left in) but it has more punch and energy than any peak hour disco banger I have in my bag.
D.C. LaRue's "Cathedrals" was released on Pyramid Records in 1976 as a 12" thrusting D.C LaRue onto the disco scene and straight to the top of the R&B charts. In England he became the first white male to attain the #1 position on this chart. This song is so amazing...the lyrics are pretty bizarre and the track itself, musically, is also rather unique. It has loads of interesting sounds and a really solid groove. It's one of those tracks I always pack in my bag when playing out, perfect for bringing people out onto the floor.
In the last several years we have seen the San Francisco boogie-funk scene grow exponentially thanks in small part to Beat Electric but most of the credit is due to the excellent weekly Sweater Funk party at Li Po Lounge. That being said, many of the tracks on Night Shift 2 (including an edit by our very own LeBaron) have been covered on Beat Electric at some point and we take that as quite a compliment. Enjoy this exclusive mix by two of SF's best Disc Jockey's, Proof and Renmin, both members of the extended Sweater Funk crew.
Also, do not miss this Sundays installment of Sweater Funk. It's Jon's Birthday and they expect to have some very special guests up from LA.
NIGHT SHIFT II a choice mix of early 80's funk and soulful boogie flavor mixed and compiled by PROOF & RENMIN 1. world premiere - share the night (club version) 2. shannon - sweet somebody (12" mix) 3. orlando johnson & trance - turn the music on 4. aurra - such a feeling (lebaron edit) 5. dayton - sound of music 6. first love - party lights 7. fonda rae - over like a fat rat 8. howard johnson - say you wanna 9. trilark - check it out 10. starpoint - it's all yours (special dance mix) 11. first touch - it's yours 12. toney lee - love so deep (instrumental) 13. toney lee - reach up 14. komiko - feel all right 15. the ritchie family - i'll do my best (for you baby) 16. the nick straker band - a little bit of jazz 17. samson & delilah - i can feel your love 18. midnight express - danger zone 19. midnight star - midas touch 20. steve harvey - something special 21. take three - tonight's the night 22. aretha franklin - jump to it 23. the walkers - (whatever happened to) the party groove 24. the chi-lites - stop what you're doin 25. katie kissoon - you're the one (you're my number one) 26. yvette cason - cash play (dub mix) 27. manhattan transfer - spice of life Proof & Renmin - Night Shift II
This is a self produced track by Miami artist Michael Sterling. It was released by Success Records in 1983. This track combines a pop lock'n beat, great modern soul vocals, and a little garage house flavor to create a really unique sound. The cop sirens would become a theme later in his career as he played bass in Inner Circle, who is responsible for the pseudo reggae track Bad Boys (What Cha Gonna Do). Sterling is still making music, but his output seems to be strictly limited to smooth jamz.
I have been interested in the pre-Miami Bass sound from this region for a while, and this track makes me to dive deeper to see what else is out there. Also, a portion of this cut sounds pretty good as a ringtone.
Hey look, its Pele back when he played for the New York Cosmos, back when you could go to the Paradise Garage all night, nap for a couple of hours, then go across town to see Pele and Franz Beckenbauer kick a ball around, half assed and in the twightlight of their careers and probably both with hangovers comparable to your own, if not worse.
New York Apple Jack is a fast paced, deep, soulful disco funk crowd pleaser from the P&P stable, and I think the best disco funk track P&P ever put out, they don't let themselves go too far down the analog synth freakout path but its still a little abstract and dusty. Apply this one to the dancefloor wisely and with great care..timing is everything.
Supermax are an Austrian band founded by Kurt Hauenstein in 1977. In 1978, Supermax released the album "World of Today" which bears the bands biggest hit, "Love Machine". The version posted here is from the 12" on Atlantic released in 1977 as a precursory track to the album in 1978. This track is not an in your face disco track, but more dark and seedy. There are definite qualities of being ethereal and almost ambient in a way, with of course, a strong beat. The vocals are sung with a sleezy quality that really takes this track to the next level. The long synth breakdown with the percussion and the "ahh-ooga's" is just unreal. Honestly, this track for me is one that really will always sound ahead of it's time...dark, lascivious and driving whilst feeling a bit blasé. (Interesting side note, Supermax were the first multiracial band to tour South Africa. Despite near constant death threats, they played 21 shows causing quite a political scene and earned Kurt "no-entry" status to several countries.)
Admittedly, I have a very soft spot for mid 70's jazz/funk. Places and Spaces by Donald Byrd with the Mizell Brothers production team has been in my top five favorite LP's for a good ten years now. When I first heard this record several weeks ago, I was instantly brought back to the period of my life when I salivated over this kind of crap.
In his time, Patrick Adams produced many, many records of varying styles under a myriad of aliases. Sine was Adam's first of several collaborations with a very young label known as Prelude Records in 1977. Prelude was still trying to find its footing at this juncture basically hiring Adams to produce a jazzy cosmic record released under the guise of disco. Don't get me wrong, this album completely blows me away but only in the loosest terms would I categorize it as disco.
Armed with his signature 70's (see Cloud One) Arp 2600 synth sound, it feels as if Adams and co. wrote the entire record in the studio and jammed it out in a few sessions. The end result is a very raw yet cohesive LP.
Here are are nice pair of lazer soul tracks by the modern soul group Khemisty that hailed out of Washington DC. Band members Marie Council, Shirl Hayes, Kimus Knight put out a couple of rare 12 inches and a well sought after LP that BT Magnum picked up at a thrift store recently. Each of these tracks have an entirely different feel from one another. I Can't Win For Losing has a really killer synth line and an infectious modern sound that makes you want to do a Kevin Baconesque bicycle dance routine. Khemistry - I Got A Feeling 12" Khemistry - I Can't Win For Losing 12"
T.K. Disco is one of the disco power house labels, if you have spent any time at all collecting old dance 12"s then you would have come across one of their releases on almost every excursion. They put out records by just about everyone in genres from funk to pop rock, and on occasion tasted billboard top 10 success. They were out of Miami and above is a picture taken in the distribution warehouse beneath the then main recording studio. A storied and well documented label.
T.K. put out a lot of shit in it's time, but when you had the volume of output that they did that could be expected, but the main thing is that they also put out a lot of heat, including amongst them some moderate rarities.
Here are some of my T.K. favorites, including some popular four to the floor, some psych funk and some r'n'b, all from master tape:
Fresh outta Ohio circa 1984, Angelo Tinsely's send off jam "get down with me" was launched into the halls of boogie obscurity. Nothing to little is known about basically every group on this LP, a collection of local Ohio bands, including one Angelo Tinsely. Catching up with Tinsely in Tampa Florida just last spring, I learned he was a very active recording artist, though none of his material was ever released or saved, he had at one point attempted to copywright over 2000 songs. This song was also featured on the mega dope BBE comp, Kings of Diggin with Kon & Amir. Good looking out Kon! Angelo Tinsley - Get Down With Me
"Don't Stop" by Ish is one of those sultry tracks that climbs and climbs, the lyrics and the music simply oozing sexuality. I love the escalating breakdown with the moaning and breathy vocals over it. Pure genius. It's a little cosmic, a little synth and a little disco all sort mixed up in this perfectly seductive tune that grooves on and on. It really does feel so good. Ish - Don't Stop
It's Tuesday and I am a little brain dead from the long holiday weekend, so I feel it may be time to get my head working again and nerd out on a micro genre. In terms of its lifespan, Italo Disco somewhat quickly morphed into the High NRG cheese sound, but in its first several years it seemed to take more influence from American R&B than synthy Euro-Pop. I like to call this early incarnation (roughly 1980-1982), Italo Boogie.
The ubiquitous studio group Kano (which is credited for first ushering in the italo sound) had its finest moment in 1981 with "Don't Try To Stop Me" from their second LP entitled New York Cake. Boeing dropped only one 12" in their very short career, 1982's "Dance on the Beat". Both tracks are strong examples of Italo Boogie steeped in the disco-funk sounds coming from across the Atlantic with a little added euro flavor. I just checked out this mix from Ebony Cuts which presents many more examples of Italo Boogie jams. Kano - Don't Try To Stop Me (12" Mix) Boeing - Dance On The Beat (Drunk Mix)
Armenta's I Wanna Be With You used to be a secret weapon staple of my sets long ago, but its sort of been a little played out the past couple of years so I retired it, that being said though I can only find Part 1 (the vocal radio mix) of the three parts out on the internetosphere, and nobody gives a shit about Part 1, you want to hear Part 2 with all the vocoder bits and breakdowns naturally.
I often see this record credited to Armenta & Majik, mine is just credited to Armenta, but Magik a.k.a Amir Bayyan is still listed as producer. I know the female singer was French, but Amir lived in the US and is shown above at home in his home studio (perhaps the best photo find in the history of boogie disco blogs, it took my ages . Its was taken by a dutch keyboard player in 1982).
Recently a friend of mine from LA had dubbed a special kind of funk music, he was referring to this as "fishnet funk". Enticed by the name I started desperately digging through random LA private press 12"s to find some undiscovered "fishnet funk" joints. My criteria was to find some joints which invoked the power of the Minneapolis Sound, ala "Fishnet" by Morris Day and the Time. Post '84 funk sound.
This Macola distributed offering was jumping off the shelves on looks alone, then when listening to the music I could almost see the purple mini skirts and fishnets stepping out of a limousine.
I am a huge Talking Heads fan, and it takes something special for me to recommend a cover of one of their songs over the original. While I am not suggesting this is a better version of Slippery People, I am saying it's pretty damn good. It's sort of an unlikely cover, and I love the thought that an R&B and Gospel group from Chicago was listening to a band like the Talking Heads. This song gave The Staple Singers another hit on the R&B charts following their more successful tracks "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again". What I really appreciate about this version is how The Staple Singers remained rather true to the original, but tweaking it and ramping it up just enough to give it a new life. The hand claps keep you grooving and Mavis Staples sings this absolutely perfectly. There's loads of ear candy, fun little laser sounds that pique ones interest and the beat is slow but driving and totally danceable. Very danceable actually. This was released as 12" on Private Records in 1984, backed with an instrumental.
My head has been stuck in the boogie zone for so long now that sometimes I forget that I actually own a few great 70's disco records. Now I would call this track cosmic disco, a genre I quite enjoy but admittedly have not explored nearly enough. Nevertheless, Michele's second 12" released on West End Records in 1977 is my favorite cosmic track. With a studio band consisting of members of the Lafayette Afro Rock Band and Ice, production by Tom Moulton and a remix by Patrick Cowley, "Disco Dance" is a highly sought after and groundbreaking recording. This was the legendary Patrick Cowley's first known recorded production credit. Michele - Disco Dance (Mega Mix)
Although Oakland is only a few miles from San Francisco, it is a world away in most regards. Oakland is notorious for its murder rate, car theft, and phyfe side shows these days.There is a huge art community that moved in, lured by the cheap rent; however, there are very few opportunities for people. Another depressing aspect is that there are few places for musicians to play. When I lived there in the mid 90's I watched 3 venues close their doors. About all that was left were the punk club on Gilman street and the Stork Club.
When you hear this track you get the impression that things were not so bad in 1980.
This track is an amazing mix of Rockers Revenge by "Jellybean" Benitez and Arthur Baker on Streetwise Records in 1982. "Dubbing..." chugs along with spaced out vocals and synths from their chart hit "Walking on Sunshine". This is a great transitional track I often use to take a set a bit darker as it mixes so well with house or midtempo...it can really hold it's own dynamically with newer releases.
I think this is Beat Electric's first rap contribution. I think it fits in pretty well. I loved that Third Unheard comp that came out a while back on Stones Throw and this record shows that same positive happy rap vibe. The Disco Four was an early rap outfit from Harlem. The rappers Ronnie D, Greg G, Mr. Troy, Country, Kool Gee, and DJ Al Bee actually number five in total; oddly enough. This record came out on Enjoy records in 1981 and was their second release on the label. The Disco Four - Do It, Do It
Even harder than choosing records to post, and even harder than writing annecdotal blurb about the record, is finding a cool picture to put on top of the blurb. I don't like putting up pics of the record sleeve, or the label, mostly because it means getting my camera out and secondly because I'm secretive and odd and don't want you to know what they look like. It takes ages to find a fresh image to pilage for some reason and I have given up trying to find pictures that are representative of the tune in question, I should have probably searched for a picture of some 1984 era urban landscape for this one, but I came accross this image of a dude DJ'ing in 1978 instead.
DON'T email in anymore of your electro bloghaus banger remixes. DO email us your disco edits and boogie tracks, we love those, and especially any cool pictures you have of something rad going down in the early eighties, old party flyers, anything whatsoever. I will use them and credit you with supreme gratitude.
Rhythm Talk's Citystreet is a tough italo cut produced by Swiss radio DJ Jonathan Tedesco alongside Andy Imex. Jonathan Tedesco still remixes every now and again to this very day I believe and his radio shows in the eighties were popular in central europe. The imagery and swagger seem to pay homage to the street roots of the electro movement occuring over the other side of the Atlantic back in 1984.
Crown Heights Affair were a powerhouse band that made some of the best disco funk records in the 70's. "Dream World" is no exception, though not one of their big hits. It's super full on from start to finish, and though each element is over the top it all fits together so well...even the bomb exploding at the end works. Possibly my favorite part of this song is their use of horns. Big and precise with no timidness. "Dream World" was released on a limited Promo 12" from Mercury Records in 1978 as a precursor to the album of the same name. This 12" is backed with a mix of "Galaxy of Love" and "I'm Gonna Love You Forever".
This was Fresh Band's only release. It came out on Are N Be Records out of New York in 1984. Are N Be Records only put out three releases between 1982 and 1984 and they are all pretty sought after. This track has a lot of elements that do it for me. It has an early garage house sound with a slammin' bassline, and well executed vocals. This track was mixed by legendary Zanzibar DJ Tony Humphries who was a pioneer in the garage house sound. This tracks was produced by The Strikers' producer and Crown Heights Affair member Darryl Gibbs. Fresh Band - Come Back Lover (Remix)
"..its bad enough that you post your boring old records, but when you preface it by talking about your equally boring life thats when I realize that cable internet should be handed out only after a written test or something. Thats my one criticism anyway."
Ouch. Thanks dad.
Indeep had a minor mainstream hit that most of you know, which was .. *google*.. ah.. Last Night A DJ Saved My life.. of course, but the album that track appeared on had a few good tracks. One of them, When Boys Talk, also produced a 12" single, and on the B side of that single were some 'Scratch versions'. In that early mid eighties era scratch versions were seen often alongside dubs, straight ahead beat reprises with small sparse elements of the main tune that you could do your grandmaster flash style primitive wikka wikka scratch routines over.
I'm posting the second of the two scratch version on the B side of this record, it goes into proto techno/house territory when the ambient synth wash comes in..awesome.. anybody want to see more photos of my stereo gear?..no?..ok:
George & Glen Miller are responsible for the rarest record on West End. Little is known about this amazing release. I wish Mel Cheren would've discussed this more in his book. I've encountered random Soca Lp's from the West Indian vocal duo, as well as a very nice disco 12" called "Easing".
There is something in the air lately. It's hard to decipher whether it's the wicked winds unsettling elements in SF or if it's something more intangible at play, but I am feeling quite energetic and inspired this week. Nothing helps keep the feeling alive like a full on track from Patti LaBelle. "Music Is My Way Of Life" is just a stormer start to finish. Guitars, horns, bass, percussion, oh my. Her entry into the song is nothing short of epic, leaning hard and strong into a "wwwweeeelllllll..." and she never lets up. There is something laid back and yet driving to this tune. Listen for the little whistle thrown in there. It's pure ear candy. The break down with the rhythm and lead guitars panned opposite one another with the percussion up in front is just genius. I could go on and on, but why...listen and enjoy.
Forgive the shameless Beat Electric promo, but I feel we have somewhat earned the right at this juncture. Neveretheless, I will make this short and sweet. If you are in the Los Angeles area tonite come out and see yours truly, BT Magnum fumble about and try to mix two records (108 and 130 BPM respectively) together at the Echo for the No Culture Party.
And more Importantly check out this insanely rare jam from Emerson originally featured on Disco Tom's Liger Music Mix.
Side On was a British band that put out only one release. The record came out on Beggars Banquet in 1982. This tune has a lot of charm. It has a boogie meets synthpop sound and a positive vibe that makes for a winning combination. The project was produced by band members Peter Maas and Everton McCalla and the tracks were written by Peter Maas and Derek Clark.
Oh, for god's sake I love this track. Pitch perfect lyrics sung by Esther Williams backed by smooth strings, genius guitar playing, just enough piano and horns and a tight percussive groove. It never gets old and it always make me move. Written by Willie Lester and Rodney Brown and remixed by Larry Levan, "I'll Be Your Pleasure" is prime for spring's rising temperatures and pheromones. Esther Williams: I'll Be Your Pleasure
Magnum's house party last night has left me unable to stare at this screen for too long without feeling nauseous, so I'm going to keep it brief. Ford model agency are doing a photo shoot in my backyard, a makeup artist friend who is working the shoot asked if they could use my space today, which I agreed to as I thought it would be cool to watch and a good story, but all the models are barely highschool age and turned up with their parents to watch over the whole thing. They are shuffling through my records and putting on whatever easy listening they can find, which if you know my crates happens to be plenty.
I'm going to escape into the sunshine with this dubbed out early eighties number from the Tyson records stable. Stop the taxi..
Here we are with a total mystery item. "Discovered" by Andrew at People's Potential Unlimited. A great later take on disco through the eyes of a seemingly all white cast. Magic City, in this instance, is referring to Miami. So put on your pink half shirt with airbrushed tits, and rollerskate to this one.
The year was 1987 and apparently Paris was an underground Milwaukee boogie artist heavily influenced by some other guy from the Midwest named Prince. The only thing I know about this 7 inch is that I own a copy and so do these guys. This release was so low budget they couldn't even spell the track title correctly.
Kleeer was a lazer soul group from 1979 through the early 80's. They went through a couple of different names and styles in the early 70's. They were first known as Pipleine, then The Jam Band, then Universal Robot Band (produced by Greg Charmichael and Patrick Adams), and finally, Kleeer. The new name came with a southern rock looking logo and self produced tracks. With their funky synth laden boogie sound, the band penned a bunch or minor hits for Atlantic in the early 80's. Here we have the slammin' boogie tune Tonight, and an edit I did of an obscure proto-house tune from 1982. Kleeer - Taste The Music (LeBaron Edit) Kleeer - Tonight
I wish I could tell you something about James 'Brafa' Bradford, but I can't, I don't have any other records by this man and can find out nothing about him. If he made anymore of these monster boogie tracks it probably wasn't under that name and the label only seemed to put out this one release, but wherever you are today James Bradford, thank you.
Disco Train is a sought after monster 45 of the sort I love most, minimal, indie, dusty and imaginative. You can take risks with your sound when you are answering to nobody I should think, not having produced any 80s disco independent disco jams myself.
This is one from my most prized stack, and now hopefully it will be helping inject some deep boogie into some laptop sets around the world:
Leon Haywood, of "I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You" fame, ran his own label called Evejim Records. While living in LA you will encounter many releases from this label, most don't really fly. This is definitely my favorite title from their extended catalog. Rare one off from this unknown band Private Joy (named after one of my favorite Prince joints).
The sun baked boogie lyrics make one feel like it 90 degrees at midnight, and time for a ice cold glass of cherry wine.
Omni must not only be lauded for making some fine boogie tracks, the guys wore really killer sweaters as well. Images such as this one were an obvious inspiration for our friends to name their free weekly Sunday Nite party at the Li Po Lounge in SF. Incidentally, Black Shag and myself will be the guest DJ's this coming weekend so today I felt it appropriate to lay down this piece of pure unadulterated Sweater Funk.
Visions Of Tomorrow were a mainstay of the Mobile, Alabama funk scene, led by Gerald Grant they gained acclaim at the many charity events and benefits in which they would frequently perform. They played a mixture of covers and originals, of which the instrumental 'Galaxy' was one of their standards. This sounds as fresh today as it ever did.. maybe even more so than it ever did.
As an aside, for San Francisco folks, we are playing the Sweater Funk party next Sunday, the 19th I think it is. I haven't played out in ages and this night is a unique experience and well worth checking out if only just to see it. Its down in the basement of the Li Po lounge in China town, everyone dancing in a fog filled, laser lit fire trap whilst guy's upstairs play mahjong next to a Buddhist alter. Come by.
These days I'm having fun taking good songs, and eliminating the good parts, leaving us with no meat, just the condiments. Here we are scraping up bun crumbs and relish bits that have fallen off of Ava Cherry's "You Never Loved Me" sandwich. Ava Cherry - You Never Loved Me (edit)
Before writer/producer Donald Burnside formed First Love (see the "Party Lights" post), he gave us the lone Air Power single on LA based disco label AVI Records. Soaring disco strings, funky clavinet stabs and endless percussion breaks make this one an essential piece of the late period disco puzzle. Another gem from 1979. Air Power - Be Yourself
Claudio Simonetti and Giancarlo Meo were one of the most important production teams in the italo boogie scene. They produced or performed in Goblin, Kasso, Crazy Gang, Vivien Vee, Easy Going, and many more. This is my favorite Capricorn track, it has much more soul than I need Love. It is a perfectly built dancefloor burner that has a Kano style vibe but with a creepy vocoder treatment. The instrumental is brilliant. Capricorn - Capricorn (Vocal) Capricorn - Capricorn (Instrumental)
Isn't she beautiful? laying there seductively like that, fresh and young, looking temptingly at us, with her near perfect European retro styling. Taking us back to an era when tasteful aesthetic seemed to come so naturally.
I even put a new cartridge on her, A Sumiko Bluepoint Special Evo III, and now she runs into a Musical Fidelity X-LPS which feeds lovingly into a MOTUUltraLite recording interface. Many a deep disco funk cut has been offered at the alter of her ginko wood plinth.
Zena Dejonay looks alright too.
Every time I hear this song I wonder why I didn't grow up listening to it on the radio, it had all the elements I think to have made it a mainstream smash rather than simply a club funk classic.
I'm putting up the dub version too as I think as far as euro boogie dub versions of the time go its pretty good, try working the choppy, delayed out sections into the vocal.
A brilliant new release of LA private press funk. New label Glydzone's first release is coming from one Damon Riddick, a Los Angeles funk legend hailing from Leimert Park. Analog synth glyding over sturdy drum machines. Funkmosphere Loyalists may remember a time when this tune was on Myspace.... around the same time I had sketched a preliminary flyer for Damon's dj night, then called 1983. Wave Length - Funk Dreams
What is a Polyphase? Is it a funky science party, a means to distribute alternating current electrical power, or a tribute to the 70's electro-harmonix effect pedal? You make the call! Anyways.
So there are tracks you get super excited about when you first hear them and they sort of fade from your consciousness over time. Then there are the cuts that just stay with you, meld deeply into your psyche, and never let go. "Polyphase" by Aaron Broomfield is the latter. One thing I enjoy so much about this track is the lyrics. Normally, I am not one to fault the simplicity of soul lyrics. In fact most of the time I prefer them to the majority of crap indie lyrics we have to endure, but the quirky lyrical concept in this song just works. Especially when put in contrast to Mr. Broomfield's somewhat limited range as a vocalist.
The instrumental B-side is a dancefloor killer. With an intensely tight arrangement, Broomfield obviously had nonstop ass shaking in mind when he constructed this monster. Make sure to check out the accompanying video complete with zoomed in crotch shots of his backing vocalist.
Aaron Broomfield is still on the scene and the Dance Classic Master has posted an informative interview with the man from a few years back. Broomfield's two releases on his own Miami based Mountain Records label are both considered to be very obscure pieces. "Polyphase" has been reissued directly by Broomfield from his master tapes and cheap bootlegs float around the internets as well. If you want to find the OG "Polyphase" just do a little research, there is a running time discrepancy on the label between the 1983 and 2004 pressings. It won't make much difference though, both pressings are rare as hell and quite pricey.
Look out for a Beat Electric post on Broomfield's first 12" Single "I'm Gonna Miss Ya" in the near future.
Here is an interesting track by Funktion Freeks on Purple Reign Records, released in 1986. Wet dreams make for bizarre songwriting material, but maybe his bedroom looks like the one pictured above with 1937 Altec /Lansing/RCA horn system powered by a Marantz 8B. Lots of drum machine clatter in there and lots of jankeyness. It is definitely halfway between garage house and freestyle. It catches its stride in the final third.
