Some T.K. Favorites

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:

Quartz - Beyond the Clouds
Johnny Harris - Odyssey
Herman Kelly & Life - Dance to the Drummer's Beat
Uncle Louie - Full Tilt Boogie
Paul Lewis - Girl, You Need a Change of Mind
Tempest Trio - Love Machine

Get Down With Me

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

"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

Italo Boogie

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

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).

I have to go to a bbq and I'm late.. I'll add to this when I get home and have a bit of time..

Armenta - I Wanna Be With You (Part 2)

FISHNET FUNK

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.

Chill - "Lady Seduction" very minor edit

Slippery People

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.

The Staple Singers - Slippery People

Disco Dance

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)

Satisfy Your Every Need

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.

Heaven Sent & Ecstasy - I'm A Lady (LeBaron Edit)

Dubbing in Sunshine

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.

Rockers Revenge: Dubbing in Sunshine

Say "I Got Gusto!"

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

Citystreet

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.

Rhythm Talk - Citystreet (Club Edit)

Dream World

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".

Crown Heights Affair - Dream World

Fresh

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)

Scratch (Version B)

"..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:

Indeep - When Boys Talk (Scratch Version B)

TOUCH YOUR LIFE

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".

Here is a smooth edit of this rare 12" from a friend of a friend in DC.

George & Glen Miller "Touch Your Life" (edit)