Monday, November 30, 2009

Do What You Wanna Do  


This is the perfect jam for the evening. I am still recovering from a week of excess food, booze, and family drama. I am settling into this jam before I slip into another leftover induced food coma. Spyce put out this record on the Brooklyn label Rota Enterprises, LTD in 1979. It is definitely an interesting track with a lot of Patrick Adams influence, a party vibe, and some cosmic synth. I will give this track an edit when I can figure out ho to use logic.

Spyce - Do It Rock Steady

Posted by Joel Brüt | 0 comments

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Sunday, November 29, 2009

It Takes Heart  


We had a request for this a long time ago, but I never came good on it. Anyway, to make up for being tardy I'm going to post up the instrumental as well.

I would write more but I'm late for dinner. See a recurring theme? yes, you spotted it, I'm useless.

Greg Perry's It Takes Heart is part of the 80's soul funk cannon, but is a little hard to find. Its a real dancer, and watch for the synth breakdowns, amongst the heaviest the genre ever produced.

Greg Perry - It Takes Heart

Greg Perry - It Takes Heart (Instrumental)


Posted by Black Shag | 4 comments

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Kashif Ya Turkeys  


It's Thanksgiving in the United States today and we have oh so much to be thankful for here. I for one am very thankful for Kashif, super producer and ace songwriter whose peak work was in the golden boogie era of US soul music. God bless Kashif.

Evelyn King - I'm In Love 1981
Evelyn King - Love Come Down (Instrumental) 1982
Kashif - I Just Got To Have You (Long Version) 1983
Kashif - Ooh Love (Instrumental) 1984

Posted by Magnum | 12 comments

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Connie, the instrumentals.  


I'm not a big freestyle head, in fact I'm a little ignorant to the timeline and how the sub genre split from the rest of electro and boogie in the early eighties, but then it seems Miami has always had it's own thing going on what with it's geography and cultural mix. That being said, the semi breakthrough hits by Connie seemed to have favor with DJ's far beyond urban Florida at the time, and her two biggest tunes, Rock Me and Funky Little Beat became electro classics.

I like to play the instrumentals and dubs, as despite the vocal being awesome, the Amos Larkin beat production really stands out, so here you go:

Posted by Black Shag | 10 comments

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Sweet Dynamite  


I don't know what to say about this song really. It's pretty much perfect start to finish. The groove, the strings, the horns, Claudja Barry's downright infectious vocals, the message of the song...it's just never going to get old to me. Earlier today I was thinking about how there are very few, if any, current charting singles that I would even listen to, let alone any that I appreciate and feel I would never get tired of. Songs like "Sweet Dynamite", which was released in 1976, remind me why I love music and why I should take more time to listen and surrender.

Claudja Barry - Sweet Dynamite

Posted by T. Preston | 5 comments

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Feel It  


Over the years I had heard sound clips of this track and was aware that boogie collectors lit up a little bit when mentioning this 12" on the otherwise mediocre Zoo York label. A few weeks ago I found a minty copy in a thrift store and was excited to take it home and add it to my DJ crates. Wait, what the hell is that cheesy heavy metal guitar solo doing smack dab in the middle of all three 12" versions? And don't forget those vocal bits at the end that are terribly annoying. Ugh. So here is my edit of the long version, still vocal heavy but tighter and much more focused towards a linear dance floor set.

Leonard Seeley's Heritage - Feel It (BT Magnum Edit)

Posted by Magnum | 7 comments

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Space Woman  

Juggling computer programs and interfaces is hard enough now, I can't imagine how things were done in the good old days. Ugg, a frustrating night indeed. Welcome to space, bitches. This track came out on the Canadian label P.B.I. Records in 1981. Jean Pierre Bernard Massiera, the producer also put out a record of the same title in 1978 as the group Herman's Rocket on a French Label. It sounds like R2D2 made a guest appearance on this cut.

Venus Gang - Space Woman

Posted by Joel Brüt | 4 comments

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

T. J. Johnson (pt.2)  


I spent a lot of time going through pictures taken during the riots that took place in Brixton, London in April of 1981, it was hard to choose one, I didn't want to pick anything too explicitly powerful, or anything with a copyright notice on it, both of which were hard.

T. J. Johnson emigrated to the UK from the Caribbean as a youth and produced this record for the London based Switch label in 1982 in the aftermath of the riots, and the storied apex of the UK disco funk scene. Events such as the Brixton riots and the evolution of multi cultural Britain obviously influenced T. J as much of his later independant work right up to the modern day has socially aware lyrical inspiration. He still makes records and gigs on the European soul, funk, and blues circuit, as guitarist for a few bands and leading a couple of his own, although his earliest disco work is mostly forgotten amongst all the session work he did later on in the eighties. He was very much the UK Niles Rogers, both in his guitar technique (which was still distinctly his own) and the quality of his chops.

I have been collecting and championing lesser (and greater) known UK boogie for a while, but of all the rare grails, the most heavy, most monstrous, most dance floor destroying cuts to come out of the early eighties South London funk scene for me must be the first two T. J. Johnson records, the second of which 'I Can Make It (Good For You) / Dragonfly' I posted a while ago, and the first of which, 'Pretty Lady/Lets Do It (Lets Rock)' I'm posting now. Despite 'Pretty Lady' being a small underground hit in the UK I think this is an internet first, so all you thieving funk blogs get ready to repost the rip on zshare.

I haven't posted a secret weapon in a while, I have been holding back for some reason, mostly by some ultra whack hard electro remixes I heard that were sourced from tracks off of the site, but then the other day I remembered what the whole point of this site was meant to be in the first place, and what does it matter. So that being said, here is another one that sends the other DJ's on the lineup home early to jump on ebay. Good luck.

Posted by Black Shag | 23 comments

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Friday, November 13, 2009

GUEST MIX: PLAYER ERROR  


Here is a guest mix from SF's own DJ Hotthobo aka Randy Ellis. I had the pleasure of playing a gig with Ellis last month and I must say he is quite passionate about the Boogie and Disco sounds we so enjoy here at Beat Electric. This is a solid mix from start to finish and I recommend you check out Hotthobo's monthly Grow Up party in the Tenderloin.

And for a plethora of new disco oriented mixes, check out this excellent post on the Disco Delivery page.

The Tracklist:

1. Five Special - Your Body Heat
2. The Strangers - Stimulation
3. Kasso - Walkman
4. Dexter Wansel - It's Been Cool
5. Chic - I Want Your Love (Todd Terje Edit)
6. Eddie Craig - Funkin Up
7. Toba - Moving Up
8. Bernard Wright - Master Rocker
9. Asphalt Jungle - Freakin Time Pt.1
10. Voyage - I Love You Dancer
11. Loose Ends - Let's Rock
12. Raydio - Still In The Groove
13. Eddie Tour - Heartache (re-edit)
14. Rotciv - Do I Do
15. Paul Hardcastle - Forest Fire
16. Hypnosis - Bormaz (Todd Terje Edit)
17. Loose Shus - Leonhart
18. Up Front - Infatuation (Hotthobo Loooooong Edit)
19. Selection - Rebel On The Run (Remix)
20. O'Bryan - Lovelite
21. Breakwater - Do It Till The Fluid Gets Hot
22. D Train - Don't You Wanna Ride (The D Train)

DJ Hotthobo - Player Error

Posted by Magnum | 10 comments

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Close Encounters  


16 minutes of "soundscape disco" inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. "A Dance Fantasy" is mixed by Tom Moulton, has vocals by Sister Sledge and among many other songwriters has a piece written by John Williams. I have no idea where this track would ever be played out (especially not the scratchy copy I have), but who cares. It's fantastic in the truest sense of the word.

Montana - A Dance Fantasy

Posted by T. Preston | 5 comments

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Monday, November 09, 2009

Ding My Dong  

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

Posted by Joel Brüt | 2 comments

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Sunday, November 08, 2009

Do What You Wanna Do  



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.

The Cage featuring Nona Hendryx - Do What You Wanna Do (dub version)

Posted by Black Shag | 3 comments

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The More You Do It The Better It Feels  


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

Posted by Magnum | 2 comments

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Monday, November 02, 2009

The Melancholy of Winter Can't Get Me Down  


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:

  1. K.I.D.: Hupendi Muziki Wangu?! (You Don’t Like My Music)
  2. James Wells: True Love Is My Destiny
  3. Exodus: Together Foreverr (Dub)
  4. Change: Glow of Love
  5. Ian Dury: Spasticus Autisticus
  6. Mike T: Do It Any Way You Wanna
  7. Don Ray: Standing In The Rain
  8. General Johnson: Can’t Nobody Love Me Like You Do
  9. Trussel: Love Injection
Electribe 101 - Talking With Myself (Frankie Knuckles Mix)
Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Frankie Knuckles - Live at Gallery 21 Chicago in 1987

Posted by Joel Brüt | 17 comments

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Sunday, November 01, 2009

Roll the dice.  


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..

Posted by Black Shag | 3 comments