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.

Plush - Free and Easy

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!

Tape End Ringtone
Ivy - It Must Be Magic
Ivy - Sweet Box
Ivy - Make Me Feel Your Love

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:

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.

Skyy - Let's Celebrate

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.

Sipho Mabuse - Break Dance (LeBaron Edit)

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:

Boytronic - You (Extended Vocal Mix)
Boytronic - You (Dub Remix)

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.

Feel - I'd Like To
Feel - Let's Rock (Instrumental Edit)

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.

Jonzun Crew - Space Is The Place

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)