I just got in from Chicago this afternoon and I had a really great time. It is such a clean and beautiful city and I was blessed with mild weather. I tried to see as much of the city as I could but it is huge! It seems like each neighborhood is the size of SF. I was on foot, bus, and subway but didn't get a chance to ride the el. I met a lot of cool hipster foodies; ate and drank well. I also thought I was tanking my life in my hands when I went to this huge sports bar in Lincoln Park to see Congressman Pacquiao beat the crap out of the much bigger Margarito, but Chicagoans are civil people. I was working the most days, but I was able to break away and get a grip of records. I have posted a track that I picked up.

This J. Blackfoot cut came from the cool janky modern soul LP City Slicker, which is loaded with great basslines and synth work. Blackfoot is a bit of a swooner for my taste and has filled all spaces with this voice. This is a bummer because I would like to edit the tracks to make them less vocal heavy. It came out on Sound Town Records in 1983.

Also posted it an edit of one of my favorite party jamz. I have wanted to do this for a while and since my lady wants me to clean the house I finally got it done.

J. Blackfoot - Street Girl
Positive Force - We Got The Funk (LeBaron Edit)

This 1979 disco tune by the female power trio Stargard came out on Warner Brothers in 1979. The track was co-produced by Verdine White of Earth Wind & Fire. I have always loved the stomp and the yacht cruising feel of this cut but have never liked the guitar solo. So here is an edit without that nonsense. I plan on editing the vocal version in the future.

Stargard - Wear It Out - Instrumental (LeBaron Edit)

I am leaving for vacation France on Thursday and thought it would be a good time to post this edit of a 1968 Serge Gainsbourg song. This cut was written for the soundtrack of the classic film La Pacha. I have no idea what he is saying, but apparently it is a funeral speech at the burial of an asshole and there are no holds barred. Let me know if there if something fun going on in Nice this weekend!

Serge Gainsbourg - Requiem Pour Un C... (LeBaron Edit)

The not so aptly titled Wreckin' Crew formed in Chicago, Il. in the late 70's and you can read their bio here. At least regionally Found The Groove was a fairly well known boogie-funk cut that was released in 1981 on several different imprints including this 7" version on private Chicago label Starville. We received an email a while back requesting we post the b-side modern soul cut You Don't Care as it was included on the Funkacise mix LeBaron and I put out early last year. After giving it a listen the other nite I came to the conclusion that edits were in order for both sides of this 7". You Don't Care was a minor one, a bad horn solo desperately needed removal. Found the Groove on the other hand needed pretty major surgery. Some outdated P-Funk bits and a shit chorus made a potentially stellar track fall flat.

Wreckin Crew - Found The Groove (BT Magnum Edit)
Wreckin Crew - You Don't Care (Edit)

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)

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.

Ken Laszlo - Hey Hey Guy

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)

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.

Side note: Ricardo Marrero arranged this thing.

Cindy Rodriguez - What You Need Is My Love (Disco Tom edit) ('05)

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)

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)

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.

I recently found a copy and made a quick edit hi-lighting the druggy vocals and strings.

Alfredo De La Fe - Hot 2 Trot (Disco Tom Edit)

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..

Anyhow, Prelude is good, what a great label:

Sharon Redd - Never Give You Up
Rochelle Fleming - Love Itch
D Train - Tryin' to Get Over
Vicki Sue Robinson - Hot Summer Night
Weeks & Co - Go With the Flow [Edit]
Sharon Redd - Love How You Feel
Bobby Thurston - Check Out the Groove [Edit]
Gayle Adams - Your Love Is a Lifesaver
Unique - What I Got Is What You Need
Visual - Somehow, Someway
D Train - "D" Train [Dub]


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:

Black Shag - Factory

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)

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.

Harari- Party (LeBaron Edit)

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

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)

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)

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

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)