Here is a 1984 house classic in its 1985 special longer remix form. "You Don't Know" was produced by Paul Simpson and still sounds excellent today. As a bonus I'll throw in this garage flavored extended Shep Pettibone mix from Instant Funk.

If you are in the Sacramento area tonight I'll be playing records at The Press Club for a new weekly party, "FFFreak". Come hang out and dance to '80s music!


Serious Intention - You Don't Know (special remix)
Instant Funk - (Just Because) You'll Be Mine (Extended Club Mix)

Beyond the fact that singer/guitarist Steve Shelto (or Mr. Class as he is now known) recorded an exceptional 12" for Sam records in 1983, he also managed to perform at Ronald Reagan's 2nd inauguration and the Queen of England's 60th birthday party. Not bad for a guy with one solo 12" and a only a couple of releases with his previous band Area Code (212). These days you can find Steve as an extra in the upcoming Will Ferrel film The Other Guys and performing with his band during tourist season in Naples, Florida. Nice one.

Steve Shelto - Don't You Give Your Love Away (Shep Pettibone Mix)
Steve Shelto -Don't You Give Your Love Away (Instrumental)

These days there are so many damn Kiss FM's floating around the dial that it is almost hard to fathom the brilliance that once was NYC's one and only Kiss 98.7 FM. Still at this pathetic stage in the game, Kiss is the best franchise on the market second to NPR. I so long for times past when radio programming was super diverse, the stations had legit DJ's, and the markets were regulated to keep corporate monopolies out of the system. Damn you telecommunications act of 1996!

Shep Pettibone made his name with the original Kiss 98.7 FM Mastermixes.

Armed with innovative tape delay and splicing techniques all his own, Shep launched his highly influential career producing a series of exclusive Mastermixes for the station from 1981 - 1983. This culminated with the release of the now obscure Prelude Mastermixes Volume 1 double LP in 1982. Shep's career in the world of dance music was quickly cemented as the mastermixes proved to be not only brilliant but a popular radio staple as well. Pettibone soon became the house mixer at Salsoul Records and went on to produce material for mainstream heavy hitters Madonna, The Pet Shop Boys and New Order amongst a plethora of others. Special thanks to Michael, check out his blog.

Nick Straker Band - A Little Bit of Jazz (Shep Pettibone Mastermix)

Secret Weapon - Must Be The Music (Shep Pettibone Mastermix)

D Train - You're The One For Me (Shep Pettibone Mastermix)

France Joli - Gonna Get Over You (Shep Pettibone Mastermix)

The brainchild of producer Darryl Payne (Sharon Redd, Katie Kissoon), the female vocal group Sinnamon topped the club charts in 1982 with their hit "Thanks To You" on Beckett Records. Co-written by the brilliant Eric Matthew of Gary's Gang and mixed by Shep Pettibone, "Thanks To You" was destined to be a boogie classic. In 1983 the band switched over to the Jive label and added a male lead vocal for their excellent follow up single. "I Need You Now" had a much smaller impact on the charts, but is now considered a more sought after and pricey 12". The group released several more singles fairly well into the 80's, but slowly faded out as they could never match the success of their early releases.

Sinnamon - Thanks To You
Sinnamon - I Need You Now

First Choice, from Philadelphia, were one of the great disco acts. They had many solid hits including Hold Your Horses, Double Cross, Gotta Get Away, From You Baby, and Let No Man Put Asunder. This track is pretty ubiquitous. It is perhaps the most sampled track in dance music actually (next to the Amen Break.) It was produced in 1977 and pressed to a rare 12." In 1983 it was re-released as a 12" with both Shep Pettibone and Frankie Knuckles remixes. This fine sounding rip is from the rare 12" bootleg EP pictured which features the Shep Pettibone mix. As a bonus, I have added a mighty fine Ron Hardy remix.

mp3: First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder
mp3: First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder (Ron Hardy Mix)