Miami dance records always seem to have a certain unique sound, and Noel Williams' Konduko label's output is no exception. Williams was born in Jamaica and cut his teeth working at the legendary Studio One. In the 70s he moved to Miami and started producing disco records on his own label Konduko and others like T.K. Disco.
"Haven't Been Funked Enough" is a hype track that always gets my blood going. There is a definite proto-house feel to the arpeggiated bass line. The janky dubbed out mixing and arrangement style is great as well, I am a big fan of raw productions.  Noel Williams is also the producer behind "Get Down" by Connie Case, a classic Beat Electric spin.

Extra - Haven't Been Funked Enough

I moved into a new apartment this week, so all my crappy records are still in boxes, unmarked boxes with mixed and bizarre content, 7"s getting destroyed by free moving kitchen equipment and cookware. I messed up and didn't pack until the morning the movers were set to arrive. This made it hard finding something to post today, and to compound the problem I also have a gig tonight at the Mezz and so far have only managed to unpack a few boxes of classical music and weirdy jazz.

Fortunately though I did come across Passion's 'Don't Stop My Love' retrospective LP whilst looking for my toothbrush (true), as well as the 12" instrumental version of the title track.

Recorded in Miami by Ray Martinez, Passion had the pleasure of including amongst it's members fruit loop cult leader, and Beat Electric favorite, Dr. York! as always, go check out his wikipedia entry.

Passion - Don't Stop The Love (Instrumental)
Passion - You Can't Hide It

This is a self produced track by Miami artist Michael Sterling. It was released by Success Records in 1983. This track combines a pop lock'n beat, great modern soul vocals, and a little garage house flavor to create a really unique sound. The cop sirens would become a theme later in his career as he played bass in Inner Circle, who is responsible for the pseudo reggae track Bad Boys (What Cha Gonna Do). Sterling is still making music, but his output seems to be strictly limited to smooth jamz.

I have been interested in the pre-Miami Bass sound from this region for a while, and this track makes me to dive deeper to see what else is out there. Also, a portion of this cut sounds pretty good as a ringtone.

Michael Sterling - Desperate
Ringtone