Tracy Weber was discovered by Songwriter Nicky Braddy as they grew up close to one another in Queens, New York. Nicky and his writing partner Richard Bassoff penned "One Step at a Time" and "Sure Shot" with Tracy in mind. Recorded and produced by Eric Matthew and Gary Turnier, "Sure Shot" was a massive club hit thanks in part to a mix by Larry Levan. Sadly, Tracy was shot and murdered in a friends apartment two weeks before the single was released. "One Step at a Time" finally saw the light of day with a "Sure Shot" instrumental on the flip in 1983. Bassoff and Brady went on to write and produce "Ride on the Rhythm" by Mahogany for West End Records before both men exited the music business shortly thereafter. According to Richard Bassoff, Matthews and Turnier recorded a third track with Weber entitled "You Ought to Know" which remains unreleased to this day. Bassoff also claims that Tracy could nail any vocal in just one or two takes. I searched high and low, but could not find any picture of Tracy whatsoever. If anyone knows where I can find one, please hit me up.
Tonight I'll be boarding a red-eye flight heading to New York City once again. I've been going quite often and I like its presence in my life. It's more than a CompuRhythm-78, a sampler, synth and a delay can encapsulate...but Deekay Jones' use of those tools does conjure up some suitable statement about the city, especially what it might have been like in 1983. Pulse of New York was an incredibly well rounded comp that showed the few people that got this disc what New York new music was all about. There's also a track from Xex and some foreshadowing of early Jamie Lidell by a band called Bronx Irish Catholics...maybe I'll post more from this later. Right now, I've got to start packing for my weekend. Wish me a good weekend and if you long for where I am just think of this track.
ps- After some research I think the "New York" sample was from the first Last Poets album from a track of the same name. The 1970 release precedes the crappy Billy Joel song New York State of Mind which came to mind for me. The entire sample has way more depth and weight than I had allowed it to have before: "New York is a state of mind that doesn't mind fucking with a brother..." So maybe this track can also be for the anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream speech", noting we have made some progress.
I love tracks that have a party going on in them. I love to try to listen really closely to hear what is going on. This funky soulful disco jam was produced by Jerry Weaver for Parachute Records in 1978. Parachute was a subsidiary of Casablanca. Weaver went on to produce some tracks for Janet Jackson. The Most Requested Rhythm Band centered around pianist Nat Dove. They produced the 12" featured here in 1977. The flip has Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up in much the same style. We Got The Funk is a masterpiece of a party anthem.
Ahh, the self righteous blokes over at Beat Electric, always up on their collective high horse. They provide you with some decent music, free dance parties, etc... blah, blah, blah. In a world where everybody wants something for nothing, we bring you just that. Course there is always a hitch. We ask for one little thing, you drag your ass out of the house and get down with us tonite.
In order to not let this post look entirely like shameless self promotional spam (which it basically is), Here is a Patrick Adam's produced electro track from the vaults of Prelude Records to tide you over until you hear the real shit tonite.
A well known and highly sought after 12" promo single, this partnership of Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore produced what I think is the biggest dancefloor smasher from either great man.
Much loved by the old school Chicago fraternity, 'Do You Like The Way That It feels' rises above the rest of the efforts of the Tempest Trio project, trading camp for hard edged sass. Powerful and sparse four to the floor drum production combined with abstract yet hooky synth lines, soulful vocal and strong arrangement make this near perfect.
Some tracks are so good that you have to have more than just one copy. Black Ivory were actually around for a while. They formed as the Mellow Souls in 1969 and were managed by Patrick Adams. They soon picked up Leroy Burgess and changed their name to the ominous sounding Black Ivory. The put out the hit LP Don't Turn Around out on Perception Records in 1971. They put out a couple more LP's in the mid '70 before Leroy Burgess left to work on a myriad of other projects. Burgess came back to pen and arrange the incredible track Mainline with the help of Patrick Adams. Mainline has such a stomp and is so nicely produced it belongs on every dance floor. It is a very funky and soulful track for 1979.
From 1981 comes the fresh debut "Time" from 6 piece, Stone. With its ultra heavy bassline, funky synth stabs and clavinet hits, these guys fit in rather well with the sound contemporaries like The Strikers were helping to pave in the New York City black club scene. Featured here is the instrumental B side of a 12" promo copy on the mighty West End label. Providing the final touch is legendary Better Days club DJ and mix master Tee Scott.
A couple days ago Soulja Boy (along with his two cronies as a backdrop) stated on his YouTube feed he is making money with every view videos on his page get as well as each comment posted to them. It's a strange change in the music industry when you include viral video counts, particularly when it's hip hop stars airing their beef, into music revenue (and then including YouTube and Google in there too is worth pondering, especially when this very blog is hosted through Google).
All this is enough to make musicians who have been playing the game for awhile a bit bitter. When I view Soulja Boy's retorts to Ice-T's recent claim that Soulja Boy has killed hip hop I have more empathy with Ice-T, but some of Ice-T's rant is a bit excessive too (even more immoderate when I consider his buxom wife CoCo...sorry for my TMZ-ness).
In any case, Ice-T still has more cred and I respect that he spoke out against the ultra- commercialization of Soulja Boy's Superman, a song which sold more ringtones than real copies. Ice-T speaks truth that there are dangers in hip hop but it's nothing that new.
Even though the rap on this track is as vapid as some of the aforementioned YouTube videos it is real old school hip hop which embodied the term "fresh" more than ever. We sussed that the drums are a Simmons Kit and not programmed which is kind of neat. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, from my homestate of Minnesota, produced this jam. First on Saturn Records in 1983, I have the release that came bout three years later on JDC/Housejam featuring the same picture of Ice T that's on my Body Rock 12" on a different label, him rocking some crazy bondage gear.
The identical twins Taharqa and Tunde Ra Aleem started putting out records as Aleem in 1979. They were in rock groups in the early 70's, including The Ghetto Fighters. The Aleem twins shared an apartment with Jimi Hendrix and played in his band The Cry of Love. In the Aleem period hey worked with Leroy Burgess on most of their tracks. This 1984 early house track is some of their best work. This track features Leroy Burgess on the vocal and is very similar to their hit electro track Release Yourself.
I have always enjoyed both carrots and beets, especially when they are pureed together into a tasty beverage. It makes for a fine elixir the morning after a long evening out on the town drinking and drugging oneself. Blended into this excellent track by one-off studio project Electra, somehow it all seems to make a fine lyrical cohesion. Tara Butler's sultry vocals elicit one to not only eat their fruits and vegetables, she also manages to encourage you to jog, bend, stretch and do a few push ups. "Feels Good" in my opinion is the italo-boogie workout anthem of 1982. If Richard Simmons were a touch more savvy, he most certainly would have had this cut be the theme song to a "Sweating To The Oldies" workout tape. Silly lyrics written by nerdy Italian producers aside, this sought after gem was a groundbreaking track much in the vein of Chemise's "She Can't Love You". Electra (Featuring Tara Butler) - Feels Good (Carrots and Beets)
As promised, my 3 hour and 15 minute set after a long stint away from BeatElectric. This aired live on 90hz.org on July 7th as part of DJ Jeno's exceptional weekly broadcast Noise From The Void. You can access a wealth of amazing archives here, Noise From The Void: Archives. Tune in every Tuesday night for the best music from one of the legends of the dance music scene. I hope you all enjoy this and go find the many, many more gems on the archive page. For the playlist, head to the comments section. It's the first one posted.
Robotism is taken from German group Empire's ironically titled album 'First Album', ironic of course because it could also of legitimately been called 'Last Album'. Akin to a DoDo egg omelet or perhaps even rocking horse shit this one really does not turn up much, although someone recently tried to deflate my enamour for the album by stating there is somewhere in this universe a CD re release from a decade or so ago. Whatever, I haven't seen that around either. Its a great example of German disco rock, but with a more cosmic edge than it's peers at the time in 1980. Robotism stands apart from the other album tracks in that it is both instrumental and distinctly early italo in it's influence.
Dimitri From Paris has been jocking disco tracks since the rest of us were still kicking it in our pampers. When the various members of the Beat Electric crew were fucking about in crappy Nirvana cover bands and British nu jazz/idm outfits this man was buying up all of the key disco joints. Never mind the fact that at the time disco was a dirty, dirty word and house ruled the dance music universe. Dimitri was able to work in the parameters of the era and incorporate his love of disco within the spectrum of house music. Still, his cred runs deep.
Arguably, the two best releases Dimitri has been involved in are the Disco Forver compilation and the bootleg masterpiece Disc 'O' Lypso. The former deserves props as it is filled with some quality bangers and was released a few years before disco's full on resurgence. Disc 'O' Lypso on the other hand is a bootleg full of island inflected disco-dub obscurities that he compiled from the deepest cuts in his crates. I was fortunate enough to pick it up at a friends record shop when it made its brief run in 2003. It has since become quite a difficult piece to get one's hands on.
Dimitri from Paris plays a special disco set with Beat Electric's own BT Magnum and Lebaron this Friday August 1st at Mezzanine in SF (Jessie and Mint Streets), Doors open up at 10 PM.
These are some heavy Italo tracks from 1983 by I.M.S. They managed to kick out a modern sound that that was equally influenced by Kraftwerk and their Italian contemporaries. The mastermind behind I.M.S. also gave us Spacer Woman by Charlie.
Dictionary.com lists thirty different definitions of the word jack and UrbanDictionary.com has nearly 60 entries. However, if you read all of them you would be more than slightly hazy about what exactly all the Chicagoans were hyping through house music in the mid-80's. Farley Jackmaster Funk, Chip-E's Time To Jack, Jackin' the House...those four letters were nearly a necessity for early house records. What are they talking about? I suppose it's a sound synonymous with early Chicago house...and that sound makes you jack. The concept of "jacking your body" makes sense to me if i listen to the rigid yet somehow arousing drum machine patterns. This track should help you understand. Just don't confuse it with one of the many other meanings of the word, such as self-pleasuring, stealing, a premigratory young male salmon or absolutely nothing (as in jack shit).
Risqué Rhythum Team was K-Alexi, Mr. Lee (above) and Mitchbal. Each of them had extensive contributions to this particular definition of jack. The Jacking Zone was released on Chicago Connection Records in 1986. Presumably it is about some sort of area where lots of jacking took place.
These are a groovy couple of tracks from Juice on the private label Out-Let Productions. The instrumental of the title track Big Fun is a secret weapon, but the vocal has such a great vibe and such great silly lyrics. The proto-acid house synth is anything but silly. Mercy On Me is a bad ass party jam that lays out all the production tricks, even everyone's favorite: electronic helium. I have no idea where the group or the label is from, or even what year the record is from, but I got the record from New Orleans. Both tracks were written by David LaFleur with others and produced by Willie Delcour, which are French names, so New Orleans natives they may be. Enjoy.
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.
Hot on the heels of Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation, George McCrae released this early disco track in 1974. This tune, which was written for McCrae by the the then unknown KC Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, went to the top of the charts in the US and the UK. Legend has it that the track was originally intended to be a instrumental, but Henry Stone of T.K. thought it needed a voice. The track called for a high pitched voice that the writers could not deliver and when McCrae showed up randomly, his falsetto was a perfect fit. The record came out before the invention of the 12" single, so the track was split up into two parts. One would assume that Francis Grasso and other DJs of the era used to extend the song by playing two copies of the 7". Also check out the early use of an early drum machine.
mp3: George McCrae - Rock Your Baby mp3: George McCrae - Rock Your Baby (Part 2)
Skateboarding had punk, roller skating had disco, hence roller skating is one of the most popular youth culture movements on the planet, with millionaire professional icons and an entire industry that feeds off of it, and skateboarding is a thing of the past, last practiced by Marty McFly as he escaped Biff the town bully.
This is Roller Skating's best song.
It was recorded by Dr. York, who is now doing 140 years in federal prison for a very unsavory conviction.
Discovered in a pile of 45's at a warehouse and after a five year long licensing debacle, the deep diggers over at Lotus Land bring us the lost Wynd Chymes classic. The extremely obscure 7" was the bands demo and apparently the catalyst for getting them signed to RCA Victor Records. Oddly, Wynd Chyme's first official release, the "Arrival" LP did not include the track, possibly because it doesn't quite fit in with the more jazzy leanings of the album. But then again it is the song that got them signed in the first place which makes it's absence all the more strange. This monster of a cut is the perfect blend of raw boogie funk with some nice electronic flourishes and an out of control synth bass track. On Repeat:
Hey there. So it's been some time since I have posted anything here on BE...believe me I am aware of my neglect. However, tomorrow night...Tuesday July 8th...9pm to 12am or more I will be the guest DJ on DJ Jeno's online radio show Noise From The Void. I am really excited as many of you know Jeno's influence on the dance music scene for the past decade and then some. Please tune in from anywhere in your home, anywhere in the world for a great show. There is a live chat that takes place during the show. Also, I will be keeping a track list and the show should be archived which means I will be posting a link later once it is available. Nothing like 3+ hours of tunes to make up for 2 months of absence. Here are the details:
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.
This might be one of the most fitting cuts in my record collection for today's holiday besides the sound effects records featuring recordings of fireworks (which isn't very well suited for this blog). It is also evidence there was a time when The US of A was looked upon more fondly by other nations. This track comes from our northern neighbors, Canada, who just had their analog to our Independence Day on the 1st, a few days ago...Happy Canada Day too!
Canada is the home of much darn tootin' good disco acts such as Lime and Gino Soccio. Heck, there was even a campy disco musical called The Apple which detailed the evils of the music industry. Quebec based Unidisc and Uniwave released loads of endemic acts as well as licensed international dance music in the late 70's and early 80's, enabling dance music to flourish in the cold temperatures. Tojo Productions was smaller Canadian label which started a few years later and whose material wasn't quite as strong. However, a couple gems did arise on the imprint. I'm not sure if this this track could be considered one but given the theme, it was my choice for today. The fact it is supple with sonic lasers and its off kilter charm has endeared it to me.
The production duo was also responsible for Nightlife Unlimited who gave us Disco Choo Choo in 1979. Later, in 1983, armed with more synth lasers and under the Ladies Choice moniker, Gino D' Orazio and Tony Bentivegna (hey wait, those names sound as Italian as Gino Soccio!) gave us American Man. It was also released on Ram's Horn a bit later.
It's one of those Tojo 12"s that has the exact same track on both sides so I took the liberty to construct an instrumental of my own, especially since the vocals are my least favorite element.
We have covered the work of Leroy Burgess and Greg Carmichaelhere at Beat Electric several times now and of course for very good reason. Everything these gentlemen touched turned to solid gold. Logg, which also featured Burgess's cousin Sonny T. Davenport, was probably my favorite of their endeavors. Released on the Salsoul label in 1981, "I Know You Will" (thanks in part to a stellar mix by Larry Levan) is a very heavy lazer soul joint. As respective pioneers of the disco sound with Black Ivory and Bumblebee Unlimited in the 70's, Burgess and Carmichael were obviously on the forefront of the boogie tip as well with this cut. The increasingly rare and pricey Logg LP has quite a few more jams on it, but we will have to share those with you further on down the line. Logg - I Know You Will (Larry Levan Mix)
Millie Jackson was the original disco queen of raunch. She was a very controversial figure in the day and that hampered big mainstream success. She got her start in 1964 after winning a talent show in a Harlem nightclub. She went on to get signed by Polydor and put out her first single in 1970 followed by an LP in 1972. She continued to put out records throughout the 70's and 80's. In the 80's put out two records that grace many worst album cover ever lists, find them here: E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion) and the official album of Colonix: Back To The Shit. This track is from 1979 and has a wonderful stomp and smooth modern soul feel with soulful vocal delivery.
I spent ages looking for a picture of Toney Lee, I found the cover image of his latest gospel album from a couple of years back, I found a bunch of pictures of a chinese physics professor, and so on, so I ended up opting for a picture of Man City setting up to score on Norwich FC in 1977. None of these instrumental versions were recorded in 1977, Toney Lee has no doubt never even visited the fine city of Norwich, but I was just looking at the picture earlier so decided to use it. I'm in the market for a 1977/78 season Norwich shirt, size medium, do please hit me up.
As did so many of his contemporaries, jazz musician Narada Michael Walden (Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra) got lost in the music and shifted gears towards disco in the late 70's. Highly influenced by the work of Chic, he handled production for Sister Sledge on their "All American Girls" LP as well as his sister in law, Wanda's album "Searchin' For Love" both released in 1981. The standout track and 12" was "Don't You Want My Lovin". I do not have this one so instead you can check it out accompanied by an exciting static image on youtube:
"I Must Be Dreamin" was released as a 12" single in 1982 but did not include Narada's production and was also missing from the full length album. Replacing Narada, American Idol's Randy Jackson provides brilliant songwriting and production way deeper in the boogie vein. "I Must Be Dreamin" is an unstoppable synth driven banger not dissimilar to Vicky D's "This Beat is Mine". I have always sort of hated American Idol, but I must say this brings Randy Jackson's cred up about 10 notches so maybe I should give it another try. On second thought, naw I will still have to pass on that show.
www.cosmicdisco.co.uk kindly asked us to do a guest mix for them some time before Christmas, so typically going on BeatElectric time that means us handing something over around mid summer.
Myself and BT Magnum got together one afternoon and put this together, the predominant period of which was spent viciously arguing over the program material, each of us were granted a single veto, followed by a series of 'best of three' rock paper scissors challenges. I wasted mine early when BT tried to slip the B side medley of Mylo's debut album by me whilst I was having a cigarette in the garden. I tried to sell him on a bootleg I have of Miles Davis talking on the telephone to his mum, but got shot down. Easy come easy go, we worked it out in the end.
As always its live and all vinyl, all the time. Here is the final tracklist:
1. STARVUE -Body Fusion 2. MASTER JAY & MICHAEL DEE - T.S.O.B (Instrumental) 3. JIVE RHYTHM TRAX - 102bpm 4. EURO FUNK - Dynomite 5. ARMENTA & MAJIK - I Wanna Be With You 6. YOUNG & CO.- I’m Too Cool 7. HEAVEN 17 - Let Me Go 8. SINNAMON - Thanks To You 9. WANDA - I Must Be Dreaming 10. HI TENSION - Hi Tension 11. Q - The Voice of Q (Instrumental) 12. NITRO DELUXE - Let’s Get Brutal 13. SATELLITE - U Can Drive My Spaceship 14. FEVER - The Fever Rock 15. RENE & ANGELA - Wall To Wall 16. 202 MACHINE - Do Your Thing 17. FUNKAPOLITAN - Run Run Run 18. OMNI - Body Groove 19. HARLEQUIN 4’s - Set It Off 20. KAJAGOOGOO - Hang on Now (Extended Version)
Shake, Shake, Shake. The disco group "Bombers" are a Canadian band which had that perfect blend of italo and boogie. This track is completely special, from the fretless bass intro to the staccato synth and soothing Turkish folk sounds, this easily has to be my favorite release by the group. This West End 12" from 1979 was one of their last.
A one off project on the NYC Prelude label, "All I Need is You" is a very soulful, spaced out boogie track. Sad that this was the only release by Starshine as it is such a deep and timeless record. A shout out to P. Skillz and his fine blog, Give The DJ a Break as he posted the vocal version back in April. Featured here is the instrumental which I think I dig just a little bit more as it has a sparser lead vocal as well as a fine female backing vocal that is missing entirely from the mix on the A side. As with so many Prelude releases, the mighty Francois Kevorkian gives his final touch on the mixing boards. This is one of the labels rarer 12"s, so unfortunately you have to listen to a rip off of a very worn copy, but I think the scratches give it a little extra depth. Starshine - All I Need Is You (Instrumental)
This impossibly rare record from 1980 by Heaven Sent & Ecstasy is perhaps the only album released on Oakland's Jameiko's Records and Publishing. It was conceived as a soundtrack to the religious film Scrolls, The Book Of Life. The tracks were written and the album was produced by Barbara J. Trotter. This is a highly sought out modern soul record and can be considered a digger's holy grail. There are five upbeat boogie tunes mixed in with four ballads and a rock song. All the tracks have a raw sound with a lot of energy. It is really amazing that this is the only record that the group produced.
Fresh from the Quad Cities (Rock Island, IL to be precise) circa 1983 comes The Midnight Express Show Band fronted by the one and only Robbie M. This track is the buzz amongst the network of heavy hitter 80's rare groove collectors at the moment and word has it that the boogie master out of D.C. is in the process of reissuing it via 12" single. For the time being you can purchase the ultra rare original 7" release. This is easily the most insane boogie track I have stumbled upon since Mid Air's East Out. More Boogie love from the Midwest! This recently unearthed video is like thriller on heavy doses of PCP.
Roller Boogie was a 1979 movie that capitalised on the roller skating craze, I'm not going to comment on it much because I haven't seen it. Look it up on youtube if you are really interested, you will catch the drift.
I do own the soundtrack album though..
Roller Boogie's sound track was compiled and produced by Bob Esty, a key figure in mainstream disco, and the obvious link between the roller skating and disco phenomena led to a disco heavy score featuring tracks from the likes of Cher and Earth Wind & Fire. Yet amongst those are two of Bob Esty's own instrumental studio productions, the vocoder laden 'Elektronix' and the CBS charting abstract tropicalia instrumental Cunga. These two tracks flow into one another on the record and make a nice segway, but nobody sweats Elektronix (except me) so I'm posting Cunga.
Dennis Parker AKA Wade Nichols was a porn star whom starred in many flicks including My Sex-Rated Wife. He only put out one album, Like An Eagle, which was produced by Jacques Morali. The title track was also featured on a Cassablanca 12". This track made it to number 11 on the CBS top 100 in 2006, much to the dismay of the announcer; he banned the track. The track can also be heard on one of James Murphy's radio series mixes. Dennis committed suicide in 1985 after being diagnosed with A.I.D.S.
Katie Kissoon is a powerful vocalist born who was born in Trinidad and raised in the UK. Katie got her start in a soul duo with her brother Mac in the 70's. Since then, she has had a long run as a back up singer for Roger Waters of Pink Floyd as well as stints with Eric Crapton and Van Morrison. Obviously, I prefer her brief solo run on Jive Records in the early 80's. "You're The One (You're My Number One)" is a spot-on mid tempo boogie track released in 1983, produced by Darryl Payne who is notable for his work with Sharon Redd as well as his collaborations with Gary Turnier and Eric Matthew of Gary's Gang. I was too lazy to take a photo of the 12 inch, so instead you not only get a picture of Katie, but a pic of the Jive Logo as well. Bonus! Katie Kissoon - You're The One (You're My Number One)
Visual was a project by Boyd Jarvis and Timmy Regisford. This record was mixed by Loft regular Tony Humphries and was released by Prelude Records. Boyd Jarvis, who still makes music, conceived this tune as part of a WBLS New York audition for vocalist Timmy Regisford. The track had such a profound effect (for good reason) that they played it live in a couple of times before bringing it to Prelude.
This mind blowing proto house (or proto garage track) came to us in 1983. The bassline sounds like a TB303, but I don't think that it is. The synth lines are so soothing and sound similar to synth sounds from yacht rock of the era. The track builds and builds till it comes to a head and the vocal break instructs the hard working dancefloor to move their bodies. mp3: Visual - The Music Got Me (Instrumental)
The dream team collaboration of vocalistLeroy Burgess with producers Greg Carmichael, and Patrick Adams yielded so many amazing recordings between their many different musical projects. The Universal Robot Band's tenure began in 1976 with the "Dance and Shake Your Tambourine" single and ended in 1982 with the release of the boogie masterpiece "Barely Breaking Even". The majority of Burgess's releases in the early 80's came out on Salsoul, but this single was released on the fairly obscure Moonglow imprint, which makes an original pressing much harder to come by. The 12 inch was reissued in recent years due to the track's high demand and influence in the disco universe. Universal Robot Band - Barely Breaking Even (Club Version)
The Funhouse was one of the great discoteques of New York, it went head to head with the Paradise Garage with a mixed gay and straight disco crowd, but as the early eighties came around it became known as a niche dance club for early breakdancers and electro.
Jellybean Benitez was the resident DJ, and second only to sleeping with Madonna and bringing her onto the scene, this 1982 edit of Kaso's Key West is my favorite of his achievements. As the eighties wore on he rocked a look not unlike Kenny G's or Michael Bolton's, but this was just for the press and to help maintain a career image as a big pop producer, his roots were actually still deep in the underground disco scene. Key West is an italo number highly popular with the first body poppers, you can hear the crossover and emergence of tradional dance electro, this would have been played at volume from the Funhouse's giant clown head booth as circles formed on the dancefloor beneath ..behold.. the clown head..
Here are a couple of rare tracks from 1982 by the Italian group Amin Peck. Amin Peck was George Fyron, Leonard Parker, and Max Marne. The track Anxiety is particularly interesting with its crazy chorus drenched slap bass and comical synth line. It is a really well built track with a nice 808 breakdown in the middle with porn guitar and saxophone that rides out to the end. Girl On Me has a very unique, iconic sound that is wedged between pop and avant garde.
Thanks to my good friend Alicia, I acquired about 40 Todd Terje Edits yesterday and I thought it would only be appropriate to drop a few of the best ones here for y'all to enjoy. Dig it.
Abaco Dream was a one off project circa 1970 by Bay Area soul legend Sylvester Stewart AKA Sly and the Family Stone. Not much is known about the project, but it is assumed that it was a way to try out a different sound. This is funky soul tune is proto-disco at its best. It comes on with so much authority and kills. I have no idea what G and A stands for so if anyone does, please let us know.
Starvue were a collective out of Chicago. The Upward Bound LP released in 1980 featured the slow burner single and 12 inch "Body Fusion" (which I am not going to share with you just yet as it is on a forthcoming mix that Black Shag and I have just completed) as well as the more upbeat "Love Affair". Released on the private label Midwest International Records, Upward Bound is a very sought after record and the Body Fusion 12 inch is even more rare. Credit has to be given to my friends at Lotus Land Records in Milwaukee as they turned up 15 sealed copies of the 12 inch and several of the LP a few years back. I managed to find my copy in a Chicago thrift store, but probably would have ignored it in the first place as the cover is arguably rather hideous (save the band name Starvue) and looks like a bad born again christian folk LP to me.
Our guest mix comes from the Netherland's Professor Eddy, full of new soul classics it was apparently inspired by north western Europe's recent spate of fine weather. Eddy had this to say about himself..
"..From 1995 'till recently I worked for several local radio stations in the Netherlands and I always tried to play as much 'black' music as I could. Since April I have a daily show on the new online station Laid Back Radio (http://www.laid-back.be/online/online.htm). You can hear 'Soul Searching' from 9.00 to 10.00 hrs CET in the morning and from 19.00 to 20.00 hrs CET in the evening. I try to play the best soul music from the last 40 years. For me soul music began in the mid sixties when James Brown invented the funk with 'Papa's got a brand new bag'. The people from the Laid Back Show gave me the nickname 'professor Eddy' because of my musical knowledge (well, that's what they tell me, probably my glasses have something to do with it as well...).
In the past I've done some mixes for the weekly Laid Back Show on the local radio station FM Brussels as well, for instance 'Slow Disco 2' (http://www.laid-back.be/download/eddy14.htm or http://tinyurl.com/42fywq). But the weekly Laid Back Show has now become a 24 hours radio station on the web.
The idea behind 'Summer Grooves' was to make a sunny disco mix. Some joyful tracks from the late sixties to the mid eighties."
Here is the tracklisting and link to the mix:
(intro) Michael McDonald – I Keep Forgettin’ (1982) Don Blackman – Heart’s Desire (1982) Creative Source – Good Lovin’ Is Good Livin’ (1976) Sugar Hill Gang – Apache [12”] (1982) Mongo Santamaria – Get Back (1969) Gene Chandler – Get Down [Rick Giantos Special 12” Mix] (1979) Joubert Singers – Stand On the Word [Larry Levan Remix] (1985) Jeff Perry – Call On Me (1977) Sunrize – I Need You More Than Words Can Say (1982) Cool Notes – Why Not (1985) ABC – King Without A Crown (1987) Five Star – System Addict (1985) The Jacksons – Walk Right Now (1980) Tony Orlando – Don’t Let Go (1978) Theo Vaness – I Can’t Dance Without You (1979) Heaven & Earth – I Really Love You (1981) Jimmy Williams – All Of My Lovin’ [Eddy’s Edit] (1983) Serge Gainsbourg – Sea Sex And Sun (1978) Leo’s Sunshipp – I’m Back For More (1978)
