"For The Same Man" is simply an excellent release from 1983 on 25 West Records. Written by Libby McLaren, Matt Noble and Rebecca Rifkin, this song is made for dancing.

For The Same Man (Nasty Version)

In a long bygone era, this is precisely what I picture a Saturday night to sound (and look) like. RIP 1982.

Here is a mix of some of my favorite jams. They are plenty good for shaking down the house, but just as good for making the commute a little easier. It seems that I live in my car these days and I can only handle so much NPR.

Tracklist:

David Joseph - You Can't Hide (12" Version)
Thelma Houston - You Used To Hold Me So Tight (12" Version)
Unlimited Touch - Searching To Find The One
Lenny White - My Turn To Love You (Special Mix)
Sharon Redd - Beat The Street (Special 12" Instrumental)
Kano - She's A Star (LP Version)
Chocolate (Chocolette) - It's That East Street Beat (Club Mix)
Touch - Love Fixation (Dub)
Patrick Cowley - Thank God For Music (Disconet Extended Remix)
Connie Case - Get Down

Download Mix Here

My brain is cloudy from watching a debate between two senators who disagree on a few important issues. Therefore, I'm not sure how much depth I can spew from my spinning head for a post today...Rather, I'll focus on two things I saw in the debate through two different Jesse Saunders tracks.

First off: I'm not sure what this silly song from Saunders is about exactly but it is seething with absurdity which I have seen plenty of in this presidential race, especially in the past week. Additionally, feel free to relate this song to the topic of our nation's health care system in some obscure way (I'm open to suggestions).



Secondly, I'll focus on the mind-numbing rehashing of rhetoric which was very present in the debate (however, this track is loads more fun). Produced under another moniker of Jesse's, Fresh, Dum Dum is an amazing house anthem in a non-traditional sense. It's a mash-up medley where Mr. Saunders scratches and samples other tracks including some Sheila E as well as the other track in this post...all over the top of a simple drum machine track and a repetitive vocal medley consisting only of the word "dum". On a sidenote, there is a lack of live scratching which happens in house and techno these days. Find some old WBMX mixes online to hear the character DJs used to inject into their mixing.



I know Jesse aka Jes Say, the godfather of house, has little to do with the 2008 presidential race in the US of A but maybe he could run for president. I could imagine some vintage sounding patriotic house jam to rally support for him. You can be assured that Barack has my vote secured but without a doubt I would vote for Jesse Saunders over McCain if it came down to it. (And in no way am I comparing Obama to Jesse Saunders in case you were wondering...but I'll bet they are both swell guys.)

Dr. Derelict - Undercover (Remix)

Fresh - Dum Dum

George Kerr produced many, many influential recordings in his long career including the heavily sweated "Skull Snaps" LP in 1973 and the recently reissued Sabata 12" on my friend Rob Sevier's excellent Numero Group label. Kerr has songwriting credits dating back to the early 60's and Patrick Adams claims the first studio session he ever attended was Kerr recording the O' Jays in 1968. In the early 80's Kerr started hooking up with Reggie Griffin and produced quite a few boogie tracks including "S & M" by De De and "Thug Rock" by George's daughter Sandy Kerr. Keeping it in the family, George also produced a track with Vaughan Mason for his other daughter Tracy in 1984.

Reggie Griffin was best known for his early electro jam "Mirda Rock" on Sugarhill Records imprint Sweet Mountain in 1982. His boogie oriented production work with Kerr stands out to me as his best, but he was also quite influential in the hip hop world, penning songs and playing keyboards on some classic cuts for many Sugarhill Records releases including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's LP "The Message".

The Kerr/Griffin colaboration began with "Thug Rock" in 1982 on Catawaba Records and continued with "S & M" (Sexy Music) in 1983 on the Clockwork label.

Sandy Kerr - Thug Rock

De De - S & M (Sexy Music - Rated X)

The Brooklyn, NY based group Crown Heights Affair came along in the mid 70's and put out their first record in 1974 for RCA records. They soon moved on to join Kool and The Gang on De-Lite Records where they recorded several LPs and 12" singles. They were one of the pioneering groups in the the disco era and had a sound with a deep, soulful and funky vibe, but they also produced several cosmic disco tracks. This track is my favorite next to Dance Lady Dance and Say A Prayer For Two. Members Ray Reid and William Anderson also produced tracks for Beat Electric favorites Unlimited Touch and France Joli.

mp3: Crown Heights Affair - Dancin

An obscure gem from Washington DC, Hang With The Gang is a prime slab of boogie/funk from 1981. A background party track, vocoder stabs, and genre defining moog bassline might very well make this the ultimate party jam. The Backlash EP (Pictured) and the Hang With The Gang 12" were the only releases on the private Strata Sphere label making this a very rare cut indeed. A reissue is in order sometime in the next year or so, but until then expect to pay a lot of coin for this heavily sweated and near perfect underground boogie workout. For more tracks with a party going on in the background, check LeBaron's recent post Party Disco.

Backlash - Hang With The Gang

Touch was an act that released a few records in 1987 for the Brooklyn label Supertronics. This garage house track has the bassline and handclaps of Chicago house but has layers and layers of melodic horns and synthesizers on top. The record was mixed by Shelter DJ Timmy Regisford. Timmy Regisford also worked with Boyd Jarvis to create the previously covered The Music Got Me by Visual.

mp3: Touch - Love Fixation

"Medley: Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite The World) Friendship Train" is a perfect track for the dog days of summer. This album was recorded in 1971 and produced by Norman Whitfield. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Medley: Ungena Za Ulimwengu (Unite The World) Friendship Train

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)

Here is another bump along the journey between the boogie and the house eras. This track from 1983 by Adele Bertei was produced by Thomas Dolby for Geffen Records. Adele Bertei played keyboards for the legendary New York no wave bands The Bloods and The Contortions. This track has a lot of interesting elements melding together in a cohesive way that must have been shocking at the time. The clean pop production is very apparent, along with melodies that are both dark and uplifting. The italo synths juxtaposed with the choir like chorus works quite well, strangely enough. Thomas Dolby is well known for his 80's synth pop, but he produced a lot of tracks in the decade, including Whodini's first release.

mp3: Adele Bertei - Build Me A Bridge

Does it get much better than the partnership of Patrick Adams and Peter Brown? The godfathers of deep disco, of any great production duo from the era I can't think of one that was so tastefully consistent, and whose releases to this day are so sweated. Their releases spanned sub-genre, disco, cosmic, boogie, early hip hop, but always had the signature sound and distinctly abstract approach, which is a shame really as it means for most releases on the Peter Brown/Patrick Adams owned labels (Of which there were a few) you are now having to compete with hiphop dj's, funk obsessives, disco nerds etc etc.

My favorite P&P project was Cloud One, and this I believe is the first Cloud One 12" release on Peter Brown's Heavenly Star label, with Patrick Adams on joint production and song writing credits. An awesome instrumental disco boogie number, with all the weirdy overtones you would expect.

Cloud One - Flying High

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.

Tracy Weber - One Step at a Time

Tracy Weber - Sure Shot (Instrumental)

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.

7th Wonder - My Love Ain't Never Been This Strong
The Most Requested Rhythm Band - Brick House
Positive Force - We Got The Funk
Central Line - Walking Into Sunshine

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.

Deco Lounge/ 510 Larkin Street/ SF/ 10pm - 4am/ Free/ FREE !!

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. 

The Tribe - Jungle Rock

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.

Enjoy in it's full 7:42 extended glory

Tempest Trio - Do You Like The Way That It Feels (12" version)

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.

mp3: Black Ivory - Mainline
mp3: Black Ivory - Dance

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.

Stone - Time (Instrumental)

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.

mp3: Aleem - Get Loose (Dub)

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.

ElectricJuice - Kelley B - Live on Noise From The Void

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.

Empire - Robotism

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.

Gerard 'PJ' Browne - Sexy Lady (Disc 'O' Lypso)
Silver, Platinum and Gold - I Got A Thing (Dim's Disco Forever Re-Edit)

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.

mp3: International Music System - Non Line
mp3: International Music System - Run Away

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.

mp3: Juice - Big Fun (Vocal)
mp3: Juice - Mercy On Me

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

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.

Dr. York - Shake-n-Skate 

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:

Wynd Chymes - Baby You're The One

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:

Where: Noise From The Void on 90hz

When: Tuesday July 8th at 9pm PST.

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)

We have covered the work of Leroy Burgess and Greg Carmichael here 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)