The Pointer Sisters released this 12" in 1978 on Planet Records. It has a stunning intro and is simply a solid track start to finish. Production by Richard Perry. "Happiness" isn't a pricey record by any means, but it is one that moves the floor.

Happiness

Trilark was the cloud city steazed vocal trio brainchild of Crown Heights Affair masterminds Ray Reid and William Anderson. Another treasure from 1982, (I know I keep harping on this year, next week promise I will be on some 1979 heat) the quite rare Trilark LP was a collection of mid tempo modern soul jams. The more accessible single "Love Never Looked Better" is a decent track but not up to par with some of the other material on the record in my opinion. My favorite joint is "Check It Out". I just picture an early 80's beach front soul porno shot with some dusted old film stock whenever I hear this one. This shit is just too smooth. Check It Out:

Trilark - Check It Out

Partytime records was a spin off label of the legendary Streetwise record label, Arthur Baker's brain child where he served as chief a&r and talent scout. He had a good ear and always heeded my advice and for this he was rewarded loot and immortality. Partytime was a reasonably self descriptive name for the sublabel, it's output was exclusively dance floor heavey although varying from synthy modern soul to electro hip hop in genre.

These are my two favorite cuts from Partytime. Pushe's Don't Take Your Love Away, and Citispeak's I Don't Need Your Handouts. Both are synth laden uptempo boogie, of the sort which has tended to make up the lion's share of my set recently, one female vocal led and the other male. I heard the Jeanne Harris vocal described as 'sour', but thats part of it's charm:

Citispeak - I Don't Need Your Handouts
Pushe - Don't Take Your Love Away

One of disco music's eternal questions may soon be answered. The Rover's sole mission is to answer this question. While The Mars Rover is an amazing feat of engineering, it is full of aesthetic deficiencies. Although I like the Johnny #5 head, the body looks a lot more like an insect than a vehicle. I also think the rover would probably be more functional with a robot sidekick that has arms and legs. The new moon rover that has the ill conceived name "Chariot" got it right with gold leaf trim. All we can wish for is some 12" triple gold Daytons on that sucker.

Life On Mars was a concept album that was written an produced by Philadelphia native Dexter Wansel in 1976. He was a Philly Sound pioneer and produced for such acts as: Teddy Pendergrass, Phyllis Hyman, The Jacksons, and Patti Labelle. Dexter produced several albums in the Jazz Funk genre with a sound that is equally split between Herbie Hankock's Thrust album and disco floor burners of the era.

Dexter Wansel - Life On Mars

A man of many talents, Lalo Schifrin covers this 1951 Les Baxter original bringing it to new heights with a touch of exotic funk.

Lalo Schifrin: Quiet Village

First off, let me introduce my column for BE which will be called Raw Boogie. This is micro genre I've been cultivating for the last 5 years or so, consisting of self released and usually self produced boogie joints made by local artists from all around the world. Most of the popular music from the post disco era (1982 - 1989) is notorious for having skin tight session players and uber slick production. Bands such as Slave, The Whispers, Evelyn Champagne King, etc fall into this category.

In stark contrast to the sound of the major label's elite comes the unsigned & under paid suitors seeking their claims to the boogie throne. Writing, recording, and releasing their own funk upon the world, the unisigned artists would often record in home or homie studios, with little to no budget. Most of the Raw Boogie tunes I've found were completely ignored and/or shunned by the music industry, creating a vast underground of obscure and dope funk only to be appreciated by future generations.

Raw Boogie Vol 1:

SUMY "Soul With Milk" - (taken from the LP Trying To Survive, Galaxy records 1983)




Most of the groups we'll bring up in this micro genre will be hailing from the USA, however Sumy was self releasing his music in Amsterdam. Sumy was born in Surinam, a country known largely for being one of four non spanish speaking nations in S. America, and for having a population 1/2 the size of myself and BT Magnum's hometown of Milwaukee, WI.

The young, arrogant Sumy started his own scene quickly after relocating to Amsterdam. There he created his own band, The Freaky Thangs. Mainly white dudes who wore star trek gear and porno hair. Sumy himself liked to wear leg warmers on his arms. With this crew he released two singles which were released by Phillips. After these two releases Sumy began preparing his full length LP, "Trying To Survive. Low funds and lack of equipment led Sumy to record most of the LP in his home, using a barrage of funky synths and his own wit to complete the project. He also enlisted a few friends, including a couple members of the group American Gipsy, aka the band who made the break beat classic "Inside Out".

"Trying To Survive" eventually saw release on Sumy's own imprint, Galaxy Records. An album safely 30 years ahead of it's time, "Trying To Survive" included many nice jams such as "Bitch, We Danced A Lot", "Where Were You Last Night (Sexy Lady)", and the tour de force in "Soul With Milk".

Not sure what the saying "Soul With Milk" is supposed to stand for or suggest, but the lyrics are all about clubbing and chasing girls. The beat floats in and out of open high hat disco and hard hitting funk, and the bass is pure synth. The home made acoustics, low budget mixing and dub effects truly make this standout as a low fi masterpiece when compared to other tunes which were seeing release in 1982. On top of the music, the album cover is also very home made and iconic in it's own way. The art layout is also credited to Fuck You Inc, and to this day it is the only LP I've ever seen in which the producer humbly apologizes for the recording quality in the liner notes.

Sumy is currently living in Amsterdam and plays out on a regular basis.

- Disco Tom Noble

Sumy - Soul With Milk

I found all these old Chicago party flyers on Devastating Dennis's myspace page, I must have downloaded about twenty or so. They are reminiscent of that time around the mid or late eighties when I first started to notice aesthetic, or soak it in at least, and the DIY style of the time reminds me of the cheaper small skateboard company ad's I would cut out and collect. I couldn't afford imported new wavey skateboard gear, and I didn't go to late eighties house raves and the tune I'm posting isn't even from Chicago (I think it originates from Michigan) but the spirit is still the same, so with that fine segue...on to Carmen's Time To Move!

I now share with you one of my most favorite 7"s that I own.  It fills me with happiness and I can pretend I am in a different place and time, maybe with the potentially fictitious female named Lori....and chameleons too (I had one once named Charlie).

Lori & The Chameleons - Touch

In the dawn of the 80's the sound and culture of dance music shifted much as it had in the mid 70's. Just as disco grew out of funk, boogie morphed out of the disco sound. Boogie really was the perfect blend of the two genres. Much like disco it was more oriented towards the dancefloor and like funk it was a touch more raw and soulful. 1982 was the year it all gained cohesion, the pinnacle of dance music. This track is a prime example of Boogie's sublime evolution. 


The brainchild of producer/songwriter Donald "Dee Dee" Burnside, First Love were a 4 piece female vocal group formed in 1979. The group released their first single on Dakar in 1980 and switched over to the tiny CBS sub label Chycago International Music for 1981's excellent "It's a Mystery to Me". "Party Lights" would follow in '82 and prove to be the group's finest lazer soul entry. The reverb drenched vocals sit nicely over the gated snare hits, wicked synth lines and an out of order guitar break. I included an edit by Liquid Pegasus. Obviously he had a lot of strong material to work with, but he manages to make an edit thats pretty enjoyable to listen to on its own accord.

First Love - Party Lights

First Love - Party Lights (Liquid Pegasus Edit)

Fonda Rae, the Deputy of Love sang this track for Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band in 1979. She later sang on hits by Kid Creole and the Coconuts and Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael's group Wish before putting out releases under her own name. This is a soulful, funky jam that has a tongue and cheek vocal delivery and a classic disco stomp. David sent us a housy remixfor you to enjoy as well.

Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band - Deputy Of Love
BC Crew - The Deputy

"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