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)