Saturday, May 28, 2011

Let's Have a Break Dance Party  



After laying low for several years following the death of disco, producer Jacques Morali returned in 1984 with Break Dance Party by Break Machine. Like many of his projects (ie. The Village People), they were visually represented by people that didn't actually sing or perform on the recordings. Looking at the dudes above, I can definitively say they had nothing to do with the recording of Break Dance Party. But, I do seriously dig their matching yellow headbands. You might think these guys would do something a bit harder than the almost cheesy italo stylings of this track. That said, I quite like this song and it's a worthy entry to the Beat Electric universe. Jacques Morali died of Aids in 1991 and left behind a huge body of work. He may truly have been ahead of his era by placing the emphasis on image and flash ahead of the productions, but not by much.


Break Machine - Break Dance Party
Break Machine - Break Dance Party (Dub)

Posted by Magnum | 9 comments

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Doomsday  


No need to mention why a friend posted up a youtube link to tenured lounge singer Danny Darrow's Doomsday on his facebook wall over this past weekend. Even if yet another apocalypse was anticlimactic as ever, at least it inspired me to dig up this sought after cosmic disco rock single, as well as a couple of the other percussion heavy numbers Danny put out before he went back to singing Sinatra covers and Christmas albums (which are good btw):

Danny Darrow - Doomsday (Extended)
Danny Darrow - Baby Let Your Love Run Free
Danny Darrow - Telephones (Extended)

Posted by Black Shag | 9 comments

Monday, May 23, 2011

Acid Trax III  


Trax Records was run by a gangster, the dude was known to have other local label mogul's kneecaps broken, apparently he even rubbed a couple of guys out in his time. Gotta love Chicago. I put in my time there and it's definitely a rough town indeed. Sad as they pressed so many amazing Trax records on shitty recycled vinyl and just about every pressing was pure garbage. Here are two highlights from the Acid Trax Volume 3 compilation released in 1989.

L A - L A's Music
Spanky - Acid Bass 

Posted by Magnum | 6 comments

Sunday, May 15, 2011

In The Pocket  


I like Washington DC, its my favorite place to be on the east coast, but that being said Go Go is a funny genre isn't it?

This is my favorite track by GoGo's godfather, Chuck Brown, and I think its my favorite because its his least GoGo sounding. Off of 1980's Funk Express lp, In The Pocket is the standout straight hard hitting funk dancefloor smasher that somehow never saw a 12" release.

Chuck Brown still performs and releases records to this day, and recently even had a street named after him, Chuck Brown Way, in his native DC. GoGo is still weird though.

Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers - In The Pocket

Posted by Black Shag | 5 comments

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

In The Heat of The Night  


I have always liked 80's club tracks that resonate around the theme of getting dirty after dark in an alley somewhere on the wrong side of town. This obscure dollar bin jam by Pretty Poison lyrically hits the theme well enough. The vocals are a little white chick vibe for my tastes but that much aside the track slams really hard.

Pretty Poison - In The Heat of The Night (Nightime Dub)

Posted by Magnum | 3 comments