Shalamar were originally a studio session project formed by Soul Train talent booker Dick Griffey and producer Simon Soussan. Best known for the hit single "Second Time Around" the band eventually solidified into a three piece lineup which featured vocalist Jody Watley. Watley went on to have a very successful solo career in the late 80's and early 90's. In my opinion, Shalamar didn't have very many jams in their catalog, but "Right in the Socket" is not only a disco classic, it is a fine example of early Lazer Soul. The track is also a great DJ tool with its long intro and killer percussion breakdowns. No wonder it was known to be one of Larry Levan's all time favorites. This is my kind of Love Song:
This is a somewhat obscure genre. As an introduction, these two tracks give a terrific taste of the German aesthetic having been applied to disco. The first track by Ganymed is essentially a cover of Cerrone's Supernature (even including a weak version of Sweet Drums in the breakdown), but filled with amazing cosmic sounds and a story about aliens coming to Earth and changing the human race to be like themselves. There is a demonic voice juxtaposed with a sultry insincere female voice it makes for a rather unconvincing argument for them to come and do whatever they are going to do. They do say though that we won't have to work and that they are going to take us to Mars, which sounds like fun.
This other track by Goblin from Italy (the best name for a band ever) has a definite krautrock derived influence. The sound is very hard to describe. It has a little Deep Purple, mixed with Tangerine Dream, mixed with a bit of high school orchestra. Front and center is an amazing bass player and great organ sound. The track is from a 1982 horror flick by Dario Argento.
Please key me in to other artists in the same vein.
Being that I grew up in the midwestern region of the United States, I always like to seek out some of the jams from my former neck of the woods. Hailing from Chicago, Mid Air brought us one of the most slamming tracks to ever come out of the 80's Boogie era. As far as I know, "Ease Out" was the only release on the Full Scope imprint, which most likely means the label was formed by the band itself. It's a shame that this is the only release from Mid Air as the track is a synth-boogie tour de force. The band obviously knew they were onto something with this cut as there were three different Full Scope versions pressed at the time of the release. Nonetheless, any one of them is hard as hell to come by. Posted here is the original vocal mix and a dub mix by Joey Negro as featured on the Destination Boogie compilation.
I know that "lazer" is actually spelled "laser," but I think whomever made the decision eons ago had it dead wrong. A "laser" can't possibly inflict as much harm as a "lazer." I'm sure this band had discussed the Z versus S controversy, but their douche bag manager convinced them to go for the S spelling to appeal to the ladies and men with lisps. This is one of the weirdest most amazing tracks ever. I have no idea what the sub genre is (cosmic proto HI NRG?); it is definitely not lazer soul. Whatever it is, at 136 BBP it is highly unlikely that it can be a secret weapon, so I had better make it blog fodder. Right on!
There is no song more fitting on a rainy MLK day than this tune by Chaka Khan. Clouds was written by the R&B and soul team Ashford & Simpson. Chaka Khan's vocal power intense delivery mated with the slick production work of Arif Mardin this track is a flood of pure soul emotion. Turn it up! mp3: Chaka Khan - Clouds
In 1983 the coastal English breakdancing scene was at it's now legendary peek. In the 5 year old and under dance category there were only three real heavy weight exponents of the 'body popping' sub genre of this particular form of physical expression, Scott, Robert and then myself. At the time I considered my style more abstract than that of the other two, fluid interpretations of the rhythm that could captivate a spectator yet at the same time challenge them, forcing them to rethink everything they once knew as gospel about 5 year olds moving like robots. I was rewriting rules. but Robert had an older sibling, and therefor access to a boombox, he also had high tops, I had sandals and so at Scott's 5th birthday when we finally battled I took a harsh and humiliating beating with only my mum, who was helping out Scott's mum with the food, there to offer half hearted crowd support. I was later scolded for eating cake without using a plate.
Most of the break dancing songs that I knew came from the movie 'Breakin which was shown on the BBC at some point during hours in which I was allowed to be awake and watching TV. I heard the Glimmers play 'Reckless' from the sound track in a mix recently, a tune that featured a very young Ice-T, but someone recently emailed in and requested the opening boogie number from the same album Body Work by Hot Streak, hear is the full vocal mix:
Live mix. All vinyl. --K Mix Nº. 1 1. Maze "Twighlight" 12" Capitol Records 1985 2. I Level "The River" 12" Epic Records 1984 3. The Earons "Land of Hunger" 12" Island Records 1984 4. Osmonds "I,I,I" 12" Special Promo Mercury Records 1979 5. Geraldine Hunt "Can't Fake The Feeling" 12" Prism Records 1980 6. Queen Samantha "Take A Chance" 12" T.K. Disco Records 1979 7. T-Connection "At Midnight" 12" T.K. Disco Records 1978 8. Instank Funk "I Got My Mind Made Up" 12"Salsoul Records 1978 9. Melody Stewart "Get down, Get Down" 12" Roy B. Records 1980 10. Tracey Webb "Sure Shot(Instrumental)" 12" Quality Records 1983 mp3: Kelley B - Beat Electric Mix Nº. 1
China Burton was a British songwriter that had success in the 80's penning tracks for Julian Lennon and Taylor Dayne amongst others. His own recording output was sparse but he did manage to release the single "You Don't Care About Our Love" in 1979 on the Logo Records label. This ultra rare cut has one of the hottest breakdowns of any disco number period. The soaring strings, flanged out guitar riffs and keyboard effects blow this track through the roof. No wonder the single fetches for over $300.00 when it randomly pops up. This mp3 is a little bit cut off at the end and the quality not quite up to par with the usual Beat Electric standards, but I simply had to share it as is. Thanks to our good friend Tom Noble for this one.
This German pop sensation got together in 1984 and produced immensely popular albums in the euro pop and italo disco vein for 3 years. They have a very unique sound, with vocals similar to Erasure and music that is classic italo. The goup's producer Dieter Bohlen (you can call him Steve Benson for short) quoted "Precious Little Diamond" by Fox the Fox as his inspiration for the use of falsetto in the choruses. Hopefully Black Shag will add that track to this post. They are very campy tunes for sure!
Wish was one of the genius offerings from Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams. They also worked together producing tracks as Bumblebee Unlimited, Clair Hicks and Love Exchange, and The Universal Robot Band. With incredible vocals by La-Rita Gaskin, a ridiculous bassline that is too loud and drums that beat anything but nice and soft, this track very unique. I hadn't realized this before till my iTunes already had a listing as Wish, but an edited version is featured on Chicken Lip's fantastic DJ Kicks Album. I dug this record brand new and unopened out of a pile of 50 cent records, quite a score indeed!
If you had a funk band in the 70's you were "Bunch" and if you had a kick ass disco band in the 80's you were a "Gang." Gary's Gang, with the production whiz and trademark vocals of Eric Matthew, (he also produced Sharon Redd, Toney Lee, Sinnamon and many others), produced a string of hits throughout the late 70's through the late 80's. Their first major hit was 1978's Keep on Dancin' on Sam Records. As many disco acts met their demise after the year disco died, Gary's Gang continued to bring it! This track from 1984 is one of the band's last, but it is so strong and has such a solid disco pop presence it is amazing that the band took a three year hiatus after its release.
This recording features some new hardware, I hope you enjoy it. To see any recording details, check the info section on the ID3 tag.
The Voice of "Q" was a one-off project from the relatively obscure disco production team of Michael Forte and Bruce Weeden. Released in 1982 on the burgeoning Philly World International label, the track had a strong influence on the leftfield disco/electro genre. With its ultra funky bassline and vocoder bits laid over a haunting synth melody, it made for something pretty original sounding. From what I have gathered, this cut appealed to the new wave fashionistas and B-Boys alike. Good luck finding the 12 inch, and if you do track it down, expect to pay some coin for it. mp3: "Q"- The Voice of "Q"
Dance music covers of prior classic dance music are rare when compared to other genres I feel. Rock and jazz albums are rife with versions of classics and standards from their respective genres, but modern dance music artists are more inclined to pay homage to a tune by remixing it rather than completely reinterpreting the piece from scratch.
One exception to this though is Italian musician Lucio Battisti's 'Il Veliero', the haunting melody of which has been covered by at least one artist from each subsequent generation of dance music producer.
Here I have posted Battisti's 1976 original, the DJ Harvey favorite and much sought after cover by dutch disco funk outfit The Chaplin Band, the italo english translated electronic rework by Lama entitled 'Love Is On The Rocks' and finally Lindstrom's contemporary 'nu disco' take on the tune called 'The Contemporary Fix'..
Komiko's Feel Alright has become a minor bone of contention in the Beat Electric camp, of which much like any family we have many. It is another instance of one B.E. DJ lifting a long term favorite jam from another (namely myself) and then flagrently playing it out during one of our joint sets before I have even had the chance to open my bag and get a drink from the bar. Is it just me or isn't that considered bad DJ etiquette?
Well, its not as if the track is rare by any means, its almost a standard of the boogie cannon, but thats as it should be as it is in my opinion the SAM label's best release..and without further adeu..
Lakeside originally hailed from Dayton, Ohio and were considered one of the best live disco/funk acts of the era. The 9 piece band formed as The Young Underground in 1969 and while living in Chicago were for a time signed to Curtom Records. The band changed their name to Lakeside, relocated to LA in the late 70's and signed to The Sound of Los Angeles Records. They scored their biggest hit in 1981 with the ubiquitous "Fantastic Voyage". Sometimes they even went to the trouble of playing their live shows in a pirate ship:
Enough about "Fantastic Voyage" My favorite Jam was "We Want You on The Floor". The track didn't go very far as a single, but was a wonderful addition to a sound our man LeBaron coined as "Lazer Soul" For another reference to this genre see the Beat Electric entry for BT Express "Taking Off". The land of funk:
The very recent passing of West End Records founder and Paradise Garage backer Mel Cheren causes me slightly less to reflect upon Mel's legacy andmore so upon genius DJ/Producer Larry Levan's. Larry was the resident DJ at Mel's infamous nightclub and handled a good amount of the 12" mixes for the West End label. In the 80's Larry went on to work the mixing boards for a plethora of artists on a wide range of Disco labels including Salsoul and his own Garage Records imprint. Larry had an incredible knack for making a good track brilliant or taking an already stellar track and sending it completely over the top. His sensibilities ran heavily on the more black end of the disco spectrum as he would always eliminate any cheesy elements in a given arrangement and make sure the track was a sure fire dance floor banger. Much has been documented about Larry Levan's life and legacy, so I will pretty much let the music speak for itself. Larry passed away in 1992, but undoubtedly his legacy and contribution to dance music will live on throughout the ages.
This is a live mix that is packed with gold. I hope you enjoy it. mp3: Every Sunday Mix
Track list: 1) Crazy Gang - Every Sunday (Extended Edit) 2) Scotch - Penguin's Invasion 3) Nancy Martin - Can't Believe 4) Sharon Redd - Beat The Street 5) Chromatics - Dark Day 6) Styloo - Pretty Face 7) Mr. Fagio - Take A Chance (Extended 12" Version) 8) Kano - Ikeya-Seki 9) Billy Ocean - Night (Feel Like Getting Down) Ayres Edit 10) Sex Band - What A Difference A Day Makes (Vocal) 11) BWH - Stop (Original Mix) 12) Magic Fire - Body Dancer 13) Rockets - Radio Station 14) My Mine - Hypnotic Tango (instrumental)
..well Peek's Rhumba My Sensations probably isn't the last published recording from the first wave of 'disco' in the classical sense but none the less it is the youngest record I own that carries all the defining hallmarks of the disco genre as it is interpreted in the mainstream, as apposed to the rebranded spinoffs of italo, house etc.
In fact I would be interested if anyone could prove me wrong, show me a record produced and published later than 1984 that I can only define as 'disco' rather than italo, electro, boogie, house etc etc and I will be humbled and impressed.
Rhumba My Sensations definitely sounds more modern than a 1978 vocal disco cannon standard, but only in it's execution rather than content. Its all there, live latin percussion, a real drum kit playing a hard standard 4/4, soul tinged yet trippy vocal and some cosmic synth work. Its perhaps the synth that gives it away as being of a younger vintage, the production values on the synth lines are too good, beautifully subtle, its been 10 years and the producer has it dialed in now, with the low ascending square wave bass throb that accentuates the bass guitar line.
I have long waited for this track to end up on some famous selector's mix or a bootleg label and for it to suddenly be everywhere, but as yet no takers. It is achingly underground sounding, psyched out out whilst retaining its pop and dancefloor appeal. Maybe its my job to bring this one back or maybe its just that its more to my taste than anyone else's.
This is the disconet extended edit, with arrangement carried out by John Robey of Africa Bambaata fame and New Order fame, the funny thing is that this track is contemporary with the work he did with New Order and Cabaret Voltaire..
Today is a first in a series where we highlight some of the weird stuff we have some across for $1 or less. Today I will highlight the self titled LP by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. This is a record I grabbed recently from the local thrift store for $1. I actually had a lot of great finds that day, probably from the same person. This band has a really interesting sound. Jimmy Castor's vocal style is not too unlike that of William Shatner. But in all, these are some groovy tunes.
Sharon Redd, a formal Shaffer Beer girl, was an amazing singer. Thanks to some incredible production work and a mixe by the seminal Francois Kevorkian, her tunes are still moving dance floors all over the world. Beat The Street has a perfect blend of percussive guitar with a simple, yet iconic synth line. The vocals are a preview of what would later become Hi NRG and vocal house music. This track was featured on fantastic mixed releases by Chicken Lips and Chromeo.
Voyage were a french disco band that formed circa 1976 and scored only one US hit single in 1979 with the track "Souvenirs". The band released its third LP in 1980 featuring the single "I Don't Want to Fall in Love Again". The B side?? was a little song entitled "I Love you Dancer". The track is a sexy fusion of disco and new wavey pop with jazzy guitar chords thrown in for good measure. There isn't really much more I can say about this one except that it is a serious heavy hitter. Let the pricey as hell ebay listings of the 12 inch speak for themselves.
Jean-Marc Cerrone is the true embodiment of disco. With his sleazy steaze he brought immense talent to the genre and sold millions of records. He is a French music producer that got his start playing drums in rock bands, and then as an orchestra leader for Club Med. He started putting out records under his own name in 1976 and hasn't stopped since. His first album, Love In C Minor helped craft the sound of disco. The title track at 14:57 long paints Cerrone as the French Barry White. Supernature is an amazing effort that features incredible production and the most solid drumming in disco. The first side of the album is three tracks mixed continuously that are based on a concept of genetic engineering creating monsters that take over the Earth. This concept was revisited recently by Goldfrap in an album of the the same name. Supernature is a Moroderish track with a dark and creepy vibe. It seems to have a happy ending after battles between the monsters and humans (Sweet Drums) and the world learns to get along in harmony (In The Smoke). After the smoke settles, the second side features the track Give Me Love which is a dance floor banger, and possibly his best upbeat track.
San Francisco, we are throwing an all night heavy Disco Party this Friday November 30th. Mezzanine is flying in 16 piece Brooklyn, NY disco ensemble Escort to perform 2 sets over the course of this epic evening. Beat Electric's own BT Magnum and Black Shag will also be performing sets as well as five more of San Francisco's finest Disco DJ's.
Escort will performing at Midnight and 3am. The cover charge is only $10.00 all night long. Prepare to lose your shit, this is going to be the party of the year.
The Earons landed on our Earth in 1983 and brought an interesting sound to discos and the streets. Their sound is self described as "astro funk" that was inspired by the cosmic mythology of Sun Ra with a bit of Anthony Braxton's mathematica. The band members names are all numbers (which add up to 1.7). Their first track, 1983's Video Baby, is yet another song about the emerging world of video games and video entertainment. Their track Land Of Hunger is a reggae influenced pop-disco track that has a lot of elements to love. Sadly the band returned to their native Earon Earth in 1984. mp3: The Earons - Video Baby mp3: The Earons - Land Of Hunger
Although the Beatelectric DJ's are a tight and friendly bunch for the most part, occasional fisticuffs and BT pounding on my head with his Motorola Q besides, despite this there are a handful of records that we covet dearly and refrain when at all possible sharing the identity of during sets for fear that our DJ friends will be sat on gemm or making calls when the get home to track a copy down. Childish I know, but sometimes you just want to be sure that a track isn't going to be played by anyone else that night, is going to blow up and is far removed from the cannon of dance music standards from which the audience knows. These are the tracks you searched hardest for, hunted down or just lucked out upon, when someone comes over to look at the label you slip it back into your bag and should another collector come up after you play it and tell you casually that they also have one copy to play out and two spare to use as a coaster and frisbee respectively, your heart sinks.
'Its Your Love' by Special-T falls into the above category for me, its not beyond rare if you are actually looking for it, although its not cheap should you find it on the internet etc, but its a relatively obscure boogie track that does not get played out by many and whats more it is beautifully understated dancefloor heat. I heard Morgan Geist play mid way through a mix once.. I wasn't happy..
Here is a beyond crap photo of the sleeve just to add color to the post:
Vaughan Mason is well known to many for giving us 1979's seminal roller-disco anthem "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll". What alot of people do not know is that Vaughan went on to become a proto-house pioneer in the mid to late 80's with his group Raze. In the time between those two periods Vaughan put out the sex-ed up, bouncy "Jammin' Big Guitar" single in 1981 and a fantastic EP with vocalist/ multi instrumentalist Butch Dayo called "Feel My Love" on Salsoul in 1983. "Feel My Love" has become quite sought after over the years and I am still trying to figure out who ran off with the copy I found at a bookstore in 2002. The cat food eating, hobbit-like creatures working at the store threatened to shoot me as I made out the door with my 50 cent copy of the record. Now all I have to show for it is this mp3 of the boogie classic "Party on the Corner". mp3: Vaughan Mason "Jammin' Big Guitar" mp3: Vaughan Mason & Butch Dayo "Party on the Corner"
Hott City was one of the amazing bands that were released on Butterfly Records. This is a slow burner of a disco track that pounds you with a big beat that doesn't stop. This is what I would want to hear in 1979 at 4am after all the lame cheesy people have left the floor. It is an absolutely perfect track in its original state, but I wanted to extend its mellow groove and slow it down a bit from its 134 bpm tempo. mp3: Hott City - Feelin' Love (LeBaron ReEdit)
Ronnie Jones is a DJ and recording artist who released several tracks throughout the late 70 and up to the late 80's. He spent a lot of his time touring Europe and Canada. In the 80's he worked with German producer Jurgen S. Korduletsch. Video Games is a very playful track that has a killer mix of choppy vocal, funky electric piano bass and disco guitar with just about every crazy synth sound you can imagine. This track sounds like something that Daft Punk would turn into a robotic dance floor banger.
Indeep were your not so basic one hit wonder group that completely broke musical ground with their 1982 hit "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life". Thanks to mastermind songwriter/producer Michael Cleveland aka Cold Jam, their sound was a very unique and original blend of New Wave, Post Disco and Proto Hip Hop.
Indeep released two full length LP's and a grip of singles before the project folded in 1985 most likely due to the fact they simply could not score another hit single. Vocalist Rejane Magloire went on to have success in the techno pop group Technotronic, but I am still trying to track down whatever happened to our man Cold Jam. I recently picked up the groups third single "The Record Keeps Spinning" and was blown away by the production value and the timeless, almost modern feel to it. The cut has a slower groove than most dance tracks of the era, but the melody is so infectious and the sonic mastery completely spot on.
The thrift store is always a good place to find rare gems, but it is an even better place to find something unlistenable. You can get a feel and actually make crates of records that were likely donated from a single source. You will get your Chrystal Gale and Ronnie Millsap fans, and then our hip-hoppers who tried to be scratch DJs in the early 90's. Once I see that promo 12" from T.K. Disco, ZYX, or Butterfly records I hope I will find a treasure trove of records that one gay unkle decided to finally donate. What is more likely is getting a face full of dust and touching record jackets that are soaked in urine and eaten by rats. Or sweet album covers but no record, or thrashed records that are unplayable. I found all of the above today, but for $3 I left with some great vinyl. Among the six records I bought was a 6 track Italo comp from the label Mobile Disco Records in the Philippines. It isn't the best quality recorded vinyl, but there are some some cute lovable tracks on it. Here are a couple of tunes. mp3: Ken Laszlo - Tonight mp3: Magic Fire - Body Dancer mp3: Joy Peters - Don't let Loose Your Heart Tonight
Addendum: Bobby Viteritti sent us a very nice email, the mix is indeed by him, and whats more he has now very recently released several of his classic mixes remastered on CD, available at his website http://www.bobbyviteritti.com/
The Trocadero was the US west coast’s most important dance club of the disco era and was one of a small pantheon of truly taste making venues around the country that included such luminaries as Paradise Garage, The Saint and The Trocadero’s sister club in New York, 12 West. I ride past what was the Trocadero every day, now a restaurant/bar called the Glas Kat on San Francisco’s 4th Street, on my way to the Caltrain station to take me south into silicon valley.
This mix was taken direct from the sound board of the Trocadero one night in 1980, recorded directly to quarter inch tape, it is a rare, high fidelity piece of history and indicative of the Trocadero sound a few years before high nrg diluted the format, the selection is underground and soulful but to me seems slightly more electronic for its time than mixes and snippets you hear from contemporary clubs of the era on the east coast.
There is a mystery attached to this mix though, the old veteran in San Francisco’s Castro who passed it on to me did not know who the DJ was that night, so I can’t give the correct credit to whomever executed it, but the resident DJ at the time would have been the venerable Bobby Viteritti so indicators would point to him, still it could still have been any one of a handful of well known DJ’s that passed through the booth to play on that famous sound system. Here is the track listing, enjoy!:
Change – The End Sabu – We’re Gonna Rock Erotic Drum Band – Touch Me Where It’s Hot Ann Margret – Midnight Message Wardell Piper – Super Sweet The Ritchie Family – Quiet Village Dive Grey & The Oyster Band – Hotel Paradise Cerrone – Call Me Tonight Erotic Drum Band – Pop Pop Shoo Wah Theo Vaness – No Romance Just Wanna Dance Theo Vaness – Sentimentally It’s You Persia – Inch By Inch Vera – Take Me To The Bridge Don Ray – Got To Have Lovin Sylvia Love – Instant Love Lust - Rinder & Lewis
Sam Records was a classic disco label founded on Long Island City, New York in 1976 by Sam Weiss. Sam had a really strong seven year run until its demise at the end of 1983. In the late 70's The label scored early hits with The John Davis Monster Orchestra and Gary's Gang and for a time between 1978 and 1980 was distributed by Columbia records.
After the Columbia deal ended Sam returned as an independent label in 1980 with a bold new look for their 12 inch singles and a fresh sound. The crossover Italo sounding "Don't Stop" by German group K.I.D. was released in 1981. "Don't Stop" had a pumping bassline, sequenced synth's and a wicked vocoder line.
Later in 1981 Vicky "D" put out the massive cut "This Beat is Mine". In my opinion, this track is a sort of disco precursor to electro hits by Shannon and Debbie Deb. Vicky's raw, soaring vocals and the unfadeablesynth hook are pure gold.
Husband and wife team Mike and Brenda Sutton put out several 12 inches on Sam culminating with the disco boogie burner "Don't Let Go of Me" in 1982. The dubbed out/pitch shifted vocals send this track into deep space.
Sadly, Sam Records folded in late 1983 as disco's star was commercially fading. The unfortunate thing is as disco's popularity waned the tracks only got better and better. damn. mp3: K.I.D. "Don't Stop mp3: Vicky "D" This Beat is Mine
As the 70's ended and the 80's came, the face of disco changed. People had thought that they had gotten rid of disco, but they just traded it in for a different type. Long gone were the huge arrangements and talented session musicians and in were the new synthesizers and a highly polished electronic sound. One of the sub genres to emerge was HI NRG. These dance floor bangers are part electro and part disco and often came packaged in bright colors and parachute pants. mp3: Hazell Dean - Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man)
Veteran DJ/ Remixer/ Rollerskate champ Danny Krivit did a near perfect edit of the track "You Got Me Running" by Lenny Williams as featured on James Murphy and Pat Mahoney's (LCD Soundsystem) new FabricLive Mix. I put it back to back with the original recording from '78 so you can see for yourselves the difference a good disco edit really makes. The original version is excellent but it suffers from a long winded arrangement. Krivit's edit kicks off with a pumped up bass loop culled from nearly six minutes into the original track and stays in high gear all the way to the finish.
Cherrelle, a Detroit R&B singer had a huge string of hits throughout the 80's and 90's. This tune is a great blend of soul, pop and electro, a few years before it became the sound of the late 80's. This tune was covered by Robert Palmer in 1985 and Mariah Carey in 2001.
So I just got back from a short weekend trip to New York, it wasn't all fun and games, there was a lot of carrying boxes and ferrying things about involved, but happily by coincidence as much as design my visit happened to fall on the weekend of CMJ. I saw one show (friends of friends Tiger City alongside Walter Meego) then blew the rest of it off to go record shopping in the little spare time that I had. Whilst my companion was shopping for organic jeans in a next door boutique I stopped in at A1 records (439 E 6TH St), I had the best luck here over the handful of other stores I stopped in during the course of the afternoon. They carry a lot of heat, records being sorted by genre then by label and vinyl condition being taken heavily into account in pricing which I like.
My two favorite scores there were a perfect copy of Tantra's 'Hills Of Katmandu' for $10, and an ok first issue copy of Gwen Guthrie's Padlock lp for $6.
Padlock is sort of a dream, 'mutant' disco super group album. Vocals are performed by ex Aretha Franklin backup singer Gwen Guthrie, production is by dub legends Sly and Robbie and Larry Levan is on the mixing boards. The influences of all parties involved are equally felt, soul, psychedelic dubbed out wizardry and hard disco club rhythms. Here are a couple of my favorite tracks from the record:
B.T. Express was an important funk disco group that had a few hits in the 70's. Their biggest single was Do It (Till You're Satisfied) which hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. Their sound throughout the 70's threw a deep and groovy vibe. In 1980 they created an album that reflected a new era. They were on a quest to bring the world the future of boogie. That album was 1980 and it featured a jacket with the B.T Express spaceship on the front. The grooves are very polished and upbeat. The album is also loaded with tight production, synthesizers, and spacey electronic sounds. Their single from the album was Give Up The Funk (Let's Dance), but it doesn't really reflect the direction they were taking as much as the track Takin' Off. My apologies that this was ripped from a well loved copy of the album.
As far as I know Jimmy Ross only cut one LP in 1981 and put out a few 12 inches with the aid of Italian superproducers Stefano Pulga and Luciano Ninzatti (Kano). Very little else is known about the man except that he passed into soul heaven in the year 2000 and he most certainly made a couple of the heaviest early 80's disco cuts ever released.
At my work I am constantly tortured with break-beat acoustic music, and have to run to my office to cleanse myself. I often times use this beautiful track to put myself into a good mood. Mr. Flagio is a group from Italy that produced a couple of incredible italo tracks in the 80's. They had an amazing modern sound that sounds fresh to this day. mp3: Mr. Flagio: Take a Chance
I'm not from San Francisco, I'm from Sheringham in North Norfolk, England. Several cultural centres are located near the Victorian era seaside town of Sheringham, these include Norwich (the epicentre of the region), Kings Lynn and North Walsham.
A common preconception that I hear when talking to other dance music historians and urban culture historians that I encounter on my travels throughout the world is that no disco, rare groove, electro soul or boogie of any note whatsoever ever came out Norwich and its surrounding areas. Sadly, after much time and study of the subject it would appear they were right. Norwich was more of a post punk art school town in those days, a genre in which it punched slightly above it's weight (lightweight), but I still ask around and look through the local record bins when I'am back, in hopes that I will find something by Norfolk's one forgotten underground electro disco act that disbanded unheralded in 1983, leaving it's members disolusioned and heading back to the pig farms or mustard factory never to speak of their failed efforts again. (a singing farmer from where I grew up)
Yet, where Norwich was lagging other parts of the United Kingdom had plenty to offer.
Britain has always done a lot with black American music, boogie was no exception and the 12" electronic soul and disco singles that came out of early eighties London fetch fair whack now, probably due to the low number of pressings as compared to their US counterparts and subsequent relative rarity, plus they are mostly good.
Ease Your Mind by Touch Down was produced by a guy called Nigel Wright who went on to become world famous for his sound and scoring work for west end and broad way musicals, I think he did sound production for phantom of the opera with Sir Andrew Loyd Webber, and the song was written by another guy from Bedforshire (not far from Norfolk but almost as rural if that counts), called Steve Vincent, who went on to have hits well into the ninties as a sort of hip house act called 'The Adventures Of Stevie V.' . This can be a pricey record on the used market, and like most Brit Funk records as popular with the acid jazz set as the electro collectors:
