THE WHISPERS ‘It’s A Love Thing!’ is the UK single after all, due next week on 12in as are Shalamar ‘Make That Move’, Dynasty ‘Groove Control’, Heatwave ‘Jitterbuggin’, Marvin Gaye ‘Praise’ / ‘Funk Me’ . . . LOTW ‘Time’ will be on completely remixed 12 minute Mercury 12in Soon . . . Bernard Wright’s 3-track 12in ‘Just Chillin’ Out’ / ‘Spinnin’ / Haboglabotribin’ – Mmmm . . . Jerry Knight’s dynamite ‘Perfect Fit‘ remains only on 7in, no 12in scheduled here or USA . . . Alphonse Mouzon has indeed been in short supply . . . ‘Disco Mix’ pressings (reviewed last week) all jump a groove near the start, and closer inspection of the ‘Let’s Do It’ flip (the same as ‘Bits & Pieces III’) reveals an odd vocal volume drop on two Beatles segments – incidentally Manfred Mann’s ‘Doo Wah Diddy Diddy’ (NOT the limp new Showaddywaddy), chops perfectly out of B&P3, if you want to carry on with your own medley . . . BMRB’s proposed singles charts restrictions have in fact rightly been laughed out of Court . . . Funktion has left Heaven and starts Tuesdays at Mayfair Mortons, with Tony Jenkins jocking . . . Capital Radio’s entire talks department turned up at the Venue last week for the Breakfast Band who, with more jazz than funk, meandered about exploring sound textures and old Meters rhythms before finally blasting out with powerful Latin percussion and steel drums . . . Mr Clean as part of their act at Mayfair Gullivers let off a smoke bomb which was more of a stink bomb and cleared the club in two seconds flat, causing hysterics (not least from guv’nor Phil Tibber) – and the band played on! . . . Shock however were sensational – forget Hot Gossip, and make every effort to see them somewhere . . . Rusty Egan riding in a Rolls – so that’s where “power pop” can eventually get you! . . . Sean French 5½ stone slimmer, succumbed to the lavish spread on Sunday at a Canvey Goldmine private Mafia party given by owners Stan & Jane Barrett, whose pet performing monkey George is ‘evidently’ now what Stan’s right arm is for! . . . ‘TISWAS’ stars have some amazing future plans – say no more . . . ‘Boring’ Bob Jones reports that Record Man of Rayleigh is currently far from fit (get well soon, Colin) . . . Paul Stewart (Belfast) sends collective condolences from north of the border to all grieving relatives in the Dublin fire tragedy, and I’m sure we all join him . . . Richard ‘Lofty’ Lofthouse gives 15 per cent discount to regular DJ shoppers at Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Windows record store, while all Tyneside’s record shops are shifting Eddie Rosemond ‘Funk It‘ by the boxload still . . . Neil Fincham (Dunbar 63606), back at Goldenstones every weekend, is desperate for 12in replacements of Blondie ‘Heart Of Glass’, Eddy Grant ‘Frontline’, Jacksons ‘Destiny’ . . . Paul Clark (Brighton Metro) tips South Coast jazz group Hipnosis . . . Dave ‘Dr Romance’ Rawlings (Reading Rebecca’s) wonders when there’ll be a segued slowies LP to give overworked DJs the chance of a smooch. KEEP IT GOOD!
UK NEWIES
CHANGE: ‘Paradise’ (WEA K 79196T).
Chix-cooed lovely languidly tripping creamy 115 – 116 – 115 – 116bpm loper (due on 12in but reviewed off advance 7in), with slinky slow 103/51bpm Luther Vandross-souled ‘Your Move‘ flip.
SISTER SLEDGE: ‘All American Girls’ LP (Atlantic K 50774). Narada Michael Walden keeps their old sound but adds his own touch (though for once his tempos stay constant), the booming emphatic 121bpm title track being also on 122bpm 12in (K 11656T), while ‘Music Makes Me Feel Good‘ at 116bpm is the set’s ‘I Shoulda Loved Ya’, others being the 121bpm ‘If You Really Want Me‘, 108½bpm, ‘Ooh You Caught My Heart‘, 127 – 128bpm ‘Make A Move‘ 135bpm ‘He’s Just A Runaway‘, 95bpm ‘Happy Feeling‘, 32 – 34bpm ‘Next Time You’ll Know’, 36/73bpm ‘Don’t You Let Me Lose It’, 39/79bpm ‘I Don’t Want To Say Good-bye’.
STEVIE WONDER ‘Lately’ is finally due on 7in (to combat Rudy Grant?) Fuse One ‘Fuse One’ LP is now a cheaper German import . . . Kleeer ‘Get Tough’, Free Expression ‘Chill-Out!’, Skyy ‘Superlove’, Narada Michael Walden ‘The Real Thang’ are due on UK 12in next week, followed by Firefly ‘Love’, Parliament ‘Agony Of Defeet’ / ‘Tear The Roof Off The Sucker’, Richie Rome ‘Remember Me’ / ‘Deep’ and a Barbara Mason coupling . . . Kool & The Gang’s current 4-track 12in is also available as a gatefold-housed 7in twin-pack — but is still too long to qualify for the new singles chart regulations (which, due to their “one artist only” clause, would debar all John Lennon’s hits featuring Yoko Ono on the flip, Frankie Valli ‘Grease’, Lee Marvin ‘Wand’rin’ Star’, and all the other classics with the misfortune to credit someone else on the B-side!) . . . Showstopper Promotions hold a ‘2001/Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon’ “space” theme alldayer on Easter Bank Holiday Monday April 20th at Southampton Top Rank with the usual mafia team . . . Gary Allan (Liverpool McMillans) and the Gnomes had special gnome suits tailored just for Caister but were too late for tickets and now beg for a chalet (call 051 – 526 5407), and will even pay over the odds for one . . . TISWAS’s Lenny Henry is making a record (again) – hopefully it won’t be ‘D.I.S.C.O.- K’! . . . Chris Brown’s ‘The Family Album‘ jazz-funk gig picture book has been picked up by W.H. Smith & Son for distribution to all their major branches at a much cheaper £4.95, for which it can be ordered at any of their shops not carrying it in stock . . . Canvey Shades first Wednesday was a blinder by all accounts (and not only because of the custard pies!) – Steve Walsh and friends (likely to be Owen Washington & Alan Jewell) will be there weekly . . . Al Taylor’s Sunday soul club at Rhyl’s Dixieland Showbar also got off to a good start . . . Thames Valley DJ Assn meets Sunday (22) lunchtime in Chesham Gatsbys, Lothian & Fife DJA’s AGM is on Tuesday (24) at 7.30 pm in Edinburgh’s Grange Hotel, Whitehouse Terrace . . . Inversions are getting rave reports for their live appearances . . . Cloud at Mayfair Gullivers last Wednesday played all the jazz hits you know and love – ‘Hunt Up Wind’, ‘Hard Work’, ‘Winelight’ etc – which were nice to hear live even if the youthful white group lacked the polish they are bound to acquire with time . . . Shock, the freaky futurist mime group, are at Gullivers this Friday (20) and next Wednesday (25) . . . Bob Jones has left Chelmsford Dee-Jay’s after eight years but is at Chelmsford Countryman Mondays, with Froggy at Copford Windmill Tuesdays, and Braintree Barn Wednesdays . . . Paul Bannon, recently moved to Sunbury-on-Thames (86124) from Belfast, is looking for London area jazz/funk/soul gigs . . . TWA have cut their package holiday prices to the USA if you book by April 30th, making four days in New York including flights and accommodation just £164 (less than two standby fares on their own!) – are you reading this Froggy? . . . Whitehaven Whitehouse soon start a themed Wednesday “international” night representing with drinks etc, a different country each week, people collecting tickets from all the eight nights then being eligible for a draw to win two weeks for two in sunny Spain (thanx for the drink, Phil!) . . . BRMB’s Nicky Steele acknowledges Edgbaston Faces’ floor response chart as a significant influence on the content of his Saturday night soul show . . . Alan Coulthard (Barry Atlantic Wine Bar), who visited Gullys with Cloud, reckons the public’s lack of interest in newies is only partly due to the depression and more to do with radio’s reluctance to play the sort of disco material that previously would have been automatic chart fodder . . . I certainly can’t understand radio ignoring such as LAX, Fantasy, Skyy, TS Monk, Ned Doheny . . . Whispers ‘It’s A Love Thing’ sounds stronger by the week while we wait for ‘Imagination’ and may have been a better UK singles choice after all – it’s actually getting screams of recognition now (although these may be from Americans!) . . . Shalamar, which last week looked ready for the knacker’s yard, has had an unexpected chart resurgence (how much are you paying ’em, Rowdy?!) . . . Bernard Wright, whose Arista GRP import LP is the week’s hottest entry, turns out to be only 16 years old . . . Robbie Dee, and anyone else who lost it, Island’s mailing list address is Elaine Sutcliffe, Island Records, 22 St Peters Square, London, W6 9NW – give full gig details . . . Graham Gold has an unbelievably good mix from Yarbrough & Peoples into the JB’s ‘Gimme Some More’ (Mojo)! . . . Turkish boffins, as you may have read, have determined that loud disco music makes mice queer and pigs deaf (they don’t mention native New Yorkers.) . . . Tom Amigo (Cardiff M Disco Services) says the Beatles ‘Twist And Shout’ is so much requested it could hit again . . . Marshal King (Sunderland Mayfair Suite / Genevieves) points out that pop dance hits are more popular than disco nowadays, but in the same area Graham Bond (Teesvalley Roadshow) reckons that jazz-funk has finally started going over quite well at all his discos . . . Gordon Lyle, Glasgow-based musical co-ordinator for Scotland’s Unicorn Leisure company, says that as many clubs have to play across-the-board music with a bit of everything (including funk), then this page should review the likes of Spandau Ballet (I did review their first record), Roxy Music and the like. Well Gordon, as you and every other DJ surely knows, the sort of punter that you’re dealing with really only want to dance to the hits and you don’t need me to tell you what they are, you only need to switch on the radio. While on the ether hand soul, jazz, funk (plus the other oddities that I do indeed mention from time to time) have a devoted following yet lack any comparable media coverage – so, by all means keep it varied, but also KEEP IT GOOD!
FUTURE HITS
RUSTY EGAN, not only drummer and tape-loop supplier to Visage, Shock etc but one of the leading DJs of the original fashion-setting Futurist scene, last Saturday organised at London’s Rainbow the biggest New Romanticism event yet, declares that he has now retired from jocking (we’ll have to see if that’s for real!), leaving the scene to its commercialisers. He’s such a generous guy though that he let me rummage around through his record boxes to find out what, for him at least, makes up the required material for Futurist gigs – and the result could come as a surprise! In point of fact, New Romanticism is still sufficiently ill defined for its followers to be unsure of what it is that they ought to like, so that Rusty finds whatever it is he happens to be playing at the time is what people want to buy when they hear it in his shop. Rusty’s record shop, ‘The Cage’ (conveniently next to ‘Axiom’ for stylish clothes) is in the Great Gear Market at 85 Kings Road, Chelsea. First off, he bubbles with enthusiasm about his forthcoming remix of ‘Burundi Black’ (Decca 12in), Visage ‘Mind Of A Toy‘ and Ronny ‘If You Want Me To Stay‘ (both due on Polydor 12in), before launching into THE LIST:
Landscape ‘Einstein A Go Go‘ (RCA 12in), Shock ‘Angel Face‘ (RCA 12in), Space ‘Tender Force‘ (French Vogue 12in), Metro ‘America in My Head’ (German Metronome 12in), Sugar Minott ‘Good Thing Going‘ (Hawkeye 12in), Me & You ‘La La Means I Love You‘ (Castro Brown 12in), The Reddings ‘The Awakening’ (Epic), Rinder Lewis ‘Put Yourself In Alpha’ (US AVI LP), Simple Minds ‘I Travel’ (Arista 12in), Duran Duran ‘Planet Earth’ (EMI), Talking Heads ‘Once In A Lifetime’ (Sire), Tantra ‘Hills Of Katmandu‘ (US Importe LP), Kid Creole & The Coconuts ‘Maladie D’Amour‘ (Island), Was Not Was ‘Wheel Me Out’ (US Antilles 12in), Harry Thumann ‘Underwater’ (Decca 12in), Grace Jones ‘Demolition Man‘ (Island 12in), Giorgio Moroder ‘The Chase‘ (Casablanca 12in), Kraftwerk ‘The Model‘ (Capitol LP, ‘The Man Machine’), Rinder & Lewis ‘Willie And The Hand Jive‘ (US AVI LP), Basement Five ‘1965 To 1980‘ (Island LP), Roxy Music ‘Jealous Guy’ (Polydor), Joy Division ‘Atmosphere’ / ‘She’s Lost Control’ (Factory 12in), Simple Minds ‘Celebrate‘ (Arista LP), Snakefinger ‘The Model‘ (Virgin LP), Depeche Mode ‘Photographic‘ (Mute), Lizzy Mercier Descloux ‘Press Colour‘ (US Ze LP), Shirley Bassey ‘Never Never Never‘ (UA), Doris Day ‘Move Over Darling’ (CBS), Liza Minelli ‘New York New York’ (Soundtrack LP), plus the following albums: Human League ‘Travelogue’ (Virgin), Yellow Magic Orchestra ‘Solid State Survivors’ (A&M), Talking Heads ‘Remain In Light’ (Sire), Telex ‘Looking For St Tropez’ / ‘Eurovision’ (Sire), Ultravox ‘Vienna’ (Chrysalis), John Foxx ‘John Foxx’ (Virgin), Sparks ‘Number One In Heaven’ (Virgin), Gary Glitter ‘Greatest Hits’ (GTO), Roxy Music ‘Viva’ (Polydor), David Bowie ‘Scary Monsters’ / ‘Heroes’ / ‘Low’ (RCA), Ziggy Pop ‘Lust For Life’ / ‘The Idiot’ (RCA), Lou Reed ‘Transformer’ (RCA), Visage ‘Visage’ (Polydor), Ultravox ‘Three Into One’ (Island), Kraftwerk ‘Trans-Europe Express’ (Capitol), Roboterwerke ‘Roboterwerke’ (German CBS), Wolfgang Riechmann ‘Wunderbar’ (German Sky), Love Of Life Orchestra ‘LOLO’ (US Fetish), Contortions ‘Contort Yourself’ (Ze), Don Armando’s 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band ‘2nd Avenue Rhumba Band’ (Ze), Scientist ‘The Best Dub Album In The World‘, Sly & Robbie ‘King’s Dub’. Rusty assumes you’ve already got Spandau Ballet, right? Well there you are, get that little lot and you too can be a Futurist DJ . . . except, as with any type of music, it ain’t what you play it’s the way that you play it which matters most.
IMPORTS
ALPHONSE MOUZON: ‘By All Means’ LP (US P.A.U.S.A. 7087).
Forget his zingy “disco” efforts, the jazz drummer is back on form with a dazzlingly brilliant instrumental set starring Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, the Seawind Horns and a flugelhorn solo from Freddie Hubbard, the doodlingly starting smooth long 114 – 115bpm title track taking a while to become compulsive but then skipping and tripping through a well related series of solos, the more immediate (and my own fave) attractive nagging 99bpm ‘Do I Have To?‘ jogger dually synchs perfectly out of Yarbrough & Peoples while the even prettier 97bpm ‘The Next Time We Love‘ is similar, and ‘The Jogger‘ an intense sombre slow 90bpm jolter. Possibly in short supply at present, this should have wide enough appeal to be huge – it’s certainly the only stand-out in a busy but boring week for new imports.
VARIOUS: ‘Disco Mix’ (US Disco Mix AL-1001).
Don’t wet yourselves with excitement “disco mixer” fans, but here’s another real goodie! Dance-Orientated-Rock rather than soul, it brilliantly if slightly monotonously builds at 113 – 112bpm with some new freaky additions around Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, blending into Kraftwerk, Steve Wonder, Genesis, Eagles, Doobie Bros, Timmy Thomas and more mainly instrumental “spot the intro” snippets — even the Stones ‘Honky Tonk Woman’, James Brown ‘Body Heat’, AWB ‘Pick Up The Pieces’ and, you’d better sit down if you’ve a weak heart, is flipped by the full ‘Let’s Do It’ in other words, ‘Bits & Pieces III’! What value! However be warned as there has been a bootleg of the original ‘Bits & Pieces III’ bootleg in circulation that only has the short disco side on both sides, leaving out the longer pop medley. To be safe, get this version. It has black print on white label, ‘Disco Mix’ on Side A, ‘Let’s Do It’ on Side B.
STARS ON 45: ‘Stars On 45’ (Dutch CNR 151.028).
“Legitimate” (depending on your viewpoint) Euro version of ‘Bits & Pieces III’, this 124bpm 12in recreation has been recorded with heavily accented singers as a bland medley instead of “mixing” the original hit snippets in bootleg style, and consequently sounds merely jolly like so many other Continental medleys even though it slavishly copies (in one continuous take) just about every detail.
SISTER SLEDGE’S Narada Michael Walden-produced new LP should be due this week . . . Tom Browne’s single has officially been flipped . . . Kool & The Gang’s 4-track 12in at over 21 minutes total playing time presumably now will not qualify for the singles chart . . . ConFunkShun’s ‘Play Widit’ flip, minus brassy intro, mixes basses beautifully out of Whispers ‘Imagination’ . . . Manu Dibango’s rare acetate remix of ‘Goro City‘ at 128 – 130 – 129 – 130bpm is dynamite out of ‘Southern Freeez’ percussion and was my biggest record at Gullivers last weekend . . . Lenny White’s ‘Fancy Dancer’ promo remix is 114 (intro) – 116 – 118 – 119 – 118bpm with lots of great bass breaks, and Hot Cuisine’s ‘All Fired Up’ remix is now 123 – 122bpm . . . Blondie ‘Call Me’ sung in Spanish (retitled ‘Llamame’) with instrumental flip is on US Salsoul 12in (SG 341) . . . Imagination’s much mucked-about but now finally finished ‘It’s Got To Be Good’ will introduce Excaliber’s new UK product label, R&B . . . Morgan Khan-type US whizz kid Ray Caviano’s RFC label has been dropped by its Warner Bros backers, but looks like moving within WEA to Atlantic, whereupon its new Change album will be released . . . Cecil Parker, William DeVaughn & Captain Sky move from TEC to WMOT following the two labels’ merger in the States – but how will this affect their different outlets here? . . . EMI in fact are now doing a commercial 12in of Cecil Parker’s ‘What It Is’, which didn’t exactly explode on promo 12in, the LP’s ‘Get On Up‘ being far hotter and surely a better bet . . . Gonzalez last week at Gullivers really cooked when they hit those charanga rhythms, little Linda Taylor sounding soulful and George Chandler wailing on ‘Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get’, before Clem Curtis and a show-stopping Bill Fredericks joined in for ‘Cloud Nine’ – what a night! . . . Gonzalez attracted such seldom seen celebrities as Freddie ‘Mr Superbad’ Mack and Johnny ‘Coca Cola, orange drinks, hamburgers, hot dogs on the right hand side’ Gunnell . . . Mayfair Gullivers has in fact opened up its downstairs disco into one large dancefloor for hard dancing sloppy dressers, keeping upstairs with tables for smarter boozers . . . Soho Le Beat Route found the switch from Wally fodder to jazz-funk too drastic for their regular punters even though the jazzateers liked it, so for the time being I’m back at Gullivers with Graham Gold on Saturdays as well as Fridays . . . Robbie Vincent is dead chuffed that his Radio London soul show on Saturday mornings goes stereo this week, but says he won’t be playing Eddie Russ even though he did buy it in Florida . . . Northampton’s jingle machine-making SIS have diversified into disco lighting with a budget priced 3 channel lighting controller and a range of light fittings which look neat and tidy, from simple spots to a six foot “flying saucer” with 24 downlighters . . . Dublin’s Dolphin Discs in Talbot Street is recommended by Bernie Lyons as the local DJs’ favourite source of new product and British Imports . . . Johnny Diamond and some other Brighton jocks have formed a new Brighton Disc Jockey Club whose modest aims are mainly to meet socially for self-help on the first Monday of each month, details it appears from H&R Cloakes record shop in Churchill Square . . . BDJC member Paul Clark (Brighton 698699) promises a coachload or two of jazz-loving supporters in return for any guest spots offered to him on Saturdays . . . Larry Foster (Ilford Room At The Top) hopes to get to Caister and challenge all the tribes to a dancing contest, and to out-dance them all – oh yeah, you and whose army?! . . . Swindon Bo Jangles kept its late licence thanks to the funkateer turnout . . . UK radio played the Reddings because of their Otis connection, so why not TS Monk with their similar Thelonious relationship? . . . Kool & The Gang ‘Celebration’ has hit number one in the US charts . . . Barbra Streisand’s latest singing partner for a future single is – Stevie Wonder! . . . Rob Harknett (Harlow) nominates Kim Cordell ‘We’re Having A Gang Bang‘ (Look) as the new World’s Worst Record . . . Alan Taylor (Rothesay Paddle Boat) defends Tata Vega ‘You Keep Me Hanging On‘ as being an instant chart-topper with his Scottish punters – which just about sums it up . . . Russ Burcham (Rayleigh Crocs Bluenote Club) is another Essex jock on Groove Holmes ‘Let’s Groove‘ (Manhattan LP) . . . Chris Hill & I will be heading once more for Whitehaven’s Whitehouse on Wednesday March 11th . . . lan Turner (Colwyn Bay) asks whatever happened to disco pluggers Nicky Sands and Captaine Yvonne Marvill – whatever indeed? . . . Dolly Parton, by far the star of the movie, is gorgeous in ‘9 to 5’ and not at all like the Barbara Windsor that RCA’s current publicity pix suggest . . . Blackpool’s expatriate slimmer, now reputedly mixing in London’s gay heaven, turns out to have been responsible for a certain piece of vinyl . . . I am sorry but I do not intend listening to ‘Get Up And Boogie 1980’ ever again . . . KEEP IT GOOD!
SHARON REDD started out, somewhat surprisingly, as one of Bette Midler’s early Harlettes, before leaving the trio to go solo and co-writing ‘Free’ for Deniece Williams. Her relationship to veteran soul arranger/producer Gene Redd is still uncertain, although it’s no secret that her smash import LP (due here in April) comes from the team of Willie Lester & Rodney Brown who brought us Bobby Thurston and Gayle Adams. More importantly, the LP’s out and out winner is now out here on 12in, ‘Can You Handle It’. Well Kanu?
IMPORTS
FIREFLY: ‘Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side)’ (US Emergency EMDS 6515).
Smash-bound exciting powerful ‘Good Times’-structured 113 – 112bpm 12in thudder with great simple ingredients hitting a bass bumped groove before filling out for male Euro-vocals and then dropping out into a guitar scratched long break that then builds back up – try synching between KID ‘Don’t Stop’ and out of the break into ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’!
BARBARA MASON: ‘A Piece Of My Life’ LP (US WMOT JW37060).
The distinctively voiced ‘Yes I’m Ready’ lass returns, more mature but lovely as ever, with what must rank even now as one of the year’s best soul smooch sets absolutely bursting with superb slowies, including a 25bpm remake of her 1965 classic, some being sexy like the perfect fit lyrics of the 33bpm ‘All Inside Of Me‘ and 38/76bpm ‘You Did Not Stay Last Night‘, while all are so good that you’ll have to choose also from the 34 – 35bpm ‘Love Having You Around’, 17 – 34bpm ‘So In Love With You’. 0 – 32 – 33bpm ‘I’ll Never Love The Same Way Twice’, 39 – 40bpm ‘Playing With My Feelings’, 45/89bpm ‘You Know Who I Love’, 89 – 91bpm ‘On And Off’, and token 112bpm ‘Let Me Give You Love’. Just put it on and melt!
BERNARD WRIGHT: ‘Bread Sandwiches’ (LP ‘Nard’ US Arista GRP 5011).
Keyboardist’s strong varied jazz-cum-funk set with ballsy bass by Marcus Miller, this Rodney Franklin-type intense 116 – 119 – 116bpm piano instrumental (good before Young & Co ‘Strut Your Stuff’) working really well so far, although contenders are the bass thumped chattering sparse jiggly 116 (intro) – 118 – 119 – 120bpm ‘Just Chillin’ Out‘ smacker, smacking chunky 114bpm ‘Master Rocker‘ rumbler, P’funky 94 – 96 – 98 – 100bpm ‘Haboglabotribin‘ with goblin voices and ice cream van chimes, ‘Firebolt Hustle’ being a convoluted fast 0 – 122 – 124bpm jazz racer. ‘Spinnin’ an ultra-jittery specialist 110 – 111 – 113bpm snapper, ‘Music Is The Key’ a lush 42 – 43bpm smoocher, ‘We’re Just The Band’, a 119bpm funky fragment, and ‘Solar’ a straight Miles Davis jazz slowie. Continue reading “February 14, 1981: Sharon Redd, Firefly, Barbara Mason, Marvin Gaye, T.S. Monk”
HOT CUISINE ‘All Fired Up’ due to DJ demand will be re-released on newly lengthened 12in remix as the double A-side, so check which version you’re buying . . . Lenny White ‘Fancy Dancer’ finally made into a proper record at last, is circulating in an extended version as flip to a white label 12in promo of Kleeer ‘Get Tough’ . . . K.I.D. ‘Don’t Stop’ new catalogue number is 12EMI 5143 . . . ConFunkShun ‘Too Tight’ was originally only serviced on one-sided white label 12in, concealing the fact that its ‘Play Widit‘ flip is a far superior choppily starting brassy 123 (intro) – 121 – 123bpm instrumental bass bumper . . . Gene Dunlap, with a 3-track UK 12in of ‘Love Dancin’ / ‘It’s Just The Way I Feel’ / ‘Surest Things Can Change’ due imminently, used to play with Roy Ayers amongst others, so his ‘Running Away’ similarity ain’t so surprising, while his LP’s liner notes have indeed made a cock-up of the fact that Earl Klugh is on guitar . . . Jacksons ‘Can You Feel It’ plus the LAX LP and a Bob James newie should be due from CBS next week . . . WMOT and TEC have merged in the States . . . Champagne’s latest acquisition is Sylvia Striplin ‘Give Me Your Love’, which will explain its future chart progress . . . James Brown’s follow-up will not be the obvious ‘Funky Men’, but ‘Stay With Me’ instead . . . Manu Dibango has a white label 12in floating about . . . Showstoppers’ Caister ’81 over the first weekend in April has already sold out . . . Colin Day (Luxembourg Royal Bugatti), who remembers with me the day when soul music was soulful, reports that club regulars Ottawan have a new 12in ‘Haut Les Mains (Hands Up)’ as awful/good as the other two! . . . Al Taylor of St Asaph Stables fame starts a new Sunday Soul Club this weekend at Rhyl’s Dixieland Showbar with good music, free admission, pub booze ‘n’ food from 8-11.30pm . . . Honey Bee Benson, when not taking her new improved roadshow around the country, is at Gloucester’s plush Arabellas on Tues/Wed/Thursdays . . . Andy St John (02013 – 71972), who makes reasonably priced and customised disco jingles, is looking for jazz-funk/soul club gigs following the closure of Bournemouth’s Stateside Center (which I must say comes as a shock) . . . Stevie Allan, no longer packing thousands into Liverpool Rotters as he’s at Oscars instead now, needs bookings anywhere in the UK (051 426 2069) . . . Des A (Birkenhead NFR) sez Merseyside’s buzzing about new jazz-funk band Sutch ‘N’ Sutch . . . Gary Allan (Liverpool McMillans) finds that duck-calls make more noise than kazoos when used with Skyy ‘No Music’, while meanwhile Chris Hill has picked up on Gary’s recommendation of Roger Squire’s electronic syndrum, finding though that a dull-thud setting is great for running through vari-synch segues to add to the mix and the actual syndrum, “ping” is dynamite with “echo” . . . Canvey Goldmine’s suntanned Stan Barrett is a year older on Monday . . . Robbie Vincent caught up with a box load of jazz oldies in Florida, so now he too can play Eddie Ross . . . BMRB’s singles chart (the Top 75 most used by the music business) will now only include records with a trade price between 50p and £1.25 (ex VAT), with no more than four tracks, one featured artist, and 15 minutes maximum playing time – which will obviously affect some disco releases (Sugarhill’s ‘Rapper’ 12in to name but one) . . . Peter Young’s ‘Capital Countdown’ on Saturday mornings at 9am is compulsive listening for anyone interested in what’s actually selling in London, the first hour containing as well Peter’s intelligent section of hot newies, many of ’em jazzy/soulful . . . ‘TISWAS!’ then makes it difficult for me to sleep on Saturdays until the afternoon! . . . Hiroshima may play up their Japanese angle but are merely third generation Japanese-Americans from Los Angeles, founder Dan Kuramoto’s wife June Okida Kuramoto being the only member actually born in Japan, and an expert on the classical koto – but can she suck a large one? . . . Chris Dinnis (Exeter Boxes), by all accounts a nice lad, now resents my trying to get people to take him seriously . . . George Power & Andy Hunter say “hi” – or, more appropriately, “lo!” – to Sugar Shack (drop ’em Chris!) . . . John Grant (Manchester) says a chop between synths at end of Casiopea ‘Eyes Of Mind’ into Whispers ‘It’s A Love Thing’ is very effective, Kev Hill (Basildon Sweeneys) recommends Disco Dub Band ‘For The Love Of Money’ oldie out of Funk Masters, while Alan Coulthard (Barry Atlantic Wine Bar) revives Frantique ‘Strut Your Funky Stuff’ out of Fantasy, and joins many others running Sharon Redd through Blondie’s break . . . Chart File readers note, the Anglos ‘Incense’ was not by Stevie Wonder but by Jimmy Miller, before he became an Island producer . . . Robbie Collins (Ilford Room At The Top) suggests a new name for Futurist could be “Hi-Tech” – which of course you hear in a Hi-Tech Disco-Tech (we’ll let you know!) . . . Alan Donald (Rothesay Paddle Boat) suggests, “CHIP”, Chart for Hip Intellectual People – he obviously hasn’t seen the Futurist fans who used to hang out in the Rock Garden! . . . Divyen Shah (Harrow) likes pop music, and that’s all right . . . Martin Platts (Blackburn) maybe doesn’t realise his anagram is Stalin M Pratt! . . . John Mayoh (Thornton Illawalla Country Club) has along with many others noticed a sudden widespread taste for oldies amongst punters, making new product difficult to break – is this because of the recession keeping people at home more, or what? . . . I’d welcome your views on this, but in the meantime do your best to KEEP IT GOOD!
RAY CARLESS, Jamaica-born but British bred since the early ’60s, has been blowing tenor sax for years with a variety of musical acts, fronting his own reggae/funk Zami in the mid-’70s and then touring Europe with Afro-jazz/rock Boombaye before backing such as Hi-Tension, Jimmy Lindsay, Central Line and Black Slate (‘Amigo’) on record. Now his jazz preference has been given free reign on ‘Tarantula Walk’, due on Ensign 12in in a fortnight but circulating on promo already, featuring his sinuously strung out honking sax line over a bass-bumbled loping 118 – 119 – 120 – 121bpm thud beat. Ray may be Carless but he sure ain’t clueless (ouch – sorry, ‘baht that)!
IMPORTS
KLEEER: ‘Get Tough’ (LP ‘License To Dream’ US Atlantic SD 19288).
The base-pushed group now features some good looking chicks too, this dynamite rattling-introed sparse and steadily progressing 116 – 118 – 120 – 121 (bass on) bpm jittery driver having great piano breaks and a John Wayne impersonator, exploding over the weekend for all who used it (try mixing out of Young & Co ‘I Like’ for starters!). Far and away THE track, it’s infinitely better than the freakily introed 116 – 118bpm ‘De Kleeer Ting‘ and 124 – 126bpm ‘Running Back To You‘, although the gentle 101bpm swaying ‘Sippin’ & Kissin‘ is pretty.
Apart from a Frank Hooper LP containing a remix of ‘This Feelin’ and an evidently undistinguished RJ’s Latest Arrival 12in, there wasn’t much else about on import last week.
UK NEWIES
T.S. MONK: ‘Bon Bon Vie’ (Mirage K11653T).
Unexpectedly, out of the blue, good sense has prevailed and although ‘Candidate For Love‘ is already pressed it’s been shelved temporarily in place of this fabulous jauntily chugging sleazy singalong 109bpm catchy tripper, due on 12in, huge on import and a far more commercial hit-bound bet as it’s much requested already.
James Hamilton's Disco Page 