ODDS ‘N’ BODS
SHOWSTOPPER PROMOTIONS’ eighth soul weekender at Caister gets underway this Friday — remember to take plenty of dry clothes, towels, loo paper, soap, matches, food and an FM radio . . . Tom Holland says he’ll be ringing the Anglian Lodge to make sure it stays open late on Friday night, but in case he doesn’t for goodness sake someone please call ’em on Gt Yarmouth 3985 — tell ’em the Mafia are coming! . . . Chris Ellis’s Staines Fusion Few fanzine for Caister is indeed strongly orientated towards pussy — of the furry feline kind! . . . Diana Ross’s ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ 7in won’t be of much interest to disco fans but don’t despair as her new Capitol LP, due this weekend, contains a disco killer and potential smash in ‘Mirror Mirror‘, a great sultry slow chunky lurcher with yowling guitar solos . . . George Benson, whose overdue album has been delayed reportedly until after Xmas, has, however, a new import 7in with just the A-side being new material . . . Linda Taylor’s ‘In The Pocket’, getting rave New York radio reaction, is being rushed out there by SAM in a new mix which will also be reissued here by Groove before too long . . . Billy Fury, now recording again for Polydor, these days looks remarkably like the aforementioned Linda Taylor — and oddly enough, Linda Taylor is the name given to a female singing star character in TV’s ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’! . . . Weapon Of Peace ‘Jah Love’, reviewed last week, is now on 3-track 12in (Safari SAFE L 39), while the three versions on Ann-Margret’s import 12in actually break down as 0-110bpm short ‘Pt.1’ A-side, 111bpm long ‘Pt.2’, 0-111bpm instrumental . . . GQ’s brand new single ‘Shake‘, due here next weekend, replaces their old distinctive style with a more Michael Jackson-ish sound on a Rod Temperton-type strings and vocal group-backed chugging slick 110-111-112bpm smacker . . . UK Players ‘Girl’ on 7in crazily cuts off just before that terrific long tape-loop vocal note, the whole hook of the 12in! . . . Arista, unless they change their mind, were about to release Phyllis Hyman ‘Tonight You and Me’ on 12in this week, evidently forgetting it was one of the cuts on her last 12in! . . . Rush Release have circulated an 8-track 12in of rock ‘n’ roll classics (all except ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’ the original recordings) introduced just at the start of each side by Kenny Everett and a 7-Up jingle, plus some of the titles are on flexi-disc singles . . . France’s disco equipment and entertainment exhibition Discom ’81 is next week from Monday (26) for four days at the Parc Des Expositions, Porte De Versailles, Paris (UK enquiries 01-499 2317) . . . Roger Tovell hosts ‘The Friday Funkshun’ 7-10pm Fridays, amongst other slots on the station, on Gloucester’s Severn Sound (368m/774khz MW, 95FM) . . . Wallabys opening at North Harrows Headstone in the Imperial Hotel has been put back to Tuesday November 10 . . . Le Kilt’s Jean Pierre has opened his own Disco 49 in Soho’s Greek Street right opposite Le Beat Route and almost next to Groove (on the site of ’60s folkies haunt Les Cousins), DJ being Terry Prince, while of real interest to London’s late nite apres-gig eaters will be the ground floor restaurant opening next month which will run from 2am as the ‘Breakfast Club’ until 6am seven nights a week . . . Fatman won’t have far to go! . . . Carrere now need specialist heavy metal rock jocks for a new mailing list — if any read this page, send your full work details to Geoff Scourfield, Carrere UK, 20-22 Queen Street, London W1X 7PJ . . . Sharon Davis — oops, sorry — Karen Spreadbury, ex-Motown press gal, has set up her own Eyes & Ears PR firm with her initial clients being Stax and Le Beat Route (which means she can combine business with pleasure every night!) . . . Mayfair’s Gullivers has added to its big screen video system a remote controlled camera which now relays the action as it actually happens so dancers can watch themselves dancing on TV — but why does it spend so much time pointing at Colin the barman? . . . Steve Day (Chingford) takes the Kent Walton route away from straight disco work — he’s been asked to MC at professional wrestling venues . . . Steve Jerome was actually a child star on TV in Los Angeles, singing on a kids show every morning for four years . . . Kool’s genial manager Buzz Willis explains that the Gang’s pic appears instead of girls on their new LP sleeve to give them a more visible identity following their worldwide mega-smash with ‘Celebration’ — which was of course the biggest selling single in the States over the last couple of years . . . Isley Brothers new import LP is what you might call dull . . . Luther Vandross in the US sings on commercials for Juicy Fruit Gum, Miller Beer, 7-Up, Mountain Dew, Gino’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and even the US Army . . . Pete Haigh (Blackpool Man Fridays – Mondays) reminds me that Richard ‘Dimples’ Fields was recording in the early ’70s, including for his own Dat Richfield Kat label on the ‘Spoiled Rotten’ LP a version of ‘Moody’s Mood For Love’ . . . Chris Britton (Watford Baileys) observes that pop and comedy cabarets always give him awkward hard-to-please customers, while soul show punters are better dressed, better behaved, more sophisticated, and easier to entertain — well I never! . . . New York Soul Connection’s recent controversial event at the Harrow Leisure Centre really did deliver less than it promised, as Cayenne (the only billed live act actually to appear) discovered after agreeing to help the promoter by being paid with a cheque . . . WEA’s Fred Dove has so many relatives entering dance competitions these days it’s a wonder he doesn’t take to the floor more often himself! . . . Kev Hill (Basildon Sweeneys) reports from Nassau that not only are Bahamian discos heavily into hard funk, soul and jazz (Roger’s LP being huge) but so too are all the shops, hotels and even taxis, while Cramond Perry (Edinburgh) reports from Barbados that the music is either calypso-ish or very George Benson-ish, Al Jarreau being huge on radio although the discos only play funk . . . London’s Rockafella’s late nite eaterie off Regent Street was playing a track off the Emotions new album on Sunday morning which gave us hysterics — they sounded just like chickens! . . . Rusty Egan relays the following exchange: Spandau Ballet “What do you think, we’ve gone funk?” — Ultravox’s Midge Ure “We’ve gone platinum” . . . RCA’s Rowdy Yeats was responsible for last week’s most widely circulated joke: “What’s the difference between (a certain well known London DJ) and the Pope? — The Pope’s getting better!” . . . Capital Radio’s Mike Allen was given a car window sticker reading “Happiness is Slough in my rear view window” . . . West Acton could be headed for a tropical Streetwave . . . MAKE IT FUNKY!
UK NEWIES
ROGER: ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ (Warner Bros K 17865T).
The two hottest monsters from Mr Troutman’s nevertheless still essential album here back-to-back on 12in, this sensational vocoder-sung bubbling 118bpm funk smacker and the superb jazzier instrumental 118bpm ‘A Chunk Of Sugar‘ with lovely Benson-ish guitar.
THE QUICK: ‘Zulu’ (Epic EPC A13-1739).
How it missed the national chart before is one of the year’s big mysteries, but now in a new John Luongo remix and following US smash disco success here comes the great coolly thudding atmosphere laden 118bpm 12in bounder again, with a long empty instrumental build up and completely instrumental 117bpm flip. My one reservation is that it may now lack the original’s well-proven MoR appeal.
ROSE ROYCE: ‘R.R. Express’ (Whitfield K 17875T).
Dynamite 116bpm chugger here edited for 12in to “make it easier for Wallys to programme”. Reckon us non-Wallys will stick with the full album version. Flip is 1979’s rhythmically similar but somewhat more bounding 113-114-115bpm ‘Lock It Down‘.
SECOND IMAGE: ‘Can’t Keep Holding On’ (Polydor POSPX 336).
Steadily bouncing slick 120bpm 12in backbeat kicker with extremely pleasant tightly harmonised vocal lines, odd brassy bits and a well controlled overall sound, meeting with widespread immediate approval on white label.
EARL KLUGH: ‘Twinkle’ (LP ‘Crazy For You’ Liberty LBG 303290).
Due on 12in soon, the pleasant set’s one killer dance cut is this terrific jiggly rhythm filled thunder thumbs and lightning licks slickly picked 122bpm jazz instrumental romp which mixes sensationally out of Ronnie Laws ‘Heavy On Easy’.
BUNNY MACK: ‘Supafrico’ (RCA RCAT 142).
Terrific happily skipping 125-126bpm 12in bubbler has ‘D.I.S.C.O.’-type tinges and Gibsons-style crossover appeal, but in fact the mainly instrumental 127-128bpm B-side ‘Version’ is much stronger with extra percussion and dub-like rhythm gaps, mixing nicely out of Pablo.
EDDY GRANT: ‘California Style’ (Ice ICET 52).
Great happily jumping 120-121-122bpm 12in calypso firmly established as a party time fave and now remixed with a new long percussive last part, but hidden — crazily, in this salsa-besotted era — as flip to the dull starkly jolting 111-112bpm ‘Time To Let Go‘.
PIECES OF A DREAM: ‘Warm Weather’ (LP ‘Pieces Of A Dream’ Elektra K52320).
Produced by Grover Washington Jr (who guests too with Dexter Wansel, Ralph MacDonald), the mainly mellow jazz set is dominated by this Randy Crawford-type gorgeous 100/50bpm gently jogging atmospheric swayer, warm instrumentals being the bass and synth snapped herky jerky 0-116-115bpm ‘Body Magic‘, synth ‘n’ sax tootled subduedly pattering ‘Steady Glide‘ and tensely peaking 55/110-112-110-114bpm ‘Easy Road Home‘.
RANDY CRAWFORD: ‘Secret Combination’ (Warner Bros K 17872T).
Gorgeous classy tranquil 43/86bpm slowie on 3-track 12in with the sophisticated subdued 0-65/129-66/132bpm ‘Rio De Janeiro Blue’ and — the big attraction — a great London-recorded live 0-98-100-101-103-0bpm treatment (minus the Crusaders) of ‘Street Life’.
MELBA MOORE: ‘Take My Love’ (EMI America 12EA 130).
Snappily strutting Patrice Rushen-style brittle 118-119bpm 12in smacker with catchy synth notes between the booming beats, specially imported for UK sale, rather than just on promo as I’d originally thought.
THE WRIGHT ORCHESTRA: ‘Out Of The Box’ (Polydor POSPX 356).
Excellent 128-131bpm 12in medley of all your fave TV themes ‘Dallas’, ‘Professionals’, ‘Avengers’, ‘Rockford Files’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’, ‘Hart To Hart’, etc — produced by Shakatak’s enigmatic Nigel Wright (who else?).
LIGHT OF THE WORLD: ‘Ride The Love Train’ (EMI 12EMI 5242).
Reduced to just Gee Bello and Nat Augustin, the “new” duo borrow heavily from that other UK soul pair, Linx, both in sound and lyric inspiration on this lushly textured episodic 113(intro)-115-116-117bpm 12in smoothly shuffling jitterer, the flip containing two more alternative versions. Linx’s ‘Go Ahead’ LP is now out incidentally, but arrived too late for review.
JIMMY HAYNES (SENYAH): ‘Funk On The Rocks’ (RCA RCAT 141).
Produced as in Bunny Mack by Akie Deen, this bass bumbled choppily lurching 0-115-114bpm 12in jitterer is a dynamite mix with T. Life and ends up with nice jazzy scatting.
HERB ALPERT: ‘Manhattan Melody’ (LP ‘Magic Man’ A&M AMLK 63728).
From an album that’s been about a while, this unemphatically cool 113bpm trumpet tootler has a jitteringly backbeating rhythm that’s rightly been discovered by several mafiosi to be a killer mix out of Donald Byrd.
PRINCE: ‘Controversy’ (Warner Bros K17866T).
The doe-eyed androgyne reworks his now much copied typical sound on a booming sparse jittery 124(intro)-121-119-120bpm 12in thudder which to judge from initial reaction takes too long to get to its main point of controversy, a reading of the Lord’s Prayer halfway through.
LEVEL 42: ‘Starchild’ (Polydor POSPX 343).
Convolutedly pattering and skipping jerky pause-filled 0-114-115bpm 12in jitterer, good though much more specialist than ‘Turn It Out’.
JUMPP: ‘The Bounce’ (RCA RCAT 160).
Surprisingly strong powerfully lurching bass-driven brassy 117-118bpm 12in instrumental bounder, preferable to the vocal ‘Bouncy Bouncy‘ A-side.
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: ‘Reach High’ (LP ‘Touch’ CBS 84908).
Nick & Valerie-prod/penned set, this typically Ashford & Simpson pent-up soaring 119-120-121bpm lurching smacker being the hottest cut, the 0-123bpm ‘I Will Fight‘ sounding amazingly like the Rah Band but vocal, while ‘I Will Survive’ (not of course A&S-penned) gets Gladys’s dead-slow hackneyed monologue-introed cabaret treatment.
THE KEITH DIAMOND BAND: ‘The Dip (Show Me What You Got)’ (RCA YD 11812).
Deliberately thudding synth and vocoder intro bubbles on up into a heavy funk 103-104-105bpm 12in bumper with wailing lady searing through the male vocals and catchy instrumental twiddles.
SHALAMAR: ‘Sweeter As The Days Go By’ (Solar SOT 23, via RCA).
Unusual rumbling and tumbling 91bpm 12in jogger with Leon Sylver’s sound still coming through even at this slow tempo, flipped by a smoochy sweet conversationally introed 49/98bpm ‘The Final Analysis’.
THE TEMPTATIONS: ‘Aiming At Your Heart’ (Motown 12TMGT 1243).
Pleasantly doodling 96/48-97-98-99bpm 12in meanderer concentrating more on vocal textures than an actual song, the flip’s slow ‘The Life Of A Cowboy’ being stronger in that department.
JEAN ADEBAMBO: ‘I Want To Make It With You’ (Third World TWDIS 46).
Sweetly sung nice ever-accelerating 19(intro)-84-88bpm 12in lovers rock treatment of Bread’s ‘Make It With You’.
LOCKSLEY MELLOW: ‘Come And Dine With Me’ (Scarlet L 109).
The brassily blasting throbbing fast 133bpm 12in ‘Version’ instrumental is a lot stronger than the poorly sung 129bpm A-side and could tie in with ‘Supafrico’ or similar things.
SAMANTHA ROSE: ‘Words Are Impossible’ (Third World TWDIS 45). Lugubrious slow 57bpm 12in lovers rock reading of Drupi’s ‘Vado Via’.
IMPORTS
NO TIME for full reviews this week (I must get out of the habit of actually getting some sleep on Sunday nights!), the hotsies though being:
The somewhat Prince-like eponymous set by SKOOL BOYZ (US Destiny DLA-10001) on which just about everything is great: ‘Jam Beneath The Groove’ 116-117-121bpm, ‘Can We Do It Again‘ 116, ‘Burning Up‘ 113-114-115-116, ‘You Can Get Down‘ 119-120-121, ‘Your Love’ 0-38/75, ‘This Feeling Must Be Real’ 36-73-74;
The similarly Prince-style SKYY: ‘Skyyline’ (US Salsoul SA-8548) with ‘Call Me’ 121-122, ‘Let’s Celebrate‘ 117-118, ‘Get Into The Beat‘ 118-119, ‘Jam The Box‘ 120, ‘Girl In Blue‘ 114(start)-115;
A set with three strong dancers from RUFUS WITH CHAKA KHAN: ‘Camouflage’ (US MCA MCA-5270), ‘Music Man’ c.114, ‘Secret Friend‘ c.118, ‘Jigsaw‘ c.120;
The Solar-ish KWICK: ‘To The Point’ (US EMI America ST-17048), ‘You’re The Kind Of Girl I Like’ 115, ‘Nightlife‘ 104;
Deeper soul with RUBY WILSON (US Malaco 7404), ‘Why Not Give Me A Chance’ 30/61-0, ‘I Thought I Would Never Find Love‘ 0-121;
While on 12in: SECRET WEAPON: ‘Must Be The Music’ (US Prelude PRL D 614) is a lacklustre choppily jolting 123bpm jitterer with the gruff guy and chirping chlx supplemented on the more instrumental flip by rattling percussion and yowling guitar (well, I’d already written that review!)
and FINE QUALITY FEATURING CUZ: ‘Ahh Dance’ (US Sugarhill SH-563) 122-123-124-125bpm.
UK Disco Top 90 – October 24, 1981
01 01 Donald Byrd – Love Has Come Around – Elektra 12”
02 06 Rose Royce – R.R. Express – Whitfield LP/12”
03 02 Central Line – Walking Into Sunshine – Mercury 12”
04 08 The Dukes – Mystery Girl – WEA 12”
05 03 Arthur Adams – You Got The Floor – RCA 12”
06 10 Savanna – I Can’t Turn Away – R&B 12”
07 05 Evelyn King – If You Want My Lovin’ – RCA 12”
08 09 Mike ‘T’ / Joe Thomas – Do It Any Way You Wanna – Blue Inc 12”
09 04 Linx – So This Is Romance / The Rio Mix – Chrysalis 12”
10 18 T Life – Somethin’ That You Do To Me – US Arista 12”
11 07 Strikers – Inch By Inch – Epic 12”
12 11 Hi-Gloss – You’ll Never Know – Epic 12”
13 14 Roger – I Heard It Through The Grapevine / A Chunk Of Sugar – Warner Bros 12”
14 13 Modern Romance – Everybody Salsa/Salsa Rappsody – WEA 12”
15 12 Bob James – Sign Of The Times – Tappan Zee 12”
16 26 Ronnie Laws – Heavy On Easy / Stay Awake – Liberty 12”
17 27 Freddie Hubbard – You’re Gonna Lose Me / Sister ‘Stine – Fantasy 12”
18 23 Pieces Of A Dream – Warm Weather / Steady Glide / Body Magic / Easy Road Home – US Elektra LP
19 19 Al Jarreau – Easy / We’re In This Love Together – Warner Bros 12”
20 17 Stanley Turrentine – Havin’ Fun With Mr.T / Hermanos / Tamarac / After The Love Is Gone / Cherubim – US Elektra LP
21 15 Imagination – In And Out Of Love – R&B 12”
22 32 Slave – Wait For Me / Party Lites / Snap Shot / Steal Your Heart / Smokin’ / Funken Town – US Cotillion LP
23 21 Dynasty – Love In The Fast Lane / High Time (I Left You Baby) / You’re My Angel – US Solar LP
24 35 Chi-Lites – Me And You – 20th Century-Fox/Chi-Sound 12”
25 20 Richard ‘Dimples’ Fields – I Like Your Lovin’ – Epic
26 42 Funk Fusion Band – Can You Feel It – US WMOT 12”
27 43 Jerome – You’re Supposed To Be My Friend – DJM 12”
28 16 Funkapolitan – As The Time Goes By – London 12”
29 28 Junior Giscombe – Mama Used To Say – Mercury 12”
30 22 Beggar & Co – Mule (Chant No.2) – RCA 12”
31 37 Boys Town Gang – Remember Me Suite / Cruisin’ The Streets – Moby Dick LP
32 30 Candy Bowman – I Wanna Feel Your Love – US RCA 12”
33 25 Patti Austin – The Genie / Love Me To Death / Baby Come To Me / Every Home Should Have One – Qwest LP
34 75 Bohannon/Dr. Perri Johnson – Let’s Start The Dance (Remix) / Let’s Start II Dance Again – US Phase II 12”
35 29 The Joneses – Summer Groove (Moving-On) – Champagne 12”
36 33 Trevor Walters – Love Me Tonight – Ital 12”
37 77 Alphonze Mouzon – I’m Glad That You’re Here – US PAUSA LP
38 51 Kool & The Gang – Take My Heart / Get Down On It – US De-Lite LP
39 14 Roger – Do It Roger / So Ruff So Tuff / Maxx Axe – US Warner Bros LP
40 24 Keni Burke – You’re The Best – RCA 12”
41 NE Four Tops – When She Was My Girl – Casablanca 12”
42 36 Sylvester – Give it Up (Don’t Make Me Wait) / Here Is My Love – Fantasy 12”
43 65 Melba Moore – Take My Love – EMI America 12”
44 31 Real Thing – Foot Tappin’ – Calibre 12”
45 64 Conquest – Give It To Me (Instrumental) – US Prelude 12”
46 RE Kool & The Gang – Steppin’ Out – De-Lite 12”
47 34 Geraldine Hunt – Heart To Heart – US Prism 12”
48 66 Whispers – This Kind Of Lovin’ – Solar 12”
49 59 Northend – Tee’s Happy / Happy Days – US Emergency 12”
50 47 Teena Marie – Square Biz – Motown 12”
51 45 Patti Austin – Do You Love Me? – Qwest 12”
52 38 Donald Byrd – Love For Sale / I Feel Like Loving You Today / I Love Your Love – Elektra LP
53 86 Rodney Franklin – Hill Street Blues / Dance Tonight / Endless Flight / Vibrations – US Columbia LP
54 62 Rick James – Superfreak – Motown 12”
55 NE K.I.D. – Hupendi Muziki Wangu?! – US SAM 12”
56 71 Wish – Nice And Soft – US Perspective 12”/Excaliber 12”
57 61 Hi-Tension – We Got The Funk / Objects – EMI 12”
58 73 Material – Bustin’ Out – Ze 12”
59 58 Soft Cell – Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go – Some Bizzare 12”
60 63 Maze – Joy And Pain – Capitol 12”/Video
61 50 K.I.D. – No.1 – Record Shack 12”
62 NE Rhyze – Rhyze To The Top – US 20th Century-Fox 12”
63 NE Arthur Adams – You Got The Floor (Instrumental) – US Inculcation 12”
64 44 Quincy Jones – Betcha Wouldn’t Hurt Me – A&M 12”
65 55 Shadow – Born To Hustle / Shadows In The Street / Best Lady – Elektra LP
66 NE Second Image – Can’t Keep Holding On – Polydor 12” promo
67 70 Aretha Franklin – Love All The Hurt Away / Hold On I’m Comin’ – Arista 12”
68 41 Jumbo – Take It Light – US Atlantic 12”
69 NE Skool Boyz – Jam Beneath The Groove / Can We Do It Again / Burning Up – US Destiny LP
70 53 Big Dipper – Victim Of The Planets / Dippers Delight – Epic 12”
71 69 Gwen McCrae – Funky Sensation – US Atlantic LP
72 60 Bang Gang – Street Music (Instrumental) – US Sugarscoop 12”
73 79 Harlow – Take Off – Champagne 12”
74 57 Al Jarreau – Closer To Your Love / Roof Garden / Breakin’ Away / Teach Me Tonight – Warner Bros LP
75 40 Ottawan – Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) – Carrere 12”
76 56 Billy Ocean – Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) – GTO 12”
77 49 One Way – Hold It – US MCA LP
78 88 Herbie Hancock – Magic Number / Everybody’s Broke – US Columbia 12”
79 87 UK Players – Girl / Jim’s Jam – A&M 12”
80 82 Lloyd Charmers – If Leaving Me Is Easy – Radioactive 12”
81 81 Shirley James & Danny Ray – Right Time Of The Night / Got To Be True – Black Jack 12”
82 85 Captain Sky – Station Brake / (Innermission) – US WMOT 12”
83 52 Diana Ross & Lionel Richie – Endless Love – Motown
84 76 Jimmy Ross – First True Love Affair – Megafunk 12”
85 RE The Quick – Zulu (Remix) / Instrumental – Epic 12”
86 68 Tight Fit – Back To The ’60s (Part 2) – Jive 12”
87 NE Earth Wind & Fire – Let’s Groove – CBS LP
88 80 Michael Henderson – (We Are Here To) Geek You Up – US Buddah LP
89 NE Letta Mbulu – Kilimanjaro – US MJS 12”
90 NE Earl Klugh – Twinkle – Liberty LP
BREAKERS
BUBBLING UNDER the UK Disco 90 with increased support are:
Keith Diamond Band: ‘The Dip’ (RCA 12in)
Raydio: ‘That Old Song’ / ‘All In The Way You Get Down’ (Arista 12in)
Bunny Mack: ‘Supafrico’ (RCA 12in)
Jacksons: ‘Walk Right Now (Remix)’ (US Epic 12in)
Patrick Cowley: ‘Menergy’ (US Fusion 12in)
Index: ‘Starlight’ (Record Shack 12in)
JR Funk and The Love Machine: ‘Good Lovin’ (US Brass 12in)
Dells: ‘Happy Song’ (US 20th Century-Fox/Chi-Sound 12in)
Morrissey Mullen: ‘Stay Awhile’ / ‘Mercy Mercy 81’ (Beggars Banquet 12in)
Ranking Dread: ‘Fattie Bum Bum’ (Greensleeves 12in)
Freddie Hubbard: ‘Splash’ (US Fantasy LP)
Hot Cuisine: ‘Disco Calypso’ / ‘Skunkin’ (KRL 12in)
Vaughan Mason: ‘Jammin’ Big Guitar’ (US Brunswick 12in)
Karen Silver: ‘Nobody Else’ (Canadian Quality RFC 12in)
Brother To Brother: ‘Monster Jam’ (US Sugarhill 12in)
Herb Alpert: ‘Manhattan Melody’ (A&M LP)
POD (Pop Orientated Dance):
1(1) Soft Cell, 2(2) Ottawan, 3(4) Linx, 4(3) Human League Red, 5(7) Hi-Gloss, 6(9) Depeche Mode, 7(5) Tweets, 8(6) Modern Romance, 9(8) Imagination, 10(11) Human League Blue, 11(10) Funkapolitan, 12(15) Tight Fit Pt.2, 13(12) Central Line, 14(16) Heaven 17 ‘Play’, 15(14) Star Sound, 16(13) Beggar & Co, 17(17) Pointers, 18(21) Spandau Ballet, 19(18) Ross/Richie, 20(32) Japan, 21(30) OMID, 22(40) Police, 23(25) Phyllis Hyman, 24(20) Tom Tom Club, 25(34) UB40, 26(26) Carl Carlton, 27(28) Duran Duran, 28(23) Stewart/Gaskin, 29(22) Adam & The Ants, 30(19) Gidea Park, 31(-) Bits & Pieces ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ (Island), 32(31) Stevie Wonder, 33(-) Shirley James/Danny Ray ‘Right Time Of The Night’ (Black Jack), 34(41) Alvin Stardust, 35(29) Madness, 36(24) Tight Fit Pt.1, 37(35) A Flock Of Seagulls ‘Telecommunication’ (Jive), 38(27) Evelyn King ‘I’m In Love’, 39(-) Bee Gees ‘He’s A Liar’ (RSO), 40(42) Motown Mix (RSO), 41(38) Enigma ‘Music’, 42(-) Pig Bag ‘Papa’, 43(-) Was (Not Was), 44(-) Real Thing, 45(33) Electronicas, 46(43), Keni Burke, 47(-) Rose Royce, 48(44) Big Dipper, 49(48) Harlow, 50(45) K.I.D. ‘No.1’.
DJ TOP 20
ALAN JEWELL — actually he seems to be calling himself Alan James Jewell now — takes time off from his full-time marathon nightly stint at Oslo’s Leopard, where he’s sampling everything that Norway can offer, to rave about the club. Although a mainly white populated version of Mayfair’s Gullivers, it attracts all of Oslo’s black population plus other DJs, and has a superb sound system — “when you walk in the club the bass knocks you back out”, sez our Wal. Record prices average £2 for 7in, £4 for 12in and £7 for LP, so he’s playing what he took with him until sending off for a top-up from Groove, the biggies being these . . .
1. Going Back To My Roots – Odyssey – RCA 12in
2. Do It Any Way You Wanna – Mike “T” – Blue Inc 12in
3. I’m In Love / If You Want My Lovin’ – Evelyn King – RCA 12in
4. She’s A Bad Mama Jama – Carl Carlton – 20th Century-Fox 12in
5. Walking Into Sunshine – Central Line – Mercury 12in
6. We Got The Funk – Hi-Tension – EMI 12in
7. Ma Quale Idea – Pino D’Angio – RCA 12in
8. Heart Heart – Geraldine Hunt – US Prism 12in
9. The Breaks – Kurtis Blow – Mercury 12in
10. Body Music – Strikers – Epic 12in
11. Everybody Salsa (Dub) – Modern Romance – WEA 12in
12. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Roger – US Warner Bros LP
13. R.R. Express – Rose Royce – Whitfield LP
14. Bounce Rock Skate Roll – Vaughan Mason Crew – US Brunswick 12in
15. Love In The Fast Lane – Dynasty – US Solar LP
16. Shake-N-Skate – Dr York – Groove Production 12in
17. Flashback / So Good So Right – Imagination – R&B LP
18. Supafrico – Bunny Mack – RCA 12in
19. Good Time Tonight / Get Down On It / Etc. – Kool – US De-Lite LP
20. Take It Light – Jumbo – US Atlantic 12in
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