Month: June 1985

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

SHOWSTOPPER PROMOTIONS have now officially announced their National Soul Picnic at Knebworth on Saturday August 17, noon-8.30pm in the open air (no circus tent this time), starring Change, Kleeer and Pieces Of A Dream! . . . Stevie Wonder appears to have been so displeased at being the token black act on Live Aid that he refuses to take part, although the official excuse is inevitably that he has to finish his album . . . Madonna has the best-selling 12in by far in America thanks to its B-side being the only form in which ‘Into The Groove‘, a song from her film ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’, is available: however, here this continuously keened (no break) 116¼bpm moronic chugger will be an already promo-ed A-side (flipped by ‘Holiday’) . . . Shannon ‘Stronger Together (Remix)‘ is breaking up north on promo, serviced well ahead of the joyously churning 0-118¼bpm backbeat basher’s release next week . . . Sonique ‘Let Me Hold And Squeeze‘ is a chick squalled decent 115¾bpm wriggly jiggler in the “New London” style, of which just 500 white labels have been pressed pending a major deal by Intersong Music — bona fide DJs call their Chris Page on 01-499 0067 . . . WEA picked up the (surprisingly, white) Michael St James ‘There Is Only One Love‘, a gorgeous lush 0-89/44½bpm romancer with ‘Summer Of ’42’ sax, previously promoed on white label independently . . . Touch Of Class may yet be out here in its superior original mix, while oddly Gloria D. Brown’s remix won’t now be out at all, and Harold Faltermeyer has done yet another brand new London Remix incorporating bits of ‘Shoot Out’ . . . Eugene Wilde’s remake of ‘Chey Chey Kule’ has been promo-ed as an 113¼bpm UK Remix with a complex long double-beat intro which may be tougher for soul club mixers but stupidly destroys its pop impact: not due commercially until July 22, it’ll be flipped by ‘Rainbow’ and a ‘Got To Get You Home Tonight’ remix, although its US-only “Woody Woodpecker” LP version may yet be added later in a creative marketing ploy . . . Sahara are adding proper vocals to make an actual song, so their original A-side will soon be the flip, and T.C. Curtis has an evidently better remix due . . . ‘Ready Steady Go’ brought back memories for older folks and must have been an education for the young, the Otis Redding special reminding me that the central most prominently featured of the three go go girls, Sandy Sarjeant was discovered by the series dancing at my allniters in Soho’s Scene Club! . . . ‘6.20 Soul Train’ this Friday has 400 Blows, RAH Band, Chris Cameron, Aretha Franklin, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Isley Brothers . . . ‘Top Of The Pops’ looks like moving “live” to Tuesdays, presumably to leave more of the week available for the sales it generates to register so that then Gallup can bring their chart compilation date forward, and allow Radio One to compete against the fresher ILR Network Chart with a brand new chart of their own? (I expect most people will still do their record shopping at the weekend though) . . . Horizon (fully), Solar (fitfully), LWR (fleetingly) finally returned after the longest bust-caused break in London’s soul airwaves yet Radio London, despite trumpeting soul throughout the week, have strangely stopped relaying their own star Robbie Vincent’s Sunday evening Radio One soul show (still however on 89.1FM), replacing him with Radio Two’s ‘Your 100 Best Tunes’! . . . Radio London’s Soul Night Out this Thursday (27) visits Luton Pink Elephant and will be relayed by the new BBC Radio Bedfordshire (as in future will be Dave Pearce’s full 10pm-1am soul show Thursday nights) — however, in a big splash to end this current season, the Soul Night Out next week (appropriately the 4th of July) will find just Steve Walsh at Hammersmith Palais with an expanded PA line-up of Jaki Graham, David Grant, Paul Hardcastle, Phil Fearon, Phyllis Nelson, Imagination, Five Star (if they turn up), and actually playing live The Cool Notes, while in a simultaneous two-way broadcast link Tony Blackburn & Dave Ricardo, whose regular show with Tony as guest will precede the 11pm Hammersmith link which similarly will be followed by Mary Thomas’s show with Dave as guest, both carried here on Radio London exactly as they are being heard at that moment in New York, commercials and all! . . . Dave Treharne on DevonAir 95.8/95.1FM this Saturday starts three weeks of ‘Rock Me Gently’ 10pm-1am with the central hour devoted to old, and deep, soul . . . Skipworth & Turner topped US Club Play, Whitney Houston Black LPs . . . Helena Springs will be backing David Bowie at the Live Aid show, and is live at London’s Hippodrome sometime soon . . . Carl Anderson had to cancel a UK trip to promote ‘Buttercup’ as a stage musical he recently joined in Philadelphia wouldn’t give him time off . . . Al Green and Sly Stone have signed to A&M, while in the USA New Order are on Quincy Jones’s label Qwest . . . Tommy Boy in the States are soon to couple on promo only all three Double Dee & Steinski mastermixes . . . ‘The Complete Story Of Roxanne‘ (US Compleat 671014-1) is a £6.99 8-track LP of cover versions tracing the Roxanne saga to date . . . Tricky Dicky Scanes, dedicated (rightly) to turning his customers at Soho’s Record Cellar shop towards more than just Hi-NRG music even if that does pay his bills, celebrates on July 1st the 14th anniversary of his opening London’s first commercial gay disco club . . . Hi-NRG breakers include Terry Wade ‘Single Girl‘ (Big Top), Sharon Redd ‘Undercover Girl‘ (US Prelude), Bad Boys Blue ‘You’re A Woman‘ (German Coconut), LaJeune ‘Love Is Only Skin Deep‘ (US Mastered), Curtis & The Boom Box ‘Black Kisses‘ (Dutch RCA) . . . Thames Valley DJ Assn meets Sunday (30) at noon in Windsor’s Royal Adelaide Hotel (Sheet Street), with a tax consultant talking . . . Thursday (27) the Canadian Club Disco Doubles Championship grand final is at Tottenham Ritzy . . . Friday (28) Pete Tong & Eddie Gordon start souling Gravesend’s new late licence The Waterfront weekly, T.C. Curtis PAs for DJ Bob James at Hastings Pier, and Adrian Allen at South Shields Chelsea Cat has an all white night (half price if dressed accordingly) . . . Sunday (30) Martin Collins, Jeff Young, Joe Field, Nicky Holloway & Ralph Tee celebrate Hemel Hempstead Midland Hotel’s noon-10.30pm summer soul alldayer in a marquee, Baz Fe Jazz, Chris Reid & Rhythm Doc do Birmingham’s first ever Latin-jazz alldayer 4-10pm at Bobby Browns (in Gas Street aptly!), mixers Froggy & Flip join John Dean at Hastings Images, and The Cool Notes PA at Peterborough Canters . . . Soul On Sound’s next funktion at the Hippodrome is Wednesday (3) with Tony Jenkins, Steve Wren, Ray Stevens and doubtless Damon Rochefort . . . Peter C. Helyer considers himself fully employed now at Cardiff Ritzy Mon/Fri, Bristol Studio Wed, Gloucester Cinderellas Rockerfellas Thurs/Sat — um, what about Tues/Sun, you idle boy! . . . Neil Matthew, souling Basildon’s “laid back” Flying Childers pub Mon, wonders whether our disco chart-topper’s sales have suffered from people asking for Rene & Renato ‘Save Your Love’, only to be told it’s deleted! . . . I did a wedding gig last Saturday that the host insisted had to end at 1am, after which nobody wanted to stop so someone drove a car right inside the marquee, opened all the doors, and everyone carried on dancing to its stereo at full blast! . . . I made the mistake of using the 7in version of Sister Sledge ‘Frankie‘ — yeucch, it sounds so thin and weedy! — but a bigger success was the superior original 174½bpm Rockin’ Sidney ‘My Toot Toot‘ (Jin KID 001, via EMI/Priority), followed nicely by ‘Casatschok’ . . . Colin Hudd (Dartford Flicks) now mixes David Grant ‘Love Is Alive’ vocal/instrumental/Jaki Graham ‘Round And Around’ while Graham Gold (Mayfair Gulliver’s) as well as the Skipworth & Turner mix also synchs Maze ‘Twilight’ with the old 109½bpm Royalle Delite ‘(I’ll Be A) Freak For You‘ . . . Mink ‘You Were The One (Too Late)‘ is in danger of becoming THE one that got away in ’85 — but why, as it’s brilliant? . . . Gary Hickson (0253-66701), also after early-week residences in the North-West, offers a graphics package to clubs with video facilities . . . Mike Page, Thur/Sat at Shrewsbury Park Lane with Paul Anthony, is also at Shifnal’s currently being refitted Boo’s for whose grand reopening he’s after PAs on 0952- 461517 . . . Dave Morris is expanding the mailing list at Elite, 262 Holloway Road, London N7 6NE . . . Justin Lubbock, son of hot LA-based arranger Jeremy Lubbock, has taken over disco promotion at Impulse, while Debbie Gopie, no longer an employed disco plugger, stupidly didn’t keep a personal record of the DJs on her list and wants to hear from them again on 01-352 8027 . . . Brown Music? — currently in the marketplace are hot toons by Gloria D. Brown, Shirley Brown, James Brown, Julius Brown, Keisa Brown, O’Chi Brown and Chuck Brown . . . clear the decks, LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

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HOT VINYL

BARBARA PENNINGTON: ‘On A Crowded Street’ (Record Shack SOHOT 49)
Looking lovely, Barbara’s even better than on her last to my mind over contrived attempt at the Man Tran/Kid Creole style, this terrific happy brassy swinger being almost pure Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band! Producer Ian Levine’s original 105¼-105½-105¼-105½-105¼bpm 12in mix is however just too damn long, so the label have laughed off the first thousand white label pressings as a “full unedited version” and will make the commercial release a more sensible length (dub inst flip).

RICK JAMES: ‘Glow/Glow Reprise’ (Gordy ZT 40224)
Seemingly around for ages though only now finally seeing UK singles release, Rick’s easily churning 117½-0bpm sinuous whomper has some glorious scat and brass solos (inst flip).

STEVE ARRINGTON: ‘Dancin’ In The Key Of Life (Remix)’ (Atlantic A9534T)
Obviously always destined to be the follow-up to ‘Feel So Real’, this similar if less dense 115¼bpm jittery joyous leaper has been slightly remixed towards the end (inst, and more stolid 0-111½bpm ‘Turn Up The Love‘ flip). Continue reading “Jun 29, 1985: Barbara Pennington, Rick James, Steve Arrington, Willie Hutch, Cameo”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

PAUL HARDCASTLE rang last week to say that ’19’ is now number one in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Finland, Ireland, 10 in Australia, 12 in Austria, 13 in Sweden and 32 in the USA, that his last remix for a long time will be of the actual original ‘D’ Train ‘You’re The One For Me‘ (always his favourite record), and that it’s not him but Direct Drive behind ‘N-N-Nineteen Not Out’ (oh, really?) . . . WEA misinformed me about The Commentators: never connected with Spitting Image, impressionist Rory Bremner was doing his act at Xenon last November by Capital Radio’s afternoon jock John Sachs who now features him regularly on his show (subsequently Rory appeared an unprecedented three times with Terry Wogan on TV), the cricket commentary spoof originally being laid down over the ’19’ instrumental for play by Sachs, to incredible listener phone-in response (there’s another ‘N-N-Nineteen Not Out’ never for release, about a well known cricketer and the “white lines” around the pitch!) . . . Bluebird/10’s use of the ‘Rain Forest’ remix was the only track that Chrysalis won an injunction against, so now the Paul Hardcastle reissue has gone ahead using just the tune’s original version — which in a letter to DJs Paul points out is not the official follow-up to ’19’, his new single not being ready until August (however, completists should note that ‘The Final Story’ has turned up as B-side to the 7in of ’19’ now) . . . I seem to have anticipated the general mood about the ludicrous remix situation, “creative marketing” gone mad, and in our Disco chart you will see every remix is placed separately to dissipate the impact record companies otherwise benefit from when in other charts all versions of a single are lumped together: a remix should be a superior and necessary dance version, not an artificial device for prolonging a record’s chart life . . . The Cool Notes have had the guts to remix and toughen up their hurriedly recorded 115bpm ‘In Your Car’ so that the thin sounding promo will not be the version on sale . . . Rockie Robbins’ ‘I’ve Got Your Number’ in a 116½bpm remix is about on US promo . . . Sister Sledge’s 12in of ‘Frankie’ is now being marketed with an added instrumentally extended 114-115½-115-115½bpm remix of ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ and a limited edition of David Grant’s 12in has the old Linx ‘You’re Lying’/’Intuition’ as flip . . . 10 Records turns out to be the eventual label for a pleasant chick-sung swaying 110bpm burbler called ‘The Lover In Me‘ which has been mystifying people on white label variously credited as by Bella-Donna or Touch (not the established group), but now confirmed as being by September, due July! . . . London’s soul pirates Solar & LWR, plus Skyline, got busted with full studio confiscation last week, temporarily leaving just JBC 96.95FM on air while Horizon were struggling to establish a new site, Solar’s jock at the time of the bust Mark ‘Sparks’ Mc’arthy almost avoiding arrest after he’d got stuck up at the top of a ladder while trying to escape! . . . Solar-FM and many other non-soul pirates are setting up a meeting with MPs at the House of Commons next month . . . Manchester could be due for a “satellite” soul station, eh Kev? . . . Irish radio expertise could be adding a new star spangled American accent to London’s soul airwaves if some secret schemes are realised . . . Essex Radio’s soul DJ Dave Gregory wonders whether Streetwave’s reliable Morgan Khan will ever actually make it to the station — and, incidentally, whether Laser 558 is switching to soul, too? . . . ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ returns to TV on Channel 4 this Friday at 5.50pm, before ‘6.20 Soul Train’ then has Shirley Brown, Phil Fearon, Jeff Lorber, George McCrae, Temptations . . . Aretha Franklin let it all hang out (literally!) on her televised concert last Friday . . . Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force topped US Club Play, Madonna ‘Angel’/’Into The Groove’ 12in Sales . . . Little Benny & The Masters ‘Who Comes To Boogie’ has been reissued this time by Elektra in the States, with two new remixes by Regie Thompson & Scott Folks . . . Curtis Hairston no less is the anonymous lead singer on the BB&Q Band album, recorded before ‘I Want Your Lovin’ — and the supposed M&M remix of his old ‘I Want You (All Tonight)’ is in fact their original mix (it’s just my memory of it that’s cluttered!) . . . JoAnna Gardner (in common with Tina Turner and Herbie Hancock, a Buddhist) this Saturday marries a civil engineer back home in Philadelphia, where it was Loose Ends who introduced her to producer Nick Martinelli after they’d met her working in a jewellery store! (she and Eugene Wilde will tour here in September as a Philly World Records package) . . . ‘Love Fever‘ is clumsily described by the lady herself as “fresh, a fresh piece of product for Shirley Brown at this time” — yeah, know what she means, especially when she confesses she’s not normally into rhythm material! . . . Tony Blackburn’s producer Cheryl Garnsey went to Cornwall for five days to have a complete break, but the first people she bumped into were — inevitably — the Cool Notes (actually on her way there, at the Electric Studio in Yeovil, which seems a silly place to stop if you are trying to get away from it all!) . . . Wolverhampton in October will be getting a sumptuous new leisure complex The Whitehouse (the old Unigate Dairy, designed in the ’70s by an Edwin Whitehouse), containing a large Spectrum 1000 disco, Edwin’s wine bar, and cabaret/restaurant, with at least one soul night promised a week . . . Mayfair’s Samantha’s has a brand new entrance two doors down from Rockafella’s late night eaterie . . . Friday sees the start of the ‘Essex Soul Connection’, a bus service connecting at chucking-out time Basildon Crest Hotel’s Fat Sam’s Grand Slam bar and Brentwood Elliots, both venues combining for a vicars & tarts party this Friday (21) for which Kevin Hawkins (0375 678558) would appreciate PAs, the bus service operating Fri/Sat . . . Friday (21) also finds Colin Hudd’s black tie formal midsummer ball at Dartford Flicks and the South West Soul Society’s three day Summer Weekender kicking off at Yeovil Electric Studio . . . John Earthy & Clinton Cambridge the ladies men funk Hillingdon Hiccups wine bar Sunday’s, Franklin Sinclair the soulful solicitor now just funks Manchester Playpen Fri/Sat, Peter Lee, where are you jocking these days, if anywhere? . . . Dave Clark (Barking Chains) is after the original 1970 US version of T.Ski Valley ‘!Catch The Beat!’ on 01-594 5768 and Norman Scott (Harringey Bolts) is trying to discover who performs a much requested ‘Celebration Polka’ evidently big in Birmingham gay clubs . . . Colin Hudd doesn’t only sync Chocolette all through 400 Blows, but also Maze ‘Twilight’ through Skipworth & Turner . . . Brian Mason (Cricklewood Ashtons) tweeks Phil Fearon down a bit to get the BPM at a sensible level . . . York ‘Don’t Stop’ should be 111¾-112bpm (such detail!) . . . Sony’s portable CD Player model D-50 (at around £275) is so small and so precise in its instant-start cueing that suddenly the prospect of a Compact Disc future seems less alarming — though vari-speed mixing, rather than chops, could still be a problem . . . Steve Ford appears to be mixing “live” using the digital delay unit (rather than pre-preparing tapes) at Harrow Weald’s Middlesex & Herts Country Club . . . Disco Mix Club’s June mixes are Alan Coulthard’s useful Soft Cell medley, Sanny X’s predictable Paul Hardcastle medley, Les Adams’ clever as ever current funk, Paul Dakeyne’s subdued Continental summer classics . . . C’mon, clear the decks, LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

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CARL ANDERSON ‘Buttercup‘ has only been really massive in London, so A&R man Orin Cozier was looking for someone suitable to do a remix that would sell it to the same people again before he suddenly discovered that it had already been remixed in the States when new — hence he was hustling hot acetates of the US Percussion Remix around all the radio stations last weekend! With New York percussionists El Barrio tapping quietly through it, not necessarily an improvement as they seem to make the momentum drag, the remix is naturally being rushed out now on Streetwave MKHAX 45).

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HOT VINYL

LIGHT OF THE WORLD: ‘London Town ’85’ (Ensign 12ENY 518)
Obviously massive already on London’s many soul stations (for which it could have been made), this (0-)103-103¼-107bpm remix by Kenny & Breeze of their old Team mates’ classic cool jazzy jogger has tootling trumpet and added Victor Feldman vibes over the singalong, swayalong, summery vocal and schoolkids chorus, flipped by the now rather ragged and primitive BEGGAR & CO ‘(Somebody) Help Me Out‘ 0-117½-117bpm “whoa oh!” chanter.

B.B. & Q. BAND: ‘Genie’ (Cooltempo COOLX 110)
The 101¼bpm UK pressings of this instantly explosive Curtis Hairston-sung SOS Band-style hot tempo snapper have reverted to a teaming of the LP Version and more spaciously structured Dance Mix, the latter Dutch A-side oddly here the flip but likely to be the one most played.

CHANGE: ‘Mutual Attraction (Remix)’ (US Atlantic 0-86879)
Nick Martinelli’s sinuously pushing 106¾bpm remix of their LP’s standout attractive swayer (inst flip), likely to be another ‘Change Of Heart’, won’t be out here for a fortnight as rather too late in the day Paul Hardcastle’s 98½bpm remix of ‘Let’s Go Together’ has finally appeared as the flip to ‘Oh What A Feeling‘ (Cooltempo COOLX 109). Continue reading “June 22, 1985: Light Of The World, B.B. & Q. Band, Change, Conway Brothers, 400 Blows”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

PAUL HARDCASTLE has now anonymously produced a cricket pisstaking ‘N-N-Nineteen Not Out‘ by The Commentators (featuring Rory Bremner of Spitting Image) for rush release on WEA, while the Bluebird/10 label has been legally prevented from reissuing ‘Rain Forest’, but not before some copies snuck out to become instant collectors items (especially the 33 1/3 rpm 3-track 7in of ‘Rain Forest’/Remix/’Forest Fire’!) . . . The Team, whose pop progress was delayed by pressing problems, have an even better percussive remix by the Blood Succulas due now, Chris Cameron has a slicker Club Remix next week, Mark Fisher has indeed been remixed, Les Adams has remixed Cacique for rush release, while on US 12in are slight remixes of Steve Arrington ‘Dancin’ In The Key Of Life’ and Melba Moore ‘When You Love Me Like This’ — it’s now reaching the stage where record companies are lucky to sell any singles at all, with everyone hanging on to their money while they wait to see which of the inevitable remixes will be the definitive one to buy . . . I hear that Duran Duran’s sales have suffered badly because some punters refuse to believe ‘A View To A Kill’ won’t be on 12in let alone remixed! . . . Maze ‘Twilight‘ will be teamed on 12in here with remixes of ‘Too Many Games’ and ‘Back In Stride’ — the latter incidentally did most of its US Black chart-topping business down in the Southern States . . . Billboard’s Hot Black singles currently include such as Wham!, Phil Collins, Howard Jones, Sting, Don Henley, thanks to US urban contemporary radio playlisting them, while Cheyne ‘Call Me Mr Telephone‘ topped Club Play there — I’m surprised it isn’t bigger in pop clubs here, actually . . . Whitney Houston’s eponymous LP is now out here (Arista 206978) as is the Rodney Franklin ‘Skydance’ LP (CBS 26399), with its Richie-esque carnival ‘Fiesta‘ 121bpm — and the Marvin Gaye LP here is a teensy fraction faster too . . . Stevie Wonder’s new album ‘In Square Circle’ would appear to be a good’un — trouble is, Motown are still waiting for him to approve the art work! . . . London’s soul radio has brought out a brand new generation of kids for whom black music seems exciting and what’s happening, just what it needed, for the first time since the “soul boy” scene went stagnant, yet the old guard of club DJs (who no longer control it) are grousing that the music now is shallow and their tried and trusted (ie: boring as hell) oldies don’t work any more — in other words, it’s a brand new day so let a man come in and do the funky popcorn, the new generation have their own groove and their own favourite 105bpm oldies (yet Kent’s “godfather” promoter still boasts that his jocks get a crowd going with ‘Contact’, none of that modern muck!) . . . Fatback dropped the Band from their name to indicate their broader more modern direction, with good reason as indeed most of their mid-’70s oldies were totally alien to today’s ‘Is This The Future?’ generation at Hammersmith Odeon last weekend, where only ‘Spanish Hustle’ caused a stir (although ‘Bus Stop’ was used for some sexy audience participation dancing), the audience on their own sounding more capable singing the roof-raising ‘I Found Lovin’ than the uncharesmatic John DeBerry, while Linda Blakely really shook ass on ‘Play With Me Tonight’! . . . Steve Walsh preceded them with a disjointed series of mimed PAs by Mistaken Identity (with a chick like a less buxom Chaka), whose ‘The Answer‘ still deserves more support, Intrigue, who need a choreographer bad, Mark Fisher & Dotty Green, chucking out T-shirts, The Team, whose T-shirt chucking caused pandemonium, and Five Star, perfectly synchronised but almost totally in the dark — I don’t find this technological age of lighting rigs, which so often leave the stage in semi-gloom, an advance over the old days when there were footlights where now there are foldback speakers . . . ‘6.20 Soul Train’ if it is to continue having any credibility really must as a matter of priority hire an adviser who actually knows what’s going down on the street: that said, this Friday’s has The Team, David Grant, JoAnna Gardner, Al Green, McFadden & Whitehead . . . David Grant’s latest video was shot in 10 hours, edited in 12, and shown on TV within four days of the camera crew actually turning up, all for £17,000 (which is enough) whereas Go West spent £120,000 on their video and are lucky if TV shows more than 20 seconds — aren’t the economics of modern pop bonkers? . . . David Grant, Phil Fearon and lots more late night revellers (whose anonymity is guaranteed) celebrated Chris & Carol Hill’s wedding last Wednesday, much of it videoed by producer Tony Eyers — including Carol falling off her horse in an expensive ‘Dynasty’-style cream satin suit, now with green trim (sidesaddle, satin, bareback, bump!) . . . “Phil Who?”, asked Chris’s mum, on being introduced to the star whose music her son publishes — yeah, and even now after 16 years my own mother can’t remember the name of Record Mirror! . . . Island boss Chris Blackwell admits about the low budget $1 million ‘Good To Go’ go go movie, due to open in August Stateside, “There’s simply not enough strong material to break the music ahead of the film” — this and much more was interestingly reported by The Washington Post of May 20 (it’s useful having a godmother in DC!) . . . Berry Gordy’s ‘The Last Dragon’, opening here in a month, is terrific fun which after a few first embarrassed titters will have you in gales of guffaws as you suddenly realize it’s an hilarious comedy on purpose, concerning a naive black kung fu master (Taimak) called ‘Bruce’ Leroy (geddit? — there’s even a “Hey Leroy!” joke), a gorgeous video jock (Vanity), a massive Black Shogun Of Harlem (Julius J. Carry III, likely to eclipse Mr T.), a send-up of Cyndi Lauper, some cute kids, comic villains, martial arts, and many good cross-cultural jokes about the black hero acting like he’s Chinese while a Chinese rap trio jive talk like they’re black: in fact there’s so much to enjoy on many often subtle levels (how’s Sum Dum Goy for a Chinese name?), it’s a shame the music isn’t any better — to my mind the best track, by the Chinese rappers, doesn’t even make it onto the soundtrack LP . . . ‘Fast Forward’, the Sidney Poitier-directed dance movie, has shown up here on RCA Columbia video cassette rather than in cinemas . . . Steve Davis, consoling himself after his snooker defeat, is back practising his disco mixing! . . . Essex Radio’s new expanded soul policy seems to have spurred South-East Essex’s so far only intermittent soul pirate ACR 103.3FM into broadcasting around the clock Fri-Sun every weekend now . . . Solar FM and LWR quickly recovered from transmitter raids last week, Horizon were still silent when last heard . . . Jasper souls the early hours 1.30-3am Mon-Thurs on Skyline Radio 90.2FM, his gigs being Egham 21’s Fri/Barnet Broadway Sat/Mill Hill Bradways Sun . . . Pete Tong may find The Dude is a gunslinger . . . Greg Edwards evidently appears on Divine’s new single, while Capital’s Sunday 5am gospel jock Al Matthews has had to shave his head for a film he’s in! . . . Adrian Dunbar (Bournemouth Bolts, with Kelly Marie this Sunday) apologises to Tricky Dicky that his gay club isn’t playing much soul: “perhaps he meant the smaller venues where you have to play pop hits to get them on the floor?” (like it, like it!) . . . Friday (14) Colin Hudd reviews 1978 at Dartford Flicks, and Dave Rawlings looks for Basingstoke’s worst dancer at Martines (where — no connection! — Sean French joins him next Wednesday) . . . Paul Morrissey joins Paul Lewis (the Pauls that refresh?) funking Swindon Brunel Rooms Amphitheatre Saturday (15), when Five Star hit Harlow Whispers . . . Kev Edwards wheels Take Three around Merseyside to Birkenhead Promises and The Sandpipers Sun (16), Warrington Carlton and BBC Radio Merseyside Mon (17) . . . Disco Mix Club’s hit mixer Sanny X now has a guest spot at London’s Hippodrome every Tues/Fri . . . Edinburgh jock Cramond Perry, still alternating Saturdays at Mistys On The Mound and Reflections (every Sunday there too), does Thurs and funky Fri at the brand new plush Madison by the Playhouse theatre . . . Paul Anthony, still at Cuddles near Solihull Wed, joins Mark Page at Shrewsbury Park Lane Mon/Thur/Fri/Sat . . . Big Phil Etgart adds Fri as well as heaving Sun at Wembley Stallones (pub hours) . . . Big ‘H’ jazzes Staines Jacksons Tues, Ascot Belvedere Fri, Teddington Le Moulin Sat (& Sun lunchtime), and does Woburn Grange Foxy’s ladies night Thurs . . . Eon Irving, obviously blind tired before, corrects he’s Mon/Fri at Chelsea Mainsqueeze where it’s ‘Rain Forest’ that ‘Forbidden Fruit’ mixes with . . . Andy ‘Bomber’ Boules (who must be a petonk player!) has joined Halstead’s Mirror Image Roadshow, ex-Faze One . . . Michael Buzzi, polishing up his English, tries his best to play funky alternatives to the usual Europop at Mettmenstetten’s Disco Club Tiffany in Switzerland, which could be useful for holidaymakers (if they know where it is!) . . . Kenny Copeland’s disco plays seem to depend on the weather each weekend . . . Pete Haigh (0253-824156) is now after J.R. Funk & The Love Machine ‘Feel Good Party Time‘ (US Brass 12in), the James Brown clone I reviewed Sept 6, 1980 (that particular page of Record Minor was blown up big for the BADEM show and now graces my bathroom wall!) . . . DJs who could honestly use Virgin’s segued ‘Massive 1’ reggae hits album at their venues should contact Hot Licks on 01-486 8794 . . . DJs in places outside mainland Britain (Ireland, Channel Islands, Europe and anywhere that UK release schedules don’t apply) must realize that record companies are unable to include you in their tightly budgeted mailouts, which are designed to expose their product in areas well served by chart return shops . . . Gary Hickson, pulling 2,500 at weekends to Blackburn’s Peppermint Place Pepps 2, complains he knows many mobile and Top 30 resident DJs who received promos every week but won’t be playing them until jocks like himself have helped to chart them by buying often two copies to break them in a mix . . . I wish record companies could bike their stuff to my home address, as I never get mail on a Saturday and rarely on Monday for some reason, especially now I’ve started a disco column in Music Week (as a supplement to that well known spelling mistake Barry Lazell!) . . . North West Ten turns out to be Phil Who’s brother Lenny Fearon with two chums, their 119½bpm ‘I Choose You‘/120¾bpm ‘You’ve Got All Night‘ double-sider being due July 1 . . . Ian Levine’s production is really Dr Buzzard for Barbara Pennington’s follow-up, an M&M remix however ruining Miquel Brown’s ‘Close To Perfection’ which hopefully can be altered before reaching vinyl . . . MCA in the States have chickened out over its lyrics being too suggestive for radio and have stopped promoting One Way ‘Let’s Talk’ — pooh! . . . LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

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HOT VINYL

LUTHER VANDROSS: ‘It’s Over Now’ (US Epic 49-05228)
Always his album’s most danceable track, this soulfully teased lurching smacker has been much freak-ified with fancy effects and “get out” growls for a drastic and powerful 110(intro)-113(start)-114-114½-114¼-113¾(break)-114¼-0bpm Dance Remix (straighforward inst flip), not as blatant as a Chaka Khan but exciting enough to smash.

9.9: ‘All Of Me For All Of You’ (US RCA Victor PW-14083)
Richard Dimples Fields-produced good looking girlie trio wailing an excellent simple brightly bonking 115¼-115¾-116¼bpm disco wriggler, with a far harder Dub Version and the traditionally bluesy 92bpm ‘Little Bitty Woman‘ as flip, exploding right out of the box!

SKIPWORTH & TURNER: ‘Thinking About Your Love (A Lady Sings The Blues) — Remix #2’ (Fourth & Broadway 12BRWX 23)
Now extremely different, this Jocelyn Brown-ish 106½bpm remix finds Helena Springs wailing and gurgling after the long intro and then counterpointing the guys in a remix what is a remix (original as flip), even if it is only likely to get many of the same people buying it yet again. Does that make it a hit? Continue reading “June 15, 1985: Luther Vandross, 9.9, Skipworth & Turner, Kleeer, Atlantic Starr”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

 

MARVIN GAYE ‘Dream Of A Lifetime’ LP (CBS 26239) is now out here and sneaks up your trouser leg, it really having grown on me as driving music in sun-baked North Wales all last week, especially the rhapsodic old Motown-record title track . . . London-based John Morales of the M&M team has remixed a bubbly 0-115½bpm Five Star ‘All Fall Down‘ (Tent PT 40040) and much punchier 117½bpm Harold Faltermeyer ‘Axel F’ (MCA MCAT 949), while finally out is the originally promoed traffic-introed gradually unfurling 116¼bpm US Club Remix of DeBarge ‘Rhythm Of The Night‘ (Gordy TMGT 1376) . . . Touch Of Class in its horrid UK 12in re-edit appears to be much hated — get the original import! . . . Island have promoed a great sleazily pattering jiggly slow 90bpm radical US remake of Animal Nightlife ‘Love Is Just The Great Pretender‘ . . . The Style Council, notwithstanding my criticism of their need to appear on ‘6.20 Soul Train’, sound quite soulful on the pent-up dubified rolling 102bpm ‘The Lodgers (Club Mix)‘, only available in this form (Polydor say) as part of a 3-track promo, their LP’s lighter D.C. Lee-duetted 0-101bpm vocal version being pleasant too . . . Glasgow’s husky soul singer Grant Mitchell has pressed up white labels of his group Pure Glass before finalising a deal, containing the attractive Steely Dan-ish 124½bpm ‘Don’t Be Afraid‘, spare dense lurchers 116½bpm ‘Let The Music Talk‘, 0-111bpm ‘Dress Me Up’— with a bit more individuality, another AWB? . . . NW10 (The best peoples postcode!) is the name under which the rest of Phil Fearon’s family have recorded, very Galaxy meets Five Star, due soon . . . Tony Monson in a significant career move has dropped his daily breakfast show on Solar FM as a condition of returning to the legal airwaves on Essex Radio 95.3/96.4FM just on Saturday nights (9pm-1am, the central two hours containing an exhaustive Street Sales Chart) — not many people realise he started as a top radio jock in Bermuda around 1965 . . . David Grant and Odyssey showed up, as did Music Week columnists Barry Lazell and myself, but not a single one of the expected record company people bothered to travel through the sun to Southend for Essex Radio’s soul-launching lunchtime celebration last Saturday (well, we had fun!) . . . Tom Wilson says rumours of his redundancy were much exaggerated, as he was never on an actual contract to Radio Forth and yet still works as a stand-in DJ there — he adds that Stax has recently joined the list of non-“needletime” labels which include Streetwave, Salsoul, Fantasy, Milestone, Champion, Factory, Sonet and even (briefly) Boiling Point, Manhattan . . . Friday’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’ has Elton John & Millie Jackson, Pennye Ford, Sister Sledge, Chic, Stevie Wonder . . . Cab Calloway’s voice and stage presence were impressively undiminished, considering he must be pushing on 80, on BBC 1’s recent marvellous ‘The Cotton Club Comes To The Ritz‘ — I do hope today’s hip hoppers, Kid Creole fans and black music followers in general managed to catch it especially for all the vintage film clips, to see where their music came from 50 and more years ago (the sound may change but the attitude remains the same) . . . Sheila E will be playing the “love interest” in a rap movie ‘Krush Groove’ loosely based on real life manager/producer Russell Simmons (of Jazzy Jay’s ‘Cold Chillin’ In The Spot‘ B-side fame!), featuring such of his acts as Run-DMC, Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow . . . Freddie Jackson topped US Black 45s, Lisa Lisa 12in Sales, while Paul Hardcastle ’19’ has indeed started to chart across the board there . . . Loose Ends old ‘A Little Spice’ LP has hit the US Black chart as their ‘Hangin’ On A String’ single continues to climb — I see Billboard’s review echoes my own controversial view of that album, “Very smooth, very listenable and very forgettable” . . . Disco breakers under the 85 here include Michele Gold ‘Lost In Love’ (Dutch Palace), Emotions ‘Miss Your Love’ (Motown), Melba Moore ‘When You Love Me Like This (Remix)’ (US Capitol), Keisa Brown ‘I Tripped’ (US Park Place LP), Michael Lovesmith ‘Break The Ice’ (US Motown), Trevor Walters ‘Love’s A Lie’ (Polydor), Well Red ‘Limit Of Your Loving’ (Paladin), Touch Of Class ‘Let Me Be Your Everything (UK Re-edit)’ (Atlantic), York ‘Don’t Stop’/’You Are Everything’ (US Passion Records LP), Four Tops ‘Sexy Ways’ (US Motown 7in) — check these and the main chart’s new entries as a week in the sun followed by a trip to Essex Radio rather set my schedule back, and there may be no time for full reviews this week . . . Dr York’s label name seems likely to upset the Personal set-up, who distribute our own Passion logo Stateside . . . Hi-NRG stars appeared side by side in The Sun last week, Sinitta because she’ll co-star with David Essex in his stage show ‘Mutiny’, and Angie Gold because she got busted for chucking things at her boyfriend’s ex-lover — and still neither can get a pop hit here! . . . Norman Scott runs a new Hi-NRG club the first Thursday every month at Luton Tropicana Beach, Sundays still finding Bolts at Ronelles . . . Take Three PA Fri (7) at Canning Town Tidal Basement, Sat (8) at Harlow Whispers while Friday also finds the Cool Notes live at Yeovil Electric Studio — where the following weekend (21-23) there’s a South West Soul Society Summer Weekender with Graham T, Paul Lewis, Paul Clark, Chris Dinnis, John C & Chris Stagg serving up everything from Latin to funk (£25 covers all four sessions plus two nights hotel accommodation, or £5 for all four sessions, £2.50 per session alone, full details on 0935-74886) . . . Monday (10) Mark Farley & Pete Haigh plus regular guest Richard Searling start weekly soul at Morecambe Harveys on Sandylands Promenade, preceded this Sun (9) by Pete doing a “black music spot” on Steve Barker’s 2-5pm Radio Lancashire 96.4FM show . . . Rob Harknett (027979-2379) needs a new copy of Mad Jock Cameron ‘Strip The Willow’ . . . Miami Sound Machine’s imminent ‘The Conga‘ should prove a crowd pleasing corny 123¼bpm old fashioned Latin jangler . . . Alessi ‘Oh Lori‘, long a revived biggie around Essex, now seems to have spread south of the river to Kent . . . Edinburgh black music label Move have new Oliver Cheatham product in the can — can’t wait! . . . David Grant intended the 12in version of ‘Where Our Love Begins’ to be like a mid-’70s Philadelphia international extended version but himself admits he prefers the 7in as somewhere the song got lost . . . Cooltempo sent out promotionally a pair of very snazzy white (with gold logo) slipmats, thick and good quality, which should rapidly replace Phil Fearon, Malcolm X and other models on hip turntables . . . A Certain Ratio revived ‘Shack Up’ back in the New Romantic era, I know, I know, but that’s not the point! . . . LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

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HOT VINYL

B.B. & Q. BAND: ‘Genie’ (Dutch Break Records 1850960)
Jacques Fred Petrus certainly learnt something from Change’s spell with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, as now his production technique is identical on this very SOS Band-like 100bpm cool ticker (confusingly titled alternative mix flip), exploding already ahead of UK release on Cooltempo.

JAMES BROWN: ‘Sex Machine’ (Boiling Point POSPX 751)
As mentioned is a 4-track 12in EP with (for the first time since it flipped ‘For Goodness Sake Look At Those Cakes’ in ’78) the full length 0-108¼-109¼(“bridge”)-108bpm ‘Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine’, long LP version 112-118-117½-117-118½-125(“funky drummer”)-119½-119-119½-120½-121½bpm ‘Get Up Offa That Thing‘ and similarly 108½-107½-109½-108bpm ‘Get On The Good Foot‘, plus the modern funk pioneering 128-130bpm ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag‘ . . . which, as a point of interest, James Brown himself played me in July 1964 (along with ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’) a full year before its eventual release, delayed by a dispute with record company King from whom he had temporarily split to record for Smash (he ended up just doing instrumentals for the latter). Uhh! Get down!

PAUL HARDCASTLE: ‘King Tut (Remix)’ (Chrysalis CHS 322860)
Will it never end? Now indeed, as well as the pressings which duplicate the Destruction Mix’s B-side, ’19 — The Final Story’ has also appeared almost as originally planned flipped by this US hit remix of a typical tinkly 124¾bpm attractive electro instrumental which has been hot on hard to find import, plus (to satisfy BPI/Gallup chart eligibility requirements) the 115bpm ‘Fly By Night‘ which has appeared throughout as a flipside track to ’19’. Continue reading “June 8, 1985: B.B. & Q. Band, James Brown, Paul Hardcastle, Kleeer, Maze”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

SOME COMBINATION of Steve Arrington, Roy Ayers and The SOS Band seems likely to be on a picnic at Knebworth in August — sounds like a showstopper, huh? . . . Paul Hardcastle ’19 — The Final Story’ disappointingly ended up with the same B-side as its predecessors . . . Aurra’s follow-up ‘Happy Feeling‘ in a fortnight will be flipped by a remix of ‘Like I Like It’ . . . Magnum Force have extended and remixed last year’s B-side as their new import single ‘Get Up And Get In The Mix‘ (US Paula Records) . . . Redds & The Boys ‘Put Your Right Hand In The Air‘ has been remixed for 12in by Mastermind (whose ‘Turntable Mix‘ of Little Benny snuck out so quietly as the original’s flip rather too late to be effective that I never even knew about it) . . . Les Adams has done a Steve Arrington medley of five tracks from the current album which does seem likely for release in some limited form . . . Julian Guffogg & John Rushford got fed up with doing mobiles around Ashford, Kent, and instead invested in a Teac recorder and digital delay to help with their home produced megamixes which they hope might end up on vinyl one day: best when cuttin’ it to the max, their synched segues aren’t always so hot although they’ve an ear for flow . . . Essex Radio 95.3/96.4FM, as hinted, this weekend unveils its much expanded ‘Essex Soul Parade’ (with special rates for new advertisers — call 0702-335707 Mon/Tues afternoons), Dave Gregory now running 6-9pm Mon-Fri but the big news is Saturday, which starting this week lines up 5-9am Adrian Seek, 9-noon Dave Gregory, 6-9pm Disco John Leech, 9pm-1am Tony Monson (including the exclusive first airing of his Street Sales Chart) . . . Solar & Horizon both came off air last Thursday to avoid unwelcome attention from you know who, although LWR bravely soldiered on (this was written too early to know if they got busted), while West London’s JBC 96.95FM (Jamaican Broadcasting Co) seems to have been expanding from its initial weekend shows . . . Disco Gary Van Den Bussche is the nearest London’s soul radio gets to the US “quiet storm” format, on Solar 102.45FM early hours Thursday, so much slicker than his rivals at that time of night . . . Nik Love souls Saturday 12-3pm, and with Jasper Wednesday 12-3am, on South-East London’s general purpose Skyline Radio 90.2FM — the trouble is, with so many 24 hour soul stations to choose between, who wants to check their watch and calendar? . . . Friday’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’ will feature Five Star, Ashford & Simpson, DeBarge, James Brown, Freda Payne and — in an astounding compromise — Style Council: the programme is forced to compromise all the time due to restrictions about the use of videos, visitors work permits and the like, none of which have so negative an effect on Top Of The Pops to which Paul Weller seemingly has a permanent passport, but this is taking their search for available acts into an area that many will feel abuses the whole point of the show — which surely is to expose those acts who don’t automatically get onto white dominated pop TV? . . . Millie Jackson has done a duet with Elton John, so they’ll be on Soul Train next week . . . Bill Cosby’s current TV family sit-com appears to have inspired the teaming of equally veteran black comedian Flip Wilson with none other than Gladys Knight in a similarly cosy, middle-aged, middle class, parents with kids sit-com ‘Charlie & Company’, due on US screens in the fall (sorry, make that autumn!) — in fact, Disco Mix Club trippers to New York in September should be just in time for its first showing . . . Tears For Fears topped US 12in Sales, Shannon ‘Do You Wanna Get Away‘ Club Play, while Whitney Houston ‘You Give Good Love‘ (her Kashif -produced slowie) is top Black hit — and Pete Tong, just back from the Big Apple, warns radio jocks here to try it as its “the business” — Pete is also raving about New York City’s brand new club The Palladium, on 14th & Broadway, which makes spectacular use of massive moving banks of TV screens and features DJs Jellybean, Larry Levan, Mark Kamins on various weekly nights . . . South Harrow Bogarts on the other hand unveiled their £300,000 refit with one of the great cliches of our time, ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ introducing a Hippodrome-styled ambitious lightshow which’ll be even better when the music accompaniment is more tightly edited (not very Young & Strong!), while DJ Chris Paul kept getting hung up by the loop in the back of his French designer shirt! . . . Beckenham McCormacks re-opens this weekend as the refurbished Harriot’s, now with funky Sat as well as jolly Sun hosted by LWR DJ Rick Robinson . . . Colin Hudd revives 1977 at Dartford Flicks Friday (31), when Steve Walsh & Paul Owens funk a County Sound special at Aldershot Civic Hall’s Prince’s Hall . . . Fatman Graham Canter (a bit thinner actually) and Chris Britton funk Tottenham’s (ex-Eltons) Websters Thur/Fri/Sun . . . John Dean is building funky Tuesdays at Hastings Flamingo’s with its own free funk force membership and free admission also for Caister passport/gold card holders . . . Sacha Vitorovich presents The Cake at London Bond Street’s Embassy Club this and every Wednesday with live bands, fashions, and unusual DJ Spinner D . . . David Johnson funks Wealdstone Boomers Thur/Sat . . . Franklin Sinclair adds funky-ish Friday at Manchester’s Playpen . . . Paul Needham, now Wed-Sat at Derby Knotted Snake, crams in over 2,000 just between 8.30-10.30pm Fri/Sat and says “come early!” . . . Keith Anthony is rammed out with really knowledgeable soulsters, weekends at Bermondsey Tanners . . . Ian Robertson reckons Scandals finally brings Dalkeith bang up to date . . . Mark Rymann, recently at Tokyo Joe’s, now does Soho’s Studio Valbonne . . . I finally looked in on funky Fresh at Mayfair’s Legends, the hip black boite to be seen at on Thursdays, more steamy than fresh actually and seemingly stuffed with the Gullivers crowd . . . Steve Jason celebrates a year of Soul On Sunday next week (9) at Peterborough Canters and would welcome extra PAs on 0733-262125 . . . Russ + Cass III is a black + white double act MC-ing out front with Russ’s wife mixing behind, and although they’re off to Denmark mid-June for two months they’re building up a regular Portsmouth-Penzance circuit by starting on a busy weekend night before returning a fortnight later to fill quieter mid-week slots (bookings 0202-38135/766872) . . . Greg Lynn, remembered as a disco plugger, has resurfaced managing the Manifesto disco duo of German Lisa and Belgian Pascal . . . Morgan Khan is WHAT?!! . . . Tricky Dicky points out that many gay clubs now play as much soul as Hi-NRG (in other words they reflect the national pop chart) . . . Adrian Parkin (Huddersfield Dorothy’s at the Adega) finds JoAnna Gardner ‘Special Feelings‘ follows to the last passionate groan Marvin Gaye ‘You Sure Love To Ball‘ . . . Eon Irving (now Sat as well as Mon at Chelsea Mainsqueeze) says Richie Weeks ‘Forbidden Fruit‘ was made to mix with ’19’, and revives Rene & Angela ‘Secret Rendezvous‘ — however, their old ‘Do You Really Love Me‘ is hotter for Big Phil Etgart (South Harrow) . . . Steve Phillips (Bristol Prince Rupert) revives Edwin Starr ‘War’ out of ’19’ . . . 16 year old Brian Sneddon wants to be a soul jock when he leaves school, but stuck out in the Radio One wasteland at 29 Kincardine Road, Carronshore, Falkirk FK2 89C in Scotland, he’d appreciate hearing better placed DJs’ mixes, etc . . . A Taste Of Honey so far is selling strongest in Scotland, where they always did like fast disco, and not much at all in London . . . Graham Murray of the Cleveland Area DJ Assn should perhaps wonder why it is that in his North-Eastern area the sales of soul records are the lowest (nearly non-existent) out of the whole country, then stop criticizing the places where people do buy them . . . Freddie Jackson turns out also to have been latter day lead singer with Mystic Merlin (after their ‘Just Can’t Give You Up’ era) . . . Marvin Gaye’s future album of standards seems likely to be credited between both CBS and Motown (although the former will distribute in the USA) to settle any conflict over which label had him signed at the time of recording . . . Levert and their label Tempre have been signed for US distribution by Arista, so doubtless won’t now appear here . . . Greyhound are distributing Firefly ‘Stay’ in the UK at domestic prices . . . Shawn Brown is confirmed as the unlisted artiste on ‘Rappin’ Duke‘, the “da ha da ha, da ha ha ha-ha ha” John Wayne impersonation that’s still creating huge listener reaction for those few hip jocks like Jeff Young: similarly, the Beverly Hills Version-credited ‘Axel F’/’Like Eddie Did’ cover and rap are now listed as by Det Reirruc/Club’s Rappers (try spelling that first name backwards!) . . . Roxanne’s saga is continued by Crush Groove ‘Yo My Little Sister‘ (US Singh), Ricardo & Chocolate Boogie ‘Do It Ricardo‘ (US Singh), Zeele ‘No More Roxanne‘ (US Treasure), Dr Rocx & Co ‘Do The Roxanne‘ (US Slice) . . . LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!

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MARVIN GAYE’S long awaited album ‘Dream Of A Lifetime’, due here imminently, actually arrived first from Holland (Dutch CBS 26239). The sexual lyrics of some of its patched up and posthumously completed songs were probably ad-libbed by Marvin either for his own amusement or as a rough vocal guide, but now they’re all that’s available as raw material. Most danceable are the funkily twining and grinding 90¼bpm ‘Ain’t It Funny (How Things Turn Around)‘ and odd English-accented kinkily disciplinarian 113½-0bpm ‘Masochistic Beauty‘, slowies being the lushly typical 78½-0bpm ‘Symphony’ and 24¼/48½-0bpm ‘It’s Madness’, weaving muttered 78½-0bpm ‘Savage In the Sack’, disjointed suite-like ‘Life’s Opera’, dead slow 0-48bpm sweet title track — plus of course there’s his 116½bpm ‘Sanctified Lady’ single, minus bleeps!

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HOT VINYL

CHERYL LYNN: ‘Fidelity’ (US Columbia 44-05220)
Back again prod/penned by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, she teasingly starts by saying “no, no, do it the way we used to!” before re-hitting that ‘Encore’ groove which kept London’s black club floors full for all of last year. Yup, it’s another sparsely tapping tortuous 108(intro)-108¼-108½-108¾bpm hot tempo weaver full of subtle rhythm tricks, with a (0-)108¼-108¾bpm ‘High Fidelity’ dub mix flip. Encore!

GLORIA D. BROWN: ‘The More They Knock The More I Love You’ (10 Records TEN 52-12)
One of those dead simple and oh so right soul dancers that first hearing tells you will obviously be huge, like (without sounding that similar) another Jocelyn Brown or Jenny Burton, a steadily tapping 109½bpm chugger full of class (inst flip).

RENE & ANGELA: ‘Save Your Love (For #1)’ (Club JABX 14)
The synth wielding duo’s remorselessly nagging ever building electronically jiggled (0-)111½-111¾-111½-111¾bpm wriggler is started and climaxed by Kurtis Blow’s staccato rap, rather as if Chaka had done ‘Plane Love’ with Melle Mel’s help (inst/edit flip). Continue reading “June 1, 1985: Cheryl Lynn, Gloria D. Brown, Rene & Angela, Advance, Touch Of Class”