Month: August 1985

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

THE FAMILY have confounded sceptics despite their Prince connection by exploding with the hottest album in ages — as mentioned last week it’s real music — and also riding purple coat tails to as yet less widespread dancefloor raving is Andre Cymone, not to be missed . . . No Way Jose’s Espanol version is finally on 12in A-side, flipped by the Knockout Mix . . . Atlantic have reissued the old 115¾bpm Margie Joseph ‘Midnight Lover‘ (B9713T) presumably because it’s so like ‘Holiday’ . . . Sister Sledge ‘Dancing On The Jagged Edge’, reviewed off LP, on 12in turns out to be 113-0bpm . . . ‘Hot Pursuit!‘ is the enthusiastic jittery lurching 116bpm Skipworth & Turner newie, out in about two weeks . . . John Morales has remixed Michael Lovesmith ‘Ain’t Nothin’ Like It‘ as follow up . . . The Weather Girls have had a sombre dull 97½bpm remix (it is indeed David Sanborn’s sax) . . . DJs charting Five Star’s “Cutback Mix” presumably mean the ‘Dance Mix by Hard Rock’ — or has there been yet another remix that I missed? . . . Peter Royer’s sales have been hanging back in anticipation of the re-edit incorporating Dexter Wansel, which should be due now . . . Rene & Angela ‘I’ll Be Good’ irritatingly has shown up on import as a proper remix (inst flip), whereas the UK released version successfully beat Stevie Wonder as record of the week on Guy Hornsby’s 2.30-4.30pm Radio London soul show last Thursday, picked by myself with Walthamstow mates John McDowell (hello to his sister!) and Steve Parker, who both knew a lot and sure had taste . . . I also guested last Monday in Newcastle Upon Tyne, somewhat shattered and sleepless, on Ian Hughes’ weekly 6.20-8pm Metro Radio soul show, where I reminisced about the city’s Club A Go Go 20 years ago! . . . Chris Hill has adapted his Boogaloo Joe Jones-backed ‘Caister Rap’ as a radio commercial for his regular Newcastle gigs at Bill & Malcolm Walker’s eponymous Walker’s Club Café, the coolest spot in town which only plays soul music, both upstairs and down in its day-long brasserie (Chris is back on Monday Sept 9): last week he took a while to warm up although once past the silly session he really cooked for the rest of the night, which possibly thanks to its St Trinians theme turned some parts of the club into one long water fight with the girls the worst culprits — and Fred Dove proved quite handy with a hockey stick too! . . . I was pleased to meet wacky chart contributors Phil Mitchell from Walker’s, and Adrian Allen from South Shields Chelsea Cat, with whom I had a long chat . . . Chris Hill (who incidentally soon strikes out for pastures new, leaving Sheffield Green Hilly’s to the local Sussex Young Farmers!) does a hot mix from Sly & Robbie ‘Make ‘Em Move’ into Manu Dibango ‘Soul Makossa’ . . . Newcastle’s Hitsville USA in Old Eldon Square, run by Tony Bromwich & Joan Wright, as already noted is the local disco stockist (with all the new imports but selling more Hi-NRG), but it was at The Record Box second hand shop (Waterloo Street, and also Percy Street) that I picked up stacks of useful old 7in oddities for party sessions, well worth checking with an open mind . . . Frank Anderson of Camden Town while visiting Dublin stumbled across the Beat Records shop in Abbey Mall, Middle Abbey Street, stuffed with mint condition 12in classics . . . Tony Cochrane (0382-644003/22348) has organised a Scottish Club PA circuit for visiting artists, all expenses paid and chauffeur transport around 12 venues to cover the country in four days, plus radio and TV where possible . . . Friday’s ‘6-20 Soul Train’ has Total Contrast, Rene & Angela, Womack & Womack, The SOS Band, Nona Hendryx, Temptations — meanwhile, almost distraught, Liverpool’s Sonny King appeals for the series to be extended beyond October as he reckons it’s at last getting the music through to people who’d never normally hear it . . . Island’s go go movie ‘Good To Go’ is probably not opening in the USA until November now — DETT/TTED boss Max Kidd, quite accurately impersonated in the film (some of it shot in his actual office), in real life Washington DC appears not to have the hold over the local go go musicians he used to . . . Tony Blackburn, boring? (tee hee!) . . . Tony was actually a bit late in claiming an exclusive on the Lisa Lisa album, about ten days, the reason other radio stations weren’t playing it already possibly being that it isn’t all that good! . . . Dayton, O’Jays, Jennifer Holliday, Windjammer and Azymuth were other import LPs last week, best mainly for slowies, while Phil Fearon & Galaxy’s new album, arrived on UK-priced Dutch import well ahead of its scheduled release here! . . . Colonel Abrams topped US 12in Sales, Tears For Fears ‘Shout’ topped Club Play (and entered the Black chart there) . . . Megatone releases are evidently being widely boycotted in the States because one of the label’s owners failed to pay royalties promised to the AIDS Research Fund from a charity Patrick Cowley Megamedley, which explains why Modern Rocketry is only doing well in Britain where this news wasn’t widely known . . . Dusty Springfield’s current comeback hit was co-penned by Donna Summer . . . I’d just like to point out for some gay DJs’ benefit that our Hi-NRG chart is compiled from the charts we are sent, and first class postage is currently 17p . . . Breakers bubbling under the Disco 85 include The Three Degrees, Kabbala, Merchant, Sugarloaf ‘Kiss’, The SOS Band, Shakatak, Carl Carlton, No Way Jose (Espanol), Prime Time, and a Kool & The Gang medleying ‘Dance Into The Future (Cool Mix)’ bootleg . . . Thursday (29) the Marlboro Roadshow puffs into Derby’s Knotted Snake, hopefully complete with McLaren racing car — other similar promotions or PAs would be welcomed there by Paul Needham on 0533-374469 (days) . . . Friday (30) Kensington’s Roof Gardens find Eon Irving funking designer Charlie Allen’s sneak preview of his spring ’86 fashions modelled by the like of Loose Ends, DC Lee, Andy Polaris and Nick Heyward (ticket info from Jackie at Tony Hall’s office on 01-437 1958) . . . Chris Dinnis souls Cullompton Blazers Studio Saturday (31) . . . Birmingham Maximillian’s cosy alldayer Sunday (11) has Frenchie T, Trevor M, Paul Dixon, Richie Rich and jazzy Chris Reid . . . Sunday’s PLASA equipment exhibition appears to be at Hammersmith’s Novotel in London, but I can’t help thinking we’d have been sent details had they actually wanted DJs and other mere mortals to turn up . . . Clinton Cambridge does Edgware High Street’s Bald Eagle wine bar with new soul Fri/old soul Tues/rocky pop Wed . . . Ray Davies (Milton Keynes) reckons Indian weddings are the key to a fortune: he did one for 900 guests, they supplied the Indian music, paid him £110 for three hours, and he got another £78 in tips — apparently it’s the custom to reward entertainers who play music they like . . . Lonnie Liston Smith’s old ‘Expansions’ seems to have reached the new generation, who request it incessantly according to both Big H and Chris Hill . . . Walls Ice Cream are test marketing in Yorkshire a yummy new choc bar with malt, toffee and chocolate flavour filling, called Romero — ice cream freaks, like me, look out for it! . . . “What you gon’ play now, Bobby?” “Ah don’ know, but what’s ever I play, IT’S GOTTA BE MADONNA!”

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HOT VINYL

ROYALLE DELITE: ‘(I’ll Be A) Freak For You’ (Streetwave MKHAN 51)
Nearly a year old, the Brooklyn girls purposefully wriggling here 108½bpm hauntingly moronic nagger never charted in a big way yet has hung on in certain of London’s low dives as an underground monster, now finally to hit the nation flipped by a new clever Derek Boland-cut, scratched ‘n phased 108½-108bpm Good Groove Mix (edit too).

BOBBY WOMACK: ‘So Many Rivers’ LP (US MCA Records MCA-5617)
Hottest release of the week and because of an early deadline I haven’t time to review it properly! Rest assured that if you’re into Bobby you’ll simply love it, although as a dance set its not strictly essential unless you and your crowd love soul.

BROOKLYN BRONX & QUEENS (B.B.&Q.) ‘Minutes Away’ (Cooltempo COOLX 112)
Their album’s attractive crawling Curtis Hairston crooned 0-75½/37¾bpm ballad has been extended, and flipped for real power by a punchily jolting 112bpm remix of the chunkily chugging ‘Main Attraction‘ — which indeed it probably will be, so far as discos are concerned. Good value.

THE THREE DEGREES: ‘The Heaven I Need’ (Supreme Records SUPET 102. via PRT)
From the same team as Princess and like her selling in some lucky shops on single-sided white label ahead of release on September 16, the girls return is a brightly snicking and ticking 110bpm choppy unison harmony pusher that at last gives them a modern, smash bound, credible sound again. Continue reading “August 31, 1985: Royalle Delite, Bobby Womack, Brooklyn Bronx & Queens (BB&Q), Three Degrees, P.P. Arnold”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

DESIREE HESLOP, whose singing father records as James Lloyd while she’s better known as Princess, has a timely exciting 103¾bpm Alternative Version of ‘Say I’m Your No. 1’ which adds a ‘Billie Jean’ bass line (after an eye-cued band in the vinyl), with semi-instrumental No. 2 Mix of the original as confusingly labelled flip . . . Dave Pearce has launched a black music talent search for non-professional acts on his Thursday 10pm soul show: send tapes (tunes must be original) within four weeks to him at Radio London, 35A Marylebone High Street, London W1A 4LG — judges will include Paul Hardcastle and David Grant . . . I myself am on Radio London as Guy Hornsby’s guest reviewer at 3.30pm this Thursday (22) . . . Damon Rochefort last Saturday on his 5-7.30pm Horizon spot exclusively previewed Barbara Pennington’s September LP — an advantage of doing promotion for Record Shack . . . EMI plugger Ian Dewhirst then followed him on air previewing The Team’s rambling revival of ‘Rock Creek Park’ (evidently by coincidence one of three imminent competing versions), due as their next B-side — they’re in danger of becoming a black Showaddywaddy . . . Horizon apparently close down in a fortnight, to aid their application for community licence . . . 102.4FM should find Radio Haddock in the Bournemouth area this weekend . . . Solar last weekend started test transmissions on 102.5FM in Manchester, which city might finally become a significant market for soul records (they mainly sell in one non-chart return shop at the moment) should Mike Shaft succeed in his application for his proposed black music Sunset Radio to be the “community of interest” station — to further clarify my criticism of the job soul jocks are currently doing there, Capitol Records report that ‘Twilight’ only sold two copies in Manchester’s chart return shops the week it actually hit nationally! . . . Maze finally appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’, but of course playing ‘Too Many Games’, and the record immediately dropped in the chart (although not as far as it would have done without the plug, and they have sold more albums than usual) — if only Radio One could have been convinced that ‘Twilight’, which all along has been the side selling most copies, is as popular an instrumental as ‘Axel F’ . . . Jonathan King’s own presence is badly needed on ‘No Limits’ to make the featured music stand out . . . Friday’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’ includes Lisa Lisa, Freddie Jackson, Nona Hendryx, Martha & The Vendellas (note it’s not at 4.30, although Jeffrey Daniel last week told us to tune in “when the big hand is on the six and the little hand is on the four” — stupid boy!) . . . I never knew Princess Di sang with Phil Fearon — or was that Dee Galdes? . . . Island’s go go movie ‘Good To Go’ due to be opening about now in America, won’t be shown here until January — presumably to leave time for a nostalgic go-go revival, and for yet more journalists to visit Washington DC? . . . 1976’s ‘Dreamglrls’-inspiring film ‘Sparkle’ (with Curtis Mayfield score, Aretha Franklin title song, Irene Cara debut, Lonette McKee soul) has appeared in the States on Warner Home Video, so could it come out here? . . . Jaki Graham ‘Heaven Knows’ is flipped by a more instrumental After Hours Mix and the doodling 105bpm ‘Who’s Making Up Your Mind’ . . . Solar’s Jerry Green suspected something was wrong when trying to mix Lukk, and sure enough, my mistake, it actually surreptitiously slides around through 104-104½-106½-104¼-107¼-104½-103¼(break start)-104(break end)-105½-106-105¼bpm, most unexpectedly in this mechanised age! . . . Jeffer Seif ‘All Out Groove‘ on a yellow labelled but otherwise unidentified import 12 inch is in fact an instrumental version of ‘Into The Groove’ of which the Madonna original has been given a far harder remix incorporating bits from Chaka Khan’s ‘I Feel For You’ on the current ruinously expensive circa £34 Hot Tracks set . . . Disco Mix Club’s August mixes are Les Adams’ already renowned Maze megamix (surely now adjusted brilliantly to include — not enough of — ‘Twilight’?) and useful Arrow-based soca sequence, Alan Coulthard’s slightly patchy current dance mix, Steve Gladder’s frisky disco oldies medley, and Sanny X’s typically (over-) tampered treatment of Jimmy Bo Horne’s ancient ‘Dance Across The Floor’ . . . Les Adams has also done a usefully neat Black Lace megamix as the flip to their new 12in, if you can bear it! . . . Five Star’s most recent remixers (I hope!), Hardrock turn out to be Max and Dave of the sadly now shattered Mastermind Roadshow, who are also recording or Elite — it seems Mastermind had become too much of a one man show (Herbie retains the name) . . . Brian Mason (Cricklewood Ashtons) wonders why although everything new is remixed regardless, such reissues as Sharon Brown, Conway And Temple, Class Action are still in their dated original form when they really do warrant remixing (yes, but that costs more than just using up old stock!) . . . Adrian Dunbar (Poole Wharf) adds that once remixes were usually improvements of established dance tracks whereas now they’re of things most people don’t yet know well enough anyway: his own all time fave remixes were of Sharon Redd ‘Beat The Street’, Barbara Roy ‘If You Want Me’, Carol Jiani ‘Hit ‘N’ Run Lover (Canadian Matra), Lisa ‘Rocket To Your Heart’ (Disconet), Sister Sledge ‘Lost In Music (1984)’ . . . Fourth & Broadway seem to hove been hoist with their own petard: Eugene Wilde’s UK remix of ‘Chey Chey Kule’ evidently didn’t sell well enough to justify creatively marketing it with alternative mixes and/or couplings, whereas the reason it didn’t sell (apart from not being very good) was possibly that most people wore anticipating its reappearance with his original US LP version as flip . . . 400 Blows’ treatment of ‘Movin’ has been slavishly covered, seemingly slower, by The Funky Carburetors on US Profile . . . The System’s LP is now out here (Boiling Point POLD 5182) . . . Alexander O’Neal is a far hotter property than CBS’s sales force seem to realise, hence his late entry into the national chart . . . America’s Top 40 radio programmers, an unimaginative timid breed, are beginning to recognise that their playlists are full of “dance” material, mostly of British origin or inspiration, currently a good third of Billboard’s Hot 100 being British — by coincidence the same proportion which in the Sixties used permanently to be black (last week though only 22 hits were by black artists, with fewer than half those being considered as “soul” here) . . . Prince ‘Raspberry Beret’ topped US 12in Sales . . . Breakers bubbling under our Disco 85 include Detroit Spinners, Weather Girls, Starpoint LP, Whitney Houston ‘Thinking About You’, Atlantic Starr ‘One Love’, The SOS Band, Howard Johnson US remix, Bobby Womack 7 inch, Sharon Brown, Andre Cymone, Aleem ‘Confusion’, Screamin’ Tony Baxter . . . Detroit Spinners incidentally are now signed to Mirage in the States, although Atlantic retains them everywhere else, and Bootsy Collins is on Arista . . . Mark Clark of Wokingham’s Mark One Records shop, after talking to me about his local well heeled suburban white kids who buy hip hop (featured in the current Music Week), sent me a great Roxanne with UTFO T-shirt bearing the legend Mixmaster No Shit — like it, like it! . . . Shaun Askey reckons Ruby Red Records in his hometown Wolverhampton is the West Midland’s best DJ shop (I hope you get a discount for that!), and Shaun Sullivan at Bloxwich Flix is brill (no relation is he?) . . . Thames Valley DJ Assn’s Bournemouth meeting on September 1 has been cancelled so as not to clash with the PLASA equipment exhibition (details of which are not to hand, although I thought it was for dealers only) . . . Edinburgh’s Fire Island starts a Thursday soul night on September 19, for which Bill Grainger is after suitable PAs on 0506-54305 . . . Swansea’s jocks predictably didn’t enjoy the local paper’s report about James Lewis, Jeff Thomas & The Bean’s upfront Wednesdays at Harry’s Dance Bar being an alternative to the boringly repeated top 40 records that are all you’ll hear elsewhere in the area . . . Colin Hudd (Dartford Flicks) cracks he’d happily pay five quid for a good quality loud volume pressing instead of WEA’s current promo copy of the old Melba Moore ‘Standing Right Here‘ that Fred Dove has serviced to mailing list DJs (flipped by The Trammps ‘Hold Back The Night’, if you can hear it), plus Colin’s surprised nobody else is getting great reaction to 9.9 ‘(Owch!) Hot Blood Pressure‘ (RCA LP) . . . Essex Radio’s Tony Monson (not wanting to give anyone the wrong impression with this!) suspects he was probably the first person ever to play Madonna on radio here, when her debut single ‘Everybody’ first came in on import — before anyone knew what was to follow — although he can’t remember if it was on Capital or Horizon that this momentous occasion occurred . . . MUSIC FOR MUSIC’S SAKE!

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HOT VINYL

SISTER SLEDGE: ‘Dancing On The Jagged Edge’ (Atlantic A9520T)
A welcome if not necessarily vintage 111¼-0bpm return to their classic lurching staccato style with catchy pop disco appeal (dub mix and pleasant 89½-0bpm ‘You Need Me‘ flip.

RENE & ANGELA: ‘I’ll Be Good’ (Club JABX 18)
Even more potent than their last one, this soulfully het up rumbling purposeful 108¼bpm slippery snicking pusher sounds like Yarbrough & Peoples produced by Jam & Lewis, and is guaranteed to melt your stylus (thunder introed attractive 73bpm ‘You Don’t Have To Cry‘ flip). Hot!

THE FAMILY: ‘High Fashion’ (LP ‘The Family’ Warner Bros/Paisley Park 925322-1)
Imagine Prince back in soulful funky mood to get an idea of this adventurous four guy/one gal group, who mutter and chant in their guvnor’s style but to bubbling jiggly chugging grooves on this (0-)114¼-114¾-113¾-113¼-112¾-112¼bpm lightly flowing lurcher, which bridges straight into the raunchier 112½-111¼-113¼-112-114bpm ‘Mutiny‘, the here intro-less chunkily rolling duetted 104½bpm ‘The Screams Of Passion‘ being also on 12in, while their ever important jazzy sax comes into its own on the choppily half-stepping 108¼-107¾-107¼-105¾-109-110-0bpm ‘Susannah’s Pajamas‘ and even more angrily free form 114¾-114½-114-113-111-112-0-112bpm ‘Yes‘ instrumentals. Thankfully the slushy slowies are all on one side, the rest is real music. Continue reading “August 24, 1985: Sister Sledge, Rene & Angela, The Family, Tony McKenzie, Donald Banks”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

HOWARD JOHNSON ‘Stand Up’ in its US 12in form (US A&M SP-12137) irritatingly is a brilliant 111½bpm remix with dialogue impersonating such as Michael Jackson, Prince, James Brown, Mr T, Humphrey Bogart – wait now for its inevitable UK release! . . . Five Star have (yawn, double yawn!) yet another remix of ‘Let Me Be The One’, the Dance Mix by Hardrock incorporating bits of ‘All Fall Down’, now with the Philadelphia Remix on 12in (incidentally John Morales on his visit remixed their album’s ‘RSVP’ and ‘System Addict’) . . . Michael Brauer’s much more solid 0-111bpm US Remix of Total Contrast really brings out the Luther Vandross similarity . . . DJs as predicted are now complaining that Madonna ‘Into The Groove’ has no break and are demanding a remix to make it easier to mix (one case where a remix would be legitimate) . . . King Enri sums up the sentiments of many fellow jocks: “Thank god they’re all bored with ‘Frankie’, but now it’s gonna be Madonna for another three months!” . . . Virgin have repressed 1982’s 113bpm Sharon Brown ‘I Specialize In Love’ (VS 49412), and Jive are offloading 1983’s 122bpm Class Action ‘Weekend’ (JIVET 35) . . . MCA’s 10in EP of four famous tunes from ‘The Glenn Miller Story’ (MCAV 985) could be useful for mobile jocks — though note they’re not the originals, but soundtrack remakes by the Universal International Studio Orchestra (in primitive stereo) . . . ‘Just Be Good To Me’ has evidently been added to the S.O.S. Band’s flip, and No Way Jose’s Spanish version has been available as the B-side of their picture disc — isn’t modern marketing marvellous? . . . George Howard ‘Dancing In The Sun’ has been remixed for US 12in, rather late by our standards . . . Brass Construction ‘Give And Take‘ will be a single here, but not the first one, as as Capitol feel the imminent album’s more typical club tracks will swamp it in the short term . . . Full Force have had an oddly little heralded answer version on US Columbia for several weeks now, ‘Girl If You Take Me Home‘, beefier than the original . . . Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Force MD’s, Kurtis Blow, UTFO, The Real Roxanne, Rockmaster Scott & The Dynamic Three, and — somewhat incongruous in such company despite the rap element of their last hit — Rene & Angela are all currently touring the Eastern half of the USA as the ‘Jam-A-Tron Street Fest’ . . . Atlantic, as mentioned last week, picked up in the States from its original Easy Street label the Paul Simpson Connection’s recent ‘Treat Her Sweeter‘ — but somehow someone obviously neglected to tell them it’s already been a minor UK hit on 10 Records, as WEA disco plugger Fred Dove has been sent several boxes of US promos to service his mailing list here! . . . Soul On Sound’s monthly London Hippodrome night last Wednesday found such as Glasgow DJ Alan David and bronzed groovettes Barbie Dunne & Fiona Waterman watching PAs by Sonique, Dante (the kid can sing), Peter Royer, Total Contrast (aggressively chucking T-shirts), Miquel Brown, 7th Heaven, One Touch, Stylistics, No Way Jose, and Oliver Cheatham who wiped the floor (almost literally, doing press-ups in a white suit!), while Canning Town Bentleys jock Derek Bolland scratched ‘n’ synched a solid groove whenever he got the chance (he mixes Harleqiun Four’s through Aleem ‘Get Loose’) . . . Oliver Cheatham tells me ‘Mama Said‘ wasn’t consciously modelled on the Shirelles’ oldie, but admits his chorus hook is indeed awfully like theirs! . . . Adrian Allen sat in with Radio Tees’ Saturday 6-10pm soul presenter Mike Prior on a telephone interview with Bobby Womack (broadcast last weekend), in which Bobby revealed he’s working on the next Rolling Stones LP (Ronnie Wood & Keith Richards were with him at the time), his five year contract with MCA is for four albums and a fifth ‘Best Of’ set, he’ll be recording again with Altrinna Grayson while Shirley Brown will be joining him on tour (the latter is interviewed on Tees this Saturday), and the tour should be here late Oct/early Nov — oh, and Tees had his album for a UK exclusive even ahead of Robbie Vincent (now paying for jumping the gun on Bobby’s first MCA single?) . . . Gary Neal (Bristol) seems to be another provincial DJ who thinks he’s read things that I haven’t written: where have I ever dismissed DJs outside the London area as “pop jocks” — go on, show me! — and why do you suppose I always mention all the soul gigs around the country that the DJs concerned can be bothered to tell me about? The fact remains that London is a soul city, due largely to its black (and incidentally other types of immigrant) population, the cause of the current remarkable upsurge in soul sales there being radio, both pirate (who prompted them) and legal local stations, soul saturating the airwaves to such an extent that the whole population can’t fail to hear it — which is why I write to such an extent that the whole population can’t fail to hear it — which is why I write so much about radio as now that rather than disco play, is what makes soul hits . . . LWR last Wednesday reopened their wavelength by switching on their transmitter, which before broadcasts began unintentionally relayed nearby Solar’s signal, whereupon within a few hours both Solar and Horizon had their own transmitters busted (however all three were back by the weekend) . . . Capital’s gospel jock Al Matthews played a big part in Sunday night’s TV movie ‘Rough Cut’, while Saturday morning’s ‘Apache Drums’ was the chief cause of all my childhood nightmares (amazingly I’d remembered every detail since 1951, not that it keeps me awake at nights now!) . . . Friday’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’ has Phil Fearon, Stylistics, Sister Sledge, Chaka Khan, Al Green, Gary’s Gang . . . Fatback ‘Is This The Future?‘ is getting so much play again it could be worth someone finally issuing it here on 12in . . . Harleqiun Four’s may sound rotten on radio but believe me it’s something else loud on the floor! . . . I’ll be trekking up to Newcastle Upon Tyne’s Walkers Club Café with Chris Hill this Monday (19), see you there? . . . Margate’s brand new Rumours, opened by Invicta Radio jocks this Wed/Thur, features funky Paul French (not the Gillingham one) on Friday after finishing his regular Ramsgate Kents 8-11pm slot . . . Saturday (17) Andy Heryet has a ‘Caligula’ Roman orgy at Worthing Carioca, and Yeovil Electric Studio already has a Somerset Soul Weekend reunion night . . . Tuesday (20) George Clinton paaartays with Wicked Pulse at London Busbys — mmm, do the dog! . . . John DeSade rather regally has an “official” birthday party at Gillingham’s The Avenue next Thursday (22), when in fact he isn’t 28 (and counting!) until next May . . . Dave Thomas & Greg Parrott are boosting hot funk newies every Wednesday at Telford Cascades to a good turnout . . . Pete Haigh & Richard Searling soul (ancient and modern) Blackpool Bananas Fridays . . . Solar’s Dave Collins and JFM’s Paul Dodd soul Staines Jacksons Saturdays, when maniac mixer Chad Jackson has graduated to the over-18s late night slot at Bolton’s Dance Factory . . . Gary Hickson points out it was his home that was redecorated and not Blackburn’s Peppermint Place, although that’s due in a few months! . . . Ron Tom, Fuzzy D and sometimes Tim Westwood funk ‘n’ reggae Forest Gate Upper Cut Stadium’s Sunday 6.30-10.30pm LWR rollerskating sessions . . . Paul Clark’s current Brighton soul gigs are with Tim Jeffrey at The Escape Sat, and with Andy Henderson at Toppers Sun, Brighton Belle Mon . . . Neil Fincham soon moves in Edinburgh to the old Styx in George Street, re-opening as Capers . . . Unknown Mixer I.Mc, looking for NW funk gigs, wants to hear again from the guy who spoke to his sister on 0254-667743 . . . Paul Lawrence Jones’ imminent debut single ‘She’s Not A Sleaze‘ also features his producing/songwriting colleagues Lillo Thomas & Freddie Jackson . . . The Family comprises Jellybean Johnson, ‘Saint’ Paul Peterson and Jerome Benton from defunct The Time with Eric Leeds (ex-JB’s) and Susannah Melvoin (sister of Prince & The Revolution’s Wendy) . . . Eon Irving (Chelsea Mainsqueeze) infos that his mate Peter Royer was photoed standing behind Loose Ends on the front cover of their current album . . . Mayfair’s late nite eaterie Rockafella’s is about to re-open twice the size after expanding actually into Samanthas next door! . . . Andy Phippen of Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre found DJ Takis at Rhodes’ Hi-Way disco club working out his BPMs by synching a West Germany-made Willner Taktell electronic metronome with the record’s beat: not a new idea, and I have doubts about its absolute accuracy (although all records timed similarly should match), this particular metronome works from 43 to 208 beats per minute . . . I think that, after nearly seven years of weekly BPM-ing experience, my own figures are likely to be more accurate than others you may find listed elsewhere . . . MUSIC FOR MUSIC’S SAKE!

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HOT VINYL

ATLANTIC STARR: ‘One Love (Remix)’ (A&M AMY 273)
Not quite another ‘Silver Shadow‘ although their LP’s next hottest cut, this jolting (0-)108¼bpm jiggly tripper has been remixed already and builds nagging tension, with almost inevitably their old classic 79bpm ‘Touch A Four Leaf Clover‘ as flip.

COLLAGE: ‘Romeo Where’s Juliet?’ (LP ‘Shine The Light’ US Constellation MCA-5564)
This great beefily lurching 107¼bpm rolling driving groove by Larry White’s seven man band has been bubbling under our chart on 107bpm 12in (US MCA-23558, the same length mix but with good longer dub too), finally to rocket in on LP with the excellent semi-falsetto solid 89½bpm ‘Winners And Losers‘, attractive Shalamar-ish 111¼bpm ‘Step Right Up‘, buoyantly “fresh” 0-120bpm ‘In The Mix‘, rockily chugging 113¼bpm ‘Kickin’ It‘, soulfully doodling 74bpm ‘Here And Now’, Ollie & Jerry-ish 118bpm ‘Let’s Rock And Roll’, slushy EWF-ish 0-74bpm title track all adding up to a strong set.

JAKI GRAHAM: ‘Heaven Knows’ (EMI 12JAKI 5)
Out next Monday, her soulfully wrought slow swaying rhythmically hesitant 90-0bpm much admired oldie has been spaciously remixed by Derek Bramble so all the instruments are precisely placed amidst the overall echo (which for disco use possibly should be tightened up). Continue reading “August 17, 1985: Atlantic Starr, Collage, Jaki Graham, The System, Mark IV”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

LATEST REMIXES include Lisa Lisa in a (0-)117bpm Shep Pettibone mix with typically drawn out intro and a more densely hip hop 116bpm Full Force remixed flip, Barbara Pennington (already the third version!) in a much altered acappella introed 105½bpm John Morales remix with a smoothly chugging Jocelyn Brown beat, Phil Fearon in a musically unnecessary percussively rippling now 113½bpm John Morales remix flipped by the previously withdrawn partly Spanish 125½bpm Manana Mix of ‘You Don’t Need A Reason’, Melba Moore in two supposedly promo only 105½bpm ‘Caribbean Queen’-ish and sparse dub remixes, while Total Contrast is indeed due in a superior “US Remix” (sold with the original as a bonus twofer) and Peter Royer is being re-edited to bring Dexter Wansel’s piano into the A-side too . . . Grover Washington Jr’s appearance is on the more instrumental 114½bpm Long Hot Soulful Summer Mix and (only briefly) the good sparse wriggly 114¼bpm Philadelphia Remix of Five Star . . . Loose Ends ‘Golden Years’ is now flipped by the brand new frantic 138½bpm ‘Turn The Lights Down’, of dubious dance appeal, while their current US hit ‘Choose Me’ has just been remixed there — they’ve also produced Julie Roberts’ next solo single . . . The Cool Notes have signed a major deal with Arista in the States . . . Larry Blackmon while in London has also been working on LW5, remixing a Paul Hardcastle production — now there’s a turnaround! — Paul himself less surprisingly having topped the UK Chart Performance Survey for the last quarter, April-June . . . Streetwave took my tip and have picked up Royalle Delite, only about a year after it came out . . . LPs now on UK release include Cheryl Lynn (CBS 26497), 9.9 (RCA PL89685), Carl Anderson (Epic EPC 26591) here adding ‘Buttercup’ . . . PRT have issued a Chess Mini Masters series of 7in EPs, by (listed in order of probable usefulness) Ramsey Lewis, Chuck Berry, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, ‘The Blues’ (Williamson/Wolf/Walter/Waters), Billy Stewart, Clarence Frogman Henry, Etta James, ‘Soul Sisters’ (Joy Lovejoy etc), Dells . . . Midas Media are starting a DJ mailing list at 25 Rose Street, Long Acre, London WC2 (01-836 4853) . . . Animal Nightlife’s first album has a special late night launching party this Friday (9) at Kings Cross Scala Cinema with hip flicks showing, Jay Strongman & Julian Palmer jocking, the band mingling . . . Newcastle Upon Tyne’s Metro Radio has finally started a soul show hosted by Ian Hughes Mondays 6.20-8pm, produced by the Walkers Club Café team Phil ‘What’s Cookin’?’ Mitchell & Bill Walker, with Chris Hill already a special guest during its first fortnight . . . Steve Allen has added an extra black music show on Hereward Radio Thursdays 6.20-10pm, featuring reggae, rap, afro, soca and more, as well as the soul ‘n funk heard also on his Saturday 6-9pm slot . . . Steve Walsh (back from the States and enthusing, like so many before him, about the fast stuff heard on radio there) is now sitting in for Steve Collins on Capital Radio Sundays 1-5am — which must cut into his gig income! . . . RECORD MIRROR contributor Damon Rochefort, whose mouthings and music are a must on Horizon Saturday teatime, should note the Cool Notes promise their follow-up will be much harder! . . . Solar last Thursday night played back the whole of Radio London’s recording of the New York Jazz Explosion Hammersmith concert — not only naughty, but plain silly considering their quest for legality . . . Home Secretary Leon Brittan in another radio experiment has also decided to allow for one year whenever appropriate up to 10 hours a week of split frequency broadcasting by ILR stations Leicester Sound, Marcher Sound, Piccadilly, Capital, Viking & Wiltshire Radio, so they can put out separate programmes simultaneously on VHF and MW, the additional service to include classical concerts, sport, specialist music and ethnic programming (BBC Radios Nottingham & Leicester will be similarly broadcasting specifically Asian programmes) — at least the Government is trying . . . ‘Ghost Catchers’ last Friday on BBC2, music historians should note, included Ella Mae Morse singing about “a solid rhythm I can rock” — in 1944 . . . Berry Gordy’s ‘The Last Dragon’ seems about to have a sequel filmed next month, but minus Vanity . . . British viewers may not necessarily know them but such black actors as Tommy Wright & Debbie Morgan from US TV’s ‘All My Children’ soap, Maurice Hines, Larry Fishburne & Wynonna Smith from ‘The Cotton Club’ flick, and Savion Glover from ‘The Tap Dance Kid’ show all appear in Cameo’s ‘Attack Me With Your Love’ video . . . Jeff Young’s listeners-voted Soul Poll on his Saturday lunchtime Radio London show last week certainly reflected the previous night’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’, which had been one of the strongest and tightest to date: this Friday’s beach party edition has Lisa Lisa, Five Star, Shannon, Billy Ocean, No Way Jose, Commodores, Bloodstone) . . . Eugene Wilde sensibly didn’t use the UK remix of ‘Chey Chey Kule’ when wailing it up on TV — and who were those foxes behind him?! . . . Jeffrey Daniel, despite earlier speculation, is with this current series until the end . . . Mike Allen is running a competition on Capital Radio to find a hip hop poster for his electro shows, the best design winning a trip for two to visit KISS-fm in New York — check his weekend last evening progs for full details . . . New York’s once urban contemporary radio station WKTU (“Disco 92”) has switched to playing Album Orientated Rock and the new name WXRK (however WBLS remains true to its roots) . . . Tony Prince, Ceri Berry and I have ended up the only members of the Disco Mix Club’s trip to the New Music Seminar next month, the outing seemingly being too expensive for other DJs . . . Aretha Franklin topped US Black 45s and Club Play, while Madonna’s ‘Angel’/’Into The Groove’ coupling returned (displacing ’19’) atop 12in Sales . . . Five Star ‘All Fall Down’ has hit the lower end of the US Black chart . . . Atlantic in the States belatedly picked up the Paul Simpson Connection, and ‘It’s That East Street Beat’ by the re-spelt Chocolette . . . Evelyn Thomas has a terrific Instant Funk-‘Got My Mind Made Up’-inspired ‘Cold Shoulder’ in the can, although a remake of the Supremes ‘Reflections‘ has been set for single instead . . . Kerry Delius’s song gets it right as Tricky Dicky dodges the rain with a stall in the alleyway outside his Record Cellar shop (around the corner from Leicester Square station), selling not only Hi-NRG but also loads of 99p soul LPs from an incognito DJ’s collection — his Disconet, Hot Tracks and boots will be on sale next month . . . Top 3 Hi-NRG monsters in small gay clubs without the Heaven effect are Maria Vidal, Modem Rocketry, Lime . . . Jonathan King (or is he Jo King?) last week dedicated Miquel Brown’s old ‘So Many Men So Little Time’ to Rock Hudson . . . Cliff Richard’s next single in September, ‘She’s So Beautiful‘, will be prod/penned and totally played by Stevie Wonder — could this be the seventh number one single he blesses? — taken from a concept album and future stage show called ‘Time’, masterminded by ‘Mr Ready Steady Go’ Dave Clark and involving such other stars as Dionne Warwick, Ashford & Simpson, Julian Lennon . . . Capitol’s next mistake could be not to release Brass Construction’s ‘Give And Take‘ as their single here — shaping up as another ‘Solid’, it sounds especially good on radio, with wide appeal as suspected . . . Maze ‘Twilight’ is this generation’s ‘Beat The Street’, to judge from all the jocks using it in mixes . . . Princess is now in danger of premature death from over exposure — about the only place you won’t hear it is in elevators, so far! . . . Average White Band’s ‘If I Ever Lose This Heaven‘ seems to be getting more radio play than Billy Griffin now . . . Madonna, Simply Red, Sister Sledge, Pointer Sisters and now No Way Jose have all been slipping into normally soulful playlists — what’s causing this reverse crossover? . . . ‘You’re So Vain’ could be the theme song for all the DJs who immediately assumed my comment about Trans-X applied to them — honestly, so many jocks claim to be behind its success that I wasn’t singling out any one! . . . ‘Holiday’ was originally laid down for the group Pure Energy before being heard and bought by Jellybean so that he could add Madonna’s vocal to the original track . . . Sylvia Bennett has more than a vocal similarity with the RAH Band, she’s no brunette . . . Oliver Cheatham plays Yeovil Electric Studio Thursday (8) with Graham T & Chris Dinnis, the latter souling Torquay Monroes every Friday . . . Rick Robinson (call him “Dad”), souling Beckenham Harriet’s Sat/Sun, takes time out to join Kev Hill and Claudia at Harlow Whispers next Saturday (17), with coaches organised for his newsletter-receiving Soul Patrol on 01-771 1761 . . . Gilberto Gil ‘Toda Menina Baiana‘ is causing a storm at last the second (or third?) time around for Steve Glover at steaming Bournemouth’s Zig Zag . . . Disco 85 breakers include Spliff Riff, Percy Larkins LP, Mary Jane Girls, Collage, Shirley Brown, Mercy Mercy, Nat Augustin B-side, Chaka Khan, Sly & Robbie 12in, Dante, Sugarfoot LP, Bobby Womack 7in — the chart’s currently got a queue! . . . I wonder how long it’ll be before people start saying Luther V looks like Danny D, rather than the other way around? . . . MUSIC FOR MUSIC’S SAKE!

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JOHN MORALES, currently the hyperactive half of the famous M&M Mix partnership, makes such a good living from remixing records that at first he may seem an unlikely ally in my campaign to halt remix mania. However, he has this foreboding that a big change is coming — brought upon themselves by the record companies, whose present course if unchecked will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

“All these re-remixes are jeopardising my future livelihood, especially when record companies don’t care what they sound like so long as they’ve got something different to sell again. I want to be hired because I do good work and people trust me, but now I’m being hired just because I’ve got a bit of a name. If they see my name splattered over all these remixes people will say I’m only doing it for the money and don’t care any more. I’ve turned down more work than I’ve done but even so on this trip to London I’ve remixed 11 records in just two weeks. When I do a remix I deliver the remixed A-side, a 7in edit, and a different dub version for the B-side — all of which would be on the same 12in in the States, but in Britain the B-side dubs are being held back for use as another later A-side or at least part of the follow-up. This is not what I intended. It gives the wrong impression to the public who will think it’s me who’s exploiting them because my name is on more releases than it should be.”

John agrees that if the companies don’t already they’ll soon realise that all the different mixes are costing them more (in goodwill as well as money) than any short lived marketing advantage is worth. He reckons shops no longer want to order 500 copies of a record in case they’re left on the shelf when a remix arrives, so instead they order fewer copies of the successive remixes that the companies will soon be in the position of having to put out just to sell records at all. (In practice the best serviced chart-return shops have bargaining power and can swap unsold mixes, but that adds up to an even bigger waste and loss even if a doubtful status quo is maintained in the chart.)

We both say, the rot has got to stop! On a lighter note, before returning to join Sergio Munzibai in New York remixing DeBarge’s ‘You Wear It Well’, John confided that the only remixer he rates in Britain is Paul Hardcastle. He’s had his name splattered about in even larger letters than M&M!

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HOT VINYL

HOWARD JOHNSON: ‘Stand Up’ (A&M AMY 266)
Rock solid rather than inspired, this wailing forceful 111½bpm thumper is all beat and feel (flipped by the classic old 0-113bpm ‘So Fine’ and 102½bpm ‘Keepin’ Love New’), whereas on his LP ‘The Vision’ (A&M AMA 4982) the Jam & Lewis-prod/penned outstanding 0-108¾bpm ‘Knees‘ really refreshes jaded ears with its adventurous loose combination of English accented chat-up lines, female whispers and climax moans, pent up stereo multi-tracked gurgling and yodelling, all wriggling and weaving through a lopsided beat that’ll truly make it the ‘Encore’ of ’85. Flyte Tyme also supply the sharply jolting 109bpm ‘Older Girl‘, but disappointingly routine are other teams’ 118bpm ‘So Tuff‘, 118½bpm ‘Show Me How‘, 113bpm ‘Outta My Head‘, 0-60½bpm ‘All We Have Is Love’, 131bpm ‘You’ve Got A Lot To Learn’.

LUKK Featuring FELICIA COLLINS: ‘On The One’ (US Easy Street EZS-7518)
One of those natural monsters that sound right in the pocket on first hearing, a languidly rolling 104¼bpm jiggler like Five Star singing to a Jocelyn/Jenny-ish backing, nagging as hell (inst/edit flip).

HARLEQIUN FOUR’S: ‘Set It Off’ (US Jus Born Prod JB 003)
That’s the spelling! Strafe’s original was weird enough last year and this cover, although clarified, is equally odd — a constant cymbal shushed 111½bpm mesmeric pulsing rhythm eventually reaches some subduedly mixed chicks chattering and hissing, then finally trumpet and piano (dub flip), the basis for a million mixes (Gullivers Graham Gold synchs with ‘Single Life’) which looks like being massive after breaking first in Manchester. I have to mention that as they’re point scorers up there! Continue reading “August 10, 1985: John Morales on remixes, Howard Johnson, Lukk featuring Felicia Collins, Harleqiun Four’s, Colonel Abrams, Universal Robot Band”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

SHOWSTOPPER PROMOTIONS’ Knebworth jazz ‘n soul picnic has — shame! shame! — been postponed for the summer at least due to an accumulation of problems to do with its staging (refunds from point of purchase), but Pieces Of A Dream will be at Hammersmith Odeon as some consolation on Saturday August 17 instead . . . Grover Washington Jr now appears on the more instrumental new 114½bpm Philadephia Remix coupling of Five Star’s ‘Let Me Be The One’ , other less essential remixes (yawn!) including a rather thin (0-)106½bpm Maze ‘Twilight‘ (now with instrumental remixes of ‘Too Many Games’ and ‘Back In Stride’) when all they need to do is make it the A-side to have a smash, a very bassy 0-101½bpm Jaki Graham which even EMI admit has already blown two speaker systems, an unheard Pointer Sisters, and Alan Coulthard’s even more Hi-NRG 125bpm Pink Cadillac Mix (on pink vinyl) of Aretha Franklin, while waiting in the wings are Melba Moore and Peter Royer . . . I repeat that this remix situation has gone beyond being a joke, and earnestly implore you not to buy anything until you’ve waited to see what other mixes, whether better or worse, become available — it’s the only way to make record companies see sense and stop this stupid practice (maybe I shouldn’t review, or even put in the chart, anything until it’s been out for six weeks?) . . . Pete Tong rightly points out that the American system is fairest, where just one 12in can contain the LP Version, Club Mix, Radio Edit or Instrumental, Acappella and any other combination (the only justifiable remixes are where original LP versions or existing mixes really do need altering to sound better on the floor) . . . ‘Street Sounds 13‘ is hot hot hot with current hits by Steve Arrington, Atlantic Starr, Change, Cool Notes, BB&Q Band, One Way, Colonel Abrams, Skool Boyz, plus Cheryl Lynn ‘It’s Gonna Be Right’, Billy Griffin ‘Electrified’, Rodney Franklin ‘Fiesta’ (the cassette version also having Julius Brown ‘Sho Nuff’ and Intruders ‘It’s Alright’) — watch singles sales plummet! . . . Big Tom Holland lost his voice last Friday at Dartford Flicks awards night, where (the absent) Chris Hill’s wife Carol in Tina Turner wig and backless black lace was rivalled by (the very much present) Colin Hudd’s wife Carol in a backless white tight ruffly sort of Spanish parachute — yum-yum to both! . . . Larry Blackmon, also there, plans to stay in London through the autumn producing amongst others Black Britain for 10 Records and his own next Cameo album, along with a tour in October . . . Michael Lovesmith, signed by Berry Gordy Jr very much as a “test pilot” to experiment with new nuances and directions, originally wrote his old ‘Baby I Will‘ (rather than the more obviously soundalike ‘Break The Ice‘) for Marvin Gaye, and in candid conversation with Jeff Young on Radio London observed that in recent years at Motown “the new acts weren’t as committed (as the big veteran acts the label had lost) and the stamina had to be reintroduced into the Motown family”: it’s for you to judge the stamina of his own contributions over the last seven years . . . Adrian Allen (South Shields Chelsea Cat) citing the respective appearances of the Conway Brothers and Denise LaSalle on both ‘6.20 Soul Train’ and ‘Top Of The Pops‘, wonders whether the latter show now only accepts black acts as long as they wear “whitey” clothes? . . . Friday’s ‘6.20 Soul Train’ has Eugene Wilde, Princess, Sly & Robbie, Mai Tai, O’Jays, Stylistics . . . Solar intend applying for the South London community of interest VHF station’s licence, and with a view to sharing the frequency Tony Monson invites other possible applicants to contact him on 06-22350 (0689 22350 from outside London) . . . Otis Monson incidentally has been inundated with gigs now he’s on Essex Radio . . . Department of Trade & Industry Radio Investigation Service staff is being cut from 340 to 240, its reduced resources switching attention from the public’s problems with radio and TV reception to the more urgent elimination of “pollution to the radio spectrum” by unlicensed operators — in other words, pirate busting, so be warned . . . Tony Blackburn’s secretary Rosanne in her white-labelled recording debut may have a somewhat unfair advantage at Radio London but is now also being played on Capital Radio by Steve Collins . . . Tony should note instead of ‘Hill Street Blues’ it was BBC2’s fascinating ‘Blues Night’ that had me hooked last Saturday — especially that Bessie Smith “concept video” from the 1930s! . . . Chris Hill heads up to Newcastle-upon-Tyne to join Phil Mitchell at the soulfully steaming Walkers every second Monday, this week (5) being next . . . Friday (2) Steve Allen, Nick Graham & Andy Abbott start funking Wellingborough’s Tithe Barn weekly . . . Saturday (3) Robbie Vincent joins Chris Hill with Miquel Brown & David Grant at Sheffield Green Hilly’s in Sussex . . . Sunday (4) Leicester Super Bowl’s first all-dayer has coaches from Birmingham organised by Frenchie Quailey at Summit Records on 021-643 4494 . . . Dave Stuart souls Beckenham’s The Beckenham on Mondays with freebies . . . Pate Haigh joins Mark Grice souling Nelson Lacy’s every Tuesday, when the Wicked Pulse at London’s Cusbys with its various eclectic DJs and live percussionists has settled into a Street Funk format . . . Stevie Dee funking most nights at Gillingham King Charles Hotel in its Regency nightclub, takes over its Kings venue for Northern Soul on Thursday’s (over-18) . . . Shaun Williams & Mambo have settled on Sunday as soul night at Edgbaston Faces . . . Dan Air & Robert Day take their Flim Flam night onto the Thames from Greenwich Pier 1-5.30am next Saturday (10) — £5 ticket info on 01-320 0965/650 3978 . . . Gary Hickson at Blackburn’s redecorated Peppermint Palace is after the DC LaRue album containing ‘Cathedrals’ on 0253-66701 . . . Hardy Mattu of Starstruck Entertainments has opened the Disco & DJ Mix Store in Glasgow at 1175 Argyle Street (041-339 2461), and hopes to attract enough DJ customers to interest record pluggers . . . Le GoGo Promotions (01-771 1761), having successfully placed earlier applicants, are after yet more DJs with and without their own gear . . . Dante may have blown their credibility before they begin by warming up for Shirley Bassey at billionaire Adnan Khashoggi’s showbiz party in Marbella last week! . . . Disco 85 breakers include Precinct ‘Don’t Go’ (Calibre), Odyssey ‘(Joy) I Know It’ (Mirror), Miami Sound Machine ‘Conga’ (Epic), Sylvia Bennett ‘You’re My Fantasy’ (US The New York Music Company), Brass Construction ‘Give And Take’ (US Capitol), Barney Rachabane ‘Blow Barney Blow’ (Jive Afrika), Nat Augustin ‘All My Love’/’Summer Is Here Again’ (Debut), Aretha Franklin ‘Freeway Of Love (Rock Mix)’ (Arista), Collage ‘Romeo Where’s Juliet? (US MCA), Harleqiun Four’s ‘Set It Off’ (US Jus Born), and the superior old Valentine Brothers ‘Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)’ . . . Odyssey disappointingly don’t appear too popular in various radio stations’ listener polls — and I don’t understand why 9.9 isn’t bigger . . . Loose Ends can cover David Bowie if they like but the result seems to be suffering from sounding so muffled and dull (in the sense, un-bright) . . . Mark Barker (Brighton Secrets) alerts soul jocks to the ‘Rain Forest’ plus sax-like ‘Space Walk‘ hidden amidst the Hi-NRG on Modern Rocketry’s LP . . . Ian Levine (London Heaven) complains that Kelly Marie without even any intro let alone a break is impossible to mix . . . Mayfair’s late night eaterie Rockafella’s have been playing an impressive cassette mixed by Barry B at LWR, the only London soul station not recently (I daren’t say currently) on air: LWR’s Eddy James meanwhile (at London Old Kent Road’s Green Man Saturday’s) mixes Hi Tension ‘You Make Me Happy’ with Whodini ‘Friends’, Eon Irving (Chelsea Mainsqueeze) synchs Maze ‘Twilight’ with James Brown ‘Sex Machine’, Neil Fincham (Dunbar) revives Fatback ‘Is This The Future?’ mixed with Rene & Angela ‘I’ll Be Good’ . . . Billy Paul has moved label across country to Total Experience . . . Erskine Thompson now has not only Danny Daniels plugging for him at Hot Licks but also Big Al Mayfield . . . Forget about the remixes and the packaging, make it MUSIC FOR MUSIC’S SAKE!

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HOT VINYL

PETER ROYER: ‘Love Is In Season’ (Club JABX 17)
Sounding not unlike Phil Fearon, the ex-model and dancer for Loose Ends has been produced by that very group (with Jane Eugene and Julie Roberts on rather tentative backing vocals, plus — a big plus — Dexter Wansel’s tinkly piano on the instrumental dub flip) in a lovely just slightly reggaefied 103½bpm revival of the smoochy swayer, which already has a large lead over the now rapidly reissued DETROIT SPINNERS: ‘Love Is In Season’ (Atlantic A9648T) their gorgeous 101½bpm original having been huge on LP last spring but lost when released as a single months later, although now its 102½-105½bpm ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love’ flip will obviously be useful too. A shame there has to be a battle when both versions deserve to win.

NO ROOM and no time for full reviews and BPM’s this week, but I hope you’ll find the detailed report about Community Radio of adequate interest to compensate. However, if it’s any guide, the imports I bought last week were: Continue reading “August 3, 1985: “This remix situation has gone beyond being a joke””