Month: April 1986

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

JOHN MORALES is remixing Candi Staton ‘Young Hearts Run Free’, for re-release … Cashflow will have two separate 12 inch versions, due on white label now, ‘Mine All Mine (LP Version)‘/’Party Freak (Latin Rascal Edit)‘ plus a four-tracker with two different rather less Fatback-like Mark Berry remixes, his dub, and ‘Party Freak’ again … Chris Paul’s finished ‘Expansions 86‘ features a surprise guest vocalist, David Joseph! … Princess’s three-track remix is due Monday with Pete Waterman’s Funky Sisters Dub Mix as A-side, Cheese ‘n’ Chad’s techno-hop cut-ups as flip … City Beat picked up Crown Heights Affair for a Les Adams remix (with stronger intro) … Froggy is starting his own Master Disk label through Streetwave, releases to include a Decade Remix of Crystal Grass ‘Crystal World’, Kreamcycle ‘No News, Good News’, Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde ‘Fast Life’/’The Challenge’ – wot, no Intruders? … Portsmouth’s plucky little Domino Records label is reissuing Hamilton Bohannon ‘Let’s Start II Dance Again’ (DOM 3T, via Charly) … Kelly Marie’s love-hate Hi-NRG 1980 pop chart-topper ‘Feels Like I’m In Love’ has been remixed by Vince DeGiorgio for his Canadian Power label … Anita Baker ‘Rapture’ LP (Elektra 960 444-1) is now out here, as is the intelligent Bognor-aimed Kleeer ‘Kleeer Winners — The Best Of Kleeer‘ (Atlantic WX 42) … Choice Reunion’s review last week should read 86-0bpm … Guinn ‘Open Your Door’ is on 12 inch here May 12, just ahead of their album … Oliver Cheatham’s London-recorded new Champion LP will include a ‘Get Down Saturday Night Part 2′ … Chicago’s hot DJ International Records signed Loleatta Holloway … Kleeer, now they’ve actually been dropped by Atlantic, want to sign direct to a UK label for the world as they appreciate that (like so many US black acts) their profile is higher in Europe than at home … Adrian Allen, previously the Sex Dwarf at South Shields’ Chelsea Cat but now Teeside’s Soul Brother Numero Uno, starts his own weekly 7-10bpm black music show from next Wednesday (30) on Radio Tees – well done! … Pete Tong has created a stir featuring Dusty Springfield’s soulful old ‘Just A Little Lovin’‘ on his Sunday evening Invicta Radio show … Bognor’s oldies (especially Marvin Gaye) obviously had most impact but, although no “chart” as such was compiled, it seems tough newies included Aurra, George Clinton, Serious Intention, J M Silk, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Fingers Inc, Private Possession, Dhar Braxton, Nu Shooz, Russ Brown, Mantronix ‘Ladies’, Joeski Love, Cut Master DC, Macattack, Joyce Sims, Aleem, Modern-nique, Alexander O’Neal ‘What’s Missing’, Janet Jackson ‘When I Think Of You’, Cashflow ‘Mine All Mine’, Thomas & Taylor, Michael Jeffries, Chris Paul (off acetate) … Atlantic Starr’s Bognor biggie was in fact their old ‘Silver Shadow‘ … Chris Hill feared it was an ill omen when the record he’d planned as the finale anthem, the Supremes & Four Tops ‘Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand)‘ (rather than Diana Ross’s), snapped in two as he took it off the turntable on the very first night, but luckily Colin Hudd had a copy as well so Sunday’s finale featured that, then Vera Lynn ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and Detroit Spinners ‘I’ll Be Around’ – all the DJs, having held hands, then sloping off stage only to reappear (running around behind scenes) from the other side over and over again! … Colin Curtis, soldiering on despite being taken ill just before one of his sets, reckons the North will be even better represented at October’s Bognor now that word’s got back … “Bugger Bognor”, the famous last words of George V (the king who put the Regis into Bognor by his patronage of the place), could make a suitable slogan for Showstopper Promotions T-shirts after their latest mafia-lacking Caister! … Saturday (26) Nicky Holloway has another Do At The Zoo (Regents Park) with Martin ‘Caister’ Collins, Pete Tong, Chris Brown, Gilles Peterson, Chris Bangs … Andrew Holmes funks Manchester’s International Club (Anson/Dickenson Roads) next Wednesday (30), then weekly from May 21 … Thursday (1) the Cool Notes play live with Take Five and guest PAs plus Simon Goffe at the Woolwich Coronet … Belfast’s new Soul In The City moveable venue club holds once monthly soul-funk-jazz nights for around 100 fans so far, contact Steven Brodie at 3 Rochester Drive, Cregagh, for news of the next one … Peter C Helyer wants more presenters to join him on Cardiff’s in-store Radio Top Shop – send tapes and details to him at 8 Petrel Close, Lavernock Park, Penarth CF6 2U (the only pay is from selling commercial airtime for the station) … Hardcore Groove Masters, a five strong Mastermind-style mixing/classic funk DJ team just back from a winter in Holland’s clubs, wants North London gigs (Ilford-Acton) on 01-597 6572 (ask for Robin) … UK mixing runner-up Jon Davis’s fame has become such that at a Cornish wedding the best man asked for a demonstration as all the guests had read about him, and even the grannies got bopping to his scratched up ‘Set It Off! … Mildred Scott, glamorous young looking veteran since 1967 of The Glories, Quiet Elegance and Cut Glass, is called Mildred at home but happily answers to Millie too! … Q-Pid Featuring Nikki Q was actually cut a year ago … May Bank Holiday deadlines loom, and although it never makes much difference when we ask DJs this, PLEASE post your chart returns NOW to arrive by Tuesday! … RELEASE THE TENSION!

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HOT VINYL

The S.O.S. BAND ‘Sands Of Time’ LP (Tabu TBU 26863)
Not actually out here until May 6, but already white labelled and about on import, this is so predictable it’s almost a self-parody of Jam & Lewis’s past productions! You’ll know exactly what to expect of the 101¼-0bpm ‘Borrowed Love‘ (‘Change Of Heart’ for instance), 98½bpm ‘Even When You Sleep‘, 86⅔-0bpm title track, 104⅓bpm ‘Nothing But The Best‘, (0-)110¼bpm ‘The Finest‘, 105½bpm Two Time Lover‘, 0-87⅔-0bpm ‘Do You Still Want To?‘ Even the Princely pumping 123½bpm ‘No Lies‘ is good, though. You know what you like, you like what you know.

MODERN-NIQUE featuring Larry Woo ‘Love’s Gonna Get You (Watch Out Baby For Love)’ (10 Re-cords TEN T 123)
Steve Arrington’s rhythm bubbles through an excellent very current sounding soul vocal for a madly infectious here 116¾bpm romp (in four mixes) that’s hot on import and sure to smash. Why do so many DJ’s spell ’em as Monique?

DHAR BRAXTON ‘Jump Back (Set Me Free)’ (US Sleeping Bag Records SLX-00019)
Snapped up already by 4th + B’way here, this is like a female Russ Brown but breezier and brighter, a more soulful Lisa Lisa/Rochelle/Shannon, jammed through an emulator and bounced all over a leaping light 115¼bpm electro beat with bounding bass (in five versions). Brill! Continue reading “April 26, 1986: The S.O.S. Band, Modern-nique featuring Larry Woo, Dhar Braxton, Marvin Gaye, TKA”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

CHAD JACKSON did his scratch mix stretched across four decks, and demonstrated the technique on last Thursday’s ‘Blue Peter’! … Morgan Khan could find the timing of his Mike Allen Roadshow alldayer at Wembley Arena in July clashes with the New Music Seminar in New York, where all the biggest hip hop acts are already booked for club appearances … Geno Washington stood in at Bognor for Georgie Fame, who irritatingly cancelled all UK gigs to go to Finland … Tavares, Real Thing: now wouldn’t Tony Etoria’s 1977 hit ‘I Can Prove It‘ (GTO) make a good remix? … Chrysalis picked up Thomas & Taylor (from all the transatlantic calls he makes, Lamar Thomas’s ‘phone bill should soon be as big as Mike Carr’s!), 4th + B’way took Private Possession, and Streetwave have 12:41 … Alan Coulthard’s previously promoed Megamix is now Haywoode’s 12in flip … Janet Jackson’s follow-up Stateside is ‘Nasty’, although even there jocks are wondering why it isn’t ‘When I Think Of You’ … The SOS Band’s imminent album sounds so exactly as you’d expect of another set from Jam & Lewis it’s virtually a self parody, but good, if that’s your thing … 48-year-old Kelly Isley, known in earlier days as O’Kelly, of the original enduring Isley Brothers trio sadly died from a heart attack on Easter Monday … just a little bit softer now … Whitney Houston’s ‘Greatest Love Of All’ video was shot at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, where I saw her cousin Dionne Warwick on the same bill as the Isley Brothers (presumably with Jimi Hendrix on guitar) way back in 1964 – which was when, while working in New York, I met Sam Cooke in Sammy Davis Jr’s dressing room at the Copacabana, then had a long chat with him sitting together at a Jamaica Ska dance demonstration in Greenwich Village, and on a third even more memorable encounter drove back to his Warwick Hotel suite together with New Orleans R&B pioneer Lloyd Price, whose Slide Hampton-fronted big band we’d been to see at yet another club (in common with many here, I’d in fact first seen Sam in October 1962 at the Woolwich Granada on tour with Little Richard — whose New York hotel suite I could tell you some stories about, too!) … Sam Cooke, not to seem too banal, was a very nice guy. He was so greatly loved, from his incredibly influential time as lead singer of the Soul Stirrers gospel group onwards, that his violent death shook black America as much as that of President Kennedy, everyone in the soul music business going around with tears in their eyes … ‘Motown Remembers Marvin Gaye‘, due here soon, is a great LP of unreleased tracks largely from the Sixties, stuff that then would have sounded too much like other issued material to make sense but now reeks of nostalgia even though everything is actually unknown – 6T’s dancers will flip to the familiar resonances of such as ‘That’s The Way It Goes‘, while ‘Baby I’m Glad That Things Worked Out So Well‘ could be another ‘Frankie’ … Chris Hill, who’s only a year younger than me, joins Colin Hudd hosting Dartford Flicks’ first ever Sixties Night this Saturday (19) … David Rodigan, Tim Westwood & Chris Forbes head a mighty clash Sunday (20) 2pm at Chippenham Goldiggers, where young Barrie Thyer mixes Thur/Fri/Sat … CBS’s Julian Palmer joins Jonathon More at Mayfair Legends’ Sunday Wax club (20) … Manchester mafiosi Mike Shaft & Colin Curtis funk Wigan Pier every Tuesday … Simon Goffe, not content with packing Thursdays at Leicester Square’s Secret Rendezvous in The Store (this week’s guest Lyndon T), souls Sundays at South Norwood’s plush Limelight … Essex has a new Sunday pirate on 103.8FM cheekily called JFM South … KISS-fm, who’ve sneakily snuck in between Radio London and Capital on 95.4FM, have a 2pm alldayer Sunday week (27) at Kentish Town’s Town And Country Club staring all the top London jocks you can imagine (“North London posse!”) … Phil Fearon, famed for recording at his Kensal Rise family home’s own studio, now finds his brothers Lenny and Paul have started their own 20/20 label in the kitchen! … Ralph Tee and Damon Rochefort are mulling over future plans, one very real possibility however being their own record company financed by an Arab club owner, with almost inevitably some freelance disco promotion work as a more immediate stop-gap … StreetSounds revamp their Hi-NRG LP series with an Ian Levine-compiled ‘Eurobeat‘ set, and soon start three new series of go go, P’funk, and smoochers … Streetwave’s next DJ Limited Edition 12-inchers will be Donald Byrd ‘Dominoes (Live)’, Wilbert Longmire ‘Black Is The Color’/ MFSB ‘Mysteries Of The World’, Dexter Wansel ‘Life On Mars’/Willie Bobo ‘Always There’ but no mention of ‘Expansions’ … Cliff Richard’s revival should have been of ‘Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha’, considering the amazing coincidence that the top three of a fortnight ago made! … Prince ‘Kiss’ topped US Club Play, 12in Sales and Black 45s in Billboard … Milwaukee urban radio station WLUM admits to speeding records up by three per cent, which makes everything sound brighter, and rival stations duller! … Budd Arthur, PR Counsel to the American Federation of Musicians, corrects the impression that all US radio stations before transferring a record to cartridge tape have first to hire an AFM union member to put the stylus on the record —”record turners”, as they’re called, used indeed to be widespread but now only a couple of Chicago stations are left employing such old timers (the last survivors of an arrangement that gave employment to musicians displaced by all-record programming, cumbersome but surely more satisfactory for listeners than our own “needletime” arrangement?) … RELEASE THE TENSION!

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LIVE WIRE’s first Trading Places Soul Weekender at Bognor Butlins completely succeeded in adding new life and blood to the weekender concept, justifying promoter Adrian Webb’s gamble in leaving his old Showstoppers partners and taking the original Caister DJ team with him. All 5,000 sweat-soaked groovers, many from outside the South-East, were ‘in the place to be’ last weekend! Despite a few hitches with accommodation, the holiday camp’s facilities were far superior, Butlin’s staff having an almost American attitude in their desire to serve (this was the first such event ever allowed here). Huge venues housed the main Superbowl, Warehouse and Jazz Village rooms, with a proper theatre for US attraction Kleeer’s three hot concerts. Kleeer in fact were amazed by it all, and couldn’t envisage anything similar being staged in America. Dexter Wansel was also about, amongst PAs, while lunchtime acts the Team Ten Band jammed jazz and Sixties veteran Geno Washington discovered the “whoa whoa” chant! Jocks were old lags Chris Hill, Robbie ‘Speedy’ Vincent, Pete Tong, Chris Brown, Colin Hudd, Froggy, Bob Jones, Sean French (once a real Red Coat there!), plus young bloods Nicky Holloway, Gilles Peterson, Trevor Fung, Jay Strongman, Kev Hill, Ian Reading, with Colin Curtis and Jonathan made specially welcome South Of Watford. Musically, things were changed. Instead of jazz and Seventies, the extremes had become electro and Sixties, soul purism having a struggle. The ‘Garage’ groove of Serious Intention and J.M. Silk met Mantronix and Nu Shooz, Aurra was biggest newie, but Marvin Gaye and James Brown led the oldies that really signified. Camp radio WBBC plugged Thomas & Taylor. Fred Dove’s WEA record stall did a staggering £2,000 of business, but the most incredible statistic was that, not including other canned beer, 228,480 pints of lager were consumed or slopped all over the sodden floor — that’s 46 pints per person (and I for one had none)! Bognor, The Sequel, is already set for October 24-26, although as Chris Hill said during the Supremes & Four Tops ‘Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand)‘ finale, ‘This is the one the others’ll have to live up to’. He was referring also, of course, to this coming weekend’s new-look Caister, which as a comparison could be even more interesting (unfortunately family commitments are keeping me from it).

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HOT VINYL

THE CONTROLLERS ‘Stay’ (MCA Records MCAT 1052)
Hanging on Loose Ends’ ‘String’ rhythm, the gently soulful fellas weave a sinuous 97¾bpm swayer that’s here flipped by its radio edit and their older more falsetto friskily wriggling 113⅔bpm ‘Undercover Lover‘.

PATTI LaBELLE and MICHAEL McDONALD ‘On My Own’ (MCA Records MCAT 1045)
Straining at the leash to race up the charts and do a Whitney, this exquisite lushly swaying 92¼bpm duet must surely be another ‘Saving All My Love For You’. There’s hardly a DJ that doesn’t predict it’ll be number one.

WILLIAM BELL ‘Headline News’ (Absolute Records 12LUTE 1, via Pinnacle)
Many also anticipate great things from this soul veteran’s return, without perhaps noticing that – especially in the newly extended 95bpm 12in remix – it’s largely a gently swaying girls cooed title line looking for not that much of an eventual song, admittedly amidst the most relaxed soulful atmosphere imaginable. We all love it, but unfortunately soulful atmosphere alone is not that widely appreciated. Continue reading “April 19, 1986: Trading Places Soul Weekender report, The Controllers, Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald, William Bell, Heaven 17 featuring Jimmy Ruffin”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

‘SOLID SOUL’, the newly independent successor to ‘Soul Train’, hits Channel 4 this Friday at 6.30pm (only half an hour long now) with singer Julie Roberts and club jock Chris Forbes as presenters, Serious Intention, Millie Scott and Joyce Sims being likely amongst the guests … I’m sorry to see after just 19 issues the abrupt demise of dance music mag The Street Scene, which had some enthusiastic writers on its staff … Pinnacle’s dance music manager Mark Arthurworrey has remixed with added sax and percussion an extended 95bpm 12in of William Bell ‘Headline News’, out fully on Absolute Records next week although white labelled now … Viola Wills’ 97bpm Diva Mix turns out to be instrumental with Mary Jane Girls-type bass … Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald’s smash-bound smoochy ‘On My Own’ will be out here within a fortnight … Nu Shooz topped US Club Play in Billboard and is likewise scheduled here … ’48 HRS’ being shown on TV was a massive plug for the featured Busboys — always described as playing rock they turned out to be black rock ‘n’ rollers (a big difference), reminiscent of the Rivingtons to these ears, their ‘The Boys Are Back In Town‘ possibly being worth belated issue by Arista here … George Clinton, doubtless encouraged by response to the animated element of his ‘Atomic Dog’ video, has been collaborating with Thomas Dolby on the music for a George Lucas-produced cartoon called ‘Howard The Duck’ … Kashif’s discovery Johnny Kemp turns out to be from the Bahamas, which may make his “London” sound less surprising … Joyce Sims is due here for PAs, hopefully taking in this week’s big Bognor bash … System X should keep their subscribers better informed if they really want to rival the Disco Mix Club … I can appreciate while listening to the cassette of the six best Technics World DJ Mixing finalists why DJ Cheese’s winning mix may seem like a swizz to those who didn’t see him do it live, as its visual and physical intricacy is not conveyed by the resulting sound alone (that boy was busy!): remember that stage presence and audience response were just as important as the mixers’ ability and imagination to the judges’ final score, so things which now sound slick on tape were not necessarily that exciting live … 1984’s winning mix by Sanny X was likewise far more excitingly dynamic live than on tape … South Harrow one man band Chris Paul, whose ‘Expansions 86‘ should soon be white labelled, wants to be another Jeff Lorber rather than Paul Hardcastle! … RELEASE THE TENSION!

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HOT VINYL

GEORGE CLINTON ‘Do Fries Go With That Shake’ (Capitol 12CL 402)
Shaping up as another ‘Let It All Blow’ or even ‘Rockit’, this marathon mesmeric 112⅔bpm funk groove has bursts of chant and blistering Tom Browne-type trumpet, its piledriving dancefloor punch not stopping enthusiastic radio play either. A biggie!

JAKI GRAHAM ‘Set Me Free’ (EMI 12JAKI 7)
Roaring and storming, her exuberant 0-104bpm jittery lurcher is like a denser Skipworth & Turner as it pushes and stomps along, only the repetitively rolling song structure maybe being short of inspiration.

THE FORCE MD’S ‘Tender Love’ (Tommy Boy/Island 12ISX 269)
WEA belatedly barred ‘Force MD’s Meet The Fat Boys‘ from being a limited edition flip to this Richie-esque dead slow 0-35-0bpm radio ballad (prod/penned by Jam & Lewis), ever so tender and here in two lengths with the ‘Groovin’’-like 106bpm ‘Chillin’‘ as couplin’ instead. Continue reading “April 12, 1986: George Clinton, Jaki Graham, The Force MD’s, Joyce Sims, Tease”

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

‘WONDERFUL WORLD’ had even more TV exposure when, during the Oscars, it was heard on the sound-track of ‘Witness’ — although Sam Cooke rightly has the hit, in fact the Levi’s jeans version is a remake by Tony Jackson of Paul Young’s backing singers … The Controllers’ Stay’ is due here now flipped by their older ‘Undercover Lover’… Joyce Sims has been on 109⅓bpm UK white label but a new Mantronik remix will be added to the full release next week. .. Total Contrast’s LP track ‘What You Gonna Do About It’ has been remixed by Timmy Regisford as their late April follow-up … Princess is being remixed by International DJ Mixers Cheese, Chad ‘n’ Orlando, plus producer Pete Waterman, all four new versions being intended for the same four-track 12 inch… TC Curtis’s fluidly cantering 117¼bpm ‘Let’s Make Love‘, widely promoed, is out on April 14 … Gwen McCrae’s original ‘Funky Sensation’ is due with others on a ‘Dance I.D.‘ compilation LP from WEA … WEA also picked up Cargo ‘Don’t Stop Your Love‘ (YZ66T), which deal hopefully made enough to cover Mike Carr’s ‘phone bill! … West London’s JBC 104.75FM stays on air through the week, other pirates who’ve reverted to traditional weekend only operation including (when last heard) Fame 94.4FM, KISS 93.95FM, LWR 92.1FM, and the poppier Starpoint 88.55FM … Russ Brown’s day job is crimping at his own Soul Scissors hair salon in New York, but the 24 year old singer/keyboardist has gospel roots (showing through the dye?) … New York City’s legendary Paradise Garage has to close later this year when its lease expires – with the best sound system in the world plus DJ Larry Levan, the club immediately became the British contingent’s awe inspiring favourite during a Disco Forum visit in early 1979, since which nothing’s really beaten it … Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew ‘The Show’ is the latest of only six singles ever to win a gold disc for officially certified US sales of over 500,000 copies on 12 inch, others being Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer ‘No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)’, Kurtis Blow ‘The Breaks’, Frankie Smith ‘Double Dutch Bus’, Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force ‘Planet Rock’, Madonna ‘Angel’/’Into The Groove’ – the Recording Industry Association of America’s certification may not however be all embracing as not every label belongs, or seeks certification … King Kut DJ Cheese cuts up Lowestoft Ziggies Thursday (3), then the next night the differently spelt Ziggys (as Streatham’s revamped Chaplins is now known) for Paul Oakenfold & Trevor Fung’s first Friday Project Club night … Nicky Holloway has totally converted London Bridge Tooley Street’s Royal Oak with painted artwork canvas banners which cover the original decor so it no longer looks like a pub on his Special Branch Fridays … Jeff Young joins Danny Smith souling Gt. Yarmouth’s Aquarius Friday (4), when Paul Wright, Pete Haigh, Steve Barker & Dave Hamer funk Blackpool’s Dixieland … Deptford Albany Empire’s Friday over-21s Spirals stars Steve Walsh (4), CJ Carlos (11), with resident Simon Goffe — Steve’s Soul Set night will in fact return to The Hippodrome on May 14 … David Brook funks Fridays at Middlesbrough’s Norma Jean bar below the bus station … Seventh Avenue PA at Wolverhampton’s Silver Web Saturday (5), and Kabbala PA with Jonathon More and guest Robert Elms at Mayfair Legends’ new Sunday Wax club (6) … Chris ‘Connie’ Crooks (0332-384658) is after more Eurobeat/Hi-NRG gigs around Derby … Essex jock Mike Morgan is the new manager of Braintree’s Lion Records shop, offering discounts to bona fide DJs even on import orders … Hammersmith Spin Offs record/equipment shop owner Greg James reveals all his mail order customers from Finland order nothing but electro, and tons of it! … rm’s long established Disco chart is compiled with scrupulous honesty from reported floor-filling plays by, and some sales to, “black music” DJs (biased towards plays with sales boosting mainly the rising newies), which means that unlike some others we resist the easy temptation to chart records competitively just because they are new, even if the truthful result may at tunes seem boringly static —and yet we’re still accused by pop DJs of being ‘upfront”! … Eurobeat, which seems to create more controversy in some quarters than our effort is worth, is merely compiled from whatever DJ gay charts we happen to receive, so don’t blame us! … GET LOOSE – RELEASE THE TENSION!

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FRESH BEAT DJ Tim Westwood introduces a daily different hot newie (soul Mon-Thur/hip hop Fri-Sun) on London’s new round the clock telephone service, Dial-A-Beat (00-771 1188 — yes, that’s 00). It’s only another ploy for British Telecom to make yet more money out of unsuspecting diallers, and although a shareholder I feel bound to warn you that each two minute call will cost you 86p (46p cheap rate). Instead of two calls you could buy a seven inch, which’ll last a lifetime. Think about it.

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HOT VINYL

ALEXANDER O’NEAL ‘What’s Missing (Extended Remix)’ (Tabu QTA 6244)
CBS have only gone and done it again! Against all expectations, although a short version of the attractive shuffling (0-)99⅔bpm ‘A Broken Heart Can Mend‘ is indeed nominal lead track, the four-track 12 inch is dominated by the (0-)111bpm US remix and instrumental of his hottest dance hit, potentially another ‘Saturday Love’ if ever A-sided properly but as was its LP version here just thrown away as an added attraction for converted fans. The soulfully smooth yet snappy 115⅓-0bpm ‘Are You The One‘ reappears too.

PROJECTION ‘Turn Your Love (Right Around)’ (Elite DAZZ 48) has been remixed by Max LX and Dave VJ of Hardrock with busier 0-108¾bpm electro beats which lose many of the original‘s recognisable influences, although the ‘Twilight’ blip blip remains, so that singer Doreen’s cool “London” vocal is even more to the fore — however, the flip’s 109bpm Chris Madden Allstars Remix cuts it up (and things in) much more amusingly to triple def fresh effect.

LOUIE OXLEY ‘Go-Go Gadget’ (Cooltempo COOLX 121)
With bursts of introductory applause, here at last is the insanely jaunty (0-)99⅔bpm jiggly jumping go go instrumental by Tyrone Brunson’s ‘Smurf’ keyboardist (with goofy interjections and chorusing girls) that was originally in circulation here on cassette a year ago. Bang on the groove today, it’ll wriggle you out of your skin! Continue reading “April 5, 1986: Alexander O’Neal, Projection, Louie Oxley, Aleem featuring Leroy Burgess, Anita Baker”