January 17, 1987: Frankie Knuckles, Bobby McClure, The Microphone Prince, Stacy Lattisaw, UB40

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

STEVE ‘SILK’ HURLEY’s unsurprisingly high but still dramatic chart entry was unable to be boosted by a ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearance as neither RCA (who now have him as part of J.M. Silk) nor London could locate his whereabouts last week! … Atlantic Starr have quit A&M to join Warner Bros, with a single due in a month … Les ‘Mixdoctor’ Adams has now created a Kurtis Blow megamix … Maze featuring Frankie Beverly play Wembley Arena February 27/28 and Manchester Apollo March 17/18 — let’s hope they’ve got a new stage act this time! … ‘Reet Petite’, as mentioned last week by Alan Jones in Chartfile, was the joint composition of Berry Gordy Jr and one Tyran Carlo, the latter turning out to be in fact the pseudonym of Hank Ballard’s featured guitarist on his recent London visit, Billy Davis – in addition, although Jackie Wilson had already reached number 13 on both sides of the Atlantic in 1957 singing ‘Stardust’ as lead vocalist of Billy Ward & His Dominoes (a fact forgotten by most people), his solo debut with ‘Reet Petite’ was surprisingly a real hit only in the UK, reaching number 6 here as opposed to 62 in the US, his first Stateside smash not coming until exactly a year later at the end of 1958 (following moderate success with ‘To Be Loved’), the also Gordy co-composed ‘Lonely Teardrops‘, which by then shamefully meant nothing here but was in retrospect the first example of the earliest discernible ‘Motown Sound” (incidentally, if you can find ‘To Be Loved’ on Coral seven inch, its 185-183bpm ‘Come Back To Me‘ B-side is another rockin’ floorfiller despite some dodgy guitar licks) … 1987’s Technics DJ Mixing Championships are now under way, the first heats being won last week at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Walkers by Chris ‘CJ’ MacKintosh (from London’s WBLS!), with Newcastle’s dole-drawing Paul Pringle a creditable second and Lincoln’s Mad Max Burns third, while at Edinburgh Amphitheatre last year’s Scottish winner won again, Glasgow’s George Little, with the local Brian LeVell a deserved extremely close second and Robert Asher third … Edinburgh’s venue, the Ampitheatre was an extremely impressively converted old theatre with lavish lighting, but it remained freezing cold and never very full — one girl there came up while Ray Elliot was competing and asked for a request! … Raze ‘Jack The Groove’, followed by ‘Jack Your Body’ and ‘Love Can’t Turn Around’ are fast becoming this year’s over-mixed clichés, replacing last year’s ‘Set It Off’! … Jon Davis, runner-up in both the UK mixing and personality DJ contests last year, has suddenly split these shores to spend 1987 in Singapore teaching disco techniques as a rep for Far East equipment and record importers Data Engineers – which leaves one less challenger for Chad Jackson’s crown! … Exeter’s Chris Dinnis, the only DJ ever to find a copy of Kanu Sukalagwan’s legendary Jap-jazz LP, has started a Saturday brunchtime 11am-1pm soul show on Plymouth Sound 96FM … Metro Radio dropped their soul show, leaving as the North-East’s only soul DJ Adrian Allen on Radio Tees – who, in his daytime capacity, forgot to play H.M. The Queen’s Christmas Day speech (nothing heavy, but he did play it an hour late in the end!) … London Weekend Television’s Friday night ‘South Of Watford’ series within the next few weeks features a programme all about Streetwave/StreetSounds founder Morgan Khan, including some dirt dished up by me … I hope you saw BBC2’s brilliant play ‘Coast To Coast‘ two Sundays ago, with Lenny Henry and John Shea as Sixties soul-playing mobile DJs (lovely observation of their awful gigs, and a great soundtrack) plus the increasingly visible Al Matthews as a soul singing US Air Forceman … The Naturals ‘Funky Rasta (‘87 Mix)’ on finished pressings is 104⅔ (dub too), with the Original Jam at 105⅔bpm … 4th + B’way for some reason have promoed Sly & Robbie’s old (0-)94⅚bpm version of Yarbrough & Peoples’ ‘Don’t Stop The Music’, instead of the truly in demand ‘Bits & Pieces’ … Billy Griffin, currently visiting the UK, will have a remix of ‘E.S.P.’ as his follow-up’s flip … Serious Records picked up Darlene Davis … A Perfect Fit turn out to be made up of white Edinburgh one-man band Michael Wuzkowski with ex-Shakatak singer Lorna Bannon – was the wool pulled over some people’s eyes? … I don’t know who was responsible for this New Year’s Eve party tape on Capital Radio, it certainly wasn’t me (to put all the complaints at rest!) – I was gigging live in North Wales, where Amos Milburn’s ancient original ‘One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer‘ was the hit of the night (how about a reissue, Charly?) … Paul Dakeyne’s brilliant ‘Blue Monday Re-Ordered‘ New Order remix from the October 1986 Disco Mix Club LPs however, despite a perfect synch out of the Communards ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, was amazingly a floor-clearer – Paul himself mixes live at London’s Hippodrome every Tuesday from about 11.30pm … George Clinton ‘Do Fries Go With That Shake’, Sheila E ‘A Love Bizarre’ and Jesse Johnson ‘Crazay (Remix)’ all synch together, bar on bar … Billboard s US charts since last noted have seen Dead Or Alive stay atop 12 Inch Sales, Janet Jackson ‘Control’ and then Kraftwerk ‘Musique Non Stop‘ top Club Play, Bobby Brown’s sweetly romantic 67-0bpm ‘Girlfriend‘ and then Janet Jackson top Black 45s … rm Disco chart new entries in the unprinted full Top 100 last week were: 77 TC Curtis re-remix, 83 Willie Colon, 84 Jungle Wonz, 85 Master C&J, 87 Sweet T And Jazzy Joyce, 88 Masters of Ceremony, 91 Jean Knight ‘Mr Big Stuff’, 92 House Master Boyz ‘House Nation’, 95 Hot Chocolate, 98 Xray, 99 Wally Jump Jr, 100 Ray, Goodman & Brown ‘Take It To The Limit’, while Eurobeat newies were: 4 Mike Mareen, 14 Candy J, 24 Martin Bazar, 25 Lisa Smith … Steve Walsh points out his 72 inch waist measurement is for loose fitting blouson-style jackets … KEEP CHILLED!

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What the well dressed mixer is wearing this season: Stone Island designer flying helmet, Velcro-fastened fingerless gloves, and white lip gloss for that “sur la piste” sporty skier look. Yup, it’s 1986’s UK Mixing Champion CHAD JACKSON, revealing the current “look” with which he hopes to dazzle into submission all his new competitors at the 1987 final on February 10 at London’s Hippodrome.

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HOT VINYL

FRANKIE KNUCKLES ‘You Can’t Hide’ (US D.J. International Records DJ 923)
Chicago’s original Warehouse DJ, Frankie is seen above (left) with his co-producer/mixer Joe Smooth (right), while Chip E helped out too on the production of this liberally adapted 120⅘bpm house treatment (in four mixes) of Teddy Pendergrass’s ‘You Can’t Hide From Yourself’ — although who the actual singer is, moaning and hollering through the bassline prodded percussively pattering rhythm (in typical Chicago style) is unclear! The result, however, is not as typically house as you’d expect. A pity StreetSounds’ massive boxed ‘The Philadelphia Story’ somehow missed out Teddy’s version…

BOBBY McCLURE ‘You Never Miss Your Water’ (US Edge Records ED 12-005)
The ‘Peak Of Love’ singer whose early 1965 duet with Fontella Bass, ‘Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing’, was her first hit (flipped by Oliver Sain’s actually more popular here at the time ‘Jerk Loose’ instrumental), Bobby returns after 20 years with a James Gadson-produced swaying jiggly joggly 100bpm revamp of the Cash McCall-penned soul standard, completely modern sounding – while, as if to make a point, the even better Michael Wycoff-penned wailing chunkily rolling 104⅔bpm flip is called ‘It Feels So Good (To Be Back Home)’. Hang on, this latter sounds so good it could be another ‘I Found Lovin’’! A real pushing nagger, the B-side is a soul smash – be warned!

THE MICROPHONE PRINCE ‘Who’s The Captain (I Wonder, Wonder Who)’ (US Still Rising Records SRR-1006)
Are you ready for the Monotones’ (oh, all right, and Mudlarks’!) 1958 hit ‘Book Of Love’ used as the basis for a modern rap? Instead of the whole “I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who” – bomp! – “who wrote the book of love”, the chorus repeats only the first half and then, to a jaunty 91⅚bpm go go hip hop beat, the Microphone Prince and Count Busy ‘D’ conversationally swap classic music hall lines in sustained jokey misunderstanding that’s such fun it’ll make this the next ‘Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble’ – which the decidedly indelicate 0-93⅔bpm ‘Yvonne & Corry’ is more like, though not for airplay (inst flip).

STACY LATTISAW ‘Jump Into My Life’ (US Motown 4574MG)
Co-prod/penned by Kashif and (Adrian’s brother) Paul Gurvitz but freshly remixed by Jellybean, this radio-plugged percussively pushing and surging (0-)109⅓bpm bubbly chugger (dub too) has been much improved from the now quite differently driven shorter (0-)108⅔bpm original LP version, which follows it – and did have some initial support when only on her otherwise patchy album, ‘Take Me All The Way’ (Motown ZL 72479).

UB40 ‘Rat In Mi Kitchen’ (DEP International DEP 25/12)
Starting in tricky sparse dub style but then becoming ridiculously catchy, this glorious 90⅔bpm reggae chant also features none other than Herb Alpert’s guest trumpet tootling through the flip’s instrumental DEP Mix.

KURTIS BLOW ‘The Bronx’ (US Mercury 888 281-1)
Lifted in its original state from his LP, this Full Force-influenced 0-94⅓-0bpm go go hip hop jam has Daffy Duck dialogue inserts, DJ Bill Black’s scratching, chanting crowds, lots of beats and not much rap, the crowd and some conversational chatter with an added duetting Melle Mel breaking up and toughening the thus more vocal new 0-94⅙ Dub Mix (inst too, plus the album’s datedly funky instrumental 99⅔bpm ‘Unity Party Jam’).

WORSE ‘EM ‘Triple M Bass’ (Champion CHAMP 12-29)
Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Star Spangled Banner’ starts a violently juddering strong 0-97⅚-97⅓-97-96⅔-0bpm rap ‘n’ scratch with distinctively treated punchy bass beats, and a “Cockney” outro (inst flip).

FULL CIRCLE ‘Workin’ Up A Sweat’ (US EMI America V-19211)
Mellowing out after the Special Sweaty Mix’s busy beginning and staying jittery right through the Dub Version, but relatively mellow from the start of the Extended Single Version, this Randy Muller-prod/co-penned 108¾bpm male vocal group swayer has strong, soulful Lutheran singing and nice piano underpinned by a schizoid beat that calmly strides and electronically erupts.

JESSE JOHNSON ‘She (I Can’t Resist)’ (US A&M SP-12219)
Back in a Prince bag, but a good one, this Time-traveller’s 119bpm bounder leaps infectiously along with a live 0-122-0bpm version and edit as flip. Here, however, the still hotter excellent US remix of ‘Crazay’ will be its flip in a month’s time.

THE HOUSE MASTER BOYZ ‘Thanks 4 The Trax U Lost’ (US House Records H5)
Hard on the heels of ‘House Nation’, the rude boy Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk again mixes the boyz on a vocodered basic 121½bpm house treatment of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes’ ‘The Love I Lost’, cheaply effective in two versions (beware, the A-side ends arbitrarily in mid-word!).

J.M. SILK ‘Let The Music Take Control’ (US RCA Victor 5958-1-RD)
A group original, this nervily jittering 119½bpm canterer has stuttering chipmunks, hollering house vocals and abrupt rhythm breaks, but the song doesn’t really spark (in four mixes).

SALT-n-PEPA ‘Hot Cool Vicious’ LP (US Next Plateau PL1007)
Their hottest tracks have already been reviewed, so just to complete the listing these modern day successors to the Sixties’ girlie groups (who now naturally rap, with much sense of fun) put lots of expression into the 0-91⅔ ‘My Mike Sounds Nice’, 93bpm ‘Tramp’, 92bpm ‘Chick On The Side’, 100⅙bpm ‘I Desire’, 75¼bpm ‘It’s All Right’, plus their singles-issued 90⅔bpm ‘Beauty And The Beat’, 100½bpm ‘I’ll Take Your Man’, 0-99⅔-97-99bpm ‘The Showstopper’.

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UK DISCO TOP 100 – January 17, 1987
(As this week’s chart is missing, positions have been derived from the “last week” places in the following week’s Top 100.)

01 01 BIG FUN, The Gap Band, Total Experience 12in
02 14 JACK YOUR BODY, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, London 12in
03 03 CHILLIN’ OUT (REMIX), Curtis Hairston, Atlantic 12in
04 08 JACK THE GROOVE, Raze, Champion 12in
05 04 SHIVER (REMIX), George Benson, Warner Bros 12in
06 02 THE RAIN (REMIX), Oran ‘Juice’ Jones, Def Jam 12in
07 05 CANDY/REMIX, Cameo, Club 12in
08 06 YOU CAN DANCE (IF YOU WANT TO), Go Go Lorenzo & The Davis/Pinckney Project, Boiling Point 12in
09 07 MR BIG STUFF, Heavy D & The Boyz, MCA Records 12in
10 11 GO SEE THE DOCTOR, Kool Moe Dee, Jive 12in
11 26 HAPPY/FEELS SO GOOD/LADY WANTS A MAN/WHO LOVES YOU/GOTTA MAKE LOVE TONIGHT/LET’S TRY AGAIN, Surface, CBS LP
12 10 NIGHTS OF PLEASURE (REMIXES), Loose Ends, Virgin 12in twin-pack
13 09 SHAKE YOU DOWN, Gregory Abbott, CBS 12in
14 19 READ MY MIND/GOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE/THANK YOU FATHER/CHASIN’ A DREAM, Tashan, Def Jam LP
15 21 LET THE MUSIC MOVE U/GET DOWN, Raze, Champion 12in white label
16 29 THE BRUTAL HOUSE/LET’S GET BRUTAL, Nitro Deluxe, US Cutting Records 12in
17 15 SMALL CHANGE (SPARE A DIME MIX), Hindsight, Circa Records 12in
18 87 IT’S MY BEAT, Sweet Tee And Jazzy Joyce, US Profile 12in
19 16 SEE ME/I REALLY DIDN’T MEAN IT, Luther Vandross, Epic LP
20 17 ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY (REMIX), Vesta Williams, A&M 12in
21 38 I FOUND LOVE (REMIX), Darlene Davis, US Take One 12in
22 13 SCREAM/ELECTRONIC ENERGY OF…/LISTEN TO THE BASS OF GET STUPID FRESH PART II/WE CONTROL THE DICE/WHO IS IT, Mantronix, 10 Records LP
23 20 MIDAS TOUCH (REMIX), Midnight Star, Solar 12in
24 23 PASSION AND PAIN, Janice McClain, MCA Records 12in
25 36 THE CHAMP, The Mohawks, Pama 12in
26 18 FALLING IN LOVE/ALTERNATIVE CLUB MIX, Sybil, Champion 12in
27 46 THE CHAMP/BUST THE CHAMP, Throwdown, HardBack 12in
28 12 SHOWING OUT, Mel & Kim, Supreme Records 12in
29 22 REET PETITE (ENHANCED)/(SHOCK HORROR MIX), Jackie Wilson, SMP 12in
30 64 SURRENDER (STUFF GUN MIX), Swing Out Sister, Mercury 12in
31 24 TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM, Wired, US Underworld 12in
32 34 STEP RIGHT UP (PURE DANCE MIX), Jaki Graham, EMI 12in
33 35 OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN (REMIX), Gwen Guthrie, US Polydor 12in
34 — C’EST LA VIE (ARTHUR BAKER REMIX), Robbie Nevil, Manhattan 12in
35 95 YOU SEXY THING (BEN LIEBRAND REMIX), Hot Chocolate, EMI 12in
36 51 LOVESTRUCK, Projection, Elite 12in
37 62 I.O.U. (ULTIMATE SHAKEDOWN/CLUB REMIXES), Freeez featuring John Rocca, CityBeat 12in
38 70 TIME (TIME TO PARTY), Gary L, Champion 12in
39 54 THE MORNING AFTER/TAKE CHARGE, Curtis Hairston, US Atlantic LP
40 25 MISUNDERSTANDING (REMIX), James (D-Train) Williams, US Columbia 12in
41 63 CAN YOU FEEL IT/WASHING MACHINE, Mr Fingers, US Trax Records 12in
42 33 SLOW RIDE/TIME TO GET ILL, Beastie Boys, Def Jam LP
43 47 WHATCHA GONNA DO, Blaze, US Quark Records 12in
44 50 SWEET LOVE/BETCHA DON’T KNOW, Najee, EMI America LP
45 67 2 THE LIMIT (PARTY TIME REMIX), Octavia, Cooltempo 12in
46 unknown
47 — HEAT STROKE, Janice Christie, London 12in
48 52 MY MIKE SOUNDS NICE/TRAMP/I’LL TAKE YOUR MAN/CHICK ON THE SIDE, Salt-n-Pepa, US Next Plateau LP
49 88 SEXY, The Masters Of Ceremony, US Strong City 12in
50 42 I’VE GOTTA BE TOUGH, M.C. Shy-D, US Luke Skyywalker 12in
51 56 FUNKY RASTA (’87 MIX), The Naturals, Cooltempo 12in
52 49 FACTS OF LOVE, Jeff Lorber featuring Karyn White, Club 12in
53 32 THIS TIME, Private Possession featuring Hunter Hayes, 4th + B’way 12in
54 unknown
55 31 L.A. NIGHTS, Yasuko Agawa, Bluebird 12in
56 92 HOUSE NATION, The House Master Boyz and The Rude Boy Of House, US Dance Mania Records 12in
57 — WORKIN’ UP A SWEAT, Full Circle, EMI America 12in
58 unknown
59 58 GIVE ME THE REASON/SHE’S SO GOOD TO ME/SEE ME, Luther Vandross, Epic 12in
60 re BACK AND FORTH/FAST, FIERCE & FUNNY, Cameo, Club LP
61-62 unknown
63 — SATURDAY NIGHT (X-RATED)/DO IT DO IT!, Schoolly-D, US Schoolly-D Records 12in
64 55 JACKIN (EMU STYLE), Home Wreckers, US Dance-Sing 12in
65 28 BITS & PIECES 87, US Dynamite Mix 12in bootleg mixer
66 30 BREAKOUT (N.A.D. MIX), Swing Out Sister, Mercury 12in
67 unknown
68 45 JEALOUSY/COMING DOWN WITH LOVE/DEEP IN IT, Heavy Traffic starring “V”, US Atlantic LP
69 — IT’S A DEMO, D.J. Polo & Kool G Rap, US Cold Chillin’ 12in
70 — RAT IN MI KITCHEN (REMIX)/DEP MIX, UB40, DEP International 12in/7in
71-72 unknown
73 27 JOHNNY BROADHEAD, Loose Ends, Virgin 12in
74 43 THE THROWDOWN MIX (LES ADAMS HIT MEDLEY), Kool & The Gang, Club 12in
75 48 SACRIFICE, Cyndi Phillips, US Atlantic 12in/promo
76-77 unknown
78 100 TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT/GOOD LOVE/(BABY) LET’S MAKE LOVE TONIGHT, Ray, Goodman & Brown, EMI America LP
79 39 KING OF SWING, Fission, Streetwave 12in
80 73 DO YOU WANT IT BAD ENUFF, Jenny Burton, Atlantic 12in
81 — TRIPLE M BASS, Worse ‘Em, Champion 12in
82 — JUMP INTO MY LIFE (JELLYBEAN REMIX), Stacy Lattisaw, US Motown 12in
83 — WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK, Steinski & Mass Media, 4th + B’way 12in
84 unknown
85 77 SLAVE OF LOVE (FINAL COUNT DOWN MIX), T.C. Curtis, Hot Melt 12in
86 40 IT’S TOO LATE (FOR LOVE), Stardom Groove featuring Tonya Wynne, US New York Groove 12in
87-91  unknown
92 — DON’T STOP THE MUSIC, Sly & Robbie, 4th + B’way 12in promo
93 99 TURN ME LOOSE, Wally Jump Jr. & The Criminal Element, US Criminal Records 12in
94 85 FACE IT (CLUB)/JAZZY JACK TRACK, Master C&J, US State Street Records 12in
95 — STAY (SHEP PETTIBONE REMIXES), Howard Hewett, US Elektra 12in
96-97 unknown
98 — NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Keith Patrick, In Recordings 12in
99 83 SHE DON’T KNOW I’M ALIVE/DUBS, Willie Colon, US A&M 12in
100 — IMNXTC, Denise Motto/I’M HOUSE, The Elect/IT’S OK, The Force, Rhythm King LP

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EUROBEAT

(As this week’s chart is missing, positions have been derived from the “last week” places in the following week’s Top 30.)

01 WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL?, Man Two Man, Nightmare 12in
02 EVERY WAKING HOUR, Linda Taylor, Nightmare 12in
03 YOU CAN’T HIDE, Frankie Knuckles, US D.J. International Records 12in
04 IN AT THE DEEP END, Midnight Sunrise, Nightmare 12in
05 LOVE’S THE CURE FOR ME, James & Susan Wells, Nightmare 12in
06 NOTHING BUT BLACKMAIL, Croisette, Passion 12in
07 FIRE ON THE MOON, Aleph, Italian Time 12in
08 CAST ASIDE MY STUBBORN PRIDE, Louise Thomas, R&B Records 12in
09 ANIMAL MAGNETISM, Darryl Pandy, Nightmare 12in
10 CRAZY OVER YOU, Desire featuring Rae Flores, US Sheik 12in
11 TAKE ONE STEP FORWARD, Viola Wills & Noel McCalla, Nightmare 12in
12 BOOM BOOM (LET’S GO BACK TO MY ROOM), Paul Lekakis, Italian Esquire 12in
13 ONE MORE HURT, Kit Rolfe, Fantasia 12in
14 I’VE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE, Astaire, Passion 12in
15 TIGHTROPE, Evelyn Thomas, Nightmare 12in
16 READ ALL ABOUT IT, Flirtations, Passion 12in
17 LOVE SPY (REMIX), Mike Mareen, US ZYX 12in
18 DON’T DELAY, Earlene Bentley, Nightmare 12in
19 HAVEN’T WE SAID GOODBYE BEFORE, Dollar, Arista 12in
20 SOUL, Jolo, US Megatone 12in
21 STOP – GIVE IT UP, Paul Rein, Dutch Injection 12in
22 HEAVEN IS A SECRET, Magic-a, Italian Rainbow 12in
23 LOVE HANGOVER, Tracy Ackerman, Debut 12in
24 HAUNTED BY LOVE, Rita Johns, US Somersault 12in
25 KISS IN THE DARK, Girl Talk, Dutch Boni 12in
26 unknown
27 unknown
28 SWEET FANTASY, Lisa Smith, US TSR 12in
29 PRIMAVERA, Tullio De Piscopo, Belgian Nunk 12in
30 unknown