ODDS ‘N’ BODS
KEVIN ASHTON (St Austell Quasars) queries the date that Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley ‘Jack Your Body’ first reached the UK on import; it was just before Livewire’s Bognor weekender, where it was an instant hit, so presumably during the week ending April 12, 1986 — I certainly bought it then, too late for review in our issue of April 19 although not for the chart (where its entry at 60 was accompanied by full BPM details, the review following a week later) … US import deliveries were running late last week, so similarly check the Disco chart for the very hottest numbers, as usual! … Jackie Wilson’s follow-up, with unadventurous predictability, will be ‘(I Get The) Sweetest Feeling‘, complete with modelling clay video, whereas something less obvious like the exciting ‘Baby Workout‘ (already much played by radio and great in stereo) would surely help expand his marketable catalogue? … Technics DJ Mixing Championships heats last week saw the strongest line-up to date at Birmingham’s Millionaire, where the charmingly beatific Scooby Swift (from the Fox & Goose) was the crowd-pleasing winner — in fact, something the competitors in unruly Bristol could have copied, he actually shushed the crowd so his mixes could be heard! — with Phil Docherty (from Exchange One) second and Dave Evans (from Manchester’s Saturdays) third … Scooby so impressed the Millionaire’s management that he starts Mondays there this coming week, and is with his Friday Fox & Goose partner Paul Dixon plus Kenny B at Bonkers from this Sunday, too — the fruits of success … Bristol’s heats at Kingswood’s Chasers by contrast were the lowest standard so far (almost everyone that failed the preliminaries in Birmingham would have qualified there), being won by local favourite Dirty Den with Burnham-on-Sea’s hip hopping Martin Eccles a worthy second and Tristan Bolitho (from Bristol’s Studio) a Chad Jackson-copying third … February 10’s UK finals at the Hippodrome look like being a hot night not to be missed, while DJs of the stature of Jazzy Jeff are competing in the US heats for a place at March 9’s world finals in the Royal Albert Hall! … Raze ‘Jack The Groove’ has definitely been this year’s most mixed record, while ‘Set It Off’ still crops up, and others we’ve grown used to are ‘Holiday Rap’ (only at preliminary stage!), ‘Showing Out’, ‘House Nation’ … I find one hazard of wearing a specially tailored promotional baseball jacket emblazoned with MCA’s logo on the back is that DJs keep asking me to put them on the mailing list! … Cooltempo snapped up the sizzling Nitro Deluxe ‘The Brutal House’ (here 114¼bpm with a UK Edit flip) for release next week … Full Circle’s UK re-edit of the Special Sweaty Mix will be minus its electro intro … Paul Hardcastle has given the Siegfried Ipach-revamped (and ruined) ‘Frankfurt Mix’ of George McCrae ‘Rock Your Baby’ (Portrait 650312-6) a much stronger tight 112⅔bpm remix of his own, closer to the original in flavour … Midnight Star ‘Engine No. 9‘ (still too trite for my taste although I concede it is catchy pop) is already flipped on promo by the 0-119-119½-119¾-120-119⅔bpm ‘Les Adams Megamix‘ (MCA Records MAX 117), which sandwiches it between ‘Midas Touch’ and ‘Operator’ with some clever links … Robbie Nevil ‘C’Est La Vie’ is now in yet another creatively marketed remix, the extremely stark 103⅔bpm Steve Street Mix (Manhattan 12MTXS 14) … Swing Out Sister is also in less floor-aimed new (0-)52-103⅚-0-103⅚bpm Roadrunner Mix, laughter introed and slow to get going before then being rather abrupt, with an accelerating car effect instead of jets … George Benson’s follow-up next week is a Nick Martinelli & David Todd 111⅔bpm remix of ‘Teaser’ … Howard Hewett ‘Stay’, due here in two weeks (UK pressings being ⅓bpm faster), on US 12 inch with revised accuracy should be 98⅓bpm in the Before Midnight Mix and – I hadn’t expected Shep Pettibone to be so inconsistent! – 100⅔-98⅔-98⅙-97⅓-97⅔bpm in the After Midnight Mix … Neil Rushton’s new label Kool Kat has picked up Denise Motto ‘IMNXTC’ for UK singles release with a Scooby Swift scratch mix, plus Hollywood ‘Funk Me, Jack Me’ (again with a Scooby mix), and they’re readying a radical remix of Risky Business, all for a new deal via PRT … Wolverhampton’s Revolver Records is starting a new FM Dance label, launched by Detroit’s aptly named chantoosie, Tiger … Steve Walsh’s chantalong version and the four years old original of Fatback ‘I Found Lovin’’ are being treated like a newie in provincial discos (it’s taken this long to catch up with London?) … Walsall’s 17-year-old Andrew Brevitt has created some remarkably sophisticated studio-recorded megamixes, using digitally repeated bassIines and the like, a name to look out for … Tony Monson has quit his Saturday chart show on Essex Radio to concentrate on London’s relaunched Solar 93FM … Hammersmith Palais is currently closed for four months while Mecca gives it a massive £2½ million refit, the ‘Ask The DJ’ DJ Barry Upton therefore moving to Bedford’s new Sweetings … Midlands DJ Paul Anthony, still on crutches following a motorbike prang, has metamorphosed back into Mike Nunnerley (his real name) as general manager of Bournemouth’s new Clouds disco complex, where Paul Brady and Lorenzo Jones start a weekly soul night this coming Monday (2) with Mary Wells as special quest … Tuesday (3) Steve Walsh joins Chris “O” Kaye at Tonbridge Harveys, and Robbie Vincent souls Bexleyheath’s Drayman in Crook Log … Darlene Davis’s mother Rosetta Davis sang with Duke Ellington, while her stepmother Dee Dee Kenniebrew was an original member of the Crystals … DJs on mailing lists currently seem untrustworthy about some of the records they report in their charts as being “floor fillers”, things that by everyone else’s common consensus are more like floor clearers, with no sales support at all — please be honest! … KEEP CHILLED!
TONY DeVIT, from Birmingham’s Dome and Nightingale clubs, at that city’s heat of the Technics DJ Mixing Championships appeared to be using glass slipmats! These unfortunately didn’t help him win a place (he’d come second in the two previous years), as his flawless hi-NRG mixing seemed too orthodox and tame by today’s raunchier standards.
HOT VINYL
RISKY BUSINESS ‘Jammin’ To New Orleans’ (Kool Kat 12KAT 1) Due soon for a more widely available remix too, this Paul Hardcastle-ish good juddery slick 0-114bpm electro-backed piano instrumental (in three mixes) is the creation of three Midlands disco DJs, (left to right) keyboardist Kevin Roberts from Halesowen’s 42nd Street, scratcher Scooby Swift and drum programmer Paul Dixon, both from Birmingham’s Fox And Goose. In addition, Scooby was the winner of last week’s Birmingham heat in the Technics DJ Mixing Championships!
MILLIE SCOTT ‘Ev’ry Little Bit’ (US 4th + B’way BWAY-432)
Mildred seems to be Millie in the States too, slowing down to the Martinelli tempo for a Nazarian & Bradley-produced pleasant gently jittering 102bpm smooth swayer that’s had hot response as it’s in a popular format, the still fairly vocal Instrumental and Dub oddly making only the same use of David McMurray’s slick sax as does the A-side.
MR. K MIX BY SPECIAL K ‘Rock The House (Medley)’ (US T.D. Records Inc TD 801)
Reputedly connected with Chicago DJ Vince Lawrence, although not house, this fast-selling 113-114½-115-114¼-115⅔-114bpm mix medley, with a punchier 113¾-113½-113¾-113⅓bpm flipside variation, synchs and scratches James Brown, Hamilton Bohannon and others over what appears to be Magic Disco Machine’s ‘Scratchin’’, to far more smoothly flowing effect than some mixers achieve. A hot one!
LOLA ‘Wax The Van’ (US Easy Street JS-1007)
Penned by Lola Blank and Arthur Russell, produced by Lola and Bob Blank, with Kenny Blank and Arthur Russell on keyboards, this subtly sinuous 105⅚bpm exotic pulsing chugger borrows from many influences such as ‘Jingo’ while it quietly wails, mutters and weaves its low key way through four varied mixes. Another hot one!
SWEET TEE AND JAZZY JOYCE ‘It’s My Beat’ (Champion CHAMP 12-37)
Roxanne Shante-ish Joyce burbles away between James Brown beats cut into the bassy here 0-883/7bpm rhythm by DJ Tee (inst/acappella flip), quite slow and not as exciting as other current rappers but evidently what people want, as it’s doing well.
M.C. SHY-D ‘I’ve Gotta Be Tough’ (Champion CHAMP 12-34)
Bragging young Peter Jones is far from shy as he cockily raps his own praises to a lightly jittering (0-)117bpm beat that cuts in the catchy scatting from (probably Sammy Bardot’s cover of) Earth Wind & Fire’s ‘Biyo’, while the flip’s harder 111⅔bpm ‘We Don’t Play’ mixes in the guitar intro of the Motown Spinners’ ‘It’s A Shame’ (instrumentals too).
DARLENE DAVIS ‘I Found Love (Remix)’ (Serious Records OUS 1)
Eventually easing out of a digitally treated “true love can be hard to find” intro, this wailing datedly rambling 115¼-115½-115-114¾-114¼-114bpm disco burbler, with further digital gimmicks, has a catchy “I found love and you’re the one” hookline which is helping make it pretty popular, although it’s probably too formless for popular success (in four mixes).
TASHAN ‘Chasin’ A Dream’ (Def Jam 650359-6)
Referring to echoes of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, this hypnotically rolling 85⅔bpm nagger pits moaning Tashan Rashad against mournful girls and splashes of acid guitar, the hotter side for dance floor being already proven to be the UK-only flip’s gently jiggly weaving subdued soulful 101⅓bpm ‘Read My Mind’, probably too subtle to cross over.
THE SYSTEM ‘Don’t Disturb This Groove’ (US Atlantic 0-86741)
Although the already reviewed excellent ‘Come As You Are (Remix)’ will be their UK release (not now for a fortnight, flipped by the also 110bpm LP Version and jerkily racing 0-119bpm ‘Modern Girl’), the duo’s equally good import is a deceptively downtempo chunkily rolling 80¼bpm impassioned pent-up yet attractive slowie (in three mixes), worth checking too.
C.L. BLAST ‘Lay Another Log On The Fire’ (Charly R&B CYZ117)
Clarence ‘Junior’ Lewis, evidently this veteran deep soulster’s real name, has finally had his terrific 1984 LP released here, ‘C.L. Blast’ (Charly R&B CRB 1145), with its very best track 12 inched, a fabulous blues-drenched 71⅔bpm Southern Soul slowie that’s timeless in sound and appeal – real music – flipped by the datedly rolling 108bpm ‘Somebody Shot My Eagle’, based on ‘Stormy Monday Blues’ imagery (the eagle that flies on Friday is the silver dollar earned on pay day, the once common coin being embossed with that bird).
PARADISE GIRLS ‘Holding Back’ (US Easy Street EZS-7528)
Co-created by Arthur Storey Jr and Paul Simpson, this pleasantly dated sweet wailer is sung in almost Sixties girlie group style, with the A-side’s loosely chugging 114½-114¾(rap)-114½bpm Vocal Mix and 114⅓bpm Instrumental Dub mixed by Tony Humphries & Larry Patterson, the flip’s tightly loping 115¾bpm Club Vocal, 115½bpm Paul’s Back and 114¾bpm Dubbing Back by Pavlovia Raban.
PARADISE ‘Paradise A Go Go’ (US Big City Records BCR-007)
Go go from a New York label, this predictable 104¼-104⅔-105bpm jerky jitterer (in three mixes) is nevertheless the real thing, with chanting chaps and answering audience surrounding a distinctively youthful lead vocal – which makes it slightly different, and hot for warehouse-type DJs.
EXPERIENCE “E.U.” UNLIMITED ‘Doing The Cabbage Patch’ (US T.T.E.D. Records Inc TDE-3022)
First the Oak Tree, now the new dance craze is the Cabbage Patch? Good time, good fun, and just plain good jaunty 96-96⅓-79⅙bpm go go funk (inst flip). Grow them greens, y’all!
UK DISCO TOP 100 – January 31, 1987
01 01 JACK YOUR BODY, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, London 12in
02 02 BIG FUN, The Gap Band, Total Experience 12in
03 03 JACK THE GROOVE, Raze, Champion 12in
04 13 THE BRUTAL HOUSE/LET’S GET BRUTAL, Nitro Deluxe, US Cutting Records 12in
05 06 THE RAIN (REMIX), Oran ‘Juice’ Jones, Def Jam 12in
06 05 YOU CAN DANCE (IF YOU WANT TO), Go Go Lorenzo & The Davis/Pinckney Project, Boiling Point 12in
07 04 CHILLIN’ OUT (REMIX), Curtis Hairston, Atlantic 12in
08 07 SHIVER (REMIX), George Benson, Warner Bros 12in
09 08 MR BIG STUFF, Heavy D & The Boyz, MCA Records 12in
10 11 ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY (REMIX), Vesta Williams, A&M 12in
11 14 THE CHAMP, The Mohawks, Pama 12in
12 12 LET THE MUSIC MOVE U/GET DOWN, Raze, Champion 12in white label
13 20 SCREAM/ELECTRONIC ENERGY OF…/LISTEN TO THE BASS OF GET STUPID FRESH PART II/WHO IS IT/WE CONTROL THE DICE/MEGAMIX, Mantronix, 10 Records LP
14 17 YOU SEXY THING (BEN LIEBRAND REMIX), Hot Chocolate, EMI 12in
15 37 I FOUND LOVE (REMIX), Darlene Davis, Serious Records 12in
16 09 CANDY/REMIX, Cameo, Club 12in
17 10 GO SEE THE DOCTOR, Kool Moe Dee, Jive 12in
18 15 READ MY MIND/CHASIN’ A DREAM, Tashan, Def Jam 12in
19 22 WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK, Steinski & Mass Media, 4th + B’way 12in
20 28 FUNKY RASTA (’87 MIX)/ORIGINAL JAM, The Naturals, Cooltempo 12in
21 19 SURRENDER (STUFF GUN MIX), Swing Out Sister, Mercury 12in
22 23 I.O.U. (ULTIMATE SHAKEDOWN/CLUB REMIXES), Freeez featuring John Rocca, CityBeat 12in
23 30 IT’S MY BEAT, Sweet Tee And Jazzy Joyce, US Profile 12in
24 16 HAPPY/FEELS SO GOOD/WHO LOVES YOU/LADY WANTS A MAN/LET’S TRY AGAIN, Surface, CBS LP
25 40 HOUSE NATION, The House Master Boyz and The Rude Boy Of House, US Dance Mania Records 12in
26 24 LOVESTRUCK, Projection, Elite 12in
27 50 WORKIN’ UP A SWEAT, Full Circle, EMI America 12in
28 81 HAVE YOU EVER LOVED SOMEBODY (REMIX)/INSTRUMENTAL, Freddie Jackson, Capitol 12in
29 25 C’EST LA VIE (ARTHUR BAKER REMIX), Robbie Nevil, Manhattan 12in
30 29 SEE ME/I REALLY DIDN’T MEAN IT/THERE’S NOTHING BETTER THAN LOVE, Luther Vandross, Epic LP
31 32 CAN YOU FEEL IT/WASHING MACHINE, Mr Fingers, US Trax Records 12in
32 52 OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN (REMIX), Gwen Guthrie, Boiling Point 12in
33 41 THE CHAMP/BUST THE CHAMP, Throwdown, HardBack 12in
34 47 SEXY, The Masters Of Ceremony, US Strong City 12in
35 74 CAUGHT UP IN THE RAPTURE (REMIX)/MYSTERY, Anita Baker, Elektra 12in
36 42 TURN ME LOOSE, Wally Jump Jr. & The Criminal Element, London 12in promo
37 38 WHATCHA GONNA DO, Blaze, Champion 12in white label
38 34 YOU BE ILLIN’ (REMIX)/HIT IT RUN, Run-D.M.C., London 12in promo
39 15 GOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE/OOH WE BABY/THANK YOU FATHER/STRUNG OUT ON YOU, Tashan, Def Jam LP
40 18 SHAKE YOU DOWN, Gregory Abbott, CBS 12in
41 45 IT’S TOO LATE (FOR LOVE)/CITY COUNTRY MIX, Stardom Groove featuring Tonya Wynne, US New York Groove 12in
42 39 THE MORNING AFTER, Curtis Hairston, US Atlantic LP
43 27 SMALL CHANGE (SPARE A DIME MIX), Hindsight, Circa Records 12in
44 71 EV’RY LITTLE BIT, Millie Scott, US 4th + B’way 12in
45 31 FALLING IN LOVE, Sybil, Champion 12in
46 26 SHOWING OUT, Mel & Kim, Supreme Records 12in
47 85 DO YOU WANT IT BAD ENUFF, Jenny Burton, Atlantic 12in
48 36 THE THROWDOWN MIX (LES ADAMS HIT MEDLEY)/VICTORY (EDIT), Kool & The Gang, Club 12in
49 49 2 THE LIMIT (PARTY TIME REMIX), Octavia, Cooltempo 12in
50 51 JUMP INTO MY LIFE (JELLYBEAN REMIX), Stacy Lattisaw, US Motown 12in
51 46 JACKIN (EMU STYLE), Home Wreckers, Champion 12in
52 63 DON’T STOP THE MUSIC, Sly & Robbie, 4th + B’way 12in promo
53 33 PASSION AND PAIN, Janice McClain, MCA Records 12in
54 35 MIDAS TOUCH (REMIX), Midnight Star, Solar 12in
55 53 TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM, Wired, US Underworld 12in
56 21 REET PETITE/REMIXES, Jackie Wilson, SMP 7in/12in
57 89 SHE DON’T KNOW I’M ALIVE/DUBS, Willie Colon, US A&M 12in
58 70 BETCHA DON’T KNOW/SWEET LOVE/NAJEE’S THEME, Najee, EMI America LP
59 58 JOHNNY BROADHEAD, Loose Ends, Virgin 12in
60 55 MY MIKE SOUNDS NICE/TRAMP/I’LL TAKE YOUR MAN/CHICK ON THE SIDE, Salt-n-Pepa, US Next Plateau LP
61 43 SHE’S SO GOOD TO ME/SEE ME/GIVE ME THE REASON, Luther Vandross, Epic 12in
62 65 SLOW RIDE/TIME TO GET ILL, Beastie Boys, Def Jam LP
63 — WAX THE VAN, Lola, US Jump Street 12in
64 64 IT’S A DEMO, D.J. Polo & Kool G Rap, US Cold Chillin’ 12in
65 97 THE MAGNIFICENT JAZZY JEFF, Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, Champion 12in
66 68 TRIPLE M BASS, Worse ‘Em, Champion 12in
67 80 HEAT STROKE, Janice Christie, London 12in
68 76 FACE IT/JAZZY JACK TRACK, Master C&J, US State Street Records 12in
69 99 ROCK THE HOUSE (MEDLEY), Mr K Mix by Special K, US T.D. Records Inc 12in
70 — IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY, The Blow Monkeys, RCA 12in
71 60 SATURDAY NIGHT (X-RATED)/DO IT DO IT!, Schoolly-D, US Schoolly-D Records 12in
72 44 TIME (TIME TO PARTY), Gary L, Champion 12in
73 87 SERIOUS/SATISFIED/SWEET SOMEBODY, Donna Allen, US 21 Records LP
74 95 STAY (SHEP PETTIBONE REMIXES), Howard Hewett, US Elektra 12in
75 90 IT FEELS SO GOOD (TO BE BACK HOME)/YOU NEVER MISS YOUR WATER, Bobby McClure, US Edge Records 12in
76 93 SHE (I CAN’T RESIST) (REMIX), Jesse Jackson, US A&M 12in
77 — LOOKING FOR A NEW LOVE, Jody Watley, MCA Records 12in promo
78 48 I CAN’T TAKE IT, Dyce, The Production House 12in white label
79 — TEASER (REMIX), George Benson, Warner Bros 12in promo
80 84 THIS TIME, Private Possession featuring Hunter Hayes, 4th + B’way 12in
81 — CHEATIN’ GIRL (REMIX), Steady “B”, Jive 12in
82 59 I’VE GOTTA BE TOUGH, M.C. Shy-D, US Luke Skyywalker 12in
83 — AFTER LOVING YOU (107bpm), Juicy, US CBS Associated Records 7in
84 62 BITS & PIECES 87, US Dynamite Mix 12in bootleg mixer
85 98 IMNXTC, Denise Motto/I’M HOUSE, The Elect/IT’S OK, The Force, Rhythm King LP
86 — I KNEW YOU WERE WAITING (FOR ME), Aretha Franklin & George Michael, Epic 7in/12in remix
87 88 CROSS THE TRACK, Maceo And The Macks/I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES, Jackson Sisters, 12in bootleg
88 91 JEALOUSY/COMING DOWN WITH LOVE/DEEP IN IT, Heavy Traffic starring “V”, US Atlantic LP
89 — WHEN LOVE COMES CALLING, Paul Johnson, CBS 12in
90 — EVERYBODY SAY, Masquerade, Streetwave 12in mailing list promo
91 94 BACK TO BURN, T La Rock, 10 Records 12in
92 86 TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT/GOOD LOVE/(BABY) LET’S MAKE LOVE TONIGHT, Ray, Goodman & Brown, EMI America LP
93 re MR. BIG STUFF, Jean Knight, Old Gold 7in/Stax 7in
94 — SATURDAY NIGHT (U RATED EDIT), Schoolly-D, Flame Records 12in
95 — HARD TIMES, The Real Thing, Jive 12in mailing list promo
96 100= HOUSE BEAT BOX (INSTRUMENTAL), Sampson ‘Butch’ Moore, US Trax Records 12in
97 77 NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Keith Patrick, In Recordings 12in
98 100= PARADISE A GO GO, Paradise, US Big City Records 12in
99 — THE BRONX/DUB MIX, Kurtis Blow, US Mercury 12in
100= — 6 (END OF THE WORLD MIX), Madhouse, US Paisley Park 12in
100= — EGO MANIAC (104⅔bpm dynamite!), Jocelyn Brown, US Warner Bros/Jellybean 12in
EUROBEAT
01 02 EVERY WAKING HOUR, Linda Taylor, Nightmare 12in
02 01 WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL?, Man Two Man, Nightmare 12in
03 04 IN AT THE DEEP END, Midnight Sunrise, Nightmare 12in
04 08 MAN SIZE LOVE (MAN SIZE MONSTER MIX), Klymaxx, MCA Records 12in
05 05 YOU CAN’T HIDE, Frankie Knuckles, US D.J. International Records 12in
06 06 LOVE’S THE CURE FOR ME, James & Susan Wells, Nightmare 12in
07 07 NOTHING BUT BLACKMAIL, Croisette, Passion 12in
08 03 FIRE ON THE MOON, Aleph, Italian Time 12in
09 23 PRIMAVERA, Tullio De Piscopo, Belgian Nunk 12in
10 10 CRAZY OVER YOU, Desire featuring Rae Flores, US Sheik 12in
11 20 SOUL, Jolo, US Megatone 12in
12 13 I’VE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE, Astaire, Passion 12in
13 09 FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND, Miquel Brown, Nightmare 12in
14 12 BOOM BOOM (LET’S GO BACK TO MY ROOM), Paul Lekakis, Italian Esquire 12in
15 — NO LIES (REMIX), The SOS Band, US Tabu 12in
16 11 TAKE ONE STEP FORWARD, Viola Wills & Noel McCalla, Nightmare 12in
17 17 TIGHTROPE, Evelyn Thomas, Nightmare 12in
18 14 ANIMAL MAGNETISM, Darryl Pandy, Nightmare 12in
19 26 LOVE SPY (REMIX), Mike Mareen, US ZYX 12in
20 — HEARTFLASH, Linda Jo Rizzo, German ZYX 12in
21 19 HAVEN’T WE SAID GOODBYE BEFORE, Dollar, Arista 12in
22 16 DON’T DELAY, Earlene Bentley, Nightmare 12in
23 24 HEAVEN IS A SECRET, Magic-a, Italian Rainbow 12in
24 18 ONE MORE HURT, Kit Rolfe, Fantasia 12in
25 21 HAUNTED BY LOVE, Rita Johns, US Somersault 12in
26 15 CAST ASIDE MY STUBBORN PRIDE, Louise Thomas, R&B Records 12in
27 22 READ ALL ABOUT IT, Flirtations, Passion 12in
28 re TOUCH BY TOUCH, Joy, German OK 12in
29 — SOMETHING IN MY HOUSE, Dead Or Alive, Epic 12in
30 27 STOP – GIVE IT UP, Paul Rein, Dutch Injection 12in
I’m utterly gobsmacked by that photo of Tony De Vit in his pre-Trade Hi-NRG incarnation – I wouldn’t have recognised him in a million years!
It wasn’t Vince Lawrence behind the Mr K. mix – it was, of course, Danny Krivit. (Wasn’t Vince Lawrence claiming to be Virgo a couple of months ago? Hmm.)
Lola’s “Wax The Van” would go on to become Arthur Russell’s biggest success on the Disco Chart, by some considerable distance. It’s a great track, which seems to have become forgotten about in comparison with his work as Dinosaur L and Loose Joints.
With reference to James’s cynical commentary about mailing list pseudo-hits, it’s interesting that the Masquerade and Real Thing records are rather pointedly listed as “mailing list promos” on the Disco Chart – that’s not happened before, and I detect James’s sly editorial hand at work!
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I agree about Tony DeVit -he changed big time in just a few years.
The big refurbishment mentioned at Hammersmith Palais turned it into La Palais a club I never went to after they turned us away the one time I tried for being part of a group of blokes. A pretty legendary venue where my mum went when it was a dancehall in the early and mid 50s and where I’d been before the refurbishment to a Radio London Soul Night Out but which now like the Astoria has sadly gone .
I agree with James about the Darlene Davis single – I just thought it was boring and typical of a lot if the traditional funk stuff that was out at the time – however in the future it provided the popular “true love is hard to find” sample .
So the Bognor Weekender in April 1986 was the first event outside the USA where a house record dominated things . Little dud I know we were hearing history in the making – and now nearly 35 years ago.!
Incidentally and irrelevantly I remember this era (early 1987) as the time when the first dead easy quiz machines were just out and I was leaving pubs with £50 plus winnings on me (in 1986 figures!) – they were the days! And also the time the final English pound notes vanished. The mention of the DJ already naming himself after Dirty Den from Eastenders which had been on less than 2 years at this point got me thinking of life in general back then and the cultural references to the time he regularly drops into the column.
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That line from Darlene Davis was sampled by Brothers In Rhythm in “Such A Good Feeling”, wasn’t it – I only made the connection when hearing it again recently. Her track was a big favourite of Graeme Park at The Garage – I even heard him play it twice in the same night – but, yeah, it’s nowhere near as strong as I remember.
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Isn’t there a bit of understandable triumphalism in the column today about the number one pop record being Jack Your Body – a number one which had got there purely on club play and with zero plays on pop radio. I don’t know if this is the first instance of such since the skinheads got Double Barrel to pop number one in 1971. Anyone have any idea if this is true?
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The pop success of Jack Your Body is unprecedented, I think. Plenty of earlier number ones were first broken in the clubs – Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me, Rock Your Baby – but pop radio picked up on them before they topped the charts. And there were other Number Ones that were shunned by Radio One – Lena Martell’s One Day At A Time springs to mind – but presumably Radio Two would have given them the same exposure.
It’s been said that Jack Your Body’s success was so baffling to Peter Powell that it led to his leaving Radio One, as he just didn’t understand modern music any more (in which case, fair play to him really), but the dates don’t quite stack up, as he didn’t leave the station until September 1988. Maybe it just started him down the road of feeling increasingly alienated, and acid house was the final straw.
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Yes Lena Martell was played on Radio 2 at the time.
So Peter Powell the afficianado and publiciser of the Nee Romantics bows out. As you say fairplay to him for leaving if he genuinely didn’t like the new music better than the those radio 1 DJs who pretend to be into everything that comes along just to try to remain ‘down with the kids’. I’ve heard from many people Peter Powell was a genuinely nice guy so it sounds like it’d be true.
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