Month: November 1989

BEATS & PIECES

BEN LIEBRAND has created an excellent 0-110¼-110⅓-114⅓-114¾-118-119¼bpm ‘The Megamix‘ of Luther Vandross oldies, sliding neatly through ‘Never Too Much/Sugar And Spice/I Really Didn’t Mean It/The Glow Of Love/Super Lady’, obviously to tie in with the current ‘Best Of Love’ compilation album but seemingly only available as an Epic single-sided promo (XPR 1466) … ‘The Look Of Love‘, the Soul II Soul/Smith & Mighty/Fresh 4/Sybil style pre-dating Wild Bunch track mentioned last week, did come out here (as I rather thought) on the B-side of ‘Friends And Countrymen‘, the group’s last single before they disbanded (they weren’t “dropped”, as Ian Dewhirst mistakenly thought) — plus the (by now doubtless suddenly much in demand!) track is due out again on a ‘Soul In Darkness‘ Fourth & Broadway ballad compilation album … Fourth & Broadway, incidentally, have already snapped up here the sizzling Mondeé Oliver ‘Stay Close’ … Toney D’Addezio, whose recently reviewed ‘Housework’ is credited as being by his alter ego, Toney D & The Lovetrip Orchestra, is indeed Italian but has lived in Switzerland since he was tiny, based in Berne where he jocks at Babalu and owns both the Fantasy import record shop (“Switzerland’s best”) and Fantasy International Records label — ‘Housework’ is due again within the next two months as a vocal version featuring none other than Arnold Jarvis, retitled as ‘I Want To Have Your Love‘ … Sybil’s album, perhaps surprisingly (or maybe not, considering the deserved plugs she’s had on ‘The Hit Man And Her’ recently!), will be out here on PWL Records rather than Champion, as will be ‘Don’t Make Me Over’s follow up ‘Walk On By’ … US Warner Bros vice president Benny Medina took a select few of the Prestatyn weekender crew to dinner at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno (on my recommendation, the best haute cuisine restaurant in North Wales!), where he revealed that the upcoming Quincy Jones album includes every vintage of performer from Siedah Garrett and Heavy D to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald in tracks which document and encapsulate the development of black music during his lifetime — and on one totally acappella track Quincy beats out a rhythm on the metal plate inserted into his skull during an old operation, to the scatting accompaniment of such as Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau! … Paul Simpson ‘Walk Away From Love’ on its commercial pressing is flipped also by the Candi Staton featuring old 113bpm You Got The Love Mix of ‘Musical Freedom’ … ZTT which originally stood for Zang Tumb Tumb appear to have reverted to simply Zang for their 808 State release … Twin Hype ‘For Those Who Like To Groove’ is flipped by the sombre 92⅓-0bpm ‘Lyrical Rundown‘, while the Quartz remix’s original 12-inch repeating B-side makes the less spacious Original Mix now 0-118⅓bpm and the sparse bumpily chugging ‘R – U – Ready’ 122½bpm … Izit’s UK B-side to the ‘Stories’ remake has the initially sparser 0-93⅛bpm Jackanory Mix and “you gotta feel the music in your gut, get up and move your butt” muttering 93bpm Stories Mix … Looney Tunes ‘Just As Long As I Got You’ on its XL Recordings UK pressing, as well as the 121bpm Warehouse Rave Remix, has the 121bpm Brooklyn Club Mix, (0-)122bpm Original Version and 120⅔bpm Bones Breaks … Paradise Orchestra’s B-side mixes of ‘Satisfy Your Dream’ are the trickily spurting 119½-0bpm Magic Fly Mix and 0-119¼-0bpm Percappella … Keith Thompson’s jerkily jumping (and now accurately calculated) 119¾-117½bpm Trenchtown Rock Mix of ‘Can’t Take It’ is flipped by the different 117¾bpm Raggamuffin House Mix and stuttery 119¾-120⅓bpm Jerk House Style Mix … Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King ‘Day To Day’ in its Dance Mix, on closer examination, should be a nit-picking 106-105¾bpm, the other dubs and edits all being about that too … ‘(There’ll Be A) Better Day’ in its Original Mix is now 118½bpm on Julian Jonah’s remix pressing … Sublevel’s much longer and emptier also Basement Boys created B-side Original Dance Mix of the Andrea Holdclaw wailed ‘Don’t Blame Me’ is a slower 117-117⅔-117½bpm — that I think, and trust, gets us up to date with all the additional tracks and mixes on previously reviewed singles which I had no time to calculate in full when new … BBC Radio Lancashire’s very listenable soul show presenter Gary Hickson and expatriate Merseysider Jon Williams are guest jocks with Desa at Birkenhead’s next The Defhouse on Monday (27) … Steve Poindexter’s ‘Computer Madness‘, a 127½bpm house track from a US Muzique Records 12-inch reviewed back in June, never hit The Club Chart but is getting sustained action up north, especially in the north-east — could it be the next ‘The Theme’? … TV coverage of the Berlin Wall has been especially fascinating considering that most of the action has been centred on the Brandenburg Gate, only a few hundred yards from the Tempodrom where just over two months earlier BCM Records had held their three day Summer Dance Festival, during which I walked around (and photographed extensively) the whole length of the wall that has received most attention … IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

SOUL II SOUL ‘Get A Life (Club Mix)’ (10 Records TENX 284)
Out commercially next week. this typical sneakily unemphatic jiggly rambling 101bpm jogger offsets Jazzie’s philosophical husky muttering with his cousin Marcia Lewis’s vocal refrain and even some background kiddie chorus by 15 of his nephews and nieces, using basically the same backing track as the flip’s long promised and now remixed also 101bpm autobiographically muttered ‘Jazzie’s Groove (New Version)‘ (instrumental Piano Version and 100⅞bpm Bonus Beats too), but perhaps it’s not quite punchy enough a ‘song’ to be as big a crossover hit in the coming month as it might have been at a less fiercely competitive time of the year. An apparently unreleased remix of ‘Back To Life’ will couple another subsequently marketed pressing, note.

MONDEÉ OLIVER ‘Stay Close’ (US Gherkin Records GKE 1055)
Causing a huge stir, this Larry ‘Mr Fingers’ Heard mixed late Seventies jazz-funk flavoured speedily pulsing but unhurried girl doodled 126½bpm weaving and wriggling floater — in “Fingers” Club and Short Vocals, Renegade Philly Dub and Piano Winelight instrumentals – has the haunting atmosphere of a ‘Pacific State’ and is sure to shoot up The Club Chart.

THE CHIMES ‘Heaven (Heavy Club)’ (CBS 655432-6)
This excellent joyously soulful Chaka Khan-ish wailer has now been promoed on two separate pressings, the first (XPR 1467) with a superior funky drum and tambourine wriggled 112½bpm Peter Hinds mix flipped by Frankie Foncett’s more drily thrumming stark 113¼bpm Attack Vocal Club Mix, and the second (XPR 1473) with the group’s own emptier more dubwise piano jangled jolting 112⅔bpm The Chimes Remix flipped by another, again drum and tambourine driven though less mellow than before, 0-112⅓-0bpm Peter Hinds Remix … and it’s this latter Hinds mix which for some reason turns out to be the above billed commercial A-side, flipped in turn by yet another new striding 1121/2-0bpm Alternative 12″ Mix by Hinds, plus the previously unheard very stark minimal bass thumped slow weaving mournful though happily worded 713/4bpm ‘So Much In Love (Extended Demo Version)’. Continue reading “November 25, 1989: Soul II Soul, Mondeé Oliver, The Chimes, F.P.I. Project/Rich In Paradise, E.V.O.E.”

BEATS & PIECES

ALL CHANGE at several record companies: no sooner was he mentioned in this column last week than Eddie Gordon has already left BMG to set up a club promotion department for Pete Edge’s new Warner Bros label (which, as I can exclusively reveal, seems likely to be called Spirit, as in ‘Spirit of the ‘90s’), his old post as head of the RCA/Motown/Arista serving ‘Dancing In The Streets’ department already having been filled by Nigel Webb from Impact (he’s the brother of Everton Webb from Big Life/Kool Kat), while ‘real soul’ DJ Simon Dunmore is taking over club promotion at Cooltempo from the now A&R involved Steve Wolfe, and ‘rare groove’ DJ Norman Jay will be running Phonogram’s new dance label (in tandem with their jazzier Gilles Peterson run label) … A Guy Called Gerald will be launching CBS’s new label Subscape Records with the already promoed ‘FX’/‘Eyes Of Sorrow’, to rival which his old label Rham! are releasing his earlier album track ‘Hot Lemonade’ – so don’t be confused about which is the real follow-up to ‘Voodoo Ray’ … 808 State’s seven inch turns out to be the version that’s titled ‘Pacific – 707’, flipped by just plain ‘Pacific’, on ZTT … Total Contrast have got the album deal they were after and now Syncopate will be rush releasing their already hot remake of ‘Encore’ by Tongue ‘n’ Cheek, due, in fact, this week! … Shep Pettibone, amongst others, is remixing, legally, lots of Loleatta Holloway oldies for an album due on RCA in February … Fidelfatti featuring Ronnette’s vocal on ‘Just Wanna Touch Me’ sounds rather like Barbara Roy from the group Faith, Hope & Charity, thinking in retrospect … ffrr once again supplied record business visitors to Prestatyn with an in-car cassette compilation of upcoming releases, to while away the journey, but it was less compulsive (or well recorded) listening than usual, kicking off as it did with what proves to be the incredibly boring Lil’ Louis ‘Blackout’ – although they agreed the tape included two much better tracks from his album, everyone I questioned had actively hated this intended follow-up to ‘French Kiss’, so maybe the label had better do a quick re-think? … Roger Scott’s US radio debut was on WPTR in Albany, rather than Buffalo, both up-state New York … Ian Dewhirst, following the mention that he now heads the dance/black music section of the National Discography (listing, for not only posterity but also ongoing reference, every recording released), says that his four strong team’s biggest problem is lack of response from indie labels: any labels sending all their current releases (plus artist biographies) and the fullest details possible of any back catalogue are guaranteed that the information will go straight into the computerised listing, which from next year will be accessed on-line by major record retailing chains, libraries, universities, TV and radio stations, generating future business throughout the rest of time and all for the price of a mailout (to Ian at National Discography Limited, Elgar House, 41 Streatham High Road, London SW16 1ER, telephone 01-769 4400) … Ian also points out, with not unnatural pride, that while working at Fourth & Broadway he was instrumental in signing briefly Bristol’s The Wild Bunch, including Nellee Hooper, their innovative reworking of ‘The Look Of Love’ predating the whole Soul II Soul/Smith & Mighty/Fresh 4/Sybil style but sadly only 500 copies were pressed in the US before the label dropped them, and Nellee went on to Soul II Soul! … ‘Lambada’, the pan-European chart-topper by Kaoma (which was initially popularised as an Orangina fizzy drink jingle!) may be sung in Portuguese but its Brazilian origin is now being disputed by a delegation of Bolivian government officials, who claim the tune is one of their country’s folk classics from the Andes, ‘Llorando Se Fue’ … London’s Astoria this Wednesday (15) has The Italian Job starring DJ Lelewel no less, with PAs by Black Box and The Jam Machine plus other jocks including Steve Proctor and Nick Halkes … KISS-fm is keeping its name alive, despite staying legal and off-air, via a new magazine called free!, and Second Base Saturdays at Camden Lock’s Dingwalls with Paul ‘Trouble Those Decks’ Anderson plus guests … Croydon’s newly opened The Blue Orchid has been advertising itself on radio as “probably the most luxurious discotheque in the world” – with emphasis on the fact that it is not in London’s West End … IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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LISA STANSFIELD may have had better photographs taken of her, but this one captures the exact moment when she heard that she had definitely hit number one in the Gallup chart! Just before she went on stage at Prestatyn for an ecstatically received surprise special appearance during Sunday’s grand finale, Jeff Young rang Bruno Brookes at Radio 1 for confirmation of Lisa’s chart position. Her immediate reaction, referring to the Jive Bunny single that she and her Blue Zone colleagues had deposed from the top spot, was to crow, “We chopped that rabbit’s head off!”.

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ADEVA put on an incredibly lewd and funny show at Prestatyn on the Sunday afternoon, getting into all sorts of graphically erotic positions with not only her male dance trio (borrowed from Bobby Brown) but also members of the audience.

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PRESTATYN JOCKS included (dressed in matching cardinals’ robes for yet another ecclesiastical Sunday finale), from left to right, Chris Forbes, promoter Adrian Webb, Ian Reading, Chris Brown, Froggy, Jeff Young, Sean French, Chris Hill, Pete Tong and Kev Hill.

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FRANKIE BEVERLY and Maze were so eagerly anticipated as the main attraction on Saturday night at the Prestatyn 6 weekender that the crowd had already rendered a spontaneous mass acappella version of ‘Joy And Pain’ before they’d even reached the stage! Without them doing anything startling, the group lived up to expectations, ‘Back In Stride’ coming across as particularly punchy in a marathon 90 minutes or so set that was a test of stamina amidst steam heat. Digital Underground had put on an entertaining shorter show the night before, while other PAs over the weekend were by the Chimes, D Mob, Unique 3, MC Duke, Adamski, Glen Goldsmith, Michael Jeffries, Lonnie Gordon, Geoffrey Williams, and, of, course, Lisa Stansfield. Of the DJs, Tim Westwood was widely judged to have been the most charismatic and happenin’, others opting for a predictably safe musical selection to suit a 4,000 strong audience from which few members made up any particular jock’s “crowd” – and that’s the only trouble with Prestatyn as it currently stands. Very efficiently run and good enough fun it may be, but the “family” feeling has gone. However, those too young to have experienced the soulful good old days don’t know what they’re missing and presumably have no other expectations. Prestatyn 7 is being billed as ‘The Long Good Friday’ with reason, being a four-dayer over Easter, April 13-16 (booking details from Livewire on 01-364 1212).

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CHRIS HILL as usual led Prestatyn’s traditional finale as only he could, reciting again his ever popular and raunchily rude ‘The Chalet Rap’. Somehow Adeva got plenty of namechecks in it this time!

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HOT VINYL

LISA STANSFIELD ‘All Around The World (Around The House Mix)’ (Arista 612 857)
Now stealing a significant number of sales from the original, this deliberately thumping 103½-0bpm remix by Yvonne Turner is coupled for extra strength by a Linda Clifford-ish 103¼bpm Runaway Love Mix by Paul Witts and Eddie Gordon, and the Blue Zone created jerky Maze ‘Twilight’-like 113¾bpm ‘The Way You Want It’, all of which can only make it hotter!

SAVANNAH ‘Savannah (Transcendental Mix)’ (Collision 12 CIR 4)
Homegrown and beating the Continentals at their own game, this Richie (Adrenalin MOD) Fermie mixed superb Spanish though bluesy guitar tinkled lightly tapping and slithery scratching 0-121¼bpm subtle instrumental deserves to get wide attention, with a more steadily tripping 0-121¼-0bpm Spanish Guitar Mix flip which is even more delicate.

SUBLEVEL ‘Don’t Blame Me (Basement Boys Remix)’ (US Profile PRO-7261)
Perhaps not as commercial a song but along the lines of their Ultra Naté production, this also excellent Basement Boys created gargling and wailing girl nagged (0-)119¼-119bpm garage/house lurcher rambles about with lots of implied soul, in the ‘diva’ fashion (Original Dance Mix flip). Continue reading “November 18, 1989: Lisa Stansfield, Savannah, Sublevel, Paul Simpson/Anthony White, Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King”

BEATS & PIECES

THIS WEEK, faced with more new entries in The Club Chart than ever before and a finite time in which to get everything completed prior to the Prestatyn weekender, Hot Vinyl of necessity features potted reviews with beats per minute for just the main tracks in order to cover as many actual records as possible (which does not rule out fuller reviews to follow) . . . Patti Day ‘Right Before My Eyes‘, which hit The Club Chart at 100 for one week back in February when first out on US Starway Records, Inc, prior to its current rather higher re-entry as a bootleg, is being issued here legally by Debut . . . Caron Wheeler, of Soul II Soul fame, has signed solo to RCA and is currently working with the likes of Rod Temperton, Afrika of the Jungle Brothers, Carl Macintosh of Loose Ends, and Jamaica’s Steely & Clevie on her debut album . . . 808 State’s remix, reviewed last week off info lacking ZTT white label, turns out to be called ‘Pacific 202’ in its A-side version, followed by the original ‘Pacific State’ and flipped by ‘Pacific 303’ plus the bonus beats-like ‘Cobra Bora (Short Cuts)’, a snippet of a forthcoming new tune from their December 4 released full eight track album . . . FPI Project present Rich In Paradise, on the Italian FPI Project label, is apparently the correct if confusing performer credit for the Club Chart climbing ‘Going Back To My Roots’ adaptation, snapped up here for November 20 UK release by Rumour Records — who’ve also signed A.C. Fax ‘Eventide’ . . . ‘Paradise’ seems to be a popular concept at the moment, incidentally, what with such as Rich In Paradise, Eden’s Paradise, and now Paradise Orchestra . . . Viceroy Records are rushing out Pandella ‘This Way, That Way‘ on their UK branch of the Easy Street label . . . CBS have promoed, ahead of November 20 release, The Chimes’ excellent soulful girl wailed ‘Heaven’, in Peter Hinds’ funky drum and tambourine wriggled 112½bpm mix flipped by Frankie Foncett’s more drily thrumming stark 113¼bpm Attack Vocal Club Mix . . . Jive have already promoed — ahead of release in the new year! — the Chic ‘I Want Your Love’ strings prodded strong She Rockers ‘Jam It Jam’, coupling a forcefully chugging 0-113bpm Pascal Gabriel Mix and messier jiggly 112⅔bpm Hip Hop Mix . . . Yazz’s oldies have been newly remixed for an album called ‘The Wanted Remixes’ in the current marketing fashion (well, Christmas is coming!), which includes the also separately promoed though not to be otherwise released, Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh remixed Soul II Soul-ishly jogging 98bpm ‘Wanted On The Floor‘ and Mark McGuire mixed ”live” jittery (0-)119-0bpm ‘Dream‘ (Big Life BRLX PROMO 1) . . . Dave Pearce and Mike Morrison have formed their own Reachin’ Records label (on 01-935 4679), launched later this month with the gruff guy rapped jauntily jumping 120¾bpm East London “jazz house” (though it sounds like hip house to me) T.D.P. ‘Ladies (Let’s Go)‘, and girls cooed acidically burbling 126bpm (with a Sly & The Family Stone inspired chorus) Pisces ‘Take Me Higher‘ . . . Sydney Youngblood’s November 20 follow-up, ‘Sit And Wait‘ (in instrumentally preambled rather pedestrian jolting 107¾bpm Stationary To Stationary Mix and 108bpm Dub) is being aimed by Circa Records at radio although the clubs aimed flip is far better hit material, the wailing Elaine Hudson duetted deliberately Soul II Soul-like resonantly rumbling 106¼bpm ‘Feeling Free (The “Jazzy Who?” Mix)‘, sure to be much hotter . . . Champion have at last turned Sybil’s revival of ‘Don’t Make Me Over’ into a proper hit but are in danger of being pipped to the post with its logical follow-up, her album’s also Smith & Mighty-style treatment of ‘Walk On By’, which has been covered on Jive in two similar (0-)93¾bpm mixes by Dina Carroll, currently promoed . . . BCM Records are rushing out D.J. Lelewel ‘Magic Atto II°’ next week, following The Mix Master’s fast chart climb here . . . Ben Liebrand Remix ‘The Eve Of The War’ is being rushed out November 13, promoed still in its German CBS pressing . . . de/Construction will finally be releasing Jam Machine ‘Everyday’ on single . . . Darren Ensom, previously of PRT’s defunct NiteShift promotion service, is now club plugging for labels like Rumour, Debut, Passion, Jumpin’ & Pumpin’, Radical, Westside, Trax and DanceMusic on 01-381 8315 at Encore Specialist Promotions . . . Alan Coulthard has a killer Inner City megamix up his sleeve! . . . Glasgow’s The Choice club is due to be staging a West Of Scotland Club DJ mixing competition round about now, featuring Glasgow’s top six mixing jocks, but unfortunately resident jock DJ Lars neglected to say exactly when . . . Jeff Thomas has moved his funky stuff again, as of this weekend swapping his short lived Barry Island venue for Swansea Marina’s Sloanes every Saturday and Wednesday, while his Mondays are rammed and slamming at Port Talbot’s Wall Street in the Aberafan Shopping Centre, with frequent guest Jeff Young on the 13th (as he keeps coming back for these gigs, you know they’ve gotta be good!) . . . Kevin ‘DJ Robi’ Robinson has started Sunrise Wednesdays at Darlington’s Club Lucy’s for upfront house, hip hop and urban beats . . . Balearic pioneers Nicky Holloway and Danny Rampling have switched allegiances to Italy, Nicky hosting Roma MCMLXXXIX Tuesdays at Romford’s Hollywoods, with Pete Tong as guest this week and Fabio next, while Danny’s Shoom Wednesdays at the Park in Kensington High Street are a “Grande Festa Latina!”, with actual Italian DJs from Italy, Europe, as guests each week . . . I keep hearing inaccurate pronunciations of Raul Orellana’s first name — it’s neither “Rowl” nor “Rorl”, it’s (roll those Rs now!) “R-R-Roww-oool” . . . Longsy D’s oddly slow (94⅔bpm) though jauntily syncopated L.D. Jam Inc ‘Rude Boyz Gettin’ Funky‘ on 1st Bass is turning into one of the underground “sleepers” of the year, consistently getting DJ reaction since July without ever hitting The Club Chart . . . Breakers bubbling just under The Club Chart this week include Starlight ‘Numero Uno (Remix)’ (Italian Groove Groove Melody), Cathy Dennis ‘Just Another Dream‘ (Polydor), Big Audio Dynamite ‘In Full Effect‘ (CBS), Adamski ‘Live And Direct’ LP (MCA), Shabazz ‘Respect‘ (US RCA), Will Downing ‘Come Together As One’ LP (US Island), Ruby Turner ‘It’s Gonna Be Alright‘ (Jive promo), LA Mix ‘On The Side’ LP (Breakout), DaMixx ‘Push (It’s Alright)‘ (US Bigshot Records), Criminal House ‘Rhythm Talk‘ (US Dance Mania) . . . ‘Too Soon’ on the Will Downing album is in fact 27-59⅓-0bpm (the first digit got eaten by my word processor last week!), the LP already being due out here (Fourth & Broadway BRLP 538) . . . Soul II Soul seem likely to have been much plugged at Prestatyn over the weekend, thanks to acetates supplied to those jocks who appreciate such things (you know who they are!) . . . BMG’s club plugger Eddie Gordon, rightly lamenting that “These are sad times for soul music”, has asked his mailing list DJs, “What kind of music do people prefer to make love to, rap, house, or soul? If it’s either of the first two then these are sad times for love as well. You are at the controls, you are the inspiration, soul music is the food of love — play on” . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

ROB ‘n’ RAZ Featuring LEILA K ‘Got To Get (Extended Mix)’ (Arista 612 696)
Combining De La Soul’s bouncy Hall & Oates beat and a breezy sax lick that sounds like Prince, the Moroccan ancestry but Sweden born and based young rapper struts her staccato stuff in jauntily bounding 116⅓-0bpm hip house style, whipped together by Scandinavian mixing champions Rob ‘n’ Raz plus MC 11 Fresh, with a funkier 117½-0bpm Motor City Mix flip (on 33⅓rpm promo, anyway).

THE FUTURE Edition 3 ‘Autumn Love’
Cunningly disguised without in fact any label name identification as a deliberate (and successful!) single sided scam to hoodwink those with short memories, this Donna Summer “love to love you baby” quoting then Soul II Soul-ishly tempoed moodily swaying 0-97¾bpm attractive resonant organ swamped instrumental (with some white boy narration), and its piano led chunkier 97¾bpm ‘Purple’ break beat, are, as the label says, The B SIDE — but to what? For those who remember the B-sides of the various ‘Jibaro’ mixes, which were ‘The Future: Editions 1 & 2’, this “The Next Step” is indeed obviously the pre-released flip to the now fully pressed and promoed

ELECTRA ‘Destiny (The Rave Mix)’ (ffrr FXDJ 121),
a less subtle “olé olé” chanted brassier more deliberately ‘Balearic’ 0-101bpm fully vocal variation, the correctly credited flip (now 98bpm) being ‘Autumn Love (Future 3)’. Continue reading “November 11, 1989: Roger Scott obituary, Rob ‘n’ Raz featuring Leila K, Electra, Twin Hype, Jimmy Bo Horne, Quartz”

BEATS & PIECES

BBC RADIO 1 had a “mass debate” (don’t say that too fast!) at Milton Keynes’ The Point last week, the first of several to bring the topic ‘This Is Your Radio 1’ to different parts of the country, with Simon Bates chairing a panel comprised of zany afternoon jock Steve Wright, music department head Roger Lewis, daytime programmes editor Chris Lycett, and John Peel’s veteran producer (a broadcasting personality in his own right) John Walters — most of the largely young, autograph seeking, audience seemed to be confirmed satisfied listeners, as might be expected, but the panel were made to wriggle a bit by some pointed questions, not least from the representatives of the area’s brand new local legal Horizon Radio (a further subdivision of “The Hot FM”, Chiltern Radio) . . . Chris Lycett, who seems pretty keen on Italo house as programming fodder, was afterwards forced to admit “We missed the boat on that one” when pressed as to why Radio 1 were so late in play-listing Soul II Soul’s chart-topper! . . Total Contrast report lots of chequebook waving major label interest in their Tongue ‘N’ Cheek ‘Encore’ creation, but reckon it’s hot enough already on their own aptly titled Big Buzz label to take care of itself until they get the album deal they’re looking for! . . . Quartz ‘Meltdown’ is the creation of Dave Rawlings and Ron Herel from Leytonstone’s In The Mix record shop, on whose iTMix logo it was originally white labelled before being picked up by Mercury for imminent full release as a remix, but sometime rm club chart contributor Mark Summers, resident jock at Sudbury in Suffolk’s newly refurbished Broadway Nightlife, has meanwhile unwittingly slightly confused the issue by recording in his home studio a rival track called ‘Melt Your Body‘ which some people have mistaken as the ‘Meltdown’ remix, although he explains “I adapted part of Raze’s ‘Break 4 Love’, the bass line from a track by Chelmsford indie band Nitzer Ebb and the ‘Rock Your Body’ hook from a Nebular track” . . . Les Adams and DJ Shem (Streets Ahead) have each neatly megamixed two sides of a double album of Champion released material due soon on K-tel, ‘The Champion Legend — “Can You Feel It?”‘ . . . KYZE comes out more logically pronounced as “kay-wize” when it’s written as K-Y-ZE, the way it’s printed now on Cooltempo’s UK promo pressing of ‘Stomp (Move Jump Jack Your Body)’, only here in its Steeltoe and Zanzibar Mixes . . . Ian Dewhirst, remembered for his flamboyant leopard skin shirts as a DJ turned record company man, is rather more sedately employed these days as a senior discographer specialising in dance music (along with, by coincidence, one time rm chart returning DJ from Loughton, Andy Gregory) at the National Discography/MCPS, where every recording ever released is being painstakingly catalogued . . . Domenico Modugno’s much recorded classic ‘Volare’ has been revived in typical ‘flamenco wave’ style by the Gipsy Kings, with a dance mix due on 12 inch, as first single from their imminent new album (which lacks the joyous spontaneity of their last set on side one but luckily has quite a jolly side two, including a lovely bossa nova-ish instrumental and rousing live finale) . . . Nouveau ‘adieu!’, the cryptic promo reviewed last week, turned out to be a cunning scam and was in fact an otherwise unavailable specially sparse Pascal Gabriel mix of the London, rather than French Barclay, recorded Jimmy Somerville featuring June Miles Kingston ‘Comment Te Dire Adieu’! . . . Kaoma presumably sing ‘Lambada’ in Portuguese, if (as Alan Jones revealed) the dance began in Brazil . . . Paul ‘DJ Paolo’ Hitchcock has booked Vanilla Sound Corps to make a personal appearance this Thursday (November 2) at Hull’s Wellington Club, and is looking on 0482-440745 for other suitable dance music acts to PA there in the coming months . . . Claire Livingstone is expanding the club DJ mailing list at Stylus Music associated Pyramid Promotions, 31 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QH, and urgently wants to hear on 01-258 0035 from jocks everywhere but especially in the Midlands, to help promote the label’s ‘The Right Stuff‘ double album dance compilation and Imagination’s imminently reissued ‘Just An Illusion’ . . . Jazzy M is guest jock at Notting Hill’s Sub Club under the Westway off Portobello Road this Thursday (2), when DJ Streets Ahead and ‘Tainted Love’ reviving Impedance join Jon Williams at the weekly ‘Dilly Daily’ in Mayfair’s Wall Street . . . Brixton’s Academy houses spectacular huge constructions and illusions this Saturday (4) when SumoSurf X present ‘Outlands’, jocking amidst the happenings and stunts being Dave Picciuni, Noel Watson, Fabio & Groove Rider, Jumping Jack Frost, Pete Stuart and Brian G . . . Andy Henderson plus Rob & Trish are “Brighton’s No. One Soul Trio” for The Monday Night Soul Connection every week at Champagnes Night Club in Montpelier Road . . . Soho’s Jacqueline’s is probably what’s hiding at 201 Wardour Street, the carefully concealed Wednesday venue for pretentious sounding Underwater, where “top session musicians perform with top underground DJs specialising in the evolution of European and American house music” (it says here, without then naming names) . . . Dave Thomas in contrast is hopefully “overwater”, presenting as he does Upfront On Ice Fridays at Cardiff’s Wales National Ice Rink, for which he wants PAs and mailing list support on 0446-721013 . . . Andrew ‘Madhatter’ Holmes spins hip hop ‘n’ house around Manchester on Explosion Thursdays at Middleton’s Hippo’s, and with DJ Space Case on Head Fridays at Oldham Road’s Thunderdome, the duo somehow also fitting in M.VITA (Manchester Vibes In The Area) Thursdays and Saturdays at Burton Road’s Midland pub . . . Rumour Records’ November 6 released ‘Warehouse Raves 2‘ compilation album seems to be following rather closely on the heels of the first one, and possibly as a consequence has nothing like so strong a track listing, mainly relying (with the notable exception of Gil Scott-Heron ‘The Bottle’) on either new UK releases that are still proving themselves or lesser recent imports . . . East and South London DJing legend ‘Segue’ Steve Goddard convincingly contradicts Fast Eddie’s claim by pointing out that the term “hip house” was first used on the label of Screaming Rachel ‘Fun With Bad Boys‘ (US Grand Groove Records), a Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk creation from way back in 1987 — however, was that a house rap in the way that we understand hip house to mean? . . . Soho’s Trax record shop proprietor ‘Tricky Dicky’ Scanes clarifies that the credit lacking ‘Grand Beat’ remix of ‘Grand Piano’ is indeed Italian rather than British in origin, despite its label copy, as various Italian record companies now print “UK” on their seemingly bootleg style labels (often with a fictitious UK address as well) because Italian and other European jocks snobbishly only ever play British originated product! . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

SHARON DEE CLARKE ‘Keeping My Faith In Love’ (Rumour Records RUMAT 6, via Pacific)
With vocals arranged by Mykaell Riley of the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, who did the same for Soul II Soul, the soulfully singing actress’s sultry lush jogger could end up having similar success when it’s out fully next week, in Richie Rich’s subduedly swingbeat-ish 100½bpm jiggly Club and more nervily cramped Kickin’ It Mixes, flipped by co-producer Damon Rochefort’s more subtly slinky 101⅔bpm Mellow and 101½bpm Love Mixes, all equally good.

DOUG LAZY ‘Let The Rhythm Pump’ (Atlantic A8784T)
Letting it roll again, the infectious jiggly rhythm that is, lazily rapping Doug Finley hangs right in there punctuating away all through his latest jauntily “pumping” and “jumping” 121bpm hip house shuffler, but it’s the beat that raises a sweat, with squidgily wheezing organ and chinking cowbell. The promo has Vocal, Long Instrumental, Chop Dub and Acappella Versions, the commercial pressing I believe loses the second to last.

L.A. MIX ‘On The Side’ (Breakout AMLA 9009)
Although I’ve been warning you since April that Les Adams, Emma Freilich and Mike Stevens’ album would be filled with a surprising variety of styles, people are now remarking to me in surprise about its variety! Created using live “real” instruments as well as samplers, totally fresh tracks are the jaw droppingly superb smoothly loping “jazz-house” piano, flute and vibes instrumental 122¼-0bpm ‘Breathe Deep’, Audrey Francois wailed scurrying wriggly “garage” 124¼bpm ‘You Are The One‘, Juliet Roberts gurgled jiggly “swingbeat” 104⅛bpm ‘Just Waiting’, Chyna emoted spine tingling dead slow “deep soul” (very Dramatics ‘In The Rain’!) (0-)40/80-0bpm ‘Don’t Turn Away‘, and Sweet Pea rapped Lowrell reviving jogging 96⅓bpm ‘Mellow Mellow (Right On)‘, while already familiar although in some cases much remixed are the Kevin Henry chanted “Philly” style 120¼bpm ‘Love Together’, Jazzi P rapped “hip house” 127¼bpm ‘Get Loose’, Vince Montana-ish jazzily tumbling 0-114⅛bpm ‘Don’t Stop (’89)’, and last year’s Top 6 smash 117⅔-0bpm ‘Check This Out’. Continue reading “November 4, 1989: Sharon Dee Clarke, Doug Lazy, L.A. Mix, Mr. Lee, Luther Vandross”