Author: Mike A

Dance to the lyrics!

LAST WEEK I began a discussion about the many differences between dee-jaying in clubs and at mobile gigs. Until you’ve had time to join in – as I hope some of you other D-Js will – I’ll just continue with a few more of my own observations.

The primary aim of a discotheque is to entertain its audience, whether in a club or at a party. Obviously it’s a great buzz to turn people on to as yet unknown sounds, but unfortunately most people want to dance to tunes that they know. One of the very first things that I worked out when I started was that – amazing though it may seem – your average audience doesn’t dance to the music, it dances to the words. People dance to their memory of a song!

In clubs it’s much easier to play something that’s not well known – the speakers are likely to be mounted up higher and to have better penetration than at a mobile do. At many parties, people want to talk while they dance and are less likely to concentrate on the music. Consequently, unless you’ve got a super-hip crowd, at a mobile gig it’s always best to keep it obvious and simple with lots of hits to begin with – then later, when the talk has quietened down and you have felt out the crowd’s prevalent taste, get more adventurous. There can be no hard and fast rule of course other than to keep ’em happy and keep ’em dancing, but if you can entertain them AND yourself at the same time you should be really cookin’!

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HOT TIP

A perennial fave since its release in ’71, Burundi Black, Part Two – that’s the un – mucked – about – with African drums B -side of the BURUNDI STEIPHENSON BLACK single (Barclay BAR 3) – has just started to get much requested again, presumably as a result of its recent re-issue. Skip the chanting intro and segue (or dramatically cut directly into it) from another suitable raver. You shouldn’t be disappointed, although following it can be a trick!

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New Spins

Lynsey’s whimsey wins

LYNSEY DE PAUL: Rhythm And Blue Jean Baby (Jet 755)
One reaction report coming up: It works! Lynsey’s bit of thumpalong candyfloss whimsey may be lightweight but in a mixed age group setting it has just the right happy beat and straight Pop gaiety. That doesn’t mean you must rush out and buy it today . . . just wait until it hits which it will!

GRIMMS: Backbreaker (DJM DJS 393)
Silliness from the Scaffold / Bonzos refugees, this Mud / Showaddywaddy / Rubettes send-up about a wrestling girlfriend is not only very funny but also great doo-wop singing that’s worthy of the Marcels / Rivingtons / Excellents. My fave of the week, except the next two are kinda nice too.

AL MATTHEWS: Fool (CBS 3429)
For a UK production (by writer Pierre Tubbs), this bouncily clomping Four Seasons / Philly vocal group gem is remarkable. Not to be missed – In fact do your darndest to make it the smash it deserves to be! Compulsive play it again quality.  Continue reading “July 5, 1975: Dance to the lyrics!”

Hello again

Gee, but it’s great to be back home! Has it really been ten months?

Welcome, anyway, to this, the first of a regular weekly page devoted to fax & info for regular disco DJs, dancers and super sharp record freaks in general.

Just to give it all some credibility, I’d better explain where I’m coming from. I’ve been a discotheque DJ myself for over 13 years, having started out as a club jock in London and New York. During the mid-60s my main interest was soul music – and, in fact, when I was doing the weekend allniters at Soho’s The Scene in ‘65/’66 I played nothing but Northern Soul . . . on its first time around!

When I went mobile in 1968 I soon saw that an all-soul policy was too restricting, and also that as most other mobile discotheques were aimed at the kids it would make sense if I set out to win over an older age group. Older audiences, incidentally, are usually richer and more appreciative of the trouble you take. Consequently I now tend to play to very mixed age groups, for which I carry a vast range of music. There are even occasions when I don’t play a single current chart record – mainly because modern music really does sound so dull in comparison with the sort of crazy “party” music I’ve made my specialty.

This is an aspect of disco dee-jaying that I hope this page, with your participation, will bring out into the open. There are – or ought to be – huge differences of approach to dee-jaying in a club and on a mobile date. In a club you know that the audience has paid to be entertained by the musical specialty of that club, whereas at most private parties the audience is totally uncommitted. Thus in a club it would be suicide but at a mixed age probably a sensation if you managed to work in a knees-up or Scottish reel, for instance.

Let’s hear from you, the dee-jays, about some of the more lunatic records that you to liven up your presentation. Every week we’ll run a hot tip with a suggestion about record sequences or other tricks that work for you. To kick it off, try this:

HOT TIP

When you’ve misjudged and the disc you’re playing isn’t going over well, turn it to your advantage. Don’t just fade the record out: switch off the deck and let the disc grind to a halt as you start the next one. You’ll get a laugh!

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From obscure to unlikely

Together with the first weekly Disco Page, here is the Record Mirror’s very first National Disco Chart, compiled from the returns of all the disco dee-jays who recently registered as contributors to it.

It was obvious from the very first glance at all the completed chart forms that Van McCoy’s ‘The Hustle’ would come out on top . . . but then that could have been predicted anyway, right? What is really interesting is that amongst all the more usual current chart names, some of the contributing DJs have placed really quite obscure or unlikely records. All the submitted charts make interesting reading, so let’s see what some of the less likely records are.

Dougall DJ of Twechar, Kilsyth in Scotland earns my respect for including Pete Wingfield’s great doo-wop cum sweet soul parody, ‘Eighteen With A Bullet’ (Island WIP 6231), which if it isn’t a hit here will certainly be one in America, where the music trade jargon will mean more to the radio-listening public. Dougall DJ also includes A Raincoat’s ‘I Love You For Your Mind Not Your Body’ (EMI 2289), which is almost as witty although in a totally different musical style, this being kinda Roxy/Sparks/Harley-type staccato and modern . . . and good.

Pete Brown of Seasons Discotheque from Wembley, Middlesex, is right on the spot in my estimation – he’s got ‘El Bimbo’ at number one already (as an import)! As he’s evidently well into the soul sound – listing such as the Brothers, Joe Bataan, Earth, Wind & Fire and Miami – I wonder if he realised at the time that Bimbo Jet are Spanish?  Continue reading “James Hamilton’s first Disco column: June 28, 1975”

James Hamilton had been writing weekly US singles reviews for Record Mirror since early 1969. This is the last week that his reviews would appear, and it marks the start of an eight-month absence from the publication.

James’s contributions to Record Mirror would resume in June 1975, with the launch of the Disco section.

SINGLES US

MILLIE JACKSON: In The Wash; How Do You Feel The Morning After (Polydor 2066466).
A surprisingly subtle stomper, “In The Wash” is officially the B-side yet deserves the top billing it gets in this column. Just listen to the way in which all the different ingredients gradually appear, and then thrill to Millie’s great Gospelly voice! Definitely a compulsive play-it-again side, unlike the boring slow plug-side. R&B PICK.

GREGG ALLMAN: Midnight Rider; Multi-Coloured Lady (Capricorn 2089002).
Capricorn having switched to Polydor here, this old Kinney pressing with a new number stuck on it must be taken to be no more than a promo for Gregg’s reissued album. However, after “Please Call Home”, this aptly “Laid Back” atmospheric slowie remains the best thing on it and still deserves some success here. Delicate slow undercut. LAZY PICK.

ALICE COOPER: Under My Wheels; Desperado (Warner Bros K 16127).
A minor US hit from the start of 1972 and out here originally before Cooper-mania struck, this agreeable aggressive chunk of churning noise is out again to act as a trailer for Alice’s new “Greatest Hits” album. Excellent intro, although overall it may be a bit dated for the chart this time around. Mannered self-consciously “strange” flip. ROCK PICK. Continue reading “August 31, 1974: James’s final US singles review column”

Stateside Newies

GENE DOZIER & THE UNITED FRONT: Give The Women What They Want (Mercury 73603).
Starting with an incredible “what the blankety-blank was THAT?” noise, Eugene’s latest hunk o’ funk (yet to be charted) is a choppily clomping chanter propelled by a metronomic beat, some ridiculously “dry” guitar and, latterly, lots of brass. As I seem to remember that Mr. Dozier is a keyboardist, I assume that he’s in control of some sort of synthetics as well. Sure is a good sound, y’all . . . and it’s even due out here soon, too.

THE STAPLE SINGERS: City In The Sky (Stax STA 0215).
Up in the sky at 4 R&B (only 85 Pop), Mavis and the Family Staple are in their usual formularized groove, although this time the tempo is somewhat slower and Mavis wheezes less. Song’s pretty dull, too.

SIMON STOKES: Captain Howdy (Casablanca NEB 0007).
Captain Howdy was the name of the little devil being exorcised in – oh, you guessed it! However, this vaguely amusing modified Bo Diddley beat pop ditty has little to do with “The Exorcist” other than in very general idea: it’s full of advice to kiddies about what to do if the Captain visits them . . . and, as his main interest now seems to be scaring little girls in the street, he sounds pretty harmless. Simon Stokes, as probably no one remembers, led the Nighthawks who scored in the Southern States with “Voodoo Woman” at the end of ’69 (issued here on Elektra), and then led the Black Whip Thrill Band. With credentials like that, he might have been expected to come up with something more bloodthirsty than this! Still, he’s been bubbling in and out at the bottom of the Hot 100, and the flip (which started out as the hit side) does happen to be a complex tale entitled “I Fell For Her, She Fell For Him And He Fell For Me”. Continue reading “August 24, 1974: Gene Dozier & The United Front, The Staple Singers, Simon Stokes, Billy Preston, Diana Ross & The Supremes”

Stateside Newies

THE STYLISTICS: Let’s Put It All Together (Avco 4640).
Following the monstrous success of their “You Make Me Feel Brand New”, now being repeated here, Russell Thompkins and the guys stay in their tender sweet dead slow mood . . . but there’s a big difference, even so. Goodness knows what’s happened, as, instead of Thom Bell being at the creative helm, they are now being penned for and produced by Hugo and Luigi, Messrs. Peretti and Creatore, heads of the Avco label and industry veterans from way back. Where’s Thom, and his co-composer, Linda Creed? There is some consolation for the freax though, in that the arranging chores are now handled by Van McCoy, who has a legion of fans himself (and who, coincidentally, is plugging along about halfway up the Easy Listening Chart with an instrumental called “Love Is The Answer”, as by Van McCoy and The Soul City Symphony on Avco 4639). It must be said that without the Thom Bell touch this Stylistics slowie is a bit more bland than usual, which may be influencing its comparatively (after such a smash) slow Chart climb – after four weeks, at 30 R&B, 38 Pop.

STEVIE WONDER: You Haven’t Done Nothin’ (Tamla T54252F).
Somehow on hearing his new bossa nova album I knew that Stevie’s first single from it would be this boring rehash of his “Superstition” formula, on which the Jackson 5 are reputed to help sing the “doo doo wop” chorus – not that they’re audible (except possibly to dogs with sharp hearing!). Quelle drag, and it really does drag leadenly, especially when there’s an overpoweringly good ‘n funky dancer elsewhere on the album called “Boogie On Reggae Woman”, which simply shouts out to be played in discos. Still, the single’s at 32 Pop, 51 R&B.

NILSSON: Many Rivers To Cross (RCA PB 10001).
Virtually unheralded on its release and just bubbling under the Chart for one week only, Harry’s version of this Jimmy Cliff oldie is – wait for it, Beatles freax! – arranged and produced by no less a celebrity than John Winston Lennon. From an album called “Pussy Cats” (d’you suppose they wear diamond collars?), it’s very, very much in the old Lennon “Imagine” style – slow, anguished, lurching along like a drunkard bouncing from wall to wall down a corridor. Oh yeah, Lennon seems to do a fair bit of singing too, in behind Harry and alternating the lines towards the end, all the while creating a Liverpudlian aura. How come this hasn’t attracted more attention? It’s only high class pop, but I like it. Continue reading “August 17, 1974: The Stylistics, Stevie Wonder, Nilsson, The Osmonds, Ray Stevens”

Stateside Newies

RAY STEVENS: Moonlight Special (Barnaby B604).
After the ghastly “Streak” it’s great to find Ray back in a groove that is both funny and musical. But let me explain, as to British ears the relevance of his new US hit (73) will be lost: on US telly there is a late night rock show called “The Midnight Special”, sent up here by Ray as “The Moonlight Special”. OK? Well, much in the style of his “Bridget The Midget”, he introduces the show’s host, the Sheepdog . . . howling dee-jay Wolfman Jack, right? He in turn introduces Mildred Queen and the Dips . . . Gladys Knight and the Pips, huh? What happens though is that the Dips keep repeating (in perfect soulful harmony) everything that Mildred says, including things like “how come y’all sing everything I sing . . . cut that out! . . . stop that!” Then, amidst appropriate howls, the Sheepdog introduces Jerry Joe Harry Lee Jimmy Baby, the king of the piano rockers himself . . . er, Jerry Lee Lewis? What makes it all so good is that Ray’s every impersonation is devastatingly accurate (within limits), and extremely funny. But this ain’t gonna capture the general public’s imagination like “The Streak” did. Does that matter?

ISAAC HAYES: Title Theme (Enterprise ENA 9104).
Is it safe to claim these days that Isaac Hayes has come up with a worthy follow-on to his “Shaft” theme? This swirling phased cymbals-dominated gruffly-sung beater is the theme from a movie called “Tough Guys”, for which Ike penned the score (as he did also with the recent but short-lived “Truck Turner”), and it certainly sounds fresher than his other post-Shaft work – possibly on account of his use of synthetics instead of that earlier omnipresent yet trendsetting wukka wukka wah-wah. It sounds good to me, but isn’t doing too well R&B, where it’s slow-moving at 85.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Kalimba Story (Columbia 4-46070).
So, what is a kalimba? EW&F leader Maurice White plays it, and it’s obviously the instrument that gives so many of the group’s songs their oddly plopping resonant noises. On this jauntily bouncing funky chanter it naturally comes through loud and clear, but I’m still undecided between some form of ethnic vibes or finger piano. It’s a great sound whatever, and is at number 10 R&B, 61 Pop. In this country, you can get it on their great new album, “Open Our Eyes” (CBS 65844). And, thinking of great albums, “up” for ages as I got off Marvin Gaye’s new “Live” one. Stevie’s newie’s got some nice Bossa-Novas, too. Continue reading “August 10, 1974: Ray Stevens, Isaac Hayes, Earth Wind & Fire, Jim Stafford, Billy “Crash” Craddock”

Stateside Newies

DIANA ROSS AND MARVIN GAYE: Don’t Knock My Love (Motown M 1296F).
Taken from their “Diana and Marvin” album, the dynamic duo’s latest US hit (45 R&B/53 Pop) is their revival of this old Wilson Pickett pounder . . . and, despite their previously docile duets, they really do manage to knock the hell out of it! Marv has the chance to get in a few of his old Gospel screams, Di keeps her vocal tone down lower than usual, and together they fill the bouncy beater with excitement.

WILSON PICKETT: Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It (RCA ABP0 0309).
Mama Pickett’s little boy himself is in his usual grunt, wheeze and holler mood on his own latest hit (slow moving at 77 R&B), and the medium paced lurcher is a bit too leaden to whip up much enthusiasm. A pity, as a decade and more ago, Wilson used to be THE most exciting Soul singer there was.

RUFUS: Tell Me Something Good (ABC 11427).
Something of an oddity, this hit (7 R&B/19 Pop): sung by a white chick (of the sweaty whisky-swigging school) and what I understand to be a multi-racial band of blokes, it’s the Stevie Wonder tune slowed and stripped right down to its bare bones. The result is very angular and rather unattractive . . . but decidedly different. I’m surprised to see it doing so well in the R&B Chart, actually, as although the sparse backing contains the mandatory synthetic noises the lead-singing chick does sound so incredibly white. And mundane. Continue reading “August 3, 1974: Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, Rufus, Ecstacy Passion & Pain, Poco”

American Singles

Pick of the week

DONNY & MARIE OSMOND: I’m Leaving It (All) Up To You; Umbrella Song (MGM 2006446).
Originally a late ‘50s Soul duet by its writers, Don (Sugarcane Harris) and Dewey (Terry), and then a November ’63 US Chart-topper/minor UK hit by Baton Rouge-recorded cutsies, Dale and Grace, this heartstrings-tugging slowie now leans more towards the slightly Country feel of the latter. Marie’s keening tones are mainly responsible, as they nearly obliterate Donny’s deeper support – in fact, he only manages to come out on top of his sister for an exact total of six words! Dressed up with noisy strings and things, the abrupt pauses in the plodding beat lose some of their emotional impact but nevertheless are still quite effective. Oh, and girls . . . Donny gets the upper hand, vocally, on the lower-pitched slow and pretty flip!

THE HUES CORPORATION: Rock The Boat; All Goin’ Down Together (RCA ABP0 0232).
From one “Rock” to another: before George McCrae’s “Rock Your Baby” replaced it, this tastefully produced sophisticated Soul bouncer was top of the US Charts . . . and now Andy Kim’s “Rock Me Gently” is fast approaching that position! (But “Rock And Roll Heaven” may get there first!) Anyway, the Hues Corp’s girl and blokes sung happy romper is catchy and Pop enough to do well here too, where it’s already much programmed by certain radio stations. Mildly moody slow flip. POP PICK.

KING CURTIS, DELANEY BRAMLETT & FRIENDS: Teasin’; Soulin’ (Atlantic K 10464).
. . . not the least of the Friends being ERIC “Slowhand” CLAPTON, guitar star of this parish, whose amazing quaking wah-wah work provides the basis for the late Curtis Ousley’s soaring soprano sax spurts. Relatively and oddly ignored when first out a few years ago (though modest me did my best to alert you at the time), this shrilly lurching instrumental has gone on to become something of a truly “underground” classic – so catch it now while you can. More straightforward flip. MUSIC PICK. Continue reading “July 27, 1974: Donny & Marie Osmond, The Hues Corporation, King Curtis/Delaney Bramlett, Ronnie Dyson, Quincy Jones”

Stateside Newies

MILLIE JACKSON: In The Wash (Spring SPR 147).
I was so unenthused when reviewing the A-side of this last week (“How Do You Feel The Morning After”, now at 12 R&B), that I didn’t even check out this flipside dancer. While short of being another “My Man”, it’s a handclapping beater with a catchy offbeat rhythm pattern that should endear it to certain types of dance fans, and it generates a fair amount of energy in a somewhat subtle way. Millie weaves her voice in and out of the different rhythmic elements, and the whole thing gets pretty compulsive with a “hey, gotta play that AGAIN!” appeal . . . uh, in fact, I now reckon that it’s actually even better than “My Man”! Mmmm, I’ll just play that one . . . more . . . time!

PERRY COMO: Weave Me The Sunshine (RCA ABP0 0274).
Huh? Wot’s he doing in this column? Oh well, if any Perry Como fans read it, or even the RRM, they might like to know that while here in Britain we get one slushy ballad after another from Mr. C, in America this happily lilting Dawn-tempo Peter (Paul and Mary) Yarrow-penned is currently Top 10 in the Easy Listening Chart  – although admittedly it has yet to hit the Pop Hot 100 sellers – and it would like as not be a monster smasheroo in this country. How about it, RCA? (There’s crusading journalism for you!)

JOHN DENVER: Annie’s Song (RCA ABP0 0295).
Yeah, boredom personified, but we might just as well check on some of the white Pop hits along with the R&B things in this column. Gulp! Having to listen to this unadulterated dross – even if it is at number two Pop and is from an album that sold ten billion before even being recorded – I’m not sure if that’s such a bright idea though! Quick, back to the Blues! Continue reading “July 20, 1974: Millie Jackson, Perry Como, John Denver, Bobby Womack, The Temptations”

Stateside Newies

THE MAIN INGREDIENT: Happiness Is Just Around The Bend (RCA ABP0 0305).
From their new “Euphrates River” album and penned by Britain’s expatriate keyboards wizard, Brian Auger (whose last two “New Soul-Jazz” albums are both high in the US Jazz Charts, where they deserve to be, while he himself is ignored here), the Ingredients’ latest hit – at 29 R&B, 71 Pop – is a coolly clopping, woolly sounding amorphous Marvin Gaye-type exercise in effortless perpetual motion, punched along by a well-tried Jazz-Funk bass line over which the echoing vocals muzz and fuzz between moody shimmering strings and chiming wah-wah brass effects. Impressive, it’s a really masterful (and commercial) amalgamation of Soul with easily enjoyed Jazz elements. And, above all else, it’s got a killer rhythm!

APRIL: Wake Up And Love Me (A&M AMS 1528-S).
Sadly now just dropped out of the Hot 100’s bottom reaches, this is April Stevens singing a Sylvia-style slinky slowie penned by herself with her past partner Nino Tempo and Jeff Barry (the latter two of whom produced/arranged as well). What sets it apart from Sylvia’s amusing but less than honest erotic efforts is its lyrical link with the tortured outpourings of Dory Previn – April admits right off, after some initial breathy endearments to her deserving lover, that “You’re 21 and I’m 34” . . . and it’s never been better for her. Can it last?? “They” say that it’s not right, just like in countless anguished teen laments, but – for the glorious moment, at least – April’s saying, what the hell. “You’re part boy  . . . but ALL Man!” she purrs with self-satisfaction. Yeah!

SYLVIA: Easy Evil (Vibration VI 530).
As a contrast, Sylvia herself has gotten away from her sexy simperings and turned in a stylistically similar breathy yet lyric-following reading of Alan O’Day’s much recorded lightly Latin pulsator (probably best known as by the Friends Of Distinction), here done slower than usual to accommodate the lady’s sucking and hissing style. In common with all pressings on Vibration, the playback quality is full of frying egg crackles and Rice Crispy noises. Continue reading “July 13, 1974: The Main Ingredient, April, Sylvia, Joshie Jo Armstead, Millie Jackson”