February 14, 1987: Millie Scott, Tullo De Piscopo, Mel & Kim, Taurus Boy, Herb Alpert

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

With ironic timing the day before he was profiled by London Weekend Television in their ‘South Of Watford’ series, Morgan Khan ran out of finance for his StreetSounds and Streetwave labels, making most of the staff redundant last Thursday while he struggled to assemble a new financial package to save the situation – hopefully his TV shot will help him … Disco Mix Club are looking for the UK’s best rappers to compete for the Shure Golden Microphone Award at March 8’s International DJ Convention – send demo cassettes to Shure Golden Mic, PO Box 89, Slough SL1 8NA, and be prepared if accepted for a rap slanging match to knock out your competitors! … Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley ‘Jack Your Body’ in its new Nomis Sirrah-mixed Monty ‘House’ Remix (London LONXR 117) clocks in at (0-)122⅓-122-121¼-122⅓-122-122⅓-121½-0bpm … Nitro Deluxe’s UK release, as well as doing away with ‘Let’s Get Brutal’ (which inevitably will be creatively marketed here in a few weeks with a remix), has been retitled for some strange reason from ‘The Brutal House’ to ‘This Brutal House’ … Paul Hardcastle’s remix of George McCrae ‘Rock Your Baby’, now that I’ve received it on 12 inch (Portrait 650312-8), turns out to be 112½-112⅔bpm and even better than the seven inch suggested … Record Shack are promoting Sadie Nine’s strangulatedly sung bounding 118½bpm ‘Let’s Work It Out’ (due Feb 23) as house rather than hi-NRG, although it’s getting support from both camps … The Jets, yet another family group who wiggle shoulders, arms and legs in a unison side-to-side three-step, have also had their Minneapolis-style frisky old (0-)125¾bpm ‘Curiosity’ re-promoted, flipped by a dub-ish 121⅔bpm ‘Crush On You’ version and the less danceable 119bpm ‘The Candle’ (MCA Records MCAT 1119) … The Real Thing ‘Hard Times’ has been much improved by a mellower more flowing (0-)110⅕bpm The Real Mix (Jive JIVER 137), although the lurching and surging song remains awfully uninspired … Steinski & Mass Media ‘We’ll Be Right Back’ has been stripped down into a dull (0-)101-0bpm Hard Sell remix (4th + B’way 12BWX 59) by the label’s Ian Dewhirst and Jon Williams, its only advantage being a backing-less Bonus Voices of the featured TV bits … Monte Moir is producing new material by Aurra … Atlantic’s new girl Miki Howard was of course in Side Effect … Maze, having sold out Wembley Arena at the end of this month, are adding four new dates on March 19-22 at Hammersmith Odeon – where Phyllis Hyman appears on April 13 … Caister Soul Weekend XIX is at Gt Yarmouth’s Seashore camp on April 3-5 … Roger Johnson, the first ever UK winner of the Technics DJ Mixing Championships in 1985, does live mixes every Monday on Radio London during Dave Pearce’s show, and otherwise works behind the counter at Hammersmith’s Spin-Off’s disco store – no globe trotting as an ambassador of mix for him … Dave’s radio guests two Mondays ago, scratching live, were Run-DMC! … Alan Coulthard would be first to admit that I was regularly using the term “Megamix” (which other people had even made my nickname in the late Seventies!) long before he is now reported to have “coined” it four years ago, when he began creating megamixed medleys as the Disco Mix Club’s original producer … Full Circle are having to be renamed as First Circle in the US to avoid confusion with another group there, although here they’ll remain the same (this means that only a very few rare copies of their now wrongly printed import LP have got through so far) … Hot House is obviously a good name for a group, except right now (with “house” having a whole new meaning) it may be the wrong name, their classy slowie sadly looking more like a turntable hit than a seller … Leeds’ Dave Hutchinson calls himself Funkmaster Hutchy, not (as last week’s caption had it) Funkmaster Hotcity! … LL Cool J is calling himself Ill Ill Cool J, as in “illin’”! … A&M’s disco man Mike Sefton now calls himself MC Double Def Sef! … Jamaican-accented the Masters Of Ceremony are from New Rochelle, just outside New York City heading north-east from The Bronx … Champion Records’ ‘Ultimate Trax 2’ compilation will feature another battle of the DJs, this one between Whiz Kid and Jazzy Jeff … Shep Pettibone has remixed Run-DMC ‘It’s Tricky’ for US release, flipped by the brand new ‘Uptempo’ … I’m pleased to see the Beastie Boys’ great ‘Girls’ is big in Liverpool! … Robbie Nevil topped US Club Play in Billboard – whose US Black Singles chart is now printed again in rm … Luther Vandross – nice for him but bad for us – has scored his first US Top 20 pop hit with the fast ‘Stop To Love’, which may influence his future release pattern … Luther did not, despite hints that he might, look in at Tony Jenkins’ welcome return to the Hippodrome (instead he was at Stringfellows) … Arthur Baker with singers Craig Derry and Will Downing of Wally Jump Junior & the Criminal Element are currently PA-ing around the country, including this Saturday in London at the Doo At The Zoo and Delirium … Friday (13) Danny Smith jazz-souls Gt Yarmouth’s Mole Club … Valentine Saturday (14) Jonathon More, Norman Jay and oldies-playing KJ & J McCray shake up Brixton St Matthew’s church crypt (opposite The Fridge) late … Adrian Dunbar’s popular Bolts gay nights have been forced to close at Bournemouth’s Academy with a farewell Valentine party this Sunday (15) … Man 2 Man meet Man Parrish are reviving Grace Jones’s ‘I Need A Man’ on import next month … Loose Ends PA at Swansea Martha’s Vineyard on Monday (16), when Jan Allen starts a weekly free admission jazz ‘n’ soul night at Eastbourn’s Bitter End … is the Limelight still burning bright? … you can stand still to anything – currently, it appears to be to ‘Almaz’! … ILLIN’ ‘N’ CHILLIN’!

Raze topped our Disco chart for six weeks last year with ‘Jack The Groove’, which only now has followed ‘Jack Your Body’ up the pop charts too. Masterminded by Vaughan Mason (right), whose ‘Bounce Rock Skate Roll’ was a funk hit in 1980, the New Jersey-based group includes Ben Epps (who has a hunch he may be related to veteran bongo star Preston Epps), and East Orange’s frisky Wanda Sykes, four times a winning body-builder, who sings their more recent ‘Let The Music Move U’.

STOP PRESS

Jazzy Jeff disappointed everyone (including judges Shep Pettibone, Steve Thompson, Bruce Forest and the Latin Rascals, who waited two hours for him) by failing to show up for the US Finals of the Technics DJ Mixing Championships at New York’s Hearthrob last Friday. As he’d won the North-Eastern US heat, there was no other DJ to represent such crucial cities as New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC, with the result that the winner (by unanimous decision) was San Diego’s ‘D.J. Master Rocker’ Joe Rodriguez, with Chicago’s Rodger Vergara Jr second and Miami’s Tony Garcia third. Jeff’s loss is Joe’s gain, the chance of international fame in the World Finals at the Royal Albert Hall on March 9.

Avtar Singh, after competing in the London heat of the Technics DJ Mixing Championships, returned home to find his studio (he runs a DJ school) had been burgled. £7,500 worth of equipment had gone, (drum machines, samplers, studio mixer, most items marked with “Calibar Roadshow”), plus all his record collection. He’s offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to recovery, on Slough 45521. And he wasn’t even placed in the heat.

Joanna Plumley is that relative rarity these days, a girl DJ. When discotheques began here in the early Sixties, it was normal for the DJs to be girls – a tradition carried on now mainly by the up-market hotel-situated chains run by such as Juliana’s, which is exactly who she worked for prior to her current shared residency at Bournemouth’s new Clouds. Incidentally, Ken Brudenell is keen to hear from more female DJs for the files of Mecca Agency International, so call him on 01-631 1976.

HOT VINYL

MILLIE SCOTT ‘Ev’ry Little Bit’ (Fourth & Broadway 12BRW 58)
Glamorous Mildred – sometime member of the Glories, Quiet Elegance, and Cut Glass (obviously from a very young age!) – is now produced by Bruce Nazarian & Duane Bradley in the shuffling and tapping typical Nick Martinelli style on a pleasantly gently jittering 102bpm smooth swayer featuring David McMurray’s jazzy sax (dub flip), already hot on import.

TULLO DE PISCOPO ‘Stop Bajon (Primavera)’ (Spanish Blanco y Negro Music MX 114)
We have Scotland’s gay clubs to thank for discovering this superb Italian jazz-funk throbber (more commonly called just ‘Primavera’) – at 104⅓-103⅙-103⅓-103-103⅔-0bpm hardly Hi-NRG despite its Eurobeat chart placing – which I’ve known about for some time but first actually heard on Radio Clyde five weeks ago, ordering it immediately afterwards, only for it finally to arrive in this its Spanish pressing a matter of days ahead of UK release on Greyhound Records! Leaping lightly along, it features jazz trumpeter Don Cherry with tympanist Tullio and one of those Falco-style unobtrusive muttering European chant-raps, or a shorter 104⅙-103-103⅙-102⅚bpm instrumental flip. Either way, miss it at your peril!

MEL & KIM ‘Respectable’ (Supreme Records SUPET 111)
Due commercially on February 23, the girls’ follow-up is a beefily bounding 0-121¾bpm house-type churner created once again by Stock-Aitken-Waterman (so it’s not the Isleys’ oldie!), with a deadly commercial Eurobeat-ish singalong vocal melody, and more sparsely Chicago-style (0-)119¼bpm Extra Beat Version jack track flip. Continue reading “February 14, 1987: Millie Scott, Tullo De Piscopo, Mel & Kim, Taurus Boy, Herb Alpert”

February 7, 1987: Jocelyn Brown, Nitro Deluxe, Surface, George Benson, Gwen Guthrie

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

DAVE THOMAS (Shrewsbury Oak Hotel) reckons Robbie Nevil’s ‘C’est La Vie’ was first recorded by Beau Williams on his 1984 LP ‘Bodacious’ … Technics DJ Mixing Championships heats came to an end last week, Dudley’s Des Mitchell (Newcastle winner last year) flying back from his Tenerife Bananas residency to win at Bournemouth Clouds, with Angus Kemp from Ealing Lucky’s second and Warren Aylward from Portsmouth third (Finchley’s smooth Mark Savva couldn’t keep up the pressure on the night despite being best in the preliminaries) … Norbury’s Sussex (home of Les ‘Mixdoctor’ Adams) hosted with great hospitality the London heat, which saw a surprisingly low standard among 24 entrants to the preliminaries, being won by Hitchin’s Edwin Brome, with Kiwi from Croydon Easy Street second and Captain Kirk from the Bacchus circuit third, South East London’s Mark Ryder and Slough’s Avtar Singh deserving mention too … Midnight Star ‘Midas Touch’, Grandmaster Flash ‘Style (Peter Gunn Theme)’, Masterdon Committee ‘Funk Box Party’, Trouble Funk ‘Pump Me Up’, MC Shy-D, the Ovaltineys and ‘Snow White’ soundtrack songs ended up alongside ‘Jack The Groove’ and others already mentioned as the most mixed records by the time all the heats were over! … £350 worth of Technics CD-based SL-PJ20 hi fi midi system, including twin cassette decks, tuner, graphic equalizer and speakers, was the prize for each heat winner, while at the UK final next Tuesday in London’s Hippodrome (with Arthur Baker among the judges) the main prize includes a set of Technics SLP 1200 CD players, the first vari-speed compact disc decks! Numark, manufacturers of rival turntables which didn’t seem up to the job last year, will evidently not be sponsoring the US mixing competition at the New Music Seminar in New York this July (12-15, again at the Marriott Marquis hotel), during which UK and European DJs will be invited to play in that city’s discos … Herb Alpert’s upcoming Jam & Lewis produced ‘Keep Your Eye On Me’ is the first DJs-promoed club remix CD single in the US … Cooltempo white labels of the February 16-released Taurus Boyz ‘Looking For A Lover‘ have been selling like hot plates, a homegrown funkily lurching 115¾bpm house bounder with a pop edge (and is that Dancin’ Danny D on Darryl Pandy-ish vocals?) … Bruce Forest, while jocking live at New York s Better Days, added keyboards to a ‘House Mix’ of Jesse Johnson ‘She’, which may well be promoed here … Hot Chocolate ‘You Sexy Thing’ is now also flipped by a pop hits medleying 100-104⅓-105⅓-107-109-111¼bpm Megamix (EMI 12EMIX 5592), neatly edited together by Froggy … Level 42’s chunkily lurching 124½bpm rock chugger ‘Running In The Family‘ (Polydor POSPX 842) is pure pop as usual, though doubtless with some ‘soul’ support too … 12 inch copies of Sam Moore & Lou Reed’s 114bpm revival of ‘Soul Man‘ (A&M AMY 364) are flipped by ‘The More Sam Mix’, which not surprisingly leaves out Lou’s clashing vocals to give you more Sam, making it closer to Sam & Dave’s original … Experience “E.U.” Unlimited’s review last week should of course have read as 96-96⅓-97⅙bpm … Martin Scorsese has made a multi-million dollar video for a track called ‘Bad’ from Michael Jackson’s still unscheduled new LP, presumably its first single – Michael this time does not join his brothers for their chugging 106¾bpm formularized soundtrack-pop seven inch, The Jacksons ‘Time Out For The Burglar’ (MCA Records MCA 1129), theme song from the Whoopi Goldberg movie ‘Burglar’ … DeBarge as a group have left Motown to sign with its ex-president Barney Ales’ new label Striped Horse, although Chico, Bunny and El DeBarge may not be part of the deal as they’re still recording solo on Gordy … US snowstorms continued to delay import deliveries last week … Expose ‘Come Go With Me’ (Latin pop-disco peculiar to America’s Hi-NRG biased new “HOT” radio format) topped US Club Play, Sylvester ‘Someone Like You’ 12 Inch Sales, and Cameo ‘Candy’ Black 45s in Billboard … Run-DMC’s example has been followed in the US by the Beastie Boys, whose album has been made a Top 10 smash by the release of an out and out rock single, ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)’ – how long before hip hop gets a chance there to cross over in its own right, without compromise? … Man Parrish has evidently remade the Rolling Stones’ ‘Brown Sugar’ in hip hop style … LWT’s edition of ‘South Of Watford’ shown in the London area this Friday (6) at 11pm will be the one about Morgan Khan, while Steve Walsh (who somehow turned up at MIDEM as “promotion liaison officer” for Record Shack!) was the subject of a similarly local BBC2 programme last Friday … Radio Luxembourg next year links with Radio Telefis Eireann to start broadcasting from the east coast of Ireland on long wave, covering most of Britain as well as Ireland even during the day! … Thames Valley DJ Association somehow managed to award Citronic for an amplifier model that they don’t even make – one of several mistakes at their annual exhibition, not least being their failure to inform me of the whole show this year … Luther Vandross, currently appearing at the Hammersmith Odeon for at least eight nights, had to add ‘See Me’ to his repertoire as he had no idea it was so much more popular here than his other new material … Second Image have disbanded, former members George Bromfield and Frank Burke forming Return To Go instead, managed by Marie Birch – who has relocated with Sound Promotions to 363/65 Harrow Road, London W9 (01-960 6999) … Mantronix play Kentish Town’s Town and Country Club on Tuesday (10), Terry Davis celebrates a year of real soul at Bermondsey’s Bugles in Grange Road Thursday (12) … James Lewis has already moved his successful soul night to Swansea’s Martha’s Vineyard on Mondays, following the sale of Harry’s Dance Bar, and Paul French has started a Monday soul night at London Leicester Square’s Empire Ballroom … Joe Field souls Hemel Hempstead’s free (but smart) White Horse Tuesdays, pub hours … Paul Anderson and the Meltdown Party funk the Word Fridays at London’s Oxford Street Spats … DJ support needs to increase dramatically for the Eurobeat chart to continue in rm – unless we start receiving many more regular weekly chart returns from gay clubs (ones that break new material), to give it more substance, it will only be compiled on a monthly basis for publication in JOCKS … ILLIN’ ‘N CHILLIN’!

The heats are over, and these are the eight finalists who will be competing against the 1986 UK champ Chad Jackson at the TECHNICS DJ MIXING CHAMPIONSHIPS next Tuesday (10), at London’s Hippodrome. The winner there then takes on the World, at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, March 9. May the best mixer win!

HOT VINYL

JOCELYN BROWN ‘Ego Maniac’ (US Warner Bros/Jellybean 0-20469)
James (D-Train) Williams’ producer Hubert Eaves III whips up another ‘Misunderstanding’-like ultra-infectious jiggly jumping 104⅔bpm go go-type beat (so go go at the start that you’ll begin singing “in the capital of the nation”!), through which Jocelyn soulfully squalls and roars to incredibly exciting effect — certainly her best since, and every bit as good as, ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’! (Useful instrumental dub and vocal percappella too, plus a spine tingling pure acappella of her old ‘Love’s Gonna Get You’).

NITRO DELUXE The Brutal House’ (Cooltempo COOLX 142)
Not strictly house but so massive already right now that DJs are mixing it with the jack tracks, this Hamilton Bohannon/BT Express-ish ever shifting bass and jittering percussion boosted 114¼bpm instrumental has a catchy little synth figure that cuts straight through your brain, making it impossible to ignore! Here, for some reason the US copy’s possibly more popular shorter ‘Let’s Get Brutal’ version (and dub) are replaced by a UK Edit that amalgamates elements from all.

SURFACE ‘Happy’ (CBS 650393-6)
Already an album track smash, the soulful guys’ ‘phonecall-interrupted naggingly jogging 98bpm swayer (written by Surface although first recorded by Hi Tension) is shaping up as an anthemic singalong classic, with the tenderly impassioned jolting 33⅓/66⅔bpm ‘Let’s Try Again‘ as smoochy flip. Continue reading “February 7, 1987: Jocelyn Brown, Nitro Deluxe, Surface, George Benson, Gwen Guthrie”

January 31, 1987: Risky Business, Millie Scott, Mr. K Mix by Special K, Lola, Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce

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! Continue reading “January 31, 1987: Risky Business, Millie Scott, Mr. K Mix by Special K, Lola, Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce”

January 24, 1987: Steinski & Mass Media, Anita Baker, The System, Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, MC. G.L.O.B.E.

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

STEVE ‘SILK’ HURLEY – according to no less a source than ‘John Craven’s Newsround’ – apparently reckons he won’t be getting any royalties from his deal for ‘Jack Your Body’ and, as he’s now a member of J.M. Silk on another label anyway, isn’t going to help his hit by promoting it in person – he doesn’t appreciate, though, that by coming here he’d become a star in his own right, regardless of the royalty situation … Simon Harris has actually remixed ‘Jack Your Body’, for creatively marketed release … Technics 1987 DJ Mixing Championships heats don’t stop even for the weather, the winner at Manchester Saturdays being the remarkable Johnny Jay from the Gallery (see caption), with a mightily peeved Rob Manley from Bolton’s Dance Factory second, and local scratcher Danny Bennett third, while – after fellow judge Les Adams had driven me the long way round (via Birmingham and Leicester) as the Pennines were impassable – at Barnsley’s prettily decorated Japanese Whispers the winner was def Funkmaster Hutchy from Leeds’ the News, with Chuzzer from Hull’s Juliets second and local lad Sean Broadhurst third (although John Melkin of Sheffield’s Isabellas was highly commended) … Radio Manchester’s soul jock Mike Shaft created a truly marathon ‘Best Of 86 Mix‘ which must have taken weeks to assemble, very neatly apart from some clashing keys which don’t really matter … Les Adams seems to be commissioned to make a megamix a week, his latest being an incredibly smooth Tina Turner medley … Tashan’s UK single will be the US A-side, ‘Chasin’ A Dream‘, but flipped for the floors by ‘Read My Mind‘ … Gap Band’s follow-up couples ‘Bop B Da B Da Da‘ with ‘Keep Holding On (Remix)’ … Al Jarreau has at last recorded the theme from TV’s ‘Moonlighting‘ for singles release – incidentally, the series’ soul-loving star Bruce Willis has released a very respectable recreation of the Staples Singers’ ‘Respect Yourself’ on US Motown! … Shep Pettibone has remixed the old Colors ‘Am I Gonna Be The One’ (US First Take) … Man Two Man member Miki Zone died suddenly on New Year’s Eve – from spinal meningitis – only days after recording a follow-up to ‘Who Knows What Evil?’ … Ian Levine has been producing Mary Wells … Country singer Donna Reed wanted to make a funk record, so wrote to Prince, and he’s produced her on RCA! … Radio London’s newly named “NITE-fm” expanded evening programmes have recruited Gary Crowley for a ‘GCHQ’ show on Wednesdays 10pm-midnight, making a roster of Dave Pearce Monday/Thursday, Gilles Peterson Tuesday, all three alternating to present a specialist chart show Fridays … Steve Walsh’s chantalong Anthem Mix of Fatback ‘I Found Lovin’’ certainly gets played more in the North than it does in London! … Tony Jenkins is returning monthly with his star-studded Soul On Sound nights to London’s Hippodrome, starting Wednesday February 4, and likewise is at Harrow Weald’s Middlesex and Herts Country Club next Tuesday (27) … Kev Hill has started the Monday Mondo Bongo at Southend Chesters, with Chris Hill as co-host most weeks, and Pete Tong February 16, Robbie Vincent … February 23 Nick Halkes and mates funk Pressure Drop upstairs at New Cross Goldsmiths’ Tavern this Saturday (24) … Sylvester ‘Someone Like You‘ topped US Club Play, Luther Vandross ‘Stop To Love‘ Black 45s in Billboard … Bob Boardman, the ‘Bits & Pieces’ song you need is Ringo Starr ‘No No Song’ … I’d appreciate it if DJs did NOT send their charts to my home address – send ’em straight to rm … KEEP CHILLED!

JOHNNY JAY, winner of the Manchester heat of the Technics DJ Mixing Championships, is likely to prove a sensation at the finals, and a hard act to beat, because he’s now posed a new problem for contestants to master — he mixes without using headphones! OK, it’s been done before, and he does scratch into the beats that he finds, but nevertheless he manages to produce a flowing programme with some stunningly accurate one line drop-ins presumably cued by eye and experience alone. Finalists who were confident before hove got the collywobbles now!

HOT VINYL

STEINSKI & MASS MEDIA ‘We’ll Be Right Back’ (4th + B’way 12BRW 59)
Double Dee’s one-time partner has exploded first on radio and now in clubs with his debut single, which very cleverly cuts catchphrases and clichés from US TV commercials into a Full Force-type 0-101bpm bouncy beat (dub/bonus too), a real gimmick hit.

ANITA BAKER ‘Caught Up In The Rapture (Remix)’ (Elektra EKR 49T)
Her album’s most accessible dancer, this gorgeous gently loping and spurting 0-91¾bpm swayer has had its rhythm emphasised and brightened so sympathetically that now the original sounds quite flat in comparison – as does the flip’s live Hammersmith version – plus there’s Rod Temperton’s sultrily rolling slow lovely 84½bpm ‘Mystery‘, too.

THE SYSTEM ‘Come As You Are (Remix)’ (Atlantic A9297T)
Much mellower than the techno-funk duo’s past stuff, this jauntily trotting buoyant 110bpm tripper has an attractive vocal melody and could almost be another ‘Midas Touch’, it’s so catchy. Continue reading “January 24, 1987: Steinski & Mass Media, Anita Baker, The System, Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, MC. G.L.O.B.E.”

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!

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.

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). Continue reading “January 17, 1987: Frankie Knuckles, Bobby McClure, The Microphone Prince, Stacy Lattisaw, UB40”

January 10, 1987: The Mohawks, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Hot Chocolate, Freeez, Blaze

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

Barry Island holiday camp has been sold as building land, so Livewire’s next Soul Weekend has been moved to Prestatyn Pontin’s in North Wales and brought forward to Easter, Good Friday to Bank Holiday Monday April 17-20 inclusive (the first four-dayer) – not so good for the weather, maybe, although the camp is evidently superior, with closed-circuit colour TV in all the self-catering chalets, Roy Ayers as an exclusive live act, and the usual mafia DJs joined by Jazzy Jeff, Chad Jackson, Tim Westwood, Johnnie Walker, Ian Reading (details on 01-364 1212) … Disco Mix Club didn’t tell us that there is a London heat for the UK DJ Mixing Championships, at Streatham’s Sussex Tavern on Wednesday, January 28 while, just to recap, the other heats to come are at Manchester Saturdays Tuesday (13), Barnsley Japanese Whispers Wednesday (14), Birmingham Millionaires Monday (19), Bristol Chasers Tuesday (20), Bournemouth Clouds Monday (26), with the UK final at London’s Hippodrome Tuesday, February 10, and the World Final at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, March 9 (limited public tickets for the latter are available with full details on 06286-67276) … Aleem featuring Leroy Burgess ‘Get Down Friday Night’ (US NIA NI-1258) has been reissued, a Sharon Brown ‘I Specialise In Love’-inspired burbling jiggly “I like to boogie” chanter, presumably still 113-113½-115-116-117bpm, one of the first (if not the very first) M&M mixes … T.C. Curtis ‘Slave Of Love’, a real nagging sleeper, has been remixed yet again as the 100⅔bpm Final Count Down Mix (Hot Melt ISTC 007), rhythmically go go-ish still with added silly noises and samples slotted in … Heavy D. & The Boyz’ 98½bpm ‘Mr Big Stuff’ remix (MCA Records MCAX 1106) is cut and scratched on top of the original scratching – different, if not entirely necessary … Sylvia Striplin ‘You Can’t Turn Me Away’, now I’ve finally located my original 1980 copy, squeakily weaves through 90½-89½-88⅔-90-88⅔-89-90bpm … Freddie Jackson’s sinuous smoochy 89⅔bpm ‘Have You Ever Loved Somebody’ is due on single (Capitol 12CL 437) to coincide with his UK visit … Davis/Pinckney Project’s hit has been given a totally pointless remix with added synth and tempoless intro … Les Adams has created a Midnight Star megamix to be UK flip of ‘Engine No. 9’ – which, let’s face it, to judge from import reaction will need the help … Champion are releasing the recently bootlegged old Masterdon Committee ‘Funk Box Party’ and have picked up M.C. Shy-D, Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce, Home Wreckers, Blaze, plus a remix by Phil Harding and Pete Waterman of the old Kinkina ‘Jungle Fever’ … Judy La Rose ‘Little Bit Of Love’, in a reverse deal, has already been picked up from Champion for US release by Profile, and with its lurching momentum is proving to be a bit of a grower which maybe I underestimated … Stacey Q ‘Two Of Hearts’ is due again in an even more blatantly hi-NRG 130¾bpm ‘Q-Mix’ – I wonder what the “Q” stands for? … Ian Levine has been producing Archie Bell & The Drells and Jr Walker – not, thankfully, in hi-NRG style – for his Nightmare label … Richard Long, who installed the world beating sound system at New York’s Paradise Garage, died of AIDS before Christmas … Michael Jackson, who, through his purchase of ATV Music, now controls the Beatles’ copyrights, objected to the Beastie Boys’ use of bits of ‘I’m Down’ on a track that consequently had to be left off their album … I concentrated so much on our year-end chart statistics for the Hammy Awards that I forgot my own personal choice for The One That Got Away, beyond any doubt Shirley Jones ‘Do You Get Enough Love’ … Wayne Fitzgerald (0733-237968), area controller for the Superjocks Hit Squad, is updating his DJ mailing list for the East Anglia area (which stretches to Lincoln, Northampton, Milton Keynes) … Buddy Holly lookalike, Johnnie Walker has got Mike Sefton’s old disco plugging job at Phonogram, who are reviving Casablanca as a label, while Mike at his new gig is starting an A&M Breakout black music label … Jeff Young lived up to our expectations and managed to oversleep before Christmas, arriving only in time for the last 40 minutes of his Radio London Saturday breakfast soul show, which luckily bright eyed and bushy tailed Gilles Peterson was able to start for him! … Richard Searling, back on Red Rose Radio from this Sunday 7-9pm, has his monthly ultra-soulful bash at Clayton-Le-Woods Halfway House next Wednesday (14) … Michael Knight, with no dance floor to keep filled, plays all sorts of classy soul Sunday lunchtimes at Brynmawr’s New Griffin Hotel cellar bar (on the A465) … Paul James souls Liverpool’s 19 Fun Pub Sundays … Tuesdays, Andrew Holmes spins soul/jazz/funk at Manchester’s Berlin, as do Danny Smith and Richard Routledge at Gt Yarmouth’s Two Necked Swan … Ricky John reports his Burnley venues Annabellas & Cat Whiskers are having a £1,750,000 refit in February … Arista’s press officers Patsy Johnson and Val Rooker took some journalists (self included) for lunch in Boulogne a week before Christmas; it was so rough that many were seasick and the ferry was so late that the booked restaurant was closed (the one next door was good, though), a Swedish guy had no visa and wasn’t allowed to land with us, and we only caught the boat back by five minutes – but it was great fun! … John Godfrey, who complained in rm about people throwing beer at the Barry Island weekender, was noticeably the first to chuck food about at Nicky Holloway’s party! … Essex R&B DJ Bob Jones had a haircut and seems to have gone grey – the Phil Seaman look? … Chris Hill is 10 years younger than Elvis Presley would have been today (January 8), the birthday also of David Bowie, Shirley Bassey, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, and Laura Leyton-Pope (her dad manages Matt Bianco!) … KEEP CHILLED!

THE PHOTO we had to publish! Special Branch and Doo At The Zoo-promoting DJ NICKY HOLLOWAY is getting ever more ambitious with his recently formed Starship Enterprises, the launch of which he marked with a party for all the funk mafia DJs at Mexican restaurant Break For The Border (coincidentally exactly a year after Adrian Webb similarly launched Livewire). Nicky’s two main upcoming enterprises are a weekender at Poole’s Rockley Sands on March 20-22 and a funk holiday package in Corfu for your choice of one or two weeks in May, 9-16 or 2-16. DJs common to all events include Pete Tong, Gilles Peterson, Jay Strongman, Bob Jones, Chris Brown, Johnnie Walker, Paul Oakenfold, Chris Bangs, Bob Masters, Nicky himself, with others in Corfu and Jeff Young of Poole (details on 01-439 2628). Er, Nicky, you should have paid me the bribe!

HOT VINYL

THE MOHAWKS ‘The Champ’ (Pama PMT 1, via Jet Star)
Number one on most DJs’ want lists ever since, thanks to its inclusion in so many recent scratch mixed medleys, they discovered it was a top New York break beat, this actually London-recorded UK club smash from 1968 is finally out again, on a 12 inch that (as the BPM will show) simply doubles up the original seven inch, inspired by Lowell Fulsom’s Otis & Carla-covered ‘Tramp’ in its female title chant and basic structure, it’s a bubbling and staggering 108½-114-111⅔-114-111-113¼-108½-114-111⅔-114-111-113¼bpm instrumental played by piercingly wheezing reedy organ with Stax-style brass and a very live drum kit. Had the charts been as fairly organised as they are today, it was big enough to have been a proper hit back then. Maybe now it’s gonna make it?

STEVE ‘SILK’ HURLEY ‘Jack Your Body’ (London LONX 117)
Unbelievably out here at last after being massive on import as long ago as last April, this is considered by London to be the official follow-up to Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk’s hit, a sizzling and rattling house bounder in four different versions, the 122¼bpm ‘Jack Your Body – Home Made’ namechecking “J.M. Silk” before monotonously repeating, as do the 122¼bpm ‘Club Your Body’ and 122bpm ‘Dub Your Body’, the basic “jack your body” title line, while the 126bpm ‘Steve Silk Hurley’ repeats that particular name.

HOT CHOCOLATE ‘You Sexy Thing (Extended Replay Mix)’ (EMI 12EMI 5592)
Dutch mastermixer Ben Liebrand has brilliantly created a brand new chunky 106⅔bpm go go backing into which he slots only some of the melody carrying elements and vocal strands of the original 1975 pop hit, to give a totally updated and much improved result (inst flip, and 107⅓bpm ‘Every 1’s A Winner’). Continue reading “January 10, 1987: The Mohawks, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Hot Chocolate, Freeez, Blaze”

December 27, 1986: The Hammy Awards 1986

This week’s edition of Record Mirror was a special two-week issue, so the next edition was dated 10th January 1987. There were no reviews or weekly charts this week.

THE HAMMY AWARDS

YO, HOMEBOY! It’s that double def fresh time of the year, when once again we open the golden envelope and see who was really hot to trot in 1986. All statistics are derived from the year-end disco charts, so you can’t argue! Record company executives can start quaking now, as I think some heads will roll…

DISCO ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Janet Jackson

RUNNERS UP: Midnight Star, Cameo, Kurtis Blow, Gwen Guthrie, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk & Jesse Saunders featuring Darryl Pandy, Alexander O’Neal, Mantronix, Loose Ends, Princess

DISCO HIT OF 1986: Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk & Jesse Saunders featuring Darryl Pandy ‘Love Can’t Turn Around’ (London)

RECORD AT NUMBER ONE FOR LONGEST (tie): Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk & Jesse Saunders featuring Darryl Pandy ‘Love Can’t Turn Around’ (London) and Raze ‘Jack The Groove’ (Champion), both for six weeks.

IMPORT OF THE YEAR: Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley ‘Jack Your Body’ (US Underground) — however, ***STOP PRESS!!!*** it’s due here at last for December 29 rush release on London (LONX 117), legal difficulties having finally been resolved.

BEAT OF THE STREET: “der rump dump dum dum dump dum”

MY KIND OF TOWN: Chicago is.

ALBUM ARTISTS OF THE YEAR: Luther Vandross, Alexander O’Neal, Janet Jackson

DISCO LABELS OF THE YEAR: 1 (2) Club, 2 (–) A&M, 3 (8) London, 4 (4) 10 Records, 5 (7) Fourth & Broadway, 6 (–) Champion, 7 (10) MCA Records, 8 (9) Cooltempo, 9 (–) Warner Bros, 10 (3) Capitol, 11 (–) Tabu, 12 (–) Boiling Point, 13 (–) Supreme Records, 14 (–) Epic, 15 ( 1 ) Atlantic

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: Motown (5 in ’85, 1 in ’84)

WE TRY HARDER: A&M

RECORD COMPANIES OF THE YEAR (labels ranked by hit strength): 1 (2) Phonogram (Club/ London), 2 (10) CBS/Epic (Tabu/Epic/CBS/Scotti Bros/Def Jam/Portrait), 3 (–) A&M, 4 (9) MCA (MCA Records/Solar), 5= (1) WEA (Warner Bros/Atlantic), 5= (8) Chrysalis (Cooltempo/Ensign/ Chrysalis), 7 (7) Island (Fourth & Broadway/Island), 8 (5) 10 Records, 9 (–) Champion, 10 (4) EMI (Capitol/EMI/ Manhattan/Total Control Records), 11 (–) Polydor (Boiling Point), 12 (–) Supreme Records, 13 (6) Virgin (Virgin, Circa Records), 14 (–) US Underground, 15 (–) Streetwave

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: RCA (3 in ’85, 2 in ’84)

WE TRY HARDER: CBS/Epic

PRODUCERS OF THE YEAR: Jam & Lewis

RUNNERS UP: Larry Blackmon, Stock-Aitken-Waterman, Full Force, Mantronik, Nick Martinelli

REMIXER OF THE YEAR: Mantronik

RUNNERS UP: Louil Silas Jr, Larry Levan, Shep Pettibone, Dancin’ Danny D

MEGAMIXER OF THE YEAR: Les Adams

EUROBEAT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR: Seventh Avenue

RUNNERS UP: Eastbound Expressway, Louise Thomas, Darryl Pandy, Man 2 Man Continue reading “December 27, 1986: The Hammy Awards 1986”

December 20, 1986: Throwdown, Howard Hewett, Nitro Deluxe, Master C & J, Prince Phillip Mitchell

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

Jet Star turns out to be the successor to the old Pama label, and — guess what? — it at last will be reissuing the original Mohawks ‘The Champ‘ in the new year … Jean Knight ‘Mr Big Stuff‘ is easily available here on Old Gold (OG 9534), presumably still 93bpm … UK DJ Mixing Championships heats start in January at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Walkers Tuesday 6, Edinburgh Ampitheatre Wed 7, Manchester Saturdays Tues 13, Barnsley Japanese Whispers Wed 14, Birmingham Millionaires Mon 19, Bristol Chasers Tues 20, Bournemouth Clouds Mon 25, with the UK final at London’s Hippodrome Tuesday, February 10 … I hope to be judging at all these venues, so see you there! … London’s Royal Albert Hall is the prestigious site of the final International Mixing Championships, transformed by Avitec Electronics into a massive disco for the occasion, on Monday March 9, the day after the Disco Mix Club’s 1987 International DJ Convention will once again have been at the Hippodrome (Sunday, March 8); tickets for both events are available singly or combined (the latter the better deal, while all are cheaper if bought before Feb 15 – call 06286-67276 for full details) … Disco Aid to date, with lots more money still to come, has raised £32,000 — better than nothing, but a long way short of expectations … CBS might now find takers for the James Brown 12 inch, having replaced the flip’s ‘Living In America (R&B Mix)’ with a Message House Mix of the charging full tilt (0-)126-0bpm ‘Goliath’ floor burner, remixed by Chris Lord-Alge, as too is its newly extended more delicately starting 108⅓-0bpm A-side, ‘How Do You Stop‘ (Scotti Bros JAMES 01) – typically, this yet again throws away an album’s hottest track on a B-side (shades of ‘What’s Missing’) … Phonogram have given up with ‘Victory’, replacing the A-side of Kool & The Gang’s 12 inch with ‘The Throwdown Mix‘ (Club JABXR 44), a typical neat 111…124½bpm Les Adams megamix of ‘Get Down On It/Ladies Night/Fresh/Big Fun/Straight Ahead/Celebration/Misled/Emergency’ – in fact, all the hit floor-fillers that fit, nicely timed for Christmas! … Hindsight’s subtitle ‘Spare A Dime Mix’ always led one to expect a remix and, sure enough, ‘Small Change’ is now also in a dubbier 111⅙bpm ‘The Corn Xchange Mix’ (Circa YRTX 1) – a pity the original hasn’t done as well nationally as it deserved … 5,000 copies of the originally promo-only current Loose Ends 12 inch twin-pack finally reached the shops commercially in yet another creative marketing ploy by Virgin, who now, along with some sort of cassette pack, have at least four configurations of ‘Nights Of Pleasure’ on sale, not counting seven inch – maybe if the right songs in the right mixes were widely available from the start, none of this manoeuvring would be necessary … CityBeat are starting a regular remix series of 12 inch four-trackers, The Ultimate Mixes ’87, kicking off with Arthur Baker’s four radical revamps of Freeez ‘IOU’ and Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk’s four of John Rocca ‘I Want It To Be Real’ (the inspiration behind Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley ‘Jack Your Body’!); the Freeez remixes are house-styled 121¼bpm Club Dub and 121bpm Club Vocal, go go-ish 105¼bpm Shakedown Vocal and Instrumental (CityBeat CBE 1209), due Jan 5 … rm’s next full BPM column after the Hammy Awards and Christmas won’t be until January 8, so note that also due on UK release earlier that week are the remixed 0-104⅔-0bpm Naturals ‘Funky Rasta’ (Cooltempo COOLX 140), and (all on Champion) Raze ‘Let The Music Move U’ (119¼)/’Get Down’ (119½)/’Control Me’ (128¼bpm) (CHAMP 1227), Gary L ‘Time’ (120½bpm) (CHAMP 1228), Libra Libra ‘I Like It’ (120¼bpm) (CHAMP 1226) … DJs, please post your next charts to us no later than Monday, January 5 … Hank Ballard & The Midnighters attracted lots of faces, including Capital’s Peter Young and Charlie Gillett, Radio London’s Robbie Vincent, Radio One’s John Peel, DevonAir’s Dave Treharne, WBLS’s Tim Westwood, the Monster Raving Loony Party’s Screaming Lord Sutch, and – to my delight – the guy who graduated from being a punter to DJ with me at The Scene 21 years ago, Brian Peters … Richard Searling presents his Top 50 personal soul choice of 1986 on Red Rose Radio between 10pm-2am on January 1 … Heatwave are recording here an album and single for February release via PRT … Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk has remixed First Choice ‘Let No Man Put Asunder’ with new vocals added by Roshelle Fleming … Brian Mason (Cricklewood Ashtons) thinks he can detect a similarity between more than just the titles of Robbie Nevil ‘C’est La Vie’ and T.S. Monk ‘Bon Bon Vie’, while likewise Bruce ‘Dr Juice’ Nelson (Sheffield Sinatra’s) suggests the Davis/Pinckney Project ‘You Can Dance (If You Want To)’ and Men Without Hats ‘Safety Dance’ … Krystal’s ‘Precious, Precious’, now I’ve checked, is not the old Jackie Moore song, but with so similar a title line the modern song could well have been a rearrangement … Heavy D. & The Boyz (due as a remix) has much the same ‘Triple M Bass’ as Worse ‘Em (now promoed here on Champion, at 97⅚-97⅓-97-96⅔-0bpm, which means I hadn’t spotted the US Profile pressing should really be 0-98⅓-97⅙-0bpm in similarly decelerating stages) … Steady “B” also has a 12 inch (with remixes as well as the already reviewed LP versions) of the modern “talking blues”-style ‘Cheatin’ Girl‘ and scratched bragging rap ‘Bring The Beat Back‘ (US Jive/Pop Art 1023-1-JD) … Ready For The World’s smoochily “probing” 0-64⅗bpm ‘Love You Down‘ topped US Black 45s, Freddie Jackson Black LPs, Dead Or Alive Club Play too in Billboard … Sharon Dee Clarke doesn’t have much acting to do as the night nurse in TV’s ‘The Singing Detective’, she’s usually asleep! … Pez Tellet & Andy Gould are promoting the brand new RJ’s on New Brighton promenade as a “serious dance venue’, to counter the area’s many fun-pubs, and they’d welcome offers of PAs on 051-639 5746 … Boxing Day (26) Rob Day and the Brothers Slide start the weekly Friday Escapism for all vintages of funk at New Cross Cupids (in Goldsmiths Tavern), as a replacement for the defunct Flim-Flam – which will return in February at a new venue … I don’t know why my ‘Hit List/Disco Round-Up’ reviews in the latest issue of JOCKS have been printed so far out of the right running order that most of the lead reviews come last, but it’s even got me confused! … Christmas is almost here — many thanks for all your cards, and KEEP CHILLED!

HANK BALLARD & THE MIDNIGHTERS wore marvellous last Thursday at the Hammersmith Palais, turning the clock back to the Fifties and Sixties without making any compromise to more recent musical developments. Hank, with his tidily lean face looking ever youthful, began making hits in 1954 and surely couldn’t have been much more dynamic even then, while the Midnighters vocal group stood out on their own especially singing ‘My Girl’, member Caesar Valentino doing back flips and splits during his solo Jackie Wilson tribute, and guitarist Billy Davis revived all the redundant blues licks you never thought you’d see performed again (as was everything) in such perfectly dated style. Soul, blues, gospel and rock ‘n’ roll combined, with inevitably ‘The Twist’, to make an educational blast from the past and back to the future.

Friday (19) LWR’s Jasper and Jazzy M (seen above) with Rick Davis, Crazy Larry and Grandmaster Richie Rich start a “Syndicate” of DJs funking East Sheen’s the Bull; Sunday (21) London Charing Cross Road’s Astoria is funked from 4pm by Jeff Young, Simon Goffe, Tim Westwood, CJ Carlos, Gordon Mac, Jasper and BB&Q, while Graham Gold joins Joe Field souling Hemel Hempstead’s Heath Park; Monday (22) BB&Q are with Rick Davis at Uxbndge RegaIs; Wednesday (Christmas Eve) Northfleet Red Lion’s late night fancy dress Slammer has Chris Hill, Pete Tong, Eddie Gordon, while there are separate funk and jazz rooms at Hemel Hempstead’s Heath Park with Joe Field, Bob Cosby, Dave Ealand, Doug Osbourne and Big Blow; Christmas Day (25) Glasgow Dunlop Street’s Warehouse has BB&Q and 4AM (from 6pm!); Boxing Day (26) Preston Easy Street’s 4pm limited 600 admission Soul Sauce has Richard Searling, Kev Edwards, Kenni James and Roy Rose, while Camberley Cambridge Nite-Spot’s annual Frenchies beach party is hosted as ever by Chris Brown; Saturday (27) Great Shelford (Cambndge) De Freville Arms is souled by Martin Collins, Graham Gold, Tony Fernandez and Joe Field; Sunday (28) Leeds Tiffany’s alldayer stars unspecified jocks; Tuesday (30) Steve Allen souls Peterborough Millionaire. Those are the ones that arrived in time — it’s not a complete list, I know.

HOT VINYL

THROWDOWN ‘The Champ’ (HardBack BOSS 3)
Gilles Peterson, Paul Phillips and George Michael’s cousin Andros Giorgio have produced with musicians from Hi-Tension, Kandidate and the Team Ten Horns a note for note 111bpm remake of the reedy organ driven UK-recorded 1968 break beat classic by the Mohawks, currently numero uno on most DJs’ want lists (however, for good news, see Odds ‘n’ Bods!). Based on the chant and structure from Lowell Fulsom’s ‘Tramp’ – better known by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas – it’s still instrumental on the A-side (edit too), while the AA-side adds in Faze One and DJ Streets Ahead for a 0-100⅔bpm ‘Bust The Champ’ rap ‘n’ scratch (edit/beats too) that’s up to US standards of toughness.

HOWARD HEWETT ‘Stay’ (US Elektra 0-66827)
Shep Pettibone and the Latin Rascals have concocted five remixes of the Shalamar star’s hottest album track, a mesmeric jittering Jam & Lewis-ish swaying jogger that ends up excitingly pent up but is most immediately passionate in the 98½bpm Before Midnight Mix and slow burns in the 99bpm After Midnight Mix, with 98¼bpm Dub, 98⅓bpm Instrumental/Bonus Beats too.

NITRO DELUXE ‘The Brutal House’ (US Cutting Records CR-210)
Rapidly building over the past two weeks, this bass and jittery percussion boosted ever shifting 114½bpm instrumental reverts to the Bohannon, BT Express type of Seventies rhythm but with greater modern clarity and some squeaky doodling synth tones nagging through it all. The flip’s 114⅔bpm ‘Let’s Get Brutal’ and its 114bpm Dub are differently textured shorter treatments. Continue reading “December 20, 1986: Throwdown, Howard Hewett, Nitro Deluxe, Master C & J, Prince Phillip Mitchell”

December 13, 1986: Kool Moe Dee, Ronnie McNeir, Billy Preston, Romero, Stardom Groove featuring Tonya Wynne

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

JOHN CECCHINI, of the Bonkers Showbars in Liverpool/Wallasey/Macclesfield, won last Thursday’s final of the Disc Jockey Of The Year, with Cuddly Craig Bland from Great Harwood s Munroes coming second and Jon Davis from Plymouth’s Academy third (the latter of course being runner-up to Chad Jackson in this year’s mixing contest, too) … Colin Hudd has abruptly split with his award-winning residency of eight years at Dartford’s Flicks, after owner Mike Keam offered less money than last year for working on Christmas Eve … New Orleans R&B star Lee Dorsey died last Tuesday from emphysema, which — ironically, considering ‘Working In The Coal Mine’ was his biggest hit — is what coal miners often suffer from … StreetSounds’ major opus, compiled by Ralph Tee, the massive 14 LP boxed set ‘The Philadelphia Story‘ (PHST 1986) contains 140 Philadelphia International classics covering the last 15 years, probably everything you can think of and then some, so if you haven’t got them already, this is the best way to get ’em now! … StreetSounds’ latest Artists Showcase albums are retrospectives of Keni Burke and Archie Bell & The Drells … Luther Vandross’s 12 inch, which has failed to sell since his LP is such better value, is now a four-tracker with — just what we wanted — an even more hi-NRG 143¼bpm US remix of ‘Stop To Love’, plus finally on single The Goonies’ soundtrack’s pleasant (0-)102⅙bpm ‘She’s So Good To Me‘ (Epic 650216 8) … Timex Social Club ‘Mixed Up World’ has now been promoed yet again with yet another juddery lurching 144bpm Bongo In The Congo Mix of ‘Thinking About You Girl’ (yawn) … US pressings of the Mantronix LP include the UK remix of ‘Ladies’ … ‘I’m In Love‘ is already Ruby Turner’s US single … Europe’s long standing fiendishly catchy smash, Taffy ‘I Love My Radio (Midnight Radio)’ (TransGlobal/Rhythm King TYPE 1T) is starting to hit now it’s out here, in a rollicking 119½bpm American Mix and harder 121bpm European Mix, one for pop jocks to check as it should be huge … The Concept have followed the exactly year old ‘Mr DJ’ with, logically though over similarly, the 119½bpm ‘Miss DJ‘ (on US Macola) … Capital Radio’s Dr Hip Hop, Mike Allen gets name-checked on Steady “B”’s US LP sleeve … Faze One are calling themselves Throwdown for a rapping remake of the Mohawks’ ‘The Champ‘, out next week on HardBack (but when will the much sought 1968 original ever be out again, legally?) … Dave Lee, of Rough Trade record distributors, tips off that MC Shy-D may have lifted ‘Biyo’ from the intro of last year’s Italian remake by Sammy Barbot, while Steve Parks’ ‘Movin’ In The Right Direction‘ (currently bootlegged) was title track of his 1984 gospel LP on US Solid Smoke … Thursday (11) Steve Walsh and Nick Lawrence look large funking Woodford Town Football Club’s Woodys … Graeme Park funks Matlock’s Ye Olde English club this Thursday (11), then on Monday (15) Any Day Now PA with him and Trevor M at their Nottingham Easy Street night, before on Wednesday (17) at his Nottingham The Garage residency and on Thursday (18) at Derby Blue Note’s Glint night Graeme is joined by some of London’s Wag Club DJs … Eon Irving funks Wednesdays’ Jungle Rock night at Kensington Henry Africa’s, John Matthews and Jon Jules funk Greenford Barbarella’s Rhythm Box Thursdays, John DeSade does Hythe seafront’s Ocean 11 Thur/Fridays … Stamford Hill’s redecorated late night Cotton Club, having successfully chased away the ruffians, now wants to attract a “nice” crowd who are into funky stuff — DJ Benny Wilson guarantees the music and atmosphere are good, so doesn’t anyone clean living wanna boogie, too? … I’m afraid you’ll be too late if you haven’t already sent in your gig details for the holiday season, as next week’s rm will be the last one of the year to have a regular column – after that, it’s Hammy Awards time! … KEEP CHILLED!

This fresh faced elf is in fact Radio London’s learned jazz DJ, Gilles Peterson, who’s somewhat cornered the market in compiling jazz LPs. His latest, StreetSounds’ ‘Jazz Juice 4‘ is due imminently (containing such as Mel Tormé ‘Comin’ Home Baby‘, Peggy Lee ‘Fever’, Billy Larkin & The Delegates ‘Pigmy Part 1‘ and Wild Bill Davis ‘Hit The Road Jack‘), while in the series he’s been doing for EMI is his most recent Blue Note compilation, ‘Blue Bop‘ (Blue Note BNSLP 2). This contains Don Wilkerson’s ‘Dem Tambourines‘, the saxist on Ray Charles’s ‘I Got A Woman’ recreating a similar exciting feel in 1962 to a Ramsey Lewis-ish 106-105-106-105⅓-0bpm backing (double the BPM for a truer tempo, except it’s not that frantic), which could be useful for more than just jazz jocks.

HOT VINYL

KOOL MOE DEE ‘Go See The Doctor’ (Jive JIVE T136)
Fast making the phrase “pus-sy pus pus” the singalong chant of the moment, this hilarious 89⅙bpm rap about a randy chap’s dose of VD and the girl he got it off may seem shockingly offensive enough to ban, but ponder this: right now, it’s getting through to kids the message that they should use a condom far more effectively than any government campaign could. There is a version with words reversed to protect the shockable, while the flip’s 91⅔bpm ‘Monster Crack‘ is a cleanly worded warning about drugs — not that that side’s getting any play. Far from getting steamed up about it, the protectors of our public morals should be ensuring that this is made available on the National Health!

RONNIE McNEIR ‘Follow Your Heart’ (Expansion Records EXPAND 6, via PRT)
On an already selling good value three-track 12 inch from his hard to find recent import album, this nice fluidly tripping 121¼bpm soul canterer Is flipped by the excellent Al Jarreau-meets-Keni Burke 93½bpm ‘Everybody’s In A Hurry‘ and slinkier 95bpm ‘Love’s Under Suspect‘, all beautifully sung with many subtle touches.

BILLY PRESTON ‘Since I Held You Close’ (US Motown 4570MG)
Much played by Capital Radio yet surprisingly slow to sell so far, this cleanly smacking slightly old fashioned exciting 112½-112⅚bpm driver is vocally a dead ringer for the Isley Brothers (inst/edit too), and to my mind terrific! The Nick Martinelli-produced pleasantly swaying (0-)90⅙bpm ‘It Don’t Get Better Than This’ makes a good bonus as well. Continue reading “December 13, 1986: Kool Moe Dee, Ronnie McNeir, Billy Preston, Romero, Stardom Groove featuring Tonya Wynne”

December 6, 1986: Bobby Womack, Schoolly-D, Mantronix, Level 42, Tashan

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

THE CREATIVE marketing of Loose Ends continues, another version of their 12 inch (Virgin VS 919-13) now featuring Nick Martinelli’s ‘Nights Of Pleasure’ mix and ‘Let’s Rock‘, as before, plus commercially at last Dancin’ Danny D’s slippery 102⅔bpm ‘Slow Down’ remix, and a brand new group-created wriggly bubbling 101⅔bpm ‘Johnny Broadhead‘ instrumental … Georgie Fame ‘Samba’ has been totally remixed by Phil Harding into an excellent 103bpm Ipanema Beach Party Mix (Ensign ENYR 605), incorporating brief quotes from ‘Yeh Yeh’, ‘Tequila’, The Girl From Ipanema’ and more in the lengthened new intro, with whistles and many extra effects, plus Mondo Kane’s ‘New York Afternoon’ added to the flip, but unfortunately it’s too late to convince chart-watchers there’s a samba revival going on and may not now be fully available … Phil Fearon ‘Ain’t Nothing But A House Party’ is similarly too late in a far fiercer electronically attacking 123bpm Fun’Kim-Mel Remix (Ensign PFW-2), mainly instrumental and truly house … Five Star ‘lf I Say Yes’ has been given an angrier 121bpm Shep Pettibone Urban Remix (Tent PT 40982R) … ‘Top Of The Pops’ next year starts being syndicated on US TV, with another Los Angeles-recorded American half-hour added to make an hour long weekly programme — but, as it’s being promoted as a “rock” show, and will be edited to include archive material and rock interviews, you can bet the bits left on the cutting room floor will be all the black hits which we as a nation enjoy and the US pop market is thus still denied … Luther Vandross topped US Black LPs, JM Silk Club Play, Dead Or Alive 12 Inch Sales in Billboard … US West End’s reissue of Bombers ‘Everybody Get Dancin’‘/Betty LaVette ‘Doin’ The Best That I Can‘ includes a condom shrink-wrapped to it — obviously the label’s doing its bit to combat AIDS! … Cameo’s ‘Candy’ remix in the US is being flipped by ‘She’s Strange’ … Alan Randall’s typically accurate recreations of George Formby’s ukulele-plunking oldies get medleyed in a scratch mix (really!) created by Nomis Sirrah, better known for his Cisum Fo Efil label through Evawteerts, who’s formed a new less “street” Superb outlet for the seasonally useful and well made 117¾-118¼-0bpm result, ‘’Ooked On Formby‘ (Superb FORMB 1), the 12 inch House Mix of which I’ve yet to hear! … ‘Street Sounds 19‘ is prettily packaged as an advent calendar (a common trend this year), window number five concealing the only photo featured, of Morgan Khan as Santa! … Ken ‘B’ Brudenell has stopped DJing to become DJ/Record Promotions Manager for Mecca Entertainments … Hank Ballard & The Midnighters are live next Thursday (11) at Hammersmith Palais: a black superstar of the Fifties and founding father of soul, Hank adapted Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters’ ‘What’cha Gonna Do‘ into his 1959 original version of ‘The Twist‘, for which he is now rather better known … Richard Searling’s “quiet storm” soul show will indeed be back on Preston’s Red Rose Radio, every Sunday 7-9pm from January 11 now … Steve Allen retains his long standing Saturday 7-9pm Hereward Radio soul show but has dropped his Thursday evening slot … Lowestoft’s Steve Ogley (0502-60364) is looking for a Norwich/Ipswich area venue in which to run a weekly house/funk/rap night … Andrew Holmes house/funk/raps Ashton-under-Lyme Birch Hotel’s Madhatter Wednesdays (just 50p), and reckons Duke Bootee ‘Broadway‘ shares rhythm tracks with Word Of Mouth featuring DJ Cheese ‘Coast To Coast‘ – quite likely, since Duke manages Cheese! … Chad Jackson says he’s been using the ‘Jungle Book’ mix since his time at Manchester’s Hacienda, long before the Disco Mixing championships, and anyway synchs it with a different track to the one used by Jon Davis — Jon meanwhile has quit Cornwall to John ‘Curly’ Marlowe at Plymouth’s Academy … Bournemouth’s “spectacular new” Clouds opens Thursday (4), while Welling’s Station disco pub has had a complete revamp … Robbie Nevil ‘C’Est La Vie’ on commercial copies features just Arthur Baker’s remix (and a dub), plus the pop 0-124½bpm ‘Time Waits For No One‘ … George Benson’s ‘Shiver’ seems aptly titled with all the chillin’ going on around it in the Disco chart, not only ‘ Chillin’ Out’ and ‘I’m Chillin’’, but also of course one of the most memorable lines from ‘The Rain’ is “I chilled” … Oran ‘Juice’ Jones having really taken off, how about someone investigating the import answer versions by Miss Thang and Leot Littlepage? … KEEP CHILLIN’!

HOT VINYL

BOBBY WOMACK ‘Womagic’ LP (MCA Records MCG 6020)
Largely recorded in Memphis with veteran producer Chips Momon, the super-soulster’s eagerly anticipated set is more for fireside listening with little to have truly lasting impact on dance floors, apart maybe from the typically surging (0-)116bpm ‘Can’tcha Hear The Children Calling’ and pulsing tender 100bpm ‘The Things We Do (When We’re Lonely)‘. His vintage Sixties-style 64¼bpm revival of the Masqueraders’ I Ain’t Got To Love Nobody Else‘ (the Tommy Cogbill-produced original remains one of my all-time faves), acoustic 0-51⅓/102⅔-103⅔bpm ‘When The Weekend Comes’, gentle (0-)99/49½-100⅓bpm ‘More Than Love’, plodding US single 86-87½bpm ‘(I Wanna) Make love To You’, soulfully doodling c21½bpm ‘I Can’t Stay Mad’, convoluted 0-112½bpm ‘It Ain’t Me’, and dead slow starting 0-39/78bpm ‘Outside Myself’ won’t disappoint fans, though.

SCHOOLLY-D ‘Saturday Night (X Rated)’ (US Schoolly-D Records SD-115)
Charted on import almost before the ink of our interview was dry, here’s the new rap he mentioned, a busily scratched (0-)99⅔bpm wiggly jitterer with enough foul mouthing amidst its mixture of nursery rhyme and drug attack to earn an “X” rating (radio version and instrumental too), while the dirtily bragging 0-103⅔-0bpm ‘Do It Do It!‘ repeatedly cuts in ‘Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf’.

MANTRONIX ‘Music Madness’ LP (10 Records DIX 50)
Hot hip hop without anything screaming out to be a single, liveliest being the rapid-fire rapped and whistled 99-0bpm ‘Electronic Energy Of…’, tunefully unison chanted go go hip hop 0-101⅓bpm ‘Scream’, and ‘Stone Fox Chase’-harmonica-ed 0-98bpm ‘Listen To The Bass Of Get Stupid Fresh Part II’, this latter repeated as the early basis of a 0-98⅓-101⅔-99⅔-0bpm ‘Mega Mix’. Their reported Forties big band foray finds echoes of ‘Sing Sing Sing’ in the 105¼bpm ‘Big Band B-Boy’, the 99bpm ‘Who Is It’, 103bpm ‘We Control The Dice’ and 92bpm title track completing a set whose initial sales have been on import. Continue reading “December 6, 1986: Bobby Womack, Schoolly-D, Mantronix, Level 42, Tashan”