I.O.U.

from the 12” single, Streetwise Records, 1983



If you grew up in the ‘80s and aspired to be cool, the cult classic film Beat Street was a definite must-watch: not as fresh as Wild Style but not quite as hokey as Breakin’, all genuine efforts to get the word out about then-new underground cultures which had arisen on the coasts. Sex kitten and daughter of stoner guru Tommy, Rae Dawn Chong had all of us captivated by her exotic looks and sassy flair, but like the other two above mentioned films, the dank music was the real star here. The only reason British electro jazz-funk crew Freeez had a song in there was due to this number’s producer, one Arthur Baker (of Afrika Bambaataa fame), who gave this slinky cut just the right amount of edge to be enjoyed by both mainstream clubbers and hardcore pop&lock-ers alike; thanks to a remixed re-release in ’87, this track was somewhat ubiquitous on urban radio throughout the entire decade, and appreciatively so.

On the Beat

from the 12” single, Crash Records, 1983



Casiotone keyboards and CZ-101 synthesizers seemed to come out of nowhere in the ‘80s, given that the Japanese electronics brand had formerly only been well known for their compact calculators, and the old school heavyweights like Roland, Korg & Moog got taken very much by surprise when their high-end audiophile equipment was suddenly receiving competition from Casio’s budget set ups; I had the tiny PT-1 as a kid, and every last one of those programmed beats (i.e. rhumba, waltz, bossa nova, rock 2, etc…) are still imprinted onto my long term memory banks. Not everyone had access to 808s when they were first released (particularly in Italy, excepting for the mind-bending shit that Rago & Farina were dropping), and many italo producers were quick to adopt the more user friendly, low-end gear, leaving us an inexorably thorough documentation of all the potential that Casio machines offered. This track was cut by the little-known production team of Daniele Francesconi & Mauro Pilato, uplifting but just edgy enough to avoid deep cheese, and yet another ‘80s kitsch-centric cover for all you design whores.

What I Got Is What You Need

from the 12” single, Prelude Records, 1983



Just got back to this icebox last night from a prolonged vacation in the sun, so my jetlagged ass needs something to keep me warm & cozy but still moving, which led me directly to this steamy number from Prelude’s abundant post-disco archives; this one’s been re-released on a grip of compilations over the last couple of decades, and for good reason, because this shit is HOT folks! The real magic here comes care of legendary garage-era studio team Nick Martinelli & David Todd, who deliver for us an immaculate example of what precision mixing is all about, making all those electronic noises sound affectionate and downright inviting; we also can’t forget to give props to the enormously prolific ‘Herbie’ Powers Jr. :^) , who mastered this track and cut the wax for thousands (literally, 1000s) of other underground dance hits from the late ‘70s & ‘80s. The perfect way to start a new year right, this one is absolutely begging for a re-edit from Rayko…

Come & Get My Lovin'

from the 12” single, Radar Records, 1984



Some songs have the tendency to captivate---whether it’s the numerous layers, or the particular chord progressions, or simply the reckless abandon with which they are inspired & recorded through---an ability to capture our inclusive attention, forcing the other thoughts inside our Byzantine minds to submit, rhythms and sensations of the universe. Damn dude, admittedly wasted here… Cannabis & alcohol have such an interesting synthesis, seemingly variable to the set & setting, but always pummeling in nature, and it’ll be seven days ‘til Sunday before the right words get collated to amply describe the vibe. Anyways, my trashy-afternoon ass is all kinds of hooked on Barbara Fowler, because this diva can sing, not to mention the infinite amount of synth-tastic accoutrements that this bumpy track brings, a true feast of kicks. Zigga-zigga zow.

Do Ya Wanna Funk

from the 12” single, Megatone Records, 1982



Two days ago would have been renowned synth-master & producer Patrick Cowley’s 60^th birthday, had his life not been tragically cut short by AIDS in late 1982. This track, which is sung by one of his closest friends (the legendary disco-drag performer Sylvester), was one of the last major pieces he helped put together, largely from his bed. Cowley was always something of a workaholic, and he worked his ass off until he literally couldn’t move any longer; he always managed to blend his many synthesizers & drum machines together into a sharp clarity of vision that feels both uplifting and assertive. In a cruel twist of fate, Sylvester also wound up contracting the AIDS virus and passed away later in the decade---it’s difficult to even fathom how many amazing people have been lost to this horrible illness. May they both rest in peace.

Can't Afford

from the 12” single, Factory Records, 1984



The musical cross-pollinations that were part & parcel to the British post-punk scene never paid much mind to any rules or regulations, sometimes resulting in overly stuffed pieces that fell flat to even the most experimental of ears, but often achieving the kind of far-reaching, genre-defying pastiches which made you both groove and question your allegiance to any one scene or sound. Manchester, for all it’s talent, was still a fairly small town, particularly for those that were “alternative”, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that Factory Records would wind up signing a boogie jazz-funk crew like 52^nd Street (the drummer from A Certain Ratio is the brother of these guys’ bassist); in all honesty, a grip of post-punk cuts from all over England belie an obvious affinity for disco and electronic post-disco music, so this wasn’t even a stretch I suppose. This particular single was produced by Stephen Morris, drummer for Factory’s biggest selling group New Order, and his fingerprints are all over the place (namely those synth-drum rolls), but it’s the vocal stylings of one Diane Chalemagne that pushes this number from standard banger to being an all-out funktastic classic; notably, she later became the voice of Goldie’s early hits, including his renowned “Inner City Life”.

Magic

from the 12” single, Beggars Banquet Records, 1982



Even though this sizzling hot 12” skillfully straddles a number of musical genres, none of them are particularly known for having notable (or even memorable) lyrics, and I can honestly confess that I probably listened to this track 20 or 30 times before something about the first verse caught my attention---is he saying what I think he’s saying?! “I know where I am, I now understand just who I really am; shy, oh not no more, I’ve felt that before, but now I’m a grown-up man...joy, yes I live joy, not being a boy, I’ll be a woman…life is gonna be magic, magic from now on…” Wow, not every day somebody writes a song about being transgender, major props to Side On, a British trio that shared two members with boogie-funk crew Freeez; to be honest, even the GLBT community has a long way to go in accepting, more fully, the trans- population. This isn’t exactly the type of music that Beggar’s Banquet was known for either, so I wonder if there’s a deeper story to all this…? In any case, it’s funky as hell, being open-minded and getting down, I dig it.

Gimme Love

from the 12” single, Sound Proof Quality Records, 1983



The resurgence of vocoders in popular music has got my mind divided: on the one hand, when used atmospherically or oddly (see: Black Moth Super Rainbow), it can still be a thing of strange beauty---but, when utilized in place of actual talent or ability (see: 90% of the crap they are calling “hip-hop” these days), it begins to grate on one’s nerves. Thankfully, this minimal Italo nugget from established producer & record label owner Alessandro Novaga and his partner in crime Giorgio Paganini falls into the former category, employing the vocoder mainly as another level of rhythm, but also in a creepy manner which makes the words mostly undecipherable; frankly, there’s an ominous vibe running through the core of this whole track, like an ‘80s horror movie on speed or something. This duo, known here as ‘Cellophane’, also mixed and/or produced a handful of other in-demand Italo cuts under a string of differing aliases, but this song is my absolute favorite.

Midnight Walk

from the EP Bright City Lights, Tuff Em Up! Records, 2010



I realize this song made the rounds on a grip of blogs a while back, but it’s so fucking silky smooth that it deserves to stay in rotation all damn year in my opinion! With a thundering bassline that would make Patrick Cowley proud & and synthesizers tastefully mangled slop-chop style, this burner is a rather ambitious and all around epic affair for someone’s debut release--- and goddamn right too, because it’s clear that Chilean artist Barretso isn’t fucking around with any foreplay, he’s going directly for the money shot. Not only does he serve as the composer & producer of the tracks on this EP, he’s the one singing as well, doing a bangup job at channeling that coke-fueled anthemic ‘80s vibe which lays at the root of this entire ‘chill-wave’ explosion. There is a forthcoming full length slated for release later in the year, and gauging by the tracks he has posted on his myspace page, it’s not going to let up on the velocity at all; buckle up and pump this one on the highway for full effect...

Robotism

from the LP Journey Into the Unknown, Ariola Records, 1980



The title of this smoking hot post-disco album (more ‘disco’ than ‘post-’ I suppose) could have served as the designation for my recent sojourn into the Alaskan wilderness, and I can honestly say that the land up there looked like nothing else my eyes have ever seen before: lush wet forest blanketing every square inch of ground that’s above the water, mountains surging out from beneath sea level and rising at dizzyingly steep angles, the channels we cruised through looking as electric blue as the Caribbean, and icebergs the size of cars floating by in silence all the while. My better half & I took a helicopter excursion while in Juneau and landed on top of a glacier, which was the single strangest landscape I’ve ever seen in my life, feeling as if we had taken off from Alaska but disembarked upon the face of Venus or something; it was also our first time up in a heli and I would do that again in a second---it feels incredible. As my brief earlier post pointed to, the highlight of the trip for me was assuredly experiencing so much wildlife: bald eagles, seals, sea lions, puffins, bears, moose, and my two favorites: humpback whales and sea otters. It is truly a humbling experience to see whales in the wild, close enough to touch, working together and communicating in such a way that makes it strikingly clear how very cognitive and, indeed, mammalian they really are. The otters…well, what can I say, they stole my heart!! I don’t think I’ve made so many ridiculous noises in all my life, seriously, not even a litter of month-old Malamute puppies can elicit the “oooohs” and “awwwws” (and other random squishy / squeaky sounds that were falling out of my mouth on that boat) which those furry otters had everyone cooing. As for the crew Methusalem (nice name), I only know that they were German and most of the players have only this LP to their credit, but you wouldn’t know it from the tight-ass bottom end and the imaginative synthscapes heard here.

Burnin' Up

from the LP Body Talk, R&B Records, 1981



It’s been hotter than a motherfucker lately, and all the weather people are telling us that there’s no end in near sight, so it seems appropriate to roll out one of my all-time favorite proto-house cuts. Taking one look at the cover photo for this LP, one wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that perhaps the UK-based crew Imagination was the gayest group ever & that “Burnin’ Up” was possibly not just a fittingly flammable choice for a song name but rather the band’s mantra (I’m queer, so I can say that…), but the tunes these guys churned out in the early ‘80s were both dancefloor staples and highly influential to the then-nascent beats scene; the main piano riff from this track wound up inspiring an awful lot of early house producers, being oft-sampled and becoming an iconic melody unto itself. Better go buy your sunblock in bulk honey!

She Can't Love You

from the 12” single, Emergency Records, 1982



Believing firmly in the unyielding grip of socialization, I’ve always been greatly interested in the trajectory of people’s lives, how they get from A to Z and all points in between, particularly given the colossal changes many of us go through in life. Case in point: Ricki Byars Beckwith, current director of Agape International Choir and wife of the trans-denominational (see: all religions welcome) church’s founder. After growing up in the segregated South, Ms. Beckwith, né Muldrow, moved to NYC and sang with some of the more spiritually minded (see: out there) jazz crews of that time, including Pharaoh Sanders, perhaps priming her for a life spent dedicated to pursuing the teachings of New Thought-Ancient Wisdom; that said, there’s absolutely no hint of spirituality to be found within this pumping slice of post-disco boogie, produced by Ricki and her brother Ronald, another stalwart of the ‘70s New York jazz scene.

Your Love

from the 12” single, Persona Records, 1986



Previous to the release of this monster cut, the term “house music” was basically a catch-all phrase specifically referring to the records which were commonly played at Chicago nightclub, The Warehouse; due to the rabid fanbase of said club, the guys at Imports Records had to dedicate a section of the store to the hottest tracks spun by DJs there, and they shortened the name from ‘Warehouse’ to just ‘house’, but these were primarily disco-funk, garage, italo and Hi-NRG cuts, and by ’83 the Warehouse was winding down before what we know as “house music” (4/4 beat, synths, limited or no vocals, all instrumentation done by electronics) had fully appeared. Thus, the clubs which truly serve as the birthplace of modern house were the Music Box, which was opened by Robert Williams (the same cat who had owned the Warehouse), and the Powerplant, owned & operated by Frankie Knuckles (who had been the head DJ at the Warehouse). While Jesse Saunders is fairly credited as being the first artist to have a house track pressed on wax (1984’s “On And On”, which was a revamp of his “Fantasy” from earlier that year), it’s this deep cut from Jamie Principle that really set things off. Virtually all of house music’s originators (Marshall, Frankie, Silk, Farley, et al.) credit this song, which was in heavy rotation, via tape, at the clubs earlier than “On And On” but didn’t get pressed until ’86, as being the true catalyst which sent guys running home to their basements trying recreate what they were hearing in this track. Who could have possibly known that this simple repetitive loop of those 3 notes would wind up becoming the tap root for an everlasting international culture. Quite frankly, is there any style of modern music we don’t ultimately have black people to thank for either creating or inspiring??? Simply put: Nope.

Look Towards the Sky

from the LP Give Me Your Love, Uno Melodic Records, 1981



What an incredible leap forwards this past week, concerning that announcement of the first synthetically built cells---yes, I think it’s a good thing, even given my penchant for all things relating to a dystopic, cyberpunkish future. Ultimately, this will likely help us in the medical world long before there are warring armies of artificial intelligence or adoptable android kids, ala AI; frankly, I love that movie, and the idea of being able to rent Jude Law for my own devious purposes sits pretty damn well with me. In all seriousness though, many scientists & researchers believe these synthetic (perhaps soon programmable) cells hold more immediate promise than stem cells do, and seeing as how we’ve all been sold a Disney-style fantasy about stem cells solving every conceivable medical issue in the future, it’d be nice to have a product actually deliver while we’re still alive to enjoy its benefit. Predictably, all the religious idiots have their granny-panties in a bind about any potential for man-made life, as if the world may actually go “POOF” the very second living, breathing things are created in a lab. I’m no atheist, but come on people, get the fuck over it! Many of the diva’s who came out of the jazz-funk and disco scenes of the 1970s had solid gospel foundations from youths spent singing in church, often several days a week---this was the case for NYC-based singer Sylvia Striplin. This was her only solo album, a rare disco-funk gem that was produced by none other than Honeypot favorite, Mr. Roy Ayers; mint copies of this catch over $500 on the collector’s circuit. It’s all about the bottom end here, chunky-ass beats with a mad funky bassline, and that synthesizer seals the deal.

Starlighter

from the 12” single, Endless Summer Recordings, 2009

Nantes may initially seem an unlikely locale to foster one of the biggest chill-wave scenes on the globe, but anyone who grew up near the water won’t be terribly surprised when you do a Google Maps search of Nantes and find that it sits upon the mouth of an inland waterway from the Atlantic Ocean---there is something about a large body of water that lends itself to this song’s sense of abandon, the debut 12” from Valerie collective duo Jupiter (Quarles Baseden and Amélie de Bosredon). While I admit that the cheese factor here rides a fine line, it’s got just enough drive in the pocket to keep things minty fresh instead of sugary sweet; where Sally Shapiro edges towards the trance end of the spectrum, Jupiter strays determinedly in the direction of ‘80s italo and post-disco, tossing us a warm bone from the humid French coast. Truly, when considering the universally breezy nature of this track, the name of the record label in question couldn’t be more accurate. Vive Valerie!!!

Italo Classix Mix

mixed: 2009, tracks: 1981 – 1986



It’s wonderful to see italo music beginning to get the recognition inside the USA that it has always deserved---if people only knew the extent to which these records influenced the minds & creative processes of American producers in the early ‘80s, impacting both the burgeoning world of beats and the land of top 40 pop. As I’ve mentioned before, the bacchanalian celebration which was disco never stopped in mainland Europe the way it died an ugly, homophobic & racist death in America and the UK; in fact, until recently, many folks over here continued to dis on italo records for being cheap and flimsy, although some of us were hip to the magnetic glow before our youth’s became retro. As much as I complained during my formative years, growing up in south Florida was actually a huge blessing for the music obsessive in me, exposing my inexperienced mind to all sorts of music that most kids outside of NYC or LA never heard. This is a tape by Danish DJ Flemming Dalum, better known as ‘the King of the Cut’ (for obvious reasons once you listen to his flawless fusion of italo “hits”), a man who actually made several trips to Italy right as these records were being made; thanks to Marcello at ID Blog for this one. Now, put on some Wayfarers, strap on your headphones, and get ready for the hottest preview of vintage italo burners you’ve ever heard!

Heat You Up, Melt You Down

from the 12” single, West End Records, 1983



I knew this had to be the work of Italians, even if it was released & recorded in NYC, because the obsessive level of intensity, finesse and precision employed in its production has italo fingerprints all over it---I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Italians really do do it better! The effects wash in and out like fireflies, Shirley herself delivering an impressive display of vocal depth & restraint (not always common with disco divas…), and all the while the Parente brothers’ metronomic meticulousness never goes cold---most other producers putting that many sequencers & drum tracks into one song back then never came across this smooth or uncluttered. It’s not a rare find or anything but this groove will never let you down, whether you’re dancing on the floor or behind the decks, “…baby, feel my desire, let me set you on fire...meltdown…”

Is It All Over My Face

from the 12” single, West End Records, 1980:



In times of true need, any joint will do, for sure, but you got to improve on your style if loose is the problem there; our dear sister Miss Kate, former queen of the “chicken bone”, has so developed her joint-rolling abilities over the last few years that she deserves some credit---I think a shout-out on some tiny pirate music blog will do (love u gurl). This track is further proof of writer & producer Arthur Russell’s uncompromising genius in the studio, not to mention Larry Levan’s stellar remixing abilities, a perfect storm of lusty breaks, rubbery bassline (initially plucked out on a cello), and a sultry diva named Melvina Woods delivering one of the cheekiest & dirtiest double entendres in disco history, “…is it all over my face...I’m in love dancing; is it all over my face...you caught me love dancing…” The story of how this track came to become the dancefloor monster you hear here is the very story of post-54 nightlife in NYC itself, Russell having met co-composer Steve D’Aquisto at one of Mancuso’s infamous loft parties, and the song got its real underground legs from Levan’s constant spinning of it at the Garage; that’s Mr. Russell himself jamming on the electric keys, laying down some seriously jazzy chord progressions, oft-sampled in the years after its release. Famed composer Philip Glass was once quoted as saying of Arthur’s abilities, “…this was a guy who could sit down with a cello and sing with it in a way that no one on this earth has ever done before, or will ever do again…” Word.