A couple of tracks that we all seemed to miss earlier this year from
Aleeysha E (Edwards) from Huntsville, Alabama, until Leigh
Taylor pointed me towards them earlier today after featuring them on his
radio show
Leigh The Flava's Gourmet Soulful Music
last night.
Her debut single "Stay Around" was released on 31 Mar 2021, followed by "Talk To Me Nice" on 21 May 2021.
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artist.
Lukas Setto (aka Lee Henry) had a UK Soul Chart hit a few months back
with "About Time". Tomorrow (13 Aug 2021) he releases a new mix (Dario
Caminita Mix) of his debut single "What Turns You On" from 2019 (which
featured on Soul Togetherness 2019).
The tempo's been raised and it's tighter and punchier than the original (also posted below) and sounds
like a winner to my ears!
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artist.
Soul Sam has just celebrated his 80th birthday (on 10 Aug
2021) with a birthday bash thrown for him at the legendary Canal Tavern
in Thorne on Saturday (7 Aug).
Soul Sam aka Martin Barnfather, (he got his nickname from his mobile disco setup called 'Sam's Soul
Sounds') is a stalwart DJ on the UK Northern Soul scene. He is from
Overton (near Wrexham) North Wales and was a school teacher (English
& History I believe) at Maelor School, Penley, who began DJing at
The Scene
club in London in the early 60s.
He played in the early days at Wigan Casino but for some reason(?)
didn't last and moved on to residencies at Cleethorpes (Pier &
Winter Gardens) and St. Ives in the mid 70s. Unlike many of the big DJs
of the time, he appeared up and down the country and still does to this
day. Some have questioned many of his musical choices but he is
undeniable enthusiastic and has unearthed far too many sounds now
regarded as classics to count.
We wish Sam many happy returns and long may he continue discovering new
tunes to share with us.
I've attached a live stream of a show recorded just a few weeks ago on 10
Jul 2021.
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artist.
At around 25 minutes in he plays three of his favourite tunes from three
decades 60s, 70s & 80s. The first is Del-Larks "Job Opening" (1967) (incidentally there is a great story about Sammy Campbell (aka
Tyrone Ashley) and the record on
SolidHitSoul), from the 70s Joseph Webster "My Love Is So Strong" and finally from 1982, which he states is his favourite of all time,
The Mark IV "If You Can't Tell Me Something Good". Not far off £25 grand's worth of vinyl right there with Del-Larks
weighing in at around £10k, Joseph Webster £11k and The Mark IV not far
short of £4k.
By coincidence this has turned into a tribute to two Sam's as here's a
belated
tribute
to Sammy Campbell of The Del Larks who passed away almost a year ago on 26
Aug 2020 aged 79. He is joined in the performance below by the only other
surviving member (at the time) Ron Taylor (who passed in 2016). The
remaining original member was Ray Davis (who was also a member of
Parliament) who died in 2005. I think you'll agree that this is a tremendous
live performance of the song 41 years after it was originally
recorded!
Allyn from Sacramento L.A. released her third album
"Overthinking" on 6 Aug 2021. It's an R&B album but one of the tracks is a
soulful R&B ballad called "Upside Down".
She appears to have gone with the title track as the latest single which, on second listen, is in a similar vein but more R&B oriented (I've included a video for it as there isn't one for "Upside Down").
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artist.
The New Administration are from New York and describe
themselves as a "multi-generational, multi-ethnic deep-cut political
funk band. Formed early in the Trump presidency out of the belief
that giving power back to the people requires getting them out of their
seats and onto the dancefloor".
They've released four singles since 2019, the latest being "Let A Man Be A Woman" on 3 Aug 2021 which is a cover of Dyke & The Blazers "Let A Woman Be
A Woman - Let A Man Be A Man" from 1969. The bassline reminds me of James Brown /
Gene Chandler "There Was A Time".
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artist.
Justin Nozuka released a double single "Nova" / "Closer" on 6 Aug 2021. "Closer" is in fact a slowed down version of "Nova" overlayed with a different melody.It's his first venture into contemporary R&B.
He was born in New York, to a Canadian mother and Japanese father, but
now lives in Toronto. His debut album "Holly" was released in 2007. He's from
a talented family of six siblings, three of which are musicians (George, Henry & Christian) and
another an actor (Philip).
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artist.
