Eddie C [2023] D8 With The Rain / Sweet Honey [Red Motorbike#BIKE 022]

Following BIKE 22 in May ("Nite Moves" / "Smokey Bay"), Eddie C has aonther double-sider out on 17 Jul. His version of Eddie Kendricks' "Date With The Rain" as "D8 With the Rain" paired with one of his signature instrumentals "Sweet Honey".

Eddie C (Currelly) is a Canadian DJ/musician based in Berlin.

Available to pre-order from your favourite vinyl stockists (e.g. Simply Soul or Juno).

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist. 

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Red Motorbike
Cat No:	BIKE 023
Date:	17/07/2023
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£14

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Kelly Finnigan [2023] - Leave You Alone [Colemine]

Colemine drops Kelly Finnigan's new single "Leave You Alone" digitally on Friday (14 Jul) taken from his cassette only mixtape "From Me To You" also released on 14 Jul. 

NOTE: The mixtape is a limited product consisting of a collection of 16 songs that won't be available on vinyl, CD or digital streaming platforms (for some time) and Colemine is already sold out so you will need to source from a dealer.

The new single was written and recorded in 2019, in the same session as his debut album "The Tales People Tell", and we are told is a love story inspired by Bettye Swann. 

Finnigan, as you will know, is the frontman for The Monophonics and has been working with, and produced, the forthcoming album "Love Can't Be Borrowed" for The Sextones

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist. 

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Retro Soul / Blue-Eyed
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Colemine
Cat No:	None
Date:	14/07/2023
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£1

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Dayton [2023] - Promise Me / Eyes On You [Expansion #EXS043]

One of the greatest 80s modern soul tunes ever released is gaining a reissue on 7" vinyl by Expansion Records who have paired two of their modern soul gems back to back.

Dayton's killer side "Promise Me" is taken from "Feel The Music" (1983) and "Eyes On You" from their 1980 self-titled debut album. Both were released as singles with "Promise Me" now fetching three figures. 

Don't take much notice of the highest price paid on Discogs (£255) (that must have been a desperate buyer) as they were selling for around £25 a few years back but have crept up in price (supply & demand) with none currently available for sale.

Anyway, unless you absolutely must have original vinyl you can now buy it for £12 and "Promise Me" is the slightly longer (4:02 v 3:43) album version available on 7" for the first time (it was released on a 3 track 12" which are a bit cheaper and easier to find).

Not surprisingly Dayton were formed in Dayton, OH, in 1980 and consisted of former members of Sun and Magnum. They released five albums between 1980-85 and are possibly best know for another track from the "Feel The Music" album "The Sound Of Music" which was a big club hit and a minor pop hit in the UK in 1983 but pales in significance to these two sides which 'criminally' never even made it into the R&B chart!

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	9
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Expansion Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	TBC/08/2023
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£12

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Assal [2023] - Set Me Free [Plaizir Music]

A new mashup titled "Set Me Free" from Plaizir Muzic's Assal. The obvious sample is McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" but don't have a Scooby Doo what the overlaid vocal is from. It sounds like a 70s or early 80s Philly song (to us) which we thought sounds a bit like Slick or Philly Cream but not either. Anyone?

The song is scheduled for release on 21 Jul or available now on Traxsource.

We have done a bit of further digging on the artist as most of his mashups are pretty good and he generally uses obscure tracks rather than the obvious. He is originally from Annaba, Algeria, now living in Quebec, and have learned that Assal translates to 'Honey' in Arabic. We have reached out for further information and are awaiting a response.

Assal has told us that he used the acapella from Qubiko's "Set Me Free" but doesn't know who the singer is. Quibiko is Giuseppe Di Stasi, an Italian DJ who released a three track EP "These Days" in March 2018 on Defected which included "Set Me Free". We also found the acapella version on Spotify (it's not on the EP) which was released on a Defected compilation "Defected Accappelas Deluxe, Vol, 15" in March 2019.

"Set Me Free" was also sampled by Mendo in 2019 for "Get A Funk".

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	70s Soul / Mashup
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Plaizir Muzic
Cat No:	None
Date:	21/07/2023
Key/BPM:	5A/115
Price:	$2.49

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Zepherin Saint feat. Russell Taylor [2023] - Give Me the Sunshine [Tribe Records]

A new version of Leo Sunnship's "Give Me The Sunshine" written by group member Johnny Simone and taken from their only (and pretty hard to find on original vinyl) album "We Need Each Other" (1978).  Expansion reissued the album on vinyl and CD in 1996 and it has had subsequent reissues on Lyons, Expansion and P-Vine. Incidentally, Simone sang BGVs on Finished Touch's only album "Need To Know You Better" (Motown) the same year. Finished Touch members included Michael & Brenda Sutton and Kenny Stover amongst others. Stover's name features on writing credits on many classic 70s recordings, check your labels.

Zepherin Saint feat. Russell Taylor's version was released by Tribe Records on 12" on 17 Feb 2023 and is now available digitally from Bandcamp.

Zepherin Saint is Dean Zepherin from Harrow, London (now living in Melbourne) who is the owner of Tribe Records. He was a member of Boyz in Shock whose 1988 single feat. Carol  Leeming, "Give Me Back Your Love " is credited as being the first UK soulful house recording.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul / Cover Version
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital / 12" Vinyl
Label:	Tribe Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	22/06/2023 /17/02/2023
Key/BPM:	8A/95
Price:	£5 / €14

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Twism & B3RAO [2023] - Your Lovin' [Soulful Legends]

We really are scratching around and scraping the barrel for decent  new releases to post this week so we'll do what we occasionally do and see if Traxsource has much to offer.

The first one is a reworking of Teena Marie's 1980 Motown (Gordy) anthem "I Need Your Lovin'" simply re-titled as "Your Lovin'" by DJ/producer duo Twism & B3RAO. It's out a week on Friday (21 Jul).

Twsim is Brian Rawson from L.A. and heads up the Soulful Legends label whilst B3RAO is Nathaniel Almeida from Boston.

Their last single in April was "Who's Right" which is based on Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" (1986).

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Nu Disco
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Soulful Legends
Cat No:	None
Date:	21/07/2023
Key/BPM:	12B/120
Price:	$2,49

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Reina V [2023] - Elevated [Fahie Industries]

Brooklyn, NYC, artist Reina V (Valentin) debuted in 2019 with a 5 track EP "Moving Forward" and has since released five singles, the latest being "Elevated" which is a sub 2 minute neo soul number with acoustic elements.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist. 

Details

Rating:	7.7
Explicit:	Y
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Fahie Industries
Cat No:	None
Date:	12/07/2023
Key/BPM:	7A/58
Price:	£1

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Bernetia Miller & The Soul Groovers Band [2023] - You Can Tell Me Goodby / I've Gotta Keep on Lovin' You [Athens Of The North]

A one-off, private press rarity out of Georgia by Bernetia Miller & The Soul Groovers Band "You Can Tell Me Goodby / I've Gotta Keep on Lovin' You" is being reissued digitally by Athens Of The North on 28 Jul (NB there is no indication as to whether it will be made available on vinyl as yet).

Originally released in 1970 on Soul Groover Records this raw/'naive' piece is what many rare soul collectors love. The songs were recorded at Capricorn Records studio in Macon, GA, in 1970 and custom pressed at Sound Of Nashville (i.e. matrix nos SoN 88411/88412).

AOTN's Euan Fryer has licensed the master tapes directly from Bernetia Miller from Hawksville, GA, who wrote both songs, is still singing and has retained the tapes to this day.

Whilst only one has ever sold on Discogs for £924 in Feb 2017, there are five listed on Popsike with the latest copy selling from £2,015 in Apr 2021. NOTE, the label scan on three look identical so whether the same copy has sold three times or the sellers have 'borrowed' the label scan from the same place we don't know.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	7.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Southern Soul / Deep Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Athen Of The North
Cat No:	None
Date:	28/07/2023
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£2

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Maxx Traxx [2023] - To Be With You [Numero Group]

A couple of weeks ago (15 Jun) Numero Group reissued five of six tracks from Third Rail's 1982 "Reaching For It" album. Third Rail evolved into (or from) Maxx Traxx and today they have reissued four tracks from  their 1982 self-titled album.

It actually looks like Numero Group is gradually building the full album as three of the four tracks on the latest release have accumulated with each release. i.e. they released the first track at the end of 2022 and then the second bundled with the first followed by the third with the previous two, so eventually it looks like the full album may be released.

This may please many as the original vinyl sells for up to £462 on the resale market with none currently for sale on Discogs.

One of the, so far, omitted Maxx Traxx songs was originally on both albums  i.e. "Living Without You" which was on the Numero Group's Third Rail release and another is "Let Me Love You" which was  also on the Third Rail release.

That leaves "Mainstream" from Third Rail and "You & I" and "Tell Me" from Maxx Traxx still to come.

 

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul 80s
Format:	EP
Media:	Digital
Label:	Numero Group
Cat No:	None
Date:	13/07/2023
Price:	£3.49

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Jalen Ngonda [2023] - Come Around and Love Me [Daptone Records] MUSIC VIDEO

We were hot on the new single from Jalen Ngondo "Come Around and Love Me", which is going down a storm, however, we slept on, what we believe is his first, music video for the song which was released on Daptone's YouTube channel the same day.

Jalen Ngonda grew up on the outskirts of Washington D.C. (Wheaton, MD) and began musical studies in grade school, where he dabbled in violin, ultimately moving on to the guitar and piano. He is from a musical family and gained inspiration from listening to his father’s collection of Motown albums.

He, like so many before him, cut his teeth in the church where he played organ which helped him raise funds to send him to the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in 2014, He currently resides in London.

He was spotted by Daptone co-founder Neal Sugarman whilst performing a chance, last minute, slot for Jools Holland and he was duly signed and an album was planned but unfortunately it occurred the month before Covid-19 lock down.

The latest single is the title track of a forthcoming album due for release on 8 Sep for which we posted samples of tracks last week.

He is embarking on a US tour to promote the album in Sep & Oct with UK/EU dates also scheduled for Nov. A full list of dates and venues are below (NB click image to enlarge).

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist. 

NB click to enlarge dates

Details

Rating:	8.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Retro Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Daptone Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	29/06/2023
Key/BPM:	10A/104
Price:	£1

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved