Dumbarton born, Croydon (South London) based, DJ / producer / remixer Michael Gray
has released his second album, "Optimism".
As you'd expect, it's rammed with 'housed up' dance tunes. A striking one
is "Fly Away" based on Stevie Wonder's "As" with a gospel choir, The Sultra Gospel
Singers.
However, there are a few soulful songs such as "All I Want Is You" feat. Lex Cameron and a few 80s throwbacks such
as "Don't Want Anybody" and "Where Do We Go From Here" (both feat' Kelli Sae) with a funky Chic/Nile Rogers-like bass line as does "Virtual Cool".
Kelli Sae has her fourth studio album due later this year and a forthcoming
Latin flavoured single from it, "Good Feeling", is due on 21 Jun via Reel People Music.
If dance music is your thing then there are plenty to choose from here some
with obvious commercial crossover appeal.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
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artist.
Liason was a Bay-Area group led by Morris 'Skid' Clay
who released just one single "Life" / "Disco Party" in 1977 on their own imprint, A.L.C. (apparently named after three of the
group's members' astrological signs i.e. Aquarius, Libra,
Capricorn).
Only one other single appeared on the label around 1982 by Shad (Miller),
one side written, and the other side co-written, by the writer of
"Disco Party", Arthur Charles Handy.
The Liason single has been reissued on 7" by Fantasy Love (who appear
to be related to Symphonical Records who reissued
Equasions
last week) and is also available digitally. It's the label's 16th reissue of all pretty obscure recordings.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
Oh .. go on then, seeing as we've had one disco tune this morning why
not? A remix of Peaches & Herb's 1979 dance hit "Shake Your Groove Thing". Surprisingly, it is only 2:22 long so you won't have to suffer long
if this is your antithesis of soul music, we'd have expected the
standard dozen different mixes lasting into next Tuesday on this
one! You can tell it's a poor week for new material!
It was their second biggest hit after the ballad "Reunited" which was the follow up single. They were their only UK hits with
"Shake" reaching #26 and "Reunited" peaking at #4 on UK pop chart in early 1979. They hit the top spot on
both Billboard R&B and Hot 100 with "Reunited".
Peaches & Herb were originally Herb Fame (aka Herbert Feemster know
best to NS aficionados for his 1966 Van McCoy written and produced outing
on Date "You're Messin' Up My Mind" a storming Northern Soul floor filler)
and Francine Barker, who had been a member of The Darlettes later renamed
The Sweet Things who also had a NS stormer on Date with "I'm In A World Of
Trouble".
However, by the time the above songs were recorded Barker had been
replaced by Linda Greene, a member of The Andraé Crouch Choir.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
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artist.
A huge disco hit for Saturday Night Band back in 1978 who
were a Prelude Records studio band who released two albums and two
singles. Their vocalist was Lorraine Johnson who is probably best
known for her cover of Teddy P's "The More I Get, The More I Want" a year earlier
on Prelude.
Jesse Boyce (previously of Bottom & Co.) and Moses Dillard (who were in a duo together as Dillard & Boyce) wrote most of their songs. They also recorded as Constellation Orchestra, Frisky and Juice around the same time, each releasing just the one album with little commercial success apart from "Come On Dance, Dance" as Saturday Night Band which peaked at #70 R&B in 1978 but made it to #16 on the UK pop chart in July 1978.
Dave Lee has just done four mixes of "Come On Dance, Dance".
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
A 12" vinyl release on 20 May (which we posted from promo on 10 May)
was surprisingly released digitally on 20 Jun.
It's a set of previously unreleased music from Florida's
Rose Cornelius of Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose who will probably be best remembered for their million selling #2
Hot 100 hit "Too Late To Turn Back Now", covered by many (e.g. Chi-Lites and the recently deceased Renée Geyer), from late 1972. Sister Rose being Rose Cornelius who was a soloist and member of the Gospel Jazz Singers in the
late 60s, and even made a solo appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in Jun
1967.
However, at her mothers request, in 1970 she returned home to join
her brothers Carter and Eddie (who were performing as a duo the
Cornelius Brothers) and use the contacts she'd made to progress the
group. The Cornelius Brothers became Cornelius Brothers & Sister
Rose and released their first single, "Treat Her Like A Lady", in 1970 on Platinum, a small local Miami, FL, label owned by sound
engineer Bob Archibald who also produced all their later recordings at his
Music Factory studio. The single was picked up by United Artists who
signed the group and the record peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in
1971.
They recorded three albums for UA, an eponymous debut in 1972, by which
time they were joined by sister Billie Jo, followed by "Big Time Lover" in 1973 and "Greatest Hits" (1976). Around nine or ten singles were released by the label, all but
the last two taken their three albums.
The group disbanded in 1976, presumably due to lack of success and being
released by United Artists? The brothers found religion, Carter joining a
Black Hebrew sect and Eddie becoming a born again Christian and that was
that, or was it?
Rose rekindled her solo career and recorded a number of songs at The
Music Factory (produced by Shirley Cowell who later received a Grammy
nomination for her work with Lena Horn). The music industry was in the
grip of Disco by this time and the session produced "Here" and "I Want You To Stay With Me" but didn't gain release and the recordings sat collecting dust.
However, in 2018 well known, Berlin based, rare soul DJ/collector Dave
Thorley (who, for those who don't already know was behind the, now
legendary, Stafford 'Top of The World' Northern Soul all-nighters in the
80s) spotted and bought an acetate for sale online credited to Rose
Cornelius. It was initially purchased for use in his DJ sets but he
offered it to the Disco Bizarre crew from Berlin's KitKatClub for their
label who approached Rose for permission for its release. In addition they
obtained approval to do some remixes/re-edits. New York producer DJ Duke
was commissioned to do the remix and San Francisco Disco authority Jim Hopkins did the restoration and re-edit.
Each song has been restored by Jim Hopkins and "Here" has a re-edit by him whilst "I Want You To Stay" has a 'No Sax' remix and all four tracks will be released on 12".
Vinyl copies are £17 plus postage (UK £12, Germany £6, Italy £11, USA £15.50).
To order contact Dave Thorley davethorleyuk@gmail.com
Epsilon Records owner Yann Vatiste tells us that in May 2022, whilst
on a trip to California in search of new sounds, he met up with
recording engineer Steve Fuji and arranged a meeting with Woody
Whittaker, Ronnie Arch, Wayne Chatman and his wife Loma.
They were
members of 70s group Taxie (T.A.X.I.E which stand for Talented Artist
Xclusively In Entertainment) a seven piece group consisting of five males and two females. We believe that Brian
Whittaker was another member (and probably the brother of Woody unless
it is Woody's real name as one of the songs included Brian and Woody
on writing credits) and Perri with the the other female member being Ivy Reeves.
They released just one single on their own Archwoods Productions in
1979. A boogie funker "Rock Don't Stop" (with Perri on lead) and the
smooth and soulful mid tempo "I Think I'm Falling In Love With You" (with Ivy
Reeves on lead) which sells for big bucks. The last one to sell on Discogs sold for £650 with only one currently listed for sale for almost £600.
It was
reissued on 12" by Melodies International in 2015 and both sides are included with another eleven unissued tracks on "The Best of Taxie" digital compilation in 2020 by the group themselves on Archways Productions.
Epsilon reissued both sides of their only single in
Dec '21
but with alternate mixes. The two tracks presented on the new Epsilon
single are "Dance" / "Taxie Band" which are both previously unissued in any format which we would describe
as modern soul / disco / boogie funk.
They are ready to go now from
Epsilon
and also available digitally.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
Florida's Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose will
probably be best remembered for their million selling #2 Hot 100 hit "Too Late To Turn Back Now", covered by many (e.g. Chi-Lites and the recently deceased Renée Geyer), from late 1972. Sister Rose being
Rose Cornelius who was a soloist and member of the Gospel Jazz Singers
in the late 60s, and even made a solo appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
in Jun 1967.
However, at her mothers request, in 1970 she returned home to join her
brothers Carter and Eddie (who were performing as a duo the Cornelius
Brothers) and use the contacts she'd made to progress the group. The
Cornelius Brothers became Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose and
released their first single, "Treat Her Like A Lady", in 1970 on Platinum, a small local Miami, FL, label owned by sound
engineer Bob Archibald who also produced all their later recordings at his
Music Factory studio. The single was picked up by United Artists who signed
the group and the record peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in 1971.
They recorded three albums for UA, an eponymous debut in 1972, by which
time they were joined by sister Billie Jo, followed by "Big Time Lover" in 1973 and "Greatest Hits" (1976). Around nine or ten singles were released by the label, all but
the last two taken their three albums.
The group disbanded in 1976, presumably due to lack of success and being
released by United Artists? The brothers found religion, Carter joining a
Black Hebrew sect and Eddie becoming a born again Christian and that was
that, or was it?
Rose rekindled her solo career and recorded a number of songs at The Music
Factory (produced by Shirley Cowell who later received a Grammy nomination
for her work with Lena Horn). The music industry was in the grip of Disco by
this time and the session produced "Here" and "I Want You To Stay With Me" but didn't gain release and the recordings sat collecting dust.
However, in 2018 well known, Berlin based, rare soul DJ/collector Dave
Thorley (who, for those who don't already know was behind the, now legendary,
Stafford 'Top of The World' Northern Soul all-nighters in the 80s) spotted
and bought an acetate for sale online credited to Rose Cornelius. It was
initially purchased for use in his DJ sets but he offered it to the Disco
Bizarre crew from Berlin's KitKatClub for their label who approached Rose
for permission for its release. In addition they obtained approval to do
some remixes/re-edits. New York producer DJ Duke was commissioned to do the remix and San Francisco Disco authority Jim Hopkins did the restoration and re-edit.
Each song has been restored by Jim Hopkins and "Here" has a re-edit by him whilst "I Want You To Stay" has a 'No Sax' remix and all four tracks will be released on 12".
Copies are £17 plus postage (UK £12, Germany £6, Italy £11, USA £15.50). To pre-order for release on 20 May contact Dave Thorley davethorleyuk@gmail.com
Samples posted below, the full length tracks are 6 to 7 mins each.
A1 - Here - Concorde Gold (Jim Hopkins Restoration)
A2 - Here (Jim Hopkins DJ Friendly Re-Edit)
B1 - I Want You To Stay With Me - Concorde Gold (Jim Hopkins
Restoration)
This is a Disco-Re-mix of a 1983 track by British singer Tony Jackson who was a one time member of Sweet Dreams with Polly Brown who had a Top 10 UK pop hit with "Honey Honey" in 1974 which was an Abba song!
Tony died in 2001.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
Click icons below for further information or to connect with the
artist.
Alluded to yesterday on the Instant Funk post, here's the very first
commercially available 12" single "Ten Per Cent" by Double Exposure released on Salsoul. Unfortunately the
9:48 Walter Gibbons mix is not available on Spotify but the 7:07 album (and flip side to the 12") mixed by joint label owner Ken Cayre is.
The group formed in 1961 with members Leonard 'Butch' Davis, Charles Whittington, Jimmy Williams and Joe Harris. They were originally known as the United Image and released two singles, "Love's Creeping Up on Me" on Stax in 1971 and "The African Bump" on Branding Iron in 1972.
They were friends with Norman Harris who brought them to Salsoul in 1975 and produced all three of their albums. Their debut album "Ten Percent" was reissued digitally this year.
This may seem a bit of a random posts but all will become evident
shortly. It has to be one the best double-sided 12"dance records ever on
one of the best dance labels Salsoul.
Salsoul was formed in 1974 and their first release was Joe Bataan's
Latin instrumental version of Gil Scott-Heron's "The Bottle" nationally distributed on Epic. The label's name was
conceived by Bataan from New York street lingo for the musical culture of urban Latinos who were listening to
soul music and combining it with salsa music. Bataan used it for his first
album recorded in 1973 for the Cayre brothers who owned Mericana Records
before forming Salsoul.
The label brought in members of Philly International's MFSB who were in
dispute with Gamble & Huff over royalties, which is perhaps why the
sound is similar and the label often confused as a Philly rather than New
York label. Critically, they signed the trio who are credited most with
creating Disco, Baker, Young & Harris (Ronnie Baker, Earl Young and
Norman Harris). They also signed Vince Montana who was behind The Salsoul
Orchestra who had the label's first hit, Bunny Sigler who discovered and
produced Instant Funk and others,
Baker, Young & Harris had First Choice under contract with Philly
Groove and took them with them.
The label released the first commercially available 12" (only promos had
existed before) which was a 9:48 version of Double Exposure's "Ten Per
Cent", another great tune, mixed by Walter Gibbons in 1976!
The track featured here is Instant Funk double-sider "I Got My Mind Made Up" with "Crying" (written by Bunny Sigler). Other versions were released with
"Wide World Of Sports" on the flip which wasn't extended it was the same
length as album and 7" versions.
The fourth in a series of Record Room Sessions from Dave Lee which was broadcast live last night (Sat 25 Jun 2022) at 7:30 pm (BST).
I've not had an opportunity to listen in its entirety, so playlist from YT comments used which is incomplete, however, it does feature some unreleased forthcoming material so that may well explain the blanks.
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artist.
Playlist:
01 - Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band - Master Rocker
02 - ?
03 - Destiny II ft. Aria Lyric - I'm Here For This
04 - Kokoro Disco-San - Sonic Feeling
05 - Jay W. Mcgee - When We Party
06 - Mistura ft. Jemini - Want Me Back
07 - Pheeroan Aklaff - Fits Like A Glove
08 - Cerrone - Look For Love (The Reflex Revision)
09 - ?
10 - Cultural Vibe - Ma Foom Bey (ID Remix)
11 - ?
12 - Foreal People feat. Xan Blacq - Raise a Blaze
13 - Earth, Wind & Fire - Runnin'
14 - Bah Samba - Save Our Freedom (Dave Lees Let Freedom Reign Mix)
15 - Tommy Rawson - 7 Days
16 - It's All Good (feat. Debbie Winans Lowe & Korean Soul) (Louie Vega Remix)
17 - ?
18 - ?
19 - ?
20 - Cameo - It's Serious
21 - ?
22 - Dave & Maurissa - Look at The Stars
23 - ?
24 - ?
25 - ?
26 - ?
27 - The O'Jays - Message In Our Music (Joey Negro Remix)
28 - Liam de Bruin - Friday Evening
29 - Jamiroquai – Supersonic (Pete Heller - The Love Mix)
I heard a track I probably haven't listened to for 30-40 years last night which was Rodney Franklin's "The Groove" from 1980 and, no pun intended, 'what a groove'! However, it sounded punchier and possibly a bit faster than I remember. So, thinking it was possibly a remix, I went digging and discovered that it is a Ken@Work edit due for release next Friday (18 Feb) on a four track compilation XPRESS Edits Vol.8 from The Disco Express which is only available via Bandcamp.
I thought, as this was volume 8, I'd explore the other volumes and have selected the best from the series. All eight volumes have been released in the last year or so with Volume 1 being released on 7 Nov 2020.
Rodney Franklin - The Groove (Ken@Work Edit) (Vol 8)
On Sunday I posted a track from
Destiny II first heard (but didn't recognise) on a Dave Lee mix "Record Room Sessions #1" back in Dec 2020, which is due for release tomorrow (11 Feb 2022).
Since the first two hour mix Dave has done another two, the latest one
Record Room Sessions #3 on 5 Feb 2020 (which is 3 hours and 24 mins long) and another 3 hour plus marathon Record Room Sessions #2last March which I'll get around to posting soon.
Thankfully someone
has posted a playlist up in the comments yesterday and has identified all but two of the
forty four tracks (anyone able to identify tracks 6 @24:30 and 11 @45:30?).
It's mainly old school with many of his own
edits/remixes and couple of recent releases such as David Morales, JKriv, Dames Brown (a real banger) and includes the new track Destiny II "Play 2 Win" from Record Room Sessions #1.
Try and find three and a half hours to listen to a master at work in live
action.
You may of course know Dave by his previous pseudonym Joey Negro which he decided to change in Jul 2020. You can read the full story about why in the NME article from 22 Jul 2020.
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artist.
Playlist:
01 - Roberta Flack - Lovin' You (Is Such An Easy Thang To Do)
02 - Gladys Knight - If You Ever Need Somebody (Remix Dave Lee coming soon)
03 - JKriv, Norman Vladimir - The Way
04 - Firefly - Love Is Gonna Be On Your Side (Dave Lee Love Emergency Mix)
05 - Gino Soccio - Try It Out
06 - ?
07 - Captain Rapp - Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)
08 - Dames Brown - What Would You Do? (feat. Andrés & Amp Fiddler)
09 - Vick Lavender - The L.O.V.E. Song (From Chicago to New York) (All Soul Dub Mix)
10 - Brenda Russell - Way Back When (Joey Negro Extended Disco Mix)
11 - ?
12 - JohNick - Play The World
13 - Art Of Tones - All Night (Extended)
14 - Lenny Williams - You Got Me Running
15 - Thelma Houston - All Of That (Joey Negro Club Mix)
16 - DJ Kemit & Luke Austin present The Lounge Lizards - Intro To Dance
17 - The Sunburst Band - Magnificent Mango (Dave Lee Journey To The Fruit Mix)
18 - Stephanie Mills - Latin Lover (MAW 12" Mix)
19 - Wipe The Needle feat. Sacha Williamson - On Time (Wtn 4x4 Mix)
20 - G Club Banda Sonora - Guitarra G (Warren Clarke Dub Mix)
21 - ID - ID2 (From Simon Dunmore b2b Mike Dunn at Defected Croatia 2021) (Mixed)
22 - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Don't Leave Me This Way
23 - KOKOMO - Use Your Imagination
24 - Roy Ayers - Hey, Uh, What You Say Come On
25 - GALXTC - Life Is A Mirror
26 - Destiny II - Play 2 Win (Dave Lee Destination Boogie Mix)
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