Saturday, December 30, 2017
Ring The Alarm playlist December 30
Universal Robot Band - Freak with me
Edwin Birdsong - Rapper dapper snapper
Roy Ayers - Boogie back
Peaches and Herb - Roller skatin' mate pt1
Nolan Thomas - Yo little brother (dub mix)
Goon squad - Eight arms to hold you
IQU feat Betty Anne Monga - Witchcraft
Larry Morris - Who do we think we're fooling
The McCoys - Fever
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - Little Latin Lupe Lu
Jr Walker - Hip city pt1
Jackie Wilson - I get the sweetest feeling
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Letter full of tears
Jerry Butler - I'm a telling you
Betty Harris - Cry to me
Barbara George - I know
James Brown - Papa's got a brand new bag
Ray Barretto - Soul drummers
New Swing Sextet - Monkey see, monkey do
Mongo Santamaria - Funk up
Magic Circle - Express - Magic fever
Amrals Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra - 90% of me is you
St Maarten's The Rolling Tones - It's a feeling
Cedric Im Brooks - Blackness of darkness
Fat Freddys Drop - Hope (Sonsine remix)
Beat Pharmacy feat Paul St Hilaire - Sunshine
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Ring The Alarm playlist December 23
Funkadelic - Let's make it last (Kenny Dixon Jr remix)
Carl Carlton - She's a bad mama jama
Rafael Cameron - Funtown USA
Jones Girls - You're gonna make me love somebody else
Four Tops - Sad souvenirs
The Dynamics - The love that I need
Len Barry - Like a baby
The Supremes - Love is like an itching in my heart
Barrett Strong - Money
The Champs - Tequila twist
The Equals - Baby come back
Bill Deal and the Rhondels - I've been hurt
Skatalites - Coconut rock
Jackie Mittoo - Totally together
Ernest Ranglin - Surfin'
Skin flesh and bone - Do it til you're satisfied
Wayne McGhie -Fire (she need water)
Chi-lites - Stoned out of my mind
The O'Jays - Message in our music (Jimmy the Twin re-edit)
Chic - Rebels are we
KLF feat Tammy Wynette - Justified and ancient
The Orb feat Lee Scratch Perry - Hold me Upsetter
International Observer - London dub
Unitone Hifi - Sneeze off
Ruts DC -Rhythm collision (RSD remix)
The Specials - Ghost town (DJG bootleg)
Brassroots - Good life
Bacao rhythm and steel band - Was dog a donut
James Brown - Let's make Christmas mean something this year
Thursday, December 21, 2017
The best 7"s I found digging at Real Groovy in 2017
This time of year for a music fanatic is fun, so many lists of the best of this and that. Best albums, best reissues, best music books.... the list of lists goes on. You get to find out stuff you didn't even know existed, then try and figure out how much of it you can afford. So, I made a list...
The best 7"s I found digging at Real Groovy in 2017
Most of the music I bought this year was old. That's the joy of discovery. Old is new, new is new (I bought some new stuff too).
The Champs - Tequila (1958)
Not rare, not super cool, but that moment when I pulled this out of the bins and went 'woahhhh' and then pulled it out of the sleeve and it was in mint condition, that was a great day. That moment of recognition when you pull out a cool record, and then you find out it's in playable condition... that's freaking sweet.
It's a dance record that kills in any situation. Put this on, people will dance, instantly. From 1958 til infinity. Peewee Herman knew what time it was.
I like this tune so much that when I found their sequel, called Tequila Twist, I bought it- basically the same song sped up but the breakdown is different. Instead of the guy going 'Tequila', he says 'Twisted' in this deep sleazy voice.
Plus I found this clip of them ripping up Tequila live on tv - most tv clips of this era amount to bands playing 'live' by miming to the recording. Check this.
William Bell and Judy Clay - Love-eye-tis (1968)
When Real Groovy put out their 12,000 7"s in July, the bins kept giving, and I ended up with a freaking ton of wax on Stax (Rufus Thomas - Jump back, The Emotions - Boss love maker, Otis and Carla - Knock on wood, Booker T and the MGs - Hip hug her, Eddie Floyd- Under my nose, and more), so yeah, it's one of my fave labels. And not just cos I've been to the Stax Museum of American Soul in Memphis. Although that has a lot to do with it. This one is the flip of their big hit Private Number.
Four Tops - Sad souvenir (1965)
This gorgeous tune is a great slice of Motown,and is tucked away on the b-side of their much better known hit Can't Help Myself. That's one of the things I love about 45s of that era - they never wasted the b-side, an idea that carried right thru til the single's demise in the 80s. Also special mention to The Supremes for Love is like an itching in my heart, relentless pounding drums and all. God it's gorgeous.
Lunar Funk - Mr Penguin pt1 (1972)
"Hello, I'm Mr Penguin. You do your thing, and I'll do mine...' nonsense lyrics over a heavy funk beat, doesn't get any better... or sillier.
Undertones -Teenage kicks (1978)
It was John Peel's favourite record. What more do you need to know? And I scored it with the picture sleeve. Choice.
The Fantastic Johnny C - Boogaloo down Broadway (1967)
He's fantastic, the song is fantastic.
Jan Bradley - Mama didn't lie (1962)
One of the very first hits written by Curtis Mayfield, which led to him being approached to join Chess Records as a songwriter. He turned them down as he didn't want to give away his publishing. Smart man. Curtis got paid in full.
There's a great biography on him that came out last year, well worth reading, written by one of his sons. Mayfield is easily one of the soul greats, up there with Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Issac Hayes, but he doesn't really get his due. Sure, you know he did the soundtrack for Superfly, but have you heard his soundtrack LPs with Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, or the Staple Singers?
Ramsey Lewis - Sun goddess, Jungle strut (1974)
Ramsey hooked up with Maurice White, his old drummer from the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Maurice had this dope lil thing going on with a group called Earth Wind and Fire who were blowing up, so they backed him up on Sun Goddess, then took him on tour as opening act and Ramsey went from playing tiny jazz clubs to stadiums, flying gig to gig in a private jet, not coach. Sweet as.
Janet Jackson - Got til its gone - Ummah Jay Dee Revenge remix (1997)
Got it for the 7" cover, stayed for the flipside. Dilla, Joni Mitchell, Q-Tip and Janet. Mad combo.
Betty Harris - Cry To Me (1963)
Picked this up as it had Bert Berns' name in the credits. I saw a fantastic documentary at the Film Fest mid year on him, a NYC songwriter and producer who didn't get his break in the music til he was 30, and then had 19 hit records in his first year.
He wrote Twist and shout (and had to watch Phil Spector butcher it in the studio with a group called the Top Notes - Berns produced the next version in his style, by the Isley Bros and it was a huge hit), Piece of my heart, and many more.
This tune was one he originally produced with Solomon Burke in 1961, who insisted on speeding up the tempo. The story goes that Betty Harris came into Berns' office to audition and sang this slower (which is how Berns had envisioned it) and he stopped her halfway thru and immediately called up and booked studio time to cut it.
And then there was Tommy James and the Shondells doing Hanky Panky, Phil Upchurch doing I Can't Sit Down, LL Cool J on Goin Back to Cali, Barbara Acklin on Just Aint No Love, The Parliaments on I Wanna Testify, War doing Low Rider...a ton of James Brown 45s on King....
Reissue bizz
As journalist Martyn Pepperell noted on Twitter, 'I've been trying to do a few best of 2017 lists. Here's the thing though, most of my favourite albums this year were reissues. Haha." His list is here, including reissues, by Golden Harvest, Look Blue Go Purple, Midori Takada, and comps like Diggin In The Carts, and Heed The Call.
One of my fave reissues was Any Other Way, the incredible collection of the work of 60s transgender soul singer Jackie Shane, on Numero. And Heed The Call is a great local comp, looking forward to Vol 2.
The best music from 2017 I caught up on by reading Bandcamp's best of list
Ok, I waded thru Bandcamp's Best of 2017 list which is mad long but mad good, and came across these two goodies... need to revisit that list...
Jlin - Black Origami
Ok, I'm not sure how I slept on this but I did (dont judge me, bro), but hey, Bandcamp hipped me to its existence. It's an astonishing record. Dark vibes and freaky percussion galore. I read an interview with her where she talks about departing from the usual sample-based style of Footwork, after a question from her mother...
Via Factmag: "When Jlin started off making dance music in her home of Gary, Indiana, she would cut pieces from other artists’ tracks in the style of fellow footwork producers like RP Boo, but the video explains how a comment from her mother inspired her to produce without samples.
“I had sampled Teena Marie’s ‘Portuguese Love’, and I asked her to listen to it,” Jlin says in the video. “She said to me, ‘It sounds good, but what do you sound like?’ And that question changed everything.”
And the other was this gem, with the brilliant title, Pop Makossa - The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976-1984, compiled by Analog Africa. It's insanely groovy.
From the album blurb: 'The Pop Makossa adventure started in 2009, when Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb first travelled to Cameroon to make an initial assessment of the country’s musical situation. He returned with enough tracks for an explosive compilation highlighting the period when funk and disco sounds began to infiltrate the Makossa style popular throughout Cameroon.
So why has it taken almost eight years from that first visit to the final compilation? From the very beginning, there were several mysteries hanging over Pop Makossa...." Go read the blurb to find out more.
Another record I scored earlier this year is a great collab between Adrian Sherwood of On-U-Sound, and Coldcut.
And then there's 'Funkadelic Reworked by Detroiters' which does exactly what it says on the label. Remixes by Moodymann, Recloose, Underground Resistance...
The best 7"s I found digging at Real Groovy in 2017
Most of the music I bought this year was old. That's the joy of discovery. Old is new, new is new (I bought some new stuff too).
The Champs - Tequila (1958)
Not rare, not super cool, but that moment when I pulled this out of the bins and went 'woahhhh' and then pulled it out of the sleeve and it was in mint condition, that was a great day. That moment of recognition when you pull out a cool record, and then you find out it's in playable condition... that's freaking sweet.
It's a dance record that kills in any situation. Put this on, people will dance, instantly. From 1958 til infinity. Peewee Herman knew what time it was.
I like this tune so much that when I found their sequel, called Tequila Twist, I bought it- basically the same song sped up but the breakdown is different. Instead of the guy going 'Tequila', he says 'Twisted' in this deep sleazy voice.
Plus I found this clip of them ripping up Tequila live on tv - most tv clips of this era amount to bands playing 'live' by miming to the recording. Check this.
William Bell and Judy Clay - Love-eye-tis (1968)
When Real Groovy put out their 12,000 7"s in July, the bins kept giving, and I ended up with a freaking ton of wax on Stax (Rufus Thomas - Jump back, The Emotions - Boss love maker, Otis and Carla - Knock on wood, Booker T and the MGs - Hip hug her, Eddie Floyd- Under my nose, and more), so yeah, it's one of my fave labels. And not just cos I've been to the Stax Museum of American Soul in Memphis. Although that has a lot to do with it. This one is the flip of their big hit Private Number.
Four Tops - Sad souvenir (1965)
This gorgeous tune is a great slice of Motown,and is tucked away on the b-side of their much better known hit Can't Help Myself. That's one of the things I love about 45s of that era - they never wasted the b-side, an idea that carried right thru til the single's demise in the 80s. Also special mention to The Supremes for Love is like an itching in my heart, relentless pounding drums and all. God it's gorgeous.
Lunar Funk - Mr Penguin pt1 (1972)
"Hello, I'm Mr Penguin. You do your thing, and I'll do mine...' nonsense lyrics over a heavy funk beat, doesn't get any better... or sillier.
Undertones -Teenage kicks (1978)
It was John Peel's favourite record. What more do you need to know? And I scored it with the picture sleeve. Choice.
The Fantastic Johnny C - Boogaloo down Broadway (1967)
He's fantastic, the song is fantastic.
Jan Bradley - Mama didn't lie (1962)
One of the very first hits written by Curtis Mayfield, which led to him being approached to join Chess Records as a songwriter. He turned them down as he didn't want to give away his publishing. Smart man. Curtis got paid in full.
There's a great biography on him that came out last year, well worth reading, written by one of his sons. Mayfield is easily one of the soul greats, up there with Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Issac Hayes, but he doesn't really get his due. Sure, you know he did the soundtrack for Superfly, but have you heard his soundtrack LPs with Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and the Pips, or the Staple Singers?
Ramsey Lewis - Sun goddess, Jungle strut (1974)
Ramsey hooked up with Maurice White, his old drummer from the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Maurice had this dope lil thing going on with a group called Earth Wind and Fire who were blowing up, so they backed him up on Sun Goddess, then took him on tour as opening act and Ramsey went from playing tiny jazz clubs to stadiums, flying gig to gig in a private jet, not coach. Sweet as.
Janet Jackson - Got til its gone - Ummah Jay Dee Revenge remix (1997)
Got it for the 7" cover, stayed for the flipside. Dilla, Joni Mitchell, Q-Tip and Janet. Mad combo.
Betty Harris - Cry To Me (1963)
Picked this up as it had Bert Berns' name in the credits. I saw a fantastic documentary at the Film Fest mid year on him, a NYC songwriter and producer who didn't get his break in the music til he was 30, and then had 19 hit records in his first year.
He wrote Twist and shout (and had to watch Phil Spector butcher it in the studio with a group called the Top Notes - Berns produced the next version in his style, by the Isley Bros and it was a huge hit), Piece of my heart, and many more.
This tune was one he originally produced with Solomon Burke in 1961, who insisted on speeding up the tempo. The story goes that Betty Harris came into Berns' office to audition and sang this slower (which is how Berns had envisioned it) and he stopped her halfway thru and immediately called up and booked studio time to cut it.
And then there was Tommy James and the Shondells doing Hanky Panky, Phil Upchurch doing I Can't Sit Down, LL Cool J on Goin Back to Cali, Barbara Acklin on Just Aint No Love, The Parliaments on I Wanna Testify, War doing Low Rider...a ton of James Brown 45s on King....
Reissue bizz
As journalist Martyn Pepperell noted on Twitter, 'I've been trying to do a few best of 2017 lists. Here's the thing though, most of my favourite albums this year were reissues. Haha." His list is here, including reissues, by Golden Harvest, Look Blue Go Purple, Midori Takada, and comps like Diggin In The Carts, and Heed The Call.
One of my fave reissues was Any Other Way, the incredible collection of the work of 60s transgender soul singer Jackie Shane, on Numero. And Heed The Call is a great local comp, looking forward to Vol 2.
The best music from 2017 I caught up on by reading Bandcamp's best of list
Ok, I waded thru Bandcamp's Best of 2017 list which is mad long but mad good, and came across these two goodies... need to revisit that list...
Jlin - Black Origami
Ok, I'm not sure how I slept on this but I did (dont judge me, bro), but hey, Bandcamp hipped me to its existence. It's an astonishing record. Dark vibes and freaky percussion galore. I read an interview with her where she talks about departing from the usual sample-based style of Footwork, after a question from her mother...
Via Factmag: "When Jlin started off making dance music in her home of Gary, Indiana, she would cut pieces from other artists’ tracks in the style of fellow footwork producers like RP Boo, but the video explains how a comment from her mother inspired her to produce without samples.
“I had sampled Teena Marie’s ‘Portuguese Love’, and I asked her to listen to it,” Jlin says in the video. “She said to me, ‘It sounds good, but what do you sound like?’ And that question changed everything.”
And the other was this gem, with the brilliant title, Pop Makossa - The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976-1984, compiled by Analog Africa. It's insanely groovy.
From the album blurb: 'The Pop Makossa adventure started in 2009, when Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb first travelled to Cameroon to make an initial assessment of the country’s musical situation. He returned with enough tracks for an explosive compilation highlighting the period when funk and disco sounds began to infiltrate the Makossa style popular throughout Cameroon.
So why has it taken almost eight years from that first visit to the final compilation? From the very beginning, there were several mysteries hanging over Pop Makossa...." Go read the blurb to find out more.
Another record I scored earlier this year is a great collab between Adrian Sherwood of On-U-Sound, and Coldcut.
And then there's 'Funkadelic Reworked by Detroiters' which does exactly what it says on the label. Remixes by Moodymann, Recloose, Underground Resistance...
Sunday, December 17, 2017
New EP from Scalper
Scalper dropped a new EP titled Want on Dec 12, check out the first video. Out now on usual digital outlets.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Ring The Alarm playlist December 16
Primal Scream - Trainspotting
African Head Charge - Animal law
Adrian Sherwood - Stepping crowd
Bob Marley - Mr Brown
Willie Williams - Armageddon time
Barrington Levy - Looking my love
Butch Cassidy Sound System - Cissy strut
Road Runners - No names will be called
M&S Band - Egg roll
Herman Hitson - Aint no other way
Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns - Four play
James Brown - Funky president (people its bad)
Vicki Anderson - Don't throw your love in the garbage can
Lunar Funk - Mr Penguin pt1
Durand Jones and the Indications - Smile
The 8th Day - Rocks in my head
Oliver Sain - London express
Big Maybelle - I got a feeling
Bill Withers - Let us love
Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam - Head to toe
Janet Jackson - What have you done for me lately
Mandingo - Harima
Shango - Shango message
Spyder-D - Big Apple rappin'
Urban Disturbance - Robert Jane
Chaka Khan - We can work it out
Paul McCartney - What's that you're doing
Booker T and the MGs - Day tripper
Jimmy James and the Vagabonds - Hi diddly dee dum dum
Billy Vera and Judy Clay - Really together
Saturday, December 09, 2017
Ring The Alarm playlist December 9
Dalvanius and the Fascinations - Voodoo lady (extended version)
Elder Statesmen - Montreaux sunrise
Boozoo Bajou - Night over Manaus
Frente Cumbiero - Pitchito
Bobby Marin - Cisco kid
Dexter Story - Eastern prayer
Mulatu - Yegelle tezeta
Janet Jackson - Got til it's gone (Ummah Jay Dee's revenge mix)
Dam Native feat Che Fu - The son
The Parliaments - I wanna testify
Otis and Carla - Knock on wood
The Emotions - Boss love maker
Syl Johnson - Back for a taste of your love
Sunlight square combo - I believe in miracles
Willie Bobo - Spanish grease
Eddie Billups - I need someone
Reginald Milton and the Soul Jets - Clap your hands
James Brown - Santa Claus goes straight to the ghetto
Thee Enchantments - I'm in love with your daughter
Gloria Jones - Tainted love
Patti Labelle and the Bluebells -You forgot how to love
Barbara Lynn - This is the thanks I get
Billy Butler - Right track
Bobby Wilson - Feels good
The Impressions - We're a winner
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - Rumours
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band - I can't get no satisfaction
O'Donel Levy - Bad bad Simba
Bob James - Nautilus
Mark de Clive Lowe - Melodious funk
Che Fu - Fade away (Solephonic remix)
Sunday, December 03, 2017
New single from The Tibbs
The new single "Lies" is a sneak preview of the forthcoming studio album of the Dutch combo expected in 2018 and is accompanied by an official video directed by The Tibbs’ vocalist Elsa Bekman. In the visuals we find the singer in a theatrical atmosphere, stuck in the role of a disheartened wife realizing it is time to give her life a twist and to fight back. As Elsa stated, “the video depicts the lyrics I wrote for the song: a woman breaking out her oppressive and frustrating routine of life”.
Based around Amsterdam and founded in 2012 by a bunch of deep funk and heavy soul disciples, The Tibbs made their debut on Record Kicks in 2015 with their acclaimed debut LP "Takin' Over".
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Ring The Alarm playlist December 2
Holland Dozier - Don't leave me
Isley Bros - Fight the power pt1
Johnny Harris - Odyssey
Greedy Band - Slam dunk pt 1
James Fountain - Seven day lover
Gene Chandler - She's such a pretty thing
The C.O.D.s - Michael
Chubby Checker -You better believe it baby
Della Reese - It was a very good year
Lonnie Mack - Memphis
The Champs - Tequila
Tommy James and the Shondells - Hanky panky
Cannibal and the Headhunters - Land of a thousand dances
The Supremes - Love is like an itching in my heart
Patti Jo - Make me believe in you
Luis Bonfa - Jacaranda
Sonny Knight and the Lakers - Sugarman
The Impressions - It's all right
Darondo - Luscious lady
Jr Walker and the Allstars - Hip city pt1
Dalvanius and the Fascinations - Voodoo lady (disco mix)
Prince Tui Teka - Heed the call
Collision - You can dance
Mala - Como como (Theo Parrish remix)
Fat Freddys Drop - Hope (sonsine remix)
45nm - Rider
Misa Negra - Hype me up
Fitchee - Bambam vs junglist
Barrington Levy - Under mi sensi (junglespliff)
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