The Soul Vendor: 70's

Showing posts with label 70's. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

A Special Motown Disco Album 1976

Motown Records STML 12059

Going way back to the mid 70's for todays post. This was the heart of the Disco era, Saturday Night Fever was being filmed and the Bee Gees would soon destroy any credibility the genre had but for now it was considered cool.

'Disco was a dance fad of the Seventies with a profound and unfortunate influence on popular music.'
The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music 1989

Although disco was the most prominent form of popular music in the 1970s, it never got the credit it deserved. 1979's Disco Sucks revolution and in particular, Chicago's Disco Demolition Night all but destroyed the shallow, music industry gravytrain globally but it also permanantly scarred the term Disco. Thirty years later it's still a negative term and the reason I'm putting in so much info here.

Prior to 1975, Disco was not a recognised word. In New York, the underground club scene was spawning a new hybrid. A mixture of funk and soul with a particular sound developed into a new trend that would eventually take the world by storm. Songs like...

Zing Went the Strings of My Heart - The Trammps (Buddah, 1972)
Soul Makossa - Manu Dibango (Atlantic, 1973)
The Player - First Choice (74)

...played by DJ's such as Larry Levan at David Mancuso's Loft Nights, fed a dancefloor monster with a growing appetite.

Meanwhile, over in Detroit...

1971 saw the release of Motown Record's legendary Marvin Gaye release. What's Goin' On moved Motown music to a new level, changed their singles perspective to include albums and moved a whole generation. In June 1972, Motown announced that it was closing it's Detroit offices and moving it's headquarters to Los Angeles. While the move probably made sense , many Motown fans believe the company's heart and soul was lost when it abandoned Detroit. Motown slumped between 1972 - 1976 with only one Top 10 entry in 1975.

Back in New York...

In 1974 Tom Moulton was getting his first 10" acetate cut with nice deep grooves at Media Sound. Having run out of 7" blanks Tom got a 10" acetate and this 'accident' led to the DJ Only 12" promo. The 12" Single was the final ingredient to the breakthrough of what would become, the Disco Remix. The first official 12" release was in 1976. Salsoul Records released Ten Percent by Double Exposure, a three minute track turned into an eleven minute opus by Walter Gibbons, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In 1976, the fortunes of Motown rebounded with six releases reaching the Top 10. Three of them reached #1, including Love Hangover by Diana Ross and Love Machine by The Miracles. It's probably fair to say that Disco gave Motown a new lease of life. This album is clearly a collection of tracks Motown felt fit the bill. My favourites here are Diana Ross (Love Hangover is an Anthem!) & Eddie Kendricks but The Supremes & The Originals are also fair tunes, if somewhat dated. Thelma Houston is a fine artist but Don't Leave Me This Way has been tainted with Hi-Energy success?

OK, I admit it. I bought the album mainly for the glorious cover art by Helene Majera. Seems she lost her way after this album cover. ;-)

Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way
The Originals - Down To Love Town
Dynamic Superiors - Stay Away
Jermaine Jackson - Lets Be Young Tonight
Diana Ross - Love Hangover
Eddie Kendricks - Goin' Up In Smoke
The Supremes - You're My Driving Wheel
Tata Vega - Full Speed Ahead

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: A Special Motown Album.rar Filesize: 80.26 MB

Sunday, 22 June 2008

Machine - There But For The Grace Of God Go I 1979

RCA Records PC 1456

There But For The Grace Of God Go I
Get Your Body Ready

There But For the Grace of God Go I was a monster on the dancefloor at the end of the 70's. Penned by August 'Kis Creole' Darnell, it was tarred as racist and homophobic, which of course it wasn't. It is a simple song of protest, a story of irony and hypocrisy, the stupidity of negative and ignorant thinking. The folks in the story thought that by removing their child from an environment that they considered 'less than perfect' they could protect her. In doing so, they turned her into a natural freak!

Oddly enough, in 1994 Farley & Heller in their Fire Island guise, released a cover of this song and received the same reaction. 15 years and people have learnt nothing. The title is a common saying meaning that another person's misfortune could have been yours but for the grace of God. In other words, it's not because your sh*t don't stink, it's simply that nobody smelt it. You got lucky?

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child
A lovely girl with a crooked smile
Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit
For a kid to grow up in
Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away
With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

There but for the grace of God go I

Poppy and the family left the dirty streets
To find a quiet place overseas
And year after year the kid has to hear
The do's the don'ts and the dears
And when she's ten years old she digs that rock 'n' roll
But Poppy bans it from home

There but for the grace of God go I

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak
Gaining weight and losing sleep
And when she's reached sixteen she packs her things and leaves
With a man she met on the street
Carmen starts to bawl, with her head to the wall
Too much love is worse than none at all

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Machine.rar Filesize: 17.58 MB

Saturday, 21 June 2008

Linda Lewis - Sideway Shuffle 1995

Turpin Records TPN-1

Sideway Shuffle (South Of The Border)
For Lovesake
Sideway Shuffle (Radio Edit)

The return of Linda Lewis: After a long hiatus, losing interest in the fickle music industry and being a parent, Linda 'Rock A Doodle Do' Lewis got back into the business. Linda, who originated from London's East End, had moved with her husband to L.A. Having rested for several years, she suddenly got the urge to make music again and returned home to the UK where she recorded an album called 'Second Nature' for Turpin Records in 1995. The album became a hit in Japan, a place where Linda's popularity has never diminished.

This single taken from 'Second Nature' features a new recording of Sideway Shuffle, originally from 1974's Heart Strings album which also featured Rock A Doodle Do and Fathoms Deep. For Lovesake is the superior track though, a solid, retro soul shuffler with extra 'feel good' factor.

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Linda Lewis.rar Filesize: 23.08 MB

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

Various Artists - The Cerrone Productions: The Best Of Disco 1980

Malligator Records 773 808

Back in 1977 when I got my driving licence, that was when I started my real clubbing era. My friends and I would travel to Canvey & Southend to vist the Bardots, Goldmine or the Zero 6. The Zero was really cool coz it had it's own record shop in the foyer. It used to sell all the latest imports which were very difficult to find back then. When Don Ray released Got To Have Loving I thought it was the best song ever (Hey, it was disco peaktime in '78!) and I bought a copy there and then, along with a couple of other 12"s (about 99p each, if I recall correctly). My mate Dave bought the album Garden Of Love and next day I was over his house listening to it.

The next week I tried to buy a copy but it was gone. I never did get a copy but I did get some of the tracks on vinyl. This album has Standing In The Rain which was one of my 'most wanted' tracks for many years. I've added a couple more to my CD version of the album and they're included.

The album has no year on it but it seems to be 1979, the tracks are all Cerrone productions and mostly French. Although it is called the Best of Disco there are some great tunes here, some strange ones too. Check out the oh-so-not-politically-correct Don't Refuse Me. Pado sings a love ballad, is that soulful. Hmmmm?