Monthly Archives: October, 2012
TERRY CALLIER-FAREWELL, BUT YOUR MUSIC LIVES ON.
TERRY CALLIER-FAREWELL, BUT YOUR MUSIC LIVES ON. It was late Sunday night when the news came through that Terry Callier had passed away. He was aged just sixty-seven and had lost an eighteen month battle with throat cancer. Straight away, memories came flooding back for me. It was the late-nineties, and I’d headed to …
RY COODER-ELECTION TIME.
RY COODER-ELECTION TIME. For roughly a hundred years, American music has a history of producing some of greatest protest singers in the history of music. Woody Guthrie, Joe Hill, Josh White, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives and Billie Holliday. A later generation protest singers included Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Joan Baez. Unlike America, British singers …
DR. JOHN-LOCKED DOWN.
DR. JOHN-LOCKED DOWN. One of the great survivors of music is Dr. John. It seems be’s been around since the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll. He was at the peak of his creativity between 1969 and 1974. During that time, Dr. John was on a roll that people thought would never end. Critically acclaimed albums …
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK CYRKLES.
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK CYRKLES. Sometimes, when you buy a compilation, the first time you play it, you’re blown away by its sheer eclecticism and totally smitten by the music. That was me, when I came across Leng Records’ latest compilation, Psychemagik Presents Magik Cyrkles. This is a double-album, compiled by the prolific UK production team …
THE THREE DEGREES-MAYBE.
THE THREE DEGREES-MAYBE. Way before Gamble and Huff sprinkled their magic over The Three Degrees, they were signed to Roulette Records, where they a series of singles and their 1970 album Maybe. Then, five years later, when The Three Degrees were at the height of their popularity, Roulette released So Much Love, a collection of …
THE MIRACLES-MIRACLES.
THE MIRACLES-MIRACLES. Having done the unthinkable and left Motown after fifteen years, twenty albums and several changes of lineup, The Miracles signed to Columbia and released Love Crazy in 1977. When Love Crazy was released in 1978, it reached number 117 in the US Billboard 200 and number nine in the US R&B Charts. While …
GINA CAREY-LOVE ME TOO.
GINA CAREY-LOVE ME TOO. It seems Gina Carey is continuing her quest to be crowned the hardest working singer in music, by releasing her new single Love Me Too, on 1st November. This year, Gina has released three albums, with the second of the Live, Love and Laugh trilogy due for release on 1st January …
SWITCH-AM I STILL YOUR BOYFRIEND.
SWITCH-AM I STILL YOUR BOYFRIEND. When Switch moved from Motown imprint Gordy, to Total Experience Records in 1982, great things were forecast for them. Total Experience had beaten other labels to the signing of Switch and announced their signing of Switch in a December 1982 issue of Jet magazine. There was talk of Switch contributing …
BREAKWATER-SPLASHDOWN.
BREAKWATER-SPLASHDOWN. Imagine being one of the hottest unsigned bands in Philadelphia during the seventies and not even trying to get a deal with Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. Not even knocking on Gamble and Huff’s door might seem strange or even, somewhat remiss. After all, Gamble and Huff were at the helm of …
THELMA HOUSTON-THE MOWEST ALBUM.
THELMA HOUSTON-THE MOWEST ALBUM. It’s somewhat ironic that Thelma Houston’s most successful single was a disco version of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes’ Don’t Leave Me This Way. It reached number one in the US Billboard 100, US R&B Charts and US Dance Charts. After all, Thelma Houston started her career as soul singer, …
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VI.
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VI. One of the most successful funk bands of the late-seventies and early eighties were The Gap Band. They enjoyed released fifteen studio albums during a twenty-five year period. Their career started with their 1974 debut Magician’s Holiday, while 1999s Y2k: Funkin’ Till 2000 Comz was their finale. The most …
BUNNY SIGLER-THAT’S HOW LONG I’LL BE LOVING YOU.
BUNNY SIGLER-THAT’S HOW LONG I’LL BE LOVING YOU. Back in the spring of 1974, Philadelphia International Records had a busy schedule of releases. They’d three albums scheduled for release. The first of this trio was M.F.S.B’s seminal Love Is The Message and the third was The O’Jays’ classic Ship Ahoy. In between these two …
THE MIRACLES-LOVE CRAZY.
THE MIRACLES-LOVE CRAZY. Not many groups have enjoyed the longevity that The Miracles enjoyed. Having released their debut album Hi..We’re The Miracles in 1961, they recorded seven studio albums for Motown between 1961 and 1964s I Like It Like That, which was never released. By the time The Miracles released Going To A Go-Go …
K.C AND THE SUNSHINE BAND-DO IT GOOD.
K.C AND THE SUNSHINE BAND-DO IT GOOD. Sometimes, people forget just how popular an artist or group were. One group people forget just how successful they were are K.C. and The Sunshine Band. With their unique fusion of disco, funk, soul and poppy hooks, K.C. and The Sunshine Band became one of the biggest …
COUNTRY SOUL SISTERS.
COUNTRY SOUL SISTERS. Not everything that glitters is gold. Nor is every compilation what it may appear. With its title Country Soul Sisters, some people have bought Soul Jazz Records’ most recent release thinking this is an album of country-tined soul music. That’s not the case. For anyone looking for that type of compilation, then …
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME 2-COMPILED BY PAUL PHILLIPS.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME 2-COMPILED BY PAUL PHILLIPS. It doesn’t seem like a year since Red Greg compiled the first installment in the Under The Influence series. Time it seems, does go far too quickly. During that time, I’ve reviewed many compilations, but Red Greg’s was one of my favorites of 2011. Given how good …
ONLY 4 U: THE SOUND OF CAJMERE AND CAJUAL RECORDS.
ONLY 4 U: THE SOUND OF CAJMERE AND CAJUAL RECORDS. For the last twenty years, Cajmere has been one of the most influential and innovative producers of the Chicago house music scene, releasing music on his Cajual Records imprint. Now twenty years after Cajmere founded Cajual Records in 1992, Strut Records will be releasing a …
DISCO RECHARGE-CHANGE-GLOW OF LOVE AND MIRACLES-SPECIAL EDITION.
DISCO RECHARGE-CHANGE-GLOW OF LOVE AND MIRACLES-SPECIAL EDITION. It’s quite a feat for any artist to release one critically acclaimed and commercially successful album, never mind two. What makes this even more remarkable is that both albums were released in the disco era. Not many artists managed this, but Change did. Change released their debut album …
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