Author Archive: dereksmusicblog
ANDRE CYMONE-LIVIN’ IN THE NEW WAVE.
ANDRE CYMONE-LIVIN’ IN THE NEW WAVE. Andre Cymone and Prince had been childhood friends, growing up together in Minneapolis and even shared a house. Later, Andre became the bassist in Prince’s band, before they became The Revolution. Then, by 1981, the year Prince released the platinum selling album Controversy, Andre thought it was time to …
TEENA MARIE-ROBBERY.
TEENA MARIE-ROBBERY. After releasing here fourth and final album for Motown It Must Be Magic in 1981, Teena Marie signed for Epic Records in 1982, where she’d release five albums. Her time at Motown was the most successful period of her career, resulting in a gold album for her final Motown album, It Must Be …
PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL RECORDS-THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET.
PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL RECORDS-THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET. One of the most eagerly awaited and much anticipated box sets finally hits the shops on 21st May 2012. In case anyone doesn’t realize what I’m talking about, this is the Philadelphia International Records-The 40th Anniversary Box Set, a mammoth ten disc box set, released by Harmless Records …
PETER JACQUES BAND-FIRE NIGHT DANCE.
PETER JACQUES BAND-FIRE NIGHT DANCE. Between 1979 and 1985, the Peter Jacques Band released a trio of albums, starting with Fire Night Dance, which was rereleased by BBR Records in November 2011. After this followed 1980s Welcome Back and then, five years later, the group’s final album Dancing In the Street. Of these three albums, Fire …
NONA HENDRYX-NONA.
NONA HENDRYX-NONA. After recently reviewing the ZE Records Story 1979-2009, which featured Bustin’ Out by Material featuring Nona Hendryx, one of the highlights of the compilation, I decided that I’d review Nona’s 1983 album Nona, released on RCA. This was Nona’s second album since leaving Labelle, an all-girl group which featured Patti La Belle, Sarah …
JUMPIN.’
JUMPIN.’ Since 1995, Harmless Records have been releasing an eclectic selection of compilations. This has ranged from their highly successful funk, soul and jazz compilations Pulp Fusion to compilations, to compilations of breakbeats and Latin music. However, over the past few years, Harmless Records have also released a number of quality disco compilations, including their …
ZE RECORDS STORY 1979-2009.
ZE RECORDS STORY 1979-2009. Back in New York in 1978, Michael Zikha and Michael Esteban decided to set up their own record label, ZE Records. Using the initials of their surnames, to name of their new and nascent label, an innovative and influential label was born. During the label’s short lifetime, they released an eclectic …
BILLY PAUL-WAR OF THE GODS.
BILLY PAUL-WAR OF THE GODS. A year after the release of Billy Paul’s most commercially successful album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul in 1972, an album that featured the Grammy Award winning number one single Me and Mrs Jones, Billy released his follow-up album War of the Gods. By this time, Philadelphia International Records had …
DARK ROOM NOTES-DARK ROOM NOTES.
DARK ROOM NOTES-DARK ROOM NOTES. Dark Room Notes, who were formed in Galway in 2006, will soon release their second album, the eponymous Dark Room Notes on BBE Music. This is the follow-up to their 2009 debut album We Love You Dark Matter, which contained their highly acclaimed single Love Like Nicotine. Since then, much …
THE STAPLE SINGERS-TURNING POINT.
THE STAPLE SINGERS-TURNING POINT. The last time I reviewed an album by The Staple Singers was their 1972 album, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, their most successful album, which included I’ll Take You There. It reached number one in both the US Billboard 100 and US R&B Charts, giving them their second US R&B number one …
LINDA LEWIS-A TEAR AND A SMILE.
LINDA LEWIS-A TEAR AND A SMILE. Twelve years after the release of her debut album Say No More released on Reprise in 1971, Linda Lewis was preparing to record her eighth studio album A Tear and A Smile, which will be rereleased on 2nd April 2012 by BBR Records. This would be Linda’s first album …
CHERYL LYNN-IN THE NIGHT.
CHERYL LYNN-IN THE NIGHT. Although many people will remember Cheryl Lynn for her debut single Got To Be Real, a real disco classic, which reached number one in the US R&B Charts in 1978, there’s much more to Cheryl’s career than just one song. Quite the opposite, Cheryl’s career has spanned five decades, releasing nine …
BRYAN LOREN-BRYAN LOREN.
BRYAN LOREN-BRYAN LOREN. Bryan Loren, whose eponymous debut album Bryan Loren was rereleased on 26 March 2012 on BBR Records, is much more than a singer, he’s also a talented multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and songwriter. Some people would call Bryan a prodigy, learning and mastering various instruments, and then writing songs while still in his …
LATIN CONCRETE: A MODERN LATIN RHYTHM SUITE-MIXED AND COMPILED BY CHRIS READ.
LATIN CONCRETE: A MODERN LATIN RHYTHM SUITE-MIXED AND COMPILED BY CHRIS READ. So far this year, BBE Music have continued their policy of releasing an eclectic selection of quality music, starting with Al Kent’s The Best of DIsco Demands, a five disc box set crammed full of disco delights. This was followed by the classic …
THE DEFINITIVE SALSOUL MIXES.
THE DEFINITIVE SALSOUL MIXES. For some time, I’ve been meaning to write about one of my favorite, and without doubt, one of the greatest labels of the disco era, Salsoul Records. They were one of the most influential and innovative disco labels, releasing over three-hundred tracks between 1974 and 1985. Along with Casablanca, SAM, Prelude, …
FUTURE DISCO VOLUME 5-DOWNTOWN EXPRESS.
FUTURE DISCO VOLUME 5-DOWNTOWN EXPRESS. On 27 February 2012, Future Disco Volume 5-Downtown Express was released. This was the latest instalment in a highly successful series that began in March 2009, when I came across the first volume of a new compilation series A Guide To 21st Century Disco, which was the first volume in …
LOOSE ENDS-SO WHERE ARE YOU?
LOOSE ENDS-SO WHERE ARE YOU? Having released their debut album A Little Spice in 1984, which had reached number forty-six in the UK, Loose Ends were ready to record their second album, which would become So Where Are You?, which was rereleased by Soul.Music.com in December 2011. Little did they realize then, that 1985 would …
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 