tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62468014268210661452024-02-24T20:46:09.815+00:00Slow Lane ShuffleRachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comBlogger344125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-25183168393968458582024-01-31T06:30:00.084+00:002024-02-06T09:13:58.726+00:00Day 31: Josienne Clarke – Onliness (songs of solitude & singularity)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gOnrAh2UXM0I5r8YYNq5a0d8LRpNnmuaFztBGuksxtdPh-0BfXDoYQf4ooPsGOcHbd_kQYywIUlVK44H8yvwD1AeBriYa_haNQvRT6s60gnI3IopTJ9f_j5NI1M6FJhwE_pow4jooTrYBlwFP7s8F6DIZm61A8A79NRCaY_yBXa13kYFo3EcqBQIZwa8/s2981/IMG_20240128_110842.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2970" data-original-width="2981" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gOnrAh2UXM0I5r8YYNq5a0d8LRpNnmuaFztBGuksxtdPh-0BfXDoYQf4ooPsGOcHbd_kQYywIUlVK44H8yvwD1AeBriYa_haNQvRT6s60gnI3IopTJ9f_j5NI1M6FJhwE_pow4jooTrYBlwFP7s8F6DIZm61A8A79NRCaY_yBXa13kYFo3EcqBQIZwa8/w400-h399/IMG_20240128_110842.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today’s disc (the last in this month’s series of 31 albums and 12-inch singles) is the 2023 album <i>Onliness (songs of solitude & singularity)</i> by <a href="https://josienneclarke.com/about/" target="_blank">Josienne Clarke</a>. It is a grey vinyl album and the most recent record in this series. I barely buy vinyl now but I am a big fan of this musician/singer/songwriter so I made an exception. I bought my copy on Bandcamp, I think, and you can too (vinyl, CD or just digital – go <a href="https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/album/onliness-songs-of-solitude-singularity" target="_blank">here</a>). Here is a taste of the album, her song <i>The Birds</i>, which appears both on <i>Onliness</i> and on an acoustic selection of six tracks released later in 2023 as <i><a href="https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/album/only-me-onliness" target="_blank">only me onliness</a></i>:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wZO5MPm-8_Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="wZO5MPm-8_Y"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have written about Clarke on this blog before. In 2021, for a <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2021/10/songs-that-stick-2-sleeve-notes.html" target="_blank">series of pieces</a> about individual songs, I interviewed her about her song <i>Done</i> (read that interview <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2022/01/day-seventeen-done.html" target="_blank">here</a>). <i>Done</i>, which is a magnificent song, makes an appearance on <i>Onliness</i> too in a lovely new version that I now love even more than the earlier recording. Here is that new version:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9lrrE0BBEHs" width="320" youtube-src-id="9lrrE0BBEHs"></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clarke is, for me, an artist in the fullest sense of the word – she has an individual voice and a really specific way with words and sounds that gets things just right. The album starts gently, builds to some heights and big tunes (country anthem, anyone? Try </span><i>Homemade Heartache</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) and then winds back down to a delicate close. I could keep posting tracks all week because every song is a hit waiting to be found, each one holding nuggets of truth. Have a listen to </span><i><a href="https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/track/chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> on the album, for example, and hear what she did with a crap experience a few years back – made it into pure gold.</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clarke has devoted fans but I do wish more people appreciated this brilliant artist. She said in the interview in 2021 “I’m only ever doing ‘one person hears it and recommends it to someone else’, that’s just how my career goes. It’s a slow burn.” Well, I’m doing my bit, I’m recommending again, and again, and again. Support individual artists, support creativity, support talent. Here’s another lovely piece of work from <i>Onliness </i>(the last track on the album):</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_7Do6N3Rx60" width="320" youtube-src-id="_7Do6N3Rx60"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So that’s me (and us) at the end of another series of posts about life and music (intro post for this month</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s series </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">). We started on </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-1-wombles-wombling-songs.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">1 January </a><span style="font-family: arial;">with The Wombles and have taken in a good sprinkling of genres along the way. Will I keep all these records as long as I’m here on this earth? Or will I send one or two on their way to go and live with someone else? I’m no closer to that kind of decision but I have enjoyed working out why I’ve kept these particular discs and donated or sold others.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I don’t know about you but here it’s been another long January full of new years, birthdays, nightshifts and memories (am I obsessed with memories? Maybe...). Every January (on about 22</span><span class="s3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>nd</sup></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">) I say “I’m never doing this again” (a blog series). I mean, who’s reading, who cares? And then I think of something else I want to write about and off we go. Self-expression does help, somehow and in some way. It’s not everything but it’s worth a go.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I’ll leave you with a poem about life and music that I wrote a few years back that is in my wee book <i>Turn</i>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Stopping </b></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You get to a milestone; </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You look around, take stock. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe you sit down, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a drink of something, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe with friends, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe not. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You review the route so far, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What’s loved, learned, lost. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a soundtrack, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You recall some of it. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe the greatest hits, </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe not. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">RF </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-73526752238635033982024-01-30T06:30:00.022+00:002024-01-30T06:47:54.869+00:00Day 30 – Ella Fitzgerald – Ella in London<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikO4vvzZizUgyMgiPK_cAuDSgn19KbOlsp4ChFsSYcNX32be7f8xXp5Zaf2S4d81WsveXFM4wHpaWHc-6Hy-LZ5NBXd_zREJeJOEcGs_q5ZnemMDQJK0R2e6NCm-eS7xHcKdZBWYGjrnZ0dncbQejx6PfSSuPUOrwWeP4DXRAjT8i2w1Jynkv_rVaWKILB/s3120/IMG_20240126_085812.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3083" data-original-width="3120" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikO4vvzZizUgyMgiPK_cAuDSgn19KbOlsp4ChFsSYcNX32be7f8xXp5Zaf2S4d81WsveXFM4wHpaWHc-6Hy-LZ5NBXd_zREJeJOEcGs_q5ZnemMDQJK0R2e6NCm-eS7xHcKdZBWYGjrnZ0dncbQejx6PfSSuPUOrwWeP4DXRAjT8i2w1Jynkv_rVaWKILB/w400-h395/IMG_20240126_085812.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A very quick one today. This disc is an album of my Mum’s – an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald" target="_blank">Ella Fitzgerald</a> live album from 1974, recorded live At Ronnie Scott’s in London, April 11, 1974. It’s not typical of my Mum’s very small record collection (mostly Andrew Lloyd Webber and big-name opera sopranos) so I would guess someone else gave her this as a present (maybe her sister, Kit, who was the fashionable one of the 3 sisters).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7-ufeFX3m6lp8ayQgQn1MrHQyIuGJcckOM6QnbuiuwtMv6cFkrK0lnIZfhhVlAzUW6hRORyQjobPMfIpPQZA2fyhQZJNnOslInOjEVyZn0nRnTrK9WPxzEwEVVqZscJIBn_uQ2TkoSDsetk0UBCxs7CGwfJ67uFiTlsAk7Ejzep_hbtOp5_98p6phZ_c/s3033/IMG_20240129_155046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2974" data-original-width="3033" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7-ufeFX3m6lp8ayQgQn1MrHQyIuGJcckOM6QnbuiuwtMv6cFkrK0lnIZfhhVlAzUW6hRORyQjobPMfIpPQZA2fyhQZJNnOslInOjEVyZn0nRnTrK9WPxzEwEVVqZscJIBn_uQ2TkoSDsetk0UBCxs7CGwfJ67uFiTlsAk7Ejzep_hbtOp5_98p6phZ_c/w400-h393/IMG_20240129_155046.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My Mum died in 2010 and I have kept some of her other albums, mostly for old time’s sake. For example, I’ve still got the <i>Evita</i> album, with Julie Covington as Eva, that got a lot of music-to-make-a-Sunday-roast-to play in our home for a few years after it came out in 1976. I probably still know the whole thing by heart – my Mum loved it. I was always fascinated by lines like, “Screw the middle classes! I will never accept them! My father’s other family were middle class and we were kept out of sight, hidden from view at his funeral”. And people think musicals are all froth.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This Ella Fitzgerald album though, I don’t think I ever heard Mum play it. I probably started to listen to it when visiting her years later (still ages before streaming) and trying to find something to play that wasn’t opera or a musical. I particularly gravitated towards one track – her version of </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>You’ve Got a Friend</i> (hear it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6KZbwLD-Ds" target="_blank">here</a>). </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I love what they do with the song in that version (particularly for some reason “Ella’s got a friend in London, London’s got a friend in Ella” and the clinking of glass in the background here and there, gotta love a cocktail atmosphere). Musicians on that live album are the Tommy Flanagan Quartet (Flanagan on piano, Joe Pass on guitar, Keter Betts on double bass, though the album notes say Keeter, and Bobby Durham on drums).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve been a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King" target="_blank">Carole King</a> fan as long as I’ve known she exists and she wrote <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ve_Got_a_Friend" target="_blank">You’ve Got a Friend</a> of course (it’s on <i>Tapestry</i> and she released a version of the song in 1971, as did James Taylor at around the same time). Now we have another musicals fan in the family it seems totally apt that we saw the Carole King musical <i>Beautiful</i> some years back and can report that it is amazing (daughter Heather wrote about it <a href="https://heatherlovesmusicals.blogspot.com/2021/05/youre-beautiful-not-james-blunt-song.html" target="_blank">here</a>). I think my Mum would have enjoyed the musical (lead song: “You’ve got to get up every morning, With a smile on your face, And show the world all the love in your heart”). The show is a tough tale but with a hard line in positivity, very much my Mum’s vibe. I would add, these days, that it’s actually OK to be miserable in the morning as well, because life is complicated, but we all know what CK was getting at. Here is a live version of the title song from King, in 1973:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dlT66PZyquE" width="320" youtube-src-id="dlT66PZyquE"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Just one more post in this series. Lots of shifts this week, so it will be short and squeezed in. See you tomorrow for that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-88177235666083262842024-01-29T06:30:00.169+00:002024-01-29T07:58:17.553+00:00Day 29: Various – Horizon Leeds Vol 2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTR1w_jiOSjkyRZZz_ULtE8qvuYTXY5hnflqh7KcSO2QFHBRoNK6V44ctUBdFd6ITwrSJL1k7bm22SAO4cpE0ZpHTFKiogy9Yybem-KRtx0wnLNlMET3-1yUykzMQhLT46Fx4HCBJ8ISVTGttNZI_XSR8RzDZ_Nff0o8CtlXpnsPwH8EYDIA_tLlCCnQyu/s2959/IMG_20240128_110457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2959" data-original-width="2956" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTR1w_jiOSjkyRZZz_ULtE8qvuYTXY5hnflqh7KcSO2QFHBRoNK6V44ctUBdFd6ITwrSJL1k7bm22SAO4cpE0ZpHTFKiogy9Yybem-KRtx0wnLNlMET3-1yUykzMQhLT46Fx4HCBJ8ISVTGttNZI_XSR8RzDZ_Nff0o8CtlXpnsPwH8EYDIA_tLlCCnQyu/w400-h400/IMG_20240128_110457.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today’s disc is really a series of discs (vinyl and CDs) and it is, as promised yesterday, all homegrown. So, as we’ve established, in the mid 1990s I was living in Leeds and DJing as one half of Daisy & Havoc. We had quite a bit of DJ work in the city and some paid guest slots further afield. Everybody knew at this time that one of the best ways to get more work and moved up the bill was to have a record or a remix that made your name. So, like pretty much everyone else in the game, we did work on some music of our own. I did more of the DJing so Daisy took the lead on this side of things, working with producers and friends to see where it would go.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZmlXgvB69bZJleXONjtYR0nI9N0llX1n1NBdiNeY6kOplMPdKB4vCYf7YxXo4Wd4o0_WHjevuK9p8tLxZG4rhRsQnpuk8GL8od8wmICAC7UhC_t9ocra9dgjU9WqWGsCuKvc5mVE1dYzl3LZUoGKtctet_blNqFqHtZERvd7LgYqQt_6ekuY66Xz79g4/s3021/IMG_20240128_110526.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3021" data-original-width="2859" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZmlXgvB69bZJleXONjtYR0nI9N0llX1n1NBdiNeY6kOplMPdKB4vCYf7YxXo4Wd4o0_WHjevuK9p8tLxZG4rhRsQnpuk8GL8od8wmICAC7UhC_t9ocra9dgjU9WqWGsCuKvc5mVE1dYzl3LZUoGKtctet_blNqFqHtZERvd7LgYqQt_6ekuY66Xz79g4/w379-h400/IMG_20240128_110526.jpg" width="379" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the best pieces of music we were involved in making was probably the one on this 1995 <i>Horizon</i> album. I can’t actually remember who was behind this Leeds music project but you can see that both Dream FM (the pirate radio station we played on) and <i>The Herb Garden</i> (a club fanzine based in Leeds) have their names on the back of the album. The whole album is on this clip (our track <i>Call It Booty</i> starts at 6m 26s):</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YvFcPtHThHI" width="320" youtube-src-id="YvFcPtHThHI"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some names in the track listing have been mentioned already this month (Richard Brown turned up on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-23-solitaire-gee-slumberland.html" target="_blank">Day 23</a>, for example) and luckily I do have the sleeve notes to help me out (written by Nick Robinson, my then editor at <i>Record Mirror</i>). Bands like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Star_Liner" target="_blank">Black Star Liner</a> were pretty well known at the time locally and lots of Leeds clubs were part of various tracks (the jazz club Dig! in Dig! Alliance, Back 2 Basics DJ Ralph Lawson in Spikey and another local DJ Rob Tissera in S Factor). In my early Leeds years Rob was one of the DJs I heard most often (when he was a king of Italian piano house) but like many others he went off into faster house and trance (and is still there from what I can see, doing pretty well). He has a book out this year too (<a href="https://www.musicmondays.co.uk/group/books" target="_blank"><i>The Smiler – A DJ’s Life</i></a>). One part of Glamorous Hooligan is probably the person from this selection who has gone on to the most success, if not particularly in music (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Cavanagh" target="_blank">Dean Cavanagh</a> is a screenwriter, novelist and playwright who works regularly with Irvine Welsh).</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our track was a collaboration with Lex Loofah (Huddersfield’s John Gilpin, he was here on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-23-solitaire-gee-slumberland.html" target="_blank">Day 23</a> as well) and I still really like the sound of it. We did play it in clubs (as you can tell from the state of our promo copy, below). I don’t remember the album getting much coverage or play generally though – Madchester we were not.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn66L_3tNaN2gzJzzHZ_jXDGyzn4aKaZ_qlnN_vwIn-LttNkWJISvq9BJpfmIAtxfaWeaYpUXol6TnM8ebRHbRvqGd4upTnh7C7SelmOs-6T2crVHSrKOJHvIsCAisTs8Oc0gsZQBCqHpPBbMX9XdBY7RIlGVYv0lAt80KMOZBSz-yPq7KgV0H2BnkA2vs/s2853/IMG_20240128_110353.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2715" data-original-width="2853" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn66L_3tNaN2gzJzzHZ_jXDGyzn4aKaZ_qlnN_vwIn-LttNkWJISvq9BJpfmIAtxfaWeaYpUXol6TnM8ebRHbRvqGd4upTnh7C7SelmOs-6T2crVHSrKOJHvIsCAisTs8Oc0gsZQBCqHpPBbMX9XdBY7RIlGVYv0lAt80KMOZBSz-yPq7KgV0H2BnkA2vs/w400-h381/IMG_20240128_110353.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwGpdW7aggalUTxwgnKZ1lLtmB43oElKlAmuIAjONwmwI4ZkBYGgNLriWCj5whhKumPRVMnMTfPW_fcIOUYi6kz_f2GnagUerwqXfwQQrfER58qXYxcC_mAbJ7o6P5SVUtfo0-x-A8KzzY2VNvfb0r6fJEok7VAicmdz7OwLddqzP_GcL3pSbIbN87TVh/s2992/IMG_20240128_110416.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2822" data-original-width="2992" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwGpdW7aggalUTxwgnKZ1lLtmB43oElKlAmuIAjONwmwI4ZkBYGgNLriWCj5whhKumPRVMnMTfPW_fcIOUYi6kz_f2GnagUerwqXfwQQrfER58qXYxcC_mAbJ7o6P5SVUtfo0-x-A8KzzY2VNvfb0r6fJEok7VAicmdz7OwLddqzP_GcL3pSbIbN87TVh/w400-h378/IMG_20240128_110416.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A year earlier we had produced a single of our own called <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/2874944-Daisy-Havoc-Sit-On-My-Bass" target="_blank"><i>Sit on my Bass</i></a> (on our label Tool records). We made it with friends down in London (producer <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/322632-Nick-Woolfson" target="_blank">Nick Woolfson</a>, then involved in the label Jamm Records with his partner at the time <a href="https://www.lisasanchezsinger.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lisa Sanchez</a>, now a singer and musician). Our record (hear it <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-169075359/daisy-havoc-sit-on-my-bass-girls-dirty-dancing-mix" target="_blank">here</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">and that’s neither of us talking at the start</span><span style="font-family: arial;">) wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be but we did make a video to go with it that was much more our thing. I can’t share it here as (a) it’s quite rude (various breasts, including mine, at least one dildo, not mine, lots of things being licked, mainly food) and (b) I only have a VHS copy of it now. It is on YouTube somewhere (someone else put it up ages ago) but I don’t know where. It was played regularly in the club Vague where we worked (quite a few regulars featured in the video) and we did have a lot of fun making it. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wcQwE51cR-_cG5wf-6Y58NV7C8ofLbAaWRL7IsduqggW7YO3NCAfxdnG7YDEnFOJo9lyEgVbPo_bmKkUGVjHozC9YzLVyMgou01iR0_DUrjGYgZu696R_DVSI-oEcC8nLsLofvZpEVf7yy5mXi8T7EieRhzhJp3uyjLDBruXjisQYJdETybd2Zq-r4fD/s2728/IMG_20240129_075659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2565" data-original-width="2728" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wcQwE51cR-_cG5wf-6Y58NV7C8ofLbAaWRL7IsduqggW7YO3NCAfxdnG7YDEnFOJo9lyEgVbPo_bmKkUGVjHozC9YzLVyMgou01iR0_DUrjGYgZu696R_DVSI-oEcC8nLsLofvZpEVf7yy5mXi8T7EieRhzhJp3uyjLDBruXjisQYJdETybd2Zq-r4fD/w400-h376/IMG_20240129_075659.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We sampled <i>You Suck</i> by Consolidated featuring the <a href="https://www.yeastiegirlz.com/our-story" target="_blank">Yeastie Girlz</a> for <i>Sit on my Bass</i>, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoyUUu1rPhE" target="_blank">this record</a>:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5uXEj_yIrRMfKS1xk19Baddeez15d-1Qqtumkyy89CEtQsLvMbsnBoZJiJW6On7TfD6HMugGVkVO8pWFG05OmO_D-I561jcVZZQHvLORaDim9lutHWZiBej-DijIGczy6Gij7cUkJExsaANP8kwj1J8b8TCDXzi-dXSvkBeWCMiYTTjVYmWGFAOBz4D6/s3120/IMG_20240122_144300.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2941" data-original-width="3120" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5uXEj_yIrRMfKS1xk19Baddeez15d-1Qqtumkyy89CEtQsLvMbsnBoZJiJW6On7TfD6HMugGVkVO8pWFG05OmO_D-I561jcVZZQHvLORaDim9lutHWZiBej-DijIGczy6Gij7cUkJExsaANP8kwj1J8b8TCDXzi-dXSvkBeWCMiYTTjVYmWGFAOBz4D6/w400-h378/IMG_20240122_144300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks, no doubt, to our best London music friend at the time <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/151678-Simon-Plaskett" target="_blank">Simon Plaskett</a> (a producer and press/promotions person), we did another remix for a record label called Slate (below, artist: Mothballs, track: <i>Instinct of Self Preservation</i>) but nothing much happened with that. I think our heart wasn’t really in the 4/4 beats by that point but </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Simon was a great supporter of ours and he got us gigs, reviewing jobs and lots of other things I have forgotten by now. He is still making music it would seem (heard his name on the radio recently, something to do with The Clash?).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXRFL-K6Dg_NBTWt8AbUNNpqSUpKzyqyH5l1Mc86BwQBSAa879Vs08k4sP_bfU0ov9oUcDM0U8lTN367tCDrjmsTljJhpYzkrzKfc2bzw0IvpJYNS5t_NfsABAV2i37hW7gnKHep6sLxmy2z26GfHr5Wv2hvB106PqQLhhpA4-ovLi2atcQn7tJIE7oLD/s3106/IMG_20240128_131310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3003" data-original-width="3106" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXRFL-K6Dg_NBTWt8AbUNNpqSUpKzyqyH5l1Mc86BwQBSAa879Vs08k4sP_bfU0ov9oUcDM0U8lTN367tCDrjmsTljJhpYzkrzKfc2bzw0IvpJYNS5t_NfsABAV2i37hW7gnKHep6sLxmy2z26GfHr5Wv2hvB106PqQLhhpA4-ovLi2atcQn7tJIE7oLD/w400-h386/IMG_20240128_131310.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Better, perhaps, than some of our house music, is the track we did for another Leeds project, 1995</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Saturday Sessions</i><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDmXHTZhBb5BT4W6Dw1fuDOJZIKEUgk_xiFMaUJXn1QyoQkmEL8xp8_QYEzRvpxDMUCENc2lRtTnckz2xeU4M9e2P2gkU0ad-lxthu6pmsVrXP6B-vuP_r82C3WEkocKEB-xs7sr_B6ykJGlxfv-_XwxFvpSyOQO4xwhkOsS9kdzN_eVV6enY2ji74e1J/s3152/IMG_20240127_114228.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3152" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDmXHTZhBb5BT4W6Dw1fuDOJZIKEUgk_xiFMaUJXn1QyoQkmEL8xp8_QYEzRvpxDMUCENc2lRtTnckz2xeU4M9e2P2gkU0ad-lxthu6pmsVrXP6B-vuP_r82C3WEkocKEB-xs7sr_B6ykJGlxfv-_XwxFvpSyOQO4xwhkOsS9kdzN_eVV6enY2ji74e1J/w396-h400/IMG_20240127_114228.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This project was put together by Ricardo Barker, Howard Taylor and Andy Wood and our track was called <i>Sold</i> (hear it <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-169075359/sold-daisy-havoc" target="_blank">here</a>, spot the movie sample). You can tell it was a lot more influenced by our taste for Tricky, trip hop, beats and such (see yesterday and <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-22-tricky-hell-is-round.html" target="_blank">Day 22</a>), plus Ricardo, or Ricky as we knew him then, is a really good keyboard player. He went into film and teaching as a career, more <a href="https://research.leedstrinity.ac.uk/en/persons/ricardo-barker" target="_blank">here</a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> I spot another name I know on track one too (calling <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nigelister" target="_blank">Nigel Lister</a>, currently appearing with Ian McKellen in something serious).</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OV7WmRHwreKDfhq1yY2IqOSymvFHqpOyYtp5Ub7cC5RgPslCKNYsKV4LJhuNhSFuUKMcV88QBrEfxEJDv2LTJ5CK6PaSj9ERpCUBGD50HZZ7MksQMoYZa6S4GsdkiX2IAD_WF3meG0I9N2MSMrLNaTkN4-zGobTaeYI1FvJOLViGvx8kLfgkh7dmdE6U/s4160/IMG_20240127_114128.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OV7WmRHwreKDfhq1yY2IqOSymvFHqpOyYtp5Ub7cC5RgPslCKNYsKV4LJhuNhSFuUKMcV88QBrEfxEJDv2LTJ5CK6PaSj9ERpCUBGD50HZZ7MksQMoYZa6S4GsdkiX2IAD_WF3meG0I9N2MSMrLNaTkN4-zGobTaeYI1FvJOLViGvx8kLfgkh7dmdE6U/w300-h400/IMG_20240127_114128.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWFBJ0ludo_l6ttekr5eG4EIibQaitE-hIXA2RR24-oVZF1W3ejRN8WVF0AEiypzIGl3tt8boS0oPHW5AV58OKcNYXr03_lHlnt8bVldkhx93RHTwB9NO7H2EsAhx_jWLKXa8q8gKF1xM7RIgU_ASYs-Uf9ok3cIz_zgAXMtgKkx5gis1YxWQwT0pOVa3/s4160/IMG_20240127_114125.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWFBJ0ludo_l6ttekr5eG4EIibQaitE-hIXA2RR24-oVZF1W3ejRN8WVF0AEiypzIGl3tt8boS0oPHW5AV58OKcNYXr03_lHlnt8bVldkhx93RHTwB9NO7H2EsAhx_jWLKXa8q8gKF1xM7RIgU_ASYs-Uf9ok3cIz_zgAXMtgKkx5gis1YxWQwT0pOVa3/w300-h400/IMG_20240127_114125.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24kUphgxwR3C1Go2NxPnhN4nhIJ2C0XLE0a9RwM9C6nKs5SallzoewuUdy-7V-ZzVZMuxvsOsr5Y7AbffCMJgaxaz2p9eC1_tTcwa5TYgPlpzcICfjywDEFNf4Dy7NYpABFLpN7Ctm1M3U0U8aGXrlkDfnNDCpUg9z9sFhW24FKsGWzCH0s4FOA9oh2bI/s4160/IMG_20240127_114122.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24kUphgxwR3C1Go2NxPnhN4nhIJ2C0XLE0a9RwM9C6nKs5SallzoewuUdy-7V-ZzVZMuxvsOsr5Y7AbffCMJgaxaz2p9eC1_tTcwa5TYgPlpzcICfjywDEFNf4Dy7NYpABFLpN7Ctm1M3U0U8aGXrlkDfnNDCpUg9z9sFhW24FKsGWzCH0s4FOA9oh2bI/w300-h400/IMG_20240127_114122.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m not the only one in our house with vinyl and CDs with something like their name on of course. My partner of over 25 years was making music too back when we met. He was part of a techno duo called <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/32653-Turbulent-Force" target="_blank">Turbulent Force</a> and they even had an album in 1995. It looks like this:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAWW7w6RHSvPUXPkyqLcCAWeiL_DMQbqqD4GqtNeM2oYCWep4njv2Fu783aWBKCjws6e1O3CLNjisxyGyMc0IKIzDrwEp1bd3n6a1MkKhoqUSBWHW86hS88MhsHC15tg2DK-zWkBjpvBJPqDuf2JOBMDiJc1-Vhdh3ekgeafgXB5FSCEpCKVyMZkVwlnJ/s2689/IMG_20240128_132433.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2521" data-original-width="2689" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAWW7w6RHSvPUXPkyqLcCAWeiL_DMQbqqD4GqtNeM2oYCWep4njv2Fu783aWBKCjws6e1O3CLNjisxyGyMc0IKIzDrwEp1bd3n6a1MkKhoqUSBWHW86hS88MhsHC15tg2DK-zWkBjpvBJPqDuf2JOBMDiJc1-Vhdh3ekgeafgXB5FSCEpCKVyMZkVwlnJ/w400-h375/IMG_20240128_132433.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">They played at the huge Tribal Gathering, had records released, had music played on the radio (by John Peel, for example, see <a href="https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Turbulent_Force" target="_blank">here</a>). Their music was put out by Emissions Audio Output (an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Weatherall" target="_blank">Andy Weatherall</a> label) and Sabrettes, a sister label to Weatherall’s Sabres of Paradise, run by <a href="https://www.ninawalsh.com/" target="_blank">Nina Walsh</a>. They used other band names too (Primordial Soup, Pom E Granite, Shadow Company) and their music was pretty full-on techno, try this for size:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fgQAidFdALg" width="320" youtube-src-id="fgQAidFdALg"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the last few years he has made some quite different music under the name MarKived (find some of that <a href="https://markived.bandcamp.com/album/dark-times-ep" target="_blank">here</a>, one track even has a bit of our daughter, Heather</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s voice on it too</span><span style="font-family: arial;">). It</span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">s a family affair.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back tomorrow with added jazz.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-65429416010066165072024-01-28T06:30:00.014+00:002024-01-28T08:36:15.056+00:00Day 28: Propellerheads – Dive <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77UjbNEPDfhiTP3A1ofpk1eGJWJwjWi2bRsWFErjaRbieHjBF60nEQSObREgm7bnWYFCdMZ9zXCblwMg4B_xc9gN5GkAJhz8Gyj8flW5EyAAsl8MAccldSmO3nWGZdnwqUHBrxnbFeqzLqJjGUaDcSL7aOnmi735SfGwek4WwSHouKuFfdQg6YMJxkH8E/s3256/IMG_20240127_092627.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3256" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77UjbNEPDfhiTP3A1ofpk1eGJWJwjWi2bRsWFErjaRbieHjBF60nEQSObREgm7bnWYFCdMZ9zXCblwMg4B_xc9gN5GkAJhz8Gyj8flW5EyAAsl8MAccldSmO3nWGZdnwqUHBrxnbFeqzLqJjGUaDcSL7aOnmi735SfGwek4WwSHouKuFfdQg6YMJxkH8E/w384-h400/IMG_20240127_092627.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today’s disc is the 12-inch single<i> Dive</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propellerheads" target="_blank">Propellerheads</a>. It was released in 1996 by one of the leading big beat record labels of the time, Wall of Sound. Big beat was the next stage for slower breakbeat music (after the Bristol trip hop phase mentioned back on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-22-tricky-hell-is-round.html" target="_blank">Day 22</a>) and Propellerheads were one of our favourite artists for this. The two guys in the band were pretty low profile (as far as I know) – I didn’t even know their names till looking them up just now (Will White and Alex Gifford). Here’s <i>Dive </i>(must be played loud):</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a8hU0E9w8P4" width="320" youtube-src-id="a8hU0E9w8P4"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">By the mid 1990s house music felt like it had been around forever and for me, despite the odd good track or mix, the appeal was wearing a little thin (partly from just having heard so much of it, hour after hour, day after day, month after month). It was a bit of dilemma – because of our residency at Leeds club Vague we got paid more as guest DJs to serve up non-stop house music (the harder end of that being expected more and more) but we often really preferred playing other things. As mentioned on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-22-tricky-hell-is-round.html" target="_blank">Day 22</a> we did also have a fairly regular job in the small room (back bar) of a place called the Cockpit in Leeds (I think the DJ booth was probably the serving point for food during the day, it all smelt like chips). It was the total opposite of our job at Vague (think feather boas, coke, high heels) because the Cockpit was more an indie club (baggy jeans, </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">spliffs, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">trainers) and the back bar we played in worked well with drum & bass, big beats, rock, hip hop, all sorts. Our favourite drum & bass track for this job was also mentioned in an earlier </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-16-lfo-by-lfo.html " style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">post </a><span style="font-family: arial;">(L Double’s Asylum project and </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Da Base II Dark</i><span style="font-family: arial;">).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4njIviwP0xHFzoYGMPn2JBtN2HQLKFt3-_DtYha8VzJXUzzlP4OWc9_TSL0IIkNJe2FxKamJHQTi9tdBisepfnxsK9tmsDc1XJmTj_ieNjrrxPQCn80zvEA0byEtOLKEUA3J4-g_uoO6MwzbzoJrBWAHe1SNVgXl-Kp7bVN909LsP1gzS7PwHWzgIWwbe/s3044/IMG_20240127_101939.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3044" data-original-width="2978" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4njIviwP0xHFzoYGMPn2JBtN2HQLKFt3-_DtYha8VzJXUzzlP4OWc9_TSL0IIkNJe2FxKamJHQTi9tdBisepfnxsK9tmsDc1XJmTj_ieNjrrxPQCn80zvEA0byEtOLKEUA3J4-g_uoO6MwzbzoJrBWAHe1SNVgXl-Kp7bVN909LsP1gzS7PwHWzgIWwbe/w391-h400/IMG_20240127_101939.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Pt011xMdYhxHoaBuypdwXVBkm4uZg8n6Y94aGJv5GfwGz4En0vxiSyueTwKJcMh5QyirgvSvlperZxQ6vUPSFf2jtrNvlb9OCH6PP4acccJRkjoHZ8a4l8lmaywYJph-bErNPAvsA0nRX3Cx-sxW9u8POeQCn28JsnNMHWJk5vLEtCbEvWO7GyXNk6mj/s3156/IMG_20240127_102000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3156" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Pt011xMdYhxHoaBuypdwXVBkm4uZg8n6Y94aGJv5GfwGz4En0vxiSyueTwKJcMh5QyirgvSvlperZxQ6vUPSFf2jtrNvlb9OCH6PP4acccJRkjoHZ8a4l8lmaywYJph-bErNPAvsA0nRX3Cx-sxW9u8POeQCn28JsnNMHWJk5vLEtCbEvWO7GyXNk6mj/w395-h400/IMG_20240127_102000.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Propellerheads music was perfect for this space and we played <i>Dive</i> and <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd8WjeK8riE" target="_blank">Take California</a></i> and possibly their collaboration with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Arnold" target="_blank">David Arnold</a> <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O1_0hikl-A" target="_blank">On Her Majesty’s Secret Service</a></i> as well (both above </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">–</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> I still have those 12-inch singles). Their next single <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2pgcagyRk" target="_blank">History Repeating</a></i> featured Shirley Bassey and was another great track but I don’t remember playing that as I think that’s around when DJ work came to an end for us for lots of different reasons. Mark and I have still got the CD of their 1998 album<i> Decksanddrumsandrockandroll</i> in our family collection and we play it in the car when the driver needs to stay awake (it’s very stirring music).</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRYJg3ewj9ULFHQWu2rB7bN7cFpOJGJ0BPj4nMOnOXYkcWkzUNc6CgUpRBYYAjv3PwmkLMnYn_nlW1E6JGb8hhnfGQoBp25u7AiS88Raz7A1bQ8TOADRUdRYnj3ZDsBNQzWmE4hyphenhyphenlQCnGTMx-x-zS1brNPUZmZZaQKITihCem8o_We4lLvIKWXnXCfPoJ/s2922/IMG_20240127_093404.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2876" data-original-width="2922" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRYJg3ewj9ULFHQWu2rB7bN7cFpOJGJ0BPj4nMOnOXYkcWkzUNc6CgUpRBYYAjv3PwmkLMnYn_nlW1E6JGb8hhnfGQoBp25u7AiS88Raz7A1bQ8TOADRUdRYnj3ZDsBNQzWmE4hyphenhyphenlQCnGTMx-x-zS1brNPUZmZZaQKITihCem8o_We4lLvIKWXnXCfPoJ/w400-h394/IMG_20240127_093404.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The CD does have a picture of White and Gifford (but it’s quite hidden inside the cover):</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-z_3WAzWRAcfPFTUVowPZy52jl-l5fU0DDT2C44lyhNgL9282FUAPwHpsP0dR7-wk0TiM1VM-u53lVPma_KfkNwdTLT6R959R0sK-uXT20n_bSUMqCKwZ5h_4GXtuNLrQ0-fS8nHdePlEKER-d1Mn6PKFZ4GbFx9MvbNeIzj4MzZCyPOxZPPd6tZoqRLi/s2964/IMG_20240127_093310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2964" data-original-width="2568" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-z_3WAzWRAcfPFTUVowPZy52jl-l5fU0DDT2C44lyhNgL9282FUAPwHpsP0dR7-wk0TiM1VM-u53lVPma_KfkNwdTLT6R959R0sK-uXT20n_bSUMqCKwZ5h_4GXtuNLrQ0-fS8nHdePlEKER-d1Mn6PKFZ4GbFx9MvbNeIzj4MzZCyPOxZPPd6tZoqRLi/s320/IMG_20240127_093310.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thinking about this era of DJing reminds me of all the other great big beat/break beat music Daisy and I played back then. There was 1997’s ETA <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcvcXaeSt8I" target="_blank"><i>Casual Sub</i> </a>and 1995’s <i>Why Hawaii </i>by Alëem. The whole album by Alëem (1997’s <i>Sound Season</i> on the French label <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/587-Pro-Zak-Trax" target="_blank">Pro-Zak Trax</a>) is excellent and highly recommended. Here is <i>Why Hawaii:</i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4CB56bEEmZk" width="320" youtube-src-id="4CB56bEEmZk"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back tomorrow with some homegrown stuff.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-6931429696877645442024-01-27T06:30:00.081+00:002024-01-27T08:32:17.803+00:00Day 27: Grace Jones – Portfolio <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0-8As3Dp0DPfjIONbGJOOoIL33NicNSLAK8qOAYPyZFTuX3iketPR07cxEg8fWutbuqrCFh6G9E6ET1gRawvhWK0JFeEKGvK61XB8LaRkrygbNk09Ea46gfQ51nOynEtMhp2xPcAB0pDYSr_FyaTOCT9QP5Lfkv4TATmPYJvxBEG9RJIkzon9i8fM29N/s2675/IMG_20240126_085115.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2639" data-original-width="2675" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0-8As3Dp0DPfjIONbGJOOoIL33NicNSLAK8qOAYPyZFTuX3iketPR07cxEg8fWutbuqrCFh6G9E6ET1gRawvhWK0JFeEKGvK61XB8LaRkrygbNk09Ea46gfQ51nOynEtMhp2xPcAB0pDYSr_FyaTOCT9QP5Lfkv4TATmPYJvxBEG9RJIkzon9i8fM29N/w400-h395/IMG_20240126_085115.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today’s disc is a 1977 album that I bought in the 1990s – <i>Portfolio </i>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Jones" target="_blank">Grace Jones</a>. I bought this album for one track in particular (<i>La Vie En Rose</i>) after hearing it on a film. The film was 1994’s <i>Prêt-à-Porter </i>(called <i>Ready to Wear</i> in the US). There is talk of a particular Grace Jones video made to go with this track but I can’t find that anywhere (the talk mentions a nipple reveal so maybe that’s why). Here is the album version:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/41S8ftuBRiM" width="320" youtube-src-id="41S8ftuBRiM"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I already knew and loved a few Grace Jones tracks when I bought this (<i>Pull Up To The Bumper, My Jamaican Guy, Private Life, Slave to the Rhythm</i>). They were all 1980s tracks and very much part of the Backroom Classics genre mentioned back on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-21-prince-alphabet-st.html" target="_blank">Day 21</a>. Somehow her <i>La Vie En Rose</i> had passed me by though, despite being released in 1977 and then again in 1983.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This track saved the movie <i>Prêt-à-Porter</i> because generally it was a big disappointment. In the 1990s I did sometimes write film reviews, attended the Leeds Film Festival religiously and was a big fan of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Altman" target="_blank">Robert Altman</a> movies (<i>The Player </i>in 1992, <i>Short Cuts</i> in 1993). I was looking forward to <i>Prêt-à-Porter</i>, possibly even went to a midnight press screening, but what a long bore it was. And then (towards the end I think), <i>La Vie En Rose</i> came on and suddenly it was worth the late night entry and the hours of dull dialogue.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve realised as I’ve written these posts quite how much film music is in my favourites library (<a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-26-various-love-jones-music-album.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-26-various-love-jones-music-album.html" target="_blank">’</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-26-various-love-jones-music-album.html" target="_blank">s post</a>, for example, and <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-2-burt-bacharach-butch-cassidy-and.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-2-burt-bacharach-butch-cassidy-and.html" target="_blank">’</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-2-burt-bacharach-butch-cassidy-and.html" target="_blank">s</a>). Albums like the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Magnolia</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> soundtrack and the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Into the Wild</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> soundtrack are music I’ve never stopped listening to. Just this week I saw the movie </span><i style="font-family: arial;">The Holdovers</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> and whilst it is a good film, the song by Labi Siffre that is used in the film (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) – well, that is just marvellous. Here’s the great man with that song (and if you haven’t yet watched the documentary </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Labi Siffre: This is my Song</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> get thee to the</span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0014jmn" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"> i-player</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> tout-de-suite):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QEJQIZq89s0" width="320" youtube-src-id="QEJQIZq89s0"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But back to Miss Jones. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend you listen to the rest of the <i>Portfolio</i> album as it is pretty terrible. It was her first album and it appears it took the record label a few years to work out what to do with this particular artist – there are much, much better versions of songs like <i>Send in the Clowns</i> and <i>What I Did For Love</i> out in the world. And yet <i>La Vie En Rose</i> (produced by Tom Moulton, arranged by Duke Williams) is fantastic, taking an already great song and making it into something new.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa3YLOE2i2IocajFiO83UScsNTPI5gvC64PW3BKWT_pxLz_C6SYNixBJ-i056GEXAgHxITqDK5GLZuvGFicolGYbFxTgKDroZAtOFkKy4VgfOWrMBI3B_ldvXVWV8XoXOUhNgdJYwVZfDhBdRSwKoIfK_qThMGF-bTNUX8DHeYQssk179VTCzv-4p8WD_/s2704/IMG_20240126_085137.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2684" data-original-width="2704" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa3YLOE2i2IocajFiO83UScsNTPI5gvC64PW3BKWT_pxLz_C6SYNixBJ-i056GEXAgHxITqDK5GLZuvGFicolGYbFxTgKDroZAtOFkKy4VgfOWrMBI3B_ldvXVWV8XoXOUhNgdJYwVZfDhBdRSwKoIfK_qThMGF-bTNUX8DHeYQssk179VTCzv-4p8WD_/w400-h398/IMG_20240126_085137.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The song, most of you will know, was first sung by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89dith_Piaf" target="_blank">Édith Piaf</a> (and written by her and Louis Guglielmi, also known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louiguy" target="_blank">Louiguy</a>). It’s also the name of her 2007 biopic that I ill-advisedly watched at many thousand feet on the way back from Canada in 2011 (remember I hate flying anyway and am usually the other side of several Valium and a couple of beers once in the air, plus, spoiler, not all flights end well in that film). She lived 1915-63 and here is her version:</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rzeLynj1GYM" width="320" youtube-src-id="rzeLynj1GYM"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back tomorrow with some big breakbeats.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-83582015392861824862024-01-26T06:30:00.043+00:002024-01-26T06:30:00.149+00:00Day 26: Various – Love Jones, the Music (Album Sampler)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbijlOqi9us7AzL-8m5SVOUdUyDyrxzUMmFIxIw4KUS-DA1UCiQaJVjRhVNpWRhM-Sgtu5Ko-dVwsXCvZiXDeapOaQU4DgJexq_jd6MDXArJ9v_w-nfR8EJ9Roxu29njUrw8VksXNfoHpaJTRlYuhIceHPYvpSMVsFQ2h_SULl50GWqEif17tZtLQenZ8A/s3175/IMG_20240124_163221.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3175" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbijlOqi9us7AzL-8m5SVOUdUyDyrxzUMmFIxIw4KUS-DA1UCiQaJVjRhVNpWRhM-Sgtu5Ko-dVwsXCvZiXDeapOaQU4DgJexq_jd6MDXArJ9v_w-nfR8EJ9Roxu29njUrw8VksXNfoHpaJTRlYuhIceHPYvpSMVsFQ2h_SULl50GWqEif17tZtLQenZ8A/w393-h400/IMG_20240124_163221.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is a promo sampler for the soundtrack of the film <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Jones_(film)" target="_blank">Love Jones</a>. W</i>e probably got this 12-inch single free in the post in 1997 as we got so many promo records by that point that it was hard to keep up with them (which is an annoying thing to moan about so please don’t hear that as a complaint). I’ve never seen the film (<i>Love Jones</i>) but the soulful music on this sampler was real quality and we played a few of the tracks regularly (probably on the radio and most likely at our regular Wednesday evening pub gig, Maxi at the Courtyard in Leeds). At Maxi we relaxed, free from club demands, and organised things like a regular alternative pub quiz.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There were a couple of names on this sampler that would have caught my eye straight away. Firstly, there’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauryn_Hill" target="_blank">Lauryn Hill </a>on side A, track 3. Thanks to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugees" target="_blank">the Fugees</a> album <i>The Score</i> (1996), Hill was a major star by this point and I was a fan so I probably went straight to this track by Refugee Camp Allstars (feat. Lauryn Hill):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y12YXVAYKjE" width="320" youtube-src-id="Y12YXVAYKjE"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I know this track so well that I presumed it must be on the solo album <i>The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill</i> that came out in 1998 (and that, like many people, I have listened to many, many times) but I must be getting mixed up because it’s not on there. Even if she hasn</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">t continued to produce work at the same rate or of the same popularity, Hill</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s influence has been felt far and wide (she is a favourite of Lin-Manuel Miranda, for example, and her rapping style was one of many influences for <i>Hamilton</i>). I’ve still got that solo Lauryn Hill CD too – i</span>t is a total classic:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2fhTlKoSjUHDiRfSNEbFRhlK_ZUROdYskV9pCCgnmE-r7CHkwukp5mfsDOl0q9XIEJlRQJiQT3sKYF9L104YsQr_fO1vxeS4Uc5cIgNFH2lcZ-ixtsuzd6XedogGx2x-4xjOAe-2TmsmVIqTeKoDb2AYO8zLDCGM3Dwpv7pWRJLL_a4qyUdD7ks587e4/s3054/IMG_20240124_163345.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2666" data-original-width="3054" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2fhTlKoSjUHDiRfSNEbFRhlK_ZUROdYskV9pCCgnmE-r7CHkwukp5mfsDOl0q9XIEJlRQJiQT3sKYF9L104YsQr_fO1vxeS4Uc5cIgNFH2lcZ-ixtsuzd6XedogGx2x-4xjOAe-2TmsmVIqTeKoDb2AYO8zLDCGM3Dwpv7pWRJLL_a4qyUdD7ks587e4/w400-h349/IMG_20240124_163345.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There are other great tracks on this <i>Love Jones</i> sampler too. The one I remember playing most was side A track 1 by<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Farris" target="_blank"> Dionne Farris</a>, <i>Hopeless</i>. Here it is:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/do13xeSKI1A" width="320" youtube-src-id="do13xeSKI1A"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I didn’t know this at the time (ah, google, where were you?) but Farris sang with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_(group)" target="_blank">Arrested Development</a> (on <i>Tennessee</i> and a few other tracks, though she wasn’t an official member of the band). The Arrested Development 1992 album <i>3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of..</i>.</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">is another brilliant album. The band are still going, they put out a new single featuring Chuck D and Grandmaster Caz called <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnY5727moqk" target="_blank">Hip Hop Saves Lives</a></i> at the end of last year.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Another track on this sampler that we probably played too, if not as much, was side B, track 2 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Miller " target="_blank">Marcus Miller</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshell_Ndegeocello" target="_blank">Me’shell Ndegeocello</a> with <i>Rush Over</i>. Daisy & I both loved the very chilled but very funky <i>Plantation Lullabies</i>, the 1993 album by Ndegeocello and played it loads (on the radio, mainly). It’s been good to see her name again recently (she signed to jazz label Blue Note in 2023).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with a different Jones.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p> </p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-73220870910922328322024-01-25T06:30:00.027+00:002024-01-25T06:30:00.303+00:00Day 25: Alysha Warren – I Thought I Meant The World To You / I Pray (The S Man’s Hard Mix)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ4EKAWVEwOSPiqFqDwbVEqWg2SmQQqVEwspbgAsEbiY_1pR8GFDSYdaFpytK_skkEVuSEe2OTVe3DYGEUjXR2H-a2yhZ6GpNGqEksW1vwaWX_u5YYGvS7sZfItl4zgVog7Uysd-W4-oNbOPEqpLR9WWuzNabMfWqg20E1q92j2ygiwjD9J1NZUZIil56/s3033/IMG_20240122_112742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3020" data-original-width="3033" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ4EKAWVEwOSPiqFqDwbVEqWg2SmQQqVEwspbgAsEbiY_1pR8GFDSYdaFpytK_skkEVuSEe2OTVe3DYGEUjXR2H-a2yhZ6GpNGqEksW1vwaWX_u5YYGvS7sZfItl4zgVog7Uysd-W4-oNbOPEqpLR9WWuzNabMfWqg20E1q92j2ygiwjD9J1NZUZIil56/w400-h399/IMG_20240122_112742.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc was originally a double 12 inch single (full track list <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/171437-Alysha-Warren-I-Thought-I-Meant-The-World-To-You-I-Pray" target="_blank">here</a>) but we ever only played one of the remixes so I seem to have only kept the disc with that mix. The record is from 1995 and at the time I</span>’m sorry to say that I didn’t give a second thought to the artist (<a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/114374-Alisha-Warren" target="_blank">Alysha Warren</a>, a soul singer and younger sister of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica_Paris" target="_blank">Mica Paris</a>, apparently) because back then, for us, it was almost always more about the remixes. The remix we played (the S Man’s Hard mix of<i> I Pray</i>) was by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sanchez" target="_blank">Roger Sanchez</a> and it was one of the tracks we played most often when DJing in main rooms in clubs. This is the mix:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D0OpZSDHP8g" width="320" youtube-src-id="D0OpZSDHP8g"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There were a lot of big-name DJs/producers/remixers in the 1990s (and there are probably even more now). The first names that come to mind when I think about this time, besides Mr Sanchez, are Todd Terry, Masters at Work (‘Little’ Louie Vega and Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez), David Morales, C & C Music Factory, Josh Wink, Deep Dish and Armand van Helden (but there were lots of others too). The ones I’ve just listed are all men and from the USA (they were our favourites) but there were lots of UK and other European ones as well (and gradually a few women remixing too). Around that time it wasn’t uncommon to get remix double (or triple) packs of of pop singles as the record companies desperately tried to have that illusive big club remix smash (think <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_van_Helden" target="_blank">Armand van Helden</a>’s remix of the Tori Amos 1996 track <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqae5qyopok" target="_blank">Professional Widow</a></i> – very little of the original song but a huge success, ensuring van Helden was asked to remix pretty much everything for the next few years). </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Most DJs had their favourite producers/remixers and we were no exception. We were definitely van Helden fans and played a few of his remixes and originals and we really loved Roger Sanchez’s work too. For our taste those two made tracks that were hard enough for the clubs we could get work in but were still warm, funky, enjoyable music – not something that made you feel like you’d been banged over the head with a dustbin lid multiple times. G</span>enerally speaking the clubs that booked us for main rooms (at least in part the ones that were more open to the idea of women DJing) were also the places where the music got harder and faster as the 1990s progressed, a lot of it not really our taste to be honest and a lot of it influenced by the sounds of the London after-hours club <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_(nightclub)" target="_blank">Trade</a>* in the mid to late 1990s. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGChfkstC_n5WnD3SnOx2FSWZ_tiRv2a4ZIgg10p5-MlyViFmZ-2jDrlDJPj5hn9X14p-XOMWLIe-jjvk4kXbcXHvLNRMbHOWIYb8ZlYgTmqNgYl9ql-HGtW6KMpKEQiSsBuD8kdcRPDtybLh_4tWfms5avFgS_Dqu516n7VqcBvN-vo92XNmNXlDXJsmJ/s3033/IMG_20240124_132343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2979" data-original-width="3033" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGChfkstC_n5WnD3SnOx2FSWZ_tiRv2a4ZIgg10p5-MlyViFmZ-2jDrlDJPj5hn9X14p-XOMWLIe-jjvk4kXbcXHvLNRMbHOWIYb8ZlYgTmqNgYl9ql-HGtW6KMpKEQiSsBuD8kdcRPDtybLh_4tWfms5avFgS_Dqu516n7VqcBvN-vo92XNmNXlDXJsmJ/w400-h393/IMG_20240124_132343.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Somehow (due to writing record reviews, I suppose) I managed to get on the mailing list for the prestigious US record label <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/609-Strictly-Rhythm" target="_blank">Strictly Rhythm</a> at some point in the mid 1990s. It’s funny to think that back then if I heard someone in my life say Strictly they were always talking about American house/garage (whereas now they are always talking about a UK TV show that features ballroom and Latin dancing). Anyway, getting onto the SR mailing list was a bit after their peak but we still managed to get some records (white labels no less, i.e. promos, not the ones sold in the shops) that became staples of our main room DJ sets. This one from 1995 (pictured above), was the <i>Strictly 4 the Underground EP</i> (and in particular the track <i>Livin 4 the Underground</i>) by Roger Sanchez. We played this a lot:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M82XVUvQxR0" width="320" youtube-src-id="M82XVUvQxR0"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">We never DJed at any of the clubs where Roger Sanchez played unfortunately but I did hear him play at another Leeds club (Back to Basics**) at some point in the mid 1990s. Daisy and I had played an early set at Vague (with some dustin-lid banging London DJ taking over at midnight most likely) but I knew Roger S was playing just a few streets away so a friend and I abandoned our usual ship and trotted round to the other. We didn’t have to queue (yay establishment!) but we did enjoy hours and hours of dancing to Roger Sanchez’s brilliant music and DJing (one of my favourite nights out from that period – great sound, great tunes, just dancing, no having to listen to coked-up theories and </span>‘great ideas’). A lot of DJs and producers are a bit overhyped and disappointing when you hear them – Roger S was spectacular.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Roger Sanchez is very much still working in clubs and production and is on social media if you want to go and see what he’s up to (some very glamorous photo shoots, but it’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/djrogersanchez/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> so that’s to be expected I suppose).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Back tomorrow with something completely different.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*I did go to Trade once and had a great time but it must have been before we were DJing because I remember standing in a queue (and I certainly never did that once we were part of the, I suppose you could call it, establishment). I think the music wasn</span>’t quite so full on mental at that point.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">**Basics was a Leeds institution for a long time. Largely because we worked at another club in the city we didn’t go that often but I did come across an interesting (if very long) article by Basics resident DJ Ralph Lawson about DJing when I was ‘researching’ this series of posts (read it <a href="https://www.ralphlawson.co.uk/features/2019/12/17/resident-dj-8pymt" target="_blank">here</a>). Also it was on another trip to Basics that we first heard Armand van Helden’s unlikely take on Ace of Bass’s <i>Living in Danger</i> (a great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnf4yDcNIJY" target="_blank">remix</a> – we borrowed that idea and played that remix too).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-81078324054648467432024-01-24T06:30:00.012+00:002024-01-24T09:31:49.141+00:00Day 24: The Blackout Allstars – I Like It Like That<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9X8NRQ68gLf7DeQN3zzA8A5usuqyk3Gm4mBfZFmCXWQ2XIOU6PeN5mt3ICCsdfQcnO0UqPafCa2ZwJ3RHEjEfdMQ_mGxW5INf4pL7w-sUSjWcKBA_Ioux4b5Kt4eR6JsjUxBnrp8zztCsCKxCjp1FzAZVkRjP25dO3AHMakHgf7Cxyd4sM0gDaM5Op5C8/s2976/IMG_20240122_112801.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2904" data-original-width="2976" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9X8NRQ68gLf7DeQN3zzA8A5usuqyk3Gm4mBfZFmCXWQ2XIOU6PeN5mt3ICCsdfQcnO0UqPafCa2ZwJ3RHEjEfdMQ_mGxW5INf4pL7w-sUSjWcKBA_Ioux4b5Kt4eR6JsjUxBnrp8zztCsCKxCjp1FzAZVkRjP25dO3AHMakHgf7Cxyd4sM0gDaM5Op5C8/w400-h390/IMG_20240122_112801.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is a 1994 remix of a song from a movie (also from 1994). That remix was one of our most often played end-of-set tunes as DJs in the mid 1990s. This is the mix we played:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KMVOhMYP7tM" width="320" youtube-src-id="KMVOhMYP7tM"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I know we bought this record new (and full price) but can’t remember where (it might even have been at Fourth Wave in Huddersfield, a shop I mentioned <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-23-solitaire-gee-slumberland.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a>). Having studied Spanish and lived in Spain I had a real weakness for Latin house (and Latin music) in general so this appealed to me straight away. We didn’t play a lot of the obvious big party tracks of the time (the resident DJs at the clubs we played at played a lot of those) so we had to find our own favourites (and wanted to in a lot of cases). This mix (remixed by Bobby D’Ambrosio) worked well for us as a big-finish and, even better, I really liked it. Nobody ever complained about it so I imagine the people on the dancefloor liked it too.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’ve never seen the film this version was recorded for (the film is also called <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Like_It_Like_That_(film)" target="_blank">I Like It Like That</a></i>) but it was about young Puerto Ricans living in New York. Looking it up now I see that it stars, amongst others, the legend that is Rita Moreno and also Jon Seda, who is in one of my favourite TV shows ever (<i>Treme</i>, set in New Orleans and featuring loads of great music, he plays Nelson Hidalgo). The artist for the soundtrack (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blackout_All-Stars" target="_blank">The Blackout Allstars</a>) was a one-off supergroup featuring Ray Barretto, Sheila E., Tito Puente, Tito Nieves, Paquito D'Rivera, Dave Valentin, Grover Washington Jr., and Tony Pabon. Here is their unremixed version of the track (not that different to the first video but better pics):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ks9pUgzP78U" width="320" youtube-src-id="Ks9pUgzP78U"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This in turn was a cover of a 1967 track by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rodriguez_(boogaloo_musician)">Pete Rodríguez</a> (pianist and bandleader, now 91 years old). It was written by Tony Pabon and Manny Rodriguez, vocals on the song by Pabon. It has been sampled more recently by people who mean more to our daughter than to me (Cardi B confuses me, artist or outfit?). Let’s hear that 1967 original now – it’s brilliant (and if I were to DJ now I’d probably play this version – boogaloo has lasted well):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DEjN42FW2sU" width="320" youtube-src-id="DEjN42FW2sU"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with a house favourite.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-63552694678945455792024-01-23T06:30:00.006+00:002024-01-23T09:03:52.423+00:00Day 23: Solitaire Gee – Slumberland<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qsYEBcSRpJ4cq1hvOQ8Cp8v1A0GaeYuRoXS2H-AMucMKYRuX-tmVfnzZpRr3lQY6FjBqmCcimrJ7lTwgkhzkw_Z-Kx9oL-cfJSGPvlFAdD1AgPIsIuWDyb3JXlL0RbkWatx1_3e9xnCfrE8ZJJIOcEFtkN7rHTHYvNB2CmfPNAzCyRkd_d_ldTjFLReQ/s3120/IMG_20240122_104648.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3083" data-original-width="3120" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qsYEBcSRpJ4cq1hvOQ8Cp8v1A0GaeYuRoXS2H-AMucMKYRuX-tmVfnzZpRr3lQY6FjBqmCcimrJ7lTwgkhzkw_Z-Kx9oL-cfJSGPvlFAdD1AgPIsIuWDyb3JXlL0RbkWatx1_3e9xnCfrE8ZJJIOcEFtkN7rHTHYvNB2CmfPNAzCyRkd_d_ldTjFLReQ/w400-h395/IMG_20240122_104648.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Today’s disc is the 1993 12 inch single <i>Slumberland </i>by <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/828-Solitaire-Gee" target="_blank">Solitaire Gee</a>. Yesterday</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">s discs were from 1995 so I’m mixing the timeline up again, apologies. Today’s disc is just a lovely, big piece of house music with the sample “it’s groovy baby, it’s groovy baby” (it’s my birthday and you’ve got to try and feel groovy on your birthday, haven’t you, especially when it’s this end of the 50s?). The record label Warp that today’s disc is on, you might recall, has already been mentioned this month (back on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-16-lfo-by-lfo.html" target="_blank">Day 16</a></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">). </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">I don</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">t remember where I first heard <i>Slumberland</i> but I know it was one of those tracks that stands out in a set and it was pretty popular. It was the <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/831-Rhythm-Invention" target="_blank">Rhythm Invention</a> mix that got the play (Rhythm Invention being Nick Simpson and Richard Brown, both used many names for production and have busy entries on Discogs).</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> The mix in question sounds like this:</span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0P3pgLCc4t4" width="320" youtube-src-id="0P3pgLCc4t4"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Solitaire Gee (John Gilpin and Raz Shamshad) were from Huddersfield (not far from Leeds where we lived at the time) and we did get to know John a bit when we were DJing, even worked with him a little. Raz ran the record shop Fourth Wave in Huddersfield (much friendlier than the average dance record shop in the 1990s) and the pair made music together and separately.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">John Gilpin’s solo stuff was released under the name Lex Loofah and we played his track <i>The Feelin’</i> (AA side with <i>Jacked</i>) a lot in our house DJ sets in the mid/late 1990s. You can see this one looks well used:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggiwD5CjHNP6ArvJwMH0_QcK_tyt6LEQIy5AUb7Nu2nQD19hXyPDacYkH0J1cintrHMgN7pmzEr-lwvPqRgoxuPaDIMl8d0nH7yRNe0RciZ9gFKRS52dhAqIQotC1E2xVyTTZLPG4c1qJRD6ia6wV0Hk8cIAtDYPLwBv-etIMSgAF5inZ7aN_zDe12HMUV/s2812/IMG_20240122_104708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2781" data-original-width="2812" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggiwD5CjHNP6ArvJwMH0_QcK_tyt6LEQIy5AUb7Nu2nQD19hXyPDacYkH0J1cintrHMgN7pmzEr-lwvPqRgoxuPaDIMl8d0nH7yRNe0RciZ9gFKRS52dhAqIQotC1E2xVyTTZLPG4c1qJRD6ia6wV0Hk8cIAtDYPLwBv-etIMSgAF5inZ7aN_zDe12HMUV/s320/IMG_20240122_104708.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">We rarely heard other DJs playing <i>The Feelin’ </i>so it really felt like one of our tracks (if we had a sound, this was it). Listening to it again this week put me right back in a DJ booth, wondering what the hell to play next (we didn</span>’t plan sets as such, some DJs did, some didn’t – maybe it would have been a more relaxing experience if we had). We really liked John and his music – he was just a chilled guy who loved making tunes. This record was released on the label Phat Records and it sounds like this:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zyQ_JiA6KO4" width="320" youtube-src-id="zyQ_JiA6KO4"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Quick one today – back tomorrow with some Latin house.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-54199550151522046392024-01-22T06:30:00.007+00:002024-01-22T07:44:35.547+00:00Day 22: Tricky – Hell is Round the Corner/Pumpkin<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_mn1sbkQEKODg0dB9NZ1yr0pSS9WtsuhuUilfrB-CbkZhHnGPogEKXr83qh0fsdhDk_jnrr8qNidbnVSJqrk7yyFUryGZimzyVaOQnk9OOKV9BI6pPXMrjBCSuZLGXeMzkjQigj6n4y528OI4o6A_5Cgo7Dsa4MbojpII5gcaZu6FQI4rE9iHQqAuIcA/s3010/IMG_20240120_133436.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_mn1sbkQEKODg0dB9NZ1yr0pSS9WtsuhuUilfrB-CbkZhHnGPogEKXr83qh0fsdhDk_jnrr8qNidbnVSJqrk7yyFUryGZimzyVaOQnk9OOKV9BI6pPXMrjBCSuZLGXeMzkjQigj6n4y528OI4o6A_5Cgo7Dsa4MbojpII5gcaZu6FQI4rE9iHQqAuIcA/s3010/IMG_20240120_133436.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xKOGSBpLirUdYEk1MWAjslfrpkZX1lECy7I6B6fW-7kKDIAHoxWzvZn4fb-Jp2M_K75PTexWv-x9urf8xVPXt5iG8zzLf7riSDfm_ZgHQ7vKAZqpP5vCI73gq1rR62b3igxh1AbFQCC_qKgApTmZVKMnyese9Dq-uvlN_pCcPevgA2WF9iajJTcStCBg/s3273/IMG_20240117_144610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3273" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xKOGSBpLirUdYEk1MWAjslfrpkZX1lECy7I6B6fW-7kKDIAHoxWzvZn4fb-Jp2M_K75PTexWv-x9urf8xVPXt5iG8zzLf7riSDfm_ZgHQ7vKAZqpP5vCI73gq1rR62b3igxh1AbFQCC_qKgApTmZVKMnyese9Dq-uvlN_pCcPevgA2WF9iajJTcStCBg/w381-h400/IMG_20240117_144610.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><img border="0" data-original-height="3010" data-original-width="3002" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_mn1sbkQEKODg0dB9NZ1yr0pSS9WtsuhuUilfrB-CbkZhHnGPogEKXr83qh0fsdhDk_jnrr8qNidbnVSJqrk7yyFUryGZimzyVaOQnk9OOKV9BI6pPXMrjBCSuZLGXeMzkjQigj6n4y528OI4o6A_5Cgo7Dsa4MbojpII5gcaZu6FQI4rE9iHQqAuIcA/w399-h400/IMG_20240120_133436.jpg" width="399" /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is plural (so add an s) as it is two 12-inch singles and a CD (a CD finally makes an appearance!). The artist is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricky_(musician)" target="_blank">Tricky</a> and the singles are both pictured above. They are both tracks from Tricky’s 1995 album <i>Maxinquaye</i> which I had on CD (and still have, pic below):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsjXWjg8TDswDYKewiVnD2xqCE4KZICO5OujaVPGmk4_fAZn0buJg-TlXyin8Srylvrl_ABjDCJE1g6QyCohIm6W8G_UL_PbryA6-2NAjUb9LHuynIRQPFUVYzkbTRaS5mIp6QBdfBF1EmKQ72dwN2oyNGAAEhRKWci0kCioLZZFzZfPlEi1xiqG9QU6K/s2271/IMG_20240120_133411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2061" data-original-width="2271" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsjXWjg8TDswDYKewiVnD2xqCE4KZICO5OujaVPGmk4_fAZn0buJg-TlXyin8Srylvrl_ABjDCJE1g6QyCohIm6W8G_UL_PbryA6-2NAjUb9LHuynIRQPFUVYzkbTRaS5mIp6QBdfBF1EmKQ72dwN2oyNGAAEhRKWci0kCioLZZFzZfPlEi1xiqG9QU6K/w400-h363/IMG_20240120_133411.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The lead track on the orange single is <i>Pumpkin</i> – the track from <i>Maxinquaye</i> that features <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Goldfrapp" target="_blank">Alison Goldfrapp</a> on co-writing and vocals (most of the rest of the album features vocals by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_Topley-Bird" target="_blank">Martina Topley-Bird</a> – both women have gone on to many successes since with all kinds of music). Coloured vinyl isn’t the most popular with DJs because the sound quality isn’t always the best but we did play a track on the B side of this one (the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Reece" target="_blank">Alex Reece</a> remix of <i>Brand New You’re Retro</i>), mostly when we played in a back room at the delightfully named Cockpit in Leeds in the mid to late 1990s. This is the mix (both it and the original of this track are great):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ISecI75DfJk" width="320" youtube-src-id="ISecI75DfJk"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As for the other single, <i>Hell is Round the Corner</i> has long been a favourite track of mine. When we used to listen to the album (often late into the night/early in the morning) it was lyrics from this that used to stick in my mind (“until then, you have to live with yourself” etc. – hear the track at the end of this post).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Tricky was from Bristol, worked with Massive Attack early on and there are lots of crossovers in terms of sounds and samples with them and other artists from that part of the world at around that time (i.e. Portishead). In certain corners of the internet arguments can be found regarding which artist and album was better and who used such and such sample better. I’ve even been lectured once on how <i>Maxinquaye</i> was only so good (and successful) because of its co-producer <a href="https://www.marksaunders.com/" target="_blank">Mark Saunders</a> (and he has been in this series already, back on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-13-neneh-cherry-buffalo-stance.html" target="_blank">Day 13 </a>with Neneh Cherry).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">To be honest, I like this <i>and</i> albums by Massive Attack and Portishead. I don’t have a favourite and I don’t feel the need to fight for one over the other. My former DJ partner is still a big Tricky fan (she saw him live last year I think) but I can’t say I’ve followed him in the same way (he went a bit more punk after this album and she was always more punk than me). All I know is I loved this album in the mid 1990s and it was a good companion for both of us at that time. I listened to it again this week and the variety on it has held up to a point (the cover of Public Enemy’s <i>Black Steel</i> and both of today’s tracks are probably my favourites, then and now). I can’t say I still enjoy the clunky industrial sounds on some of the tracks now as much as I did in 1995 but then it was coming after years of happy house and was a welcome change, whereas now it’s more the sound of a time (and a time quite long ago – nearly 20 years). The tracks I can still enjoy now are the ones where Martina’s haunting vocals and Tricky’s distinctive drawled spoken word are doing most of the work (less trip hop, just mellow hip hop, perhaps). I’ve often joked that <i>Hell is Round the Corner </i>is on my (own) personal funeral playlist. I’ve enjoyed it again this week and I’d say it’s still on the list of possibles. Enjoy:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LTsQQW8ttzg" width="320" youtube-src-id="LTsQQW8ttzg"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with a Huddersfield house master.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-78946947799474632392024-01-21T06:30:00.049+00:002024-01-21T07:51:31.981+00:00Day 21: Prince – Alphabet St.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZq2Z79lyybV5rRfzm-gdUZlkSJ4ApCE9LJXnz6OYkok7aAyB1VwG5GiJz4c-zyiEJQBiAmW9mOpeJ5Kl6SPIZq13HrUkAtyJbIuC7D5k3l1jbdLky9a9mZN79JpkVucowQQwPaNZh3XWn8q630BrwOFADGpUsLQkboxD4oVUKl715sSixXwIuDVhTBYR0/s3238/IMG_20240117_144706.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3238" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZq2Z79lyybV5rRfzm-gdUZlkSJ4ApCE9LJXnz6OYkok7aAyB1VwG5GiJz4c-zyiEJQBiAmW9mOpeJ5Kl6SPIZq13HrUkAtyJbIuC7D5k3l1jbdLky9a9mZN79JpkVucowQQwPaNZh3XWn8q630BrwOFADGpUsLQkboxD4oVUKl715sSixXwIuDVhTBYR0/w385-h400/IMG_20240117_144706.jpg" width="385" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is the 1988 single from Prince – <i>Alphabet St</i>. I’m guessing this record was once in a plain black sleeve because I don’t think I ever had a picture cover for it. I didn’t buy it in the ’80s, probably more like the early ’90s for DJing purposes. I know some people are devoted Prince fans (the live shows were amazing, fans will tell you) but to be honest I’ve not, as yet, been quite that way inclined. I remember my brother loving <i>Little Red Corvette</i> when it came out in 1983 (and it was played at a sister’s funeral in 2022 so it’s obviously a family favourite) but to be honest a good part of Prince’s music from that era did very little for me (ditto a lot of 1980s music really). I’ve always liked some of his individual songs and I tried to watch the film <i>Purple Rain</i> around 1984 but didn’t make it to the end. Did anyone?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">On the whole it’s Prince’s funk tracks, like <i>Alphabet St.</i>, that I’ve most enjoyed*. I can’t remember when or how we bought it but this one was something we played a lot when we were booked to DJ in smaller rooms in clubs (backrooms, bars etc.). With the main room full of house, trance or whatever, on the whole people wanted something different in the smaller room and DJs tried various ways of approaching this. Some just played what we (in the record shop) called ‘backroom classics’. These were tried and tested disco classics and pop faves from across the ages like Shannon’s <i>Let the Music Play</i> and Anita Ward’s <i>Ring My Bell</i>. In the record shop we joked about making up backroom classics ready-to-go packs to sell to people who’d just got their first booking for a smaller room (snidey yes, but that’s practically in the job description when you work in a record shop). Daisy and I tried to avoid playing too many of the obvious tunes (not unusual, lots of DJs do that) but it could be tricky to find things that didn’t feel overplayed but that still made people whoop and holler (that’s the kind of club we played in most often – whoopy hollery places). This track though – funky as hell but not particularly played in clubs (that I heard in the 1990s anyway):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vP1kZLGG5gw" width="320" youtube-src-id="vP1kZLGG5gw"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A short and sweet post today – back tomorrow with a Bristol accent.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*If you’re interested my other favourite Prince tracks are probably <i>Sign o’ the Times</i>, <i>U Got the Look</i>, <i>Kiss</i> (that was played a lot in clubs, the original and covers) and <i>If I Was Your Girlfriend</i>. I’m also partial to the sort of sister song to that one that came along a few years later (<i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpsOqh8q0M" target="_blank">If I Were A Boy</a></i> by Beyonce). I looked it up just now and found it was written by Toby Gad and singer/songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BC_Jean" target="_blank">BC Jean</a> (it was written for the latter to record for her own album – hear her singing it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSBhtSRDIMw" target="_blank">here</a>, quite a different version). BC Jean is also in a band with and married to Mark Ballas (son of Shirley, judge on the UK’s <i>Strictly Come Dancing </i>TV show) so it would seem that everything comes back to Strictly (I wrote far too many posts about the show, another family favourite, back <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2022/11/strictly-family-series-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series of discs go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-43556728823120881892024-01-20T06:30:00.111+00:002024-01-26T07:55:36.463+00:00Day 20: Flight feat. M.C. Kinky – Flight<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CveOamfNUc8QU26UYlTsFAZBgTHXI9dc1rxe468DFBebqa7iPLCB_k3kV3-wMXCQq9LxhBsL1LNOCvJ4Pqp6YdiCiUpMY39p5iDgfL-snft48dKoD5Jg6AaAfWA-ZUawxRJOIattThut_d8Z82tgVXpk0ozGhiKdRvdsYbxmf34rsT237GnYMoXL4lmu/s3056/IMG_20240117_144737.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="2985" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CveOamfNUc8QU26UYlTsFAZBgTHXI9dc1rxe468DFBebqa7iPLCB_k3kV3-wMXCQq9LxhBsL1LNOCvJ4Pqp6YdiCiUpMY39p5iDgfL-snft48dKoD5Jg6AaAfWA-ZUawxRJOIattThut_d8Z82tgVXpk0ozGhiKdRvdsYbxmf34rsT237GnYMoXL4lmu/w391-h400/IMG_20240117_144737.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">For a change, today’s disc is one I did buy when it came out (which was in 1992). There were a couple of good independent record shops in Leeds at the time and we did use them but I think I probably bought this one in HMV (maybe for £2.99 – they can’t all be expensive imports). This was in our early days of (unpaid) DJing on the pirate radio station Dream FM, before we had any club work, and we both had pretty badly paid jobs (if they were paid at all) for a small local (radical) magazine. I don’t know if I even knew what this record was when we bought it but maybe it was just an impulse buy. In 1992 the original rave/house scene was busy splintering into many different parts </span>– one strong direction was towards music with a trance element to it and today’s track is representative of that. Although we liked the gentle <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uTIMvzjPw" target="_blank">Flute On Arrival mix</a>, the mix we played most was the Sonic Departure mix by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(musician)" target="_blank">Youth</a> (someone with a long CV in all kinds of music, more on that particular mix later). The record was on Youth’s label (Butterfly Records) and his name might have persuaded us to give the record a shot in the first place. YouTube has some of the other mixes but the Sonic Departure one was impossible to find online so the audio is uploaded <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-169075359/flight-sonic-departure-mix" target="_blank">here</a> for now. Have a listen – it’s really good.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeqBEDCTldUDK_zzJVtgoW-ptHnG_lEY190owm0YrJkkZrkqPAbF2oDPyUJly5KodhekopzwlOfbRChyHhh38EQHImp1rU_XROjlk-4rwUEo0RdugITslPpsU-TS5ycqVCb4C48xIVdsgs1wnUb_DIrPBTh1F7nr13TIenlPAVo2U4XLCyYYlAbptVhBT/s3121/IMG_20240117_144750.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3121" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeqBEDCTldUDK_zzJVtgoW-ptHnG_lEY190owm0YrJkkZrkqPAbF2oDPyUJly5KodhekopzwlOfbRChyHhh38EQHImp1rU_XROjlk-4rwUEo0RdugITslPpsU-TS5ycqVCb4C48xIVdsgs1wnUb_DIrPBTh1F7nr13TIenlPAVo2U4XLCyYYlAbptVhBT/w400-h400/IMG_20240117_144750.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The production for this track was by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen_(musician)" target="_blank">Simon Posford</a> (who uses other names, Hallucinogen most often it seems) and it featured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Kinky" target="_blank">M.C. Kinky</a> (Caron Geary) on vocals (also a co-writer along with Dennis Kiwanuka, says <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/1131873-Flight-Featuring-MC-Kinky-Flight" target="_blank">Discogs</a>). Earlier, in 1989, M.C. Kinky had written and rapped vocals for</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Starts_with_an_%27E%27" target="_blank"> </a></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Starts_with_an_%27E%27" target="_blank"><i>Everything Starts with an 'E'</i></a> as part of the band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Zee_Possee" target="_blank">E-Zee Possee</a> (listen to that track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqZwbuwPFiE" target="_blank">here</a>). Due to all its talk of E/ecstasy that track was another one banned on Radio 1 to begin with (we have had a few of those this month) but it was rereleased </span>later and got into the charts. I still have it on a triple album by E-Zee Possee called <i>The Bone Dance</i>:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlMVBBzwxRLtArnFQubxYhhice1og-Xnjssj3gPQlbPdta8B4Am5eb1Aue6yLruEnYuhxQovRNSoqWIMTip_t5YIHR4gHcBJWbdDasfeZfGKevGGbiqt4lr5vsuqiqJqhsS60RpwLv7tHeiRmbb9aoy7pzLYDZfeDO_Bs7RRQXAjOVcUAjiWC6rXsvG1L/s3249/IMG_20240119_183558~3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3249" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlMVBBzwxRLtArnFQubxYhhice1og-Xnjssj3gPQlbPdta8B4Am5eb1Aue6yLruEnYuhxQovRNSoqWIMTip_t5YIHR4gHcBJWbdDasfeZfGKevGGbiqt4lr5vsuqiqJqhsS60RpwLv7tHeiRmbb9aoy7pzLYDZfeDO_Bs7RRQXAjOVcUAjiWC6rXsvG1L/w384-h400/IMG_20240119_183558~3.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A wee side note here: <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/4269-More-Protein" target="_blank">More Protein</a> was the record label that put out E-Zee Possee material and it was started by Jeremy Healy and Boy George. When, some years later, Daisy & I were asked to DJ at a More Protein club night in central London we were quite excited. It was one of those disappointing experiences unfortunately (not a great event, trendy but no atmosphere, Boy George barely said hello…). I had such strong memories of seeing him on TV with early Culture Club and had been looking forward to meeting him. I quite liked some of their music – this 1983 record in particular (I still have it):</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYcHGF9OwyfVTq5dAbXZolghMcgxmpnv4emV5ryBCgXnf0fVu_B3sSpBor26KU1H0fd3f8kFjAAjBLNMgq8HDlGouK6wzWcPBFkKFO5VNThB2b4JdWNCCo8pYMyHTF4NvYo7X6R9NgeBcbo7ETVocSJ2ExThxTpjeZ-ZCd6Ot9UbVWk4z1EUdg732B5LU/s2404/IMG_20240119_201937~3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2371" data-original-width="2404" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHYcHGF9OwyfVTq5dAbXZolghMcgxmpnv4emV5ryBCgXnf0fVu_B3sSpBor26KU1H0fd3f8kFjAAjBLNMgq8HDlGouK6wzWcPBFkKFO5VNThB2b4JdWNCCo8pYMyHTF4NvYo7X6R9NgeBcbo7ETVocSJ2ExThxTpjeZ-ZCd6Ot9UbVWk4z1EUdg732B5LU/w400-h395/IMG_20240119_201937~3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">But back to 1992. The censors must have been busy back then because lots of tracks mentioned e or ecstasy around this time (The Shamen</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s daft and infamous <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebeneezer_Goode" target="_blank">Ebeneezer Goode</a></i> came out the same year, went to number 1). In fact today</span>’s record by Flight reminds me very much of Moby’s <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Is_the_E" target="_blank">Next is the E</a></i> (also from 1992, vocals by <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/528709-Nicole-Zaray" target="_blank">Nicole Zaray</a>). A lot of people found Moby much later in 1999 via his downtempo album <i>Play</i> but he had been a star of the rave world long before that (1991’s <i>Go</i> was huge). I don’t remember this detail from the time but his track <i>Next is the E</i> was apparently released under the name <i>I Feel It</i> in the UK because of the drug reference in the original title. We had that record (<i>I Feel It</i> )and played it a lot on the radio (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9zC22L1CY" target="_blank">the Synthe Mix</a> was the one for us, so good, hear it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9zC22L1CY" target="_blank">here</a>). </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHoFIAIIelv7djhvk8KpqiEOfWWJWqSIQ87QT_GWbJh5VV6frbSHuYWUWrBgGyfyZ4VX0Y3RAH8bB0AcoEqREpSjeq_zX5WZq_AslAAmkE6r7GqcsC0etSH3-QJyEIdsI2FGA9111w4Rr3yrpu89thd84d9xV64Up3GUHcgGnpOjm0gJTSTTi3uJJAbgh/s3120/IMG_20240117_144634.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3117" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHoFIAIIelv7djhvk8KpqiEOfWWJWqSIQ87QT_GWbJh5VV6frbSHuYWUWrBgGyfyZ4VX0Y3RAH8bB0AcoEqREpSjeq_zX5WZq_AslAAmkE6r7GqcsC0etSH3-QJyEIdsI2FGA9111w4Rr3yrpu89thd84d9xV64Up3GUHcgGnpOjm0gJTSTTi3uJJAbgh/w400-h400/IMG_20240117_144634.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Because our radio shows were 9pm-midnight on weekdays (Monday and Wednesday, I think) we tended to start with uptempo house music and gradually take the pace down as the shows progressed. Without the pressure of the dancefloor (DJs can be very competitive over who fills the dancefloor best) radio DJing was really relaxed and enjoyable and we played loads of music on Dream FM that we never played in clubs (too risky – especially when so many guys were wanting to tell you just how crap ‘girl’ DJs were before you even got started). From this great distance I realise we probably should have just taken more risks in clubs but at the time it didn’t feel possible, our positions were often riskier enough as it was.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">But back in 1992-3, <i>Flight</i> fitted perfectly into our radio show – somewhere in the middle as the nights wound down towards midnight. We knew that on Monday evenings, in particular, many of the listeners would be in the same condition as us after long weekends (i.e., feeling a little delicate, probably very tired after little or no sleep, not keen on being back in the weekly grind) and so we had that in our minds at all times. A good proportion of the listeners were in the local jail too so chilled tunes were helpful for them as well (they wrote and told us so – actual letters, on paper, hard to imagine now). The reason we picked the Youth mix to play was a lot to do with the spoken vocal at the start of the track, a pilot speaking to passengers but with some deviations from the usual script (“we will be abandoning our conventional flight path and heading towards our various individual destinations...”). There is no detail about that spoken part of the track (was it recorded specially, sampled from somewhere else) and back then we had no google to help us check so if anyone knows I’d be interested to find out. Even back in 1992 my relationship with flying (in planes) was on dodgy ground. I’d had at least one panic attack on a plane (after quite enjoying it previously) and so listening to a record about flying was preferable to actually checking in, boarding, taking off etc.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Anyway, never mind the anxiety, back tomorrow with added royalty (but don</span>’t worry, not the Windsors).</p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 28px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 28px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-38891856584328425762024-01-19T06:30:00.079+00:002024-01-19T07:26:37.007+00:00Day 19: The Chimes – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N4Ssxv3yLSSjWtNOPrvUkRmCFxEEXqphVWWXvJQeXKYW1J2qtoxxJdbDxtyh9HLYRQ2bRxQ1839vZLkadcTtLQrwgFGArIX8AgvNYGlXeHSA6Nj4NmeU_UBxcP7Z9d5uUjRMertQEnJqu-jtKylHpFQJf5ulCm_BE6cGxA6R2JgRvI2pbbM4q6cQ9iL6/s2772/IMG_20240117_144812.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2757" data-original-width="2772" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N4Ssxv3yLSSjWtNOPrvUkRmCFxEEXqphVWWXvJQeXKYW1J2qtoxxJdbDxtyh9HLYRQ2bRxQ1839vZLkadcTtLQrwgFGArIX8AgvNYGlXeHSA6Nj4NmeU_UBxcP7Z9d5uUjRMertQEnJqu-jtKylHpFQJf5ulCm_BE6cGxA6R2JgRvI2pbbM4q6cQ9iL6/w400-h398/IMG_20240117_144812.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Today’s disc is the 1990 cover of <i>I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chimes_(Scottish_band)" target="_blank">The Chimes</a>. This was a big favourite with soul fans and chilling out ravers in that year and it was a hit in the charts too (number 6 in the UK). The Chimes had other lesser hits (<i>Heaven</i> and <i>Love Comes to Mind</i>) and one album (<i>The Chimes</i>). They were very much in the same vein as bands like Soul II Soul (and in fact their first single <i>1-2-3</i> was produced by Jazzie B and Nellee Hooper). Here is today’s track:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KoAprhtXr-g" width="320" youtube-src-id="KoAprhtXr-g"></iframe></div><br /><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I was surprised to learn (all these years later) that this particular band called The Chimes* are two-thirds a Scottish band (James Locke and Mike Peden, the latter worked with the Lighthouse Family after this). I’ve lived in Scotland now for over 20 years but have never heard them mentioned in lists of Scottish bands. The singer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Henry" target="_blank">Pauline Henry</a>, was a Jamaican-born Londoner and you can hear her talking about joining the band, and this track in particular, on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012fbs" target="_blank">this episode</a> of the BBC radio show <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008mj7p" target="_blank"><i>Soul Music</i></a>. Each episode takes a song or piece of music and talks about the band/singer/composer but ordinary people’s relationship to the piece as well. I</span>t’s a great series, highly recommended, and it covers many genres, not just soul.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This song was written by U2, a band I think most of you will have heard of (oh, and they’re Irish). The song is from their album <i>The Joshua Tree</i> (1987) and was a hit single (number 1 in the US, 6 in the UK). I was always fairly neutral about U2 (didn’t love them, didn’t hate them) and I remember things like seeing them on <i>The Tube</i> in their early days and live footage of their gigs back when Bono seemed to be permanently up on the scaffolding. My favourite single of theirs was probably 1988’s <i>Angel of Harlem</i> but I never particularly sought out their music (and you didn’t have to in the </span>’80s, it was everywhere). Here is their version of today’s song (and OMG they look like babies – if ones in really big hats in some cases):</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e3-5YC_oHjE" width="320" youtube-src-id="e3-5YC_oHjE"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Chimes cover of <i>I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For</i> got me just at the right time, in the right way, and I’ve always really loved it </span>– it feels more knowing than the average pop song. Much has been said about how Bono himself rated Henry’s vocal on this version (and he is quoted as having said something along the lines of “at last someone’s come along to sing it properly”). The lyrics can resonate with many of us much of the time and I particularly associate this one with long recovery sessions after very long nights out – in this case mainly in West London in the very early 1990s (I had a friend living there around this time and I used to visit her about once a month). We would listen to The Chimes (this track, <i>Heaven</i> and <i>Love Comes to Mind</i>), Innocence (<i>Natural Thing</i>), The Family Stand (<i>Ghetto Heaven</i>), Soul II Soul (various), <i>Sunshine on a Rainy Day</i> by Zoe, <i>Hippy Chick</i> by Soho and many more. It can take a long time to come down when you’ve been up really high and you need a lot of music to keep you company, soothe you, speak to you.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JH-oqTpIrjADAsaHRh0-4fraCOqpve1LzjZ-R7CSEzFmdOzS7m8Ajnam2ydEusbuLpGJTQktLoGvfOAh_RZZXm3k5sYeiId9WpSwgTbBTDeRT5hNWLtE98np9aQ9eYXYP1SVTcu3K5EL6CBoPxOSzj-OSWtfieKcgP_W6d6pQi0WlvfHl60lZpjytjnt/s3131/IMG_20240117_144905.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3131" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JH-oqTpIrjADAsaHRh0-4fraCOqpve1LzjZ-R7CSEzFmdOzS7m8Ajnam2ydEusbuLpGJTQktLoGvfOAh_RZZXm3k5sYeiId9WpSwgTbBTDeRT5hNWLtE98np9aQ9eYXYP1SVTcu3K5EL6CBoPxOSzj-OSWtfieKcgP_W6d6pQi0WlvfHl60lZpjytjnt/w399-h400/IMG_20240117_144905.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Again, I bought these 12” singles some years later, to play on the radio or in the backrooms of noisy clubs. In 1990 I had the cassette of the album <i>The Chimes</i>, played it in the car mostly, but both are long gone now (the cassette and the car).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Anyway, see you tomorrow when we’ll be taking to the air.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*There was another band called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chimes_(American_band)" target="_blank">The Chimes</a> in the US, a doo wop group from Brooklyn, started in the 1950s.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-881004702335076742024-01-18T06:30:00.133+00:002024-01-18T06:56:10.427+00:00Day 18: Various – Further Adventures of North – More Underground Dance Music<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9-pPuxieSVATviVr1YoYlanWUx1DJ9g2BTSpsbfewlf3QxinzCy44aeGy_ZUI4Sh6MHK8LoZqSYZOegHT2O-9AiqjxA-VmYtBFRYnWtOe-RIkC_rsk0wErTUmRKynunynOtXNNdELT2xAdYRTdhtTa9ZnI2hwsQJzOl-p1oJC-yGMxMkDePatgt9dojq/s3070/IMG_20240115_151521.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2965" data-original-width="3070" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9-pPuxieSVATviVr1YoYlanWUx1DJ9g2BTSpsbfewlf3QxinzCy44aeGy_ZUI4Sh6MHK8LoZqSYZOegHT2O-9AiqjxA-VmYtBFRYnWtOe-RIkC_rsk0wErTUmRKynunynOtXNNdELT2xAdYRTdhtTa9ZnI2hwsQJzOl-p1oJC-yGMxMkDePatgt9dojq/w400-h386/IMG_20240115_151521.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today we are very much on the other side of the Pennines (in Manchester and surrounding areas) as today’s disc is 1990’s <i>Further Adventures of North – More Underground Dance Music</i> on deConstruction Records. This EP has 4 tracks (1-3 being: T Coy’s <i>Carino 90</i>, Annette’s <i>Dream 17 </i>and Frequency 9’s <i>The Way I Feel</i>) but it is the fourth one that I am going to focus on as it is the one we played: 1989’s <i>Stop This Thing</i> <i>remix </i>by Dynasty of Two (feat Rowetta). <i>Stop This Thing</i> is a great track – production by two of the </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(24, 25, 26); background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666;">Haçienda</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">’s regular DJs back then (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pickering" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Mike Pickering</a><span style="font-family: arial;">* and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Park_(DJ)" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Graeme Park</a><span style="font-family: arial;">) and vocals from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowetta" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Rowetta</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> (who has done so much, been in the Happy Mondays, been on various TV shows, recently featured on a Shed 7 track called, suitably, </span><i style="font-family: arial;">In Ecstasy</i><span style="font-family: arial;">). Here is the 1988 track:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ChBAvAkncFQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ChBAvAkncFQ"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wasn’t aware of it growing up (because I was a little further north) but once I was living in Leeds</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> I became aware of the Leeds/Manchester rivalry. A lot of it is football related but there are music/nightlife strands too. When I moved to Leeds in 1989 it was slightly before the whole financial centre, Harvey Nicks/posh shopping era and Leeds did feel a bit overlooked and overshadowed by Manchester’s reputation. The </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(24, 25, 26); background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #666666;">Haçienda</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> club being such a big name in the early days of house music and rave probably contributed to this too. Manchester had the famous club, the famous record shop (Eastern Bloc), the trendy clothes market (Afflecks Palace) and Leeds was famous for what at that time – goths and <a href="Leeds United Service Crew - Wikipedia" target="_blank">football hooliganism</a>? Leeds did change in the 1990s (ecstasy played a big part in that too I think**) but the rivalry stayed in place to an extent.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn’t go clubbing in Manchester much – certainly not around the time this record came out (89/90). I liked the raw, unpretentious nature of the early rave scene in Leeds where it was pretty common to end up in “I used to be fighting all the time and now I love everyone” ecstasy conversations. I always enjoyed those moments (though to be fair you enjoy most things on ecstasy, that’s kind of the point). I think I bought this record second-hand when we started DJing on pirate radio in Leeds in 1992. The station was the house-heavy Dream FM and a friend and I suggested we might do a show as, at that time, they didn’t have any female DJs on the station (though later there were loads of us, more on that in another post). My friend and I called ourselves Daisy & Havoc (after two Mary Quant dolls) and we were given Monday and Wednesday nights (9-midnight). That’s quite a few hours to fill and whilst we both had a passion for music and went out a lot and had cassettes and old albums we didn’t have that much 12” vinyl at the time. We needed to get a collection together quickly and so we scoured shops, charity shops, car boot sales, friends’ and family’s record collections. We also learned to mix, sometimes live on air (and I used to feel bad about that till I heard some of the clatterings that get called mixing on national radio stations in more recent times). I had never actually heard this track before we came across it (maybe it was too Manchester for the Leeds clubs I went to) but we loved it and played it regularly on the radio. In a time when so many club tracks were just using the same words (ecstasy, love, together) this one had different ambitions (</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial;">the world is just a great big dustbin</span><span style="font-family: arial;">”</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> etc.).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Other Manchester (or at least North West of England) records that we enjoyed and picked up second hand for our collections (and that I still own) are below (A Guy Called Gerald***, Sub Sub, Happy Mondays remixes, 2 For Joy). A lot of good dance music did come from over that way:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwIHhnDcCIJG1hffHQfmFIA3DHjd_Tr5m5Gajlj2b9guVIOqUVwbwNGk2zFbfuQjvsw-VHwkcH4kg6-KhtI_h-JZ7LFRe2Q3jolbu_9kpJCvC4aO98jEkpqLzeid77UNC6yLuH0ENptDejK-vklOoVmFmyEFdLISkXTU4yI4yswkx9KMtc0dMOhw0HVUWz/s3232/IMG_20240115_151955.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3019" data-original-width="3232" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwIHhnDcCIJG1hffHQfmFIA3DHjd_Tr5m5Gajlj2b9guVIOqUVwbwNGk2zFbfuQjvsw-VHwkcH4kg6-KhtI_h-JZ7LFRe2Q3jolbu_9kpJCvC4aO98jEkpqLzeid77UNC6yLuH0ENptDejK-vklOoVmFmyEFdLISkXTU4yI4yswkx9KMtc0dMOhw0HVUWz/w400-h374/IMG_20240115_151955.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVcJqZtUMOgrfaPKqSGZjqGtjkXjmI_CFBK7npVIBYb7izT7yu-Ti9PRp44HJA22PbCsZ7iBxbtk1CkRpuXhyphenhyphenVK-vBDfFGy7oJRe7HWM3e1eYagoX40eGHS-TM2gYm4SuenXZmAsUp11gbmFF9r9zw9g6cdQAocWNpV1Old_6FF2jy9iK1fvLGBG4xKOC/s2974/IMG_20240115_151937.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2930" data-original-width="2974" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVcJqZtUMOgrfaPKqSGZjqGtjkXjmI_CFBK7npVIBYb7izT7yu-Ti9PRp44HJA22PbCsZ7iBxbtk1CkRpuXhyphenhyphenVK-vBDfFGy7oJRe7HWM3e1eYagoX40eGHS-TM2gYm4SuenXZmAsUp11gbmFF9r9zw9g6cdQAocWNpV1Old_6FF2jy9iK1fvLGBG4xKOC/w400-h394/IMG_20240115_151937.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsCxiO9SfA-c5NdfGg3GySxRePc_IOznl-KeNfAn-pCrjdRzeJIiiZ-mlatWwqtd_QnwoaTkWOCVlnUD81YeatECalce2xJacXJsfItbwmITsGxZdKELOYFsU4Uf8WKRgfE9x7klwOOGpQk6KTlxKLxzw8ip-LydCb2Ew7zd4J5mTrVAlxh3SqaLVPePF/s3218/IMG_20240117_144843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3218" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsCxiO9SfA-c5NdfGg3GySxRePc_IOznl-KeNfAn-pCrjdRzeJIiiZ-mlatWwqtd_QnwoaTkWOCVlnUD81YeatECalce2xJacXJsfItbwmITsGxZdKELOYFsU4Uf8WKRgfE9x7klwOOGpQk6KTlxKLxzw8ip-LydCb2Ew7zd4J5mTrVAlxh3SqaLVPePF/w388-h400/IMG_20240117_144843.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgTMPkswoBWhrFaIu8zRpDeMxM_2x2Me0SkG0Ip95jKefXIEsv67lsPeqcBAceRyzD4_eEvXED1dI9zDoah8CsL4n7guH6uodYYfSLSKzdgUBZh8L4NM5dWxapGb_q1JY4UpeYeS9ADG0bppWYftgEAsTynNqcxXFAdWA01NxokpOUYkPwYAYC90TWo5f/s2888/IMG_20240117_161510.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2766" data-original-width="2888" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgTMPkswoBWhrFaIu8zRpDeMxM_2x2Me0SkG0Ip95jKefXIEsv67lsPeqcBAceRyzD4_eEvXED1dI9zDoah8CsL4n7guH6uodYYfSLSKzdgUBZh8L4NM5dWxapGb_q1JY4UpeYeS9ADG0bppWYftgEAsTynNqcxXFAdWA01NxokpOUYkPwYAYC90TWo5f/w400-h383/IMG_20240117_161510.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAHDkJ4xKaogl_Buek8NWGdrZuRrMxYUrOfGVHeA0UYSH55TYBCtyTBT3PSvoRuRiW8KbEcAKpikBrpuME6QPEziRqYjI4M44hLWbwn_al-JvNWq9f6TKZVToSw8KUUvK4hWiJiSrZI0Q0YpG8HsLl5ElYRlOLaCr0mzpfshh1U_PoxP6WifnwTDZVbC2/s3055/IMG_20240115_151838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3055" data-original-width="2919" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAHDkJ4xKaogl_Buek8NWGdrZuRrMxYUrOfGVHeA0UYSH55TYBCtyTBT3PSvoRuRiW8KbEcAKpikBrpuME6QPEziRqYjI4M44hLWbwn_al-JvNWq9f6TKZVToSw8KUUvK4hWiJiSrZI0Q0YpG8HsLl5ElYRlOLaCr0mzpfshh1U_PoxP6WifnwTDZVbC2/w383-h400/IMG_20240115_151838.jpg" width="383" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Somehow I don</span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">t seem to own any Stone Roses vinyl </span>– seems a bit of a gap as they were huge and really popular in Leeds (as well as everywhere else). I still listen to them here and there, they<span style="font-family: arial;">’</span>ve never really gone out of rotation.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Anyway, after being on Dream FM for a while we got club work as DJs and had a job working regularly in the Leeds club Vague. We also DJed elsewhere doing guest spots and played in Aberdeen, London, Newcastle, Rimini (bit fancy, that one). One time we did even DJ in the famous <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(24, 25, 26); background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #666666;">Haçienda</span></span> – as part of the Flesh mid-week gay night (we were there a bit after its heyday but we still made it). Here is the poster from the event we played at (in 1995 maybe):</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfQKbo9SsW9cuXxEsoIWezniBhTbHTDuCIsLh6v1GM-9M9i2gsO3tdU4nrV6RgPOZ9q82Ppiz1Xt8TO9qt3m7UVhx6EPzAfUMB3nyQ3HNGtrVZ33mnm8Ta3iy1OBy9fruZP-sOMnpL1jGBVoa_uLeQZ6ZaWUSDrhlWAnEMBVTkN5u9eiKaYzDy7Y4tjrt/s1024/415566630_1566846527411856_1934529787759771891_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfQKbo9SsW9cuXxEsoIWezniBhTbHTDuCIsLh6v1GM-9M9i2gsO3tdU4nrV6RgPOZ9q82Ppiz1Xt8TO9qt3m7UVhx6EPzAfUMB3nyQ3HNGtrVZ33mnm8Ta3iy1OBy9fruZP-sOMnpL1jGBVoa_uLeQZ6ZaWUSDrhlWAnEMBVTkN5u9eiKaYzDy7Y4tjrt/w300-h400/415566630_1566846527411856_1934529787759771891_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with a cover version.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*Mike Pickering was involved in the production of all 4 tracks on this EP. Over time his best known musical project was the very successful band M People (featuring the vocalist Heather Small who went on to a solo career, in particular the huge track <i>Proud</i>). There has been little mention of CDs in this project but I did have the 1991 M People CD <i>Northern Soul </i>(it featured the early hits <i>How Can I Love You More</i> and <i>Colour My Life</i>, both still great tracks). I didn</span><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span>t buy it so it was either a promo copy or something my Mum gave me after she joined a CD Club with some magazine in the 1990s before remembering she didn<span style="font-family: arial;">’</span>t like pop music at all (and everything they had in the catalogue was pop). </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">** It changed the nightlife, made it friendlier, less about drinking and more about having a good time. The Leeds club scene became big and varied and attracted a lot of people to the city over the 1990s.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">***Gerald was an early member of the successful Manchester band 808 State too (somehow I never knew that till this week). </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-2013780447938487122024-01-17T06:30:00.062+00:002024-01-17T08:23:24.716+00:00Day 17: Lisa Stansfield – All Around the World<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdoCr8XGFkFnXjiwuNdeVeibTFnJbp4ARm3W9i7LY0dxVVLme_IzRAUuGa6uEAOPdew44xwCPk6dB4IWgN7CcZ9JmnZsG4cZqwY4mcAU91-93P4rbq1aZJET03SC-HQwIZ1F9ln917II15p4bICfGk3772bAXi9vyi-Dex5FGNoG69goQjpDc2OfFv9Hr/s2889/IMG_20240116_133134.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2889" data-original-width="2888" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdoCr8XGFkFnXjiwuNdeVeibTFnJbp4ARm3W9i7LY0dxVVLme_IzRAUuGa6uEAOPdew44xwCPk6dB4IWgN7CcZ9JmnZsG4cZqwY4mcAU91-93P4rbq1aZJET03SC-HQwIZ1F9ln917II15p4bICfGk3772bAXi9vyi-Dex5FGNoG69goQjpDc2OfFv9Hr/w400-h400/IMG_20240116_133134.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Today’s disc is this smash hit from 1989 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Stansfield" target="_blank">Lisa Stansfield</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Around_the_World_(Lisa_Stansfield_song)" target="_blank">All Around the World</a></i>. Taken from Stansfield’s debut album <i>Affection</i>, it was written by the singer and two former band mates, Andy Morris and Ian Devaney (the latter became her husband some years later). Stansfield had had other singles before this and had sung and co-written <i>People Hold On</i> with Coldcut (another of those oh-so 1980s dance videos <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IoWjow6xDs" target="_blank">here</a>). But it was this single (for the major label Arista) that really established her as a solo artist. Here’s the video:</span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JVuuatjHGnY" width="320" youtube-src-id="JVuuatjHGnY"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">When I first moved to Leeds in 1989 I mostly listened to the pirate stations operating in the city at the time. Dream FM (the one I played on with my DJ partner Daisy) started up a few years later but in ’89 the main one was WYBC (West Yorkshire Broadcasting Company). It mainly played soul music (with a little bit of that new fangled house music now and then) but I’ve been quite a soul fan over the years (as some of this month’s tracks will testify) so I really enjoyed it, especially when getting ready to go out or recovering from going out. My favourite show on WYBC was with a guy called Soulmaster Hazzy (Saturday teatime I think) and he really loved this Lisa Stansfield track. On pirate radio there is nothing to stop you playing a song over and over and that is certainly what he did with <i>All Around the World</i>. The station played Black music pretty much wall to wall but this song was not only played but played a great deal. It was number 1 in the pop charts but a hit with the pirate stations too.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Apparently the song was influenced by the great Barry White, hence the spoken intro. Stansfield even rerecorded it in 1992 as a duet with the man himself (that is on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLOWYAzs9GI" target="_blank">YouTube</a>). Even if nothing she has done since has had quite the success of this single, she has had a pretty solid and varied career (singing, songwriting, acting). There is no one quite like Lisa.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Another song on mega rotation in the same radio show at around the same time was the one pictured below. This record was released a few times (first in 1990, then again in 1991) but I wonder if I heard it on a promo copy on WYBC before that. Like <i>All Around the World</i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Nothing_Like_This_(song)" target="_blank">There’s Nothing Like This</a></i> by Omar was played many, many times on the station:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CI5-_u9SIF8zu4402UDHcvNWDH_V78A39WtAkbz7ScFQ1_g53nos1Hnb4O6KUX64iRsuMJdQRJO8eVB6tLlthPSwIxTXdA1YWc6T03axBiEzUz0aO8MVmU-QQqr9pOwRIZS7fzA8laRWT98RmlsxLxNZ7UpXsa0y6qdQRDSnWCJgyddAw4KI5rSNtqyV/s3030/IMG_20240116_133208.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2917" data-original-width="3030" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CI5-_u9SIF8zu4402UDHcvNWDH_V78A39WtAkbz7ScFQ1_g53nos1Hnb4O6KUX64iRsuMJdQRJO8eVB6tLlthPSwIxTXdA1YWc6T03axBiEzUz0aO8MVmU-QQqr9pOwRIZS7fzA8laRWT98RmlsxLxNZ7UpXsa0y6qdQRDSnWCJgyddAw4KI5rSNtqyV/w400-h385/IMG_20240116_133208.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Lye-Fook" target="_blank">Omar</a> is a classically trained singer and songwriter and Lisa isn’t the only soul singer with acting experience as in 2022 Omar appeared in the TV soap <i>Eastenders</i> (credited as Omar Lye-Fook).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7pqoQP7WlV4" width="320" youtube-src-id="7pqoQP7WlV4"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We will be speeding up again tomorrow and heading on a day trip to Manchester.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-66461596321971723912024-01-16T06:00:00.048+00:002024-01-16T14:25:12.655+00:00Day 16: LFO by LFO<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nzHgbT5SKyWXJvKFfU-LCUUOsiUPAlpTdB56HQkTuxOrn15OGpZFqSwIPOo7zu8r08NS2kXH9uVB2DlRzqDqbTPWmjGQ5L0EuclBEuzmRQjc9_zdbvDE5-YnrVh7LhId2w8IRAaUE3xseStmfIKa3xnxl7_Z_Lq7Gu4Betc8vmsKSfTJA8SJYqh5jRrW/s2934/IMG_20240113_233559.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2934" data-original-width="2770" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nzHgbT5SKyWXJvKFfU-LCUUOsiUPAlpTdB56HQkTuxOrn15OGpZFqSwIPOo7zu8r08NS2kXH9uVB2DlRzqDqbTPWmjGQ5L0EuclBEuzmRQjc9_zdbvDE5-YnrVh7LhId2w8IRAaUE3xseStmfIKa3xnxl7_Z_Lq7Gu4Betc8vmsKSfTJA8SJYqh5jRrW/w378-h400/IMG_20240113_233559.jpg" width="378" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is the 12” single <i>LFO</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LFO_(British_band)" target="_blank">LFO</a>. This is the Leeds band LFO (low-frequency oscillation), not a later US band with the same name (their LFO stood for lyte funky ones apparently). I didn’t think I’d ever heard of the US LFO but then I went and listened to their 1999 hit <i>Summer Girls</i> (so you don’t have to) and it is ever so slightly familiar (and pretty terrible – lyrics include “Chinese food makes me sick”).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Anyway, back to Yorkshire. I’ve picked today’s track as it’s very representative of the Leeds dance music scene/culture that I found when I moved there in September 1989. I was happy to be moving back to the North of England (from the South). I’d been born and grown up in the North and I was ready to return to sensible vowels, better chips and fewer Tories. I’ve written a bit about my move to the city in my previous project in 2021 (<a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2021/01/31-postcodes-poem-1.html" target="_blank">31 Postcodes)</a>. The first Leeds post is <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2021/01/31-postcodes-poem-17.html" target="_blank">here</a> and you can just click newer post again and again to get all the others. Altogether I lived in ten different addresses in the city.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As we know (see <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-12-ten-city-thats-way-love-is.html" target="_blank">Day 12</a> of this year</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s posts), earlier in the year I’d already joined the tribe called house (or rave – I can’t remember exactly when people started calling dancing to this specific kind of music raving, I guess it was gradual – some history of the word <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rave#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201980s%2C%20the,of%20the%20acid%20house%20movement" target="_blank">here</a>). This meant pretty much the first thing I did once I moved to the city was find the places to go and listen to this music (and most importantly to dance to it – all night long if possible). There were quite a few places to go (and more sprang up all the time) but the one I have the strongest memory of from that early time is the <a href="https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/astoria-ballroom-memories-of-a-jewel-in-leedss-entertainment-crown-4139183" target="_blank">Astoria</a> on Roundhay Road in Harehills. </span>Luckily someone else I knew moved to Leeds at the same time and had the same tastes in music and absolute hedonism so we went out together a lot and I think it was Friday nights we went to the Astoria. I can’t remember if the night had a name (other club/rave nights of the era were Joy, KAOS, Audacity, Dream – you get the idea) but the venue was an old ballroom (now demolished) and around 1989-90 it was amazing. Part of the appeal was that it wasn’t in the town centre so you really only got people who knew what they were coming for (and not just drunks who stumbled in by accident). It was a big dancefloor with a balcony area (I think) and it worked really well for the kind of bare, hypnotic music they played there. Don’t ask me who was DJing – at this point I was still totally oblivious to such things (it was about the music, the dancing, the drugs, not personalities) but I do remember there was a lot of really great music (much of it local) and that a lot of it was on the techno end of the house/rave spectrum (at the time sometimes called bleep house or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleep_techno" target="_blank">bleep techno</a>). Here is LFO (and even though it all felt very underground at the time this track was actually in the charts, hitting number 12 in July 1990):</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s-1Y2EqThyQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="s-1Y2EqThyQ"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">At the time I wasn’t buying records and I know I got all these much later when I was working in the record shop and DJing (see<a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-15-lil-louis-world-i-called-u-but.html" target="_blank"> yesterday’s post</a>). I got them for the memories and with the thought that we might play them in pubs and clubs (but we rarely did as these tracks didn’t fit in with the music of the era that followed, roughly 1993-7). In 1989-90 I listened to music via cassettes (in the company car that I drove very badly) or via pirate radio* (more on that in another post). Quite a lot of the local music of this kind and this era was put out by the record label <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_(record_label)" target="_blank">Warp</a> (then very much a Sheffield label, now still going, still influential, but based in London now). Here are some of the other bleepy singles (all of which I loved at the time).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy2qsXAcZ2vhYZpEsPoa9YQUbDPbFGUs1r_2gJubkmOdaXmXgPW_7QfsuSEXpOapcadoYwcsdGc3nbCRj2zo8siedflK1-sa7FNuD1MChIAnmWLfwUzpTCREk3njAc0GqNYhhMz5VH1fXaAtLUdLO85J_tXxpy2yCSoJ07N9eJeYAjF5mgcvclJUYLoTv/s2943/IMG_20240113_233501.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2734" data-original-width="2943" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy2qsXAcZ2vhYZpEsPoa9YQUbDPbFGUs1r_2gJubkmOdaXmXgPW_7QfsuSEXpOapcadoYwcsdGc3nbCRj2zo8siedflK1-sa7FNuD1MChIAnmWLfwUzpTCREk3njAc0GqNYhhMz5VH1fXaAtLUdLO85J_tXxpy2yCSoJ07N9eJeYAjF5mgcvclJUYLoTv/w400-h371/IMG_20240113_233501.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIOkQICCJ0MgKlRTc1R0_lGFtvJ4l76a44GmbXsP06Dh4tluVnJoAs2jG2QV-zBVYvVYVOQuMzJeRDbaBoADgnHNBJxut_i9l0oVKm0Nc-fXidY9XAJn8xXM18b1pFYcByNY4YJ0D-5xR4ug8SoK_pRtxpVre8iMaKQNQ8H0K2_kw12UcC3AO8JM7iYS-/s3252/IMG_20240113_233448.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3252" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIOkQICCJ0MgKlRTc1R0_lGFtvJ4l76a44GmbXsP06Dh4tluVnJoAs2jG2QV-zBVYvVYVOQuMzJeRDbaBoADgnHNBJxut_i9l0oVKm0Nc-fXidY9XAJn8xXM18b1pFYcByNY4YJ0D-5xR4ug8SoK_pRtxpVre8iMaKQNQ8H0K2_kw12UcC3AO8JM7iYS-/w384-h400/IMG_20240113_233448.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4UwXWMohznToLjl6mfObMn-OiFCZT7KlMZB3l_qTJgEU2-DFxf_j1-B9xyhTHaXxfuajrB0jOzDwi8IMxUWwHXqyZ8OCU1N6a_9sqPZ6rEKUrclCFhPSPi_Rr9UFiCscU5-i5kF8T1H34yfAtNTy0h_UnqQkqSTEbfXYhPfPKvXXLHrK2vJOogzX_XXv/s3120/IMG_20240113_233419.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3069" data-original-width="3120" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4UwXWMohznToLjl6mfObMn-OiFCZT7KlMZB3l_qTJgEU2-DFxf_j1-B9xyhTHaXxfuajrB0jOzDwi8IMxUWwHXqyZ8OCU1N6a_9sqPZ6rEKUrclCFhPSPi_Rr9UFiCscU5-i5kF8T1H34yfAtNTy0h_UnqQkqSTEbfXYhPfPKvXXLHrK2vJOogzX_XXv/w400-h394/IMG_20240113_233419.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcC1oOQB0GrEizdlWvqJdnX2OWCig1zYXByi_0FmWR2dehSwHzJU1eGImqIAmkudVFphfcAnPkGwCQDv26jZ5ueYxYfLCFBt7rwTZ4E-RWhpyoDNu42sj620vnhQhQTkNms_Ouxx6v6B66eyrk2RADcGCXrg_PVMyylUUufRKEzQalIxHz0uE6mkHfc_Q1/s3120/IMG_20240113_233348.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2864" data-original-width="3120" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcC1oOQB0GrEizdlWvqJdnX2OWCig1zYXByi_0FmWR2dehSwHzJU1eGImqIAmkudVFphfcAnPkGwCQDv26jZ5ueYxYfLCFBt7rwTZ4E-RWhpyoDNu42sj620vnhQhQTkNms_Ouxx6v6B66eyrk2RADcGCXrg_PVMyylUUufRKEzQalIxHz0uE6mkHfc_Q1/w400-h368/IMG_20240113_233348.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Of the above <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmares_on_Wax" target="_blank">Nightmares on Wax</a> (George Evelyn) is still making great music (if of a much more chilled variety). </span>Tricky Disco made me cringe the most listening recently (I don’t think it has aged well) and I can’t tell you much about what happened to <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/3138-Ital-Rockers" target="_blank">Ital Rockers</a> (added later: a North of England vinyl correspondent has told me they are working as the dub sound system <a href="https://irationsteppas.co.uk/" target="_blank">Iration Steppas</a>). One of Unique 3 went on to make drum and bass under the name<a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/7731-L-Double" target="_blank"> L Double</a> and has the record label Flex. He also used the name Asylum and we did play one of his records under that alias in clubs sometimes <span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">–</span> the drum and bass track <i>Da Base II Dark</i> by Asylum (below). </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbOpA8zOmhIzOT_G3jxG3RUftgJTCt9SDtjnkq67jwurAU6UzWlI95IPyQHizviLI0JEdNTXSPn4ZpoKEJV6xm4KB-gBBjWJ_Iw7quDLaH5bMr828ydddfvujCYow92I2Uh2P8Iru_nQbDDK5jOFSb7QXFzWdLo1cZfoFaJ0Sis5mUGOfQQ0BuHOfHto3/s2933/IMG_20240115_152114.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2797" data-original-width="2933" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbOpA8zOmhIzOT_G3jxG3RUftgJTCt9SDtjnkq67jwurAU6UzWlI95IPyQHizviLI0JEdNTXSPn4ZpoKEJV6xm4KB-gBBjWJ_Iw7quDLaH5bMr828ydddfvujCYow92I2Uh2P8Iru_nQbDDK5jOFSb7QXFzWdLo1cZfoFaJ0Sis5mUGOfQQ0BuHOfHto3/w400-h381/IMG_20240115_152114.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After this bleeping big start Yorkshire did stay quite influential for techno music. One of the biggest English techno clubs, Orbit, started in the county in 1991 and ran for 12 years (most of its days/nights spent at the After Dark club in Morley, apologies to Morley residents are due no doubt). I did go once (it was very full-on…).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with something a little more soulful. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*There was also the Pete Tong Friday evening radio show on Radio 1 which I especially used to listen to if I was driving down the M1 for London clubbing with friends around that time. In later years (around the mid 1990s) Tong played at a club we worked at in Leeds and we were the warm-up DJs for his guest spot. He didn’t even say hello, which was very disappointing (if not totally surprising, many big name DJs were total arseholes by that point).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-30579459624707176712024-01-15T06:30:00.068+00:002024-01-15T08:38:41.716+00:00Day 15: Lil Louis & the World – I Called U (But You Weren’t There)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCPio_Rk7XxV97ViyogtoQJ9lbx-9EgVLTFpONZLNehsyULoeRIw7UcGyHO9MMnkOPk4zdmkNJ48j3k15XQwRE9P52SL-2aThRM9nRqEf3Lh1Aonni7m3nV-avmo0kFw6QVmV8srVEGJ0wou2IcFO7oyWThhKRnmCTJOBVEen7ugwRDzoQdCFHPI0a0mt/s2847/IMG_20240113_101044.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2839" data-original-width="2847" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCPio_Rk7XxV97ViyogtoQJ9lbx-9EgVLTFpONZLNehsyULoeRIw7UcGyHO9MMnkOPk4zdmkNJ48j3k15XQwRE9P52SL-2aThRM9nRqEf3Lh1Aonni7m3nV-avmo0kFw6QVmV8srVEGJ0wou2IcFO7oyWThhKRnmCTJOBVEen7ugwRDzoQdCFHPI0a0mt/w400-h399/IMG_20240113_101044.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Today’s disc is a double 12” single from 1989* by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Louis" target="_blank">Lil Louis</a> & the World. The main track on this one is <i>I Called U (But You Weren’t There)</i> with its spoken conversation between the two protagonists (Lil Louis and Jennifer Wilcox doing the voices). Here is the track (the woman in the video is Efua Baker, now a celebrity fitness expert and trainer, also wife of Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B):</span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/to90wwlr9LY" width="320" youtube-src-id="to90wwlr9LY"></iframe></div> <p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Also on this double are versions of <i>Blackout </i>and <i>French Kiss</i>, all from the album <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Mind_of_Lil_Louis" target="_blank">From the Mind of Lil Louis</a></i>. The tracks on the album were written and produced by Lil Louis and he also played most of the instruments whilst Larry Heard (Mr Fingers) gets production credits. Louis’s Dad, Bobby Sims, was a musician too – he played with Bobby Bland and B.B. King – and he plays on one track on the album (not house music, listen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcN1znKou7Q" target="_blank">here</a>). Here’s my copy of the album on vinyl:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_bzfPwcI1ndQI7ys1ZhbJKYeD2PhL2g9ciB_nWS0Nu5gE2wOgKdDeGTawhx2wtDvzige-Kek45zYNaA_NYETyq06oG2nRDMfLhIVFkLQHvwJUOZ7Op37QPepKioZ46PdtCvh7M3v9ZRkA6VVgeQtgS2YXvtVgfQoV23CX1DR6tJRBc__2AW4O8WTg0AJ/s3111/IMG_20240111_122909.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3111" data-original-width="2957" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_bzfPwcI1ndQI7ys1ZhbJKYeD2PhL2g9ciB_nWS0Nu5gE2wOgKdDeGTawhx2wtDvzige-Kek45zYNaA_NYETyq06oG2nRDMfLhIVFkLQHvwJUOZ7Op37QPepKioZ46PdtCvh7M3v9ZRkA6VVgeQtgS2YXvtVgfQoV23CX1DR6tJRBc__2AW4O8WTg0AJ/w380-h400/IMG_20240111_122909.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">A Chicago-born producer and DJ, Lil Louis is most famous perhaps for his 1989 single <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Kiss_(Lil_Louis_song)" target="_blank"><i>French Kiss</i></a> – a sexy track that featured a lot of moaning. It also slowed right down and speeded up (all very much mimicking sexual activity) – years later there were loads of records that slowed right down to build tension in a club but this was one of the best. In the UK <i>French Kiss</i> was banned by the BBC but as we all know such decisions only make things more desirable and it climaxed at number 2 in the mainstream UK charts. To be honest I don’t remember hearing <i>French Kiss</i> in a club –</span> certainly I do remember the track but I’m not sure from where or <span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">how. Like 1984</span>’s <i>Relax</i> by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, it was much talked about in the UK, a place with a tendency to be quite uptight overall, especially when it comes to talking about sex.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The main place and time I remember listening to Lil Louis was some years later than 1989 when I had already abandoned a regular 9-5 job and was DJing and working in second hand record shop in Leeds in the 1990s. The shop started life as a small corner of an antiques centre full of piles of old disco and dance 12” singles (Lovejoy meets Studio 54’s DJ booth … or something). Owned by a friend and eventually named Record Box, during the time I was there (maybe 1993-7?) the shop expanded bit by bit before eventually moving into a proper retail unit of its own in the city. Altogether I spent a lot of hours in that shop – sometimes having to make endless conversation with all the many wannabe DJs around in those years, other times just sorting and listening to records (many, many records). There are a lot of really boring, unimaginative dance records (especially ones put out by major labels to take advantage of the rise of house/dance music at this time) and I’ve listened to a lot of them (if not always all the way through </span>– I received a lot as promo copies when I was a DJ and record reviewer for <i>Record Mirror</i>). Everyone and their uncle were remixed in the ’90s (over and over again) and a lot of it was bland, uninspired and instantly forgettable.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So putting on a Lil Louis track instantly changed the atmosphere and perked up a day amongst the stacks of vinyl back then. Most likely I would have put this on to listen (for pricing purposes) and then quietly put it in my <i>not for public sale</i> pile. All the tracks on today’s disc are so interesting and creative (and just really beautiful sounds). They call it house but there’s a lot going on in there (more than a hint of jazz). There are a lot of spoken sections (on <i>I Called U</i> and on the amazing <i>Blackout</i>) and I love a good spoken section on a record (maybe something for a future series... </span>“Cameras ready, prepare to flash” etc.). I’m not really one for gods but I love the drama of “And at the flick of God's switch, all the lights in the world are out” in this track. Who doesn’t want to listen to this at 3.30 in the afternoon in the middle of an antiques centre? </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p2UG3sLkGgo" width="320" youtube-src-id="p2UG3sLkGgo"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Now 61, Lil Louis is still very much out and about in clubs – DJing and the like – and he is on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lillouisofficial/" target="_blank">social media</a> if you want to, ahem, track him down. I really enjoyed listening to these tracks again this week. It’s been a while but the music has lasted really well (such clear sounds, so <i>not</i> bland and uninspired) and I</span>’m glad I kept this one. Turn it up...</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with some Yorkshire produce.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*It says 1990 online for this single but my copy definitely says 1989.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #18191b; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-41678105153222936922024-01-14T06:30:00.119+00:002024-01-17T14:10:03.294+00:00Day 14: N.W.A. – Express Yourself<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEYPALReOlxqeGWTvWaAtht-u1g3eUm8sVHoLHBzoNpu-x3q_C-OCJ6Jq_MtyupfI9x_NOM3KMKb3K764nF6ktUvlLJVgdWl_ONuRAYGiBEw5vYHi901nAaSEkNeWEZzLPj5hBjRWpMcNtjBX1qh_9GV2iI4UlR9NSALpHss6RwMuY-1dFjExKvcOSNwp/s3120/IMG_20240111_122947.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2976" data-original-width="3120" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEYPALReOlxqeGWTvWaAtht-u1g3eUm8sVHoLHBzoNpu-x3q_C-OCJ6Jq_MtyupfI9x_NOM3KMKb3K764nF6ktUvlLJVgdWl_ONuRAYGiBEw5vYHi901nAaSEkNeWEZzLPj5hBjRWpMcNtjBX1qh_9GV2iI4UlR9NSALpHss6RwMuY-1dFjExKvcOSNwp/w400-h381/IMG_20240111_122947.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is the 1989 single <i>Express Yourself </i>by the band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A" target="_blank">N.W.A.</a> from their 1988 album <i>Straight Outta Compton</i>. Hip hop is not exactly my specialist subject* but this track was one of the few hip hop/rap tracks played in clubs I went to in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Some of the others played were tracks by Young MC, Public Enemy, House of Pain, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, Run DMC, LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim and Arrested Development, but absolutely not in that order. Listening to <i>Express Yourself </i>the other day I discovered I still know most of the lyrics (they are grrrreat). It goes a little something like this:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u31FO_4d9TY" width="320" youtube-src-id="u31FO_4d9TY"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">So, OK, they had a bit of a head start with this one – seeing as the base for it is the fantastic 1970 track of the same name written by Charles Wright and recorded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wright_%26_the_Watts_103rd_Street_Rhythm_Band" target="_blank">Charles Wright & the Watts 103</a></span><span class="s2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 13.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wright_%26_the_Watts_103rd_Street_Rhythm_Band" target="_blank">rd</a></sup></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wright_%26_the_Watts_103rd_Street_Rhythm_Band" target="_blank"> Street Rhythm Band</a>. It’s worth reading the latter’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wright_%26_the_Watts_103rd_Street_Rhythm_Band" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> entry for the mention of, among others, Bill Cosby, Bobby Womack and Daryl Dragon (the guy who was the Captain from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_%26_Tennille" target="_blank">Captain and Tennille</a>). Captain and Tennille’s 1972 hit <i>Muskrat Love</i> is more proof of how bloody weird the 1970s were by the way (and I remember it being played a lot on local commercial radio). I suppose it was the same year as Elton John’s <i>Crocodile Rock</i> so maybe animal-themed songs were all the rage. Captain and Tennille (a married couple for much of their careers) had another big hit with <i>Love Will Keep Us Together</i> written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and the song that Toni Tennille herself wrote <i>Do That To Me One More Time</i>. </span>But I digress (in a very MOR way). Here is the earlier <i>Express Yourself</i> :</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jW4VZ5J0fNQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="jW4VZ5J0fNQ"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">This is not to be mixed up with the </span><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Express Yourself</i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> by Madonna (also 1989, video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVcUzP_O_8" target="_blank">here</a>), though I loved that too, and indeed still have a copy of the 12" single. It was acquired when the record shop I worked for bought a local DJ</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">’</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">s collection,</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> after the collector in question had</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> died if I remember rightly. He had played this record a lot, it is pretty tatty:</span></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwNQBMg7thNFmS48LVtS8PgHQjF0dUoWgrp4Dvz8g8HMOEec0H5ze2CwNlpI5VHTZyIHcBaxXIxjO7R3bD8HDXjD3n8uG0GTO7fWDGNiQBvmc4-Txq5g7kelznHXdRSq8TT9SUBz0QKXTCU7MYs4tHrYRnzDkE5L2AQcaF7cjKcHCQX8xQvkNaJOhBJ58/s3009/IMG_20240113_144117.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2913" data-original-width="3009" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwNQBMg7thNFmS48LVtS8PgHQjF0dUoWgrp4Dvz8g8HMOEec0H5ze2CwNlpI5VHTZyIHcBaxXIxjO7R3bD8HDXjD3n8uG0GTO7fWDGNiQBvmc4-Txq5g7kelznHXdRSq8TT9SUBz0QKXTCU7MYs4tHrYRnzDkE5L2AQcaF7cjKcHCQX8xQvkNaJOhBJ58/s320/IMG_20240113_144117.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A lot of what I’m doing this month is wondering why I have kept the records I have – I rarely play most of the actual discs these days so why keep them? Is it sentimental? Or because some are worth a little money (though by this point I have no idea how much)? Many of them (like both of these <i>Express Yourself</i>s) were bought a few years after their time anyway, when I was DJing in the mid 1990s, to have just in case they were needed. We did play at a bar in the centre of Leeds every Wednesday for years (the Courtyard, complete with alternative pub quiz) and we played all sorts of music there (no dancefloor, much freer) so it is probable I played both of these records there at some point or another.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Most often these days I listen to apps like Bandcamp, where I’ve bought albums direct from artists, or radio. I tend to have a few favourite radio shows and currently these are <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00h8mmh" target="_blank">Roddy Hart</a> on BBC Radio Scotland, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00llg30" target="_blank">Cerys Matthews</a> on BBC 6 Music and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ymcp" target="_blank">BBC Radio 2 Unwinds</a> with Angela Griffin. I have to skip the odd track on the latter now and then when it goes a bit too far into pop for me (by which I mean Take That) but I understand, it is Radio 2, they have others to please and not just me. All this seems some distance, however, from N.W.A., a band perhaps best known for a track called <i>Fuck Tha Police</i> (not one ever attempted by Take That, that I’m aware of). There is also a track on the B side of their <i>Express Yourself</i> called <i>A Bitch Iz a Bitch</i>. I’ve never listened to it (not once). Some things you can live without.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRfK9U1TwuZloI67dJsKUjzWlLyNojs5ZZKjdt54AGTva7esylPp5c7_Zq_5y9QG_0xQ5bPt3wrdAqkmkgzrXEWsD9BHJAoWHKdOixDMfMNn-QhD1EgbtZ1ai0_5vewcSTxng3MRO6D43R-1aGomkC9OC8kol65X39vjALg73MqAK6oMsRCpvvuDBEDUB/s3120/IMG_20240111_122928.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2917" data-original-width="3120" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRfK9U1TwuZloI67dJsKUjzWlLyNojs5ZZKjdt54AGTva7esylPp5c7_Zq_5y9QG_0xQ5bPt3wrdAqkmkgzrXEWsD9BHJAoWHKdOixDMfMNn-QhD1EgbtZ1ai0_5vewcSTxng3MRO6D43R-1aGomkC9OC8kol65X39vjALg73MqAK6oMsRCpvvuDBEDUB/w400-h374/IMG_20240111_122928.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Anyway, back tomorrow with some heavy breathing.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*By the way you can still watch Chuck D’s 4-part documentary series <i>Fight the Power – How Hip Hop Changed the World</i>. N.W.A. come in towards the end of the second episode but the whole series is great (watch it <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dj6ysm/episodes/player" target="_blank">here</a>).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-6581329987569440372024-01-13T06:30:00.039+00:002024-01-27T10:00:17.541+00:00Day 13: Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2_DW644hOD2gdoemLwf_g0Mg6FXvKKpmwHbasNT9TzQqP8VKgPhPtPYsCPOzNgLt1aUsbR5_B_abojjVa-DoWYPhsNVfoR3Wa6wvOYThpUR9tWQNVwjhJMeAVYZKyv0XGX_ivANWSix1VPR6RMqHG8mQiwHrZRLEQkVBCw0hIl9WB6X5B1R_1HICDcyH/s3050/IMG_20240111_123101.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2971" data-original-width="3050" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2_DW644hOD2gdoemLwf_g0Mg6FXvKKpmwHbasNT9TzQqP8VKgPhPtPYsCPOzNgLt1aUsbR5_B_abojjVa-DoWYPhsNVfoR3Wa6wvOYThpUR9tWQNVwjhJMeAVYZKyv0XGX_ivANWSix1VPR6RMqHG8mQiwHrZRLEQkVBCw0hIl9WB6X5B1R_1HICDcyH/w400-h390/IMG_20240111_123101.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is a 12” single by Neneh Cherry. It was released in 1988 but I don’t remember being really aware of it till more like ’89 (and I bought this single much later, probably once I was DJing in the mid 1990s). Cherry’s album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_Like_Sushi" target="_blank"><i>Raw Like Sushi</i> </a>came out in 1989 and it was HUGE (in the UK anyway), full of great tracks. <i>Buffalo Stance</i> is the first track on side A of that album and here is its video (fairly typical of dance videos of that era, lots of stuff floating about).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JWsRz3TJDEY" width="320" youtube-src-id="JWsRz3TJDEY"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I’m not a big user of the word cool but really, if anyone was cool around this time it was Neneh Cherry. Her style was very influential – certainly I bought a plastic gold dollar sign necklace in Top Shop and wore it regularly in nightclubs (I’m sure I looked amazing, luckily I’ve no photos to shatter this illusion). I’m not going to give you her life story here but you can read it easily enough in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neneh_Cherry" target="_blank">usual place</a>. She performed this track on TV</span>’s<i>Top of the Pops</i> whilst 7 months pregnant in the days when such a thing was still newsworthy (pregnant woman does something, shock!).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As for today’s track, this is all news to me (a bit late, I know) but <i>Buffalo Stance</i> is actually a reworking of a 1987 track called <i>Looking Good Diving</i> by the duo Morgan-McVey. McVey is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_McVey" target="_blank">Cameron McVey</a> (often credited as Booga Bear) and Cherry’s husband since 1990. They met in 1987 and she was featured on the B side of the Morgan-McVey single that same year. Here it is:</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/igcNxCyErog" width="320" youtube-src-id="igcNxCyErog"></iframe></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">From a musical family and having already been in punk bands, Cherry was on a single <i>Stop the War: Give Sheep a Chance</i> (about the Falklands War, complete with baa noises) in 1982 (you can hear that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkCm6xWdpw4" target="_blank">here</a>, I have never heard it before this week – anyone else?). Rerecording <i>Looking Good Diving</i> to make <i>Buffalo Stance</i> was a big jump up in terms of audience and appeal and the producers for this transformation were Tim Simenon (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb_the_Bass" target="_blank">Bomb the Bass</a>) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Saunders_(record_producer)" target="_blank">Mark Saunders</a>. Simenon DJed at the Wag club in London (the club mentioned in <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-12-ten-city-thats-way-love-is.html" target="_blank">yesterday’s post</a>) so it’s possible I did hear him DJ there in 1989 (I was absolutely not taking note of anything like that in 1989 though so no idea if that’s the case). Bomb the Bass had various singles, remixes and so on. Probably the one I liked (and played) the most came a good few years later – <i>Bug Powder Dust</i> feat Justin Warfield (but the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub9DSlT1urw" target="_blank">Kruder and Dorfmeister mixes</a> are the best). Tim Simenon produced under his own name too (bands like Depeche Mode).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The <i>Raw Like Sushi </i>album had 4 producers (Simenon, McVey, Saunders and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Dollar" target="_blank">Jonny Dollar</a>). Dollar co-wrote Cherry’s later single with Youssou N’Dour <i>7 Seconds</i> and Massive Attack’s <i>Unfinished Sympathy</i>. He worked on albums for various artists including Massive Attack, Gabrielle and, a while later in 2010, Eliza Doolittle. <i>Raw Like Sushi</i>’s hits also included Inna City Mamma, Manchild and Kisses on the Wind. I have another disc of hers too, featuring one of my favourite tracks (<i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhSW_6-6L48" target="_blank">Here I Come</a></i>). </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNBRu5eSQICdb7jOU9ucVUcMG-JNWn-_6IcBk_RBI-7DDN-LYPnd8g6SCAPHk50VrAOHhg_xKVG5hjMYmUGkDMzknPDI6t6nA4y5BwpWSY-hMALHqbvv0CF5R5fGIBLnWjNS675AHNpmGVd7EFiEf1LQymCpqwhElz0mdTalBzN9QFuSRVgKx5YPH39Yl/s2929/IMG_20240111_123007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2878" data-original-width="2929" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNBRu5eSQICdb7jOU9ucVUcMG-JNWn-_6IcBk_RBI-7DDN-LYPnd8g6SCAPHk50VrAOHhg_xKVG5hjMYmUGkDMzknPDI6t6nA4y5BwpWSY-hMALHqbvv0CF5R5fGIBLnWjNS675AHNpmGVd7EFiEf1LQymCpqwhElz0mdTalBzN9QFuSRVgKx5YPH39Yl/w400-h393/IMG_20240111_123007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Cherry has gone on to put out more albums, be on TV and in films. She has 3 daughters (one a photographer, the other two singers) and in 2022 put out the album <i>The Versions</i> (featuring reworked versions of tracks from her back catalogue). One of the reworkings was of </span><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFY9BFdozHI" target="_blank">Woman</a></i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> and featured </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anohni" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">Anohni</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;"> - a great version.</span><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Back tomorrow with another classic.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-83701655682500585292024-01-12T06:30:00.113+00:002024-01-12T10:59:39.989+00:00Day 12: Ten City – That’s the Way Love Is<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJChqTDKqIJARmEZ5B5OBF-j_QUCFRlpuBGmbZXCH-Bl03_rD0GNBSwJP0hoMYJLwdcYFcGatZynC4OprTd7_2AMU6siP8AIrVh24ziGQUMcQ-5Pavw0GH7NFztsQMv7CjOku5uVwWJBJr5pBxeRtM0FZDvPlPIqWZ84joATuDEaCupKqJfHF4m3O4F97/s2954/IMG_20240110_085512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2719" data-original-width="2954" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJChqTDKqIJARmEZ5B5OBF-j_QUCFRlpuBGmbZXCH-Bl03_rD0GNBSwJP0hoMYJLwdcYFcGatZynC4OprTd7_2AMU6siP8AIrVh24ziGQUMcQ-5Pavw0GH7NFztsQMv7CjOku5uVwWJBJr5pBxeRtM0FZDvPlPIqWZ84joATuDEaCupKqJfHF4m3O4F97/w400-h369/IMG_20240110_085512.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is another 12” single. It’s from 1989 but I definitely bought it years later, at least partly for the memories, because 1989 was the year I fell in love with house music, dear readers. There wasn’t much competition, you might argue, as the UK charts* at the time featured delights like Jive Bunny and much pop with a capital P, i.e., bloody loads of Stock Aitken and Waterman and ‘classic’ acts like Simply Red. House music wasn’t new in ’89 (the brilliant <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEo3v3_7ekk" target="_blank">Can You Feel It </a></i>by Mr. Fingers, Larry Heard, came out in 1986, the amazing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZA0xarSac" target="_blank"><i>Strings of Life</i> </a>by Rhythim is Rhythim, Derrick May, in ’87) but until 1989 I was oblivious to such developments. Then I went to a place and took a pill (neither blue nor red, usually just white). And everything changed.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Does that sound dramatic? It’s true though. Things really did change after just one ecstasy pill in a not particularly special club in the centre of London in the spring of 1989. I was without direction (see previous posts) and suddenly I found some (do this again, feel this giant joy, listen to this amazing music, <i>move your body</i>, stop being so bloody miserable). I knew a lot of the options available to me at that time were not what I wanted so instead I chose house music (all night long). I wasn’t alone. ’Twas a youth movement, friends, a really good one.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There have been so many phases of house music and its relations by now (deep house, acid house, techno, garage, progressive house, trance, rave, hardcore, happy hardcore, gabba, commercial dance music…) that it all gets a bit blurred and some people hear you went a-raving and think you listened to non-stop 2 Unlimited (and I never once heard them played in a club of any kind). This <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_City" target="_blank">Ten City </a>single is very representative for me of the music I heard during my first house music/ecstasy experience back in 1989. It was mainly American, and some UK, house music with strong vocals, usually about love or people coming together (also a form of love, of course). Other bands/artists I remember from that time were: Adeva, Coldcut, D Mob, S’Express, Exposé, Inner City, Fingers Inc, Joe Smooth, Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle. Here for example is New Jersey</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s Adeva (I had her album <i>Adeva!</i> on cassette </span>– yes, I was still mainly using cassettes at this point):</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t21dMFdA0NU" width="320" youtube-src-id="t21dMFdA0NU"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Ten City (from intensity, says Wikipedia) were a Chicago band who met the right producer – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Jefferson" target="_blank">Marshall Jefferson</a> (sometimes known as the father of house music, though others might fancy the title). Jefferson (who lives in Manchester, England these days) was responsible for many, many great records including 1986’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhKMMh4qOL8" target="_blank"><i>Move Your Body</i> </a>on the legendary Trax Records (the first house song to use piano, apparently). He worked some magic with Ten City too - they had a few dance hits as a trio (Byron Stingily, Herb Lawson and Byron Burke) and in more recent times vocalist Stingily has worked under the Ten City band name again with Jefferson to make new music (2021</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s <i>Be Free, </i>it</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s pretty good, listen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlqUgMOF7LQ" target="_blank">here</a>). Here is the song on today</span>’s disc from 1989:</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y_edhEpE_YM" width="320" youtube-src-id="Y_edhEpE_YM"></iframe></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with more great tunes (but if you hate dance music you might want to switch to another channel for a while).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*For those interested in such things, go <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_top-ten_singles_in_1989" target="_blank">here</a> for a list of UK number 1 singles in 1989.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-33625938259315406582024-01-11T06:30:00.151+00:002024-01-11T12:41:46.455+00:00Day 11: Diana Ross – The Very Best of Diana<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3V0NTIskJY14E4P8Y_X2k-vA-p5jNqY4F9n5-SONdy6XAcfE-sIj05VjhqCA664iGVZHVYeflHK5DRM2RpaAJ8ZerD-xiqwkM9bCuWRgE6pxzNiNowDFhHY6DCu66VzWXvqqt6Qc9a8fimTtYOue6GHzjtaqM44r2td9K9TsFCBE37Q_manXy0KDXbrd/s2879/IMG_20240110_085610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="2879" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3V0NTIskJY14E4P8Y_X2k-vA-p5jNqY4F9n5-SONdy6XAcfE-sIj05VjhqCA664iGVZHVYeflHK5DRM2RpaAJ8ZerD-xiqwkM9bCuWRgE6pxzNiNowDFhHY6DCu66VzWXvqqt6Qc9a8fimTtYOue6GHzjtaqM44r2td9K9TsFCBE37Q_manXy0KDXbrd/w400-h380/IMG_20240110_085610.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc (or discs) is a Diana Ross double compilation album from 1983, released by Motown. I got this as a present in something like 1986 – probably my peak Diana Ross-listening era. The album contains mostly ’70s, and some very early ’80s, Ross material (mainly solo, apart from duets with Marvin Gaye and Lionel Richie). Until 1970 she was in the Supremes of course, in one incarnation or another, and they were Motown’s most successful vocal act throughout the sixties. Much has been written about the Supremes (a musical inspired by their story too) but I’m not going into that here. This album starts in 1970 with <i>Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)</i>, written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_%26_Simpson" target="_blank">Ashford and Simpson</a>.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM7TNqNxp6Igu3ABSFbHdx7sl-PPlFTdul02nVKa9p8rYHQ8EmGZwqHvzi1kl2n0-3UQqwXLlVJ7dX68QOi-ROXrFh_ksP-2GGDhVUeWqhkNb6U_X8IhygtOYqppdxZT5bZiF3IPmPc4UbiKTxVSV8eA88WVXnG0hB97lW2wEkT8_mpYtUWIj-PUCt21J/s3120/IMG_20240110_085628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2934" data-original-width="3120" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM7TNqNxp6Igu3ABSFbHdx7sl-PPlFTdul02nVKa9p8rYHQ8EmGZwqHvzi1kl2n0-3UQqwXLlVJ7dX68QOi-ROXrFh_ksP-2GGDhVUeWqhkNb6U_X8IhygtOYqppdxZT5bZiF3IPmPc4UbiKTxVSV8eA88WVXnG0hB97lW2wEkT8_mpYtUWIj-PUCt21J/w400-h376/IMG_20240110_085628.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Ashford and Simpson, by the way, were another couple of married songwriters and performers (see <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-10-whitney-houston-how-will-i-know.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a> for Boy Meets Girl) – <i>Solid</i> their best own track as artists. As well as <i>Reach Out and Touch</i>, they wrote songs for various artists, huge tracks like <i>California Soul</i> (there are many versions of that one, it seems to get more popular all the time), <i>Ain'</i></span><i>t<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> No Mountain High Enough, You'</span>r</i><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>e All I Need to Get By, The Boss, Bourgie, Bourgie,</i></span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"><i> </i></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>I’m Every Woman</i> (it’s a long list).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">But as for (the real) Lady Diana (of Detroit), I’d already had a beginner’s Motown listening phase in about 1982, in my teens, thanks to the older sister of a girl who lived nearby. Instead of Led Zep and the Beatles, the records this sibling had left lying around when she moved out were 1960s and </span>’70s Motown 7” singles and my friend and I loved nothing more than screeching along to them on a quiet winter’s evening in the ’burbs. The track I remember most is the one I used for my <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2020/07/" target="_blank">Fun A Day in 2020</a> (<i>I’m Gonna Make You Love Me</i> by Diana Ross and the Supremes & the Temptations in 1968). It is really good for screeching along to (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r28-9kh4bhA" target="_blank">have a go</a>). This was the illustration I did for that record back in 2020.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcboQbNdMoHZFtupM_E_9xLeyRQuC2n27M4yM64gmHULVIzmbgxD-jhfnihYfwtboYUp5xxtJFnB06w96zygSM5xbvD9vZmgY9E64cit8Y1WkEw57HrP4Sz0bZ5W1OeOfv2iP4AtEahIWZg76L0WfCJvC9NoNQ5n2qBQckQxpBfj1xvzXnL_J_audF82C/s4160/IMG_20200105_105923.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcboQbNdMoHZFtupM_E_9xLeyRQuC2n27M4yM64gmHULVIzmbgxD-jhfnihYfwtboYUp5xxtJFnB06w96zygSM5xbvD9vZmgY9E64cit8Y1WkEw57HrP4Sz0bZ5W1OeOfv2iP4AtEahIWZg76L0WfCJvC9NoNQ5n2qBQckQxpBfj1xvzXnL_J_audF82C/s320/IMG_20200105_105923.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">By 1986 my listening to Diana Ross was very different, less sociable for a start. I was in my last year at uni, pretty miserable all round, not enjoying the course, knowing I didn’t know where I was going or what would come next, and in one of those relationships that picks apart your self-esteem bit by bit (such fun – probably the last time I put myself through it though so that’s something). I listened to Diana Ross (and this compilation album in particular) over and over on my own, wallowing a little, hoping a lot, lifted by all these huge tunes, feeling she was something like a big sister, urging me on to better things and better love. And when that voice (not everyone</span>’s favourite, more than a hint of Glinda the good witch to her sound, despite her having been Dorothy in <i>The Wiz</i>) sang <i>Do You Know Where You’re Going to</i> on side 3 (written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin), frankly, no I absolutely did not, but she and the song helped me get through the confusion. That song is the theme from a 1975 film, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahogany_(film)" target="_blank">Mahogany</a>, starring today’s diva. Here’s a trailer (it is a tad <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7rot56 " target="_blank">Lucky Bitches</a> but maybe everything in the 1970s was like this). Diana Ross did originally want to be a fashion designer apparently.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ra71dvxOVX8" width="320" youtube-src-id="ra71dvxOVX8"></iframe></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Later in today</span>’<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">s chosen album we get to warmer (and I think we have to say groovier) sounds</span> – <span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">tracks like <i>Upside Down</i> (first released in 1980, written and produced by Chic</span>’s<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, as was all of the 1980 album <i>Diana</i></span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">)</span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> and <i>Love Hangover</i> (1976, written by Marilyn McLeod and Pamela Sawyer, the latter featured in a <a href=" https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2022/01/day-five-piece-of-clay.html" target="_blank">previous project</a> on this blog back in 2022). And oh my heavens, here is Ross doing<i> Love Hangover</i> on the <i>Muppet Show</i> in 1980. Don’t say I’m not good to you.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/39dGQdq4JX4" width="320" youtube-src-id="39dGQdq4JX4"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Much more recently, in 2022, Diana Ross played the legends slot at Glastonbury and whilst it wasn’t perhaps the most impressive of those Sunday afternoon performances I still really enjoyed it. She was so relaxed, shuffling about in what looked like some kind of glitzy slippers, somewhere in her late 70s, just having a blast. There have been a lot of Diana Ross compilation albums since, but mine signs off with <i>Endless Love</i>, the duet with Lionel Richie that was the theme to the 1981 movie of the same name. I loved that movie (at the time), I loved that song (at the time) and for a whole variety of reasons I still love Diana Ross. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wAIzvRA1Ov4yXeqBqu7AoVVG4sY4OOjR3RiIes7kCCaJpFwZAvjXzY4_pHfJqFwRDAWRhokj5OIngenpBUEnupA8yz2KdVDukGtBRWCq-ozRxRyYVOpe57qnvJQU56Gwc57lsE1qT-x6GtoLU6dhB4wv6ObbnzwedluX8eCdytuhfqt-oYpqIZHg1YzG/s4160/IMG_20240110_085538.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="4160" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wAIzvRA1Ov4yXeqBqu7AoVVG4sY4OOjR3RiIes7kCCaJpFwZAvjXzY4_pHfJqFwRDAWRhokj5OIngenpBUEnupA8yz2KdVDukGtBRWCq-ozRxRyYVOpe57qnvJQU56Gwc57lsE1qT-x6GtoLU6dhB4wv6ObbnzwedluX8eCdytuhfqt-oYpqIZHg1YzG/w400-h236/IMG_20240110_085538.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with added ecstasy.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-83228069406527133982024-01-10T06:30:00.007+00:002024-01-10T14:20:28.879+00:00Day 10: Whitney Houston – How Will I Know<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHVKoDmIv2ub79xroVBvwfiajLgSQsDjE1eLzMXC_nPfpucXqtiV7rZFTxX1kmrIjVqXycTSfa8kSYUy6derENLe_iBiGeS_uWdBNWnUOW2HDEyzG_fqI3t51GrqwTD8T9fPNKmyFuRCnEI8MdfvAb1xHsEkK5h8uf9eugMWwYNGr-3GduUKJ7Dny6oXm/s2905/IMG_20240109_210733.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2787" data-original-width="2905" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHVKoDmIv2ub79xroVBvwfiajLgSQsDjE1eLzMXC_nPfpucXqtiV7rZFTxX1kmrIjVqXycTSfa8kSYUy6derENLe_iBiGeS_uWdBNWnUOW2HDEyzG_fqI3t51GrqwTD8T9fPNKmyFuRCnEI8MdfvAb1xHsEkK5h8uf9eugMWwYNGr-3GduUKJ7Dny6oXm/w400-h384/IMG_20240109_210733.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is another vinyl 12” single – the 1985 hit <i>How Will I Know</i> by Whitney Houston, a track from her debut album <i>Whitney Houston</i>. This may seem out of sync (considering yesterday’s disc was from 1986) but I’m mainly featuring records in the order I came to them, rather than by year of release. My peak Whitney fan period was in more like 1987/88 (second year at uni), no doubt due to the release of her second album, <i>Whitney</i>, in 1987 with its giant tracks <i>So Emotional</i> and <i>I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)</i>. I certainly had a cassette of that second album when it came out but I have kept very few cassettes and there was still no sign of CDs* in 1987, pop pickers (well, not in my collection anyway). I can’t remember the first CD I owned – can you?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I probably bought this 12” a lot later (in the 1990s for DJ purposes most likely, and maybe just for old time’s sake). As a fan, I’ve watched the various documentaries and biopics in recent years, remembering as I look at this cover, scenes in some of them where Whitney was talked into looks and outfits that she really didn’t want or feel comfortable with. Looking at this ensemble now there can be no question that the ‘fashions’ of the 1980s were a bad joke being played by someone. Whitney was stunning and yet even she can’t save the outfit on the cover of this single. What chance the rest of us?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Even though I’ve heard this song for years I didn’t know till this week that both it and <i>I Wanna Dance with Somebody</i> were written by Seattle’s George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam. They were a married couple (though divorced in 2000) but more importantly for our thinking about music purposes they were also the band Boy Meets Girl. Boy Meets Girl had a big hit in 1988 with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhxF9Qg5mOU" target="_blank"><i>Waiting for a Star to Fall</i> </a>(a song that comes up a lot in quizzes). Apparently it was offered to Whitney first</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">but Arista Records CEO Clive Davis rejected it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> A lot of this offering and passing went on, and still does, I imagine (<i>How Will I Know</i> was offered to Janet Jackson first but she passed).</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mwOi3IhaszsPA1O8e06VOXesJ0v4dsh2JNA59wHIY-iB-kN5-a9IPVjRU-LdWFJj15MlfmBSGrJSaJwWfnRRGCZwVn030BnCXsvmvYHX55GnYRrtYhb0UBI2Pdi4rno-wRhlDRX0Mc4dWmNPtIUiKCz_UAF6ydb8x6Ohn9WAKe99IbyBNWn_g5WcV6tV/s3019/IMG_20240109_210718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2570" data-original-width="3019" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mwOi3IhaszsPA1O8e06VOXesJ0v4dsh2JNA59wHIY-iB-kN5-a9IPVjRU-LdWFJj15MlfmBSGrJSaJwWfnRRGCZwVn030BnCXsvmvYHX55GnYRrtYhb0UBI2Pdi4rno-wRhlDRX0Mc4dWmNPtIUiKCz_UAF6ydb8x6Ohn9WAKe99IbyBNWn_g5WcV6tV/s320/IMG_20240109_210718.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The regular release of Whitney’s <i>How Will I Know</i> had her version of a 1970s song <i>Saving All My Love for You</i> on the b side but this is a remix with a different track (<i>Someone for Me</i>) on the b side. The remix of <i>How Will I Know</i> was by John “Jellybean” Benitez, who worked with Madonna on many of her early tracks, but the producer for the original version, and many of Whitney’s other big tunes of this era, was Narada Michael Walden (originally a jazz fusion drummer, mentored by Quincy Jones, see <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-7-isley-brothersisley-jasper.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with another diva (Diva A Day next year maybe? Too much?).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*This article quotes another article: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/28/how-the-compact-disc-lost-its-shine" target="_blank">“CD sales overtook vinyl in 1988 and cassettes in 1991”.</a></span><span class="s3" style="background-color: white; color: #0f0f0f; font-family: Georgia; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 17.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/09/cd-sales-uk-music-sales-2023-taylor-swift-miley-cyrus-weeknd" style="color: #0b4cb4;" target="_blank">more recent article </a>says CDs are selling better again for first time in 20 years.</p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-73341511784092463362024-01-09T06:30:00.091+00:002024-01-10T08:00:25.796+00:00Day 9: Elvis Costello and the Attractions – I Want You<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwe335kkd1TVue-Mgzpl4dhfZQIV000l96Mv0LSlREjVL40qQAi6AkNtpfrUuy8ZfWNNNCdPxcMjMIxBgNclct-Ex6MaYEIo9TBHDgIcpZbQOSkzQrS6SmeEpkwKxoUfZTqgFFSmv5wlkmHwfzTyWd7MKwa02_bQQkKMmRdwKzrO3pXAs17UTiko8bkaK2/s2711/IMG_20240108_084434.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="2711" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwe335kkd1TVue-Mgzpl4dhfZQIV000l96Mv0LSlREjVL40qQAi6AkNtpfrUuy8ZfWNNNCdPxcMjMIxBgNclct-Ex6MaYEIo9TBHDgIcpZbQOSkzQrS6SmeEpkwKxoUfZTqgFFSmv5wlkmHwfzTyWd7MKwa02_bQQkKMmRdwKzrO3pXAs17UTiko8bkaK2/w400-h394/IMG_20240108_084434.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">Today’s disc is a 12” single from 1986 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions called <i>I Want You</i> (B side <i>I Hope You’re Happy Now</i>). Bought quite a while after '86 and probably second hand, this is the first single in this series (hear it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8RjKOID1I" target="_blank">here</a>) as it has been all albums up to now. Rather confusingly the A side on this credits the writer as MacManus (the artist and songwriter’s real surname) and the B side as Costello (his stage surname) so if anyone knows why, answers on a record sleeve please. Costello’s dad was a professional trumpet player and his mum worked in record shops, his paternal grandfather was a musician too.</span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWydFzGy_7jgmi8h4UBss2C_tfpxDE15m44IdEcH3FfurhiXSxA2kzTXMX6qbggEckMch3kYBmeJXiU4WdQXyyjwonFTYG6DV378EOyPjTmHuM627abaCi5WzeOV4xrsuoyD9Wq4KjLLDnQ09_S8QXxLZWHRj31upuu9jqFRGMcJa0Hc24_y-3lFQvq_Oj/s2990/IMG_20240108_084512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2968" data-original-width="2990" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWydFzGy_7jgmi8h4UBss2C_tfpxDE15m44IdEcH3FfurhiXSxA2kzTXMX6qbggEckMch3kYBmeJXiU4WdQXyyjwonFTYG6DV378EOyPjTmHuM627abaCi5WzeOV4xrsuoyD9Wq4KjLLDnQ09_S8QXxLZWHRj31upuu9jqFRGMcJa0Hc24_y-3lFQvq_Oj/w400-h398/IMG_20240108_084512.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>I Want You</i> was on the 1986 album <i>Blood and Chocolate</i> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_You_(Elvis_Costello_song)" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a> for this song is pretty harsh, with one critic having called it “[among] the nastiest songs he has ever recorded, both lyrically and musically”. Looking at the lyrics now I can see their point (don’t look, honestly, best not to) but back then I absolutely loved this track, for the mood of longing rather than the specific lyrics overall. Maybe that’s because I was around 20 years old and at a stage where I regularly loved people in an uncomfortably intense way so it seemed fine to me. From this great distance I think that the loving in question wasn’t even about the object of affection most of the time, I was just uncomfortably intense in general (not that unusual for a young person, is it really?). I’ve calmed down now.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As for music, if my musical tastes and experiences were largely influenced by older siblings though my childhood and adolescence then the influence of friends really kicked in around this time. Some people I met in my first year at university were music fanatics with amazing collections. Some had even read the <i>NME</i> (I’d skimmed a <i>Kerrang!</i> here and there, stuck the odd <i>Smash Hits</i> lyrics on a teenage wall). One of my best uni friends had grown up in the North West of England (so much trendier than the North East where I’d started off) and arrived with a giant collection of albums on home-recorded cassettes, mostly containing music by singers and bands I’d never, or barely, heard of at that point. Like my brother's 7” singles, each of her cassettes had a neatly written cover and I spent a lot of time looking at the names on those cases, wondering how she knew them all (she had trendier clothes too, though that wasn’t hard then and still isn’t really). She had a Dixons (Saisho?) hi-fi (one of those block ones with double cassette player, radio and record player) and in went tape after tape at the start and end of each badly behaved night out. Good times.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Music new to me that I remember listening to from that collection included stuff by the Cocteau Twins, Billy Bragg, Everything but the Girl and Stiff Little Fingers (and I also remember the names the Woodentops and The Three Johns but nothing about what was on those cassettes, probably too far into <i>NME</i> territory for me). I think Elvis Costello (and most likely his band the Attractions) was in there too. I had heard of Elvis Costello before (he’d been having hit singles since 1977 and I followed the charts up till about 1984) but it was only around 1986 that I started to be anything like a fan. I can’t say I’ve ever really liked his voice but it has that kind of like-me-you-fucker-there’s-more-to-music-than-prettiness appeal (see also B. Bragg) and he had some great songs. Now 69, Costello is (still) a very prolific artist and writer, putting out what Cilla Black might have called a lorra lorra material (32 studio albums, 6 live albums, 16 compilation albums, 6 tribute albums, 2 extended plays, 62 singles and 4 box sets apparently). He’s got a lot of very jaunty tracks, especially a lot of the early hits, music you might want to call new wave, but it’s definitely the slower ones I’ve listened to the most (including this one, plus <i>Every Day I Write the Book</i>*, <i>Alison, Good Year for the Roses</i>, written by Jerry Chestnut, and <i>(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding</i>, written by Nick Lowe). Rom com fans will know his 1999 version of Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer’s <i>She</i> because it turned up in a movie featuring a couple of big stars (pop quiz opportunity here). Costello also wrote the lyrics for 1982’s <i>Shipbuilding</i> (there is a well-known version by Robert Wyatt and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUpKu3gcZjw" target="_blank">the Unthanks</a> have covered it too, but Costello</span>’s version is below). <i>Shipbuilding</i> is a really special song (music by Clive Langer) and one that has, perhaps, lasted a little better than <i>I Want You</i>. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fprYfInkErg" width="320" youtube-src-id="fprYfInkErg"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Looking at online info this week I see that Costello has worked extensively with Burt Bacharach (a writer featured already this series on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-2-burt-bacharach-butch-cassidy-and.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>). A box set of their work together was released just last year (though to be honest I couldn’t find a song on it I enjoyed on first listen). He’s written and performed with many other artists (say, Paul Mccartney), and has popped up in TV and film too (in, for example, the brilliant New Orleans post-Katrina drama series <i>Treme</i>).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Quite the career and it's not over yet.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with something, perhaps less intense, from the other side of the Atlantic.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*This song was written in ten minutes as a challenge to himself apparently.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-60302908999457307662024-01-08T08:12:00.003+00:002024-01-08T08:17:46.143+00:00Day 8: Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque – Juntos e ao vivo<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXnTquXHOUKWy1CpttbfwzOOfTxGOjRcWxgvfhzPzBbwimPOaigGGgfd6NaFiP0UJS2PCTXsJTnTY5GUOrb-Fw_rDcFxNnn9mtggLpKNWR71mExmgUKWL-niaZ3MM8AVxlS-2i-jZa7S6wJHh7fnnD8mfQf9rGTbFpMq3Zz_HZh4i6RVYlc6Kl3odzI7Q/s2794/IMG_20240107_222127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2664" data-original-width="2794" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXnTquXHOUKWy1CpttbfwzOOfTxGOjRcWxgvfhzPzBbwimPOaigGGgfd6NaFiP0UJS2PCTXsJTnTY5GUOrb-Fw_rDcFxNnn9mtggLpKNWR71mExmgUKWL-niaZ3MM8AVxlS-2i-jZa7S6wJHh7fnnD8mfQf9rGTbFpMq3Zz_HZh4i6RVYlc6Kl3odzI7Q/w400-h381/IMG_20240107_222127.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Today’s disc is <i>Juntos e ao vivo</i>, a 1972 live album by Brazilian musicians <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caetano_Veloso" target="_blank">Caetano Veloso </a>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Buarque" target="_blank">Chico Buarque</a>. I bought it when I lived in Madrid in 1986 (aged 19) and I’m not quite clear how I got it back in one piece when I all I came back with is a rucksack but somehow I did.</span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZlfh8zKaEQJBE3nvZ0S1QzDRE7jhOiFBNhxFs-Ae4CM5HXnnE76a6N39f9GkTu2hMFGQB7pi_asfGoWZiegO5gS9ixlKFI88RoBhBORKvU8GC1CTND2jCYwlFpJwq_HHHYf41kVQRAZznfPyHFWgjlbJm6eQoPHcjb8AS-hWx2GHcXFtwoOcHHWSVVTF/s3328/IMG_20240108_081657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3328" data-original-width="3082" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZlfh8zKaEQJBE3nvZ0S1QzDRE7jhOiFBNhxFs-Ae4CM5HXnnE76a6N39f9GkTu2hMFGQB7pi_asfGoWZiegO5gS9ixlKFI88RoBhBORKvU8GC1CTND2jCYwlFpJwq_HHHYf41kVQRAZznfPyHFWgjlbJm6eQoPHcjb8AS-hWx2GHcXFtwoOcHHWSVVTF/w370-h400/IMG_20240108_081657.jpg" width="370" /></a></span></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I learned about lots of new music that year – pretty much all by Spanish or Latin American artists. Many of the friends I made there were Latin Americans, most of them in some kind of exile, and so I listened to a lot of music from that part of the world. I can’t speak a word of Portuguese but Brazilian Chico Buarque, in particular, was one of the artists that was played and spoken of often (along with Cubans Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés). Knowing Spanish I can have a good guess at many of the words but there is still a lot of mystery in this particular listening and somehow that does make it all the more enjoyable (for me anyway). I suppose that’s how some people feel about Italian opera. Here is a taste of the album:</span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GDxYQa_EW7Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="GDxYQa_EW7Q"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I probably bought this album because it was the only Buarque one in the shop and I listened to loads, especially when I came back to England. I did always think the audience were very loud on the recording but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caetano_e_Chico:_Juntos_e_Ao_Vivo" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> tells me why:</span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>It was recorded in Salvador's Teatro Castro Alves shortly after Veloso returned from his exile in London, imposed by the ruling Brazilian military dictatorship. Because of the political connotation of the songs and the repressive nature of the regime at the time, audience shouts and clapping were made intentionally louder in some parts of the album which contained verses that the censors had vetoed.</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Both Buarque and Veloso were born in the early 1940s so they are both pretty senior these days. After David Soul passed away a day after <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-3-various-disco-fever.html" target="_blank">the post</a> that mentioned him last week I’m a little nervous to draw any attention to them at all. Both have long Wikipedia entries if you want all the life stories but the music speaks another language and this is a great album so seek it out. Here’s another track.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8B3F2E16S4Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="8B3F2E16S4Y"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back tomorrow with something made closer to (my old) home.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" target="_blank">here</a><span>.</span></span></p>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246801426821066145.post-14186239886111070692024-01-07T06:45:00.006+00:002024-01-07T07:01:12.737+00:00Day 7: The Isley Brothers/Isley Jasper Isley/Quincy Jones – The Artists Vol IV<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxXi1Gk01476dvKpbE1Ep2Zjv1cOnWXmpyDEWnq0YLFslXRCfyi5FU5uW_LBHiOAta2ZiF5IBOdOxTx3qWUBTYCNMAP1AyoJunKE109PTonIl8XLivmdGxbOnQ0SQqyhig9i11lvdaxEnq681LflJqXnP5ntNLRM0bk6ldmCePeOGM6F2B-C7243c2C_i/s2843/IMG_20240106_152912.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2740" data-original-width="2843" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxXi1Gk01476dvKpbE1Ep2Zjv1cOnWXmpyDEWnq0YLFslXRCfyi5FU5uW_LBHiOAta2ZiF5IBOdOxTx3qWUBTYCNMAP1AyoJunKE109PTonIl8XLivmdGxbOnQ0SQqyhig9i11lvdaxEnq681LflJqXnP5ntNLRM0bk6ldmCePeOGM6F2B-C7243c2C_i/w400-h385/IMG_20240106_152912.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px;">This is a 1986 album featuring music by two artists (or groups of artists) that I really enjoyed, mainly in the 1980s. At some point I did have other records by these artists. I’m sure I had the 1981 Quincy Jones album <i>The Dude</i>, for example, but no sign of it now – I imagine that in one of my must-clear-out-some-vinyl sessions over the year I decided that just keeping this compilation would be a good compromise. Street Sounds, the record label for this one, put out loads of compilations, particularly in the 1980s, concentrating on soul, electro, hip hop, rare groove and so on. You may well have one or two somewhere in your dusty collection. Here is the back cover:</span><div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmmLWmD0y-P0XDKIzhrzm_bAtuIpHw9rwdFCmE5g4oNZZZ0ebLNlXpWvoX3BiJZz4qUpUb1RgTDdP4wZzYrHVvI2Y26FOPGpdGB0iX0i_wEVEejWu8Wd7HImz_XAM4RtVZS9DaMQij85Nl7iqfM56x9vRq04BCGGFD8qtW9hiYPXDxKl_IY2rnZ3iOLVt/s3070/IMG_20240106_152932.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3070" data-original-width="3009" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmmLWmD0y-P0XDKIzhrzm_bAtuIpHw9rwdFCmE5g4oNZZZ0ebLNlXpWvoX3BiJZz4qUpUb1RgTDdP4wZzYrHVvI2Y26FOPGpdGB0iX0i_wEVEejWu8Wd7HImz_XAM4RtVZS9DaMQij85Nl7iqfM56x9vRq04BCGGFD8qtW9hiYPXDxKl_IY2rnZ3iOLVt/w393-h400/IMG_20240106_152932.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Isley Brothers (on Side 2) are musical phenomenon (6 brothers, all in the band at one point or another, only 2 still alive, 1 died young, very early on in the band’s career). As well as the Isleys there is one brother-in-law, Chris Jasper, a writer, producer and also in various incarnations of the band 1973-87 (and the splinter group that included his name, Isley Jasper Isley 1984-88). The Isley Brothers put out their first single in 1957 and their most recent album in 2022 – quite the streak. I probably first saw their name on the 1979 7” single <i>It’s a Disco Night (Rock Don’t Stop)</i> because that was in in my brother’s huge record collection (mentioned back on <a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2024/01/day-5-amii-stewart-knock-on-woodamii.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>) but I must have heard some of their other tracks before that because there are so many of them. They wrote and recorded <i>Shout</i> (1959, the song later released by Lulu) and they recorded various big hits for Motown in the 1960s (you probably know more than you think, mainly written by Motown writers). An Isley brother wrote a <i>Fight the Power</i> in 1975 and <i>Harvest for the World</i> in 1976. Many of their songs have been covered but one of their biggest hits <i>Summer Breeze</i> (1974) was written by a band I’ve never heard of, despite having heard the song many, many times, Seals and Crofts. The song <i>Caravan of Love</i> (later covered by the Housemartins) was written by Chris Jasper and put out by the Isley Jasper Isley splinter group in 1985. I still have a copy of that on 12" too for some reason.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGbtKSHI2Xf0nkfb8CVqzMPzWC8TvTLWaem9Qthw-rx2N4dwGvHoLCo7agYTzTMDHF-sNb413giFmW6iz4yozRzhYlsoLphrNalit87v8BN8mtz6FYaCPmWabBQVEZUUowTOrLmlxSl5XJiuKWRbQvXDA7C-lqzTbdEUF88USUB1gsJ69zrjzbLXXnGb3/s3120/IMG_20240106_152946.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2898" data-original-width="3120" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGbtKSHI2Xf0nkfb8CVqzMPzWC8TvTLWaem9Qthw-rx2N4dwGvHoLCo7agYTzTMDHF-sNb413giFmW6iz4yozRzhYlsoLphrNalit87v8BN8mtz6FYaCPmWabBQVEZUUowTOrLmlxSl5XJiuKWRbQvXDA7C-lqzTbdEUF88USUB1gsJ69zrjzbLXXnGb3/w400-h371/IMG_20240106_152946.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Isley Brothers version of <i>Summer Breeze</i> is probably one of the reasons I kept this Street Sounds volume. I loved that song – mainly in the 1980s, a good while after its release – and listened to this album over and over, largely for that song, whilst at uni where soul was required to get through the nonsense. The only song on this I’m not mad about is <i>Between the Sheets</i>. I think generally I’m good with songs just not mentioning sheets at all (that Ed Sheeran ‘bedsheets smell like you’ business – I can live without that too, no place for that in a Zumba class, thank you).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">To say, they’ve been around so long and put out so much music the Isley Brothers are a family band that I don’t know that much about (when you think how much you know about other family bands). Surely there must be a good documentary about them somewhere (I love a music documentary). All of which leads me back over to Side 1 and Quincy Jones as there is a great 2018 film about him, <i>Quincy</i>, made by his daughter actor Rashida (Ann Perkins*) Jones and Alan Hicks. Now 90 years old, Quincy Jones has had the kind of career you can’t sum up in a paragraph or two so I’d suggest that documentary as a good starting point. All but one of the songs on today’s disc are from his 1981 album <i>The Dude</i> which you don’t hear much these days but was pretty huge in its time. Here’s the title track (a few famous names in the credits for this one – Stevie Wonder on synth and Michael Jackson and Syreeta Wright on backing vocals, James Ingram on lead vocals).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-HkVGalPv8M" width="320" youtube-src-id="-HkVGalPv8M"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Back tomorrow with something Brazilian.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">*Her character in the sitcom <i>Parks and Recreation</i>. Much loved by our daughter (the show and the character).</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the first intro post to this series go </span><a href="https://slowlaneshuffle.blogspot.com/2023/12/disc-day-coming-your-way.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></span></p><p></p></div>Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com2