Today’s disc is a double 12” single from 1989* by Lil Louis & the World. The main track on this one is I Called U (But You Weren’t There) 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):
Also on this double are versions of Blackout and French Kiss, all from the album From the Mind of Lil Louis. 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 here). Here’s my copy of the album on vinyl:
A Chicago-born producer and DJ, Lil Louis is most famous perhaps for his 1989 single French Kiss – 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 French Kiss 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 French Kiss in a club – certainly I do remember the track but I’m not sure from where or how. Like 1984’s Relax 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.
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 – I received a lot as promo copies when I was a DJ and record reviewer for Record Mirror). Everyone and their uncle were remixed in the ’90s (over and over again) and a lot of it was bland, uninspired and instantly forgettable.
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 not for public sale 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 Called U and on the amazing Blackout) and I love a good spoken section on a record (maybe something for a future series... “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?
Now 61, Lil Louis is still very much out and about in clubs – DJing and the like – and he is on social media 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 not bland and uninspired) and I’m glad I kept this one. Turn it up...
Back tomorrow with some Yorkshire produce.
*It says 1990 online for this single but my copy definitely says 1989.
For the first intro post to this series go here.
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