Jan Davis - Flamenco Funk - 1969

This morning I ventured off to Van Nuys Blvd in search of things of which to take pictures. The street has lots of flavor and there were a few interesting things to shoot. There are also several thrift stores and I thought I would check one out to see what the record selection was like. Because it is a different demographic than Burbank I wondered if I would find some different records. Boy was I in luck. This store had hundreds of hip-hop records from about 10-13 years ago. Clearly a DJ dumped his entire collection in there. I picked up a bunch of records that will eventually make it here. However this record made this list for the first record to digitize. The moment I heard the opening track of Walk Don't Run done with a Flamenco guitar I knew this was going to be the first record up. The whole record is an interesting mix of jazz and funk mixed with Flamenco guitar. You don't hear that every day. On the liner note on the back of the jacket the write writes, "If you think that doing the Frug, Jerk, Watusi or Pony to flamenco guitar music sounds utterly ridiculous; a few weeks ago I would have agreed. Not so anymore." So yes this is a one of a kind type of thing. So hopefully you'll enjoy it.

I do want to apologize that there is a low frequency hum on the rip. I may re-rip it. After getting this all up and done I think I figured out what the problem was with my stereo. In the mean time...

Enjoy!

01 Walk Don't Run (Flemenco)
02 Aquarius
03 Muddy River
04 Flamenco Therapy
05 The Bullfight Song (La Virgen De La Macarenas)
06 International Love Process
07 Flamenco Funk
08 In The Year 2325
09 Flamenco Soul
10 Funky Concerto

Jan Davis - Flamenco Funk.zip

Addendum: Here are the re-ripped tracks without the hum.

Jan Davis - Flamenco Funk - Re-rip.zip

Midnight Star - No Parking On The Dance Floor - 1983

A few weeks ago I got another shelf for some records, which meant I could unpack some boxes of records that had been stashed away for sometime. I mentioned this story a few weeks past on a previous post. As I mentioned in that post I've been playing "The Many Faces Of Roger" a lot and have been listening to some of my other 80's electro funk records. That is what brings me to this record. This was one of the records I digitized during the first year that I started digitizing my records. It has always been an absolute favorite of mine. As a kid I loved the single "No Parking On The Dance Floor". I only knew the song from the radio. I didn't own the record or anything. It wasn't until the late 90's I think until I picked up this record. I fell in love with the whole record and have been rocking it for my kids since they were wee babies.



In addition to "No Parking On The Dance Floor" the song "Freak-A-Zoid" is an absolute jam. I think when I first heard it the cartoon Freak-A-Zoid was still fresh in my mind. It was either still on the air or just recently off the air. Cartoon aside, the song is classic. I mean it opens with an electronic robot type voice saying "Freak-A-Zoid robots please report to the dance floor". How awesome is that? You are basically helpless, but to obey and get yourself to the dance floor and start doing the robot. Over 8 minutes of robotic dance glory.

Here is what I assume to be the video/single version of the song. It's about 4 minutes.




The first side opener "Electricity" is a really good electro funk song as well. Has the oh-so-80's electronic voice box thing going on. It is "Electro funk" afterall. Just makes you want to start poppin' and lockin'.

"Feels So Good" is more of a straight ahead R&B/pop song, but I really like it. Kind of reminds me of the smooth production of Marvin Gaye in the 80's. Think "Sexual Healing".

Tracks:
Side 1
01 Electricity
02 Night Rider
03 Feels So Good
04 Wet My Whistle
Side 2
05 No Parking (On The Dance Floor)
06 Freak-A-Zoid
07 Slow Jam
08 Playmates

Enjoy!

No Parking On The Dance Floor Side 1.zip

No Parking On The Dance Floor Side 2.zip

Here is a bonus video in remembrance of the classic that was Freakazoid. I gots to get me some Freakazoid DVDs. I loved that show.

Boots Randolph - Boots With Brass - 1970

I've been excited as hell for the past few days in anticipation for today's post and for some one's I have coming up. This last weekend I actually had a day off. Work has been really crazy the last few months and so having a Saturday to myself was a welcome treat. So how did I spend my free time. I photo graphed about 52 LP jackets and ripped about 10 LP's. A couple of them I hadn't listened to for a long time and upon listening to them again I got giddy with excitement to share them with everyone. This record is the first of those records, which I'll spread out over the next few weeks.

For those who don't know Boots and as a refresher for those who do, Boots made his name with the hit song "Yakety Sax" which everyone today would recognize as the Benny Hill music. Boots cut his teeth playing with bands and as a studio musician before that breakout song. He was primarily a country musician recording out of Nashville.

The great thing, no no great, the wonderfully fantastic thing about this record is that it has no country on it at all. I'm not dissing Boots' country roots and will probably post some of his earlier work at some point. This record is a rock and funk record. Released in 1970 it feels of the time. The studio musicians backing Boots up deserve some real praise here. Now boots is great, but the bass player and the guitarist make this thing into one amazing listen.

The album kicks off with "C.C. Rider" and is simply a revelation of funk. I mean it is so strong, that you could turn off the record after that song and feel satisfied. In fact you may want to just put that song on repeat to fully digest everything that is going on in that song before moving on. There is a bit near the end of the song where Boots hits this sustained note and it sounds like the band on Saturday Night Live. I mean that as a compliment. It really reminds me of the old E.G. Smith days.

Another great number is "Hi Heel Sneakers". It has a bit of a go-go feel and it definitely has some roots in "Yakety Sax", but then beneath the Randolph riffs there is this driving funky band that pushes this thing into the stratosphere of insanity. Make sure you take a breath before listening to this one, because once it starts you are going to be dancing, toe tapping, shaking your head, doing what every you do when a song just gets you going and it doesn't let up for two and a half minutes. There is no rest. It feels like a sprint from the first note.

The other songs are all pretty good as well. Somewhat to my surprise the weakest songs are teh Carpenters covers. There are so slow and laid back, that they don't seem to fit in as well, and it doesn't feel like Boots is bringing that much new to the songs. I really thought I would like them more, because I love the Carpenters, but therein may lie the problem. I can't help compare his Sax to Karen's voice and I prefer Karen's melancholy tones to his instrument hands down.

So treat yourself to something new, by listening to this vintage music from 1970.

Enjoy!

01 C.C. Rider.m4a
02 The Letter.m4a
03 Fire And Rain.m4a
04 Via Tirado.m4a
05 We've Only Just Begun.m4a
06 Light My Fire.m4a
07 Spinning Wheel.m4a
08 Hi Heel Sneakers.m4a
09 I'll Be There.m4a
10 (They Long To Be) Close To You.m4a
11 25 or 6 to 4.m4a
12 Take A Letter Maria.m4a

Here's the whole thing. Boots Randolph.zip