Ike & Tina Turner - Greatest Hits - 1969

Earlier this summer I visited my family in Arizona and my sister had a small box of records for me.  There were all pretty beat up.  This Ike and Tina Turner record was one of the records.  I finally threw it on the turntable last weekend and was blown away by it.  I never really looked too closely at the liner notes so I didn't realize that his isn't really a greatest hits compilation.  It is a collection of live recordings of some of their hit.  Also the so called hits aren't the big ones that come to mind covering other rock bands.  These are soul hits and all the energy of their live performances come through.  One of the great tracks is the closing of side one where Tina is basically talking with the audience in the club.  There so much passion and emotion in the performance.  I've since tracked down some of the studio recordings of these songs like "Early in the Mornin" and while they are good, this live performance is amazing.  Many times while listening Janis Joplin comes to mind.  I'm sharing this record because I found it surprisingly hard to find.  There was this vinyl release back in 1969.  There was another vinyl release in the 80's under some other title.  Then it was released on CD around 1996.  That seems to be long out of print as far as I can tell.  I even did some initial torrent searches for it and didn't find it.  So while the record is beat up I did my best to rip a decent copy.  It isn't perfect, but you get the vibe of the record which is electric.  Makes me wish I could have been around to see them in one of these venues in Texas when they made these recordings.

One other thing I like about this record is what it says on the back.  "A jumbo helping of soul as Ike and Tina Turner turn up the heat on their greatest hits."  That they certainly do.  

Enjoy!

Ike and Tina Turner's Greatest Hits

password:sapmusic2013

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.

Michael - A Mix

Wow, it's been well over a week since the last post. Most of my music listening time has been spent like many other people, re-listening to Michael Jackson. I committed myself to listening to anything and everything I could get my hands on. As I listened not only to the hits, but to some deeper album cuts and remixes and demos and such I found quite a few hidden gems I thought I'd like to share with people. So as to not attract attention, I'm keeping this track listing a mystery. What I can say is that I think most of these tracks will be ones you either haven't heard or you may not have heard in a while, but they are all great. I pulled from all periods of Michael's recording career so you can hear the wide range of his music. The hard thing was narrowing this down to fit onto one disc. I suspect I may have a follow up coming soon, because there were quite a few tracks that didn't make this mix, that I still would like people to hear.

It had been a while since I had really listened to young Michael. He really had an amazing voice and even though I love his music in the eighties and I think on the whole the songs are his best, hit voice in the 70's was the best. It seems that as he got older his voice which was his major talent got overshadowed by the dancing and the videos and the music production which were always as good if not better than any other pop being produced at the time. So treat yourself to this mystery mix and remember the good times with Michael.

18 tracks of pure talent.

Bohannon - Jammin' In The Street 12" - 1986

I feel so bad about how much I've been neglecting this blog. Days wiz by and before I know it a week has past and I haven't posted anything new. I do apologize.

Anyway, here is a 12" dance track from the 80's. Hopefully something you haven't heard before. Still it is a good track.

Enjoy!

01 Jammin' In The Streets Part 1.m4a
02 Jammin' In The Street Part II.m4a

Bar-Kays - Stuck By You 12" - 1989

I'm really feeling guilty about how much I've been neglecting this blog. I'm so glad for all the digitizing I did last summer in prep for these busy times. Now I just need to remember to take a few minutes every now and again to write something up. I try to do it every few days, but lately few days have been turning into once a week. I apologize.

On tap for today are Bar-Kays. Can't remember where I found this 12". The cover is pretty beaten up, but the record sounds pretty clean. This is some good 80's R&B/Electro Funk. Has a little bit of a Cameo feel to it. I don't personally remember the song. I was into different music in 1989, but I enjoy giving this a spin every once in while these days.

Enjoy!

01 Struck By You (12_ Mix).m4a
02 Struck By You (Dub Mix).m4a
03 Struck By You (7_ Mix).m4a
04 Struck By You (A Capella).m4a
05 Your Place Or Mine.m4a

Blowfly - Blowfly's Christmas Party/Blowfly's New Years Party 12" - 1980

Here are a couple of naughty tracks for your New Years Eve party. Definitely not to be played for the wee kids.

Enjoy!

01 Blowfly's Christmas Party.m4a
02 Blowfly's New Year's Party.m4a

Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do Without You 12" - 1990

Released in 1989 and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, this is another slick Janet Jackson release. Here you get some fun remixes that are sure to bring life to the party or at the very least change things up a bit.

Enjoy!

01 Love Will Never Do Without You (Shep's Work It Out Mix).m4a
02 Love Will Never Do Without You (The Work It Out Dub).m4a
03 Love Will Never Do Without You (Work It Out 7_ With Intro.m4a
04 Love Will Never Do Without You (UK Funky Mix).m4a
05 Love Will Never Do Without You (UK Funky Instrumental).m4a
06 Love Will Never Do Without You (Single Version).m4a

Thicke - When I Get You Alone - 2002

This is one of my favorite dance tracks in recent years. It never gets old to me. I always thought this track should have broken through more than it did. I think it had some success, but to me it is just ridiculous how perfect this song is. It has the great sample of "A Fifth Of Beethoven" which most people will recognize from "Saturday Night Fever" and then there are Robin Thicke's great blue-eyed soul vocals. This track is sure to get any dance floor moving.

I actually have two different 12 inch releases of this and the CD single. I've taken this rip from the CD single to save me some time.

Enjoy!

01 When I Get You Alone (Album Version).m4a
02 When I Get You Alone (Radio Edit).m4a
03 When I Get You Alone (Instrumental).m4a

Gloria Gaynor - Let's Mend What's Been Broken 12" - 1981

In 1979 Gloria Gaynor had a huge hit with "I Will Survive". That is probably one of the greatest disco songs ever. The success of that track helped propel Gloria along for a few more years and in 1981 she released this mid tempo R&B number. It doesn't quite have the fire of "I Will Survive" but what else does. And to be honest it really isn't trying to duplicate that song, which I do have to give her credit for. Sometimes it is annoying and a little disappointing when someone has a huge hit and tries to follow up that hit with something that is pretty much more of the same. This isn't that. This may not be one for frequent plays, but it might be nice to hear every now and again for variety.

Enjoy!

Let's Mend What's Been Broken.mp3

Janet Jackson - The Pleasure Principle 12" - 1986

Janet Jackson's "Control" and "Rhythm Nation" are amazing records. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have some of the finest production work on those records. If you haven't done so recently seek out those records and listen to them from start to finish with some head phones and drown yourself in the glorious textures and rhythms.

"Rhythm Nation" in particular is kind of mind blowing. It seems so ahead of it's time and still just sounds great.

This 12 inch club record was from "Control" in 1986 and has some fun tracks sure to keep the dance floor grooving at any serious 80's dance party. Have fun the the other tracks making your own mashups. Some day I will venture into that world, but for now I'll leave that to those with more time on their hands.

Enjoy!

01 The Pleasure Principle (Long Vocal).m4a
02 The Pleasure Principle (A Cappella).m4a
03 The Pleasure Principle (12" Dub).m4a
04 The Pleasure Principle (7" Vocal).m4a

Kathy Buck - Don't Beat Around The Bush 12" - 1983

Here is some classic 80's electro funk from Kathy Buck. The opening synth/drum beats are simply classic. You'll recognize these sounds as being used in other songs from the period. One of the beats/synths reminds me of the backing track on "Sexual Healing". I haven't listened to the side by side, but that is what comes to mind when I hear it. Some of the beats even remind me of early Def Jam recordings by say Run DMC or LL Cool J. Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

01 Don't Beat Around The Bush.mp3
02 Don't Beat Around The Bush (Instrumental).mp3

B. E. Taylor - Vitamin L 12" - 1983

This one falls into the category of "what the hell?" I don't know anything about B.E. Taylor, but after hearing this one I think I know why. Vitamin L is a perfectly weird song. It is from his 1983 release "Love Won The Fight". The song starts off with a sort of electro funk proto hip hop vibe, but then once the vocals kick in, it basically falls apart into silliness. The lyrics are just laughable and there is this big sort of rock chorus. You listen and all you can say is "what the hell?"

The other two tracks are generic rock songs complete with bad 80's synth rhythms. These sound like songs that would have ended up in one of the B teen sex comedies of the 80's. They are worth listening to, because it does show you that it isn't easy writing the pop rock songs of the 80's.

By the way "Just A Beat Away" sounds like a poor man's Journey or the 80's. Give it a listen and tell me I'm not right.

Enjoy!

01 Vitamin L.mp3
02 Love Won The Fight.mp3
03 Just A Beat Away.mp3

Cameo - Word Up 12" - 1986

This is one of those songs that for a long time I couldn't listen to. In 1986 this song was so overplayed. It was used for a Coke commercial which really pushed out of the realm of cool into the world of cheese ball in my teenage world. I still can't think of this song without thinking of that Coke add. I tried to find it on youtube for this post, but ater some preliminary searches I couldn't find it. I didn't feel like digging too much deeper into it. Anyways, this record was obviously a DJ's copy. The jacket actually have to identical copies of the record. They both are well played and it looks like they were even used or some scratching. So the quality isn't great, but you can find this song on Itunes probably or any number of places. It's not exactly obscure.

Enjoy!

01 Word Up (12").mp3
02 Word Up (7").mp3
03 Word Up (Instrumental).mp3
04 Urban Warrior.mp3

Martha Reeves - Loves Is Like A Heat Wave/Come And Get These Memories 7"

For everyone in the northern hemisphere things should be heating up this time of year. So this classic single should be right on theme.

Motown was a fine tuned hit making machine and this is one of their fine products. Perfectly produced on every level, this is just a great pop tune. This is screaming for a remake, especially now that Mark Ronson is heavily mining this sound with artists like Amy Whinehouse.

By the way if you're into this whole neo-soul sound that is going on right now, please check out Jamie Lidell's release Jim. It is fantastic. The Amazon link is here.

Enjoy!

01 Your Love Is Like A Heat.mp3
02 Come On Get These Memories.mp3

Active Force - Gimme Your Love 12" - 1983

Here's a nice R&B groove from the 80's. I don't know much about active force, but I can say that I don't agree with allmusic.com which classifies these guys as electronica. The is more like the electro R&B of the 80's. Think more like Shalamar.

So here you've got two versions. I believe you can get the extended version on a compilation called "Groove on Down, Vol. 2" and the album version is from the self titled LP "Active Force".
For another Active Force track check out the Boogie Grooves Blog.

Enjoy!

01 Gimme Your Love (Extended Version).mp3
02 Gimme Your Love (Album Version).mp3

Black Ivory - You're My Lover 12" - 1984

I've gleaned information about this record from a Leroy Burgess webpage. Not an official page, but one that gives his basic history. Leroy Burgess was one third of Black Ivory. The other two members were Stuart Bascombe, and Russell Patterson.

It appears that this song was originally recorded and released in 1975 for the Panoramic label. Then it was given the disco mix treatment and re-released in 1984. This is the only music I have from Black Ivory, but it sounds like they made their mark on soul music. Allmusic says that Black Ivory, were "an exceptional and occasionally brilliant soul group from Harlem". That's some high praise. Don't know if it is true, but this track is pretty decent.

Enjoy!

01 You Are My Lover.mp3
02 You Are My Lover (Disco Mix).mp3

Cheryl Lynn - Got To Be Real/Star Love 12"

Years ago my wife worked for a record company that imported and exported music. Most of what they exported was American Dance and hip hop to the far east. Every once an a while some one in the warehouse would give her records for me. This was one of them.

Sure these songs are from the 70's, but they are timeless classics and are always being repressed, at least they were about 9 years ago.

"Got To Be Real" is an all time classic dance song. I believe it is featured nicely in Boogie Nights. This track will get any party started or any dance floor started. Cheryl Lynn really belts it out in this song as well.

"Star Love" wasn't as well known to me. I'm pretty sure it was a single released the year after "Got To Be Real". It sounds a little more dated as just pure disco. There is a little bit in the song that reminds me of the Max Rebo Band from "Return Of The Jedi". Take that as you will, but in my book, it means a little bit of cheese. Still, the song can get you going and is still very dance friendly.

Enjoy!

01 Got To Be Real.mp3
02 Star Love.mp3

Martha Reeves And the Vandellas - Bless You/Hope I Don't Get My Heart Broke 7" - 1971

Again a preemptive apology that this isn't the cleanest record. But you shouldn't complain. You want a clean version of these songs, go buy them.
Enjoy!

The first thing I have to say about "Bless You" is that it starts off sounding a lot like "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5. I therefore was not surprised to read that the song was written by The Corporation, who also wrote and produced much or the Jackson 5 material at this same time. Specifically the wrote "I Want You Back". For more on who The Corporation was read here.

This record was released when Martha Reeves and The Vandellas were one the down slide. Martha was struggling with drug addiction which had become public. She had been institutionalized also, which tells you a little about the state of affairs for the group at the time. The song was a minor hit for the group.

I like the song. It may not be vintage Martha Reeves, but if you like other hits by The Corporation, especially the Jackson 5, I think you'll like this one.

"How I Don't Get My Heart Broke" is a much more soulful song. There's a little funk in the bassline, and just a little more ooomph from the gut. It seems a little rougher around the edges. A little earthier and bluesier. It seems a little more defiant. I little darker. I love it. It definitely is not what I expected when I bought the record.

01 Bless You.mp3
02 Hope I Don't Get My Hear.mp3

Al Green - You Ought To Be With Me/What Is This Feeling 7"

This one is definitely not clean. I mean it sounds like it was stored in a sandbox, so no one should get their hopes up to high. With that disclaimer out of the way, the songs are typical Al Green, which means they are pretty good songs. Smooth soul. Makes me want to go out and buy a whole bunch of other Al Green tunes. I'll be honest, I pretty much know the tune from "Pulp Fiction" and that's about it. I think I may have some greatest hits of Al Green laying around or someone may have given me MP3's of the music, but I need to revisit that. Sorry I really don't have more to say on this one.

Enjoy!

01 You Ought To Be With Me.mp3
02 What Is This Feeling.mp3

Yvonne Gage - Doin' It In A Haunted House - 1984

I've been contemplating holding off on posting this record until Halloween, but decided against it. I may repost it then, but we'll see.

I bought this record because actually written on the record in pen someone wrote "Thriller ripoff". That was enough to spark my interest. I'm happy to report that that description was 100% on the money. In fact I've never heard such a blatant ripoff.

From what I've gathered this record came out about 6 months after the Michael Jackson classic. It takes the same basic musical riffs and then changes them ever so slightly, and then adds a nasty element to the lyrics making this the perfect club record.

The song of course isn't as good as the original, but it has it's own charm. Part of that charm may come from a sort of desperate vibe I get while listening to it. You can't help but think, "really? You couldn't come up with anything original? You had to steal Thriller?"

Give it a listen. Save if for your next Halloween party. Throw your guests for a loop.

Enjoy!

01 Doin' It In A Haunted House.mp3
02 Doin' It In A Haunted House (Instrumental).mp3