Sounds For Sunday pt 2: Something Funky For Friday...

OK, I'm sitting up at 2.30 listening to a tune on repeat, while I'm sorting out some business before I head off. I think you're gonna like this one....

It's by the Young Disciples. But this isn't the early 90s Acid Jazz bunch. This tune comes from 1968 and features Larry Williams on lead vocals. Apparently the same Larry Williams responsible for Dizzy Miss Lizzy and Bonie Maronie. And the band...dunno too much about them, but I have to say, I've not heard many people funkier....whew.....I simply had to share to this with you!

If anybody can fill me in on some more detail than that I'll be grateful!

I dare you to listen to this without wanting to dance!

Young Disciples - Crumbs From The Table

Sounds For Sunday On A Thursday

I'm away from the blog this weekend and into the start of next week. Weddings, families and drinking. You know the kind of thing.

So I'm going to leave you with some dancers that will sound good while you drink cold beers or eat some barbecue in the sun we're undoubtably going to have. I mean come on, Glastonbury's on this weekend right? Never rains for festivals!

Give the Fabulous Emotions a listen if you can't do them all. A great little dancer!

So have yourself a good weekend. I certainly intend to while I laze about in the country.....

Johnny Rogers - Soul Food
Disciples Of Soul - That's The Way Love Goes
The Jades - I'm Where It's At
John Wesley - Love's Such A Funny Thing
Patti Austin - You Didn't Say A Word
Fabulous Emotions - Number One Fool

Love Bites

Mr Planet Mondo posted a track yesterday called 'Don't Falter' by Mint Royale, which featured Lauren Laverne which led met to dig out Kenickie, the band Lauren had fronted in the 90s.

Their first album 'At The Club' was a punky pop feast, like an (almost) girl group Ramones. For their second album 'Get In', Kenickie went all Saint Etienne, all strings and brass and summery vibes. It didn't go down as well as the first album and Kenickie split up. But it was a damn shame because 'Get In' is one of the lost classics of the 90s. Fantastic sounding pop music, great vocals, really good lyrics; just great!

(I was at the Reading Festival one year - 96 I think - and Kenickie were wandering around, really dressed up, the girls in party dresses and the drummer in a very Mod suit. They were also wearing Mickey Mouse ears. They looked like stars!)

Kenickie - Stay In The Sun
Kenickie - I Would Fix You
Kenickie - 60s Bitch

Something New: Wild Beasts...

...and a tune called The Devils Crayon.

Just saw this and thought of you lot. I think you'll like it.

Sounds For Sunday

A day spent in Chessington World Of Adventures. A night spent celebrating a friend's birthday. A Sunday morning where I'm not really up to much.

Bettye Swann - I Want Sunday Back Again

Nick Heyward

This is lovely.

Nick Heyward - Club Boy At Sea

Dancing....

....If truth be told I've spent more nights dancing to this tune and tunes like it than any soul track. Many nights losing myself in a crowded room somewhere while the track builds and builds taking you somewhere special. Falling out into the emerging daylight and realizing it's the next day, after what feels like five minutes since you arrived. Feeling the bass kick in your stomach and the swirly strings sending shivers across your skin. Following the melody like some synthesised Pied Piper, letting it lead you into what can best be described as the biggest smile you've ever felt. Eyes screwed shut as you become one with the music. Everything tingling and flying upwards. Until the sunrise and the first bus home.

Bliss.

Sabres Of Paradise - Smokebelch II

Milton Wright and The Terra Shirma Strings

Here's a couple of classic Northern dancers. Actually it's one tune: the instrumental "The Gallop" and the vocal version "I Belong To You". If I had to pick one I'd go for the vocal 'version'. It's simply gorgeous; and those strings......one of those tracks that freezes you on the spot while your brain says: Whoa we've got a live one here!!!

The tracks I've got in the rather large bundle of tunes I got the other week....I can't stop dancing!!

So push back the carpet, dust those floorboards with talc and get dancing with me!!

(nerd fact of the day: Milton Wright is the brother of the amazing Betty Wright.)

Milton Wright And The Terra Shirma Strings - The Gallop
Milton Wright And The Terra Shirma Strings - I Belong To You

Sounds For Sunday

Happy Fathers Day to any of the dads out there! If the day becomes just a little too much for you find a quiet corner, close your eyes and immerse yourself in the smooth sounds of The Isley Brothers. 3 tracks, nearly 20 minutes; an oasis of calm in an otherwise busy world!!

Have a good day!

The Isley Brothers - Make Me Say It Again Pt 1&2
The Isley Brothers - For The Love Of You Pt 1&2
The Isley Brothers - That Lady Pt 1&2

Friday 13th

Lucky for some: I bring you Talk Talk and "Life's What You Make It".

1981

It was my wife's birthday last week. I looked up what was Number 1 on the day she was born and found it was 'Stand And Deliver' by possibly the greatest pop group of all time. Adam & The Ants. A lot of people now who talk about Adam Ant will talk about how good the punk stuff was. But give me the pop music: Stand & Deliver, Kings Of The Wild Frontier, Prince Charming. Fantastic music!!! Just listen to how exciting Wild Frontier is, how powerful and how weird they sound for a chart topping group!!

PS: I bought Stand And Deliver that week when it was Number 1 back in...1981. I was 12.


Adam & The Ants - Stand And Deliver
Adam & The Ants - Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Sounds For Sunday

I'm not going to be around on Sunday, so we're early this week.

I'm suffering a stress of the digital age this week. I got hold of a large number of old soul tunes on Wednesday. If they had come in vinyl format they'd be worth a small fortune. I can't see people paying good money for the digital format though.

Anyway, after adding them to my iTunes I find I've a folder marked 'soul' that would take me nearly 8 days of constant listening to get through. How am I ever going to listen to it all properly? Even if I concentrated on the 'new' stuff that I've just gotten hold of I'm looking at 3 days worth of listening. Still I could do a serious weekender out of that!

Here's a sample of what I'm dealing with here. Check out the great intro and breakdown of the Bobby Wells tune. A lovely little groove. While we're on the subject of intros, is it me or does the intro to the First Choice tune sound a little like The Smiths?

My favourite of the lot is the Ruby Winters track though. What a song and lordy lordy lordy what a voice!

Enjoy the sunshine if you get it!

Bobby Wells - Lets Cop A Groove
Big Jim's Border Crossing - Love Built On A Strong Foundation
Eddie Giles & The Numbers - Sexy Lady
The Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl
First Choice - This Is The House Where Love Died
S.O.U.L. - This Time Around
Ruby Winters - Better
Robert Thomas - Salvation
The Montclaires - Hung Up On Your Love

Weller Again.

22 Dreams. I've only been listening to it today, but it's already one of my favourite Weller records for years. There are some top tracks on it. (Okay here comes the daylight edit:) I've only just been able to play it at volume. What's apparent this morning is that I like it even more. But what's more apparent is that Weller would appear to have been listening to late 70s Bowie. There's more than one track that sounds like it's come from Heroes or Low. Including a strange synth instrumental.

There's some very Bowie-esque vocals. Mind, I've always thought they were very similar vocally. Even if Weller claimed not to be a fan.

I'll maybe get around to posting some tunes at some point, but my Mediafire appears to be on a go-slow this morning. So in the meantime here's one of the more immediate tunes, Have You Made Up Your Mind from Jools Holland's Later.

1983...

I was 14 in 1983. Alongside such delights as The Style Council and Aztec Camera I was heavily into another band at that point. A band who played, as was the way of the times, a sixties soul influenced pop music. It seems like every band around then had dug out their Stax and Motown compilations for inspiration. Even the Human League had just had a hit at the end of 1982 with Mirror Man which was pure Motown.

Anyway, alongside Weller's classic trio of opening Style Council singles, JoBoxers appeared with another trio of superb singles, that were pure stomping soul.

JoBoxers were made up of former Subway Sect members - guitarist Rob Marche, keyboardist Dave Collard, bassist Chris Bostock and drummer Sean McLusky and American singer Dig Wayne. Their look was part On The Waterfront and part skinhead, all boots and braces. And their songs were some of the most uplifting and energetic in the charts that year.
They were the first band I'd heard talk about Northern Soul, apart from Dexys and The Jam, and one week they guest hosted Gary Crowley's radio show and played a whole bunch of classic Northern. It was a major moment for me, hugely influential.

I was going to post the tracks themselves, and I said I would should anybody request them. And somebody has so:

Boxerbeat
Just Got Lucky
Johnny Friendly

But they were a band who looked as good as they sounded. So here's that trilogy of singles in video form:

Jimmy McGriff RIP

Well, I missed this completely. Jimmy McGriff, one of the great Hammond players, died on May 24th.

Bo Diddley - RIP

Sounds For Sunday

If I handed you a dictionary and asked you to look up 'classic' this track is what you would find.

Happy Sunday.

Lorraine Ellison - Stay With Me