Wow i’ve found so many good records over the last few months! It definitely helps that I managed to get a second job as “the record guy” at my favorite digging spot, working one day a week inspecting all the records that come in and putting them out on the shelves. It’s great having first crack at stuff, especially since the last guy who had the job was also into similar records as I, so I used to have to make do with his leftovers.
So what do we have this time? It’s a pretty rare cover of “Green-Eyed Lady” by an artist called Total Unity. Originally written by Sugarloaf (featuring Jerry Corbetta who later went on to join Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes), this cover version, from what I can tell, only appears on a promotional 12″ released by Claridge Records in 1978. The same Claridge Records that Sugarloaf had signed to in 1975. I actually emailed Jerry Corbetta to see what hs take on this is, and if I hear back from him i’ll let you know!
I have a modest collection of (for lack of a better term) “exotica” records. Tiki lounge music, weird Moog synth cover albums and other oddities and artifacts from the ’50s and ’60s. Modest, mainly because these sort of records are quickly snapped up by Gollum-esque record collectors who squirrel them away in their underground lairs. Wait, is that me?
That said, I was really happy to find this last week. It’s called The Age Of Electronicus by Dick Hyman.
Dick Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is best known as a versatile jazz pianist/organ player, but, as was the rage at the end of the 60’s he released a pair of very interesting records played on the then recently released Moog Synthesizer.
Released in 1969, The Age Of Electronicus is essentially a Moog covers album. Two songs by the Beatles, a James Brown cover and “Green Onions” by Booker T. & The MGs, along with others are all there. The one original composition is called “Kolombo” which i’ve included here. A pretty strange song from someone more well known for scoring Woody Allen films and playing Gershwin, it reminds me of some of the Pink Floyd stuff on the Live at Pompeii video.
Track listing
1. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” – 2:46
2. “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” – 3:13
3. “Blackbird” – 3:11
4. “Aquarius” – 2:48
5. “Green Onions” – 7:49
6. “Kolumbo” – 7:35
7. “Time Is Tight” – 3:07
8. “Alfie” – 3:40
9. “Both Sides Now” – 3:02
I’ve picked up a lot of great suff over the last month or so. Here’s one I got this past Friday. It’s the LP Body Shine by Munich Machine. Released in 1979 on Casablanca.
Munich Machine was a disco group featuring Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte that released 3 full length albums from 1977-1979.
Aside from Munich Machine, Pete Bellotte worked closely with Moroder as co-writer and co-producer on some of the disco era’s most successful tracks including all of the huge Donna Summer hits. He was also in a group called Trax with another famous producer of the era, Keith Forsey.
Pete Bellotte was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004.
I’m a sucker for dub, especially when it’s by a group not traditionally know for dub/reggae. My favorite Clash material is the dubby stuff on Black Market Clash, and Bad Brains also made some amazing dub tracks just to name a few.
For some reason I decided to check out this Rolling Stones 12″ when I found it for $1 and was pleasantly surprised by the dubby instrumental on the b-side “Feel On Baby (Instrumental)”.
Unfortunately there are no credits on the cover to indicate who worked on this track, but from what I have read after doing a little google-fu, it was made with the help of Sly & Robbie in the studio. I wonder if there are any other Rolling Stones tracks that feature the peeewww of the Simmons drum.
Sorry for the long wait – I took some time off to concentrate on job hunting. To make up for lost time, I’ll be posting a bunch of updates this week!
The French had definitely cornered the market on space themed disco in the late 1970s. From Didier Marouani & Space, Droids, Rockets, Saveur Mallia/Arpadys, and many many more, you couldn’t swing a dead cat in 1979 France without hitting a French musician in a silver Buck Rogers outfit.
Here’s a neat little record I found today while digging through crate after crate of generic post 2000 hip hop singles in glossy red jackets. I don’t really know anything about the group MILKWAYS other than presumably there are three members, they have glowing eyes, and they are always naked. Oh, and they released this single, and one full length album both in 1978. Both with the same cover. Have they no shame? After that they must have disappeared in a cloud of hubris and starstuff.
I always wonder how exactly a record like this made the journey from France in 1978 to the basement of a New England comic book store over the span of 31 years. I guess that’s a mystery that only Milkways can answer, and they’re not talking. Download Milkways - Astroport
This week we have a record I found while digging through some crates in the basement of a nearby record store/comic book shop. When I saw the cover I just knew I had to buy it. It has all the elements: cheezy “future retro” typeface, starfield background, over the top title, blue vinyl, and the ever important “special disco mix”.
Although it’s not nearly as amazing as i’d hoped, it is a fun song to play in a set of lasergun space disco. I can’t really picture anyone taking part in a “conquest” of anything while listening to this other than maybe a light-up dancefloor.
Released in 1977 this is part Star Trek, part Battlestar Galactica, part Moroder and all amazingly ridiculous! The masterminds behind this record are Canadian producers/musicians Dominic Sciscente and Michel Daigle from Black Light Orchestra, who, when not hustling their way through space, had a hit song with Touch Me, Take Me.
The first record i’m going to share with you here is one that I found about a year and a half ago for $1.50, and I’ve really grown to love it.
Released as a single from 1984’s Essar album, the And I Don’t Love You single benefits greatly from the “Instrumental (Dub)” remix on the B-side, laid down by the incomparable Larry Levan. Dubbed out and spacey, this is a gem from an otherwise undistinguished period in Smokey’s career. Essar was Smokey’s only album not to produce a top 10 R&B hit, and his lowest charting album to date, failing to reach the Top 100.
A nasty synth bassline, reverberated funk guitar, driving beat and sparse echoing vocals really make this one of the great “forgotten” Levan remixes. Let me know what you think!
So what do we have this time? It’s a pretty rare cover of “Green-Eyed Lady” by an artist called Total Unity. Originally written by Sugarloaf (featuring Jerry Corbetta who later went on to join Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes), this cover version, from what I can tell, only appears on a promotional 12″ released by Claridge Records in 1978. The same Claridge Records that Sugarloaf had signed to in 1975. I actually emailed Jerry Corbetta to see what hs take on this is, and if I hear back from him i’ll let you know!
I have a modest collection of (for lack of a better term) “exotica” records. Tiki lounge music, weird Moog synth cover albums and other oddities and artifacts from the ’50s and ’60s. Modest, mainly because these sort of records are quickly snapped up by Gollum-esque record collectors who squirrel them away in their underground lairs. Wait, is that me?
I’ve picked up a lot of great suff over the last month or so. Here’s one I got this past Friday. It’s the LP Body Shine by Munich Machine. Released in 1979 on Casablanca.
I’m a sucker for dub, especially when it’s by a group not traditionally know for dub/reggae. My favorite Clash material is the dubby stuff on Black Market Clash, and Bad Brains also made some amazing dub tracks just to name a few.
Sorry for the long wait – I took some time off to concentrate on job hunting. To make up for lost time, I’ll be posting a bunch of updates this week!
This week we have a record I found while digging through some crates in the basement of a nearby record store/comic book shop. When I saw the cover I just knew I had to buy it. It has all the elements: cheezy “future retro” typeface, starfield background, over the top title, blue vinyl, and the ever important “special disco mix”.
The first record i’m going to share with you here is one that I found about a year and a half ago for $1.50, and I’ve really grown to love it.