Donna Summer – I Feel Love (1977)

A sad day today with the passing of Donna Summer. I have previously posted her sublime “Working the Midnight Shift” here.

However, this is the all time classic. One of the most influential records of all time; techno, house and all that follows is being invented here. The genius of Giorgio Moroder keeps the pulse going and Donna’s vocals soar ….

The original 12″ version; the Patrick Cowley 15 minute remixed opus and then a live cut …

Curtis Mayfield – Pusherman (1972)

Fantastic 1970s funk from one of the all time greats.

Posted tonight for no other reason than the bassline sounds like the inspiration for Beastie Boys “Egg Man” which was posted a few minutes ago …. would have been worth posting this anytime.

A key part of the soundtrack to the classic “Blaxploitation” movie “Super Fly” … as Wikipedia notes, Super Fly was one of the few films that was outgrossed by its soundtrack release!

The orignal LP version then a live cut from a few years later.

 

The B-52s – Give Me Back My Man (1980)

After a bit of a break, it’s time to resume the blog and what better way to do it than by returning to the relentless genre of which I am so fond.

Killer driving bass and drums with a wonderful twangy guitar riding on top. Cindy Wilson adds a shouty vocal that proves to be the missing link between 1960s bubblegum pop and the post punk new wave …..

A perfect pop single. How good were things in 1980?

All topped off by a wonderful video.

Isley Brothers – This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You) (1966)

One of the greatest records ever made – classic slice of Motown.

Originally intended for The Supremes, this Holland-Dozier-Holland classic was the only significant hit scored by the Isleys while on Motown.

Lots of versions on Youtube.

Despite the bizarre Union Jack motif, this is the best because the bass is turned up loud!

Carlo Lio – Stuck in a Dream (2011)

Friday night. What better than some relentless techno/house monotony to get the weekend rolling.

Heard this for the first time at 5:10pm today and it’s on the blog before 8pm!

Simple but effective. And relentless.

I have found that playing this at ear splitting volume with the bass up high is likely to achieve optimum listening. First, my neighbours, and, now, the police appear to disagree …. See you in court buddy.

Carlo Lio is Canadian. This is a good thing. Like Neil Young and Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

 

Womack & Womack – Love Wars (1983)

Fantastic record, very big on my “corridor” at the University in Manchester …..

At the time, I was smitten with The Smiths’ first John Peel Session and, in particular, the elemental first outing of “Reel Around The Fountain” with less piano and more bass than the inferior version that made it onto the first Smiths LP proper.

But, despite the allure of Morrissey’s quiff, this record was always there.

Pounding bass that sounds like the blueprint for much of the epoch defining Trax and DJ International material that made up the canon of classic Chicago House two or three years later.

Wonderful vocals and chorus and the sort of clunky drum machine and synth that stretched the technology of the day to its limits. It’s all too easy today and, consequently, so much harder to separate the wheat from the chaff ….

NME track of the year 1984!

Top of the Pops version then the extended 12″ mix.

Odyssey – Native New Yorker (1977)

Well, obviously, in 1977, I was mainly listening to the Pistols and The Clash and not Grease, Saturday Night Fever and commercial (US chart based) radio. Honest.

Only 13 in 1977, I loved all the early disco stuff such as Van McCoy’s “The Hustle”, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, etc. A year or so later, Chic and Nile Rodgers raised the bar for one strand of more funk based disco while, at the same time, Giorgio Moroder (with Donna Summer and Blondie) created some of the early blueprints for house and techno.

But, amidst all this, I always loved this record. Lush; melanch0lic, but uplifting; with a killer bass and piano, understated guitar and strings to die for.

Pop music perfection.

Dreadzone – The Good, The Bad And The Dread (1993)

Superb spaghetti-western inspired track from Dreadzone’s classic “360 degrees” debut LP of 1993.

Ennio Morricone samples, Don Letts providing senior guidance and John Peel playing it to death … perfect!

Could only find a truncated Youtube clip. Check here to purchase the considerably longer original!

James Brown – There Was A Time (1967)

This is probably the best track from possibly the greatest live LP of all time – James Brown’s “Live at the Apollo Volume II”, recorded in 1967 and released in 1968.

The, ahem, “many” followers of this blog will know that I can never get enough of a well played funk guitar and this performance is right up there with my all-time favourites. Incredibly influential; large chunks of the dance music scene of the 1970s are laid down in this blueprint.

impLOG – Holland Tunnel Dive (1980)

I taped this off the John Peel Show in the summer of 1980 and it was one of my favourite songs for years. Finally tracked it down on CD in the mid 1990s and now, seemingly, it is recognised as one of the, ahem, “classic” releases of the New York “No Wave” scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s (now easily available on the superb Soul Jazz compilation “New York Noise Volume 3“).

impLOG were Don Christensen with help from Jody Harris. They were both in The Contortions (with James Chance) and released just two records as impLOG.

Someone’s made a nice home made video for the track on Youtube.