April 2008 Archives

Back from Podcamp 2.0 which was a beautiful thing, no doubt. The trip to NYC was inspiration for this OSW:

Old School Wednesday: Acid Jazz, Volume 4.
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01 - D-Influence - Changes
02 - Donald Byrd - Sister Love
03 - Brooklyn Funk Essentials - The Creator Has A Master Plan
04 - Swing Out Sister - Don't Let Yourself Down
05 - Carleen Anderson - Nervous Breakdown
06 - Bob James - Nautilus
07 - Incognito - I Love What You Do For Me
08 - James Taylor Quartet - Summer Fantasy
09 - Jhelisa - Whirl Keeps Turning
10 - Stylistics - People Make The World Go Round
11 - Repercussions - Test Of Time
12 - Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
14 - Loose Ends - Choose Me

Let's see, where do I begin? Well, we start off with D'Influence's Changes, one of the tracks from the their initial release Good4We. That track grooves you right into Donald Byrd's Sister Love, from the 1973 album Street Lady. Brooklyn Funk Essentials' The Creator Has A Master Plan is a rendition of the original Pharoah Sanders track. It's followed by Carleen Anderson's Nervous Breakdown, which marked my official introduction into acid jazz. I tracked down Bob James' Nautilus after I heard the remake of the track from Nuyorican Soul (a very, very solid album).

Incognito's track I Love What You Do For Me is from Vibes, Tribes and Scribes, continuing on to James Taylor Quartet and Jhelisa's Whirl Keeps Turning from Galactica Rush. The Stylistics extended version of People Make The World Go Round (reintroduced by Zero 7's Anotherlatenight) leads the way into Repercussions' Test Of Time, another solid LP. Herbie's Chameleon is from the 1973 album Headhunters. After Herbie's track, the mix is then concluded by Loose Ends' Choose Me from A Little Spice.

The podcast is here for your listenin' pleasure, so if you're so inclined, take a listen [coming soon]. Special thanks to Macedonia for the much needed push, and especially for those people I met at Podcamp NYC 2.0, which was very enligtening (as a matter of fact, it was so good, I've already started planning for the next trip to NYC, believe that.) For those who'd like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light!

Getting ready for Podcamp NYC 2.0, and I can't wait. Let's do this.

Old School Wednesday: Reach For It
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01 - Tom Browne - Thighs High
02 - George Duke - Reach For It
03 - GQ - Is It Cool?
04 - Raw Silk - Do It To The Music
05 - Pleasure - Glide
06 - Aquarian Dream - You're A Star
07 - Melba Moore - You Stepped Into My Life
08 - Alexander O'Neal - (What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me
09 - The Sylvers - Come Back Lover, Come Back
10 - Cherrelle - When You Look in My Eyes
11 - Stevie Wonder - That Girl
12 - Garry Glenn - It's Love Again
13 - Steely Dan - Deacon Blues
14 - Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With You

Tom Browne and George Duke tracks were always staples in my home, so they're pretty much a given to start this off. GQ's Is It Cool? is one of my favorite tracks that was never released. Raw Silk's Do It To The Music gives the East Coast vibe, while Pleasure's Glide delivers from the West Coast.

Aquarian Dream, a band spearheaded by Normal Connors, delivers the great track, You're A Star, from their album Fantasy, Melba Moore also delivers with a mellow track from 1978, You Stepped Into My Life. Alexander O'Neal's (What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me (from Hearsay) is followed up with The Sylvers' Come Back Lover, Come Back (from Concept).

Cheryl Norton (also known as Cherrelle) delivers a track from the album Fragile with When You Look In My Eyes. One of my favorite tracks from Stevie (That Girl) is followed by one of great tracks from Garry Glenn, It's Love Again, from GG which was released in 1981. This is followed by some blue eyed soul from Steely Dan (Deacon Blues from Aja) and some funk groovin' from Bootsy (I'd Rather Be With You from Stretchin' Out In Bootsy's Rubber Band).

The podcast is here for your listenin' pleasure, so if you're so inclined, take a listen. For those who'd like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light.

In the mix....

Old School Wednesday: Number One
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01 - Imagination - Just an Illusion
02 - GQ - Shake
03 - Kleeer - Winners
04 - Crown Heights Affair - Sure Shot
05 - Foster Sylvers - Misdemeanor
06 - Jeffrey Osborne - Plane Love
07 - Patrice Rushen - Number One
08 - Stevie Wonder - Stranger On The Shore Of Love
09 - George Duke - Someday
10 - Gary Taylor - Compassion
11 - Gwen Guthrie - (They Long To Be) Close To You
12 - Isley Jasper Isley - A Once In A Lifetime Lady
13 - Mint Condition - Forever In Your Eyes
14 - Lalah Hathaway - Baby Don't Cry

I'm sure we're all familiar with Imagination's Just An Illusion, but when's the last time you've heard Shake from GQ and Winners from Kleeer? I remembered those being played at roller rinks and clubs back in the day. This is followed up by a very nice request from Brother Tashi outta Philly, Sure Shot, one of the many hits from Crown Heights Affair.

Jeffrey's Plane Love, a personal fave from 1984 is followed by one of my favorite instrumentals of all time, Number One. Stevie's Stranger On The Shore Of Love follows, one of the tracks from In Square Circle. I had to locate Someday from George Duke after I heard the sample of the track on Common's LP. This is followed by one solid track from Gary Taylor called Compassion.

I was reading about Gwen Guthrie last week on Wikipedia which made me pull out this stellar remake of a track from The Carpenters (They Long To Be) Close To You. This is followed by Isley Jasper Isley's Once In A Lifetime Lady and the very first track I heard from Mint Condition some time before their first album came out, Forever In Your Eyes. I then close everything out with Lalah's Baby Don't Cry, which has a familiar female singer prevalent on the track.

You know the drill - there's a little more in the podcast, so if you're so inclined, take a listen. For those who'd like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light!

And here we go.

Old School Wednesday: Take A Little Trip
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01 - Michael Wycoff - Tell Me Love
02 - Earth, Wind & Fire - And Love Goes On
03 - Rufus featuring Chaka Khan - At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up)
04 - Fatback Band - Goin' To See My Baby
05 - Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information
06 - Johnny Hammond - Fantasy
07 - Level 42 - Starchild
08 - Minnie Riperton - Take A Little Trip
09 - S.O.S. Band - Weekend Girl
10 - Shalamar - Help Me
11 - Don Blackman - Holding You, Loving You
12 - Heatwave - The Star of The Story
13 - O'Jays - Help (Somebody Please)
14 - Tavares - Check It Out

This podcast has been challenging for me. As I stop and think about the number of OSWs that have been produced (approximately 150, give or take a few), I often feel like I need to take some time out and recharge. The self-imposed rules I have had (play no track twice within 6 months, and tracks must be at least 10 years old), and the amount of time it takes to do each one (3 hours at a minimum) have been more than a little work, and I've often thought about retiring. Thanks to this mix, however, I think I'm going to keep on doing this, and I'd encourage other podcasters to do the same.

I could tell you so much about each track, because every track has it's particular groove for me, but I'll keep it brief. Michael Wycoff's Tell Me Love is one of the most underrated classics, especially considering the background vocalists, who worked primarily with Luther Vandross. Earth Wind & Fire's And Love Goes On is from the 1980 album, Faces. Rufus' At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up) is the quintessential jam session and is followed up by Fatback Band's Goin' To See My Baby, laden with some serious, serious drum licks.

Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information was way ahead of it's time (just ask David Byrne from Talking Heads, who had Shuggie's tracks re-released), while Johnny Hammond's instrumental Fantasy and Level 42's mid-tempo Starchild continue bridging the gap with pop, soul, and jazz.

Minnie's Take A Little Trip is the track that I was listening to at the beginning of the month that made me smile, thereby giving me a little push to complete this. Atlanta's own SOS Band's Weekend Girl which is a very popular track being played on quiet storm stations everywhere, is followed by two sleepers. Shalamar's Help Me (from 1982's album Friends) which shines primarily because of it's string and vocal arrangements are accentuated with a killer bassline, and unfortunately was not released as a single. The same holds true for Don Blackman's Holding You, Loving You, with its stellar piano arrangement. The mix is brought to a close with my personal fave from Heatwave, The Star of the Story, O'Jay's Help (Somebody Please) sampled by Total (among others), and Tavares' very first hit, Check It Out.

Special thanks to Pil Hill for the intro drop (give that man some Coirvoisier, please). As usual, there's a little more in the podcast, so if you're so inclined, take a listen. For those who'd like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light!

Lemme drop this with a quickness:

Old School Wednesday: Hangin'
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01 - Ohio Players - Love Rollercoaster
02 - Stephanie Mills - Put Your Body In It
03 - Harvey Mason - Till You Take My Love
04 - The Jones Girls - You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else
05 - Marvin Gaye - Funk Me
06 - Raydio - Jack And Jill
07 - Hall & Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
08 - Michael Franks - Let Me Count The Ways
09 - RAMP - Daylight
10 - Stylus - Hangin'
11 - Stevie Wonder - You've Got It Bad Girl
12 - Michael Cooper - Over And Over
13 - Rose Royce - Ooh Boy
14 - Rick James & Tina Marie - Happy

I'm pretty sure you're well aware of these tunes, but pay special attention to RAMP- the tune will sound very familiar. (More info about them here.) My particular fave one is Stylus' Hangin' which I first heard as a sample on a Little Brother track. Special thanks to Roney, DarrenKeith, DYKC, and Todd Kelley for their blessing of Love Rollercoaster. As usual, there's a little more in the podcast, so if you're so inclined, take a listen. For those who'd like to subscribe to these podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests or questions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light!