I hope everyone’s having a pretty good holiday. I’ve got lots of good presents from some great people, but best of all, I got a chance to communicate with some great people this season, and it’s been a blast. I’ve been on a mini-hiatus this month, but the stress has seemed to alleviate itself, and when all is said and done, I’m glad it’s all
over.

I’ve gotten some great music from great people, and this is the just the first dose.

Old
School Wednesday: Christmas Presents, 2005.

01 – Change – Paradise
02 – Slave – Party Lites
03 – Shalamar – Take That to the Bank
04 – Imagination – Who (Tell Me Who)
05 – Frankie Knuckles – Rain Falls (featuring Lisa Michaelis)
06 – Lisa Stansfield – Love In Me
07 – MFSB – Old San Juan (Instrumental)
08 – The Bee Gees – How Deep Is Your Love
09 – The Sylvers – I Wish That I Could Talk To You
10 – The System – Lollipops & Everything
11 – George Duke – Sweet Baby
12 – Stephanie Mills – Two Hearts
13 – Club Nouveau – Heavy On My Mind
14 – Zhane – You’re Sorry Now
15 – Tara Kemp – Piece Of My Heart

Who (Tell Me Who) was produced by Arthur Baker, and Leon Sylvers demonstrated his production duties on I Wish That I Could Talk To You and Take That To The Bank. I had never heard the Imagination track before I received them from Thierno and I had never heard The Sylvers’ track before Wayne In SB dropped it to me, particularly since Leon Sylvers II (the father of Leon Sylvers III) passed on recently. May he rest in peace. Much love to both.

Hope you enjoy.

Today is the first day of winter. What better way to kick it off with:

Old
School Wednesday: Winter Solstice, 2005.

01 – Chic – I Want Your Love
02 – Heatwave – The Groove Line (Extended)
03 – Sun – Sun Is Here
04 – Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle
05 – Andy Gibb – An Everlasting Love
06 – Steely Dan – Peg
07 – Michael Franks – Your Secret’s Safe With Me
08 – Teena Marie – Portuguese Love
09 – Rufus & Chaka Khan – Everlasting Love
10 – Mica Paris – Breathe Life Into Me
11 – RJ’s Latest Arrival – Hold On (Extended)
12 – Intro – My Love’s On The Way
13 – Portrait – All Natural Girl
14 – Frankie Knuckles – Sold On Love (featuring Lisa Michaelis)

Major props to Nikki for Hold On. And Sun? Well, I hadn’t heard the track in more than 20 years, but thanks to John K., I was graced with Sun Is Here . Hope you enjoy.

I couldn’t think of a name to describe this one. Thanks to KB, he named it perfectly.

Old
School Wednesday: Funk Time Zone.

01 – Raydio – Jack And Jill
02 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Star
03 – Chicago – Street Player (Dance Mix)
04 – Sister Sledge – He’s The Greatest Dancer
05 – L.T.D. – Holding On (When Love Is Gone)
06 – Electric Light Orchestra – Evil Woman
07 – The Isley Brothers – Voyage to Atlantis
08 – Everything But the Girl – Driving
09 – Heatwave – The Star of The Story
10 – Boz Scaggs – Jojo
11 – Steely Dan – Black Cow
12 – Meli’sa Morgan – Fool’s Paradise
13 – Portrait – Heartstrings
14 – RJ’s Latest Arrival – Heaven In Your Arms

Four the groovy way – KB, Saga, J. Brotherlove, and James added a little spice to this with their suggestions.

I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve heard Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, and Everything But The Girl. Here’s the kicker though – remember the house cut that sampled Street Player?

Enjoy.

I don’t know where you live, but down here it’s freezing. I’m under the covers right now.

Old
School Wednesday: Winter Warmup, Volume 1.

01 – Isley Jasper Isley – 8th Wonder Of The World
02 – The Brothers Johnson – Runnin’ for Your Lovin’
03 – The O’Jays – Message In Our Music
04 – Earth, Wind & Fire – September
05 – T.S. Monk – Bon Bon Vie
06 – Donald Byrd – Lansanna’s Priestess
07 – Swing Out Sister – Everyday Crime
08 – The Family – Desire
09 – Minnie Riperton – Wouldn’t Matter Where You Are
10 – Herb Alpert – Pillow
11 – Bobby Ross Avila – La La Love
12 – Mica Paris – Truth & Honesty
13 – Loose Ends – Easier Said Than Done
14 – Johnny Gill – Just Another Lonely Night
15 – Con Funk Shun – (Let Me Put) Love on Your Mind

I was a big fan of Different Drummer, which is why I pulled 8th Wonder Of The World out. Grant and I think alike, which is why we both dropped Bon Bon Vie. I’m still on the Mizell tip, which is why the instrumental Lansanna’s Priestess was dropped. (Let Me Put) Love On Your Mind is one of my favorite cuts from Con Funk Shun. The rock and soul ballad strikes home with me. I even managed to throw in some Minnie Riperton with a wonderful track, Wouldn’t Matter Where You Are, to compliment The Family’s Desire.

I then threw in
some Mica Paris, Swing Out Sister and Loose Ends to give England its due, and I even threw in Bobby Ross Avila, since someone conjured up La La Love.

Enjoy.

I keep saying I’m going to get into the swing of things, but I’m mostly just relaxing these days. I’m behind on my reading, and need more sleep, but I’ve got time for the music. Here we go…..

Old
School Wednesday: Autumnal Equinox, Volume 2.

01 – Confunkshun – Straight From The Heart
02 – Anita Baker – Will You Be Mine?
03 – The Isley Brothers – Groove With You
04 – Chante Moore – Wey U
05 – Angel Grant – Kisses Luv Lips
06 – Bill Withers – Lovely Day
07 – Marvin Gaye – Heavy Love Affair
08 – Donald Byrd – Wind Parade
09 – The Main Ingredient – Happiness Is Just Around the Bend
10 – Boz Scaggs – Lowdown
11 – Slave – Wait For Me
12 – Aurra – Who Are You?
13 – Leo’s Sunshipp – Give Me The Sunshine
14 – Stevie Wonder – Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)

While I personally think the whole selection is great, I’ve definitely been into Leo’s Sunshipp’s track, Give Me The Sunshine, which you can get from Midnight Soul, Volume 2, as well as We Need Each Other, which is what I picked up last weekend.
Wind Parade is from Mizell, which is a Mizell Brothers compilation which I’ve constantly been rotating. If you’re a fan of Donand Byrd and Bobbi Humphrey, I’d advise you to pick the CD up. Qamar got me into Slave, so I’ve been rotating Show Time/Visions Of The Lite this week. Then there’s Aurra’s Who Are You, which Fresh! got me into, and…well, as you can tell, I could go on and on about this music.

Hope you enjoy it.

I’ll be playing this around my relatives all weekend, while I go by each of their
houses and eat their food.

Old
School Wednesday: Thanksgiving Mix, 2005.

01 – The Brothers Johnson – Light up the Night. Produced by Quincy Jones.
02 – Five Special – Why Leave Us Alone.
03 – The Jacksons – Everybody. Special thanks to KB
for dropping this to me when I couldn’t find it.
04 – Stephanie Mills – Put Your Body In It.
05 – Val Young – Seduction (Extended). Written and produced by Rick James.
06 – Patrice Rushen – Haven’t You Heard. The all-time classic.
07 – Chaka Khan – Move Me No Mountain.
08 – Marvin Gaye – Turn On Some Music. All instruments and vocals
by the man himself, Marvin.
09 – Alexander O’Neal – Love Makes No Sense.
10 – Ramsey Lewis – Sun Goddess.
11 – The Main Ingredient – Everybody Plays the Fool.
12 – Love Unlimited – Gotta Be Where You Are.
13 – The Isley Brothers – For the Love of You.
14 – Anita Baker – Angel.
15 – Deniece Williams – It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Collaboration has it’s advantages. I couldn’t think of a name for this mix. KB,
the collaborator, helped me out- with a little wry humour of course……

EJ: Alright, come up with a name for it.
EJ: I don’t think you want it to be KB’s Adolesence, Volume 1, right?
KB: Special place in hell for you, my friend.
EJ: Purgatory has many levels. I’ve already moved in.
KB: Hold up, let me take a look at the lineup again.
KB: "Growing Pains"
KB: It fits every song except the Dynasty one.

And that’s how Old
School Wednesday: Growing Pains came to be.

01 – Imagination – Just an Illusion.
02 – Princess – Say I’m Your #1.
03 – Cameo – Back and Forth.
04 – The System – Don’t Disturb This Groove.
05 – Tyka Nelson – Paris.
06 – Herb Alpert – Rise.
07 – Dynasty – Adventures In The Land Of Music.
08 – EFUA – Strawberry Boy.
09 – Juicy – Sugar Free.
10 – The Main Ingredient – Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling In Love).
11 – L.T.D. – Love Ballad.
12 – Force M.D’s – Tears.
13 – Chuckii Booker – You Don’t Know.
14 – Loose Ends – You Can’t Stop the Rain.

In this lineup:
1. Four of these artists are British acts.
2. One of these songs was sampled by the rap act Camp Lo.
3. One of these acts had Cuba Gooding as a member.
4. One of them is a close relative of Prince.
5. One of these acts was also produced by the same production team that produced
Rick Astley.

Give it your best shot.

It’s that time again.

Old
School Wednesday: Autumnal Equinox, Volume 1.

01 – Odyssey – Inside Out [Long Version]. Will
requested that it be pulled out of the vault again. I was happy to oblige. The
bassline and the string arrangements of this track are incredible, even more so
that they were masterminded by Mark Adams from Slave.
02 – Marvin Gaye – Funk Me. J.
had the cut and I went wild when I heard it and I had to have it. The arrangement
is superb.
03 – Kashif – Stone Love. I haven’t played Kashif in a while and he fit
right in.
04 – Ray Parker Junior – For Those Who Like to Groove. An instrumental
I hadn’t heard in a while. Once I got the blessing from Fresh!,
I had to drop it.
05 – Pieces of a Dream – Fo-Fi-Fo. Bernie
had me pull it out, and I was glad to do so. This cut just missed the Philly Soul
mix.
06 – Will Downing – Do You? From Will Downing’s first LP, Will Downing.
This was one of my favorite cuts that never got any airplay.
07 – Michael McDonald – What A Fool Believes (ft.The Doobie Brothers).
Todd made me pull him out,
and I had to put this track in.
08 – Pride ‘n Politix – Nights. I saw this melanin-free duo on Video Soul in the 80′s
interviewing with Donnie Simpson and bought their CD a couple of years ago from
the cut-out bin. My favorite cut from their CD, Changes. I’m 99% sure
no one has heard this cut.
09 – Ray Parker Jr and Raydio – You Can’t Change That. Since I pulled
the instrumental out, I had to hear this too, and couldn’t get away with it.
10 – Rufus & Chaka Khan – Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me of a Friend).
This track was in my head, which provided the segue to…
11 – Womack & Womack – Baby I’m Scared Of You, which Charlie from
Flowink had brought up in conversation,
and dropped to me.
12 – Deniece Williams – Free. Provided to me by no other than James from
J-Notes. Allowed me to slow things
down a little.
13 – Jasmine Guy – Just Want To Hold You. Male vocals by James Ingram. Quite possibly my favorite
track from her CD, Jasmine Guy.
14 – Troop – You Take My Heart With You. From Deepa.
15 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – She’s Gone. This cut wasn’t on the
Rock and Soul mix. I’m sure none of you forgot this one. I know I didn’t.

16 – Alexander O’Neal – When The Party’s Over. Obi,
GrantLove, and
Chica all know I had to finish off with this cut.

Enjoy.

Leaves are falling from the trees, love is in the air. By request:

Old
School Wednesday: The Need 4 Love.

01 – Anita Baker – You Bring Me Joy
02 – Norman Connor with Jean Carne and Michael Henderson – Valentine Love.
03 – The Emotions – Don’t Ask My Neighbor.
04 – Cameo – Sparkle.
05 – Nu Colours – Didn’t Any 1 Tell You
06 – Kenny Loggins – Love Will Follow
07 – Michael Franks – The Lady Wants to Know
08 – Minnie Riperton – Can You Feel What I’m Saying
09 – D-Influence – Funny (How Things Change)
10 – Cherrelle – Everything I Miss At Home
11 – Alexander O’Neal – Sunshine
12 – Angel Grant – Well Okay, I’ll Say It…(I’m N Love W/U).
13 – Troop – Come Back To Your Home
14 – Rhonda Clark – Stay Here, Stay Near
15 – Kiss the Sky – So Easy

Note: one of the tracks features Stevie Wonder, two of the tracks are from England, and four of the tracks are from Flytetyme.
I’ll let you guess which ones.
Enjoy.

The first time was so good, it was impossible to let these go, especially with the requests from the last one. Presenting:

Old
School Wednesday: Philly Soul, Volume II.

01 – The Intruders – Cowboys to Girls.
My moms used to play this cut endlessly.  And sing it. All the time.
Hats off to London Lee for bringing it back. 
02 – The Stylistics – You Are
Everything.
I honestly can’t get enough of the Stylistics, so I made sure to
restrain
myself.  In my opinion, everything they touched turned to
gold. 

03 – Billy Paul – Let’s Make a Baby. GrantLove
had it on his mind, so why not pull it out?
04 – The Spinners – It’s a
Shame. 
Co-written by Stevie Wonder (who was 20 at the time) and
Lee Garrett,
this song is also a classic. This helped put The Spinners on the
map.
05 – Jean Carne – I’m Back For
More.  Back in 1980, this duet with Al Johnson
was released. Nods to
GrantLove on this
one also.

06 – The O’Jays – Used To Be My
Girl. 
O’Jays biggest selling single.
07 – The Jones Girls – Children of the Night. 
Originally performed by The Stylistics, this socially conscious track always
gets repeated in my car when played.   A classic Thom
Bell /Linda
Creed track. 
08 – Jean Carne – Don’t Let It Go
to Your
Head. In my opinion, her greatest track- and most
underappreciated.. 

09 – Harold Melvin & The
Blue Notes – The
Love I Lost.  Considered one of the first disco
singles.
10 – Instant Funk – I Got My Mind
Made
Up. Speaking of disco, this song was mixed by the one and
only Larry
Levan.  This hit number one on the R&B chart and top
20 pop.
11 – The O’Jays – Love
Train. Platinum
single from The O’Jays.
12 – Instant Funk – Crying.
Also released
by Instant Funk. Yet another underappreciated track from
1979.
13 – Phyllis Hyman – You Know How
To Love
Me. I don’t think I can say enough about it, so I’m
calling on the people
leaving comments to speak about this track instead. 
Timeless.
14 – MFSB – Love Is the
Message. This
track, over 10 minutes long, was often the track that you heard at a
club before
they took your drinks out of you, started bringing up the lights, and
opening
the doors up, while personnel were getting ready to start pushing you
out of the
door when the song ended.  Classic.

Vibe it through.

Philly’s in the house, thanks to my friend Mike P and Bernie.
There were so many songs to consider, and so much reminiscing, that I finally
had to stop myself and start presenting this in volumes. This is only a glimpse
into the vibe. Right now, we present:

Old
School Wednesday: Philly Soul, Volume 1.


01 – MFSB & The Three Degrees – T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia).

02 – The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again?
03 – The Stylistics – People Make the World Go Round (Full Version).

04 – The Spinners – Could It Be I’m Falling In Love?
05 – Billy Paul – Me and Mrs. Jones.
06 – The Intruders – I Wanna Know Your Name.
07 – Blue Magic – Sideshow.
08 – The Spinners – Games People Play.
09 – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes & Sharon Paige – Hope That We Can
Be Together Soon.
10 – Billy Paul – Brown Baby.
11 – People’s Choice – Do It Any Way You Wanna.
12 – The O’Jays – I Love Music (Extended).
13 – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – Bad Luck (Extended).
14 – The O’Jays – For the Love of Money (Extended).

Most of these songs bring up some serious childhood memories for me,
I don’t even know where to begin, seriously. More information is forthcoming.
For now, just enjoy the vibe…..

I had a full weekend, and that’s why I’ve been incognito. I’ve been enjoying my
vacation instead of dropping my in-rotation and a Baker’s Dozen talking about
how much fun I had this weekend, my travellng and my brunch with some awesome
people from all over the place. Instead, I just relaxed, hung out, and of course,
had my headphones on during my chill-out period.

After I compiled the sequence, I had a hard time deciding on a description for
this playlist. Luckily, KB came
to my rescue. He saw the tracklisting and thought that the name below was appropriate:
Who am I to disagree?

Old
School Wednesday: Loves, Lies, and Promises.


01 – Jevetta Steele – Calling You, which Nikki
mentioned two weeks ago, so I pulled it out. Featured in the movie Baghdad Cafe.
02 – Stevie Wonder – Love’s in Need of Love Today, which was demanded
by Yolanda
and blessed by Bomani.
03 – Rufus & Chaka Khan – Stay. From 1978′s
Street
Player.
04 – The Brothers Johnson – I’ll Be Good to You. From 1976. George Johnson
was dating several women and the situation was getting out out of hand, especially
around the holidays. When he decided to commit to one, he wrote the song I’ll
Be Good to You, with family friend Senora Sam adding lyrics. Produced by Quincy
Jones.
05 – Lalah Hathaway – Smile. From 1990. Russell Ferrante (from Yellowjackets)
had a hand in this tune. From Lalah
Hathaway.
06 – Deja – That’s Where You’ll Find Me. I have to hand it to Qamar
for his hand in this one. Very underappreciated tune, co-written and
released in 1988 with Monte Moir.
07 – Stephanie Mills – What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’. Sister
Outsider dropped this one to me. I’ll tip my hat to her,
when I purchase a new one.
08 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Fantasy. From All N’ All. I don’t think
I can say enough about this track.
09 – Patti Austin – Big Bad World. From 1985′s Gettin’
Away With Murder. This track is accentuated with Chaka Khan,
Jocelyn Brown, and Luther Vandross.
10 – Kiss the Sky – What Does It Take? A Jaki Graham and Paul Hardcastle
collaboration.
11 – D-Influence – Journey. From their debut album Good
4 We. One of my favorite cuts from that CD. Considering that
I can listen to that CD from start to finish, that’s saying quite a bit.
12 – Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam – Lost In Emotion. Smash hit from 1987.
13 – Intro – Anything for You. From their eponymous
album.
14 – Johnny Gill – Never Know Love. Unreleased track from Johnny’s album
Johnny
Gill.
15 – Stephanie Mills – (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me. Hit from the 1987
release If
I Were Your Woman.
16 – Christopher Williams – Every Little Thing U Do. From Changes.

I’d like to give special thanks to my sister, LDF, who assured me
that this is the first thing she’s going to listen to today, since it’s her birthday
and all. Happy birthday, Sis. Much love. Everyone, groove it forward.

Alright, we’re ready. This actually came from the madman, KB.
He states:

They say there’s a fine line between madman and genius. So it
came as no surprise, when preparing for his Old School Wednesday radio blog
last week, EJ asked my favorite Hall & Oates song and then my favorite Stevie
Wonder song. At first I didn’t see the corelation but then I got it: rock n’
soul. H&O are one of the most soulful pop acts of our time (they are from
Philadelphia, after all). And Stevie has been a major musical influence for many,
including pop & rock groups.

Genius… But what else should you expect from a music loving mad man.

I don’t know about genius, but I’m alright with the music loving madman. All
I know is what started out as a couple of questions turned into a soulsearching event,
much reminiscing, and songs being pulled out of the vaults. Check it out:

Old
School Wednesday: Rock and Soul.

Dropping the favorite tracks as prescribed.

Starting with the mellow tracks:
01 – Stevie Wonder – Knocks Me off My Feet, as stated by AB
and Hopluv.
02 – Stevie Wonder – Rocket Love, as spoken by DJ
Diva.
03 – Stevie Wonder – Overjoyed, by KB
and JDid.
04 – Dionne Warwick & Stevie Wonder – It’s You, because Thierno
said we should pull it out of the vaults.

05 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Sara Smile, by far the most requested
from Hall and Oates, as stated by AB,
DJ Diva,
Xquizzyt1,
and **RPM**.
06 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – She’s Gone, because London
Lee resurrected it.
07 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – One on One, as demanded by Angelicastorm.

Pushing it up a notch:
08 – Stevie Wonder – Isn’t She Lovely, from Zun
and Brotha
Buck.
09 – Stevie Wonder – He’s Misstra Know It All, A touch choice for London
Lee.
10 – Stevie Wonder – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing, because **RPM**
mentioned this one too.
11 – Stevie Wonder – I Was Made to Love Her, for White Silk.
12 – Stevie Wonder – Living For The City, from Wayne,
who said this one was easy. I had to pull the full version out, which I remember
growing up. Scared me each time.

13 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Rich Girl, from a couple of high
school friends of mine who started singing it in my ear.
14 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Everything Your Heart Desires, one
of my favorites, without hesitation.
15 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Out of Touch, which I also resurrected
for Thierno.
16 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go For That (Extended),
for White Silk, JDid,
KB, Tazee
and Hopluv
- and then Gwen
pulled out the extended mix. Wow.

And then finishing on a high note:
17 – Stevie Wonder – That Girl (1982 Musiquarium Version), for every
wannabe producer, as Qamar stated.
18 – Stevie Wonder – All I Do, one of the songs that stops me cold,
because it’s heard on adult contemporary, pop, and R&B stations as well as
dance clubs, and still has the same effect. Tazee
mentioned it also, which made me happier to hear it.

19 – Stevie Wonder – As. Pulled out of the vaults from last week.
20 – Stevie Wonder – Another Star. I will play this in my car 10 times
in a row, and I will be asked to turn it off each time. A song with accentuated
horns, vocals, and percussion, written with sadness in mind? It always perplexes
me.

21 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Maneater, because Steph
had to have it.
22 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Your Imagination (Remix), which
was mentioned by Qamar, so I had to pull out the mix.
23 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – Method of Modern Love (Extended Mix),
which (as KB has told me to mention), is the one I confessed to him early on
was my favorite.

I missed three, I’m very sure Zun
and Enigma,
I’ve got you on the next round (and Wayne, yours was so hard to find, I still
have it on back order).

Something not here that should be heard? Let me know. Enjoy.

I don’t think I’ve had so many smiles or so much laughter this week. Thanks
for all the appreciation. I can’t stop smiling, and just decided that I’m gonna
keep being me (sans headaches, that is).

I decided I’d ask a couple of questions last this week, just to stir up some
questions. I think I had a mini-revolt going on in instant messaging, which
is hilarious, even when you’re trying not to laugh so hard while working.
The two main questions I asked, which I am now bringing to the general public,
are:

1. What’s your favorite Hall and Oates song?
2. What’s your favorite Stevie Wonder song?

I’m gonna try to keep a general tally of the answers, so put your thoughts in.
I could tell you mine, but they’d change twice a day, trust me. But hey, I’ve
got things for you right here that should make you smile

Old
School Wednesday: Seeing Clearly Part II.

01 – EX Girlfriend – Searching To Find The One. This cut was
first released by Unlimited Touch, but not being able to find their album in
time for this OSW was cause for me to think about dropping this cut all together,
but then I remembered this remake of the song that was a spot-on remake of the
classic hit (and of course, the executive producers of their album being Full
Force didn’t hurt either), so it fit right in. Then I had this song in my head:

02 – Intro – So Many Reasons, because even though their debut album went
gold, and Kenny Greene was a consummate writer, it was always his voice and talent
that got me, as
it did the last time (right, Will)?.
May he rest in peace. But that was always a nice segue into the very first release
from a particular band,

03 – Mint Condition – My Dear, that was an awesome track off of an
awesome soundtrack to a not-so-awesome movie, Mo’ Money. Besides, I had to tease
someone.
The song reminded me of something along the veins of….

04 – Al B. Sure! – Touch You, which was one of those songs off of the
second album, Private
Times and The Whole 9, that, upon my first listens, made me sit there and
wonder what he was trying to accomplish. The more and more I heard it, the more
it stuck, primarily because of the background vocals and unique arrangements.
And then I thought I’d start asking a
couple of
people some questions, which brought up this track:

05 – Stevie Wonder – As. All I ask you is to not blame me for swaying
back and forth at work, okay? And then we went back to 1980, for….

06 – Seawind – What Cha Doin’. See, there’s this guy named Qamar, who’s
shown nothing but appreciation and the more and more we talked about Seawind,
the reminiscince of George Duke’s produced album Seawind, conjured up this top-20
R&B hit. Awesome stuff. The horn arrangement from this setup had me think
of…

07 – Sheila E – Loverboy from Sex Cymbal, which had a tight horn arrangement,
coupled with the percussion arrangement, and guitar solo. And yes, I had a crush
on her when I was in high school. Don’t hate me. Since I was feeling instrumentation,
I slowed it down a bit with…

08 – Joe Public – Anything, which also had a solo, a little scratching,
and a little rapping, with a couple of hip-hop nods in the back. [EDIT] This
also brings me to the following question: in this track there are three vocal samples played
continuously through the song. I recognize the second and third one, but I’m drawing
a blank on the first one that according to Godizus, the vocalist states, "one
of a kind, it shocks your mind." Does anyone, anyone know where that sample
comes from?! It’s driving me crazy! [/EDIT] Then, since the vibe was slowed
down a little, I thought that I’d pull this out…..

09 – Gina Thompson – The Things That You Do (Bad Boy Remix). I don’t
know if people remember this remix but it has Gina, along with Missy rapping,
112 doing background vocals, and even Puffy in it, just when Bad Boy was starting
to take off. I remember hearing this track and having it on cassette. Twice. But
then, I thought about three vocalists,

10 – Jade – Every Day Of The Week, off of Mind,
Body, and Song. The album was their second, and final,
effort together. Of course, when I’m still getting IMs from three
more
people and
thinking about the OSW I reach back and pull out….

11 – Daryl Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),
because some dude named KB told me it was essential. But then, you know, I had
to pull something else out again that was fits perfectly into this tune, and
it had to be played…..

12 – Lee Ritenour – Is It You? You see, back in 1981, this had to be
one of the pop and R&B songs that had to be played. I even had this song
on 8-track, I’m not afraid to say. But then, back in 1985, living down south,
this track…

13 – Mary Jane Girls – Shadow Lover was played every single
night on the quiet storm. From Only Four You. But
then I had to go back and liven it up with….

14 – Rude Boys – Heaven. I’m still of the opinion that they’re one
of the understated vocalists back then, as was….

15 – Jevetta Steele – All In Time. Remember Baghdad
Cafe? A particular track named Calling You? Well, that
a capella track made me find this
album especially since her brothers and sisters The Steeles,
Prince, and Levi Seacer, Jr. graced this album as well.

Enjoy it.

Remember how I was mentioning that I had a massive headache on Wednesday? Well,
a funny thing happened to me on Thursday morning around 3AM. My headache came
back and I started shaking again until I fell over the bed at which point I laid
there until the paramedics came and got me. Yes, my people, there’s nothing like
a grand
mal seizure to brighten up the weekend. I’m better now, with no more headaches
but a little more lethargy that I’m trying to get used to. I’m back out and working
again, and staying awake for more than 12 hours. Yes, I’m

Old
School Wednesday: Seeing Clearly Now.

Just things making me feel good right about now and glad that I’ve gotten past
this point….

01 – Ephraim Lewis – Rule for Life
02 – EX Girlfriend – S.O.S.
03 – George Benson – Love X Love
04 – Guy – Groove Me
05 – Janet Jackson – You Can Be Mine
06 – Real to Reel – Can You Treat Me Like She Does
07 – Nu Colours – Love Unlimited
08 – Jamiroquai – Stillness in Time
09 – S.O.S. Band – No One’s Gonna Love You
10 – Chaka Khan – Papillon (aka Hot Butterfly)
11 – Anita Baker – Good Love
12 – Deja – Heartbeat
13 – Johnny Gill – Let’s Just Run Away
14 – Chaka Khan – What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me
15 – Al B. Sure – Oooh This Love Is So
16 – Cherrelle – Foolin’ Around
17 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Spirit

I’m keepin’ on…onward and upward….hope the music is keeping you upward
too……