For some reason I've had this 1979 Patsy Gallant track on my mind for a few days. Don't know why as it was never one of my favourites, but it made me get the album out and give it another spin.
Typical late 70s disco really, though there's something about it I like. The lyrics seem quite amusing, and I love the idea of a "disco cafe" - I wonder what they were like!
Patsy is only really known for "From New York to LA" in the UK, though she had a longer career in her native Canada, and I hear is still going strong, having appeared in a film there a few years ago.
Enjoy the track!
http://www.divshare.com/download/10326236-6d4
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Grooveroom Talking - 2 January 2010
Welcome to the first show of 2010, and Happy New Year to everyone!
Some good stuff in this show - we're looking at the 1979 Joan Collins film The Bitch, as well as sampling some music from an early 70s porn film.
And of course we could hardly talk about 70s porn without playing the Andrea True Connection classic More, More, More.
Hope you enjoy it - look forward to reading any thoughts, suggestions etc on the comments!
Some good stuff in this show - we're looking at the 1979 Joan Collins film The Bitch, as well as sampling some music from an early 70s porn film.
And of course we could hardly talk about 70s porn without playing the Andrea True Connection classic More, More, More.
Hope you enjoy it - look forward to reading any thoughts, suggestions etc on the comments!
| 1. | Andrea True Connection - More, More, More | 1976 | |
| 2. | Karen Silver - Hold On, I'm Comin' | 1979 | |
| 3. | Players Association - Turn the Music Up | 1979 | |
| 4. | Skatt Brothers - Walk The Night | 1979 | |
| 5. | Pattie Brooks - My Heart Belongs To You | 1979 | |
| 6. | Herb Alpert - Rise | 1979 | |
| 7. | Don Argott - If It Ain't Easy, It Ain't Sleazy | 1972 |
Friday, 18 December 2009
Grooveroom Talking - 18 December 2009
Welcome back to my third radio show!
Carrying on the theme from previous shows the celebrity disco track this week is Gone, Gone, Gone from Johnny Mathis, and our music from the movies is the Julio Gutierrez version of Last Tango in Paris.
We also have some tracks exploring the boundaries between easy listening, jazz and disco, and finishing with a great favourite of mine from Eddie Kendricks.
Hope you enjoy listening - the weekend starts here!
Carrying on the theme from previous shows the celebrity disco track this week is Gone, Gone, Gone from Johnny Mathis, and our music from the movies is the Julio Gutierrez version of Last Tango in Paris.
We also have some tracks exploring the boundaries between easy listening, jazz and disco, and finishing with a great favourite of mine from Eddie Kendricks.
Hope you enjoy listening - the weekend starts here!
| 1. | Sly and the Family Stone - Dance to the Music | 1968 | |
| 2. | Grey & Hanks - Dancin' | 1978 | |
| 3. | Geraldine Hunt - Can't Fake the Feeling | 1980 | |
| 4. | Cheri - Murphy's Law | 1982 | |
| 5. | Johnny Mathis - Gone, Gone, Gone | 1979 | |
| 6. | Julio Gutierrez - Last Tango in Paris | 1973 | |
| 7. | Syd Dale - Disco Tek | 1973 | |
| 8. | Silver Convention - Save Me | 1975 | |
| 9. | Steely Dan - Time Out of Mind | 1980 | |
| 10. | Shakatak - Easier Said Than Done | 1981 | |
| 11. | Eddie Kendricks - Date with the Rain | 1977 |
Friday, 11 December 2009
Grooveroom Talking 11 December 09
This is number two in my series of disco oriented radio shows and I had great fun putting it together. I'm going to try and make these shows a weekly event as long as time permits!
I've got some great tracks from disco's earlier days to start us off, a curiosity from Ethel Merman, and this week's cinema spot looks at the 1970 British film "Groupie Girl" and the track "Sweet Motion" which is featured in the film.
We follow that with a couple of italo-disco tracks from around 1980 and finish with a slow dance to Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" from the same year!
Don't forget to leave me a message on the blog if you've got any suggestions for future shows - I'd love to hear from you!
The tracks I'm playing and talking about this week are:
I've got some great tracks from disco's earlier days to start us off, a curiosity from Ethel Merman, and this week's cinema spot looks at the 1970 British film "Groupie Girl" and the track "Sweet Motion" which is featured in the film.
We follow that with a couple of italo-disco tracks from around 1980 and finish with a slow dance to Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" from the same year!
Don't forget to leave me a message on the blog if you've got any suggestions for future shows - I'd love to hear from you!
The tracks I'm playing and talking about this week are:
| 1. | Steely Dan - Do It Again | 1972 | |
| 2. | Zulema - Giving Up | 1973 | |
| 3. | Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's Theme | 1973 | |
| 4. | Patti Jo - Make Me Believe in You | 1975 | |
| 5. | Ethel Merman - There's No Business Like Show Business | 1979 | |
| 6. | Salon Band - Sweet Motion | 1970 | |
| 7. | Passengers - I'll be Standing Beside You | 1979 | |
| 8. | Pino D'Angio - Ma Quale Idea | 1980 | |
| 9. | Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb - Guilty | 1980 |
Monday, 7 December 2009
Grooveroom Talking
Felt like trying something new this time, so instead of just stringing the music together I thought I'd talk about it too - a bit like a radio broadcast, so hope you find it entertaining! Apologies for any blips in the sound - this was something of a tryout session as far as my equipment goes. Anyway looking forward to reading any comments you want to make about the show, so please don't be shy!
The tracks I'm playing and talking about are:
The tracks I'm playing and talking about are:
| 1. | Final Edition - Betcha Can't Love Just One | 1980 | |
| 2. | Harlow - Movie Queen | 1980 | |
| 3. | Alan Hawkshaw - Beat Me 'til I'm Blue | unknown | |
| 4. | Love De-Luxe - Here Comes that Sound Again | 1979 | |
| 5. | Paul Zaza - Love Me 'til I Die | 1980 | |
| 6. | Banzaii - Chinese Kung Fu | 1975 | |
| 7. | O C Smith - Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp | 1968 |
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
A Trip to the Early 80s
Some of the tracks in this selection show how disco started to change in the early 80s. At number 2, for example, we have Harlow, a Canadian group who made quite a splash at the turn of the decade. Disco had already started to retreat back to the underground at this time, so tracks which were big on the dance floor were no longer likely to be chart hits. As far as I know, all of Harlow's music comes from the same album called Taking Off, and they all seem to have a happy, slightly wistful quality which I love.
The D-Train track was unusual in that it was both a chart hit and a dance floor hit. Very much a sound of the changing times when it first came out, I love its chunky beat and that electronic keyboard hook!
Slightly more laid back sounds from Ronnie Dyson and Geraldine Hunt next. Geraldine Hunt was another Canadian-produced performer, from a time when Canada was a real force for change on the disco scene. Not only did she have some great dance tracks of her own, but so did her children - Rosalind Hunt and Freddie James. Rosalind went on to be form the group Cheri who gave us the annoying but catchy Murphy's Law in 1982.
A classic at number 8 from Loleatta Holloway - you know it's good when 8 minutes just flies by and you still want more!
Right back to the late 60s to finish. The Sly Stone track is among many nominations for the "first disco record". In my view Dance to the Music has a better claim to the title than many!
A slow track to finish from one of my favourite singers, Madeline Bell. She didn't have that many hits under her own name, this cover of I'm Gonna Make You Love Me being no exception. However, to quote Peter Jones from the notes to her retrospective CD collection "Doin' Things" Madeline was able to "offer personal interpretations that neither differ radically from the originals, nor particularly remind one of them either." And I take that as praise!
The D-Train track was unusual in that it was both a chart hit and a dance floor hit. Very much a sound of the changing times when it first came out, I love its chunky beat and that electronic keyboard hook!
Slightly more laid back sounds from Ronnie Dyson and Geraldine Hunt next. Geraldine Hunt was another Canadian-produced performer, from a time when Canada was a real force for change on the disco scene. Not only did she have some great dance tracks of her own, but so did her children - Rosalind Hunt and Freddie James. Rosalind went on to be form the group Cheri who gave us the annoying but catchy Murphy's Law in 1982.
A classic at number 8 from Loleatta Holloway - you know it's good when 8 minutes just flies by and you still want more!
Right back to the late 60s to finish. The Sly Stone track is among many nominations for the "first disco record". In my view Dance to the Music has a better claim to the title than many!
A slow track to finish from one of my favourite singers, Madeline Bell. She didn't have that many hits under her own name, this cover of I'm Gonna Make You Love Me being no exception. However, to quote Peter Jones from the notes to her retrospective CD collection "Doin' Things" Madeline was able to "offer personal interpretations that neither differ radically from the originals, nor particularly remind one of them either." And I take that as praise!
| 1. | 00:00 | John Forde - Stardance | 1978 |
| 2. | 04:27 | Harlow - Movie Queen | 1980 |
| 3. | 10:17 | Grey & Hanks - Dancin' | 1978 |
| 4. | 16:52 | D-Train - You're the One for Me | 1981 |
| 5. | 21:48 | Ronnie Dyson - All Over Your Face | 1983 |
| 6. | 27:38 | Geraldine Hunt - Can't Fake the Feeling | 1980 |
| 7. | 32:32 | Loleatta Holloway - Runaway | 1977 |
| 8. | 40:54 | Muscle Shoals Horns - Breakdown | 1976 |
| 9. | 44:16 | Sly Stone - Dance to the Music | 1968 |
| 10. | 46:53 | Madeline Bell - I'm Gonne Make You Love Me | 1968 |
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Mixed Bag
I guess hard-core disco lovers will hate my selections, as I love messing around at the fringes of the genre. But I reckon if something's danceable, it doesn't have to sound like disco to get included here.
Hence the first two entries in this selection. Late 60s pop really, but who could not like Madeline Bell - a singer who had yet to make her mark when she recorded this unsuccessful single in 1968. Biljo by Clodagh Rodgers is catchy, though not her biggest success by a long way. As so often on Clodagh's earlier recordings, the lyrics seem almost nonsensical, but I love the general sound.
I'm not a huge fan of African influenced disco, but find the Manu Dibango track at No 3 pretty powerful. More borderline disco from Sniff'n'the Tears next - in fact this is one of my favourite examples of rock disco.
The most unlikely people got into disco in the 70s - as witness track No 5 from the Glitter Band - and this was a recent discovery for me, as was Idris Muhammed at No 6.
We break the dance mood slightly at no 7 with the Polish Radio Orchestra. Time to pour a Bacardi (or perhaps put the Ovaltine on?).
Shakatak don't even seem to be retro cool these days. A forgotten sound of the early 80s, I suppose, but a good record of the jazzy influences around in those times. A classic from George McRae at track 9 - one of the sounds that really started the disco explosion back in '74.
This seems to flow nicely into the Don Ray track - apparently a Frenchman named Raymond Donnez in reality - and then we have Syd Dale's Disco Tek which is sleazy and cheesy all at once! Finishing off for once with an uptemp number - and pretty classic disco at that from Carrie Lucas. This is the 1980 remake of her 1977 success. Never quite clear why it was remade as not much changed apart from the title!
Hence the first two entries in this selection. Late 60s pop really, but who could not like Madeline Bell - a singer who had yet to make her mark when she recorded this unsuccessful single in 1968. Biljo by Clodagh Rodgers is catchy, though not her biggest success by a long way. As so often on Clodagh's earlier recordings, the lyrics seem almost nonsensical, but I love the general sound.
I'm not a huge fan of African influenced disco, but find the Manu Dibango track at No 3 pretty powerful. More borderline disco from Sniff'n'the Tears next - in fact this is one of my favourite examples of rock disco.
The most unlikely people got into disco in the 70s - as witness track No 5 from the Glitter Band - and this was a recent discovery for me, as was Idris Muhammed at No 6.
We break the dance mood slightly at no 7 with the Polish Radio Orchestra. Time to pour a Bacardi (or perhaps put the Ovaltine on?).
Shakatak don't even seem to be retro cool these days. A forgotten sound of the early 80s, I suppose, but a good record of the jazzy influences around in those times. A classic from George McRae at track 9 - one of the sounds that really started the disco explosion back in '74.
This seems to flow nicely into the Don Ray track - apparently a Frenchman named Raymond Donnez in reality - and then we have Syd Dale's Disco Tek which is sleazy and cheesy all at once! Finishing off for once with an uptemp number - and pretty classic disco at that from Carrie Lucas. This is the 1980 remake of her 1977 success. Never quite clear why it was remade as not much changed apart from the title!
| 1. | 00:00 | Madeline Bell - Thinkin' | 1968 |
| 2. | 02:33 | Clodagh Rodgers - Biljo | 1969 |
| 3. | 05:32 | Manu Dibango - Dikalo | 1972 |
| 4. | 09:29 | Sniff'n'the Tears - Driver's Seat | 1979 |
| 5. | 13:05 | Glitter Band - Makes You Blind | 1976 |
| 6. | 18:57 | Idris Muhammed - Could Heaven Ever be Like This | 1977 |
| 7. | 27:18 | Polish Radio Orchestra - Pondering | 1974 |
| 8. | 30:11 | Shakatak - Night Birds | 1981 |
| 9. | 34:26 | George McRae - Rock Your Baby | 1974 |
| 10. | 40:40 | Don Ray - Garden of Love | 1978 |
| 11. | 45:06 | Syd Dale - Disco Tek | 1973 |
| 12. | 47:50 | Carrie Lucas - Keep Smilin' | 1980 |
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