Off to the big Toke for the weekend to indulge in some hedonistic clubbing. A friend of mine Blue (purereggae) is coming over from the UK to dj at this event. A great chance to catch up with him and his lovely young lady Lisa.
It`s been so hectic since my weekend in tokyo, just haven`t found the time to post my update...but here it is!!..The gig with Bluesan rocked, in the small dark cavernous venue in the heart TKO, the two roomed space with Baki Baki on the Live artistic duties...resounded with everything dubwise, from early reggae-old school dub-dancehall-digidub to future dubstep...Was a great night ending up at 5am in one of those 24hr denny diners, slurping udon noodles for breekie.
Sunday we hooked up with Papa B. & Dj Cojie of Mighty Crown inna Yokohama isikaya, enjoying the great food and conversation and Blue managed to reach on his way back from Kamakura, the evening ended a very enjoyable weekend in the company of so many old and new faces...A Big thank you to Yama & family and Yuko for looking after me!....Arigato!!
It's crazy to think about the path (pre-internet) of how this 1975 obscure gem of a tune came to get covered by an obscure post-punk band from Manchester, UK called 'A Certain Ratio' in 1980. Regardless, this is one of the fiercest breaks this side of an hawaiian wave..This one's the kind of funky 45 you won't find every day! A killer funk track that was sampled early on, cut by this obscure group as their only release for a major label! The track's got monster basslines, funky hooks that are totally South Bronx, and a heavily percussive sound that will take you to the brink and back again!....enjoy!
Another idea i wanted to explore and share with you is some of the damn funky blaxploitation film sountracks that was recorded in the 7T`s, by the likes of Quincy Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Herbie Hancock etc.....First up for your sensual sunday, is two tracks from the first all black cast adult porn movie made in 1974 called Lialeh or Black Lialeh as it was known in the US...The director, Barron Borcovichy had a major coup to land legendary drummer Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie who composed, produced and performed Lialeh`s score, apparently while he was between projects with Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, The Last Poets, The Rolling Stones and James Brown, none the less....What a busy dude!!
The original released on Bryan Records is very hard to find and reportedly going for $600, but can be found re-released by Light In The Attic Records...check it out you won`t be disappointed.
Lialeh
hap'nin'
Tracklisting 1. Lialeh 2. Touch Me Again 3. Conscious 4. Easy 5. All Pink on the Inside 6. Pass Me Not 7. Hap`nin
So news that scientists have made an important discovery, finding methane (you know the stuff that comes outta cows arses) in Mars atmosphere has raised the possibility that some kind of organic life might have existed, or still does on the planet....Wow!..Dexter Gilman Wansel was right all along.
'Life On Mars' was Dexter Wansell`s first LP on Gamble & Huff`s hugely influential Philadelphia international label, released in the summer 1976, the titled track was a BIG tune on the London jazz-funk dancefloors at the time and is still considered a floor filler at clubs today. The combination of fat thumping bass lines, spacey elastic lead guitar, atmospheric soul vocals and loads and loads of spatial keyboard work on the rhodes and moogs, just can`t stop people from moving their bodies to it!......with backing from Instant Funk
Dexter also wrote compositions and arrangements for the likes of...Jean Carne, The O`Jays, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, The Jones Girls & The Jackson`s as well as many others. Here lifted from the same LP is this cracking track. Again the backing played by Instant funk.
Sometimes i do wonder and worry, like all parents, what the future holds for my nearly 4 year old daughter. With our wonderful planet home, increasingly becoming unsustainable by the year and violent conflict in so many places, due to the pattens of our inhuman behaviour. The thought of a world in which so many children are living in poverty, with malnutrition and abuse (physically, emotionally) death and trauma, brings me nothing but a deep depression...But i have hope that we will as a species come to our senses and realise the children are our future...Our only real hope is that we can evolve to provide them a space without the horrors that befall them now, a space of peace, justice, learning and plenty. Its when i think these thoughts that my depression melts away...Melts into the music, the sounds that have uplifted me and consoled me on so many moments during my life.!!....This is for Emmilee, nearly 4.
"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future” John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
“If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Next up in our look at amazing tracks that other artists have covered is the phenominal tune and all time classic by Marvin Gaye, released as the third and final single from his bestselling 1971 album, 'What's Going On'. Written by Gaye and James Nyx, the song depicted the ghettos of inner-city America as it discussed how the bleak situation would lead to someone wanting to holler and throw ones hands up in dispair . In thirty eight years things haven`t changed much. The song was recorded in a mellow funky style with Gaye playing piano. Several of the Funk Brothers also contributed, including Eddie "Bongo" Brown, and bassist Bob Babbitt. Here are 4 cover versons including the original to enjoy!
Marvin`s.
Placebo - 'inner city blues' - From their 'Ball of Eyes' LP also from 1971.
Reuben Wilson from his 'The Sweet Life' LP.
From his 1981 classic release, 'Reflections' here`s Gil Scott Heron`s version.
Phil Upchurch - Wonderful Jazz/funk offering from his 1971 LP, 'Darkness Darkness'.
With a heavy heart i post this as the humanitarian tragedy continues in the middle-east...I`m not getting into the rights and wrongs of what`s happening in Gaza at the moment but in my eyes. A child in Sderot is the same as a child in Gaza, and anyone who harms either is not human.
Just listen to the lyrics of this tune and you`ll get where I`m coming from!
"Boundaries, terrortorial disputes, talking about boundaries when we`re talking about absolutes, when people lose their faces and preoccupied with races...this land is my land, this land is your land, but it was their land first, who`s world is it anyway...it`s easier to hate and not tolerate, In the name of the earth, the people die and babies cry, we find out why or live a lie....Makes me wanna holla , throw up both my hands"
(A word of warning the video contains some gruesome images, for those that prefer not to watch such images it would be better just to listen to the audio)
Carrying on a theme of cosmic vibes for the GTF series. Originally from about 1977, with a recent Dopebrother re-edit by Kenny Dope. Hard punchy horns, killer bassline, jazzy instrumentation and monster drum break make this a funk track of the highest order....sampled by many hip-hop producers....space funk for 0-nine.
Welcome back people, hope you had a lovely holiday... mytea@om starts the year with something out there to contemplate!
As the new OX year starts it would make me very happy if people could just leave a small comment or just a shout in the box on the right hand side after you visit.....It will be very much appreciated...thank you.
Or Disco Nouveau as they are calling back in the UK. Disco fever is back in the article by Hanna Hanra, she interviews Jim Stanton, who started the iconic Horse Meat Disco in South London. Who says “When times are good, you could argue that people get turned on by darker, edgier music, such as drum’n’bass or electro. As soon as life gets harder, people look for something more uplifting, which is where disco comes in — it’s an escape....And i guess he could be right with all the huge uncertainties facing people all over the world.
But back in the late 70`s, when the times was so much harder, to us hip West End kids the dedicated followers of everything funky, we disliked the term disco. Disco was that light, cheesy, camp sound that we disliked, but disco also had a more harder percussive & edgier bass sound that was more to our taste, we called it Boogie.
At clubs like Crackers, Global Village - under the arches in Charing Cross, DJ Greg Edwards "The Best Disco in Town at the Lyceum, they played that sound. Import American 12" extended mixes, invented by Tom Moulton with longer instrumental beat sections especially for the DJ's to mix on their Technics SL-1200 , could be heard thumping around these dancefloors. From record labels like WestEnd, Prelude, SalSoul, T.K., AVI, Vanguard and Casablanca. From artists like Odyssey, Dynasty, Fat Back Band, Teena Marie, Brass Construction, Crown Heights Affair, Earth Wind and Fire, GQ, Shalamar, The SalSoul Orchestra, Chic, the list is endless!
So if this New Years Eve, your getting ready to glam & glitzy up to party, here`s a couple of tunes to bump too. One track that was massive on the Crackers dancefloor in `77 was this fine specimem of Boogie heaven. The name El Coco was in fact a cheeky drug reference to the stimulent of the time.
El Coco - cocomotion
And another outstanding track that is so very hard to find these days on Vigor records from `76, Rhythm Makers went on to become the band GQ. (shame it cuts off at the end)
Rhythm Makers - zone
Hope you all have a great time, and mytea@om wishes you all a very happy New Year....I`m off to the country for a few days, so see you all in 2009.
Off to the big Toke for the weekend to indulge in some hedonistic clubbing. A friend of mine Blue (purereggae) is coming over from the UK to dj at this event.
Dj Cojie and Papa B.
