Rolling thread for your recent DISCO and BOOGIE discoveries, enthusiasms and obsessions

What's currently doing it for you? Under-the-radar obscurity or celebrated megasmash that had hitherto passed you by - it doesn't matter to me, just post them up here and share the joy

random new-to-me things that i picked up recently for cheap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVif2QVRQTQ
Pierre - Just Right (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikkDz5G45C4
Sarah Dash - Low Down Dirty Rhythm (1983)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26HV5g1Dfao
Steve Shelto - Don't You Give Your Love Away (1983)

also, my god i really need a copy of this amazing thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f19C89_8WaU
Black Gold - C'mon Stop (1983)

Short version 6:31. Ah, disco...

Really like that "Low Down Dirty Rhythm" track, thanks!

yr welcome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3PuHwGchDE
Teena Marie - I Need Your Lovin' (1980)

I know and love Behind The Groove and Lovergirl, but I hadn't heard this one before today, I really gotta up my Teena game. What else is good?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL3xFKM48c
Sly Cabell - Feelin' Fine (1982)

Keep coming back to this one at the moment. Have no idea who Sly Cabell is, but this is a Shep Pettibone joint on Salsoul with a lovely saxy good times vibe and also kinda Princey I think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAXXpLRTprs
Mary Clark - Take Me I'm Yours (1980)

Most mind-melting reissue I picked up last year, JFHC what a belter

I know and love Behind The Groove and Lovergirl, but I hadn't heard this one before today, I really gotta up my Teena game. What else is good?

― i'm surprised to see your screwface at the door (NickB), Saturday, March 17, 2018 1:56 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

uh "square biz"!!!

wonderful thread idea btw

oooh, holy heck, how did i not hear that before?

fuck, sweet tune! and that weird subtly psychedelic percussion sound in the background, reminds me of the glottal noises that the jug player in the 13th floor elevators used to make

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HzfGbzq29g
Thelma Houston - If You Feel It (1981)

Another one I keep coming back to, so flipping funky. Don't know who's playing that bass but Keni Burke and Scott Edwards (who's all over the great Stevie albums) get credits on the album so that figures

Gotta say though, I'm not sure what to make of the line 'you're like an important china tea cup'. Is that supposed to be a good thing?

my favorite recent disco discovery is voyage's "souvenirs". completely gorgeous song.

yeah, that’s a good one. wacky band, think all the people involved were french library music guys - some of their non-voyage stuff goes for a fortune

So many new discoveries (as I'm maintaining this blog), so many new purchases (as I have a new weekly residency playing disco-jazz-funk-boogie on vinyl), so this is a timely thread.

Received in this morning's post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIx7RMbKqsg

Mary Clark "Take Me I'm Yours" also seconded - bought this a couple of weeks ago.

Also received in this morning's post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXhbXh2_xS8

And finally, in yesterday's post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF6MqDsSock

Hooray Mike! :D

Will have a listen once I get home, but that Mass Production looks familiar. Blog looks like an absolute goldmine!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-eCNM-TmhY

obsessed with the vocal performance on this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbKv_M3UwMc

nothing new to anyone but do you ever notice the way all the different elements on this are so strong and yet intertwine so effortlessly

welcome boxedjoy! that melba moore - oh shit, lovely stuff! <3

again she's someone that i need to investigate a bit more thoroughly, her catalogue's vast! things that i do know and love: 'You Stepped Into My Life', 'Pick Me Up, I'll Dance', 'Miss Thing', 'Underlove'

need to get myself educated though!

fave gwen for me atm is 'seventh heaven', but that whole 82-86 period of hers is all gold imo

ha, that donald byrd goes a lot harder than i thought it would! mass production is cool as well, love that soprano sax. i suspect a certain ratio were definitely listening to that one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54qYh92-F_A
Bobby Nunn - Don't Knock It (Until You Try It) (1983)

^ been jamming this one a lot today. was a single in the UK only and pretty much flopped at the time, but it's some really nice synthy boogie business. guy was involved with both rick james and earth, wind & firer, and i think it has got some of the funkiness of the former and the sweetness of the latter

jazz-funk but so so great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ga7f-vh4Bg

love that cover too

Best discovery yet from Mike's blog: Shalamar's 'Right in the Socket'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFrRECQarE0

The song itself is great, and at 4:36 it becomes amazing.

ha yeah - big old synth wombles in and starts blowing the place up! :D

something very prog but still pretty funky about the one that Neil posted, like if genesis had infiltrated earth, wind & fire instead of the other way round. hadn't heard of those dudes before

hadn't heard this before today either...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVy4HW6FQ9c

Midnight Star - Midas Touch [Acappella AKA Bassappella version] (1986)

you probably know the song but this version is just vocals and a really reverby bass synth, sounds weirdly modern but also quite bonkers

b2 on the standard US & UK 12" btw

shalamar 'right in the socket' is a key moment in this insanely good live larry levan dj set recording: https://www.discogs.com/Larry-Levan-Live-At-The-Paradise-Garage/release/21473

if you haven't heard that you are absolutely missing out on life

he blends it into cher's "take me home," so awesome

xp to Nick a great summary of "Celebration"! I love how that ecstatic guitar solo comes in towards the end, it's almost Eddie Hazel-esque in its virtuosity

I also discovered "Right In The Socket" via the same blog, and I've since played it out a few times; handily, "Second Time Around" is on the other side.

Not played that Levan mix in a long, long time, must rectify.... but I see it has T-Connection "At Midnight", a copy of which arrived in yesterday's post!

My roommate is constantly digging for boogie/funk and we have lots of reccomendations.

Here's some UK Boogie we're feelin: https://www.discogs.com/State-Of-Grace-Touching-The-Times/release/600722
Italo: https://www.discogs.com/Dr-Togo-Be-Free/release/102834

Oh and I accidentally ordered six copies of this record a couple weeks ago. Boys and girls, don't drink and shop for records. https://www.juno.co.uk/products/unit-one-lets-all-sing-together/675376-01/

speaking of xxxxxpost Teena Marie, I really liked Congo Square, the last new album released before she passed--first few songs are pretty desperately philosophical more than anything else, but then she gets it together---and this transitional effect turns out to be very appropriate---wiki quotes:
The album title references Congo Square, in the Tremé in New Orleans, an area in which, during times of slavery, slaves were "allowed to dance and sing in the wardrobe of their mother country on Sundays."[5] Teena Marie said of the album:

"I've been through quite a few trials and tribulations over the last two years. I spent many of those hours in prayer and felt like God was putting his arms around me. I started thinking about the music I grew up on—how inspired it was. Each song I was coming up with began to sound like the style of some favorite artist of mine from the past... Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, Billie Holliday, the old Chicago soul of The Emotions and the new Chicago vibe of Kanye West... Ice Cube's bumpin' in the trunk vibe and of course, Rick James. It's all in there."[5]

Teena Marie also expressed her appreciation for Faith Evans, saying, "I've always loved Faith and her vocal style. She reminds me of me. Her correlation with Biggie—having a career with him and without him—reminds me of me and Rick James. I feel like she's a younger me. Of the younger ladies, she's the one I love most."

my favorite tune from the donald byrd from the F.U.M.L. album is the closer. i listen to it for affirmation at least once a month. and one of the great walking bass lines out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7z97XfHVoY

and some more solar. i am absolutely in love lately with dynasty's "groove control." i think it's perfect in every way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCUq0gdh0M

davey: i was going to say that i don't think i've ever even heard of state of grace before and then it turns out that lol this one is already on my discogs want list...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE8ytsuYgHg
State Of Grace - That's When We'll Be Free [Special New Mix] (1982)

and that dr togo song is sick! a nice uh chris rea vibe to that one (not an insult!) :D

when i was listening to lots of jazz as a teen, donald byrd was always way too slick sounding for me and i never really checked him out, but now every song i hear from him is just super nice, what the hell was i thinking?

and yes, dynasty have got some good stuff! the one i have is 'i don't wanna be a freak (but i can't help myself)'

oh nice milk bottle accompaniment on 'groove control'!

xxxp State of Grace is pretty good huh. I wasn't aware of their other output.

Here's another one I'd picked up recently. Not sure how obvious it is, since my knowledge of the genre isn't really deep, but it's funky as hell. It looks like there are some reasonably priced copies still on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/Steve-Watson-Born-To-Boogie-My-Little-One/release/7554675

Oh and another bomb reissue: https://www.discogs.com/Touch%C3%A9-Just-Like-A-Doorknob/release/11079663

I love how strong the vinyl reissue scene has been, lately. My theory is that Discogs is a big positive influence, since it's made it easy to quantify how many people want out-of-print releases.

when i was listening to lots of jazz as a teen, donald byrd was always way too slick sounding for me and i never really checked him out, but now every song i hear from him is just super nice, what the hell was i thinking?

Pretty much the same path we all eventually follow with jazz-funk mastercuts fodder.

NickB already posted that Vera song itt 6 months ago but damn if it doesn't deserve another few postings here. Such a magical song! Thanks, you two!

Ahaha so he did! Well, this is my current new favourite: Jean Carn "If You Wanna Go Back" (1976). I only wish it was longer.

https://youtu.be/wboKA2XpfyM

with my first post in this thread, please allow me to say WOWOWOWOWOWOW @ "She's So Divine" upthread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjpELZNsTD4

familiar to everyone I'm sure but it's such a perfect slow groove isn't it

i've been downloading 80s jams all night, getting ready for a gig tomorrow. this is one of my fave rediscoveries in a while. not sure how obvious it is, probably it's pretty obvious heh. but i had forgotten all about it. solo nile rodgers is my kind of throwback to play!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCN4WZYU9Y

I'm having a good afternoon. These are all from around October 1981.

Arthur Adams - You Got The Floor
This builds from a subdued start, hitting its stride around 1:49, then peaking with a long jazzy instrumental section that eventually closes the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wm0e1fTpXo

The Frontline Orchestra - Don't Turn Your Back On Me
More strident and less weedy than Britfunk too often tended to be, and as such deservedly embraced by Knuckles and Levan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsr-dymmbKA

Letta Mbulu - Kilimanjaro
Sets out its stall early, then sticks there to pleasing effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI4clrzJZZk

very enjoyable stuff

Just discovered the french version and it's fye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdIvdGoLJRU

Metropole "Miss Manhattan" and Vera "Take Me To The Bridge", as posted upthread, have both just been reissued on 12", making them both vaguely affordable at last. Hallelujah.

Blue Feather - Let's Funk Tonight (Instrumental) (1981) - miles better than the weedy vocal version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPX548h6h4w

Nice one! And thanks again for the incredible job you're doing with the James Hamilton Disco Page, Mike. I have a daily script set up that downloads the audio of every track you link to, so whenever I'm in a disco mood I have a huge batch of new tracks to explore.

Ha, excellent!

Spent some time with <i>Disco Fever USA</i> recently - one of the latter volumes of the Disco Discharge series, so you can feel a bit of barrel-scraping. But I found this on it - sounds like Dr.John goes Disco, as the liner notes mention!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHlEGbOHPtI

Haha! You probably know this one already but this is Dr John going electrofunk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz4o2tWp8Vw

have got some serious catching up to do on this thread, every time it gets bumped i never seem to be in a place where i can listen

Haha Nick, that's pretty cool! Don't think I'd heard before.

some more cheri for the thread. "murhpy's law" stuck in my head all the time. such a good mix of melancholy and playfulness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7NRg4hoD0

I just found this thread, thank god. Keep em coming!

a recent score: rainbow brown. fonda rae, produced by patrick adams, which is an obsession. i know i'm not alone in this. "i'm the one" is maybe my fave. for now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP1s3rrFfb4

little dragon - lover chanting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSTcdi82S0

btw the b-side on that EP is fresh too

this is my current favourite fonda joint, absolute rapturous stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J-F9M-KDBE

bumblebee vocals and all, I've been enjoying this for the past few days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5zTZRm1cT0

I've owned a copy of the Dr John "Jet Set" 12" for years, but never saw the video before today! So wonderful I'm in tears.

New arrival here, about halfway through the thread and my computer is now refusing to play any more music at this time so I'll need to take a break but what a lot of superb selections!

My favorite new discovery so far is Low Down Dirty Rhythm from the top comment. Although Patrick Cowley's star seems to be once again ascendant he remains criminally underrated.

I'd also rate these tunes:

Black Gold - C'mon Stop
Mark Clark - Take Me I'm Yours (obviously)
Donald Byrd - Thank You For Funking Up My Life
Melba Moore - Love's Comin' At Ya!
Shalamar - Right in the Socket
Dr Togo - Be Free
Vera - Take Me To The Bridge
The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band - On The Beat
Empire Projecting Lisa ‎– Freakman

The credits on It Should Have Been You, incredible. Produced by Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Steven Stanley and mixed by Larry Levan. I wonder what else I've missed from that team of superheroes.

This appeared on a spotify song radio, released in 1981, sailed under the radar for me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XT-iikjgH0s

love that, fern had some great songs!

Vera - Take Me To The Bridge

Love this song, such longing in the voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KIApAIztW8
The SD's ft Sherry Richards - Watch the Clock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TndWfKjTjAg

^^^ alec mansion - ou es-tu

high fashion - next to you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRzbmTVNeCc

stephanie mills - try my love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvN8uyjc48E

i like "feelin' lucky lately" by high fashion, also i think it's hilarious that a chic ripoff band called themselves "high fashion"

that's harsh! hahah :)

james cobbin & prime cut - caught in the middle
https://youtu.be/SxWyvP94YA0

herre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxWyvP94YA0

i-level - "give me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2b6jgRCio0

questionable lyrics in this one

"minefield" off that same record is the other standout and has a killer drum workout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdk_Tvu3blI

slave - wait for me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2crb0iFXro

one more from our man funky brewster's record collection. this is baxa, i'm not kool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Ss8iG8HCM

my discogs wantlist keeps growing thanks to this thread.

here's a new one to me. gives me the proper groove chills. c.m. lord, "don't run me away." b side to "flashback." please stick around for the breakdown at 3:45. so good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77-vXnu7Pcc

I've been crossreading Tim Lawrence's Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 and Vince Aletti's The Disco Files 1973-78: New York's Underground, Week by Week: the latter is def catnip for collectors, though both have plenty DJ playlists, DJ comments on particular tracks and albums (the 12" is still several years away, so they use a lot of album tracks, for full-length flow--no having to flip the 7" for part 2, if there is one provided---and sonic depth).
Also, Aletti provides comments and capsule reviews of stuff he likes, going around and around NYC as the scenes and places and star DJs take off (and sometimes crash or disappear).
Lawrence's saga, incl. interviews with DJs and dancers, puts it all in historical perspective, like "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and Eddie Kendricks' "Girl You Need A Change of Mind" had the kind of wild-for-the-time changes x continuity that gave DJs and dancers some ideas as well as thrills. "Soul Makossa" was an example of one that became a hit because of club play, thence to radio---but some other hits never did get radio, did without it, screw you radio!

Since I never pass up the opportunity to mention it, here's another shout out to James Hamilton's Disco Page.

Another huge fan of Mike T-diva's work on James Hamilton's Disco Page.

Hip-hop with some great production behind it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ueuRDr8Hc
Rappermatical 5 - Party People

this was the filthiest record in my collection. gave it a couple washes with record vacuum and it's back to sounding great again :) everybody says the erot dub is the one, but i always played the a-side instead. can't wait play it under the stars in waimanalo tonight. that bassline is so funkay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5kgVjOA_X8

it wasn't my crowd last night, people were not feeling the slutty norwegian disco

making good use of that next to you break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJNajgq7Phs

i'm finally recording the long-awaited funky b mix tape now. so many gems in dude's collection. couple highlights:

dabeull - dr fonk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OCyYbW6zPY

sky tony - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no9bA_gUIyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no9bA_gUIyE

kon - all night (everybody)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjJ4z65D-dU

tuxedo - roll along
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6VVnSPAWho

new touch sensitive EP is some str8up ear candy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQsQHHUQCWQ