Cloudbusting

Today it has been a beautiful day in the city filled with early Autumn air  and culminating with an intense half moon.  This inspired me to post a a song by the iconic Kate Bush.  "Cloudbusting" is not necessarily a full fledged dance song per say; however, this song can be played on any dance floor and I can tell you that it would probably get the most jaded ones moving  and then some with such an epic of a song.  This song was the second single released from her no. 1 1985 album Hounds of Love.  This song is a look at a special relationship between a boy and his father.  It describes psychologist Wilhelm Reich's arrest and imprisonment through the eyes of his young song, Peter.  Reich's son later wrote his father's story in the book A Book Of Dreams, published in 1973, on which the song is based.  Wilhelm Reich is the inventor of the cloudbuster.  A cloudbuster is a rain machine that looks very much like the machine that is pictured on the cover of this single.  The music video is fantastic, it features Donald Sutherland playing the role of Wilhelm Reich and Bush playing the part of his young son, Peter.  It's divine! 

Cloudbusting - Kate Bush - EMI

Edits by Mr. K Vol. 2

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing one of my favorite DJs around, Mr. Danny Krivit  who's holding the torch by keeping the spirit alive at his now legendary 718 Sessions at Santos Party House.  His party is what I believe,  to be the only one that captures the spirit of dance music properly now days.  The set was flawless and it kept me dancing all night long featuring many classics such as James Brown's "Get On The Good Foot" and  Touch's "Without You" to name a few.  The party was a celebration of his release of Volume 2 of his amazing edits series called  Edits by Mr. K Vol. 2.  So here is one of my current favorite "Let Me Down Easy" by Rare Pleasure and what a pleasure it is to hear  and dance to this tune.  According the the liner notes from this must have fabulous CD,  "this song is a scarce 1976 release from Cheri Records and a song that has grown in stature to a full fledge disco bomb, thanks in part to its relentless piano line and honeyed vocal from a young Sandy Barber (who later recorded the house smash 'Make World Go Round') which brings back memories of Johnny Dynell dropping this one at the legendary mid '90s party, Jackie 60.   The piano riff of this song, a clear precursor to the standard groove of early house music that was sampled prominently by David Morales for his 1998 hit 'Needin' U' (which took it's title hook from the Chi-Lites 'My First Mistake'). Danny Krivit wrote: "This was a big club record.  I thought of it as an extension of the Philly sound.  It's one of the first 12" singles too, in that first year." Enjoy!

Let Me Down Easy (Edit by Mr. K) - Rare Pleasure - Cheri Records

Make The World Go Round - Sandy Barber

September Mix

September is here and it always feels like an intense month.  Seasons change, historical  events and/or defining moments seem to fall around this time whether catastrophic ones or just time defining.  September seems to stand for a time for change as well.   This mix here reflects a myriad of feelings and musical reflections that seem to be somehow disjointed yet harmonious.  Some of he musical selections are rather obtuse.  I can only say that this mix has a life of his own.  Enjoy!

September Mix - Dj Glamjack

Track Listing:

  1.  Intro : Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves - 
       Jean Moreau/ Glamjack

  2.  Forever Mix 2 -  Chez Damier and Stacey Pullen 

  3. A.I.E. A Mwana (T-Kolai Special Edit) - Black Blood 

  4. The Bewlay Brothers - David Bowie

  5. Solitaire 2001 - Afrohouse

  6. Come On, Come On - NYC Peech Boys

  7. Nice and Slow (Instrumental) - Jesse Green

  8. Amor, Amor - Rod McKuen

  9. Lost In You Like A Chinese Cookie - Guy Gerber

10. Silver Thrust - Peter Reno

11. Ethique Infinie - Alexis Le Tan and Allo Rodolphe

12. Underbelly - Wild Beasts

13. Call Me - Mark E.

14. My Movie Like Life - Future Loop Foundation

15. New York Story - Lee Douglas

Dance Your Ass Off

 
Here is a song by one of the most sophisticated disco sound I've ever heard.   The Atlanta native, Hamilton Bohannon is one of my favorite and leading figures of Disco music during the '70s.   He was pretty much discovered by Stevie Wonder when he hired him to be the percussionist for his tour band.  He moved to Detroit and became part of the Motown family.  He was then signed with Dakar/Brunswick Records and released a series of albums on which he perfected his formula of heavy, thudding bass accents and aggressive rhythms creating pretty much the footprint for the next wave of disco. This song comes from the 1976 album Dance Your Ass Off which became his last release from Brunswick Records.  "Dance Your Ass Off"  is the title cut that opens up side one on this fantastic record for nearly eight minutes with it's bold, sweeping use of strings which adds a new texture to his usual formula making it more stylish.  In 1976, Bohannon left his old record company and signed to Mercury Records and two years later had his biggest success with "Lets Start The Dance". Bohannon is a devout Christian and dedicated this album to "God and His Song Jesus Christ".  This album also included a disclaimer that "The word 'ass' is not used here in the sense of profanity".  His music has been sampled to death and I can safely say that Prince looks up to him for inspiration.  Enjoy and dance your ass off with this one!

Dance Your Ass Off - Bohannon - Brunswick Records

Love Chant

I hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend.  It is back to school folks and here is a sexy, sleek song from 1976 called "Love Chant" by Eli's Second Coming.  Created by MFSB musician Bobby Eli, who produced this sex song complete with whispered females singing "Ooo spend the night, let me hold you," and a closing climax; this is the Part II version, which is longer and more effective.  Part I is only 3:30 minutes long.  That's too much of a quickie! I also discovered on my researches that Eli also later went on to produce the amazing '80s R&B group Atlantic Starr.  Enjoy!

Love Chant - Eli's Second Coming - Silver Blue Records

New York City

Labor Day weekend in the city and it is only appropriate that I feature an incredible song called "New York City" by Czech musician Miroslav Vitous.   Born in Prague, he began playing the violin at age six, piano at ten and bass at fourteen. As a young man in Europe, Vitous was a competitive swimmer who actually played in the Olympics.  Moving to New York City in the mid '60s in order to be part  the vibrant music that was sprouting and with his virtuoso jazz bass playing skills led critics to place him in the same league with the luminaries from the budding jazz/rock fusion movement.  He founded the seminal group Weather Report and then parted ways to continue to pursue a solo career.  "New York City" comes from the 1976 LP called Magical Shepherd.  "NYC" is an almost ten minute synthesizer symphony full of eerie effects and chanted vocals; it featured musicians: Herbie Hancock, Airto Moreira and James Gadson.  It is weird, fascinating and a little freaky, just like this wonderful city.  I highly recommend a listen.

New York City - Miroslav Vitous - Warner Brothers

Back with Brooklyn Dreams

Back in Brooklyn from a nice vacation.  I saw Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Then I was off to Lafayette, Louisiana to meet my new two month old nephew.  Life is good and had a great time traveling, site seeing and spending time with family.  Now I'm back in old NYC and excited to be posting in Disco Monk again.  Here is a song called "Music, Harmony and Rhythm" by Brooklyn Dreams from their self titled Casablanca debut 1977 album.  Brooklyn Dreams was composed of  Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano.  Esposito provided lead vocals for the band and played guitar, while Sudano played keyboards and Hokenson played drums.  Their biggest hit was "Heaven Knows", Donna Summer's single which featured Esposito on the second lead and the group singing backup.  Later on they released Sleepless Nights and Joy Ride in 1979 with some commercial success.  Esposito went on to solo success with numerous movie soundtracks, notably Flashdance, The Karate Kid and Coming To America. I love this song and it puts me in the right mood and looking forward to Autumn.  I hope this does the same to you.  Enjoy!

Music, Harmony and Rhythm - Brooklyn Dreams - Casablanca