JASPER STREET COMPANY - A FEELIN'

Gospel house music with a kick today from 1995 with DJ Spen & The Jasper Street Company. This is another classic with an amazingly uplifting production from the halcyon days of garage's golden period in the mid 90's. This was the first release on the Basement Boys Records label out of Baltimore, which has always specialised in gospel house music which some may find to be a bit preachy. However, A Feelin' is still probably the most accessible record Basement Boys has released and is definitely geared for the clubs. And once again it sounds like it could have been released yesterday, always the sign of a classic.

DJ Spen & The Jasper Street Company - A Feelin'

RINDER & LEWIS - LOVE POTION #9

Laurin Rinder and W. Michael Lewis helped to define the Disco sound that was coming out of Los Angeles in the late 70's with studio projects such as El Coco, Saint Tropez and Le Pamplemousse. Warriors was released in 1979 under their own names, and was the follow up to their Seven Deadly Sins album from 1977 (also released under their own names). I like Warriors because the whole thing is quirky right down to the album cover. Love Potion #9 is my favorite cut off the record, and I think epitomises the genius of Rinder & Lewis. It's a cover of a Liebler & Stoller song. The lyrics are playful, but the beat is hypnotic and solid. It's a nice juxtaposition between the silly (the lyrics) and the sublime (the killer groove). And that is what makes this song and album so good.

Rinder & Lewis - Love Potion #9

HARLEY & MUSCLE FEAT. INDIA - THEN CAME YOU

Merry Christmas all...Buff Italian duo, William Cataldo & Flavio Romaniello, otherwise known as Harley & Muscle, enlisted the help of one of the true house music divas in India and created Then Came You. I haven't heard India do a house record for quite a long time and it's great to hear her again on this. The production is soulful and beautiful, but minimal. It's perfectly designed for India's voice to soar; and she does, elevating this record into something quite special. These days I find a lot of (so called) vocal, soulful house records quite repetitive and generic. Then Came You is one of the rare exceptions. It's got that timeless quality I always rave about, and it's brilliant because Harley & Muscle keep things simple and just let India throw it down and do her thing as only she can. Then Came You was released as a white label promo on Soulstar Records about a month ago. I had a lot of trouble hunting it down as it was out of stock on every online record store almost as soon as it was released. However the effort was worth it. This is a future classic and I'm totally in love with it.

Harley & Muscle feat. India - Then Came You (Main Vocal Khanzada's Mix)

DENNIS PARKER - LIKE AN EAGLE

Dennis Parker's Like An Eagle has been recently brought to my attention (trainspotter that I am) thanks to the good folks at Firecracker Recordings (Linkwood and House Of Traps) who sampled the hook for their track Barely Eagle on the Firecracker 4 EP released earlier this year. Like An Eagle was the only album that Dennis Parker, formerly an adult movie actor, released for Casablanca Records in 1979. It was produced by Jacques Morali who is most famous for creating the Village People. Like An Eagle is a true disco classic full of sadness and longing, but it's all about the hook which of course truly soars and gives this song a really epic quality. Dennis Parker committed suicide in 1985 while suffering from A.I.D.S

Dennis Parker - Like An Eagle

MEIKBAR - FEELINGS

There's not much information at all on Meikbar a native of Amsterdam, who released this 12" in 2001 on Rush Hour Recordings. I really like this tune. It's funky, yet slightly melancholy with a jazzy, deep, textured kind of house sound and makes good use of an obscure sample that I've yet to pick. It's so good that it was repressed by Rush Hour again earlier this year. And that's the best part of this tune, it's got that timeless quality to it meaning it will still sound current and new in another 8 years.

Meikbar - Feelings

JEFF LORBER FUSION - GALAXIAN

I think Jeff Lorber is a criminally underrated musician. He has been making and producing music for the best part of 30 years. His sound is smooth and jazzy but always funky. Galaxian, released on Arista in 1981 is probably my favourite of Lorber's early records (as the Jeff Lorber Fusion). It retains it jazz fusion roots, but also points the way forward with songs like Monster Man which is a funky mid-tempo groove as good as any and Think Back & Remember, a smooth pop/R&B ballad. This was the direction his sound would increasingly lean towards in the coming years, the culmination of which was the Step By Step album from 1985 which was his most successful record and featured the club & pop hit Best Part Of The Night.

Jeff Lorber Fusion - Monster Man



Jeff Lorber Fusion - Think Back & Remember

WORLD PREMIERE - SHARE THE NIGHT

World Premiere consisted of Douglas Pittman, Bernard Bullock and brothers Norman 'Skip' Wright (also the lead singer) & Anthony Lamar Wright. Share The Night was released in 1983 on New York's Easy Street Records. It's an excellent boogie track, however it proved to be the bands only release. I've included both the club mix and the breakdown instrumental version of the track because they are both quite excellent, and also because this is a great example of a really good instrumental version which offers something different to the standard instrumental B-side found on a lot of 12"s

World Premiere - Share The Night (Club Mix)



World Premiere - Share The Night (Breakdown Mix)

XAVIER - WORK THAT SUCKER TO DEATH

Xavier Rahni Harris named his band after himself and released a well received LP called Point Of Pleasure in 1982. Work That Sucker To Death is the opening track and was also released as a 12" (backed with Love Is On The One, itself a boogie classic). Work That Sucker To Death has a heavy P-Funk influence which is natural considering it features a special guest appearance from George Clinton as Sir Nose D'voidoffunk and Bootsy Collins tearing things up and letting rip with his spacebass. All in all a slamming funk groove with a healthy dose of P-Funk madness.


Xavier - Work That Sucker To Death

SATIN, SILK & LACE - YOUR LOVE

Written by Leroy Burgess and produced by Greg Carmichael who were by this stage long time collaborators, Your Love was the very last Prelude 12". It was released in 1986 and it's a beauty. It's got that signature sound of Burgess and Carmichael's previous guises as the Universal Robot Band, Logg and Convertion and even though by this point they could make this type of tune in their sleep it doesn't detract from the fact that Your Love is a classic, wonderful, mid-tempo boogie track. In it's own way a fitting end to the Prelude Records catalogue.


Satin, Silk & Lace - Your Love (Long Vocal)

ARTHUR ADAMS - YOU GOT THE FLOOR

Another Jazz-Funk classic today. A veteran blues guitarist of the 1950's and 60's, Arthur Adams turned to soul and funk in the 70's. You Got The Floor was released on small independent label Inculcation Records, but was eventually licensed out to RCA Records and went on to become a big Jazz-Funk tune in the UK. And rightly so. You Got The Floor features a deadly bassline, an infectious groove, killer sax and is generally irresistible. As usual, enjoy...


Arthur Adams - You Got The Floor