This one was left out of the Soul auction along with a couple others so I put it up today. Bob Kee is one of the credited songwriters of “Ferris Wheel”. 1608 Argyle st, which is really close to the corner of Hollywood & Vine, is now home to Outlaw Sound. The tune itself is pretty fun
Ferris Wheel
A very Large group of over 200 rare promo 45s, again from 1970. This is a continuation of the collection of radio promo 45s that end today. Some of the highlights of this auction are another copy of Jupiters’ Children, Gracious!, Maypole, Avatar, Iota, Mike Wallace, The Flame, Broken Arrow, Rod Evans, Novelty, Freada Wallace, Loose, Danny & The Mexicans, Pastor Brothers, Jimmy Chapel, Sean McLeod, and Kiss Inc. There are also a couple more soul 45s missed last week including Chic Walker. This batch has some real rare stuff that is on the side of unknown, so as always please ask to hear some sound clips ad I will get them up.
We got a request to post the audio of this 45, so here it is. William Wooten Plays Keyboard on Qualified. Kevin Carter, the guitar player on the song, now plays in a wedding band entitled Intrigue. One of the writers of the Floaters tune “Float On“, Brimstone Ingram is credited as an arranger on Games. As far as the sound goes it is not to bad for ‘88.
Games
(She’s) Qualified To Satisfy
by Cousin Geoff
Hamilton Bohannon moved to Detroit in the 60s after Stevie Wonder hired him to be his drummer. After splitting from Stevie, he capitalized on his bandleading abilites and signed onto Dakar. Bohannon then put out some incredibly funky dance records in the early to mid 70s, among them this LP titled “Insides Out”.
This was one of the leftovers that I snatched up after it didn’t sell at auction, mainly because it’s on a crazy Korean bootleg label, like the rest of them were (I also took home a Korean pressing of Maggot Brain, so ghetto that it was listed as Funk Adelic on the typewritten label, and filled with misspellings and botched song titles). But I’ll take this copy of Insides Out until I can upgrade, because it’s a fun, funky, groovy record. I put it on for the first time while hanging out with my 6 month old daughter, and she bounced and squealed in her Johnny Jump-Up as I played the djembe while the record blasted. My wife was out so we jammed on and on. And that is what Bohannon does on this record, he picks up a groove, lays it down and just keeps it going.
He’s joined by fellow Detroiters LeRoy Emmanuel and Mose Davis of The Counts. The first side is like one big all-nighter, while the b-side is much more mellow, mostly love songs. It’s worth it to seek out this album for the a-side though, and you’ll see easily see the inspiration for modern electronic music. When you’ve got the funk and you’re holding it down, why let go?
Check out Foot-Stompin’ Music (about half of the 7:00 min. + track):
I have been meaning to post about Latin music, and I swear I will any day now. One thing about latin music is that it is real hit or miss when you buy it unheard. One way to get past this problem is to buy from labels that always put out good music. Some of these labels are Tico, Fania, and this one Cotique. The drawback of buying these labels is that they are not as cheap as some of the other music out there. So until I write my post about some of the cheaper stuff out there, get this one.
Think Drink
Darrow Fletcher came from the local city of Inkster, a suburb outside of the City of Detroit. The most famous residents to have come out of Inkster was the Marvelettes, as a side note, this fact is advertised when you drive into the city. Inkster is one of the few suburbs of the city that has a mostly African American population, and was at one time the home of Malcolm X. Both tunes are strong so I offer both up to your enjoyment.
When Love Calls
Changing By The Minute
This is another great Northern Soul 45 listed in the “Halloween” group. When Holland Dozier Holland left Motown to create Invictus they thought they would defeat Berry “L.A.” Gordy at his own game. Arguably the music was better, but the business skills were not. They eventually could not compete on the long term. Trapped in a love is one of the 45s that did not get the airplay here, and still dosen’t. Thakfully our UK brothers keep this and other great songs alive.
At first take your reaction to this 45 may be the same as mine, Little Drummer Boy?, fuck that christmas shit. Once you listen to it though you will want to break out the eggnog and put up a tree. This is one long slow burn that really gets you ready to trim the tree or tree some trim. Buy this 45 and play it at your next super cool Xmas party
Piero Umiliani is an Italian film score composer best known for the song Mah Na Mah Na, later used as the muppet show theme song. Some wonderful person has posted the scene of the movie, Sweden Heaven and Hell, that Mah Na Mah Na appeared in HERE. Don’t get lost in that YouTube hole too long as there are a few clips of the movie up. This is the continuation of that groove along with another great tune in Contestazione. As long as the Muppet show song has been stuck in my head, I never knew the story behind it, and now that I know I like it even more. After hearing these two songs I would love to get some more of his work. As always both sound files are from the 45 that is for sale.
Beer Vermouth and Gin
Contestazione
Another Northern Soul classic produced by Choker Campbell. Not a lot of info out there on Albert Jones hopefully our great readers can help us out! Sound file from record for sale!
This is another of the Northern soul classics listed this week for auction. It is a song that really needs no introduction but if you want some more info go to his Allmusic. One intersting thing of note from this 45 is that the flip side “When the Party Is Over” was the intended A-side. This audio comes from the 45 for sale
The a-side of this 45 is a well known and sought after song. When you listen to it it is easy to know why. The sound clip is direct from the 45 for sale. Shelley still performs and has a Website
by Cousin Justin
Going up for auction in the next few minutes is a batch of so many soul monsters you might think it was Halloween. Seriously though, there are a ton of excellent soul 45s going up for auction today. These are mostly from the year 1970 and radio station promos in UNPLAYED Condition. Some of the highlights are Shelley Fisher, Robert John, The Barrino Brothers, The New Apocalypse, Art-Forms Ltd, Piero Umiliani, Albert Jones, Florence Devore, And Rozetta Johnson. This is just the tip of the iceberg on this batch and most of this is stuff that does not come around much. I will be posting on these through the auction and if you would like a sound clip of anything please let me know.
By Max Conroy
I’ve been attending rock shows consistently for the past twenty years and have seen a lot of great bands, the Stones a few times, Chuck Berry, the Pixies a few times, Tom Waits, the Ramones, The Stooges; trying to list them or rate all the shows would be futile, but I can safely say that last night’s Dexateens show at the Crofoot Ballroom was one of the best show I’ve ever seen. I can only imagine what seeing them in Tuscaloosa, headlining, would be like. They are the closest thing to rock and roll perfection there is: technical proficiency, great songwriting, swinging swagger, shit loads of chemistry, great records, it’s all there in spades.
The Crofoot seems like a decent place to see a show, even if it is way the hell out in Pontiac: decent sound, $3 Pabst, not so surly staff. The Dexateens opened for the Drive-By Truckers, who are riding high on the acclaim of their most recent record Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. It’s kind of an iffy thing to go to a show specifically to see the opening act because sometimes it’s obvious that no one there has heard of the band and could care less how well they play or what they sound like and also the opener’s set is usually short. But the Dexateens have history with the Truckers and played a plentiful set, consisting of songs off of their last three albums. I don’t typically jock musicians if I see them hanging around by the merch table after shows out of courtesy to them. They’re people like you and me and probably appreciate adoration, but I don’t want to be ‘that guy’, the annoying fucker looking to suck as much blood from these people as possible to obtain fodder for their blog.
But for me the Dexateens are different. Their music blows me away and I respect the situation they’re in, playing music for the sake of the music, not for the pussy, not for the drugs, not for the fame, certainly not for the money but because they have to do this. So after their blistering set, I raided the merch table, picked up their tour CD, a CD that’s one member, Elliott McPherson’s acoustic take on Kiss’ Destroyer album, a shirt, and Hardwire Healing, their only record I didn’t have on vinyl. The dude working the table who apparently works at the 40 Watt in Athens, GA, offered to have the band sign it and gave it to their bass player Matt Patton who passed it around to the rest of the band. I spoke with Patton for awhile, trying not to sound like a teenage girl confronting their favorite teen mag idol. We did a shot of Jack, which I usually steer clear of because a whiff of it can make me aggressive, bordering on violent, and grooved to the Truckers’ cover of Alice Cooper’s 18. I must say that he is positively one of the most gracious people I’ve ever met. I also spoke with their guitarist and vocalist John Smith briefly who seemed real nice and happy to have some fans in the tundra. Patton said that pretty much the only way they’re able to travel this far north is because of the Truckers letting them open for them and that they all have day jobs. It’s truly a bummer that they aren’t getting rich off their shows and records, but that’s the way it is, so let’s pray to God that they can keep it up!
Oh yeah, I also snuck my digital camera into the show. I apologize for the quality of the footage, as I had the camera held at chest level for fear of a roided up bouncer confronting me and smashing it or my face or worse yet kicking me out of the show. Also, the sound is a bit muddy as it’s a cheap Casio digital camera.
Don’t sleep on these batches of dance, funk, boogie, rap, mod soul, and more.
Plus tons of rare Detroit stuff.
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