Another Feel It birthday.. and more big names lost.

This blog is 19 years old today. That is the bare fact, although it's a bit of a stretch to say it has been been trucking along for the entirety of those 19 years due to recent periods of dormancy. 

This blog, as you know, tends to celebrate soul and funk (and jazz and reggae) music of an increasingly bygone age. Soul and funk music in particular was arguably really at its height in the 60s and 70s. And there's the rub - it should be no surprise that the icons of that time will be very much in the twilight of their life. So it is proving as this year is building up to be another particularly bad one for long time lovers of soul and funk music as we have lost some big names on the scene already this year, and in the last few weeks in particular it has been difficult to keep up with the sad news flow.

Sam Moore, Jerry Butler, Gwen McCrae, Roberta Flack, Chris Jasper of the Isley Brothers, Muscle Shoals session man Albert 'Junior Lowe', Angie Stone, and Roy Ayers - all artists close to my heart over the years - have passed this year already. All have featured strongly in the soundtrack of my life since the early 70s. 

All I can say to all of those mentioned above is Rest In Peace and thank you for the music.    

    

Gwen McCrae - Keep The Fire Burning  1982

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - The Memory  1976 

PS: As it's this blog's birthday today, it also means, of course, that Candi Staton will be celebrating hers - Happy Birthday Candi! (I shall not tempt fate by saying anything more).  
     

The Feel It Adventure 2021: Door 2

From a 1961 obscurity on a California based label to a Noughties one.

As with Debra Lewis (yesterday) I can offer you zero information about the Liparis Nervosa Sextet beyond the fact they were LA based, as was the short-lived AllCity label I believe. However, in trying to discover some information on the band I did manage to expand my botany knowledge - Liparis Nervosa is apparently a species of tropical orchid.

This single was released in 2007 I believe but as it's 21^st century and about 40 years newer than most of the 45s I'm buying nowadays I think of it as “new” and for that reason something that wouldn't ordinarily be on my radar. 2007 is 14 years ago now though, so it is hardly “new”. Putting it into context, when I first started buying records in 1971 if I had been buying a 14 year old single then this record would be the equivalent of some obscure Cool Jazz 45, or maybe a Rockabilly 45. Something definitely from a different era music wise from a 1971 viewpoint. Likewise in 1980 when it was mostly about the latest club/disco music for me it would have equated to a purchase of a mid 6os Soul obscurity that had been no doubt for most of its life, criminally, languishing forgotten in a dead stock warehouse somewhere (it wasn't unknown for me to buy such a record then, and of course now it's mostly what I do!). What I'm trying to say is that this 45 is hardly “new”; it is certainly obscure – and obscurity is a thing I am attracted to. So this could be the start of a whole new digging experience – trawling releases from earlier this century that will somehow always seem “new” to me but are in fact quite old now, if you see what I mean. And, who knows, maybe in another 30 years or such records, maybe even this one, could be worth a lot more than they are now. 

I was alerted to this track when Kris Holmes played it on his show The Long Way Home recently and promptly ventured onto Discogs and purchased a nice minty copy for peanuts. The intro certainly evokes the theme from Taxi and then it develops into a nice jazzy groove with a certain filmic quality I think.*

Liparis Nervosa Sextet – Prayer 2007

* To be clear this is not typical of Kris Holmes' show which is very much rooted in the 60s and early 70s and is big on  Soul and R&B – i.e.  the stuff I really really go nuts for.

The Feel It Mini Advent-ure: Door 15

Here is another random pull from a "recents" box in the record room. (In fact I just looked up when I bought this and can't believe it was over two years ago now, so the box is in fact a "not so recents").

It was the first release on the Outstanding label, which was relatively short lived and primarily seemed to be a vehicle for one Paul Thatcher Smith (P.T.S.). Paul had been around on the jazz scene for a long time by the time this record was released (1972 apparently, although some people seem to date it to 1968 which actually I think kind of fits better with the feel of this record and other early releases on the label that I have heard.). Paul worked with a number of great names on the jazz scene including being a conductor and pianist with Ella Fitzgerald's band for many years starting in 1956.

I love the sleeve that this record comes in. It's been around the block a bit, and has some tales to tell now lost in the mists of time. A good old fashioned blue/green light card sleeve, faded around the edges, tape residue along the bottom and somebody's catalog system number stamped on it, in a really vintage looking typeface. $10 price scrawled on it and “Rock – Inst'l” as a description, which is a somewhat misleading as it sits more comfortably in the jazz/funk genre I think. Of course the sleeve might have been married to a different record originally and it does scream early 60s or even 50s to me. Could be 1968 I suppose, but surely not as late as 1972.

This is a nice laid back instrumental for a Sunday evening. Something my dad might have appreciated. If he was still alive we would have been celebrating his 101st birthday today.

The P.T.S. - Dragon Rock 1972

A collective R.I.P.

Feeling sad at the moment.

We have kept rabbits for at least 15 years now. Pets for the children initially, but always family pets in reality; and it is we, not our children who have elected to keep having a couple of rabbits around. Until this week. We have always put them out in a run on the back lawn during the day. On Wednesday Mrs Darce arrived home and found an empty run. At first, it wasn't clear what had happened, we wondered if a person might have taken them. There was evidence something had lifted the wire at one end but the hole there didn't seem big enough to be relevant. But Whisper and Hector were nowhere to be seen. We looked around but found nothing. Later that night I was restless and went out with the torch to have another look around the garden, and it was then I found both of them – buried separately. A fox must have got them (at least we assume it was a fox). It seems foxes will do this, kill and then bury in a cache, possibly to return later. I retrieved them and we gave them a proper burial yesterday. Rabbits do not like to be alone. Whisper was an old lady and after her old partner died last year we got a new mate for her. Hector was only young. Anyway, they are together again now.

It is strange, the rabbits we have kept have never been house rabbits but right now the house seems so empty and quiet . This is the end of an era for us, we have decided there will be no more rabbits.

I learnt this week of the death of two jazz artists – Al Jarreau and Barbara Carroll R.I.P. I originally became aware of them as a result of my love of jazz-funk in the late Seventies . It prompted me to play the albums you see above for the first time in quite a few years, and make me wonder why I've ignored them for so long. The names from our youth continue to fall.

Barbara Carroll – From The Beginning ~ Together 1977

Al Jarreau – This Time 1980

For Whisper and Hector R.I.P.

First (technically)

I have been told of not one but two new record shops that have opened in my neck of the woods during the last couple of months. As they keep saying, vinyl is making a comeback.

I visited one of these on its opening day at the end of April. A friend had mentioned an ex colleague of his was opening a new record shop, he was going along to the grand opening and would I like too as well. Yes, of course. Although I am, I suppose, a bit of a vinyl nut I am, frankly, not tuned in to the local vinyl grapevine and hadn't picked up on either of these new ventures so I was thankful my friend alerted me.

Arriving at the shop it turned out I know the owner through bumping into each other and engaging in general record b*llocks talk occasionally at a local car boot in the last couple of years. All I can say is good luck mate - you are very brave. The shop is Longwell Records in Keynsham (that's K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M).

I picked up a couple of things out of the yet to be priced bin which I'm very happy with, one of which was this great comp from the early 00s - JohnnyOtis & Friends - Watts Funky.

If you are a regular here you may remember I have posted more than one Johnny Otis 45 in recent years and I have become a huge fan of his, especially his largely obscure late 60s & 70s funk, jazz, and disco infused productions.

On one level at least this album could be said to be the first record ever bought in Longwell Records. I asked Ian, the shop owner, to tuck it behind the counter while I continued to browse, although a lady did beat me to actually handing over readies for something. Talking with another record hound at (yet another generally fruitless) car boot recently he said that Ian apparently did not quote Watts Funky as the first purchase though. From his point of view I suppose he's right as he would have been focussed on the record that put the first takings in the till. I would maintain that it is at least a moot point. 

Down home....

Johnny Otis Show - Country Girl  1968

A groove, and love the keyboards....

Johnny Otis Show featuring Barbara Morrison - Hey Boy! I Want You  1976

The Feel It Advent-ure 2015 #24

So here we are at the end of another Advent-ure. A cliche I know, but they seem to go quicker each year. I hope you have enjoyed the ride.

Not a Christmas record in sight and that's because I don't own many on vinyl, apart from the obvious ones you have no doubt heard more than enough times already again this year on the radio and in the supermarkets etc.

This is as close as I'm going to get to a Christmas record. It's one that comes with a suggestion I put forward with a certain amount of trepidation: you are feeling just a little full after the turkey and all the trimmings, but of course you will somehow find room for Christmas pudding. Take that pudding in it's dish in one hand, and a spoon (or fork if you're posh) in the other, stand up and move around the table, you know - dance, shake a tail feather, do the shakey pudding!         

I will not be held responsible for the consequences!

Jesse Morrsion - Shakey Pudding  1975

I wish you and yours a collective Happy Christmas. Enjoy the holidays. 

RIP Idris Muhammad 1939-2014

Drummer par excellence who played with many of the greats - one of his early gigs was playing on Fats Domino's Blueberry Hill. I was introduced to him via Could Heaven Ever Be Like This from his 70s jazz-funk days, a glorious, sparkling track. Unfortunately my cherished 45 copy is a bit crackly nowadays.That would have, no doubt, spurred me on to buy his 1978 album Boogie To The Top, not his finest hour I know, but I've always liked the track One With A Star from that album.

Idris Muhammad - One With A Star  1978

His 1974 album Power Of Soul is conspicuous by its absence from my collection, and I really should put that right.     

Tapping My Feet #17 - Let The Music Play

This one has been inspired a bit of Friday night "Yeah Baby" action over at DavyH's blogcave. 

I had to interrupt the playing of my latest charity shop purchase to record this one. What is my latest purchase I don't hear you ask? I'll tell you anyway - it's Pinky & Perky's rare album (at least it has virtually no presence on the internet) "Pinky & Perky's Melodymaster", and very enjoyable it is too (surprisingly!).    

Anyway, back to Charles Earland with a jazz-funk classic. You will need to push the kitchen table to one side for this one. (The B-side of this I had completely forgotten -i.e. when I played new back in '78 it didn't have that, then essential, jazz-funk vibe - but is very good in a totally different way and I must post it here soon).

Charles Earland - Let The Music Play 1978

Tapping my feet #16 (12" heaven - nudge nudge, wink wink)

I have too many records. Recently I made the momentous decision to purge some of the ones I bought back in the 70s/early 80s. These form the core of my collection and I have a special affinity towards them – the first ones I bought, memories, and all that. But some, especially the 12” singles, I’m sure I will never play again and I need the space (for more records!).

This one found its way, briefly, onto the out pile. I thought I would give it one last play and found that the B side has some merit – more than some merit, in fact - and I’m not sure I had ever played it before! (It bears no real resemblance to its namesake (Part I) on the other side). So it has been returned to the bosom of my collection. 

Dick Morrissey and Ronnie Scott are the sax players on this track. They of the horn. I seem to remember reading somewhere (but I could easily be wrong) that Dick could be heard on some film soundtracks of, shall we say, the smutty variety. If that was true, I wouldn’t mind betting he slipped this one in (sorry!) in his lunch hour during one such soundtrack session. (“Let’s do a disco number”. “What shall we call it?”).   

This one is very long and Dick keeps it up admirably (sorry again!). It certainly has its moments – just like one of those films he may have soundtracked (or so I imagine!).   

Maximum Penetration – Maximum Penetration - Part II (extra long version) 1980

PS: It has just registered that the combined playing time of the two sides of this 12” exceed the length of Arthur Conley’s entire “Sweet Soul Music” LP! How times changed in 13 years! And, indeed, the ”excesses” of the 70s/80s era 12” have been reined back somewhat since then too, I think .   

Misty Eyed - Part 1

Feel It’s birthday last week has made me I little nostalgic, after all seven years is a long time in the blogging game.  The nostalgia is also tinged with a little sadness as another one of our longstanding (or I should say hopping) family pets – Buttons the rabbit – passed away yesterday. We estimate he was nearly 11 which is a great age for a rabbit. He died of glorious old age, which is no bad thing.

To suit my mood I have decided to repost (with some minor editing) something I put together a few years ago for another blog – Scholar’s sorely missed SouledOn… 

I was honoured to be invited by Scholar to write something for his blog back in 2007. The theme I chose was, simply, songs that make me cry.

So here on Feel It for the first time , split up into a little mini-series over the next few days is:

The Tracks Of My Tears.

I often find the tears welling up. It can be embarrassing, I can be simply talking fondly about something, anything - with someone, anyone - and I can feel my eyes getting misty. I think I have taken after my father because I have noticed the same thing in him. My wife (Mrs Darce!)  is pretty adept at it too. Our children have learned to don sou’westers and wellies if, as a family, we are all watching a film that is anything approaching moving! There we are, both brushing away the tears.

I am sure all of us will find that certain songs make us fill up. Some songs by simple dint of their sentiment will have an almost universal effect – for example I’m betting Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” gets many people reaching for a tissue whenever it’s played. But equally, songs can be very personal, evoking very special and private memories.          

Listening to music is one of my favourite pastimes so it’s not surprising that I find many songs exercising the tear ducts. What is it about a piece of music that gets the tears flowing? As touched on above: the sentiment of the song; triggered memories – fond or painful; simple nostalgia. There again it could be the fact that the track is just so damn good. Or it could be simply inexplicable. Forgetting lyrics for the moment, the way that the music is structured or nuanced can also be crucial I think. I’m no expert on musical structure but elements such as chord patterns, cadence, particular tones - the profoundly sad sound that most stringed instruments make for example, can all play a part in moving someone to tears, and I am sure there will be some science behind this that can prove it.

But let’s not overanalyse. The danger then is the evocative power of a song will evaporate, and with it the tears. And I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a good cry.

Here, for your delectation, are some tracks that have the desired effect with me. As Millie Jackson once put it: “I Feel Like Walking In The Rain”!

Kicking things off are two tracks that are segued by seagulls! I think Kool & The Gang were at the peak of their powers in 1974 when they released “Light Of Worlds”. “Whiting H. & G.”, an instrumental, was track 1 on side 1 of this album. Who says you need lyrics to bring on the tears, these guys could funk it up with the best of them but they also really knew how to drag emotion out of their synthesizers  and the long fade is irresistible. Cue long shot of a couple, or a lone person if you prefer, in the distance, at dusk, walking along an otherwise deserted beach (er, except for the seagulls). And they walk around the point and right into Jean Carn’s “You Are All I Need”. The scene’s gone all misty now – that will be the tears! Dexter Wansel consistently came up with sublime arrangements and this is one of them. Put that together with Jean’s beautiful jazz tinged vocals and the sentiment of the lyrics and you have a marriage made in heaven.

Kool & The Gang – Whiting H & G ~~~ Jean Carn – You Are All I Need (1974/1976)

Treat yourself:

Buy Kool & The Gang - Light Of Worlds 

Buy Jean Carn s/t

To be continued…..

Door #15

I still have some records at my Mum’s. (in fact I may be filing some more there soon as space is rapidly running out here). This record – “Fuse One” - relocated to chez Darcy a few days ago after spending its entire life at my Mum’s. So be gentle with it, it is still getting used to its new environment.

Back in 1980 Jazz-Funk was very much my bag and I used to spin a lot of it at a club in Bath. Back then Saturdays were often spent thus: jump on the train to London (65 minutes Bristol Parkway-Paddington non stop for £4.50 I think, chance would be a fine thing now); tube to Fulham Broadway; walk to the wiggle at the bottom end of King’s Road; listen to latest imports at Disc Empire and buy a few; grab something to eat; watch Chelsea (then often to be seen in the 2^nd Division); tube and train back to Bristol by 7.30pm; drive over to Bath; wheels of steel ‘til 2am.       

I always thought I had bought this record at Disc Empire. Well I did, but I have just found a letter tucked into the sleeve that tells me I must have tried to but it wasn’t in stock so I must have ordered it and had it mailed. The very nice letter (from Mandie) was dated 15^th December 1980 and apologised for the more than 3 week wait for the delivery of the record from Japan.

Hmm, I thought, roll back a little over three weeks from that date and who would Chelsea have played then? Sheffield Wednesday it turns out – a “big” Second Division game 3rd v 4th. A quick dive into my stash of football programmes, and yes, I have it. So I probably ordered this record the day I watched Chelsea beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 – 22^nd November 1980 (as good as it got that season for Chelsea, they failed to score in any of their last eight games of the season! Also, coincidentally, that season I notice Chelsea were drawn away to Southampton in the FA Cup, as they are this season). 

   

Back in the day this album’s attraction would have been all about the two dancefloor friendly tracks “Grand Prix” and “Double Steal”, and I probably never really settled down to appreciate the rest of the album. Listening to it again now after all these years I’m really liking the whole thing, and it has great fidelity.

I remember thinking the group were known as Fuse. Received wisdom (not just Wiki actually) tells me the group were in fact Fuse One, and their first album was eponymous. But I’m not so sure, the label and inner sheet both quote FUSE as well as FUSE ONE so it seems the either the group or the album were at least originally intended to be called Fuse.

Fuse One – To Whom All Things Concern 1980

PS: Disc Empire is sadly no more, gone the way of many independent record shops. The address is now home to The ChelseaTeapot. 

Groove alert

I’ve been bouncing around the 60s for a while here so by way of a change I’m jumping in the time traveller and jumping forward to 1980 (careful now!).

Browsing at a record fair yesterday proved completely fruitless, except for some reason it left me feeling nostalgic for my DJ days in around ‘79/80. More specifically, it led me to pull out my copy of Mass Production’s “Massterpiece” album. As I say I know not where this compulsion came from, I don’t remember seeing a Mass Production record at the fair; the brain – and memory – moves in mysterious ways.

Mass Production were, essentially, not true to their name. The Norfolk, Virginia group laid down a groove over a number of albums that was for the most part a cut above much of the soul/funk/disco groups output that was around in the late 70s/early 80s.  Their sound was an amalgam of soul, funk, jazz, and disco. They released a total of eight albums between 1977 and 1983. Their fifth album “Massterpiece” has always been one that’s stayed in the memory, being full of jams both slow and uptempo. The lyrics may have been, in the main, simplistic, but they laid down some irresistible grooves.

I’m glad I revisited this album. Placing the needle to the grooves I was trying to decide which tracks to share with you. I remembered being fond of “Angel”, “Forever”, and “Nature Lover”. All on side one. Then, of course, there was the monster instrumental “Shante” that opened side two. Perhaps it was because I couldn’t get enough of those tracks back in the day that I ended up overlooking “Your Love”, the penultimate track on side two. But playing the album again over the weekend that was the track that jumped out at me.

Mass Production – Your Love 1980

Of course, as I’ve mentioned it I have to give you this groove as well:

Mass Production – Eknuf~Shante 1980

The Grizzled Skipper

DavyH over at The Ghost Of Electricity has been sharing with us some of the vinyl he was given recently by an acquaintance who was on the verging of chucking his records out! Can you believe it? I made this comment:

Word is getting around my friends and colleagues that I'm getting "just a bit obsessed" with vinyl. This has led to a couple of donations of "vinyl stashes" in recent months. But it's funny, I keep them separate to my own records and don't think of them as mine. This has confirmed my suspicions that I have turned into a true digger. It's all about the joy of the chase and the discovery. Only when you find a record yourself do you truly bond with it (he says caressing his Tighten Up Vol2 LP). It must nearly be time for my medication!

I thought I would expand a little on that comment and also tell you a little story that I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while.

Looking back at my childhood it is clear that my collecting instinct has always been strong, I guess it must be in my DNA. The first things I can remember collecting were corgybeers and taddyats. They were invisible but all over the garden, especially in the privet hedge next to our drive. I used to go out and gather up as many as I could in my little hands, take them inside, and give them to Mum. Soon I graduated to collecting something real – Brooke Bond Tea cards (British Butterflies, Wildlife In Danger, British Costume, Race Into Space etc. – I still have them all, lovingly stuck into their books). Then of course there were bus tickets, I Spy books, bubble gum cards, and stamps (I still have the bubble gum cards and the stamps too).

I must have been about 10 when a friend sparked my interest in collecting butterflies, and then moths too. We, literally, enjoyed the thrill of the chase with our butterfly nets. Initially we killed (in proper “killing jars”), and mounted our catches. But after a couple of years we grew uncomfortable about the killing aspect so we just simply recorded our catches and sightings. My interest in butterflies and moths has endured to this day, and I still record sightings of what I consider to be less common species (in fact let’s face it, they are all less common nowadays).

There are about 60 different species of butterflies that can be seen in Britain. Here is a picture of one of them, the Grizzled Skipper.


I hasten to add I didn’t take that picture. I have never seen a Grizzled Skipper……

Of course, now, my collecting instincts are being very much channeled towards the holy vinyl. This has taken on a whole new dimension this year (why not before I don’t know, he says, kicking himself) as I have discovered the joy of vinyl hunting at car boot sales. It beats trawling the charity shops hands down. In my experience the potential for an exciting find is much greater, the price you have to pay is usually less (often next to nothing), and you get to do your digging in the sunshine (hopefully) and the fresh air (ok, except for the occasional whiff of cigarette smoke – but then I like the smell of tobacco in the open air). All in all I have been very satisfied with my finds this year and I know I have shared a few of those with you.

For all the enjoyment my car booting has given me this year, though, I still find myself feeling a little envious of a friend of mine’s discovery a few months ago. This friend cannot walk past a rubbish skip in the street without having a poke around its contents to see what he can find that might be of some use – or value. A noble pursuit and one I have also been known to do. I’ve never found anything worth having though.

Anyway, there he was walking up to the local shop, in the pouring rain, when he approached this skip and spied on top of the assorted rubble, old doors, and general skippy contents a couple of carrier bags bursting at the seams… with records!

With, I daresay, a deftness borne out of years of practice he had those carrier bags off that skip and under his arm in a jiffy. The rain had got to the covers a bit but he got them home double quick and spread them out, opening the gatefold sleeves where relevant, and let them dry with no real damage done. I was duly invited around for a looksee and we spent a happy couple of hours inspecting his swag, which numbered about 30 albums and a few 12” singles mostly in great condition. There were a mix of genres including some soul, and as my friend is can take or leave that particular genre and knows I’m just “a bit mad” for it he very generously donated some of his swag to me.

These are the records I have acquired. They include some reggae which deep down I am treating as loan only because I know my friend is partial to a bit of reggae.

Albums:
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5
Jackson 5 - ABC
Jackson 5 – Third Album
Jackson 5 – Lookin’ Through The Windows
(all first press UK albums)
Freeez – Southern Freeez*
Mariposa(Butterfly) (mp3) 1980
Kleeer – License To Dream
Running Back To You (mp3) 1981


12” Singles:
D Train – You’re The One For Me*
Spectrum – Takin’ It To The Top*
Rockers Revenge – Walking On Sunshine
Hughie/Michael Administrators – You’re Lying/Summer Breeze
Johnny Osborne/Aswad – Don’t Bite The Hand (10”)
Lloyd Parks – Reservation For Two
Weapon Of Peace - If (mp3) 1981

(* I have these already, I ought to give them back really!)

However, as I said in my comment above, I keep all of these records separate to my own because, although the circumstances of their discovery were wonderful, and I am deeply grateful to my friend for letting me have them, at the end of the day it was not me that found them and therefore somehow I don’t think of them as belonging to me. And so it is I have come to realise that this collecting lark is not simply about accumulation. The nature of the hunt and the acquisition is important and is something that I have to initiate and conduct myself in order to feel, truly, that a record is mine.

Hang on a minute, quick, where’s my camera? There – snap - got it! Well, blow me, look at that:


It’s the grizzled skipper!

Tapping My Feet #12

I’m still here. The PC has been doing some strange things these past days. It’s been running really slow and put me off using it much. It seems to have mended itself at the moment, but I know deep down that the time is nearly upon me. Four (or is it five?) years of files and programs mostly long unused and forgotten act like a comfort blanket, but they are now lying a bit heavy. Yes, – it’s time I reloaded the operating system. So if I disappear for another couple of weeks you will know what’s going down.

The computer’s contrariness has not been the only reason I’ve been quiet though. Me, Mrs Darce and a couple of good friends have just got back from a great long weekend in Krakow. I’ll have some honey in that vodka, please.

Strolling through the old Jewish quarter on Friday night we heard this seeping out of a bar. Took me back thirty years, to my DJ days, in an instant.

War – The World is A Ghetto 1979

The original (and very different) version can be found on this.

My 12” copy states the time as being 13:47 (!) but in fact it is only a mere 8:45. It is possible the full length version is on “Music Band II”, if you can find it.

Friday Funk, Jazz-, British

From Brit Reggae to Brit Jazz-Funk. Something to dance around the kitchen to on a Friday evening.

I've stumbled across a few blogs and forum threads extolling the virtues of British Jazz-Funk recently. It seems somehow strange to see twenty-something Californians (for example) "going mad" for a sub-genre of music that had gone to ground before they were even born. Warms the cockles of the heart though - I seem to remember it got more than its fair share of bad press at the time.

This was Atmosfear's second single, following on from their debut "Dancing In Outer Space". DIOS was a sizeable hit and this single too, amazingly, exercised the lower reaches of the charts in 1980.

This is a UK 12" but I notice that "U.S.A." appears, apparently randomly, on the label. Was this done to make it appear as a US import and so appeal all the more to all those DJs who had to have the latest sound (er, maybe I was one of those).

I also notice Elite's address was Craven Park Rd. in London. A road that was home to many a British Reggae label as well. Appropriate as "Motivation" in particular has a dubby feel to it in places.

As The Peoples Choice once urged us to do - jam jam jam all night long... now - I wonder - have I still got those blue shoes somewhere?

(Put your 'phones on for a head expanding experience).

My favourite of the two and it clocks in at under 6 minutes:

Atmosfear - Extract 1980

This one is a mighty 8:43, those were the days:

Atmosfear - Motivation 1980


Buy "En Trance"

Beam me up

Over two weeks since my last post. That’s a long time, even by my standards. I’ve been around all the time, except that it feels like I’ve been on another planet. A planet that exists in a highly contagious cyberspace, is in total darkness, and is covered in laminate flooring!

I’ll explain the flooring first. That was a DIY project to lay a laminate floor in our daughter’s bedroom. Emptying the room was a major logistical exercise to begin with – our daughter is a hoarder (takes after me, then) and scattering her belongings all over the house to reveal the floor was like a game of Tetris on a giant scale. It’s the first time we have attempted to lay laminate and, well, let’s just say it didn’t start well. Rubber mallet and expletives flying through the air, it was al going on, or, more precisely all going “Pete Tong”. However, Mrs Darce proved to be a calming influence – as usual – and so in the end it all turned out rather well – even if I do say so myself.

While this “major” project was going on our daughter’s laptop got a virus and then, a few days later, our son’s laptop presented a “black screen of death”. I count myself lucky that so far I have encountered very little trouble with our home PCs. Until now that is. It is unbelievable how much time computer problems can take to sort out. Both machines are up and running again now thankfully, although the inbuilt wireless network card in our daughter’s laptop doesn’t want to play ball anymore.

I thought, with Vista, the dreaded “blue screen of death” was a thing of the past. Well I suppose it is but I now know it has been replaced by something altogether more sinister – the “black screen of death” (BSOD for blue KSOD for black I have learnt). This KSOD appeared to have been caused by, of all things, a Windows Update – thankyou Microsoft! (And we were not alone, we knew two other people who experienced it on the same day). A KSOD leaves you with no clue as to what is going on – all you have is a black screen and a cursor that you can move around - and restores don’t work. Aaaagh. After a lot of research, and finally some inspired straw clutching, I at least managed to run Notepad of all things (from a command line – good old DOS) from where the file browser worked and I could at least copy my son’s data off. Then I had to admit defeat and do a complete system reset.

It brought to mind a haiku that I remember seeing years ago, which went something like this:

A black* screen of death?
Turn it off and start again.
Windows is like that.

(* Composed back in the days of Windows 3.1 or 95 in the original it was, of course, blue).

You’re bored now, I can tell. I can assure you I was too after a number of consecutive evenings in computer hell.

Let’s get back to the music. From computer hell to 12” heaven. And I might even talk about the music next time!

Wilbert Longmire – Black Is The Colour 1978

(A version can be found on Wilbert’s first album “Sunny Side Up”).

Note the red sticker covering up the Tappan Zee-Columbia name. I have seen this on other US imports and assume it was for contractual or branding reasons as Columbia were known as CBS in the UK?

Back in the groove

With two weeks in a row working away I had started to suffer withdrawal symptoms, from blogging of course, and from trawling charity shops.

My work related travels over the last fortnight have resulted in a fair amount of hanging around in airports. There are plenty of shops in airports but even at the best of times they mostly seem to be full of fabulously expensive merchandise. Nevertheless, to date, I had always been happy to browse, and chuckle at the prices. But now good old GBP has begun to resemble a third world currency (sorry, I guess that’s an insult to those of you living in the third world) such browsing isn’t fun anymore. It got me thinking that what the airport lounge experience needs is a bit of variety, say a few charity shops and second hand shops – somewhere to dig. It would certainly make my waiting experience more enjoyable and productive – then again I would probably get so carried away I would miss my flight! (Imagine: underneath a rack of women’s skirts (large) you’ve just found two boxes of albums that show some promise (the first two albums you already have but that shows someone has your taste) and then you hear the dread words: “Mr Darcy you are delaying the flight please proceed to the gate immediately or we will offload your bags”).

Anyway I’m back home again now with no more business trips for a few weeks at least. And today, in between a frustrating and ultimately fruitless search for a replacement brake light switch for our car*, I managed to dip into a few local charity shops and banish those withdrawal symptoms – and how!


As I recounted back in January my first trawl of the year was a successful one and included an album by George Freeman on Groove Merchant, my first piece of vinyl on that label. Well, what do you know?, I bagged another Groove Merchant album today – Jimmy McGriff’s “Groove Grease” no less – for 50p! I found this in a branch of the British Heart Foundation and I can assure you my heart skipped a beat when I pulled this one out of the rack. There is grease in those grooves I thought, and, ahem!, the cover's not bad!

As I said to the two charming old ladies behind the counter as I paid for my swag (which also included a Marlena Shaw Anthology CD – another result!) – “the cover on this one is a bit racy, perhaps you had better put The Bird in a Plain Brown Bag!”


Jimmy McGriff – The Bird (mp3) 1971

Jimmy McGriff – Plain Brown Bag (mp3) 1971 (or 1974?)


As a McGriff album “Groove Grease” is unusual inasmuch as the bass on the tracks is provided by a bass guitar rather than Jimmy’s left hand. I’m a bit puzzled by something though - Jimmy McGriff discographies seem generally to state this album as being from 1971. But this copy is dated 1974. I know this album has had a recent reissue on vinyl but this one is pretty clearly an original – it has Bell Sound stamped in the dead wax for instance. Were there two releases in the 70s I wonder?

Jimmy McGriff passed away last year, you can find a good tribute to him here.


(* The one I finally bought didn’t fit and, in the end, I got the original one working again – a day gladly wasted as it led me to “Groove Grease”).

Mine's a Southern Comfort and lemonade

While I slowly get my act together on a more verbose post I thought I would offer up this not so little track. This has been inspired by DavyH’s recent rediscovery of jazz-funk and his craving for full length versions of same, and is for him, at least.

For a few years now I have not been able to get enough of the immediacy of two minute something 60s and 70s southern soul and obscure sister funk tracks. Whereas back in the late 70s early 80s, in my relative youth (early twenties), I was cruising around in my silver Capri with my “If it aint Jazz, it aint worth a Funk” sunstrip listening to the likes of Lonnie Liston Smith, The Jeff Lorber Fusion, and Sadao Watanabe, (OK, yes, I’ll admit it, Shakatak too). The land of jazz-funk where every track was at least five minutes long.

Sometimes I think I must be living my life backwards.

Hiroshi Fukumura with Sadao Watanabe – Hunt Up Wind 1980*

*recorded in Tokyo in 1978 this was released on Inner City in 1980. Check out the credits on the back cover, all the ususal suspects were on the session.



(I can’t find this currently available on CD anywhere).

Deja Vu

And so it is September again (OK, I know it’s nearly over).

I wrote about September last year. Reading that post again I was struck by how closely its themes match my current scenario: i.e. too busy to blog, and the September weather coming up trumps again following a non existent summer.

Unfortunately the general life stuff that has been getting in the way of regular bloggery is by no means all good this time around. Dad is in hospital again and has been for the last four weeks. The daily requirements surrounding visiting, supporting Mum, and trying to work out what is going to happen next is leaving little time for anything else. As I may have mentioned earlier this year, Dad is nearly 90, and has had a good innings as we say. But the various effects of diabetes have now well and truly taken hold and at the moment it is difficult to see that he will be able to return home.

As a nation we British love to talk about the weather and I have found myself describing the days to Dad when visiting him in hospital. In the circumstances talking about the weather seems sort of banal, and I am not sure he is taking in what I say, but in the end it is something to say and I like to think it at least gives him some sort of link to the outside world and a structure to the days (and it sure beats talking about the global financial meltdown).

Again this year, September, for the most part, has been a good month to report weather wise, conducting itself with a customary quiet elegance. I am not one to blow my own trumpet, but, reading it back, I was actually quite pleased with my reflections on September last year; to the extent that I cannot really improve on what I had to say then. So, if you feel so inclined, you can read what I had to say here (skip past the italics).

So what to play to go with this post?….. sing that summer song, soon it will be gone.



Buy “Live At The Bijou”

Drink and migrate

First things first, thanks to all of you who left your good wishes for Dad. I passed them on and I think he was chuffed to think that people from all round the world were thinking of him. He is back at home now, and Mum is happy although she has even more of a caring job to do now (with our help when we can). In the end I am not sure precisely what Dad's problems were(are) and I am left with the impression that his body just got confused with the seemingly constant mix of pills he has been prescribed over recent years and said “enough!” That and his advanced years of course. Anyway the doctors conferred, and it was a split decision, but he has made it home with a fresh collection of pills and potions to take – no doubt with a fresh collection of side effects. Excuse me if I sound a bit cynical but in the end I wonder whether all these drugs really do any good. One thing that has deteriorated a lot in recent weeks is his sight – effectively he can no longer watch TV, nor read it seems. Hey, it’s a b*gger getting old!

My work took me to Hungary again the weekend before last. Prepare yourself for a bit of jargon. The project I’ve been working on – with many colleagues – was a computer system replacement, and it reached its climax – the ‘go live’ over the summer solstice weekend. A ‘go live’ incorporates the moving and validating of all the data from the existing system to the new one. This is known in the trade as ‘data migration’. The various stages of this migration required us to work, repeatedly, well into the night. So little time for r and r (= drinking) you may think. But no, we managed to fit that in too. “Drink and migrate” was our mantra. It just so happened there was a wine festival in town that went on well into the night. For three nights running we left the office after midnight and got a taxi straight to the festival, and three nights running a few of us returned to our hotel with the sun rising and the birds singing. I didn’t know I could still do that! (In fact flushed with the realisation I could still go to bed almost after I got up the next day and still function I did it again this weekend when the wife and I went to an old friend’s wedding reception at the weekend. This could become a habit!).

Anyway, returning to Blighty after a long weekend of ‘data migration’ I turn on the radio in the hire car and what should I hear? – a program discussing trends in migration of birds and insects! (It included the cuckoo, which I always think provides one of the quintessential sounds of an English spring and early summer, although the birds we hear in England in fact come from Africa).

This coincidence of migrations must be cue for a track on Feel It I thought to myself. (It’s now a week after this coincidence occurred but I’ve finally got round to it). But what to play? Tracks with migration as a subject are pretty thin on the ground, at least in my collection, but I have settled on a track that at least hints at it in the title. It’s from the 1979 Azymuth album “Light As A Feather”, which also featured the storming and irresistible “Jazz Carnival”.

The normal beat of posts may return now. Unless, of course, by some slim chance, the famously elusive British summer suddenly decides to make a prolonged appearance!

Azymuth – Fly Over The Horizon (mp3) 1979