The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything

So i bought 2 boxes of records recently of mostly 80's punk and new wave stuff with a little rock thrown in the boxes, and while digging through the boxes when i got them home i found this odd little thing. I say odd because it just seemed out of place amongst the Blondie, B52's and Knack records so i took a peep around the interwebs and found out its a highly sought after piece of early funky DJ disco vinyl that goes for a few bucks. So now i give it to you for nothing...

This Liverpool-based group had its origins in the Mersey boom. Lead singer Eddie Amoo was a former member of the Chants, whose excellent beat singles garnered considerable praise. Although they failed to chart, the Chants continued to record for various labels until the name was ultimately dropped. The Real Thing emerged in 1976 with 'You To Me Are Everything', which reached number 1 in the UK. They were also very snazzy dressers, just check the youtube clip...



The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything - Short Version

The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything - Long Version

Transcendental Sisters of St Francis - Lenny Rich - In Heaven There Is No Beer

Happy 4th America...
I can't tell you how many dumb ass records i have like the one here. I can not resist buying anything off kilter like this shit. I mean just look at these old hags. I bet they were old they day they were born. Funny thing is if you close your eyes while listening you can almost imagine the singing to be done by buxom blonde bombshells in German oompa outfits with some real mini shorts. Kinda strange these old bats singing about beer as by the tightness in their lips it don't look like anything but holy water passed through their gullets, but i've been wrong before maybe they were horny lushes that gulped down more than just beer...?
and that is why i am going to hell... what the fuck, there is no beer in heaven anyway...

Drink up, Drink up, it's later than you think....


Transcendental Sisters of St. Francis - Lenny Rich - In Heaven There Is No Beer

Unholy Swill - War Pigs

It's crazy to me to think that 1990 was already over 19.5 years ago....

Damn...

Anywho, here is something to get the weekend started, some noisy, don't give a fuck lo-fi punk ass shit from unholy swill. so bad its great.

I don't know shit about this band but i own a bunch of their 7 inches. I always suspected they were from one of the 5 boroughs of NY, probably queens... And in my mind each one of these gutter punks is long since dead of an O.D., AIDS or murdered. But in reality they are all probably wall street bankers and business tycoons. Either way for a hot second back in the late 80's and early 90's these dudes were making some seriously low brow and lo fi burnt out records. Anyone who can destroy War Pigs they way they do here is A-OK in my book...

Post Script: While writing this i got curious about the band and did a quick "google"... heh. Here is their myspace page for the 2 of you that might give a shit...Unholy Swill

Now i gotta go and find one of these shirts!



edit: my kid just came upstairs as i was playing this track, he's 10, and he says "where do i know this song from" i said its a cover of Black Sabbath. His replay was "It sounds like someone took a shit on Black Sabbath"!!! Ha Ha Ha!!!

Perfect description!

Unholy Swill - War Pigs

The Lyrics - My Son

Whenever shit starts getting heavy and life starts to sometimes spin out of control as it has around here lately i have something that sets things straight, or at least puts some perspective on things; something i didn't always have to help me along in my earlier years but something i am thankful for everyday of my life since their arrival... My sons, who as anyone who knows me in real life can attest too, i love more than anything in this world!

As most people know i usually dig my soul funky and with an edge but after i had my own sons this song really struck me. This a really beautiful heartfelt soul song with a message, that who ever this is on lead vocals from the lyrics, at least in my mind, really means what he is singing... or at least i hope he did.

Before my 1st boy "Herb Apple Pie" was born i made him a tape (yep, cassette) while still in his mom's belly and this was one of the tunes i put on it. I know he still doesn't fully "get" that tape or why i made it but one day maybe he will understand. It may take until he has his own children but i know he will...

For my Sons, i love you both more than you could ever imagine...

The Lyrics - My Son

Louis Jordan - Old Age - What I Say

It's a rainy, wet and basically miserable day here on he east coast again and not unlike how its been around the devils lair lately. I was out of work for 4 weeks after some surgery and went back 2 weeks ago only to find that nothing was done in my absence and i've been slammed at work ever since, my kids have been sick & i've been dealing with some other issues as well, and on top of all this crap another friend of mine has died. Seems the older i get the more friends i lose. i guess that is the nature of life and the same for everyone....

R.I.P. "Psycho" Sam...

Old age aint nothin' but a matter of time...

Louis Jordan - Old Age

Edit 7/5/09: I added the B side per comment request.

Louis Jordan - What I Say

Isreal "Popper Stopper" Tolbert - Big Leg Woman (With A Short, Short Mini Skirt)

Blind Israel Tolbert had a genuine surprise smash with “Big Leg Woman” in 1970 on Warren records. A great soulfull funky blues party record with some cool guitar, superb keyboard work and some funky drumming and horns.

Tolbert was born in Montgomery, AL on October 28 1939 and went to High School with Clarence Carter. Before and after making records he was a DJ which was how he got the nickname “Popper Stopper”, following in a line from a series of famous New Orleans DJs. After Warren records he started his own Tolchose label.

Isreal "Popper Stopper" Tolbert - Big Leg Woman (With A Short, Short Mini Skirt)

The Relations - Puddin-N-Tang (Is My Name)

Some classic soul to get your weekend started!

The Relations - Puddin-N-Tang (Is My Name)

Al Wilson - Listen To Me

Some funky B-side soul magic today:

Allen LaMar "Al" Wilson (June 19, 1939 – April 21, 2008) was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He showed little interest in education but performed in school plays, sung in talent shows and won first prize in a local art contest. Wilson began his career at the age of 12 leading his own spiritual quartet and singing in the church choir, even performing covers of country and western hits as circumstances dictated. While he was in high school, Wilson and his family relocated to San Bernardino, California, where he worked odd jobs as a mail carrier, a janitor, and an office clerk, in addition to teaching himself to play drums; after graduation he spent four years touring with Johnny Harris and the Statesmen before joining the U.S. Navy and singing with an enlisted men's chorus. He also developed his stand up comedy routine to fall back on in case he didn't make it as a singer.

After a two-year military stint, Wilson settled in Los Angeles, touring the local nightclub circuit before joining the R&B vocal group the Jewels; from there he landed with the Rollers, followed by a stint with the instrumental combo the Souls. In 1966, Wilson signed with manager Marc Gordon, who quickly scored his client an acappella audition for Johnny Rivers — the "Secret Agent Man" singer not only signed Wilson to his Soul City imprint, but also agreed to produce the sessions that yielded the 1968 R&B smash "The Snake" (U.S. #27),which has been very popular on the Northern Soul music circuit in the UK; it also provided Wilson with his only British chart hit, reaching number 41 in 1975. The minor hit "Do What You Gotta Do" appeared that same year. In 1969, Wilson charted with his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lodi" (U.S. #67), and Rivers' own "Poor Side Of Town" (U.S. #75).

Wilson largely disappeared from sight until 1973, when he issued the platinum-selling Show And Tell, a Johnny Mathis castoff that sold well over a million copies.

This is the B-side to the million seller and kicks the shit out of Show and Tell...

Al Wilson - Listen To Me

The Chubukos - House Of Rising Funk

A MONSTER GUITAR FUNK JAM HERE! Nothing else needs to be said...

The Chubukos - House Of Rising Funk

Messiah - Alpha Wave - Easy Livin'

Keeping w/ the Funk, here are 2 kill tracks from Messiah. Alpha Wave is a bit more modern and trippy sounding, not unlike something you might hear on a Billy Cobham record... while Easy Livin' goes a little more towards traditional funkiness, it still has a bit more modern vibe. Either way pretty cool tunes and a record you don't see everyday.

Messiah - Alpha Wave
Messiah - Easy Livin'

The Mohawks - The Champ

Oh man, this is a GOOD ONE! Funky ass organ mover from 1968 w/ The Champ, from the Mohawks!

The Mohawks were a band formed from session musicians and fronted by the undisputed king of Library music composers, Alan Hawkshaw. The Mohawks were never actually a 'touring' band, but rather the clever idea of some guy at KPM music in the 60's who decided to release a bunch of incredibly groovy and funky library music tracks and package it under the name "The Mohawks".

The Champ is also a widely known song for having been sampled in so many other songs, notably because the actual word they're shouting in the songs opening and chorus is actually Tramp, which may or may not have anything to do with it's popularity amongst hiphop artists. One could also argue the point that the beat is so genuinely great, making it an obvious candidate for popularity.

The Mohawks - The Champ

King Rubin and the Counts - Cow Peas - Party Girl

Some funky ass jams from 1973 here to get your weekend started! I never got around to scanning the party girl side so please accept my apologies!

A side is a bumping instrumental with cool wah wah guitar and horns, flip is a vocal about the virtues of the female party life! haha!

Once again i did a quick search for King Rubin but found very little except Abdullah, Ahmed, trumpeter, worked with the group and a few other soul blogs have already put this up with very little info either so... whatev...

King Rubin and the Counts - Cow Peas
King Rubin and the Counts - Party Girl

Forward to the Caves 5/28/09 Play List:

were on the air for those that care 8 to 10 PM tonight!

www.wlfr.fm


Here is what we are playing:

Pure Hell - No Rules
45 Grave - Black Cross
Fatal Rage - I'm Appalled
Avengers - We Are The One
Middle Class - Out Of Vogue
Weirdos - We Got The Neutron Bomb
Bishops - Somebody Is Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In...
Ether - Ya Gotta Kill Me
Victims - Real Wild Child
Cyanamid - This Is Hell
Happy Flowers - Mom & Dad Likes Baby Better Than Me
Minor Threat - Salad Days
Guinea Worms - Box Of Records

Vee Dee - Glimses of Another World
Les Face - Pull My Trigger
Mac Blackout - Whos Gonna Set The Fire
Mac Blackout - Pocket For Everything
Les Face - She Was A Mutant
The Lights Out - Somethings Rotten In The Land Of Hope
The Lights Out - Destroy Create
Les Face - Tylenol Killer
Haunted George - Buzzards Are His Flesh
Cynics - She Fell
The Chocolate Watchband - Till The End Of The Day
Loot - Baby Come Closer
Q65 - Cry In The Night
Surf Teens - Point Of Surf
Ramrods - Flowers In My Mind
Werps - Loves A Fire
The Starfires - Fender Bender
Crossfires - Fiberglass Jungle
Craftsmen - Rock Along
Clease - The Weird One
The Rugby's - You , I
Pamela Web and the George - Hold On I'm Coming
Mongo Santamaria - I Can't Get Next To You
Riot - Put The Gun Down Brother
Tribe - Think People
Skull Snaps - Al's Razor Blade
Mody-Vations - Ghetto Kung Fu Pt. 1
Pan Earth - Mandingo

Pamela Web and the George - Hold On I'm Comin'

OH MY GAWD! THE FUZZ!!!!!!!!!!

A MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pamela Web and the George - Hold On I'm Comin'

Cool Heat - Are You Nuts?

I'm gonna try this again...

Q. Are You Nuts?

A. Yes.

Cool Heat - Are You Nuts?

Laura Lee - I Don't Want Nothing Old (But Money)

I've been on a soul kick of late so i think i'm gonna keep on with that vibe for a while. I don't have much to say so read the wiki below if you want the 411...

Laura Lee (born Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois) is an American soul and gospel singer and songwriter, most successful and influential in the 1960s and 1970s particularly for her records which discussed and celebrated women’s experience.

Lee was born in Chicago, but as a child relocated to Detroit with her mother. After a few years, she was adopted by Rev. E. Allan Rundless, who had previously been a member of the Soul Stirrers, and his wife Ernestine, who led a gospel group, The Meditation Singers. Featuring Della Reese, they were the first Detroit gospel group to perform with instrumental backing. The group recorded on the Specialty label in the mid 1950s, appeared on the LP Della Reese Presents The Meditation Singers in 1958, and in the early 1960s recorded for Checker Records.

As Laura Lee Rundless, she replaced Reese in The Meditation Singers in 1956, and over the next few years toured widely around the country. In 1965, as Laura Lee, she launched her secular solo career as an R&B singer in clubs in Detroit, although she also continued to record occasionally with The Meditation Singers. She first recorded solo for Ric-Tic Records in 1966, with "To Win Your Heart". The following year she won a recording contract with Chess Records, and travelled to Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to record "Dirty Man", which became a # 13 R&B hit (also # 68 pop). She stayed with Chess until 1969, touring and also recording "Up Tight Good Man" and "As Long As I Got You".

Lee then moved to Holland, Dozier and Holland’s newly established Hot Wax label. One of her first recordings for Hot Wax, "Women’s Love Rights", became one of her biggest hits, reaching # 11 on the R&B chart in 1971 and # 36 pop. In 1972, "Rip Off" reached # 3 on the R&B chart, but only # 68 pop. She also recorded an album, Two Sides of Laura Lee, while in a relationship with singer Al Green.

Lee left Invictus / Hot Wax in 1975 and signed with Ariola Records, but became seriously ill shortly afterwards and retired from the music industry for several years. She returned in 1983 with a gospel album, Jesus Is The Light Of My Life, on which she worked with Al Green. By 1990 she was recovered from illness, and had been ordained as a minister. She has continued recording music to this day.


Laura Lee - I Don't Want Nothing Old (But Money)

Storey Sisters - Bad Motorcycle

Something to start your work week, a female rocker from 1957 here by The Storey Sisters on Cameo Records. Also credited as The Twinkles, the gals are Ann & Lillian and based from where i am currently located, the city of brotherly love Philadelphia. Real cool guitar break in this jammy, anyone know who he was? Hound?

Get on it, puddin' puddin' puddin'!

Storey Sisters - Bad Motorcycle

Bobby Williamson - I Need Everything

Going in a completely different direction then the R&B dance craze number from Gene & Wendall here's another hillbilly who-dat, best remembered for his twanged-up cover of the doo-wop classic, "Sh-Boom," "Texas" Bobby Williamson was a regionally successful country cat and veteran of the Dallas-based Big "D" Jamboree radio show who recorded for a few years for RCA from 1951 to 1954, then faded from sight...

Bobby Williamson - I Need Everything

Gene And Wendell - The Roach

God Damn I'm bored!
I've had about enough of this sitting around waiting to mend bull shit. I've had enough day time TV and even the 45's are started to annoy me. I need some fresh air and action. Man, if i ever fall victim to house arrest or become crippled please just fucking kill me... anyway my being bored is your gain as i guess i'll keep the 45's coming. at least it gives me something to do around the house since i can't really do much else. Who knew stomach operations were so damn painful and recover time so LOOOOOOOOOONG....

So what you get today is a 45 that has been on continuous play 'round these parts. A cool soul like R & B dance number from Gene and Wendell from 1961. Eugene "Gene" Washington and Wendell Jones, were a duo from Los Angeles who recorded for an obscure label named, Ray Star.

Probably the most exotic and most quintessential of the R&B dances
was The Roach, popular in late 1961 and early 1962. The Roach is
generally a line dance with a somewhat fast tempo, with steps similar to
the Watusi. Its most characteristic step was a squishing motion made
with one's foot on a non-existent cockroach to the song's sharply sung
refrain, "kill that roach." This cut also appeared in the Waters film Hairspray in 1988.

Gene And Wendell - The Roach

The Pentagons - Down At The Beach

Here is one I've been threatening to post for real long time but for some reason I'm just getting around to it now. Maybe its the fact that the weather here was been pretty chilly lately but i hope summer is right around the corner, i'm ready for some warm weather and summer nights.
Anyway, I'm just started to feel 1/2 normal after my surgery and I am going to send this out to the lady friend as i know she is chomping at the bit the get her tattooed ass down to the Jersey shore. Seaside or Point, it's up to you...
usually i don't agree with records on the beach, sand and all, but the lady seems to dig it, and seeing as i dig her i guess that's its a-ok in my book!



This is the flip to the 1961 hit "To Be Loved (Forever)" by the Pentagons:

The Pentagons are remembered for two 1961 hits, "To Be Loved (Forever)" -- which peaked at number 48 nationally -- and "I Wonder." The original lineup featured Joe Jones, Carl McGinnis, Bill James, Otis Munson, and brothers Kenneth Goodloe (lead) and Ted Goodloe and formed in 1958 in San Bernardino, CA, northeast of Los Angeles. Sometime during this early period, Munson left and James was later replaced by Odie Jones, Joe's brother, making for two sets of brothers in the Pentagons' lineup. A trip to Los Angeles that same year attracted the attention of George Motola's Fleet International, a label Motola owned with Lee Silver. The group recorded their first single, "You'll Be Coming Home Soon," which Motola released under the name the Shields. They were forced to change their name to the Pentagons after discovering a local act from Los Angeles had a hit that year under the same name ("You Cheated"). The group's next single would be the 45 that most doo wop fans and collectors remember them fondly for, the graceful and understated ballad "To Be Loved (Forever)," written by Ken Goodloe. The single was a regional hit in late 1960 and was immediately picked up for national distribution and reissue on Donna Records, a division of Bob Keene's Del-Fi Records. It later broke wide open after it was played on Dick Clark's TV show and in February of 1961, it peaked nationally at number 48 pop. After this initial glimmer of success, Lester Sill joined Silver and Motola as the Pentagons' managers. The group's next single was another Motola production, "I Like the Way You Look at Me," which was once again licensed to Donna Records. Though not a major hit, it still carried over that string-laden sound the Pentagons were becoming known for. The B-side, "Down at the Beach," written by Joe and Odie Jones, was a minor hit as well (although this happened two years after it was recorded). Beginning with the very distinctive "Billboard March" -- a calliope-like flourish heard at the start of a circus and also used in James Darren's number two 1961 hit "Goodbye Cruel World" -- the lyrics of "Down at the Beach" really captured the whole sunny SoCal surf and sand scene -- "you look good in your short shorts...I really go for your ta-yan." After this release, the Pentagons signed to Jamie Records, with whom Sill had connections, causing Keene to lose interest in promoting the Donna-released second single. Their final hit was the Jamie-released "I Wonder (If Your Love Will Ever Belong to Me)" which peaked at number 84 pop in October of 1961, but with no additional hits forthcoming, the group disbanded and faded into obscurity. Lester Sill, incidentally, also produced Duane Eddy's early recordings for Jamie. He passed away on October 31, 1994, in Los Angeles.
— Bryan Thomas , All Music Guide

The Pentagons - Down At The Beach

Harmonica Fats - Tore Up

OK some mid week blues here that i am sending out to the fine folks at Its Great Shakes as this 45 showed up on one of their many record digging posts and i made a comment that i had this in the can and ready to go over here @ the devil's music and since i am trying to get caught up with things as far as getting some request and other things tied up it seemed like a perfect time to get this bad little boy posted!

Anywho, nothing long winded, just dig the tune, great gruff voice and a nice walking bass groove, sweet horns and then that harmonica = sweet! dig that 2:09 mark as well!
Just the thing to get you over the hump!

Harmonica Fats was actually Harvey Blackston, a former Louisianan who learned the blues growing up on his grandfather's farm; his longtime partner, Bernie Pearl, a native Angeleno, learned the blues from the musicians who frequented the fabled Ash Grove (a folk and blues club run by Pearl's brother Ed), including Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb.

In the early '50s, Fats took up harmonica as self-prescribed therapy while recuperating from an auto accident. Once confident, he formed a band, playing clubs around Los Angeles, and was known then as "Heavy Juice." Just as carefully, he perfected his songwriting, scoring on the R&B charts in 1961 with the self-penned single "Tore Up." After changing his name to Harmonica Fats, this success led to work as a studio musician, playing dates with performers as diverse as Bill Cosby, Ringo Starr, and Lou Rawls. He even did a stint as a traveling solo musician, seeking gigs as he drove in a station wagon around the country.

Harmonica Fats - Tore Up