Would you like to see more "Artist Spotlights" like the Nitzer Ebb Spotlight

Friday, February 1, 2008

Man Parrish - Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)


FROM CDNOW REVIEW: "Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut'n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like "Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)" and "Boogie Down Bronx" were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker -- and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day. A native New Yorker, Parrish was a member of the extended family of glam-chasers and freakazoids that converged nightly on Andy Warhol's Studio 54 club. His nickname, Man, first appeared in Warhol's Interview magazine, and his early live shows at Bronx hip-hop clubs were spectacles of lights, glitter, and pyrotechnics that drew as much from the Warhol mystique as from the Cold Crush Brothers. Influenced by the electronic experiments of his good friend and co - writer Klaus Nomi and Brian Eno as well as by Kraftwerk, Parrish together with "Cool" Raul Rodriguez recorded their best-known work in a tiny studio sometimes shared with Afrika Baambaata, whose own sessions with Arthur Baker and John Robie produced a number of classics equal to Parrish's own, including "Wildstyle, " "Looking for the Perfect Beat, " and the infamous "Planet Rock." What distinguished "Hip-Hop Be Bop, " however, was its lack of vocals and the extremely wide spectrum of popularity it gained in the club scene, from ghetto breakdance halls to uptown clubs like Danceteria and the Funhouse. After he discovered a pirated copy of his music being played by a local DJ at theinfamous "Anvil" club ( NYC ), Parrish found his way to the offices of the Importe label (a subsidiary of popular dance imprint Sugarscoop and Disconet DJ mixing service), which whom he inked his first deal. He released his self-titled LP shortly after, and the album went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide. He was signed to Electra Records and managed by David Bowie's notorious manager Tony De Fries and the infamous Main Man Ltd management team. Tony De Fries had managed careers of David Bowie, New York Dolls, Mott the Hoople, Mick Ronson and Dana Gillespie to name a few. Following a period of burn-out that followed, Parrish recorded and remixed tracks for Michael Jackson, Boy George, Gloria Gaynor, and Hi-NRG group Man2Man, among others, and served as manager for the Village People and Crystal Water to name a few. While Parrish's subsequent material has achieved nowhere near the success or creative pitch of his earlier work, he continues to record from his brooklyn studio and is a frequent DJ at New York's eclectic night spots and SM clubs. His Sunday Underground Party "Sperm" at the "Cock Bar" on New Yorks lower east side, is notorious, to say the least ! He is main DJ and co founder for a circut party called "Hustlerball" which has parties in many cities worldwide. He also has several adult websites and online businesses which keep him busy as a webmaster, and "jack of all trades". His second LP, DreamTime, appeared on Strictly Rhythm in 1997."

For more information on Man Parrish, visit his website.

Taken from the original 12" single on Importe/12 321
Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop) - 5:23
Song charted on December 11,1982. Spent 19 weeks on the chart and reached #4

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Aaliyah - One In A Million


First off, I tried to get a cleaner version from the CD of yesterday's Abbe post but was unable to. I first listened to the CD when I got it and thought that it was a clean rip. (I listened to it a low volume during dinner). After listening to it with headphones on, I found it wasn't a clean rip to begin with. The scratchy sound is actually on the CD. Must have been a used record that is was recorded from. Oh well, things happen.

Today, I'm posting another song that one of my readers sent to me from my request list. Bob sent me the songs from the Aaliyah promo 12" single of "One In A Million". These are great rips and hope you all enjoy this song. Boy these mixes are totally different from the radio single version. Thanks goes out to Bob for the great mixes.

Aaliyah was born Aaliyah Dana Houghton On January 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York; moved to and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She starred in the movies Romeo Must Die and Queen Of The Damned. In 1994, she got married to R. Kelly but that marriage was later annulled.

Her life was tragically taken in a plane crash on August 25, 2001. She died at age 22. ;-(

Todays post was the first time that Aaliyah saw one of her songs hit the dance chart, and with these cool remixes you can see why this was such a big dance floor filler.

Taken from the original double disc promo 12" single on Blackground Records
One In A Million (Armand Van Helden Drum N Bass Mix) - 7:09
One In A Million (Nitebreed Mongolodic Mix) - 9:31
One In A Million (Geoffrey Curtis Housemix) - 11:48
Song charted on March 22, 1997. Spent 13 weeks on the chart and reached #2

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Abbe - Armed & Extremely Dangerous / Thunder & Lightning


WOW!!! I can't believe that I finally got my hands on a copy of this hard to find disco classic. Many thanks goes out to Richard, of West Palm Beach, Florida, for sending me a copy of one of the hardest to find records....Abbe - Rainbows

Abbe was born Abigail Lassman on December 14, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York. She was a singer/actress who became known as Abbe Lane and appeared in several Italian movies. She was married to bandleader Xavier cugat from 1952-1964.

Today I'm posting the two songs from this LP that charted on the Billboard dance chart. First is Armed and Extremely Dangerous, which was originally a Top 30 pop hit in 1973 for the group First Choice. The second track, Thunder And Lightning, is her version of the Top 20 hit for Chi Coltrane from 1972.

Taken from the Original LP "Rainbows" on Butterfly 3107 (THANKS RICHARD)
Armed & Extremely Dangerous - 7:55
(After I uploaded this I noticed it's a bad rip...I'll fix this tomorrow)

Thunder & Lightning - 3:57
(this one ripped great)
Both songs charted on February 16, 1980. Spent 5 weeks on the chart and reached #81

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Company B - Full Circle


Yesterday I posted Fascinated by Company B. Today is the follow-up single to that song. A late summer release, this saw similar response on the dance floor. It sound so much like their first chart single that it is no suprise this one did well too.

Although this release, "Full Circle," received extensive club play, along with the groups appearance on such programs as Showtime At The Apollo, the song received little attention at radio and never cracked the Top 100.

Taken from the original 12" single on Atlantic 86674
Company B - Full Circle (Vocal / Club Version) - 7:48
Song charted on August 8, 1987. Spent 11 weeks on the chart and reached #5

Monday, January 28, 2008

Company B - Fascinated


The first chart sucess for the female Dance trio from Miami, Florida called Company B was this classic diddy from winter of 1987.

This song was the lead off single from the groups self-titled debut LP. Still a club classic since I still get tons of requests for this one.

The original line-up of Company B consisted of Charlotte McKinnon, Lori Ledesma, & Susan Johnson. McKinnon was replaced by Lezlee Livrano before their debut album was released. Livrano and Johnson were replaced by Donna Huntley and Sheena, who was soon replaced by Julie Marie, though Livrano and Johnson would return and replace Huntley and Marie for various albums. The group recently reformed, with original members McKinnon and Johnson (now Susan Marie) and new member Rachel Leslie

Taken from the original 12" single on Atlantic 86731
Fascinated (Club Mix) - 7:30
Song charted on February 14, 1987. Spent 10 weeks on the chart and reached #1

Friday, January 25, 2008

Artist Spotlight Week #5 - Nitzer Ebb - Getting Closer


The second single to be released from "SHOWTIME" was "Getting Closer" As the follow-up to Lightning Man, it found greater audience appeal in the club. This song gave Nitzer Ebb their highest chart success on the US Dance charts as it peaked at #3.

Getting Closer" captures an atmosphere of impending, imminent doom better than just about anything, while the heavy synth distortion makes the track rock, all without using guitars. The way the song literally revs up alone is worth the listen.

This song was produced by Flood and Nitzer Ebb. Mixed by Flood. Recorded at Swanyard Studios and The Garden. Mixed at Swanyard Studios with remix and additional production by Arnaud Rebotini

Taken from the original 12" single on Geffen 21606
Getting Closer (Pool Mix) - 5:15
Getting Closer (Trance Mix) - 7:09
Song charted on July 14, 1990. Spent 8 weeks on the chart and reached #3

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Artist Spotlight Week #2 - Nitzer Ebb - Control I'm Here


Continuing the week long Nitzer Ebb Artist Spotlight.

In 1988, Doug and Bon set out to record "the perfect electronic album", resulting in the LP Belief. Preceded by the classic club track 'Control I'm Here', their second album, Belief, was released in 1989 and was co-produced by Flood (Depeche Mode, U2),who went on to produce their next 3 albums and remix other tracks. The band was now down to a core duo of Harris and McCarthy, with Julian Beeston on drumming duty. Two further singles 'Hearts & Minds', (which will be featured tomorrow) and Shame were released in 1989 with extraordinary remixes from Daniel Miller and William Orbit. The band was asked to be the opening act for labelmates' Depeche Mode's Music For The Masses tour (European Leg).

Taken from the original 12" single on Geffen 21111
Control I'm Here (Command Control Confront Mix) - 6:43
Song charted on January 14, 1989. Spent 10 weeks on the chart and reached # 14