Advance - Take Me To The Top

Been wanting to post this for a long time - Oh, sorry, going just under two months.

Advance seemingly put out no other song than this there was one released a few years later called "Take It To The Top" which I have never had a listen too, but as names do not differ much I expect it to be close to the original. Nevertheless this song is fantastic with its surplus vocals, groovy synth lines, dreamy pads and classic muted guitars it for sure is one of my all time favourites. It was produced by Alvaro Ugolini and Dario Raimondi I would have never subsumed it under the term Italo Disco, but hey lets compromise: An All Time Dance Classic.

Taken from the original 12" single on Polydor 811539
Advance - Take Me To The Top (Vocal) - 6:15
Song charted on April 30, 1983. Spent 6 weeks on the chart and reached #55

Monyaka - Go Deh Yaka (Go To The Top)

Monyaka was a funk group based out of Los Angeles, California. The members included Beres Barnett (vocals, guitar), Errol Moore (guitar), John Allen (keyboards), William Brown (keyboards), Larry McDonald (percussion), Val Douglas (bass), and Richie Bertram (drums)

Go Deh Yaka is a disco reggae stomper from the early 80s, really love this song especially when the sun is shining.

Taken from the original 12" single on Easy Street 7502
Go Deh Yaka (Go To The Top) (Club Mix) - 6:32
Song charted on August 6, 1983. Spent 7 weeks on the chart and reached #48

Booker Newberry III - Love Town

Thanks for all the congrat's for my new son. It is greatly appreciated...now on with the music.

Booker Newberry III (born 19 January 1956, in Youngstown, Ohio) is a singer and keyboardist, who was a member of the mid 1970s soul groups Sweet Thunder ("Baby I Need Your Love Today"), and Impact before pursuing a solo career.

Newberry began his professional singing career in the group Mystic Nights around 1971. Moving to Philadelphia he became the lead singer of Sweet Thunder, which also included drummer John Aaron, bassist Rudell Alexander, and guitarist Charles Buie. Signing with the Philly-based record label WMOT Records, the group's single, "Baby I Need Your Love Today" b/w "I Don't Care What You Say," stirred interest and was picked up for distribution by Berkeley, California based Fantasy Records.

The group recorded three albums, Above The Clouds (1976), Sweet Thunder (1978), and Horizons (1979), the latter of which listed the single "I Leave You Stronger," which went to #63 Billboard R&B chart in late 1979. Newberry joined another WMOT Records group, Impact, who was best known for the dance hits "Give a Broken Heart a Break" and "Rainy Days Stormy Nights."

Newberry signed with Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records in 1983 and today's post "Love Town" was a Top Ten UK hit. The "Love Town" album was issued the same year. He has also recorded for Malaco Records and Omni Records

This was the first and last time any of his solo hits charted on the Billboard Dance Disco Chart.

Song taken from the original 12" single on Boardwalk 99905
Love Town (Long Version) - 5:18
Song charted on June 4, 1983. Spent 3 weeks on the chart and reached #66

EBN/OZN - AEIOU Sometimes Y

EBN/OZN consisted of two males from New York. On synthesizer was Ned Liben (aka EBN) and the vocals were by Robert Rosen (OZN). They met when a friend of Rosen's girlfriend intorduced them.

In the early 80's, they started going to clubs together and listening to different types of dance music. Then got a record deal with Elektra with the release of their first single AEIOU Sometimes Y. An album, Feeling Cavalier, soon followed and their follow-up was released called Bag Lady (I Wonder). Soon after the album release, the duo went their seperate ways.

Liben went on to work with Scritti Politti and Rosen formed a studio group before leaving music altogether to become a screenwriter. In 1998 Liben died of a heart attack.

Today's post includes both of their songs to reach Billboard's dance chart.

Purchase the original 12" single here

AEIOU Sometimes Y (Long Version - Vocal) 7:38
Charted on July 30, 1983. Spent 10 weeks on the chart and reached #20

Check out the video for AEIOU here