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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Artist Spotlight Week #1 - Nitzer Ebb - Join In The Chant

This week featuring 5 songs from a particular artist. To begin with, since the Packers are not going to the Super Bowl, I am kind of in a dark mood. So this week the feature artist will be Nitzer Ebb.

Nitzer Ebb (pronounced night-zer or nit-zer—the band themselves pronounce it either way) is a music group formed in 1982 by Essex schoolfriends Douglas McCarthy (vocals, synthesizer), Vaughan (Bon) Harris on synthesizers and drums, and David Gooday.

In May 1987, they released their debut album on Geffen Records, That Total Age, which spawned a hit with the pounding bass rhythms and barked vocals of "Join In the Chant" and "Let Your Body Learn". Both tracks found favour with the Euro club scene and the nascent Balearic Beat movement. Today posting their first ever dance chart single in the US. JOIN IN THE CHANT.

Taken from the original 12" single on Geffen 20786
Join In The Chant (Burn) - 5:26
Song charted on October 31, 1987. Spent 10 weeks on the chart and reached #9

Blue Mercedes - See What Must Have

Blue Mercedes is a pop music duo from London, England, made up of David Titlow and Duncan Millar. Titlow was infamous for wearing purple shorts with the words "Funk Ass" printed on them, whilst Millar played a large portable synth with double keyboards — they dubbed their musical style 'Street Latin Wolff'. Their only Hot 100 hit was "I Want To Be Your Property," which climbed to #66 in 1988 and spent four weeks at #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. They had two more dance chart entries in 1988.

After releasing the single "That Beauty Is You", they evolved into indie dance band, Nixon, and released 'The Rolling Stones gone baggy' sound of "Sweet Temptation". A second single was recorded and manufactured by MCA records, a cover version of the Sex Pistol's "Submission" with trippy cover artwork by Designers Republic, however this was never released and seven inch copies of this track are an extremely rare find. Nixon also remixed the Blur song "Bad Day" from their first album for Food Records, whilst the mix was rejected by the band a mislaid DAT of the song was picked up by unscrupulous bootleggers and released as a white label twelve inch, also very rare.

David Titlow then went onto form indie rock band Heave who signed to Warners subsidiary Radar Records in the early nineties releasing the singles "Suna/12XU" and "Pig Pretty" (on 7 inch pink vinyl) they followed this with the album "Scaramanga" which was produced by Bryce Goggin and released in both the UK and Japan.

Today's post is the follow-up to the #1 dance single "I Want To Be Your Property". This one didn't do as well as it barely reached the Top 20 on the Dance Singles chart. I still like this song anyway.

Taken from the original 12" single on MCA 23857
See What Must Have (Funk Ass Mix) - 6:55
Song charted on April 30, 1988. Spent 8 weeks on the chart and reached #18

Fixx - Less Cities, More Moving People

The Fixx is a British new wave band formed in 1980. The group was formed by college friends Cy Curnin (vocals) and Adam Woods (drums). The pair placed an ad for additional members. Jamie West-Oram (guitar), Rupert Greenall (keyboards) and Charlie Barret (bass) joined the band as a result. Barret left just after the recording of the first album and was replaced by Alfie Agius. However, Agius' stint in the band was short-lived, as he left in the middle of sessions for the following album. His bass work is featured on the album's two hit singles "Saved By Zero" and "One Thing Leads to Another" though. The bass spot was then filled by Dan K. Brown, who remained with the band until 1994.

The band is best known for the smash hit, One Thing Leads to Another. Todays post is one of the lesser known songs. Taken from their third LP, the 1984 release Phantoms. This has to be one of my favorite Fixx songs along with Red Skies.

Taken from the original 12" single on MCA 1230
Less Cities, More Moving People - 7:10
Song charted on November 24, 1984. Spent 3 weeks on the chart and reached #68

Ministry - Cold Life / I'm Falling / Primental

The following information was stolen from discogs.com....
"Ministry is the brainchild of Alain Jourgensen. The band started in 1981 playing a sugar-filled synth pop in the vein of Depeche Mode and Human League. The first changing arrived in 1986 when Ministry's second LP "Twitch" was produced by Adrian Sherwood. The music shifted to an heavy and menacing EBM/electro sound. The third album "The Land Of Rape And Honey" (1988) was a revolution, with the arrival of Paul Barker and other new members Ministry started to play a crossover bewteen EBM, industrial and heavy metal. The formula was perfectioned with the following "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" (1990), where the rock elements became more relevant. Ministry's masterpiece is considered "" (1992), a very dark, powerful and violent album, where the band experiments a wide range of combining thrash metal with techno, industrial and noise. The following records have progressively abandoned the experimental side. Paul Barker left the band in January 2004, leaving Al to put together a new line-up for "Houses of the Molé". After 2004 Evil Doer Tour few members left and new came - besides Jourgensen & Scaccia new members are Tommy Victor on guitar and Paul Raven on bass. Band started to work on new album, which finally came out in May 2006 titled "Rio Grande Blood". Following album release Masterbatour 2006 will include John Bechdel on keyboards and Joey Jordison (from Slipknot) on drums."

This is one of my favorite groups of the 80's. Since then they have gotten to political for me. Hey Al...if you don't like living here I have one word for you...MOVE!!!!

Taken from the original 12" single on Wax Trax 110072
A1. I'm Falling - 4:04
A2. Primental - 5:13
B1. Cold Life - 6:11
All songs charted on May 22, 1982. Spent 13 weeks on the chart and reached #45

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

Bonzo Goes To Washington - 5 Minutes

While I was searching through my classic vinyl, for something to post today, I came across this little classic jem. I thought that I lost this song a long time ago. I was so excited when I found it that I thought it would be great to share it with everyone.

This group was a one-time collaboration of Jerry Harrison (of the Talking Heads) and Bootsy Collins of Parlament. This song contains several samples of President Ronald Reagan's infamous joke statement: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Taken from the original 12" single on Sleeping Bag 13
5 Minutes (C-C-C Club Mix) - 5:33
Song charted on December 8, 1984. Spent 10 weeks on the chart and reached #36

Colonel Abrams - Colonel Abrams (all cuts)

Another Colonel Abrams post for you today. This time around is an entire LP that peaked at number one on the Billboard Dance Disco chart.

Colonel Abrams is the self titled debut album of Colonel Abrams, released in 1985. This album consists of rhythm and blues influenced House music songs with excellent lyrics and charismatic vocal performances from Abrams. Includes four Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart hits, "The Truth", "Over and Over", "Trapped" and "I'm Not Gonna Let You" as well as the minor R&B chart hit, "Table for Two"

"Trapped", "I'm Not Gonna Let" and "Over And Over" also charted seperately as 12" singles that will be posted in the future. For now enjoy the entire LP that placed Colonel Abrams on the House Music map.

Here is the track listing for this remarkable LP
A1. Trapped - 3:41
A2. I'm Not Gonna Let You - 4:48
A3. Over And Over - 4:24
A4. Margaux - 5:50
A5. Table For Two - 2:44
B1. Truth - 4:45
B2. Speculation - 5:00
B3. Never Change - 5:47
B4. Picture Me In Love - 4:30

Taken from the original LP on MCA 5682
Colonel Abrams - Colonel Abrams
(all songs on one zip file)
LP charted on December 28, 1985. Spent 11 weeks on the chart and reached #1

Vote for DJ Shooter's Year-End countdown

I was searching around for new songs and came across DJ Shooter's Club 80's. If you don't know about this site, it is a DJ mix site where he creates a special mix everyday. While browsing around I noticed he stopped for quite awhile and is now back posting the Ultimix Series in mix form. He is also offering the individual tracks. This might take some time!!!!!!

Anyway, that is not the reason I'm posting this about the site. The real reason I'm making this special post is while I was downloading from his site, I noticed that he is trying something that I don't think any blog has tried before. (At least no to my knowledge)

He is asking all the readers to send him an e-mail with their Top 5 favorite club tracks of the 80's. He will then take all those favorites and rank them from 100 to Number One in a year end mix show. Send him an e-mail at Jklebar@bradyanglin.com and tell him your favorite songs and see what comes out at the end of the year.

You probably guessed that DJ Shooter is me. That is my other site.

All for now.

Bryan Adams - Let Me Take You Dancing

Let Me Take You Dancing is a song recorded by Bryan Adams. It was written by Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams and was later remixed by John Luongo. It is notable for being Adams' first solo single and his first ever release as a solo artist.

The song is a disco track that is somewhat different from Adams' later rock sound. It was one of the first songs that Adams and Vallance wrote together and was based on a rag-time piano riff inspired by Robbie King that Vallance had written. The writing took place during February 1978 and the song was recorded at Pinewood Studios by Geoff Turner. Although the single experienced some minor radio success, respected remixer John Luongo was recruited to remix the song to make it sound like a proper disco track ready for release in the USA. For the remix to be a success, Luongo deemed it necessary to increase the tempo of the song. Unfortunately due to the lack of time compression at that time, it was impossible to increase the tempo of the song without increasing the pitch of Adams' vocals. Adams was disappointed with the sped-up sound.

Co-writer Jim Vallance states that "I don't doubt the single's success contributed to Bryan eventually being signed directly to the label [A&M Records]". However, to this day Adams has distanced himself from the single and has only performed it live on a handful of occasions.

Taken from the original 12" single on A&M 12014
Let Me Take You Dancing (Disco Mix) - 5:35
Song charted on April 28, 1979. Spent 23 weeks on the chart and reached #22

Colonel Abrams - How Soon We Forget

Colonel Abrams was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. A pioneer in the House Music movement of the early 80's.

Abrams enjoyed a string of very successful entries on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, including four entries that hit number one. In 1987, he had his fourth number-one U.S. dance hit with today's post, "How Soon We Forget".

Taken from the original 12" single on MCA 23767
How Soon We Forget (Extended Version) - 7:49
Song charted on July 25, 1987. Spent 12 weeks on the chart and reached #1

ABC - Vanity Kills/Be Near Me

You all probably have this but here it is again. Another ABC post. This one is taken from the IMPORT that was released in 1985. It was a double sided 12" single that contained Vanity Kills and Be Near Me. Both of these songs also charted seperatly on their domestic release but those had different mixes than what is being posted today and will be featured here in the future.

"Be Near Me" is a song by ABC. The hit single from How to Be a...Zillionaire!, it is a message from the group's lead singer, Martin Fry, to an unknown addressee. He commands the addressee not to leave him. It peaked at #9 in the U.S. in the fall of 1985 and at number #26 in the U.K. earlier that year.

The song’s music video depicts the band as a group of cartoon characters that have entered the real world. They are seen performing the song against a white background. During this, the camera makes a series of rolling panning shots, suggesting that the band is inside a ping-pong ball. The song also appeared in the movie The Breakfast Club but was not featured on the album.

While your here check out the US version of the video for Vanity Kills

Taken from the original 12" Import on Neutron Records
Vanity Kills (Mendelsohn Mix) - 6:13
Be Near Me (Ecstasy Mix) - 4:42
Both songs charted on August 10, 1985. Spent 6 weeks on the chart and reached #7

Count Coolout - Rhythm Rap Rock

Can we copy "The Sugarhill Gang" and have a hit ourselves? That is exactly what Count Coolout did with this club hit from 1981.

Listen to this track and I'm sure you will think that your listening to Rapper's Delight (except without the Chic sample.

Count Coolout is really James Minor, who was born in Brooklyn. His style was heavily influenced by Jimmy Spicer and began his career as a background singer for him.

His first record came out in 1980 on Boss Records and was produced by Billy Nichols & the Count. He also recorded on WMOT records.

Although "Rhythm Rap Rock" and "Here To Stay" were his two big records, only Rhythm Rap Rock charted on the dance chart.

As of Summer 2003 he is running his old label, Jathom Records, with product to be released prior to the end of this summer. He is even got some new music of his own in the works.

Taken from the original 12" single on Boss 73
Count Coolout - Rhythm Rap Rock (12" Version) 12:43
Song charted on January 31, 1981. Spent 2 weeks on the chart and reached #82

sorry for the missing posts!!!

With the holidays that came and went I was too busy to post some tracks for you. That has ended and now it's back to normal. Starting on Monday, new post will be coming your way so stay tuned.