VOLUME 6 · PROGRAM 1
Hazel Dean's "Searchin'" gets remixed. And Deborah Washington is back with "Nothin' But Heartaches/Nowhere To Run."
One of today's hottest imports is Hazel Dean's "Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man)", written and produced by Ian Anthony Stephens for the Proto/UK instrumental and vocal 12". Ian also did the very beautiful (and musical) arrangements with Winston Sela, and Femi Jiya and Bruce Gray engineered. It's a real get down party song, with a hint of the street in the break which we have used to construct a hot new intro from. The original break also integrates the vocal and instrumental versions in this exclusive Disconet remix, and the ending has been extended as well for better layovers at your option.
Or let the whole side play and on pops a real favorite who's coming back… Miss Deborah Washington! Her "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" was a big hit on Ariola (Disconet Volume 2, Program 3 circa 1979.) Deborah is originally from Philadelphia, and married disco DJ Kenny Ebo who keeps things cooking at Impulse. Their 1 year old son Brandon is now a full-time occupation for Deborah and Kenny, with Debbie now coming out of retirement with producer Billy Terrell to start making some new records. Billy produced and arranged a medley of two Motown favorites for Debbie, weaving "Nothin' But Heartaches" and "Nowhere To Run" into one song. Debbie's vocals are, as usual, as smooth as silk and real tonic to the ears. And Billy's sax solo is as smooth as you'll find on a piece of vinyl anywhere. Enjoy and welcome her back!
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side A runs 14:07, from 130 BPM (beats per minute) to 131 BPM.
Casey Jones' Eurodance Medley #1. Even then he knew!
Three summers ago imports cost a fortune in the United States because the dollar was cheap and the economy was booming. But DJs like Casey Jones would spend a fortune every week to get the latest and the greatest.
And hardly any music from the UK was making serious inroads in the United States. In fact, the whole disco boom had been fueled by the French, Germans and Italians. But the English would soon be heard, and today's "new music" started. We presented a whole side of "new music" prepared by New York DJ Casey Jones, and while we didn't get any letter bombs from you, it did sound somewhat futuristic at the time. So it makes an ideal rerun for this issue, and has always been an interesting 15 minute transition from "disco/dance" into "new music."
"Herr Wunderbar" by Tanya Hyde (Waldo's Records, UK) edited by Casey for better structure starts off the set. Whatever happened to this record? It's hottttt!
"Touch" by Lori & The Chamelons (Sire/Zoo, UK) is next. This came out on a Stiff compilation in the U.S., and features Lori Lartey with Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe on guitars, keyboard and bass. Originally on Liverpool's Zoo label, this is the Sire remix.
Vivabeat follows with "Man From China." The Charisma/UK release eventually came out on PolyGram's Mercury label in the U.S.
Greg VanDike finishes Casey's set with "Clone" from his Cloned/UK single. Did Greg know how rapidly genetic engineering would advance in the next few years after he recorded this?
So once again one of the marks of really good music is standing the test of time. Pass the DNA, please.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side B runs 15:53, building slightly from 126 BPM to 130 BPM.
Colin Stoddard sings "Dark Shawdows." Lisa Boray with "You."
Colin Stoddard (a/k/a The Prince of Darkness) is back with a new song co-written with Greg Lovely and Jeff Gusman called "Dark Shawdows." Their actual recording of a coffin closing (in full, live stereo) was so hot that it became one of the song's rhythmn hooks. And a coffin closing at 130 dBs in your club should be something else! Jeff Gusman was recently appointed as a composer for Atari, did the musical layout for Walt Disney's "Tron" movie, and has done music for Cable Health network, Texaco and NBC. Colin, who does the leads and backgrounds, co-produced with Jeff and also does acting and modeling, including TV commercials and a "Search For Tomorrow" now and then. Greg Lovely was executive producer, and runs a large estate in Connecticut.
Lisa Boray is next with "You" from her Philips/Netherlands 12", produced, arranged and conducted by Jacques Zwart for Sjato Productions. Lisa knows how to do vocals as well as Chaka Khan, and the vocoder and horn sections keep "You" pumping. Pieter Boer engineered this mix at Nite Flight Studios in scenic Amsterdam, and the flipside of "You" is also worth checking out (and is the featured song on Lisa's nice cover sleeve… it's called "Tonight.") The 12" also has a nice accapello intro to "You" which you'll find on the import.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 1 runs 12:27, building slightly from 130 BPM to 132 BPM. The long overlay is wonderful, with enough tail on "Dark Shawdows" to get out at your option.
Two Sisters' "High Noon" now rocks the streets even more with an extended edit.
Two Sisters' "High Noon" is starting to perk on Sugarscoop in the U.S. Two Sisters are Teresa and Tracy, off the streets of The Bronx and Brooklyn in New York City and really sisters of the street… today's kids often find their closest "relatives" among their peergroup friends, and develop unusually strong bonds within the concrete jungle. They sing about love gone wrong under the boiling, broiling (or balling and bralling, depending upon your accent) "bright light of high noon!"
The song was written by Raul A. Rodriguez and Tessa Marquis, and produced by Raul and Man Parrish. Many of the special vocal effects come from Man's Emulator, a relatively new black box which stores up to two seconds of sound and repeats the sound with varying pitch and intensity at the touch of the keyboard notes. The computer age is taking over! And rather than having to bark several times and on cue (as he did on Man's "Hip Hop, Be Bop"), Raul just barked once for "High Noon" and the rest was taken care of via the Emulator. This special Disconet version gives a new intro to the commercial vocal/instrumental "Part 2" side of the 12".
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 2 runs 8:14 at 118 BPM.
Alex Carmenates wins the LCD chronograph. Alex's feedback card from Volume 5, Program 12 had the lucky winning number (#859) for that program, and we've sent him the watch that does practically anything. Alex's favorite selections on Program 12 were Frank Schmidt's Ultravox "Reap The Wild Wind" remix, Raul's remix of Amy Bolton's "Over And Over", and Terms of Surrender's "Happy Together."
To win the watch, be sure to enter the pressing serial number shown on the upper right hand corner of your Side A/Side B record jacket, and write your name, address and phone number clearly. Good luck! The feedback card is postpaid, so it's really easy to receive the watch that was torture tested in Pittsburgh by Billy & Luke!
Alex plays at La Cobies in Stafford, Texas (outside of Houston.)