Episodes
Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
Attitude Dancing
Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
Home from our whirlwind world tour, it’s time for a thematic breather in the form of a collection of tracks from artists who have piqued my interest of late. A recent phone call from Drake reminded me of Timmy Thomas’ 1972 claim to fame, still as weird and wonderful as it ever was. Dexter Wansel’s “Solutions” is an ills-du-jour time capsule precursor to Prince’s “Sign O the Times.” Like Prince, Wansel still manages to sound fresh even if his concerns are dated; now it seems a nice reminder that time has a way of curing even the seemingly intractable. Also like Prince, Wansel wrote and produced for a stable of other artists including the Jones Girls and Jean Carn (featured here). I finish my “Little Bit of Love” trifecta with a version by Gladys Knight and the Pips; I should point out that all three versions were produced and arranged by Van McCoy, making him the master of multiple variations.
From Larry Harris’ And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records: “Casablanca kept issuing product, so much of it bad, at full bore. It had become a throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks operation. In the six months between August 1979 and February 1980, the company released 36 albums, most of which were just filler. The artists (ever heard of Platypus, Mike Heron, Bad News Travels Fast, or Loose Change?) should never have been signed in the first place.” I can’t speak for Mike Heron (who is a British folkie), but my podcast has featured cuts from Loose Change (a wonderful record) and BNTF (certainly accomplished and enjoyable if not essential). You’ll find Platypus on this episode. The website Popmatters describes them as “purveyors of funk-infused progressive rock and perhaps the first black band ever to inhabit the orbit of Yes and Genesis.” Okay…you certainly don’t hear that on their debut album for Casablanca, which sounds closer to the Ohio Players, the Gap Band or perhaps Parliament.
Why Can’t We Live Together? – Timmy Thomas ’72 % Solutions – Dexter Wansel ’78 % Zone – Rhythm Makers ’76 % Bump Me Baby – Dooley Silverspoon ’75 % Show and Tell – Elusion ’82 % Little Bit of Love – Gladys Knight and the Pips ’77 % The Queen – Nanette Workman ’76 % I Can’t Stop – James and Bobby Purify ’75 % Try Love – Tony Wilson ’79 % Attitude – Giants ’78 % Love Will Find a Way – Margaret Singana ’76 % Body and Soul – Platypus ’79 % Louri’s Theme – Sir Monti Rock III ’81 % Bodacious Woman Child – Rhetta Hughes ’80 % Communication – Duncan Sisters ’81 % Inside Out – Odyssey ’82 % Give It Up – Jean Carn ’79 % Weak at the Knees – Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame ’83 % Do What You Gotta Do – Eddie Drennon & B.B.S. Unlimited ’75
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