Comments (0)

By Larry, April 23, 2017 8:24 am

Listen/Download – Johnny and the Expressions – Something I Want To Tell You MP3

Greetings all.

Considering that many of you return to work filled with dread and shattered nerves, every now and then I like to get the week rolling with something sweet and mellow.

Johnny and the Expressions hit the charts (Top 20 R&B, #80 Pop) in 1966 with ‘Something I Want To Tell You’, one of those great transitional records that brought the harmonies of doowop into the soul era.

I don’t know much about the group, other than they recorded a string of 45s for Josie in 1965 and 1966, and that lead singer Johnny Wyatt had also recorded with the earlier group Rochell and the Candles who had a hit in 1961 with ‘Once Upon a Time’.

‘Something I Want To Tell You’ is one of those records that could have emerged right out of doowop, but the arrangement gives away that this is from the soul era.

Opening with rhythm guitar and bass, Wyatt comes in with his falsetto lead, followed by the rest of the group in harmony. A subtle horn section, in league with some ringing vibes makes for a great, romantic, late night side.

The record has since become a fave on the lowrider soul scene.

The flip ‘Where Is the Party’ is a faster moving number, but sounds like a much earlier side.

It’s very groovy record indeed, and not at all expensive, so go and get yourself one for your playbox.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, April 11, 2017 10:30 am

New Birth

Listen/Download – New Birth – It’s Impossible (LP edit) MP3

Listen/Download – New Birth – It’s Impossible (45 edit) MP3

Greetings all.

A few years back I was down in DC with the fam, doing the sightseeing thing with a couple of (mandatory) digging stops. We had the Sirius ‘Soultown’ station on, and my ears perked up when the record you see before you (which I’d never heard before) came on the radio.

It took me a few seconds to get into the groove, no doubt caused by my mind fixating on the original hit version of the song, which was by Perry Como.

Once I got past that, I was kind of blown away.

I stopped into my fave DC record spot – Memory Lane – and asked my man Marshall is he had a copy for me. They only had one, and it was beat, but I bought it anyway.

So, I get home, decide I want the album, find one on Ebay, and get that.

Then, a few weeks later, I’m looking for something else, and discover that I already had a copy of the 45 (close to mint condition), and realize (yet again) I have way too many records.

Anyway…

The idea of a soulful version of ‘It’s Impossible’ seems…ahem…impossible (or at least improbable), but sometimes the right combination of talents can take a song and lift it right out of a familiar frame, turning it into something entirely new.

New Birth were the vocal adjunct of the mighty Nite Liters, which started out as the brainchild of Vernon Bullock and the mighty Harvey Fuqua.

Their self-titled debut LP had come out earlier in 1971 (and garnered little notice). ‘It’s Impossible’ was included on their sophomore effort ‘It Ain’t No Big Thing But It’s Growing’ alongside covers of tunes by Bread, the Five Stairsteps and the Jackson Five.

The group lays down a groove, with the vocal starting with a high female voice. Things move to the next level when a male singer comes in with a more traditionally soulful delivery, backed by the entire group’s harmonies.

Despite the ghost of Perry Como lurking in the wings, the New Birth version transcends the original completely.

It was New Birth’s first hit, grazing the R&B Top 10 and the Pop Top 40 in the Fall of 1971.

The group would go on to have more than a dozen hits between 1971 and 1979.

It’s a very cool tune (I’m including the LP mix of the song that runs almost half a minute longer than the 45 edit) and I hope you dig it.

See you on Friday

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 31, 2017 12:34 pm

The Invincibles

Listen/Download – The Invincibles – Heart Full of Love MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you mid week with one of my all time favorite soul ballads.

I first encountered the Invincibles’ ‘Heart Full of Love’ when I picked it up at a yard sale years ago, never having heard it, but taking a chance on the group name/song title/label combo.

When I got the record home and gave it a spin I was blown away.

There are soul ballads, and then there are records that sound like they were pressed from pure human emotion.

This is one of the latter.

The obvious touchstone here is the work of Curtis Mayfield, though perhaps a step further removed from the heavily Impressions-influenced Van Dykes ‘No Man Is An Island’ which came out the following year.

Though I have no doubt that there is a certain amount of Mayfield-worship at work here, I would also bet that some of the similarity is due to common sources, those being group harmony of both the secular and religious variety.

Gospel is one of the most important root sources of soul, but how visible those roots are vary from performer to performer, but there’s no mistaking that ‘Heart Full of Love’ could have been created in the amen corner.

When I found out that ‘Heart Full of Love’ was a Top 40 R&B hit in the Spring of 1965, I could scarcely believe that a record this raw, this intimate could have had that kind of mass appeal, but in many ways (aside from the obvious one) 1965 was a very different time. Radio audiences were capable of accepting a slower, quieter sound into their heads.

The arrangement is deceptively spare. While the only instruments you focus on are the guitar and drums, there are chimes, and even beautifully subtle horns in the mix, and the production by Hal Winn and Joseph Hooven (owners of the Sure Shot, Double Shot and Whiz labels) is perfection.

The Invincibles – Dave Richardson, Lester Johnson, Clifton Knight – (who recorded in Los Angeles but appear to have come from Louisiana) wrote the song, and the falsetto lead, and group harmonies are wonderful. The group would record a string of 45s for a few different labels in the 60s, including WB, Loma, Double Shot, and Rampart and even placed another tune, ‘I Can’t Win’ in the R&B Top 40 in 1966.

Though individual tracks have appeared on compilations, as far as I can tell the Invincibles catalog has not been collected in one place for reissue.

I hope you dig the cut, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, June 15, 2016 11:59 am

Tarik Thornton – There Was a Time

Masonic Wonders – The Storm is Passing Over. (More-Love)
Bobby Womack – Interlude #2 (United Artists)
Delfonics- Hey Love (Philly Groove)
Tyrone Ashley- Let me Be Your Man (Phil-La)
Johnny Davis – The Love I See Now (Bandit)
Sex- Wonders of The World (SuperCity)
The Ballads – Dizzy World (Kimberly)
The Futures – Breaking up (Amjo)
Gene Anderson & The International Hook Up- Congratulations (HI)
Black Soul Express – When I Left You (Black Soul Express/Numero)
Duke Turner- Give Me Some Sugar Pt.1 (Spinning Top)
Young Mods- We Can Make It ( Pork)
Windy City- Let Me Ride ( Kelli-Arts)
Odds Against Tomorrow – Point of No Return (Sweet As Records)
The Relatives- Don’t Let Me Fall (Ever-Soul/Daptone)

Listen/Download – Tarik Thornton – There Was a Time 116MB Mixed MP3

Greetings all 

Welcome back to the Funky16Corners 2016, Allnighter/Pledge Drive.

Today’s set in the Allnighter comes from my man Tarik Thornton.

Tarik, who has deep roots in NOLA but now spends his time in the frosty north country has created a very, very special set for us this year.

Though the all-encompassing vibe is mellow, the mix covers the bases from gospel, to deep soul, to firme rolas, with some slightly familiar things alongside heavy obscurities from his crates.

This is a nighttime thing, so turn the lights down low, turn the volume up and open your ears (and your heart).

Don’t forget to click the Paypal button and donate, and we’ll be back tomorrow with a two-part mix from DJ RP of Funkdefy Ohio!

___________________________

Your donations help to keep Funky16Corners up and running, with the blog, Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast and hundreds of hours of archived mixes.

Everyone that donates will get the new 2016 Funky16Corners badge and bumpersticker, with which you can adorn the garment and flat surface of your choosing.

Also, everyone that donates will be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the new 45 by the M-Tet!

So pull down the ones and zeros, dig deep and Keep the Faith!

___________________________

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, January 3, 2016 12:57 pm

The reunited Velvet Hammer!

Listen/Download – Velvet Hammer – Happy MP3

Greetings all.

I hope the new week finds you well.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that I happened upon quite by accident, and fell in love with instantly.

Oddly enough, the song popped up in a medley in a video by the ‘Northern Soul Girl’ Levanna Mclean, in which she dances through the streets of Bristol, UK, first to Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’, and then to another song that I’d never heard before.

I found out in short order that the tune was ‘Happy’ by the group Velvet Hammer.

Recorded in 1977 in Chicago, with the songwriting and production assistance of none other than Andre Williams (this may be the latest thing I’ve ever heard by him) ‘Happy’ is a delirious mixture of a danceable beat (thus it’s popularity with the Northern Soul crowd), sweet soul falsetto soul and a classy arrangement.

What I know about the group I owe to the efforts of the late, sweet soul expert Bob Abrahamian, who traced the group’s roots to the 1960s Chicago group the Admirations, on through their evolution into the Green Berets, the High Society, and then in the mid-70s, into Velvet Hammer.

They recorded an entire LP for the Chicago-based Soozi Records (apparently run by the owners of a chain of barbecue restaurants!), from which ‘Happy’ and its b-side ‘Party Hardy’ were culled.

As I mentioned above, ‘Happy’ has that straight up, four on the floor beat that endears it to the soulies, yet it’s couched in an elegant, restrained arrangement (dig the way the organ and the jazzy guitar play against the strings) that makes it as easy to listen to as to dance.

It tends to be a relatively pricey 45 (especially after it was featured in the video above), but seems to have settled down a little (the promo, like mine, tends to run a little cheaper than the issue on the flowered label).

If you get a chance, take a look at the video of the reunited Velvet Hammer performing the tune live.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, June 4, 2015 12:14 pm

Ben Aiken

Listen/Download – Ben Aiken – If I Told You Once (I Told You a Million Times)

Listen/Download – Ben Aiken – You Were Meant To Be My Baby

Greetings all.

As the end of the week is near, allow me to remind you once again about the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which takes to the airwaves of the interwebs each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing to it as a podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or by grabbing an MP3 here at the blog.

Also, all mixed are in-house, and the go date for this years’s Funky16Corners Allnighter/Pledge Drive will be 6/15, with a new mix being posted every weekday for the next few weeks. This year you’ll get mixes from Ben Gibson (Mo’Soul), DJ Prime Mundo, DJ Prestige, Tarik Thornton, Chris Lujan, Vincent the Soul Chef, DJ Bluewater, DJ RP of Funkdefy, HeavySoulBrutha and of course, two new assemblages from my own crates!

There’s a groovy new badge for this year’s premium (and lots of stickers), so dial into the vault and get ready!

Today’s selection found its way into my crates via that old standby, brand loyalty.

I was out digging at a stoop sale, and though I had never heard of Ben Aiken before I put my hands on this 45, seeing the Loma label, and the name of the mighty Jerry Ragovoy, it moved immediately to the keeper pile, and came home with me.

Possessed of an Eddie Holman level tenor, with a sweet touch, and based in Philadelphia, Aiken recorded a string of 45s for labels like Squire, Roulette (he had his biggest success with his 1965 Roulette 45 ‘Stay Together Young Lovers’), Loma and Philly Groove between 1965 and 1972. I have also seen references that seem to indicate that he also sang with a number of other groups on Philly Groove during his time with the label.

‘If I Told You Once (I Told You a Million Times)’, written and produced by Ragovoy and arranged by Herb Bernstein was Aiken’s first 45 for Loma in 1967.

A classic Ragovoy ballad, ‘If I Told You Once…’ starts off slow and easy, but picks up a little steam with a really interesting key change in the bridge.

Aiken’s vocals are excellent, and the flip ‘You Were Meant to Be My Baby’ is a nice, upbeat dancer.

Once again, another excellent Jerry Ragovoy production is cast into the ether and inexplicably, all but ignored by the listening public.

As far as I can tell, you can only pick up Aiken’s Loma material on original 45s, or on the series of Loma reissue LPs that came out in the 70s. His later Philly Groove stuff is accessible on a Collectables CD.

I hope you dig the tracks, and I’l see you all next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, May 24, 2015 11:30 am

On Top Records head honcho Calvin Carter

Greetings all.

I thought that since Spring has finally sprung, we ought to start the week with some stylish, sweet, Chicago soul.

It bears mentioning that I first heard ‘Wait a Minute’ by the Newday on a Gap commercial.

Yes, you read that right.

I was watching TV, and all of a sudden my ears perked up when I heard a very groovy tune flowing from the box.

I headed right over to the Google machine, where it was soon revealed to me that the song in question was ‘Wait a Minute’ by the Newday, and that it found its way into a Gap ad via a recent reissue by the good folks in the Numero Group.

The record was initially released in 1972 on the short-lived On Top label. On Top was started by Calvin Carter (one of the founders of the Vee Jay label) and its brief discography includes releases by the Newday, and none other than Bobby Rush.

‘Wait a Minute’ features a wonderful arrangement by Tom Tom, aka Tom Washington, the Chicago arranger responsible for such incredible records as ‘Get On Up’ by the Esquires, ‘In My Body’s House’ by Gene Chandler, ‘Shing A Ling’ by Cicero Blake, and ‘Turn Back the Hands of Time’ by Tyrone Davis.

Though I haven’t been able to find any information on the Newday (this appears to have been their only 45), ‘Wait a Minute’ is a wonderful performance, with dueling tenor and falsetto vocals, and fantastic, slightly funky band.

One can only imagine how successful this record might have been if released/pushed by a major label.

Instead, it languished in obscurity for over 30 years, and now it’s being used to sell jeans.

Crazy world we live in.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, April 16, 2015 11:12 am

Moses Dillard

Listen/Download – Moses Dillard and the Tex Town Display – I’ve Got To Find a Way (To Hide My Hurt) Pt1

Listen/Download – Moses Dillard and the Tex Town Display – I’ve Got To Find a Way (To Hide My Hurt) Pt2

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here and I will remind you once again that the Funky16Corners Radio Show takes to the airwaves each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there at airtime, you can always subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device through the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

As I was digging through the to-be-blogged folder, I decided that the time was finally right to whip today’s selection on you.

I first heard ‘I’ve Got to Find a Way (To Hide My Hurt)’ by Moses Dillard and the Tex Town Display years ago (probably via Soul Strut) was was blown away by its multi-faceted powers.

It took me quite a while to track myself down a copy, and when I did I really dug into it as deeply as possible, but struggled with the idea of posting it here.

So powerful and deep a record is it, that I circled it warily for a long time before deciding to light it up.

Moses Dillard hailing (like Monday’s feature, the Fantastic Johnny C) from Greenville, SC, had a long career, going back to the early 60s, recording under his own name and working extensively as a session guitarist in studios like Muscle Shoals.

He formed the Tex-Town Display in the late 60s (I haven’t been able to nail down the root of the name, but I suspect that it has something to do with the prevalence of the textile industry in South Carolina), with a group that included a young Peabo Bryson.

‘I’ve Got To Find a Way (To Hide My Hurt)’ was released on Curtom in 1970, and was a substantial regional hit.
As you’ll hear when you pull down the ones and zeros, this is a uniquely deep 45.

Dillard manages to combine sweet soul (presaging the sound of the Stylistics ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ by a few years) with a dark, heavy, almost psychedelic funk that bears the influence of Isaac Hayes‘ epic version of ‘Walk On By’ (released the year before).

The first part of the 45 begins oddly, mid-chord, opening into the heavy, bass/snare drum figure that underlies the verse. There are strings, electric sitar and heavily-vibratoed guitar underneath a pleading vocal.

The lead guitar (Dillard, I assume) is positively sublime. You really need to give it a close listen as it blends vibrato, tremelo bar, and winds in and out of a competing lead from the electric sitar.

Part two of the record restarts the song (though the truncated guitar chord is gone, and the vocals get a later start) with a sparer version of the arrangement.

The more I listen to this 45 the more I’m tempted to compare Dillard and the Tex-Town display to Funkadelic, but the comparison requires some explanation. Both groups seem to be drawing from the same pool of influences (though Dillard leans more toward the sweet side of things) but Dillard seems to have been able to bring a lot more focus to the table. The fusion of soul, funk and psychedelia is delivered with a clarity that was usually absent from Funkadelic.

This is not to suggest that ‘I’ve Got To Find a Way (To Hide My Hurt)’ doesn’t have a freaky side, since I suspect it provided the soundtrack to many a backseat boogie in its time, but rather that the freak factor is a lot sharper here.

That said, I think you’ll find yourself playing this one over and over, not only because you want to understand what’s going on, but because it’s such a great record to listen to.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, March 1, 2015 12:59 pm

Darondo

Greetings all.

I thought I’d start the week off with something very special indeed.

My deep and abiding appreciation for sweet, harmony soul took a long time to take root. As has been discussed here many times over the years, my soul fandom started out with roots in rough, raucous southern soul, and I still have a decided taste for fast-moving, soul party 45s.

That said, having opened my ears sufficiently, and listened (really, listened) to what was out there, I have come to love soul balladry, and as those things go, there are few better records in the canon than Darondo’s ‘Didn’t I’.

Strangely enough, I remember when Darondo (full name Darondo Pulliam) was rediscovered, partly by Justin Torres, who reported the story as it unfolded on a soul/funk message board I frequented. It was years before I actually heard his music, and when I did, I was blown away.

Darondo (his name is misspelled on the 45) was a San Francisco Bay area performer who recorded three rare 45s in the early 70s, and then kind of fell off the face of the earth until Gilles Peterson revived interest in his music when he started playing ‘Didn’t I’ on his BBC radio show*.

Anyway, a while back I had some filthy lucre burning a hole in my pocket and decided that the time was right to go out and find myself a copy of the ‘Didn’t I’ 45 for my crates. It didn’t take very long, and thanks to a friend who pointed me in the direction of a Bay Area record dealer, I was able to score the disc at a lower than anticipated price (always sweet).

Ultimately, the price was irrelevant, since – as you’ll hear when you pull down the ones and zeroes – this is the kind of record that is worth whatever you have to pay to get it.

‘Didn’t I’ is as remarkable a serving of soul as you’re ever likely to find.

Sublime is an accurate (yet inadequate) word for the artistry packed in the grooves of this 45. Opening with Darondo’s guitar, then joined by bass, it starts off simply, but when joined by his voice and the organ and strings, its many wonders are revealed.

Darondo moves back and forth between a falsetto, and an Al Green-like growl, and his delivery is in turns raw and exceptionally beautiful.

‘Didn’t I’ is proof, once again, that high quality is no guarantee of success. Here we have a remarkably well written song, and well made record, that repeatedly surprises and delights as it unfolds, yet was met by commercial indifference.

I have often written about how – at least in my approximation – a great record is like a journey in which all of the right turns are taken at the right time, moving the traveller in the right direction. Here, Darondo navigates the various sections of the song, and more than once manages to emerge in extraordinary places.

One of these comes at 1:50, when the title is repeated, backed by pulsing organ and strings. It’s a musical moment capable of moving me to tears with its beauty.

The flipside, ‘Listen to My Song’ is also great, especially the interplay between the eerie sounding organ and the acoustic piano. It reminds me of the kind of thing Lou Bond was doing in Memphis around the same time.

Fortunately, you don’t need to drop the big bucks to dig the sounds of Darondo. You can find his stuff on CD, or pick it up via iTunes.

Sadly, Darondo passed away in 2013.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Ironically, it wasn’t until recently that I made the connection and realized that I already knew one of Darondo’s other 45s, the funky ‘Let My People Go’, after hearing it on the Sound of Funk Vol 2’ back in the 90s.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, February 12, 2015 1:07 pm

Frank Wilson – Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Charlie Rich – Dance Of Love
Darrell Banks – Our Love Is In the Pocket
Jackie Wilson – I Get the Sweetest Feeling
Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham – Lover and a Friend
Charlie Earlands Erector Set – Cherie Amour
JJ Barnes – Hold On To It
Spinners – Sweet Thing
Sand Pebbles – Love Power
Platters – Sweet Sweet Loving
Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris – Love Lots of Lovin’
Len Barry – I Struck It Rich
Producers – Love Is Amazing
Lee Williams and the Cymbals – It’s Everything About You That I Love
Broadways – You Just Don’t Know Good You Make Me Feel
Velvelettes – Since You’ve Been Loving Me
Soul Brothers Six – Your Love Is Such a Wonderful Love
Wilson Pickett – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

Listen/Download -Funky16Corners Valentine’s Mix: Dance of Love – 86MB Mixed Mp3/256K

Greetings all.

Hey everybody!

The weekend is nigh, and that means that it’s almost Funky16Corners Radio Show time. We come to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all on original vinyl. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can always keep up by subscribing to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device through the TuneIn ap, or grabbing yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

Valentines Day is almost here, and what better way to celebrate than re-upping one of my favorite Funky16Corners mixes, Dance of Love.

First posted in 2012, and dedicated (then and always) to my lovely wife, it’s a collection of some of my favorite soulful love songs, mostly on the danceable tip, so that you might grab the one you love and cut yourselves a slice of rug.

And even if you’re not presently attached, slap this one on, turn it up, open up the windows and before you know it you’ll be swamped in potential romantic partners!

I hope you dig it, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, January 6, 2015 1:05 pm

Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie

Greetings all.

The record I bring to you this fine day is one of those elusive 45s that I knew about and dug long before I was ever able to lay my hands on a copy.

‘Maybe So, Maybe No’ by the New Holidays was the fifth of six 45s (seven but one was issued twice) on Tony Hester and Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie’s Soulhawk imprint.

Released in 1969, it was the first of two 45s (the second issued on Westbound in 1970) by the New Holidays, James and Jack Holland, Maurice Wise and (at least on this track) ex-Contour Joe Billingslea.

Almost all of the tracks recorded on the label were Wylie/Hester compositions, with artists like Jimmy ‘Soul’ Clark, Eric and the Vikings, The Mighty Lovers and Third Party.

Wylie had gotten his start at Motown, as part of Popcorn and the Mohawks, also working as a songwriter and session musician. After parting with Motown, he went on to found his own labels, one of which was Soulhawk.

‘Maybe So, Maybe No’ is one of records that immediately seems like it must have been a hit, yet the luminous, imaginatively arranged slice of sweet soul made no noticeable impact outside of Detroit where it was a minor local hit in late 1969/early 1970.

The song makes an impact from the very start, opening with piano glissandos, and heavily reverbed (and slightly off-key) wordless vocals. The band, featuring bright rhythm guitar accents and a tastefully restrained horn section lays down a solid foundation under wave after wave of group harmony.

I especially dig when the group starts chiming like a bell, before returning to the verse.

The flipside, ‘If I Only Knew’ is pretty cool as well, on a more upbeat tip, though it doesn’t approach the trtranscendent nature of the A-side.

I hope you all dig the track, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (5)

By Larry, December 30, 2014 11:23 am

Greetings all.

Today’s selection is another lesson from the chapter where the old sage tells you to remember to flip over those 45s.

If memory serves, I first encountered the Magictones via Odub’s Soul Sides, where I was knocked on my ass by the epic breakbeat that opens their 1970 cover of the Parliament’s ‘Good Old Music’.

Naturally, I set out in search of my own copy. It took me a little while to file it, bit when I did I w as happy as the old record collecting clam, because there was almost as much heat on the b-side as there was on the top.

There, opposite ‘Good Old Music’ was a fantabulous, funky bit of sweet soul. ‘I’ll Make It Up To You’, opens with psychedelic sounding guitar, which is soon joined by electric sitar, and some tight drums. The Magictones themselves soon follow with some delicious harmony singing.

The group, Virginia McDonald, Tyrone Douglas, Tyrone Berkeley and Calvin Stephenson (and several other members over the course of their career) recorded just over a dozen 45s for six different Detroit labels between 1965 and 1972.

“I’ll Make It Up To You’ was recorded and released in 1969, and was a regional hit in Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

It is a very groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.