The People’s Choice

Listen/Download -The People’s Choice – Do It Any Way You Wanna

Greetings all.

Welcome to another week at the Funky16Corners!

First, a very brief technical note, it occurred to me that if you use the RSS feed you’ll have to reset the link you use, as the feed has changed.

The tune I bring you today is one of those records that should have been glaringly obvious (or at least it seemed so when I finally heard it) but I managed (in classic Larry Grogan fashion) to find my way there by the most circuitous route possible.

I first knew the People’s Choice via their early 70s 45s for the Phil-LA of Soul label (‘I Likes To Do It’ was R&B Top 10 in 1971), which were very early digging scores of mine during the first days of my Philly obsession.

Then, a few years later my man Tony C dropped a mix with a track that blew my mind, which opened up with a stunning version of this song (later featured in this very space after I managed to get my grubby little fingers on a copy of my own) by Louie Ramirez on Cotique (which can be heard in this past Friday’s Funky16Corners Radio Show).

It was only after that, that during a bit of dusty, outdoor, flea market digging that I happened upon a copy of the record you see before you today, which is of course the original (hit) version of the song by the People’s Choice.

As soon as I gave it a spin it was obvious that I had indeed heard it before, which spurred me to dig out my Billboard R&B chart book, which confirmed that ‘Do It Any Way You Wanna’ was a number one R&B hit and Top Ten pop hit in the summer of 1975, right smack in the middle of my AM radio listening years.

This is of course indicative of one variety of the diggers disease, wherein the obvious seems to get washed away in a torrent of obscurity, which happens to us all but still shames me when I manage to step in it (I really ought to know better).

That all said, the People’s Choice version of ‘Do It Any Way You Wanna’ is a prime piece of funky disco (disco-y funk?) with enough heat for the dance floor and enough edge for the ears, which goes a long way in explaining why it was such a big hit.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.

 

Peace

Larry

 

 

 

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.

 

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One Response to “The People’s Choice – Do It Any Way You Wanna”

1. Tony Crampton says:

   February 26, 2012 at 4:52 pm

   Cor Blimey!! Along with bands like Brass Construction,Slave,Nature Zone etc,this takes me back to my youthful days of clubbing,You could pick this up new for about 50 ence-80 cents!!!!