Soul City (above) Little Caesar (below)

Listen/Download The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Vocal)

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Instrumental)

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of the week.

The tune(s) I bring to you this fine day bring with them something of a mystery.

The world of soul is filled with re-used/repurposed backing tracks (check out the recent copycats/covers edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show for some examples).

‘Everybody Dance Now’ by the Soul City is one of those explosive party-starters that soul collectors and DJs are always on the lookout for.

The first time I heard it (via Kris Holmes Sunday Shuffle show) I knew I had to have a copy for my box, and it didn’t take too long to score one.

I know nothing of the group, or the label, though the comments on the Youtube video of the flipside ‘Who Knows’ seem to indicate that the Soul City may have also recorded under the name The Royal Robins on the Tru-Glo-Town label.

Where it gets (more) interesting, is that while I was trying to track down info on the Soul City, I discovered that that there was another version of the song (employing the same backing track) by Little Caesar and the Empire on Cameo/Parkway.

It took me a little bit longer to track down a copy of that disc, but when I did I got a pleasant surprise indeed.

The Little Caesar and the Empire disc included an instrumental dub of the song on its b-side, making it a fantastic companion piece for DJs that might want to mix the vocal and instrumental together for the dance floor.

As it turns out, Little Caesar and the Empire were led by Robert ‘Bocky’ Di Pasquale, who had been the leader of the Ohio-based white R&B group Bocky and the Visions.

While I dig the vocal on the Soul City version a little bit more, Bocky acquits himself nicely, and I think either version would go over on the dance floor equally well.

The Soul City 45 was popular on the UK soul scene, being a popular spin at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.

While these 45s don’t turn up that often, when they do they aren’t particularly expensive (though the UK issue of the Soul City 45 can get up there in price).

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

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

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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.

One Response to “The Soul City/Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now”

1. Tony says:

   October 30, 2013 at 7:21 am

   Larry:
   …and strangely enough, the UK version by Soul City was on Cameo-Parkway.