Clockwise from top left, Thor Baldursson, Tom Moulton, the Salsoul Orchestra

Listen/Download Salsoul Orchestra – Burning Spear

Listen/Download Salsoul Orchestra – Zambesi

Greetings all

The Funky16Corners 2014 Allnighter and Pledge Drive is arriving Friday, June 6th!

We have a stellar line up of selectors contributing mixes this year, and the mixes are killer.

The format will be slightly different this year, with a new mix being added each weekday from June 6 to June 20.

All donors this year will receive the new 2014 Funky16Corners badge (see the left side of the banner, above), as well as stickers from the archive (while they last). There will also be prizes every day (drawn at random) including CDs and 45s from Cultures of Soul, CDs from Light in the Attic and more!

It’s sure to be a gas, so stay tuned for more details in the coming week.

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Today I thought we’d take a trip back to the waning days of the disco revolution for a very interesting bit of crossover.

A while back I was listening to the Studio 54 channel on Sirius/XM and heard a very cool dance track, ‘212 N. 12th’ by the Salsoul Orchestra.

I set to Googling, and was shocked to discover that the album that spawned that song also included not one but two Soulful Strings covers!

I set out in search of my own copy (which didn’t take long or cost much).

As it turns out, the LP in question, 1979’s ‘Street Sense’ was an important transitional album for the Salsoul Orchestra.

Most of the group’s driving forces, most importantly Vince Montana, had left, and were replaced (for this album only) by uber-producer/mixmaster Tom Moulton and musician Thor Baldursson.

Baldursson was an Icelandic keyboardist, arranger and composer who had worked with Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Loleatta Holloway and Grace Jones among others.

Moulton and Baldursson went into the studio with a radically different line-up, with most of the Philly all-stars (with the noted exception of drummer Earl Young) gone.

The LP is composed of two Baldursson/Moulton originals (including ‘212 N. 12th’), the two Soulful Strings songs, a cover of the Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Somebody To Love’ (?!?) and tune by Silvetti.

The two Soulful Strings tunes lend themselves to the disco sound quite well.

‘Burning Spear’, without a doubt the best known Soulful Strings/Richard Evans tune had become something of a soul/soul jazz standard in the 60s. The Salsoul take on the tune features a pounding dance beat, pulsing strings and lots of keyboards. The late-70s-specific synth sounds haven’t worn well, but the arrangement and mix are top shelf Moulton.

‘Zambesi’ (co-written by Evans and Donny Hathaway) has long been one of my favorite Soulful Strings tunes. First appearing on the 1969 ‘String Fever’ LP (a lost classic deserving of reissue/reappraisal), the slinky funk of the original translates well into a disco treatment. The counterpoint between the bass and the string section is preserved from the original and there’s a very nice acoustic piano breakdown about halfway through the song.

This appears to have been Baldursson’s sole outing with Salsoul. Disco was on the decline and despite its quality, the album did not make it onto the charts.

As I said before, the LP is neither expensive nor hard to find, but if digital is your thing, you can pick it up cheaply in iTunes.

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

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.