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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

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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.

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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.

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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.