{"id":2138,"date":"2012-01-03T15:24:11","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T20:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=2138"},"modified":"2012-02-21T14:43:43","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T19:43:43","slug":"the-exciters-blowing-up-my-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2138","title":{"rendered":"The Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Exciters<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – The Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind! <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope that all of you have had a chance to dig into Monday\u2019s mix, but also the lively exchange of ideas that popped up in the comments thereof.<\/p>\n

What started out as a stylistic defense\/cri de couer for Northern Soul (in response to some hostile commentary I had encountered elsewhere) ended up spurring a convo about the nature of scenes\/genres and the way ideas and perceptions are formed about both.<\/p>\n

Heady stuff, indeed, but I didn\u2019t want the original thrust of the post to be lost, that being that I dig me some Northern Soul.<\/p>\n

There have been several Northern-themed mixes posted in the space over the years (see the Podcast Archive<\/strong><\/a> and Soul Club<\/strong><\/a> tabs), and if I haven\u2019t gotten my point across by now, I\u2019m not sure what else I can, or should do.<\/p>\n

I realize that it\u2019s not like there\u2019s some kind of crusade against Northern Soul out there that demands a response, but blogging being a personal pursuit, sometimes I am inclined to personalized an issue or two, toss it into my mental Cuisinart and give it a few spins.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I don\u2019t suppose I\u2019m going to change anyone\u2019s mind, but it is always possible that the music will.<\/p>\n

It is in furtherance of that cause that I\u2019m going to spend the rest of the week posting a couple of particularly lively Northern faves that you might whip on doubters whenever they might cross your path.<\/p>\n

The first of these is a song that I only heard for the first time last year, and as is often the case, my wig was good and truly flipped.<\/em><\/p>\n

Previous to that moment, my knowledge of the Exciters<\/strong> was limited to \u2018Tell Him\u2019 – their huge, Golden Oldie hit from 1962 – and \u2018Do Wah Diddy\u2019 (from 1963) their OG of a tune that would be catapulted to similar status a year later by Manfred Mann.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I knew that their discography continued on for several years, but had no inkling that it contained anything of value.<\/p>\n

Until \u2013 that is \u2013 I heard \u2018Blowing Up My Mind\u2019.<\/p>\n

Released in 1969, not a year one would expect to associate with a Northern Soul classic, \u2018Blowing Up My Mind\u2019 is not only very popular with the soulies (as well as with collectors and DJs, making it fairly pricey) but an unusual, exceptional record in its own right.<\/p>\n

The first few times I heard this record, the main impression upon the pleasure centers of my mind was limited to the melody and tempo. \u2018Blowing Up My Mind\u2019 moves forward at a very brisk pace, abetted by a pulsing bass line, combo organ signature and of course the driving lead vocal by Brenda Reid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t pick up until I got myself a copy of the 45 and gave it countless repeat spins, was the groovy, slightly crazy lyrics.<\/p>\n

“Dynamite and nitroglycerine is like a firecracker compared to you\u2026”<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s like a mountain climber took a ton of lead and dropped it from the highest peak right on top of my head\u2026”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Etc etc<\/em><\/p>\n

And the extra cool thing is that the hyperbolic nature of the lyrics is 150% justified (see what I did there\u2026<\/em>) by the explosive nature of the tune.<\/p>\n

Northern Soul playlists are generally packed as tightly as possible with floor-filling anthems, and there\u2019s no denying that \u2018Blowing Up My Mind\u2019 fits the bill perfectly.<\/p>\n

Though the record sounds like it might have come out a few years earlier, one need only flip it over to get the 1969-y vibe, with the surprisingly funky \u2018You Don\u2019t Know What You\u2019re Missing (Til It\u2019s Gone!)\u2019 (which I included in my recent guest mix for Amen Brother<\/strong>).<\/a><\/p>\n

The bottom line, is that \u2018Blowing Up My Mind\u2019 is a killer 45, no matter how you roll stylistically.<\/p>\n

I hope you dig it, and I\u2019ll be back on Friday with something cool.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Exciters Listen\/Download – The Exciters – Blowing Up My Mind! Greetings all. I hope that all of you have had a chance to dig into Monday\u2019s mix, but also the lively exchange of ideas that popped up in the comments thereof. What started out as a stylistic defense\/cri de couer for Northern Soul (in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,24,12,18],"tags":[166,169,164],"class_list":["post-2138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funky16corners","category-northern-soul","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-funky16corners","tag-northern-soul","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-yu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2138"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2218,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2138\/revisions\/2218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}