Obscure Songs That Deserved A Better Fate

[juicefree20]

While I'm thinking of some rare jams for PShark's excellent "Where'd They Get That Sample From" thread, I began thinking of some songs which slipped us many the first time around which deserved a better fate.

Now I was a skating rink DJ when this song was out in 1980. Having had a few crates of music errr...BORROWED from me over the years, I don't remember whether I owned this song or not, but I don't recall having had it. But I know that if I had this song back then, I'd have absolutely ran it into the ground because it's got that groove that I love.

For my first choice, I humbly submit...


Another thing that makes this song so surprising & special is the fact that it features some ladies who were serious veterans, having had their first hit more than 20 years earlier as teens.

The Sophisticated Ladies are best known to most music fans as THE BOBBETTES & they sure put their feet into this one!

It's a shame that this jam was relegated to B-Side status because this song should've been BIG! If there were an a capella of this, I can even see this being remade as a smoking House jam.

[juicefree20]

Back in 1980, this was one of my favorite songs & I always felt that it deserved better. The Players Association was pretty much done by then & "The Get Down Mellow Sound" seemed to get all of the play. But for my money, this one was the jam, especially the bass on the break. And those synths & horns aren't too shabby either! If you go to the actual link, you'll see that I voiced a similar sentiment about a year ago.

"We're Almost There"...

[juicefree20]

Same group from 3 years earlier when I was just starting out as a DJ. I loved this record then & I love it now. The horns reminded me of Brass Construction & loved hearing it being blasted on WBLS. Great memories of some very fun times!

[Hotspurman]

I loved this group. I worked at Pye Records at the time, who had the UK rights to the Vanguard label, and me, Dave McAleer and Morgan Khan worked our butts off getting them a hit – ‘Turn The Music Up’, a Top Ten POP hit! Then ‘Ride The Groove’, a smaller hit but enough to help the album chart! Following this, the ‘group’ announced a series of UK tour dates, which accounts for one of the strangest publicity photos I’ve ever organised: when I was giving the dates out to the press, I noticed they were due to play in Sheffield on a Wednesday. The opportunity was just too good to miss, so I contacted Sheffield Wednesday FC and arranged for the Players Association [[Chris Hills, Danny Weiss, Mike Mandel et al) to pose on the pitch at Hillsborough after handing out copies of the Turn The Music Up album. Other than manager Jack Charlton, I can’t recognise any of the Wednesday players, but it is still a great picture which I will upload if I work out how. Regarding the Players association, my own favourites were I Like It [[as above) and Hustlin’ from their first album. Even now, I’ve been trying to get Ace Records to release the We’ve Got the Groove album on CD – my conversion from cassette isn’t that good!

[arrr&bee]

Haaaaaaaaaaa,well i'll be a monkeys uncle,i thought that i was the only one here who liked that song and the group the players association was very underrated to me,they had a good groove back in the disco days,nice post!

[chidrummer]

The song, apparently, only I heard [[although Lenny did it live with Jean Carn once) and liked, Twennynine's All I Want To Do:

[stephanie]

Christine Cooper - Heartaches Away my Boy is one of the few records that I can think of that didnt have a top 40 success that really really deserved it. Perfect pop single even though it sounded like a Motown clone but it was darn near hit material. I dont know one person who hasnt heard this record [[and the brits know what Im talking about because it is huge on the Northern Soul Circuit) that thought it should have been a massive hit.

[marv2]

From the Detroit prospective......haha! I offer the following cuts that were very popular in Detroit back in the day, but I was never sure if they were in other parts of the country as I would really heard these songs elsewhere

Exhibit #1

[marv2]

Exhibit #2 and this one was MAJOR!

[marv2]

Exhibit # 3 Y'all !

[paladin]

Big ups fella's I agree with your selections...........here's mine........I used to rock the folks on the dance floor with this jam.....

[marv2]

Exhibit #4 They took Andy Gibbs thang to another level!

[marv2]

Exhibit # 5 "now when you think you got me hot and I'm acting like I'm not........I'm cisselin' hot! " LOL!

[marv2]

Paladin, That one, Skipworth & Turner still gets played here on the weekends!

[timmyfunk]

Exhibit #2 and this one was MAJOR!

Well, this was a top five R&B hit. I don't think it would have received better recognition than that.

[Jerry Oz]

[Jerry Oz]

[marv2]

Well, this was a top five R&B hit. I don't think it would have received better recognition than that.

Timmy, I know, but I don't think I've heard it 5 times since 1980!

[marv2]

Getdown Jerry! I don't remember this one , but I liked it hearing it here as soon as it started. Nice jam

[P-Shark: The Revenge]

Thanks for the props Juice. This should be another interesting thread. Sorry Marv, but Wide Receiver had too many airplays to be considered obscure.
"Out Comes The Freaks" is kinda rare but not really obscure.
Okay here's one thats very obscure. Only 300 lps were printed 1971, now LIGHT IN THE ATTIC has released it on cd. Bobby Boyd Congress


This week we’re giving the spotlight to one of our favorite reissue labels, Vadim Music [[France). Each day this week the LITA bloggerati will dig deep into their extensive catalog, only to surface with some deep rare grooves you may have missed. Today we give you the total bad assness of Bobby Boyd Congress - Bobby Boyd Congress[[VDA033 | LP)!

Utter the name Bobby Boyd Congress to any collector or serious fan of 70s rare groove and you’ll suddenly see their face strangely come to life, lit intensely with a mix of desire, frustration and resignation. Then, he/she will proceed to explain to you that this legendary record is a holy grail of European groove, of which the perilous and dangerous quest sends the most manic diggers insane.
Indeed this little funk/soul gem, displeased with its meagre 300 copy pressing in 1971, possesses a great number of other attributes which have sent its collector value through the roof [[up to 1500 euro): a hot and rough production recorded at Studio Davout; the talents of the excellent American musicians exiled in Paris, the participation of Frank Abel [[vocals and organ) and Lafayette Hudson [[composition and bass) who would continue together, without saxophonist Bobby Boyd, under the Ice name and later the Lafayette Afro Rock Band. These two legendary line-ups recorded and released several cult albums in France – break-heavy, and with extended trance-like impros and scorching grooves. Their sound’s energy and power is already flagrant on this one, a jarring mix of funk, soul and rock and explosive instrumentation based on rough guitars, harmonious brass, wild organ and tireless drums. The vocals are just as extraordinary and add the final caress to this outstanding record that has at last been granted the reissue it deserves.

Tags: Bobby Boyd Congress, Frank Abel, Lafayette Hudson, Vadim Music

Tags: Bobby Boyd Congress, Frank Abel, Lafayette Hudson, Vadim Music
Posted in Reissue Rebound | No Comments »

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[marv2]

One of my Youtube subscribers sent me this a couple of months ago and it knocked me out! I bought this album back in '82 and this cut was one of my favorites that I had not heard since the early 80's! Angie Bofill in all her glory:

[timmyfunk]

Timmy, I know, but I don't think I've heard it 5 times since 1980!

One of the major drawbacks of living in the NYC area.

[paladin]

Paladin, That one, Skipworth & Turner still gets played here on the weekends!

LOL

Dam did somebody say New York, well I guess I'm full of...........

[marv2]

One of the major drawbacks of living in the NYC area.

I agree with that. Strangely enough they play Loletta Holloways' "Funky Sensation" and First Choice's "Let No Man Put Us Under" on the radio, every weekend regularly for that past 16 years!

[timmyfunk]

I agree with that. Strangely enough they play Loletta Holloways' "Funky Sensation" and First Choice's "Let No Man Put Us Under" on the radio, every weekend regularly for that past 16 years!

It's pretty for a Funkateer to get his Funk on in NYC. A sad situation all the way around.

[Jerry Oz]

Getdown Jerry! I don't remember this one , but I liked it hearing it here as soon as it started. Nice jam

I found that one in an album bin at a campus record store a long time ago. I also was a big fan of George Clinton's lone [[I think) album with the P-Funk All-Stars. It had this song on it...

[Jerry Oz]

And also this one:

[marv2]

If I played George Clinton's "Double Oh, Oh" for a random group of say 12 people here, they would not know it.

[P-Shark: The Revenge]

Here's one thats was exclusively given to radio stations. Come on Harry Weinger, I've waiting for
you to release this.
The J.B.'s: A Tribute to Disc Jockeys & Radio Station

[Hotspurman]

Here's one I think should have done better - a better than decent disco record!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-BzWr9khDlE

[Hotspurman]

This is the Players Association and Sheffield Wednesday picture I was referring to earlier.

Anyone fancy doing a complete left to right on who is in the picture?

[daddyacey]

"Was not Was" Out Come The Freaks , has a remix that get's Funky-er as you pitch it down 2 or 3%. That's a nasty tune!!!!!!!!!!!

[daddyacey]

Obscure Funk??? Two for starters...............

Etta James-- All The Way Down--The woman ends the record almost speaking in tounges/scatting ,the bass kicks all the way through ,supportig horns and strings. "Got To Get Off!!! Got To Get Off !! I Got To Got To Got To , Got to Get Off!!!!!

Creative Source--- "Who Is He And What Is He To You." ... A FUNK OPUS , of Bill Withers song. A head snapper. You can't help but nod out into the FUNK ZONE ,[[eyes closed ,head snappin and face scrunched up), that's what I'm talkin bout................

[daddyacey]

Another one off the top.........Kool & The Gangs , "Funky Man" and "Open Sesame".

[Jerry Oz]

This is one of my favorite songs EVER. And I don't have a clue of what it is about.

[glencro]

While I'm thinking of some rare jams for PShark's excellent "Where'd They Get That Sample From" thread, I began thinking of some songs which slipped us many the first time around which deserved a better fate.

Now I was a skating rink DJ when this song was out in 1980. Having had a few crates of music errr...BORROWED from me over the years, I don't remember whether I owned this song or not, but I don't recall having had it. But I know that if I had this song back then, I'd have absolutely ran it into the ground because it's got that groove that I love.

For my first choice, I humbly submit...


Another thing that makes this song so surprising & special is the fact that it features some ladies who were serious veterans, having had their first hit more than 20 years earlier as teens.

The Sophisticated Ladies are best known to most music fans as THE BOBBETTES & they sure put their feet into this one!

It's a shame that this jam was relegated to B-Side status because this song should've been BIG! If there were an a capella of this, I can even see this being remade as a smoking House jam.

Juicefree, I've never heard of the group or the song but it had me in the first few seconds. You are right, this definitely should have been on someone's regular playlist

[Jerry Oz]

This song was a late '80s throwback to '60s soul. If you don't nod your head to this, check your neck because it must be broke.

[daddyacey]

Need I say more ????????????????

[daddyacey]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/xH0cXOBU-lQ

[marv2]

You all know Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Some of you might even remember Quincy Jones' "Body Heat". Well when you combine the two, you have a JAM that was burnin' up the floors all over Metro Detroit in the late summer of '79. Check it out!