Just Like Honey

Our girl Ms. Nydia Davila - a/k/a The Honeydripper - joins us this Saturday to apply her impeccable taste and magic touch to the set. In addition to holding down the Daptone Records empire on the day-to-day as label manager, Nydia is one of the residents (along with Young Chris, JBX and Boogieman) over at BK's best kept secret - "The Lost & Found" Tuesdays at Savalas (where the soul ballads are as sublime as the drinks are stiff). I always learn something new every time she spins. Here's a great ballad she hipped me to a while back.

The Festivals "So In Love" (Colossus, 1970)

Perfect performance and arrangement. This one always get me on the part that goes, "We've got the kind of thing/ That often makes the church bells ring." Its sweetness is my weakness. (Pause.)

Yo, Leroy

With a blast of August heat hitting us in April it's as good a time as any to post a few disco-boogie joints - maybe my favorite stuff (along with park jam classics) to enjoy in the city when the temperature's rising. With the exception of his mentor and sometime collaborator Patrick Adams, no one made better records in the genre than Leroy Burgess - whether it was as a producer/writer ("Over Like a Fat Rat"; "Weekend"), vocalist (with Black Ivory, and the Fantastic Aleems) or some combination of both (under the guises Convertion, Dazzle, Logg etc.). Here's two of his headier creations that have caught my ear of late:

Black Ivory "White Wind" (Buddah, 1976)

Burgess got his start as a teen singing falsetto leads on all the early Black Ivory sweet soul classics on Today. By '76 his more robust, trademark Stevie Wonder-ish timbre had fully matured and is in full flair on this Gamble & Huff-style cautionary composition about the evils of cocaine. The heavy message only adds to the dramatic sweep of the track - whose swirling strings and tricky changes on the chorus bring a EW&F type vibe. 

Venus Dodson "Where Are We Headed" (Warner Bros., 1979)

The popular Patrick Adams-produced "Night Rider" occupies the flip, but this Burgess-written/produced/arranged B-side smashes it IMO. The chorus has that kind of jazzy, staccato phrasing (I'm purposely avoiding the unfortunate term "scatting" here) so common to Roy Ayers' stuff. Great counter-melodies on the back-up vocals by Leroy himself. More message oriented lyrics - this time about spiritual clarity and whatnot - which ultimately morph into exhortations to join the party on the dance floor. Good advice.

Radio Days

After raiding his vaults for the dope-ass Hot Chillin' EPs looks like Marley Marl is diggin' into his video archives. To quote "Juice Crew All-Stars": "Oh my goodness!" If you remember when Pete Rock was running sh*t on the set on WBLS in 1988 (after Kev E Kev broke his leg and promptly disappeared; I guess he's sort of the rap Wally Pipp) you know how revelatory it was. Now actually being able to see him destroy it (cutting up doubles of Freda Payne on 45, no less!) is like a gift from the hip-hop gods. This DVD can't be released soon enough. (Thanks to K-Prince for the heads up!)

He's Coming

Lee Fields & the Expressions' new album, My World, is f*ckin' great. Even if you already have the singles (which take up about half the album) it doesn't matter because the singles are all dope as hell and everything flows perfectly. Soul music at its finest. Buy it when it drops June 2nd. 

And if you're in NYC he'll be performing this Saturday at Dig Deeper in Brooklyn. (Bumpshop's own Dave Griffiths guest selecting as well.) 

I saw him perform at this spot called Mighty Robot a few years back in BK where they had crazy film loops running behind him and all types of wild sh*t, and it was incredible. He sounds every bit as good live as he does on the records. Go check him.

Steel #1

Saturday was Record Store Day - the day when you're supposed to go to your local record store and buy something/anything (perhaps even a copy of Something/Anything) in order to help stave off said record-mart's extinction. I guess you could say I celebrated a few days early this year (though really every day is sort of Record Store Day for me). By chance this past week I had the opportunity to spend about 24 hours in Pittsburgh - home to the legendary Jerry's, the most monstrous-est record emporium around. It's a store you could literally spend a week at without going thru everything that's out on the floor. You just don't see places like it anymore. 

The last time I rolled thru town was maybe 13-14 years ago, but - as local peeps told me - certain things don't change all that much here. And thankfully the sheer volume of affordable stock at Jerry's is one of them. (Thanks to J. Malls for staying open extra late so I could feed my record jones on the after hours tip.)

Besides looking at records I had a great little whirlwind visit. A few other random observations on my brief time in the Steel City: 

1.) Every meal I had within 24 hours was a huge sandwich. Every sandwich came with cole slaw (and sometimes fries) in the sandwich, not on the side. Every sandwich was incredible. 

2.) Pittsburgh (much like my old hometown of Boston) is crazy heavy into sports. Every business has a "Go Steelers" or "Go Pens" sign in its window. Every bar or club (actually every place that serves food or drink) has a TV (or several TVs) showing sports, sports highlights, or fake sports like professional poker. I went to a club where Diplo was DJ-ing and they had Baseball Tonight on behind the bar. One minute I'm looking at a bunch of would-be hipster kids freaking out to some remix of Robin S.'s "Show Me Love," the next I'm seeing highlights of Cleveland running up the score on the Yankees (ha-ha). Maybe it was the Itis (having, of course, just consumed a huge sandwich), but I was pleased that I could witness both of these things without having to expend a lot of extra energy. 

And in case it hasn't sunk in that folks here love them some sports - just check out the statue that welcomes you at the airport:

Franco Harris making the "Immaculate Reception." (BTW, the guy on the right is George Washington. But honestly it could be anyone. It's all about Franco.)

3.) I saw White folks and Black folks while I was there, but not a whole lot in between. I might have guessed this just based on who drove the taxi cabs. (Which, BTW, are actually kind of difficult to come by. You can call for one, but there's no guarantee that it'll actually show up - unlike the above photo, which has obviously been staged - and a recording informs you of this when you're on hold waiting to talk to a dispatcher.) I took three cabs during my stay. Two were driven by dudes who looked like they were Barksdale Crew extras from The Wire. One was driven by a Grizzly Adams-type older gentleman who looked like he'd shoot the other two dudes if he saw them on his property (and maybe even if they weren't). They were all very professional and courteous. Zero cabs were driven by immigrants from South Asia or the Middle East. I guess it's a tough rotation to crack.

Anyways, all in all I'm kinda feeling Pittsburgh. Special shouts to the dude Zimmie for being such a gracious guide. Looking forward to going back there again (hopefully much sooner than another 13-14 years). In commemoration of my trip here's the finest homage to the town ever recorded:

Larry McGee Revolution "The Burg (Pittsburgh, PA)" (Boogie Band, 1976)

"What's the word?/ The Burg, the Burg." Word.

Platinum Plus

This Saturday I'm very excited to be joined on the set by PPP/Bling 45 Group head honcho - and fellow RBMA veterano - Waajeed - one very talented and cool-ass dude. (You can't just say that about anyone with whom you've participated in a spontaneous food fight in an Australian Burger King - a/k/a... )

Anyways, looking forward to hearing him do his thing; I'm anticipating a convergence of party classics and Detroit-style techno-hop eclecticism. (Check his excellent Triple 5 Soul Sessions mix from a few years back for a taste; worth it alone for his marvelous Marvin Gaye rework - thanks, Samp!). 

And if he doesn't play this at some point - one of my favorite recordings of this century of any genre - you know damn sure I will.

Almost Heaven

On This Date in History

Oscar Wright "Fell in Love" (Fairmount, 1963)

"Fell in love on a Saturday night/ The date was April the 9th..."

So in a post a while back I made mention of possibly two of the greatest recordings in the history of either greatness or recordings. Here's another. Unlike many declarations of romantic bliss set to song, ain't nuthin' sweet about Oscar Wright's masterpiece. Maybe the actual lyrics are on the sappy side. Still this is probably the most tortured sounding love song I can think of, given the minor key melody and the urgency of Wright's delivery. 

It was originally issued on local VA label Hemisphere (on styrene), then on Fairmount (on vinyl). I, of course, somehow managed to procure a Fairmount copy on styrene - in other words in record nerd terms the least desirable way to possess it. But then when it comes to a song this soulful, this soul-stirring third place is way mo' better than no place. And make no mistake, you are no place without this in your life. If you don't agree with me, to paraphrase the great Milk D, get off my (b)log!

Tony D, RIP

More very sad news: producer Tony D - who, along with 45 King, was the most prolific and talented producer of hip-hop's golden era out of New Jersey - died in a car accident this past weekend. His legacy lives on in the many classics he helmed for Poor Righteous Teachers and YZ, as well as his own solo work (which most infamously included the track that, uh, "inspired" Naughty By Nature's for "O.P.P."). But here are two of my personal all-time favorites that feature him behind the boards, both of them great examples of the JA-influenced Trenton sound he helped forge.

Blvd. Mosse "U Can't Escape the Hypeness" (Scorpio, 1990)

A staple of the first hip-hop hour of Red Alert's KISS FM show BITD (where he'd transition from dancehall to rap). Best ever (non-drum break) use of Paul McCartney & Wings in hip-hop. (And no, it doesn't matter that I can't actually think of any other records with Wings samples; even if there were a bunch this would still be #1.)

Almighty & K.D. Ranks "Trenton Where We Live" (Poetic Groove/Interscope, 1991)

Less heralded but still dope. Always loved the way Tony hooked up the out-vamp from "Sweet Sticky Thing" and the "Trenton rocks" portion of "Planet Rock." Plus, he makes a nice cameo on the mic at the end.

In more recent years Tony D could be found on ebay as "hiphoptonyd" selling all sorts of vintage indie/random rap rarities. I used to buy from him occasionally, and once a few years back I received one of my winnings with a little handwritten note from the man himself on the outside of the record mailer. I thought it was so cool and classy I held onto it. 

A true hip-hop original - Anthony Depula, a/k/a Tony D. Rest in peace.