Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt

A classic from the Jones Girls. A smooth laid back mid tempo funk cut. Perfect for summer time groovin'. Inspired by the mid tempo night a few weeks back when Dam Funk came through. I wasn't able to make it, so here's my contribution. From their 1981 LP "Get as much love as you can", something we should all live by. What brought this tune to mind for me was running into Frank Quarterbaum aka DJ Rasta Q-tip. He's experiencing some major health issues at the moment. All of us are getting older it seems and these things pop up more and more often. So, this is a special dedication to him... to get better, and to remember what's important in life, the people and the music. We hit it off many years ago trading discoveries and obscurities when he worked at a local record spot. This was one track he put me up on. He's an inspiration to me and always has been. I hope his health gets better, and we will have him in our thoughts, and update you here with his benefit shows as they are organized. Frank, my man, my heart goes out to you, may you get better and may you continue rockin' it.

Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt

Willie Rosario - Que Humanidad

Whenever I hear tunes like this I conjure up visions of New York in the summer time. People siting on the edges of window sills and hanging on Porch stoops. A time in new york during the late 60's and early 70's when the Boogaloo and latin soul scenes were the teaming with passion and at the top of their game.

Most of my truly great finds in this genre were sold to me by a fella named Pete 'The Greek'. So many records I got from him were completely genius and became staples in my Boogaloo and Latin collection and DJ sets. They were certified grooves of that era, not only because of how great they sounded, but because they were the actual records Pete and his friends danced to at parties. I spent some considerable time with him and heard amazing stories as to what the scene was like there. He shared his personal photo albums with me, and though there weren't pictures of the actual recording artists of that scene, the pictures of his personal friends were straight out of LP covers of the time. All decked out in the smartest and slickest clothes, Pete and his friends looked straight out of the Riot (Joe Bataan) lp cover.
Okay, maybe minus the clubs and knives! But, to me it was an endless source of potential new covers waiting to be released. The dudes were handsome and the chicks were foxy, and they all had the dopest rags. This Lp was one of the records I rememeber was difficult for him to part with. I told him it would be in good hands and now shared with you, he would hopefully agree. This Guajira, 'Que Humanidad' was a move away from the heavy handclapping sound and americanized latin soul that I was into, and a transition into slower more vibrant and less commercial more traditional latin music like cumbia and salsa. This track to me was like low riding music, the kind I'd play on a saturday out my apartment windows. So important to me in my favorite tunes that the baritone sax accompany that stand up bass, makes for a more ferocious groove, and 'Humanidad' is the perfect example. Check out this slow charging Guajira

Willie Rosario - Que Humanidad

The Funk Masters - It's Over

In the style of Honey Cone and Freda Payne, The Funk Masters' "It's Over" has all the appeal of a 60's or 70's girl group sound, but has one additional disco element, this fuckin' tune goes on forever! This tune seems to never quit, and the breakdown, which is heavenly, is relentless. From 1983, this little mellow tune packs a mean funk punch. Belted out by singer Juliet Roberts, it breaks down into an insanely dubbed out 7 minutes. Just one of my favorite spins at the moment. And, frankly made an excellent opener when our sweaterfunk crew played at the Elbo Room in SF. Just a perfect funk ditty with slow and deep bass lines for warming up the coils on those Meyer Sound subwoofers.



The Funk Masters - It's Over

Mary Love Comer - Come Out Of The Sandbox

It's early sunday morning and I couldn't think of a more tasty tune for the occassion. I'm not a terribly religious man, and I'm not sure what Mary Love Comer is talking about, but I think it doesn't sound like a bad idea for us to come out of the sandbox. I've been making more aquisitions in the Modern Soul and Gospel avenues lately. And, this tune is a little of both. The sound and production is unique and completely tasty. It's funny, many years ago I would have shunned the production shying away from the keyboard slap bass sound. A bit too Seinfeld for my tastes I would have joked. But, as you'll see, something about a well crafted tune can open your ears to just about anything. Something to be said for the obvious passion that she's feeling on the subject too. And, I love how this little tune builds with passion and becomes a vessel for her excellent vocal style. Mary recorded singles in the 60's including northern soul floor fillers like the genius 'Lay This Burden Down' and 'Turned My Bitter Into Sweet'. She resurfaced as Mary Love Comer some time in the early 80's. Enjoy coming out of the sandbox y'all.

Mary Love Comer - Come Out Of The Sandbox

Rachel Sweet - It's So Different Here

Rachel Sweet had a fairly prolific and versatile career. She was capable of pulling it off, whether rock, country, soul, punk or jazz. She was discovered doing country tunes in the Nashville area sounding like a young Dolly Parton. At the time of her debut record on the Stiff label she was only 15 years old. She was rumored to have already been in the 'biz' for ten years! Her stylings at that time were based on common contemporaries like Elvis Costello, The Clash and Ian Dury. But, she later dabbled in jazz with songs like "Tonight Ricky" and covered songs by the Ronnettes, the Crystals and Carla Thomas. "So Different" is a venture from the others on her hit 1978 LP "Fool Around". It's a trippy venture into a far off land where women go walking with water jars, with no phones or cars. Quoted as a sample for the Beatnuts, it holds its own as a nice laid back groover for the late night head nod crowd. I especially favor tunes like this, with interesting production, devoid of classification, and hold their own as a solid tune from start to finish. Not often can a sampled song be so rich with texture but still be palatable from start to finish. Strangely there are edits of this song out there, but here at soundboutique you'll always find gems like this ripped from original wax and unaltered.

Rachel Sweet - It's So Different Here

Neon - Skydiver

Following the flavor of the last post, we delve into the cosmic sound once again. This time a little more on the disco rock tip. A unique track I picked up and know nothing about at all. It just has a sexy almost glam rock feel to it. But, underneath the 'Jackie Blue' style vocals is a constant Gorgio Moroder synth line. One gets the feeling of re-entering the earths atmosphere when jamming to 'Sky Diver'.

Neon - Skydiver

Supersempfft - Let's Beam Him Up

Here's a venture into the Cosmic sound. I don't know much about these guys, only that they apparently created their own percussion synthesizer master computer called 'Roboterwerke'. Insane right? Yes, but this is the kind of insanity that we truly embrace. They used layers and layers of synth and electronic percussion with harmonies and cosmic lyrics. They used vocoders and drum machines and made thick heavy space funk. Starting up in the late 60's they were rumored to have influenced Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa and even Kraftwerk. Their sound is similar to Daft Punk but, outdates it by at least 30 years. Props to Supersempfft, even if you do have to make a fart sound when you say their name.

Supersempfft - Let's Beam Him Up