Amadeo - Real Magic

I can't seem to budge from my current obscession with 'cosmic'. So, here's yet another tasty track. Have we asseessed that the majority of these 'cosmic' tunes are completely crazy yet? This is on the french label "Disques Ibach", yet from the looks of him Amadeo could be from Turkey, Tibet, or the Phillipines. I have a strong affinity for records with odd accents. Like, for example one of my favorite bands, The Shocking blue. Or, perhaps the prince of italo boogie Ago, with the lp "For You". All of those have a special edge to the vocals. It's that slight imperfection in the accent that I love. I suppose the accent isn't that strong in the entire song, but Amadeo appears to be, in this song at least, the definitive weirdo.
For me, this track walks the fine line somewhere in between Clockwork Orange and Logan's Run. Perhaps with a little Rollerball thrown in for good measure. Or, a song straight out of "The Apple"

Amadeo - Real Magic

Ganymed - Black Hole Five

MORE COSMIC - Ah, yes. indeed. Headed in a direction I suppose. Straight to outer space. Wanna ride? Ganymed appear to be a spaced out rock disco outfit pretty far out of their minds as well as out in space. They've got the heavy rock funk, and are a talented bunch. At a time where bands like Kiss and P-Funk were all dressing up in space outfits and make up, Ganymed were right in the middle. I don't think they really saw a difference between the two, and really fit in between the two. I mean, they rocked liked Kiss and funked like Funkadelic. They have several LP's and a few hearty funk bombs here and there. This is space disco at it's finest. Much like their rivals The Rockets and Kraut rockers Supermax they also step it up with a punkish edge. Nice one! Plenty more amazing videos of them on the ole' Youtube. So, check it.

Ganymed - Black Hole Five

Zazu - Captain Starlight

Ok, I have to correct what I posted two posts ago. My answer to the question of defining what is 'cosmic' was the Phill & Friends Band track 'This Man'. Well, while it IS a monster track, and it most certainly is flying out there in outer space, it already may be time to relinquish that title. Because, "Captain Starlight" by Zazu may just be the definitive 'cosmic' track. I can clearly see I may be setting myself up here, because lately I'm spending time rifling through my LP's and there are lots of goodies to be posted here soon. I'm quite comfortable eating my own words. Maybe enjoying them with Fava Beans and a fine Chianti. Back to this track, it has it all. Once again epic in proportion, this rock-disco 'masterpiece' is the brain child of German pop weirdo Frank Zander. Lush strings start it out, robot voices narrate, a massive pink floyd-dark moon side middle, and somewhere throughout the future funk is born. It's like a massive horror space movie soundtrack at times, straight deep cosmic funk at others. You can find the German language version below and have fun counting how many times it sounds like he says "Schitz". We all know how tough it is to have a bad case of the schitz. Frank Zander made several other weirdo/comedy joints and currently records specialty birthday songs with your name in them while living comfortably in Ibiza.


Zazu - Captain Starlight

Indigo - Be Strong

For months on end I've been singing this little tune. Its catchy as hell and positive and all that good shit. I also think it's quite the little bad ass boogie banger as well. Not sure about Indigo. I know they had an LP with the same tracks as this 12". But, not sure what its like. Just know that this b-side caught my fancy and never let it go. The changes are good. The beat is funky and its not interrupted by any silly long solos (minus a brief synth solo). Just a good well rounded mid-tempo tune in my eyes. The picture cover 12 inch sleeve is freakin dope. Be warned: if lyrics about 'planting a seed and watching it grow', or 'thread the needle, we can sew' are too corny for you, then oh well. But, for me... I'm completely hooked and always a crack fiend for anything that has tuff funk guitar licks and slick bass lines. Then, I'm really done in by any lyrics along the lines of "Get Up Get up. Get up Get Up, Be Strong' Positivity always seems to win me over. If this strikes you as kind of 'lame', then keep moving along (literally). If this is 'lame' music, then I LOVE 'lame' music. And, there'll be a lot more 'lame' in this blog to come. Ha ha!

Indigo - Be Strong

Phill And Friends Band - This Man

From the depths of some sort of cosmic hell comes this serious head nodding masterpiece. I don't have a clue in the world who Phill and Friends are. But, they made this smooth moving, pulsating and volcanic groove that goes back and forth between exploring space frontiers and chanting at satanic rituals. There's so much life in this track it can't be missed or passed up. At a whopping 9 minutes it doesn't lose any potency or waver in its constant changing groove. In fact, all the transitions and different modes work so well together. It just keeps charging forward and becomes hypnotic. When I first heard it, I had to have it, and nothing could be found about Phill or ANY of his buddies. Nothing about Phill, his friends, or his band. Argh! But, man.. when you hear this! It winds back in forth like some sort of haunted disco made by the singer for the Q65. It even features some backing vocal bits by the cosmic version of sesame streets' cookie monster. wow. You'll see what I mean. I was once asked to describe what 'Cosmic' was.. well, fuck if I know. But, if I could answer with a song.. this would be it.

Phill And Friends Band - This Man

Ivan Neville - Dance Your Blues Away

Friday Nite Special: Well, it's a Friday night here in not-so sunny California and I feel like embellishing you with a sure fire treat. Those of you grazin' through music blogs on a Friday nite. Just a little treat for my peeps out there.. hope you enjoy.

This little 45 is a two title belt holder. It's got the title of being quite possibly the rarest Meter's related 45 AND the title belt of one of the finest boogie tracks ever made. Its completely smooth, sultry and slick as fuck. It completely encapsulates the true boogie sound. It's not funk, it's not modern, it's not soul, it's not disco..it's utterly Boogie. Thus holding the title belt for the quintessential boogie tune. It shows the direction the Meters/Neville Brothers could have been headed at the time, if under the command of Ivan. 'Dance Your Blues Away' is an ode to positivity, (free your mind of all your troubles) and the diversity among people and crowds as well (from cowboy boots to a 3 piece suit). It's delicate syncopation also illustrates how boogie wanted to separate itself from funk and disco, branching off into something new, something unknown. Totally charming. It's on Cookie Records from 1979 and rare as shhhhht. There's also an even rarer picture sleeve for it, although it's artwork only and no actual picture. Happy hunting folks. That's if you HAVE to have it like I did. Big thanks to Jon Blunck for hipping me to this track and hopefully completing my Meters collection for once and all.

Ivan Neville - Dance Your Blues Away

Chris Mba - Funky Situation

For a while there Nigerian boogie records were the 'bee's knees'. Fetching serious duckets on ebay and trading hands amongst collectors in London, Germany and France. It's obvious Nigeria was deeply inspired by Micheal Jackson. Judging from the countless album posing and clothing styles. This Chris Mba LP is one example. Another would be any LP from Dizzy K Falola. Dizzy, as well as Chris Mba even imitated the vocal styling of MJ. Even right down to those famous high pitched squeals. You know the one, sounds like a sexy choke. Like, 'are you ok, MJ?' But, the production on these LP's was Americanized in its 4/4 beats and adventurous in its sound. There's still very much Nigerian sounding rhythms on them as well, but more and more these LP's evolved into straight boogie soul LP's. There's so much going on within this track. Bells, Horn stabs, backing vocals, whispers, synth and guitar stabs and constant syncopation of them all. It's a pure treasure for me.
The other night San Francisco's Sweater Funk crew presented a world boogie night. It was recorded and will hopefully be available soon (I will post a link as soon as it's available. Thanks DTN!). But, Myself, Disco Tom Noble, and Allen Thayer dropped bombs all night long. We played boogie from all over, stopping off in Brazil, Nigeria, the UK, France, Israel, India, Italy, Holland, and Japan. It was great fun to hear all the tunes, but each of us had boxes teaming with more jams. So, there will surely be a 'part two'. I suppose why I've collected stuff from so many different countries is they are had such distinct and different sounds. Italo cats like AGO and Tom Hooker have such a distinct accent and sound. Even groups from Holland like Blue Feather are so different from italo boogie. Every country has it's own distinct brand and flavor. There was so much more we all wanted to play. This cut, was one of them. I only got to play a tenth of the Nigerian Boogie or Afro Funk that I brought with me. So, thank heavens for this blog. There's plenty more to come. And, I'll try to post some Dizzy K very soon.

Chris Mba - Funky Situation

Standing Room Only - Star From The Sky

From a tasty little indie/private press modern soul and boogie lp comes "Star From The Sky". It's a jammin' little Earth Wind and Fire sounding tune. You'll have to bear with some real bacon being made on this one. My copy is dog-eared and has equally 'trampled on' wax. But, none the less it's playable through and through. And, represents well such small time unknown bands like this. Hard as shit to find and treasured among collectors, once you hear this you'll understand why. The rest of the LP is chock full of other good groove tunes and overall positivity. "Heart and Soul" is a breath of fresh air. Then, and even now after all these years. Standing Room Only are from Richmond, VA. and this LP is from 1982. Possibly their only LP, I'm not sure. Just glad to have it in my clutches. But, without a doubt posted here for you and other rare groove junkies to enjoy.

Standing Room Only - Star From The Sky