Leo Roy - Pound For Pound

this upcoming sunday 'we gon' git down'

 

Here's a slice of disco funk for your enjoyment. Just more Peter Brown discoey goodness. A lot has been going on lately and its a bit overwhelming. There's some exciting things too, but mostly stuff I've got to keep under wraps until its ripe to share. My family is back and in and out of the hospital and Sweaterfunk is in limbo. So far, it's been a turbulent year. As you can tell I've come to a slow roll with the posts and even though I'm making time now, it's gonna be short and sweet. More from me when all the dust settles. Soon my brothers and sisters, soon. Keep the faith.

Leo Roy - Pound For Pound

Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Orchestra - Que Se Sepa

First off...HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO. And, for you white people that's not a holiday for you to go grab 5 jars of mayonnaise and make cheese sandwiches. Even though I'm not sure what Cinco De Mayo is really all about, I know unfortunately here in America it's really just about another 'drinking' holiday. Jeesh, don't we have enough of those? Isn't it sad that's what most holidays boil down to these days...getting effed up?

Well, we'll take what we can get. Even if we are due a Chicano / Latino month like Black History in February, we'll compromise to have this one day to recognize our brown peeps.
Back from  below the belt of the equator in our last post with Jorge Ben, we're quickly back to flippin' a bitch and doin' donuts in the streets of Califa. Latin music and inspiration has always been running through my veins. Being raised above the Mission district (Potrero Hill) in the 70's of San Francisco led to much of my development and tastes in musica. A young vato wanna be passed onto me what his older brothers were showing him. We were both 8 or 9 years old. A quick course in 'How to crease your dickies', 'stand so that your shoes made a V for vato', and to always 'carry a comb in your back pocket' among other things. This same little dude left a bunch of 45's at my house that shaped what I got heavily inspired by. At least in the beginning I was an honorary 'Cholo' and still to this day, hard to fight my love for salsa, Latin soul and lowridin' oldies. Orale.
Fast forward a few decades and I'm spinning entire sets of Salsa and Latin Funk. This tune was an absolute staple of mine. This would, without fail, get the entire club into a heated spastic salsa funk fury. The monster drums at the beginning would cause whiplash for any hip hop or funk connoisseur and the entirety of Salsa dance capability on this one is un-fuck with-able.
This is typical of this era for Fania and camp, scorching horn melodies, superb backing vocals setting the pace, and an arsenal of percussion. While this is standard Fania formula, which was killing it and making them and New York city salsa capital of the world, this tune in particular is atop the list for me.
Mos def in my top 10. Here's also this super rare video of Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Orchestra doing this song on a TV show.  ¡SALUD!





And, as always the full (and, very brief I might add) mp3 for this song... ****UPDATED - Again, trying to comply with copyright laws. We have included this youtube version of the studio version. Sorry, you'll have to find the mp3 on your own. Or, of course we strongly urge you to track down this album in any form you can.

Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Sound - Que Se Sepa

First off...HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO. And, for you white people that's not a holiday for you to go grab 5 jars of mayonnaise and make cheese sandwiches. Even though I'm not sure what Cinco De Mayo is all about I know unfortunately here in America it's really just about another 'drinking' holiday. Jeesh, don't we have enough of those? Isn't it sad that's what most holidays boil down to these days...getting effed up?

Well, we'll take what we can get. Even if we are due a Chicano / Latino month like Black History in February, we'll compromise to have this one day to recognize our brown peeps.
Back from  below the belt of the equator in our last post with Jorge Ben, we're quickly back to flippin' a bitch and doin' donuts in the streets of Califa. Latin music and inspiration has always been running through my veins. Being raised above the Mission district (Potrero Hill) in the 70's of San Francisco led to much of my development and tastes in musica. A young vato wanna be passed onto me what his older brothers were showing him. We were both 8 or 9 years old. A quick course in 'How to crease your dickies', 'stand so that your shoes made a V for vato', and to always 'carry a comb in your back pocket' among other things. This same little dude left a bunch of 45's at my house that shaped what I got heavily inspired by. At least in the beginning I was an honorary 'Cholo' and still to this day, hard to fight my love for salsa, Latin soul and lowridin' oldies. Orale.
Fast forward a few decades and I'm spinning entire sets of Salsa and Latin Funk. This tune was an absolute staple of mine. This would, without fail, get the entire club into a heated spastic salsa funk fury. The monster drums at the beginning would cause whiplash for any hip hop or funk connoisseur and the entirety of Salsa dance capability on this one is un-fuck with-able.
This is typical of this era for Fania and camp, scorching horn melodies, superb backing vocals setting the pace, and an arsenal of percussion. While this is standard Fania formula, which was killing it and making them and New York city salsa capital of the world, this tune in particular is atop the list for me.
Mos def in my top 10. Here's also this super rare video of Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Orchestra doing this song on a TV show.  ¡SALUD!




And, as always here's the full (and, quite short song I may add) mp3 for you to enjoy!
Roberto Roena Y Su Apollo Sound - Que Se Sepa

Jorge Ben - Oba La Vem Ela

Jorge is easily the godfather of Brazilian music in my eyes. And, judging from world wide respect he's endeared very highly amongst heads both high and low. I have a funny story about a Jorge record that I had at one time and somehow let go. After that I vowed never to sell a single record in my collection unless I had a double. It was the LP with the famous soccer song he did called Umbabarauma. Which is also known as Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma). It might seem insane now, but at the dysfunctional age of 15 or 16 I hadn't a clue. World music was light years out of my reach. I think even at the time I didn't know if the group was called Africa Brazil or what. I remember thinking it was kinda funky and 'kinda' cool, but not enough to keep it. Honestly I cant remember at the moment what I did with it, whether I sold it, trashed it, or handed it over to someone else. There is also a chance it's still buried somewhere in the poorly organized and shite filled collection. Trust me I have a load of garbage records too. Much too many. But, several years after 'misplacing' it brought be great sorrow to know I had let it slip through my fingers. As I became more and more interested in Latin, Brazilian, and rare groove of all sorts, I realized what a mistake I had made. It was this constant reminder the deeper I went into collecting what a giant flub I had made. It was always in the back of my mind as the one record I faintly remember really wanting, but as times could even muster who the heck the artist even was. Of course finding this notorious LP (if only to me) later in life was straight euphoria, it naturally turned out to be dope on dope throughout the album. As we all know now.
I was haunted by a chorus to a world groove song (or so I thought) that had some faint distant chant like Xica da Silva.

This is the album that I discarded and then haunted me for years

Many years later of course I went through a huge Jorge Ben phase and got re-introduced to Jorge and many other fantastic Brazilian artists. But, Jorge for me was always this mystical and elegantly dreamy artist that especially peaked my interests. His music really transported me somewhere else. The song we're featuring today is from an earlier LP than Africa Brasil but, a prime example of his extraordinary talent. Even more importantly a sample of how his music can be a lush and psychedelic dreamscape. Enter into 'Oba La Vem Ela' and you're floating atop the jungle and whisking through it on some magic carpet mushroom ride. Of course i can't stop there and have to include the masterful 'O Telephone' song from this same incredible 'Forca Bruta' album as well. Such a crazy mix of pop and folk. Strings and African instruments. Deep and introspective sounds like a sick emo indie kid wining and crying, yet one who's dancing on balconies and strutting through town at Carnaval at the same time. I 'still' don't know what Jorge or any of these fine Brazilian artists are actually singing about, but it's almost more fantastic to imagine it on your own.
So, I gotta post both of these...Its just too tempting to not do it. Even if if does yield another copyright complaint against us. Two of the best Brazilian songs on the planet. But, fortunately there's worlds more.

Jorge Ben - Oba La Vem Ela
Jorge Ben - O Telefone Tocou Novamente

Madeline Bell - That's What Friends Are For

Copped this the other day and was surprised I had never had an original of it before. I'd had the Glucklich comped version and of course nabbed the Jazzman re-issue, but somehow never picked up this LP. It reminds me of the broader kind of 'world' inspired rare groove stuff I used to play, and in fact I'm retreading over some more territory in the Brazilian area lately. This jam is light and fluffy and reminiscent of carnival. Madeline holds it all down with a beautiful sophistication and exquisite class. The rhythms and melodies are Latin, Brazilian, Cuban and African. If it's a 'world' sounding groove, then fine. But, it is indeed a groove of 'world class' brilliance.

Madeline is originally from Newark, New Jersey. Like many soul singers she started in the church. She went on to great prominence in gospel with The Glovertones and Alex Bradford Singers. She was a center piece in the notorious rock/pop group Blue Mink. Blue Mink was an incredible diverse group musically with a racially mixed front force of two singers that might have been inspired by groups like Chicago.



Her solo LP's are highly sought after, and of the snippets I've heard, the early ones are particularly amazing. Although, I still haven't tracked them down yet either. She had the chance to record with the esteemed Wadsworth and Mansfield team. She churned out some monster soul tunes and a few northern floor burners. Just leaves more room for us to spotlight her career for future posts. What an incredible voice! SIDENOTE: I hope you'll enjoy our new 'old magazine' style layout...peep the club picture in this above YouTube clip..you'll also see the ad from an old Blues and Soul Magazine for 'The Cats Whiskers' club.





She's still active today and performing. She made most of her moves in Europe and can't be denied her place in soul history. Even Dusty Springfield sang backing vocals for HER, and became president of her fan club. Word. Madeline Bell part uno. More to come.



Madeline Bell - That's What Friends Are For

Apostles - Feeling Happy

Heading to a record sale here in a few hours. Looking at the list of sellers, it's gonna be a great show. Lots of breaks, funk and music from all over. Everything from African to Latin to Indian funk should be well represented.
For address and additional info check here....
Huge Record Sale
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/gms/2326823926.html
As record sales seem to get better and better, it's tending to be as a result of being in younger hands. The staunchy old 'oldies' collectors have less and less of what we're really looking for.  The younger cats are taking over. More and more record hustlers are selling quantity and setting up shop on ebay and discogs with quality. It's refreshing to see this many sellers at a swap and even more exciting that it's here in Oakland. It's from 12-4pm and even better that folks don't have to get up at the crack of dawn. I'm still wishing for a PM or nite swap like our folks up north with the Nite-Owl record swap in Portland. But, for now this will do. You'll want to make this if you're in the area.

Onto this heavy piece of Nigerian funk from these fine men known as The Apostles. From the 197? LP entitled 'Wisdom' is this funky tune 'Feeling Happy' on EMI Nigeria. These cats have about five other albums, but I know little about their overall history. Juan played this record for me after his first trip to Africa, and I'm just glad he's returned to the motherland and tracked this one down for me. If only now he'd find the ROB record for me!

Most of these records have gobs of dust and dirt. Condition with these records is always difficult. They usually have years of road dirt and hot sun warpage. It's hard to find anything in mint condition. But, the incredible strength of these artist usually shines through, and sometimes the funk out weighs interference. I often like my funk with a bit of bacon sizzling away in the background anyway.


Apostles - Feeling Happy

Salma Agha - Come Closer

Ever since I started this blog it's put a considerable fire under my ass. It's taken me out of my normal purchasing habits. I've tracked down and bought specific tunes just for this site. This has induced only a more feverish and compulsive hunt for good music. Something both you the reader and me the collector can benefit from.
Today was 'Independant Record Store Day' and although I didn't visit a single store, you can't get any more 'independant' than buying some tunes from a friend or a private seller. So, that's what I did. I had to pick up a record that was sent from Africa to me by digger extraordinaire Juan Gomez. I've mentioned his site before, but you would be wise to check it out again as I'm sure he's updated the gold from the motherland.
I was also pleasantly surprised with how deep the crates of Arjuna Sayyed were. I had just followed a series of blogs that lead me to the fantastic site of DJ Marsellus Wallace. Check it out here http://djmarselluswallace.blogspot.com. It's an impressive collection of tasty tunes and amazing LP covers. I find it hard to believe the author is truly named Marsellus Wallace, but you won't find me giving this dudes lady a foot massage if you catch my drift.
On the site I stumbled on a few Bollywood clips and one in particular raised an eyebrow. Just so happened that Arjuna had the same record in his crates. He has made two trips to India and put together an excellent article and mix of Bollywood breaks. Peep this article in Wax Poetics online. Great story on adventures in record hunting in India. Grand stories of moldy records, marble sized rat turds and some excellent breakin' by Arjuna on the streets of India.
Anyways, this LP has a lot of charm. Even a cover Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' that melts into 'Funky Town' and goes on forever. A flurry of insane disco numbers all in a goofy and furious Bollywood manor. Drum machines a plenty, space farts, screams, laser guns, and weirdo electro bits. It's a tasty array of Bollywood dance number madness and the movie itself looks fantastic. I've now got to head to the shops on University Avenue to score the movie on DVD.

This cut is from the soundtrack to the 1984 film 'Kasam Paida Karnewale Ki'. Music is by Bappi Lahiri who was also behind the 'Disco Dancer' soundtrack. I am reminded by all of this that I need to post more Bollywood stuff including this goof-ball masterpiece 'Disco Dancer'... I'll also try to post the record I got from Juan tomorrow. It's a tasty bit of Nigerian funk.

Salma Agha - Come Closer