DJ Sonar drops some chill head nod jams in this installment of the Stone Groove Podcast. Click on the picture above to get it from iTunes. Or listen to it from our SoundCloud below.
I was talking with Birdflu the other day about the latest People Under The Stairs Album “Carried Away.” We got to talking about the limited edition 7″ of the track “Beer” with samples from the Billy Dee Williams Colt 45 commercial in the 80’s. This commercial is so damn smooth! Listen to that background music! I tell you what that is one serious can! Billie Dee has to crack that can three times and every time listen to that sound. No wonder why Billie Dee got all the women. Hit the jump for the Colt 45 Commercial and the People Under The Stairs track.
I don’t have too much time to write a super long post about this, but it’s definitely one of the most sought after albums by beat diggers. Oddly, you really don’t hear any steel drums on the opening track entitled “Down By The River” until close to the end. Most of the songs on this album are straight covers, but the cover for Kool & The Gang’s “Funky Stuff” the steel drums can be heard prominently and give that cover a great, very danceable vibe.
This Steel band is a twelve-piece seventies party band, consisting of Surinames and Trinidadian musicians.
Since Surinam was still part of The Netherlands in those days, the name of the band abroad was The Original Trinidad Steel Band and released two albums as such (Beautiful Caribbean and Caribbean Steel & Show on Hansa, with Frank Farian as their producer), apart from their three Dutch albums. Their most interesting Dutch album is Funky Limbo (EMI, 1978), which was produced by Ernie Anches. Anches was also involved with various other funky Surinam acts, such as Oscar Harris, The Twinkle Stars and Thunderstorm. The preceding album Dance Dance Dance (EMI, 1976) made DRSSB a lot more rare, because it contained their international hit single ‘January February’. This brought them a very busy touring schedule. Today the band is still active and consists of quite a few sons of the original members like Sticko who is the son of Dolf (Mr Satisfied) the founder of this Band.
Read (if you speak Dutch) the story and discography of the band here.
Tracks A1 Down By The River 5.09 (Vocals - Armand Colla)
A2 Theme From Shaft 2.41
A3 Snowfire 3.47 (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)
A4 Stoned Out Of My Mind 2.39
A5 Softly 2.57
A6 Hey Joe 3.19
B1 Feelin’ Alright 7.31
B2 Serenta 2.03
B3 Funky Stuff 3.22 (Vocals - Armand Colla , Bernito E. Riley) B4 Where Is The Love2.39 (Vocals - Gustaaf Milzink)
I did not have the opportunity to finish this last night, due to spending an extended period of time at a local Japanese steak house. But if it were still Friday, then this gem is what I would publish. Usually, I just like to review one song, but this album is a must for any crate digger, funk head, or any person just starting to dive into vinyl. This compilation features funk and soul during the 70’s from the sun-drenched ghettos of Rio de Janeiro. This music shares some of the same qualities and struggles as their soul brothers in Harlem. You can hear the distinct sounds that influenced the Black Rio movement from labels such as Motown, Stax, and even the Godfather himself, James Brown helped shaped this blend of “soul brasileiro.” The drum rhythms have that distinct Brazilian flavor and Manito’s “Na Baixa do Sapateiro” the opening break left goosebumps and the hairs on my arms standing. I had to actually rewind the track to make sure I actually heard what I heard. Take a listen to the opening break:
Pretty damn nice wasn’t it? Anyway here is the complete tracklisting of the album. And yes there is a version of Rapper’s Delight on this album.
Tracklisting:
1 Gang Do Tagarela - Melo da Tagarela (Rapper´s Delight) (4:10)
2 Copa 7 - Copa 7 No Samba (2:53)
3 Grupo Arembepe - Iaia (3:04)
4 Uniao Black - Black Rio (2:46)
5 Miguel de Deus - Cinco Anos (4:56)
6 Jorge Ben - Comanche (2:58)
7 Trio Mocotó - Nago (3:40)
8 Banda Black Rio - Gafiera Universal (3:06)
9 Toni Tornado - Podes Crer, Amizade (2:30)
10 Eklipse Soul - Psicose (2:11)
11 Manito - Na Baixa Da Sapateiro (3:28)
12 Orlandivo - Onde Anda O Meu Amor (3:46)
13 Dom Salvador e Aboliçao - Som, Sangue E Raca (2:46)
14 Antonio Carlos E Jocafi - Kabaluere (2:22)
15 Orquestra E Coro - Kriola (2:27)
16 Gerson King Combo - Uma Chance (5:25)
This is a super funk, hype track that gets the crowd moving every time. Tried and true. You also heard this in the recent Busta Rhymes club banger, Don’t Touch Me. Listen and compare. Enjoy your Friday people
The Diplomats - I Can Give You Love
Busta Rhymes - Don’t Touch Me
I’m glad that there are still artists out there that are sampling the classics!
Before we dive into how great this track is, I just want to say that Sundays are made for Curtis Mayfield. For those who don’t know this is where Curtis got his start. This track is one of my all time favorite songs. Even Flatbroke dropped this one in a Stone Groove podcast. It’s just a damn good track, and the lyrics are very inspirational. The drums keep this track on a very head nodding rhythm. Curtis’s falsetto as always adds gold to any track that he does. If you feel like crap after listening to this song, then I would advise you to seek the help of a qualified therapist.
Keeping in line with the last Funk Friday post. I decided to drop some more Electro Funk for ya. This time showcasing one of my favorite all time late 70’s, early 80’s funk groups, Midnight Star. Midnight Star was one of those groups that were a little ahead of their time, but not too far where no one could get on their level. If you take a listen to them, nearly all tracks from them contained the vocoded, auto-tuned voice, that well T-Pain is wrongfully credited for starting. Anyway, here’s Midnight Star’s - Operator. It’s an awesome track plain and simple. Great vocal melodies, and of course vocoded voices.
