Friday, August 07, 2009

Whitney does Loleatta



..well, sort of.

It seems Whitney Houston's upcoming comeback single "Million Dollar Bill," produced by Swizz Beatz and written (quite partially) by Alicia Keys has leaked, and surprises of surprises (truly), it's based right off of Loleatta Holloway's Salsoul classic "We're Getting Stronger (The Longer We Stay Together)." Took me a few minutes to put it together, but from the opening basslines, I knew I was hearing something familiar. For all the press attention this has been receiving lately, I'm surprised this doesn't seem to have been mentioned (even vaguely) yet, but I guess it was only a matter of time.



Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill


Loleatta Holloway - We're Getting Stronger


The original track, off of Loleatta's "Loleatta" (1976, Gold Mind/Salsoul) LP her first for Salsoul, was produced by the late, great Norman Harris and written by Harris along with prolific Philly writers Allan Felder and Ron Tyson (currently of The Temptations). Tyson, Felder and Harris together had written the bulk of Loleatta's first Salsoul LP along other Salsoul staples like Loleatta's own "Dreamin'," First Choice's "Doctor Love," Love Committee's "Law & Order" to name a few. Back to the song though, the late Walter Gibbons' stunning remix needs to be heard as well, with all of it's exquisite instrumental breaks, really brings out the melody and vocals making it that much better, in my opinion..

Listen: Loleatta Holloway - We're Getting Stronger (The Longer We Stay Together) (Walter Gibbons 12" Mix)


Though personally, nothing can take away from Loleatta's original, it's probably the best out of all the leaks from Whitney's upcoming 'comeback' record and seems to have gotten the strongest reception so far. The sample itself is well done and the single goes a way in rehabbing her image from the 'Crack is Wack'/Being Bobby Brown lows (or 'highs,' depending on your perspective) several years back. If anything, probably the last thing that I expected a Swizz Beatz single to sound like, given what I've heard of his stuff. If it hits big, I can only wonder how long before other Philly/disco samples start hitting the airwaves again.


PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
DISCO DELIVERY #55: CISSY HOUSTON - STEP ASIDE FOR A LADY (1980, COLUMBIA) (FRIDAY JUNE 20, 2008)
DISCO DELIVERY #36: LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY - QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (1978, GOLD MIND/SALSOUL) (WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2007)
DISCO DELIVERY #8: CISSY HOUSTON - THINK IT OVER (1978, PRIVATE STOCK) (FRIDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2006)

LINKS:
DISCOMUSIC.COM: INTERVIEW WITH LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY
DISCOGS: LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY - LOLEATTA LP
DISCO-DISCO.COM: INTERVIEW WITH LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY
MYSPACE: LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY (OFFICIAL)
FOURFOUR: PUT ONE HAND IN THE AIR (AUGUST 7, 2009)
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: WHITNEY HOUSTON'S 'I LOOK TO YOU' FIGURES FOR A STRONG RADIO RECEPTION (BY DAVID HINCKLEY) (MONDAY AUGUST 3, 2009)
POP & HISS, THE L.A. TIMES MUSIC BLOG: WHITNEY HOUSTON ENJOYS A COMING OUT PARTY (JULY 24, 2009)
WHUDAT: WHITNEY HOUSTON DEBUTS I LOOK TO YOU.. "LOVE ME LIKE I NEVER LEFT" (WEDNESDAY JULY 22, 2009)
DOSE.CA: WE LOOK TO NYC FOR WHITNEY HOUSTON'S ALBUM PARTY; YES, SHE'S LOOKING GOOD, SAME GOES FOR THE MUSIC (BY LEAH COLLINS) (WEDNESDAY JULY 22, 2009)
MIRROR.CO.UK: MY PREVIEW OF THE NEW WHITNEY HOUSTON ALBUM (BY DEAN PIPER) (JULY 19, 2009)
BILLBOARD: WHITNEY HOUSTON PREMIERES NEW ALBUM IN LONDON (BY MARK SUTHERLAND) (JULY 15, 2009)

CATEGORIES: DISCO NEWS

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Do You Love Your Robot Children?


While I have still to write about my L.A. trip and the Grace Jones show (will get to it soon), had to post a quick one after getting this update in the mail. The late, legendary, seminal disco producer Patrick Cowley, it seems, is getting the Arthur Russell treatment, with Stefan Goldmann (of of the d*ruffalo blog) and Finn Johanssen of the Macro label set to release a long forgotten project helmed by Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras (once of the group Indoor Life, for whom Patrick had produced an EP). The project, entitled "Catholic" and recorded between 1976 and 1979 was submitted to and subsequently shelved by Megatone Records. The project had effectively been forgotten until until the original masters were uncovered by San Francisco DJ Ken Woodard (of Honey Soundsystem) in former Megatone president John Hedges' basement in a 2008 move.

With more in common with post-punk/no-wave than with disco, it's probably not too surprising that Megatone decided against releasing it at the time. While the recordings have definite hints of his more familiar (and seminal in itself) electro-disco style, the sound is ultimately experimental than his more familiar Hi-NRG disco recordings. "Catholic" in a way feels like the mid-point between the 1980 Indoor Life record he had produced and the material he would later release under his own name.

While "Catholic" might be a bit more leftfield than what some fans of his established work might be used to, extracts like "Robot Children" and the unapologetically sexual shuffle of "Burn Brighter Flame" provide a revealing glimpse into another side of Cowley's work and a more complete appreciation of his brilliance.

Listen: Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Robot Children
Listen: Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Burn Brighter Flame


More background information and full audio samples are available at the Myspace page Macro have set up, which also has a great three-part video interview with Jorge Socarras about the genesis of the project and the new interest in Patrick's work.

"Catholic" is currently scheduled for an October 19th release, in time for what would have been Patrick's 59th birthday, preceeded in September by a 12'' release for "Soon," with mixes from Morgan Geist and KiNK.

PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
DISCO DELIVERY #50: BRENDA MITCHELL - DON'T YOU KNOW (1978, BARCLAY/POLYGRAM) (SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 2008)
LAST CALL! (SUNDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2006)
DISCO DELIVERY #7: SYLVESTER - M-1015 (1984, MEGATONE) (FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2006)

LINKS:
MYSPACE: PATRICK COWLEY & JORGE SOCARRAS
MACRO RECORDINGS
PATRICK COWLEY TRIBUTE
RESIDENT ADVISOR NEWS: MACRO GET CATHOLIC (INTERVIEW WITH STEFAN GOLDMANN) (MONDAY JUNE 1, 2009)
ELECTRONIC BEATS: UNRELEASED PATRICK COWLEY ALBUM TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY (TEXT: GARETH OWEN) (JUNE 6, 2009)
FACT MAGAZINE: PATRICK COWLEY'S CATHOLIC PAST UNCOVERED (TUESDAY JUNE 9, 2009)
RESIDENT ADVISOR: STEFAN GOLDMANN
MYSPACE: STEFAN GOLDMANN
RESIDENT ADVISOR: FINN JOHANSSEN
D*RUFFALO: THE DAILY MAGAZINE FOR EXCESS CULTURE
DISCOGS: PATRICK COWLEY
DISCOGS: JORGE SOCARRAS
MYSPACE: JORGE SOCARRAS
HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
MYSPACE: HONEY SOUND SYSTEM
DISCOGS: JOHN HEDGES
DISCOGS: INDOOR LIFE

CATEGORIES: DISCO NEWS, MINI DELIVERIES

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