Getting back to boogie and disco territory for this month's show. I still had some records out from a recent gig so some of those are on here, along with some new finds and some others I've been wanting to include for a little while now. As always, further details in the track notes below...
Body Rhythm #10:
Tracklist:
Vicki Sue Robinson - Hot Summer Night
James Otis White, Jr. - Baby Come On (Extended Version)
Katia - La Pin-Up Des Pick-Up
Emílio Santiago - O Amigo De Nova York
Starpoint - Wanting You
Aretha Franklin - Every Girl (Wants My Guy)
Herbie Hancock - Ready Or Not
Homegrown Syndrome - Confrontation
Rick James - Ghetto Life
Wardell Piper - Super Sweet (12" Version)
Vivian Reed - Solid Rock
The Supremes - Bend A Little
Track Notes:
Vicki Sue Robinson - Hot Summer Night: Still holding on to the summer! It's technically not over yet, but those hot summer nights are mostly a memory now. Nevertheless, this later single from Vicki Sue Robinson was on my mind and I thought it would make a nice opener here. Perfectly steamy and sleazy, I first heard this on the second volume of the Rare Preludes compilations Unidisc put out in the 1990s. That set had the dubby "Hot Version" (the 12" b-side), but after getting the 12" for myself, I really loved hearing Vicki's full, exuberant vocal here, which even included a few nods to her signature hit, "Turn The Beat Around." Produced by Warren Schatz who seemed to produce most of her material, I'd say this is one of my favourite singles of hers.
James Otis White, Jr. - Baby Come On (Extended Version): Some funky Italo courtesy of Maurizio Sangineto AKA Sangy and vocalist James Otis White, Jr.. White was an American GI stationed in Italy who had also been in The Armed Gang, another group Sangineto produced (I played a selection of theirs on the first Body Rhythm episode). Recently reissued by Best Record Italy, I may be abusing the term 'Italo' in describing this, so I will just say that this is such a smooth, flawless slab of early 80s electro funk, it's hard to tell this came from Italy unless you read the credits.
Katia - La Pin-Up Des Pick-Up: This is the B-side from a George Duke (!) produced single by Katia Soghomonian, who recorded under the mononym Katia. I had first heard of this record when I was writing liner notes for a reissue of France Joli's 1985 album Witch of Love, which George Duke also produced. Very much in his pop-producer era at the time, one of the singles from Joli's album was "Party Lights," originally recorded by Katia as the A-side of this single. France Joli's version of that song would win the Grand Prix at the 1984 World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. In the process of writing those liner notes, I was able to contact George Duke directly to ask how this single came about. He told me that that Katia is/was a French promoter who wanted an original song she could play at her parties. In looking up the single though, I found that I was more taken by the B-side "La Pin Up des Pick Up." Written by François Feldman (who has done some now sought-after disco as FF Yellowhand) and Jean-Marie Moreau, I was finally able to cross this off my vinyl wish list over the summer. Should also note that the title picture for this month's episode is from the back cover of this 12" single.
Emílio Santiago - O Amigo De Nova York: This song by Emílio Santiago had been on my wantlist for some time. I was finally able to cross it off recently when his 1983 album Mais Que Um Momento was reissued by Universal as part of their Hora do Brasil reissue series. The entire LP is solid, but this track is the real standout. Singing about a friend from New York—"from the underground, from the black world" ("É do subterrâneo, é do mundo negro"), who goes to Carnaval and becomes a Brasilian at heart. A beautiful, funky and infectious melding of two worlds.
Starpoint - Wanting You: Best known for their 1985 crossover hit "Object of My Desire," I find that my favourite records of theirs are their earlier albums on Casablanca's Chocolate City imprint. The opener and title track of their third album. Most of their albums are good for a solid, funky gem or two, and this is one that I've been really enjoying lately. I slowed this one down here for beatmatching purposes, but I had this in my record bags from recent gigs and wanted to play it again.
Aretha Franklin - Every Girl (Wants My Guy): One of my favourite tracks from the two albums she did with Luther Vandross in the producer's chair. From her 1983 Get It Right LP, this track is, to me, the true successor to "Jump To It." A reviewer once referred to that as Aretha at her most "anti-woman," yet I have to admit, sassy Aretha is some of my favourite Aretha. Rich Juzwiak penned what is probably one of the best headlines about Aretha in a piece for Gawker entitled "The Queen of Soul and Shade," which documented a Wall Sreet Journal interview that has since launched a thousand memes. I mention that only because I feel like this song fits that headline perfectly. Once again, Aretha is on the phone with her friend, "Kitty" ("hey Kitty, girl!" - in case anyone wondered where RuPaul got that from!) talking down the girls chasing her man because "he's been snatched by me, now!" I mixed out of the song just around the time she drops the line "have you looked in your mirror lately!?" Shady and a little bit competitive, while it may not live up to the idealized public image of her, it's probably closer to who she really was. Once again, Marcus Miller just burns up the bass on this song.
Herbie Hancock - Ready Or Not: One of several great dancefloor jams from his 1979 Feets Don't Fail Me Now album, and also on the 12" B-side of "You Bet Your Love." One of those singles which I hadn't flipped over for the longest time, but as soon as I did, I was hooked. Co-written by Jeffrey Cohen and Ray Parker, Jr. (!), it's no wonder this is so damn funky. I'm either dancing in my seat, or dancing on the floor whenever this comes on. Produced by the ever reliable David Rubinson, even if I didn't get a chance to play this one out over the summer, glad to include it here.
Homegrown Syndrome - Confrontation: This band was also known as Memphis and also as Home Grown Funk. Under the latter moniker, they had released "Party Vibes" for/with Ike Turner on his 1980 album, The Edge which included some of his last sessions with Tina. This particular song was a smooth, catchy one-off single for Arista from 1981. Produced and co-written by former A Taste of Honey songwriter and keyboardist Perry Kibble, the original 7" has gone on to become a rarity, with copies selling upwards of $400 US. Thankfully, it was made available again on an officially licensed reissue by Athens of the North, which is the copy I have. At a certain point, even the reissue started to become expensive too, so I'm glad AOTN were able to press another run. While it's perhaps too bad this was one of those singles which didn't do much on its initial release, as far as I'm concerned, those just become musical treasures left for those willing to look.
Rick James - Ghetto Life: This is perhaps the most popular song on this mix in terms of chart singles. Taken from Rick James' landmark 1981 Street Songs album; even if it wasn't the biggest of the album's songs, it is certainly one of the most potent. I recall an interview with Rick—likely just before his passing in 2004—where he frankly said (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here) that his songs were about "real sh*t, like fire and desire and ghetto life." If I recall correctly, he was trying to counter the one-dimensional typecast labels often used to describe him and his music, like the king of "punk-funk" or whatever else it may have been in that interview. "Ghetto Life" is not only a jam, but as a song and performance feels like the culimination of a lifetime of experience, emotion, rage and ambition. In fact, the whole Street Songs album feels like that, which is a major reason why it is the landmark record that it is. Even the 'party' songs have an element of grit and realness to them; the grooves and the subject matter all just cut straight to the point. I had Street Songs in my record bag from my most recent gig, filling in for Cyclist at Wax Candy Disco one Friday last month. As I recall the most requested artists that night were ABBA, Rick James and Donna Summer, in more-or-less that order. Though I didn't get to play this particular song that night, I'm glad to include it here to make up for that.
Wardell Piper - Super Sweet (12" Version): I wrote a Disco Delivery entry on Wardell Piper's 1979 LP back in 2007, and this is one of my favourite tracks from it. One of those rare instances where the 12" mix (by Jimmy Simpson) is actually shorter than the LP version. Produced by John H. Fitch, Jr. and Reuben Cross, the same guys who wrote Evelyn "Champagne" King's signature hit "Shame," this is just one of those great disco/funk singles that flies under the radar outside disco digger circles, yet packs a lot of heat and isn't hard (or expensive) to find. Great disco bass on here and Wardell's vocals get seriously wild, just shy of delirious in fact, but really deliver the goods.
Vivian Reed - Solid Rock: I've played Vivian Reed on a previous Disco Delivery mix and this is another one of my favourites by her. For me, the standout on her 2nd album from 1976, Brown Sugar—named after her Tony-nominated Broadway debut in Bubbling Brown Sugar that same year. Clocking in as the longest cut on the LP; its gospel-inflected crescendo seems perfectly primed for mid-70s disco play and still packs a punch.
The Supremes - Bend A Little: An originally unreleased disco track from the latter-day Supremes, which was finally given a vinyl release for the first time last year by Dynamite Cuts. They even gave it a picture sleeve, though unfortunately they put the wrong line-up on cover. This song had garnered an almost legendary status in Supremes fan circles, where it circulated unofficially for years until its eventual release in 2002 when Motown/Universal released The Supremes' 70's Anthology set. Left off of their 1975 self-titled album for reasons still unspecified, Andy Kellman of the All Music Guide called this song "a would-be disco single so stellar that it must have been shelved due to some form of label politics." Looking at things from that angle, producers Clayton Ivey and Terry Woodford, once on the verge of establishing their own Motown South imprint, were apparently on the outs at Motown by the time The Supremes' LP was released. As a result, none of their productions for the group were released as singles, and their most single-worthy track (this one) was shelved altogether. An instrumental version, however, was released on the second Motown Magic Disco Machine LP and the recent Dynamite Cuts 7" release pairs them both. Either way, I'm glad to play this in my sets whenever I can.
PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
disco delivery mix #16: guest mix for disco dose society, vol. 43 (tuesday august 4, 2026)
another setting radio: body rhythm #1 (sunday december 21, 2026)
disco delivery mix #15: music you can ride on (thursday june 27, 2024)
disco delivery mix #9: guest mix for sunshine after dark (thursday august 18, 2022)
disco delivery #43: wardell piper (1979, midsong international) (monday august 27, 2007)
disco delivery #26: a taste of honey - another taste (1979, capitol) (saturday september 30, 2006)
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another setting radio: artist bio - thomas del pozo
CATEGORIES: BODY RHYTHM
