Another Setting Radio: Body Rhythm #6

Photo: James Haan for Upfront America (April 1980)


Here is Episode 6 of Body Rhythm, which aired on Another Setting Radio, Sunday May 10.

This month's mix came together rather quickly. Mostly consisting of records I just had sitting around the decks; some new acquisitions, along with some long-time favourites of mine. I can't say this is the roughest mix I've recorded, but probably not the smoothest either. Either way, I enjoyed it enough while listening to leave it alone for the most part.

Mostly in the realm of 80s R&B/Funk, along with a couple entries each of Italo and straight-ahead disco.

Listen back to the archived show below, along with further details in the tracklist and track notes below.




Body Rhythm - Show #6
Tracklist:

Diana Ross - Telephone
Sharon Redd - Sweet Sensation
Lillo Thomas - Settle Down
Kid Seville - Do You Have A Car?
Stargard - What You Waitin’ For
Lace - Can’t Play Around
Girls Can’t Help It - Baby Doll (Extended U.S. Remix)
Norma Jean Wright - Love Attack
Betty Miranda - Take Me To The Top
Fesh - Scandal Eyes (Special T.I.T. Mix)
Caroline Bernier - Take It Off
Irvin Lee - I Need Your Lovin

All the records played on show #6

Track Notes:

Diana Ross - Telephone: After her hit album with Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards of Chic in 1980, this is one of those times Miss Ross would work with both of them in the following decade, albeit individually. Produced by Bernard Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Denzil Miller, this is one of favourite tracks off Ross' 1984 Swept Away album. It was something of a minor R&B hit for her in the US, but probably one of my favourite of her post-Motown singles. With Diana's silky, emotive vocals and Bernard Edwards' bass up front, it's got a cool, spacious groove that also fits with in with the sophisticated R&B that I associate with the time period. A friend of mine who wasn't necessarily a Diana Ross fan told me he'd had this song on repeat after hearing it for the first time, and I competely get it.

Sharon Redd - Sweet Sensation: Sharon's one-time boss Bette Midler used the phrase "sleaze with ease" to describe her backing trio, The Harlettes. It also happens to be the perfect descriptor of this song and really, of Sharon's vocals. One of the standouts on her last LP (and my personal favourite), Love How You Feel from 1984 on Prelude.

Lillo Thomas - Settle Down: In line with the previous selections, early-mid 80s R&B has been a mainstay in my personal listening lately, and Lillo Thomas' first two albums are prime examples of it. Produced by Paul Lawrence, it's got that trademark Hush Productions sound that a lot of Melba Moore's records had around that time. I had recently got Lillo's second album All Of You, so it was nearby and I wanted to put something from it in this mix.

Kid Seville - Do You Have A Car?: A later Salsoul single from 1984, when they were really getting street and funky from Leonard Williams, AKA Kid Seville. Produed by Walter Kahn, who had also produced Karen Young's disco mega-hit "Hot Shot," this is a great funky single that straddles boogie and early hip-hop. I love how this single both glamorizes car culture and sends it up at the same time. There's a girl who's thinks she's got too much class to be seen in a broke-down old ride ("not in that '75!"), and the guy who charms her by bragging about his "Cadillac at home with the colour TV." Meanwhile, the girl catches him at the bus stop and he doesn't deny it. In fact, he loves the great conversation on public transportation. That "funky ride," likely ain't cheap, so he likes "to save on cash and save on gas," so therefore he uses his "'trans pass.'" The second half of the song then shifts to our main character extolling the virtues of picking up girls on the bus. Gotta love it!

Stargard - What You Waitin’ For: The title track of Stargard's 2nd LP from 1978 and another Norman Whitfield tour-de-force. Just like their big hit "Which Way Is Up," this song was written by Whitfield, but produced by his associate Mark Davis. Whitfield would later cut this song on Rose Royce the following year for their Rainbow Connection IV album but Stargard's version remains my personal favourite of the two. The groove hits a little harder and the production, packed with funky hooks, just has more grit and guts to it. There's a false fade here that basically divides the song in two, and it's that second half of the song, basically an extended instrumental break which really seals it for me.

Lace - Can’t Play Around: Mixed by Larry Levan and a stone-cold classic from the female group Lace (whose Discogs entry, as of this writing, needs some amalgamating). From 1982 - another really good music year in my opinion, it's perhaps too late to be called 'classic disco,' but it certainly carries so much of the groove and spirit. The vocals in particular really carry the weight here, as in "that's the time when I get serious!"

Girls Can’t Help It - Baby Doll (Extended U.S. Remix): A recent pickup of mine, written and produced by Colin Campsie and George McFarlane AKA The Quick. The Canadian 12" has the extended US remix by Mark Kamins (though he remains uncredited on this pressing), which is what I played here. I can't say these are my favourite lyrics ever, but I suppose they're perhaps better taken ironically rather than literally. Production-wise though, Campsie & McFarlane don't miss on this one.

Norma Jean Wright - Love Attack: An excellent slice of boogie from the first lady of Chic, Norma Jean Wright. Produced by John "Skip" Anderson and Steve Williams, both members of Lenny White's Twennynine, this is probably one of my favourite singles of hers as a soloist and outside of the Chic umbrella. Surprisingly not an easy one to come across these days, but was glad to finally snag a copy recently.

Betty Miranda - Take Me To The Top: A recent Italo pickup by Betty Miranda (real name: Miranda Gobbetto), who was apparently one of the first prominent female DJs in Italy working both in clubs and on radio. She'd eventually make the leap to recording, working with Romano Bais (AKA 'Mongow') who wrote this song. Produced by Elvio Pieri and Massimo Sierra, this would be the first of three singles she'd release in the mid 80s. While I find the synth sounds and production more sophisticated than the lyrics; even in their phonetic deadpan, I still found the vocal appealing enough to play over the instrumental here. Today, Miranda remains a broadcaster and voice actor in Rimini.

Fesh - Scandal Eyes (Special T.I.T. Mix): Continuing on the Italo tip here... From 1986, this one's a little bit after my favourite period of Italo Disco, but when I took a listen to this at a local shop recently, I was promptly hooked. "Scandal Eyes," also sounds like "Scandalize" so not sure if that mondegreen was intentional, but it feels clever anyway. Despite being on a label called Italoheat, it seems this was entirely produced in Germany by German & Austrian writers and producers. Given that Italo Disco was branded by Bernhard Mikulski of the German ZYX label in the first place, perhaps that shouldn't come as a complete surprise. The production is credited to the anonynous TEAM Musikproduktion, but I'd guess this is largely a product of the writing team - Austrian singer Gilla, (credited here as G. Winger) and her husband Helmut Rulofs. Not sure who Fesh is or was, this seems to be the only single attributed to her on Discogs.

Caroline Bernier - Take It Off: The sole Can-Con entry on this mix, Caroline Bernier had a little disco hit as Carolyne Bernier with "Secret Agent Love" in 1978. This track, written and produced by Motown legend, Edwin Starr (!), is probably the catchiest track from her second, self-titled album from 1981 on Unidisc, which was also mostly written and produced by Starr. Since her days as a disco singer, Bernier has made a name in the fashion and beauty industry, most recently executive producing a reality show called The Fashion Hero, billed as "the first competition TV series changing the unrealistic standards in the beauty and fashion industry."

Irvin Lee - I Need Your Lovin: A nice little piece of electro-funk that I picked up at a small record fair recently. Irvin Lee was a member of the band Special Delivery, but had put out a few singles on his own in the mid 80s, including this one from 1984. Synthy without sounding overly slick, this one got me from the first play.


PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
another setting radio: body rhythm #2 (tuesday january 20, 2026)
real live #10 (friday june 6, 2008)
disco delivery #2: norma jean wright - norma jean (1978, bearsville (saturday, january 14, 2006)

LINKS:
another setting radio
instagram: another setting radio
soundcloud: another setting radio archives
another setting radio: artist bio - thomas del pozo


CATEGORIES: BODY RHYTHM, CAN-CON DISCO

Disco Delivery #2: Norma Jean Wright - Norma Jean (1978, Bearsville)

Norma Jean Wright - Saturday
Norma Jean Wright - Sorcerer (12" Mix)
Norma Jean Wright - I Like Love

For the second full disco delivery installment (I guess I'd call the last one a mini-delivery), I thought I'd spotlight Norma Jean Wright's first and only album, produced by one of the most prolific production teams of the disco era. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were the duo behind Chic and their success needs no explanation. Their hits with Chic are pretty much disco staples, not to mention their productions for the likes of Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. This though was one of their first, in fact their very first outside production. Norma Jean was initially a backup singer who eventually met up with Bernard & Nile while they were recording the first Chic demos and ended up being their principal female lead on the first Chic album.

After the suceess of the group's first singles, they released this album on the unlikely Bearsville label, perhaps the last label one would expect to find a disco classic on, maybe one reason why the album didn't seem to do that well commercially (in addition to the fact that she was initially credited as just "Norma Jean" same as a previously well known country singer). Despite that, the first single "Saturday" was a club hit and a sure fire classic. It's easy to see why, it's one of those definitive songs of the disco era that captures the lifestyle and the scene in the music and lyrics; the joy and anticipation of going to the club and letting go of a week's stress and problems, but at the same time with a little hint of melancholy.. The other really notable track is "Sorcerer," which was a little unlike a lot of what Chic had done before or after. Love the spacey sound effects and that percolating percussion on this one, a bit of a departure from the usually more stripped-down Chic sound; I especially love the 12" version of this track with the extended bars of guitar and piano and the sound effects which just seem to have more impact. Also interesting is her cover of Sam Cooke's "Having A Party," perhaps the only time Chic ever produced a cover version. It's a pretty pleasant cover, albeit one of a song that's been done many times over, so that sort of takes away from the novelty, but it's still ace though.. One of my other favourite tracks on the album is the closer "I Like Love;" Nile Rodgers once cited this album as having some of their best guitar work and it's apparent on this song, especially at the beginning on those great rolling guitar licks of his..

As far as the rest of the album goes, there are a few ballads, the best of which are "I Believe In You" and "This Is The Love." Norma's voice is front and centre and really makes these tracks. There's something strong, yet smooth, and dare I say, chic about her vocals which I love. In any case, Chic were never really known for their ballads, as pleasant as they can be, they often crossed from pleasant into pedestrian more than once, though they did get much better on their later efforts.. The bonus tracks on the 2000 CD reissue add a lot to the album; aside from 12" versions of "Saturday," "Sorcerer" and "Having A Party," there are a couple of non-album tracks originally intended for a proposed second album, most notably "High Society," also produced by Bernard & Nile which was also released as a single (and one that I'll probably save for a later blog update) ;-)

Just to explain why this album is special to me, I remember when I got this on CD around five years ago.. I was really getting into Chic's material at the time and I'd been after a copy of the album (like many other Chic fans, I'm sure), so I was thrilled to find that this had been reissued on CD and it certainly didn't disappoint. I remember the thrill of getting this in the mail and playing it on my way to school, in fact this CD was in heavy rotation on my discman (remember those?) for several months.. It was part of the soundtrack to my first few months in High School so I'm often reminded of that time listening to these. Unfortunately now the CD reissue is deleted and can fetch a pretty hefty price on eBay these days. Like many parts of the Chic catalogue it's again out of print, so hopefully someone will come along and rectify that one of these days. In the meantime, enjoy..

Notes about the blog:
I'm starting to settle into this blogging thing now, so I think I'll set the date for the disco deliveries on either Friday or Saturday, and some posts spread out in the days in between, just to keep things fairly regular and on schedule. Also, if anyone has any problems with Rapidshare or Easy Share, then feel free to let me know... Thanks again to Joe.My.God for linking me on his blog, since getting the counter the number of hits I've gotten from his page have been astounding! *bows* Also great thanks to Mac Daddy @ Music From My Loft, fourfour and Chicago Sexbox for giving me links on their blogs as well. *bows in gratitude*

LINKS:
NORMA JEAN WRIGHT INTERVIEW @ CHIC TRIBUTE (NOTE: REMOVE EXCLAMATION POINT IN NEW WINDOW)
NORMA JEAN WRIGHT @ DISCOMUSEUM.COM
NORMA JEAN WRIGHT - NORMA JEAN LP REVIEW @ WILSON & ALROY'S RECORD REVIEWS
NORMA JEAN WRIGHT - NORMA JEAN CD @ DISCOMUSIC.COM
NORMA JEAN WRIGHT - SATURDAY 12" @ DISCOMUSIC.COM
CHIC - S/T CD @ DISCOMUSIC.COM

CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERIES, PAST REISSUES