Ray Agee - Real Real Love

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO this week probably
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

This obscure single appeared in a big bag of 45s that the good Professor Plastic brought round a few years ago. 'Real Real Love' was in fact the B-side of the single, the A side being a blues. For some reason many soul and funk singles where made like this, with the most exciting tracks put on the flip sides of blues and ballads. Clearly they weren't initially produced to appeal to the likes of me.

The track is a cracker. A fast and furiously-paced slice of soul with a real hard sound. In style it sits somewhere between James Brown and The Sonics. It's got the speed of the Sonics and something of their sound, whilst the structure, the horns and, in particular, the rhythm guitar show the clear influence of The Godfather Of Soul.

I know nothing about this track, other than what is on the label and there's next to nothing on that. By it's sound i would have to judge that it was recorded in the latter part of the sixites. The singer i know a fraction about and i found that here. Whether Ray recorded anything else like this is anyone's guess, but if i see anything else by him i'd certainly want to hear it to find out.

The theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents…

ORIGINATION probably on one of my Hitchcock DVDs
LAST LISTENED TO not really ever
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT curious
RATING

Oops, i forgot to remember to write this morning. Maybe because it was such an odd one to wake with. I can only assume that the music was playing on a menu on one of several Hitchcock DVDs that we have watched recently.

You probably know the piece without knowing that you know it. It's always made me picture Hitchcock as the jovial and rotund prankster, as opposed to the master of suspense and world's greatest film director. But then since it was used for his TV series, wherein small, dark tales where told, perhaps that was the point. The contrast. A fall sense of security. Hitchcock was a master of manipulating his audience.

I have no idea who wrote the music or even who performed it. Doubtless it would have been the studio orchestra for whatever tv station that ran the programme originally. I don't have a copy of it and i have better things to do than to track down the info. If you really care, then find out yourself and let me know.

Harold Faltemeyer - Axel F

ORIGINATION a charity shop 45
LAST LISTENED TO no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING

It's not the worst song i have woken with in my head, but it may be one of the most annoying. Even still, i sorta kinda like it a bit, but only a bit and probably only for a few bars.

Stanley Turrentine - Spooky

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO in the past fortnight
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok
RATING

Stanley Turrentine was a sax player on Blue Note records when he recorded this with a big band in 1968. It is a cracking version of the pop hit that manages to transform the tune into something similar to a cop show tune. It's got all the correct ingredients for the genre: big, driving beats, large brass section and a hard-blown lead instrument.

This was, in fact, the first version of this song that i heard and it was many year before i realised that there were even words to it! I first knew it from a Blue Note compilation called 'Lost Grooves' but was lucky enough to spot the original 45 release on a trip to London a few years back. Up to the early 90s it was the only release the track was given.

I've tried finding other Turrentine material from the period, but none of it sounds like this, which explains why it was only ever put out on single. Most of it was, unfortunately, not very good easy listening and has never been played again.

Lee Mason & His Orchestra - Shady Blues

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO this week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

And yet another funky 45. My head is certainly full of them at the moment and a good thing that is too. Especially in the fight against winter gloom.

This one is a recent re-issue by the always excellent Jazzman Records. It was recorded some time probably in the early 70s for the British library music label Chappell. Due to the nature of library music, this tune was never given an actual release and only become known to collectors during the explosion of interest in library music in the 90s. Needless to say, this was one of the rarer and much sought-after recordings.

The track starts with a drum and bass figure that is quickly joined by a flute. Things soon set up a gear with a lovely drum roll, top wah-wah guitar and brass. The flute soon re-joins before another break and a futher change up, this time introduciing strings and an organ. By now what had started out as a fairly spare piece, has become quite crowded. Here it reaches a crescendo, before quickly dipping back into the original drum, bass and flute figure.

It's a very simple track and therein lies it's appeal. Nothing especially fancy happens here, but what does happen is well played and well contructed and happens at a nice, laid-back pace.

Apparently it has become a very popular sampling-ground and there's no suprise in that.

(same again)

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good
RATING

Dull, dull, dull. Just like last saturday. Bloody hammering neighbour.

New Birth - Grandaddy (Part 1)

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO in the past few days
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good
RATING

Another funk 45 that has been spinning around my head since the weekend. It's good.

Wolfsbane - Tears From A Fool

ORIGINATION Live Fast, Die Fast LP
LAST LISTENED TO a few weeks back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT confusing
RATING

After almost a week of almost nothing but funk, it came as quite a surprise this morning to wake with this in my head. Especially considering that it is the weakest of all the tunes from this, Wolfsbane's debut release. There are far better and more catchy tracks on it that i really like, why it wasn't one of those, i don't know.

Wolfsbane, for those who are unfamiliar with them, and that's much more likely to be more than less of you, where a small, hard rockin' heavy metalish crew who first hit in '89. They went on to produce three and a half albums. Their singer, Blaze Bailey, then became singer for no less than Iron Maiden during a number of years in the mid to late 90s, before Bruce Dickinson returned.

'Tears From A Fool' is the ballad from their fast, exciting and slightly scuzzy debut. As a ballad on a metal(ish) LP chances are that it'll be crap and it is, kind of. However, it has a strange appeal that is rather hard to discern. Lyrically there are more clichés than even slightly sensible writers would have considered and the old accoustic guitar strumming up to electric guitar solo is a tired formula. Tired and clichéd. Yet, and this is the puzzler, i actually quite like this song. Maybe it's just a soft spot i have for Wolfsbane. Maybe it's nostalgia, i can't tell.

What i can tell is that the song, like most of theirs, is played surprisingly well. For all that Wolfsbane played the part of a scuzzy, half-arsed, layabout metal band, they were actually really tight. Going back to their music after a number of years, i was surprised at how well played it was. There is also humour and humanity in it, traits that most metal sadly lacked. Maybe that's the appeal.

For all this track's clichés and predictability, it's pulled off convincingly and there is something quite appealing about that conviction.

Lemuria - Hunk Of Heaven

ORIGINATION Strange Games & Things
LAST LISTENED TO 9 hours ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT most high
RATING

Laid back 70s soul/funk this morning. Really pretty perfect for waking too.

Lemuria where from Hawaii and recorded this in 1978. Like yestedays song, it was given a tiny release on a tiny label and it duly sank without trace, only to be discovered years later by the rare vinyl hounds. By coincidence, Jazzman records have recently re-issued it. I'm almost tempted to buy it again.

The track features primarily the vocal talents of Sharon ‘Terea’ Robinson who sings the refrain 'I just want a big old hunk of heaven' so many times that it can't fail to stick in your head. She's backed by a lovely combination of percussion, funky moog (think Stevie Wonder) and funky bass. In fact, there's a vibe real close to some of Wonder's best funky grooves of the early 70s here. Only with more percussion. This is really that good. I only needed to hear it once yesterday and it was running round in my head for hours and i was quite happy that it was.

Sugar Hill - Slow Down

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING

'Slow Down' is a juicy slab of rare funk. It was recorded some time in the mid seventies by a group who were all under 21 years of age. Even younger still was the singer, who was 14 when she recorded this!

For a funk tune it's taken at a pretty fast tempo (perhaps due to the youthful energy) and it's held at that speed by the kind of funky drums and bongos you'd hope for. Along with this, there are some nice organ melodies and a short but sweet guitar solo. On top the vocals are very assured, espscially considering the singer's age.

The track, like so many funk tunes of this ilk, was given a release on a tiny record label and then quickly vanished. In the late 90s, with the interest in funk 45s exploding, it became one of a vast number of sought-after rarities. Luckily, it was re-issued by another small label in 2002 to far greater exposure but this company sadly folded not long after, so it's become a bit of a rarity again. Enjoy.