Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Primitive Sound System Mixed Tape Sessions and the continuing food stylings el Diablo

Maxwell's
1039 Washington Street
Hoboken New Jersey
(201) 653-1703

$1 Records from the Swap:
Guitar Gable - "Congo Mambo" (Excello Records cat. 45-2082)
The Super-Sonics With Third Dimension Sound - "New Guitar Boogie Shuffle" (Rainbow Records cat. 45-214)
The Swingin' Six - "The Green Door" (Decca cat. 32042 (117,655))
The Buddy Rich Big Band - "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" b/w "Big Mama Cass" (Pacific Jazz cat. 88145)
McCoy Tyner - "Rotunda" (Mono/Stereo) (Milestone cat. M-304)
Irving Ashby - "Big Guitar" b/w "Motatin'" (Imperial cat. X5485)
The Applejacks - "Rocka-Conga" (Cameo cat. C155-A)
The Wild-Cats - "Gazachstahagen" b/w "Billy's Cha-Cha" (United Artists UA-154 (ZTSP-28739))
The American Rock Revival - "Stompin' It" (Bell Records cat. B-788)
Archie Bell & The Drells - "Tighten Up Part I &II" (Atlantic cat. 54-2478)

New genius releases from Daptone and Truth & Soul:
Charles Bradley and the Bullets - "This Love Ain't Big Enough For The Two Of Us" b/w Dirt Rifle and the Bulletts - "(She's Got) Twighlight Eyes" (Daptone Records cat. DAP-1021)
Sharon Jones/The Dap-Kings - "I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Is In" (Vocal/Instrumental) (Daptone Records cat. DAP-1022) El Michels Affair - "Creation' b/w "Behind The Blue Curtains"
This consistently amazing crew rewards it's most hardcore fans with this "online only" release. But this is not what you think in this day of low quality downloadable MPee3's this is an online offer for a precious vinyl slab spun at 45 and pressed with the BIG Goddamn hole the way nature intended!

LPs:
MFSB - "s/t" (Philadelphia International Records cat. KZ 32046)

George Russell And His Orchestra (Narration by Jon Hendricks) featuring Bob Brookmeyer, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Frank Rehak, Phil Woods and others... - "New York, N.Y." (Decca Records cat. DL 79216)

The Steve Miller Band - "Your Saving Grace" (Capitol cat. SKAO-331)
The Bob Seger System and The Steve Miller Band produced some of the best music of the late 60's and early 70's and then along came the HORRIBLY recorded 80's and none of the big label Rock acts (except maybe the Kinks) were able to make the transition. Oh yeah, and Neil Young doesn't count because he is above all this music industry crap with almost "0" attitude and none of the Eric Clapton "LEGEND" bullshit. Anyway, this is the fourth LP from Mr. Miller and has eclectic band. The songs are a bit pulled back from "Brave New World" but that doesn't hurt the quality of the compositions.

The James Gang - "16 Greatest Hits" (MCA Records cat. ABCX-801-2)
The James Gang is one of those bands who were perfect one moment and a bit snoozy the next. This is easily explained when you view the writing credits. Any combination not containing "J. Walsh" just might not stand up to the rest of the songs and almost certainly won't stand the test of time. BUT, and as you can see that is a big but, the songs containing Mr. Walsh are never anything short of awesome. "Funk 48," "Funk 49" and "The Bomber" are all insanely good as well as containing breakbeats. The rest of the tracks on this compilation should make any Rock band cower and drop to their knees in not-worthiness.

The Detroit Night Riders - "Night Time In The Ghetto" b/w "Getting Funky" (Mutt Records cat. AR 1670)
I first heard "Getting Funky" on one of the worst titled comps from Goldmine called "Funk Superbowl." Yikes. What the hell kind of title is that? Hopefully they were done compiling had all the rights cleared and realized they had no title as they were preparing for pressing. I digress... "Getting Funky" strolls along and gathers steam as the guitar breaks out.

Hopping on the Dance Caravan - A Day In Deep at Hoctor Records
Hoctor Records is still based out of Waldwick, New Jersey. David Hoctor explained to us that they credit a lot of their success on the fact that they actually purchased many of the dance studio recordings of competitors that were going out of business. I'd say their longevity comes from a spot a little closer to home. We had an opportunity to sample any record they currently had in-stock and the Hoctor Records LP's and 45's were by far-and-away the best played, recorded and programed (whoever selected the songs to be covered should be commended). I was first introduced to the Hoctor catalog by Aldo at A1 Records in NYC and was at the time unfortunately unable to afford the hefty price tagged on the "Robin Hoctor presents Jazz on the road - 12 special arrangements for jazz dancing" LP. The cover was enough to peek anyone's interest and like most of the Hoctor LP's the design sense is as good as the selections and playing. The cover shows Robin dressed in a Wonder Woman-like outfit and striking a pretty bad-ass power stance overlaid on a graphical representation of... a road. OK, that works. Then flip it over and the titles show great promise; "Moving World," Super Fly," and "Cisco Kid" just to name a few. Of course dropping the needle on this unknown gem proved that "if it looks right, feels right and even smells right...it's probably right." It was right and I had another obsession and some more records to add to my endless list of records I would never own. A few years past and I received a phone call from a friend (Mr. Fine Wine) and he said that he was going to set up an appointment with the Hoctor people and wanted to know if I would drive. HELL YEAH! Knowing my place in such situations I let Matt grab carry and stash anything he wanted from the shelves. So I headed for the LP's. Not finding the "Jazz on the road" LP I asked David Hoctor if they might have any "in-stock." He stared at me and then said, "Let me go check in our warehouse." Warehouse? Where the hell were we then? It turns out the warehouse didn't house many Hoctor titles and was more of an "Isle of Misfit Toys" for their competitors stock now in their procession. This pleased me some what after going through a sampling of material repeated in the warehouse and found much of it to be crap. Pleased also because it meant we didn't need to come back. Trust me on this one. I continued to unearth and sample every LP title in their catalog on my portable player and then the stacks of 45's Matt was feverishly sorting through. Hours and hours later I was knee deep in booty produced to help people to learn how to shake theirs. Below are the LP titles and descriptions as well as a few 45 titles not found on any of the LP's (at least as far as I can tell).


Discotheque A-GO-GO! Directed by James Mitchell (Hoctor Records cat. HLP-4007)
This LP is beautifully designed with a laminate cover and one of the best photos I have ever scene. The shot is of Mr. Mitchell out fin front of a sea of (mostly) woman posed in what can only be described as half a Cha-Cha or simply a Cha. You have seen people in 50's films do this dance. The entire floor thrusts their lower extremities in unison simultaneously popping there shoulders back all the while smiling like they are on Lithium. Despite it always being very hard to get past this cover I must. The track listing is phenomenal. Here goes "Hang On Sloopy," "Cerveza," Tequila," "Honky Tonk No. 2," "Batman," "Twine Time," "Wiggle-Waggle," "Satisfaction," "Love Potion No. 9," "This Diamond Ring," "Secret Agent Man," and finally "Wipeout!" Get the picture. Call Annette, drop the needle and hope this Dance Party becomes a Sleep Over! The band name is Discotheque A-GO-GO, how cool is that?

"Strictly Percussion Featuring Daniel Barrajanos and his Drummers playing all the rhythms used in dance accompaniment" (Hoctor HLP-4085)

Jazz Dance Today - Directed by Jo-Jo Smith (Master Teachers Series) (Hoctor Records cat. HLP-4104)

Byron Peterson Orchestra - "Jazz Rock USA - show stopping arrangements for dance accompaniment" (Hoctor Records - Vibrant Stereo HLPS-4138)

"Robin's Rock for Jazz Technique and Dances" - Music by Dittamo (Produced by Robin and Jamie Hoctor) (Hoctor Records - Vibrant Stereo cat. HLPS-4194)
From the back cover:

MUSIC BY DITTAMO

Glenn Lomaro - Organ, Piano, Moog, Vocals
Ricky Dittamo - Bass, Vocals
Jay Dittamo - Percussion
William Ivory - Guitar

SELECTIONS

Side 1. Contains 16 Original rock tunes to accompany Robin Hoctor's Manual of Jazz Technique Exercises.

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