Friday, February 24, 2006

Primitive Sound System Spinning 78's and Swapping Wax - Fri. Feb. 24th & Sat. Feb. 25th

Hello Y'all,
Two big nights this weekend to tell you about. First up is Friday February 24th for the Soul Station Party at 58 Gallery in Jersey City. Aside from Hammond B grooves pumped from an actual B and its conjoined twin the Leslie; my Brother Michael and I will be spinning 78's and nothing but. We spent the better part of Saturday night going through some 2-300 78's in preparation and I gotta say I was extremely impressed with what we have and truth be told he has a massive collection at this point. The 78's breath new life into listening to music. Big, full sound that wraps you in the recording studio's atmosphere with clarity you have never known if you have never experienced the grooves deep in that shellac. Take that you MP3 listening lemmings! "I can fit 10 million songs I my iPod. So what that it isn't the best fidelity" Ehh, go on! One Big Joe Turner 78 is enough sound for a lifetime. "What's the matter the groove to big fo' ya?!"

Second up is our quarterly bin flip at DC's Tavern. Saturday February 25th is the next installment of the DC's Tavern Record Swap. We have got these on a pretty regular schedule at this point (though May's date is still a bit flexible) and I know there are folks who truly look forward to the day. If all works out we'll have several DJ's including Greg Tormo, Mr. Fine Wine, Joe Belock, Peter Gunn and myself. I know there is someone I missed so I apologize. Please come by regardless if you have anything to buy sell or trade... heck there is always alcohol and smokes.

- pat.
Primitive Sound System
FULL DETAILS: http://www.primitivesoundsystem.org

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DETAILS:

February 24th 9PM
Soul Station Party
On Friday February 24th my brother Michael and I will be kick'n it way Ol' Skool! That's right bitches we're breaking out... the 78's! Dun' get all up'n my grill 'cause... 78's are very delicate. They're shellac dammit. This is a dream gig if there ever was, we'll be spinning 78's in between Jazz Organ sets on Matt Barton's 78RPM DJ Coffin.

Bryan Beninghove & The B3 Explosion are having another Soul Station Party at 58 Gallery and they are dragging a real Hammond B3 along for the ride. It doesn't get any better than this. The details are below or visit the gallery site for directions - http://www.fifty8.com/About/about.html
Joe Kapp plays a vintage Hammond B-3 w/ Geoff Clapp & Gene Segal
The Longo Brothers spin rare 78's on a modded up DJ coffin with a tube amp!

58 Gallery
58 Coles St, Jersey City, New Jersey - $10 at the door

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February 25th around 2PM (or so) until closing
DC's Tavern Saturday Record Swap
At DC's Tavern we look for reasons to stay out of the light with plenty of alcohol, good music and the pleasant company of friends... at least until they have had one too many. The swaps are one of the few days we shut down Michael's iPod (the jukebox) and cover the pool table but of course this is for the noblest cause of all... the amicable exchange of vinyl recordings (styrene or shellac is also allowed). Bring a box to sell or trade. Bring a friend. Bring money for alcohol. Remember, if you're drinking don't drive, if you're driving don't drink and always tip your bartenders. (Jersey still smokes... for now, I think.)
Fun for girls and boys!
Music and money will be exchanging hands from 1:30PM-8PM. DJs spinnin' an unholy mix from decades past and present, taps pournin' beer to help you rationalize your purchases. Come for the music come for the beer but come often.

[Keep in mind, not everyone is a hardcore collector. Just some guys and gals who want some good tunes whether it is rare or not is not an issue. Condition is not always everything when you are looking for records to listen to! Of course rare gems and mint condition records are always welcome.]

DC's Tavern
505 8th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey
PH: 201-792-5550 - Operators are standing by!
http://www.myspace.com/dcstavern

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Some junk in the trunk...
Sadly all my 78's are in a different storage area so I wouldn't do the justice with long distance descriptions but here are some titles I am bringing along:
Charlie Parker - "Carving the Bird"
Slim and Slam - "Flat Foot Floogie"
Louis Jordan - "Caldonia" and "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate"
Ike Quebec - "Hard Track"
Milt Jackson - "Bag's Groove"

All I know is I have a box and my brother has two! You gotta be there when I whip out my big 10 inch... record of a band that plays the blues. You aint nothin' if you aint makin' the scene Daddy-O!

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Record Swap spins:

2 new finds join the set...
J.J. Jackson - "I Dig Girls" Calla Records cat. C-125)
I heard this song long ago and for some reason never figured out who it was and always forgot to ask the right person at the right time. When I would remember to look into it I would always come up with Booby Rydell, and no offense to Mr. Rydell I knew that is not what I was looking for. Oddly a very current piece of technology gave me the answer. While torturing Pandora ( http://www.pandora.com/ ) with diverse genres and obscure artists to see what it would play I some how formulated the right question for the right person (?). Starting off with a Dragnet Groove, the organ and drums try to keep up with Mr. Jackson's throaty, gravelly style. Simple lyrics about all kinds of "girls" are pushed around the floor by the aforementioned drums and organ and not to be outdone the horn section has a secret weapon in the sax section. He slowly builds with some traditional honking style but when given his moment he takes it and wails with the rest of them. I wonder what else Pandora has in her box?

Boogaloo Joe Jones - "Right On!" (Prestige cat. 45-733)
I can never get enough of Soul Jazz / Funk Jazz. I have a longer version of "Right On!" on a comp but never found a clean enough copy of the LP to drop the money for it. In the long run I'll stick with this fine little record since, hard as I try, I can't sit through Jazz interpretations of Pop songs and this era of Prestige and Blue Note are full of them. One of the ways I have kept a limit on my collection (HAHAHA, no really...) is that when it comes to LP's if I can't listen through them from start to finish out they go. Unfortunately in the world of Jazz this happens a lot. I digress. Nice echoey drum starts off this cut followed immediately by guitar and bass. The horns jump in to state the theme and off Mr. Jones goes soulfully and skillfully tossing off lick after lick without ever losing the groove. His extended solo reminds me of Bill Mason's insane organ solo on Rusty Bryant's "Fire Eater." It all comes to a head but not before the bass gives you a little taste of what is to follow on the full length version that is.

Hank Marr - "No Rough Stuff" (Federal cat. 45-12538)
Hank Marr was one of the featured artists on the James Brown LP "Jump Around with James Brown and other great artists." I had the LP for a very long time before finding a copy of this 45 and we have been friends for a very long time now and it is still a favorite. Organ and drums jump up right from the start on "No Rough Stuff" followed quickly by the horns. I am a sucker for screaming sax and organ solos and this 2:41 tune is jam packed with both. There is a Spy Theme feel to the chorus that pushes this one into Top Ten status for me. Smoking!

Hank Jacobs - "Monkey Hips and Rice" (Sue Records Inc. cat. 45-795)
Animals and food all in one title, how the hell can you go wrong?! Piano and organ all in one song... holy shit I think I am going to explode. This little number bounces along in a total party mode. Hand claps and hoots punctuate this unchanging garagey jam. Bouncing, jumping and skipping are all welcome. (The other side ("So Far Away") is a moody instrumental that I love as well.)

Betty Wright - "Shoorah! Shoorah! (Alston cat. 3711)
I first really took notice of this song on Mr. Fine Wine's show on WFMU - ( http://wfmu.org/playlists/sv ). Then I discovered it made my lady dance and I had to have my very own copy. I have since burned through about 4 copies. Penned by Allen Toussaint and driven by an undeniable New Orleans groove (me), Shoorah! Shoorah! is filled with shouted choruses and hand claps that give this medium tempo tune a party feel hard to pull off at such a pace. The lyrics are a game of cat and mouse which I think anyone would be lucky to play with Ms. Wright.

"King" Coleman - "Loo-key Doo-key" Pt. 2 (Dade Records cat. Record No. 1807)
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... IS YOU READY?! King Coleman sounds like he would be a blast to hang out with. From what I know he was a DJ and a recording "personality." What a great life. As nutty as part one is, it is tame compared to his mood on part two. Much to Coleman's delight the sax gets to go off on part two which prompts him to exclaim that he can do the Loo-key Doo-key all day. Classic.

Andre Williams - "Humpin' , Bumpin' and Thumping" (Checker cat. 1187)
If there ever was a title that warrants the, " 'nuff said" description more I can't think of it. Call me crazy but does Andre really ask at the intro, "Does anyone gotta raw egg?" The drums are heavy and out front and punctuated by gritty organ lines. The sax solo is weirdly Coaster-esque but all in all this song is down right raw, dirty and funky all over.

Something old, something new, something found on the internet...
The Victims - "Head" (Golden Disc Records cat. GDR 1002)
Here's one of those incredible stories for you. A good friend of mine was extremely surprised to find out that is estranged father was a one off member of The Misfits. He joined the band for a brief time in 1978 for the Canadian leg of the tour plus a stop in Detroit. My friend had, for all intensive purposes, never met his Dad. Pop skipped when he was not even two and apparently there was a reunion, albeit brief, when he was five. Searching some info on The Misfits he stumbles upon a timeline and there it is; 1978 Rick Reily replaces...etc, etc. The rest really didn't matter. His fucking dad was a member of The Misfits! The Misfits, one of Punk Rocks most legendary bands and one that any kid getting into Punk / Hardcore is required to hear. Turns out Rick Reily was the leader of another legendary band of sorts; The Victims. A true Punk band from the late 70's. The Victims have the dubious honor of being the only non-Misfits act to record for Danzig's Plan 9 Records. And speaking of dubious, their LP came out after their day in the sun (1979) but includes from what I can tell the original (and FAR superior version) of "Real Wild Child" a song later slaughtered for commercial purpose by Iggy Pop and worse yet the remake of Josie and the Pussycats. "Real Wild Child" is the "A" of this 45 but "Head" (previously known as "I Want Head" for the Plan 9 release) shows the band's true Punk ethic. "Head" starts off with a revved up KISS sound taken at double time but that is broken by the wailing 60's Garage harmonica and Arthur "Killer" Kane sounding vocals. The lyrics are perfectly stupid and the chorus is pounded into your brain until you embarrassing sing it publicly ("I WANT HEAD 'TIL I'M DEAD") while the band kicks the shit out of the bands you never heard of from this era and most of the ones you have. (Thanks to Vin Li of Generation Records for filling in the pieces).