Dave Mattson - August Reunion 1975 (no label) ... Great and Unknown DIY Loner Folk Rock '75

Update: sold the dave mattson finally, mainly out of curiousity to see what it would get. As you know I think its a really awesome and very underrated piece, theres still virtually no info out there on it, except that i did discover that mr. mattson went on to record an album on Word out of waco in the early 80s, a few of the tracks from here are on the lp but they are reworked in a most horendous manner. The record is in vg- condition and the cover was a vg+, so it wasnt in the best shape but it did sound pretty damn good still amazingly, I feel like after I cleaned it the sound got better so I will reupolad this at some point cause this one is a litttle grainy. Anyway in its condition it sold for 155 dollars, which aint bad considering, and the fact that it has no following really makes it surprising, but after selling it on ebay and getting it out there plus my blog hopefully people will become more aware and start looking for it. Its not as dark as some people like their private folk rock to be, but it makes up for that in lyrics and song structure. I think if it was in excellent shape and was in the hands of a guy like Show and Tell, itd have fetched 300 without too much trouble. Thats the way it goes though. Im atleast finally starting to get a reputation on ebay and get some frequent re-buyers and browsers, even though i only have a measly 175 sales. Keep the train rolin.








DAVID MATTSON and SAILOR : August Reunion 1975 (no label) Dallas TX

Musicians:
Dave Mattson: Vocals & Guitar
Frank Whitney: Bass
Terry Rosen: Second Guitar
Sailor: Drums, Vibes, Electric Piano, Guitar

Produced By:
Randy Gill and David Mattson

I will say this, this LP has been listened to many times by the previous owner, so it sounds a bit worn. Also it is unfindable x10 in every way I have tried, a true obscurity. And it is a grower for sure, I mean at first I thought it was kinda average private folk that was a bit too John Denverish, but I am telling you there are certain tracks on here that I have listened to over and over again in my car and I'm really impressed with how much this album has grown on me. A very personal effort here by Dave and Sailor, at times sounding like Simon and Garfunkel, at times sounding like John Denver, and sometimes sounding like Elliot Smith and lots of new era folksy things but more 70s nature-y ethereal stuff. But some of the tracks are a bit soft and snoozy, so I really recommend / A2: Vancouver Bay A4: Holly Lake A5: Sail Me Away B2: As Long as I Do / for a quick listen, but the whole album is really good to listen to. And I think 'Sail Me Away' is my favorite track.
Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but there is something special about finding a record in a pile of junk somewhere, thinking it might have potential, putting it on and liking it, then discovering its basically unknown to all but maybe 50 people on earth. So I'm probably biased somewhat in that, but if it were rubbish I'd throw it in the growing pile of all the unknown but utter shite in my closet.

~Get Folky~

FIND OF THE MONTH: MINT - THE MINT b/w SKYWALKING

Truly one hell of a find here, a devastating 12" single with 2 sides that are incredibly different in style yet obviously done by the same band, and both are incredibly good, which is rare on an obscure weirdo like this one. When I first heard that intro bass riff, and then the slammin almost no wave style synth blasts I was thinking my god, how could this not be all over the place. And then I flipped to skywalking and the homedun DIY sweet soul disco lounge modern soul skywalking only served to accentuate the question: How the fuck is this under the radar? Or am I just crazy? No popsike entry, no collector's frenzy entry, no Groovecollector entry, no discogs entry, no ebay for sale, no Gemm, no cdandlp, no musicstack, I mean occasionaly I will happen upon a 7" like Sugarbear that practically no one knows exists except a murmur among the most meticulous collectors of its possible existence, but this 12" just doesnt seem like that kind of thing to me. I know the group has atleast 2 other releases, both of which are known, one which is somewhat sought after. But they are both much later than this one, and this one blows them away by a mile. The DIY quirky uniqueness of this is at maximum level. And the skywalking side will really grow on you, while the mint at very loud volume makes for one hell of a ride. Enjoy this beautiful gem, this is what Digging for Diamonds is all about. And while I'm on that topic, I'd just like to say I didn;t give nough credit to the Alan Fitzmorris 7" I posted a while back, the guy on the kansas city rangers, I have still yet to find a TRACE of info on that release, and it is STILL one of my favorite finds of all time, truly great songcraft and a very unique dark acid folk meets hash rock. So if you havent got that one yet, go back and check it out, I'm also very astonished of that one too.

MINT - THE MINT / SKYWALKING ( exceptional quality records) date unknown. 1980-82?

EL-P listens to Debonair Dimension, now you can too!

Found this awesome and surprisingly rare electro rap joint from 86 out of california on the Macola label, (it's one of the 2 hardest to find releases on the label) and sadly I decided to Ebay it but I did get $260.00 for it so I was pretty pleased. Anyhow, I upped the full thing in a rar for yas because there are so many tight instros vocals and accapellas I thought yall might want them all. Personally, I feel like Free Bass 9000 is the standout track on the 12" because it sounds like the kinda shit that El-P jams out to before dropping a wickid crunchy beat, I love how hard this sucker hits, and the A side; Sound Attack, is pretty rad too. Its kind of an exercise in DJ prowess, y'kno the synths scratching cutting and all that good stuff and with pretty tight vocals. Also I was amazed to see that the record had been signed by MC Bam Bam and Debonair Dimension "To JR Boy and Stacy", which is quite bad ass. Anyway, I highly recommend it for the oldschool and electro fans out there, I havent checked to see if its been posted to any other blogs yet but if so I doubt they have all the tracks so ENJOY!

BANG YO HEAD LIKE ITS A.D. 9000

Some Gospel Finds Fo Yuhs

Excellent gospel album for those who really like gospel gospel stuff, not just soul or funk gospel, but the one track that is kinda soulful happens to be my favorite, I guess I could put up the whole LP but I figured the interest would be mainly in these tracks so I will stick with this for now. This is the Jubilee Hummingbirds - I feel the spirit LP tracks: Try Jesus. Glory is Coming. From 1977. Try Jesus is very heartwarming and quite a soulful track with great drumming too. Goes to show it doesnt have to be super funky to be great!




I was really going crazy when I first needle dropped this at the flea market cause it starts off massive and its completely unknown, but then like most weird unknown records 75% was not so hot, but it did really grow on me, and that one beginning track is still fire as far as i'm concerned, but I am really upset with myself for not ripping all the tracks from this before I ebayed it out, now I just have a 6 minute clip of samples from the best parts, but its unique enough I thought yall should hear it anyway. Go Bishop Smith!





And last but CERTAINLY not least we have one of the ultimate boner records I've found recently, and as it is technically gospel I thought this would be as good a time as any to unleash it upon you. This is 8 year old Patrick Dwayne Fortson the II. He writes and sings his own songs, and he is a mad player. I can only imagine how much PDF is ballin nowadays. The album cover is definitely better than the music, but it's kind of interesting too in a bad 80s way. Here's a taste, cause you cant handle this LP.

Uber Weird Find: The Ballad of Glooscap!

So there are many reasons why this record is odd, but I do like the minimal DIY ambient synth atmosphere approach of Calle Ornemark's Ballad of Glooscap, the poetry I could do without but in small doses it adds a cool element I guess, as it is only on a few tracks, the real winners are the first track Birds of the Sky, with its minimal synth experimental ambiance that really warms the soul in a way, and then the 'rhythm' pieces which are a nod to John Cage as Calle is using a self-altered custom piano to produce strange rhythmic notes that echo out into a weird organic yet mechanical soundscape, the whole album is very trance inducing. The poetry tracks, (the 2 longest I left out of the rar because trust me you dont really want them), are mainly just Calle reading a really earthy mystical Native American style poem in Swedish, and then a female voice reads after him in English translating it sentence by sentence, again freakishly mesmerizing but a little kitschy/ campy I guess. I still am not totally sure what Calle the Swede was going for, my best guess is a pseudo native American homage slash earth prayer warning ala koyaanisqatsi double LP with John Cage like experimental piano etudes, and Klaus Schulze like synth atmosphere, and some Swedish poetry in between tracks. There is some interesting stuff to read when you wiki Glooscap, but I just don't see the Swedish connection. I could not find a date for the recording, but I am guessing about 1977-1985. There is to my knowledge not a single mention of this crazy double LP anywhere on the internet, zero zip nada, though I didn't deeply research Calle Ornemark because I figure the money potential for this kind of thing is never that strong, so I will just enjoy it's weird obscurity until I find something out. Despite all the description I gave it isn't going to floor you musically, but it is quite well done for being a DIY experimental/ambient album.

BALLAD OF GLOOSCAP

Found the Holy Grail of Austin Modern Soul, just sitting in a dusty old cardboard box... TRACE OF SMOKE - TREASURE MIND

Here it is, one of the holy grails of the modern soul world and produced and recorded right here in Austin TX. I really dig this track, it's from 1977, and it has the classic modern soul crossover funk sound that really represents what the UK clubs were playing in the 80s to present as floor friendly northern soul (which after about 1975 became modern soul, to mark the difference in era and sound, but still serving basically the same purpose for club DJs.) I don't know a whole hell of a lot about the background of John Calvin or Mary Williams, (probably no relation to Mary Lou Williams but the track she is on is a jazzy number) but I do know that Melvin Winn occasionally produced soul records for artists around Austin and maybe Dallas, and that he also produced another later soul/boogie record by Karizma that is also very good and equally rare, but worth about 150-300 dollars as opposed to Trace of Smoke which fetches 1000-2000 dollars in good shape. Treasure Mind is not only awesome it's a grower too, the first time I heard it I was at about 3.5 stars out of 5, but honestly I am at pushing 5 stars now, atleast for the soul 45 category, theres just something kinda otherwordly about it's lyrics, which are quite elusive, and the breakdown in the middle just levels me. Anyway, I am very thankful to the record gods for this one and I wish I could have kept it but the $ is too irresistible. Enjoy a real non cd comp copy of this, and I'm throwing in the U.R. side too, cause not many people have heard it.


Trace of Smoke - Treasure Mind

Trace of Smoke - U.R.

Left and Right Shoe MC's feat DJ Rated X - Mini LP (Talking Horse 1988)

YEEAH, more bad ass unknown texas rap. This is just the beginning of a whole treasure trove of bad ass records I have uncovered in the last month, the records in my ebay pile and blog pile have grown to the point of overwhelming me, I cant figure out where to start or which strategy to take in putting them up, but I'm not complaining about it. I have found some real gems lately, and I will start off with this lovely ELECTRO RAP powerhouse from 1988, out of Fort Worth TX, on Talking Horse records. Features 8 tracks, 4 original tracks on the Aside, all vocal versions, and on the bside there are instrumental versions of those tracks. These guys look so damn fly in that cover I can only imagine how much they were runnin shit back in '88. Each song is a bit different and offers something uniquely bad ass. The first is a great fast rap jam with james brown style breaks and good proto-gangsta lyrics, the second is a pretty good track that has a miami bass feel, the third track is some excellent lofi electro, and the final track is a great lo-fi love jam in the style of ll cool j, but perhaps even better. Oh and check out the rad beer stains on the cover, that only adds to the value in my opinion, kind of like blood on a civil war saber. The whole album is in a rar below.

KEEP IT REAL WITH THE LEFT AND RIGHT SHOE MCs, bitches.

Famous L Renfroe (Famous as the Flying Sweet Angels of Joy) - Children

Absolutely incredible record here. The mega DIY home made recorded in a shack out in the swampland by Famous L Renfroe on all instruments and filling in on much of the backup vocals too, a true master musician Famous L Renfroe has recorded here one of the most striking and memorable rural albums of all time. I wish I had actually found this but I got it from a blog a little while back, and I think they got it from a CD reissue that was very limited and laregely sold overseas, and even with the small CD reissue very few people know about this true gem of an album. Its gospel, its blue, its soul, its funk, its zydeco, its experiemental, its outsider, sometimes even psychedelic but it is foremost all that is FAMOUS L RENFROE. He spills his guts to god and belts out incredible guitar work for Jesus and I have to say it really gives me the willys sometimes when I listen to this at high volume in my car. Lovely piece here and I wish I remembered the name of the site I got it from but I thank you too. Also the picture is from a website without permission so leave a comment if its yours and you dont want it up, but please, share the joy of RENFROE! I have quite a few Xian records that I like but this and James Tatum - Jazz Mass, and D. R. Hooker - The Truth, are all at the top of the list. Also near those are Mary Lou Willaims - Mary Lou's Mass, and Trees - The Christ Tree, and Agape - Le Troisieme Seuil. And Maybe Soul Liberation - Who Are You? Which I will be putting up soon.

FAMOUS L RENFROE AS THE FLYING SWEET ANGELS OF JOY

MIKE CASCIO AND JUSTUS Live at Bourbon St (1979)

So most blog goers probably wont care much about late seventies private press alt country rock western swing stuff but I'm from Texas and I think its pretty bad ass, plus its completely unknown and under appreciated. So without further adieu here is the unknown mike cascio and justus band: equal parts jerry jeff walker, waylon jennings, bob wills and the burrito brothers... but extremely unpolished and whiskey piss drunk! Enjoy.

Download Full LP here.

DIGITAL DUB POWERHOUSE: Roland Burrell - Rip off // Barry Bailey - Gun Slinger

Amazing and uber rare 12'' here from New York on the Paradise label, Pardis003. Produced by Ossie Hibbert. 1986. Another incredible find this week, wished I could keep it but I just sold it on ebay for $320.00, but that kind of money is just too good to pass up. This track is one of the most sought after 12" digital dub records recently and it is so rare that there has only been 1 other sold on Ebay before mine, and that was pretty recent, so I think it was relatively unknown before about a year ago (no mentions on popsike or other auction sites). Because of the popularity of the dubstep movement records like this are going for huge prices and amazing tracks are being rediscovered all the time. This is one of the best I have heard, I also like Ackie's Rambo track among others, but Roland Burrell and Barry Bailey KILL it with their throbbing deep bass lines, icy synths with crisp linn drum production and great lyrics, but the real killer is on the Bside, where I presume Barry Bailey plays the trombone over the aforementioned track layed down by Ossie Hibbert. What? Spaced out trombone playing over stepper rhythms and deep bass digital productions? Yes Please. Enjoy this bad boy, you won't find it available anywhere else on the net, that's for damn sure. This bad motha is guarded among those in the know like fort knox or some shit. Full versions below, also for download. First the Vocal track, "Rip Off" then the version side "Gun Slinger"

Recent Hip Hop Finds

In the last few months I've come across quite a few obscure rap/hiphop joints that I can't find out on the net so figured posting them would be a good idea, some i like more than others but I'm not going to discriminate, everything i found lately that isnt out there for listening I'm gonna put up. Enjoy the weirdness.
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Slow to Speak - On and On 12" (1996)


First up is an indie rap record I found which I really like but sadly I did not take a photo of and it is no longer in my possession, so I searched the internet for about 15 minutes looking for one and there is none to be found, so at the least be glad that you have a chance to check this track out because it's very farking rare, and very much under appreciated. Classic beat production on this joint from Texas (I think) with a very un-texas sound, and although a couple of the mc's dont match the mood of the beat,l they are quite good overall, not the best lyrics ever but their cadence and flow is good, and it has a nice' old school abilities vs dissing' and violence style, the beat is great though. I wish i could find more about this group or the release, i think it has a hell of a lot of potential and its only draw back is that its approaching the end of the mid school era and stuff after '95 just doesnt sell for as much as a rule, but for '96 it still has the 93-94 sound and you can tell they have been listening to a lot of Nas and a whole other list of midschool names that i dont care to list right now. Enough of this though, just Enjoy it!
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Special Treat - It's a Treat 12'' (1992)


Special Treat is a group that had a couple singles it looks like, the first being from 89 or 90 and also having a love jam style, this one is much harder to find and practically no information exists on it. It's not that great but it is definitely interesting, the first track "baby it's you" is a real LL Cool J style sax and all jam that is fun but the second track is a little more interesting, "too much" has a nice break and some nifty rapping, still regarding a honey but it's more hip hop. Out of Houston, TX.
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Al B. Bad - Half Pack EP (1994)




A personal favorite for its genre hopping, covering ghetto booty club bangers, miami bass explicit electro style, a conscious style ghetto track with the break from the biz markie song, that track is called "what i see" and you will like it's home produced real style or you suck. This crew is from Irving, TX and as far as I know has not released anything else, but who knows. "What I See" --
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RCU - Penitentiary Blues E.P. (1992)


RCU had a small hit with this EP in Houston, and they apparently released a full LP a year or so before this, which contained the lead track Penitentiary Blues, that being said the best track is by far "material things make you feel the need to get g'd" because of its Dr Dre/west coast funk revival sound that is kinda ganked but is still a bangin' track. The other 2 aren't bad either.
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God Complex - Seek & Destroy / Bust My Style (remix) 7'' (1995)



This is the early incarnation and first release by 7L and Esoteric, with Karma also, under the name God Complex. It's probably the best known of all these but I couldnt really find it anywhere on the net and it's interesting that the Bside is so superior to the Aside, both are quality tracks (produced by madsol) but "seek and destroy" is a really dope track, with a sort of dark and atmospheric wu-tang style beat and intelligent mid nineties lyrics somewhat similar to company flow style stuff, not quite as good as a lot of coflow but this is still 95 and it's damn good. "bust my style" is not as interesting and you could tell they were dumbing it down some to try and get radio play while their real efforts went to the bside. Obviously the label has held some truly great hip hop artists early stuff, like MF grimm, Mr Lif, and MF Doom.
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Lethal T. and Outcast- Lethal LP (1994)

Last up we have a full LP which I .rar'd for you, it's from San Antonio, TX and it was somewhat of a local hit when it came out in 1994, but has been lost in the annals of rap since then, being hard to find much about it aside from some web info on the group which is still active, it's a classic texas style gangsta rap LP sounding much like the privately done studio work from Houston at that time, lots of keyboard and some bass solos mixed with a little west coast funk some dark shuffling drum samples from the east and a lot of ghetto style drum programming to top it off, it gets pretty dense and atmospheric sometimes which impresses me a lot and the producer clearly had some musical background or impressive natural talent because for what it is, it's quite good in my opinion. I mean it's nothing revolutionary and its not the cleanest sound or pressing quality, the lyrics can get sorta weak soemtimes (though they have some great hooks) but overall its a fine piece of TX Gangsta Rap.

DOWNLOAD LP

Vinyl Tribute to Magic and Earl !!!

Here we have a rather strange post but i noticed my sports related finds had been growing in number recently, with a couple really interesting pieces regarding two of my favorite players.. First is a really awesome 45 by Tom Cantrell (with dink and the ooettes?) that pays homage to Earl Campbell as a Houston Oiler/Texas Longhorn, but mainly as a Houston Oiler, done in awesome 60s folksy style, taking after the song Big Bad John and rewriting it as a football song, its level of appreciation for Earl is almost homoerotic, just listen to the line about his sweat drenched and rippling thighs, also I would guess the 45 to be from the late 60s to mid 70ss but I dont know when exactly, no info exists on this release that I can find.
Next we have my personal favorite by the Soul Funk legend Tony Lamar, who has a quite a few great 60s-70s releases in the soul funk category, all of which are quite rare, he was never a very well known singer, but he did a couple albums in the 80s utilizing the new studio based drum machine boogie sound of the time, this track is from 1985 out of california and pays massive homage to Magic Johnson, and the Lakers as a whole, again the track is almost homoerotic in its praise but it is truly a fantastic jam, with good lyrics that make you just kind of shake your head but at the same time respect the guy for crafting such a killer jam.

Tom Cantrell - Big Bad Earl


Tony Lamar - Magic

High School Jazz Band Doing 'Rush - Tom Sawyer' and more, HELL YES

Bishop Lynch Jazz Ensemble - Self-titled. 1982. Dallas, TX. Directed by Joe Cardinale and Bob Quatman. Private Press High School Label.

I have been waiting to drop this for a while, I personally really dig it, and although obviously the stand out track is Tom Sawyer, there are interesting and sample friendly moments all over this record, and it really is an amazing level of musical achievement for a high school band. The drummer is amazing, and the guitarist isnt bad either, they do mostly complex jazz compositions, and yes a lot of it is in full big band style, but even those are pretty good, and they even employ a synthesizer on a few of the more rock oriented tracks. This is the full album, the last time I looked there was zero info out on this album and no blog posts either. I chose this over the 2 North Texas Jazz Lab Band albums I have because even though one has a bad ass cover, I really think this album is better, far more rare, and they are in high school! Turn up the Tom Sawyer track max volume and jam this motha out! * If you are with the aforementioned school or own the rights to this record, I am only trying to honor the musicianship and quality of your band program, so please let the world partake in this impossibly rare item and be happy it's out there, but if there is a problem or you want me to take it down contact me through the comments. I don't normally put any disclaimer but since it is from a well known and active school I will give you the opportunity to decide, and also let me state for the record that Bishop Lynch High School and associates DOES NOT condone in any way nor have any association with myself or the content of this website. The mp3s are from my personal album and are for preservation purposes only, if you download these mp3s and enjoy them, consider giving a donation to your local high school band program to support the continued development of young musicians.

Michael Iceberg is a Bad Motha

We have here Michael Iceberg's first and only LP that was recorded live at his 100th week playing at Walt Disney, it is from around 1977 I believe, possibly a little earlier I can't remember. Genre-wise I would call it weird loner synth, half of the record is just bizarre demonstrations of the capabilities of his synth and effects setup, and another 1/4 of the record consists of covers of various songs, most are very well known songs and are not that great, but the last portion is his original composition with jam out session and even with a little bit of trippy vocals mixed in that just plain kicks ass. I am sad that I missed out on not being the first person to bring this record to the internet world's awareness but I only missed the boat by about a couple months, I found another blog, a very good one which I cant remember now, that had the record available for download. But, I have decided to leave out the majority of the record (it really isnt worth listening to more than once, and that just to see how weird and grating the whole affair is) and to only include the bad ass jam, which is about 5-6 minutes. I highly recommend this part of the record, the rest just doesnt stand up in my opinion, and I'm sorry I dont have the whole thing availble, maybe I will put it up later, but this is the real gem and this is the part I wanted to get out there to my 11 odd blog fans that I know are just desperately awaiting the next GEM! anyway here it is:

Michael Iceberg - Iceberg Does it Live. (Private Press Kiko Music) Untitled Track and composition, which I dubbed, "the iceberg jam"

Bad Ass and very rare Remix of Paul Hardcastle's 'Rainforest' track. 1985 private press.

Bad ass electro remix of this classic song, it's got 3 versions on here, the first is a much longer dub that is completely re-done with much more bangin' and crisp drums, lush synth and a much more electro feel than the pseudo atmospheric dance feel of the original. Plus it has a remix with VOCALS! Very campy yes but to here a song written for the uber famous rainforest track is bad ass, by a group named California Jones no less. Also there is a silly sax remix that isn't very good but is interesting. Even has lyrics on the back, and a lovely waterfall to boot.

ENJOY THIS.

Extremely weird cover from the guy on the Juno soundtrack, no audio....

Sorry no recording, I should have recorded it but I sold it before I got to it, the songs were just weird kid folk and it wasn't very good, and honestly the music's weirdness cant touch the cover, so it wasn't really worth it, but yes this is the guy from the Juno soundtrack, don't know what teh connection is though.

The bizarre world that is collectable modern soul

So I have a disturbing amount of rare and collectible modern soul on my computer, notice I didnt say it was necessarily "good," but traditional good isnt always what a modern soul track is about, anyway, some are vinyl rips of myself and friends, and the majority are from the net in some form or fashion, but it seems like a lot of people are looking for this stuff and in case you are not too familiar with the whole weird scene, here is a very wide sampling of what could be called 'disco' 'boogie' 'modern soul' or by the DJs who actually played it in 1980 R&B, but thats a term used for the really slow and overly sweet stuff from the period now. *Caution*, this is not what I would consider the best of the best in the genre, though I do think some of it is really great, it is more a sampling of the most recent uber collectible stuff and some still obscure finds for the collector's who already have the known $$$ collectibles. Also, just to mention, I think OC Tolbert's Lucky Man 45 is probably the most perfect example of what modern soul is, it has the distinctive low budget 80s sound but with amazing 60s soul lyrical and song appeal. Also its very rare, so put that all together and whatdya got? modern soul. Yes, perhaps if you wanted to be really picky you could say some of what I have up is boogie, and it is, but the genres blend and well whatever who gives a shit. I generally left out the everybody know's and has that track type stuff, you know the stuff that is on all those damn goldmine cd's. Also I stayed away from the mid to late seventies stuff because even though a lot of it is better it's more of a traditional soul sound and I'm trying to focus on a newly desirable genre that is 80s soul. The weirder and more mind boggling the better, also these are all singles, no albums. Here are my picks:


T.M.S. featuring Jimmy Graham - Get the feelin' / This lonely dream. 1982. Showcase Records.
This is a fantastic example of the 1982 sound that often blended heavy midtempo funk jams with modern soul/disco song structure, a fine gem here, I rar'ed it because I offered a little bit of the bside which is not very good but if you were curious its there. This is also a great example of how a record can go from 70 dollar auction in 2006 to a 950 dollar auction in 2009. Hype is everything in modern soul! *This was reissued by People's Potential Unlimited Records, please go buy the reissue if you really like it. Easy to find on the net. try www.earcave.com or something.

IMAGE - You're my only desire (vocal) 1983 Solid Platinum Records.
Here is a prime example of a track which I really see nothing in personally but goes for $$$ and people are wet for it. It's got the sound, its got the lyrics, and its got the home production rareness but it just isnt that great a tune, more a time piece i guess, maybe I'm being too hard on it, $250 avg I guess. Maybe because it was produced larry joseph, a legendary MS guy.

Tony Rome - What Does it Take (1981) Kency Records. N.Y.
Absolutely amazing example of how good modern soul can be. I love this track. It isnt the most rare of the bunch but it's desired by many, goes for about 200-300.00 I guess. Perfect 1981 sound.


Kombination - Accept My Love (1984) TLM Records.
A good example of uniqueness, rareness, and newness being just as valuable as goodness. Yeah the song isnt horrible, its kind of 80s trendy naive sweet lovey sounding but it's not that great, virtually unknown before 07 (which is why it went for $$$ then as these new discoveries go) its a relatively new comer to the 200-400 dollar MS scene. Probably will only find it a couple other places on the whole net if that.

May Ervin - What is it. (1984) Music International. Philadelphia.
So here's another recently discovered item, known a couple years back now, but it's a good example of what constitutes the mid 80s electro-boogie soul sound, female vocals and all, and it bridges the gap between genres, not a favorite of mine but it is certainly listenable. Usually about a 100.00 record as it isnt the most rare or sought after on the block.

Power of Attorney Band - Love For You. 1986. Star Island Records.
One of the more sought after/expensive 45s of the post 1985 modern soul scene. Its more accurately described as boogie, and it has a very catchy quality that sounds very similar to a lot of the top 40 stuff around 85, actually its better than most of the really big tracks from that era in y opinion. It's a great example of the post 1985 modern soul sound, which has essentially crossed over into the 80s dance house boogie territory while still retaining some of the early 80s lyrical structure, the vocal inflections are usually a lot stronger as you go later (which I dont like), and the hook or chorus becomes more important than the lyrics. This was comped by boogie times or someone like that and it got huge after that. Perfect example of how this track in 1986 could have smashed the RnB charts at the time, really it was just a couple years late and got no promotion, but if it had, we'd probably be hearing it on the RnB station in town. All that being said, it's not in my playlist much but serves it's purpose.


Len Rideout - Just One More Night. 1981. Hot Licks Records.
This is from the extreme bad ass that made the modern soul mega hit Someone Special, which is extrmely good, but everyone knows that already, so this is the much more rare and lesser known Rideout track, Just one more night, very recently discovered, I can;t even tell you a price because I havent seen one yet. I Like it, it's not the greatest of the great but a lot of people are loooking for this one so snatch it up. Maybe later I'll throw up "Someone Special" because I like it so much, but from a internet collector stance, this one is much more exciting to find.


Sanctuary - I am Going to Love Him. 1983. Montage Records. /// Instrumental Bside
This record fluctuates like mad on Ebay, I put mine up too early without any hype and some asshole got it for 23 dollars, and then waited about a year and hyped it on a website and sold it for 140.00 Anyway, it's one of the many examples of gospel, boogie, and modern soul coming together, seriously, gospel boogie is a real genre and it is growing fast and if not for the economy would be steadily rising in price. Collector's love when great music that is secular in origin gets blended with christian lyrics and meaning, especially Xian Psych records, which I also have a lot of on my computer and am planning to do a special on next, but more recently the genre of gospel funk came around, early to late 70s funk tracks with songs about god, now we have gospel boogie, same thing, people just eat it up, and I do too. This is not the most rare or desirable of the bunch, but I never see it offered on the net and I like the instrumentation and guitar work a lot. If the vocals are just too campy for you check the Bside instro cause it has awesome layering or tracks, damn near prog-boogie!


Admirations - Groove Town. Great Lakes International. 1982. Detroit.
Again, not my favorite and not the most valuable but it's still about a hundred bucks and it has that low low budget uptempo funk guitar with disco drums boogie sound that is representative of a huge portion of the 'modern soul' sound. Also it's not the easiest to find on the net either, quite new to the scene and this is a personal copy so enjoy.


Brass Monkey feat Fletcher Tomlin - Party When I Can. Appleray Records. 1982.
Yeah I dunno why I put this up but it's really interesting I think, goes for about 50-100 dollars, quite rare but not the most sought after, its really uptempo boogie funk but it has a really weird sound to it, quirky as hell. Not many people have it either so for the collector's here you go, for the avergae layman, I dont think youre gonna be too thrilled with this, but give it a listen and see just what a guy in France will pay 100 dollars for. I know.



Dunn Pearson Jr. - Groove on Down. 1978. Shyriden. N.Y.
This is the one late seventies disco sounding track I've got in this sampling, because it is drastically different from the rest but you can see how it preceded the others. Also it's very good, a jazzy funky disco sound that I love and is sought after by shit tons of people. So here it is, Enjoy it, it's about a 300-400 dollar record.


1st Klass Band - Nymphomaniac. 1988. Budweiser Show Down.
So I figured I had to include a budweiser record because it's such a staple of the modern soul boogie scene. Basically budweiser had an ongoing competition they sponsored with local radio stations around the US that had contests to submit indie produced RnB/dance/funk/soul tracks and they would select the best and release a special edition of them and maybe you would get signed. This one is more of an electro boogie track than anything but I really like the super lo fi production and his vocals are actually quite good. Very 1987 in style and probably the furthest thing from the previous record by Dunn Pearson, but it shows you how much the genre changed in 10 years. Also this is very hard to find and not available anywhere else as far as I know.


Spade Brigade - I'm Your Man. 1980. Spade Records.
This track really grew on me over the last year, considering at first I thought it was pretty awful and now I fuckin dig it. This track is way ahead of its time, 1980, and has some seriously impressive track layering and quiat work, drums too, sounding almost like a prog funk sound like conrad benjamin and mixing it with the modern soulful styling of the best in the genre. Extremely rare record, very sought after, easily fetching 500-1000 dollars and a standout track in the quality of the production. Complete with shimmering guitar layers and disco breakdowns, sweet soul vocal harmonies and awesome choruses. Great use of studio effects and dubbing too. This is one of the most unique of the mega hitters.



Jeff Floyd - Don't Leave Me. 1984. Big J Records. 1984. Florida.
Excellent modern soul tune, kind of a silly intro but its 'real people' quality makes it add to the record in some ways, but its really a great track, well done in every way with very little means, good lyrics, a lost classic. Comped on the 'magnetik soul 3' compilation, and I suggest if you want great modern soul cuts go for the magnetik soul comps, they are the best. Also, there is a pretty big contingency of modern soul tracks that come from florida, and they have a particular sound that is hard to describe, but most of them are quite good.