Having trouble finding much in the way of details for this one, but today's tracks come courtesy of 80's babies Amuzement Park. The group put out a couple of albums - an eponymous 1982 debut and 1984 follow up All Points Bulletin. Sounds like a good name for a blog. Anyway here are some sounds to Google by, whatever details you might be after:
Apologies again for the lack of tunes going on around here but the good news is that following a sabbatical in Toronto I've got vinyl spilling out of my kitchen cabinets, and some of it's pretty decent. By the way if you find yourself in Toronto, get yourself to Cosmos Records on Queen Street (if you don't, get on a plane like I did and then get yourself there). Best reason since the Bush administration to get north of the border.
Moving forward though, from my more cosmic than ever record bag I present to you Skyy:
Basically Skyy is what you get when you have a trio of sisters who can sing (Denise, Delores and Bonne Dunning), someone who knows how to produce (Randy Muller, who was also involved with Brass Construction - post coming soon) and then some ace musicians (Solomon Roberts Jr - male vox/guitar, Anibal Anthony Sierra - guitar/keys, Larry Greenberg - more keys, Gerald Lebon - bass, Tommy McConell - drums). Skyy fans knew this from the band's genesis in the late 70's, and then Jamiroquai made sure a new generation of Skyy fans knew this when they included 'Here's To You' from the 1981 Salsoul release Skyyport on their 2003 LateNightTales series effort. Here's to virtual insanity:
Sorry this place hasn't been the mostest with the postests lately but I came across a nice stash of old records helping a friend move into a new place over a couple of weekends ago. These first couple of Manhattan Transfer tracks were the first couple that really caught my ear after we got his speakers wired up and sank into the post lifting stupor:
I myself have never been a huge fan of the seconds song's coma inducing smooth 30s and 40s style vocals but combined with a warm afternoon, sofa and half full High Life they don't sound too bad. There's no such thing as a completely selfless act.
I could set up a whole side blog (someone has to have a better term for that somewhere - let me know if you find it) focusing solely on the output of Patrice Rushen and a where are they now? sort of trace through of how her samples have steered the course of western civilization in the last twenty years or so, but for today I'll just say go see Men in Black, and check out these couple of tunes from her 1979 album Pizzazz:
Sometimes seven inches is all it takes. I don't even remember buying it but I came across Chris Rea's 1978 single 'Fool (If You Think It's Over)' and did a double take for the b side - 'Midnight Love', probably because it brought to mind a certain Daft Punk sampled ELO track:
So really sometimes Daft Punk is all it takes. Sorry for the scratchiness but here are both sides of the Rea single:
Staring you in the face above is Narada Muni, a divine sage in the realm of Hinduism who, according to tradition, plays that vina he's holding better than just about anybody else.
That's nice, but I don't think anyone could have ever described Muni as a Grammy award winning mega producer, like Narada Michael Walden:
There are lots of paths to mega status, but it's always good to start of with a guru, in Walden's case, Sri Chinmoy, bestowing upon you the name of a Hindu sage. From there Walden went on to become a go to studio drummer, producer and recording artist in his own right. Stand up comedians and tabloids can thank him for launching Whitney Houston into the stratosphere with The Bodyguard soundtrack, and remember this?
Small world. Here are a couple of Walden tracks, the second sung by Stacy Lattisaw when she was like nine:
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