Crate Diggin’: The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta

 Crate Diggin'  No Responses »
Mar 262011
 
 

Driven To Tears
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When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around (Different Gear Remix)
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Voices Inside My Head
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Album: Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)

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For an album that the band itself isn’t particularly satisfied with, Zenyatta Mondatta sure has some gems on it. The accepted story is that The Police were pressured to complete the record prior to going on a world tour, despite the band’s grumblings. Regardless, Zenyatta Mondatta succeeds due to the trio’s chemistry, songwriting, and musicianship.

Zenyatta Mondatta‘s biggest hits were the terrific “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and the idiotic “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.” More interesting are the dancefloor classics that captured a band willing to broaden their sound.

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 Posted by -G. at 12:08 am  Tagged with: , , , , ,

12″ Gems: Geraldine Hunt, Can’t Fake The Feeling

 12" Gems  No Responses »
Jan 082010
 
 

Can’t Fake The Feeling
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Released in 1980

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"Can’t Fake The Feeling" has been very good to me. As you can see from the photo of the label above, I paid a pretty penny for it but It was worth it. It’s one of those records that kills on the dancefloor, and few of my generation have ever heard it before — qualities that make DJs very happy.

When it was released 30 (!) years ago, it was  — justifiably — a massive #1 club hit. It’s easy to see why: the beat is steady, the production is tight, and the melody is catchy. And then there’s Geraldine’s raw, expressive singing that hearkens back to a time when dance track vocals were recorded with limited to no filters, pitch correction, or digitized harmonies.

It was released on the Prism label (Prism would later morph into seminal hip hop label Cold Chillin’ Records) and was written by Geraldine and Kat Dyson, who is primarily known for playing guitar with Prince’s New Power Generation. I’m sad to say that my limited online research into Geraldine didn’t reveal much about her; "Can’t Fake The Feeling" was her biggest hit.

 

 Posted by -G. at 11:17 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Musical Cousins: Barbra Streisand (w/Barry Gibb) & Tanya Morgan

 Musical Cousins  No Responses »
Sep 162009
 
guilty

Barbra Streisand (w/Barry Gibb)
Guilty
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Album: Guilty (1980)

tanyamorgan

Tanya Morgan
Stay Tuned (Sunset Version)
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Album: Sunset (EP, 2005)

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A couple of months ago, I was diggin’ in the dollar bin at Amoeba and came across Guilty, a Barbra Streisand/Barry Gibb duet album from 1980. My Mom totally had this record, and played it frequently enough that the title song came back to me instantly. As I stood hunched over the crate on the floor, I wondered what other beats might lurk within the dated airbrushed sleeve. For a buck, I could satisfy my curiosity and prevent lingering back damage.

I had thought about featuring Guilty in a new gBlog feature dedicated to cheesy pop, but couldn’t find enough tracks on the record that were bad-good enough to share. Oh well. At least the title cut — which won a Grammy and features the brothers Gibb (aka the Bee Gees) on background vocals — entertained me enough to rip it and upload to my iPod.

I had pretty much given up on the idea of blogging about the record. But a few weeks after I had put it aside, I heard a familiar sample in a podcast from The Sound of Young America. It was included in a 2006 performance by an unknown rap group with a misleading name: Tanya Morgan. (According to their MySpace profile, “THE NAME MEANS NOTHING…AND EVERYTHING. JUST ENJOY THE MUSIC! THATS AN OLD QUESTION PLEASE DONT ASK IT ANYMORE! LOL”)

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 Posted by -G. at 11:52 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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