it's all good…
Archive for the 'eighties groove' Category
15th June, 2009 | 59 views
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Time for a slow soul number to kick off a new week; take it easy out there, kick back, don’t rush, be late for work, it will still be there when you get in. Got a lot of respect for Mtume, the band had quite a few high profile hits in the 1980s, Juicy Fruit (sampled in a plethora of hip hop tracks) and Prime Time, to name a couple but the message across a lot of their output railed against the crass commercialism of Reagan-era America. What could have been a standard slow R&B number on clichéd themes is a three part rumination on monogamy versus polygamy in relationships. It seems confusing, they sound confused and as far as relationships go, not a great deal has changed since then – hey, most of us are confused!
13th June, 2009 | 162 views
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I bet this track was cained at the Caister Soul Weekenders and must have been central to the East London and Essex soul scene in the early eighties. Pure sunshine radiates from this positive groove, befitting the current weather here in London – play it loud and revel in it’s cheerfulness.
I’m so glad that love has come around
9th May, 2009 | 97 views
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If you grew up in the Eighties, this probably got played at the end of your school disco forming the soundtrack to the ritual of The Slow Dance. A ceremonial teenage rite, the scourge of the socially inept and those lacking in enough confidence to approach members of the opposite sex. Apart from that, it’s a fine example of the polished production talents of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were the duo behind some of their biggest hits. Call me an old romantic, but hey, I think going to the cinema on a first date like the guy on this track suggests, is a little lame unless purely to cop a feel in the back row. In that case this single would probably be called something quite different.
24th April, 2009 | 12 views
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Consecutive days of sunny weather make one susceptible to the care-free tunes both in the present and from the past. This comment on discogs by the-jaguar gauges the vibe:
A gem that symbolises the time very well. The cyclical groove works brilliantly, and can dig deep if you’re in the right mood. Evokes images of sun-soaked global scenes from 1985, enhanced by the entertaining voice-over. Would also be a good track to go swimming training to, on a sunny morning on the outskirts of LA. The pool would be of Olympic standard, with only a few people in it. The motion of the track bodes well with that of front-crawl stamina training.
22nd April, 2009 | 429 views
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First blog post of a complete tune for some time but I had to drop this soul bomb as it deservedly appears to be blowing up all over the place and I feel like adding a small amount of momentum whilst it’s still fresh (although admittedly I am quite late to the party as this has been out for R2 Records for a few weeks and was apparently out as a 7″ even before that). Deep but not quite at the pace of even slower deep house jams; soulful due to main sample it takes from an early eighties boogie number and re-translates into a new context plus damn tight production. Disseminating the Radio version here but both the Dub and the other track Shangrila, are on the money. Props to ck yet again for bringing this track to my attention – tastemaker! If he ever shifts his ass to write on his own blog, I’d have nothing new to put up.
Artist info:
Available now from:
and other online music retailers.
Buy on: discogs
The whole track is built round a chunk of a song with the same name by Real To Reel, it’s probably only fair that they get some love as well. Since I have a fondness for eighties groove jams and recognise their influence on many of the other records that I’ve got, I think I’ll be needing a copy of this on black wax at some point.
