#fred zarr

[itsallmadonnasfault]

[rainingmusic]

Madonna - Borderline

[rainingmusic]

Madonna - Lucky Star 

[rainingmusic]

Madonna - Holiday 

[c-40]

A-T-5 003 Paul Simpson Connection Treat Her Sweeter (Treat Me Dubmental)

It's around 40-years since house music as a distinctive genre began to appear. Jesse Saunders track "On & On" was released in early 1984. "On & On" is regularly held up as the first Chicago house music track to be released (Jamie Principles "Your Love" is earlier but isn't released to the public, Chip E produces the first Chicago track to mention 'House', that comes in 1985). House wasn't just about records though, it is a culture. There were clubs, dances, and dress codes that appeared before Jesse Saunders' "On & On". The music that was played at these formative house nights to black Chicago teens was disco, Italo, new wave and synth-pop (punk out, preppy) ... tracks like Skatt Bros. "Walk The Night", Martin Circus "Disco Circus", “One More Round” by Kasso, and “Spasticus Autisticus” by Ian Dury & The Blockheads. Frankie Knuckles was playing New York disco sets as a DJ at the Warehouse and then The Power Plant, heavily influenced by his friend Larry Levan. This is why when it was asked 'Where did house music come?' from at the Chicago House Music Conference last year someone shouted out New York from the audience. As you can imagine this didn't go down very well in Chicago

The point was though records like the one above and other records by Paul Simpson, Winston Jones, Boyd Jarvis, Timmy Regisford, and many others on the underground disco scene in New York got rinsed by Frankie Knuckles as a DJ in Chicago. There is a New York connection. Tracks like the one above get referred to as Proto-house or Garage House nowadays (more recent Post-disco is thrown on too)

These records were also being played in the UK too and were released here. "Treat Her Sweeter" was released in the UK by Virgin Records subsidiary 10 Records. Mick Clark was A&R for 10, he's the guy who signed Loose Ends and Soul II Soul (and many others). Clark was also instrumental in getting Neil Rushton's Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit compilation off the ground - Clark attempting to replicate what Pete Tong had done for London Records by cornering the market on the distribution of Chicago house music and getting it on the pop charts

[c-40]

A-T-2 409 Tee Scott Pt.3

Like the third François Kevorkian post I published yesterday Tee Scott has come up more than three times, my count is six A-T-2 303, A-T-2 284, A-T-2 221, A-T-2 112, A-T-2 100, A-T-2 051

Al McCall - Hard Times this one is co-produced by Tee Scott and has overdubs by frequent collaborators and members of Rockers Revenge Fred Zarr and Bashiri Johnson (A-T-2 315)

Sparque - Music Turns Me On early record by Larry Joseph

Okay this one has nothing to do with Tee Scott but it's another 1982 Larry Joseph record. You can hear the influence of British synth-pop bands in this. Larry Joseph's most influential record might be the eternally fresh The Party Scene by The Russell Brothers, this comes out the following year

Krome - Get On Up

Plush - Free And Easy this is kind of a René And Angela song (they did't release anything new under their name in 1982 as far as I know). René And Angela wrote and produced the Plush album and single that came out in 1982. Plush was a trio, its most famous member being Siedah Garrett

Atlantis - Keep On Movin And Groovin Atlantis was member of Kool And The Gang, Royal Bayyan

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A-T-2 315 Rockers Revenge - Walking On Sunshine 82

Arthur Baker studio group featuring Fred Zarr and legendary percussionist Bashiri Johnson who we met here (A-T-2 303) Pee Wee Ford of B.B.&Q at al (A-T-2 261) and vocalist Donnie Calvin

Walking On Sunshine is a cover of the Eddy Grant classic, there's a load of different mixes thanks to John "Jellybean" Benitez, all have their merits

The 3rd and 4th releases of Arthur Baker's Streetwise label after Ease Your Mind by UK jazz funkers Touchdown (A-T-2 030) and a solo single from bassist Pee Wee. Streetwise's 5th release is Funky Soul Makossa (A-T-2 039)

Dubbin On Sunshine hidden away on the b side of Sunshine Partytime (the rap version cashing in on the success of the first 12") has the lovely the lovely trippy vocal section about 4 minutes in

Rockin on Sunshine is the thowdown

Walking On Sunshine the club classic

The 12" is worth buying just for the acapella imo

[c-40]

A-T-2 303 BC Records/One Way Productions

BC Records and its sub label One Way Records owned by Began Cekic, they put out mostly covers and medleys often with the help of Fred Zarr and Tee Scott. Their best known release is probably Sixty-Nine/Change Position 88 by Brooklyn Express which was originally released in 1981

Began Cekic's DJ friendly party tracks were nothing if not formulaic, all studio assemblages, all re-records of hits by other artists, all beefed up thanks to Tee Scott's mixing, editing, and overdubbing skills

I've posted a Brooklyn Express record already, their killer cover of Girl You Need A Change Of Mind (A-T-2 112) This is a standalone track on the the b side but also begins Back In Time the almost 14 minute medley on the a side of the 12" single. You can hear the Eddie Kendricks cove at the beginning of the edit below before the band expertly move onto a cover of the Fatback Band's Bus Stop and finish with the break from Cymande's Bra. From Bus Stop onward this medley is sometimes called Back In Time Pt.2 and it's edited into a 7 minute stand alone track on their 1982 debut album. A little confusing, I know

Brooklyn Express - Back In Time

Tee Scott is prolific in 1982 and at some point stops working on the Brooklyn Express project and you can tell. Before that though the same team release Let's Get Horny under the name Hi-Voltage, which breaks into Dan Hartman's Relight My Fire. Then there are the straighter cover versions like Peter Brown's Easy Life covered by Leo Carrier's disco project New Paradise

New Paradise - Easy Life

Dõlette McDonald covers Atmosphere's Xtra Special and it becomes a hit in the US. Tee Scott isn't mentioned as mixing this one

Dõlette McDonald - (Xtra) Special 

Brooklyn Express percussionist (and much more) Bashiri Johnson co-writes a rare original track with Began Cekic. It's remixed by Jellybean and is fine bit of early hip hop/electro. Began Cekic always the magpie The Champ organ line is played throughout. Cekic's music is transitioning to synths in 1982, you can hear this beginning with Brooklyn Express's Witness The Change etc medley Burning Hot

Began Began - Stay In Touch (Instrumental)

Began Cekic released a lot more in 1982, including Shine Your Light by The Graingers the instrumental of which is pretty nice, the above are my favourites though