Yes, it’s true: Bedmo Disco Records has returned to action. The “Product of Bedminster” EP, featuring Awon’s in-demand “No Return” and the ace “Check It Out” by Awon & Bedmo Disco (check out those synths!), is out now, exclusively (for this week, at least) on Junodownload.
Check out the clips below, and head to Junodownload to buy on various digital file formats.
Good news! We’ve finally uploaded this month’s Bedmo Disco radio show (originally broadcast live on Invader.fm on January 7th) for your listening pleasure.
The show features our usual blend of sounds you know, records you don’t, shambolic mic patter and special features (in this instance a live hip-hop throw down from Awon and Five-Stylez, and Sell By Dave babbling on about new, recent and upcoming releases). Check it out on the Soundcloud player below. The next edition of Bedmo Disco Radio will be rolling live on Invader.fm on Tuesday February 4th.
Tonight (Tuesday 7th January) sees the return of Bedmo Disco Radio to Invader.fm. Since our debut show back in December, we’ve been beavering away creating bespoke jingles, making new edits, sifting through new releases and digging through the crates to make tonight’s show extra special.
We’ve got a bumper two hours lined up, with 30 minutes of fresh and forthcoming material courtesy of our resident music journo Sell By Dave, a dope hip-hop mix-up from Awon & Five-Stylez, and a special competition to win Bedmo Disco Records vinyl and other treats.
The show starts at 8pm on Invader FM. Throughout the live show, you can get in touch with us using Twitter, posting on our Facebook page or by emailing us. We’ll be watching, so don’t forget to get in touch!
As we inch closer to Christmas, it’s traditional for the party season to ramp up a few notches. There’s tons of goodness coming up over the next couple of weeks in Bristol, starting tonight, Friday 13th December, with the small matter of Hot Buttered Soul’s Non-stop Yuletide Disco.
Those of you in Bristol with a passion for good quality underground disco, electrofunk and boogie (not to mention funk and soul) will no doubt have come across the Hot Buttered Soul crew. We like to think of them as kindred spirits, as, like us, they have a passion for great disco, soul, funk and boogie, record collecting, beard growing and, of course, throwing great parties for like-minded souls. They play many of the same venues as us, with regular parties at Big Chill Bristol, but also do things at the Gallimaufrey on Gloucester Road and at the soon-to-shut (to be replaced by a bar owned by the people behind Team Love and Futureboogie) Bank of Stokes Croft. The HBS crew includes former record shop owner and all round top guy Mike Shawe, Alex Seal and extended Bedmo Disco family member Jimmy The Twin, who continues to make a name for himself in the edits scene (justifiably so, we think).
Tonight sees the now annual Hot Buttered Soul Christmas party take place at the Bank of Stokes Croft. Our own Sell By Dave will be joining ressies Mike and Jimmy, plus the night’s other guest, Good Vibrations and Roasted sort Ben Daley, behind the decks. Given the collective knowledge and love of disco, boogie, funk and soul on show – not to mention something like 75 years of combined DJing experience, give or take the odd decade – it promises to be a hell of a party. These days, the Bank of Stokes Croft is much more like a club than a pub – thanks mainly to the fat soundsystem they’ve installed for their last fling before refurbishment – so it should be a good excuse to lose yourself in the music.
Come down, dance like it’s Christmas morning and you’ve just been given the gift of your dreams, by the person of your dreams, and have a good time – we will be!
If you want more info, check out the event page on Facebook here.
We’re rather excited about our forthcoming “versus” hoedown with fellow Bristol-based disco-centric party-starters People Like Us at The Looking Glass this Friday (16th August). So excited, in fact, that Sell By Dave has laid down a spontaneous “warm-up mix”.
The party promises disco, boogie, sleaze, Italo, house and “more cowbell”, and that’s exactly what you can expect from Sell By’s party-starting throw down. Tracklist and Soundcloud player (plus download link) below…
PEOPLE LIKE US v BEDMO DISCO WARM-UP MIX by SELL BY DAVE
1. Peech Boys – Life Is Special [Bedmo Disco Dub – previously unheard]
2. Sharon Brown – I Specialize In Love [Vocal]
3. Tiger & Woods/Kers – Bash at Jack/Back at Ya [Sell By Dave Blend – previously unheard]
4. Starvue – Body Fusion [Anthony Mansfield Edit]
5. Charanga 76 – No Nos Pararan (Ain’t No Stopping Us Now)
6. OTP Party Breaks – No Mistake [Kon’s 2079 Mix]
7. The Globe – Adventure Party [Sell By Dave Edit – previously unheard]
8. Koto – Visitors [Lee Douglas Re-Edit]
9. Popular People’s Front – Love Itch
10. Jarle Brathen – Italiano Fantastico
11. Mitchbal & Larry Williams – Do Dat Stuff [Dance Mix]
12. Solution – Feels So Right [Victor Simonelli Mix]
13. Candido – Jingo
14. Debbie Jacobs – High on Your Love [C.O.M.B.I Edit]
This week, we’re heading out to Croatia for Soundwave 2013, the latest instalment of our favourite Adriatic festival. We’ve been heading out there for the last four years, and this will be the third time we’ve played at the event. As way of a warm-up (asides from Awon’s brilliant set at Alfresco Disco on Saturday), we’ve decided to drop a clutch of new mixes inspired by the Adriatic sunshine.
We’ve called it the “BedmoCast Summer Special Series” (snappy, eh?) and the mixes cover a range of sounds and styles. The one thing that draws them all together is their inspiration: a Croatian summer. At present, there are three mixes in the series, all of which can be found on the Bedmo Disco Soundcloud page (we’ve also posted the set below):
Volume 1 – Awon’s Boogie Jam
A fantastic summer-friendly all-boogie, disco and electrofunk excursion from Awon, featuring some of his own tracks (and a couple of other Bedmo Disco-related jams), plus cuts from the likes of Melba Moore, West Phillips, Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King, Status IV, I Level and more. Want to listen? Click here!
Volume 2 – Sell By Dave presents Tisno at Dusk
Sell By reaches into his collection of Balearic gems for a laidback excursion through downtempo beats, dubwise treats, forgotten gems, well-known belters and much more besides. Think head-nodders and feet-shufflers for that moment when the sun begins to dip beyond the horizon. Oh, and old Andrew Weatherall remixes. Want to listen? Click here!
Volume 2 – Dancing Under The Stars
Another mix from Sell By Dave, this one ups the tempo for an all-night session dancing under the stars, either at the festival site or Barbarella’s Discotheque. Disco, afrobeat, house, broken beat, electrofunk… and lots more besides. Want to listen? Click here!
In other words, plenty of fodder for your MP3 player/phone/iPod/iPad (etc) as you make your way out to the sunshine, whether you’re heading to Soundwave or not. Enjoy!
Phew, what a scorcher! Apologies for coming across all tabloid, but that single, silly phrase pretty much sums up our feelings about Saturday’s night’s GIRAFFE BOOGIE party at Start The Bus.
We were hoping for a good ‘un, but nothing could have prepared us for what was one of our most memorable parties for a while. The dancefloor began to fill up at 10.30, and it just got better and better from there. What was most memorable – apart from the ace sets from the Kelly Twins (pictured above) and Legendary Tone – was the all-round good-natured vibe of the crowd, their appreciation for the music and the amount of positivity on display. It was also nice to meet a few new faces (a party from the well-loved Boogie Cartel night in London, some chap who asked us to platy some krautrock, a woman who claimed we were ‘bringing back the spirit of Fruity Antics’ – that’s a near legendary Bristol house night for those from outside of our fair city) and welcome back some old ones (Al Dare, Jimmy The Twin etc). So all in all, a great night – thanks to all those who came down and made it special.
With Easter fast approaching, it’s a busy time here at North Street Sound (that’s Bedmo Disco HQ to newcomers). Because of that. we have a load of things to tell you about. We’ll try and keep it brief, and have used handy subheadings for ease of browsing/because it looks nicer.
MELODICA RADIO SHOW BRISTOL SPECIAL
A couple of weeks back legendary DJ, producer, journalist and musician Chris Coco headed down to Bristol to play at Big Chill Bristol. While there, he recorded a special edition of his popular Melodica Radio Show. The show features interviews with a bunch of Bristol bods – including our pals Suisse Tony, Ben Dubisson (A Hundred Strong) and Chris Farrell from Idle Hands – with accompanying music. It begins with Chris having a chat with our own bearded disco grinch, Sell By Dave, about Bedmo Disco Records.
It’s a very entertaining show, which you can listen to on Chris Coco’s Mixcloud profile
BEDMO DISCO EASTER SPECIAL AT BIG CHILL BRISTOL
Yes, we’re back at Big Chill Bristol for another smashing Bedmo Disco bash on Good Friday (29th March). We begin at 9pm and go on until 3am. Entry is free, the whole crew will be representing, and hot Bristol house producer (and all round top man) GramRCY will be playing upstairs In The Study. Poster below.
GOOD VIBRATIONS AT THE WHITE BEAR
Yep, there’s a second dose of Bedmo Disco DJ action this Easter weekend, as we head to The White Bear on St Michael’s Hill to host the Boogie Bar at Sean McCabe and Ben Daley’s Good Vibrations party. We’re stoked to have been asked along, especially as it’s an old-fashioned all-dayer (starting at 3pm, no less) in one of Bristol’s best boozers. Flyer below – more to come later in the week. Tickets are £10 in advance (a bargain since it’s an all-dayer and the main room guests come from Local Talk Records and Southport Weekender), and have been selling well. If you want to come along, don’t sleep!
Phew! That’s all for now – we’re off for a lie down. Remember, you can read our news first on Twitter and Facebook, so follow or like us. We don’t bite!
Ahead of the next instalment of GIRAFFE BOOGIE at Start The Bus on Saturday, we’ve got a bit of a treat for you – a classic old skool electro/boogie/space-funk mix up from headliners THE KELLY TWINS.
The mix was recorded way back in 2008 for the sadly departed BYTE blog and party, where Sean and Dan were briefly residents. It caused a bit of a stir at the time, though it’s long been unavailable/lost thanks to the MP3 download link seemingly vanishing from the Internet. It’s such a good mix that we thought it deserving of a five-year anniversary re-post. At this point we should thank fellow Bristol DJ and longtime Kellys/Bedmo Disco friend Andy Clarkson (aka Andy Payback Hifi), who still had a rare CD copy and converted it to MP3 for us.
These days, Sean and Dan are widely considered (and rightly, we think) to be rising stars, not just in Bristol but beyond. In our opinion they’re probably the most versatile and consistent DJs in Bristol. While their mixing is technically brilliant, what’s more impressive is their ability to take sets in many different directions and take the crowd with them. Put them in almost any situation – warm-up, peaktime, late, big club, small club, boozer, radio show – and they’ll get it right. They’re slowly moving into production, too, and recently dropped a collaboration with fellow Bristol DJ/producer Kowton for Red Bull’s Soft Rockets project.
We first met them sometime around 2005/2006 (we think), in which days they were taking their first steps as student DJs in Bristol. They weren’t new to the DJing game, though – back in their native Plymouth, they first started DJing when they were 14, and by 16 were playing all over the city. They were quickly installed as residents at Sell By Dave’s best before: night. They then launched their own party, UFO (which Sell By was also a resident at), and since have held residencies at all sorts of regular parties, including Crazylegs and So Bones. They’re currently the in-house party-starters for our old pal Chris Farrell (another best before: resident back in the day) at his growing Idle Hands empire. We should also point out that they’re rightly the most in-demand DJs in Bristol.
So, back to Galactic Jams. It was recorded at a time when they were indulging their electro/P-funk side and is a near flawless live mix-up of classic electro, electrofunk, P-funk and boogie jams. It’s this side of things they’ll be mining for their set at Giraffe Boogie (though we also hope that they drop in some freestyle, Italo, disco and house, since mixing it up is their forte). If you’ve not heard the mix before, you’re in for a treat. If you have, it’s worth giving it another listen – it really is a beauty! As for the party, scroll down below the tracklist for poster/details.
You can listen to the mix here (download by right clicking and doing something – check your browser’s help file for details):
The Kelly Twins – Galactic Jams
BYTE MIX: THE KELLY TWINS – GALACTIC JAMS (2008)
1. D.St – Crazy Cuts [Long Version](Island)
2. Whodini – Haunted House Of Rock [Vocoder Version] (Jive)
3. Man Parrish – Hey There Homeboy (unknown)
4. Donna Allen – ‘Serious [Dub Version]’ (21 Records)
5. George Clinton – ‘Scratch Medley: Do Fries Go With That Shake?/Pleasures Of Exhaustion (Do It Till I Drop)’ (Capitol Records)
6. Newcleus – Space Is The Place (Sunnyview Records)
7. Royal Cash – Radio Activity [Vocal Long Version]’ (Royal Disc)
8. Tramaine – ‘Fall Down (Spirit Of Love) [Dub Version]’ (A&M)
9. Midnight Star – ‘Operator [Vocal/LP Version]’ (Solar System)
10. Two Sisters – ‘High Noon’ (I.R.S Records)
11. L.A Dream Team – ‘Rockberry Jam’ (Dream Team Records)
12. The World Class Wreckin’ Cru – ‘World Class [Remix]’ (Kru-Cut Records)
13. Jamie Jupitor – ‘Computer Power’ (Egyptian Empire Records)
14. Rodney O – ‘These Are My Beats’ (Egyptian Empire Records)
15. Hashim – ‘We’re Rocking The Planet’ (Cutting Records)
16. Chris ‘The Glove” Taylor – ‘Tibetean Jam’ (Ploydor)
17. JJ Fadd – ‘Supersonic’ (DMC)
18. Dynamix II – ‘Just Give The DJ A Break [Club Version]’ (Cooltempo)
19. Omega II – ‘Sonic Boom [Vocal]’ (Showroom Records)
20. The League Unlimited Orchestra – ‘Things That Dreams Are Made Of’ (Virgin Records)
21. The Cure – ‘The Walk’ (Fiction Records)
22. Kissing The Pink – ‘Big Man Restless’ (Atlantic)
Tonight (Friday 8th February) we’re back at the Big Chill Bristol for another six-hour session from 9pm. You should know the drill by now – Awon, Five-Stylez and Sell By Dave mixing up ’80s boogie, electrofunk, freestyle, Italo-disco, proto-house, synth dubs, underground disco, Balearica and proper house.
Entrance is free, so there’s no excuse not to join us for a few beverages and a bit of a dance. If you’re lucky – and ask nicely – Awon might even give you a copy of his hot new mix CD, which is packed full of dope boogie jams and unreleased productions!
For the latest instalment of our ongoing BedmoCast mix series, we’ve got something a little different from our very own Sell By Dave – a percussive, tape delay-heavy journey through synth dubs featuring a mixture of boogie, proto-house, proto-garage, freestyle and Italo treats.
Below, he’s been kind enough to go through the mix track by track, highlighting a few lesser-known gems and generally getting enthusiastic.
You can listen to the mix here: BedmoCast 10_ DUB IT!
You can also download a ZIP file containing the mix (192 MP3) and a PDF of Sell By Dave’s liner notes here>>
BedmoCast 10: DUB IT! – SELL BY DAVE’S VIRTUAL LINER NOTES
I’ve always had a soft spot for the dub versions of both popular and lesser-known records from the 1980s. When digging through records in second-hand shops, I’ll instinctively reach for those that feature a Dub or instrumental rather than a B-side. Of course, more often than not these dubs will be terrible, featuring some rather dubious ‘80s production techniques and fads – chopped-up vocal stabs played on a Fairlight, a bit too much cheesy vocal, percussion that sounds cheap – but occasionally they still sound fantastically fresh.
The 1980s was a great time for dance music. The development of affordable drum machines, digital samplers and powerful synthesizers gave producers and musicians the means to try brand new things. This of course led to many musical developments – house, techno, garage, electro, freestyle, Jam & Lewis style “contemporary R&B” – that either still dominate dancefloors, or influence producers. There was also a “golden period” in New York during the early-to-mid 1980s, where disco became boogie, and later spawned ‘garage house’. Even the city’s post-punk and punk-funk musicians got in on the act (check the work of Bob Blank for proof). In between, producers such as Paul Simpson and Winston Jones bridged the gap with records that would later be considered “proto house” and “proto garage” classics.
In New York in particular, there were a number of editors and remixers who understood the power of the dub, and often went to great lengths to produce drum-machine heavy versions, laden with delay, that would work in the city’s leading clubs. Shep Pettibone, Francois Kevorkian, John “Jellybean” Benitez and Larry Levan – certainly during his golden period around 1982 and ’83, before his well documented substance abuse problems finally got the better of him – in particular were at the top of their game, turning freestyle, boogie, electro and proto-garage jams into sparse, sweaty dancefloor gold.
Of course, it wasn’t just New York leading the way. There are good European examples too, in particular in the Italo scene. I’ve not touched on that much in this mix, but may explore it at a later date. I’ve also included a few contemporary examples of records inspired by that early to mid ‘80s sound. As ever, it was mixed in one take, with just a collection of tunes and only one clear objective: to try and accurately capture the sweaty, basement-centric feel of the clubs these records were initially designed for. Hopefully I’ve done it justice.
1. AURRA – SUCH A FEELING [PARTS 2 & 3] (Salsoul Records, 1982)
This is almost the ultimate early ‘80s boogie dub. Mixed by Shep Pettibone, it begins with a reverb-laden vocal and then bobs and weaves, dub style, for an epic 14 minutes. I’ve only used a relatively small snatch, but hopefully there’s enough to get a flavour of the vibe.
2. REAL EYES – YOU GOT ME GOING [DUB] (Vanguard, 1984)
Vanguard was a constant source of interesting material in the early 1980s, releasing tracks that largely sat somewhere between boogie and freestyle. The vocal version of this tough, synth-heavy groover is nice, but typically I prefer the dub. Unusually, there was no big name mix, with producer Lance Smith taking mixing duties.
3. DAVID BOWIE – UNDERGROUND [DUB] (EMI America, 1986)
The original version of this mid-‘80s Bowie number was featured on the Jim Henson-produced film Labrynth. It’s hardly one of his best, a fairly shoddy synth-pop number. The Extended Dance Mix is rubbish, too. The dub, though, is ace – basically six minutes of heavy drums, tape edits and sound effects. For the record, it was mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, who seemed to be the go-to men for EMI America when pop records needed remixing; they also provided ‘dance mixes’ for Tears for Fears and Simply Red, amongst others.
4. RHYTHM ODYSSEY & DR DUNKS – LA CHIAVE [DUB BEATS] (Golf Channel Recordings, 2012)
Eric Duncan and Chicken Lips’ Dean Meredith have long been disciples of both obscure old drum machines, and the potential of 1980s, New York style dubs. Their two recent EPs for NYC’s own Golf Channel featured a couple of alternate dub versions that swing to the dirty groove of tape edits and early drum machines. This version of the unusual “La Chiave” is probably my favourite, though the 808 Tape Edit of “Glow” is also excellent.
5. ORLANDO JOHNSON & TRANCE – TURN THE MUSIC ON [INSTRUMENTAL] (Easy Street, 1983)
This debut single from Orlando Johnson’s boogie crew is near perfect. The vocal version is ace and the ‘Instrumental’ – mixed by Jellybean and featuring enough delay-laden vocal snatches to qualify as a proper dub – almost better. It’s one of my favourite instrumentals from the period. I’m not alone, either – Awon and Five-Stylez also own copies. You could say it was a true “Bedmo Disco” fave, then.
6. JEFFREY OSBORNE – PLANE LOVE [DUB] (A&M, 1983)
Around ’82-’83, Larry Levan was on fire, laying down a string of brilliant remixes – Gwen Guthrie’s “Hopscotch” and “Padlock”, Frontline Orchestra’s “Don’t Turn Your Back On Me”, Imagination’s “Changes” etc – and this tweak of Jeffrey Osborne for A&M is one of his best dubs. It features all his stapes – the delay-laden drums, the obligatory bassline drop, drum breaks aplenty – and is utterly ace.
7. THE FLIRTS – YOU & ME [DUB] (CBS, 1985)
This was actually a big club hit on both sides of the Atlantic when it came out in 1985, but it arguably hasn’t stood the test of time. The same could be said for many Bobby ‘O’ records, in truth, but it’s still a great example of his work. Influenced by both Italo and Hi-NRG, Shep Pettibone’s Dub is formidably percussive and includes some typical vocal cut-ups.
8. FREEKWENCY – OUTRUN [DUB] (Voyeurhythm, 2012)
Melbourne-based producer Benny Badge has been producing some great, synth-heavy ‘80s boogie revivalism for a few years now. This Dub – tucked away on the B-side of the excellent “Flip The Coin” single on Voyeurhythm – is brilliantly observed, sounding authentically 1980s in its sound and execution.
9. ALISHA – BABY TALK [BEDMO DISCO DUB] (Unreleased)
A few years back I spent a lot of time editing up ‘80s releases in the original tape edit style for a project codenamed ‘The Bedmo Disco Dubs’. A couple of the tracks eventually saw the light of day on our digital-only EP, “It’s A Synth”. There were loads more, though, that never made the cut and didn’t even appear on Soundcloud. This extended, drum-heavy, dub style edit of Alisha’s curious 1985 freestyle cut “Baby Talk” is one of those. From memory, the edit features bits from all three mixes on the 12” – all of which were done by Shep Pettibone.
10.KOTO – JAPANESE WARGAME [DUB] (Memory Records, 1983)
From the camper end of the spectrum, Koto’s “Japanese Wargame” is fairly well known as Italo tunes go, and for good reason. Its bassline, in particular, is ludicrously heavy. The Dub wanders around a fair bit, beginning – bizarrely – with the sound of somebody tuning a radio. For this mix, I was determined to feature the amazing bass drop, as well as some of the excellent percussive cut-ups that litter the mix.
11. COLONEL ABRAMS – TRAPPED [DUB] (MCA, 1985)
I could have included the fantastic dub of “Music Is The Answer” on here, but I’m a bit of a fan of the sparseness of Timmy Regisford’s Dub of “Trapped”. Bizarrely, on the original UK 12” Regisford’s Dub is edited down to less than 4 minutes, with the full seven-minute version being included on a separate 12”. For the record, I used the shorter dub here.
12. THE PAUL SIMPSON CONNECTION – TREAT HER SWEETER (Easy Street, 1985)
No exploration of the 1980s synth dub sound would be complete without something from Paul Simpson, the undisputed master of proto-garage dubs. What’s included here is actually the second half of the vocal version, which taken in isolation sounds like a genuine Dub. While not Simpson’s best, it’s still utterly fantastic.
13. AWON – KEEP IT HOT (unreleased)
I could have used any number of Awon tracks in this mix, but opted for an unreleased, electro-influenced gem we’ve been keeping on the back burner. Hopefully it will see the light of day at some point, ‘cos it’s a bit of a belter – tough drum machine beats, thick synth bassline and some great use of delay-laden vocal samples. He’s got some talent, our Gareth.
14. SCHERRIE PAYNE & PHLIP INGRAM – INCREDIBLE [SUPERSTAR DUB] (Superstar International Records, 1987)
This is one of those records that you don’t see in second hand shops very often. It’s not worth a great deal, and the full vocal version is dreadfiul. That said, it’s worth picking up for the 10-minute dub, which is brilliantly sparse. Really, it’s little more than beats, effects, bassline and snatches of Payne and Ingram junior’s vocals.
15. MAJOR HARRIS – ALL MY LIFE [DUB] (Pop Art Records, 1983)
I have a soft spot for Major Harris, and have rather too many of his early ‘80s records (and not just the superb “Gotta Make Up Your Mind”). The dub of “All My Life”, mixed by Nick Martinelli and David Todd, is suitably odd, stripping back the original and making great use of odd editing techniques (reversing certain sections of the vocal etc). Crucially, the beats are properly tough.
16. CITISPEAK FEAT JEANNE HARRIS – I DON’T NEED YOUR HANDOUTS (Partytime, 1983)
New York four-piece Citispeak only made two records, both in 1983. Both could definitely be described as curiosities. The vocal version of “I Don’t Need Your Handouts” is a bit of a mess, but the more out-there dub is excellent – in parts, at least, For the record, it was recorded at Bob Blank’s Blank Tape Studio, though he appears not to have produced or mixed it.
17. KONK – YOUR LIFE [DUB] (Sleeping Bag, 1984)
There’s not much more to say about Konk’s best-known tune, a perfect example of the crossover between arty experimentation and dance music in New York during the early 1980s. The lesser-played dub features some almighty Latin percussion, and it’s that – alongside the dirty synths – that make it an unbelievably hefty dancefloor jam.
18. PUSHE – DON’T TAKE YOUR LOVE AWAY [INSTRUMENTAL] (Partytime, 1983)
Another Winston Jones/Paul Simpson dub, taken from a lesser-known – but superb – Partytime release. I’ve written more about this for Juno Plus, if you fancy a gander. Click here to read it.
19. GARY’S GANG – MAKING MUSIC [DUB] (Radar Records, 1983)
I’ve never been a massive fan of Gary’s Gang, and the full vocal version of this is a bit dubious. The 10-minute dub, though, is majestic – arguably one of the best of the period. Impressively, it was written, produced and mixed by Gary’s Gang lead vocalist Joe Tucci. It was definitely ahead of its time.
20. SHIRLEY LITES – HEAT YOU UP (MELT YOU DOWN) [MELT DOWN MIX] (West End Records, 1983)
I just had to include this, as it’s arguably my favourite West End record of the period. The vocal version is peerless, but this alternate take – an instrumental with a few dub touches – is almost as good. When the bassline drops, it always gets me going.
21. WILL POWERS – SMILE [DUB] (Island Records, 1983)
The whole Will Powers project was a big joke by photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who wanted to poke fun at self-help entrepreneurs. Strangely, there was some excellent musicians and producers involved – most notably Robert Palmer, Sting and Sly and Robbie. “Smile” was mixed by Lindstrom fave Todd Rundgren. His dub features good use of the original’s gospel vocals and copious amounts of delay. It seemed an upbeat enough place to finish.
BEDMO DISCO 