| Originally posted 07/12/2018: I can recall another time when I got 'stuck in a groove', on a genre of music. It happened twice about a decade apart. Around the spring of ’93, and again in the summer of 2003. All I pretty much played or wanted to hear was deep house and B-sides dance classics from the Loft to Warehouse/Paradise Garage era. |
I had grown up listening to it, and learned to spin and blend on it. It was the genre that introduced me to mixers, the concept of touching the tables and the wax, not just the tonearm, etc.
Songs from Taana Gardner, Gil Scott Heron, First Choice, Willie Hutch, Beginning of the End, Labelle, The Jones Girls, Candido and Cameo. I wanted to find stuff on West End and SalSoul, and Bootlegs of course. Yep, bootlegs, we all got em, don’t front. I looked for anything funky and danceable that cats weren’t up on. The lesser known sounds. I must’ve been stuck in that groove for a couple of weeks.
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The first time I got stuck in a 'Deep House' groove was ’93. I heard this mixtape. Back then, from Chicago (Northern, Illinois) to Southern Illinois, there was a whole House culture on mixtapes like NYC Hip Hop mixtapes, except it was house. Most cost about $5 to $10 depending on who the Dee Jay was and the length (60, 90, 120 mins). Usually, you'd trade joints from the homeys or cats who sold em as a hustle. All of the good record stores kept a good stock of them too if you couldn't cop it on the streets.
Straight up Maxell TDK BASF tapes with marker on em. Some cats did sparse artwork, but most just wrote their name on it. Seldom was it cool to put the track listings on the case. A Dee Jay's reputation assured you it would be a good mix. Usually the newcomers listed the tracks because they didn't have a rep, and you wouldn't cop it otherwise because their name didn't hold weight, it was risky.
My dorm neighbor had a Fink Deep tape-this underground house Dee Jay from the Chi. He let me dub one of his mixes. I'd heard a lot of deep house, but this weird sounding cut, like almost ballroom '20's sounding song called Cher Cherz Le Femme was on it. | |
It was the first time I’d ever heard it. This was all ‘old’ music, it had been around for like 15 to 20 years prior, but it was new to me. I got stuck in a deep house groove the second time in 2003 when I was digging through some of my Labelle LPs and ran up on What Can I Do For You? Off the Nightbirds LP released in 1974. I was just cleaning up my gate, playing the LP and it came on.
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I liked the artists from that time period that were into the Afronaut tip, or Blacks from outer space/Sci-Fi theme. Anything unconventional or different. Parliament Funkadelic is well-known for this type of musical movement. Others like Jimi Hendrix, Sun Ra, and Labelle also fit that mold as you can tell from their gear in the live video with Cher (above). Anything reminiscent of that sound or energy captured in What Can I do for You, I was on it. That led me to some of there other stuff like Moonshadow (a Cat Stevens cover). The version on the Labelle LP was recorded live at the Record Plant in L.A. It’s nearly 10 minutes, but the last 5 and a half, when Patti raps to the crowd and goes through the musicians, that’s where it’s at. I was about that sound. Syl Johnson Right On! I went heavy on that type of deep house, for a good minute. I included Cat Steven's original version of the song Moonshadow and Syl Johnson's Right On below. We'll be reviewing Syl's Is it Because I'm Black LP in our Blues 4 Brews post in the near future.
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So, there it is! Some of the artists and genres where I’ve found myself stuck in a groove. Share your stories with us, or comment on mine. Enjoy the pics and music videos. Be sure to add-on with songs you're feeling by artist/genre, your own music that’s vinyl related, etc. Basically, If you’ve ever been stuck in a groove or know someone who has, build on it with us.
Peace!
Ahmored Tieghur
Peace!
Ahmored Tieghur