“Naw man… I want the band dressed in fox hunt uniforms standing in front of the Taj Mahal underneath a giant rainbow sprouting from hats belonging to mimes with a sexy white girl on a horse jumping over it…”

“How many times do we have to go over this!?”

To my ears these are the brackish waters between the funk and the disco. Sure, we aren’t riding white horses in Studio54 yet but you can hear where things were headed. Still, “Let Me Ride” falls on the right side of the fence (sorry disco freaks) and keeps things funky.

Plus… Rainbow-Casting Mimes!

Artist: Bloodstone
Album: Unreal
Label: London
Year: 1974

Amazon has the MP3s.

Snailboy got me in the mood for some island sounds and when that happens, this is one of my go-to cuts. By now I hope most of you know Mr. Spear. If not, go buy yourself his “Marcus Garvey” [+] album and get learnin’. This cut is from the proceeding album “Rocking Time” which came out on the legendary Studio One label. It’s an up-tempo number with a beautiful / haunting melody and a bouncy organ. It’s one of those cuts that sends shivers down yr spine… at least it did for me… Is that too personal? Fsssh… Don’t be uptight man!

Anyway, I really really really hope some phone company licenses this for an ad (hello? “CALL on you”? it’s a no-brainer). In the meantime, I guess we’ll just have to make due enjoying an amazing song on its own merits. If that’s even possible.

Artist: Burning Spear [+]
Album: Rocking Time [+]
Year: 1974
Label: Studio One [+]
Production: Coxsone Dodd [+]

Alas, the album appears to be out of print. Looks like the great SoulJazz label has a comp with this track available for purchase here.

Every now and again you come across album art that *completely* blows yr mind and you just know the music inside is sure to please. Case in point: Paul Kelly’s “Hooked, Hogtied, & Collared.” Study that art for a moment and be amazed. Yes friend, this is S&M soul. Dude is a superfreak!

If the man don’t want all the love you’re givin’ Try me! I’m willing!

Damn. No shit. Well, fuckit. This cut is nice anyway Mr. TMI creepy guy. Deets:

ARTIST: Paul Kelly
ALBUM: Hooked, Hogtied, & Collared
YEAR: 1974
LABEL: Warner Bros.

I guess it’s not shocking dude kinda got his start playing with old man Blowfly. You can’t listen to these cuts without imagining every line as some freaky doublespeak for: “Hey, why don’t you throw a saddle on me and ruff-ride me around town?” But what can I say, he makes it work. Freak on!

Whoa!…..just picked this up today. It’s a fuzzed-out African psych/garage/pop toe-tapper from 1974. This track coulda been Africa’s answer to New Zealand’s The Clean had it not been recorded 4 years before the Clean’s formation. Maybe it’s the other way around…..maybe the Clean is New Zealand’s answer to Zambia’s Chrissy Zebby Tembo! In any case this track rips! The opening guitar almost reminds me of Smells Like Teen Spirit….you almost think he’s gonna bust into some broken, pre-realized cover of the Nirvana classic….but naw…Chrissy keeps it real. Throughout the song Chrissy and the family thankfully retain that naive proto-punk style….crunchy, repetitive and loose…..and make it their own thing.

“I’ve Been Loosing” is pulled from a re-issue of Tembo’s 1974 album My Ancestors. The whole album is a peach. Head-bopping, funny, sincere, fuzzed-out and just downright enjoyable from start to finish. This ‘aint your Dad’s Afro beat….In fact it’s not really Afro beat at all…it’s Afro garage pop…..and I want more!

ARTIST: Chrissy Zebby Tembo and Ngozi Family
TRACK: “Ive Been Loosing”
ALBUM: My Ancestors
YEAR: 1974