Professor Eddy

My dj-style can be described as relaxed Sunday morning music, music you can almost dance to, soulful pop or funky chill. This time I chose to call it mellow disco.

Born in England of Dominican parents but raised in Canada, where she has returned to live, Singer/Songwriter Sharon Musgrave shot to prominence in 1991 whilst collaborating with William Orbit on the Bass-O-Matic project. They achieved international status with the hit Fascinating Rhythm, which Sharon co-wrote. An album soon followed, cementing the groups worldwide status as a credible dance act and Sharon’s ability as a writer. A world tour established Bass-O-Matic as an act that could cut it live. Her beautiful new album is called Sha’s Archive.

With producer Gary Katz, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring crème de la crème musicians to record their compositions. Though the band didn't perform live between 1974 and 1993, Steely Dan's popular…

The term techno pop was invented by German electro funk pioneers Kraftwerk. Their 1986 album Electric Café was originally called ‘Techno pop’. It's pop music with melodic electronic instruments, which fits perfectly in the Boombox series, so enjoy this new episode with Kraftwerk as the closing act!

As Chaka Khan released her first solo album, I'm Every Woman, Rufus released 1978's Numbers, without Khan, and it went absolutely nowhere. Masterjam finds them back together, renamed Rufus and Chaka, with Quincy Jones as the producer. Khan had worked with Jones on his 1978 album, Sounds...And Stuff Like That. The most striking thing about Masterjam is that it doesn't sound like a trademark Rufus effort. Jones' production style is so strong that the band's individual sound is all but lost. It's nothing to worry about, since Jones was at his R&B/pop peak and Rufus couldn't do it any better on their own. Walk The Rockway is one of the standout tracks.

Origin…

Though not an original member of the Temptations, Dennis Edwards, who has died last month, was a member of the group from 1968 until 1977, a period during which they scored some of their most memorable hits. His gritty, urgent lead vocal was in dramatic contrast to the sweeter tones of the singer he replaced, David Ruffin, and was perfect for tough and funky songs such as ‘Cloud Nine’ (1968), the apocalyptic ‘Ball of Confusion’ (1970) and the 1972 US chart-topper ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone’.

After trying to launch a solo career, Edwards made several reappearances with the Temptations during the 1980s, and during the 90s he formed the Temptations Review Featuring Dennis Edwards, with which he continued performing until last year. His most memorable solo effort was ‘Don’t Look Any Further’, a duet with Siedah Garret, recorded in 1984. The single was written by Franne Golde, Dennis Lambert and Duane Hitchings. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Black Singles chart and No. 72 on the Billb…

I selected a couple of relaxed, groovy disco tracks, together with big orchestrated disco (Barry White style) and a little bit of Latin flavour as well, to create a ‘lounge’ feel.

Both Moods and HIGH HØØPS have adopted a funky sound for some time now, so one would expect quite the vibes in a collaboration, which we have here with their "Comfortable". The release is Moods' second from his forthcoming debut album, and it's without question a standout, with his thick chords and gliding drums.

Sip a glass of cold wine, beer or champagne and enjoy this new Smooth Sailing trip!


Tracklist:

Dabeull & Jordan Lee – Don’t Forget It (2018)
Dax On Sax & PowerDress – Can’t Stop The Ride [Netflix & Chill Mix] (2018)
Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On [Da Producers MPG Groove Mix] (2005)
Alex Cortiz – Glamour Girl (2001)
Moods Feat. HIGH HØØPS – Comfortable (2018)
Funk LeBlanc – WWMMD (2018)
Jaye P. Morgan – Can't Hide Love (1976)
Side Effect – What The Heck, Let’s Discotheque (…

Get up & get down, this is the soundtrack to your weekend, enjoy this special part of AOR On The Radio!

The original version of ‘Arianne’ (“she’s the smell of coffee brewing, on a quiet, rainy Sunday”) is from soul singer Johnny Mathis. The song appeared on his 'Killing Me Softly With Her Song' album that was released in 1973. Rod McKuen, who recorded the track two years later, wrote on his official site that the lyrics are a translated French poem. Although it is a beautiful song, it almost sounds a bit creepy, as if the guy is obsessed with a young girl: “Arianne is Mama's crystal bread that's nearly finished baking…”

The previous unreleased song by Helene & The Brookside Orchestra is on the new excellent compilation album 'Soul on the real side #8'. The track was arranged by Norman Bergen, who also wrote million selling hits like ‘Only a fool breaks his own heart’ and ‘Knock three times’.

‘I want Sunday back again’ by Maxine Weldon is from the for…

Feelin' Mellow? The Smooth Operators lead you through a selection of yacht disco, funky chill and modern soul. This mixtape contains tracks by California Flight Project, Average White Band, Leroy Hutson, Gary Taylor, Heat, Jim Spencer, Herbie Hancock and more. Enjoy this soulful and chilled out side of yacht rock!

Tracklist:

California Flight Project - California Flight (1979)
Gary Taylor - Just What I Have I Mind (1983)
Average White Band - Whatcha’ Gonna Do For Me (1980)
Beau Williams - Stay With Me (1983)
The S.S.O. Orchestra - Faded Lady (1977)
Heat - Don’t You Walk Away (1980)
The Gene Dunlap Band - There’s Talk (1983)
David Astri - Get Down To It (1983)
Sunrize - Come And Get My Lovin’ (1982)
The Jones Girls - This Feelings Keeling Me (1979)
Jim Spencer - Wrap Myself Up In Your Love (1979)
Windjammer - Tossing And Turning (1984)
Heatwave - Mind What You Find (1982)
Pumphouse Gang ‎– Welcome Back Into My Life (1979)
Hummingbird – You Can’t Hide Love (1977)
Herbie Hancock – Gettin’ To The Go…

Did you survive Blue Monday and the cold, dark days of winter so far? I hope so! Otherwise this new episode of Smooth Sailing will warm you up and give you a good mood!

For a long time I thought that Santa Esmeralda was a Spanish guy with a guitar in a box like Antonio Banderas in the movie ‘Desperado’. But now I know that it is a French team of producers with no Spanish blood in their veins at all. I still like their single, though. Director Quentin Tarantino used 'Don't let me be misunderstood' for his movie Kill Bill 1. Leroy Gomez is the singer of the track. He used to have some problems with his zipper, which can be seen in a few YouTube videos… Gomez is a born American and worked as a session saxophone player and vocalist, with many artists, including Elton John, José Felicano, Patrick Juvet, Gilbert Becaud, Claude Francois and Laurent Voulzy. 'Don't let me be misunderstood' reached #5 on the Dutch Top 40​ in 1977. The song was first recorded by Nina Sim…

Booty calls, calls (and cries) for freedom, prank calls, calls for help, nature calls, love calls, you hear all kinds of calls. Pick up & get down!

Ramsey & Company were the group Mainor Ramsey had pieced together to play the Catskills supper club circuit. Their only release being the super charged sexy disco hit ‘Love Call’ backed with super blaxploitation fodder ‘Leg Grease’, release on Mainor’s own label, Ramco. This limited styrene 7” single was sold exclusively at the groups live shows and never saw its way into proper distribution. Oddly this limited release eventually found its way onto the dancefloors of the UK’s northern soul/modern soul scene, and became a super smash ripping up floors whenever played. The sheer quality of this tune mixed with the utter rarity has made this record nearly impossible to find and quite valuable on the collector’s market.

Enjoy the telephone conversation! Next week a new part of Smooth Sailing.

Tracklist:

Yarbrough & Peoples – Don’t W…

In the beginning of the 1970s a remarkable duo popped up in the charts: easy listening duo The Carpenters. They seemed completely out of place in a pop world that was dominated by rock stars who looked bigger than life. Mastermind Richard and his sister Karen dressed if they'd go to church after each show, but they had a weapon that swept everyone away: the wonderful voice of Karen. However, she turned out to be a very insecure woman, who struggled with both her personal and professional life. Things went seriously wrong when the only solo album Karen made was not released, because Richard disapproved the way she used her voice in the songs (“too high”). Around the same time she got married, but the marriage only lasted a few months. She seemed not to be able to stand on her own feet.

In the 1980s, when the commercial success of the Carpenters faded, Karen could not recover from a very serious eating disorder and it would eventually lead to her death on this day in 1983. Alice Coop…

Do you remember the feel-good movie of 1983 'Flashdance'? It is definitely an iconic film about bending, stretching, sweating and flexing. On the soundtrack are great songs like 'Maniac' by Michael Sembello, although the classic track is not on this cloudcast. The Australian talents David Hauserman, Retrosweat and the Sticks and Stones Agency collaborated to pay tribute to the original 1980s freestyle aerobic workout and Jane Fonda in particular for C-Heads Magazine. One of the pictures is on the left.

Hamilton Bohannon was the bandleader for several Motown tours in the late sixties and early seventies. Marvin Gaye mentioned his name on his very funky track ‘Checking out’. When Motown moved to Los Angeles in 1972, Hamilton Bohannon started a career of his own. I’m a big fan of his tight way of drumming ever since I heard ‘Disco stomp’ when I was a kid. 'Take The Country To N.Y. City' is from his album 'Alive' (1981).

Enjoy this new episode of Eddy'…

Tom Findlay of dance duo Groove Armada once said that the last thing he wanted to hear in the car after a gig was dance music, so he always put up soulful pop music from the 1970s and 1980s. Instead of a cool down, this mix is meant to warm you up for a pleasant night out, no matter what you are going to do. The music will give you the right mood to ‘be alright’, to quote Zapp from their 1980 album.

Kansas City based retro-soul style ensemble Hi-Lux have produced an ideal A-side, with the high-energy “Dance With My Baby” and its subdued counterpart, “Don’t Blame Me.” The former track is an upbeat jazz-funk groove that feels exquisitely carefree, while “Don’t Blame Me” looks back on failed love, using brassy percussion to bolster the theme. Released on Sunflower Soul Records.

'Night Owl' was released a year after Gerry Rafferty's 1978 Platinum-selling album 'City to City'. While not quite performing as well as its predecessor, 'Night Owl' still managed enoug…

‘Sky restaurant’ by Yumi Seimo is from the City Pop compilation Tokyo Nights, out on Cultures of Soul now. Japanese city pop of the 1980s was influenced by American R&B and boogie, fusion, and adult-oriented rock (AOR). The lyrics were sung primarily in Japanese (with a word or two of English sprinkled in), because city pop was initially meant for the domestic market, but in retrospect the songs sound even better than contemporary similar tracks from the US and Europe.

The track by Personal Life is from The Heart Volume 4, out on Tokyo Dawn Records:

“Once again TDR diligently and delicately delivers well-seasoned soul stirring flavours, nurturing niceness and warmth from the heart.”

Enjoy this fresh episode of Smooth Sailing!

Tracklist:

Deniece Williams – Free (1976)
Johnny Bristol – Everyday She’s Around (1978)
Ben E. King – Made For Each Other (1981)
GQ ‎– Make My Dreams A Reality (1979)
Personal Life – Distance Can Be Sweet (2013)
Lil Albert – Outrageous (1976)
Brothers Johnson – Dayd…

Singer/songwriter Greg Guidry was born in St. Louis, MO on January 23, 1954, and started out singing gospel music as a child. He remained active with music growing up and sang in bands through high school and college, including several with future Doobie Brother (and St. Louis native) Michael McDonald. He signed a publishing deal in 1977, spending the next several years writing for other artists and even singing backup for the Allman Brothers Band in 1981. Columbia Records signed Guidry as an artist in 1982 and issued his debut, Over the Line. With its adult pop sound, Over the Line produced a hit with the first single culled from it, "Goin' Down." The song peaked at number 17 in the spring of 1982 and managed to do even better on the adult contemporary charts, where it reached Top Ten status. The follow-up track, “Into My Love”, a duet with sister Sandy Guidry, failed to duplicate the success of "Goin' Down" and spent a mere two weeks on the charts. Guidry…

Happy new year! I'm sure that disco is the best way to start 2018 :-) The Salsoul Orchestra led by vibraphonist Vincent Montana initially consisted of many of the original members of Philadelphia International's MFSB, who had moved to Salsoul as the result of a financial disagreement with producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Other members began performing as The Ritchie Family and as John Davis and the Monster Orchestra. On later MFSB and Philadelphia International recordings, Gamble & Huff used a new rhythm section which resulted in a slightly different sound.

Though the Salsoul sound (named for its connotations of salsa and soul) became passé in the wake of disco music's explosion and rapid commercialization during the late '70s, Salsoul was a heavy influence on house music in the 1980s and even the return of disco-inspired electronica during the following decade. The orchestra's track, "Chicago Bus Stop” (“Ooh I Love It”) has been sampled in Madonna’s …

The sky looks very grey today, so hopefully this Latin soul mix gives you the feeling of taking a well-deserved South-American trip. It summarizes almost 60 years of suntanned fun in modern music. Enjoy!

Years ago my parents bought a house from the Meek's family, but they were not related to music legend Joe Meek, as far as I know. He was the first independent record producer in music history. In the late 1950s Meek started as an engineer and soon made a name for himself, because he added instruments and sound effects to recordings, which no one had done before. He experimented with the weirdest electronic effects and built his own early versions of synthesizers, a decade before Kraftwerk did. The spacy instrumental 'Telstar' by Tornados is particularly noted for being the first British record by a band to hit #1 in the United States, in 1962.
You can hear Joe Meek sing on it as a drunken sailor at the end. He also created 'Have I the right', the first glam rock tr…

I was very suprised to be #3 on the Mixcloud Best of 2017 Jazz, Funk & Soul chart! I'm really happy with it :-)

This week I chose to play (non-chilled) 80s (inspired) boogie, soul & pop, for a great part contemporary songs, like ‘Light years’ by The Midnight. I think that their 'Nocturnal' is the best album of 2017. Every track seems to be taken from the soundtrack of the 1980s hit series Miami Vice, but the songs are brand new, actually. And I've never heard sax solos played so wonderfully since 'The heat is on' by Glenn Frey or ‘Maneater’ by Daryl Hall & John Oates. The Midnight consists of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan.

One of the tracks is 'Ghostbusters' by Ray Parker Jr. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 1984. Everyone knows that it sounds very similar to 'I Want a New Drug' by Huey Lewis & The News. Lewis had been approached to compose the main theme song for the film first, but had to declin…

Kenny Loggins (from Loggins & Messina) once said in an interview that in his opinion ‘yacht rock’ is a combination of West Coast pop/rock, smooth jazz and R&B . Connoisseur Mr Funk aka Seasidevibes calls the sub-genre ‘soulful West Coast’ and German DJ Supermarkt (known for his very successful ‘Too slow to disco’ compilations) claims it’s music you can almost dance to. The Smooth Operators (Martijn Soetens and I) think that it’s music that sounds best on FM radio. Enjoy our mellow yacht moods!

Picture: Heather Gildroy for Camp collection - C-Heads Magazine

Tracklist:

Thundercat Feat. Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald – Show You The Way (2017)
Ned Doheny – Labor Of Love (1979)
The Waters – If There’s A Way (1977)
Cool Uncle Feat. Jessie Ware – Break Away (2015)
The Ray Camacho Band ‎– Hollywood (1980)
Toto – Waiting For Your Love (1982)
Wouter Hamel – Can’t Do Without It (2017)
Lalo Schifrin ‎– Middle Of The Night (1979)
Photoglo – Steal Away (1980)
Young Gun Silver Fox – Lenny (2017)
…