Professor Eddy

Soon The Smooth Operators (Martijn Soetens and I) will return with a new mixtape soon and our first draft is now available for Mixcloud subscribers only. Enjoy!

Quiet Village is named after the track of the same name by Les Baxter. He is a pianist who composed and arranged for the top swing bands of the 1940s and 1950s, but he is better known as the founder of exotica, a variation of easy listening that glorified the sounds and styles of Polynesia, Africa, and South America, even as it retained the traditional string-and-horn arrangements of instrumental pop. Exotica became a massively popular trend in the 1950s, with thousands of record buyers listening to Baxter, Martin Denny, and their imitators. Baxter also pioneered the use of the electronic instrument the theremin, which has a haunting, howling sound. The exotica sounds make you think of tropical islands, blue seas and sandy beaches. Some of the tropical ingredients were copied by Dr. Buzzards Original Savannah Band and more se…

Some warm weather slow disco vibes to celebrate the start of summer and the fact that I have reached 2 million plays on Mixcloud today! The vibes contain jazz-funk, soul ballads and a bit of nu-disco pop.

Rikki Aaron are Dave Watson and Stan O'Donnell from Bristol, Connecticut. Their three singles on their label RAC stayed under the radar during the early 1980s. Their just released album What’s On Your Mind, a collection of those singles and previously unreleased songs will hopefully give them the attention they deserve!

Tracklist:

Feater Feat. Vilja Larjosto – Time Million (2019)
World Champion – Skyline (2019)
Lemonade – Dancer On The Shore (2015)
Ralph MacDonald ‎– Calypso Breakdown (1976)
Aldorande – Beautiful Island (2019)
Rikki Aaron – Young Man (1980s/2019)
Lou Rawls – Some Folks Never Learn (1977)
Pat Lundy ‎– Let's Get Down To Business (1976)
1969年 – Shampoo Island (2019)
Blue Feather – Who Will Be The One (1985)
Arlana ‎– When You Call My Name (1983)
Solution – It’s Only Just B…

What’s a funky chill out room? In short, it’s a room where you can hear delicate funky music on which you can move your toes, fingers and head, but not both your feet. Or, in other words, it’s soulful music in a private room and not in a crowdy discotheque. The mood bounces between chill out and slow dancing. It’s musically a relaxed melting pot of soul, funk, pop, latin, lounge and jazz. Welcome to the funky chill out room!

All the songs on the 1977 Moment of Truth album were co-written, produced, arranged and conducted by Norman Bergen, who also co-wrote Only a fool (breaks his own heart) by the Mighty Sparrow. The most obscure track At Long Last was sampled on Friends by Snoop Dogg in 2001. They looped his instrumental intro and put a new song over it.

Tracklist:

Gilberto Gil ‎– Maracatú Atômico (1974)
ABC Dialect – Magic (2019)
[Re:Jazz] – Keep On Moving (2006)
Fania All Stars – Picadillo [Eddy's Edit] (1976)
Moment Of Truth – At Long Last (1977)
Ralfi Pagan ‎– Didn’t Want To Have T…

Enjoy this new part of Grooves from the crates! One of the tracks is Spring Again by Lou Rawls from his 1977 album Unmistakably Lou:
"Lou Rawls was riding another hot streak in the late '70s, his career rejuvenated by a string of fine albums and singles on the Philly International label. This was the follow-up to his huge hit LP All Things in Time. He only had one R&B chart song from the album, but in ways, his vocals are superior to those on the prior album. Where the Gamble/Huff production team's efforts on the preceding project rivaled Rawls' vocals, he took the spotlight this time, while their arrangements and productions were more on the subdued side."(Allmusic.com)

Tracklist:

The Temptations – Bare Back (1977)
Marvin Gaye – You’re The Man (1973)
The Undisputed Truth – I Saw You When I Met Her (1975)
100% Pure Poison ‎– You Keep Coming Back (1974)
C.J. & Co – Devil’s Gun [Original Mix] (1977)
The O’Jays – Message In Our Music (1976)
Lou Rawls – Spring Again …

One last episode to say goodbye to the series that I started 5 years ago. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Paul Davis – Somebody’s Getting To You (1981)
Robert John – Sad Eyes (1979)
Daryl Hall & John Oates – One On One (1982)
Larsen-Feiten Band ‎– Who'll Be The Fool Tonight (1980)
David Loggins – If I Had My Wish Tonight (1979)
England Dan & John Ford Coley – Keep Your Smile (1979)
Rory Block – Help Me Baby (1977)
Byrne & Barnes – Love You Out Of Your Mind (1981)
Amy Holland – Strengthen My Love (1980)
Fred Knoblock – A Bigger Fool (1980)
Bruce Hibbard – Never Turnin' Back (1980)
Bruce Roberts – S’ Good Enuff (1980)
Roby Duke – Seasons Of Change (1982)
Ali Thomson – Foolish Child (1981)
Steely Dan – Peg (1977)
Erik Tagg – Got To Be Loving You (1977)
Dick St. Nicklaus – Born To Love You (1979)
Patti Austin & James Ingram – Baby Come To Me (1983)
Bobby Martin – Don’t Give Up (1983)
Michael McDonald – Love Lies (1982)
Marilyn Scott – First Time (1983)
The Boys Band – Think About It (1982)

We’re cruising, just like Motown legend Smokey Robinson, enjoy the preparty!
"One of Robinson's best sides ever, "Cruisin'" floated to up to number four on both the R&B and pop charts in fall 1979, pushing Warm Thoughts into the R&B Top Four and the pop Top 14." (Allmusic.com)The Gameby Soulpersona & Princess Freesia was made in a minimal studio, which is essentially a spare room in their flat. It was recorded and composed using only headphones so as not to wake the neighbours. The album was financed by their supporters through crowdfunding where they managed to reach and exceed their target in just 28 days.

Tracklist:

Linx – So This Is Romance (1980)
Chicago ‎– Just You 'N' Me (1973)
Atlanta Rhythm Section ‎– So Into You [Rodney Justo Mix] (1979)
Steve Miller Band ‎– Fly Like An Eagle [Disco Syndicate's Easy Ease Edit] (1976)
Bee Gees ‎– Love You Inside Out [Gazeebo Edit] (1979)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Shining Star (1975)
Ira Nepus ‎– Tr…

Rollercoaster by Everything but the Girl is originally from their 1994 album Amplified Heart. It brought the couple to mainstream audiences via the dance remix of the song Missing by Todd Terry. Ultimately peaking at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in early 1996, the remix spent more than a year gaining airplay and exposing Everything but the Girl to US and worldwide audiences. Eventually Amplified Heart sold around 232,000 copies in the United States. It went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Ben Watts and Tracey Thorn are currently inactive as a duo, although they occasionally work together. Tracy Thorn released Record two years ago.

Enjoy these funky chill out beach vibes to get in the mood for the summer!

Tracklist:

Carol Welsman – What A Fool Believes (2007)
Everything But The Girl – Rollercoaster (1994)
Zeb – Brazilenco (2001)
Democustico – Rejoycing (2006)
[Re:Jazz] – People Hold On [Alternate Acapella Take] (2004)
Pink Martini & Saori Yuki – Mas Que …

Marvin Gaye's You're the Man was intended to be the follow-up album to his masterpiece What's Going On, but after the release of the title track as the first single, Gaye withdrew its entire release. This was in part due to the poor sales of the song, as well as the fact that Gaye's political views were different to those of Motown boss Berry Gordy. For these reasons, You're the Man was long considered a "lost" album. Last month it has finally been released to celebrate what would have been Gaye's 80th birthday on April 2. It is still a pity that it took so long. I chose to play the funky track The World Is Rated X.

Enjoy this funky disco party!

Tracklist:

Tuxedo – The Tuxedo Way (2019)
Grey & Hanks – Dancin’ (1978)
Thelma Houston – Don't Know Why I Love You (1977)
Teddy Pendergrass – The More I Get, The More I Want (1977)
Soul Survivors – Expressway (To Your Heart) (1967)
MFSB – Let’s Go Disco (1975)
Archie Bell & the Drells – Where Will You Go…

The opening track, Cafe Tropical from Ukraine's Vincent Inc and regular collaborator Lola Allen is an extraordinaire slow disco track, complete with laidback guitar that echoes seventies jazz-funk, easy listening-styled voices and on top of that a gloriously cheesy eighties sax line to finish it off.

Who? by Odyssey is a ‘one single only’ disco project from Greek synthesizer player and movie composer Vangelis Papathanassiou (Chariots of fire), who is also known for his work with Aphrodite’s Child. Former singer of that band, Demis Roussos, sang this song as well a couple of years later. He called it I dig you. The guys from Odyssey make it a vulnerable disco song, but Demis did it with more self-confidence and power, which gave the song a total different meaning.

Enjoy this new sunny part of Smooth Sailing!


Tracklist:

Vincent Inc & Lola Allen – Café Tropical (2019)
Donna Summer – State Of Independence (1982)
Alessi – Jagged Edge (1982)
Ian Matthews – Man In The Station (1978)
Mi…