Professor Eddy

I close this year with a special 40 records tribute to the pirate radio stations at the Dutch and British coasts in the 1960s and 1970s. To be honest, I enjoyed the pirate stations (mostly Radio Veronica and Radio Noordzee) for only one summer, the warm months of 1974, when the Dutch lost from the Germans in the World Cup soccer final. After that summer they were all banned and the pirate stations disappeared from the Dutch coast. But it was my introduction to pop music, so they made quite an impression to me. This is also a tribute to the music that sounded so good on AM radio. Those songs from the early sixties to the mid-seventies were very powerful and catchy. They just blew out of my radio, like a piece of dynamite or like an explosion in my soul, to quote the Soul Survivors (who were produced by Philly soul legends Gamble & Huff). Although the movie ‘ The boat that rocked ’ (picture below) was not as good as I hoped it would be, it gives us a rather romantic impression of...

Let's funk around the Christmas tree! ;-) Funk saw the light of day in the mid sixties when James Brown recorded ‘Papa’s got a brand new bag’. At that time he had developed his signature groove that emphasized the first beat ('on the one'). This distinctive sound was picked up by others in the late sixties. Bands like Sly & the Family Stone, Funkadelic and The Meters took it to another level the next decade. It was a huge influence on disco music. Funk disappeared from the map in the mid-eighties. Then hip hop and later on house started to push it to the side. James Brown complains in ‘Rapp payback’: I know you heard of Master Gee / But you didn't hear nothing / About J.B.! ;-) Probably the first funk song I heard on the radio was 'Fire' from The Ohio Players, although it was called disco at the time. It's still one of my all time favourites. Part 5 of Everything I do gonna be funky is a little bit different from the previous parts, because there...

Picture: Freefoto.com One of the best movies of 2011 is without any hesitation ' Drive ' starring a sensational Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver. The electronic music inspired me to compile this mix. One of the tracks, the dark one from Kavinsky, is in fact from the official soundtrack. You surely have to watch this intriguing movie that builds to a breath taking climax. The soundtrack is very impressive as well, altough the tracks are not as funky as the ones in this mix. Anyway, enjoy this funky electro mix! The funk will come straight out of your socket, I promise... ;-) The picture is from Freefoto . Tracklist: Hot Cuisine – Who's Been Kissing You (1981) First Touch – It's Yours [2011 Mix] (2011) Whodini – The Haunted House Of Rock [Vocoder Version] (1983) Escort – Why Oh Why (2011) Lana Del Rey – Video Games [Mr Fingers Remix] (2011) Kerr – Back At Ya (1984) Two Sisters – Scratch This [Extended Version] (1983) Eruption – I Can’t Stand The Rai...

The first track I had in mind for this mix was the one from Parlet. They are a P-Funk girl group, created by George Clinton. Debbie Wright, Mallia Franklin, and Jeannette Washington were the original members in 1978, the year they recorded their first album, ‘Pleasure principle’. George Clinton convinced Casablanca Records to put out lots of money to promote the record, but Debbie Wright had a bad drug reaction and was in no condition to tour. She had to drop out of Parlet. Shirley Hayden was brought in to replace her and they opened for P-Funk on tour for a while. Mallia Franklin left in 1979 to help form Sterling Silver Starship with then-husband and Parliament bassist Donnie Sterling. Janice Evans replaced Mallia halfway through the recording of their second album, ‘Invasion of the booty snatchers’ in 1979. A year later Parlet released one last album, ‘Play Me or Trade Me’ that contains 'Help from my friends'. At that time George Clinton dropped his side-projects due to fina...

Another back-to-back with Daizi from Japan! I added the first three tracks afterwards, but the middle section of this mix is marvellously done by Daizi. Then I take over with United Future Organization, followed by another six from Daizi. I like his acid jazz classics from the 1990s! Disco Extravaganza is a previous collaboration between Daizi and me. Enjoy! Tracklist: Rocket - Groove Thing [DJ Sensus Blue Six Edit] (2011) Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby – Hikky-Burr [Mix Master Mike Remix] (2004) Barry White - September When I First Met You [Sensus Soul Remix] (2011) Praise – Dream On (1992) Black Box – Fantasy (1990) Incognito – Change (1992) Gang Starr – Jazz Thing (1990) Martine Girault – Revival (1992) Kellee Patterson - I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More (1976) Snowboy Feat. Anna Ross – Girl Overboard (1992) Swing Out Sister – Not Gonna Change (1992) Salsoul Orchestra Feat. Loleatta Holloway – Run away (1977) The Fatback Band – Wicky Wacky...

There's a funky edit of a Suzi Quatro song in this new episode of Groovy, sexy & soulful . And Suzi Quatro was in fact the first woman I was in love with... ;-) She looked like one of the boys, with her tough leather suit and big bass guitar, but I found her incredibly sexy. She was originally from Motown city Detroit, but she was most popular in Great Britain, Europe and Australia in the 1970s. Well-known songs are ' Can The Can ', '48 Crash' and 'Devil Gate Drive', all written and produced by famous glam hit makers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. The latter also worked on her latest album 'In the spotlight' that came out recently. It includes the single ' Whatever love is '. Suzi Quatro influenced girl bands like The Runaways and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. There are two songs in this mix from the great new Maysa album, 'Motions of love'. She has a single out, called ' Flower girl ', which is a duet with Dwele. Enjo...

More than a thousand followers on Mixcloud, wow! And tomorrow I will celebrate my birthday, so there are reasons enough for a party and you're all invited! :-) Tracklist: Smoove + Turrell – The Way It Goes (2011) The Chaplin Band – Welcome To The Party (1981) Today, Tomorrow, Forever – Dance, Party, Jam (1981) The Temptations – Treat Her Like A Lady (1984) Kurtis Blow – The Breaks (1980) Legacy – Word Up (1982) Skool Boyz – Superfine (From Behind) (1985) Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio – It's Time To Party Now [Frico Edit Warped] (1980/2008) Arlana – You Can't Keep Breaking My Heart (1982) Kim Tolliver – Party Lights (1982) Lee Moore – Do You Feel Like A Party (1981) Cookie – Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover [Eddy’s Extended Edit] (1981) Monsieur Dubois – Dance (2011) Switch – We Like To Party... Come On (1978) Van McCoy – Party (1976) Eddy's Party Jam by Professor Eddy on Mixcloud

Times have changed. Nowadays it would be totally inappropriate to sing about ‘little girls’, but in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s songs about teenage girls didn’t raise any eyebrows, even when the singers, like Ringo Starr and Chuck Berry, were in their (late) thirties. Being in love with school girls seemed to be quite normal. Alex Chilton (Big Star) sang on top of that about his love for a thirteen year old girl ('Thirteen') and Jerry Lee Lewis even married one! Bruce Springsteen sang about his little girl (‘I’m on fire’) in 1984 and Billy Idol claimed that he was in love with his ‘sweet sixteen’ three years later, but songs about teenage love were fading away in the 1980s. After the legal problems that R. Kelly and Gary Glitter faced in the 1990s and 2000s the openly teenage adorations seem to have disappeared for good in 2011, just like the word ‘teenager’ in songs. But that’s from the male perspective. Female vocalists like Katy Perry, on the other hand, still sing about ‘tee...

Ever since the 1980s I love to hear electro music and especially electro or synth funk. Kraftwerk started the revolution in the 1970s and bands like the Human League went on with the electro sound in the early 1980s. Then it started to infect soul and disco music as well, as you can hear in this mix. I included the Club Clique For The Bad Girls Remix of ‘Video games’ from the wonderful Lana Del Rey too. It fits perfectly as the first track. If you want to hear some more old school electro, check out ‘ Elektro Diskow ’, a cool new compilation album from Mixmag Magazine. Enjoy! Picture below from FreeFoto.com Look out for part 5 of Groovy, sexy & soulful next week! Playlist: Lana Del Rey – Video Games [Club Clique For The Bad Girls Remix] (2011) Dimitri From Paris & DJ Rocca Present Erodiscotique – Downtown (2011) Roy Ayers – And Then We Were One (1983) Rashaan Patterson – If (2004) Wendy & Lisa – Are You My Baby? (1989) Beverley Knight – Mama Used To Sa...

There are lots of very cool songs about not being phoned, not picking up a phone or simply about the joy of a telephone call. Two years ago I did a telephone mix for Dazlingsoul , called ‘Tunes for your telephone’. For 'Hello, it's me' I replaced some of the songs and changed the sequence. One of the new songs is a track from Mayer Hawthorne. It is from his very nice new album ‘How do you do’. Am I getting old or am I getting gay, but I like the new (quite soulful) Cliff Richard album (‘Soulicious’) too… ;-) Tell me, what are your favourite telephone songs? NYC's lush disco crew Escort are readying their self-titled debut LP for digital release next month and early next year on CD and vinyl through Escort Records (Tirk will handle the release in Europe). There's a free download of the album's opening cut, ' Caméleon Chameleon (Club Remix) '. Check it out, it's cool! Playlist: Charles Bradley – The Telephone Song (2011) Mayer Hawthorne – You...

On Tuesday morning I almost fell out of my bed when I heard the incredible ‘Video games’ from Lana Del Rey. I rushed to my computer to find more information about this singer. I started to like her even more when I saw her beautifully composed retro clips on You Tube . Her voice is a cocktail of Duffy, Amy Winehouse and a young Nancy Sinatra and her looks remind me of sixties icons like Brigitte Bardot. All my Facebook friends seemed to like her as well, although they complained about her lips and her bored look… ;-) At the moment she's in the studio working on songs with Damon Albarn (Blur) and good old Bobby Womack. Enjoy part 4 of Groovy, sexy & soulful ! Btw, if you like b/w photography check out the wonderful pictures from Vivian Maier . They are the best I’ve ever seen! Tracklist: Spyro Gyra – Island Pond (2009) Azymuth – Carnaval Legrand (2011) Rose Royce – Love Don’t Live Here Anymore [Professor Eddy VS Matty Wainwright Remix] (2011) José González – Killi...

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference . ' The Road Not Taken '/Robert Frost Playlist: Bill Withers – Heartbreak Road (1974) Brown Hill – Running (2011) Booker T. Jones – Walking Papers (2011) Johnny Pate – You Can’t Even Walk In The Park (1973) The New Mastersounds – Walk In These Shoes (2011) Bruce Cloud – Walk In My Shoes (1969) Marvin Gaye – The End Of Our Road (1968) Mayer Hawthorne – The Walk (2011) Melba Moore – Walk A Mile In My Shoes/Twenty Five Miles (1971) Shara Nelson – Down That Road (1993) Mo’ Horizons – Hit The Road Jack (2000) Goldfrapp – Road To Somewhere (2008) Percy Sledge – True Love Travels On A Gravel Road (1969) Nouvelle Vague – Road To Nowhere (2009) BYentl – One Foot Out The Door (2011) Julee Cruise – Summer Kisses Winter Tears (1991) She & Him – Ridin' In My Car (2010) Duane ...

It’s time to do something special: I teamed up with the excellent DJ Daizi from Japan to play back to back. Daizi more or less invented the funky chill dj style and I have to admit that I am heavily influenced by him! We both like euphoric percussion on disco beats and some introvert funk to cool things down or to warm the place up, as in this set. The jazzy part (starting from Spick & Span) is mixed by the master skills of DJ Daizi, so I don’t mind if you skip the rest… ;-) There’s a second part of this mix, so if you like this one, check my blog regularly! Playlist: George Bussey Experience – Disco Extravaganza (1978) Mayer Hawthorne – A Long Time [Chromeo Mix] (2011) James Ingram (with Michael McDonald) – Yah Mo B There (1983) Jazz Crusaders – It’s Your Thing (1969) Spick & Span – Chuva No Brasil (1994) Cal Tjader – Noa Noa (1976) Orchestra Harlow – La Contraria (1969) Pucho And The Latin Soul Brother s – Yaina (1971) The Young-Holt Unlimited – Baby Your Ligh...

The reason for this mix is a sad one. Exactly one year ago friends and family said goodbye to my good old dad after being ill for quite some time. To honour him I thought it was a good idea to compile ‘Daddy’s theme’: songs about dads and sons, but not about my father in particular, although he was a cool daddy, to paraphrase Boney M. Some of the songs seem to deal with fathers, but the lyrics are in fact about something completely different, like the ones from Jim Gilstrap and George Michael. But not the one from Feargal Sharkey, former frontman of the legendary Irish new wave band The Undertones. I remember my father didn’t like the lyrics of the song at all, because he only picked up the line ‘never listen to your father’. He misinterpreted the lyrics though, because I believe Feargal Sharkey sings that it’s only wise to listen to your father. That’s why I included the song as the final track. It strikes me that there are quite some men in my album archive singing about their dads...

Yes, I’m back from my (imaginary) trip to Rio! ;-) .  ‘Back from Rio’ is mixed in 115 BPM. The title is inspired by an album from Roger McGuinn, the singer of the legendary rock band The Byrds. Twenty years ago he made a very nice solo album that was called ‘Back fron Rio’, although there wasn’t any Latin song on it. I liked the title, so I used it for this mix. It’s meant to warm you up for the world championship soccer and the Olympic Games that will be held in Rio de Janeiro in a few years’ time. By the way, not all of the songs are South American, some of them have a Cuban background as well.  Enjoy! Tracklist: Donald Fagen – The Goodbye Look (1983) Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Looking Out For Number 1 (1975) Alice Smith & Aloe Blacc – Baby (2011) Zuco 103 – Espero (2008) Gretchen Parlato – On The Other Side (2009) Fania All Stars – Picadillo (1976) Sergent Garcia – Yo Soy Salsamuffin (2011) Snowboy And The Latin Section – Snowboy’s Special (2008) John...

Dave Marsh wrote about ‘Juicy fruit’ from James Mtume (former percussionist of Miles Davis) in his excellent book ‘The heart of rock and soul’ (the 1001 greatest singles ever made): ‘ Dirty records from the early days of R&B are more widely celebrated, but Hank Ballard never got any of his “Annie” records this far up the charts. Of course, he also didn’t come up with a riff half as exciting or danceable as the shattered-glass synth part here ’. ‘Juicy fruit’ went to number 45 on the Billboard pop charts and reachend the number 1 spot on the R&B charts in 1983. Together with guitarist Reggie Lucas James Mtume wrote and produced quite a lot very good disco songs, like 'Don't stop dancin' for Stephanie Mills in 1979. It's on a new compilation album of Stephanie Mills, called ' Feel the Fire: The 20th Century Collection '. The song 'My love won't let you down' from Nathalie was written and produced by Peter Godwin. In the 1970s he was one half ...

The summer of 2011 is almost over, so it’s time to make one last trip to the seaside. The first trip was on AOR Disco , btw. I’m really proud to have included a track from Jeremy Spencer, an early member of Fleetwood Mac. He replaced guitarist Peter Green for a 1971 world tour, but after he had gone to a book store, he never returned… Five days later, police traced him to the headquarters of a Christian sect called the Children of God, which Spencer had apparently joined after being approached on the street. A few years later he began to record again and made ‘Flee’, one of the best yacht rock albums of the 1970s. This is the final episode of Summer Soul Station , at least for the summer season. Don't forget to check out AOR Disco for a special version of 'Last trip to the seaside', which is called ' Last short trip to the seaside '. Picture from Jorgosphotos Tracklist: Kenny G – Stop And Go (1982) Art Webb – A Little Traveling Music, Please (1977) John...

Picture from Houyin Tropical storm Irene has left, so it’s safe to go to New York again! This mix is a tribute to the city where disco music was born, so there is quite a lot of disco in it. The final track, a re-edit from 'Miss Broadway', is from the new Horse Meat Disco III album, which is a joy to listen to, especially the part that is mixed by Luke Howard. The second song of my mix, ‘Manhattan’ from Laura Greene, is from the first Horse Meat Disco album, by the way. Enjoy this Summer Soul Station trip to New York City! Tracklist: Jess Roden – On Broadway (1974) Laura Greene – Manhattan (1979) William Pitt – City Lights (1987) Hummingbird – The City Mouse (1976) Metropole – Miss Manhattan (1981) Metropolis – New York Is My Kind Of Town (1978) Bohannon – Take The Country To N.Y. City (1981) Dennis Parker – New York By Night (1979) Odyssey – Native New Yorker (1977) Starship Orchestra – New York, New York (1980) James Brown – Down and Out in New Yor...

Summer Soul Station plays all your requests in this new mix! ;-) The first few words after the great new song from Fountains of Wayne are spoken by Iva Davies, singer and main member of the Australian band Icehouse. They have a great new compilation album out now, called ‘White heat’ that contains every single they released. The package delivers two audio discs, each with 15 songs in chronological order and a DVD with music videos from all of the singles. It's fun to see Iva Davies change from a shy guy with a pancake haircut to some kind of curly James Dean wih hair extensions. The album includes hits like ‘Great southern land’, ‘ Hey little girl ’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Electric blue’. The latter was co-written by John Oates (Hall & Oates). Ten years ago German dj Mathias Schaffhäuser made a very nice rework of ‘ Hey little girl ’, together with Rob Taylor. 'Radio' is a song from the latest album from Raphael Saadiq (Lucy Pearl, Tony! Toni! Toné!). Thanks to Caroline, Clau...

Summer Soul Station goes Motown! In the past I remixed a couple of Marvin Gaye songs. ‘Inner city blues’ is my most recent one. I used bits and pieces of German band leader James Last. He gave the song the summer feeling I needed for this mixtape. The track from Kelly Rowland is from her new album ‘Here I am’, her first one on Motown. She sings about Summer Soul Station , I suppose: ‘We gotta do it, do it all day, like the radio!’ She promoted her album with a wardrobe malfunction last week… I will play the original version of ‘Walk away Renee’ someday as well, because the Four Tops did a cover version of it. Enjoy this summer of Motown! Full tracklist: Kelly Rowland & Rico Love – All Of The Night (2011) Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues [Professor Eddy vs James Last Re-edit] (2011) Martha & the Vandella s – Heat Wave [David Elizondo Mix] (2008) The Temptations – Beauty Is Only Skin Deep (1966) The Four Tops – Walk Away Renee (1967) The Originals – Call On Your ...

Summer Soul Station is still on the road! I love those radio friendly and most of all car friendly songs I grew up with in the seventies and eighties. I lived in a small village back then, so the radio was the only source to hear new music. I listened a lot to common names like Toto, Steely Dan, Roxy Music and Boz Scaggs who made really enjoyable blue eyed soul. Or perhaps it’s better to call it (soft) rock with disco and soul influences. Pale British singer James Blunt is one of the latest artists in that tradition. By the way, glam rock star David Bowie was one of the first white guys (after Elton John and Gino Vannelli) to perform on the American television show Soul Train (in 1975). Luther Vandross used to be one of his background singers. This mixtape is a tribute to that disco/rock sound. It pays homage to the Volkswagen Beetle as well, a car my father used to drive. And no, it’s not my mother blowing bubbles in front of the colourful car in the picture… ;-) I included an edit...

After taking a plane last week, Summer Soul Station is enjoying the exotic sounds and wild rhythms of the jungle now. One of the tracks is the story of ‘Mushanga’, a hit song from Toto in 1988. It’s about an American magazine writer who is a poet as well. In the far away jungle he falls in love with a ‘girl with no shoes’, but when he returns to New York City, she never replies to his letters. It seems that the postman can’t find her palm tree or so… The song ends with the line that he hopes that she will find all the things she was after, but his heart is still with her. I like that thought. It’s a story that is similar to the one of Pocahontas. A tale that is told many times, for instance in the movie ‘ The New World ’, starring Colin Farrell. He’s a great actor, but I liked him much better in his latest one, ‘ Horrible Bosses ’, which is hilarious, especially when he does his Kung-Fu tricks while listening to 'Kung Fu Fighting', the Carl Douglas classic. Anyway, enjoy this ...

Two weeks ago we took a boat trip, now it is time to take the Summer Soul Station airplane! To be honest, I have a little fear of flying, just like former Dutch soccer player Dennis Bergkamp. Comedienne Kirstin Wiig shows us to what this fear might lead to in the funny movie Bridesmaids . But to overcome the fear, I have selected quite a few happy and joyful songs about taking a plane, although there are some dark tracks in it as well (from Albert Hammond and The Motors). I chose Art Garfunkel after hearing the track on one of the superb ‘Ready 4 Airplay’ podcasts from Flashlites Productions . Great song it is!  And doesn’t Goldfrapp sound a tiny little bit like Donna Summer’s ‘I feel love’? Judge for yourself!  One of the biggest fans of Donna Summer were The Human League . 'Sky' is their very cool new single! It's time to take off now... Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Eddy hopes you all have a pleasant flight! Picture from Jo Jo Balla . Tracklist: Bennson – Fly H...

This is a downtempo/funky chill mix for the early hours to sunrise, when you’re waiting for sleep to come with Summer Soul Station on, your favourite radio station, of course… ;-) These are soft tunes to make you feel comfortable, when you’re alone in your bed and music is your only company. ‘Don’t you forget about me’ from the movie ‘The breakfast club’ was first offered to Bryan Ferry in the 1980s, but he refused. He still regrets his refusal to this day, because it was his chance to have a breakthrough hit in the US. Billy Idol didn’t want to record the song either. Finally the Simple Minds accepted the track and it’s their bestselling song until this day… The version I included is from the album 'Hollywood, mon amour', a project from Marc Collin (Nouvelle Vague). The new Washed Out album lacks good songs, but I like the Lovelock remix of their new single ‘Eyes be closed’. Enjoy these songs that accompany sunrise! Pictures from pulcinoassassino . If you want to hear some ...