Professor Eddy

On the beach is the best place to be, as Cliff Richard told us a long time ago. This cloudcast is partly inspired by ‘The Parifornia Tapes Vol. 2’ from Walter Sobcek . This is what the French duo from Paris say about themselves on Soundcloud: “Walter Sobcek is born during a party on the hills of Hollywood. We met a very special man, halfway between Jeffrey Lebowski and Patrick Bateman. He told us his life, his relations in the early 90s porn industry of L.A., his parties with his buddies Charlie Sheen and Traci Lords. We couldn´t believe it. The guy disappeared but we decided to tell his story through music... In 2012, their cover of the Hall and Oates classic 'She´s Gone' was picked by Les Inrockuptibles to feature on their covers compilation with Hot Chip, Brigitte and José Gonzalès, among others.” Tracklist: Love Unlimited Orchestra – In Brazil (1983) Ramsey Lewis Feat. Earth, Wind & Fire – Sun Goddess (1974) Shook – Summer Heat [Album Version] (2013) O’Mar – ...

Tomorrow I'm going to take the train to go on holiday for a few days, That trip and the footage of Mayer Hawthorne on Facebook gave me the inspiration for this mix about trains, a 'soul train', to quote Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman). He is surely one of the original rock & roll greats. In the early 1950s Little Richard merged the fire of gospel with New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, which later would be called rock & roll. While numerous other temporary artists had been moving in the same direction, none of them matched the sheer electricity of Richard's vocals. With his bullet-speed deliveries, ecstatic trills, and the overjoyed force of personality in his singing, he was crucial in upping the voltage from high-powered Rhythm & Blues into the similar, yet different, guise of rock & roll. Although he was only a hitmaker for a couple of years or so, his influence upon both the soul (James Brown) and British Invasion stars of the 1960s (The Beatl...

And now something completely different, to quote British comedian John Cleese in his Monty Python years. For this mix I was inspired by the new yacht rock album from Mayer Hawthorne 'Where does this door go' and recent chill wave mixes from Walter Sobcek, Overboard Yacht and Hey Champ . The roots of the last mentioned can be traced outside of Chicago in nearby Rockford, where band members Saam Hagshenas (Vocals, Guitar) and Jonathan Marks (Drums) discovered their love of music at a young age. They were discovered by Lupe Fiasco in the fall of 2008, who took them on a nation-wide tour. Their music incorporates influences from disco, house and indie rock to the power-pop of Rockford’s hometown heroes Cheap Trick and the synth-heavy productions of Giorgio Moroder and Trevor Horn. I borrowed bits and pieces from their ' Winner's Circle Volume 3: COOL IN THE POOL '. And I used a snippet of 'Grasshopper Meets Bryan Ferry Uptown', a new remix of ' Don't ...

For this Funk & Chill edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’ I selected 'Don’t Touch Her Body (If You Can)' from Johnnie Taylor. He started his career in the mid-1950s as a member of gospel group The Highway QC's but left that group in 1957 to replace Sam Cooke as lead vocalist for The Soul Stirrers. Taylor has been active as a solo artist since the early 1960s, first at Sam Cooke's SAR Records, later at the Stax label where he had a string of hits. His best known song from that period is probably ‘Who's Making Love’ (1968). Following the bankruptcy of Stax in 1976 he signed at Columbia where he recorded his biggest hit ‘Disco Lady’ (1976), the first single to be rewarded with a platinum record in the US (for selling over 2 million copies). It was on his album 'Eargasm', which also includes 'Don’t Touch Her Body (If You Can)'. It went to #1 on the R&B album chart and #5 on the Billboard 200. After a short period at Beverly Glen Music in th...

Quite a few songs about roller-skating and some others to keep you in the roller skating mood! One of them is ‘Can’t leave you alone’ from George McCrae. Along with wife Gwen McCrae, Miami-based artist George McCrae was a prime mover on the early disco front with his ultra-smooth millionselling classic 'Rock Your Baby' in 1974. Born in 1944 in West Palm Beach, he formed his own vocal group in the early 1960s, which eventually included his future wife Gwen. They soon began working as a duo, and when Gwen found success as a solo act, George became her manager as well as backing vocalist. With disco pioneers Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC & the Sunshine Band producing and writing his output on Henry Stone's T.K. label, McCrae had a worldwide hit with 'Rock Your Baby', originally intended as a single for Gwen. It heralded the disco craze and was followed by the double-sided hit ‘Can't Leave You Alone’/’I Get Lifted’ (with a killer bassline!). But ...