Professor Eddy

Shiny Disco Ball by Irene Miranda My way of saying farewell to 2014! Barry White, the ‘walrus of love’, is the master of slow disco. He was a disco pioneer by making ‘Love’s theme’ with Love Unlimited and many solo records in the mid-seventies. When disco reached its peak at the end of the seventies, White’s popularity was already declining. Many were copying his typical ‘slow disco’ sound at that time. He was rediscovered in the nineties when R&B and hiphop artists were sampling his work extensively. This is the perfect song to start the mix with. In a way it’s a sad soul song about a man with a broken heart. But it has some disco elements as well, because he wants ‘to dance the night away’ to forget about his girl. Let the music play and picture Barry White dancing… ;-) One of the best songs ever is 'The morning after' by Maureen McGovern. Songwriters Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn were asked to write the love theme for the movie 'The Poseidon Adventure' in on...

Picture: New York Post Christmas is near, so I created some kind of festive bonus mix, although I did not select any traditional Christmas songs. It was made with the music from the excellent blog AOR Disco in mind. It is a new round of radio friendly songs in the AOR On The Radio series. I added a few old American radio jingles to enhance the feeling of listening to FM radio of the past. For this mix I chose a couple of international Dutch acts: Tiffany (not to be confused with the American 1980s teenage star), Anouk, Solution, Breeze and Maggie MacNeal. The latter was one half of the successful Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal. Their biggest hit was ‘How do you do?’ that peaked at number 8 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Two years later they came third in the Eurovision Song Contest that was won by Abba. After a quarrel the duo split and Maggie MacNeal went solo in 1975. The closing track by Australian singer/songwriter Doug Ashdown was released as 'Leave love eno...

Picture: The Guardian Enjoy the Christmas holiday edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy and soulful ’! A dedicated listener to my mixes, the lovely Shoko Kobayashi from Japan, asked me to create a Christmas mix and to be honest, I don't particularly like cheerful Christmas songs. So I wanted to have some sad songs on this cloudcast as well. Songs about wandering the streets alone at Christmas, just like the protagonists in the Charles Dickens stories. The track from Wham that we all know is one of those songs, although the lyrics are hopeful as well: George Michael has been deceived, but this year he will give his heart to someone special... Merry Christmas! Tracklist: Wham! – Last Christmas [Intro] (1984) The Whispers – Funky Christmas (1979) Ronn Matlcok – Back Street (1979) Franky & Jamo – Set Me On Fire (1978) Rocky Mizell & The Sugar Rock Band – Never Never Girl (1977) Tony Momrelle – Spotlight (2013) Mighty Ryeders – Evil Vibrations (1978) 10cc – Dreadlock ...

Picture: Jolene Faber Enjoy part 12 of Eddy's 80s Grooves ! 'I specialize in love' by Sharon Brown went to number 13 in the Dutch Singles Chart in the spring of 1982. It's one of the tracks on the latest LateNightTale s episode, called 'Automatic soul', compiled by Tom Findlay (Groove Armada). Ronika is also on the latest LateNightTales edition, singing the Dennis Edwards classic 'Don't look any further'. Perhaps one could say that she brings back the glamour of 1980s disco. The singer from Nottingham sounds a little bit like Madonna in her 'Borderline' days. She released one of the best albums of 2014 ('Selectadisc)' and is on tour with The Human League now. Check out her funny video that accompanies her great new single ' Marathon '! While working one night at Philadelphia International Records' recording base, producer T. Life overheard some tantalizing vocals coming from a washroom. There he discovered 16-yea...

Picture by Murat Koc We're going back to the Disco Ball Days! ‘Fast Freddie The Roller Disco King’ by The Imperials (just like ‘Superfunk’ in my previous mix) is from a brand new compilation album, called 'Disco: A Fine Selection of Independent Disco, Modern Soul and Boogie 1978-82' that is released on Soul Jazz Records. It's a collection of rare and independent tracks from the heyday of disco (1978 to 1982), expertly compiled by Disco Patrick. Blurring the musical lines between disco, modern soul and boogie this double album features many exclusive and hard to find records from the era. Included here are in demand classics, such as The Fantastic Aleems featuring Leroy Burgess, John Gibbs and the US Steel Orchestra, rare P&P productions, Jessie G and 'The Easton Assassin' by The Sunburst Band (a 12” given out free at boxing matches!). The album goes with the massive new 360-page deluxe hardback book 'Disco – An Encyclopedic Guide To The Cover Art o...

Sugarhill Gang (Big Bank Hank on the left) It started somewhere in the late sixties, but especially in the early seventies jazz artists began to cross over to funk and soul music. Well known jazz musicians like Chet Baker, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Miles Davis started to experiment with modern dance influences. Jazz purists were horrified, but these crossovers resulted in some very interesting pieces of music. 'Passion play' by Sugarhill Gang is my tribute to Henry Jackson aka Big Bank Hank. He died on the 11th of November, aged 57. He appeared on the group’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’, the 1979 single that introduced hip hop to a worldwide audience (although it was not the first hip hop single). When soul singer and label owner Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records wanted to put together a rap crew, she asked Jackson to join the Sugarhill Gang. His part in 'Rapper's Delight' was probably the most significant one: Check it out, I'm the C A S N the O V A ...

Flight Facilities Some kind of follow-up to Eddy's Groove Flight parts 1 and 2 and more or less a spin-off from my Night Flight for AOR Disco , although completely different. I like Australian disco/dance duo Flight Facilities a lot! They are Hugo (Gruzman) and James (Lyell). Five years ago they began mixing songs by other artists, before crafting their own original material. Their exiting debut album, 'Down to earth' was released last month and features prominent names in the industry, such as Emma Louise, Reggie Watts ('Sunshine') and Kylie Minogue. It's my favourite album of the moment! 'Groovejet' was written by glam rock guitarist Rob Davis (Mud), who also wrote 'Can't get you out of my head' for Kylie Minogue. The song is based on a sample from a song called 'Love is you' by Carol Williams (released on Salsoul). By the way, the best airline company seems to be ‘Coconut Airways’, as Typically Tropical try to tell us. T...

Jane Fonda (Barbarella) Enjoy the 41st edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy and soulful ’! 'My favourite track might possibly be 'Angel eyes' by American Gypsy. They are best known for their song 'Inside out', which has been sampled a lot (by DJ Shadow and Groove Armada, for instance). This funk band never had any big hits, but I like their output a lot! 'Angel eyes' was written by Piet Souer, the same guy who played guitar on 'The troubadour', the Eurovision Song Contest winner of 1969 and he co-wrote many hits for Dutch girl band Luv'. "With a baritone voice reminiscent of Tim Buckley, Keiran White sounds like the type of cult artist who gets revered by the likes of Mojo magazine. But it never happened for White and after his only solo album Open Door was released in 1975 he never recorded again and became a truck driver in Oregon before his untimely death in 1995." (Quote: AOR Disco ) Tracklist: Kieran White – Open Up Your Door (1975...

Picture: PG Photography Enjoy this 9th part of Boombox ! ‘Daytime disco’ is a kind of laidback disco, dance music you can nod your head to and almost move physically to. The expression was first used by the band Poolside , I believe, to introduce their debut album ‘Pacific standard time’ in 2012. ‘Automatic soul’ is the title of the latest Late Night Tales episode by Tom Findlay (Groove Armada), which features (club) soul from the mid-eighties, like the song from Thelma Houston. Thanks to DJ Supermarkt and Wonky Sensitive for the inspiration! I borrowed some of the songs they discovered. DJ Supermarkt (Marcus Liesenfeld) is the man behind the compilation album 'Too Slow To Disco volume 1', the first part of a series of late 1970s Westcoast yacht pop ('music you can almost dance to'), Tracklist: Webster Lewis ‎ – Give Me Some Emotion (1979) Reel People Feat. Tony Momrelle ‎– Golden Lady [Louie Vega Roots Mix] (2011) Prophet – You Really Turn Me On (1984) ...

Enjoy this 5th part of Steamy Soul Funk And Disco ! This series is the up-tempo, danceable variant of Groovy, Sexy & Soulful: soul that supposes to bring more excitement on the dance floor than in the bedroom. When disco became popular around the mid-seventies, many soul artists, like Temptations singer David Ruffin, moved into this direction, which seemed a natural step forward. But by the end of the decade all of a sudden models like Grace Jones and Amanda Lear were the real disco stars. The latter was the muse of painter Pablo Picasso and former girlfriend of Roxy Music front man Bryan Ferry, who became infected with the disco virus as well. His new album ‘Avonmore’ is out on the 17th of November. It contains contributions from Nile Rodgers, Johnny Marr and, surprisingly, Ronnie Spector! Tracklist: Noel Pointer – Classy Lady (1981) Bryan Ferry – Kiss And Tell (1987) Chaka Khan – The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom [Scratchandsniff Re-Rub] (1978) Faith, Hope & C...

Picture: J.M. Shayer Enjoy the Love Town edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy and soulful ’! One of the tracks is from Julio Gutierrez (the intro of the song was sampled by The Avalanches in 'Since I left you'): "The great Julio Gutierrez emigrated from his native Cuba in the late ‘50s, pursuing his calling in both Miami and New York City with freelance stints as a composer, session pianist and musical director. Despite two very hip ‘60s Latin jazz LPs, Progressive Latin and Havana B.C., Gutierrez would never regain the stature he’d enjoyed in Cuba, where, in addition to leading the legendary Cuban Jam Sessions series, he’d been among his country’s best known modern bandleaders and composers. 1972 would perhaps represent the crowning year for the pornographic movie in its brief-lived moment of mainstream chic, and few soundtrack themes would better encapsulate its adults-only art-house cachet than Argentinean saxophonist Gato Barbieri’s 'Last Tango in Paris.' 1972 would...

Kandace Springs Enjoy this 39th edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’! The theme is falling leaves and fading loves this time... Kandace Springs has just recently released her wonderful debut EP. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee but now living in New York City, she describes her sound as classic Soul meets classic Hip Hop. After singing an impassioned rendition of Bonnie Raitt's 'I Can't Make You Love Me', Blue Note Records President Don Was found himself so stunned by her arrangement and performance that he offered her a record deal on the spot. And earlier this year, legendary artist Prince heard her cover of Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me' online and asked her to perform at Paisley Park on the weekend celebrating the 30 year anniversary of his seminal album/film, Purple Rain. Kandace Springs is currently working on her debut solo album with co-executive producer Eli Wolf (Norah Jones) and a team of notable co-writers including Claude Kelly (Bruno M...

I got the inspiration for this mix when I heard Michael McDonald sing 'Ain't no mountain high enough' in a restaurant a few weeks ago. It made me think of the classic Motown sound, although it is not the best version of the song. One of the tracks I selected is 'I'm gonna give you respect' by G.C. Cameron. He was the original singer of the (Detroit) Spinners and provided the lead vocals on the group's first major hit, 'It's A Shame'. When The Spinners left Motown to become far more succesful at Atlantic, G.C. was contractually and personally bound to Motown (he was married to Berry Gordy's sister Gwen). He stayed for the remainder of the 1970s with the label, but never received the material or promotion his great voice deserved. I selected 'The night' by the very great Frankie Valli as well. It is a pity that the song was left out in the musical 'The Jersey Boys', because I think it is his best song. The bassline is magnific...

Enjoy this 38th edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’!  Mascara was a disco studio assemblage led by label owner of Ensign Records, Chris Hill and producer-songwriter Jürgen S. Korduletsch (Lipstique, Claudja Barry, Gaz, etc.) with singers David Lasley, Luther Vandross, and Ula Hedwig. The title track and the David Bowie cover 'Golden years' are the standout tracks on Mascara's only full-length album 'See you in L.A.', released in 1979. Korduletsch used the moniker to record 'Baja' as a solo-project 5 years later. Picture: Alison Valentine Tracklist: Lou Courtney ‎– What Do You Want Me To Do (1973) Leroy Hutson ‎– All Because Of You (1975) Cream De Coco – Disco Strut (1976) The Temptations – Masterpiece (1973) New World – We're Gonna Make It (1972) Mascara – Golden Years (1979) Technique ‎– (Looking For Someone To Love) Tonight (1983) Lee Porter – Can You Make Love To A Disco Beat Midnight Pool Party – If You Were Mine (Baby) (20...

Ritchie Family Enjoy this 4th part of Steamy Soul Funk And Disco ! 'Steamy' means two things in this case. First of all that there are a lot of horns in this mix and secondly that the mix is so energetic that steam is coming off! :-) One of the tracks is 'When love is new' by Arthur Prysock: "A proto-disco anthem, it’s a little bit Barry White and a little bit end-of-the-pier and it features a brace of rattling bongos, a swell of strings and a gloriously wailing sax solo." (Quote: The Guardian ) Tracklist: Jae Mason – Cloud Of Sunshine (1975) Side Effect – Spend It On Love (1975) Arthur Prysock – When Love Is New (1976) Brenton Wood – Better Believe It (1975) The Cool Notes – I Forgot (1984) Syreeta – Move It Do It [DTP Extended Vocal] (1981) Webster Lewis – Let Me Be The One [The Apple Scurffs Edit] (1981) Demis Roussos – I Just Live (1978) Nytro – High On Disco (1979) The Originals – Been Decided (1977) S.M.V. – Mongoose Walk (2008)...

Enjoy this 37th edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’! Most of the tracks have an erotic connotation, like the second track by Imagination. They were a trio from the U.K. that put a synthesized and often clubby spin on soul groups from the '70s. In fact, a couple of '70s groups have direct ties to Imagination; Leee John and Ashley Ingram spent time during that decade playing supportive roles in the Delfonics and Chairmen of the Board, prior to Imagination's formation. Along with drummer Errol Kennedy, vocalist John and bassist Ingram formed the group in 1981. By the end of that year, they already had their first album released and a minor hit in the form of that album's title track, "Body Talk." The group's second album, 1982's In the Heat of the Night, was their most successful, spawning a trio of U.S. R&B chart hits in the form of "Just an Illusion" (number 27), "Music and Lights" (number 52), and "Changes" (numb...

Joan Smalls (Instagram) Enjoy this season's final part of Smooth Sailing ! The closing track is by go nogo. Since 2012, go nogo have released a string of single tracks, which in the company of many assorted remixers have gained wide recognition. In many cases special collaborators, like Acid Washed, Skatebard, Kaito or Woolfy contributed versions, which were more than supportive for the original tunes. Eric Schemer and Fred Scholl have now decided, that the time has come to let five originals speak for themselves on the EP 'New folks': "Let It Show is lyrically rather introspective. It lights up the inner conflict of a person who's constantly surrounded by people showing-off to get other people's attention. Hopeless of being recognized at all, he's giving himself to procrastination and withdraws from the world. Musically, the tune has a great variety of guitar sounds, from a bluesy slide to the sixty-ish jingle-jangle and the wall of sound of the appen...

Picture: Dom Cruz You're invited to my disco ball of pleasure ! I started working on this mix after hearing the relaxed, Latin inspired 'Summer vibes' from Justeza that I discovered on Soundcloud. I wanted to do a similar chillout mix, but with a personal 'Professor Eddy' touch, so I added dance and disco influences. The final result is some kind of 'chillout disco' mix. A track that builds a bridge between the chillout and disco part is 'Gotta hustle on' from Latin percussionist Willie Bob: "This track took his percussion work into the proto-disco era in a VERY appealing way. On top of a relentless groove, the percussion drives HARD on top of a very jazzy piano (which reminds me a whole lot of Willie Tee's playing), a spaced out guitar and electric piano, and superb horns. From 1974..." (Quote: Derek Daily's 45 ) I don't know what to think about the name Albert's Negrita... It sounds horrible... (however, their so...

I announced this Smooth Sailing part almost 4 weeks ago on my Facebook page , but I was not satisfied with the beginning and the ending. After hearing Retiree and Ray Munnings I knew which tracks could open and close the mix. So here it is, enjoy! Glam rock band Mud was founded by guitarist Rob Davis and drummer Dave Mount almost 50 years ago. They formed a band with bass player Ray Stiles and singer Les Gray, after placing an advert in Melody Maker. They struggled for success for years, but soon after they had been discovered by producer Mickie Most during a gig, things lightened up. They were hooked up with the most successful writers and producers of that time: Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (Sweet, Suzie Quatro). Hits followed very fast and during the mid-seventies they had several number ones all over Europe. After Mud had left Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman and started to write their own material the hits dried up. They could not compete with disco and punk and the band decide...

Pam Grier (Coffy) This 36th edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’ was stored on my computer for quite some time. But after I'd heard Hopium 's 'Dreamers' I started working on it again, because it was the right song to set the mood for the rest of the mix. Hopium gave their listeners the opportunity to remix their song, so I decided to go for it. But how to remix an almost perfect song? At first I only stretched the track, because I did not want to change the dark black atmosphere. But when I listened to it a few times, it did not differ that much from the original. Then I decided to change the beat (not the tempo) to give it a more R&B feel and I added a deep synth that sounded a bit like the intro of ' Love don't live here anymore ' by Rose Royce. And I changed the ending: I wanted to create some kind of 'surprise effect'. I hope you will like my remix (and Hopium as well...). The full remixed version is a free download on my Soundcloud ...

James Brown: All Aboard! For those who like to groove, to quote Ray Parker Jr. Some kind of follow-up to Eddy's Groove Flight and more or less a spin-off from Night Flight that I made for AOR Disco recently. One of the songs I picked for Night Flight, 'Groove control' by Dynasty, did not fit in, so I came up with the idea to build a new mix around that track. Thanks to Northern Rascal ! His work was the inspiration for this mix. Apart from his two edits, I borrowed a few other tracks from his mixes (Players Association, D-Train and Billy Griffin). Those songs were some kind of foundation for this second episode of Groove Flight. The last song I added was the track by Child Actor (Natalie Plaza & Max Heath). Great new song, which fitted in quite well. Their debut album 'Never die' will be out on the 2nd of September. This is the story that Swedish duo Moodblanc tell us about 'Make love' (which seems to have a sample of Donna Summer's '...

Picture Joan Smalls: Instagram The boat rocks a bit, because this Smooth Sailing part differs a little from the others. There are more new songs, especially in the second part of the mix. One of the bands that I selected is on the new ' Guardians of the Galaxy ' soundtrack as well: Native Americans Redbone. 'Come and Get Your Love' was their biggest hit in the US. It went to number five on the Billboard singles chart in 1974. The song was a minor success in the Netherlands. A year earlier Redbone released the politically oriented 'We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee', which went to number one in the Netherlands, The song recalls the massacre of Lakota Sioux Indians by the Seventh Cavalry in 1890. It was initially withheld from release in the United States and then banned by several radio stations, because of its content. Eventually the song did not chart. 'Suzi girl' was their last hit in the Netherlands. It went to number 36 in 1975. Jesus Alvarez...

Picture Joan Smalls: @joansmalls Instagram Some refreshing tunes for sweaty days… and some warm tracks for chilly days as well! Quite a few songs I selected for this new Smooth Sailing part are Latin inspired disco tracks, or ' cocktail disco ' as Dimitri From Paris calls it: “Cocktail Disco has that ubiquitous 4/4 beat and flying open high hat, complemented by rich orchestrations, campy over the top vocals, and an often tropical latin vibe. Something that wouldn't feel out of place in a broadway musical.“ Santa Esmeralda seems a mysterious Spanish guy, but it was in fact a concept, created by French producers Nicolas Skorsky and Jean Manuel de Scarano in 1977. When they had started their own label, they met singer Leroy Gomez in Paris. The duo recruited him for the group's first record 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. Almost immediately the song became a worldwide success. In 2003 the track played a key part in the movie 'Kill Bill' from dire...