Professor Eddy

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) ...