Smooth Sailing: Soulful Songs & Holiday Vibes

-
@joansmalls Instagram
Enjoy this Holiday episode of Smooth Sailing!

One of the tracks I selected is 'Reasons' by Minnie Riperton. It was the first single from her album 'Perfect angel'. The song was embraced by rock stations, but R&B radio weren’t too keen on the heavy guitars. Sales of the album started slow, and her record label was ready to move on to the next project. However, a few MOR (Middle Of the Road) radio stations were playing 'Lovin' You' (about daughter Maya) as an album track. Her record company released it as a single and it made a slow three-month climb to #1 on the American pop charts in April 1975 (#3 R&B). It went to #9 on the Dutch charts a few months later. Nowadays this classic soul song has been covered and sampled dozens of times.

Dutch-born Thomas Azier makes moody yet highly dynamic synth pop centered on his robust, often melancholic singing voice. Born in the Netherlands, Azier moved to Berlin at age 19 to pursue a music career and quickly ensconced himself in the city's techno and club scene. Dissatisfied with much of the electronic music he encountered, Azier began writing and recording his own material. In 2014 he released his debut full-length album, Hylas, on Universal. 'Talk to me' is his latest release.

Merry Christmas!

Tracklist:

Rioland & Goldfeder – Tension (1984)
Thomas Azier – Talk To Me (2016)
Michael Nau – Smooth Aisles (2016)
Impact – Sara Smile (1977)
The Futures – Don’t Close The Book (1977)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Can't Hide Love (1975)
Brother Noland – Kawaihae (1980)
Work Drugs – Expats (2016)
David Dundas – Jeans On (1976)
Greg Smaha – Sunshine (1979)
Wayne St. John ‎– Something's Up (Love Me Like The First Time) (1979)
Tyrone Thomas – You’re Hardly Gone (1980)
Dave Valentin – Sidra’s Dream (1980)
Natalie Cole – Annie Mae (1977)
Minnie Riperton – Reasons (1974)
Bobby Lyle – Magic Ride (1977)
Nohelani Cypriano – O'Kailua (1978)
Doris Abrahams – Dance The Night Away (1976)
The Mary Onettes – Juna (2016)
Nina – Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown? (1969)
Mud – Lean On Me (1976)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Disco Knockouts!

-
Image
Apart from the picture of Sharron Davies, there are two songs that inspired me to make this mix. One of them is a recent track from Duck Sauce. The repetition of the female vocals reminded me of Stars On 45 (I believe they both sampled 'Gotta Go Home' by Boney M). The other one is from Dutch singer Dee Dee. I heard ‘I put a spell on you’ on a recent episode of Tim Sweeney’s ‘Beats in space’. In the accompanying video she looks a little bit like a sex doll, but I love the song! I like the closing track from soul veterans the Drifters, but isn’t it strange to hear guys who were in their thirties at the time sing about schoolgirls? Different times, I guess, when no one had heard of R. Kelly yet... One of my personal favourites is ‘Night time’ from Maggie MacNeal. I bought the 7” which was produced by Michael Lloyd (known for his work for the Osmonds, Lou Rawls and Solomon Burke) way back in 1979. Maggie MacNeal was one half of successful Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal. Their bigg
Read more

The Smooth Operators Present Classic Yacht Rock

-
Image
Unsplash The Smooth Operators (Martijn Soetens and I) introduce you to yacht rock songs that you must have heard at least once in your life! We present some real yacht rock classics and yacht rock songs that we think should have been classics. Harden My Heart by American pop/rock group Quarterflash was written by guitarist Marv Ross and included on the band's debut album, Quarterflash (1981). The song was originally released as a single in early 1980 by Seafood Mama, Quarterflash's predecessor band. Quarterflash's version became a top-10 hit in the United States, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982. Guitarist and songwriter Marv Ross remembered that a friend of his had given him the title and that he came up with the lyrics very quickly. Last Monday Michael McDonald, front man of the Doobie Brothers, celebrated his 72th birthday: "Emerging from the laid-back California rock scene of the '70s, McDonald found his niche in a unique blend of
Read more

West Coast Sundown: Yacht Rock, Late Night Pop & Sunset Soul

-
Image
Unsplash Enjoy the soundtrack to a West Coast sundown! 😊 The closing track by Matt Duncan is brand new, by the way. It sounds like a lost recording from The Nightfly sessions by Donald Fagen. At the time critics sometimes called David Cassidy’s music bubblegum pop. That was simply defined  music manufactured to sell as much records as possible and it was mostly aimed at a very young audience. Bubblegum's classic period ran from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies. At that point disco music took over the single market. However, David Cassidy certainly made some very good records, although in later years he found it difficult to shake off his teen idol image. “His wispiest, breathiest hit was called ‘I Am A Clown’. Poor, sweet, forlorn sexy David – marshmallows could’ve bruised this sound.“ (Bob Stanley in his book Yeah Yeah Yeah )  Midas Shadow by Al Stewart is from his classic 1976 album The Year Of The Cat . The message of this song is that when a successful businessman stops
Read more