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Showing posts from June, 2017

A Chill Out Journey To Dawn

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The music's finished, the bar's closed but we're not ready for bed just yet, oh no. Let's all head back to my messy apartment and party on into the early hours. The guests want to hear something a bit different. Not a chill out mix with all the usual suspects that bore them to death. A couple of golden oldies, a bit of soul and funk along with today's finest representatives of the funky chill sound, like Lomboy, Poolside and FKJ. That’s my chill out journey to dawn, enjoy! One of the golden oldies, 'Year of the cat' by Al Stewart, started off as a completely different song. He originally wrote the lyrics after seeing the British comedian Tony Hancock in Bournemouth, England in 1966. Hancock was very depressed, and the show was a disaster, with the comedian going to the front of the stage and addressing the audience directly and pouring out his soul. In the book ‘Al Stewart: The True Life Adventures of a Folk Rock Troubadour’, Stewart tells the whole story

Steamy Soul Funk & Disco Part 6: Summer Vibes

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It’s officially summer, so I hope you will enjoy the summer vibes of this Steamy Soul Funk And Disco episode! Earlier this year singer Cuba Gooding, father of the actor Cuba Gooding Jr., was found dead in his car. Cuba Gooding Sr. joined The Main Ingredient in 1971 when then lead singer Donald McPherson died unexpectedly of leukemia. He had served as a backing vocalist on some of their recordings. While he was the lead singer of the band, The Main Ingredient scored five top 10 hits on the Billboard R&B chart. Their highest-charting effort was "Everybody Plays the Fool," which peaked at No. 2 for three weeks in 1972. The track also was their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, climbing to number 3. The Gooding-led act also reached top 10s on the Hot R&B Songs chart with "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely," "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend" and "Rolling Down a Mountainside." Gooding had left the band for a short period to p

Smooth Sailing: Sunshine Sound & Yacht Pop

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The sun is shining over here, so it is time to set sail on calm water again! Three of the songs are from ‘AOR Global Sounds Vol.3’, compiled by DJ and producer Charles Maurice. He shows us that the AOR and West Coast sounds of the late 1970s and early 1980s influenced many artists around the world. Even more than on previous volumes, he selected highly forgotten productions, deeply infused with disco and soul flavours. The sub-genre ‘yacht pop’ is made up by DJ Supermarkt. It sounds the same as yacht rock actually, but without any rock guitars. The compilation ‘Too slow to disco volume 3’ by DJ Supermarkt is out June 30: "As ever, DJ Supermarkt has somehow prised open another box of obscure gems. The focus remains on slightly difficult love affairs set to grooves gentle enough to mix cocktails to. This is the sound of jazz-tinged regrets and sun-drenched positivity, from incredible musicians who nailed the songs, even if they weren’t all quite so ready for fame." 'Midnigh

Slow Disco After Midnight

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Aurélien Buttin It’s very late, the early hours of Sunday at a discotheque. The customers at the bar are getting tired, but they don’t want to go home. They’re still having a good time and enjoying the music. Others are hanging on couches, ordering a last drink. The disco-dj is digging deep into his boxes. His final tracks are the icing on the cake. Although the dance floor is getting empty bit by bit, people don’t rush to the door. They only want to cool down and listen to the music. The dj starts playing tracks that can be described as a combination of slow disco and ‘quiet storm’ seventies soul. It’s funky chill time. That’s the picture of this new series Slow Disco After Midnight! Alton McClain and Destiny were an American girl group from Los Angeles. Formed in 1978, the trio consisted of Alton McClain, Delores Marie "D'Marie" Warren, and Robyrda Stiger. They signed to Polydor Records in the year of their formation and Frank Wilson (of Motown fame​) produced thei

Boombox 13 Funky Chill & Sunny Pop

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Sam Robinson Enjoy this 13th part of Boombox with lots of fresh tracks! Al Sunny is a young composer emerging from the French soul music scene. Soon after learning the guitar, he started composing and became involved in numerous projects and collaborations. Al Sunny is obviously a very good name for a guy who makes (soulful) sunny pop and a contemporary variant of yacht rock. His album 'Time to decide' is out now. The wonderful closing track of this new Boombox episode is ‘Breakfast’ by The Associates. They were Billy Mackenzie (‘William’ from the song ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ by The Smiths) and Ian Rankine. After a few singles and two albums, 1982's ‘Sulk’, was the group's definitive statement. It was named album of the year in Melody Maker. Following the LP's success, a promotion tour was set up in the US, but Mckenzie cancelled it at the very last moment. Rankine went mad and left the group for a solo career. Mackenzie retained the Associates name