Professor Eddy

Picture: Leroy Grannis (1973) Two and a half years after their successful debut album West End Coast , a new record by Young Gun Silver Fox, AM Wave s, has seen the light of day. Andy Platts (who recently released the album Golden Days with his own band Mamas Gun) and Shawn Lee have not changed much about their formula that goes back to the mellow West Coast pop of the 70s. The references to these influences are, as with their first album, numerous. When they listened to it, The Smooth Operators regularly dived into their record collection to search for those sources of inspiration. With every track they chose a classic album, on which the song would fit perfectly: Midnight In Richmond Album: America - Home Coming (1972) Lenny Album: Player - Player (1977) Take It Or Leave It Album: Doobie Brothers - Minute By Minute (1978) Underdog Album: Hall & Oates - Voices (1980) Mojo Rising Album: Ace - Five-A-Side (1974) Just A Man Album: Ambrosia - Life Beyond L.A. (1...

C-Heads Magazine After a meteoric rise to fame as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, one of the most successful groups of the 1960s, Herb Alpert focused on running A&M Records, the indie powerhouse he had founded with partner Jerry Moss. His second artistic journey began with the release of Rise , a sultry dance instrumental, in 1979. It became the biggest hit of his career, winning a Grammy and climbing to number one on the Billboard chart, making him the only recording artist to have a number one record as a vocalist and as an instrumentalist. Alpert and his nephew Randy "Badazz" Alpert, who had cowritten Rise , created an entire album around his new, laidback sound, and Rise , the album, was born, topping the charts and providing a significant new chapter to Alpert's already accomplished career. Alpert's latest album Music vol. 1 came out last year. Enjoy this disco episode of Best Of 70s Soul ! Tracklist: The Ritchie Family – American Generation (197...

C-Heads Magazine Almost a year after the first part, The Smooth Operators present you the second part of Soft Rock For Summer Days! We have the exclusive world premiere of the new Young Gun Silver Fox single, Take It Or Leave It . Their album AM Waves is out tomorrow. Enjoy! One of the most successful soft rock acts of the 1970s, the duo of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts met while playing with singer Dean Beard in 1958. That year, Beard was invited to join the Champs (of Tequila fame), and Seals and Crofts tagged along, remaining with the group until 1965. The two then bounced from the Mushrooms to the Dawnbreakers before deciding to strike out on their own as a duo in 1969. Seals played guitar, saxophone, and fiddle, while Crofts handled drums, mandolin, keyboards, and guitar. From 1972 to 1976, the duo had a string of five gold albums for Warner Bros., with an additional greatest-hits compilation certified double platinum. Their hit singles from this period include Summer Breeze , Dia...

Lo Probably the best description of boogie is “non-commercial disco”. The word popped up in 1970s funk and disco records, such as Boogie Shoes by KC & The Sunshine Band, Boogie Fever by The Sylvers, Blame It On The Boogie by The Jacksons, Boogie Nights by Heatwave, Boogie Oogie Oogie by A Taste of Honey (picture). After Disco Demolition Night on July 12 1979 people became fed up with mainstream disco and a new club oriented dance style developed, which was called “boogie” later. Key boogie tracks were, for instance, Give Me the Night by George Benson, Boogie's Gonna Get Ya by Rafael Cameron, If You Want My Lovin’ by Evelyn King, You're the One for Me by D-Train, Don't Make Me Wait by Peech Boys, Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye, Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force and Break Dancin' – Electric Boogie by West Street Mob. Key instrument became the Roland 808, one of the earliest programmable drum machines, with which users could create t...

Joan Smalls (The Edit) Enjoy this new Smooth Sailing trip! It's built around the yacht rock scene of the 1970s/1980s. DJ Supermarkt decribes the yacht rock/AOR mood best on his upcoming part of Too Slow To Disco : “The sun’s dipping behind the mountains above the bay, and the sound pulsating from the speakers sure has a beguiling melody. There’s a definite touch of Earth, Wind and Fire about that slinky groove.” In the recently published The Yacht Rock Book by Greg Prato, Steve Huey (Allmusic.com) gives this definition: “Fusing softer rock with jazz and R&B, very polished production, and kind of being centered around studio musician culture in Southern California in the late 70s and early 80s.” According to Billboard chart statistics, Chicago is second only to the Beach Boys as the most successful American rock band of all time, in terms of both albums and singles. Judged by album sales alone, as certified by the R.I.A.A., the band does not rank quite so high, but it is ...