Smooth Sailing: Early Disco & AM Pop

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Joan Smalls Instagram
“AM Pop delivered songs by most of the best acts of the rock and soul era: the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the powerful Motown and Brill Building stables, Neil Diamond, the Mamas & the Papas, and Simon & Garfunkel, among many others.” (Allmusic.com)
At the beginning of the 1960s, AM radio was by far the most popular format. In Europe commercial AM pop was mainly played by pirate stations near the Dutch and British coast. Around the mid-70s stereo hifi equipment replaced the transistor radio and pirate stations were banned by governments. Slowly but surely FM radio that was willing to play album tracks and longer songs took over. The more tightly programmed, singles-oriented AM stations lost even more popularity when disco broke loose and club music started to dominate the charts. The beautiful typical AM sound has become a lost genre since then, although it sometimes pops up with bands like The Sha La Das.

The long lost self-titled Jaye P. Morgan album was recorded in LA at the legendary Sound City Studios. It was the first full-blown production by David Foster, two years before he co-produced Earth Wind & Fire's album I Am and went on to become one of the hottest producers on the scene. Featuring an extraordinary line up of the best LA musicians including Harvey Mason, Ed Greene, Jay Graydon, Ray Parker Jr. Tower of Power, Ernie Watts and many more, it's probably one of the most expensive private press ever produced! The album is a delight of sophisticated Los Angeles funk featuring Jaye's superb soulful vocals. Luckily for us the album is recently re-released by Wewantsounds.

Enjoy this new edition of Smooth Sailing! Next week The Smooth Operators will reappear.

Tracklist:

The O'Jays ‎– Now That We Found Love (1973)
Carpenters & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Yesterday Once More (2018)
Dee Clark ‎– Ride A Wild Horse (1975)
The Main Ingredient – Everything Man (1978)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Can't Hide Love (1975)
Jaye P. Morgan – Here Is Where Your Love Belongs (1976)
Laville – Thirty One (2019)
Marilyn Scott ‎– Let's Be Friends (1979)
The Sandpipers ‎– Misty Roses (1967)
Maddog – My Morning Sun (1975)
Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '77 ‎– Night And Day (1971)
Neil Diamond ‎– Red Red Wine (1968)
The Temptations – I Wish It Would Rain (1967)
Bill Withers – Who Is He (And What Is He To You)? (1972)
Syreeta ‎– Harmour Love (1975)
The 5th Dimension ‎– Wedding Bell Blues (1969)
Lesley Gore – 98.6/Lazy Day (1969)
The Sha La Das – Just For A Minute (2018)
The Eighth Day – Brandy (Doesn't Live Here Any More) (1967)
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel – Here Comes The Sun (1976)
The Three Degrees – Collage (1970)




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