Professor Eddy

Unsplash The tragic death of 31-year-old Minnie Riperton in 1979 silenced one of soul music's most unique and unforgettable voices. Her pop career began in 1961 when she joined a local group called the Gems, signing to the famed Chess label to release a handful of singles as well as lend backing vocals to acts including Fontella Bass, the Dells, and Etta James. In 1968, Riperton was installed as the lead vocalist of the psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection. In the beginning of the next decade she went solo and after a few years of struggling she became world famous when Loving You went to #1 on Billboard in 1975. Enjoy this new Smooth Sailing trip, a prelude to warm summer days! Tracklist: Filó – Quero Pouco, Quero Muito (1983) Tompi – Feel This Way (2019) Barry Gibb – One Night (For Lovers) (1984) Work Drugs – Down The Shore (2020) Stylus – We All Need One Another (1976) Sailor – Blame It On The Soft Spot (1974) Ralph MacDonald – It Feels So Good (1978) ...

Unsplash The track by Sparks is from their recent compilation album Past Tense . Ron and Russell Mael started as a glam rock act in the early seventies and had hits with This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us and Amateur Hour . They turned into a conventional rock band a few years later, but suddenly appeared as the first electropop duo in musical history. Soft Cell, Yazoo, Erasure and even the Pet Shop Boys learned the trick from them, musical and image wise. Last week Sparks released a complete new album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip and director Edgar Wright ( Baby Driver ) is currently working on a documentary about the brothers Mael. "…there he stood laughing and smiling for hours..." One Morning In May / Sundown Enjoy this exclusive seventies mixtape for Mixcloud subscribers only! Tracklist: Sundown – One Morning In May (1976) Chicago ‎– Wishing You Were Here (1974) Orleans ‎– Spring Fever (1976) Brigati ‎ – Gotta Get Next To Somebody (1976) Th...

Unsplash Enjoy this new part of Mellow Mellow FM Radio ! Again inspired by and partly based on the excellent Sunshine 70s series from Martijn Soetens . When the success of instrumental guitar band The Shadows faded in the late 1960s, members Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch asked singer/songwriter John Farrar (later known for his work with Olivia Newton-John) to join them as a trio. In contrary of the Shadows, Marvin Welch & Farrar were a vocal harmony group, inspired by bands such as Crosby Stills Nash & Young and The Hollies. Their records, although well received by the press, did not sell well, because of different expectations from the audience. After three albums the trio reformed The Shadows as a vocal band to finish second after Dutch band Teach-In at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest. Four years later they were back in business with instrumental music again, when they had a massive hit with Theme From 'The Deer Hunter’ . It reached number one in the Netherlands. No...

Unsplash Relax and enjoy! The track from Stevens Scott & Dee is taken from the brand new compilation album Praise Poems Vol. 7 , out on Tramp Records and Cléa Vincent's song is from her just released EP Tropi​-​Cléa 2 . I selected Sing from Now & Then , the legendary fifth album by the Carpenters, released in 1973. The title for the album was suggested by their mother, Agnes. The album featured a wonderful three-panel cover, showing a panoramic view of Karen and Richard driving past the Carpenter family home in Downey, California. The car pictured on the iconic cover is Richard's Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ("Daytona"). Tracklist: Sociedad Organizada En Sonido – Buscaya Da Yada (1975) Gilles Rivard – Ca Va, Ca Va Brazilia (1981) Billy Paul ‎ – Mrs. Robinson (1970) Barbara Gryfe – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (1970) [Re:Jazz] – People Hold On [Alternate Acapella Take] (2004) Cris Delanno – I Heard It Through the Grapevine (2017) Angel "Pocho...

Unsplash One of the tracks on this new cloudcast by The Smooth Operators (Martijn Soetens and I) is Drift Away by Mud. After their very successful glam rock years, this British band started to search for new directions in the late 1970s. They made some disco moves first, but then they tried to jump on the West Coast bandwagon for one single only. Drift Away was originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion . Kenny Loggins, Jim Gordon and Michael Omartian were some of the well-known musicians who can be heard on the track. A year later Dobie Gray made a very soulful cover of the song, which reached #5 on Billboard. In 1978 Mud combined those two versions in a very clever way, but their fans did not like this change in musical direction, so the song failed to chart. The next year the band decided to split up, to reunite in the original line-up only for a very brief period in the early 1980s. Until his death in 2004, singer Les Gray reformed the band as Les Gray...

Enjoy this new episode of Best Of 70s Soul , for subscribers only this time. Just like the first Soul Hit Explosion , it is inspired by a vintage Dutch compilation album from the flea market. It is one hour of the best soul music from the pre-disco era. Tracklist: The Temptations ‎– Papa Was A Rolling Stone (1972) Natalie Cole ‎– Sophisticated Lady (She's A Different Lady) (1976) The T.H.P. Orchestra ‎– Theme From S.W.A.T. (1976) The Sylvers – Boogie Fever (1975) El Chicano ‎– Baretta's Theme (Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow) (1975) B.T. Express ‎ – Can't Stop Groovin' Now, Wanna Do It Some More (1976) Marvin Gaye ‎– Let's Get It On (1973) Donald Byrd ‎– Change (Makes You Want To Hustle) (1975) Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel (1976) Ike & Tina Turner ‎– Delilah's Power (1977) Brass Construction – Movin’ (1975) The Miracles – Love Machine (1975) Stevie Wonder ‎– Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing (1973) David Ruffin – Walk...