Professor Eddy

Pexels Enjoy the Record World Disco File Top 40, dated on September 26, 1981!  In the 1980s the most authentic disco could be find on the Record World Disco File chart. Unfortunately the Disco File charts disappeared in 1982, while the Billboard disco dance chart became a strange mix of all kinds of genres over the decade. One of them was surprisingly British new wave. Names like Soft Cell, Simple Minds, Altered Images, Pete Shelley, A Flock Of Seagulls, Haircut One Hundred, Human League and Thompson Twins popped up. They were played a lot probably in the (alternative) clubs those days and although these acts recorded some very good songs, their music is neither disco nor dance.  On the Disco File Top 40 of September, 26 1981, electronics slowly took over the chart with acts like Lime, K.I.D, Kraftwerk and Patrick Cowley, which was a sign of things to come. Tracklist: Roger – So Ruff, So Tuff [Gazeebo Edit] Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Going Places [Zemix Version] Gwen M...

Nereyda Bird Some ballads here and there, but mainly quality disco on the Billboard soul chart at the end of August 1979. Enjoy the list from 30 to 1! 😊 Peaches and Herb were known as the sweethearts of soul during the 1960s and had a string of hits, most notably Let’s Fall In Love in 1966. When the hits dried up, they decided to quit the music business. Herb Fame became a police officer, but after a few years he started to record again with Van McCoy and a newly recruited Peaches, Linda Greene. Their first record flopped, but when Herb called his old friend Freddie Perren and asked him to make a record together, they hit the big time. Their first single, Shake Your Groove Thing , went gold peaking at number 4 on the soul chart and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1978. The follow-up single, Reunited , earned platinum status, holding on to the number 1 spot for 4 weeks on both the soul and pop chart. We've Got Love did best in the Netherlands, where it reached number ...

Pexels Enjoy the radio sound of the 1980s! Because of the warm weather in the Netherlands lately, I uploaded a bonus episode of Sunshine Radio this week😎 The track by Ava Max is some kind of mash-up I did with Michael Sembello’s Maniac.  The two songs are quite similar in a way.  The incredible guitar solo on Running With The Night by Lionel Richie was played by Steve Lukather, one of the founding members of Toto. Lukather sat down in the studio and the engineer played the basic parts of the song, for him to hear for the first time, so he could plan his solo. As the music played, he jammed along on his guitar. At the end of the track, he said to the engineer, "Okay, I'm ready for a take." Producer James Anthony Carmichael then replied, "That was a take." They'd been recording his warm up, and that's what you hear on the record. Richard Marx was one of the backing vocalists and Jeff Porcaro (Toto) played drums on the track. In the late summer of 1987 th...

Katie Rodriquez Enjoy this new episode of Sunshine Radio with some authentic AM & FM radio jingles and a sound clip from Bob Stewart on Radio Caroline! The tracks by Areray and Frank Pisani are from the new compilation  Box Of Delights Vol.1 . At the beginning of the 1960s, AM radio (mostly on the so-called "medium wave") was by far the most popular format. It was the more tightly programmed, singles-oriented band on the dial that played the hits of the moment . "Big bang" pop songs, like the ones from Motown, sounded good on portable mono radios and in Europe they were mainly played by off-shore pirate stations, like Radio Caroline. Around the mid-70s FM radio on stereo hifi equipment replaced the transistor radio and pirate stations disappeared one by one, due to government decisions. Eventually, FM radio that played longer album tracks as well and had the advantage of a better sound quality, became the new standard.  “AM Pop delivered songs by most of the be...

Enjoy the 30 most popular soul songs in the warm summer of 1981, according to the most popular music magazine at the time,  Billboard ! Very Special by Debra Laws was the title track of her first album, and features her brother Ronnie with call and response backing vocals. The song reached only number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it peaked at 11 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. On that chart, it ranked as the 64th biggest hit of 1981. The track has been most notably covered and/or sampled by Big Daddy Kane and Jennifer Lopez ( All I Have ), and has been the subject of lawsuits in this regard. Next up is a Mixcloud Exclusive for subscribers .  Tracklist: Unlimited Touch – Searching To Find The One [Edit] Phyllis Hyman & Michael Henderson – Can’t We Fall In Love Again Shalamar – This Is For The Lover In You Gino Soccio – Try It Out Klique – Love’s Dance Carl Carlton – She’s A Bad Mama Jama Strikers – Body Music Fatback Band – Take It Anyway You Want It Pointer Sis...

C-Heads Magazine Enjoy this new part of Sunshine Radio ! Again I used some authentic jingles and air checks to recreate the feeling of retro summer radio. The opening track by Barracade is from the upcoming compilation album  Bob Stanley Presents Chip Shop Pop : “Compiled by Bob Stanley from his sizeable collection of 70s 7" singles, ”Chip Shop Pop”  revives records on Bell, UK, Young Blood and Bradley's, labels that were home to these unabashed radio-friendly sounds that would disappear when first disco, then punk, came along later in the 70s.” (Ace Records) The track 1979 by Luna Soul is taken from First Move , the debut album by this German-Spanish duo. Their summer pop song is inspired by the melodic and groovy sounds of 1970s and 1980s soul, adding some yacht rock elements to it as well. The track is produced by Joel Sarakula. That's Why God Made The Radio by The Beach Boys is my tribute to Brian Wilson who recently passed away. The song is from their 2012 same title...

Enjoy the 25 best soul tracks on July 12, 1980, according to American music magazine Cashbox , the main competitor of Billboard back then. What I like about these kinds of charts, apart from the classics, are the surprises that are in between. For example, the songs from Five Special and Rockie Robbins were never released in the Netherlands at the time. And even the number 2 by soul legend Gladys Knight did not make it to the charts in our country. In this way, making this cloudcast became a very interesting journey of discovery. Next up a new part of Sunshine Radio !  Tracklist: Isley Brothers – Here We Go Again Five Special – Jam (Let’s Take It To The Streets) Teena Marie – Behind The Groove Commodores – Old Fashion Love Temptations – Power  Chaka Khan – Clouds George Benson – Give Me The Night Brothers Johnson – Light Up The Night Gene Chandler – Does She Have A Friend? Natalie Cole – Don’t Look Back [B-side] Stacy Lattisaw – Dynamite Fatback – Gotta Get My Han...

Pexels Enjoy light-hearted soul, pop and (yacht) rock from the seventies on this new Sunshine Radio episode! Again songs from the era mixed with original jingles and air checks. The track by Sly & The Family Stone is my tribute to Sly Stone who recently left us. His death was a bit overshadowed by the passing of another musical genius, Beach Boy Brian Wilson two days later. Sly Stone was the first one to blend rock, soul and funk in an extraordinary way. It’s good to know that the two surviving original members of British success band Mud, Rob Davis and Ray Stiles, still occasionally perform live as Mud. They did a gig at the Factory Live venue in Worthing last year. They played most of their hits, but forgot to perform their best single, Drift Away,  released in 1978. Five years earlier the song was made successful by Dobie Gray, but it was originally written by Mentor Williams (brother of famous songwriter Paul Williams) and first recorded by Mike Berry in 1972. This was a f...

Pexels Enjoy this exclusive soul chart from 15 to number 1 on this weekend in 1986, based on  Billboard ’s survey of sales and broadcast play!  Cavin Yarbrough, one-half of the R&B act Yarbrough & Peoples, died at the age of 72 last week, due to heart complications. On this chart they are at number 7 with I Wouldn't Lie . The duo were one of the most successful acts of the 1980s, mostly known for Don't Stop The Music . Although their time at the top of the charts was somewhat brief, Cavin Yarbrough and his wife Alisa Peoples were surely pioneers of electronic dance music. For instance, contemporary R&B duo The APX definitely learned the trick from them. Tracklist: S.O.S. Band – The Finest Johnny Kemp – Just Another Lover Jeffrey Osborne – You Should Be Mine   Five Star – Love Take Over Tease – Firestarter  Run D.M.C. – My Adidas 52nd Street – Tell Me (How It Feels)  Meli’sa Morgan – Do You Still Love Me? Yarbrough & Peoples – I Wouldn’...

The American soul chart  from 15 to 1 exactly 40 years ago, according to Billboard . Enjoy! 😊 Freak-A-Ristic is an underrated, often forgotten, electro soul hit by Atlantic Starr that came out just before they began to shift more in the soft rock/adult contemporary vein. Released in 1985, from their LP As The Band Turns , the single  Freak-A-Ristic jumped into the R&B Top 10, peaking at #6 and even briefly made it into the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured the R&B ballads Silver Shadow and Secret Lovers that turned out to be perfect cross-over hits.  When Wham! background singer Shirley (one half of Pepsi & Shirley) dated Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet for the first time, she found out she had no make-up on at the very last minute. She became a bit insecure, but luckily, she explained afterwards, Martin had put up make-up for two 😊 Everything She Wants by Wham! is on this chart, originally the b-side of Last Christmas . Next up is a new part...

Jerry Butler A seventies follow-up to our first Soulful Sunday edition, uploaded by Martijn a few weeks ago. Enjoy! Tragically the career of singer Gwen McCrae who passed away earlier this year was overshadowed by her husband George's success. His million seller Rock Your Baby was originally meant for her to be recorded. On the other hand, she managed to pursue a solo career after their divorce and released a few so-called "rare groove classics": “Affectionately known as the "queen of the rare groove", McCrae had a 1975 soul smash with Rockin' Chair. Her catalogue - which also includes the dancefloor anthem All This Love That I'm Givin', as well as other tracks like 90% of Me Is You, Keep the Fire Burning and Funky Sensation - has been heavily sampled by artists including Lady Gaga, Cassius, Avicii, Madlib, Cypress Hill and Mobb Deep.” (BBC) Tracklist:  Jerry Butler – (I'm Just Thinking About) Cooling Out (1978) The Chargers – You Gotta Be A ...

Pexels Enjoy the soul chart from 20 to 1 on May 31, 1980, according to one of the leading American music magazines at the time, Record World ! The chart is a mixture of oldschool soul, funk, disco and just a tiny little bit of electro soul (S.O.S. Band). A new decade did not bring a big shift yet.  Donny Hathaway was probably one of the greatest soul singers/musicians of all-time. His career took off in the early 1970s, but it never led to a big breakthrough, mainly because of his mental problems. His desperate situation led to his suicide by jumping of a balcony in 1979, after being  paranoid and delusional during a recording session with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Tracklist: Leon Haywood – Don’t Push It, Don’t Force It Brothers Johnson – Stomp! Con Funk Shun – Got To Be Enough [Edit] Jerry Knight – Over...

Pexels Enjoy the rundown of this week's most popular soul songs 42 years ago, according to Billboard online ! 1983 was the year that seemed to be some kind of renaissance year for soul music. Exciting new artists (D-Train, Jonzun Crew, Mtume) popped up, old ones returned refreshed (Cameo, Gladys Knight, Chi-Lites) and two soul artists turned into real mega stars (Prince, Michael Jackson). However, the first house records were already successful in the underground scene (but not charted yet), most particularly Clear by Cybetron and within a few years the musical landscape would change radically. A stain on MTV's reputation is definitely that they did not show a single black artist in their early years. They defended themselves by calling themselves a "rock station", which was only partly true. In an interview with MTV, David Bowie complained about this and the interviewer mumbled something completely incoherent. It was only when Michael Jackson became a mega-artist in...

Pixabay Let's take it nice and slow on Sunshine Radio ! 😊 As you may have noticed, at the moment I am not able to upload a cloudcast every single week, unfortunately. Hopefully it will be possible again in the near future.  Actor, singer and guitarist Joy Carol wrote and recorded Baby, Won't You Touch Me on Oahu, Hawaii in 1981. When she entered the studio, she asked if they could get her an arranger to bring the songs to their fullest potential. The studio said yes and they thought Pat Demain was their best man for the job. The two of them became a couple later on. Baby, Won’t You Touch Me originally appeared on Music In The Wind . The song was recently re-released by Aloha Got Soul. When Elton John wanted to go in a different musical direction in 1977, without regular songwriter Bernie Taupin, he decided to work with Philly soul producer Thom Bell. Apparently, relations between the producer and the artist became sour rather quickly. Although John was eager to work with...

Gideon Hezekiah Quite a soulful R&B Top 20 on April 18, 1981, according to billboard.com Enjoy! Aretha Franklin’s version of What A Fool Believes is nice and danceable, but for some reason it is not as intense and soulful as the one from Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, even though Aretha is known as ‘the Queen of Soul’. It was recorded in the early 1980s, when Aretha did not know where to go to with her career. Her voice was still great at the time, but she also seemed a bit uninspired.  Tracklist: Deniece Williams – What Two Can Do Kleeer – Get Tough Shalamar – Make That Move Aretha Franklin – What A Fool Believes Chaka Khan – What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me T-Connection – Everything Is Cool T.S. Monk – Bon Bon Vie Robert Winters & Fall – Magic Man Quincy Jones – Ai No Corrida Kool & The Gang – Take It To The Top Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio – A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do) Slave – Watching You Sister Sledge – All American Girls Atlantic Starr – ...

Washington March 1963 Enjoy these northern soul stompers and sixties sing-alongs! 😊 Northern soul is more or less the opposite of smooth soul. It is a subgenre and dance movement that surfaced in clubs in Northern England and the Midlands during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. It is basically lesser-known Motown-influenced music from the mid-sixties with a heavy beat and fast tempo (100 bpm and above). Although many of the lyrics of the late rock ‘n’ roll era sound quite innocent and were mostly about falling in love and getting married, there was certainly a dark side too. At the time no one seemed to care, but songs about schoolgirls were quite common, even when they were sung by 30-year olds, like Chuck Berry. In 1962 he was even sentenced to three years in prison, because he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines for the purpose of having sex. When the musical landscape changed in the mid-sixties, fore fronted by the Beatles, the lyrics of the pop hits changed t...

Enjoy this week's Billboard soul chart from 1984, ranked from 20 to 1 as a Mixcloud Exclusive ! We are approaching the mid-'80s and almost all of the classic soul artists have disappeared from view, with the exception of one of the all-time greats, Patti Labelle. Her Philly soul ballad If Only You Knew is even at number 1 on the chart ! 😊 The list is dominated by a tight electronic sound. Some hip hop is also emerging with Twilight 22, still categorized as “electro” at the time. It was clear that some big changes in the musical landscape were going on. The track by Patti Labelle is from her LP I'm In Love Again that was released in November 1983. It received critical and commercial success after the album became LaBelle's first to chart the top 40 of the Billboard 200, peaking at number 40 and reaching number 4 on the R&B albums chart, her highest to date at the time. With sales of over 500,000 copies, I'm in Love Again was certified gold by the end of 198...

Pexels Enjoy the disco chart from 15 to 1 on the last day of January 1976, according to one of the leading American music magazines at the time, Record World ! In those days disco was essentially still a short term for upbeat soul and funk. The influence of discotheques grew strongly at the time. Almost half of the tracks on this disco chart were not released as a single yet, but dj’s already knew which songs from albums would become successful. Only one of them, Dance Your Troubles Away by Archie Bell & The Drells, would never see the light of day as a single, not even as a B-side. The infamous Salsoul label was founded by ex-MFSB vibe player Vincent Montana, Jr. He also led The Salsoul Orchestra. Their Ooh I Love It has been sampled in hip hop tracks, such as 50 Cent's Candyshop and Eric B & Rakim's Paid In Full , but most notably in Madonna's Vogue .  After playing in a band with Jimi Hendrix and a brief period as a schoolteacher, Hamilton Bohannon was recrui...

Enjoy the R&B Top 40 from 40 to 1, dated on January 16th 1982, according to American music magazine Cashbox , the main competitor of Billboard at the time. There are quite a few veteran artists on this chart, like Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight, but a new, more electronic oriented generation is already knocking on the door, most prominently Prince. In the aftermath of their dispute about their copyrights, Daryl Hall claimed in a recent interview that almost all of the Hall & Oates songs are his compositions. According to him only three songs were collaborations with Oates, She’s Gone and Out Of Touch being two of them. John Oates said that he had the initial ideas for both songs and that they worked them out together. Daryl Hall sketched out the basics for I Can’t Go For That one evening at a music studio in New York City, in 1981, after a recording session for the Private Eyes album. Being on his own he randomly switched on the Rock 1 knob on a Roland drum...

Pixabay Enjoy light-hearted soul, pop and (yacht) rock from the seventies on this new Sunshine Radio part! Again songs from the era mixed with original jingles and air checks.  The title of this cloudcast is partly inspired by a very violent scene in Quintin Tarantino’s movie Reservoir Dogs with a radio playing Stealers Wheel in the background (the radio show is called Super Sounds Of The Seventies ) and I included a sample from that scene as well. The funk band Street Feet released only one album and then teamed up with singer Sharon Robinson in 1977. At the time she was reluctant to use her own name on her album for tax shelter issues with her label. Since her middle name is Terea, as it was said, this became the project name as well. Later on Sharon Robison toured as background vocalist with Leonard Cohen and wrote songs for big names in the industry like Diana Ross, Patti Labelle, Brenda Russell and Michael Bolton.  In 1978 Dane Donohue, the lost prince of yacht rock, r...