Professor Eddy

Sugarhill Gang (Big Bank Hank on the left) It started somewhere in the late sixties, but especially in the early seventies jazz artists began to cross over to funk and soul music. Well known jazz musicians like Chet Baker, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Miles Davis started to experiment with modern dance influences. Jazz purists were horrified, but these crossovers resulted in some very interesting pieces of music. 'Passion play' by Sugarhill Gang is my tribute to Henry Jackson aka Big Bank Hank. He died on the 11th of November, aged 57. He appeared on the group’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’, the 1979 single that introduced hip hop to a worldwide audience (although it was not the first hip hop single). When soul singer and label owner Sylvia Robinson of Sugar Hill Records wanted to put together a rap crew, she asked Jackson to join the Sugarhill Gang. His part in 'Rapper's Delight' was probably the most significant one: Check it out, I'm the C A S N the O V A ...

Flight Facilities Some kind of follow-up to Eddy's Groove Flight parts 1 and 2 and more or less a spin-off from my Night Flight for AOR Disco , although completely different. I like Australian disco/dance duo Flight Facilities a lot! They are Hugo (Gruzman) and James (Lyell). Five years ago they began mixing songs by other artists, before crafting their own original material. Their exiting debut album, 'Down to earth' was released last month and features prominent names in the industry, such as Emma Louise, Reggie Watts ('Sunshine') and Kylie Minogue. It's my favourite album of the moment! 'Groovejet' was written by glam rock guitarist Rob Davis (Mud), who also wrote 'Can't get you out of my head' for Kylie Minogue. The song is based on a sample from a song called 'Love is you' by Carol Williams (released on Salsoul). By the way, the best airline company seems to be ‘Coconut Airways’, as Typically Tropical try to tell us. T...

Jane Fonda (Barbarella) Enjoy the 41st edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy and soulful ’! 'My favourite track might possibly be 'Angel eyes' by American Gypsy. They are best known for their song 'Inside out', which has been sampled a lot (by DJ Shadow and Groove Armada, for instance). This funk band never had any big hits, but I like their output a lot! 'Angel eyes' was written by Piet Souer, the same guy who played guitar on 'The troubadour', the Eurovision Song Contest winner of 1969 and he co-wrote many hits for Dutch girl band Luv'. "With a baritone voice reminiscent of Tim Buckley, Keiran White sounds like the type of cult artist who gets revered by the likes of Mojo magazine. But it never happened for White and after his only solo album Open Door was released in 1975 he never recorded again and became a truck driver in Oregon before his untimely death in 1995." (Quote: AOR Disco ) Tracklist: Kieran White – Open Up Your Door (1975...

Picture: PG Photography Enjoy this 9th part of Boombox ! ‘Daytime disco’ is a kind of laidback disco, dance music you can nod your head to and almost move physically to. The expression was first used by the band Poolside , I believe, to introduce their debut album ‘Pacific standard time’ in 2012. ‘Automatic soul’ is the title of the latest Late Night Tales episode by Tom Findlay (Groove Armada), which features (club) soul from the mid-eighties, like the song from Thelma Houston. Thanks to DJ Supermarkt and Wonky Sensitive for the inspiration! I borrowed some of the songs they discovered. DJ Supermarkt (Marcus Liesenfeld) is the man behind the compilation album 'Too Slow To Disco volume 1', the first part of a series of late 1970s Westcoast yacht pop ('music you can almost dance to'), Tracklist: Webster Lewis ‎ – Give Me Some Emotion (1979) Reel People Feat. Tony Momrelle ‎– Golden Lady [Louie Vega Roots Mix] (2011) Prophet – You Really Turn Me On (1984) ...

Enjoy this 5th part of Steamy Soul Funk And Disco ! This series is the up-tempo, danceable variant of Groovy, Sexy & Soulful: soul that supposes to bring more excitement on the dance floor than in the bedroom. When disco became popular around the mid-seventies, many soul artists, like Temptations singer David Ruffin, moved into this direction, which seemed a natural step forward. But by the end of the decade all of a sudden models like Grace Jones and Amanda Lear were the real disco stars. The latter was the muse of painter Pablo Picasso and former girlfriend of Roxy Music front man Bryan Ferry, who became infected with the disco virus as well. His new album ‘Avonmore’ is out on the 17th of November. It contains contributions from Nile Rodgers, Johnny Marr and, surprisingly, Ronnie Spector! Tracklist: Noel Pointer – Classy Lady (1981) Bryan Ferry – Kiss And Tell (1987) Chaka Khan – The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom [Scratchandsniff Re-Rub] (1978) Faith, Hope & C...

Picture: J.M. Shayer Enjoy the Love Town edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy and soulful ’! One of the tracks is from Julio Gutierrez (the intro of the song was sampled by The Avalanches in 'Since I left you'): "The great Julio Gutierrez emigrated from his native Cuba in the late ‘50s, pursuing his calling in both Miami and New York City with freelance stints as a composer, session pianist and musical director. Despite two very hip ‘60s Latin jazz LPs, Progressive Latin and Havana B.C., Gutierrez would never regain the stature he’d enjoyed in Cuba, where, in addition to leading the legendary Cuban Jam Sessions series, he’d been among his country’s best known modern bandleaders and composers. 1972 would perhaps represent the crowning year for the pornographic movie in its brief-lived moment of mainstream chic, and few soundtrack themes would better encapsulate its adults-only art-house cachet than Argentinean saxophonist Gato Barbieri’s 'Last Tango in Paris.' 1972 would...

Kandace Springs Enjoy this 39th edition of ‘ Groovy, sexy & soulful ’! The theme is falling leaves and fading loves this time... Kandace Springs has just recently released her wonderful debut EP. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee but now living in New York City, she describes her sound as classic Soul meets classic Hip Hop. After singing an impassioned rendition of Bonnie Raitt's 'I Can't Make You Love Me', Blue Note Records President Don Was found himself so stunned by her arrangement and performance that he offered her a record deal on the spot. And earlier this year, legendary artist Prince heard her cover of Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me' online and asked her to perform at Paisley Park on the weekend celebrating the 30 year anniversary of his seminal album/film, Purple Rain. Kandace Springs is currently working on her debut solo album with co-executive producer Eli Wolf (Norah Jones) and a team of notable co-writers including Claude Kelly (Bruno M...