Wop Bop Torledo - Jungle Fever (1989)

UPDATED! (rip quality upped to 254kbps AAC)


1989! This track is over 20 years old, which - I suppose - is like living in the era of the Beach Boys and listening to the Charleston. Whatever.

Wop Bop Torledo were Maryanne Morgan and Gary Stoner and they didn't last very long (a couple of singles and one failure of an album apparently). However, the mixes of Jungle Fever were from Morales & Knuckles, back in the day when they did all their mixes together. With John Poppo et Peter "Ski" Schwartz helping out, it's one of their lesser known classics, so props to the visionary (but cursed) project manager who shelled out his budget for the mixes.

The lyrics are absolute nonsense, and there's a rubbish sultry rap part way through, but for such an early production it's got a hell of a lot of class, and still sound fresh today. A big shout out to the Finest Def Mix blog (now a little dormant) for bringing it to my attention.

As the vocal version was a little short (just over 5 minutes) and a dub followed, I obviously couldn't resist putting them together to make a 12-minute mash-up. Can't say it was very difficult, but I like the result. The track has a great ambience to it, replete with jungle animal noises! Have a listen below, and click the download button if you want to keep it.

And where are Maryanne Morgan and Gary Stoner today? Well, Morgan seems to be doing occasional backing vocals and has written a few songs for, er, Liberty X and Stoner may or may not be an actor now, recently seen playing "Haggis" in Emmerdale Farm. Oh dear. Update: it's not him. Lord knows where he is now.

And needless to say, none of their catalogue (none of the singles, not even the album) is available for legal download. Thanks to Virgin Records. Again.

Color Me Badd - Heartbreaker (1992)

Although I initially found this through the extremely respectable (but currently slightly dormant) Finest Def Mix blog, there were a thousand reasons to not like it:

1. Group name with deliberate spelling mistake, 'cos dey from da streets.
2. And it's gibberish (anybody care to explain?).
3. Obvious major label product with token black person to maximise sales over a wide demographic.
4. Shameless use of the word "sex" in their major (only?) hit.
5. This particular track took the UK charts by storm, shooting up as high as number 58.
6. Terrible lyrics, including the gem:

"I’ve got my eye on you / And I know just what you are / You’re just a user, girl / And you drive me like a car".

WTF?

Indeed, the Uncyclopedia article dedicated to the group (recommended) says "Color Me Badd was an R&B quartet that wrote songs during the early '90s, widely considered the low water mark of R&B. And Color Me Badd are the reason why."

And yet, even though the group's blatant intellectual bankruptcy earned them general ridicule and a thankfully rapid career nosedive, this particular track actually has quite a bit going for it:

1. A slew of remixes by Frankie Knuckles in his prime.
2. Stolen sample from the Bar-Kays (to distract your attention from a weedy rap).
3. An 'instrumental' version that actually has loads of great piano improv.
4. And most of all a surprisingly sweet groove. No wonder it didn't sell.

So, I took the vocal version and added the instrumental to the end to make a rather sweet version that lasts nearly 11 minutes. Not rocket science for sure, but a pleasant listen nonetheless. Check it out here...



Anyway, I liked the track so much, I bought a copy on the web so I could get a high-quality rip. Thankfully, once I tidy it away in my collection, I won't have to look at those pug ugly posers ever again!

You can download Color Me Badd - Heartbreaker

(Heart Attack / Instrumental mix Fist fusion) here (24MB)

Alexander O'Neal - What Is This Thing Called Love (1991)

Since I got hold of this from the finestdefmix blog I've been in love with it. Lush strings, great piano from Terry Burrus, that unmistakeable voice. I did my own fusion of it almost immediately, but the sound quality wasn't great (low bitrate) and I knew it deserved better.

After a few technical problems, I managed to wangle some .wav rips (I would have bought the CD myself but it costs a whopping 30 euros on Discogs!) but never got round to re-doing the mix. Finally, my short holidays this summer allowed me to go back to it and get everything in order.

Using three different Morales mixes I came up with a version that lasts nearly 15 minutes, with quite a bit of diversity in the structure so you never get bored. I also corrected a dodgy edit near the beginning of the main mix (if I can do it, why didn't they?).

Have a listen to my version if you like. I'm pleased with it, and still love the song...

You can download Alexander O'Neal - What Is This Thing Called Love (Dee Classic 12"/Red Zone/Dee Instrumental mix Fist fusion) as a CD quality FLAC file here (93MB) or an iPod-friendly AAC file here (27MB)


Bonus!
You can also download my
Alexander O'Neal - All True Man (Big House mix/instrumental Fist fusion)
here (13'01" - 18MB).

DMC remixes from the 90s: 3 big names remixed by 3 big names

I'm not in the habit of reposting content from other blogs but I stumbled upon Dance Remix Fix the other day (thanks to the great Marshall Jefferson remixes of "I Don't Even Know If I Should Call You Baby" by Soul Family Sensation) and the site hasn't been updated since 5th December 2008, so...

Looking through the archives, there's some interesting stuff on there, some of which is hard to find. For example, some DMC remixes that I didn't even know existed.

I never really understood how DMC worked. Getting big names to remix big tracks and not releasing the results to the public seems a little strange (not to say a large waste of money). It's certainly frustrating for those of us who love the music. So it was with a certain satisfaction that I was able to download the following tracks, ripped from CD in decent quality. Click on the names to download:
Frankie Knuckles feat. Adeva "Welcome To The Real World (Johnny Vicious remix)" is a stomping, slightly barmy affair that will not be to everyone's taste. It's certainly pretty far removed from the original and very typical of Johnny Vicious' style of that time.

Crystal Waters "100 Percent Pure Love (Danny Tenaglia mix)" is a deep house version that's half lilting, half lazy, but interesting nonetheless.

And perhaps the best of the bunch is C+C Music Factory "Do You Want To Get Funky (Junior Vasquez mix)". A harder version than the original but a good workout, with slight acid touches that complement the vocals well. Very typical of the Vasquez sound in the early nineties. Have a listen...

You can still find some of classic DMC mixes from the era to buy on the DMCworld site, but I'd never heard these ones before. Apparently these came from a CD called DMC - The Best of U.S. remixes Vol.1" (tracklisting here) but I have no idea how to buy it...

Shirley Murdock - my Frankie Knuckles re-edit

It's always great when you come across something that you didn't even know existed, and that you love instantly. Thanks to the ever-brilliant Finest Def Mix blog (although Tribute to Def Mix had posted a rip of the vinyl last year) I managed to get my hands on a CD rip of Let There Be Love by Shirley Murdock, remixed by Frankie Knuckles.

So who is Shirley Murdock? Well, after a couple of R&B hits in the 80s (such as 'As We Lay', a syrupy number about two people cheating on their partners with a night-long session of boomshakalak). As a background singer for Zapp, much of her subsequent production was produced by Rouger Troutman, and the late eighties/early nineties saw her releasing a few albums that were more remarkable for her shaggy lioness hairdo than for the music they contained.

Unfortuntely her singing career (or at least the visible part) was to take a dive after 1991's Let There Be Love, remixed by Frankie Knuckles. From the four mixes on Finest Def Mix I took the Classic 12", Banji dub and Intrumental reprise and put them together to make a mix that lasts just under 20 minutes! These early Knuckles (& Morales) mixes always had a lot going on in them, meaning that you never really lose interest. My 'Fist fusion' isn't rocket science, but I think it flows pretty nicely. You can download it here.

So what happened to Shirley ? Well, her waistline went south and she found God big time. Although she's still going and still has a great voice, I doubt she'll be singing about the joys of a one night porkfest again any time soon.

Check out the track below. Pretty damn funky, despite the fact that it's about 'The Lord'.

And don't forget to download my Shirley Murdock "Let There Be Love (Classic 12" mix / Banji dub / Instrumental reprise Fist Fusion)" here.