Vile Bodies

Blow, cat, blow

Rod Start It All Over Again

Robert Palmer Looking For Clues

Rod's Shake It Up has long been a gold-plated standard in Italo productions for me, but damn if the album opener Start It All Over Again doesn't deserve love, too.  Opening with a great guitar riff that's matched with some more jazzy instrumentation (that organ!), trad-disco flourishes and Philly sounding brass, it sashays into the exuberant territory of Kid Creole & The Coconuts (nee August Darnell), amounting to a deeply satisfying way to start a hidden gem of a record.  The brief xylophone lead reminds me of the lead that shows up towards the end in Robert Palmer's anxious new-wave workout Looking for Clues.  So there you go...

I was sure that I had posted Rod's Shake It Up, but I've spent a number of years suffering from the petty DJ affliction of claiming songs for one's own and hoarding them.  Sort of foolish in the age of musical abundance.  Never mind that when I DJed with Vancouver's (super-skilled, really nice) Kutcorners at Blue Dog in Montreal a while back, it was a prominent set-piece...  The song is a lot more well known than I had imagined.

After much digging, I've got a lengthy post coming up this week on Anthony Malloy, of Anthony & The Camp, who deserves far more attention for his contribution to house music than simply being the target of some sticky-fingered lifting by Tensnake. (Much love to Coma Cat, though).

Thursdaze House

House-heads and other fellow travelers in Montreal, if you have the chance, check out DeepInsideMTL's new party this Thursday.  Ewan Pearson-approved Flowers & Sea Creatures will be headlining alongside the Deutschsonik duo Vosper and Jealous Lovers.  A stacked bill at the Royal Phoenix.

Some People Are Made of Plastic, Some People Are Made of Wood

The Dramatics Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get

The Dramatics were another workhorse R&B outfit from Detroit that spanned a couple of decades, making a couple of chart appearances, including this great slinky example of 70's soul from 1971 that hit #1 and sold a cool million.  Their first studio album was released after a string of singles, and has a laid-back vocal style heavy on harmonizing, similar to the Temptations, but not without its own charms.  The group didn't boast a voice with the chops and charisma of David Ruffin (how often does he come along?), but there are some competent stabs at salon room balladry and more than a couple great percussive moments - if they weren't layered with so many string sections, vocal theatrics and horn stabs this album would be a breaks classic.  As it stands now, Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get is a marvelous album, complete with an ode to hot pants.

As a special treat, I'll post The Dramatics' spectacularly titled post-Pusherman epic Beware of the Man (With the Candy in his Hand) tomorrow.

Many thanks to Toronto's greatest radio station, G98.7 FM for introducing me to this...