Magic In The Air

Philadelphia pop-soul vocal trio The Three Degrees began life in 1963 , releasing several singles and eventually their first album Maybe with Roulette Records in 1970.  It would be their work with Philadelphia International's Gamble & Huff, however, that would see them achieve their greatest success, with two high-charting albums and a slew of top 40 singles including the smashes When Will I See You Again and T.S.O.P.  (The Sound Of Philadelphia) [with M.F.S.B.].

I recently picked up the 1980 compilation double album Gold at a boot sale for £2:

The Three Degrees - Gold (1980)

Rear cover

Inside gatefold

Sides 1 through 3 boast the cream of their output from 1973-77, encompassing their time at P.I.R. and Epic, while Side 4 is a set of live material including cover versions of songs by Stevie Wonder and Elton John.

(This release is not the one of the same name and year on K-Tel, which contains a side of Ariola material).

After leaving Epic, the trio (whose members changed frequently over the years) joined Ariola Records and released the Giorgio Moroder-produced New Dimensions in 1978, a copy of which I found this summer, also for £2:

The Three Degrees - New Dimensions (1978)
Dresses by Zandra Rhodes

Rear cover

Side 1 comprises a 17-minute continuous mix of three songs: lead single Giving Up, Giving In, segueing into Falling In Love Again then Looking For Love.  This energetic disco suite blends familiar Philly strings with motorik rhythms and synthesisers, resulting in a refreshed Three Degrees sound more in keeping with the dancefloor fashions of the time.

Inside gatefold

Side 2 continues in this vein for the first song The Runner, then slows down for Woman In Love, the highest-placing single which peaked at no. 3 in the UK.  The pace picks up again for final track Magic In The Air, a mid-tempo, more traditional Three Degrees song, devoid of Moroder's overt electronics.

Here are the girls miming artfully to Giving Up, Giving In:

Zing! Went The Strings

In July I caught disco fever and in turn this led me investigate the work of the Master of the remix and father of the 12" single; producer extraordinaire Mr. Tom Moulton.

Tom Moulton

It began with the latest volume (no. 3) of his Philly Re-Grooved series where he applied his remixer's touch to a wide range of Philadelphia recorded artists from several labels, then on to the other two releases in the series, culminating in a recent purchase of last year's 4-CD 31-track box set of artists signed to Philadelphia International Records.






At last weekend's boot sale I was lucky enough to find a copy of the 1977 LP "Philadelphia Classics" for just £1.50:

Philadelphia Classics (1977)

Inside gatefold

The sleeve is rather torn and tattered but thankfully the records themselves are in excellent condition.

Rear cover

This double album consists of eight tracks from Gamble & Huff's P.I.R. catalogue, including artists The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, M.F.S.B., The Intruders and Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes.

For those not familiar with the Philadelphia Sound, its main feature is the addition of lush orchestral strings and searing horns to a funky, often bass-heavy soul music with gorgeous vocal harmonies; the more up-tempo of songs lending themselves easily to the 70s disco dancefloor.

Tom Moulton worked extensively with P.I.R. during the 1970s as a producer, and the way he manages to tease out the elements of a song to turn a 3-minute single into a 10-minute disco journey with builds, breakdowns and solos, all the while retaining that classy, breezy Philly sound is quite breathtaking.

Here Tom works his magic on such Philly classics as Love Is The Message and Love Train, extending some by several minutes.  All eight tracks here are included in the CD box set I referred to earlier, namely Philadelphia Classics: The Tom Moulton Remixes (2012).

Here's my favourite song from the original Philadelphia Classics LP; Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes' Don't Leave Me This Way, which clocks in at a disco-heavenly 11 minutes:

Nice Enough To Eat!

Today is a Bank Holiday and I'm going nowhere, so instead let me tell you about some of the records I picked up at a boot sale on the previous Bank Holiday weekend.  On the Sunday (May 5th) I took advantage of a seller's 3-for-a fiver offer on LPs.  First was this:

The World of David Bowie (1973)

This is a 1973 reissue of an album originally released in 1970, with an updated cover photo.  A fascinating collection of songs from his 1967 debut on Deram plus other previously unreleased tracks, this cynically re-packaged set of folk and music-hall style material was presumably intended to attract Ziggy fans expecting something quite different.

It's interesting of course, and very enjoyable in places, but essential to only the most hardcore of Bowie-philes.  Many of the songs here feature on the 1985 double album David Bowie - The Collection (which I have on cassette!).

Next up, the 1969 self-titled debut from Santana:

Santana (1969)

Released the same month as Woodstock where they played on the 15th of August, this is an album of powerful, Latin-infused guitar rock, enveloping the listener in a heady fug of Hammond organ, unbelievable percussion and THAT guitar from Carlos.  Its incredible cover image of a line-drawn lion incorporates how many faces?!

Last and certainly not least I chose Nice Enough To Eat, also from 1969:

Various Artists - Nice Enough To Eat (1969)

 An Island Records label sampler of folk rock, prog and hard rock from artists including Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, Free and Spooky Tooth, NETE originally cost under 15 shillings which was half the price of a regular album at the time.

Tracklist:

Side 1.

1.  Cajun Woman - Fairport Convention

2.  At The Crossroads - Mott The Hoople

3.  Better By You, Better Than Me - Spooky Tooth

4.  We Used To Know - Jethro Tull

5.  Woman - Free

6.  I Keep Singing That Same Old Song - Heavy Jelly

Side 2.

1.  Sing Me A Song That I Know - Blodwyn Pig

2.  (Roamin' Thro' The Gloamin' With) Forty Thousand Headmen - Traffic

3.  Time Has Told Me - Nick Drake

4.  21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson

5.  Gungamai - Quintessence

6.  Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal - Dr. Strangely Strange

An important album to many, it served as an ear-opening introduction to the current Island roster and this kind of music in general.  It certainly worked its charms on me - at the Bank Holiday Monday car boot sale the following day I was driven to buy The Best of Spooky Tooth on CD (£4) which includes this HEAVY cover of I Am The Walrus:

Nice!

The Dog's B*ll*cks

It's been a long, cold winter with a couple of false starts, but today's car boot sale had some vinyl worth flicking through and I returned home with a 1981 reissue of Bowie's 1974 album Diamond Dogs (INTS 5068), bought for £4.

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (1974)

This was his first post-Spiders album and is essentially a glam-rock record, but with a different sound to its predecessors due to Bowie playing most of the lead guitar parts himself (not to mention several other instruments).  Also present are the first signs of the R'n'B/Soul that would inform 1975's Young Americans.

The original concept for the record was based on Orwell's 1984, but when permission for this was denied by Orwell's widow, Bowie kept his head and worked the existing songs into a dark, fragmented narrative of his own, set in Hunger City where,

"Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats
And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes".

Yikes!

The cover was painted by artist Guy Peellaert, and the original artwork featured genitalia on the lower half of the Bowie/dog hybrid.  This was airbrushed out as you can see from this photo, although some copies with the original image did make it onto the shelves.

I love the segue from the epic Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing into its biggest hit Rebel Rebel, but my top picks are the Stones-y title track and the cinematic 1984.
Here's the 30th anniversary album remaster on Spotify:

Living To Music April 2013

Join in if you can, alone or with friends, this Sunday, April the 7th at 9pm with Greg Wilson's Living To Music worldwide communal listening experience. This month's selected album is John Lennon's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2013/04/living-to-music-john-lennon-john-lennon-plastic-ono-band/

Living To Music March 2013

Join in if you can, alone or with friends, tonight at 9pm with Greg Wilson's Living To Music worldwide communal listening experience. This month's selected album is Bjork's Debut (1993).

http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2013/02/living-to-music-bjork-debut/

Apologies for the very short notice - I seem to have dropped off Greg's mailing list and forgot to check his website. 

Space Cadet

With a lack of car boot sales at this time of year, I occasionally succumb to the temptations of eBay to satisfy my desire for musical diversion.  At the beginning of January I bought this album for £3.99 on the strength of the cover alone:

The Lime Spiders - The Cave Comes Alive! (1987)

The Lime Spiders were - and still are - an Australian rock band.  Formed in 1979 by lead singer and constant member Mick Blood, their declared influences are 60s garage rock and psychedelia.  However, to these ears the overriding sound is more 80s hair metal/hard rock.

This was their debut album released on Virgin and represents the height of their success. The unremarkable songwriting and dreary vocals are somewhat redeemed by some sterling efforts from guitarist Gerard Corben, in particular the latin outro to final track Theory of Thira, below.  Excellent album cover though!




Tracklist:
Side 1.
My Favourite Room
Are You Loving Me More
Ignormy
NSU
Just One Solution
Blood From a Stone

Side 2.
Just One Solution (Reprise)
Action Woman
Rock Star
Jessica
Space Cadet
Theory of Thira