The Reds

Artist: The Reds

LP: The Reds

Song: "Whatcha' Doin' to Me" / "Not You"
[ listen ]

I'm running out of room again. I keep thinking maybe I'll get rid of some of my late-'70s post punk LPs since lots of them kinda' sound the same...but then they're all so damn good! Like this debut from The Reds on A&M Records. It was evidently a flop when it came out, since A&M dropped them like a red hot potato. Yet the music of The Reds holds up today more than just about anything that went zooming to the top of the charts in 1979. Of course The Reds released their record on green vinyl. You can read a bit about the group here and here. This one's a keeper.

[ The Reds ]

Double Exposure

Artist: Double Exposure

LP: Locker Room

Song: "I Got the Hots (For Ya)"

[ listen ]

Anyway, getting back to Washington, DC—after setting up the conference booth at the hotel where I was staying, I headed over to my favorite 24-hour DC diner, simply called The Diner. After enjoying a delicious omelet and plenty of coffee I dropped by Red Onion Records & Books, which was the basement record store I'd been trying to locate the evening before. (I forgot they sold books too, so that part of their name threw me off.) I'd found lots of great stuff at Red Onion the last time I was in DC, and managed to leave with plenty of neat stuff this time too—including this 1979 locker-room-themed LP by the Philadelphia-based disco group Double Exposure. James, Joseph, Leonard, and Charles have evidently been singing (and showering) together since they were in junior high school, though in the 1960s their group was called United Image instead. According to the Double Exposure Wikipedia page here, these lads released the first-ever commercially available 12" single!

[ the inside of The Diner — Washington, DC ]

[ a delicious omelet w/ grits and English muffin at The Diner — Washington, DC ]

[ the outside of Red Onion Records & Books — Washington, DC ]

[ the inside of Red Onion Records & Books — Washington, DC ]

[ the inside of Double Exposure's sports uniforms — Washington, DC ]

Breakwater

Artist: Breakwater

LP: Splashdown

Song: "Splashdown Time"

[ listen ]

I think I've just decided on my Halloween costume for this year. Formed in Philadelphia in 1971, Breakwater released just two LPs during their stint together, including this one from 1980, the year the band called it quits. You can read more about the group on Wikipedia here—and speaking of water breaking, I hear the swollen Mississippi River will be cresting at a record 57 feet in the historic town of Vicksburg, Mississippi tomorrow. Good luck you guys.

I just showed this record to Matilyn, my colleague at work. She said it looks like the guys are about to clean a really big bathroom.

The A's

Artist: The A's

LP: The A's

Song: "5 Minutes In a Hero's Life"

[ listen ]

Here's a cut from the 1979 self-titled debut LP from Philadelphia rock band The A's—another gem from my little getaway up to Bellingham last month. You can find lots of people fondly reminiscing about The A's on Lars Hindsley's blog here, where A's guitarist Rick Difonzo also chimes in with some comments. Go here to read more about Rick Difonzo, find a list of albums on which he's played guitar here, and you can buy his 2008 "Bright Shiny Pop" CD here. The A's lead singer Richard Bush is now in The Peace Creeps, you can visit their MySpace page here. You can watch a dynamic performance by The A's by clicking the YouTube link below, after which you'll find the extremely charming Richard Bush smoking, chewing gum, and being interviewed by a British woman all at the same time.

The A's on YouTube:

[ "Who's Gonna Save the World" + interview ]

 

 

Dexter Wansel

Artist: Dexter Wansel

LP: Voyager

Song: "I Just Want to Love You"

[ listen ]

This Dexter Wansel guy looks like he could be a real ass. tronaut. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1950, Dexter was raised in Philadelphia, where he learned to play the keyboard like nobody's business. He contributed much to the "Philly sound" of the 1970s—not only with his own albums (my copy of his 1978 "Voyager" LP once belonged to Wallace!), but also through his work with artists like MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, Phyllis Hyman, Grover Washington, Jr., The Jones Girls, and Patti Labelle. You can read more about Dexter Wansel on Wikipedia here.

 

 

First Choice

Artist: First Choice

LP: The Player

Song: "Guess What Mary Jones Did" 
[ listen ]

Things ain't been the same since Mary Jones came to town. It didn't take me long to see what she was putting down. She only came into my house when she knew damn well I wasn't home. Asking for flour, she stayed for an hour and soon my man was gone! If you want to know more, go here.

Rufus Harley

Artist: Rufus Harley

LP: Scotch & Soul

Song: "Scotch & Soul"

[ listen ]

This must have seemed like a good idea at the time, though I'm guessing a little Scotch & Soda probably played a role in getting the execs at Atlantic to green-light the project. Rufus does create an interesting sound with his jazz/soul bagpipes, and the novelty aspect holds up well since, as far as I know, nobody ever tried this again. You can read about bagpipes here and learn about Rufus Harley's life and career and find out how he got mixed up with bagpipes in the first place here and here. The liner notes (with a little part missing) from the 1967 "Scotch & Soul" LP are here:

[ Rufus Harley: May 20, 1936 — July 31, 2006 ]

Teddy Pendergrass [1950-2010]

Artist: Teddy Pendergrass

LP: Life Is a Song Worth Singing

Song: "Life Is a Song Worth Singing"
[ listen ]

A few years ago my friend Melissa and I were walking into Fred Meyer when we saw a father/toddler combo coming out of the store. The kid had been stuffed into a hip little Jimmy Hendrix t-shirt, and Melissa and I resolved then that we would jump on the bandwagon by designing and selling our own line of rock-n-roll t-shirts for infants and small children that would feature Teddy Pendergrass.

At Teddy Pendergrass' for-women-only concerts in the 1970s, ticket buyers were given chocolate teddy-bear-shaped lollipops to lick during the show and the ladies in the audience would routinely throw teddy bears and underwear onto the stage while Pendergrass sang. One look at the cover of this record and it's easy to see why—though a frustrated Pendergrass reportedly insisted that there was much more to him than just his chest and crotch. I'd have to agree: there's also his lips, those bedroom eyes, that sexy scruffy beard, his hat...and if they'd turn him around I'd probably be adding a few more things to my list.

Born in Kingstree, South Carolina in 1950, Teddy Pendergrass' family moved to Philadelphia when he was young and it was there that he entered the music scene as singer for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. He went on to a solo career in the mid-'70s and became the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums. A car wreck in 1982 left Pendergrass paralyzed from the waist down and put a damper on his music career, though he did continue to perform and also founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance to help others suffering from spinal cord injuries. Sadly, Teddy Pendergrass died on Wendesday from colon cancer; he was only 59. You can read about Pendergrass here and find a nice obituary from The New York Times here and one from The Guardian here. These inspiring, life-affirming notes come from the inner sleve of his 1978 LP, "Life Is a Song Worth Living":

Teddy Pendergrass
[March 26, 1950 — January 13, 2010]
We will miss you, Teddy.

Bill Doggett and His Combo

Artist: Bill Doggett and His Combo

LP: Oops! The Swinging Sounds of Bill Doggett and His Combo
Song: "Oops"
[ listen ]

Song: "Stop That Twistin' In Here"
[ listen ]

Born in Philadelphia in 1916, Bill Doggett was hired as pianist for The Ink Spots in 1942. He went on to greater popularity after taking up the Hammond organ in the early 1950s, winning Cash Box magazine's award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performer in 1957, '58 and '59. You can read more about Doggett's life and career here and here and notes from the back of his 1962 "Oops" LP are included here:

[ Bill Doggett: February 16, 1916 — November 13, 1996 ]