Faze-O

Artist: Faze-O

LP: Good Thang

Song: "Funky Lady"
[ listen ]

It's my birthday! I'm gonna' put on my milk-chocolate silk shorts and go get me some ice cream!

[ Faze-O in full bloom ]

Robert "Goodie" Whitfield

Artist: Robert "Goodie" Whitfield

LP: Call Me Goodie

Song: "Goody Goody"

[ listen ]

After enjoying a delicious breakfast and some good conversation with the locals at The City Diner on Monroe Street, I headed over to Culture Clash Records, one of the best record stores on my trip. I picked up lots of terrific albums and singles there, including this funky and colorful (and ice-creamy) 1982 Robert "Goodie" Whitfield LP. The entire record is good, but my favorite is Goodie's cover of the classic relationship revenge song "Goody Goody," written in 1936, which I first heard sung by Julie London on the radio. There's not much info about Robert "Goodie" Whitfield on the web, but he was evidently born in Dallas, he may have gotten into some legal trouble, and it seems he really likes ice cream. You can read more on the 2Step Vinyl Soul blog here, where you can listen to another of Goodie's songs, and there's a neat 1983 photo of the singer on Wikipedia here. I've included the "Goody Goody" lyrics below, along with more photos and the address of The Robert "Goodie" Whitfield Fan Club.

 [ Culture Clash Records — Toledo, OH ]

La Flavour

Artist: La Flavour

LP: Mandolay

Song: "Can't Kill the Beat"

[ listen ]

Here's something else I found at Jive Time Records over the weekend. Started in Massillon, Ohio by the Nervo twins and their classmates Craig and Gino back in 1967, the group was previously called The Noblemen, The Blues Soul, and Ragweed before they finally hit it big as La Flavour with the release of their "Mandolay" LP in 1980. By then they had added Rusty and Rick to the lineup, they had become one of the hottest dance bands in the region, and they had developed a penchant for gourmet ice cream. The group signed to MCA for their followup release, but since the disco craze had begun to wane, the label changed their name to Fair Warning and steered the band in a pop/rock direction. The song "She Don't Know Me" was chosen as their first single, but then some upstart rock band swiped it out from under their noses, stuck it on their own album, and the Fair Warning LP was eventually shelved by MCA. Undaunted, La Flavour continued to tour on the strength of their "Mandolay" single, eventually embellishing their live shows with appearances by Franklin and Nick—a pair of dueling, drunken, and outspoken puppets who sent audiences into hysterical fits of stitches with their outrageous and inappropriate remarks. You can read all about La Flavour here, find each member's personal bio here, buy your own La Flavour apparel here, and find out where the group will be performing next right here.