Star City

Artist: Star City

LP: I'm a Man

Song: "I'm a Man"

[ listen ]

Song: "Good Times"

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I feel like I've been plenty erratic here on my blog lately, but I haven't really been very homo. Hopefully, posting this 1978 Star City LP (is that one of the Village People slumming on the cover? And what's that thick red shaft he's leaning up against there?) is a step (or maybe a sashay?) in the right direction. Star City was, according to what little info I was able to dig up online, simply a studio group assembled by Canadian producer John Driscoll for a one-off gay-themed disco LP. And if I know men, John probably promised Star City a lifelong contract, filled with platinum albums and thrilling intercontinental tours...but then he just smoked a cigarette and said something like "See ya later, baby" as soon as they put out one LP.

[ Karen Silver of Star City ]

The Moments

Artist: The Moments

LP: Look At Me
Song: "Girls (French version)"

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Song: "Look At Me (French version)"

[ listen ]

Last night I went sifting through my soul and R&B records to find something quiet and romantic to bring my enjoyable evening to a delicate close. This 1975 LP by The Moments that I put on the console was already hitting the spot, and then they started singing in French!

I had not realized until now that The Moments were the same fellows who later turned into Ray, Goodman, and Brown. Stang Records evidently wouldn't let the trio keep the name when The Moments decided to leave the label in 1979. (Update: Oh. I guess I did know this 10 years ago. My memory just ain't what it used to be.) Mais peu importe comment vous les applez, ils sont simplement magnifiques! 

[ Harry Ray: December 15, 1946 — October 1, 1992 ]

[ Al Goodman: March 30, 1943 — July 26, 2010 ]

[ Billy Brown: b. June 30, 1946 ]

Los Diablos

Artist: Los Diablos

LP: 7" single

Song: "Mi Talisman"
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After leaving Revolver Records and strolling along Carrer dels Tallers on my way toward Discos Paradiso, I passed by a shop called Discos Impacto that I realized was also on my list of stores I needed to visit. At first I only found lots of used LPs in a very large room in the back, but just as I discovered about 20 bins of used 45s right by the entrance of the store, the friendly proprietor announced that everyone had to leave. He needed to use the restroom and so would be closing shop for about five minutes. I waited patiently outside.

When the store reopened I spent several hours flipping through their singles bins. They were sprinkled with vinyl treasures from all over Europe! One of them was this 1973 release by Los Diablos, a group that formed right there in Barcelona back in 1968. They disbanded ten years later, but have reformed in various incarnations ever since. For a brief period in the late '90s they joined forces with members of Formula V to make music under the name Formula Diablos. You can read more about these handsome diablos in Spanish here and here, and go here to find some info in English.

[ Discos Impacto — Barcelona, Spain ]

Seventh Avenue

Artist: Seventh Avenue

LP: 12" single

Song: "Armed Robbery"
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The armed robbers made off with Seventh Avenue's clothes! This is one of the few things I picked up at Moby Disk, the sole record shop in the lovely town of Girona, where I spent a day and a night after taking a very early train out of Figueres. 

[ Girona, Spain ]

 
During my stay in Girona I visited the Museum of Cinema and then had a late dinner at a neat old restaurant called Café Le Bistrot. And then I got lost wandering the streets on the way back to my hotel. It was wonderful.

[ Museum of Cinema — Girona, Spain ]

[ Café Le Bistrot — Girona, Spain ]

But anyway, back to Moby Disk. Two nice young fellows were working at the shop, and though I finally worked up the guts to ask them for a photograph...I forgot to turn my camera's auto-focus on, so they're vague.

 
I don't know much about Seventh Avenue, except that they might be British, they may have previously been a little more disco, and they often end up wearing hardly any clothing...sometimes just towels.

...and they shouldn't be confused with the German Christian metal band nor the Latin Christian rock band (based in Atlanta, I think) that are also called Seventh Avenue. Unfortunately, I was unable to find photos of either of these other bands in the shower. More Seventh Avenue record covers here and here and here.

[ Moby Disk — Girona, Spain ]

Mystic

Artist: Mystic

LP: 7" single

Song: "Disco Love Affair"
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The next morning I stopped in at Wah Wah Records, which turned out to be right next door to Discos Edison's, where I'd been the night before. Wah Wah is a terrific little shop packed to the gills with music. They've got an excellent selection of used disco-funk-R&B 45s, so I focused my attention there for the 90 minutes I had before heading out to my 2pm guided audio tour of La Sagrada Familia. 

I pulled quite a few gems out of their bins, including this "Disco Love Affair" from 1977. (What other type of love affair is there?) There's not much info about Mystic on the web, and Discogs shows only one other single from the group—a futuristic one also released in 1977. I evidently had the 'auto focus' feature turned off when I snapped my pics of Wah Wah, but you still get the idea.

[ Wah Wah Records — Barcelona, Spain ]

7th Wonder

Artist: 7th Wonder

LP: Thunder

Song: "The Tilt"
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A friend and colleague from work left on vacation to the Middle East this week. She'll be stopping by Egypt to see The Great Pyramid of Giza—the only one of The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World still in existence today! According to Wikipedia, The Great Giza Pyramid is actually Ancient Wonder #2 though, and not the 7th one as this 1980 funk LP would have us believe. 

With all the other six Wonders wiped off the face of the planet (earthquakes, you know), it makes sense from a tourism standpoint to assemble a new list of Wonders that people can actually still visit to buy t-shirts, key chains, and other souvenirs. In November of 2006, USA Today and Good Morning America did just that, unveiling a revised list of Seven Wonders selected by a panel of six judges, with an Eighth Wonder tacked on a while later based on viewer feedback. Inspired, I've thrown together my own list of things that make me Wonder. The group photo from the back of this LP ended up at number five.

[ 7th Wonder ]

Vitamin E

Artist: Vitamin E

LP: Sharing

Song: "Kiss Away"
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I had to take a big dose of Vitamin E this morning so I didn't catch tonsillitis. But even if I had, it would have been worth it!

Vitamin E's sweetener/vocalist Bianca Thornton eventually went on to bigger and better things as Lady Bianca—we have the same birthday! Wikipedia calls this 1977 Vitamin E record "commercially doomed," though, doomed as it may have been, it was through no fault of the music itself. It's dynamite! I'm fairly certain that the American public was once again to blame. They never know a good thing when they hear it. I picked up this LP for $3 at Doug's Used Records in Yakima, WA two summers ago on my way to a family camping trip in the woods. They had a used copy at Yakima's Off the Record too, which I stopped at next, but there they wanted $45 for it.

Brock Peters

Artist: Brock Peters

LP: Sing'a Man

Song: "Venezuela"
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Song: "Down By the Riverside"
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Along with a pair of early '50s Peggy Lee albums in mint condition, this brilliant and beautiful 1959 Brock Peters LP is one of the things I paid cold hard cash ($3) to remove from Doug's Used Records in Yakima last weekend. Born in New York City in 1927, Brock played violin and studied classical voice—as well as physical education and psychology—before going on to stardom on both stage (Porgy and Bess; Anna Lucasta; Body Beautiful) and screen (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD; STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME). He also evidently recorded a few LPs. You can read more about Brock here, and in the liner notes written by Sidney Poitier and DeDe Daniels (who I'm not able to find any info about—unless she's gone on to become a professional yoga and fitness instructor in the L.A. area), included below.

[ Brock Peters: July 2, 1927 — August 23, 2005 ]