Barry White - Your Sweetness Is My Weakness

Like many people, I really only knew of Barry White as a Simpson's character until his death a few years ago when I started to pay attention to his music. The man's no joke.

Your Sweetness Is My Weakness is a prime example of his songwriting and producing prowess. Barry was not afraid of a full string and horn section and he makes use of them quite adeptly. And, yes, a whole lot of cowbell.

This was released in 1978 on 20th Century Fox Records.

(House music producer Quentin Harris extensively samples YSIMW here.)

Your Sweetness Is My Weakness

Lorraine Johnson - The More I Get, The More I Want

The more well-known version of this track is Teddy Pendergrass' smoking rendition from his self-titled solo debut on Philadelphia International Records. This version is from an unlabeled bootleg pressing, but I'm pretty sure
google and www.discogs.com have led me to the correct artist info. It seems Ms. Johnson released her version the same year as Teddy and she gives him a run for his money. The lyrics actually sound a lot dirtier coming from her. You go, Lorraine!

This is from 1977 on Prelude Records.

The More I Get, The More I Want

Chantal Curtis - Hit Man

This track has endured as a club staple in New York and it is really is a gift that keeps on giving. Hit Man was actually recorded in France in 1979 on Trema Records. According to my bootleg copy, this version is a Tom Moulton edit.

Watch out for some wicked harmonica playing.

Hit Man

Roundtree - Hit On You

This song is hot, hot, hot. Roundtree doesn't appear to have put out very much music which is a shame. This is a rare guitar-driven dance music track which - as my friend Shawn would say - pumps.

This a re-edit by the Idjust Boys of the original 1982 Tony Humphries mix. Mr. Humphries (pictured above) was the DJ at a club called Zanzibar in Newark. The Azuli Records "Choice" compilation of Zanzibar classics which he put together is fantastic.

This track originally came out on Brooklyn's own Aria Records. The Idjut Boys re-edit was relased in 2003 on Discfunction Records.

Listen to Tony Humphrie's "Choice" compilation here.

Hit On You (Version Idjut)

Satin Dream - Stay Away From My Lover

I don't know much about this one except that it's a fun little track. There's a nasty break about three minutes in that I quite enjoy. This is on Brunswick Records from 1981.

By the way, stay away from her lover.

Stay Away From My Lover

The It - Donnie (Hardy Mix)

The house music that was produced in Chicago in the early eighties is really unique. Sticking to a very limited set of sounds produced by an array of Roland drum machines and synths, a small group of producers created a completely unique style which still sounds remarkably fresh. A lot of the today's best hip hop production borrows heavily the Chicago house sound.

One of the main outlets for the music was a club called the Music Box where the DJ was Ron Hardy (pictured above). The song Donnie -- put together by Larry Heard, Robert Owens, and Chip E. (aka The It) -- came out in 1986 on DJ International Records. This version is the Ron Hardy mix.

This track blows my mind -- hopefully it gives a sense of how radical these guys were/are.

Donnie (Hardy Mix)

Inner City Jam Band - What I Did For Love (Moxie Re-edit)

Re-editing disco songs is nothing new. The version of MFSB's Love Is The Message that's been danced to in clubs for the last thirty years is a re-edit based on the instrumental coda of the somewhat cheesy original full-length version.

These days, anyone with ProTools and a dream can re-edit songs. As a practioner of that artform, I can attest that it's quite fun. That doesn't mean the results are always great, though. I've heard quite a few clunky edits in my years of record shopping.

Moxie is a record label that only releases re-edits and the results are usually pretty great. They don't provide the original song info, so it took a chance listen at record store for me to learn that this track was the Inner City Jam Band. The re-edit is fantastic and really just snips out the boring parts of the original.

What I Did For Love is originally from 1977 (on Bareback Records, ok) and was written by Marvin Hamlish!

Listen to more of the Moxie catalog here.

What I Did For Love (Moxie Re-edit)

That Thing - That Thing

This song's a bit nutty. That Thing by That Thing. AVI Records from 1978. This is the "American Version" (the B-side is the European Version (?)). It's actually a pretty great use of synthesizers - very hypnotic and Patrick Cowley-esque. Might be tough to dance to though...

That Thing