Club Music & Remixes
I don’t think I would be out of line, if I said only true club heads from back in the day would remember these guys. In the early 90s, when club music was still a major genre, a guy hot on the club circuit named Lidell Townsell (pictured in the middle) (who produced Chicago style house music), got together with a two guy group called M.T.F. (Martell and emcee Silk E) and produced one of my favorite 90s mixes of all times!
This Song Made Them Massively Popular
“NuNu (1992),” was released from their “Harmony” album, distributed by Mercury Records at the time. On the Billboards, the song reached #2 on the Hot Dance category. I never really been a fan of songs that only talks about getting a girl in bed (throughout an entire LP). But the beat to this mix was hot as hell! Almost everybody my age (then was about 23-25) played this song, particularly the ones that also liked freestyle. This song was so hot, both straight and gay clubs were playin’ this.
But, you know.. As much as I loved this song, after all these years I never actually heard their full album. But through the magic of Spotify I finally have. It’s a damn good album! I enjoyed the whole album very much! Lidell knows how to lay down some dance music lovely! Before I forget, there was also another massive dance hit from this same album called “Get With You,” which reached #4 on the Dance Charts. There was another favorite of mine that didn’t seem to register anywhere on the charts. The song was called “So Fine,” again from the same album. I’ve read that Townsell is still active, however, I haven’t been able to find any recent activity, or any information health wise.
So, today I just heard this awesome remix. But first, have you heard of a guy named SalaAM ReMi? I thought he was a DJ, but turns out that he’s both a musician and a producer (kind of reminds me of the late Biggie). It appears that there is very little information written about him, which is shocking, because he worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry. Some of the biggest names he worked with were Nas & the late Amy Winehouse. He has even worked with the Fugees; now, they split up a long time ago, so that suggests he’s been in the business for awhile.
Recently, this year (2019) Remi released an awesome remix of Marvin Gaye’s song called “Symphony.” I absolutely love this mix, and I highly recommend that you check it out. The song has been totally reinterpreted! It’s smooth, and has a silky groove. I really appreciate the fact that he kept the integrity of that classic sound that made Marvin who he was. If you want to, listen to Gaye’s original 1973 version of “Symphony.”
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Ladies, ladies!! If you did not think that Montell Jordon was one of the finest men of the 90s to ever grace hip hop with his presence, something is definitely wrong ? ?. He had the looks and the talent! But, WTF happen to Montell? Once he was burning up the charts in the mid 90s, and now it seems as though he fell off the face of the earth! Well, not exactly, but it sure seems that way. While the music industry has forgotten about him, and just thrown his accomplishments aside like a piece of rag cloth, his fans still remember him.
In 1995, Montell ripped the Billboard charts to shreds, when he released his smash #1 hit, “This Is How We Do It.” In addition, it was #1 on the Canada Dance charts, and #1 in the UK. I need to try and give my readers some perspective as to how massively popular Montell was. First, the song was not only #1 on the Top 100 Charts, it stayed number one for 7 weeks! Some of today’s most memorable hits has NEVER been #1 for seven weeks consecutively! That’s jaw dropping! Another example (just to give you an idea), music streaming wasn’t even a thing in the 90s. In fact, I’m not even sure if it had even started yet. But Spotify has calculated over 86M+ streams to-date. I could only imagine what the numbers are like on other streaming services.
But, Montell didn’t stop there! He had other massive hits as well. Such as his 1998 song “Let’s Ride,” Let’s Ride was one of my least favorites, but never the less, it reached #2 on the Top 100 Charts. In that same year, he released a song that I absolutely loved called “Get It On Tonight,” which reached #4 on the charts! I used to dance to that all the time, the music was so smooth, unique, and groove-able.
Montell Has Written a Book called “Becoming UNFamous.”
Now, albeit, I didn’t read his book, and I’m NOT judging Montell, but from the little I know about his book, it appears VERY typical. In it he talks about how he devoted himself to god and the church, blah blah. We’ve heard that same thing from people such as the late Vanity, of Vanity 6. We also heard the same story from the legendary Al Green. The story is either, they weren’t selling any records anymore, so they “turned their lives over to god;” or something life altering had happened to them, that literally scared them in to the church. I literally feel like I could predict most of the stuff in his book.
Like many other classic artists who moved from one genre to gospel, that magic they once had that gave them the hits we all know and love, usually gets left behind as well. The only thing we can do is reminisce on the oldies that made them great once upon a time. The last I checked, Montell is still married to his wife of 25 years, Kristin Hudson, and they’re both very happy. Good for him.
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Ok guys, I don’t remember if I’ve written about The Spinners yet on my old blog. But The Spinners, if you don’t know it yet, is one of my FAVORITE talented groups since the mid sixties to the mid eighties. I wanted to share with you a remix I came across last night. It’s a rework of their song “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love.” Now, I love the group so much it’s really hard to pick an ultimate favorite, but this song is up there in the high five range.
It’s Damn Near Impossible To Mess Up This Song!
“Couldn’t Be I’m Falling In Love,” is a song that is so perfect; in lyrics, medley and overall composition. In my opinion, it would be pretty difficult to mess up a cover of this song, unless you don’t have any musical talent. I’m serious! ? Now, I’ll get to the reason I said that in the following paragraph. In the mean time, listen to “Henry Street Mix” version of the song. Now, I felt it was a decent remix; not good enough to save in my library, but I thought it was good enough to be acknowledged. It just reminded me of the 80s, when I met a lot of guys in to music, and they made all their recordings from a single Yamaha keyboard. ? You know what I’m talking about! Don’t even front! ?
Now, this reminded me of an awesome deep remix of the song I downloaded eons ago. No one seems to have it (even YouTube). Then I also thought about checking SoundCloud, where all the talented DJs post their stuff. Well, let me tell you, SoundCloud doesn’t seem like it was before. It appears that half the site is turning in to one big karaoke streaming service! Holy cow!! I’m not kidding! Some of those guys sounded like they were singing over their kitchen table, rather than a professional studio. ?
Needless to say, I was very disappointed. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t find any mixes I felt was hot! Check out “MOZAIC Rework” version. I also found a real nice club/disco version on YouTube by “Groovefunkel.” There’s also a beautiful jazz version on Spotify by Peter White. Lastly, check out the Jon Tomes edit below. I think it’s my favorite of all the remixes I’ve heard today.
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Have any of my readers heard of Tracy Hamlin? Speaking for myself, I have never heard of her until recently. According to my research, she’s been around for quite some time. She started out performing in a modern jazz band called “Pieces Of A Dream.” The band has been around since 1976, however, Hamlin didn’t join the band until the mid 80s. The group was best known for their hit “Fo-Fi-Fo.” The song reached #15 on the R&B charts in 1984.
The Best Remix I Heard In A Really Long Time!
Well, Miss Thing came out with a new dance remix this year. It’s a cover of Randy Edelman’s song called “Isn’t It A Shame (1975).” Now, I didn’t know who the hell Randy was either. I discovered that he’s a composer for a lot of movie soundtracks such as Anaconda, and TV Shows, such as MacGyver. Unless I’m mistaken, this song really wasn’t well known until girl group Labelle covered it in their album Chameleon (1976).
Well guys, I found an unexpected gem. Tracy’s version of “Isn’t It A Shame,” released this year in 2019, blew my socks off!! The song was mixed by DJ Spen & Thommy Davis. Girl friend hit those notes like it was absolutely nobody’s business. ? A dance mix that was very nicely done. I really appreciate her not trying hard to sing like Patti Labelle. She sang the song beautifully using her own style. Please do check out her single. Spotify only seem to have Randy Edelman’s movie scores available. But here’s a YouTube video performing his own original song “Isn’t It A Shame,” published in 1975.
I found what I believe to be a really hot song by singer Michelle Lawson. Other than the fact that she looks like Lynda Carter (kind of), there isn’t a whole lot of juicy information on her around the internet. The most significant thing I found out was she is (or was) on a show called X-Factor, produced by Simon Cowell. X-Factor is a British talent show similar to “America’s Got Talent,” and “American Idol.”
Best Known As A Contestant On X-Factor
I’ve seen little snippets here and there of X-Factor on YouTube, but I’ve never seen an entire show. Having seen Simon be a judge on American Idol; knowing Simon has an overbearing obnoxious attitude; I know X-Factor had to be an unbelievably difficult talent show to be on. But from what I heard so far, I know she nailed it every time, if not most of the time.
The song I think everyone should give their ear to is “Looking For Love.” The single was just released this year, distributed by Rhythm Records. It’s a dance/club song with a lot of rhythm and a wonderful flow. Personally I think she nailed this song; and every note that came out of her mouth was precisely on key with the music. Now, I don’t believe I’ve heard of her until now; but as I look on Spotify, she’s had some albums out since 2003. Her voice is reminiscent of Mariah Carey (with Michelle having more control over her voice (if you ask me)).
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Legendary 80s dance deva Samantha Fox (not to be confused with the porn star Samantha Fox), was one of the baddest bitches in club music! Now, I know that some of my readers may disagree with Samantha being a dance deva; but this completely depends on the environment your in. Hate her/love her, her music was a must have in terms of the underground. In fact, believe it or not, her music just wasn’t big in the straight night clubs; but she was also a massive hit in the gay clubs too! Strangely enough, she had a considerable connection with Black gays. The common answer I got was “her music was easy to vogue to.”
She Was One Of The Biggest Dance Devas Of The 80s!
When I tell you records and tapes? Every mix, remix, dubs, tribal mix, and mega mixes that was released by Samantha, the gay community had it. Back in the 80s when we still purchased albums, about every hour someone would ask if a store had the latest Samantha Fox mix. It was so serious that if a club didn’t play Samantha Fox, I remembered people saying “They didn’t play my song!” ?
Unfortunately, for this UK girl, Samantha was often confused with the porn star whose stage name was also Samantha Fox, because Samantha (the singer) done a lot of risque pinup work. Most of her pictorials were topless, and unfortunately, this was the only “safer for work” photo I found I could share. Ok straight boys, don’t drool all over your keyboard. LOL. Samantha started off posing semi-nude in a London paper at the estimated age of 16.
One of my ultimate favorites from Samantha was her massive 1989 hit, “I Wanna Have Some Fun.” This song peaked at #8 on the 100 chart. Another favorite is a song called “Love House.” I was quite surprised that the song only peaked at #14 in the U.S. But, then again, like I’ve mentioned earlier, it depends on your environment. I remember gay children literally jumping over each other just to get on the dance floor when this song was played. Goodness, I really do miss those days. The music was different, and the people were different. I’ll give you one more huge favorite of mine. It’s called “Naughty Girls (Need Love Too).” The song peaked at #3 in 1988. I think it’s a great dance tune!
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Yes!! Her two massive covers made her over. They made her over in to a very successful international superstar. Like Madonna and Cher, she is simply known by one name. Sybil. Do you remember her? Vocally, this lady had it going on back in the day! This little lady is from Patterson, New Jersey; and sings a variety of genres, including new jack swing, and house/club. She’s got a soft singing voice, with banging dance beats.
This Song Reached #2 On The R&B Charts
What? You still don’t remember her? Well, you may remember her from hearing her biggest hit of her career! The song is called “Don’t Make Me Over.” It was written by legendary writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was written specifically for Dionne Warwick, and she released her original recording in 1962. Sybil’s version of “Don’t Make Me Over” only reached #20 on the Top 100; however, it shot up to #2 on the R&B Chart & #4 under Dance. Dionne’s original peaked at #5 under R&B.
Sybil had one more major international 80s hit; which also happens to be another Dione Warwick classic called “Walk On By.” This song hit #3 on R&B and #7 on Dance. Now, it seems as though the Black community played both these songs so much, we have played her out of our memory! I don’t even recall hearing internet Black radio playing her music. Her music is definitely worth jamming to.
My opinion is that, after her two major 80s hits, she became severely underrated. Her voice and music was really bangin’, and still is! There’s a lot of her music and remixes that deserved the same recognition. I’d like you to check some of (what I think) is bangin’ dance remixes, and is deserving of your ear. Check out “It’s Too Late (Thommy & Spen Dub),” “Don’t Give Up (Club Mix),” “Troubled Waters – MuthaFunkaz Vocal,” and “Make It Easy On Me.” Now, I was a little bit taken back by the song “Make It Easy On Me,” because I almost didn’t recognize her voice. She sounded a lot like Deniece Williams. ?