DICK JENSEN "WHITE HOT SOUL" (1969)

The most absolute, super-charged stone-sex-symbol to hit today's music scene is Probe's audio-visual dynamite new artist Dick Jensen.

Jensen was born in Honolulu, the son of a fuel depot fireman, and his first experience on stage was in the fourth grade when he put together a group for a teacher's show.

In high school he won Hawaii's Best Athlete of the Year Award. With this honor, he was awarded a swimming scholarship to the University of Washington. At UW he put together a group that became the hit of the campus - and he hasn't stopped since!

Jensen's in-person shows have brought super-raves which compare him only to Tom Jones. The latter, the reviews claim, would come off second best if they both appeared on the same night club floor together!!

This fantastically talented artist, whose moving, dancing wriggling excitement (read: Sex Appeal) is equalled only by his throbbing voice, now explodes with his first record on the music scene. He's been called an "American Tom Jones." It won't be long before he turns the tables, and Tom Jones becomes the "British Dick Jensen"! Check him out!!

[from the original sleeve notes of "White Hot Soul"]



Dick Jensen was a live musical performer of the Rhythm and Blues, Soul, and Gospel genres; a native Hawaiian athletic song stylist and a prime mover of nightclub shows inspired by Little Richard, whose "white hot soul" electrified audiences with his belting voice and imposing physical performances.

His signature on-stage style incorporated strenuous dance moves similar to those of Jackie Wilson; he was noted for his glide - a proto-Moonwalk - well before Michael Jackson made it fashionable.

For a more detailed Dick Jensen biography that covers the period 1942-1972 please have a look here.



By 1968 Dick Jensen had signed with Don Costa Productions and began performing at the El Quid in Mexico City with The Dick Jensen Show which included The Imports and Cathy Carlson. At this point he often divided his career between the Hawaai and Las Vegas, where he would appear at several hotels and casinos over the course of his career, including the Landmark

For Dick it was about time to debut with his first album on Probe Records - a subsidiary of ABC Records - aptly entitled "White Hot Soul". A few weeks before the LP came to light, I'm Good For You / Jealous Feeling were released as a single to give people a sneak peak of what was coming next. This single was also released later, in early 1970, in France with a nice picture cover.

"White Hot Soul" contains the following tracks:

01. Cry On My Shoulder (2:53)
02. I'm Good For You (2:50)
03. Jealous Feeling (3:00)
04. Home Again at Last (2:50)
05. That Lucky Old Sun (5:08)
06. Hard To Handle (3:03)
07. My Elusive Dreams (3:27)
08. Medley: Try a Little Tenderness / Expressway To Your Heart /
      I Heard It Through the Grapevine / Yesterday (6:50)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in July 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include completely restored PDF artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.



The album opens with "Cry On My Shoulder", a song written by Phil Flowers - a Washington-area singer/composer sometimes described as "The Black Elvis" - along with his aunt (!) Velma McCoy. During his career Flowers penned hundreds of rock, blues, gospel, and ballad tunes; his own version of "Cry On My Shoulder" was released as a single in 1967 with moderate success.

"I'm Good For You" is a strong track written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter (...who successfully teamed up and wrote songs for The Four Tops, Dusty Springfield and Glen Campbell, among others...) showcasing a nice arrangement with punctuating horns, a prominent bass line and multi backing-vocals blends.

"Jealous Feeling" is another cool track written by Bobby Weinstein (...best remembered as author of the music of the modern standard "Goin' Out of My Head"...) and Lou Stallman (...whose songs have been recorded by The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Esther Phillips and many more...).

These three songs were recorded in a studio and produced by Don Costa and Bob Morgan. The rest of the album consists of live tracks whose production is credited to Don Costa. While remastering the album I realized that some of these songs were "adjusted" in the studio; if you carefully listen with headphones you can hear a few tape cuts and splices here and there...

The live part of "White Hot Soul" begins with "Home Again at Last", a song penned by Jensen himself, where he seems to express nostalgia for his Islands on the top of a relaxed and groovy background. Here's the lyrics:

Walking on the shore as sunlight starts the day
Things don't seem the same in a strange unusual way
Maybe reality or maybe just flash makes it all come back
I'm home, I'm home, home again at last

Those childer days with castles in the sand
Little children's laughter you try to understand
Maybe reality or maybe just flash makes it all come back
I'm home, I'm home, home again at last

Maybe reality or maybe just flash makes it all come back
I'm home, I'm home, home again at last

I miss the salty air where footprints in the sand
seem all disappear with a wave of nature's hand
Now it's reality no longer just a flash, nows it all comes back
I'm home, I'm home, home again at last
I'm home, I'm home, home again at last

"That Lucky Old Sun" is a popular song with music by Beasley Smith and words by Haven Gillespie. Its lyrics contrast the toil and intense hardship of the singer's life with the obliviousness of the natural world. The song was a big hit in 1949 with successful versions recorded by Frankie Laine, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. The song was later covered by many famous artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Cash.

Side Two starts with "Hard To Handle", a 1968 song originally recorded by Otis Redding and written by Redding himself along with producers Al Bell and Allen Jones. The original version was released posthumously after Redding's death in 1967 on the album "The Immortal Otis Redding". It was later covered by The Grateful Dead, Tom Jones, Mae West, The Black Crowes and many more.

"My Elusive Dreams" was originally a country music song written by Billy Sherrill and Curly Putman. The best-known version was recorded as a duet by David Houston and Tammy Wynette, another nice version was performed by Bobbie Gentry and Glenn Campbell. The song was also covered by Tom Jones: along with the previous "Hard To Handle" it is another trait d'union between him and Dick Jensen.

The album closes with a medley announced by Jensen as "in tribute to the late, great, Otis Redding". The medley features extracts from the following songs:

- "Try a Little Tenderness", written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. A popular version of this song was recorded by Otis Redding in 1966;

- "Expressway To Your Heart", written by Philadelphia soul producers and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Performed by The Soul Survivors, this was the first hit for the Gamble-Huff team;

- "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966. This is a landmark song in the history of Motown, the single was recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and Gladys Knight & The Pips before becoming a signature song for Marvin Gaye;

- The Beatles' Yesterday, which - according to the Guinness World Records - is the most recorded song in the world.

The following video features Dick Jensen performing his medley on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City during the early 70s:

Here's the short credit list that appear on "White Hot Soul":

Produced by Don Costa Productions, Inc.

"Cry On My Shoulder", "I'm Good For You" and "Jealous Feeling" produced by Don Costa and Bob Morgan

Engineers: Bob Lang, Guy Costa, Roy Durkee, John Stronach and Dave Sanders

Cover and liner design: William Shepard assisted by Diana Graham

Art Director: Henry Epstein

Dick Jensen captured during a live performance in 1969, location unknown [from my own collection]

More information about Dick Jensen is available here:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/06/22/news/story02.html

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jun/22/il/FP606220304.html

http://www.oahuislandnews.com/May05/Home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jensen

I'm currently compiling a Dick Jensen biography, the first part of this work-in-progress covers the period 1942-1972 and is available here.

I'm also trying to compile a Dick Jensen exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

Last but not least, I'm also trying to build a collection of Dick Jensen pictures and memorabilia, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Dick Jensen on this blog are available here.

If you have any useful information about Dick Jensen, or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

A.A.V.V. "CANDIES FROM A STRANGER VOL. 2"

Welcome to the second issue of "Candies From a Stranger", this installment focus mostly on tracks culled from great albums by renowned artists who made music history, with a few rare or obscure gems thrown in for good measure.

All tracks are mixed together to create an uninterrupted flow and embrace the listener in a groovy and peaceful mood regardless of the original music style. Here's the tracklist of "Candies From a Stranger Vol. 2":

01. JOHNNY MATHIS - Life Is a Song Worth Singing (5:39)
02. ISAAC HAYES - Groove-a-Thon (8:32)
03. JOE TEX - Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) (6:35)
04. HERBIE HANCOCK - Rockit (5:21)
05. GRACE JONES - Pull Up To the Bumper (4:44)
06. CHARLES MANN - Do It Again (5:05)
07. EAGLE-EYE CHERRY - How Come (4:04)
08. RAMSEY LEWIS - Jungle Strut (4:32)
09. MONEY MARK - Upon Closer Inspection (3:04)
10. MILES DAVIS - In a Silent Way (4:10)
11. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION - 9 25 (7:44)
12. GRANDADDY - So You'll Aim Toward the Sky (4:36)
13. PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA - The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter (11:46)

All selections were compiled and mixed in July 2012, they are available in a single FLAC lossless format file with complete PDF artwork.

Before burning this album to CD-R using the provided CUE file, you must convert the original FLAC audio file to WAV format using an appropriate software. Please have a look here if you need some help.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.

01. JOHNNY MATHIS - Life Is a Song Worth Singing
original LP issue: I'm Coming Home, Columbia (1973)
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Johnny Mathis recorded his first hits in 1957 with elegant ballads that made him an anomaly when rock was emerging as the dominant musical force. In 1973 Mathis knew it was time to refresh his music and renew his career and decided to collaborate with the prime creators of the sound of Philadelphia: gifted composer, arranger and producer Thom Bell and incredible songwriter Linda Creed. "I'm Coming Home" is a timeless album of enduring beauty and passion that still sounds fresh and sophisticated today, and "Life Is a Song Worth Singing" is a perfect example of Bell's thrilling orchestrations.

02. ISAAC HAYES - Groove-a-Thon
original LP issue: Groove-a-Thon, Hot Buttered Soul / ABC (1976)
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Isaac Hayes's distinctively rhythm tracks and lavishly orchestrated arrangements helped lay the stylistic foundation for what would become known as disco, and in late 1975 / early 1976 he jumped headfirst into the new dance craze with "Disco Connection" and "Grooove-a-Thon". These albums undeservedly fell into historical neglect; it was a real pity because "Groove-a-Thon" most likely received substantial club play and would have probably been a monster 12-inch single if that format had existed at the time...

03. JOE TEX - Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)
original LP issue: Bumps & Bruises, Epic (1977)
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During the '60s and the '70s, Joe Tex was a sermonising country-soul star; his style of speaking over music, which he called "rap", made him a predecessor of this style of music. In the early '70s Joe decided to retire; he returned to music in 1975, and two years later enjoyed a comeback hit with "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)", which reached U.S. #12. This song was co-written and produced by the Nashville producer Buddy Killen and was based on a dance called "The Bump". Oddly enough, the same year Bobby Marchan recorded a track entitled "I Wanna Bump With That Big Fat Woman" for Mercury.

04. HERBIE HANCOCK - Rockit
original LP/CD issue:  Future Shock, Columbia / CBS (1983)
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"Future Shock" and his sister album "Sound System" conjured something quite fresh out of a surrealist mix of heavy metal revivalism, turntable scratching, robotic digital percussions, Herbie Hancock's signature jazz piano and various African elements. Largely conceived and initiated by maverick bassist and producer Bill Laswell, these records set a new agenda for adventurous pop producers as well as demonstrating Hancock's ability to involve himself again in fresh musical fusions. "Rockit" was accompanied by one of the most successful music videos ever directed by Godley and Creme of 10cc fame.

05. GRACE JONES - Pull Up To the Bumper
original LP issue: Nightclubbing, Island (1981)
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Grace Jones has transformed her musical and visual style on the turn of the '70s and '80s, evolving from disco to rock and reggae-fueled new wave music with the release of "Warm Leatherette" in 1980. "Nightclubbing" saw her teaming up once again with producers Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin to work with Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and the remainder of the Compass Point Studios team in the Bahamas. "Pull Up To the Bumper" sparked some controversy since the the lyrics rumouredly refer to anal sex and a presumably-large penis...

06. CHARLES MANN - Do It Again
original LP issue: Say You Love Me Too, ABC (1973)
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Charles Mann is a sort of mystery to me and unfortunately "Say You Love Me Too" seems to be his only full-lenght release. The album offers ten tracks of soulful Philly Sound of the highest quality played by the likes of Earl Young and Ronnie Baker (both of The Trammps), Norman Harris, Roland Chambers, Lenny Pakula, Larry Washington and Vince Montana (all active in the studio band MFSB) along with Mann himself and producer Dave Crawford both on keyboards. "Do It Again" is a cover of the famous Steely Dan song included on the album "Can't Buy a Thrill" released the previous year.

07. EAGLE-EYE CHERRY - How Come
original CD issue: Sub Rosa, Polydor (2003)
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Eagle-Eye Cherry is the son of jazz artist Don Cherry and painter Monika Karlsson. His debut album, "Desireless", became a commercial success throughout the world during 1998 and 1999. "How Come" is a catchy tune and a potential hit-single produced by Tim Simenon, definitely one of the best songs included on Cherry's third - and so far last - studio album entitled "Sub Rosa" which saw him move away from the stripped-down, live feel of his previous albums towards a bigger, more panoramic sound utilizing electronic elements.

08. RAMSEY LEWIS - Jungle Strut
original LP issue: Sun Goddess, Columbia (1974)
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After his classic acoustic albums of the '60s, Ramsey Lewis headed into a new musical direction in the  '70s. For "Sun Goddess" he reunited with Maurice White who was formerly part of the Ramsey Lewis Trio in the '60s, and at that time was with his own band, Earth, Wind & Fire. The album was a huge cross-over hit, charting #1 both on the Billboard Black Albums Chart and Jazz Album Chart; the album also charted #12 in the Pop Chart."Jungle Strut" features vocals by drummer and percussionist Derf Rehlew Raheem, an original member of The Pharoahs.

09. MONEY MARK - Upon Closer Inspection
original CD issue: Stand Up For Your Rice, Rush! Production / Toy's Factory (2007)
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Mark Ramos-Nishita / Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. "Mark's Keyboard Repair", his first album made up of keyboard driven pop-funk songs recorded in demo quality, was released by Mo'Wax in 1995 in the wake of the trip-hop phenomenon. In 1998 "Push the Button" was licensed to Polygram and probably became his most accessible and well-distributed effort. After coming close to success, Mark has continued to produce interesting releases on small labels. "Upon Closer Inspection" is taken from "Stand Up For Your Rice", a succulent Japan-only release.

10. MILES DAVIS - In a Silent Way
original LP issue: In a Silent Way, Columbia (1969)
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"In a Silent Way" was produced by Teo Macero and recorded in one session date. Incorporating elements of classical sonata form, Macero edited and arranged Davis's recordings from the session to produce the album. Marking the beginning of his "electric" period, "In a Silent Way" has been regarded by music writers as Davis's first fusion recording, following a stylistic shift toward the genre in his previous records and live performances. Upon its release, the album was met by controversy among music critics; since its initial reception, it has been regarded by fans and critics as one of Davis's greatest and most influential works.

11. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION - 9 25
original CD/2LP issue: 76:14, Dedicated (1994)
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Global Communication were formed by Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard; "76:14" could easily be described not just as their best release, but the best ambient-electronica album released in the first half of the '90s. Originally on Dedicated, the album has been re-issued a number of times, most recently in 2005 in an expanded and remastered version. The title refers to the total length of the album in minutes and seconds, and each track on the album is titled simply with the length of the song to avoid implying any specific meaning in the music, and thus leave listeners completely free to interpret the music according to their own imaginations.

12. GRANDADDY - So You'll Aim Toward the Sky
original CD issue: The Sophtware Slump, V2 (2000)
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"The Sophtware Slump" is the second album by American indie rock band Grandaddy. Released in 2000, it is a concept album about problems concerning modern technology in society. Being their second album, the title is a reference to a sophomore slump, a term given to an artist's second album which is seen to fail to live up to the first album. "So You'll Aim Towards the Sky" is the closing song on the album, an ad-libitum lament of unutterable sadness and liberating catharsis.

13. PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA - The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter
original LP issue: Music From the Penguin Cafe, Obscure (1976)
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The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was a collective of musicians created by the sadly too-early departed composer and arranger Simon Jeffes. They were a sort of anomaly coming from some unknown space between progressive, the avant-garde, neo-chamber music and proto-post-punk. Their later work has achieved some popularity, but their first album - which is probably their best - remains seemingly unheralded. "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter" - ...what a gorgeous title! - could easily have been recorded today: based in no fads or even prevailing styles, it stands apart from its time or origin.

Hope you will enjoy this compilation, if you feel so inclined then make yourself a favour and search for the original releases, most of them are widely available on CD and you will be rewarded by their greatness, these are timeless masterpieces! All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #5: STEREOPHONIC SPACE SOUND UNLIMITED "PHANTOM RIDER" (1998)

Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In October 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.



The fifth Sheep Records release was a 7" by Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited. The single was limited to 800 copies - 500 on yellow vinyl and 300 on black vinyl - and was released in February 1998.

Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited are a Swiss instrumental band formed by Ernest Maeschi (former member of Hungry For What, Sozz and Midnight To Six) and Karen Diblitz (former member of Chin Chin and Midnight To Six).

They have released several albums on their own Dionysus Records label; they also used to run a record shop called Spooky Sound in Zürich, the shop still exists but I'm not sure if they still run it or if it has a new owner...

Even with six full-length albums (including a soundtrack for a movie about Swiss racecar driver Jo Siffert) under their belt, not much is known about this mysterious duo and not one single Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited photograph seems to exist... But that hasn’t stopped them from garnering a legion of fans who love all retro, surf, spy, Henry Mancini, John Barry and electronica from buying and loving the group's music.

Their work has been used in American television shows such as The Chris Isaak Show, and they have created film soundtracks featuring their distinctive sound.

Here's the original press-release written by the Sheep Records staff:

"After their great Mai Tai album "Plays Lost TV Themes" we are proud to present two new instrumentals of Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited. This single brings you "Phantom Rider" - an organ driven classic - plus "Spooky Shore" - a thrill-filled off-beat tune. Very spooky indeed! All this comes in a full color hardcover."





Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. Phantom Rider (2:41)
02. Spooky Shore (3:05)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in May 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include scans of the original item in PDF format. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.

More information about Sheep Records, and Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited is available here:

http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stereophonic+Space+Sound+Unlimited

http://www.dionysusrecords.com/

http://www.recordjunkie.com/stores/view/609

http://blogcritics.org/music/article/review-stereophonic-space-sound-unlimited-jet/

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/stereophonicspacespectacular-jet

http://www.gravediggerslocal.com/tag/stereophonic-space-sound-unlimited/

http://showcase.thebluebus.nl/soundtrack-of-my-life/august-2007/stereophonic-space-sound-unlimited

http://mreliminator.blogspot.it/2012/05/stereophonic-space-sound-unlimited.html

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

ISAAC HAYES MOVEMENT "DISCO CONNECTION" (1975)

"More than the great majority of his soul-soaked Stax contemporaires, Isaac Hayes adjusted admirably to the disco onslaught of the mid-1970s. That should have come as a surprise to no one, since the keyboardist's monumentally influential soundtrack to the 1971 film Shaft had played a mammoth role in the genre's invention. Isaac's funk-drenched rhythms, expertly spiced with wah-wah guitar and loose hi-hat, and the lush symphonic soul backdrops that rendered his megasexy bottomless croon irresistible to a legion of swooning female fans, were now being borrowed on a daily basis by countless producers, too often in far less imaginative ways. But as the disco era exploded, Hayes was no longer working his soul-steeped magic at Stax. In 1974, he estabilished hiw own recording studio on Chelsea Avenue in his hometown of Memphis, christening it Hot Buttered Soul in tribute to the groundbreaking album that has made Isaac an instant R&B luminary half a decade earlier. When Stax couldn't come up with enormous royalties he was due later that year, Black Moses confidently stroke away from the company where he had flourished for so long. Hayes estabilished his own record label, also baptized Hot Buttered Soul, affiliating it with ABC Records and getting right back down to creative business."

Bill Dahl, November 2008
[from the liner notes of "Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak)" CD re-issue]



In the waning days of 1975 Isaac Hayes had cause to feel satisfied. His first album on his own Hot Buttered Soul label, "Chocolate Chip", had been released in May and had stormed its way to the top of the R&B charts while also breaking through into the Pop Top 20.

Two singles from the album, "Chocolate Chip" and "Come Live With Me", had proven to be bonafide R&B hits. To his everlasting relief, Hayes was once again on a roll.

Scarcely twelve months earlier the man dubbed "Black Moses" had his back against the wall with the fate of his career hanging in the balance. Alongside James Brown, Hayes had been the preeminent star of black popular music in the first half of the 1970. His seminal recordings for the Stax Records subsidiary, Enterprise, had accomplished the unprecedented feat of simultaneously charting R&B, Pop, Jazz and Easy Listening.

In the process Hayes demonstrated unequivocally that, if allowed enough freedom in the studio, black artists could create albums that would sell in significant quantities.

Hayes's success challenged the prevailing wisdom within the industry which held that the black populace could neither afford nor support the higher-priced album format. The monster sales figures of albums such as "Hot Buttered Soul", "...To Be Continued" and "The Isaac Hayes Movement" led to a complete transformation of the political economy of black popular music, paving the way for classic album-lenght statements by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and Funkadelic.

With "Shaft" Hayes had also pioneered the black soundtrack, while his recordings at large had pointed the way toward new possibilities for orchestration; fused elements of Soul, Jazz, Pop, Rock and Classical; introduced the concept of the spoken monologue; and had served to once again bring smooth, silky baritone voices into vogue.




At the midpoint in the decade things could have been all roses for Hayes, but unfortunately, the good ship Stax ran into financial troubles in 1973 and Hayes's career, alongside those of a number of his labelmates, suffered accordingly.

By late summer 1974, with his records selling in ever smaller numbers, he was forced to sue Stax for his release due to the company's inability to pay him the funds mandated in his contract. With Stax owing him thousand of dollars, Hayes found himself in a precarious financial situation of his own. Flush with success, he had spent much of 1973 and 1974 expanding his empire, buying his own studio, starting his own label, and concomitantly expanding his payroll.

By the time the spring of 1975 rolled around, Hayes hadn't had a real hit album in a year and a half, and his only steady source of income stemmed from live concerts and biannual songwriter royalties. At times it appeared that more cash was going out than coming in. The welcome success of "Chocolate Chip" allowed Hayes room to breathe.

Recorded in the second half of 1975, the completely instrumental "Disco Connection" LP was released in December the same year. Althought Isaac was credited with writing all the tracks, the album was issued under the moniker Isaac Hayes Movement.

Here's how Hayes himself remembered his working method in the liner notes of the "Groove-a-Thon" CD re-issue in 2002; that album was virtually recorded at the same time of "Disco Connection", and released just a few months later in spring 1976:

"I was aiming at disco, dance shit... I used to play games with the guys, they wouldn't know what the hell I was doing. I'd say 'Bass player, play this. Drummer, you play this.' I drilled them on it. When everybody got their individual parts down, I'd say, 'Now, let's everybody play together.' Boom! They'd say, 'Wow!' See I'd have it in my head so I could imagine what it would sound like. I'd keep it secret from them because I'd want them to learn their part and not depend on anything else. When they've learned it, they get a feel of what it is then they can groove with it."

Bass player Erroll Thomas confirms: "The guy was a genius when it came to putting stuff together, you never did know exactly which way his mind was gonna run. Sometimes if we laid a basic track, we really wouldn't know how it would come out, especially the top parts of it, the horn lines and stuff. All we would hear would be rhythm. He would hear the whole song!"

"Disco Connection" offers the following tracks:

01. The First Day of Forever (4:38)
02. St. Thomas Square (5:51)
03. Vykkii (4:55)
04. Disco Connection (6:16)
05. Disco Shuffle (8:12)
06. Choppers (4:32)
07. After Five (5:00)
08. Aruba (5:32)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in June/July 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include completely restored PDF artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





A detailed description of the tracks released on "Disco Connection" is available on this post published in 2006 by Tommy at Disco Delivery; I wouldn't be able to write anything better than that, so I recommed you to visit the link above to read more about the album. Allmusic also has a nice page to offer.

Here's the credits and personnel list of "Disco Connection":

Rhythm by Movement:

Guitar: Michael Toles, William Vaughn, Charles Pitts ("Disco Shuffle", "Disco Connection" and "Aruba"), Anthony Shinault (solo on "Disco Shuffle" and "After Five")
Bass Guitar: Erroll Thomas
Drums and tambourines: Willie Hall, Willie Cole
Temple blocks: Willie Cole
Conga: Jimmy Thompson
Keyboards: Lester Snell, Sidney Kirk, Isaac Hayes
Synthesizer: Isaac Hayes

Horns by Movement, reeds and double on flutes:

Tenor Sax: Tommy Williams, Darnell Smith
Alto Sax: Emerson Able, Bill Easley (solo on "St. Thomas Square")
Baritone Sax: Floyd Newman
Trumpet and Flugel Horn: William Taylor, Ben Cauley

Additional brass:

French Horns: Richard Dolph, Bryant Munch
Trumpet and Flugel Horn: Johnny Davis, Edgar Matthews
Trombone: Bill Flores, Jackie Thomas
Bass Trombone: Gary Russell
Special thanks to The Memphis Strings

Produced by Isaac Hayes
Arranged by Isaac Hayes and Lester Snell, Johnny Allen ("Aruba")
Engineers: Roosevelt Green, Henry Bush
Re-Mix Engineers: Isaac Hayes, Roosevelt Green, Henry Bush
Mastering Engineer: Lanky Linstrot

Art Direction: Tom Wilkes
Design: Earl R. Klasky
Cover photo: Olivier Ferrand
Back cover photo: Ron Slenzak

All selections recorded at Hot Buttered Soul Recording Studios, 247 Chelsea Ave., Memphis, Tennessee 38107
Mastered at ABC Recording Studios, Inc., Los Angelese

(P) 1975 Hot Buttered Soul Recording Co., Inc.
(C) 1975 ABC Records, Inc., Los Angeles, California 90048, New York, New York 10019
Marketed by ABC Records, Inc.

Original ABC Records advert published on a 1975 issue of Billboard

A few more information about Isaac Hayes and "Disco Connection" is available here:

http://discodelivery.blogspot.it/2006/12/disco-delivery-30-isaac-hayes-movement.html

http://www.allmusic.com/album/disco-connection-mw0000845534

http://www.flwrpt.com/blog/2010/11/04/disco-connection/

http://www.discomusic.com/forums/showthread.php/23014-Isaac-Hayes-Movement-Disco-Connection

http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/2242/Metal%20Fingers-Charnsuka_Isaac%20Hayes-Vykkii/

http://www.avclub.com/articles/isaac-hayes,13967/

...and here's stunning a video that shows Isaac Hayes directing his musicians on the single version of "Disco Connection". Yes, it is staged, but what a treat!

If you have any other useful information about Isaac Hayes and "Disco Connection" - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

JAY-JAY JOHANSON - FEATURE/INTERVIEW FROM "LES INROCKUPTIBLES" #124, 29.10.1997

"Je suis quelqu'un de profondément mélancolique, tendance dépressif chronique. C'est un sentiment dont je ne retire aucune fierté mais il est là en permanence. Le seul aspect positif à tout ça est qu’il m'aide à composer. Lorsque je suis d'humeur joyeuse, impossible d'écrire une ligne ou une mélodie correctes. Ecrire est pour moi une espèce de thérapie, une façon de pactiser avec mes problèmes: OK, vous me pourrissez la vie, mais donnez-moi au moins de bonnes chansons en échange."

[Jay-Jay Johanson, 1997]

Jay-Jay Johanson as cover-star of Les Inrockuptibles #124

The following interview is taken from issue #124 of French magazine Les Inrockuptibles published in October 1997. After the success of "Whiskey", and with a view to his very first tour in France, the magazine elected Jay-Jay "revelation of the year" and featured him as cover-star.

The complete feature/interview is available in PDF format, please have a look at the comments for the download link of a compressed file that also include - both as TXT files - the original French text along with a rough English version created with Google Translate.

Advertisment for Jay-Jay Johanson's promotional tour in France, image taken from the same issue of Les Inrockuptibles

The following videos are two extracts from a 1998 documentary by Michel Viotte. Coproduced by La Sept ARTE, now ARTE France, the documentary was broadcasted in January 1999. More information about this project are available here.

More information about Jay-Jay Johanson is available here:

http://twitter.com/#!/JAYJAYJOHANSON

http://www.jay-jayjohanson.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jayjayjohanson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Jay_Johanson

http://web.me.com/michelviotte/Michel_Viotte_-_Site_Officiel/jayjayjohanson.html

If you have any useful information about this post - or if you spot any dead links - please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

LOLITAS "LOLITAS" (1986)

Avant tu m'parlais, tu m'parles plus
Avant tu m'voyais, tu m'vois plus
Avant tu m'touchais, tu m'touches plus
Avant tu m'aimais, tu m'aimes plus

Mais un jour
Tu me diras
Mais un jour...

C'est toi l'étoile de mes nuits
C'est toi l'étoile de mes nuits
C'est toi l'étoile de mes nuits
C'est toi l'étoile de mes nuits

Parle-moi quand je suis là
Regarde-moi quand tu me parles
Touche-moi quand tu me regardes
Aime-moi quand tu me touches

Touche-moi
Touche-moi
Oh touche-moi

C'est moi l'étoile de tes nuits
C'est moi l'étoile de tes nuits
C'est moi l'étoile de tes nuits
C'est moi l'étoile de tes nuits

[from the lyrics of "Touche-moi"]

Cover of the German edition of "Lolitas" released by What's So Funny About.. in 1986

Lolitas were a French-German rock band influenced by Punk, Rockabilly, U.S. Garage, French 60s Ye-Ye Music and Pop. Founded by Françoise Cactus and Coco Neubauer, they were active since the mid 80s for about eight years.

Their name was inspired by the famous Stanley Kubrick's movie "Lolita". The group mainly used the French language in their own music, reserving English mostly for covers of famous songs they regularly included on their albums.

Françoise Van Hove was born in Villeneuve-l'Archevêque, a small village in Burgundy, France. She earned the nickname "Cactus" for her habit of spending her spare time hanging around in the greenhouse behind her parents' house.

During the first half of the 80s she started writing songs and moved to West Berlin; here she joined the Geniale Dilettanten (Ingenious Dilettantes) movement, a merger of the New Wave and Post-Punk scene. During those days she used to make a living by giving French lessons.

Guitarist Coco Neubauer, also known as Coco Nut, was born in southwest France and then used to live in Paris for many years. At age 9 he was fascinated by an early Rolling Stones record played for him by his cousin and fell in love with the Rhythm & Blues genre.

Cover of the French edition of "Lolitas" released by New Rose in 1987

Françoise and Coco met in Berlin, they soon became friends and decided to form a band. Their common interest were focused on American music, from Gospel to Hardcore via Rock'nRoll, Country, etc. Morevoer, having spent her youth listening to the radio, Françoise has always had a soft spot for la Chanson Française, some of her idols were Sylvie Vartan, Christophe, Antoine, Françoise Hardy, Jacques Dutronc, Johnny Halliday...

In early 1986, with the complicity of an unnamed Irish girl on the bass, they founded Lolitas and began to play live in Berlin. Since the original bassist soon returned to Ireland, Italian guitarist/bassist Michele "Tutti Frutti" Bordini (...described as "a mixture of Adriano Celentano and Sid Vicious"...) was chosen as a replacement.

With this new and more stable line-up, Lolitas expanded their sphere of activity playing in other venues across Germany. Despite their French lyrics (...or perhaps exactly because of them...)  the band fascinated the audience exuding a naïve atmosphere, sexy, kitsch and slightly perverse.

In October 1986, What's So Funny About.. - an independent label from Hamburg - released their homonymus first album which was highly welcomed by the German press. "Lolitas" catched the attention of New Rose who re-released it with a completely different cover in early 1987 for the French market: althought they have never played live in France, the band has made a mark with the Rock'n'Roll aficionados.

New Rose was THE french indie label of the 80s. Created by Patrick Mathé and Louis Thevenon, the label knew ten years (1981/1992) of magnificence and fame; during its existence it was one of the most important independent labels worldwide.

At that point the trio expanded with bassist Olga La Basse - a German girl from the Black Forest region - allowing Tutti Frutti to dedicate himself to the guitar, his preferred instrument.

Back cover of the German edition of "Lolitas" released by What's So Funny About.. in 1986

"Séries Américaines", the second Lolitas album, was mostly recorded during Summer 1987 at Vielklang Studio in Berlin with the help of acclaimed Australian record producer and sound engineer Tony Cohen, best known for his work with The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was released later the same year by What's So Funny About.. in Germany and in 1988 by New Rose in France, once again with two completely different sleeves.

As their relation with New Rose intensified, Alex Chilton - who was already collaborating with the label and was a fan of the band - accepted to produce their third album. Chilton was a famous American songwriter, guitarist and singer known for his work with the Box Tops in the late 60s.

"Fusée d'amour" was recorded in Memphis in August 1988. Lolitas discovered the U.S. and had a very good time: not only they lived the big adventure of recording with the legendary Chilton (...who also produced The Cramps and Tav Falco's Panther Burns...) in the city of Sun Studios and Stax, and with the participation of Jim Dickinson at the piano in a few songs, but also made the most of their trip playing some shows in New York, Baltimore, Memphis and down to New Orleans.

The album was released in early 1989 by Vielklang in Germany and by New Rose in France and... Can you guess it? Yes, the two editions featured a completely different artwork! This was also the first Lolitas release available in CD format. Once, again, the album was well received by the press.

New songs were recorded under the supervision of German producer Andy Young in May 1989, and five of them appeared later the same year on a 12" EP entitled "Hara Kiri" released by Vielklang in Germany and by New Rose in France and... Can you guess it again? No, you're wrong, this time the cover artwork was exactly the same...

Compared to the band's previous output, the five cuts on the EP were unusually melancholic... What could be the reason for this? Maybe it is just pure coincidence, but exactly at this time Tutti Frutti decided to quit the band and returned in Italy to devote himself to a more traditional form of Rockabilly music with his new band, the A-Bombers; sadly I wasn't able to find traces of these activity of him.

Tex Morton - born Peter Hajunga - former guitarist of the German Psychobilly band Mad Sin and the Hard-Rockers Lüde & Die Astros, joined Lolitas in late 1989. According to Coco, he was the only one who could replace Tutti Frutti.

Back cover of the French edition of "Lolitas" released by New Rose in 1987

During the previous years Lolitas had already released a few singles, but most of them contained tracks from the albums with no exclusive material. In 1990 Vielklang published a very special item: a gatefold 7" double single which, althought credited to Lolitas, featured four tracks by the individual members (...plus guests...) recorded in late 1988 (Tutti Frutti) and 1989 (all the others).

But let's go back to 1989: in October Lolitas shared the stage with Chris Spedding at a New Rose party during the Berlin Independent Days festival. Spedding is one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, and has had a long career that saw him tackle nearly every style of Rock'n'Roll as well as sporadically attempting a solo career. Charmed by the freshness of their Rock sung in French, which for once didn't sound at all like a bad copy of American Rock, Chris confirmed he was ready to produce their fourth album in his adopted new hometown of New York.

In April 1990 Lolitas made their second trip to the USA, excited by the collaboration with Spedding, who gifted them with his warmth, charisma and immense creativity producing the songs and also playing piano, organ, cello, squeeze box (accordion) and backing vocals for them. In May the group toured across the U.S. for the second - and last - time.

"Bouche-baiser", the result of the sessions at Baby Monster Studio in N.Y.C., was released in September by Vielklang in Germany and New Rose in France, it was highly praised by the French and German rock medias.

During Autumn 1990 Lolitas extensively toured across Europe and recorded their performances directly to DAT; the best of these recordings were released in 1991 by Vielklang on "La fiancée du pirate", a sort of official bootleg whose audio quality sits somewhere in between an audience tape and a soundboard recording.

A new album was recorded in July 1991 at the group's rehearsal room in Berlin. "My English Sucks" was released by Vielklang in 1992. All the songs on this release are sung in English, it includes brand new songs and new versions of old songs that already apparead on Lolitas' previous albums.

In 1992 New Rose was sold to Fnac and quickly disappeared. Coco moved away to Guadeloupe to start a new life and the group disbanded. In 1995 Françoise Cactus met Brezel Göring at a local supermarket and founded Stereo Total, but this is a completely different story...

A selection of tracks taken from "Fusée d'amour" and "Bouche-baiser" was released in 1998 as "New York - Memphis" by Last Call Records, a label created in 1994 by Patrick Mathé, one of the original founders of New Rose.

"Lolitas" contains the following tracks:

01. Elle se balance (3:10)
02. Touche-moi (4:17)
03. Ma Morphine (2:15)
04. Blonde oxygénée (2:09)
05. I Need You, Baby (4:14)
06. La fiancée du pirate (1) (2:03)
07. La poupée (2:46)
08. Rio la Balafre (1:38)
09. Harley Davidson (2:25)
10. Les fers de tes bottes (5:10)
11. La fiancée du pirate (2) (1:46)
12. Sous la Lune (3:13)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in June 2012, they are available as a single FLAC lossless format file or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 file. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files.

Before you burn this album on CD-R using the provided CUE file you will need to convert the original files to WAV format using an appropriate software. Here's an option for FLAC to WAV conversion and one for MP3 to WAV conversion.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download links.

Labels of the German edition of "Lolitas" released by What's So Funny About.. in 1986

"Lolitas" opens with the tribal drumming and rich Rock'n'Roll riffs of "Elle se balance". This tracks was chosen as the B-Side for the "Touche-moi" single released in 1987 by New Rose. "Touche-moi" is one of the best song on the album: Françoise's voice sounds both desperate and alluring, the music is simple and sweet. The song is also probably a favourite of Cactus since she reinterpreted it more than ten years later on the third Stereo Total album "Juke-Box Alarm".

"Ma morphine" and "Blonde oxygénée" are two short tracks that struck with their energy, the latter offering a chanson feeling hidden in its innermost DNA. "I Need You, Baby" (...also known as "Mona"...) is a cover of a song written by Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley; it was also covered by The Rolling Stones on their debut album back in 1964.

The first side closes with a piano version of "La fiancée du pirate" (...arranged by Michael Scarati...), a song supposedly inspired by the homonymus French film of the late 60s about an oppressed and exploited young woman.

Knowing Cactus' infatuation for la Chanson Française, it is very hard to believe that "La poupée" is not directly inspired by "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", the winning entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1965 performed by France Gall and written by Serge Gainsbourg... "Rio la Balafre" is another short but effective number with lo-fi drums and prominent Rock'n'Roll guitars with Françoise's voice layered on top.

"Harley Davidson" is a cover of a famous piece that Serge Gainsbourg originally composed for The Brigitte Bardot Show in 1968. The American Myth is filtered by the French provocateur and Lolitas add their something extra to the recipe.

Clocking at over five minutes, "Les fers de tes bottes" is the longest track on the album; a slow piece that builds up with Françoise's onomatopoeias and screams layered on an extended and almost neverending guitar solo.

A full group version of "La fiancée du pirate", complete with harmonica reinforcements by Michele Tutti Frutti, preludes to the end of the album that is carried out by the slow and dreamy "Sous la Lune".

Labels of the French edition of "Lolitas" released by New Rose in 1987

Here's the credits list of "Lolitas":

Françoise Cactus: vocals, drums
Coco: guitar, vocals, bass
Michele: bass, harmonica, guitar

All songs written by Lolitas except "I Need You, Baby" (Eugene McDaniel) and "Harley Davidson" (Serge Gainsbourg).

John Boy plays piano on "La fiancée du pirate (1)" (arrangement: Scarati) and Axel plays guitar on the intro of "Touche-moi".

Photos: Irina Hoppe, Françoise Cactus [What's So Funny About.. edition]

Photos: Arens, M. Scarati [New Rose edition]

Graphics: P. Huart / P. Cholley [New Rose edition]

Recorded at the Building Site Studio, Hamburg, except "Touche-moi", "La fiancée du pirate (1)" and "Rio la Balafre", recorded on 8-tracks in a Berlin basement and at the Frawo Studio, Berlin.

Sound Engineer: Nainz Watts

Françoise Cactus in concert with the Lolitas, this picture was probably taken in 1986

A few more information about Lolitas is available here:

http://www.lastcallrecords.com/frenchbiogs/lolitaf.html

http://pirate.family.free.fr/pages/Lolitas.html

http://www.myspace.com/leslolitas/

http://www.45toursderockfrancais.net/rockfrancais/lolitas45t.htm

http://www.rockmadeinfrance.com/encyclo/lolitas/

http://euthanasie.records.free.fr/discographie/Zgroupe-L/Lolitas.htm

http://namaste-baba.blogspot.com/2011/04/des-lolitas-stereo-total-mettez-une.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Lolitas

If you have any other useful information about Lolitas - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!