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#1975research
Day 28. George “Bad” Benson
(Hot off the pages of the Young Punctum blog which, fortuitously, is chronicling ‘75 right now. You’d guess from the title this would be space-themed but no: it’s a river cruiser, complete with foghorn 🤯)
youtu.be/lx4thjRkngU
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Day 27. Magic Disco Machine
youtu.be/bF6qf1p-x_s
Front cover image of the LP ‘Together’ by George & Gwem McCrae - released on TK subsidiary Cat Records in 1975.
#ClassicAlbumThursday
#1975research
Gwen & George McCrae, ‘Together’
Great idea to reunite the couple. They’d started as a duo in the 60s, then each pursued solo fame. But both were past the peak of their initial success by late ‘75. Their chemistry here is obvious and there’s not one weak track.
Screencap from Spotify of the cover art for the LP ‘Supersound’ (1975) by The Jimmy Castor Bunch featuring The Everything Man. A smartly dressed black man stands facing the camera against a white backdrop, with one hand on his hip and the other held aloft in a “thumb’s up” sign. Above him, a cartoon version of himself in superhero costume flies through the air, below Superman-font lettering spelling out the album title.
#ClassicAlbumThursday
and one final chance for #1975research
Starting strong with The Jimmy Castor Bunch featuring The Everything Man
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#1975research
Day 26. Labelle
youtu.be/RIaXIWhQ_6w
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Day 25. Hidden Strength
(Multiracial band from NYC. Managed one private press LP and 2 singles for United Artists. This is a B side; slowed down(?) from the A, but it has a stronger disco feel and the wasp synth is now centre stage)
youtu.be/U3r--aUmgv4
And the #pop75 hits keep on coming. A late discovery but what a fine LP this is. R&B with gospel and funk elements. Interesting choices of covers too.
#1975research
open.spotify.com/album/4hHC6t...
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#1975research
Day 24. The Ritchie Family
youtu.be/eIS2Kv7teCQ
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Day 23. Demis Roussos
youtu.be/5KFOetYpEng
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Day 22. First Choice
youtu.be/BAVqcLUL-aM
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Day 21
Ice, a.k.a. The Lafayette Afro Rock Band, a.k.a. Crispy & Co.
youtu.be/QfrzLrBgiow
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Day 20. The Miracles
youtu.be/513jP1SUgnQ
Front cover of Nana Caymmi’s self titled LP from 1975 (or at least most sources date it as being from that year)
#ClassicAlbumThursday
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Nana Caymmi, s/t (1975)
This crossed my path by chance on Insta today. Classy Brazilian smoothness. Nana may look like Mrs Mills a bit, but she has a lovely voice. All over in under 25 minutes too.
open.spotify.com/album/5Wvlgy...
Screencap from Spotify of the front cover art of Bohannon’s s/t LP (1975). The artist is turned to the left but his face is looking directly at the camera. He is dressed formally in a black suit, white shirt, black & white checkered tie and a red handkerchief in the breast pocket of the jacket. His hands are resting on something red in the bottom left corner. The backdrop is mostly gold, as is the lettering of the artist’s name at the top of the image.
#ClassicAlbumThursday
#1975research
Bohannon released two LPs in 1975. This self-titled one was the second of them. As you might expect, this is all about the groove rather songcraft; uptempo on Side 1, slow dancers and a blues on Side 2.
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(…and speaking of Biddu, this was the blueprint for at least a couple other film & TV themes from later in the decade)
Day 19. The Biddu Orchestra
youtu.be/xFvDqVJ1UIA
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Day 18. Carl Douglas
(Not that one. Or the other two. Still self-penned and still produced by Biddu though)
youtu.be/2n7mlmGxR9A
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Day 17. Dee Dee Sharp
youtu.be/iWp6_0muPqA
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Day 16. Enoch Light
(Much-sampled cover of the Herbie Mann classic)
youtu.be/_0c7_zzHMqM
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Day 15. Ashantis
youtu.be/1D332RGZ9kg
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Day 14. Van McCoy, forever hustlin’.
youtu.be/WOUk-AFcnJ0
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Day 13. Creative Source
youtu.be/cqT6db3BnEk
Screencap from Spotify of the front cover art for Brass Construction’s self titled 1975 LP.
#ClassicAlbumThursday
#1975research
#NowPlaying
Brass Construction, s/t
Including “Movin’”, “Talkin’”, “Changin’” and other funky tunes with pithy one-word titles.
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Day 12. MFSB
youtu.be/o8nTCbcJ6kk
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Day 11. Sly Stone
RIP
youtu.be/n5UbjmbQf24
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Day 10. Bob James
(picking a peck of pickled pepper)
youtu.be/UgLM81X7dhQ
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Day 9. Retta Young
youtu.be/NVveCpNW_4w
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Day 8. Bill Gabo
(Disco cover of Syreeta’s pop reggae hit, co-written with Stevie Wonder. Not much info about Bill online, but I think he was from Germany and this single was his only record)
youtu.be/zlDCbu0rZ2s
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Day 7. Esther Phillips
youtu.be/E1_vsu2DyLs
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Day 6. Kool & The Gang
(It’s a thin line between funk and disco sometimes)
youtu.be/leXiOtkXkiE
Cover art of Bad Company’s ‘Straight Shooter’ LP (1975). A pair of red dice (with white spots) in mid air dominates the foreground. The die on the right has the 6 spot facing the viewer and this face also has the number 3917 stencilled on it. Not sure what that signifies, if anything. The dice are no doubt heading towards the craps table depicted in the background. Not one of Hipgnosis’s best efforts.
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Today’s other listen (so far):
Bad Company, ‘Straight Shooter’.
Feat. air guitar anthem “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (do you see what I did there?). The rest of the LP is dull, Led Zep-esque bluesy cock-rock. But it’s salvaged a bit by Mick Ralphs’ fine guitar work.
