Chapter 8, The Fatback Band, Lafayette Afro Rock Band – We Love You Shuffle Monkey!!

What a fantastic start from Mr Shuffle today – The Soul Super Group Chapter 8, which featured both Gerald Lyles and Anita Baker, kicks us off & it is Anita doing the heavy lifting with, “I Just Wanna Be Your Girl” – Marvellous Stuff & Beyond Brilliant! – If you like Anita Baker, &, I’ve seen her live several times, Check this Track out!; Next up is the mighty Fatback Band & the mighty, “Wicky Wacky” – We’re Looking For The Party People, Oh Yeah! A great funky beat and also a spooky coincidence as this Blog is now being followed by the Fatbacks on Twitter as we mentioned previously, so Respect & keep the groove, You-All, &, let’s hope, “This Is The Future” – Arguably one of the first Rap Records (?) features soon as well!!.

Coming right up to date (almost) now we have a showing from Neil Finn’s Pajama Club which he set-up with his wife and they’re singing, “Tell Me What You Want” A driving, sensual beat & they’ve got an “Itch, I can’t scratch” – Loved this when I first heard it on Jools Holland’s “Later” last year, but it has a bit of an abrupt end!; And Next we have the brilliant Lafayette Afro Rock Band with “Right Foot” – Funky-ee! And what a great double bill they’d make with the Fatback Band, Oh Yeah, Party!!; Following on we have a true Masterpiece of Modern Soul with James Carpenter &, “(Marriage Is Only) A State of Mind” – Not quite mate, it’s sometimes a stone cold reality!!; & then We are heading back to Clubsville circa 1983, with Johny Chingas & a chugging Bossa groove which tells us this is, “Phone Home” – Get Down with ET, Oh Yeah!!!

And YES we are getting down even further with the great Gregg Diamond & Bionic Boogie & “Hot Butterfly” – With Luther Vandross of course guesting on vocals (he was a very busy boy in the late 70’s early 80’s, what with CHANGE, Mascara, Gregg Diamond, Georgy Porgy, his own stuff and producing Aretha Franklin’s brace of fine Albums) & of course this is a Right Cracker too!

Some Righteous Reggae next – The Real Gear, with Delroy Wilson & “Going To The Ball” – certainly Trojan and Ska influenced, &, it so takes me back to that Winter I once spent in Tabago, before Child 4 & 5 came along…; Finally & hold on now, this is really spooky and no fix, but in real time Mr Shuffle has just come up with The Fatback Band again, &, yes it’s, “Is This The Future” – Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?? – Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant!!!

So, Keep The Faith, Be Awesome & me & the monkey will Keep It On Shuffle, Till Next Time! 🙂 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 135 Or Andy Williams RIP!

Sadly Andy Williams passed away yesterday at the age of 84 – Fashion Soundtrack, also followers of this Blog, posted a very good Tribute a wee while ago and the Shuffle Monkey & I would also like to pay our respects! A legendary talent, with a marvelous voice and a fair few Hits, along the way &, of course, we have many of his best songs at the wee shuffley thing’s Paws in the Good Old Mix!

Our first Track today though s from Amy Winehouse & its’, “You Know I’m No Good” – Now we agree that her passing was tragic – both in it’s manner and given her young age and all that she could have gone onto to achieve – but both the Shuffle Meister & I do rather feel that she was a Tad over-hyped! And we’ll never know what might have been – So, based on her output how does she rate against so many of the great female singers that the Shuffle Monkey has to hand – Of course, it’s subjective, a matter of taste, but does she go Toe-To-Toe with the much less lauded, yet brilliantly talented and versatile singers like Jean Carne, Phylis Hyman, Karen Pree, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Patti Labelle, Melba Moore, Millie Jackson, Ann Pebbles, Ann Sexton, Kiki Dee (The Fontana Years), Carol Woods, Jackie Woods, Betty Swayne, Betty Everet, Donna McGee, Aretha & that’s just scratching the surface… Some will say we are not comparing Apples with Apples, others might say that Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse only had one song in them which they more or less did 7 or 8 times on the ‘Back To Black’ Album & it was a winning formula, shifted a lot of product, no denying – But here at Monkey Towers though we bet that she could have gone on to Surprise us and we really hope that if things had of been different that would have very much been very much what would have happend!

Anyway, next up is a visit from Robbie Dupree with, “Steal Away” – & not sounding unlike Malcolm Macdonald; & then we Blitz into some Swing from Bobby Darin with a scorching, “Long Ago & Far Away” – Oh Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!And then we are into some Soul Seduction from Mary Wells (Another great singer) with, “You Beat Me To The Punch”; Followed by Jack Jones with the Classic, “Who Can I Turn To” – So, as usual we are all over the Shop!!

Gil Scott-Heron next with the lovely & enigmatic, “A Very Precious Time” – from the Album, ‘Winter In America’; & then we have Merle Haggard no less swaggering in All Red Neck on us with, “Okie From Muskogee”; Followed once again by Mr Sammy Davis Jr with, “This Is My Life (Album Version)” – & it has to be said, whilst absolutely a Power House of a Song, it’s as Camp as, well a Coffee substitute!

“Wild Man On The Loose (Album Version)” swings for us next with Mose Alison tinkling the ivories; & then a righteous slab of Jazz Funk from Norman Conners & Aquarian Dream with, “East 6th Street”; & behind that lurks Todd Rundgren with, “We Gotta Get You A Woman”; Followed by Monk Higgins with the Blue Note Trip of, “Gotta Be Funky” – A Lotta Lotta Gotta in that there Mix, Msr Le Shuffle!

And Finally Today – Big Disco Alert, as Mascara – Chris Hills Super Soul/Disco Group – Fly in to the Hangar from Germany where they were originally recorded with, “I Feel So At Home Here (Featuring Ula Heldwig)” – & Another Awesome Female Vocalist!! And that track, is of course, from the Fantastic Album – ‘See You In LA’, which of course has Luther Vandross guesting on lead Vocals – So, Keep The Faith, &, Keep It On Shuffle, Just like the Shuffle Monkey & Me 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 126 Or Love, Q!

Love, Q – Or Love Quincy (Jones) & we have a Superlative pairing in Luther Vandross & Patti Austin singing under QJ’s Superlative arrangement of, “I’m Going To Miss You In The Morning” – A Marvelous Opening from Msr Le Shuffle & The Shufflettes! And this is followed by the Luxury Soul of Nancy Wilson with the Superlative, “Are We Loosing Touch”!

Cor Blimey, it’s Old Suedhead next – Morrisey, He’s wonderful self with, “We Hate It When Our friends Become Successful”; Followed by Bonnie Raitt from her Album ‘Luck Of The Draw’ & the Superlative, “I Can’t You Make me love Me”; Which slips nicely into the SalSoul Orchestra with, “Nice & Nasty”; & is propped up in True Shuffle Monkey Style by BJ Thomas singing a Burt Baccarach & Hal David song, “Everybody’s Out Of Town” – & a Big respectful Nod to Hal David who passed away earlier in the week aged 91years young, &, Boy did he put the words to some great great songs e.g. ‘Do You Know The Way To San Jose’ et al!!

Back to the 1940’s now with Chalie Ventura &, “East Of Suez” – & We’re not lying when we say the Monkey’s reach can exceed even His Grasp – But actually, not, coz its in the Mix!! And then we fall back into some Cool Jazz Funk with Leslette Wilson &, “Caveman Boogie”!

Andy Williams comes next with, “The Way You Look Tonight”; Followed by some La Belle Epoque with Christie Laume &, “Le Musique Et La Dance”; Then we have some Great Contemp. Jazz Funk from Cool Million with, “Running Around”! We are Storming across Frontiers and Genres Today like True Coster Mongers!

And as we move into the Homeward stretch we have Elvis Presley with, “Who Am I” – A Good Question Elv… Who Do You Think You Are? And this comes from His Turnaround 1968 Album, ‘Elvis In Memphis’; And then we have a complete GEAR CHANGE into some Street Funk from Bernard Wright &, “Haboglabotribin” – Oh Yeah! And Finally today we Swish out with Doris Day &, “Move Over Darling!! Yesss… So Be Awesome, Keep The Faith & That Sweet Tooth For The Groove, &, We’ll Keep It On Shuffle for Sure, Here at Monkey Towers 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 116 Or I’m Gonna Be Famous, Diary Of A Wimpy Monkey!

No, Not Our Dear, Dear Monkey – He’s already Famous and He’s definitely not Wimpy, because Today he Boots us into the Stratosphere with Both Paws in the Mix & out Pops Jacques Brel – & we’d wondered were he’d been hiding – With the Majestic, “Quand On N’A Que L’Amour” – Love, Big Love!!

Next comes an Amour Fou from Skip Mahoney & The Casuals with, “Running Away From Love” – Not Something You’d See me & the Monkey doing, Oh Yeah; & this is followed by Belle & Sebastian with a lovely Tautology – “The Blues Are Still The Blues” – Good On yer B&S; & Ferrara then Hit us with, “Love Attack (12″Mix)” – Oh Yea, Oh Double Yeah!!

Roman Andres continues our Love-Tastic Mood now with, “Love Is Still Everything”; & then we have a Hidden Gem from Luther Vandross with, “You’ve Stopped Loving Me (Album Version)” – Love, Love Love – As Always with Msr Le Shyffle!! And then we Slip into some Smooth Jazz Funk with Eddie Henderson &, “Inside You”!

“Party Down” You All Next with Soul Spectrum; & then we Glide into some Philly Re-Grooved & a Tom Moulton re-Mix of, “Beware, She’s Pulling My Strings” from the Quickest Way Out – Something that was very important to them when they first started playing Gigs, I hear, along with, where’s the Guy with the Money going!! And then it’s a Double – 70’s Fest with firstly our Old Pals Sparks & the Stonking, “This Town Isn’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” – Not Half, matey; & Then Jo Jo Gunne &, “Run Run Run” – Which certainly Helps the wee shuffley thing & me pick up the Pace and lengthen our stride with our first run back on Home Soil!!

And Finally Today, three great Tracks from three Great Artists/Groups – Firstly Midnight Star &, “Curious” – 80’s Disco, Not Half!; Secondly comes Ella Washington with some down home funk from a Funk Soul Sister singing, “If Time Could Stand Still”; & Lastly Today, but not least – Quincy Jones with, “Septembro” – Excellent Stuff, So Plant Your Feet, be awesome, Keep The Faith & Keep On Keeping It On Shuffle 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 98 or Do Smiley’s People Smile, Sometimes?

Well, The Undisputed Truth who start us off today with, “Smiling Faces, Sometimes”, Might think so, but The Monkey & My Question is more rhetoric, but goes a little deeper – You see we’ve just been re-reading John Le Carre’s ‘Smiley’s People’ & now we’re re-watching the DVD of the original BBC series – & just to think we where at UEA when it was first Screened – well, not the Monkey of course, He’s never been to College, Bless Him! In fact he’s a Tad anti-education unless you can get it in a Banana – But I tell him that’s just stereotyping his Monkey Chums – & what does He say to that you may ask?…’What’s Stereotyping?’ – You just can’t win with the Shuffle Monkey but who would want to win when He is on a roll – & the next Track is Charme & “Georgy Porgy” – with an uncredited Luther Vandross on Vocals – Sweet! And this is followed by Chapter 8 with, “Don’t You Like It” – Which of course has the great Anita Baker on vocals – Didn’t they once perform together in one of the incarnations of Change? Probably not…

Stevie Wonder is wigging out next on, “Please Don’t Go” – Whih comes off the ‘Fulfillingness First Finale’ set; & this is followed by a Corker of a version of one of the Shuffle Meister & my own fav Songs – “Since I fell For You”, & this is Nina Simone at her Down Right Best – with just Piano & Harmonica and a little Guitar behind her!!

T S Monk follow with the Classic 80’s 2-Step, “Can’t Keep My Hand’s To Myself”; & Racing up behind in all it’s Glory is the Long Sax Intro 12″ Version of, “Native New Yorker” by Oydessy – We’re Dancing Here at Shuffle Towers!; And then we have a Righteous version of, “In The Middle Of The Game (Don’t Change The Play)” by Betty Wright & The Roots; Which takes us into the Elliptical Orbit of some Sky High Jazz Funk mixed by the Mizzell Brothers & here it is Donald Byrd & his classic, “Street lady”!!

El DeBarge now with, “You Are My Dream” – Sweet!; Followed by a wake-up Call with a Big Social Conscience from my old mate Gil Scott Heron & the Powerful, “Possum Slim”; And we’re right back up to date with Plan B &, “She Said”; Although just us quickly we return back to the 1970’s for, “Reminiscing” by The Little River Band – That’s The Monkey having Fun!; & we keep at the Tail-end of the 70’s with Lenny White & Twennynine &, “Back To You” – SATURDAY NIGHT FOREVER!

And Finally Today a trio of very different, but nonetheless Marvellous Tracks – Firstly, Bom Dia Rio (Posto 6) (Featuring Roberto Menescal & Cris Delanno) with the Great, “Bossacucanova” – Secondly, Steve Tyrell & Patti Austin &, “Don’t Make me Over” – Classic Bacarach & David  – & Third & Last, some Steely Dan &, “Doctor Woo”! Brilliant mixing Msr le Shuffle – So, Keep The Faith, Be Awesome & Keep It On Shuffle!  🙂

 

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 97 or A Movie Tune For Dr Oswald!

The Monkey & I have it on good authority that we go down well in medical circles – we’re considered a Dose of Salts – Liver Salts – We are viewed as an Emetic, purging all things Bad – & a Restorative and Pick-Me Up for the Soul & We All Got Soul, Oh Yeah! Anyway a regular follower of this Blog – The Danny Wilde of the medical profession no less and with a winning way with the application of Leeches to all parts of the Body – Love’s his Movie Tunes, &, Blow Me if the wee shuffley thing hasn’t delved deep into his little bag of tricks and pulled up John Barry from the Mix with, “Midnight Cowboy” – Well done Msr Le Shuffle!!

And to follow that we storm across the Pyramids to find Pharoah Sanders – Who will be playing at Ronnie Scotts in Frith Street, Soho, London soon – Blowing his Jazz Funk horn and giving us an excellent version of, “Answer Me My Love” – Which of course was originally a Hit for Barbara Dickson in the 1970’s!

Disco Remix next, with a Hot-To-Trott Classic from Gregg Diamond & Bionic Boogie &, “Hot Butterfly” – &, of course, the Late & Great Luther Vandross is doing the Vocals on this; And that’s then followed by Curtis Mayfield’s Impressions singing, “(Baby) Turn On To Me”; And then another Fabby GEAR CHANGE into Doris Day with, “Move Over Darling” – Which reminds me, I have the DVD to Watch!

Funk Time now with a Classic SATURDAY NIGHT FOREVER track from Mandrill &, “Can You Get It (Suzie Caesar)” – Ip, Ip, Ip, Ip – Which i you listen to the song will make complete sense!! And the Chi Lites float behind with, “Me & You” & they of course took the first part of their name from the first part of Chicago! And we swiftly move up a notch with BlueBoy & the Hypnotic, “Remember Me” – A Ministry of Sound Classic from Back In The Day!!

And finally to play us out – & it would be Great if it had been Dr & The Medics – Remember them? But no such Luck – but no Great Disappointment either because it’s that other Great Doctor of Love – No, not Barry White – He was the Walrus of Love – Get it Right, it’s Teddy Pendergrass with the Barry Manilow penned song, “This One’s For You” – Treat yourself and track down both versions on You Tube – Particular if you haven’t got a busy Surgery – And Keep The Faith, Be Awesome & the Monkey & Me will Keep It On Shuffle, Oh Yeah 🙂

 

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 82 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqC6Zyp3GI

Well it’s all a bit Previous – In fact it’s all gone Pete Tong here at Monkey Towers & we are ‘Blowing Bubbles’ – Which is not a Bad Michael Jackson Joke – No, we’ve decided Work Is Fun and the Shuffle Monkey has gone and bought himself a little outfit for the Gym! Too many Bananas, says He… And first off Today we have Roy Woods with, “Forever” – from, I think, 1973; & this is followed by a Modern Soul Gem from the Great Patti Austin singing so sweetly on, “Whatever It Is?”! & right behind this comes a swinging Paul Anka with a righteous cover of Spandau Ballet’s, “True” – We’re Cooking!!

Next up is Allen Toussaint with, “the Chokin Kind”; Followed by firstly Bruce Channel hot footing from the Swinging Sixties with, “Keep On”– & then Hot Chocolate with a classic of their’s – “Everyone’s A Winner” – Now why hasn’t this been remixed in its’ time by Tom Moulton – It’s a Pumping 110 BPM – Great Stuff & it’s ripe for it!

GEAR CHANGE next and a welcome return Un Francais & the Majestic Eddy Mitchell who is singing, “Comme Quand J’etais Mome” – Marvelous! And this is followed by some great Afro Soul from the Soul Searchers &, “We The People” – Some more Great Modern Soul from Derek Martin with, Beautiful Woman” – We’re Flying High, Oh Yes! – And then we come into land with Luther Vandross guesting with Chris Hill’s Lipstick on the jubilant DISCO of, “It’s Cool” – & this is from circa 1979!

A Fine Fine Tune next called, “The Last Romantic” & this is from Passenger – A real DISCO DISCHARGE this track & I just Love It – Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy! And this is followed by the, “Joker” by Giles Pettiford – Good Soul Vibe & a Tad Leftfield, but you’ll probably have heard it covered before by more Mainstream Artists; & next some Classic Disco House from Bob Sinclair &, “What Would We Do (Original)”!

Jackson Browne now with some Classic Americana of, “The Load-Out”: & Bryan Ferry follows from his Album ‘Dylanesque’ & it’s His Awesome Cover of, “To Make You Feel My Love” – Wonderful! Robin Thicke Powers behind with the Fabby Wabby, “Lovely Lady”; & Sammi Smith rides in with a Fantastic Waltz Time version of, “Help Me Make It Through The Night” – A Fantastic song covered by many great Artists and written by, Kris Kristofferson!

Yep – Msr Le Shuffle is pulling out all the stops and we close Today with three absolutely stonkingly good tracks from The Mix – Firstly, The Andrea Possa Trio with the Jazz Swing Time of, “You Can’t Get What You Want” – As Cool As; Secondly Bob Dylan with, “Just Like a Woman”; & Thirdly – &, Oh Yes – it’s the Bee Gees & my Favourite Ever song of theirs & as you’ll Know (In The Know) there is a Lot to Choose from – & this one comes from, I think, circa 1976 – 7, &, it just pre-dates them going mega with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ – Anyway, the song is called,”Love So Right”- For me it’s right up there with the original version of ‘Witcha Lineman’ & the 12″ Sax intro to ‘Native New Yorker’ & a Few Other Stormers to Boot – God Bless, Robin, Barry & Maurice – & Everybody Keep The Faith as we Keep It On Shuffle! 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 45 Or We Almost Made Our Poem Rhyme!

“Didn’t We Girl” – You clever Shuffle Monkey, as we begin Today with Richard Harris and a Majesterial interpretation of the Great Jimmy Webb’s Classic, “Didn’t We” – & How Many Versions do we have of the on Shuffle, &, Why Not – A Great Song & after Camelot & McArthur Park’s Pink Green Icing, The Irishman was on a Roll!; Next up is Kool & The Gang with, “Think It Over”; Quickly followed by one of my Favourite Bob Dylan tracks, “You’re A Big Girl Now” off ‘Blood On The Tracks’; A Guilty Pleasure now with I’m afraid, ELO who come flying in with the Ripping Yarn that is, “Living Thing” – With Strings & A Host of other Things; Back to Soulsville next with the fabulous Drifters &, “You Got To Pay Your Dues” – A Real After Hours pleasure; The Great Harry Nilsson follows with one of his Songs which was covered by The Monkeys amongst others, “Cuddly Toy” – Very 60’s, Very Bouncy & Big Respect to the Late Davy Jones; Next up and more Soulsville with the Fantastics singing from 1971, “Something Old, Something New” – I can just see them on Top Of The Pops now!!; This next Track is rather special – Elegant Sounding, Sunday Afternoon Soul with Deborah Laws, Ronnie’s little sister – Who I think is also playing the Sax on this great Track, “Very Special” – Love is Life & Life is Living – Love It, Love It, Love It; GEAR CHANGE now, but a rather audaciously Brilliant one I Hope you will agree, for we have Willie Nelson singing a pretty recent one of his & a rather lovely song to boot, “Moments Of Forever” – Which has also been covered by Kris Kristoferson – &, of course, we have Both Versions in the Mix – You can’t beat Willie’s version though, with it’s soft Waltz Time & Low Strung Guitar & Fantastic Country Soul voice Thank You Mr Nelson!; & Finally today we are going out on such a Good Good song from Mascara once again & Luther Vandross is doing the vocals on, “Jet Plane Ride” – 4-To-The-Floor & Shimmy Shimmy all the way to the Bank – Saturday Night Forever, Oh Yeah, &, God Bless Chris Hills who produced it – The Best DJ I was ever in a Room with!! So, Keep The Faith & I’ll Keep It On Shuffle, Laters! 😉

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 43 Or Grand Designs Or Something

“Plus ca cgange, plus c’est la meme chose” – Indeed, &, what Grand Designs does the little Shuffle Monkey have for us today… Well it goes from the Sublime, to the Sublimer with firstly, Nanci Griffith &, “I wish it would rain”; Next the great Steely Dan &, “Deacon Blues” – Of course I like this, but I think my Fav track of theirs is, ‘Brooklyn Made A Charmer of Me” – Go Listen!; Deodato follows with the Original 12″ Mix of, “Night Cruiser” – But of course & SATURDAY NIGHT FOREVER – It’s Blistering!; Next and a shout out for the Cooks of The Norfolk/Suffolk Marches & BBC Radio Suffolk, as we have The Beatles with one of their great early ones, &, not that often heard methinks, “Bad Boy”; Luther Vandross next with Patti Labelle & a great Quincy Jones produced track, “I’m Going To Miss You In The Morning”; Big Country come rampaging in now with, “I’m Not Ashamed”; Quickly followed by Incognito & a great reinterpretation of the Boz Scaggs Classic, “Low Down” – Featuring both Mario Biondi and Chaka Khan on vocals – What a Ticket! A Beautiful interpretation of the Stevie Nick’s Classic, “Landslide” next done on this occasion with great elegance by Stacey Kent; & to follow a Fantastic Live Version of only, “Heaven Can Wait For Love” by Roberta Flack & Featuring Peabo Bryson – Magic! Barbara Streisand next & “Lover Man, Where Can He Be”; & Finally today a little bit of Bossa with Eliane Elias &, “Day In, Day Out” – Keep The Faith Till Next Time & I’ll Keep It On Shuffle!! 🙂