[Every Friday #25] > Gloria Jones – Tainted Love {1964}

It seems that Gloria Jones was living more than just one life. Born in Cinicinnati she moved to California and recorded her first music in the beginning of the 60s. She studied piano and a acquired an advanced classical degree primarily in the works of Bach, performed in several musicals (Hair amongst others), became a songwriter for Motown, supported Bob Marley on his first tour of the UK as a member of the band Gonzalez, and moved to England where she met Marc Bolan. They became a couple and she gave birth to their son Rolan Bolan, while she was singing background vocals for T.Rex, and also drove the car that killed Marc Bolan eventually. In 1995 she moved to Africa and opened a musical school.

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Material feat. Whitney Houston & Archie Shepp – Memories {1965|1982}

Whitney Houston war 19 Jahre alt und es sollte noch ein Jahr dauern, bis Ihr von Arista ein weltweiter Plattenvertrag angeboten wurde, den sie dann annehmen durfte – bei den beiden vorherigen Angeboten legte ihre Mutter ein Veto ein, da Whitney noch keinen High School Abschluss – und der Rest ist Geschichte.

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Nu Genea – Marechià (with Célia Kameni) {2021}

Nur wenige Wochen nachdem die beiden in Berlin lebenden Neapolitaner Lucio Aquilina und Massimo Di Lena ihr Projekt Nu Guinea, das mit einer House Veröffentlichung 2014 das erste Mal auf Platte erschien, um dann über einen Afrobeat-Schlenker letztendlich bei Disco zu landen, letztes Jahr in Nu Genea umbenannten, releasten die beiden auf ihrem eigenen Label NG Records den Sommerhit der letzten Saison: Marechià.

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[Every Friday #21] > Sonya Spence – Let Love Flow On {1981}

It isn’t much of a surprise that, having worked tirelessly to compete in the male-dominated Kingston music scene, producer Sonia Pottinger staunchly supported the efforts of female singers in making their mark. She also wasn’t afraid to dabble in other musical genres than the “in” reggae sound of the time.

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Ελπίδα – Θάρθη Θάρθη {1973}

Griechenland mag nicht für viele Beiträge zum Soul oder zum Funk bekannt sein, aber die musikalischen 60er und 70er sind auch dort nicht spurlos vorbei gezogen. Und in den Endzügen der Militärdiktatur veröffentliche Elpida 1973 mit dem nach ihr betitelten Album ein Big Band getriebenes Werk, das in Funkyness den “Originalen” aus den Staaten in nichts nachstand.

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[Every Friday #19] > Tullio de Piscopo – Primavera (Stop Bajon) {1984}

This is a weird one.

Far from rare (you can cop it on any fleamarket in Germany for way less than 5€), almost everybody knows this tune but only few people know the artist and the correct title of the song.

Tullio de Piscopo is a jazz drummer from Naples who, besides being a sought after session musician, started to record his own music in 1976 with the album Suonando La Batteria Moderna, which became a holy grail for hip hop producers and the like as it just contains pure funk and jazz solo drumming waiting to being sampled and became a pricey sought after item in the past twenty years or so.

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