Last month I hunkered down on some of the 10-inch records on my shelves. For this month, I’d promised we would get back to a “normal size” so here we are, looking back through the hundreds of 12-inch singles and EPs on my shelves. Last year’s 12-inch feature was a primer on the 12-inch format and featured a few favorites, and a later article covered a few notable Prince 12-inchers. This one will continue with favorites from the collection.
Chicago: “Street Player” b/w “Window Dreamin’”
I love tweaking the Chicago diehards by saying this is one of my favorite recordings of theirs. And to be fair, I’m no fan of their earliest albums either, other than cherry picking a few songs from each that I like. (Those two Heart of Chicago CD compilations collect everything I’ll ever need from the band.) “Street Player,” of course, was their jump into disco, from Chicago 13, which at the time cast a lot of scorn upon the band. Strip away the disco hatred, though, and it’s far from the worst they’ve recorded. What gets me the most are the wicked horn charts for the second half of the song.
One thing I didn’t realize at the time, but should have (since I had a handful of his records), was that labelmate Maynard Ferguson played the trumpet solos on this song. The album version has a reprise of Maynard in the closing bars, something I wish the 12-inch had. Otherwise, the 12-inch remix has the usual dance remix accoutrements, like additional percussion parts; no remix engineer is listed. The album version is actually a little longer than this single, so it is not an extended version, the likes of which are common on most other 12-inchers.
Rod Stewart: “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
Another from the rock/pop field who got the remix treatment was Rod Stewart, and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” made it all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It certainly captured the mood of the moment, and it was played just as much on our local R&B/dance radio station as I’m sure it was on Top 40 stations. Only, we got to hear the remix instead, as we had one of those rare stations that always gravitated towards the 12-inchers if they were available.
The remix here is credited to Tom Burgess, and is one of the better ones in the collection. It’s spacious, and adds extra percussion elements as expected. As for whether Rod Stewart should have made a disco single? Well…some of us still like it.
Musique: “In the Bush” b/w “Keep On Jumpin’”
This month’s award for the most obvious single-entendre song goes to Musique for “In the Bush,” which I guarantee is not an ode to landscaping! Prelude Records grew out of Pye Records International, and was known most as a disco/remix label that managed to outlive the disco era. Musique was more of a producer group than it was an actual band – the band was a group of studio musicians led by arranger/producer Patrick Adams, with a lineup of five vocalists to front the music: Christine Wiltshire, Angela Howell, Gina Taylor Pickens, Mary Seymour and Jocelyn Brown.
“In the Bush” was immensely popular but had a poor showing on the Billboard Hot 100, due to being banned by many radio stations. Still, both sides of this 12-inch topped the dance singles chart, and managed #29 and #81 on the R&B singles chart, respectively. The mixes on the 12-inch are by Francois Kevorkian.
Barry White: “Your Sweetness is My Weakness” b/w “Sha La La Mean I Love You”
After taping a cousin’s copy of Saturday Night Fever and working my way through it, I found that a local soft rock station was broadcasting a 3-hour segment each Saturday night featuring all the latest dance music. On my first time tuning in, I’d latched onto the Latin-flavored song “Sha La La Means I Love You,” which was on Barry White’s then-current album, The Man.
I ended up buying that album (which is still a favorite today – White had gotten past the syrupy love music of his past), yet didn’t know that a 12-inch existed with the song on it. I never saw it in the stores. Decades passed when I happened to come across a listing on Discogs for a Canadian 45 RPM 12-inch with these two songs on it. These are the album versions, yet the faster speed made them sound a bit better. (Side 1 on the album was a bit pinched towards the end, with nearly 24 minutes pressed onto that side, and an even longer 25 minutes on the opposite side.)
A Number of Names: “Skitso” b/w “Sharevari”
“Skitso” was a catchy little song from 1982 that got a bit of play locally on my favorite station. One might say it is somewhat electronic/new-wave-ish, yet with funk as a base. I didn’t know what I was listening to at the time, only that I liked it.
It turns out that the group A Number of Names is considered to be among the founders of Detroit Techno, and fueling EDM (electronic dance music) for decades to come. At the time, the group included local techno pioneers Paul Lesley, Sterling Jones, and Roderick Simpson. “Skitso” was indeed catchy, but the grinding “Sharevari” was the song that had come out a year earlier and made waves locally. That song’s title was an alternate spelling of the New York boutique Charivari, as well as local Charivari parties that were part of the local dance scene. The history of this single and the group behind it, and all that followed, is too lengthy to explore here. On a personal level, the single had been sitting in my shelves for decades before I rediscovered it a few years ago, and learned of its importance once I began digging into its history.
M: “Pop Muzik” b/w “M Factor”
M was the pseudonym of British musician Robin Scott, who led a British new wave/synth-pop group. A one-hit wonder in the US he had one of the most successful singles of 1979 with “Pop Muzik,” which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
This version features a unique edit not found on the single or album versions.
Michael Jackson: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (double A-side)
Most of us know Thriller quite well, and to this day I regret giving away or selling off my early first pressing as it’s still the best version I’ve heard on LP. What really packs a punch are the 12-inch singles pulled from the album. This is a promotional copy with the same “Special Version” on each side.
If it weren’t for the sibilance throughout both sides (which I’ve read is an issue with this version), this would outpace the original vinyl in terms of sound. Those first three beats are like a jolt of electricity, and the energy never lets up. While the mix seems to be the same, this 12-inch version has a few extended instrumental fills that the album version doesn’t. A commercial 12-inch was also released, with an instrumental version of this song on the B-side. A keeper!
Bombers: “(Everybody) Get Dancin’” b/w “Don’t Stop the Music”
Bombers was a group formed by Montreal producers George Lagios and Pat Deserio, who released this single in Canada and licensed it to New York-based West End Records. This song leads off their second (and final) album, Bombers 2. The B-side comes from their self-titled first album.
“(Everybody) Get Dancin’” was an underground hit, as many of us heard it over our radio station or in clubs, but other than the Billboard dance club chart where it peaked at #3, it didn’t make much of a dent on the other charts. Being from 1979, the producers had obviously absorbed the influence of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (Chic), as the song has similar stylings with the electric guitar riffs and the strings.
T-Connection: “At Midnight” b/w “Playin’ Games”
T-Connection was a funk/disco band based in Miami but with roots in the Bahamas, and “At Midnight” tapped into those roots by featuring steel drums and timbales. Their other songs, though, were more musically similar to the Commodores than anyone else that comes to mind, and a few others almost sound like pop/rock.
This was a nice change of pace from the other funk-oriented singles of the day. It’s a shame they flew under the radar for the most part.
McFadden & Whitehead: “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” b/w “I Got the Love”
This was a resounding success, and brought the message of brotherly love straight out of Philadelphia. Gene McFadden and John Whitehead were staff songwriters for Philadelphia International Records, which was associated with Gamble and Huff. They wrote numerous hit songs for other acts, like Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (“Bad Luck,” “Wake Up Everybody,” “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”), The O’Jays (“Back Stabbers”), The Intruders (“I’ll Always Love My Mama,” “Cowboys to Girls”), and numerous others.
When they set out under their own name, they continued writing and producing for others, but struck gold with their anthem, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” This barely missed the top of the Hot 100 at #1, but it still sold over two million copies worldwide. This version stretches out to nearly 11 minutes at a relaxed dance tempo with some extended instrumental breaks. A top notch production, and their most popular single under their own name.
Next month is December. Already. I may scrape up a few more holiday favorites to feature, and get up to date on the few new records I’ve purchased over the past couple of months. Until then, spin some tunes and (if you’re in the US) enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Header image courtesy of Benis Arapovic/Vecteezy.
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