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/ Reviews

Turn Them Loose! BBR Reissues Philly Classic From People's Choice

January 10, 2017 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Peoples Choice Turn Me Loose

"Come on everybody, let's jam with The People's Choice!" goes the lyric to the funky title song which opens 1978's Turn Me Loose, the third album from Frankie Brunson's Philly outfit.  People's Choice was a bit different from the other groups populating the roster at Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records, being a self-contained band rather than a vocal group.  (Instant Funk was another such band, though that unit found greater success after migrating to Salsoul

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: People's Choice

Disco Nights: Big Break Gives GQ a "Standing Ovation" on New Anthology

September 27, 2016 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

GQ Standing Ovation

"The feeling's right, and the music's tight, on the disco nights..."  With the irresistible rhythms of 1979's "Disco Nights (Rock Freak)," the members of GQ established themselves as premier artists at Arista Records and indeed of the disco generation.  Between 1979 and 1981, the band notched seven successes on the U.S. R&B chart, with three crossing over to the Pop survey.  All of those hits, and more, are collected on Big Break Records' definitive new anthology Standing Ovation: The Story

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: GQ

People of the World, Rise: BBR Reissues "The Trammps III" and Gaynor's "Glorious"

June 8, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Gloria Gaynor Glorious

Today, we're looking at two recent releases on Cherry Red's Big Break Records label from two legends of disco (and so much more): The Trammps and Gloria Gaynor! "Where were you when the lights went out in New York City?" asked The Trammps in song on the opening track of 1977's Trammps III.  (The answer?  Everyone was making love, naturally!)  The urgent, atypically topical track by Allan Felder, Ron Tyson and arranger-producer Norman Harris is just one highlight on this underrated album,

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Gloria Gaynor, The Trammps

They Are Family: BBR Reissues, Expands Sister Sledge's Debut "Circle of Love"

February 16, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Sister Sledge Circle of Love

"We Are Family" catapulted Sister Sledge to stardom in 1979, but while the uplifting anthem was a breakthrough, it wasn't a beginning.  Philadelphia-based Kathy Sledge and her three older sisters Debbie, Joni and Kim had been recording for Atlantic Records since 1973 when all four members were still teenagers.  In 1975, Sister Sledge's first album, Circle of Love, was released.  This lost gem has been previously released on CD in a bare-bones version, but Cherry Red's Big Break Records label has

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Sister Sledge

Heat It Up: Groove Line Tells "The Salsoul Orchestra Story: 40th Anniversary Collection"

February 1, 2016 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Salsoul Orchestra Story

The title of The Salsoul Orchestra's second album said it all - Nice 'n' Naasty.  The soul-disco orchestra, originally under the baton of MFSB alumnus Vincent Montana Jr., could serve up nice, shimmering and lushly elegant soundscapes...and naasty floor-filling grooves that practically demanded you hit the dancefloor!  Happily, the group has recently received a lavish tribute in the form of a sizzling 3-CD collection from Groove Line Records (the label responsible for the recent, definitive

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Salsoul Orchestra

The Glow of Love: Groove Line Records Compiles The Music of Change, Featuring Luther Vandross, More

January 14, 2016 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Change Reach for the Sky

If ever a group lived up to its name, that group was Change.  The brainchild of French-Italian music impresario and producer Jacques Fred Petrus, in collaboration with Italian-based producer/arranger Mauro Malavasi and bassist Davide Romani, Change released six albums between 1980 and 1985.  Built on infectiously danceable rhythms, melodic hooks and sublimely soulful vocals, the sound of Change was primarily created by a rotating cast of Italian-based musicians and America-based vocalists. 

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Change, Fonzi Thornton, Jocelyn Brown, Luther Vandross

Review: Bee Gees, "1974-1979"

April 7, 2015 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Bee Gees 1974 1979

For many veteran artists, disco was simply a mountain that couldn’t be climbed….not that they didn’t try.  The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, Elton John and so many others – even Frank Sinatra! – flirted with the genre only to find that that those sultry disco grooves weren’t as easy to emulate as they may have appeared to be.  Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb not only climbed the mountain, but conquered it.  The brothers had already amassed a back catalogue of some of the richest, most melodic and

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb

You Gotta Have Faith (Hope, and Charity): Real Gone Reissues Lost R&B Gems

August 22, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

nycc make every day count

Real Gone Music is moving to the sound of a disco beat! In conjunction with SoulMusic Records, Real Gone has tapped the vaults of RCA Records to present two world-premiere CD reissues, both with rare bonus tracks. Perhaps no other genre has inspired as many songs imploring listeners to suppress their inhibitions and put their dancing shoes on as disco has. “Let’s Go to the Disco/’Cause I feel like dancing tonight/Let’s go to the disco/Where the music is outta sight!” The call to arms “Let’s

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Faith Hope and Charity, New York Community Choir

Love Is: Carol Williams, The Salsoul Orchestra Make Sweet Music on "'lectric Lady"

August 1, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

lectric lady

Carol Williams signed to New York’s Salsoul Records label in 1975 for one single, but stuck around for one memorable album. That lone long-player, titled ‘lectric Lady, paired the New Jersey-born vocalist – Salsoul’s first female contract signing – with the label’s premier musical outfit, The Salsoul Orchestra, for an alluring blend of disco and sleek soul. Cherry Red’s Big Break Records imprint is now feeling electric with an expanded and remastered reissue of ‘lectric Lady. Williams came to

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Carol Williams, Salsoul Orchestra

The Salsoul Orchestra Goes "High," "Up the Yellow Brick Road"

May 13, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

salsoul orchestra up the yellow brick road

Big Break Records' non-chronological series of remastered and expanded reissues for The Salsoul Orchestra has already taken listeners from 1975's eponymous debut to 1982's farewell release Heat It Up. With the recent releases of 1978's Up the Yellow Brick Road and 1979's How High, the label has filled in the gaps of its lavishly produced program of the Orchestra's classic non-holiday studio albums. (No fear, however - there are other collaborative albums and even a collection credited to The

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Salsoul Orchestra

Hot Shots: Big Break Relights Dan Hartman's "Fire," Expands Sheryl Lee Ralph's Solo Debut

February 28, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

dan hartman relight my fire

Talk about fusion!  For "Hands Down," the opening cut of his 1979 album Relight My Fire, Dan Hartman enlisted rock and roll great Edgar Winter to weave his alto saxophone licks throughout the Latin-flavored disco track, and Stevie Wonder to provide his instantly recognizable harmonica.  Hartman wasn't just a dilettante, but a regular musical renaissance man.   A veteran of the Johnny Winter Band and the Edgar Winter Group, he wrote the latter's smash hit "Free Ride," and successfully completed

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Dan Hartman, Loleatta Holloway, Sheryl Lee Ralph

Dance a Little Bit Closer with Charo and The Salsoul Orchestra, Loleatta Holloway

January 31, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

charo and salsoul orchestra1

Cuchi-cuchi!  Charo, or María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, burst onto the cultural radar with her goofy, slightly suggestive catchphrase during the late-sixties run of the television phenomenon Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.  Once a frequent passenger on The Love Boat, the comedienne-bombshell still is a familiar face today on television (Dancing with the Stars, RuPaul’s Drag University) and onstage – on land and on sea, even on the good ship Disney Magic.  In 1977, Charo

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Charo, Loleatta Holloway, Salsoul Orchestra

She Will Survive: BBR Reissues, Expands Gloria Gaynor's "Love Tracks" and "Park Avenue Sound"

August 13, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

gloria gaynor love tracks

The very first release on Big Break Records, early in 2010, was an expanded reissue of the very first solo album by Gloria Gaynor.  Never Can Say Goodbye spun Clifton Davis' title track into disco gold and pioneered the sidelong disco mix with a nearly 19-minute suite from Tom Moulton consisting of "Honey Bee," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and another Motown revival, "Reach Out I'll Be There."   Big Break followed that landmark 1974 album with an expansion of Experience Gloria Gaynor, from 1975.  It

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Gloria Gaynor

Heart and Salsoul: BBR Reissues First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, Baker-Harris-Young and Love Committee

July 10, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

b h y

One could call bassist Ronnie Baker, guitarist Norman Harris and drummer Earl Young unsung heroes, but it’s not quite accurate to describe the triumvirate of musicians, songwriters, producers and arrangers as unsung.  Individually or collectively, Baker, Harris and Young helmed productions by Blue Magic, The Trammps, First Choice, Ben E. King, Eddie Kendricks, The Whispers, The Persuaders, and so many more.  As part of its ongoing series restoring the Salsoul Records catalogue to R&B

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Baker-Harris-Young, First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, Love Commitee

It's Good For The Soul! The Salsoul Orchestra's "Nice 'n' Naasty" Arrives In Expanded Edition

July 8, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

salsoul orchestra nice n naasty

The third song on the first side of The Salsoul Orchestra's second album proclaims "It Don't Have to Be Funky (To Be a Groove)."  But under the leadership of vibraphonist Vince Montana, Jr., the grooves were most certainly funky...as well as soulful, jazzy, and above all, danceable.  1976's Nice 'n' Naasty, just reissued in an expanded edition by Big Break Records, is an even more eclectic collection than its predecessor.  It continues Big Break's top-flight program celebrating all aspects of

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Salsoul Orchestra

Let's Celebrate: Big Break Goes Deep Into The Salsoul Groove with Candido, Skyy

May 8, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

skyy line1

Following last year's releases from The Salsoul Orchestra, First Choice, Instant Funk and Double Exposure, Big Break Records continues its exploration of the Salsoul Records catalogue with two new reissues from Skyy and Candido.  These discs can be said to offer another side of the Salsoul legacy as neither are locked into the Philly grooves of Vince Montana or Baker-Harris-Young.  Instead, they show just how far the New York label could push the dance/R&B envelope in the waning days of

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Candido, Skyy

Dance A Little Bit Closer: Gold Legion Uncovers "The Salsoul Records Story"

March 21, 2013 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

salsoul records story1

Just in case you didn’t already know, there’s plenty of gold to be found from the Gold Legion label.  Since its inception, Gold Legion has reissued and remastered classic disco records from master tape sources, adding copious annotation and bonus tracks to flesh out the stories behind the music.  Some of Gold Legion’s previous releases have been dedicated to iconic singer-actress-model Grace Jones, “Turn the Beat Around” diva Vicki Sue Robinson, The Emotions as produced by Maurice White and

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: Bunny Sigler, Carol Williams, Charo, First Choice, Loleatta Holloway, Salsoul Orchestra, Vince Montana

Do The (Salsoul) Hustle: Big Break Celebrates Salsoul Records Legacy with Four Reissues

October 15, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

salsoul records

By 1975, Philadelphia soul had become too big even for the City of Brotherly Love.  In the first half of the decade, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff had, along with the third member of their Mighty Three, Thom Bell, reinvented the sound of soul music.  The Pennsylvania city had become synonymous with sweeping strings, punchy horns and the hi-hat cymbal of drummer Earl Young, offering up music that could be dramatic, sweet and funky, sometimes all within the same three-minute song!  Bell had long

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Disco/Dance, Funk, R&B/Soul Tags: Double Exposure, First Choice, Instant Funk, Salsoul Orchestra, Vince Montana

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