Birthday Month Extended: Day 12 (Mother's Day Edition)

I'm telling you, I'm doing 30 of these! But this is only going to contain one song, in honor of Mother's Day: from Philly's own Gamble and Huff, the Intruders with "I'll Always Love My Mama." (From a Soul Train broadcast!)

Birthday Month: Day 11

Some more 70's goodness!

 The Hues Corporation -- "Rock the Boat"



Speaking of rocking, George McCrea wants you to "Rock Your Baby," which would be him, by the way...



P.S. There's a mashup of this with Annie Lennox's "Little Bird." I have it in my iTunes but couldn't find it online.

Carl Douglas (no relation to Carol) says everybody was Kung Fu Fighting! (I wasn't.)



I wasn't doing The Hustle, either, Van McCoy.

Birthday Month: Day 10

What's that, you say? You want more??? The Andrea True Connection (not to be confused with the Joe in Philly Experience because, for one thing, she was doing porn films when she hit with this song) obliges you with 'More, More, More."

And here's a song that sampled "More, More, More:" Len's "Steal My Sunshine". Wikipedia says it helped give Andrea True a few VH1 appearances on their various countdown shows. Classic disco influences 90s pop! Well, not so much for Len, as they, like Andrea, were one hit wonders.

Birthday Month: Day 9

I owe it to myself to see this through, even if it goes well into May! To do that, I'm not gonna put a bunch of songs on one post unless they are from/related to one artist. Here's some early stuff.

Some advice for those of us battling health issues: follow your Doctor's Orders. Or Carol Douglas's. :)



And if you don't, well... Shame, Shame, Shame on you! (Shirley & Company)



And here are two songs from Silver Convention. Each song's lyrics consists of a grand total of six words.

"Fly, Robin, Fly"



"Get Up And Boogie"

Birthday Month: Day 8 (And Phillies -- Really)

When I first got the idea for this series of posts, this song immediately jumped into my mind.  Coinicidentally, this story popped into into my Twitter feed today...

Phils celebrate 40 years since 'Phillies Fever'



But how this other "classic," written about Pete Rose and released the year he joined the Phils, has been lost to the dustbin of history...

Pamela Neal - "Charlie Hustle" (Haven't found it on You Tube but you can listen to an mp3 at this link. The accompanying article at the website is hilarious in that it says this song "anticipates the coming of Blondie..." Ummm, no.)

Birthday Month: Day 7

When I left work on Friday, April 15th -- for the last time until September!!! -- I posted this first song to Facebook and Twitter. So this leads to a string of Kool and the Gang here.

"Celebration"



They started out, however, in jazz, before moving into a more soul-funk sound...

"Jungle Boogie" (sampled in, among other hits, Madonna's "Erotica")



"Hollywood Swinging"



"Open Sesame" was featured in the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack...



When James "JT" Taylor became lead vocalist the band's sound became more disco-fied, and they had some of their biggest hits...

"Ladies Night'

Birthday Month: Day 6

Choose your favorite versions of these classics. I DARE YOU! (And if you have other cover battle sugesstions, let me know!)

"Never Can Say Goodbye," Gloria Gaynor vs. the Communards (whose lead vocalist was, as you should know, one-time Bronski Beat lead singer Jimmy Somerville)...

...or "Don't Leave Me This Way," Thelma Houston vs. the Communards (again)...

...or how about "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," Sylvester vs. Jimmy Somerville (this guy loves his covers!)

Ooh, what's interesting about this pair -- "More Than A Woman," the Bee Gees vs. Tavares -- is both versions are on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack!

Birthday Month: Day 5

Check what Wikipedia's entry on disco music begins with!

Disco is a genre of dance music containing elements of Rhythm & Blues, funk, soul, pop, and salsa. It achieved popularity during the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Its initial audiences were club-goers from the gay, African American, Italian American, Latino, and psychedelic communities in Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

So, it it weren't for Philly we'd have no disco???? Well, that may be a reach. But when you think of some of the stuff that came out of the Philadelphia International Records talent pool, from "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes...



...to the O'Jays' "Love Train..."



... to "T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by M.F.S.B. -- which soon became the theme song for Soul Train...



...and many more, clearly we were a major influence.

More in the coming days. I vowed to do 30 posts and I will. With my last day of work for the summer being tomorrow(!!!!) I have no excuses!

Birthday Month: Day 4

Already playing catch-up. Oh, well. Divas have been known to show up late. I must emulate them. But I've promised myself I'd do 30 of these. (I have to make time to do my taxes, too. But priorities, people, priorities!)

How do you like this disco ball I found? :)






Let's get back to more classic disco, starting with...

Karen Young - "Hot Shot" (Oh, and guess where she's from?)



Evelyn "Champagne" King - "Shame" (Not born in Philly...but raised here!)



Alicia Bridges - "I Love The Nightlife (Disco Round)"  (No Philly connection that I know of. Also...I want some AK-SHAWN!!!)



Rose Royce - "Car Wash"  (From a movie I've never seen. Perhaps I should change that.)

Birthday Month: Day 3

Yes, I'm a day behind now. I'm gonna do 30 posts, though!

A few examples of house music to show how disco evolved and grew while the haters thought they got rid of it...

Adeva demands "Respect." Give it up!



Crystal Waters - "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless.") La da dee, la da da, la da dee, la da da,la da dee, la da da... (And another artist born in Philly!)



Inner City - "Big Fun," "Do You Love What You Feel" -- Out of the Detroit house scene. The entire album is excellent but the latter is my favorite

Birthday Month: Day 2

Before we continue this journey: I want to get some back-and-forth on this. If you have song suggestions, comments, reminiscing, etc., comment here, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instragram (should I get a link there as well)...I'd love to have your feedback.

Pamala Stanley's "Coming Out of Hiding" is an example of the hi-NRG music that kept the clubs alive in the 1980s. Wikipedia says Pamala is from Philly. I didn't know that. I'm also embarrassed to say that it didn't dawn on me until now why this was so popular in gay clubs in particular. I mean, really? Just the opening verse itself should have clued me in...

Standing in the shadows too long
Waiting on the sidelines too long
Boy I've been watching you
Now you're gonna watch me too
I'm coming out of hiding



On the same jawn -- HEY! I JUST USED THE WORD JAWN! -- but a little later, and again from Philly, there's Pretty Poison...



In a more classic disco style, another Philly star, sadly no longer with us, Phyllis Hyman.

Birthday Month 2016: Day 1

I've given this month of April a special theme: DISCO!

Why? I'm turning 54 this year.

Get it? Studio 54? Hence, DISCO!

I hope to post a video every day, but I honestly don't know how successful I'll be in reaching that goal. I plan to share some classic faves, some not-so-classics, and maybe a little off-the-beaten path items and some songs that came along to keep the dance alive after the "Disco Sucks" crowd tried its best to kill it. Call it hi-NRG, call it dance music, call it EDM, whatever.

So here's the title song from a movie. The title sums up how I feel every seven days. Thank God It's Friday!



The movie featured Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger, as well as Donna Summer, playing a singer. What a stretch. She sings one of her most famous songs, which will definitely be featured here later this month.