The Groove
Saturday January 4th, 2025 with Elorious Cain
ALFA ANDERSON (September 7,1946 – December 17,2024) ---
The loss of DISCO royalty!.
Very sad to reflect on the recent loss of American singer ALFA ANDERSON. ALFA was a member of two of the finest AMERICAN DISCO groups to ever exist. She is a voice that became a major contributor to the collective consciousness, especially in the United States. She was DISCO royalty, central to timeless creations and musical influences that touch new generations.
| OPEN UP CHIC - REAL PEOPLE (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| ALFA ANDERSON was vocalist for various JAZZ and DISCO recordings in the 1970's like HANNIBAL MARVIN PETERSON & THE SUNRISE ORCHESTRA, NAT ADDERLEY, ODYSSEY, LOU PEREZ, and NORMA JEAN. She was one of the coro singers for EDDIE BENETIZ on his legendary "Essence Of Life" project. Her work with BENETIZ helped prepare her for future projects like STEPHAN JAMES' LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA. |
| YOU MAKE ME FEEL BENETIZ - ESSENCE OF LIFE (LP) - VAYA |
| LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA
Often referred to as the best thing ever released on the Salsoul label, LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA became a controversial and spectacular group in AMERICAN DISCO circles. Many sources identified the group as one of the best new groups in 1978. Two competing schools of thought were wrapped around the adoration of the production by STEPHAN JAMES. One very dominant group of critics compared the whole LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA project to works by the CHARLIE CALELLO ORCHESTRA, the widely popular RINDER & LEWIS produced TUXEDO JUNCTION and the whole "retro-jazz movement" dominated by groups like DR. BUZZARD'S ORIGINAL SAVANNA BAND and KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS. After all, the whole 'Luv You Madly Orchestra' album was an affectionate tribute to the works of JAZZ great DUKE ELLINGTON. There was clearly an identifiable nostalgic flair to the whole album complete with stories for each of the tracks on the album cover, The other school of thought insisted upon connecting and comparing LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA with experimental groups like DINOSOUR and the LOVE OF LIFE ORCHESTRA. Songs on the album like "Moon Maiden" featuring the alarming vocals of ALFA ANDERSON were stunning and mind bending works of emotional intensity that didn't quite fit into the saccharine polluted sex music that overwhelmed the AMERICAN DISCO market to the point of near suffocation. The "In The Beginning Medley" was called out as a deliberately failed medley much in the same tradition of EURODISCO spoofs like TORPEDO's "Like To Write A Song". The "In The Beginning Medley" offered an uncommercial intensity that was almost creepy at times. Even in the 1980's some sources compared LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA tracks like "Hippo Hop" to instrumentals from the highly experimental LOVE OF LIFE ORCHESTRA album 'Geneva' released on the Infidelity label in 1980, Other sources connected the LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA material to the experimental side of AMERICAN DISCO by making a big deal of the mixing of "Moon Maiden" and "Rocket Rock" by WALTER GIBBONS. Even though WALTER GIBBONS was an early New York City area dj, the mixer who extended "Ten Per Cent" by DOUBLE EXPOSURE long enough so that Salsoul Records could release it as the first commercially available 12" single, and the magician that mixed the early underground classic "Sun.. Sun... Sun" by JĂ KKI into its own historic stratosphere; many of these younger critics most emphasize his work with the late ARTHUR RUSSELL (formerly from DINOSOUR) like RUSSELL's spectacular and wildly experimental INDIAN OCEAN material released by Sleeping Bag in 1986. If we get a chance we will try to fit "Hippo Hop" at the end of the show. |
| SODA FOUNTAIN RAG LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA - LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA (LP) - SALSOUL |
| MOON MAIDEN LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA - LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA (LP) - SALSOUL |
| IN THE BEGINNING MEDLEY LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA - LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA (LP) - SALSOUL |
| LUV YOU MADLY LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA - LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA (LP) - SALSOUL |
| CHIC
The legendary BERNARD EDWARDS & NILE RODGERS had already created the band CHIC and hired ALFA ANDERSON as a backup singer in 1977. They did extremely well in the AMERICAN DISCO market with explosive hits like "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" and "Everybody Dance". Both of which became international hits in a highly competitive market in 1977. They were Standardized AMERICAN DISCO with beat-structures that mixed easily with thousands of other comparable recordings. In 1978, ALFA ANDERSON became one of the lead singers in CHIC. With the band's second album 'C'est Chic' they would have their first important hit of timeless influence and appeal. That was called "Le Freak" and it became one of the extremely important AMERICAN DISCO recordings that broke from production standardization that was beginning to stifle the genre's overall appeal. It was flashy and opulent yet funky. The production was sharp and crisp. "Le Freak" was far more sharp and elegant that any FUNK recording because it was really authentic disco performed by a band that was small musical unit, like a ROCK group. It was one of those undeniable discotheque standards that began changing the market itself. Various groups emulated "Le Freak" like the EURODISCO supergroup BELLE EPOQUE with "Jump Down" released on Disques Ibach in 1979. CHIC music with albums like 'C'est Chic', 'Risqué and 'Real People' had a clean sophisticated sound that was inviting and captivating funky disco. Lead vocals by ALFA ANDERSON were often featured and they were amazing in their own cool. The song "At Last I Am Free" really displayed her talents. It had such a strong impact on British ROCK artist ROBERT WYATT that he released his own version of the song in 1980 on the Rough Trade label. In 1979 CHIC released one of the most important records of the late 1970's called "Good Times". The beat-structure's refined FUNK structure that gave the song a mesmerising yet cooled presence. Why it was so important is that it ended up serving as a structural template for hundreds of other records in the 1980's. It, more than any other recording, started a slide in much of the shrinking AMERICAN DISCO industry towards highly standardised variations of FUNK. "Good Times" by CHIC is also so extremely important because it copied for the first commercially successful example of the 10TH GENRE OF DISCO from the western hemisphere that is called HIPHOP. HIPHOP was slowly created during the 1970's by deejays like DJ KOOL HERC in youth parties in the New York City area by mixing and chopping Dub and instrumental FUNK records together so that young people could experiment with the tradition of spontaneous SOUND SYSTEM rapping and toasting that had been occurring for over a decade. Talented teenagers started finding themselves endeared with the concept of "re owning" music as a tool to verbally communicate something. Some have called it RAP MUSIC or HIPHOP. It would become one of the strongest forces in American popular music and eventually the world, influencing Popular culture everywhere. The whole group of genres involved with HIPHOP numbers in the hundreds, now representing millions of recordings in 67 different languages. In a commercial context it all started with the SUGARHILL GANG and their legendary 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight", the very first Sugarhill Records release. "Rapper's Delight" was unabashedly based on "Good Times" by CHIC. Another extremely popular group of records that were based on "Good Times" was the VAUGHAN MASON & CREW singles "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll" and "Roller Skate" released on the Brunswick label in 1979. These three records are just some of hundreds of recordings showing the structural influence of "Good Times" By 1979 CHIC had become one of the most popular and influential DISCO acts on the planet. Their music was being heard on radio stations and in discos continuously. Songs like "I Want Your Love" and "Good Times" had become major emotional elements in the lives of billions. Like the rest of CHIC, ALFA ANDERSON had become 'Disco royalty'. |
| DANCE, DANCE, DANCE (YOWSAH, YOWSAH, YOWSAH) CHIC - 12" - ATLANTIC |
| EVERYBODY DANCE CHIC - CHIC (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| LE FREAK CHIC - C'EST CHIC (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| I WANT YOUR LOVE CHIC - C'EST CHIC (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| AT LAST I AM FREE CHIC - C'EST CHIC (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| GOOD TIMES CHIC - 12" - ATLANTIC |
| MY FORBIDDEN LOVER CHIC - RISQUÉ (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| WILL YOU CRY (WHEN YOU HEAR THING SONG) CHIC - RISQUÉ (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| STAGE FRIGHT CHIC - TAKE IT OFF (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL CHIC - 12" - ATLANTIC |
| GIVE ME THE LOVIN' CHIC - BELIEVER (LP) - ATLANTIC |
| FORMER LADY OF CHIC ALFA ANDERSON - . - ALFA ANDERSON |
| WHEN LUTHER SINGS ALFA ANDERSON - MUSIC FROM MY HEART (CD) - ALFA ANDERSON |
| PERFECTLY CHIC (BOOMTANG EXTENDED MIX) ALFA ANDERSON - 12" - RAMMIT |
| GET ON UP (ARISTO DEMOLITION MIX) ARISTOFREEKS Feat. NEXT STEP & Special Guest KATHY SLEDGE - , - PACIFIC ELECTRONIC MUSIC |
| I'LL BE THERE CHIC Featuring NILE RODGERS W/ The MARTINEZ BROTHERS - 12" - LAND OF THE GOOD GROOVE |
| BACK IN THE OLD SCHOOL CHIC Featuring NILE RODGERS W/ The MARTINEZ BROTHERS - 12" - LAND OF THE GOOD GROOVE |
| HIPPO HOP LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA - LUV YOU MADLY ORCHESTRA (LP) - SALSOUL |
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Another amazing show on tap today, Elorious. Sad to hear of Alfa's passing. But happy anytime I hear the treasured names......Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and Kid Creole & The Coconuts. PARTY MUSIC extraordinaire!!!!!
10:08 AM, January 4th, 2025