Tony Cook first came to prominence as the drummer of James Brown’s backing band, The JB’s, having joined in 1976 at the age of 18. Although he stayed with Brown’s group until 1993, during the ’80s he produced a number of solo boogie/funk tracks at his studio in Augusta, GA, which were collected in the 2010 Stones Throw Records compilation Back to Reality on which “Mighty Fine” can be found. Female vocals on this one come courtesy of Vanessa Jean, a member of Cook’s side-project The Party People. Also of note on the comp is Cook’s track “On The Floor,” described on Cook’s own website as “the granddaddy of all house records.”

Cook rejoined The JB’s in 2005, playing with them until Brown’s death in 2006, and today, Cook performs with his band Trunk-O-Funk. That Stones Throw comp is unquestionably where you’ll want to start with his catalog—after that, you’re gonna be picking through the usual secondhand sources, so best of luck. Believe me: this stuff’s definitely worth checking out.

[Discogs]
[Stones Throw]
[Website]

Tokyo Kid Brothers were an experimental theater/music commune formed in Japan in 1968. This track, “ピース～ダダダ” (“Peace~Da Da Da“), is the first on their 1971 soundtrack to Throw Away the Books, Let’s Go Into the Streets, directed by experimental filmmaker Shuji Terayama. This is pretty reflective of the record’s overall style, which is to say it’s weird and wild and all over the place. If you ever wished Magma could be a little more esoteric, your prayers have been answered.

The group disbanded in 2000 after the death of founder Yutaka Higashi, and their stuff’s a little hard to track down these days, but it’s well worth it if you’re looking for some genuinely offbeat Japanese psych-rock.

[Discogs]
[Website]

Here’s part one of a two-and-a-half-hour set of psych rock put together by Dan, music director for The Rock Show, and his co-DJ, Adam. We never actually posted it on the site proper, so here it is in its entirety. Check out part two on Mixcloud, or embedded after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a Track of the Day from Ethan, who’s a producer at The Rock Show and a DJ with More Bounce. He writes:

This elusive hip-hop group consisting of Honey B and Sandy D released only the one single, “Dancing Heart.” I can’t help but believe that to be true, as the single was released under the moniker Universal Two, even though they clearly refer to themselves as the Universal Three right at the start of the song. This was originally released back in 1981 on Golden Flamingo Records, and in the past few years has been featured on a handful of compilations and DJ mixes. I first heard it on the Big Apple Rappin’ compilation, which features 2 CDs full of early New York hip-hop gems. Golden Flamingo, run by Peter Brown, was active in the late-70s and early-80s and put out some incredibly solid socially conscious disco and hip-hop. Peter Brown also ran many other small disco/funk/hip-hop labels including Clarence Music, Destiny, Funk Groove Records, Georgia Peach Records, among others.

The track was produced by none other than Patrick Adams (who contributed to Golden Flamingo quite regularly, both as producer and musician), an honestly prolific musician/songwriter/arranger/producer that worked with groups such as Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal Robot Band, Gladys Knight, Eric B and Rakim, R. Kelly, Salt-N-Pepa, The Shades of Love, Rainbow Brown, Eddie Kendricks, and was responsible for the Musique hit, “Keep On Jumpin’” in 1978. As a producer, Adams was way ahead of his time. His experiments and innovations in the studio continue to be extremely influential to pop music.

[Discogs]

Today’s Track of the Day comes to us from Dan, music director at The Rock Show. He says:

The Wipers were a punk band from Portland, Oregon. They formed in 1977, with Greg Sage on guitar, Sam Henry on drums and Dave Koupal on bass. The project was the brainchild of Sage, whose alienated lyrics and guitar heroics won them many fans—most famously, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who covered several of the band’s songs (check out the tribute album Eight Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers for covers by some of the band’s more and less well-known fans). The Wipers’ first three albums, Is This Real?, Youth of America, and Over The Edge, are all essential listening for any fan of guitar solos and being pissed off. Sage reissued the three discs on his Zeno Records imprint in 2001. The set is available on the Zeno Records site, along with CD-R copies of out-of-print works.

[Discogs]
[Zeno Records]

Today’s Track of the Day is off Spectre, the second LP by San Francisco electronic musician Trans-Millenia Consort, put out in 1984. Trans-Millenia Consort was the musical alter-ego of blind keyboardist Pauline Anna Strom, who self-released Spectre on Trans-Millenia Consort Recordings in 1984. Strom spoke candidly about her blindness inn a 1986 interview with Eurock Magazine, and here’s what she had to say:

I feel it has helped rather than hindered my musical abilities. My hearing and inner visualization have, I feel, developed to a higher level than perhaps they would have, otherwise. And it doesn’t affect my abilities from a technical standpoint, either. It’s quite possible to program synthesizers, effects units, accurately record one’s work and handle a mixer. I do this all by sound. In fact, I rather like working in the dark. [source]

In addition to two LPs released under the Trans-Millenia Consort name (both of which come highly recommended), Strom put out a series of cassettes in 1988. Really interested readers can also look for Strom’s first record, released under her own name in 1982, titled—wait for it—Trans-Millenia Consort. Although Strom has stopped releasing music since the late ’80s, as of 2008 she’s still living in San Francisco and working as a spiritual counselor. Check her stuff out. You won’t be disappointed.

[Discogs]

Hey, folks. We’re gonna try something new the next few weeks, as part of our regular Track of the Day feature. Basically, every Thursday, we’re gonna post an archived show from our Mixcloud profile that we think is worth your time. Consider this a trial run for the next few weeks, and we’ll see how it goes. As always, you can post in the comments or email us if you’ve got any thoughts on how you’d like to see our Mixcloud content presented.

Today’s show comes from our friends at More Bounce, who’ve been among some of our earliest Mixcloud boosters. This installment of More Bounce is a personal fave of ours, so check it out if you’re in the mood for some sweet boogie/funk-type listening material.

Check back tomorrow for a new Track of the Day, and make sure to check back next Thursday to find out what show we’ve chosen next!