Friday, June 1, 2012

SWEETBACK! v.17 :
“Bunda Boogie”

Toronto’s hottest underground disco and funk monthly rolls into the stylish Bunda Lounge in the heart of the Ossington club district (1108 Dundas St. West). This will be the first of many red hot disco events featuring the baddest cuts allowed by law on the 1st of each month. Expect rare trax and a live dancefloor fueled Bunda’s top notch soundsystem.

Featured Djs are:
Paul E. Lopes (Bump & Hustle)
David James (moovin’ in the right direction CIUT 89.5)
the Jive Express (chameleon project/sweetbackgroove.com)

$5 B4 midnight w/R.S.V.P. $10 After
(to RSVP PM me on this board) or email pricelessaudiio@gmail.com

COME EARLY, STAY LATE, SHAKE BOOTY, DON’T HATE.

We play only vintage disco, funk and dancefloor jazz. If you expect to hear the Y.M.C.A you will be dissapointed.

Friday, January 27, 2012

SWEETBACK! v.16 :
“Pinball Hustle”

Another evening of smokin’ hot rare disco, funk, space disco and dancefloor jazz rolls into the newly renovated Monarch Tavern. Never a cover and lots of room for dancing, booty shaking and cutting the rug.
This months Djs are:

David James – Founder of Toronto’s classic disco and disco/house soundsystem “Do you Remember disco?” and host of the “Moovin’ in the right direction” radio show on CIUT 89.5FM, featuring the hottest leftfield house, disco and disco edits in the City.

Uncle Funke – A selector extraordinaire with a touch like no other on the wheels of steel sure to motivate your feet across the dancefloor. This is the first time Uncle Funke has been at a Sweetback in over a year.

Jive Express – Armed with a vault of dangerous beats and dancefloor treasures Josh Laing (guitarist for the Chameleon Project) aka, the Jive Express continues to breath life into forgotten classics and disco monsters.

No Cover!

Come Early, Stay Late, Shake Your Booty, Don’t Hate.

Also – for your listening enjoyment, Jive Express recorded his set from last month’s Sweetback! and today, here on this site, we bring it to you. Through the power of Soundcloud, This heady mix of rare disco and funk is what you can expect at each and every Sweetback!

Get on the good foot!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

SWEETBACK! v.15
“Disco For The People”

The return of Toronto’s baddest rare disco and funk night!

After a year long absence, the Sweetback! thumps it’s way into the newly renovated, Monarch Tavern for a free event! (no cover). We are on a mission to fill the air with lost classics, old favorites and dangerous dancefloor selections. We aim to put hustle in your bustle and bump in your grind as we fill the room with vibe. You bring your booty to the dancefloor and we got you covered at the door. It’s tight like that.

This edition of the Sweetback! the djs will include:

The Jive Express: Gutiarist for the Chameleon Project and collector of tracks so rare and lowdown even yo mama’s mama do know about them.

MJ Shaps: bassist and composer for King Sunshine and The Soul Motivators and disco selector extrodinaire!

DJ Voltaire Ramos: Guitarist for the Soul Motivators and esteemed Jazz/Funk enthusiast.

*COME EARLY STAY LATE, SPREAD LOVE DON’T HATE*

Coming to the disc as an admittedly unfamiliar Buddy Holly fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve heard a few Buddy Holly songs in my travels, but his brand of pop never really struck a chord with me. As a kid I listened to the 50s & 60s hits of course, but I was primarily a Beach Boys guy growing up. No doubt inspired by some neon typefaced movie soundtrack initially, they became my first heavy rotation band at six years old.

That said, even the Brian Wilson cut of “Listen To Me” didn’t grab me the first play through. It wasn’t really until Jackson Browne’s haunting “True Love Ways” at track 5 that I opened up to the groove. A stand out cover, but could also stand on its own, Browne’s vocal tone and use of pedal steel round out an appropriate portrait. Then in true diametric juxtoposition, Peggy Sue jumps out and grabs your junk. Well, Cobra Starship give her that treatment anyway. Starting off in dangerous territory, they do manage to pull out a memorable rendition, albeit lacking a lot of replay potential. Your toddlers might enjoy this version though, as it certainly kicks the Wiggles’ ass. Not that I’d know.

One highlight was The Fray’s cover of “Take Your Time”, which had an immediate and deep resonance for me. When the vocalist began, I noticed a little teen heartthrob quality that I might expect to hear while watching a young warewolf or vampire saga. Maybe they’ve been heard there already, but as I listened deeper I heard something reminiscent of Matchbox 20′s big debut and Wide Mouth Mason’s Self-titled Warner release. By far this was the most commercial cut on the compilation, but that didn’t negate it from also becoming a personal favourite.

Music’s living legends are all over the tracklist with Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Merchant and even Eric Idle donating songs to this collection benefiting the Songwriters.org Listen To Me program. Ringo Starr does a particularly groovy job of giving “Think It Over” the flower power makeover, while Lyle Lovett won me over with a real live show feel. His effort shines through thanks to some wide open mixing and a genuine performance. It ain’t funk, but it’s got soul.

The collection has a wide spectrum, much like Buddy Holly’s song catalog itself, and this disc may be better as a singles collection; pieced out to the people track by track. I hope they don’t force you to buy it all for a good cause, but only ever listen to 20% of it again. That would be a barrier… I mean, bummer… wouldn’t it?

As science teaches us, all things in nature are subject to evolution. Is a song any different? From the time people stretched animal skins to beat with bones there has been a progression of sound. Each generation of a rhythm or melody building on what came before. Changing slightly, but usually revealing its genome in a trill, a texture, or a telling transcribing. Within every song, there is a lineage. The aboriginal peoples of Australia call them “Songlines” and if you follow them, they will often take you to new and interesting places.

The year is 1969 and a young up-and-comer in the record business is looking for new opportunities when the record label he works for folds. Now called Mustang and Bronco, the labels have hits like “I Fought The Law”, not to mention US and UK hits for one aritst directly under his management, Felice Taylor. With his career temporarily on hold, he agrees to write and produce a theme song for the Hanna-Barbera children’s TV series ‘The Banana Splits’. As is true to this day, music used in film or television can be very lucrative and the song “Doin’ The Banana Split” kept him in a positive cash flow for some time.

Prior to his work at Mustang/Bronco, he played drums and keys for an artist named Jackie Lee, touring on the strength of a song called “The Duck”. The two grew tight on that tour and when Jackie needed a new single he knew exactly who to call.

In 1970, Jackie Lee released the first ever recorded version of the classic “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness” written by none other than Mr. Barry White. That recording has never been re-released and can be found only on a 7″ vinyl single, played at 45 revolutions per minute. This version of the song was a Billboard “Soul Sauce” pick of the week in the October 10, 1970 issue along with the comment “Bound to be big”.

The name Jackie Lee was just a pseudonym conujured up by Earl Lee Nelson, whose wife’s name was Jackie. He also recorded under the names Earl Cosby, Chip Nelson and under the slightly more familiar moniker: Jay Dee. Jay Dee’s first album in 1974 called ‘Come On In Love’ was entirely produced by Barry White, and almost entirely written too. It included yet another recording of “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness”, this time with the songwriter himself at the helm to make it sound proper.

While producing the album for Jay Dee, Barry White’s solo career and his recordings with Love Unlimited were burning up the charts. His debut album ‘I’ve Got So Much To Give’ and its lead single “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby” went Gold. His recording of the instrumental “Love’s Theme” by Love Unlimited and re-released as The Love Unlimited Orchestra climbed to No. 1 on the USA charts and top 10 in twenty-five countries around the world. Barry White even married Glodean James of Love Unlimited, making 1974 a very big year for “The Man”.

Between 1973 and 1979, 20 albums were released on 20th Century records under the name Barry White, Love Unlimited or The Love Unlimited Orchestra, almost all of which achieved at least Gold status in the USA. He sold $16 million worth of records in just 1974 alone and Barry White was deemed responsible for the ‘Baby Boom’ in the mid-Seventies as reported by the New York Times. “Not me personally,” he would joke, “but my music.”

Barry White achieved a long list of classics, with songs such as “Love’s Theme”, “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Babe”, “Let The Music Play”, “What Am I Gonna Do With You”, and “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me” becoming a virtual soundtrack to the 70s era.

In 1978 “The Man” would finally get his chance to record “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness” in what I suspect would be the way he first imagined it. With the release of the album “The Man”, a 12″ Disco single was distributed to DJs around the world featuring an epic 8-minute love-making eargasm of a song. As a single it climbed to #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 9 weeks on the chart.

For your listening enjoyment, here are all three versions of my personal favourite Barry White lullabye. The ultra-rare Jackie Lee version (1970), the more widely distributed Jay Dee version (1974), and the eventual masterpiece by Barry White himself (1978).

God Bless Barry. We love you, baby.

The golden era of ‘60s and ‘70s soul music boasts a great tradition for Christmas songs and, following in the footsteps of classic Christmas albums from the Motown stable and James Brown, Strut enter the festive spirit this November with the first ever Yuletide compilation on the label, IN THE CHRISTMAS GROOVE, bringing together 12 rare soul, funk and blues cuts rediscovered from Christmases past. Featuring tracks often only ever released as obscure 45 B-sides, the compilation tracks one-off moments when the good groove met the jingle bells to devastating effect. Artists include bluesman Jimmy Reed, jamming hard on ‘Christmas Present Blues’ and Calypsonian Capt. Elmo McKenzie with a lilting Yuletide Caribbean ode on Barbados label Trex.

IN THE CHRISTMAS GROOVE was released on CD and digital on November 23rd and features an extensive booklet including original sleeve artwork and sleeve notes by James Maycock of Mojo magazine.

For more info and to send a free christmas track visit

www.inthechristmasgroove.com

Sunday, February 14, 2010

DANCE MUSIC FOR LOVERS

Sunday, February 14, 2010
FAMILY DAY LONG WEEKEND

featuring funk, soul, boogie, disco, house and edits by:

DAVID JAMES
(DYRD? | CKLN 88.1FM | OUTTA SPACE DISCO)

PLATFORM SHAG
(SWEETBACK! | sweetbackgroove.com)

FUZZY 2 DA TOUCH
(TEATRO | OUTTA SPACE DISCO)

JIVE EXPRESS
(SWEETBACK! | chameleonproject.com)

NO COVER || 9:PM-3:AM

Rasputin Vodka Bar
780 Queen St E
(@ DeGrassi)

RSVP via Facebook

COME GET SOME

This past weekend we had the honour of welcoming Mr. Scruff back to Toronto at the Wrongbar. He played a monumental 4-hour+ set of the funkiest original grooves and re-edits around. One favourite is the following, which I absolutely had to track down after hearing it that night.

It comes courtesy Leftside Wobble, who describes it as: “[My] first edit of 2010 and it’s a cut of what is probably my all time favourite Curtis Mayfield track – spliced and diced with love into a 15 minute disco monster.”

I don’t normally link-out to other pages, but I have to give this man his due. Hope you all enjoy!

via Curtis Mayfield – Hell Below (Leftside Wobble Edit).

“Although many people may not know it by name, nearly everyone who has ever danced in a club or bought a hip-hop track in the past 30 years has experienced a Technics turntable.” – Alexander Grouch

Today is a sad day indeed if the rumours started on Australian message forum Global Hardstyle are correct, and they do appear to be.  Confirmed in a statement reported on In The Mix, Panasonic Australia expressed their disappointment that the Technics 1200 and 1210 series’ 35 year legacy was at an end.

Although we at the Sweetback! also employ CDs and sometimes digital files through an interface like Rane’s Serato Scratch, the primary resource for our disco revival is vinyl.  From 12″ singles or extended mixes to original album cuts to increasingly rare 45s, our wax is stacked high with the rare classics we uncork at each of our events.  Being able to mix these records with grace, ease and consistency is all due to the universal standard in club instruments and a djs best tool.  The Technics 1200 revolutionized the dance music world and carried hip-hop from the budding artform invented with the help of the Technics 1100, into the mainstream.  Disco music and dancefloors around the globe owe the 1200 a fond and respectful farewell.  The single greatest music performance tool invented in the last century will obviously live on through die-hards, collectors and revivalists such as ourselves, but for today, we mourn the loss of a friend.

Friday, November 20th, 2009

SWEETBACK! v.14
“Winter Fresh”

Welcome to the last Sweetback! event for 2009. And for this one, we’re pulling out all the stops.

Joining us this month is Toronto’s Turntable Titan: JASON PALMA!

A local institution in and of himself, JASON PALMA has been blessing Tdot dancefloors for decades. As one of the first architects of Toronto’s early Acid Jazz, Deep House and Funk scenes, his skill at mixing records that other DJs would deem ‘unmixable’ has placed him in constant demand over the course of his career. With his influential fingerprint on so many up and coming DJs, it’s no wonder he has also become one of our most beloved homegrown fixtures.

With Sweetback! residents:
The Jive Express
Platform Shag

$5 @ the door
Doors at 9:30pm
Augusta House
(152 Augusta Ave.)

RSVP via facebook

There will not be a December Sweetback! so come spend our last of 2009 on November 20th. We will also be celebrating Platform Shag’s Dirty 30! A better excuse to party you will rarely find!