Buddah Records Mix: Part 1

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DATE : Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:57:51 GMT
Entered in Database : 2008-01-18 00:57:51
length : 77506855
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Buddah Mix Part 11) Curtis Mayfield: Right On For The Darkness 2) Melba Moore: Ain’t No Love Lost3) Norman Connors feat Phillip Mitchell: Once I’ve Been There (12”mix)4) Black Ivory: Mainline5) Gladys Knight&The Pips: Better Than Good Time6) Ben Vereen: Signed, Sealed, Delivered7) Phyllis Hyman: Living Inside Your Love8) Modulations: Hopelessly In Love9) Fresh Flavour: Without You Baby I’m Loser10) MVPs: Turning My Heartbeat Up11) Jimmy Jackson: Footsteps In The Shadows (LP version)12) Aquarian Dream: Phoenix13) Andrea True Connection: Fill Me Up (Heart to Heart) (AIGT re-edit)Founded in 1967 and originally putting out‘bubble gum’pop records, the label came into it’s own in the mid to late 70’s and was fuelled onwards by the input of Norman Connors who joined the company in 1976. Buddah was at the forefront of the fledgling disco scene and was one of the early labels to produce 12”s, it also released some seminal Blaxplotation LPsThis mix and the subsequent instalments mainly concentrates on the era of the‘brown’Buddah label 1972-1978, however a few tunes creep in from the following incarnation when the label featured the capitol letter B.Over the years Buddah featured legendary artists of the disco era such as The Trammps, Phyllis Hyman, Melba Moore, Van McCoy, Leroy Burgess (Black Ivory) and Gladys Knight and The Pips as well as many artists like Jae Mason, who have since criminally faded into obscurity but still produced some beautiful soul music. Other artists also appeared briefly on Buddah at some point in their recording career for example, Chic originally released Dance, Dance, Dance on Buddah before moving to Atlantic and Cubie and the Stairsteps introduced a fresh faced Keni Burke to the world, no bad thing in my opinion. Curtis Mayfield’s early association with Buddah is evident throughout the story, not only did he release music on the label but Curtom was also distributed by Buddah, as was Sussex Records (we’ll hear more from both of these labels in the future). Artists on Buddah covered many of Mayfield’s songs and he also wrote specifically for them, the first mix features Melba Moore’s version of his Ain’t No Love Lost’which was also released by Patti Jo to great acclaim on the underground scene both then and today.Andrea True started her career in the Adult film industry, she co-penned and initially finaced her disco pop hit More More More with Greg Diamond in 1976 which was then remixed by Tom Moulton and proved a big hit in discos world wide (the drum break towards the end was also sampled by Len: Steal My Sunshine). The original promo 12”release is collectable and sought after however the tune has never been a favourite of mine, instead I’ve included Fill Me Up (Heart to Heart) which is at least if not more cheesy but I’ve always has a soft spot for it. Fill Me Up was also faithfully covered by Caress on Roulette Records.Norman Connors should need little introduction, he was responsible for signing Melba Moore and Aquarian Dream . He also recorded in his own right for Buddah perhaps most notably on his album You Are My Starship which featured the title track and also The Creator Has A Master Plan ( featuring Pharoah Sanders). His LP Romantic Journey contains the all time classic Once I’ve Been There, sung by Phillip Michell, also released as a 12”, like a lot of the early Buddah 12”its hard to come by and very collectable. Once I’ve Been There was successfully covered by Dr Bob Jones’East West Connection on Chilli Funk, another piece of vinyl worth seeking out.Buddah’s releases also made waves on the Northern soul as well as the Disco scene with tracks like The MVPs: Turning My Heartbeat Up. I don’t know if Jimmy Jackson’s Footsteps in The Shadows ever got any Northern plays but it sounds like it could have, the LP version knocks spots of the 45 release with the extended drum sections and effects, shame about the slightly dodgy edit at the end.Over the next few months I’ll be posting up at least another two episodes featuring Buddah records…’for your disco pleasure’

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