PicoBlog

A couple of major artists have gotten attention for diving into “dance music” this summer. Interesting albums, yes, but to my old school ears, their attempts don’t really match the funky soul of the ‘80s music that they seeme determined to reinvent, echo or supercede.

Though many associate me with hip-hop, being a New Yorker who dated extensively throughout the ‘80s I spent a lot time at clubs that either didn’t play “rap” or only jumped on the genre later in the decade. Most of the time if you wanted to meet “ladies of the ‘80s” you better be prepared to groove to the various strains of post-disco dance music that black clubs like the Silver Shadow and Bentleys or new wave joints like Traxx and the Peppermint Lounge There was a lot of overlap between black electro boogie, the UK synth bands and funky R&B of that era, depending on the night and the DJ. (Many of these records first got hot via Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage, but my introduction to them came on WBLS radio where program director Frankie Crocker took a lot of cues from the gay crowd at the Garage who were very musically progressive.)

In the spirit of this post pandemi panic summer, where people are returning to communal partying, determined to make up for lost time, here are the vintage tracks that bought out the hedonist in me — some of which I’ve heard recently remixed with new rhythm tracks, but with top lines intact — coming out of cars, park jams and cool clothing stores.

Imagination “Just an Illusion”

Alicia Myers “I Want to Thank You”

Fonda Rae “Like a Fat Rat”

Colonel Abrams “I’m Not Gonna Let You”

T.S. Monk “Bon Bon Vie”

Peech Boys “Don’t Make Me Wait”

Taana Gardner “Heartbeat”

Change “Paradise”

Sharon Brown “I Specialize in Love”

Shelia “Spacer”

Loose Joints “Is It All Over My Face?”

Soft Cell “Tainted Love/ Where Did Our Love Go”

Grace Jones “My Jamaican Guy”

Grace Jones “Nipple to the Bottle”

Rockers Revenge “Walking into Sunshine”

The Strikers “Body Music”

Junior “Mama Used to Say”

Stephanie Mills “Put Your Body In It”

The Jones Girls “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else”

Yazoo “Situation”

Loose Ends “Slow Down”

Womack & Womack “Baby I’m Scared of You”

Unlimited Touch “I Hear Music in the Streets”

Unlimited Touch “Searching to Find the One”

Denroy Morgan “I’ll Do Anything for You”

Teena Marie “Square Biz”

Gwen McCrae “Funky Sensation”

Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King “Love Come Down”

D Train “You’re the One for Me”

Sylvester “Do You Wanna Funk”

Indeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”

Howard Johnson “So Fine”

Dazz Band “Let It Whip”

Odyssey “Inside Out”

ABC “Poison Arrow”

Bow Wow Wow “I Want Candy”

Jermaine Jackson “Let Me Tickle You Fancy”

Raw Silk “Do It to the Music”

The Gap Band “Outstanding”

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