Aug 15, 2008

Into The Groove (41)

Hello, Into The Groove has some early eighties electro-funk. Zapp revolutionized the computer pop of electro with their trademark vocoder talk boxes and bumping grooves and if you can keep sitting still with More Bounce To The Ounce, you'd better check your pulse....Prince Charles let his The City Beat Band loose and they bounce around their take on P-Funk, it's heavy bass, some hardhitting percusssion, ragged beat and squelchy synth sound all around.....Finally Whodini, they went to London to sign a deal and meet Thomas Dolby and Conny Plank who steered their synthesizer-driven, heavy electronic drumbeat towards laying the groundwork for sampling based rap...they looked sharp ...

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Zapp - Zapp ( 80 ^ 233mb)

The nucleus of Zapp circled around three of the five Troutman brothers: Lester, Larry and their younger brother Roger. The duo of Lester and Roger started several groups,. Larry and Tony eventually joined their brothers when their name became Roger and the Human Body, which also included youngest brother Terry.The name change to Zapp came courtesy of Terry, whose nickname was that of "Zapp". The family group, grew up in Hamilton, OH, influenced by hometown heroes the Ohio Players as well as Parliament and other funk groups.

Zapp's following quickly gained notices, and George Clinton signed them to his Uncle Jam Records. When that label folded the following year, the group signed with P-Funk's parent label, Warner Bros. Records, and began working on their first album courtesy of co-production from Bootsy Collins. Released in the late summer of 1980, Zapp's seminal self-titled debut album became a platinum success thanks to the single "More Bounce to the Ounce

The following year, Roger released his solo debut album, "The Many facets of Roger". His special cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," complete with vocoderized talk box, pushed the album into gold territory (as "Zapp" had done). "Zapp II" appeared in 1982 and proved just as popular as the group's first, including Zapp's only number one R&B single, "Dance Floor." Zapp III" barely made the Top 40 pop charts upon release in 1983, and Roger’s second solo album, "The Saga Continues", was also a (commercial) disappointment. Roger, who was the leader of the group and most famous for using the talk box in his recordings, was also the band's producer, chief writer, arranger, and composer. He and older brother Larry, who served as percussionist in the band's early years and later retired from music to serve as his younger brother's manager, often collaborated on songs together, an arrangement that likely gave rise to the tragedy that was to follow years later.

"The New Zapp IV U" fared slightly better after release in late 1985 (thanks to the single "Computer Love"), and in 1987, Roger’s third solo album, "Unlimited!", featured the group's biggest hit yet, "I Want to Be Your Man," a chart-topper on the R&B lists and a respectable number three pop. Though Roger and/or Zapp hit the R&B charts frequently during the rest of the late '80s. By the release of Roger's solo album, 1991's Bridging the Gap, success had mostly dwindled for the group though their records were now being sampled constantly by hip-hop acts.

Roger continued to produce and play with other artists, and it was his talk box that graced Dr. Dre & 2Pac's Top Ten 1996 single "California Love." The 1993 Roger & Zapp collection All the Greatest Hits sold well, earning the collective their first platinum record. Through it all, Zapp continued to find massive success as a concert draw, made due to the large part of Roger's leadership and gifted talents as a live performer.The Zapp story ended in tragedy on April 25, 1999, when Roger was shot to death by his brother Larry, who then turned the gun on himself. Zapp revolutionized the computer pop of electro with their trademark vocoder talk boxes and bumping grooves, with a leader in Roger Troutman who was more than efficient producer.



1 - More Bounce To The Ounce (9:25)
2 - Freedom (3:48)
3 - Brand New PPlayer (5:51)
4 - Funky Bounce (6:46)
5 - Be Alright (7:52)
6 - Coming Home (6:34)

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Prince Charles And The City Beat Band - Stone Killers (82 ^ 511mb)

"Prince Charles and the City Beat Band" recorded 3 albums on Virgin Records from the early to mid 80's, and achieved their biggest successes on the European charts. Charles fronted the group as the lead singer and multi instrumentalist. The futuristic wind synthesizer called the "Lyricon" was the instrument that made his brand of next generation p-funk unique, and the group's sound incorporated many of the devices that would propel rap music to the forefront of the American music scene.
Boston funk flautist Charles Alexander leads the City Beat Band through eight long Gap Band-styled party grooves on Stone Killers. The music is infectious and unassailably danceable; the semi-rap lyrics vary from juvenile and bnoxious — "Big Chested Girls" — to simplistic and funny — "Cash (Cash Money)."

With the emergence of rap as the dominant reflection of street culture, Prince Charles disbanded his group and began focusing on audio engineering . This was a logical step for a producer, writer, musician and entrepeneur with a hunger for knowledge of all kinds. Since the switch, "Prince Charles Alexander" has become a multi-platinum recording and mixing engineer for a large client base and has resurged as a sought after producer for domestic and international projects. He is a member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammy Committee Board of Governors, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the Musician's Union Local 802 in NYC as well as managing up and coming talent through his company Ark Angel Music, Inc. Prince Charles is currently an Associate Professor in the Music Production & Engineering Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts



01 - Don't Fake The Funk (7:39)
02 - Cash (Cash Money) (6:12)
03 - Big Chested Girls (7:41)
04 - Cold As Ice (NYC Blues) (6:44)
05 - I'm A Fool For Love (5:58)
06 - Jungle Stomp (7:38)
07 - Bush Beat (7:41)
08 - Video Freak (Defend It!) (4:19)
Bonus
09 - Cash (Cash Money) (Dance Mix) 6:14
10 - Beat The Bush 9:11
11 - Cash (Cash Money) (Radio Edit) 3:42
12 - Beat The Bush (Radio Edit) 4:07


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Whodini - Whodini (83 ^ 245mb)

Coming out of the fertile early-'80s New York rap scene, the Brooklyn-raised trio, Whodini were one of the first rap groups to add a straight Funk, R&B twist to their music, thus laying the groundwork for the new jack swing movement. The group consisted of rappers Jalil Hutchins and John "Ecstasy" Fletcher, they signed with London-based indie Jive Records in 1982;
In keeping with 1980s trends, Whodini’s cuts tended to be synthesizer-driven with a heavy electronic drumbeat. The sampling technology that became identified with hip-hop music hadn’t really become prominent during Whodini’s early days, and its works were thoroughly original compositions. “Haunted House of Rock” (a rewrite of "Monster Mash"), was its first single, a whimsical Halloween-themed number. Synth-pop pioneer Thomas Dolby produced another of its early singles, “Magic’s Wand,” which was originally conceived as an advertisement for prominent radio jock Mr. Magic. Conny Plank produced 2 tracks (nasty lady & rapmachine)

Legendary DJ Drew "Grandmaster Dee" Carter , known for being able to scratch records with nearly every part of his body, joined Whodini in time for the Escape LP, released in 1984. Their third record, Back in Black, is the follow-up to a multi-platinum album, 1984's Escape. The first track "Funky Beat" features monster bass and drums, the one-two punch of Hutchins and Ecstasy, as well as a rare rap from Grandmaster Dee. The well-produced "One Love" has great synth signatures and the guys dispensing their brand of pithy and pragmatic advice. The producer Larry Smith knew how to keep things sonically interesting. On the lyrically foggy "Fugitive," the hard rock guitars and clanging cymbals mesh especially well with Ecstasy's droll and abrupt delivery. "Echo Scratch" is also all over the road, but it was a great chance for Grandmaster Dee to show off his turntable skills. Also recorded at Battery Studios in London (as was Escape), Back in Black wasn't as influential as its predecessor, but it's just as enjoyable.

Following 1987's Open Sesame, Whodini went on hiatus due to problems with their record company, as well as to concentrate on new families. The group attempted a comeback in 1991 with Bag-a-Trix without much success, despite receiving their due as rap innovators. In mid-1994 it did score a hit single in “It all Comes down to the Money,” co-produced by Public Enemy DJ Terminator X. Talks with Def Jam for a new deal stalled, and In 1996, they were signed by Jermaine Dupri (mentor-producer to Kris Kross and Bow Wow) to his then-Columbia Records-distributed So So Def Recordings imprint. As a child in the 1980s, Dupri did a brief stint as a dancer for the group. The album Six birthed “Keep Running Back,” a brief R&B charter, before quickly sinking down.



01 - The Haunted House Of Rock (6:26)
02 - Nasty Lady (5:50)
03 - Underground (5:38)
04 - It's All In Mr Magic's Wand (4:36)

05 - Magic's Wand (5:38)
06 - Yours For A Night (5:51)
07 - Rap Machine (4:57)
08 - The Haunted House Of Rock (Vocoder Version) (5:23)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Whodini eligible for re-up status?