Wow, what a time period!! As I am in a “winter of personal decluttering” and purging paper, vinyl and other “stuff” not essential for the duration, ahead of spring, I find that Father Time is people-paralleling me.
Every time I look up a long favorite recording artist these days, I “Google” them and see news of their recent death! OMGosh! WTF? It began with Irene Cara this past December. I look in my mirror after a hot shower, feeling strongly renewed and yet the treadmill churns towards all of our eventual oblivion, which is mortality I feel for the first times in my history. Yet, my secret, which The Creator advises me not to write about here, keeps me younger than the chronological.
Writing all of this to shake my head that when I decided to rehab my cherished 12″ single of “Can’t Fake The Feeling” by Geraldine Hunt’s jacket and decided to see what she is up to these days, I learned that she too is a recent Reaper musical loss. https://www.soultracks.com/story-geraldine-hunt-dies
“Can’t Fake The Feeling” is one of my Hall of Fame party music classics from the 1980s where I cut many eye teeth using it as a floor filler on gig nights. She followed it up with “Heart Heart”, a slightly less bumping similar track that was definitely not wack.
Both were culled from the 1980 Prism Records album, “No Way” [PLP 1006]; Prism was basically a metro New York City presence, but the promo reps were super cool to DJs like me back then and I give them major props! Geraldine was streetwise attitude with class like all my similar sistahs from other mistahs of that ilk, and that is one reason I miss and love her.
It is a very rejuvenating time in contemporary music when our beloved icon, Smokey Robinson (remember “Smokey Robinson & The Miracles”?) and The SOS Band (“Baby You Can Do It Take Your Time” – 1980) both have new music out, probably shocking the Billboard music charts back into the reality of the longevity of musical artists creativity, as long as we have breath! So please listen and enjoy..
Pick Hit Suggestion: If you want to continue to live and physically love longer and healthier, don’t tell people how “old” you are and keep working out at the gym. Never let chronological years suppress your energetic creativity, and keep in shape.
As always, please check back to the Mothership blog, www.achilliad.wordpress.com for otherworldly non-musical topics.
“…Latin music is so positive, festive and optimistic. Its is made of what the USA and, indeed the world needs more of these days…”
I grew up with radio in New York City; I went to school (the right way) integrated with European Caucasians, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans (unknown to me when I was little) and other black American descendants of American slaves – there was no such thing as an “African-American” back then, by the way; they had not been allowed to assault into our shores – we had a good mix in the 1960s and 1970s!
Now that I am decluttering and finding past memories of my DJ life, I’ve discovered and am -among others – reliving the musical magic of the Bronx!
The title of this song means – according to your dialect – “That doesn’t suit me”, or ‘Its not worthy for me”. Please correct me in the comments section, if I’m off-base. Language and linguistics is king to cohesion.
Irregardless, Latin music is so positive, festive, inclusive and optimistic. Its is made of what the USA and, indeed the world needs much more of these days!
Again I implore you to disconnect from the negative #cableTV #24hour news, in-favor of quieting your mind into the peace our parents raised in us, please. Whatever will BE, will be.
Please remember to flash back to our mothership connection blog, achilliad.wordpress.com, where silence is avoiding negativity.
I dined upon and digested “Salutations” by Canada’s Paul Manchin during the spring 2017 holidays and I must admit that the feast was a smorgasbord of gourmet sounds upon a diverse continental musical menu, unlike any in recent memory. This is not to imply that I loved every utensil on this table setting, however. Then, his CD got stuck in my car radio player for many days, causing me to do even more research on how to free it again so that I could recite these titles to you! Relatable…very. For me, this is a whole De Ja Vu experience with Paul again. I first reviewed Paul’s “Truth” and “Expression” while writing for someone named “DJ Ron” who edited About.com/dancemusic circa 2006. His voice and approach still reminds me of jazz singer, Michael Franks.
Leading with “Take A Ride”, you will hear a concept that anybody can relate to via its narrative description. Who among us hasn’t felt the need to take a car ride to try and forget a failed romance, unrequited love or just to keep from arguing?
“One”, cut two, is the first modest danceable number on the album and my favorite overall. I play it on “repeat” mode. Its beat conjures up a combination of the late Aaliyah’s, “Rock The Boat” and the Hues Corporation smash of the 1970s, “Rock The Boat”, just a tad slower [song title coincidence not planned, dear reader]. He bills this as a song “dealing with grief”, yet I do not hear it as dark as that. It is the best pure song on the album and Paul should develop his next effort around this style of “cha-cha”. As many of this effort it ends cold, leaving you wanting more. I prefer the “vamp to fade”.
The rest of this CD seems to wax and wane between up and downtempo instrumentals with an occasional introspective classic, quiet piano piece interspersed. You can find yourself in deep thought while listening to these songs and I wonder if the inspiration for some of this music is personal Paul Manchin angst?
So, is Paul an accomplished pianist? No, according to him, he composes and has other musicians play the keys. I was hoping that it was he on some of those classic tickling the ivories moments like on “Are You Mine?” /featuring Gabriele Tosi.
I heard a mixed bag of intros and themes . For example, track three, “King”, has a familiar dance club intro only to flat-line into a mid-tempo love (?) song. Something strange going on here, methinks…
“I Think I Care” is really slow; “Let U Go” has a much bigger sound, ahead of three, mostly percussive jams – “Personal Space” with the most Afro-electronic beat – and then back to forlorn love on the 100% acoustic guitar, “I Want You To Know”.
Paul adds a couple more nice and promising short, instrumental interludes, including a very soulful instrumental theme on “Coming My Way”, before we bump to the disco beat of the very suggestive sucker, “Lollipop”! Oh, NOW I am awake! An it’s a good thing because the next selection continues the 4X4 club beat with “spinning/spyros poulos mix. I had to ask, what is a “poulos”? Maybe a Greek DJ remix thing?
Track fifteen, “Down”, is a definite dance club and Rhythm and Blues number – but what is he saying? “Life” is a good road trip theme song to drive to – if only it were longer. “Exitus” is very listenable and has the same beat of Freddie Jackson’s “We’ve Only Just Begun”. And Uh-oh, Wow! I fear the short classic horror movie organ on the title cut, “Salutations”! Which Edgar Allen Poe or Vincent Price character is going to jump-out next?!
To call this album “schizophrenic” might sound “mean” in today’s quasi politically-correct times, and yet it does have two personalities! Maybe it is more like “Cybill”, lol
“Salutations” is a study of contrasts among twenty tasty tracks. Even though I obviously listened a lot in my car to this, I give it 3.5 melancholy face masks out of a possible 5 due to the shortness of the instrumental tracks which seemed like padding. I would have also liked to have heard those tune play longer and move towards a statement. Finally, I cannot wait to hear this album on my full-out home music system, instead of in a car, this summer.
3.5 melancholy face masks out of a possible 5 due to the shortness of the instrumental tracks which seemed like padding. I would have also liked to have heard those tune play longer and move towards a statement. Finally, I cannot wait to hear this album on my full-out home music system, instead of in a car, this summer.
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