Hey what's happenin' y'all, this is Dam-Funk, I'm on Stones Throw Records
from Los Angeles California by way of Pasadena
and I'm on What's in My Bag. One love.
When I come to Amoeba, I usually go to the more rare 12 inches that are on the wall
in the disco/funk section.
One of the ones that struck me right away was this one.
It's by Kenix, his name is Kent Nix and he's a great producer.
He did a lot of the great stuff on West End Records
and this is one called 'There's Never Been (No One Like You).'
It has a long version which is incredible.
This is a New York based 12-inch boogie record from Henderson and Whitfield. It's phenomenal.
It actually says 'Another Boogie Mix' on here so that's even before
people were using the term, but this is from 1981.
It has a great break in it, it's very soulful.
It's not like the cheesy disco y'know we got bombarded with in the late 70s
which caused people to burn the records in the football stadium
so it got a little bit more funky around 1980 and 1981
so this is one of those joints right here.
Prince, 'Dirty Mind.' This record is just phenomenal.
It was very influential in my career and sound
but most of all the spirit of this record.
Recorded all by himself in his bedroom studio, was just his breakout record
that got the critics, if you will, to finally embrace him
after the first two albums he released were more like R&B and soul
but this one he went a little bit more harder, with more guitars and just more of a stripped-down sound.
This one is by The Sunburst Band, it's called 'The Easton Assassin.'
It's about Larry Holmes, the boxer.
So it's like a rap on one side and I'm hoping it's an instrumental... oh yeah, instrumental on the other side.
Even though I love the rap version, the instrumental I think works better
at places like Funkmosphere and those kind of clubs.
We got this one from Ahzz, it's 'New York's Movin''
but this is a reissue, so I might have to put this one back. Just kidding.
I like reissues but I have a lot of this stuff in my collection
as some of the collectors out there know
we want to leave reissues for people who are just getting into things and so they won't be bought up
by the time we're trying to snag everything so
I'm gonna put this one to the side and whoever wants that
they can come to Amoeba and check it out.
A real good funk one, W.A.G.B. Band, it's called 'I Can Get You Over'
It's a nice boogie track.
How would you describe or define 'boogie,' for people who don't know what that is?
Boogie is a more soulful form of disco, and a lighter form of funk.
So it's right in between. Bass lines are kind of funk, funked up thumping
but slower tempos than disco was.
And also, it's not four on the floor all the time, it's like the one and the two, know what I mean?
They started using the term boogie to transition from disco
because it became too... you know I love Giorgio Moroder
but a lot of the producers were copying Giorgio Moroder to make it more sterile disco.
So the boogie gave you a nod of like, oh it's more soulful now, y'know what I mean?
This one's an original by Inner Life.
Patrick Adams, to me the king of disco funk, and Leroy Burgess
but this particular track is produced by Stan Lucas. They were all a team.
They did a lot of great disco in New York
especially on Salsoul Records and Prelude and P & P Records.
This has an instrumental of 'I Like It Like That.'
That's a fun one to play out and just ride around to.
This one is by Radiance. It's a group out of the Bay Area.
And I've never seen a sealed copy. It was on Quincy Jones' Quest label.
They only did one album, but there's some good songs on here.
One called 'I Can't Keep My Hands to Myself.'
This one, in the same section, is from Shanice Wilson.
She's a Pasadena native and it's a great record.
People overlook this record, it's phenomenal. It has a Minneapolis sound.
It was produced by Bryan Loren. It has some great stuff on here from beginning to end.
It's a phenomenal record. I know people are probably thinking, what the hell? But this is a fantastic record.
The Dazz Band, very underrated band from the Midwest.
I just got into a song from them, it's called 'Heartbeat' and that's on here.
It's just a good two-step, backwards skating type song
that they would play at a skating rink, but like mid-tempo.
And this last one is Debbie Blackwell, but it really is like a Leroy Burgess record
and he's the king of boogie. Leroy Burgess used to be in Black Ivory.
He was the lead singer, but he transitioned under Patrick Adams' tutelage
into one of the most phenomenal boogie producers and writers.
He's also known for a really great record under the name of Logg
but, yeah, anything that I see with Leroy Burgess on it, I get.
And this particular song, again, I got it for the glorious instrumental version.
So that's what was in my bag and those are the kind of things I got.
Cool, thank you so much.
No problem.