CLASSIC TRACKS: "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells

I've been sitting back on a quiet Saturday evening, chillin' out and listening to some good music. Playing right now, all the way from 1968, it's one of the great funk classics, "Tighten Up", by another of my favourite groups, Archie Bell & the Drells.

This is one of the early true funk masterpieces, with some great grooves and incredible dance rhythms. Aside from Bell's voice, the one thing that really stands out for me in the tune is the fantastic bass rhythm, followed closely by the funky lead. Everything that makes funk great is present in this song. I defy anybody with an ounce of rhythm in their body not to start tapping their feet or shaking their booty when "Tighten Up" comes on the radio.

I usually associate the emergence of funk with the early-1970s, but there was a period in the late 1960s where the soul music of the earlier era was beginning to give rise to a more up-tempo funky sound, epitomised by the likes of Archie and his Drells, James Brown and others. The end of the Sixties and start of the Seventies saw the evolution of soul into funk, and then into a funky disco sound that was to be the vanguard for the coming disco movement of the next decade. It was an incredible era for music.

The version that I am listening to now is the LP version, which is just over three minutes long. There are two different versions of the song, Parts 1 and 2, which are the first and last tracks respectively on the album that I'm listening to now, ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS: THE PLATINUM COLLECTION. This one features twenty of the Drell's best tracks, and "Tighten Up" is by no means the only good track on it. The album can be found here on Amazon.com, and here on Amazon.co.uk.

Here also is a link to a YouTube video of a combined version of Archie Bell & the Drells - "Tighten Up" Parts 1 & 2. At about six minutes long, it's well worth listening to.

CLASSIC TRACKS: "Separate Ways" by Journey

I'm sitting back at the moment, relaxing, and listening to one of the greatest arena rock albums of all time, the classic 1983 six-times platinum masterpiece, FRONTIERS, by US band Journey, which came out on the Columbia Records label.

This is one of my all-time favourite rock albums, and is, in my opinion, Journey's strongest album, surpassing even their previous album, the 1981 classic nine-times platinum ESCAPE.

There isn't a single bad song on FRONTIERS (even the "weaker" songs are good), but one of the best is the song that is currently playing, the first track on the album, "Separate Ways". This is a truly powerful rock song, pounding drums, driving keyboards and guitars, and above it all, Steve Perry's gorgeous, soaring vocals. Sheer bliss!

This is an excellent, strong intro to a fantastic rock album. It's also gratifying to know that it ISN'T all downhill from here, and that the rest of the album is just as good.

CLASSIC TRACKS: "Disorder" by Joy Division

I'm sitting here on New Year's Eve, with barely ten minutes to go before 2014 is upon us, listening to some excellent music. At the moment, it's Joy Division's classic post-punk anthem 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, released on the fledgling Factory Records indie label.

Playing right now is the first track, and one of my favourite tracks on the album, "Disorder". This one sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album. It's fast and emotionally charged, with Bernard Sumner's aggressive, distorted guitars assaulting us in powerful, short riffs, Peter Hook's driving, pulsating base providing the rhythm, backed up by Stephen Morris' rhythmic, almost robotic, pounding drums. And over everything, Ian Curtis' powerful, monotone baratone voice driving the song forward.

This deliciously chaotic tune is a great way to begin such an innovative, classic album. Joy Division, despite their tragically short career (only two studio albums and a handful of singles), are one of my favourite groups of all time, true pioneers of the post-punk/proto-goth scene. I can listen to this song (and the whole album) over and over again without ever getting fed up with it.

I feel a review of Unknown Pleasures coming up!

CLASSIC TRACKS: "Damaged Goods" by Gang of Four

I'm listening to this one right now on a various artists double-CD compilation of indie music, FEAR OF MUSIC.

Damaged Goods is one of my absolute favourite Gang of Four tracks, from their first classic 1979 album ENTERTAINMENT, although it had actually appeared previously as the A-side of their legendary first single, the 1978 Damaged Goods EP, which was released on the Fast Product record label. This EP also featured the equally legendary tracks Love Like Anthrax and Armalite Rifle.

Gang of Four incorporated various other genres such as funk, reggae and dub into their stylistic repertoire, which gave a lot of added "oomph!" to their music. Damaged Goods is like all good punk and post-punk - angry, short, and to the point - but it is also more sophisticated than many of its punk predecessors. This track is undoubtedly one of the pivotal post-punk anthems, and had a huge impact and influence on everything that came afterwards. The sheer simplicity of the best punk and post-punk classics like this reminds me so much of the great three chord/sub three minute garage tracks of the mid-to-late 1960s, albeit with large added dollops of anger and social awareness.

My tastes in music are pretty wide-ranging and eclectic, and on occasion I like some overproduced rock, disco and dance music as much of the next guy. But there are times that I just want to have it short, raw and punchy, like Damaged Goods, New Rose, Public Image, Ever Fallen In Love or Pretty Vacant. Heady company, that, and Damaged Goods is deservedly up there among these other classic tracks.

The version I'm listening to right now is the later re-recorded version of Damaged Goods, and the purists would undoubtedly groan and roll their eyes, and assert that the original version, and only the original version on the EP is the real Damaged Goods. And when it comes to music, I have to admit that I'm almost always a purist myself. So I invariably hate most cover versions of classic tunes. But not on this occasion.

I actually prefer this re-recorded version, which is faster and snappier than the slower original EP version. It just seems to be that bit more angry and aggressive, a searing indictment of love and lust. And angry and aggressive is how I feel a good punk or post-punk song should be. Both versions are classic, but the newer one just edges it for me.

Like I said, the purists will surely disagree with me strongly (most of them probably foaming at the mouth), but I don't care! :)

CLASSIC TRACKS: "Dancing in Outer Space" by Atmosfear

The first few posts to this new blog were fairly long personal recollections of my early career as a DJ. Last time out, I posted my first full review of an album. And this time, in my ongoing efforts to add some variety to the blog, I'm trying something else. Here's the first in what I hope will be a series of many ongoing random posts highlighting favourite "songs of the moment".

These random CLASSIC TRACKS posts are not full album reviews, just a couple of paragraphs on any random, individual song that I happen to be listening to at any given time. It can be anything, old or new, but mostly will be older songs of various genres - alternative, rock, soul, funk, disco, reggae, ska - indeed ANY song that I happen to like or which holds a special significance for me.

I'll be reserving album reviews for the various CLASSIC ALBUMS posts, but this one is about a single track from an album. On the CD player at the moment is a cracking compilation album, Dancing in Outer Space, by the classic jazz funk band Atmosfear, a retropective of the band’s best work, published by Elite Records back in the year 2000, a repackaging of a CD compilation that first appeared in 1995. Right now I'm listening to the first track, the title track of the album, and (deservedly) their most famous song ever, the glorious summer of 1979 dancefloor classic (on both sides of the Atlantic) Dancing in Outer Space (all 9 minutes 34 seconds of it) by the great jazz-funk group Atmosfear. This one is the same version as the original 1979 vinyl 12 inch single release, which I used to play at the clubs all those years ago.

This song, for me, epitomizes the best in hardcore jazz funk - an incredible ground-rumbling bass line, ethereal outer-space-ish keyboards, fat, hard drums and super-smooth funky guitars (and lets not forget the sizzlin' saxophone). The ultimate in club dance music from that era, if you're any kind of fan of jazz or funk music, this one just has to set you bopping.

When I think of "dance" music, sure, I like some modern EDM, but as an old fogie I think primarily of the jazz/funk/soul/disco phenomenon of the 1970s and 80s, not all this modern hip-hop, rap and R&B (R&B? Muddy Waters and B.B. King are R&B, not the modern rubbish that has hijacked the name), although I did quite like to step out to a select few of the more modern rave/house/trance classics. Maybe I'm just showing my age, but, in my opinion, the 70s and 80s gave us REAL dance music. And Dancing in Outer Space is one of the true giants among classic 70s jazz funk dancefloor smash hits.

There are a number of YouTube links to the original 12 inch monster hit version of Dancing in Outer Space. Here's one of them.

I’m now up to track 5 on this album. I’m very impressed, so far. Not a bad track yet. Who knows, maybe Dancing in Outer Space won’t be the only classic on it. But I'll leave a review of the entire album for a CLASSIC ALBUMS post at a future date.