Killer Stalker Ballad!

This Minneapolis group, best known for their single "Cry, Cry, Cry," was popular in their area at CYO and teen dances, and was more often listed as "Little Artie and the Pharaohs," though on this single the "Little" has been dropped. The group included brothers Artie and Al Herrera, who went on to record as Kane & Abel (with the Phil Spector-esque single "Breakdown and Cry"). They then eventually evolved into the band The Mob, who gained attention as soulful Blood, Sweat, and Tears clones, without the annoying horn section. The Mob sat along side groups like The Shocking Blue ("Venus") on Jerry Ross' Colossus Records. These days, Artie lives in Chicago and works in a Panasonic warehouse, while the other members have jobs with Harley-Davidson, Amtrak, and the South Milwaukee power plant.

Cuca Records who released the single is a wonderful example of an independent label in the 60s who found success. Based in Sauk City, Wisconsin, they had an open-door policy where owner James Kirchstein recorded artists of all genres and ethnicities on second-hand equipment he bought from the widow of Milwaukee's Phau Records' owner after he passed away. Originally wanting to name the label Swastika Records (he thought he'd appeal to south-central Wisconsin's large German population with what he considered to be a German good luck symbol), he was talked out of the potential (!?) Nazi association, and settled with "Cuca" which was the nickname of his wife's Mexican-American cousin from Los Cusas, New Mexico. Need more trivia? Check out an incredible complete history of the label here.

Today's track is the flip of Artie's cheesy dancer "Foxy Devil," and though intending to be a sweet ballad, it sounds more creepy/sinister/desparate than loving to this listener, and if you ask me, it would be the perfect anthem for a deranged stalker. It's just so cool and smokey! Let us know what you think. Not sure how hard this one is to find, but I have never seen another copy, online or otherwise...

Artie and the Pharaohs - Ill Take Care of You

Well Taught, Never Been Caught!

The Persuaders formed in the Bronx in '69 from the ashes of The Internationals and The Majestics, both of which were doo-wop groups, neither of which had much commercial success. They signed with Atco in '71 and released their biggest of only a few hits, "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," a well-known ballad. Today's selection comes from the B side of that hit, and is a confession of love for all sorts, shapes, and sizes of............ legs. It's just about all covered here: short shirts, girls jumping up and down, descriptions of different sorts of legs, etc. This fast-paced side seems to get people moving solid every time i drop it at a party, and the background vocals just plain kill.

The writing credits for the group are given to the pianist Richard Poindexter, whom before had been known for penning hits for Linda Jones and the O'Jay's. For the Persuaders he also wrote "Some Guys Have All The Luck," which most folks seem to have heard one version or another of (it's also been covered by Robert Palmer and Rod Stewart). The group reformed in the mid-90s and still tours, but the only original member is Poindexter. The pairing of "Thigh Spy" and "Thin Line" makes this 45 a gem, and it's not hard at all to grab a copy of. Skip the internet auctions and check any decent used wax shop.

The Persuaders - Thigh Spy

Cocker Power!

Joe Cocker circa-1970 is ridiculous. Known to many as the guy who sang the theme from "The Wonder Years," he was, and probably still is, the weirdest looking English white dude who sounded not only like a Black American from the South, but at that, one many years his senior. The man had five buckets of grit in his voice. This live cover of "The Letter" (the famous original by The Boxtops), is taken from his "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" Live LP (recorded at the Filmore East). The album was recorded during a tour of the same name, which deserves to have a bit said about it.

The band for the tour was put together and led by, The Master of Space and Time, Leon Russell, and features Rita Coolidge somewhere in the mix of backround vocals. The group organized and rehearsed only an incredibly short time before the tour, and seemed to grow by the day, including friends, friends of friends, young children of friends, etc. The swelling group started to resemble a huge flower-power sort of family and a jumbo jet marked "Cocker Power" was chartered to whisk the group around to the various tour dates. Plenty of substances were abused, and plenty of sweaty fun was had. A film crew joined on to document the tour, and the entire thing was quite glorious.

I highly recommend the entire album, but even more so the tour documentary, which allows one to watch Cocker flail like a junky as he plays air-guitar (and air-just-about-everything-else), while sticking out his tongue and making faces like there is a rat trapped in his undies. Anyway, dude's got soul and he sounds amazing.

Joe Cocker - The Letter

ABSURD. TOTAL CREEPER.

Funky Funky Broadway!

This group, known originally as just "The Blazers," was the backing band for the O'Jay's in the mid sixties, and based out of Buffalo, NY. The story goes that, while on tour, the Blazers got stranded in Phoenix, AZ when the O'Jay's could no longer afford to support their travel and high-tailed it back East without them. Now involuntarily based out of Pheonix, Mr. Arlester "Dyke" Christian, who had been providing bass and backup vox for the 'Jay's, re-organized the group and stepped up to lead vocals to flesh out this song to accompany the dance of the same name he had created. Originally released on Phoenix's Artco (not Atco) Records, the song, and group, was picked up by the famous Art Laboe and his Original Sounds Records in L.A. after it became quite popular on airwaves across the SouthWest. "Funky Broadway" got so popular that in '67 Wilson Pickett did a version that pulled even more mainstream attention.

A string of killer singles on Original Sound followed, and most of them are fairly easy to obtain. Of the group's singles, many were two-parters, and it was rumored that 15-20 minute sessions were edited down to fit on a 45 face to make the singles. It is also said that the Blazers were one of the first groups to use the term "funk" in terms of genre. Dyke and the Blazers formed in 1964, and disbanded in 1971 when Dyke was shot down in the street on March 13, 1971 in Phoenix. He was 28.

Dyke & the Blazers - Funky Broadway

Daron got that Dough!

The track the Gilles Peterson has been making famous overseas.

From the Ubiquity Site:

A mystery to most, Darondo records are high on the wants-lists of many collectors. He is spoken about in hushed-tones by other Bay Area musicians. Back in the day he was seen cruising around town in a white Rolls Royce (with a "Darondo" license plate). He opened-up for James Brown and lived a colorful lifestyle hanging with folks like the notorious Fillmore Slim. You may agree that he could have been the next Al Green or Sly Stone, but about 25 years ago Darondo disappeared.

After the release of his three 45s Darondo stopped recording. “It was mostly me, just having a good time with a real good hobby,” he says. “It wasn’t about money but about having fun. Something I just liked to do. Maybe your dream is to be a James Brown or Frank Sinatra but those were just mostly dreams to me.” Outside of the music business Darondo was living life to the full, and it eventually caught up with him. “Folks would say ‘Daron got that dough…Daron Do…that’s how I got the name. I used to get my suits tailor made, one of a kind, like my rings. A player can’t have the same ring as someone else. Got my rings specially made with diamonds and stones. But in order to get yourself together you had to get away from all the fastness. I was driving around in a Rolls Royce, I was a fast young man," adds Darondo.

Darondo - Didnt I

The original wax may be a chore to hunt down, but you can get all six sides of his three singles along with three tracks from demo reels on one album from Ubiquity Records.