Super Disco Edits Organic Grooves 23 Items

Welcome to the 3rd and final release from the Roz Ryan studio reel discovery from 1980. Produced by the mighty Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey their production skills and arrangements never fail to deliver, and they always throw in a breakdown to keep it funky. Roz Ryan is a household name within the u.s and had some great success in the uk with her hit on Mirage records entitled "Boy where have you been".On the A side we have another killer 2 step song called 'Love Changes" which was also covered by O.C Smith. The sultry silky vocals from Ms Ryan never fail to disappoint. Flip it over for "Funky Way To Treat Me". A Theo Coff production that has all those funky disco elements associated with the duo's output of the late 70's.

Welcome to our last instalment from Eryk and Antoinette McClinton. Brother and sister duo who recorded these demo tracks with Detroit legends Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey. Recorded around 1979 these cuts were a spotlight on the duo's talents, hoping land them a record deal. Both had been active in the past with various recordings. Erik & the Vikings, and together as Eryke and Aronnette on Honey records. Here we have Four cracking disco fused funky songs, "Love doctor" made it on to our record store day lp "Long Distance Love Affair" so you may have already heard this. Accompanying this track are two more disco funk cuts. "Its all in your mind" & "Funky time Saturday night". Last and not least is the 2 step jam of "Recollections". All four cuts included some tasty breakdowns.

Limited edition vinyl!
Unknown studio session that was obtained from Stu Gardner. Must say it’s of the highest order without doubt some of the great session musicians of the time playing on this. We got the original reels transferred and with this great quality thought it the right opportunity to get Boston’s finest, DJ Kon to do one of his famous reworks. We weren’t disappointed.

Personnel: William “Chicken” Murphy - Guitar, Willie Hall- Drums and Percussions, Robert Goforth - Bass, James Reese - Piano and Trombone, John Lamkin II - Trumpet and Rudolph Riley - Alto and Tenor Sax. A Couple of String Players from the Memphis Symphony. Lead Vocals - Rosalyn Foster.

During the summer youth program of 1970 and '71 at St Paul's Catholic church a young Tunnie Smith was singled out by Father George Artist for his outstanding singing abilities. He was soon introduced to Joe Delpit and Reginal Brown to sing along with their show and dance band "The 13Th Amendments. It didn't take long before Tunnie was a full member of the band and became a featured singer performing throughout Louisiana. After a year and a half of performing at nightclubs, military bases and universities Tunnie landed a record deal with Rick Hall's Fame/UA record label. His first single from 1973 was a wonderful mid-tempo number entitled "Finders Aren't Always Keepers" flipped with "Do That To Me" It gained National distribution and had some good success. Tunnie left Fame records and was introduced to Stax record executives Al Bell and John Smith. After signing with Stax Tunnie met legendary writer and performer David Porter where they recorded an album which was scheduled for release around 73/74.Unfortunately Staxs association with CBS came to a halt and the project got shelved. Tunnie went home and carried on performing around the Louisiana area with his new band Sweet Music Orchestra" Fast forward to 1983 Tunnie whilst recording some vocals at River City Recording met Chicago producer and arranger George "Paco" Patterson. George was musical director and had worked with The Isley Brothers Wilson Pickett and many other well known artists. During this period Tunnie along with George formed a great partnership and along with some top session musicians record some incredibly lush, well produced and atmospheric songs The A Side "Dancing On Da Cloud" kicks of with female backing vocals and cascading strings layered over each other to create a full bodied 2 Step Rare Groove classic, which we can only compare in the highest esteem to an out take from Marvin Gaye or Leon Ware. It oozes sheer class with rasping horns and Tunnie showing he hasn't lost any of the singing prowess he got singled out for as a young boy in1971. "I Found A Miracle" is a slightly slower affair than the A side but still kicks a punch. It starts with pounding drums and again those cascading strings whilst Tunnie's scatting vocals flow until the verse arrives. It is a powerful beat ballad-esque song that sits perfectly back to back with "Dancing On Da Cloud." We at Super Disco Edits are very excited to be able to bring you the first instalment of Mr Tunnie Smith!

In February of 1976 Eddie Carmichael left the group “The Voshays” after catching the bandleader/manager stealing from the band. Derry Shepherd and Duncan Bethel left at that time also. About a week later I asked Derry if he would be interested in starting another band and he said sure. At that point Duncan Bethel agreed to participate and he recruited his friend Flynn Emanuel to play trombone. Derry was the manager of the cafeteria at Sears Department Stores in The Pompano Fashion Square Mall and he met Sandy Ficca who was the manager at Chess King Men’s Clothing Store in the same mall. Sandy also agreed to join the group and we auditioned bass players and chose Dave Segal and only one keyboard player auditioned and that was Bob Groszer. We now had all of the personnel for the group and we commenced rehearsing in the recreation center in Pompano Beach, FL at Westside Park. We did a few “Chitlin’ Circuit“ gigs to fine tune the band and music and then moved over to the beach circuit. While there we would perform spring and summer months at “The Ocean Mist” on the Strip in Fort Lauderdale, FL and for the fall and winter months the Big Daddy’s 8600 Club on Miami Beach. After 18 months of constant gigging I suggested that the band go into the studio and record some original music. Now all we needed was some serious financial support and songs. I met a man by the name of Jerry Bullard and convinced him to back the project. We formed our own independent label “Get Off Records” and publishing company “Situated Music”. At that point Dave Segal and Sandy Ficca left the group and Bruce Saddler who was the drummer for The Voshays joined us on the drums for the first two recordings. Sandy Ficca returned as drummer and brought in his old friend and bandmate Daryl Walker to play Bass on five of the six remaining songs. We recorded the entire album in five days at SRS Studios and Triad Studios both in Fort Lauderdale, FL in August of 1977. The first single “Give It Up (Let Yo Funk Fly Free) was a winner released only in the New York tri state area where in two weeks it reached number 16 in the top 100 and was poised to go number one nationwide on the R&B charts in the next two weeks. Henry Stone, owner of TK Records in Hialeah, FL wanted to sign the group as did many other major record labels including Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. But the usual problems of the music business reared its ugly head and the record was pulled from all radio airplay and the group who became disenfranchised with the business of the industry decided to call it quits. Derry Shephard went into Gospel Music production, Sandy Ficca went on to become the drummer for the Pop/Rock recording artists “Firefall”. Daryl Walker is a session player and music teacher, I did studio sessions and played in several cover bands and toured internationally. Bob Groszer toured with Sly Stone and other legendary recording artists. Dave Segal went on to start New York Bass Works in New York. Flynn Manuel became a music teacher in The Broward County School District and Bruce Saddler and Duncan Bethel left the Music industry completely. We were young and not good business people at that time and did not understand the rules of do’s and don’ts of the music industry. But we had three talented songwriters, a great arranger, a killer band and all the financial support that we needed. Looking back if we only had an experienced manager I truly believe Mirror would have gone on to create some great music over the years that followed. Peace and love all the time,

This previously unissued 45 came from the esteemed estate of Don Davis, Detroit label owner and legend. Engineered by Ed Wolfdrum who recently passed away. Not too much is known of The Michigans. Probably a one time demo on a view to getting a record deal. "Look At My Back Wheels" is a raw edged funk track with incredible breaks and baselines. The vocal content is a little risque so use your imagination i guess. "Its All Coming Back To Me Now" sounds like it could have been Ocean Colour Scene or a Paul Weller outtake. Very early 1970's Blues influenced Soul Music

York Pennsylvania born and raised, R&B vocalist Carman Bryant has performed throughout the U.S. and all over the world. There’s a saying in the Harrisburg/York Pa.area “If you want a seat, you better get there early” for a performance by Carman and her band. Carman's recording "Midnight Star” is an unreleased recording that was produced many years ago by Cecil DuValle of the Teddy Pendergrass band. The original studio masters were lost when Cecil moved to England because Teddy Pendergrass stopped performing. "Take a Chance" is a duet by Doug Payne and Carman from the same recording sessions at Alpha International Studios that was located in South Philadelphia. This was during the time that Doug Payne was on the "We are Family" tour with Philly recording group "Sister Sledge''. Doug Payne is a graduate of Howard University Washington D.C., and Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art in New York City, this is the same school that was used for the movie and television series "fame" starring Debbie Allen and Irene Cara. Doug had two songs signed with Tsop Gamble & Huff's publishing that were selected to be recorded by Phyliss Hyman before her death. In 1981 Doug Payne started his own label in Philadelphia with the release of "holiday" by Doug Payne & Polygon. Carman and her son Terrell Bryant aka Nakuu both have been busy lately recording new music to hit the scene around the same time.Terrell Bryant is the son of Jason Bryant who started The SOS Band. Doug's wife June Payne is a former member of Philadelphia recording group The "Three Degrees".

The group "Onyx" was formed in 1972 the members were Aaron and Wendell Basey, Malvin Scott, and Ronald Busby. Ronald left the group to pursue other interests and was replaced by Cornelius Weekly. We were reared in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically Oakland and Alameda, California. We grew up singing in our School and Church Choirs. We all began singing in quartets while we were teenagers in Junior High School. Malvin sang in the group Morry Williams and the Kids. They had a national hit titled "Are You, My GirlFriend." The Basey brothers sang with several groups in California, none with any recording history. The Basey's were the founding members of the soul group Natural Four. After that, along with Malvin, they started the singing group "Onyx." We were influenced during our teenage years by groups like the Spaniels, Moonglows and later the Temptations and Whispers. We also loved the sound of Marvin Gaye, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. At that time the Spaniels and Moonglows were who we tried to sing like. Marty Dahl, who wrote and produced several of our recording sessions got us a contract with Yew Records of New York City. We were happy to sign with Yew as they had previous success with the recording by the Intrigues of the song "In a Moment." We recorded "Something You're Trying to Hide," and "You Never Fell to Amaze me," on the Yew Record label. We met Marty while he was playing piano in a practice room at Cal State Hayward University. He was a musician with his own group, playing drums, keyboards, and singing. He was also doing promotion work for various record companies. He asked us to audition for him in a room over a nightclub in Jack London Square. After the audition, a relationship was established which exists to this day. Later, the Basey Brothers started their own label NIA. The name NIA was selected for, in the Swahili language, the word NIA means purpose. The first song recorded by Onyx on the NIA label was "Break It Loose." They subsequently recorded the songs "Time Take me Back," and "Keep on Waiting." Other songs were recorded but never released, "Help Me," "Give a Little Bit," and "Spellbound."

Bill Brown and Al Hall jr met around 1971, they were both in south central L.A and shared the same apartment building, also in the same building was Doug Carn and brownstone singer billy Wilson. These studio sessions were don't at Paramount studios Hollywood where Al Hall jr was working for producer Art Smith a&c music. The main distributor for A&C was Accent records. So the Soul Injections very first single "Stay off the moon" was released via Accent, as was Bill Brown's "Bip Bam" The group wasn't that pleased with how Accent handle the releases so Bill took it upon himself to set up his own label called Brownstone records. Many musicians were called in for studio sessions these included Doug Carn, organ; Kirk Lightsey, keyboards; Mel Bolton, guitars; Mel Lee, drums; Al Hall jr (trombones), Willaim 'Bill Henderson strings. The label was met with some confrontation from other Hollywood labels and many of the Brownstone releases were told not to hit the shops by Mafia run labels. Later around 1975 Brownstone released a track by Everyday people feat Alexis "world full of people"....A now cult soul 45 ....We are pleased to give you our last outing for Bill and the Crew. "Dreamworld Fantasies" is a wonderful unissued 1977 modern soul disco tune dreaming of how our lives should be, flip it over and we have given you the rare previously released 1971 single of "Stay off the moon" a political message that still seems relevant today

We really are excited by our new release. Taken again from the vaults of Mr Stu Gardner we have the next instalment of the Twinn Konnexion story. We released the single SDE17 way back in 2016, a double sided 45 of "dont fight the love", a blistering slab of modern boogie soul that sold out very quickly upon release. The single was first championed by Dj Jeremy Underground at many of his dj nights. Move on a few years and we have discovered the original studio reels from that session. And it doesn't disappoint!
Pulled from those reels are another 3 amazing compositions where no doubt Mr Gardener called on his long list of musical associates.
The information of the players and singers has never been divulged with us, not sure why the secrecy & frankly we don't care. What we do know is each song oozes class from start to finish and there is something for everyones taste.
A "Sunshine of you day" has an almost gospel feel to its rhythm, with the singer telling how his women lights up his day. And to be honest its lite up our HQ since we had it. Just ripe for the dancefloor!
Moving on to the B side we have two incredible ballads/2 step songs for that connoisseur amongst you B1 "love side facing up" Well as soon as you hear the opening guitar and horn section with the male singers sultry voice you just know this is taking you down that classic 2 step sound that was big on the London and rare groove scene We know this is going to a be a big fave for years to come. B2 "Memories dont fade away" its pretty much as above. More 2 step action that you can fail to love!

When growing up as a young teenager many dream of hitting the recording studio and getting that record deal.
The sheer musical drive inside you to lay down those raw and emotional feelings.
The chances of going to high end studios were slim and expensive. Opportunities were sparse to say the least.
So the next best thing was to go into one of the ever growing number of home studios that were popping up in the 1980's
Studios in peoples garages or in the spare bedroom.
And so we bring you to a small group of teenagers called Klimate.
They ventured into a un-named 8 track studio in Walsall around 1981 to record a series of 2 tracks.
There is little remembered about the group of lads from member Harbans Srih who played drums on both tracks and was in charge of writing duties. Harbans Srih was also the man behind sde 42 Sticks & Co "Jazz Dancin"/"Jazz funkin" .
The 5 piece band was very multicultural that really represented music in britain at the time. 3 of the players were of Afro-Caribbean decent giving us lead vocals, guitar, bass and keyboard. The 4th member was only known as a ginger haired youth (we like him!!) who was on saxophone duities.
shortly after these recordings tragedy struck Klimate and the bass player was killed in a car accident whilst on vacation in Italy.
fast forward 37 years and Harbans Srih discovers just a single D.A.T from that 1981 session.
We did our utmost to sonically get the recordings up to our very high standards at Super Disco Edits. Whilst we feel it perhaps just falls short, we couldn't ignore these recordings that optimises British youth culture and the heritage of Brit funk .
We hope you enjoy them.

Limited vinyl edition!
Coming at you hard with a brand-new release, that’s moved away from or usual unissued releases. DJ Rude Lead played Super Disco Edits a demo he and Tom Noble from Superior Elevation cooked up whilst Tom was in Denmark deejaying.
They approached in in-demand vocals of Jay Nemor from the states., who laid over some killer sultry lyrics and tones.
The song was only in demo form, so Super Disco Edits in house engineer Matt Fletcher and Owner of Super Disco Edits Russell Paine gave the song the boost and heaviness it desired! We really are pleased with the result, that’s cut super loud and sounds awesome over a big system.

Limited vinyl edition!

Pittsburgh-born Phillip Ballou’s earliest years were spent in the gospel field; after he moved to New York City in the ‘70s, he teamed up with Bennie Diggs and Arthur Freeman, founding members of The New York Community Choir and singer Arnold McCuller to form the group Revelation. The quartet recorded for RSO Records, scoring some R&B success in the US with tracks like “Get Ready For This” and “You To Me Are Everything,” touring the Bee Gees among others. Phillip also sang on albums by NYCC recorded for RCA Records and continued with Revelation until 1982. Frequently hired for sessions in and around New York, Phillip teamed up with UK soul music journalist David Nathan (who he’d met in 1974 during Nathan’s first US visit) and John Simmons, formerly a member of The Reflections, another New York vocal group to write a series of songs for his own proposed solo record deal. Although a contract did not materialize, one of the songs – “Ain’t Nothing Like The Love” – got some interest from famed Philadelphia producer Thom Bell who presented it to The O’Jays. Ultimately, the tune was turned down by Kenny Gamble and John Simmons, by then musical director for Stephanie Mills, recorded his own version for a small independent label in 1981. Phillip continued his own musical journey, touring and recording with James Taylor and Todd Rundgren. In addition, Phillip’s name graced recordings by George Benson, Billy Ocean, Kashif, Nona Hendryx, Jonathan Butler, Teddy Pendergrass and Melba Moore; in 1981, he began recording with Luther Vandross and became a part of Luther’s touring band for many years, as well as singing on productions by Luther on Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and others, continuing his association with him until Luther’s 2003 stroke. Phillip returned to his gospel roots in 2004 as Minister of Music at a Brooklyn church and passed away in March 2005, aged 55. Thanks to renewed interest in the John Simmons’ 1981 recording on YouTube, David Nathan has uncovered several tracks from the 1978 and 1979 he did with Phillip and John including Phillip Ballou’s original version of “Ain’t Nothing Like The Love,” gaining its first ever worldwide release as a 7” single on Nefer Records in association with Super Disco Edits

Limited vinyl edition!

Although best known in the global music world for his four years (1984-1988) as the music director and bandleader for Whitney Houston, John’s tenure in the soul music field began when he was a member (with his brother Edmund ‘Butch’ Simmons) of The Reflections, a New York City-based quartet who toured from 1972-1975 as the backing group for the legendary Melba Moore. In 1975, The Reflections had a Top 10 R&B hit with “Three Steps From True Love.”

In 1978, John began touring with Stephanie Mills, at the same time collaborating with Phillip Ballou, a member of another New York-based vocal group, Revelation and UK soul music journalist David Nathan (who he met when Nathan did an interview with The Reflections for Britain’s “Blues & Soul” magazine in 1975). The trio wrote a number of songs for Ballou’s demo as a solo artist and while nothing transpired in that regard, John recorded his own version of one of the tunes, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Love” for a small independent Michigan label, Sabrina Records in 1981. John had worked with Cissy Houston at New Hope Baptist Church in New Jersey where she was the minister of music was asked by her to do some initial promotional dates with her daughter Whitney after Arista Records released her first single in 1984; he continued doing world tours with Houston until he passed away at the age of 45 in March 1989.

The Ballou sessions (held mostly in Montclair, New Jersey) expanded into recording dates for both Nathan and Simmons. None of the original recordings were released commercially – until now. In the wake of the interest among rare groove collectors in John’s version of “Ain’t Nothing Like The Love,” Nathan – himself a recording artist since 2003 – has uncovered the tapes of all the material he, Phllip and John recorded in 1978 and 1979.

Gaining its first-ever release now on Nefer Records via Super Disco Edits is the coupling of John’s solo composition, the upbeat gospel-infused “Safe” and the midtempo, “I Wanna Be Closer,” another one of the songs also recorded (and thus far unissued by both Ballou and Nathan).

Back around the early 1970's Bell Telephunk was formed around the New Jersey area. Some members moved to Clevleand Ohio where the group performed in these early days at bars and clubs. The band disbanded early on and the name lie dormant for a few years. Around 1975/76 Michael Calhoun and a few others decided to rejuvenate the name again. They played often at the Kinsman grill located in Kinsman road Cleveland where they cut their teeth! They ventured into the studio just once to record a series of 6 songs. We are now pleased to bring them to light the newly formed Kinsman Record label. Once you hear these you will fall in love instantly with Ron Thatch's amazing vocals skills. This is crossover ghetto soul of the highest order...

Well back in 1981 The New Jersey Connection gained cult Jazz Funk status at the very first time of trying!! The record "Love don't come easy" was a worldwide smash. Unfortunately no follow-up materialised. But the core of the group stuck together with writer and producer Eddie Saunders at the helm. Roll on to 1987 and a few musical ideas were recorded in the studio. Roll on to 2017 with a few new members a brand new beautifully crafted soul disco tune has emerged! With the writing skills of Eddie Saunders and his partner Perthea Brown plus the dynamic vocals of Cynthia Wilson we are happy to bring you "Red Light Green Light" A classic love struggle asking are you together or not!

The last and final instalment of the brilliant mighty fire unissued reels. And again two beautiful sides straight from the pen of Melton Bolton. These tracks were sitting around before they cut a deal with Elektra records. Melton Bolton has been a prolific player and musician for over 40 years. Writing for Motown plus a host of other record labels.
The label salvaged the reels, cleaned them up a bit. Nothings perfect in this music world. But the chance to give these songs a new vehicle gives Super Disco Edits always a great pleasure.

Brass Horizon only ever had one effort put out onto vinyl. The much sought after "We want to play" on the Minda Mark label. Currently commanding big bucks on the collector’s scene. The single also made it onto Keb Darge's Deep Funk LP. Now Super Disco Edits has dug deep again, and unearthed some killer tracks by the band. Brass Horizon were heavily into the Bay Area sound of the mid 70's and especially Tower of Power. The first recording to come to light from these dusty sessions is this one off studio mic take, introducing the band. Fully 6 mins long, we have trimmed it down, so it gets a 45 release. Part 1&2. polish your headspin hat, and hear all the components of the band, horns, keyboards, and last but not least a big arse drum break!! Beware you b-boys out there!

Here is the second lot of songs from the reels the SDE crew found last year. Its almost criminal to think these two beautifully crafted soul songs, where musicians have put all their time and efforts into, were shelved because so called executives thought them "ahead of their time". Essential!

After recording various psych soul and funk tracks on the Whiz record label, The Real Thing carried on after leaving the label to record more studio cuts with musician and producer Stu Gardner. Here they let it rip with an incredible fast version of James Browns "Give it up, turnit loose" and they left in that all important secret ingredient of a lovely long drum break. Stu Gardner himself took to the microphone on this track, with various background vocals and screams, and did the vocals for the amazing b-side "It's A Family Thang"!