BOOTH ANNOUNCER:
Shady Train...
the hippest trip in America!
60 nonstop minutes across the
tracks of your mind into the
exciting world of Soul!
And now, here's your host...
Don Cornelius!
Hi there and
welcome aboard.
You're right on time for another slick trip
on the Shady Train. If the sight and sound
of soul is your pleasure and what you
treasure, and if you need some funk
to put some junk in your trunk,
then you can bet your bottom
we got 'em, baby.
And we are excited and delighted to have with us to start the show
the mighty Temptations, the Motown super group that recently
returned to the label that made them famous and embarked on
a reunion tour. As they join us to do the hot single from their
new album appropriately entitled Reunion, a song written,
produced and featuring the great Rick James, let's put some
hands together for The Temps featuring badboy Rick and
a biggin everybody's diggin'-- "Standing On The Top!"
"Standing On The Top Part 1" - The Temptations Ft. Rick James
(May/June 1982, highest chart pos. #6 R&B/#66 Hot 100)
(May/June 1982, highest chart pos. #6 R&B/#66 Hot 100)
And these three extraordinary canaries
are the talk of the town and the buzz of
the business thanks to a string of hits
that spans more than a decade. As
they join us to do their latest hit
single on the Planet/RCA label
entitled "Neutron Dance" from
the soundtrack of the new Eddie
Murphy movie Beverly Hills Cop,
a rousing welcome please, gang,
for the fabulous-- Pointer Sisters!
"Neutron Dance" - The Pointer Sisters
(Jan./Feb. 1985, highest chart pos. #6 Hot 100/#13 R&B,
from OST of Dec. 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop)
And the Godfather of Soul is rackin'
'em back and that's no fiction, baby,
it's a natural fact. We are extremely
pleased to have him aboard the train
to do his latest single on the Polydor
label entitled "The Payback," a funky
number that is currently perched atop
the R&B chart.
Let's do it real good,
gang, for Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother
Number One-- Mr. James Brown!
"The Payback" - James Brown
(Apr./May 1974, highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#26 Hot 100)
And let's welcome aboard the Shady
Train a lovely and talented lady who
will long be remembered as one of
the most important artists of 1976,
primarily as a result of a sensa-
tional album and single on the
Casablanca label entitled
"Love To Love You Baby."
Her name is-- Donna Summer!
"Love To Love You Baby"
- Donna Summer (Jan./Feb. 1976,
h.c.p. #2 Hot 100/#3 R&B)
- Donna Summer (Jan./Feb. 1976,
h.c.p. #2 Hot 100/#3 R&B)
There are many stars in the sky, but this
man is the moon. His charisma, we feel,
is unmatched by any other performer in
the business. As he joins us to lay his
soul on the line doing his smash hit
single for Hi Records entitled "I'm
So Tired Of Being Alone," a great
big Shady Train welcome, please,
gang for the fantastic-- Al Green!
"Tired Of Being Alone" - Al Green
(Aug./Sept. 1971, highest chart
pos. #7 R&B/#11 Hot 100)
pos. #7 R&B/#11 Hot 100)
As a teenager in the 50s our next
guest formed The Parliaments,
a doo-wop group that went on
to success in the 60s as a soul
R&B act. In the 70s the group
evolved into the funk bands
Parliament and Funkadelic.
Now in the 80s, as a solo artist,
he continues to preside over his
P-Funk collective and build upon
his reputation as one of the most
influential singers, songwriters
and producers in the business.
His latest release on the Capitol label spent half a year on the R&B
chart and four weeks at #1. It's a lowdown ditty called "Atomic Dog"
and this crazy cat's name is-- George Clinton!
"Atomic Dog" - George Clinton
(Mar. - May 1983, highest chart pos.
#1 R&B, #101 Bubbling Under)
#1 R&B, #101 Bubbling Under)
And look out now, don't hurt yourself.
It's the Shady Train gang, and they're
workin' it out to the latest single by
those brothers from Dayton, Ohio,
The Zapp Band. This one's funkier
than a mosquito's tweeter, a chart-
topper that's one of the baddest
sounds around, a little thing
called-- Dance Floor!
"Dance Floor (Part 1)" - Zapp
(July/Aug. 1982, highest cht. pos.
#1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under)
#1 R&B/#101 Bubbling Under)
And if that doesn't do it for you nothing
ever will. We invite you to hustle back
and get into it with us again next time
when we pop open a six pack and toss
in another cool one for good measure.
You can bet your last money, it's all
gonna be a stone gas, honey. I'm Don
Cornelius, and as always in parting,
we wish you love...peace...and soul!
Glad you featured black peeps, friend Shady … RIP Floyd. Much love, c.
ReplyDeleteHi, cat!
DeleteHow are you, dear Canadian friend? Thanks for hustling over to claim the title of Early Bird this week!
I had this Shady Train post finished and scheduled months in advance. Therefore I could not have anticipated the events unfolding in the news when it was published. Great music knows no color and neither does friendship as far as I'm concerned. I hope you and others enjoy this heaping helping of funk from the 70s and 80s.
Thanks again for coming down, dear friend cat. I wish you and your kitty Theo a safe and happy week!
Always a treat to take a ride on the Shady Train and what a great selection for us this time! Of course I know all the artists, but don't recall that number by the Temptations/Rick James or the video selection by George Clinton. Mmmm, yeah.... enjoyed listening to the Rev. Al. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Kelly!
DeleteI'm happy to see you, dear friend! Thanks for riding the Shady Train on its 16th hip trip across the tracks of your mind into the exciting world of Soul!
Wow, I'm delighted to know that you are familiar with all of these artists, and that you especially dig The Rev. Al Green, who performed that hit of his on Soul Train in its early seasons when the Soul Train gang was more subdued, less outrageous.
In 1982 and 1983, I was enjoying my second stint as a bachelor and hitting the clubs hard. "Standing On The Top" was big in the clubs where I hung out and danced. The video for George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" was played on the Soul/R&B segment at the MTV station where I worked in the 80s. I don't remember the tune by Zapp from back in those years, but recently became a fan of the funk group and have their greatest hits CD.
Thanks again for coming to the dance party, dear friend Kelly!
Hi Don and Shady! What a cool group of Shady Train dancers this week. The outfits are too cool, they always impress! And, Al Green...wow! I always liked him, but I don't recall ever seeing him dressed in shorts and boot! I remember "I'm Tired of Being Alone" as a great song, and his voice is still great today!
ReplyDeleteI remember George Clinton, but I guess I missed his time while I was raising a young boy, haha! "Atomic Dog" is a pretty cool song, and certainly pegs all the happenings current of that time!
The girl singers of soul could really rock us! Those Pointer Sisters are a class act, full of vitality and personality. "Neutron Dance" gets you up and moving...and the girls make it a fun song. I love Donna Summer, not only for her voice, but I think she may have been a great lady personality! My favorites of hers are "Hot Stuff", and, of course, "Last Dance". We lost her too soon. James Brown is a killer isn't he! A special entertainer and influence on so many of the future R&B, Soul and Funk artists. I can see a little of James Brown in so many of our artists today.
Your opening number is my favorite today! That video and all of that talent in one place is exhilarating! I have always been fascinated by the Temps, and sad as most of them have passed. They really gave it class and great talent in this "Standing on The Top" video. Rick James is looking his best on this one, too! I know he was an ornery guy, but I liked him. The first time I saw Rick James was on Soul Train, and, I was impressed (it could have been the beaded hair)!
So, kudos on this one-it's a keeper, Shady! Great work, great music, and great dancers! I can't believe it's Monday and June 1st already! Take care Shady. Have a wonderful week! Thanks for the great music! ♫
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteThanks for coming over so quickly, dear friend. Looks like you brought your dancing shoes!
I agree that's a strange outfit Al Green is wearing in that performance clip taped during the early seasons of Soul Train. Looks like he has James Brown's "Hot Pants" on. :) Al had a tough go of it during the remaining years of the 70s. He was arrested a few times, his record sales slipped and he fell and injured himself while performing in 1979. In the 80s he turned to making records for the Gospel music market and that move revived his career. In the late 80s he returned to recording secular material.
I'm glad you have nice things to say about The Pointers, Donna Summer and James Brown. "(The Big) Payback" was huge in my neck of the woods, and in that performance of the hit single on Soul Train, Brother James, his funky band and his female backing singers really deliver the goods.
Thanks for singling out the first song "Standing On The Top." It is a favorite of mine, too. I want to call your attention to the captioned stats on that first video and the last two, the song by George Clinton and the final one by Zapp. All three singles were released within a year of each other - 1982 to 1983. Look at the vast difference between how well the three records performed on the black chart as opposed to the pop chart. The Temps & Rick James brushed the top 5 on the R&B side but failed to make the top 50 on the pop chart. Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Zapp's "Dance Floor" both reached #1 on the black chart but merely Bubbled Under the Hot 100 - a 100 position difference for both of those singles!!! It demonstrates how much popular music was splintering in the post-disco years. I for one am proud to be an old white guy with an ear and a soul for heavy junk-in-the-trunk funk. :)
Happy month of June to you, Suzanne, at least I hope it will turn out to be. I really appreciate you coming over today and look forward to connecting with you again soon. I hope master Scootie is proud of his accomplishments at school this past year and that he enjoys his summer vacation any way he can. Take care, dear friend Suzanne!
Wow, my hippest cat friend, Shady! What a great afternoon to boogie down, especially as I'm working from home.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't familiar with the Temptations and Rick James hit, but I love the sound. My favourite out of all of the songs is "Underdog" by George Clinton. The sound seems like it's the beginning of techno. I really liked how he played with the techno beats and just the lyrics. I'm surprised that Philadelphia didn't use this song when they won the Super Bowl, but since I'm not a fan, they could have. :)
Tomorrow I will be back to jive at work time. Usually your blog posts are two day jam sessions, dear friend. So glad you featured black artists today.
Have a great day!
Hi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteThanks for coming over to ride the Big Train, dear friend! It's the 16th hip trip, can you believe it?
That Temps & Rick James single only made it to #66 on the pop chart - 60 notches lower than it's #6 position on the black chart. That's nearly impossible for me to believe, since the group boasted an all-star lineup that included original Temps David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin, plus Dennis Edwards, Ruffin's replacement as lead zinger and, last but not least, funk bad boy Rick James. Besides, their recording KILLS!
Dearie, George Clinton's song is entitled "Atomic Dog," but I'm glad you singled it out as your favorite. It's one of the most lowdown sounds in all of funkdom, and therefore not commercial enough to be played on mainstream radio stations and climb the pop chart. It's their loss, if you ask me. Yessum, the sound on "Atomic Dog" is experimental and groundbreaking. It "tears the roof off the sucker," and I also dig the music video set in an early 80s video game arcade.
I hope you will indeed return to jam to these great soul and punk funk tunes. Thanks again for joining the fun and have a safe and peaceful week, dear friend JM!
Good afternoon friend, Shady. Hope all is peaceful in your corner of the world today. That stage was barely big enough for all those Temptations! I did not know they all were together for a reunion like that. Lots of good tunes to dance to today and if I wasn't busy working, I'd do just that. Thanks for sharing! Have a great rest of your day.
ReplyDeleteHi, Janet!
DeleteThanks for coming all the way across the country to hop aboard the Shady Train, dear friend!
I appreciate your kind concern. We are AOK and I hope the same can be said for you and your family.
Yessum, that was a large group of Temptations performing their early 80s hit along with funk wildman Rick James. There are four original Temps on stage in that video plus three replacement Temps. One of the original members, Paul Williams, was not in the group when they reunited because, sadly, he died in 1973 of an apparent suicide.
When you get caught up on your work you need to get dancin'. Maybe my buddy Benny will join you. :)
Thanks again for dropping in and for your kind comment, dear friend Janet!
Tom,
ReplyDeleteGet on board the Soul Train express! Hoot-Hoot! :) Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco, 'Love To Love You Baby' was smokin' hot in its day makin' you cheeks red ever time you listened. Well, it did me. :) Is is me or does that male background dancer kind of creep you out? I think they could've found a male dancer that's not weird and could dance. *roll eyes* It makes you wonder what's going on inside those people's heads. Oh well...looking back on vintage clips as this a lot of background dancers weren't the best. I don't know how that could be, either. lol The Temptations is a great classic R&B sound from the past. I really liked them and still do. My good bloggy friend, Marie, shared a video with Bruce Willis singing "Under The Boardwalk" with The Temptations. Bruce Willis is always such fun and actually sing. Did you watch the TV series "Moonlighting"? In one of the episodes he sang, "Doo Wah Ditty Ditty". That was fun! Anywho, great tunes today. Thanks for sharing and making my day extra special, my friend. Stay safe and well! xx
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteI'm thrilled to see you, dear friend! Thanks for making time to come see me and ride the Train to Soulsville U.S.A.!
Haha! Yessum, I see what you mean about that male dancer. He is a little creepy looking. He looks like a fugitive from the ballet. I'm not sure, but I think that Donna Summer performance took place on the London based music show Top of the Pops. The German music TV show Musikladen was notorious for having the worst dancing go-go girls on television. Like you I wonder how the producers and choreographers could allow that to happen as often as it did.
Yessum, I am aware that Bruce Willis is a good singer and remember him singing on Moonlighting. I'll have to look up that clip of him with The Temps. Yessum, I was a big fan of Moonlighting, never missed an episode, and even created a script for one of my TV commercials based on the series.
I'm glad you enjoyed the post, dear friend Cathy. Thanks again for coming by. Take care of yourself and DH and have a good week up there in Tennessee!
Wow! This was quite a lineup you had here today. I had to watch the videos to hear some of those songs from the past, but I really enjoyed the choreography and most definitely the costumes! Thanks Shady for kicking off my morning with some great memories.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cheryl-Lee!
DeleteI'm excited to see you, dear friend. Thanks for coming over and hopping aboard the party train!
Yessum, in this assortment of vids you see fashions from the early 70s through the mid 80s and a variety of dance moves by artists and studio dancers.
It's always a pleasure to add music and memories to your mornings, Cheryl-Lee. Thanks again for dropping in and have a safe and productive June, dear friend!
You've really got the disco ball rolling here! A fun trip back to the 70s!
ReplyDeleteHi, Sherry!
DeleteThanks for coming to ride the train, dear friend!
I'm glad you enjoyed this hip trip back to the 70s with some sounds of the 80s also thrown in, allowing you to see and hear the changing times in music, clothing & hair styles and attitudes.
Thanks again for your visit and comment, dear friend Sherry!
Hi Shady
ReplyDeleteThe flamboyant dancers and dressers of the Motown era were certainly show-stoppers, weren’t they? “Tired of being alone” is a truly relatable tune for these times ;-)
Take care, my friend!
Hi, diedre!
DeleteThanks for taking a ride on the Shady Train with me today, dear friend!
Yessum, if you turn the clock back to the 70s and early 80s you will see vocal groups in tailored suits performing elaborate choreography. I agree that Al Green's hit "Tired Of Being Alone" makes a dern good quaran-tune.
Thanks again for joining the fun, dear friend diedre!
I think the inventor of phone sex may have been inspired by Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby".
ReplyDeleteI don't think anybody could have predicted it back in 1983, but George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" has become a mainstay at wedding receptions and the like.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteHow are you doing, good buddy? Thanks for dropping in to see what condition my Shady Train condition is in!
Good observation, as always, Kirk. It makes me laugh that Mick Jagger was forbidden to sing the words "Let's spend the night together" on Ed Sullivan but, less than ten years later, nobody seemed to mind what sounds like the audio from a softcore porn movie recorded by Donna Summer and turned into a major international hit. Donna was invited to perform the sexy song on TV shows aimed at audiences much younger than the Ed Sullivan crowd.
I wasn't aware that Clinton's "Atomic Dog" has become a wedding song. If that's true, then cool! Can you imagine a pre-virus flash mob performing to the song in a city square?
Thanks again for joining the fun, good buddy Kirk, and take care of yourself up there in Ohio!
Love to Love You Baby is one step shy of porn..I need a cold shower. Enjoyed the first one with the deep voice of that one guy. i can't deal with James brown since he is a rapist, even though he was not charged. He was an abusive lout. He obviously has talent but I can't stand him. Love the 80's and the pointer Sisters look so good in their 80s get up. Al green made me laugh in the sequined get up but enjoyed the song and the whole fun part of it. That Atomic Dog is hilarious
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteThanks for coming down as your week comes to a close, dear friend!
Yessum, as Kirk (above) and I were discussing, that Donna ditty is quite titillating. Frankly, I'm offended by it, and think I'll go ahead and delete it from the post! :)
The deepest voice on the Temptations/Rick James number belonged to original Temp member Melvin Franklin.
Yessum, I hear you about James Brown. Some of the most talented showmen in music (can you say Ike Turner?) were allegedly abusive to women. Then there's the powerful, influential producing wizard Phil Spector to give you another example.
I'm glad you enjoyed The Pointers doing their "Neutron Dance" from the OST of the film Beverly Hills Cop, Al Green crooning on an early episode of Soul Train, and the official music video for P-funk pioneer George Clinton's "Atomic Dog."
Thanks again for your kind visit and comment, dear friend BB!