Download or Listen to Matt Robinson – Roosevelt Franklin Counts from the Sesame Street Lp My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin

I got the idea to do this post after I put up the Village Choir’s “The Switch”. Sesame Street has a long history with music and musical guests. The multicultural children’s learning show on public access has had an affiliation with music since it’s inception. With everyone ranging from Tony Bennett to Cab Calloway to Stevie Wonder to Johnny Cash to Ray Charles to Paul Simon to Herbie Hancock and beyond, Jim Henson’s creation has become a world wide sensation for kids and adults alike. Take that and add the Muppet Show into the mix (not to mention feature films, etc.), and music and entertainment guests would have been honored to be on the daily and weekly shows. I mean, who wasn’t funkier than Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem? At any rate, here’s Matt Robinson with “Roosevelt Franklin Counts” from the My Name is Roosevelt Franklin Lp on Children’s Records of America from 1974.

Now I know what you’re saying? Why the hell is he doing this goofy novelty children’s record? Why not! Just because it’s a child’s record, it can be funky! For those of you not in the know, Roosevelt Franklin was a character on Sesame Street from 1970 to 1975. Modeled after an African American child, Roosevelt Franklin was always talking about Black History, life lessons, family, and geography. He was voiced by Matt Robinson who played Gordon. He also did the voices of Roosevelt Franklin’s younger brother Baby Ray, and mush mouthed Mobity Mosely. Robinson stated “”Somewhere around four or five,” “a black kid is going to learn he’s black. He’s going to learn that’s positive or negative. What I want to project is a positive image.” And project that image he did. Robinson wrote movies and television after he left Sesame Street (most notably Sanford and Son), and is the father of actor Holly Robinson-Peete (of 21 Jump Street fame). Sesame Street was indeed ground breaking television, teaching children (and some adults) through their educational, multi-racial skits about life, and the lessons that go with it. To me, after digging deeper and finding out about the Village Soul Choir and their affiliation with Sesame Street, I thought I’d throw something out there a bit different. Children’s records are no stranger to breaks, I mean from the Brady Bunch to Zoom to The Banana Splits to Bugs Bunny to British Stuff like Ragtime, while campy, are some funky ass shit. I mean Prince Paul even sampled Harrell and Sharron Lucky when he produced Three Feet High and Rising for De La Soul. They may have been imitating Sesame Street in a low budget way, but it was so good that Stones Throw reissued it. The funkiest Sesame Street song in my opinion was done by The Pointer Sisters, ( Pinball Number Count), but I believe it was just on the show, not an Lp. I’m just saying, there’s Funk and Soul in lots of things, even kid’s albums.

“Roosevelt Franklin Counts” is a goofy, if not cool little side helping kids to know the importance of counting. The decent drum beat, horn part, and bass line are pretty good for a kid’s Lp in 1974. Franklin likes to “scat, rhyme, and sing the Blues” according to his biography, and that he does. Matt Robinson and Joe Raposo composed the lyrics and Robinson handled vocals (with help from Rosalind Cash). This is just another example of a record, that’s not necessarily a record you might pick up. I picked it up because I remember RF from when I was a kid. I was pleasantly surprised at the sampling material on it. I used to actually play this out when I DJ’d in NYC. A certain bar owner (who no longer owns the bar), tried to steal this record, claiming he just wanted to make a T-Shirt. Likely story. I got the thing back quickly. That’s your midweek treat, so enjoy it while you can. Keep Diggin’!

Pointer Sisters Meet Sesame Street Pinball Count

Download or listen to The Village Choir – The Switch from the Paramount 45

Here we are at the beginning of the week. The weather sucked until yesterday. However, this weekend, football wise was fantastic. The Red Bulls won their final game ever played at the Swamp, and Liverpool crushed Man. U 2-nil at home. I couldn’t have asked for better football. We did it without Stevie G. and Sir Alex had to go home and drink lots of wine and whiskey to get over it. But I digress, we’re here for records, and here’s something I picked up a few years ago, have definitely played live, and included on a FMF mix. Here is The Village Choir with “The Switch” from 1973 on Paramount Records.

Not a tremendous amount of info around about this band. They were a New York City band I believe, and at least one member, guitar player Edward Arrington, Jr., ex-Motown backing player, recorded with the band Village Soul Choir on their “Talk To Me Sometime” 45 in 1972. I do not know how the Village Soul Choir morphed in Village Soul Choir, but Arrington was involved with that as well. This record was produced by Sir Charles Matthews and arranged by Clip Hightower. Matthews described the band as ” a choir that sang R & B and Pop. Village denoted the sound in it’s uniqueness, Soul denoted that it was church oriented, and Choir denoted it was heavy.” I was able to find out that it was recorded in George Klabin’s 46th Street studio called Sound Ideas, with Geoff Daking engineering the sessions. The Village Soul Choir also recorded one helluva children’s record in “Soul on Sesame Street”. The players also included arranger Clip Hightower, Don Otis Parker, Pat McQueen, Dolores Cooper, and Jimmy Marshall. The released a 45 that was included on that record of “The Cat Walk” (the bass line on this thing is KILLER).

“The Switch” starts out with a stanky little bass line, and a decent little beat. Honestly, before I did any research for this record, I just chalked it up to a funky, sexy lil’ number. I didn’t take into the consideration the Church influence the band members had, and as I’m listening it to it again, I hear the Gospel influence. It almost has a traditional/ folk quality to the lyrics, like some spirituals that would be sung at home on a Sunday. Then it switches (no pun intended). The string arrangement gets pretty tough, and the chorus of “rickity rack, sock boom bah”, while kind of corny, still fits in with this Funky Soul piece. I’m definitely feeling this on a late Sunday/ early Monday morning. Hopefully you will too. Keep Diggin’!

Check Out some of this Children’s Funk Gold! (Not sure if it’s the Village Soul Choir but it’s FUNKY as hell!

All I have to say is WOW! What a great night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We got up to Brooklyn early and hit SEA for some really great Thai food. With full bellies we proceeded to Berry Park. It was just filling up and my man Dave from Truth and Soul was dropping some really great 45’s to get the mood set. Up next came DJ Young (Old) Chris from Big City Records in Manhattan. The guy is notorious for having heat, and honestly, the shit he dropped was insane. Little by little the place filled up, and when I dropped my first 45, it was on. I couldn’t have asked for a better response, seriously. From the first record to the last, I had a lot of people coming up and asking me about sides, and generally digging my set. It felt pretty good. I haven’t spun in Williamsburg in a minute, and I got some love, which is really appreciated. After my set, Damu the Fudgemunk brought his beats and samples as the place was already jam packed. By the time the Budos got on, the place was banging. I stayed for a bit of their set, but my 16+ hour day was catching up to me, (not to mention the delicious Lambic/ Heffeviezen gigantic beers I was drinking). I’m upset I didn’t get to catch Voodoo Funk’s set (because the guy has HEAT and you know it), but there will be another time.

Huge shout out to Dave from Truth and Soul, Dan from the Budos (and all the guys as well), my NJ and PA peeps that came out, Eilon from Dust and Grooves, James for finally getting together after way too long, Tom from Belgium (yeah Belgium!) that came to the show, and everyone else who showed some love Flea Market Funk’s way. It is much appreciated people. No love to the dude who smashed my beer causing it to go over my headphones and a pile of 45’s. Looking forward to getting back to Billyburg real soon. Cheers. Keep Diggin’!

Repping Asbury Park!

DJ Prestige Set 10.22.09

The DT6 – The Baden Persuader/ Starla
Nolan – I Like What You Give/ Lizard
Don Gardner – My Baby Likes To Boogaloo/ Tru-Glo-Town
King Rubin & the Counts – Cow Peas/ Top Pop
Faye Ross – Faith, Hope, and Trust/ Round
Myron & E w/ the Soul Investigators – Cold Game/ Timmion
Panic buttons – O-Wow/ Gamble
The Interpretations – Soul Affection/ Bell
Lou Courtney – Hey Joyce/ Popside
Jackie Lee – African Boo-Ga-Loo/ Keyman
Freddie Terrell & the Soul Expedition Band – Soul Know How To Make Music/ Shout
Lavell Kamma – I Can Help You Find Yourself/ Jewel
Bill Doggett – Honky Tonk Popcorn/ King
Wee Willie Mason – Funky Funky Hot Pants/ Jay-Walking
The Fabulous Counts – Jan Jan/ Moira
TNT Band – The Meditation/ Cotique
Foxy – Trouble/ Double Shot
Shirley Brown – I Ain’t Gonna Tell/ Abet
The Johnny Otis SHow – The Watts Breakaway/ Epic
Monica – I Don’t Know Nothign Else To Tell You, But I Love You/ Toxsan
Betty Harris – Mean Man/ Sansu
Marvin Holmes & the Uptights – Ooh Ooh the Dragon/ Uni
Nina Simone – Save Me/ RCA
Paul Humphrey & His Cool Aid Chemists – Funky LA/ Lizard
Ray Barretto – Soul Drummers/ Fania
Lavell Hardy – Don’t Lose Your Groove/ Rojac
Willie & the Mighty Magnificents – Funky (8) Corners Pt. 1/ All Platinum
Sugar Billy – Super Duper Love/ Fast Track

Gotta bring some AP to the BK.

Old and New friends, plus some Fancy beers!

Well kids, you knew it was gonna happen again. I’ll be DJing in Brooklyn (at a rooftop bar with Bier Garden no less!), and it’s with the Budos again. Last year’s gig at S.O.B.’s in Manhattan was a trip, and this gig is going to be off the hook as the hipsters say. Not only will the Budos be bringing the heat out of Shaolin, the rest of the artists aren’t too shabby either. Voo Doo Funk (the best obscure African Funk around, PERIOD), DJ Old Chris, and Damu the Fudgemunk will also be providing the entertainment as well. Big ups to Dave over at Truth and Soul Records for getting me linked up to this colossal event (and I finally had a night off to do it). I’m going to be doing an all 45 set from 10 til 11. So if you’re in the area, come on out, have a beer, listen to some great music, and have a blast. I’ll be trying to get up early to meet some friends, get some decent food, and bring back some Stumptown coffee to the Dirty Jerz. Hope to see some of you Brooklyn/ NYC heads out. Keep Diggin’!

Download or Listen to Jorge Ben – Cuidado Com O Bulldog from the 1975 Phillips Lp Solta O Pavao

This week is gonna be kind of sparse, unfortunately. I’m DJing a bunch this week, including tonight for the Nixon after party for a surf contest in Seaside, NJ, plus preparing for the Budos Band gig in Brooklyn on Thursday the 22nd. I’ll be doing an all 45 set alongside DJ Old Chris, Voodoo Funk, and Damu the Fudgemunk. Unfortunately, this weekend was really not my weekend. Pair that with a couple of Nor’Easters here in New Jersey and the weekend was pretty bad. But, and this is a big but, I’m pressing on. I bought this record from my man over at Soul Spectrum, pretty much all things Brazilian. It’s a mighty damn fine blog, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, I suggest you do. Since the Winter really is here, I thought I’d revisit a bit of Summer to lift my spirits a little. This guy always gets me amped, and if you have no idea who this man is, I suggest you get familiar. Here’s Jorge Ben with “Cuidado Com O Bulldog” on Phillips records.

Born Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes in 1940 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1940, Jorge Ben has had a great musical career doing it all his way. He too had his start in the church and was influenced as well as encourgaed by his mother to be a musician. Originally a pandiero player (Brazilian tambourine), Jorge became quite good at bossa nova guitar. Musically, he was influenced by players such as Gilberto Gil and Joao Gilberto, but took his own path. His song “Mas Que Nada” started his career off right in 1963. From there he never looked back. Combining, traditional Brazilian music, bossa nova, rock, and even African rhythms, Jorge Ben is a tremendous musician in his own right. While “Mas Que Nada” has been covered by everyone, including Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘66 and the Tamba Trio, the cut was one of the most popular songs of all time sung in Porteguese, even here in the United States. His self titled record in 1969, backed by Trio Mocot (who were successful in their own right after playing with Ben) gave way to more success with the sides “País Tropical and “Charles, Anjo 45″. The 70’s were Jorge Ben’s most experimental time. He would release “A Tábua de Esmeralda”, “Solta o Pavão” ( where this side comes from) and “África Brasil” ( which DJ Prime-Mundo just got a clean copy of at the Spot!). As usual, atthe time the records were met with some tepid, lukewarm feelings and reviews. Fast forward to today and people want them. I was lucky to get this record, and I paid a few bucks for it, but you never see this stuff around really (At least in my experience). Jorge Ben would change his name to Jorge Benjor in 1989. He still continues to do his thing today, and he does it well.

“Bulldog” starts off rather fast, maybe a little frantic, but then transitions right into the Jorge Ben we all know and love. Slow and steady Ben moves through this side leaving me feeling refreshed, wishing I had a caipirinha prepared by my man DJ APB. Ben takes us out fast and furious again. I love this tune. It may not be funky in the traditional Flea Market Funk funky, but it’s one helluva side. I ask all of my readers to check out Jorge Ben if you haven’t. He is one incredibly talented musician, that I feel is overlooked. My man Prime-Mundo got me into him back in the day, and I thank him for it. Even though I love the Fall/ Winter, I needed to go back to a warmer time, and this song did the trick. Keep Diggin’!

Imagine my surprise when I got a message that past Asbury Park 45 Sessions Guest DJ Dave Withers had dropped a mix. This guy is a top record man, and an all around great bloke. Here’s the track list:

1. Village Choir “Along The Beach”
2. Harvey Averne Band ”Love Never Stays The Same”
3. Earles, Inc. “Let’s Try it Again”
4. Unity & The Down Beat “Love Dream”
5. Sharon McMahan “Get Out Of My Life”
6. Dee De Warwick “Where Is That Rainbow”
7. Kenny Wells “Isn’t That A Shame”
8. Prince Ellis “Love Will Make Your Mind Go Wild”
9. Gino Washington & G.W. Band “We Gonna Make It”
10. Ray Jiminez “Leave Her Alone”
11. Skip Jackson “I’m On To You Girl”
12. Katie Briggs “Green Power”
13. Fiestas “Sometimes Storm”
14. Betty Lavette “You’ll Wake Up Wiser”
15. Ike Lovely “Fools Hall Of Fame”
16. Charen Cotton “A Little Bit Of Love”
17. Marva Whitney “Ball Of Fire”
18. Joe Garland “That’s His Girl”
19. Richie Corbin Trio “A Woman Was Made For A Man”
20. Theola Kilgore “I Can’t Stand It”
21. Gloria Lynne “Speaking Of Happiness”
22. Glen Adams “You Make Me Feel Like A Man”
23. Marva Whitney “This Girl’s In Love With You”
24. Judy McDonald “Thanks To You”

Go on over to 100 Limousines and get this thing!

Download or Listen to T. Swift and the Electric Bag – Are You Experienced? from the Custom Lp

Greeting FMF peeps, I’m hoping you liked the raw and uncut mix I dropped the other day. I wanted to do it that way. With so much access to correcting everything you can put out digitally, I figured what the hell? Let me simulate a live set vibe and see how it goes. Is it perfect? Hell no! I’m hoping that you all got what I was trying to do, just do something a little different by throwing out a curve ball. So in keeping up with the Rock tradition (sort of), I wanted to throw this side out that I scooped up at one of the Asbury Lanes record swaps. It looked interesting enough, and just for 10 bucks, I figured what the hell. Here’s T. Swift and the Electric Bag with “Are You Experienced?” on Custom Records from 1968.

There really isn’t too much out there on this gem of a record. Who is T.Swift? For that matter, who is the Electric Bag? This record has been called a “psychsploitation toss off” by certain people. It has been speculated that the whole band was contrived in some major record board room to redo popular cuts of the day. Some say this band of California studio cats ripped off Hendrix, the Box Tops, and Classic IV by doing interpretations and covers of their songs. Still others say that this band was related to Tom Smith and the Electric Grandmothers, a band who put out a side on on Sound Tex in the Early 60’s. This has also been shook off by experts as pure coincidence. This record was released on Custom and later different cuts were reissued on a few other labels, as of late Gear Fab. Another label pinned on this type of recording, an specifically this record was “exploito”. Basically the record label hires a band to play said popular songs of the time, (more specifically songs in a certain genre that cater say to the Psychedelic kids in this case). A record is made, and then put out unlicensed and uncredited to to and by the original artist. Pretty shitty huh? I can think of a few labels, more specifically TWO that come right to mind, that have been doing that for years. I have no idea how they can sleep at night. At any rate, this record really has no credits at all, except that it’s on Custom and the address: 5810 So. Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, California 90044.

Starting off with a nice open drum break, this slowed down version of Hendrix kinda grows on you. It sounds really, like it was recorded in some dank basement with sub par recording equipment. I can just picture these cats, lights down low, going into the Session flying high on Hendrix and hash, saying: “We can do this.” I swear I hear a bit of a Fiddler on the Roof riff when the first guitar solo kicks in (and I’m not high I swear this time). The boys were definitely going out to impress the Psychedelic kids of 1968. I’m sure the suits at Custom thought that they were gonna grab all these impressionable acid eating kids and sell a ton of records. I doubt that was the case, and today, the reason people lay out some cash for this thing is because it’s got no info on it. I thought that this cover was pretty cool, but I get excited at an open drum break myself. It was more of a novelty, but I figured what the hell, I’ll have an open mind. So here’s another, Something Completely different for Wednesday, and I hope you enjoy it. Keep Diggin’!

Just got this from the good folks over at Truth and Soul. I’ll be doing an all 45 set in Brooklyn on Thursday October 22nd at 10 PM along side great DJ’s and artists DJ Old Chris, Voodoo Funk, and beats provided by Damu the Fudgemunk. If you haven’t checked out any of these T&S parties, now’s your chance. It will be at Berry Park, a cool rooftop bar complete with Bier Garden. Now if you haven’t seen The Budos Band and you will be in the NYC area, I suggest you check them out. It’s gonna be a great night of live music, beats and great records. Hope to see you out. Keep Diggin’!

This weekend had it’s ups and downs. Although I did get some digging in (and got a few really great records), during my Saturday Night gig, one of my turntables crapped out. Not fun when you have a roomful of people who want to shake their collective arses. Now at this particular gig I use Serato (go ahead with the boos, I know, but as a guy who DJ’s 3 to 4 nights a week it’s a must), and was able to get through it with one turntable in tact. So today after I picked up my new turntable, I decided to add a bit of what I do live and record it. It’s no secret that I like to add in some Rock now and again, as well as 80’s and anything else that has a good beat (besides the Hip Hop, Breaks, Soul, and Funk). That’s how the Tasty Beats party came about, and that has inspired me to do this very different podcast. This mix is raw, live and far from perfect. It was done all in one take in the FMF lab. It’s got mostly Rock stuff on it, hopefully you will enjoy something a bit different here this Monday Morning. Keep Diggin’!

Download or Listen To Something Completely Different: Raw Rock Vol. 1 – FMF Bonus Mix

I have been getting a bunch of e mails regarding my digging, The Spot, and records in general. Due to my hectic work schedule (which has slowed down a bit thankfully), my digging wasn’t as much as it once was. That’s ok, because I have plenty of records that need to be reviewed, and I have been getting in mini digs when I can. I wasn’t even supposed to go digging today, but when someone suggested it, I pushed aside the shitty weather forecast and make my way to The Spot. It was later than usual, and I really didn’t expect to get anything really. My steez is too get to the place early, get the records, and get out of Dodge while I can (with my wallet and records in tact). The first crates I looked in looked pretty promising. There were a bunch of older DJ crates, with the usual 12″s, assorted Funk and Soul Lps, and some Jazz, Classic Hip Hop, and Disco. I picked through, grabbed a huge stack of goodies and inquired about the price. When the response was “$5 a piece”, I knew that things were starting to change dramatically at my local. I know it’s not a secret anymore, but $5 a pop? I’m payin’ $1-2 for these Lps at the most, and now it’s doubled and tripled? I worked out a deal and came out under that, but to start the day like that was a bit annoying. You know the deal here, good records on the cheap. I don’t dig to pay E Bay prices, I don’t come to pay record show prices, if I did I’d have to change my name. At any rate, the rest of the day was pretty fruitful. I saw some of the regs: Johnny No Change was chasing kids and selling Rock records, the Old Man was doing his thing, Half Cigar was selling junk, and the I presume since it was late, most of the other characters were off pushing people out of their way at yard sales or calling the police on each other because someone got to a box of records first. Whatever the case, I was happy with what I picked up. When you don’t spend a lot of loot either, that’s even more of a bonus. Here’s what I got my hands on.

Lps:

Bill Black’s Combo – Bill Black’s Beat Goes On/ Hi
Red Foxx – Foxx-A-Delic/ Loma
The Pentangles – Sweet Child/ Reprise
Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band – Evolution/ Sussex
Donny Hathaway – Everything Is Everything/ Atco
Kool and the Gang – Music Is the Message/ De-Lite
The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Together/ Warner Bros.
The Afro Blues Quintet plus One – Introducing/ Mira
Jimmy Smith – Midnight Special/ Blue Note
Idris Muhammad – Black Rhythm Revolution/ Prestige
Cal Tjader – Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof/ Verve
The Soul Children – Friction/ Stax

45s:

Hot Sauce – I’d Kill A Brick (About My Man)/ Volt