"Let it flow" is one of the great tracks from May's Locked On Disco. When I first heard it I was convinced it must be an edit of a rare early Diana Ross track that somehow I'd overlooked. But I was so wrong. It featured on the 1977 album "Cloudy" by Tamiko Jones, and was written by Stewart, Wright and McNichols. The hugely talented Tamiko gets production credits for the album too. Just listen to her gentle, sultry and soulful vocal and you'll hear all the very best qualities of Diana Ross shining through.
Tamiko started her career in the 1960s as a jazz artist before joining the unstoppable force of disco in the 1970s, including more success in 1979 with "Can't live without your love". The legendary Tom Moulton produced an extended mix of "Let it flow" which was released as a single on TK Records. Here on May's LOD it's The Disco Dandies who take the song and give it a whole new lease of life. Definitely one of my favourite disco tracks of the moment.
Another stand out track is Papayapa by Dave Leatherman and Bruce Nolan. There's a sexy vocal sample in there that I just cannot identify. To me it sounds like something Quincy Jones would have produced. The sample was also used by Evans on their slower and chilled vibe track - also called Papayapa - released in 2020 as part of the EP "Pools and palms". If you know where the sample is from, please put me out of my misery!
May's mix also includes a couple of tracks from one of the kings of Disco: Cerrone. "Love in c minor" has a very special place in my disco collection because it embodies the genre - hypnotic, uplifting, smooth, silky, incredibly musical, and incredibly sexy. Here 1976's "Love in c minor" is made-over by Dimitri from Paris, whilst 1978's "Look for love" has The Reflex at the controls. Shamefully I've never seen Marc Cerrone, now aged 71, live. I was looking forward to seeing him at 2022's Brixton Disco Festival but I was really ill and housebound for a few weeks. "Hopefully soon Marc."
Here's the full track list:
1 | Love Unlimited | High steppin' hip dressin' fella (You got it together) (S Nolla Edit) |
2 | George Benson | Love x love (Steph Seroussi Revision Mix) |
3 | Disco Dandies, Tamiko Jones | Let it flow (Extended Mix) |
4 | Strikers | Body music (South Beach Recycle) |
5 | Barry Manilow | Copacobana (The Reflex Revision) |
6 | Cerrone | Love in c minor (Dimitri from Paris Remix) |
7 | Cerrone | Look for love (The Reflex Revision) |
8 | Diana Ross | The boss (Dimitri from Paris Remix) |
9 | Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rogers | Get lucky (Dimitri from Paris Re Edit) |
10 | Freak Power | Turn on, tune in, cop out (Loshmi Edit) |
11 | Dave Leatherman, Bruce Nolan | Papayapa |
12 | Gil Scott Heron | The bottle (S Nolla Edit Mix) |
Don't forget you can download and subscribe to Locked On Disco on Apple Podcasts. You can also create your own mixes by adding the playlist on Spotify, where I often include related tracks and original versions. Meanwhile, just hit play below and enjoy!
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