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Any discussion of Blue Magic’s Side Show has to begin with this observation: between classic Motown and 70′s Philly soul, composers had the most incredible run of slogans, warnings, metaphors, plays on words and sayings incorporated into songs. That was a formula that couldn’t miss. Bonus points for a mention of “mama.”

“Shop Around.” “Ball of Confusion.” “You Can’t Hurry Love.” “Stop! In The Name of Love.” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” “The Tears Of A Clown.” “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game.” “I Second That Emotion.”"Can I Get A Witness.” “Standing In The Shadows of Love.” “ABC.” “The Love You Save.” “Love Train.” “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show.” “Want Ads.” “Pay The Piper.” “Crumbs Off The Table”

OK. Now I’ve got that out of my system…

The great Philly soul sound of the 70′s was not just made by Gamble & Huff or Thom Bell, but other related production teams who just perfected was already in the bag. For Blue Magic, it was the WMOT team, starring producer Norm Harris, who packaged former members of the Delfonics and other local doo-wop groups (as was often the case), backed them with the legendary Philadelphia house band MFSB and out came the hits.

Could you tell the difference between Blue Magic and the Stylistics? Not really. But the quality was high in all cases.



Now it wasn’t just the impeccable orchestral and brass arrangements, the major seventh chords, the corny lyrics, the glowing harmonies, the matching ruffled suits, or even the enviable falsetto of Ted Mills for groups like Blue Magic.

It was the moves.

Everybody was in classic precision with each other, much like the Motown groups like The Temptations and Gladys Knight & The Pips before them. There was always the lead singer — kind of like the straight man who did his own thing — and then there was the rest of the group, who twirled, swayed, and spun around in mechanical lock-step choreography.

Blue Magic’s two incredible hits from 1974 — “Sideshow” and “Stop To Start” were state of the art Philly soul musical productions with the robotic moves to match, true snapshots of an amazing era in soul performances. You have got to love the opening touches of “Sideshow” with the carnival barker calling: “Hurry! Hurry! Step right up and see the side show in town for 50 cents.” And the chorus for “Stop to Start,” that is inane when you think about it but it just works for this time period: “I only stop/So we can start all over again.”

Special note: other real Blue Magic song titles (do you sense a gimmick?) — “Three Ring Circus.” “Born On Halloween.” And the real album titles: The Magic of The Blue. How about Thirteen Blue Magic Lane?

Watch both of these 1974 videos from the TV show Soul Train because they are just unbelievable. A bit campy? Somewhat jaw dropping? Even I feel that way looking at them now and I lived through this back then! It’s packaged soul music like we shall never see again.




STOP TO START / BLUE MAGIC　[レンタルサーバー]

TOTAL MUSIC GEEK by Drew Kerr

Peter Molyneux is busy hyping the upcoming Milo & Kate and Fable III. He recently tweeted however about a “special” feature that Fable 3 will have.

On his most recent Twitter post, Molyneux commented,

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Molyneux has been talking about the new features that Fable III will have, even going so far to say that it will be upsetting for most gamers. He’s currently taking suggestions for the game, and has revealed several new aspects such as no HUD for the game. He’s also teased things for GDC, saying in one post, “We are getting ready for GDC I have a big talk and demos to press I hope to have more time to actually demo rather than so much talk.”

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It’s time once again to take a break from our regularly-scheduled news in order to welcome Chris Barr, the latest addition to the Technabob team.

Chris has been blogging for several years now, mostly writing about the latest gadgets, gizmos and games. In fact, he runs his own gaming news site, GamerFront. When he’s not sitting at a computer typing up a storm or playing the latest video games, he can be found attending classes at Indiana University or doodling.

You might have noticed from the above picture that he has an unusual taste in fashion. He assures us that this isn’t his everyday attire (though it was suggested that this may be due to a lack of similar clothing). Rather, when he’s not trying to go for a Steampunk look or some other form of cosplaying at a convention, he’s pretty much a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy.

technabob

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via Geek Alerts

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Leon Russell was sort of the white man’s Billy Preston — he played on a ton of famous artists’ albums and then struck out on his own.

Part of a group of Oklahoma musicians who migrated to LA’s burgeoning recorded music scene (including Bread’s David Gates), Russell was writing and playing on all kinds of hit songs throughout the 60′s. He actually co-wrote one of my favorite 60′s pop tunes, Gary Lewis & The Playboys’ “She’s Just My Style” and the Carpenters’ made a signature tune out of their cover of his “Superstar.”

Russell was jamming in everybody’s band, bringing a flourishing rock style of piano that combined New Orleans ragtime and gospel blues feel. He had to of the most famous live gigs in the late 60′s — part of the all-star band on George Harrison’s “Concert for Bangladesh” and having a few moments of his own with a “Jumping Jack Flash/Young Blood” medley… and Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” tour, where they slammed out their famous reworking of The Box Tops’ “The Letter.”

As was the case with many artists before the 90′s, Russell cranked out solo albums that didn’t sell much until fate smiled on his solo album Carney. It was probably one of those magic moments where the music just clicked with FM radio at the time, perhaps they were just getting used to his highly slurred voice, because I remember New York rock radio playing “Magic Mirror,” “Roller Derby” and more than anything else, “Tightrope.”

“Tightrope” was just a plain strange song, clearly the inspiration for the sideshow-like title of the album. Dealing out the metaphor of musician as circus performer, the song jaunted along like a see saw, with brief pauses for a kick drum pounding out three beats. The piano sounded detuned, like it had been played on and moved around for years. Russell’s voice sounds like’s it’s slithering all over the place, on the verge of goofy, especially when he sings “like a rubber necked gi-raffe.”

The most ingenious part of “Tightrope” was the break, where Russell plays traditional circus chords, while the snare builds up as if following a tightrope walker, and then he ends it with a schmaltzy C9th up the keyboard (Russell loved his 6th and 9th chords).

I’m up on the tightrope
one side’s hate and one is hope
but the top hat on my head is all you see.

I’m up on the tight wire
one side’s ice and one is fire
it’s a circus game with you and me.

And the wire seems to be
the only place for me
a comedy of errors
and I’m falling.

Like a rubber-neck giraffe
you look into my past
well maybe you’re just to blind to – see.

I’m up in the spotlight
ohh does it feel right
ohh the altitude
seems to get to me.

I’m up on the tight wire
flanked by life and the funeral pyre
putting on a show
for you to see.

I don’t think the radio every really played any Russell album after Carney, but he’s still raking in the royalties from one song in particular off that collection — jazz guitarist George Benson turned “This Masquerade” into a cocktail jazz classic that sold a billion copies in 1976 and beyond.

Here’s Leon Russell’s original version of “Tightrope,” followed by a solo live version from 2002, in his old hippie long white flowing beard and hat look. Notice how his mouth is so close to the microphone, that he looks like he’s going to eat it.

TOTAL MUSIC GEEK by Drew Kerr