Peer International - Rock Allegro (1976)

     figured i'd throw this up if anyone was interested in it, Peer International's 9036 "Rock Allegro" from 1976. i hope to sell this so i ripped it in preparation. i bought this years ago after finding out "Solid Funk" was on it. was hoping there would be other ID stuff on it, but that didn't turn out to be the case. i needed that track in high quality for a project anyway, so it wasn't entirely a loss. there's some decent stuff on here besides the obvious standout, but most of it is just standard rock stuff, not much my flavour. "Solid Funk" though, what a tune!

Blacula (1972)

     no other film and its soundtrack mean more to me than 'Blacula'. the greatest blaxploitation movie and my second favourite record of all time. the stuff that gene page does for this film is out of this world. the film was one of the first blax films that i saw, and the funkyness got me right away. coming out in 1972 (the first definitive year of blax with other classics like 'Hit Man', 'Cool Breeze', 'Hammer', etc.) really helped give the genre its legs. the amazing thing about it is the family friendly nature really, cause this is certainly not a genre for that. but it works so well here. a while ago i compiled a list in chronological order of what i consider to be every blaxploitation film, which you can find here. out of the 234 films, this one takes that cake. and the soundtrack, oh man it's just incredible. pre-Barry White here Gene Page is a master. now the released soundtrack does have all the good tunes, but some of the versions are different than the ones that were used in the film.
     the main theme version that is on the soundtrack release is excellent, but i honestly prefer the film version. "Theme (Original)" from the film is much more in-your-face i'd say, and it just sounds like a theme. whereas the album version sounds more like a funky track that could appear anywhere in the film. the version of "Movin' (Original)" that is used in the film is the opposite however, the album version is much more lively than its film counterpart. the other stellar tracks "Run, Tina, Run!", "Good To The Last Drop", and "Firebombs", appear to be the same versions. creating the true soundtrack has been a long time coming.

Denise LaSalle ‎- I'm So Hot (1980)

     a top ten disco track for me right here. "I'm So Hot" is a perfect disco song, from the long building intro to the catchy pre-chorus to the insane strings. the vocals are amazing, the music is genius, it's just perfect. Denise had a lot of good songs, but nothing comes close to this one, and even the rest of this album feels like a letdown after you hear the first track. but again, doesn't even matter. Denise passed just a month ago now, blasting this in her honour, RIP.

Three Ripening Cherries (1979)

     not much to say about the film, decent Carlos Tobalina outing with a pretty great cast. equally great soundtrack, ranging from Studio One to Amphonic libraries. several tracks in the film are even from something that was posted here years ago out of my collection. so here's a little mix i made of my favourite cuts from the film, with one track being sourced right from the print, cause i don't know what the hell it is or where it's originally from.

Denise Lopez - Every Dog Has Her Day!!! (1990)

     i first found out about this record years ago while searching for michael jay tracks, to this day it's still amazing late 80s pop. smash hit after smash hit on this one. actually both of her albums are so great, and that's pretty much her whole career. this second record definitely feels a little more polished all around. though i will say her first record packs in more uptempo tunes than this one, which makes me lean towards preferring that one. but a michael jay track here may be my favourite in her catalog. almost veers into new jack swing territory, just amazingly catchy. 

     Denise appears on the great "Cool As Ice" film. one of my favourite parts is when 'It's Just My Heart That's Breakin' is crankin' on the ghettoblaster towards the end of the film. personally i think the movie is way too heavily criticized, it's awesome. 

Dazz Band ‎- On The One (1982)

     whenever i think of the perfect boogie sound, i think of this record. always thought this was from '83 cause that's what my copy says, but i guess it's a year earlier. the lead off tune is top five best boogie tracks ever if you ask me. 'Party Right Here' is an absolute stomper. sadly the only other tune that reaches anywhere near those heights is 'Don't Get Caught In The Middle'. a very funky tune indeed, but it doesn't have that special something.

            i will say that the entire b-side is a snoozefest too, but it doesn't even matter. this record is about one tune, and one tune only.

Corinne Tell - I Should Be So Lucky (1988)

     this one had all the ingredients, the year, the look, japanese only, not one, but two stock aitken waterman covers. where did it all go wrong? this one was on my wantlist for a long time, and having heard no sound clips back then, it looked really promising. so i finally found one for dirt cheap and enlisted the help of a friend from the states to receive it, and ship it out to me (stinkin' amazon not shipping to canada). anyway i got it, popped it on and was pretty disappointed. the two SAW covers also mostly true to form, but the rest of the album has more of a italo disco flavour, something i'm not a big fan of. one tune that does seem to cross over the genres a bit is the first track, and that's the one included here.


     bare bones packaging, mostly in japanese and zero pictures. oh well, sometimes you just have to take a chance. didn't work out this time, but whatever.