Sunday 26 July 2009

RODRIGUEZ - COLD FACT (Cult Classic Chillout Album) 1970


Underground classic psychedelic folk album from 1969! (this is not a disco record - this guy is a genius!)
MULTI-PLATINUM SELLING ALBUM IN SOUTH AFRICA! :)
RODRIGUEZ - COLD FACT is one of the lost classics of the '60s, a psychedelic masterpiece drenched in colour and inspired by life, love, poverty, rebellion. The album is Cold Fact, and what's more intriguing is that its maker - a shadowy figure known as Rodriguez - was, for many years, lost too. A decade ago, he was rediscovered working as a menial day laborer in Detroit, Michigan. He was unaware that his defining album had become not only a cult classic, but for the people of South Africa, a beacon of revolution. Rodriguez recorded Cold Fact - his debut album - in 1969, and released it in March 1970. It's crushingly good stuff, filled with tales of bad drugs, lost love, and itchy-footed songs about life in late '60s inner-city America. "Gun sales are soaring/Housewives find life boring/Divorce the only answer/Smoking causes cancer," says the Dylan-esque Establishment Blues. But the album sank without trace, thanks, in part, to some of Rodriguez's more idiosyncratic behavior, like performing at an industry showcase with his back to the audience throughout. When the follow-up, 1972's Coming From Reality, also sold poorly, Rodriguez called an end to his recording career. He'd never even played a proper gig. And he got on with life. Over the years, he turned his hand to local politics, gaining a degree in philosophy, factory work and eventually, hard labour. As his music career became a memory, Rodriguez's legend was growing - on the other side of the world. In South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Cold Fact had become a major word of mouth success, particularly among young people in the South African armed forces, who identified with its counter-cultural bent. But Rodriguez was an enigma - not even the label knew where to find him - and his demise became the subject of debate and conjecture. Some rumours said he'd died of a drug overdose or burned to death on stage. Others said he was in a mental institution, or in prison for murdering his girlfriend. Barring a couple of sold out Australian tours in 1979 and 1981, nothing had been heard of him for almost 30 years. But the tide began to turn in 1996, when journalist Craig Bartholemew set out to get to the bottom of the mystery. After many dead ends, he found Rodriguez alive, well, free and perfectly sane in Detroit, ending years of speculation. Rodriguez himself had no idea about his fame in South Africa (the album had gone multi-platinum, Rodriguez has received not so much as a Rand in royalties), and embarked on a triumphant South African tour followed, filling 5,000 capacity venues across the country. A documentary named Dead Men Don't Tour: Rodriguez in South Africa 1998 was screened on national TV.

Saturday 18 July 2009

Boys Town Gang - Cruising The Streets & Disc Charge (2on1 CD) gay disco classics ("UNCUT" / Uncensored Versions)







The Boys Town Gang were a San Francisco based disco and hi-NRG band. Their popularity peaked in the 1980s, when the group reached number 5 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart with the single "Cruisin' the Streets", and number 4 in the UK Singles chart[1] and number 1 in the Netherlands with their disco version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".

In 1980 DJ Bill Motley saw an opportunity to form a group that catered to San Francisco's large gay clientele. In his search to form a group he auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both male and female. Local cabaret singer Cynthia Manley captured the lead spot.

The idea was originally for one 12" single with two tracks of high energy music. Motley, a Diana Ross fan, picked two Ashford & Simpson songs to form a medley for the A-side. For the B-side he wrote a disco drama in four acts. A record label was founded to release the two songs.

When "Remember Me" / "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was released the song took off, with Manley's vocals propelling the song into the top of the club charts. The four-act explicit "Cruisin' The Streets" was a snapshot of Castro and Market Streets at sundown.

Get It Here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mnemwyzzhjb