Category Archives: Boogie

You’ve Been Stung.

Wednesday: March 19, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie 2 Comments

Artist: Bumblebee Unlimited
Title: Sting Like A Bee
Year: 1979
Label: RCA
Format: Vinyl LP (Original Promo)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.0/5.0

Front

Review
A decent attempt. This is a studio group, a producers concept album, Bumblebee Unlimited is NOT a real group. Basically this album creates hot boogie instrumentals and fuses them with sped up vocals, and the idea of it actually works. It doesn’t sound bad at all, although I enjoy the music itself in this case, more than the sped up vocals. See what you think…

Check out the sound!

I Got A Big Bee

Lady Bug

Design
I tell you, these boogie/disco covers just get weird-er and weird-er…

Additional info on Bumblebee Unlimited

The First Cloud.

Tuesday: March 18, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Cloud One
Title: Atmosphere Strut
Year: 1976
Label: P&P
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.5/5.0

Front

Review
A rare record, and a damn good one. I was attracted to this album for two reasons, ONE, when I turned it over to read the back I saw the name PATRICK ADAMS, TWO, I saw the name PETER BROWN. Need I say more? These are two of my favorite producers/musicians from the boogie era, each bringing a different dynamic to the table to make Atmosphere Strut a classic, yet underrated record. This album has a vibe that’s built off of the groove, with an electronic sound that pulls one in closer to the music. The synthesizer experimentation is on point, not many people were effective, in my opinion, during the late 70′s using synthesizers, they generally over-did it, over-saturated the track with terrible use of the equipment producing garbage. NOT Cloud One (a studio group…producer’s concept), they teamed up to make one of best albums of the era, they mastered the formula of “feel-good”, and delivered to us via vinyl. A testament to that last statement is the mellow sounds of my favorite track on the album, “Dust to Dust” (listen below).

Check out the sound!

Dust to Dust

Atmosphere Strut

Disco Juice

Design
Blurred photography is intriguing, in any case, but here the guy looks as if he’s in a trance or something. But that’s where this album will take you, into a trance…so it’s straight to the point, and definitely fitting.

The border is pretty traditional, for such a non-traditional album, I’m not sure why they went there (i’m not a huge fan of that design move), but it keeps the cover feeling clean. Along with the font of choice, clean and traditional, but I would’ve rather had seen the designer use something a bit more funky, a tad more visually interesting. Although very clean, it’s not much of an interesting cover, honestly, the photography saves this one for me.

Back

Additional info on Cloud One

Masked Marauder.

Monday: March 10, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Funk 3 Comments

Artist: Mandre
Title: Self-Ttiled
Year: 1977
Label: Motown
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.0/5.0

Front

Review
Okay, i’ll be the first to say that I fronted on this album for about two years straight! That was a huge mistake on my part, because when I finally decided to listen to this record, I was a fan…INSTANTLY. This groups new life (as MANDRE) is the result of a failed record label, Capricorn. Capricorn was the label that was home to the group MAXAYN. After Capricorn, MAXAYN disappeared and re-apppeared on Motown as MANDRE (which is the lead performer, Michael Andre Lewis). They brought this space funk with them upon their return, a sort of solar groove or something. But to make this long story short, they are amazing, innovative in style and delivery. Enjoy.

Check out the sound!

Solar Flight (Opus I)

Third World Calling (Opus II)

Interlude

Design
Funky air brushed illustrations grace the front and back covers, and I love them BOTH. Notice the keyboard makes the smile on the front of the non-detailed mask. Subtle moves like that are great. The logo is nice as well, its look, is how the music feels, that’s a hard move to execute…designers know…

Back

Additional info on MANDRE

Webo.

Saturday: March 8, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Jazz, Soul Leave a comment

Artist: Webster Lewis
Title: Let Me Be The One
Year: 1981
Label: Epic
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 3.5/5.0

Front

Review
Look, if you’re not smooth, don’t even bother with this post. Webster Lewis is for the smooth crowd. But that’s why i love his music, and particularly this album. His sound is super cleaned-up, and he pays close attention to detail. Looking for grooves, nice synth and keyboard work, this is your guy. The sad thing is that not many people know of Webster Lewis. here’s your chance to find out…

Check out the sound!

El Bobo

Dancer

Design
Look at how fresh his jacket is! Okay, back to the design…simple, clean, and effective. I like the border framing the photography, and the sophisticated serif font of choice here, definitely representative of Webster Lewis’ music. The lighting effects on the photos are pretty cool too, the beiges are brought to the front to keep the overall tone consistent, and you can really start to see the colors being brought out on the front cover. Nothing mind-blowing, but a solid cover for sure.

Additional info on Webster Lewis

Boogiesco

Friday: January 18, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Mix 20 Comments

Record Cover

Artist: Various
Title: Boogiesco
Mixed by: Flwrpt.
Year: 2008
Cover Art By: Darien Victor Birks

Trying something new in an attempt to bring another element into the site…

I present to you, my first EVER mix created and posted on the blog, Boogiesco. As you probably guessed, it’s a set compiled of boogie and disco music…some common, some not-so-common (tracklisting will be provided upon request). So relax your minds, and let your conscience be free…I hope you all enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

OR

Listen directly from the site:

—–
Tracklisting:

Bernard Wright – Master Rocker
Eddie Henderson – Prance On
Flakes-1 – Sugar Frosted Lover
Phreek – Weekend
Musique – Keep On Jumpin’
Convertion – Let’s Do It
Ronnie Laws – Young Child
Fingers – On My Way Back Home
Mandre – Solar Flight
Michael Wycoff – Looking Up To You
Dexter Wansel – The Sweetest Pain
Jack McDuff – Night Fantasies
Peter Brown – For Your Love
Chic – Sao Paolo
Black Ivory – Mainline
Roy Ayers – Running Away (Extended)
Logg – You’ve Got That Something
Willie Hutch – The Glow

Peace.

Posted by: Darien of flwrpt

More Anonymity.

Saturday: January 5, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie 3 Comments

Artist: Logg
Title: Self-Titled
Label: Salsoul
Year: 1981
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)

Front

Review
Logg, yet another alias for the great, King of Boogie, Leroy Burgess. This record is a project that Burgess was asked to work on after the classic boogie record, I Know You Will, was heard by producer Greg Carmichael. Logg was nothing more than a studio group made up of Leroy Burgess (formerly of the great soul group, Black Ivory), James Calloway, and Sonny Davenport. Studio groups are essentially a producers concept, so with that stated, one can understand why this was Logg’s one and only LP. As classic as the material on this record is, it still seemed to go under the radar during it’s release in 1981.

Burgess describes this Logg music as “Feel Good”. He claims to have discovered the formula for feel good music, and applies it to every track. Well I must say, it’s definitely working for me.

Classic record.

(You’ve Got) That Something

I Know You Will

Dancing Into The Stars

Cover

Design
Not a huge fan of the cover image.

But I really dig the “Logg” logo. It reminds me of the “Leggs” stocking company logo, which was designed by Herb Lubalin. This seems to be the same font.

The back cover imagery is awesome, THAT should have been on the front cover. Right?…

Cover

posted by: Darien of flwrpt

Party Up.

Thursday: August 9, 2007 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie Leave a comment

Artist: The Evasions
Title: Wikka Wrap/All Wrapped Up
Label: SAM
Year: 1981
Format: Vinyl Extended Play 12″ (Original)

Front

Review
Definitely a party starter, released during the boogie era…from a small independent label called SAM Records (Long Island City, NY). Not much to say here, as it’s a single, with a full track and an instrumental…but in short, this is now one of my favorite cuts to sit and listen to. It’s synth-heavy, but used in all the right ways, making for a monster groove! The Evasions make reference to a few of its predecessors throughout the track, sparingly chanting phrases such as “Tear the Roof Off the Mother Sucka…”, “Leave Your Cares Behind…” etc. (All softly beneath the groove). Not sure on the rarity of this or anything, but the cover is pretty loud visually, so if you recognize it and you want a nice piece to add to your collection, grab this with a quickness. (DJ’s, you NEED this!)

All Wrapped Up

Design
The only reason this record is being featured is because the firs thing that I noticed about it was its cover. Sitting in a bin at a local yard sale, this one stood out! Silver background, cyan circle, and bright orange bubble type! I was intrigued…and I had never heard of this group, The Evasions. Anyway, for those who care, I believe the font used here is called VAG Rounded Bold, if i’m wrong…correct me. What you see is the standard SAM Records 12″ cover art, so there is no designer credited here.

Posted by: Darien of flwrpt

ONLY This Dude!

Sunday: April 8, 2007 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie 2 Comments

detail front cover detail back cover
Artist: Prince Title: Prince Year: 1979 Label: Warner Brothers Format: Vinyl LP

All I have to say is this…

Prince (or should I say, the artist formerly known as Prince) is the only guy that I know of that can get away w/ riding a winged unicorn, @ss naked and maintain MAJOR respect throughout the industry and the world!

Being a musical GENIUS pays off!!! LOL!!!

Shout out to Prince!

Where is Ware?

Sunday: April 1, 2007 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul 2 Comments

detail front cover
Artist: Leon Ware Title: Rockin’ You Eternally Year: 1981 Label(s): Elektra Format: Vinyl LP

This dude is amazing. Thank him for all of Marvin Gaye’s hits in the 70′s. Why? He wrote and produced most if not all of it.

Super hard to find, I got lucky when I stumbled across this one…priced pretty high but worth every penny.

The sound of this album is mellow overall, that’s Leon’s style. If you’re looking for that record that can put you at ease, while giving you GREAT music, then get this record. It’s similar to a 72 degree sunny day w/ a light breeze.

An additional note, the colors of the recrod cover are dope, teal, yellow and black…simple elegance.

OH! Holy Grail.

Corn Flakes from the UK

Sunday: March 11, 2007 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Soul Leave a comment

detail front cover front cover back cover
Artist: Flakes-1 Title: 1980 Year: 1980 Label: Magic Disc Format: Vinyl LP

Carnell “Flakes” Matthews!

I dug this up on accident, truly…I didn’t know anything about this cat, but I loved his record cover design…there is a hand coming out of a cereal bowl!!! how wild is that??!! Anyway, so I grabbed the joint and gave it a listen while I was in the record store, I honestly only like two songs on each side of the LP, but I liked them enough to buy the whole record. This LP has a mix of sounds…disco, hip-hop, and slow love ballads. He was an artist from UK, so I don’t know if he really knew his sound, so he was giving a bit of everything. I really like his disco cuts on here, they’re dope. This LP is rare, but if you can get your hands on it, check out “Sugar Frosted Lover”, that’s the dopest track on there.

For now…just peep the hot cover design!

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