Quickie: Ohio Players - Happy Holidays

You know how sometimes you feel a little tickle in your throat, and in the back of your mind you know it's probably a warning sign that you're about to be sick? Well I had that feelin' this past Friday morning and stupidly let it go, unchecked and untreated, all weekend long. As a result, I submit this Monday morning post from a sick bed as I shove copious amounts of over-the-counter cure-alls down my gullet to try and get well enough to go back to work tomorrow without infecting everyone around me. Anyway, my drugs are starting to kick in so I'll make this brief.

Today's offering is a small dose of Christmas holiday cheer served up by the legendary Ohio Players. This single-only release is long out of print but has resurfaced on various OP collections over the years. Sadly, most of those appearances only offer up the A-Side (Pt. 1) of the tune; so if you're trying to find the complete song you've only got 2 options: you can search here and try to find an original 45 pressing or, alternatively, you can try to get your hands on a copy of the Players' recently remastered Funk On Fire collection here.

N-joi!

Quickie: Sweet Thunder - Everybody's Singin' Love Songs (Disco12" Mix)

Who said you can't get discovered by mailing out a tape? That's how Sweet Thunder, a four man band from Youngstown, OH landed their deal with Philadelphia's WMOT (We Men Of Talent) Productions in 1976. The members were Charles Buie (vocals/lead guitar), Rudell Alexander (bass), Booker Newberry (vocals/keyboards), and John Aaron (drums). They didn't have a name when they submitted their tape to WMOT so an executive at the company came up with the "Sweet Thunder" moniker. WMOT, then distributed by Atlantic Records, released the band's first album Above The Clouds that same year.

By the time the band's self-titled second album was ready, WMOT had inked a distribution deal with Berkeley, Califnornia based Fantasy Records. The album's standouts were the uptempo dance cut "Everybody's Singin' Love Songs" and the Top 40 R&B ballad "Baby, I Need You Love Today."

The band's third and final album, Horizons was released in 1979 to lackluster sales and went virtually unnoticed. Buie and Alexander continued in music as session musicians and vocalists, Aaron became a producer and Newberry went on to pursue a solo career.

Wanna own a copy of this? If yes, then vinyl is your only hope since this mix hasn't seen a CD release yet. But the good news is that the supply is so plentiful you wont end up spending a fortune just to claim a copy. Pick one up here.

N-joi!