Sheila Be and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the DYNAGROOVE: SOPHISTICATED BOOM BOOM!!

This year, the February DYNAGROOVE landed on the day before Valentine’s Day. Host DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus thought it would be a perfect time to showcase the artistry of the many fabulous female acts that have recorded through the ages, and thus declared the night another SOPHISTICATED BOOM BOOM with guest DJ Sheila B—the internationally renown queen of the girl group record!

Sheila B produces maximum groove at the DYNAGROOVE!

The Boogaloo Bag writers first observed DJ Sheila B in action at a Smashed!Blocked! event some time after the turn of the century. She was able to keep the dance floor jumping with high-energy, female-sung pop songs. Her Cha Cha Charming interweb thingie is among the most intelligent and interesting of all personal websites/blogs. One of her greatest achievements is to have been the associate producer and liner note writer for One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds—Lost & Found (Rhino), a wonderful 4-CD collection that comes in a package shaped like a hat box. She is also quite keen on international releases, especially those from England, France and Japan. “Japan?” you may ask? Dig these excellent compilations of women Japanese singers that Miss B assembled for Big Beat/Ace UK records! Also, Sheila B has recently commenced her own DJ night, Sh-Boom!, a collaboration with our pal Josh Styles that takes place at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus adds a little Boom to SOPHISTICATED BOOM BOOM!!

Phast Phreddie’s contribution to the evening included several female jazz vocalists and even instrumentalists, along with the usual thrushes from the sixties. Who can resist the version of “Watermelon Man” by Miss Elsie Smith, especially when she is noted as “Queen of Sax” right on the label? At any rate, women artists from many walks of life were duly saluted—as they should be! Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

• Mary Lou Williams Trio–Chunk-A-Lunk Jug (Sue)
• Little Esther–Summertime (Federal)
• The Charmels–Baby Come and Get It (Volt)
• Dee Dee Warwick–We’re Doing Fine (Blue Rock)
• The Chordettes–Zorro (Cadence)
• The Crystals–He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) (Philles)
• Dee Williams–Bongo Blues (Savoy)
• Vi Campbell–Seven Doors (Peacock)
• Sarah Vaughan–Doodlin’ (Mercury)
• Gwen McCrae–Ain’t Nothing You Can Do (Columbia)
• Etta James–I Just Wanna Make Love to You (Argo)
• The Marvelettes–The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game (Tamla)
• The Sweet Things–You’re My Lovin’ Baby (Date)
• Cher–I Walk on Guilded Splinters (Atco)
• Tamiko Jones–Ya Ya (A&M)
• Gloria Jones–I Know (Minit)
• Willene Barton and Her Trio–Bossa Nova Twist (Skymac)
• The Shirelles–Dooms Day (Scepter)
• Maxine Brown–Little Girl Lost (Wand)
• Queenie Lyons–Try Me (DeLuxe)
• Shirley Scott–Out of It (Prestige)
• La La and the Lalaretts–Gettin Ready for Freddy (Elpeco)
• The Supremes–Things Go Better With Coke [from EP Things Go Better With Coke] (Coca-Cola; Germany)
• April Young–This Time Tomorrow (Columbia)
• The Babies–The Hand of Fate (Dunhill)
• Ginny Arnell–Dumb Head (M-G-M)
• Etta James–Two Sides (To Every Story) (Argo)
• Mod Singers–Mr. Thunder (U.S.A.)
• Lola Falana–Working in the Coal Mine (Reprise)
• B.J. Baker–Anywhere (Decca)
• Susan Barrett–What’s It Gonna Be (RCA Victor)
• Miss Elsie Smith (The Queen of Sax)–Watermelon Man (Open)
• Marva Josie–Oohbiskubido (Julmar)
• Tammi Terrell–All I Do Is Think About You (Tamla)
• Jo Ann Garrett–Sting Me Baby (Duke)
• Tiffanys–Lover Boy (Arctic)
• Lee Clark–All Alone in My Lonely Room (Atco)
• Margie Hendrix and the Vocals–Let No One Hold You (Tangerine)
• Sandra Kay Tucker–I Got a Good Thing (Peacock)
• Staple Singers–Power of Love (Epic)
• Aretha Franklin–Can’t You Just See Me (Columbia)
• Samantha Jones–Ford Leads the Way (Ford; UK)
• Shirley Scott–Soul Sauce (Impulse)
• The Kane Triplets–Theme from ‘Mission: Impossible’ (United Artists)
• Bunny Shivel–Top Twenty (Capitol)
• Kay Bell and the Tuffs–(The Original) Surfers’ Stomp Pt. II (Dot)
• Leslie Gore–Off and Running (Merucry)
• Sarah Vaughan–What’s So Bad About It (Mercury)
• Jeanne and the Darlings–Standing in the Need of Your Love (Volt)
• Vivian Reed–The Shape of Things to Come (Epic)
• Cookie Jackson–Suffer (OKeh)
• Nicole Lord–C’est le Go-Go (In Crowd) (Plaza; Canada)
• Lada Edmund Jr–Trouble (Is His Middle Name) (Coral)
• Shelley Shoop and the Shakers–Fair Shake (Groove)
• Betty Adams–Make It Real (Ride On) (Notes of Gold)
• [unknown singer]–I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy (Munster; Spain)
• Sakura–Stupid Cupid [from EP Sakura Goes Boom Boom] (TER; Singapore)
• Jody Miller–The Fever (Capitol; UK)

None of these records are for sale. Photos by Nancy “Jeannie” Gardner.