James Hunter Rules!

The James Hunter Six

The James Hunter Six

James Hunter is a blue-eyed R&B singer and guitarist who has been active on the London scene since the mid-Eighties. At that time, he was in a band cleverly called Howlin’ Wilf and the Vee Jays. During the Nineties he formed his own band and played in pubs and club. Soon after the turn of the century, word of Mr. Hunter’s fine, fine music finally spread and he has become a significant cult favorite among those who know.

James Hunter’s music is cool. He has obviously been influenced by such R&B legends as Little Willie John, The “5” Royales, Freddie King, Lee Dorsey and Sam Cooke. But when he writes his own songs and when he sings those of others, being British, he adds his own original stamp and is not just a nostalgia act. Hunter recently released a new LP called Minute By Minute produced by Gabriel Roth (Daptone Records, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings) and, as this is being written, Hunter and his band is in the United States touring and promoting it. If he comes to your town, go see him.

On April 22, The James Hunter Six, took his excellent show to the beautiful new Living Room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was enlisted to spin records for an after-show party held in the front bar. The party was a gas, with members of the band, and a full Daptone posse, including Mikey Post, Neal Sugarman, Gabriel Roth, Nydia Davila and Sharon Jones in attendance.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

None of these records are for sale.

Out of Sight!!

All kinds of folks swing at OUT OF SIGHT!

All kinds of folks swing at OUT OF SIGHT!

Out Of Sight, the groovy new soul music dance night created by our pal DJ Xerox and held every Thursday at the Beauty Bar in Manhattan, has quietly become a top attraction in the New York City soul music scene. On April 16, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was paired with Matt Fiveash, which resulted in Out Of Sight having one of its biggest nights yet!

Matt_F

Mr. Fiveash, as all astute students of reet music know, has a music program that airs over the WFMU Give the Drummer Some audio stream. It can be monitored live, as it happens, every Thursday starting at 2pm, Jersey City Standard Time. On his show, he features the sort of music that readers of the Boogaloo Bag will certainly enjoy and it is highly recommended. If you are a first time listener, the Boogaloo Bag suggests that you go to the archives and check out his legendary Thanksgiving broadcast featuring all food records. Dig it here!

These days, a soul music enthusiast in New York City can dig boss sounds three nights in a row of every week—Wednesdays at Botanica with Mr. Fine Wine, Thursdays at the Beauty Bar with Out Of Sight, and Fridays at Home Sweet Home with Jonathan Toubin. One could almost come to the conclusion that Manhattan may soon overtake Brooklyn as the most happening borough in the city—especially if you take into consideration the fact that Subway Soul Club will return to Manhattan on May 9th when it takes place at B.B. King’s Lucille’s night club on 42nd Street!

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, including a couple by the great Percy Sledge, who had recently passed away:

  • The Mar-Keys–Bo-Time (Stax)
  • Merl Saunders & Heavy Turbulence–The Iron Horse (Galaxy)
  • The Parkays–Green Monkeys (ABC-Paramount)
  • King Solomon (with the Lad Teens Band)–Louisiana Groove (Cadillac)
  • Willis Jackson–Goose Pimples (Cadet)
  • Image–Funky Thing (Grande)
  • Graham Bonney with Johnny Scott and His Orchestra–Super Girl (Capitol)
  • Hank Ballard and His Midnighters–She’s Got a Whole Lot of Soul (King)
  • King George–Ah Huh (RCA Victor)
  • Lou Courtney–If the Shoe Fits (Popside)
  • Don Bryant–Doing the Mustang (Hi)
  • Jesse Henderson–The Gator (Gold Dust)
  • Jimmy McQuade and the Unique Echos–Booga-Ka-Do (Boogaloo – The Karate Dog) (Swan)
  • T-K-O’s–The Fat Man (Ten Star)
  • King Coleman–Down in the Basement (Togo)
  • Skip Easterling–Ooh Poo Pah Do (Instant)
  • The Monitors–Number One in Your Heart (V.I.P.)
  • JJ Barnes–Our Love (Is in the Pocket) (Groovesville)
  • The Magnificent Men–You Changed My Life (Capitol)
  • Trade Martin–Sixteen Tons (RCA Victor)
  • Wayne Cochran–Get Ready (Chess)
  • The Staple Singers–Love Is Plentiful (Stax)
  • Bogen Richard–I Am My Own Man (Birth)
  • Clarence Reid–Master Piece (Alston)
  • Billy Davis–Stanky (Get Funky) (Cobblestone)
  • The Good Timers–Chain of Fools (Atlantic)
  • Sam Cooke–Shake (RCA Victor)
  • Chuck Berry–Club Nitty Gritty (Mercury)
  • The Showstoppers–Ain’t Nothing but a House Party (Showtime)
  • Johnny Hallyday–Du Respect (Philips; France)
  • Percy Sledge–Baby Help Me (Atlantic)
  • The Ambertone’s–You Don’t Know Like I Know (White Whale)
  • Big Maybelle–How It Lies (Rojac)
  • Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers–Sugar Baby (Tower)
  • Edwin Starr–Back Street (Ric-Tic)
  • The Vibrations–Pick Me (OKeh)
  • Bobby Jones and the Para-Monts–Beware a Stranger (U.S.A.)
  • Mongo Santamaria–El Pussy Cat (Columbia)
  • Willie Mitchell–Barefootin’ (Hi)
  • Wayne Logiudice–Ow! Boogaloo (Philips)
  • The Soul Believers–Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go (Smak)
  • Mr. Pitiful–Girl Can’t Help It (Josie)
  • Little Bob and the Lollipops–Twisting Home (Decca)
  • Chan Romero–Humpy Bumpy (Philips)
  • Hues Corporation–Goodfootin’ (Liberty)
  • Vernon Garrett–You Blew My Mind (Kapp)
  • Wilmer & the Dukes–Get Out of My Life Woman (Aphrodisac)
  • Johnnie Mae Matthews and the Wonderettes–Cut Me Loose (Atco)
  • John Ellison–You’ve Got to Have Rhythm (Phil-L.A. of Soul)
  • Laddins–Dizzy Jone’s Birdland (Butane)
  • Donald Bryant–I Like It Like That (Hi)
  • Percy Sledge–Heart of a Child (Atlantic)

None of these records are for sale.

Midnight Boogaloo!!!

Drew Redmond and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at Midnight Offerings.

Drew Redmond and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at Midnight Offerings.

 

Our pals Josh Styles and Drew Redmond are both super fine DJs of reet music. They have an occasional night together when they play nothing but American garage rock 45 RPM records. The night is called Midnight Offerings and it takes place on the second Saturday of the month at a joint in Bushwick, Brooklyn called the Bootleg Bar.

Since commencing his DJ activities around five or six years ago, Mr. Redmond has quickly become one of the busiest DJs in town. Twice a month he’s at the Bootleg Bar. His Salvation Sunday at the Montana Trail House features gospel, blues and new breed R&B. On the last Friday of the month he swings with Finger Lickin’ Fridays with our pal Charles Gaskins at the Grand Victory. He always seems to have a gig somewhere around the greater Brooklyn area.

Mr. Styles, one of the best DJs on the scene, is also the drummer for that cool blues and rhythm combo Daddy Long Legs. On the evening of Saturday April 11, Mr. Styles was so employed in Washington, D.C., and thus unavailable for Midnight Offerings DJ duties. It was Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus who Mr. Redmond called to swing in his stead!

The Boog rounded up a bunch of old rekkids and made it to the world on time. He adhered pretty much to the “American garage rock” theme, even though Mr. Redmond opened the parameters to include all of North America. The Boog packed a few jams from Mexico and Canada, but none of them were played* (see notes below for possible known obsessive trainspotter exceptions).

 

Drew Redmond in a pensive mood at Midnight Offerings.

Drew Redmond in a pensive mood at Midnight Offerings.

For his part, Mr. Redmond played some fabulous 45s, each with a boss fuzztone-drenched beat and snarling vocals. This Redmond cat has a few killer records! Some of them are featured in a gallery of labels below.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

None of these records are for sale.

 

  • = To a certain extent, Steppenwolf is a Canadian group—most of its key members are from Toronto, but it was in Los Angeles where it recorded and became famous.
  • The Everyly Brothers are, of course an American singing sensation, however, this particular track was recorded in London with the brothers backed by The Hollies!

Here is a gallery of the records played by Drew Redmond at Midnight Offerings:

BirdDogginGilesStrangeHarmonicaLittleWillie

NobodysChildrenPalmerScotsmenStampedeSwingingMachine

 

We Got a Boogaloo Thing!

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Ol' Stark swing at We Got a Thing!

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Ol’ Stark swing at We Got a Thing!

As the astute Boogaloo Bag follower knows, every other fourth Friday of the month, at around 10:30 PM, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus walks into the Commodore bar in Williamsburg with a box of 45 RPM records and sets up the house turntables in order to create a super groovy scene—perfect for dancing, drinking or dining on the clubs fine fried chicken. March 27 was no exception, except it may have been more groovy than usual with special guest DJ Ol’ Stark swingin’ with his super groovy records!

Ol' Stark has a THING!!

Ol’ Stark has a THING!!

Ol’ Stark is a Frenchman who is quite comfortable in the Moderniste Scene. He splits his time between New York City and Paris, France. In both cities, he promotes some of the grooviest dance nights. Just a few years ago, his Let’s Boogaloo night was possibly the best of its kind going at the time. Also, it is important to note, that since he spends time on two continents, he is able to pick up records from both. It is not surprising for Ol’ Stark to select records with a super Go-Go beat sung in a funny language! Thus on Friday March 27, Ol’ Stark and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus turned the Commodore into an authentic International Jet Set Discothèque with a superb new scene called We Got A Thing! All night long the place was jumping to the super groovy sounds put down by these two disc jockeys. Every record played had a swingin’ Go-Go beat and a hot groove, and many of them had a distinct international flavor. Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

Some of the songs have links so you can hear them, check it out…

The Boog unlaxes by The Commodore jukebox at We Got A Thing!

The Boog unlaxes by The Commodore jukebox at We Got A Thing!

None of these records are for sale. On May 22, Phast and his friends will be back for another Boss Scene at the Commodore. Make your plans now to be there. Here’s a gallery of some of the records played by Ol’ Stark. Click on them and they will electronically Big-O-Fi using an exclusive hi-tek system developed in the Wang Dang Doodle laboratory. 45_BabyHoldOn45_Cheese45_Flomega45_ManhattanScore45_NeverKnow

WEGOTATHING_Poster