Keystone State Soul Weekender Number Six

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Boogaloo Bag Standard Reply

*The Keystone State Soul Club family*–DJs, Dancers and Diggers!

The Keystone State Soul Weekender isn’t just three days of dancing around to fabulous records; it has become a family reunion of sorts. There is a hard-core group of folks who come every year and that group seems to be getting bigger at each event. The group includes dancers as well as DJs. There are DJs that rotate in and out of circulation—of which Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus is proud to be one—and they don’t work in competition, but rather in cahoots with each other. The DJs are out on the floor dancing to each other’s records. A camaraderie has developed among them that is unmatched in the DJ culture world. These people, who come from all over the continent (and England), genuinely like each other and it all came together because of their love of soul music. Very often, the DJs would compliment each other on their selections—and what fine selections they were, too. These DJs know their stuff, that’s for sure!

During the weekend of November 18, 19 & 20, the Sixth Keystone State Soul Weekender was held at the Elks Lodge in beautiful downtown Lancaster, PA. As the faithful were gathering on Friday night, hugs were in abundance.

Also in abundance was love for our friend Andrew Turner, who passed away over the summer. The Boogaloo Bag writers first met Mr. Turner at the first Keystone State Soul Weekender in 2016. He was sitting by himself on the other side of the room when we invited him to come sit with us and help us eat Miss Nancy’s cookies that she baked for the event. A record show used to take place in Manhattan and occasionally Andrew would take a train in from his home town of Reading, PA. After the show, we would get Thai food. He was one of the nicest people we’ve ever met and his passing saddened us quite a bit. In fact, it saddened a lot of the DJs who knew him, as many dedicated songs or whole sets to him. Indeed, the whole weekend was unofficially dedicated to Mr. Turner—especially with members of his family in attendance each night and a shrine set up in the chill-out room to honor him.

***A memorial to our fallen brother, Andrew Turner.***

There was another person whose attendance was missed this year as well: Dennis T. Brennan. He was a record dealer who brought records to sell to us during the Sunday brunch portion of the Weekender. During the sixties he was a member of The Intentions, a blue-eyed soul group from nearby Harrisburg. In the olden days, Phast Phreddie bought records from him off his lists in Goldmine and later through lists he circulated via email, in the days before the ebays or the discogs. Mr. Brennan passed away in March.

This year, there were two newcomers: Patrick Foisy and Marty Emanuel—both travelled from Canada. Mr. Foisy, known as Parka Pat due to his Mod leanings, brought his own pre-recorded introduction on a 45 RPM record. In Montreal he swings a boss dance party called With It. He was supposed to attend last year’s event but was held back by mean covid restrictions. Mr. Emanuel was born in South Africa but now lives in Winnipeg were he is known as Mod Marty and produces the On Target podcast.

Among the DJs who have previously swung at the Keystone State Soul Weekender are Vincent Ebb (known as The Soul Chef, he’s a Baltimore cat now living in Texas); Tony Chackal (a philosophy professor at a university in Georgia); Jay Boxcar (Garden State Soul Club); the tag-team of Chas Gibson & Ivy A’ Go-Go (New Paltz, NY); Paula Carrillo and George Rodriguez (both of Minneapolis); Mikey Post (Daptone Records, NY); Cher Gingras (Slow Fizz, Toronto); Eric Svirida and Yana Lil’ Jerk (both of the New York City Soul Dance Squad); Richard Sibello (Top Shelf Oldies, NJ); Al Aitchison and Connie T. Empress (both of Soul Finger, NYC); Scott Boyko (Hanover, PA); Chey Frazier (Easton, PA); and let’s not forget our wonderful hosts, Julio Fernandez (Red Rose Soul Club, Lancaster) and David Raistrick (Tamla Coffee Bar & Record Shop, Skegness, England). Every DJ presented excellent records and the dance floor was busy the entire time. Brother Weems was the M.C., as he has been for several years now, and he does a bang-up job of it, too.

***Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus***

Meanwhile, as all the dancing was going on in the main room of the Elks Lodge, in the chill-out room where the bar was, folks were selling records. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was able to enhance his record collection considerably—plus he sold and traded several records from his own collection. Also in the chill-out room on Saturday afternoon Chet Stewart of local soul legends The Trenells signed autographs and sold a limited edition reissue of one of his records. At one point, he came on stage as his record was played.

***Julio and Chet Stewart of The Tranells***

In previous years, the Sunday Soul Brunch was held downstairs in the Elks Lodge diner. However, this year the Lodge failed to hire a chef, so the brunch was held upstairs. Extra tables were set up and folks brought their own grub. Luckily, there is a good coffee shop a short way down the street where folks could get some snacks.

To illustrate a point made above regarding the friendships that have developed among the DJs, DJ Chey Frazier started his Saturday night set with Dobie Gray’s immortal “Out on the Floor.” It had loud scratches that could be heard, making the Boogaloo Bag writers wince. One of the DJs remembered that Scott Boyko, who was selling records in the next room, had several mint copies for sale. That DJ bought one of them right then and there—with Mr. Boyko making a price reduction—and brought it up to Mr. Frazier as a gift and told him to get rid of the beat-up copy! How often do you see DJs working together like that?

***Record buying scene in the Chill Out Room–photo by Cher Gingras***

If you are reading this and have not yet attended a Keystone State Soul Weekender, I strongly urge you to do so next year and become part of our family. As November approaches, watch all the social medias in order to get more information, or even better, join the Keystone State Soul Weekender group on the Facebooks.

***Phast Phreddie & Chey Frazier discuss the finer points of a soul record!***

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was responsible for three sets over the weekend—Friday night (boss, popular Northern Soul selections), Saturday afternoon (fave dance records—yes folks were boppin’ at 1:00 in the afternoon!), and the opener of the Sunday Brunch (all groovy instrumentals). Here is a list of every record he played:

Friday Night

Saturday Afternoon

Sunday Brunch

None of these records are for sale.

The Funky Brunch goes to the dogs!

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Boogaloo Bag Standard Reply

***DJ Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Funky Brunch!***

On Sunday November 13, DJ Pete Pop hosted another Funky Brunch at Mama Roux, as he does every Sunday. On this afternoon, however, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was asked to come guest DJ… and so he did.

Mama Roux is a marvelous New Orleans-themed restaurant/bar located in the heart of downtown Newburgh, New York—the jewel of the Hudson River. Mama’s staff is made up of some groovy people. The decor has a subtle Mardi Gras ambience. The bathrooms are clean. The food is good. Not only that, but it was profiled in the current issue of The Hook magazine, a periodical that celebrates culture, art and community in the Lower Hudson Valley. On this occasion, it was suggested that we try the French fries—we did and they were extremely tasty. In fact, the fries were so good that they were gone before we could think to take a picture of them! We’ll have to order them again next time.

***DJ Pete Pop surveys hot Funky Brunch action!***

DJ Pete Pop is the busiest DJ of reet music in the area. He’s got his Sundays at Mama’s, of course, but also once-a-month gigs at Quinn’s and the Dogwood—both in Beacon on the other side of the river—plus he’s in negotiations to present a night at The Jet Set, a groovy new tiki bar that sits on the banks of the Hudson in Newburgh. If anyone can do this it is Pete Pop. He’s got some pretty darn boss records and he knows how to make them go round!

***Four dogs swing at the Funky Brunch!***

At one point, some Funky Brunch attendees pulled up in a pickup truck full of cute little dogs! They delighted everyone who walked by.

***Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Funky Brunch!***

Everybody had a great time at the Funky Brunch. Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus that day (hopefully, no French fries grease was transferred to any of the records!):

None of these records are for sale.

The GO Mechanism Number 12–with O’Rooney dripping down the wall!!

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Boogaloo Bag Standard Reply

Hello, and welcome to another installment of The GO Mechanism—an audio odyssey hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus that will initially stream over the Luxuria Music web hustle in the Saturday Night Special time-slot on November 12, then it will relax as a Luxuria Music podcast for a few weeks; soon after it will become a posting on the Mixclouds and eventually will reside here in The Boogaloo Bag. G–O GO! The “G” is for Groove, and in order to keep the groove groovin’, we don’t slow down to back announce records. If you are interested in the trash heard on the show, the track listing is right here. The “O” is for O’Rooney—an intangible, supernatural power that puts the “oo” into cool. Every GO Mechanism is jam-packed with loads of O’Rooney and this one has it dripping down the wall!

The GO Mechanism is assembled via a secret copyrighted Ultra-Tonal method that produces a very high standard of standardness by utilizing musical selections especially engineered to challenge every component of your mind.

In the middle of the program there will be a Science Corner, where we discuss a musical entity of some note. Today we will discuss some of the recordings produced by James Brown.

During the sixties, James Brown became Soul Brother Number One, and with that notoriety came a certain amount of clout which he used to help other singers up the ladder. Some of the artists he worked with included those who influenced his own singing career. In The Science Corner, we look at three examples: The “5” Royales, Hank Ballard and Bill Doggett.

By 1963, James Brown was a very hot property. Although his records didn’t appear very high in the music trade charts, they sold very well; plus his live act was unstoppable. He started his own production company and recorded members of his live revue, including members of his vocal group, The Famous Flames. He briefly had his own record label, Try Me Records, which issued three singles—the most memorable being by Tammy Montgomery (who would later achieve success as Tammi Terrell). In 1964, Brown signed to Smash Records, a Mercury Records subsidiary. He thought he could record for both his regular record label, King Records, as James Brown and His Famous Flames, and Smash as a solo act. When “Out of Sight” became a Top Thirty R&B hit, King Records sued Smash. The result of the lawsuit was that King Records was entitled to all of his vocal recordings—with or without The Famous Flames—but Brown was free to record organ instrumental records for Smash.

Several James Brown productions were also released through Mercury or its subsidiaries, Smash and Blue Rock. Two of those records were by Brown’s heroes, The “5” Royales—one of which we’ll hear in The Science Corner: “I Like It Like That.” The song was first recorded by The “5” Royales in the early fifties and released on the Apollo label. The original is a great example of a gospel-influenced rhythm & blues vocal group—it’s raunchy and greasy and jumps just fine. The James Brown-produced version, recorded about ten years later, is sped up and features a hot guitar intro by Lowman Pauling, who was a founding member of the group and wrote most of their songs. Pauling’s song “Dedicated to the One I Love” was later recorded by The Shirelles and The Mamas and the Papas. In 1960, James Brown had a Top Ten R&B hit with “Think,” which was another Pauling composition first cut by The “5” Royales.

Soon after the release of the original “I Like It Like That,” The “5” Royales were signed to King Records. This necessitated a name change for an act that was issuing records on King’s Federal subsidiary, The Royals. The Royals became The Midnighters, then Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, with Ballard being the subject of the next track in The Science Corner.

***James Brown with Hank Ballard, backed by The Dapps***

According to the legend, in the early days of James Brown and the Famous Flames, they often found gigs imitating The Royals/Midnighters, who were very popular with their hit “Work With Me Annie.” By all reports, Ballard and his group had a dynamic stage show; the group also had hit records. One of these was a ballad called “Teardrops on Your Letter.” The B-side of this 1959 release was a dance number called “The Twist,” a song made more famous by Chubby Checker about a year later. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had several more hits, including “Finger Poppin’ Time,” “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go” and “The Hoochi Coochi Coo.” However, toward the middle of the sixties, Ballard wasn’t shifting as many units as before. He connected with James Brown and cut several memorable sides, including “How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven’t Cut Your Process Yet)” and the second song in The Science Corner, “Butter Your Popcorn”—a tough number that propelled Ballard into the funk stratosphere.

James Brown’s obsession with popcorn carried over into a track he produced by the subject of last episode’s Science Corner, Bill Doggett. Doggett, who achieved fame with his instrumental “Honky Tonk” in 1956, left King Records around 1960 and recorded for several labels before returning to King under the direction of James Brown. This song, “Honky Tonk Popcorn,” is one of the most fantastic funk records of all time. After this, Doggett cut a series of albums for the French Black and Blue label during the seventies and eighties that were more jazz than R&B.

This episode of The GO Mechanism leads off with a track called “Groovin’ With the Beat” by a group of Jamaican musicians who have become legendary in ska and reggae worlds. The album from which this track was taken is called I Cover the Waterfront and there is no group leader noted, but it is generally presented as by the Cecil Lloyd group since his name appears first on the back cover. Lloyd was the pianist on this session, which included two Jamaican legends: saxophonist Roland Alphonso and trombone player Don Drummond. The album is mostly made up of standards, but this original composition swings just fine.

Samantha Jones—real name Jean Owen—was a British pop singer much like Petula Clark, but with a little less success. In 1968, she cut “Ford Leads the Way” to market Ford cars in Europe.

The Earthworms was a one-off blues group that recorded in St. Louis and included Little Milton on guitar, Oliver Sain on saxophone and Fontella Bass on piano. This 1962 recording, “Mo’ Taters,” was released on Bobbin Records.

“Flight of the Batman” by The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale is from a legendary album called Battman and Robin. The participants in this recording are members of The Blues Project and the saxophone section of the Sun Ra Arkestra: Marshall Allen, Pat Patrick and John Gilmore. Sun Ra is even on some of the tracks—perhaps it is he playing the slide flute on this one. The project may have been quickly recorded for exploitation purposes, but it resulted in some pretty boss music and we’ll hear more in future GOs.

Mario Pagano was an Italian composer and singer who was popular during the sixties. His track here, “Le Rock du Roc” was produced for a promotional premium in order to market power tools by the Swedish manufacturer Atlas Copco. The music is a bit like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” but during the breaks we hear what sounds like electric drills.

During the House Select Committee hearings to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol—the TV broadcasts were known as The Celebrity Seditionist Show here at The GO Mechanism studio—Cassidy Hutchinson, an aid to then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified about a moment when the twice-impeached ex-president Donny Trump was so upset about something that he threw his sandwich—plate and all—at a wall. A small portion of that testimony was captured by The GO Mechanism producers who promptly constructed a processed composition by looping Ms. Hutchinson’s phrases. This is a GO Mechanism Exclusive recording and obviously a tribute to Steve Reich’s “Come Out.”

“Push On Jesse Jackson” by The Pace Setters is a favorite of The GO Mechanism producers. It is a tribute to the civil rights activist, Baptist minister and politician Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. Around the time this song was recorded, 1971, Rev. Jackson was organizing Operation PUSH, a civil rights organization. The song has a very hot groove and “if you believe in freedom and justice” you will dig it, too.

This GO Mechanism presents “Rumble-Still-Skins” by Arthur Lee & The L.A.G.’s. This is an obvious tribute to Booker T. & the M.G.’s. L.A.G. stands for Los Angeles Group, just as M.G. stands for Memphis Group. Arthur Lee was born in Memphis, but it is doubtful that he and Booker T Jones ever knew each other there, as Lee left Memphis for California at a very young age. On this track, Lee plays organ and the guitarist is his high school chum Johnny Echols. A few years later the two of them would form the Love group and fantastic recordings ensued.

“Ou-Wee Man” is a super boss instrumental by drummer Dale Serrano. Apparently, Serrano was in the hot garage rock group Larry & the Loafers (their “Let’s go to the Beach” is another boss one), but gave up music to run dance schools in Birmingham, Alabama.

La Redada is a musical ensemble from Mexico City that has issued several singles of psycho-mambo groove. Imagine our surprise and delight when we discovered that one of the members was our amigo DJ Tropicaza, a fabulous DJ (dig his shows at Dub Lab) and historian of music from south of the border. “Calaboca” is heard in this GO, but the other side is even better—plus, the group’s version of “Africa Bom” is amazing. We will hear more in futures GOs.

This edition of The GO Mechanism presents a version of “Caravan” by drummer Ronny Kae. He was a Denver musician who made a series of singles and an album for the local Band Box label. Apparently, his records sold well in the Mile High City area. During the sixties he opened a drum store called Drum City; which was also the title of one of his songs. Kae was so in love with drumming that he had a 14-karat gold-trimmed drum set made in Germany about thirty years ago for $30,000. It may be worth about three times that amount now, making it the word’s most valuable percussion instrument. Another one of Ronny Kae’s records will soon be a feature as a Greatest Record of All Time GO Mechanism show closer.

Speaking of the show closing Greatest Record of All Time, this episode of The GO Mechanism ends with one of the greatest records of all time: “Wang Dang Doodle” by Howlin’ Wolf.

Howlin’ Wolf was, simply put, one of the greatest blues singers of all time. His voice is unique, instantly recognizable, inimitable, powerful and so full of emotion that Sam Phillips, the man who first recorded him, once said that “this is where the soul of man never dies.” Howlin’ Wolf—real name, Chester Arthur Burnett—was born in 1910 in Mississippi and, although he had been playing the blues in clubs and such since around 1930, he wasn’t recorded until 1951. However, once he started recording, his records had an impact. Nothing sounds like them—as if they were made by space aliens—and during the sixties, white rock bands went crazy trying to cut their own versions of some of his songs; many of which were written by Willie Dixon.

***A young Boogaloo Omnibus attended the Howlin’ Wolf/Alice Cooper show advertised above, 1972.***

One of the songs Mr. Dixon wrote for The Wolf was “Wang Dang Doodle.” The song is an invitation to an exciting party that will be attended by some very interesting characters. Dig the first verse:

Tell Automatic Slim, tell razor totin’ Jim
Tell butcher knife totin’ Annie, tell fast talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long

A wang dang doodle is not a boring church social, but rather a get-down, all-out bash in every sense of the word! How could you not want to go?

Here is a complete list of all the songs played on GO Mechanism Number Twelve:

Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (opening theme) (King)
Cecil Lloyd and others—Groovin’ With the Beat (from LP I Cover the Waterfront; Port-o-Jam; Jamaica)
Jimmy Ed Trio—Baby, Baby, Oh Baby (Yan-G)
Cozy Cole—Cozy’s Mambo (King)
Phil Flowers—Like a Rolling Stone (A&M)
Sugarman 3—2001 (from LP Sweet Spot; Unique; Germany)
The Persuasions—Electric Aunt Jemima (from LP The Persuasions Sing Zappa; Earthbeat!)
Mighty Sparrow—Calypso Twist (from LP Caribbean Carnival; Mace)
Samantha Jones—Ford Leads the Way (Ford; UK)
Cal Tjader—Soul Sauce (Wachi Wara) (from album Greatest Hits; Fantasy)
Herbie Hancock—Thomas Studies Photos (from soundtrack to film Blow Up; M-G-M)
Jack Costanzo and His Afro Cuban Band—Bongo Festeris (from album Mr. Bongo; GNP)
Jack Hansen & His Orchestra—Calypso Ska (Dance Along)
Afrosound—Soul Makossa (Discos Fuentes; Colombia)
The Earthworms—Mo’ Taters (Bobbin)
Martini Kings—Summer Samba (from album Weekend in Palm Springs)
Slim Gaillard and His Bakers Dozen—Potato Chips (Mercury)
La Sonora Clenaguera—La Ceiba (from LP Cumbias y Gaitas Famosas; Discos Fuentes; Colombia)
The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale—Flight of the Batman (from LP Batman and Robin; Tipton)
Perez Prado y su Orquesta—Fanny Hustle (from LP Latin Hustle; Orfeon; Mexico)
Mario Pagano—Le Rock du Roc (mélodie pour sept instruments et marteau-perforateur) (Atlas Copco; France)
The Golliwogs—Walking on the Water (Scorpio)
***The Five Royales—I Like It Like That (Smash)
***Hank Ballard—Butter Your Popcorn (King)
***Bill Doggett—Honky Tonk Popcorn (King)
***Dee Felice Trio—There Was a Time -bed music for Science Corner (Bethlehem)
Mahlathini & Mahotella Queens—Baba-Ye (from LP Lion of Soweto; Earthworks)
The Atlantics—Tequila (CBS; Australia)
Cassidy Hutchinson—Ketchup on the Wall (Boogaloo Remix)
The Pace-Setters—Push on Jesse Jackson (Kent)
Arthur Lee & the L.A.G.’s—Rumble-Still-Skin (Capitol)
Los Cumbiamberos de Pacheco—Santo Domingo (from LP Cumbias y Gaitas Famosas; Discos Fuentes; Colombia)
Dale Serrano—Ou-Wee Man (Stix)
Edwin Starr—25 Miles (backing track—Motown)
Ronny Kae—Caravan (Band Box)
Mohammed El-Bakkar & His Oriental Ensemble—Al Jazayair (Dance of Algiers) (from LP Port Said – Music of the Middle East; Audio Fidelity)
Sonny Rollins—East Broadway Run Down (Boogaloo Edit—from LP East Broadway Run Down; Impulse!)
Della Reese—It Was a Very Good Year (ABC)
La Redada—Calaboca (Monofono; Mexico)
Albert Collins—Cookin’ Catfish (20th Century)
Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (closing theme) (Curtom)
Howlin’ Wolf—Wang Dang Doodle (Chess)

Spoken word:

Pleasant Gehman—Working Girl
Peter Orr recites So We’ll Go No More A-Roving, composed by Lord Byron
T.S. Eliot—Whispers of Immortality

After The GO Mechanism initially airs on the Luxuria Musics—this one on Saturday, November 12— it will be available as a podcast for a few weeks. Look for the Saturday Night Special dated 11/13/2022. Once it falls off the Lux Mu podcast hustle, it will be posted on the Mixclouds as well as here in The Boogaloo Bag. Legacy Go Mechanisms can be found there as well.

Luxuria Music is a swingin’ thing that deserves your support. Visit it often. Listen to the many cool shows. If you dig the scene, contribute monetarily. Keep Lux Mu alive!

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Monthly Archives: November 2022

Keystone State Soul Weekender Number Six

The Funky Brunch goes to the dogs!

The GO Mechanism Number 12–with O’Rooney dripping down the wall!!