New Year’s Eve is always a gas; big party night. I mean big PAR-TAY night! Right? Last year, Dj Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus turned it out at Bar 190 in Newburgh. Although the owners of the joint admitted to Pete Pop that it was the absolute best New Year’s Eve event that they ever witnessed, for some reason the dynamic DJ duo were not asked back!

That’s okay, though, because Pop and Phast were enlisted to DJ a gig at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. That’s right, they were the opening act for the fantabulous Lee Fields!!!

Lee Fields has got to be one of the last great classic R&B singers still standing. He’s been around the block several times, having started his recording career in 1969 when he was only 18 or 19 with the single “Bewildered” an old swing era ballad that was made popular by Billy Eckstine and, subsequently, James Brown; (the flip “Tell Her I Love Her” is a very cool funk number). Fields has been working in and out of music ever since. Before the nineties, he had several singles but only one album to his name. Thirty years ago he hooked up with a rejuvenated Ace Records—the company from Jackson, Mississippi that issued boss records by Huey “Piano” Smith and Frankie Lee Sims in the fifties. Mr. Fields reached his full potential soon after that, when he began recording for Desco Records—the Brooklyn label that eventually splintered into Truth & Soul Records and Daptone Records. Since he began this phase of his career, he has been making great soul and funk records for Truth and Soul, Daptone as well as Big Crown Records.

On New Year’s Eve at the Bearsville Theater, Lee Fields was on fire! He is totally a classic soul singer. His ballad singing will melt you. His uptempo R&B numbers will make you jump and shout. Plus, his band was hot and included a couple of our friends, saxophonist Freddy DeBo and bass player Benny Trokan. The show was fantastic. At midnight a bunch of balloons dropped from the stage. It was a wonderful way to spend New Year’s Eve.

For their part, Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played a mixture of mostly soul and funk records, along with a bit a reggae and latin boogaloo things, trading mini three-song sets. Here’s a list of all the records played by The Phast One:

• Alvin Cash & the Crawlers–Twine Time (Mar-V-Lus)
• Joe Simon–Moon Walk Part I (Sound Stage 7)
• Clarence Carter–Snatching It Back (Atlantic)
• Bill Doggett–Honky Tonk Popcorn (King)
• Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings–Got a Thing on My Mind (Daptone)
• Betty Harris–There’s a Break in the Road (SSS International)
• The Heptones–I Shall Be Released (Coxone; Jamaica)
• Bo Diddley–The Shape i’m In (Checker)
• Bobby Porter–I’ve Been Working (Roulette)
• Funkadelic–Funky Dollar Bill (Westbound)
• Linda Lyndell–What a Man (Volt)
• Explosions–Hip Drop Pt. 1 (Gold Cup)
• Booker T. & the M.G.’s–Melting Pot Part 1 (Stax; France)
• The Marvels–Rock Steady (Pama Supreme)
• The Slickers–Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Ice; Jamaica)
• Phil Flowers & the Flower Shop–Like a Rolling Stone (A&M)
• Ralph ‘Soul’ Jackson–Sunshine of Your Love (Atlantic)
• The Temptations–I Can’t Get Next to You (Gordy)
• The Duke of Burlington–I Want You Back (Maxi; France)
• The Bamboos–Tighten Up (Kay-Dee)
• The Aces–Reggae Motion (The Loco-Motion) (Sire)
• Curtis Mayfield–Move on Up (buddah; UK)
• Aretha Franklin–Respect (Atlantic)
• Gladys Knight & the Pips–The Nitty Gritty (Soul)
• Junior Wells–(I Got A) Stomach Ache (Vanguard)
• Symarip–These Boots Are Made for Walking (Harlem Shuffle; UK)
• Jimmy Cliff–Guns of Brixton (Collective Sounds; UK)
• Dave Bartholomew–Shrimp & Gumbo (Imperial)
• The Wailers–The Jerk (Island; UK)
• Damaso Perez Prado y su Orquesta–Mexico 70 (Orfeon; Mexico)

None of these records are for sale!