The Ninth Annual Keystone State Northern Soul Weekender took place on the 24th, 25th and 26th of October. As has been reported in previous Boogaloo Bags, this is one of the most fantastic weekends imaginable! A bunch of great DJs—friends, all (or soon to be!)—playing great records almost non-stop for three days in a row. Plus, folks selling records. Plus, folks dancing to records. Plus, the new location is right next door to a really good Mexican restaurant. You couldn’t get closer to heaven if you said the Hail Mary a hundred times a day for the rest of your life!! It is held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania at the Moose Lodge, which has a fabulous wooden dance floor.
Julio Fernandez is the most gracious host imaginable. There were several first-time DJs at this year’s event—so many that Julio cut his own DJ time in order to make room for them.
Another fellow who has become a regular at the Keystone Weekender was Brother Weems, who has been the MC for at least 7 or 8 years. He’s a friendly chap who, when not announcing the DJs, is on the floor dancing.
This year’s event was very well attended and folks were on the dance floor nearly the entire time—especially during the two evening periods. All of the DJs did such a swell job that, if one were to put a gun to the Boogaloo Bag writers’ heads and ask who was best, they’d end up shot!!!
Although she was unable to make the scene, Miss Nancy baked some very delicious cookies that were properly devoured: Double chocolate cookies and pumpkin flavored cookies.
The Keystone Soul Weekender family!
[try clicking on the photos and they may big-o-fi magically!]
FRIDAY NIGHT
Although he was a late add to the Friday night roster, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was able to round up a few good records to play:
During the daytime events, DJs double up on their 30 minute sets. The Phast Man was paired with Gordy Greenawalt from Pittsburgh. This was a reunion of sorts, as Mister Greenawalt was enlisted to be a special guest DJ at a New Year’s Eve Subway Soul Club event many years ago. They hadn’t seen each other since. They traded off playing records and it was a gas. Dig Phreddie’s selections here:
This is the big night. Folks were arriving at the venue early, so Phast Phreddie, who was the first DJ of the night, started a little early and was able to sneak in a few extra spins:
Once again, Phreddie was teamed with Mister Greenawalt for this brunch-time event. This is a time when the DJs get a little crazed with their selections. Also once again, folks were arriving early so they started spinning early and thus had some extra time on the air. Hence these jams:
The Boogaloo Bag writers urge all of its readers to join the Keystone Northern Soul Weekender group on Facebook in order to become aware of the next event—and make sure you be there. You won’t regret it.
This is is the program notes for the corresponding GO Mechanism Number Twenty Six as it premiers on the Luxuria Music web-O-net as a Saturday Night Special on January 18 (or, as a podcast the next day). The GO Mechanism is an audio Odyssey that is hosted by Phast Phreddie. It is scientifically engineered and programed in the secret laboratory of Boogaloo Omnibus Productions incorporating ultra-phonic techniques not available to other broadcast entities. The G stands for GROOVE, and there will be plenty of GROOVE in each GO Mechanism. The O stands for O’ROONY, an intricate and complex attitude that is incomprehensible to those who possess standard-issue precepts. Listen and you will hear.
Half way through the program, there is a segment called The Science Corner in which a musical subject is explored and illustrated with three songs. For this Science Corner we have featured three songs written or co-written by George Clinton but performed by other artists.
The Parliaments
George Clinton is known internationally as a pioneering funkateer. His acts, Parliament, Funkadelic, solo recordings, and other assorted side projects, have all been devised to move funk music forward. In the late fifties, George Clinton formed a doo wop group in Plainfield, New Jersey and called it The Parliaments. They cut a few records that went largely unnoticed. At some point, in the mid sixties, Clinton was hired to write songs for Motown. The arrangement didn’t work out, but while in Detroit, he connected with other fledgling Motor City record companies, such as Golden World (who issued a Parliaments single), Ric Tic and Solid Hit. Some of these seemed to share ownerships. Revilot Records signed The Parliaments and were rewarded with a hit called “(I Wanna) Testify.”Clinton wrote and/or produced several records by other artists on these labels and we have a few of them here in The Science Corner.
The first song is “Hey Mama, What’cha Got Good for Daddy” by The Flaming Embers, a local Detroit rock group that first recorded for the legendary Fortune Records Company. This was the first of six singles they issued on Ric-Tic Records in 1967 and 1968. The following year the group signed to Hot Wax Records, a company owned by songwriters Brian Holland, Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier after they left the Motown fold. In 1970, the group would score a Top Thirty pop hit with “Westbound #9.”
Pat Lewis started her career as a member of Detroit girl group The Adorables that recorded for Golden World. When she went solo, her first five singles featured a song written or co-written by George Clinton. We picked “Look At What I Almost Missed” from 1966. By 1967, she was a back-up session singer at Motown, then worked on the road with Aretha Franklin before becoming a member of Hot, Buttered & Soul, a vocal group that worked with Isaac Hayes. In the eighties, George Clinton enlisted her for several projects that he worked on, including his solo records and an album by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 1968, The Parliaments released their own version of “Look What I Almost Missed.”
The last song we have is highly significant in the George Clinton sphere of influence. It’s called “Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good” by Rose Williams and it marks Clinton’s first use of the word Funkadelic—the record was issued on Funkedelic Records (it’s only release) and shows the backing band as George Clinton and the Funkedelics (note the spelling!). This was released in 1968, when Clinton was in a legal battle over the Parliaments name and the Funkadelic concept was just forming. During the seventies, Rose Williams would join Pat Lewis in Isaac Hayes’ backing band.
During this period, Clinton was also recording his own group—still called The Parliaments—and those records are really good examples of non-Motown Detroit soul music. In 1969, Clinton formed Funkadelic, a sort of separate entity whose music was different from Parliament. Both groups would tour together and become very popular during the seventies.
Liquid Liquid was a product of the art/punk scene of lower Manhattan during the early eighties. Here at The GO Mechanism we enjoy presenting works of folks banging on shit and screaming. The screaming part on this is a bit subtle, but the banging-on-shit is perfect!
Hank Jacobs was a Los Angeles keyboard player who cut some cool records for Sue Records and the Call Me label. He also did some arrangements for artists for Money Records (“Doin’ the Thing” by The Question Marks is a fave.). He cut an album for Sue called So Far Away and that’s where we found his fantastic rendition of “Summertime.” Obviously a talented individual, it’s a shame that he didn’t record more.
Los Sirex was a rock band from Spain, based in Barcelona. Here we have the band’s take on “Train Kept A’Rollin’,” a song first recorded by the R&B bandleader Tiny Bradshaw. In 1956, the song was reworked as a rockabilly raver by the Johnny Burnette Trio. That version became the template for the rendition by The Yardbirds in 1965. Los Sirex version, called “El Tren de la Costa,” also comes to us from 1965, and it is possible that they never heard the one by The Yardbirds or they surely would have copped the boss riff that Jeff Beck came up with—just as every garage rock band has done ever since. Still, Los Sirex delivers an exciting and unique rendition of Tiny Bradshaw’s fabulous tune.
Jon Hendricks came to prominence in the late fifties with his jazz vocal group, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. He would write lyrics to famous jazz compositions, including the solos, and the group would sing them. In GO Mechanism Number Twenty Two, he was heard singing the Thelonious Monk composition “In Walked Bud.” “No More,” his song selected for our program today, was only released as a single on Verve in England in 1968. Hendricks must have had a fond attachment to the song, because he re-recorded it for albums in 1975 and 1982.
Freek’s Garage
Freek’s Garage is a band made up of musical mechanics who perform mostly organ-driven instrumental music: a sort of cross between Booker T & the M.G.’s and The Meters. They hail from the Kingston/Woodstock area in the Hudson Valley of New York State and they’ll play at any setting they’re allowed to set up at. We’ve seen them at a beer garden in Kingston, a restaurant up in the Catskills and a tavern in Bearsville. The group has also performed at concert venues in Woodstock and at car shows. Recently, Freek’s Garage recorded a few tracks and “Meter Made” is a fair representation of what this band can do.
If you only know about Andy Griffith from watching The Andy Griffith Show, then his appearance as Lonesome Rhodes in the movie A Face in the Crowd will be a revelation. On the TV show he is a warm, good-hearted country sheriff who is kind and thoughtful. In the movie, Griffith plays a clever country bumpkin who becomes mean-spirited and obsessed with power once his schtick becomes popular. “Mama Guitar” is a song from the film—probably re-recorded for single release.
The Street Cleaners were a one-off project by songwriters/producers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Around the same time (1964) they were enjoying a little success as The Fantastic Baggies with a song called “Tell ‘Em I’m Surfin.”The GO Mechanism presents “Garbage City” by The Street Cleaners, the flip-side and remixed instrumental version of “That’s Cool, That’s Trash.” The latter is used as the opening theme song for one of our favorite Luxuria Music programs, No Condition Is Permanent. Hosted by Count Reeshard and his dog Le-Roy, the show is an eclectic mix of rock and rhythm and is produced in an original manner. The show first airs weekly immediately after the Saturday Night Special (which presents The GO Mechanism, when there is one) and it is highly recommended by The GO Mechanism producers.
The GO Mechanism closing theme has always been “Freddie’s Dead” by Curtis Mayfield—a hit song from the movie Super Fly. The GO Mechanism producers recently uncovered an answer song called “Freddie’s Alive and Well” by an obscure funk group called Spirit of Atlanta. So, because The GO Mechanism producers are wisecrackers, they put it in the show preceding the closing theme.
The Dave Clark Five often get lumped in with the so-called British Invasion rock groups of the mid-sixties. Indeed, they are British and their popularity peeked during that period, but to think of them as just another band would be doing a disservice to yourself for not paying attention. The DC5 made a lot of fantastic, exciting records and we close this GO Mechanism with one of them, “I Need Love.” This song was issued as a flip-side to “Nineteen Days” in European and Asian territories, but never in the U.S., where it only appeared on the I Like It Like That album. The song has the same amazing, pounding rhythm that the best DC5 records are known for, thus The GO Mechanism producers consider it one of the Greatest Records Of All Time and it closes the show. (For extra credit, check out this fantastic video of the song!!)
The artist who provided the graphic for our poster is Sunshine Dunham. The GO Mechanism producers first met her in the late eighties when she was employed at the Rhino Records Store in Westwood, CA. They have stayed in touch ever since. During the nineties she ran Fiasco Records that issued records by Congo Norvell, Kendra Smith, The Karl Hendricks Trio and several others. Since then, she’s gotten into other businesses, but she’s always had a toe in the art scene. Her work is unique and exquisite. This particular painting is titled Oil and Cold Wax #8. Dig her website for more information and to view—and perhaps purchase—her work.
The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it and it incorporates exclusive, copyrighted Vitaphonic, Ultra-sonic and Quasi-Tonal methods in order to provide a higher standard of standardness. Legacy GO Mechanisms may be found on the Mixclouds as well as here in the Boogaloo Bag.
The GO Mechanism originates on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. We thank the Luxuria Music powers-that-be for giving us the opportunity to present this program over their deluxe electronic audio delivery system for your edification. Please support Luxuria Music any way you can. We suggest you get as much money as you can—preferably unmarked tens and twenties—load it all into a shoe box and send it to Luxuria Music. Or just go to the Luxuria Music web site and buy something from the store.
Here is a complete list of all the songs played on GO Mechanism Number Twenty Six:
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
Charles Mingus—Gunslinging Bird (from LP Mingus Dynasty; Columbia)
Gentleman June Gardner—Mustard Greens (from LP Bustin’ Out; EmArCy)
Chuck Berry—Butterscotch (from LP Chuck Berry In London; Chess)
Junior Byles—Fade Away (from soundtrack to Rockers; Island)
Liquid Liquid—Bellhead (99)
Riccardo Chailly: Asko Ensemble—Déserts – 1st Interpolation Of Organized Sound (from album Varèse: Complete Works; London)
Patti Smith—Oath (February 10, 1971)
Hank Jacobs—Summertime (from EP So Far Away; Sue; UK)
Lee Fields—Steam Train (from album Let’s Get a Groove On; Desco)
Tito Puente—Take the “A” Train (from album The Complete RCA Recordings Volume 1; RCA)
Lord Buckley—The Train (edit) (from LP A Most Immaculately Hip Aristocrat; Straight)
Los Sirex—El Tren de la Costa (Vergara; Spain)
Jimmy Nicol and the Subdubs—Night Train (Mar-Mar)
Manfred Mann—Last Train to Clarksville (from album The Ascent of Mann; Fontana; UK)
Bo Diddley—Down Home Special (Checker)
Big Jay McNeely—Ice Water (from LP Big J in 3-D; King)
The Lollipops—Busy Signal (RCA Victor)
The Bar-Kays—A Hard Day’s Night (Volt)
Climaco Sarmiento y su Orquesta—La Cigarra (from album Cumbias y Gaitas Famosas; Discos Fuentes; Colombia)
Ernie K-Doe—A Certain Girl (Minit)
Sam & Dave—I Thank You (Stax)
Pee Wee Crayton—Do Onto Others (Imperial)
The Stoned Soul Picnic—Crosstown Traffic (Stoned Soul Picnic; UK)
The Zodiacs—Caravan (from EP The Primitive Instrumental Sounds of The Zodiacs; Norton)
Pierre Boulez: Ensemble InterContemporain—Varèse: Intégrales (from album Varèse: Arcana, Amériques, Ionisation, Etc.; Columbia Masterworks)
Jon Hendricks—No More (Verve; UK)
The Flaming Embers—Hey Mama (What You Got Good for Daddy) (Ric Tic)
Pat Lewis–Look at What I Almost Missed (Solid Hit)
Rose Williams, George Clinton and the Funkedelics–Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good (Funkedelic)
Freek’s Garage—Meter Maid (unreleased)
Freedom Sounds featuring Wayne Henderson—Respect (from LP People Get Ready; Atlantic)
Wes Dakus—Hobo (Capitol; Canada)
Lawrence Beauregard—Density: 21.5 (from album Varèse: Arcana, Amériques, Ionisation, Etc.; Columbia Masterworks)
Nancy Wickwire—I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed (from LP The Poems of Emily Dickinson; Spoken Arts)
Iron Butterfly—In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (edit) (from LP In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida; Atco)
The Drifters—If You Don’t Come Back (Atlantic)
Bobby Land with Ralph Sayho & His Calypso Singers—Knock the Bongos (Tico)
The Destroyers—Compass (Cotillion)
Andy Grifith—Mama Guitar (Capitol)
Ozz & His Sperlings—Somebody to Love (M.I.O.B.)
The Street Cleaners—Garbage City (Amy)
Marlowe Morris—Tropical Madness (Epic)
Lalo Schifrin—End Game (Paramount)
Les DeMerle—I Am the Walrus (United Artists)
Spirit of Atlanta—Freddie’s Alive and Well (Buddah)
Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (Boogaloo edit, closing theme) (Curtom)
Dave Clark Five—I Need Love (Odeon; Japan)
This edition of The Go Mechanism will be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music website after its initial air-date of January 18, 2025 as a Saturday Night Special. After a few weeks it will be posted on the Mixclouds and then it will magically appear below…
Our pal Jonathan Toubin, truly a premier DJ of reet music if ever there was one, hosts the groovy Sunday Soul Scream on the rooftop of Our Wicked Lady through the summer months. He is a very busy man. On Sunday July 1, he was scheduled to be in Los Angeles for a series of events and could not make the Scream. To host the night, he roped in Haley Griffin and Bailey Leiter to make sure the evening ran smoothly. One of Brooklyn’s bossest bands The Othermen agreed to appear. Our newfriend The Wig Doctor was signed on to spin records before the band played. Post band DJs picked for this occasion were Avi Spivak of Rebel Rouser and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. The night was warm and humid–indeed, everyone was sweatying–and Our Wicked Lady responded with an assortment of frozen cocktails. The moon was out and a lot of our friends showed up to swing with us.
The secret of the evening is the room on the ground floor which is air conditioned. The music from the rooftop is piped in, so no one missed a single needle-drop. Phast Phreddie‘s favorite thing: they have an excellent ginger beer on tap!
On the Googles, Our Wicked Lady is noted as a “hip music venue, arts complex & roof bar.” And so it is. Although the bar itself is of average size, the rooftop area is fairly sizable, allowing for a stage on one end and a bar, with DJ setup, on the other. It is situated in a very industrial area of East Williamsburg where few people live. Thus it can have loud music playing well into the night with nobody complaining. At about five minutes from the Morgan Avenue L Train stop, it is in a very convenient location.
Bailey & Haley swing at the Sunday Soul Scream
As Mr. Toubin so aptly put it, Haley and Bailey are “two snazzy babes.” After being on the scene and witnessing things going down for several years, they started their own event Je T’Aime Oh No, which takes place every Monday at Berlin. These gals know how to party, that’s for sure.
Bailey & Haley introduce The Othermen at the Sunday Soul Scream.
The Othermen is a grunge rock band in the pure sense of the word (having absolutely nothing to do with the so-called grunge rock movement of the early Nineties). At dictionary.com, “grunge” is defined as “dirt, filth, rubbish.” That’s exactly what this group sounds like, in the most fabulous way imaginable. With every instrument played at levels that achieve stunning audio distortion, this group makes a righteous, rockin’ noise unlike any other–with the optimal word being “noise” and the noise is boss! Highly recommended.
The Othermen in action!
The Boogaloo Bag writers first met The Wig Doctor when they DJed together at one of DJ Rata’s Shake It Up Sundays last summer. He played some heavy, heavy mambos and cumbia records that we all dug. He is often seen working on Thursdays at Friends and Lovers in Prospect Heights and spins at Our Wicked Lady fairly regularly. He also pals around with Drew Redmond and they often DJ together, such as their Gettin’ Ugly night at the Beauty Bar. On this night, The Wig Doctor mixed it up with an eclectic set of rock, soul, funk, mambo and several other exotic styles. It was a gas.
The Wig Doctor swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
Besides being an incredible artist, Avi Spivak is a cat with a bunch of boss trash. He swings at the Rebel Rouser, a cool record and groovy stuff store. LPs, 45s, books, horror magazines, underground comix, and weird cult movies are all there for the buying. Located on Broadway, near the edge of Bushwick, it may seem small, but everything the place sells is gear. Rebel Rouser has hosted Rebel Rouser Club House nights at Ceremony with Josh Styles, William Martin, usually a rockin’ band and always Avi Spivak. A solid good time.
Avi Spivak swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
The rooftop space was place was full of folks to dig The Othermen, and most of them stayed to dance to the solid sounds laid down by the two late-night DJs. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus did not fool around by playing any lukewarm jive. Every record he played had super Go-Go Beat excitation. He must have gotten hungry around three quarters through the night as he played five food records in a row. Six if you count the Phil Flowers record (“…having to scrounge your next meal”)!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Sunday Soul Scream:
Danny Fields is an unsung, non-musician, heroes of modern rock ‘n’ roll. He is the kind of guy who seems to have been at the right place at the right time and smart enough to know what he was doing. During the mid-late sixties, he was involved with the Andy Warhol scene, which then included Nico and The Velvet Underground; he had a radio show on WFMU during its early days pioneering the free-form format; he was involved with getting rock musicians on the covers of teen magazines; he worked at folk-oriented Elektra Records when it was becoming more involved with rock music; at Elektra, he helped publicize Judy Collins and The Doors (according to legend, it was Mr. Fieldswho suggested to Elektra that an edit of the seven-minute song “Light My Fire” would be a hit), and he got The Stooges and theMC5 signed to the label; he worked with The Modern Lovers; and he discovered The Ramones, even managed them during their early years.
That’s not all. He was a friend of Linda Eastman before she married Paul McCartney. He managed a young folk singer from Mississippi named Steve Forbert. He is an author and a photographer. And now he is the subject of a documentary called Danny Says—titled after a Ramones song that name-checks him. The film was recently completed and had its New York premier on Tuesday September 22 at the Players Theater in the West Village. Check here for more information on the movie.
After the premier, a reception for the movie was held at 49 Grove—an elegant, dimly lit, exclusive nightclub just a few blocks away from the theater. Hosted by the authors of the New York Punk Rock Bible Please Kill MeGillian McCain and Legs McNeil. Asked to DJ the party was none other than Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, who was honored to do so.
Unfortunately, due to the location of the DJ booth in the club—literally a hole in the wall that could easily be overlooked—The Boog was unable to identify most of the luminaries in attendance—except the tall Mr. Thurston Moore, who towered over everyone in the room. Other notable attendees were a whole bunch of folks who currently DJ at free-form radio station WFMU, including Todd-O-Phonic Todd, Miss Shiela B, Joe Belock and Dave the Spazz, as well as the Boog’s old pal and ex-WFMU DJ The Hound. Danny Fields, of course, was too hip to be at his own movie premier and/or reception! The photos appearing in this post were mostly taken from inside the DJ booth (click on the photos and they will big-o-fi).
For his part, Phast Phreddie played all sorts of records that were appropriate for the evening, which started when he played The Ramones’ “Danny Says”—which was played about three or four more times during the evening, as the occasion necessitated. Here’s a list of all the songs played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the reception for the film Danny Says:
On September 17, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus returned to the Beauty Barin Manhattan to swing at Out of Sight—the goovy soul dance party hosted by our pal DJ Xerox every Thursday night. This time his co-guest DJ was Moses Funk.
Mr. Funk is from Boston, where he hosted two fabulous dance nights: Cheap Thrills a’ Go-Go—a montly sex-a-dellic Go-Go party that the Boog once guest DJed at—and the Mambo Beat Club—a bi-weekly soul music event. He now lives in Brooklyn where a few years ago he started the Brooklyn Soul Club, which is currently on hiatus while Moses Funk develops some sort of scientific turntablist project. For Out of Sight, Moses Funk came armed with a box of old soul 45s and he played the hell out of them, too!!
Here’s a list of all the songs played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:
Pieces of Eight–Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (A&M)
Hank Jacobs–Monkey Hips & Rice (Sue)
The Cooperettes–Don’t Trust Him (Brunswick)
Naomi Davis Shelton & the Knights of Forty First Street–Forty First Street Breakdowne (Desco/Daptone)
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas–I Gotta Let You Go (Gordy)
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Ursa Major swing at Boogaloo Movement!
As all regular readers of the Boogaloo Bag know, the fourth Friday of every other month is the time when Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus brings a fantabulous DJ night to The Commodore in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Over the last few years, there has been some really boss nights. This most recent event, held on July 24, was certainly one of them. Called Boogaloo Movement, it featured the most excellent 45 rpm record-spinning of Ursa Major—a swingin’ hepcat with an amazing record collection.
When it comes to DJing, Mister Major has been around the block a few times. He used to guest DJ at the Subway Soul Club, plus he often hosts a night of his own, at the Banter Bar, the Grand Victory and other swell joints around town. Ursa Major is part of a DJ collective known as Legio SPQR, and as such, has traveled internationally playing his records. Also, Ursa Major is the drummer for a hot Oi! punk band called The Templars, a group that has made records and toured Europe.
Ursa Major and some of his mates enjoy a night of wompin’ good music at Boogaloo Movement!
Mostly, when Mister Major swings it is with his ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul records—of which he has thousands. He also has some of the finest freakbeat records you’ll ever hear—plus some cool French stuff. At Boogaloo Movement, he delighted the crowd with all that and more. Place was jumpin’ all night long. In fact, before the end of the night, drinks were spilled and glass was broken: another exciting Wang Dang Doodle event took place!!!
For his part, host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus also went with an international flavor, playing records from such countries as Japan and Jamaica, Canada and Germany, Spain and France, England, Holland and Italy! It was a groovy night, to say the least. Make sure you, dear Boogaloo Bag reader, are able to make it to the next Commodore night—September 25—because it, too, will be boss. Make your plans now.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at Boogaloo Movement:
DJ Zerox and The Boog swing at the Copycat Cover Song Night Tribute to the Rolling Stones!
As every Boogaloo Bag reader should know by now, Copycat Cover Song Night is always a good time. Hosted by our pal DJ Xerox, who picks an artist and invites bands and DJs to come to Otto’s Shrunken Head and honor that artist one way or another. Each band will add several songs by that artist in its respective set. Sometimes a band will form in order to perform only songs by that artist. The guest DJ usually plays songs that pertain to the artist in one way or another—or at least cover songs of some sort.
On Wednesday June 10, the honored artist was The Rolling Stones. The bands were:
The Lady Janes—formed just to play a set of Stones songs.
Saint Rocco
Electric People
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was guest DJ and he only played Rolling Stones songs as performed by everyone butThe Rolling Stones! He took requests from the floor—name a Rolling Stones song (preferably one from the sixties)—and he was able to play a version of it; sometimes instrumental, sometimes in a funny language. Although The Boog usually plays only 7” 45 RPM records, he played a few cuts from LPs as some tracks only exist in that format. Also, a full dozen of the 60 records he played were from the Norton Records Rolling Stones cover song series. Norton Records continues to be one of modern music’s secret weapons. It regularly releases great reissue titles (the recent Soul Clap series of hits hand-picked by our pal Jonathan Toubin is essential), as well as new music by such fabulous current stars as Daddy Longlegs and Miriam. The Rolling Stones series is a genius concept where a different act presents its rendition of a Rolling Stones song on each side of a 7” single. The 12 songs played by The Boog at Copycat Night is just a taste of the 32 releases—66 songs in all, counting the four songs on the Their Hispanic Majesties Request two-disc set of songs sung in Spanish! This extensive Norton action was intended to salute Norton head honcho Billy Miller, who has been experiencing some health issues recently. Get well soon, my friend!
The fun did not stop there! One of the greatest songs in all Rock’n’Roll is “Satisfaction”—officially titled “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The opening riff is one of the most identifiable pieces of music of the last fifty years. It may be no exaggeration to say that it has been recorded more than a hundred times. After the bands played, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played 26 versions of the song in what can only be described as a Super Rock Mega Mix! When it was all over, everyone in Otto’s could easily state that they had received some sort of “Satisfaction!”
Here’s a list of all the songs presented by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the fourth annual Copycat Cover Song Night Tribute to The Rolling Stones:
Nogood Nick, Sheila B and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at TWIST ALL NIGHT!
TWIST ALL NIGHT! is a new Boogaloo Night concept, developed in the WANG DANG DOODLE laboratories, especially for the nights at the Commodore. These nights, held every other fourth Friday of the month, often play host to some of the most fabulous music in existence. TWIST ALL NIGHT!, which made its debut on May 22, was no exception. With guest DJs Sheila Band Nogood Nick, you KNOW some great records were played.
TWIST ALL NIGHT! will feature some of the finest DJs who play boss 45s. They will be allowed complete freedom to play anything they want—as long as it is REET! Sheila B and Nogood Nick are two DJs who excel at this sort of program.
Sheila B works her thing at TWIST ALL NIGHT!
Sheila B, who is internationally known as the Queen of the Girl Group 45, spun plenty of those, sure, but also some keen freakbeat, French ye-ye, hot R&B and some other tuff stuff. She just kept it coming, until she had to leave a bit early, since she wasn’t feeling well.
Nogood Nick works with a clean needle at TWIST ALL NIGHT!
Luckily, Nogood Nick was in the house. He’s one of those DJs who, for some reason, rarely seems to be on anybody’s list of Top DJs. However, he’s got great records and knows how to play them, and therefore, should be on the top of everybody’s list! It is quite possible that he is the most underrated DJ on the scene. Before TWIST ALL NIGHT!, he and Miss Sheila barely knew each other. In fact, Mr. Nick succeeded in grabbing Miss Sheila’s attention by playing a whole set of nothing but fantastic girl group records. She dug Nogood Nick’s work so much that she invited him to be guest DJ at the next Sh-Boom, the groovy new dance night she hosts at Baby’s All Right (dig it on June 26).
For his part, TWIST ALL NIGHT! host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played a lot of records he has never played out before—some of them because they were newly acquired, others because they awaited the perfect moment for them to be played, and still others because they have been buried inside the Boogaloo Vault so deep that they were unreachable! Also, note, two B.B. King records were played to further honor the passing of the great bluesman.
The following is a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, some with links to clips on the youtubes. Below that is a gallery of records that were played – click on the image and it will Big-O-Fi right on your computer screen!
Billy Strange–The James Bond Theme (GNP Crescendo)
Josh Styles, Sheila B and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at Sh-Boom!
Sheila B is a girl on the Go-Go! She puts together groovy compilations of cool music. She DJs at the swingin’est nightclubs. She travels around the world buying records and playing them. She has one of the best blogs on the entire Interweb. She has recently become a fill-in DJ at radio station WFMU. She also is hostess for Sh-Boom, a very hip DJ night that is held monthly at one of Lower Williamsburg’s newest venues, Baby’s All Right. Boogaloo Bag readers will be familiar with her because she frequently guest DJ’d at the Dynagroove—especially the all-girl artist nights called Sophisticated Boom Boom. So, everybody knows Sheila B can deliver the goods at her own show…and does she ever!
Sheila B picks another great record to play at Sh-Boom!
Sh-Boom features all sorts of groovy sixties music, ranging from pounding Go-Go rhythms to swirling Freak Beat organ stompers; girl group grooves to soulful R&B tracks; from hot soundtrack themes to Euro-pop coolness; from Japanese female funk to fuzzed-out garage rock madness. It is all happening at the Sh-Boom!
On Friday April 24, her guest DJs were Josh Styles and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus.
Josh Styles was at the controls at Sh-Boom!
In this town, Mr. Styles is the undisputed king of the Freak Beat record. He’s got a ton of great ones and he is especially adept at knowing when to play them. And how! Plus, he swaps gears gracefully by injecting an R&B basher or an organ-driven monster. When Mr. Styles is at the controls, you will want to be on the dancefloor!
Miss Sheila also played some great records—many of which had a distinct international origin; jet-set jams that really swing. The place was jumping all night long.
All of our friends came out to swing at Sh-Boom!
In order to keep up with these two fabulous youngsters, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus trotted out some of his most favorite records in the world—dig: DC5, CWB, Las Moskas, Ambertones, “Slurp” and “Satisfaction!” Dig it all—every record he played is listed here, some with links to the youtubes so you can, like, really dig them:
Warren Covington and His Orchestra–Watusi Jo (Decca)
Claire Francis–I’ve Got My Own Thing Going (United Artists)
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