new york born singer, song writer and music producer toney lee is best known for his 1982 debut single „reach up“, which reached #8 on the us billboard dance music chart. one year later, he released his second single „love so deep“ also on radar records, which was unfortunately not as successful as „reach up“.
written by arnie roman and norman dolph, „love so deep“ was produced by eric matthew, who is best known for his work for gary´s gang, sharon redd, sinnamon amongst others. like his debut, it is again the instrumental mix that makes the record stand out.
another hidden – but not forgotten – timeless treasure.
between the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties italy became the link between american disco-funk and european disco. michele violante worked with some of the well known acts at that time like ago or tom hooker. in 1982 he formed the short lived project „electric mind“ with luciana cirrillo, where he was the producer. Continue reading »
here is not much known about paul simpson, although he played a very important role in the development of the house music circuit in new york city in regards to production. from manning the board at vince montana jr.´s philly soundworks, to ground-breaking work at easy street, and partnerships with boyd jarvis and winston jones. Continue reading »
although ken gill is a new name to most, he is apparently a long-standing friend of larry heard and was on the scene when larry and bernard badie worked on music ideas between 1993 and 1997. Continue reading »
chicago born louis burns is mostly known under his moniker lil louis. the son of guitarist bobby simms, who recorded for chess and appeared with the psychedelic-soul unit rotary connection, started playing drums and bass at the age of 8. in 1974, while working at a party organized by his mother mary to unite chicago gangs, louis was asked to play after the dj fell ill. the acclaim from the crowd birthed the 12-year-old´s career as a dj. shortly after, he began djing in adult night clubs. it was during a police raid at the river´s edge club, that louis was given his now renowed stage name „lil louis“ from a riled, witty police officer. Continue reading »
michael adonis smith, better known as adonis, was born and raised on the west side of chicago. he played bass guitar with serveral jazz and funk bands and was eventually introduced to a raw and untamed art form that was brewing in the city: house music. Continue reading »
kerri chandler grew up in the new jersey area during the days of the infamous zanzibar club with resident dj tony humphries and like most teenagers of the time, he got a taste for rap and actually built the beginnings of a successful career with his group „art of origin“, which he produced. due to terrible circumstance he got into house and released his first single „get it off“ under the moniker three generations in 1990. Continue reading »
philadelphia born and grammy award-winning r&b musician and songwriter james forman is better known by his stage name james mtume. he is the biological son of jazz saxophonist jimmy heath from the heath brothers, but the father who raised him was another great jazz musician: the pianist james „hen gates“ forman. with so much jazz around him, it is no wonder that james followed in his fathers footsteps and came to prominence working with miles davis between 1971 and 1975. Continue reading »
memphis, tennessee born william yarborough is better known as william bell. the singer and songwriter changed his last name as a stage name in honor of his grandmother, whose first name was belle. william was a long-time recording artist for the famous stax records where he started recording in 1961. Continue reading »
