BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

“Ease on Down the Road” is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz, performed in the original production by Stephanie Mills and Hinton Battle. It was also released in 1978 as a duet between Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

The 1978 duet was released as the theme song of the film adaptation of The Wiz (itself an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), and produced by Quincy Jones. The Charlie Smalls–composed tune was an R&B re-interpretation of both “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and “We’re Off to See the Wizard” from the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz. In the song, Dorothy (portrayed in the film by Ross) and the Scarecrow (played by Jackson) dance their way down the Yellow Brick Road and give each other words of encouragement.

“Ease on Down the Road” is performed four times in The Wiz film: once by Dorothy and the Scarecrow, once by the two of them and the Tin Man (played in the movie by Nipsey Russell), by the three of them and the Cowardly Lion (played by Ted Ross), and finally during the end credits. In the album version, Jackson and Ross sing by themselves. The recording was one of Jackson’s first collaborations with Quincy Jones, who became his main producer during the late 1970s and 1980s.

In 1980, Jackson was a guest on Kraft Salutes Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary and, along with Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, The Seven Dwarves, Donald Duck, Pinocchio, Minnie Mouse, Chip ‘n’ Dale, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, The Three Little Pigs and Goofy), performed the song in a medley with the Disney signature song, “When You Wish Upon a Star”.

It also earned Jackson his first Grammy Award nomination with Ross (previous two with his family group, The Jacksons) in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1979.

Released as a single by MCA Records in late summer 1978, the song missed the U.S. Top 40 by one position, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #17 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart the same year.

SIDE A:
Ease On Down The Road (Full Length US Version) 6:05
Written-By – Charlie Smalls

SIDE B:
Poppy Girls 3:26
Written-By – Anthony Jackson, Quincy Jones

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: MCA Records – 12 MCA 396
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: 1978
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Producer – Quincy Jones, Tom Bahler

NOTES:
Full length US version from the soundtrack album and the film “The Wiz” over 6 minutes long.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

PW: burningtheground

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BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“Swept Away” is a rock-flavored dance song written by Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates) with Sara Allen, produced by Hall with Arthur Baker, and recorded by singer Diana Ross for her album of the same name. Ross released the song as a single on the RCA label in 1984.

The song talked about how the narrator thought she was in love with a special person only to find out that she had just been “swept away” after catching her lover cheating on her sending her into a rage and panic.

In the music video, directed by Dominic Orlando in Manhattan and on location in Long Island, Ross is seduced by a Frenchman and falls in love with him only to find out, after arriving unannounced in a bar, that he’s cheating on her with another French girl in a stylized Apache Dance. She then confronts the man hitting him repeatedly, and later fights with the French girl who ends up being knocked out unconscious by the singer. Later in the video, the Frenchman tries to fight his way back into her life only to have Ross accidentally push him from a lighthouse tower into the water. It was one of Ross’ most popular videos, and her first to air on MTV.

The music video was blown up to 35mm for projection during Diana Ross’ live performances at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. There’s also an extended version of the video edited for the 12″ dance club remix.

Arthur Baker had been a club DJ turned remixer who was just breaking into production, and the twelve-inch version became one of Ross’ most successful, reaching number one on the Dance/Disco chart. The single also reached nineteen on the US pop singles chart and number three on the R&B singles chart.

SIDE A:
Swept Away (Long Version 7:37
Backing Vocals – Daryl Hall

SIDE B:
Swept Away (Instrumental Version) 7:14

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA Victor
Catalog#: PD-13865
Format: Vinyl, 12″
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Synth-pop, Soul
Credits: Edited By – Latin Rascals, The
Producer – Arthur Baker, Daryl Hall
Written-By – Daryl Hall, Sara Allen

NOTES:
From the album “Diana Ross Swept Away” AFLI 5009

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super 20
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 16bit 44kHz using Adobe batch processing
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi PNG format, resized to JPEG format for posting.

PW: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.