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

“State of Shock” is a 1984 hit single by The Jacksons featuring frontman Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger. It was written by Jackson and guitarist Randy Hansen. “State of Shock” charted number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. The track was originally to be sung with Freddie Mercury as a duet with Jackson, and was later slated for the Thriller album; however, due to differing time schedules, Jackson ended up recording it with his brothers and Jagger.

“State of Shock” was the biggest hit from The Jacksons’ Victory album, reaching number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the UK SinglesChart. The song was originally recorded with Freddie Mercury, as Jackson and Mercury had been working on several tracks at that time (1981–83), e.g. the unreleased title track “Victory” for the eponymous album and “There Must Be More to Life Than This” from Mr. Bad Guy. The final version featured lead vocals by Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger. “State of Shock” was the last top ten hit for The Jacksons, as well as their last single to be certified gold. The song was later revised by Jagger when he performed it with Tina Turner during their 1985 performance at Live Aid.

SIDE A:
State Of Shock (Dance Mix) 5:40
Lead Vocals – Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger
Lyrics By – Michael Jackson (Mijac Music)*, Randy Hansen

SIDE B:
State Of Shock (Instrumental) 4:35

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic – 49 05022
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Funk
Credits: Arranged By [Music], Composed By, Music By, Producer – Michael Jackson

NOTES:
Original version appears on the Epic album “VICTORY”

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

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

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987

“Get It” is a 1987 hit R&B single written by multiple Grammy Award-winning American singer Stevie Wonder & Michael Jackson, and produced by Wonder taken from the album Characters. The duet features Wonder’s former Motown labelmate the late pop singer superstar Michael Jackson.

Jackson worked with Wonder eight years earlier for the song “I Can’t Help It” for his Off the Wall album, which was written by Wonder and former Supremes member Susaye Greene, while Wonder worked with Jackson on his top-selling Bad album for the song, “Just Good Friends”. Prior to “Get It”, Jackson sung background vocals along with his brothers on Stevie’s 1974 hit “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”, from his Fulfillingness’ First Finale album and also did background vocal work on “All I Do” from the Hotter than July album.

The song had peaked at #4 in the R&B charts in the weeks of April 2, 1988, until April 16, 1988, becoming a top ten R&B hit, then a month later, on May 5, 1988, the song had peaked at #80 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song features Wonder and Jackson talking about how to treat a lady, alongside what does a woman wants, needs, and respect from her lover. The extended version of the song features a sample of “Get Ready.”

Jackson and Wonder were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

SIDE A:
Get It 6:44

SIDE B:
Get It (Instrumental) 6:47

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Motown
Catalog#: 4604 MG
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic
Style: R&B
Credits: Backing Vocals – Mary Lee Evans
Bass, Drums, Synthesizer, Percussion – Stevie Wonder
Guitar – Ben Bridges
Mixed By – Gary Olazabal
Producer – Stevie Wonder

NOTES:
Original version in the album “CHARACTERS”

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.