BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984
“Yo! Little Brother” is a 1984 single by italian freestyle artist from NYC Nolan Thomas (born Marko Kalfa). “Yo! Little Brother,” peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. While Nolan Thomas (Marko Kalfa) did appear in the music video and sang all of the other tracks on the Yo! Little Brother album, he did not actually perform the vocals on this particular track Elan Lanier a black vocalist who also hailed from the Tri-State Area sang them. He was discovered by dance music producers Mark Liggett and Chris Barbosa of Shannon (“Let the Music Play”) fame when he was still in high school. The original 12-inch single was initially released by Emergency Records. The now famous music video was conceived by the Manager/Director/Producer team of Stu Sleppin & Bob Teeman. Sleppin & Teeman created the rock star look-a-likes that became known as The Vid Kids. Nolan Thomas & The Vid Kids toured the US in the mid 80’s. In the UK during the mid 80’s “Yo, Little Brother” received some cult status after it was aired on the Max Headroom Show (channel 4 Television).
SIDE A:
Yo’ Little Brother 5:18
SIDE B:
Yo’ Little Brother (Dub Mix) 5:23
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Yo! Little Brother | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #57 |
| 1984 | Yo! Little Brother | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles | #26 |
| 1984 | Yo! Little Brother | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #39 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Emergency Records – EMDS 6546
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Freestyle
CREDITS:
Executive-Producer – Sergio Cossa
Mastered By – Tom Coyne
Mixed By – Chris Barbosa, Chris Lord Alge*, Mark Liggett
Music Consultant [Creative Consultant] – A. Godwin*, C. Josephs*
Performer [Musicians] – C.P. Roth*, Charlie Street, Curtis Josephs
Producer – Chris Barbosa, Mark Liggett
Written-By – Ann Godwin, Charlie Street
NOTES:
Exec Produced for Emergency Records
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
This is a clear example of what an excellent music production can do over a mediocre song. I Love this track BTW, thank you Paul for publishing it!!!!
Hell Yes!!! Paul, you really make my heart swell. This is such a great tune. And to have the dub version in such exquisite quality too, almost makes me faint. I covet records like these, and from heroes like Liggett and Barbosa, it’s so exceptional to have them in such pristine quality. I so hope others can get into these songs too. Your site gives such a buffet of beats that the disc jockeys and beat mongers among us could have a field day with. Those keyboards are awesome and those rhythms, just make me scream in climactic pleasure. Quality… Read more »
You’re welcome Jeff I am so glad you appreciate great music. Love when my readers are dancing in their shoes 🙂
Wow…somewhere this 12″ is in my vinyl collection. I remember playing this until the grooves wore off… Thank you Paul for outdoing yourself…as always.
You’re welcome Sergio 🙂
You are, hands-down, thrilling me Paul!! It is so phenomenal having this song back in our consciousness!! I really loved this song. And of course, Liggett and Barbosa are at the reigns again for this electro-hop single which makes me so happy. They really created this fabulous sound that really made its mark on the scene. Those booming drums and fantastic keyboard lines. Ah, I’m in heaven over this. These were quality records that definitely deserve a re-spin and/or a back-spin, if you will. And of course, I love the B-sides that only you, rescue from oblivion. You really take… Read more »
They pulled a Martha Wash on us on this one. Nolan Thomas who appeared in the video and credited as the singer actually did not sing on this track. It was actually a black vocalist named Elan Lanier. Nolan does sing on all the other tracks on the album including the Osmond’s cover “One Bad Apple”. The label thought the original singer Elan Lanier was not marketable enough for the video so they used Nolan Thomas instead and credited him.