Tag: 1978

June 28, 2013

Barry Manilow – Copacabana (At The Copa) (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

Re-Rip Newly Remastered!

Originally I posted this one on July 29, 2011. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!

“Copacabana” is a 1978 song, sung by Barry Manilow and written by Jack Feldman, Barry Manilow, and Bruce Sussman.

It is also known as “Copacabana (At the Copa)”. It debuted on Billboard magazine’s Top 40 chart on July 7, 1978, and peaked at #8. It peaked at #42 in the UK the same year. A remixed version of the song peaked at #22 in 1993. The record earned for Manilow his first (and only, to date) Grammy Award in February 1979 and his first gold single for a song he composed.

The song’s title refers to the famous New York City night club, the Copacabana, and tells the story of Lola, a showgirl, and her lover Tony, a bartender at the club who is murdered by Rico, a Mafia lord who took an interest in Lola.

The recording was used as incidental music in the 1978 movie Foul Play, which starred Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, and has been featured in over a dozen other films. The single version clocks in at 4:08, the Extended Disco version is titled “Copacabana (At the Copa) (Disco Version)” and is 5:46. As opposed to a commercial 12″ single, the extended version was on the B-side of the 45 and can also be found on Manilow’s first Greatest Hits double album.

Manilow released a Spanish version shortly after the English version. Available as a 12″ disco single, “Copacabana (En el Copa)” didn’t chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, but was used by dance club disc jockeys.

In 1985, Manilow and his collaborators Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman expanded the song into a full length, made-for-television musical, also called Copacabana, writing many additional songs and expanding the plot suggested by the song. This film version was then further expanded by Manilow, Feldman, and Sussman into a full-length, two-act stage musical that ran at the Prince of Wales Theatre on London’s West End for two years prior to a lengthy tour of the UK. An American production was later mounted that toured the US for over a year. Over 200 productions of the show have since been mounted worldwide.

This one sided US 12″ promo contains the original full length 1978 “Disco Version”.

SIDE A:
Copacabana (At The Copa) (Disco Version) 5:46
Written-By – B. Manilow*, B. Sussman*, J. Feldman*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Very Good Plus (company sleeve)

CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	Copacabana (At The Copa)	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#8
1978	Copacabana (At The Copa)	U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	#6
1978	Copacabana (At The Copa)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	#15

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Arista – SP-18
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, Single Sided, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Producer – Barry Manilow, Ron Dante

NOTES:
This is a special one sided 12″ promo.

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

June 7, 2013

The Doobie Brothers – What A Fool Believes (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

Re-Rip Remaster

Originally I posted this one on December 15, 2010. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon 30 stylus. This 12″ is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!

“What a Fool Believes” is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best known version was recorded by The Doobie Brothers for their 1978 album Minute by Minute (with McDonald singing lead vocals and Michael Jackson backing voice). The single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, remaining in that position for one week. The song received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

“What a Fool Believes” was one of the few non-disco No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 during 1979. The song lyrics tell a story of a man who is reunited with a former lover and attempts to rekindle the relationship with her, only to realize she never really loved him and shows no interest in continuing an affair with him.

Michael Jackson claimed to have contributed at least one backing track to the original Doobie Brothers recording, but was not credited for having done so.

SIDE A:
What A Fool Believes (Disco Mix) 5:25
Engineer [Remix] – Andy Abrahms*
Percussion – James Maelen*
Remix – Jim Burgess
Written-By – Kenny Loggins , Michael McDonald

SIDE B:
Don’t Stop To Watch The Wheels 3:28
Written-By – Jeff Baxter , Michael Ebert , Patrick Simmons

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Cover: Near Mint (generic)

CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	What A Fool Believes	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#1
1979	What A Fool Believes	U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary	#22
1979	What A Fool Believes	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco	#72
1979	What A Fool Believes	U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	#2

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Catalog#: WBSD 8778
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Single
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Disco
Credits: Engineer – Don Landee*
Producer – Ted Templeman

NOTES:
Side A Remixed from the LP version, as indicated by Remix Engineer credit.
“A Jim Burgess Mix”

“From the Warner Bros. Album BSK 3193
“MINUTE BY MINUTE”
Track times are incorrect on labels.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

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

May 10, 2013

Judy Cheeks – Mellow Lovin’ (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

Judy Cheeks is a female dance music singer born in Miami, Florida in 1954 and is the daughter of gospel singer and preacher Rev. Julius Cheeks. In 1978 she hit #10 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart with her first disco single “Mellow Lovin’,”. The single also peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Mellow Lovin’,” was produced by Anthony Monn (best known for his work with gay icon Amanda Lear) in Giorgio Moroder’s Musicland Studios in Munich.

Cheeks also appears as a backing vocalist on Lear’s 1979 album Never Trust A Pretty Face and on Boney M.’s Ten Thousand Lightyears and Kalimba de Luna – 16 Happy Songs as a member of vocal trio La Mama. In 1986, she worked as a studio musician (providing backing vocals) on Alphaville’s album Afternoons in Utopia.

Judy Cheeks had a career resurgence in the 1990s, when she re-emerged with a string of dance chart hits, including two #1s in 1995, “Respect” and “As Long As You’re Good To Me”, as well as “Reach”, which appeared on the Summer Hitmix ’94 CD released by ZYX Records.

This US 12″ promo includes the Tom Moulton Disco Mix which is exclusive to this release. This version is longer than what appeared on the commercial releases. The same mix appears on both sides of the single.

SIDE A:
Mellow Lovin’ (Disco Mix) 7:35

SIDE B:
Mellow Lovin’ (Disco Mix) 7:35

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	Mellow Lovin’	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#65
1978	Mellow Lovin’	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco	#10

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Salsoul Records ‎– SG 2063TM (DJ)
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Arranged By, Conductor – Charly Ricanek
Mastered By – TM/JR*
Mixed By – Tom Moulton
Producer – Anthony Monn
Written-By – T. Monn*, J. Cheeks*, R. Williams*

NOTES:
“A TOM MOULTON MIX”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

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

March 29, 2013

Linda Clifford – If My Friends Could See Me Now (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

Linda Clifford (born June 14, 1948, New York) is an American R&B, disco and house music singer and actress, who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably “If My Friends Could See Me Now”, “Bridge over Troubled Water”, “Runaway Love” and “Red Light”.

“If My Friends Could See Me Now”, with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, is a number from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity. In the musical, the character of Charity, played in original New York cast by Gwen Verdon, reflects on her charmed life as she spends time with Vittorio. In the 1969 film adaptation of Sweet Charity, “If My Friends Could See Me Now” is performed by Shirley MacLaine.

In 1978 Linda Clifford released an album entitled If My Friends Could See Me Now featuring a disco version of the Sweet Charity number of that name. Clifford – who had been an extra in the filmation of Sweet Charity – originally responded negatively to the suggestion – made by a secretary at Curtom Records – that she record a dance version of “If My Friends Could See Me Now” “because I thought it would be sacrilegious. I’ve always been a theatre buff, so this [would be] a no-no….Then they recorded [the backing track] anyway and brought it to me, and I said, ‘Ooh, I like that.’ Once I heard the music I was like, ‘It’s different but it’s the same.'” Clifford would recall how subsequent to her success with “If My Friends Could See Me Now” Cy Coleman would “[call] in to a radio station that I was being interviewed on and thanked me over the air for doing his song and bringing it to the masses.”

“If My Friends Could See Me Now” in tandem with two other album tracks: “Gypsy Lady” and “Runaway Love”, hit #1 on the Billboard disco chart dated April 29, 1978 remaining at #1 for a total of five weeks. Released as a 7″ single in August 1978 – “Runaway Love” having been the lead 7″ single from the If My Friends… album – “If My Friends Could See Me Now” reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100 with an R&B chart peak of #68. In the UK “If My Friends Could See Me Now” was issued as the A-side of a 7″ single – with “Runaway Love” as the B-side – in May 1978 failing to become a major UK hit with a peak of #50 on the UK chart dated June 24, 1978.

SIDE A:
If My Friends Could See Me Now 10:12
Written-By – C. Coleman*, D. Fields*

SIDE B:
Gypsy Lady 9:58
Engineer – R. Anfinsen*
Producer – Curtis Mayfield
Remix – J. Simpson*
Written-By – C. Mayfield*, G. Askey*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic)

CHARTS:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	If My Friends Could See Me Now	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#54
1978	If My Friends Could See Me Now	U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles	#68
1978	If My Friends Could See Me Now	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Disco	#1

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Curtom ‎– DISCO PRO-A-709
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Producer, Arranged By – Gil Askey

NOTES:
Special Disco versions taken from the LP,
“If My Friends Could See Me Now”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

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