Nu Colours - Desire - (1996)

Polydor/Wildcard, LC0309

Well, Nu Colours have been well and truly covered on The Soul Vendor more than once. Mick's already put up Power, and only the other day I put up What In The World/Greater Love; Greater Love being one of my all-time favourite songs.

So that gets me out of having to write anything about the UK's premier gospel outfit.

Onto this track, then.

It's a decent track, second only to Greater Love in their repertoire (in my humble opinion)... but there was only one reason why I bought this CD single, and that was the excellent Linslee's Extended Mix - re-listening now it still stands out as much the best version.

The Ethnic Boyz version isn't bad, but it lacks the power-funk of Linslee's mix. The house mixes are... not my cup of tea. The Gospel Truth According to Mindspell mix is pretty nice, and takes the tune back to a live, stripped-down, purely gospel vibe - it's probably the best mix after Linslee's.

Peace and luvizm,

- Kymba :)

• Desire (7")
• Desire (Ethnic Boyz Main Mix)
• Desire (Linslee Extended Mix)
• Desire (Full Chorus London)
• Desire (Mindspell Classic Club Experience)
• Desire (The Gospel Truth According To Mindspell)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Desire.zip File size: 46.2 MB

Nu Colours - What In The World / Greater Love - (1993)

Polydor/Wildcard, CARDD 4

I'm going to start this off with a complaint:

WHAT THE HELL WERE POLYDOR THINKING MAKING GREATER LOVE A B-SIDE????!?!?!?

It's got classic stamped all over it, and, if only it had been supported and marketed it could well have made a decent splash on the pop charts, and seen the band get a bit more recognition than they did. It's an incredibly strong song, it's got beautifully sung vocals, and a nice, slinky, urban groove to it courtesy of producers par excellence Ethnic Boyz.

I honestly believe it is one of the UK's finest soul moments.

Not that there's anything wrong with the main track, What In the World. It's a really good guitar driven piece of soul, produced by a certain Robert Howard. I'm guessing it's the same Robert Howard (or "Dr. Robert") from The Blow Monkeys fame. Can anyone confirm? (edit: it IS Dr Robert - thanks, Frank!!)

There's a third track (fourth, if you count the Greater Love Remix - more on that in a moment) called Want Your Love 2 B Mine, which is a perfectly decent backup track, but with such a good main track in What In The World, and an even better one as the "B-Side", if you will, in the shape of Greater Love, it's easily forgotten.

As mentioned, there's also an Ethnic Boyz remix of Greater Love, which is odd really, as they produced the original version, and it's fairly similar, just a touch more dubby. I much prefer the original, but it's nice to have for completions sake.

So there you have it, one of my all-time favourite tracks, as a bloody B-Side! Amazing.

- Kymba :)

• What In the World
• Greater Love
• Greater Love (Ethnic Boyz Remix)
• Want Your Love 2 B Mine

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: What In The World.zip File size: 25.1 MB

TRUCE - TRUCE EP 1995

Big Life Records BLRD112

T.R.U.C.E. ('To Reach Universal Cultures Effectively') were one of the original UK R&B girl groups tipped for stardom in the mid ˜90s. Prolific producer Paul Waller took them to the brink on his independent Relevant label before a short-lived contract with Big Life. On this EP they work with a wealth of talent including Ian Green, Don-E & The Ethnic Boyz.

Michelle Escoffery was a member of girl R'n'B trio Truce, who were known for great tracks like 'The Finest' (1995) on Big Life records. She has since decided to devote herself to her songwriting and vocal production talents and has had many of the top producers and singers in London approach her for her scribe skills.

The singer and songwriter, who grew up in Streatham and spent her teenage years in South Norwood and won an Ivor Novello award in 2002. The songwriter, who has written for All Saints, Tina Turner and Beverly Knight and once sang with Stevie Wonder, began singing with her three sisters in her local Seventh Day Adventist church. They became The Escofferys and spent school holidays touring churches across Europe and the UK until they were signed by American label Atlantic. In 1993, Michelle was headhunted to join R&B girl group Truce. Her writing for the group attracted industry attention and she began writing for other artists including Hinda Hicks, Damage, Fierce and she enjoyed huge success with The Artful Dodger album 'It's All About The Stragglers'.

• Treat U Right (7" Edit)
• Celebration Of Life (7" Edit)
• Better Days
• Come Go Away
• Don't Give Up
• Treat U Right (Full Length Mix)
• Celebration Of Life (Full Length Mix)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Truce.rar Filesize: 47.73 MB