Showing posts with label Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reid. Show all posts

Sunday, 28 September 2008

China Black - Searching 1994

Wild Card Records CARDD7
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China Black comprised of Errol Reid and Simon Fung. The group first released the song Searching in 1992 which stayed in the reggae chart for 12 weeks at number one and went top 5 in the R&B chart. Unfortunately, their indie record label went bankrupt and the track failed to chart in the UK Top 20. It was re-issued in the summer of 1994, when pop-reggae became the new trend in the British charts and this time made it to number four, selling 350,000 copies in the process. Although they had good results with other singles (namely Stars) nothing came close to the success of Searching. The Original Mix by Longsy D, a.k.a. Andrew Alexander Long is the most authentic, bearing in mind the track is by nature, written as a reggae song, but the *Mykaell S. Riley Mix is, hands down, the most commercially accessable. The Ronin Mix tries, with some success, for the RnB style and Heavy Tactic go for the Dubby Trip Hop route. A song this infectious is hard to spoil but Full Force (Peter DiOrio not Bowlegged Lou) have a good go.

Birmingham born Errol Reid, has enjoyed a successful career in the music industry. Errol started singing at school and has since written for many well known artists. During his career he has appeared on many TV shows like BBC TV Children in Need, Princess Diana's Concert of Hope and many many more. During his time with China Black he toured all the major arenas of the world and sung duets with Robin Gibb on his world tour and also the late Barry White. Simon Fung turned his attention to songwriting, signing to Peermusic (one of the biggest independent publishers in the world) and working with various producers, writers and artists, such as Blue, Atomic Kitten and Natasha Bedingfield whilst also setting up his own record label as well as TV and film work.

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  • Mykaell S. Riley Mix
  • Original Longsy D Mix
  • Ronin Mix
  • Full Force Mix
  • Heavy Tactic Mix
The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: China Black.rar Filesize: 30.7 MB

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*Trivia:
Mykaell S. Riley has worked for artists such as Soul II Soul, Courtney Pine and a host of others. He began with Steel Pulse before moving on to found the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. His career spans over twenty years, during which he has performed, produced, managed and consulted on many artists and their projects. As a professional writer/producer, his work encompasses TV, Film and Theatre, but mainly albums, over thirty of them - resulting in over nine top twenty positions, and three number ones. A Senior Lecturer in Music Production at the University of Westminster, Mykaell is also Senior Trustee for the Black Music Education Trust, a new initiative borne out of the need to document the history of black music.

Friday, 27 June 2008

Nightcrawlers - Living Inside A Dream 1992

Lizard Records LIZARD 001
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  • First Round Remix
  • Instrumental
  • Bonus Beats
Nightcrawlers included John Reid, Hugh Brankin, Ross Campbell & Graham Wilson. As I recall, Reid was the driving force behind the original Nightcrawlers. He was Scottish, from Glasgow (I think?), not sure about the band though. I recall reading all this info in Blues & Soul mag in early 1992 and Steve Hobbs thought Living Inside A Dream was worthy so off I went to track it down. It's not what I expected and for awhile I wasn't sure whether it was good or just different. The chorus cleverly uses a sample of Luther Vandross' Never Too Much which I grew to enjoy.

Later that year Push The Feeling On was released on a Great Jones 12" with MK's Dub Of Doom on the flip. It was a House track that, after a few years working the dancefloors, would change Nightcrawlers forever.

Trivia: I've never seen another Lizard Records release.

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The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Nightcrawlers.rar Filesize: 18.91 MB

Thursday, 19 June 2008

After 7 - Can't Stop 1990

Virgin Records America VUST 31
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Originating from Indiana in 1988, After 7 have LA Face roots with Kevon and Melvin Edmonds, who are brothers of Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds and Keith Mitchell, who is Antonio 'L.A.' Reid's cousin. They were huge in the US, very polished and soulful, with great vocal range. They were not as well known in the UK but still managed to make a dent.

Can't Stop was probably their most successful release, produced and mixed by L.A. & Face but here remixed by Tim Lever & Mike Percy for One World Productions. Lever and Percy originated in the British pop group Dead Or Alive but managed to later garner credibility as a production team on the UK soul scene between '89-'94. After working with some of the UK's finest soul talent they then returned to their roots writing and producing for acts such as S Club 7 under the name of Steelworks. Strange but true?

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  • One World 12"
  • L.A.'s 7" Edit
  • One World Instrumental
  • Clap-A-Pella
The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: After 7.rar Filesize: 38.83 MB

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