Mayer Hawthorne and his heart-shaped vinyl are from Michigan, where Hawthorne grew up as a vinyl junkie worshiping the songwriting skills of local soul heroes Holland–Dozier–Holland. Hawthorne’s debut, A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw on 7 September), tries to tap into that Motown sound through a singular vision and some hip-hop beats. Check out his barbershop quartet in action after the jump…

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I have been thoroughly enjoying DJ Functual’s informative 20-part series (which is still very much ongoing) documenting the greatest breaks used in the history of hip-hop. As someone who spent their teenage years listening to rap only to forsake the genre when I began discovering  the funk and soul songs they sampled, this has given me a good dose of nostalgia. ‘Crate digging’ turned me on to good music and Funktual’s unbridled enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge  has uncovered plenty of greats I didn’t even know, like Leon Haywood’s I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You. He’s also made a top-10 of rock and reggae covers, as well as Kanye West and Isaac Hayes specials – which are fun whether you recognise the breaks or not.

And another, with full band:

[audio http://www.iol.ie/~pippen33/044 The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go.mp3]

The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go

A classic that can be enjoyed by just about anyone at any time of day, without reason. It also features in the Micromix by Bradford Cox over at the Deerhunter blog. Check it out.

[audio http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/50153/25%20I%20Cant%20Stand%20It.mp3]

The Easybeats – ‘I Can’t Stand It’

It’s got the same feel as The Temptations’ “I’m Losing You,” and while they are an Australian rock group, this little tune neatly folds together power-pop and soul.

Photo by carmendevos

Along with the Shirelles and the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las were among the greatest girl groups; if judged solely on the basis of attitude, they were the greatest of them all. They combined an innocent adolescent charm with more than a hint of darkness, singing about dead bikers, teenage runaways, and doomed love affairs…

These could be delivered with either infectious, handclapping harmonies or melodramatic, almost operatic recitatives that were contrived but utterly effective. Tying it all together in the studio was Shadow Morton, a mad genius of a producer who may have been second in eccentric imagination only to Phil Spector in the mid-’60s.

Originally the Shangri-Las were comprised of two pairs of sisters from Queens, NY (identical twins Marge and Mary Anne Ganser and siblings Mary and Betty Weiss). They had already recorded a couple of obscure singles when they were hired by George “Shadow” Morton to demo a song he had recently written, “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand).” The haunting ballad, with its doomy “Moonlight Sonata”-like piano riffs, wailing lead vocal, and thunderous background harmonies, seguing into an a cappella chorus backed by nothing except handclaps and seagull cries, made the Top Five in late 1964. It also began their association with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller‘s Red Bird label, which would handle the group for the bulk of their career.

The quality of Morton‘s work with the Shangri-Las on Red Bird (with assistance from Jeff Barry and Artie Butler) was remarkable considering that he had virtually no prior experience in the music business. The group’s material, so over-the-top emotionally that it sometimes bordered on camp, was lightened by the first-class production, which embroidered the tracks with punchy brass, weeping strings, and plenty of imaginative sound effects. Nowhere was this more apparent than on “Leader of the Pack,” with its periodic motorcycle roars and crescendo of crashing glass. The death-rock classic became the Shangri-Las’ signature tune, reaching number one.

Several smaller hits followed in 1965 and 1966, many of them excellent. “Give Him a Great Big Kiss” proved they could handle more conventionally, bubbly girl group fare well; “I Can Never Go Home Anymore,” a runaway tale that took their patented pathos to the extreme, would be their third and final Top Ten hit. These all show up on oldies collections, but lots of listeners remain unaware of the other fine singles in their catalog, like the moody “Out in the Streets,” the dense orchestral swamp of “He Cried” (which cuts Jay & the Americans‘ original, “She Cried,” to pieces), and another teen death tale, “Give Us Your Blessings.” Some of their best songs, in fact, were B-sides; “Dressed in Black,” yet another teen death drama, had a marvelously hushed and damned atmosphere, and “Paradise” was co-written by a young Harry Nilsson. Their most unusual single of all was “Past, Present and Future,” which didn’t feature a single sung note, presenting a somber spoken monologue and occasional spoken background chants over a classical piano track reminiscent of “Remember (Walking in the Sand).” It was too unconventional to rise above the middle of the charts, especially given that the narrative could quite possibly be construed as the recollections of an assault/rape victim.

Unlike some girl groups, the Shangri-Las were dynamic on-stage performers, choreographing their dance steps to their lyrics and wearing skin-tight leather pants and boots that were quite daring for the time. Their real lives, however, were not without elements of drama themselves. Their constant personnel changes baffle historians; sometimes they are pictured as a trio, and sometimes one of the members in the photos is clearly not one of the Weiss or Ganser sisters. Worse, the Red Bird label ran into serious organizational difficulties in the mid-’60s, and wound down its operations in 1966. The group moved to Mercury for a couple of dispirited singles, but had split by the end of the 1960s. Shadow Morton went on to an interesting, erratic career that included involvement with Janis Ian, the New York Dolls, and Mott the Hoople. Mary Anne Ganser died in 1970; the cause has been a source of mystery but it was due to either encephalitis, complications from a barbiturate overdose, or as the result of a seizures. Her sister Marge died in 1996 of breast cancer.

Even today, the Shangri-Las’ history remains somewhat murky and mysterious; the original members have rarely reunited for oldies shows or talked to the press. The situation was exacerbated by frustratingly substandard reissues of their Red Bird work, which made it impossible to collect all of their fine sides without buying numerous packages, many of which boasted shockingly shoddy sound quality. Happily, the situation was rectified in the mid-’90s with excellent, comprehensive compilations of the Red Bird material in both the U.K. and U.S.

from AllMusic.com

Photo by stephanies

And yes, I am too pre-occupied to be writing my own intro to this today…

[audio http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/50153/2-06%20Honey%20Bee.mp3]

 New Birth – ‘Honey Bee’

Formed by Tony Churchill and music-industry veteran Harvey Fuqua, New Birth was originally named the Nite-Liters. As the Nite-Liters, they enjoyed chart action with three R&B hits: “K-Jee,” “Afro-Strut,” and “Pull Together.” Of the three, “K-Jee” was the most successful, peaking at number 17 during a 13-week run.

The roots of the band lie with Leslie and Melvin Wilson, who were gospel singers living in Muskegon, MI. After moving on to Detroit in the late ’60s, their interest remained centered in gospel. Melvin Wilson eventually met the Nite-Liters, who at the time were backing Motown artists, and expressed the possibility that he and his brother Leslie could perform with them. As fate would have it, the two brothers became acquainted with former Marvelette Anne Bogan, who introduced them to Fuqua. He had three groups under his tutelage: Love Peace & Happiness (of which Leslie and Melvin became members), the Nite-Liters, and New Birth. All but two members of New Birth had left the group around this time, leaving just Londee Loren and Bobby Downs. The three groups toured, backed each other up, and ultimately merged into one, with New Birth the name of the new group.

Leslie, with his feisty vocals, and Melvin, with his more serene appeal, emerged as the primary lead singers. New Birth’s first release was the R&B Top Ten single “I Can Understand It.” Led by Leslie Wilson‘s intense vocals and reminiscent of Bobby Womack, the single zoomed up the charts, peaking at number four after only 12 weeks. In January of 1974 they released “It’s Been a Long Time,” one of their celebrated hits and another Top Ten entry. That single was followed by the classic, soulful ballad “Wildflower.” During this time, the group was living in California, which presented problems; from egotism associated with the lights of Tinseltown to group-management problems, the band’s best interests began to suffer. Consequently, New Birth terminated its affiliation with their founder and producer Fuqua, manager Jerry Weintraub, and RCA Records. In mid-1975 they signed with Buddah Records and immediately recorded their first and only number R&B one, “Dream Merchant.” They recorded just one album for Buddah, however, before signing with Warner Bros. and later Ariola. In 1977, Leslie and Melvin Wilson left the group, and by 1979 the rest of the group had disbanded. However, in 1994, Leslie and Melvin re-formed the group and began performing at venues around the nation.

via AllMusic.com