fourfour: Funky

Funky

C'mon man. Aww aww aww aww. (And with the local DBC news, Rich with a triumphant comeback). Don't call it a comeback -- call it a re-teaming of the minds. On Friday, I'll join Dan Selzer (again) and Jeremy Campbell (for the first time) to DJ at the Beat Club party at Capone's in Williamsburg. Dan, Jeremy, Rob and the inimitable PappaWheelie have pulled off the nearly impossible task of getting Billyburg kids to dance to music made by black people. Billyburg kids dancing to black music, without irony. It's really kind of amazing.

Details are much the same as the last time I spun there. Capone's is at 221 N. 9th Street (between Roebling and Driggs). It's a sneeze away from the oft-maligned Bedford L stop. Capone's serves pizza that's as good as the idea of serving pizza to a bunch of drinking, dancing fools is weird. The party goes from 10-4, but you could have guessed that.

The type of shit I'll play should be obvious, but just to give you a full picture, here are four tracks I consider to be classic that I didn't play last time I was there, but probably will on Friday. If you're good.

~~Sharon Redd "Beat the Street"~~ - I can't get enough of Ms. Redd (I posted Michael F. Gill's "Activate" revamp just a week ago). She was the uglyhot voice of the post-disco generation, singing along as black dance music turned completely electronic (echoes of her open-arms embrace of technology were apparent in the career of Aaliyah, another soul diva who died much too soon). "Beat the Street" is as classic as boogie gets and it adds a dab of social consciousness to the mix (beat the street, ya gotta beat the street), effectively paving the way for house music's eternally bleeding heart. And really, with songs like this filling clubs, who wanted to be out on the street, anyway?

~~Jamie Principle "Waiting on My Angel"~~ - Another pre-house classic (from '85), this time with a more Euro/Italo bent. Jamie seems to be continuing Patrick Cowley's homo-in-space routine, and that flaming giggle sample throughout -- which seems like some time traveling gank from a dancer in 1991's Truth or Dare -- only enhances the gayness. Yeah, except Jamie wasn't a practicing gay around the time of this song's release (his other Frankie Knuckles-produced classic from this time period, "Your Love," he says was written about a woman). In fact, I don't think he ever really came out, as such. Waiting to exhale, I guess.

~~Lil Louis "French Kiss (The Songbird Sings Long Vocal Mix)"~~ - Chicago's Lil Louis was the most gimmicky man of early house and he always got away with it because along with the hyper-cleverness and large-scale concepts were great tracks. He could have turned out tracky house that worked on hook and groove alone, but putting the lil' something extra into his work almost always paid off. The gimmick to "French Kiss" is that it slows down in the middle, putting on breaks and coming to a stop with the finesse of a Union Pacific, only to start chugging again all the way back to normal speed. It is, in a word, exhilarating. Oh yeah, "French Kiss" is also a orgasm-y sex track. Yay for orgasms.

~~Stevie B "In My Eyes"~~ - I like to laugh at a lot of freestyle, but not Stevie B (at least, his music -- his fashion sense is a different story). As a writer/producer and vocalist (who could actually sing -- a rarity in freestyle), he's often just short of genius. "In My Eyes" is my favorite track by him right now -- I love how creepy and dark it is in its romantic longing (it's this side of molesty). Also, the chorus provides at least a slice of comedy gold (I guess I do like to laugh at him sometimes): the response after every line is "In my eyes." So when main-vocal Stevie goes "And when you kiss me girl," the back-up chorus Stevies go "In my eyes." Kiss me in my eyes!

Anyway, here's one final test you can give yourself to get a good idea of whether or not you'll like my shit. If you can identify the movie the following screenshot comes from (without squinting), then the stuff I spin will make you jack. Also, if you can identify it, you are probably gay. Just saying.

Urgay

So, yeah. Make like Robin S. and come show me love. I'll let you see my ass or something (note: "something" may include keeping my ass in my pants the whole night).