So Much Time . . Ain't Got Time Fa Nuthin'

So, after dodging bullets since arriving in the Bay Area nearly two years ago I recently became one more (of the many) victims of this harsh economic climate. That might help explain why I have not posted anything new for a few weeks. I spent the past two weeks kicking it with my family and friends in Portland, OR. This also allowed me some time to do some care-free digging in Portland's famous record shops as well as thrift stores up and down the West Coast as my pal Chris and I drove back to the Bay Area along the coast. Needless to say, the coastal route is beautiful, but it's not much for soulful vinyl as the rural Oregon and Northern California coast makes Portland look like New York City. Be sure to check in over at Weed, Whites & Wine for some of my less-soulful and more twangy vinyl scores.

I'm still working through some of the goodies I brought back, but the one that is steady rotation in my brain is this killer little tune from the lesser-known Philly vocal group, The Futures. I snagged this little gem at a junk-shop in SE Portland for $5 along with a couple other great pieces. This tune really seems to speak to my current situation: so much time, but so much to do. Three weeks of being unemployed has taught me one thing: I work best with structure.

So, until something comes along that pays a little bit better I'm committing to give myself a bit of structure by posting on Soul Spectrum & Weed, Whites & Wine much more frequently, so stay tuned!


The Futures - Ain't No Time Fa Nuthin'

Rolling Down Disco Mountain

I'm on a bit of a disco kick today, but after the lengthy K.C. post, I'll keep this one short and to the point. I've been digging this new Glass Candy tour CD which has some songs of theirs as well as other related side-projects and the like. The first song on the CD is this one:



Download: Rolling Down the Hills (Spring Demo)
Glass Candy is yet another band from Portland, OR and they have really tapped into a nice combination of nostalgia and contemporary production and aesthetics. The song's a bit too slow to dance too, but you can't be dancing all of the time. I hope to post more of their stuff here soon.



Download: Rolling Down a Mountainside
The Main Ingredient has been a recent favorite of mine. Did you know that Cuba Gooding Sr. (yes, the Sr. to "Show Me the Money"'s Jr.) was one of the singers? Their sound is different than a lot of vocal groups as they always picked (or had picked for them) off-kilter arrangements and complicated songs that seemed like they almost didn't work. It's that unusual quality that I like so much about their discography. This song was also recorded by Isaac Hayes, though I can't say I'm familiar with his version and it was written by Leon "I Want You" Ware.

Rollin' . . .

I Can't Wait . . . For My Family To Get Here

Play this, then read on . . .
I Can't Wait - Nu Shooz

Download: I Can't Wait

I'm from Portland, Oregon. Born and raised and darn proud of it. I've been thinking in the past couple years, when the idea of "settling down" rears its head that I'm glad I'm from a place that I have no problems returning to. No offense to every other city, town or rural landscape, but Portland is pretty darn ideal and an even mix of small town, greet a stranger on the street charm and big city cultural creativity. Some have even said its where hipsters go to retire. I'm not gonna even get into whether or not I'm a hipster and the implications for my impending "retirement," but basically, it's all true.

My mom and two (of three) brothers will be coming to visit me in NYC for Thanksgiving next week, so I'd like to take this time to share a little bit of Portland's musical heritage. Who is from Portland you ask? Well, aside from any number of recent indie -rock transplants whom I'm woefully ignorant of (excepting Stephen Malkmus, but back when he was in Pavement), Portland is the home to two legendary one-hit-wonder bands: The Kingsmen and Nu Shooz.

Naturally, both bands are white, but both of their immortal hits "Louie, Louie" and "I Can't Wait" are clearly inspired by genres a wee-bit darker than blue. I'm now gonna make a left-field pronouncement. Are you ready? Portlanders love to dance and they are funky in their own jerky, caffeine and micro-brew addled way. I'm sure somewhere down the way there will be a "Louie, Louie" post if only to publish the x-rated lyrics that my mom remembers from back in the day as passed to her by her girlfriends' cousin or something who was in The Kingsmen.
"I Can't Wait" is a perfect song. With John Smith's James Brown-esque chicken scratch guitar licks and its ubiqitous 80s synth beat. But really it's about Valerie Day's vocals and the HUGE hook. The song had a long history that seems pretty unfathomable today when pop-songs have shelf-lives of a couple weeks before they work their way to the MP3 scrap-heap.

On a recent trip back home I found this 7" single from 1984. I first I though it was just the 45 single of the famous song, but unlike the album (a copy of which I picked up in Brazil, not that you can't find it at any thrift store) it was released on "Poolside Records" where as the 12" single and the album were released on Atlantic Records. I gave it a listen and indeed its a very different version.

I Can't Wait (Poolside version) - Nu Shooz

Download: I Can't Wait (Poolside version)

I think it was this version that featured some horns from members of another local band, The Crazy 8's. One of my school buddy's older brother was/is a member of the band it wasn't until my 10-year high school reunion that I figured this out and realized that he played on the original "I Can't Wait."

It took Nu Shooz nearly two years to go from this Poolside version to their chart-topping album. I found this timeline of the Nu Shooz story on this website:





June '79 - John Smith founds Nu Shooz in Portland, Oregon.
May '83 - Percussionist Valerie Day becomes lead vocalist.
Summer '84 - Nu Shooz records "I Can't Wait" with Fritz Richmond (Jim Kweskin Jug Band) as engineer. Smith and band manager Rick Waritz co-produce.
April '85 - "I Can't Wait" breaks on Portland's #1 Top-40 station, KKRZ FM (Z?100), and quickly becomes a regional Top 10 hit.
Fall '85 - Warner Brothers Records extends a demo deal to Nu Shooz, but passes on the band soon afterward, stating "We've already got Madonna."
Winter '85 - Dutch producer Pieder "Hithouse" Slaghuis discovers "I Can't Wait" on Hot Trax. His re-mix on Dutch label Injection Records becomes a hot-selling import in the United States and tops dance charts around the world.
January '86 - Atlantic Records signs Nu Shooz. Recording sessions begin at Atlantic Studios in New York and the Sunset Sound Factory in Los Angeles.
March '86 - The band's first album, Poolside, is completed after just 6 weeks. Fusion legend Jeff Lorber co-produces with Smith and Waritz.
Summer '86 - Nu Shooz tours 70 US cities in 73 days.
September '86 - "I Can't Wait" reaches #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
October '86 - Nu Shooz earns a Gold Album with Poolside.
November '86 - Shep Pettibone's (George Michael, Janet Jackson) re-mix of follow-up single "Point Of No Return" reaches #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Winter '86 - The band is nominated for a "Best New Artist" Grammy Award (Bruce Hornsby and the Range later win the award).

It might take awhile for a song to hit, but once it does it's inescapable. Next, if they song's beat is sufficiently funky and has some instrumental passages long enough to double-up and rhyme over, then you have the ideal recipe for an old-school hip-hop jam:

I Can't Wait (To Rock the Mic) - Spyder-D

Download: I Can't Wait (To Rock the Mic)

and the flipside of the 12":

Download: I Can't Wait (To Rock the Mic) Instrumental

If these four versions of the song aren't enough for you, last year Nu Shooz reunited and recorded an unplugged version of the song that you can here on their website here. The unplugged version is pretty nice, showing off Valerie's vocal chops. The remix that is also available sounds like Nu Shooz meets Portishead, meets Dr. Dre . . . see for yourself.

keepin' it real in the 503