Dystopian Dance Party

Tag: new york city

  • Jheri Curl June: Gwen Guthrie’s “Peanut Butter”

    Jheri Curl June: Gwen Guthrie’s “Peanut Butter”

    As we rapidly approach the 10-year anniversary of Jheri Curl June, one of the most exciting things for me is the thrill of “discovering” an artist who I frankly should have known about already. This year, that artist is Gwen Guthrie: a former back-up vocalist, elementary school teacher (!), and commercial jingle singer from Newark, New Jersey, whose series of 1980s club hits led to her being dubbed the “First Lady” of New York City‘s legendary Paradise Garage.

    Listening to “Peanut Butter,” the opening track from Guthrie’s 1983 album Portrait, it’s easy to see why she earned the title. Like the rest of her first two albums, it’s produced by Sly (Dunbar) and Robbie (Shakespeare)–also known for their work with previous JCJ inductee and all-around badass Grace Jones–and it’s funky as hell, with the Jamaican production duo’s dub influences showing through in the highly percussive groove. Likewise, Guthrie’s sultry vocal and exhortations to “spread yourself over me like peanut butter” feel precision-engineered for the dance floor–particularly in the even dubbier extended club mix by Paradise Garage house DJ Larry Levan.

    I’m not gonna lie–sometimes I worry that we’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel, and that we’ll run out of exciting music to spotlight for Jheri Curl June sooner rather than later. But if after nine years I can still randomly stumble across somebody like Gwen Guthrie, it’s a reminder that there’s still a lot left to learn about and explore.

    Speaking of exploring, remember to check out our playlists! We’ll be back for the second full week of Jheri Curl June 2023 on Monday.

  • Jheri Curl June: D-Train’s “‘D’ Train Theme”

    Jheri Curl June: D-Train’s “‘D’ Train Theme”

    It’s been a while since we last spotlighted James “D-Train” Williams–since 2015, to be exact, when we wrote about Paul Hardcastle‘s 1985 remix of D-Train’s 1981 breakout hit, “You’re the One for Me.” And frankly, that’s too long to go without some Vitamin D–especially now that we know it was Williams who sang the much-more-soulful-than-required hook to the original Pokémon anime’s “Pokérap,” thus completing the weirdest possible Venn diagram of Callie‘s interests and most likely fulfilling an ancient prophecy that will ultimately lead to the apocalypse.

    Unfortunately, the Pokérap does not count as an example of Jheri Curl Music; but 1982’s “‘D’ Train Theme” decidedly does, and folks, it is a banger. Recorded when “D-Train” was not only Williams’ stage name, but also a full-fledged duo comprising the singer and keyboardist/producer Hubert Eaves III, the “Theme” opens with a recorded announcement from the New York subway line, before launching into a nasty bass and drum-machine groove that lays the foundation for a synth hook positively dripping with J.C. juice. The lyrical content is just about what you’d expect–a series of exhortations to “get up on the funky D-Train”–but fans of the aforementioned Pokérap will be excited to hear Williams lay down some capable bars himself. “‘D’ Train Theme” may not teach you the names of the 150 original Pokémon, but it is funky as hell, and really, that’s what matters most.

    You can get on board the funky JC-train with the playlists below; see you tomorrow!

  • Headbangers Book Club: Sebastian Bach’s 18 and Life on Skid Row (Part 2)

    Hey mothertruckers, we’re Bach in the saddle with Part 2 of our series on Sebastian Bach‘s 18 and Life on Skid Row! This book really picked up in the second half, so please excuse the slightly flabby runtime; there’s just too many good stories for us not to discuss them. Join us again in two weeks when we discuss the first half of the late Meat Loaf‘s To Hell and Back! Rock it up!

    (more…)

  • Jheri Curl June: J.M. Black’s “Lipstick (Shout!)”

    For this penultimate post in Week 2 of Jheri Curl June VIbe, I thought I’d highlight another piece of International Jheri Curl. This time, our world tour takes us to France: a country with a vibrant post-disco and boogie scene documented by Born Bad Records’ excellent Chébran compilations.

    One of the highlights of Chébran Volume 2 (which I reviewed last June for Spectrum Culture) is this 1984 track by J.M. Black. “Lipstick (Shout!)” actually isn’t as “international” as you might expect: as the 7″ sleeve (above) proudly proclaims, it was recorded in the boogie ground zero of New York City. But Black’s bilingual vocals–complete with a rap!–give the smooth jheri-curl groove a certain je ne sais quoi of Continental cool and sophistication. You won’t know whether to dance or smoke a cigarette and stare morosely into the distance.

    Tomorrow, we’ll return to our usual domestic JCM with another post from Callie. In the meantime, check out the growing playlists below!

    (more…)

  • Introduction: Jheri Curl June VIbe

    It’s a little hard to believe that we’ve reached our sixth consecutive Jheri Curl June, our annual celebration of all things wet and silky in ’80s post-disco R&B; yet here we are, kicking off Jheri Curl June 6–which, since we’re using Zapp naming conventions, we’re calling Jheri Curl June VIbe.

    Our criteria for what qualifies a song for Jheri Curl June are, for us, a little like what qualifies a work of art as pornography: we know it when we see (/hear) it. Basically, if the song calls to mind a big ol’ luscious J.C., then it makes the cut. But since not everyone shares our specifically hairstyle-based form of synaesthesia, we’ve laid out some ground rules in our original introduction post from 2014, our 2016 video, and our podcast from last year. The short version is, if it sounds like it was recorded in Minneapolis in the first half of the ’80s, then it’s in the Jheri Curl Music wheelhouse.

    Today’s song doesn’t come from Minneapolis at all, however, but from New York’s garage/boogie scene. “This Beat is Mine” was released in 1981 by the enigmatic Vicky “D”, a collaboration between producer Gary R. Turnier, formerly of pop-disco group Gary’s Gang, and songwriter Andre Booth, who would later emerge as a collaborator with hip-hop artists like MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, and Lords of the Underground. Like many groups from this era, they weren’t exactly built to last: Vicky “D” released only one other single, the reggae-flavored ballad “Mystery Lover,” before disappearing in 1982.

    But what they lacked in longevity, they made up for with pure jheri curl juice, which drips plentifully off every one of “This Beat is Mine”’s 358 seconds: from the mewling synth line to the rapped interlude leading into a funky bass and rhythm guitar breakdown. And if the groove didn’t make it clear enough, the lyrics are here to spell it out for you: “It’s party music, so we all can freak / And do that dance / Oh, clap your hands now to this beat.” Don’t have to tell us twice.

    As always, we’ll be posting every weekday for the rest of this month with more silky-smooth classics from the jheri curl area. Watch the Spotify playlist grow:

    https://open.spotify.com/user/dystopiandanceparty/playlist/37nM5CZk77bC5rGY75gtIZ?si=xoEdD4ELQJmZ4iWO_ndyvw

  • Podcast: Dystopian Book Club vs. Mark Paytress’ Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar

    September is kind of our unofficial Marc Bolan month at Dystopian Dance Party; so for this installment of our Dystopian Book Club podcast series, we thought we’d read the excellent 2006 biography Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar by music journalist Mark Paytress. This one goes a little bit long (sorry ’bout that), but there’s plenty of music to keep you entertained!

    (more…)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • Dystopian Book Club Podcast, Jheri Curl June Edition: The Memoirs of Rick James

    It didn’t take a stroke of genius to come up with the idea for this year’s Jheri Curl June podcast. Rick James may be the most important architect of the genre we call Jheri Curl Music who we hadn’t already commemorated with a long-term feature. He also has a hell of a story: one he told in not one, but two posthumous memoirs–2007’s Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Superfreak and 2014’s Glow–which makes him a perfect candidate for the Dystopian Book Club. A “habitual line-stepper” in both life and art, James was vital in bridging the gap between 1970s P-Funk and 1980s Jheri Curl; his later decline into drug addiction and imprisonment was unfortunate, but could only somewhat dampen his boundless talent and charisma. So join us on this most sacred of occasions as we celebrate Mr. Cold Blooded himself: a man whose artistic potential was the only thing bigger than his larger-than-life personality and appetites. Gimme some ganja!

    (more…)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • Dystopian Book Club Podcast: Paul Stanley’s Face the Music

    The last installment of our Dystopian Book Club miniseries on the memoirs of KISS is finally here, and we’re going out in a big way. Paul Stanley’s Face the Music: A Life Exposed isn’t the best KISS biography we’ve read (or the second best…or even the third), but it’s certainly fertile ground for discussion. Join us for almost two hours on the man, the myth, and the chest hair; and remember, while Dystopian Book Club is done with KISS (for now), WE! ARE JUST! GETTING! STAAAAAAAAHHHTEEED! We’ll be back in June with a special Jheri Curl June episode on the memoir(s) of Rick James. And don’t forget, next month is our annual Memorial Day podcast, when we commemorate the many musical icons we lost in the last 12 months. Show notes, as always, are below.

    (more…)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • Dystopian Art Party Podcast: Happy Birthday, Yoko Ono

    Last Saturday, Yoko Ono turned 84 years old; so we’ve decided to take the opportunity to shout out one of our favorite visual and musical artists, who has been fucking shit up for five decades and is still going strong in 2017. If you’re a Yoko neophyte and want to know what the fuss is about, here’s our (deeply personal, 100% subjective) primer on why she matters and where to start. No hate allowed–Callie will ether your ass. We’re taking next month off the podcast, but we’ll be back in April with another KISS memoir. The sublime and the ridiculous, folks!

    (more…)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  • Dystopian Book Club Podcast: Peter Criss’ Makeup to Breakup

    Hey, Catfans! We’re now three-quarters of the way through the vanity-project-within-a-vanity-project that is our series of KISS memoir Book Club podcasts; and while it’s obviously too early to say for sure, we have a feeling that this month’s book was the peak. Makeup to Breakup, “written” in 2012 by original KISS drummer Peter Criss, has everything you want in a trashy rock bio: salacious backstage stories, potentially libelous dirt, and a second-act decline that would make Behind the Music green with envy. If you only read one KISS memoir, this is the one. But we’ll still be back in March to close out the tetraptych with a discussion of Paul Stanley’s Face the Music.

    (more…)

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download