Posted by Budgie at October 6, 2005 05:45 PM

...I said, "Timmy Thomas", not "Terry Thomas".

I'm a sucker for a good old slice of 70's funk and soul and recently I have been filling my boots with a CD crammed full of edits of some mighty fine tunes from that era.

"OST / Original Block Party Breaks" came out at the end of August and features some old gems given the re-edit treatment by some well known producers and DJ's. Nothing fancy, just some plain re-arranging to either extend the originals, cut out a lot of the filler or just beefing up the backing track with the inclusion of some new bits of production. But still managing to retain the original flavour.

I have been spoiled for choice as to what track to pick...

Do I go for the Black Science Orchestra extended edit of Patti Jo's stunning cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Make Me Believe In You"? Or Fug's extension of Minnie Ripperton's classic "Les Fleurs". Do I plump for Touche (from The Wiseguys) superb chopping up of Banbarra's infamous "Shack Up"? or try and make your jaw drop, like mine did, when you hear Wood, Brass & Steel's "Funkanova" and suddenly realise that Ashley Beadle had pretty much scavenged the record for his legendary UK House track "New Jersey Deep"? Decisions, Decisions...

Track : TIMMY THOMAS - "WHY CAN'T WE LIVE TOGETHER (PRESSURE DROP)"

In the end, it was this track that always pulled me back. Timmy Thomas' soulful track has been kicking about since 1972 but it was when the Balearic Beat scene picked up on it and then latterly the Rave scene, where it became a bit of an end of night / sunrise anthem by loved up clubbers, that it drifted past my ears. Heck, even famous London Rave DJ "Evil" Eddie Richards covered it under his guise Jolly Roger back in the day...

Here the original is beefed up by Pressure Drop, a group who have been on the fringes of the UK dance scene for quite some time now. Timmy Thomas' original had a sort of under produced vibe to it. The beat and rhythm sounded like the inside of a Grandfather Clock, the organ sounded as if it was being played by someone who had never played one before and recorded their best take onto a dodgy old tape recorder and then there were the trademark "Psycho" style strings. Well, Pressure Drop keep the lot, rejig it a bit and just add a big sub rattling beat and some extra percussion. They keep it simple and the jobs a good 'un.

The soul of the song was always in the vocals and here they remain untouched and sound as great as ever. The message, well, it's still loud and clear...

Go Visit : Pressure Drop

Go Buy : Various Artists - OST / Original Block Party Edits

Feel free to leave a comment about this track in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie.