Artist
(in alphabetic order)

Candela is according to one source a Canadian girl. But according to Joel Whitburn's book "Hot Dance/Disco" Candela was a studio group from New York including the following members, Michelle Pratt, Lisa Dean, Fernando Luis and Isidro Ross. Candela did probably released only two maxi singles though. The first one in 82 included the outstanding knockout smash hit "Love you madly", in my mind, one of the best tracks ever!! With a synth going crazy in the background and a break in the middle of the track that makes you wonder if the crew really survived the recording, this song is sooo good!! Written by Earl Toon Jr (Kool and the gang) and produced by Amir Bayyan (Kool and the gang) and Adil Bayyan (Kool and the gang) in association with Toon the 12" was released on Arista. Toon had joined Kool and the gang in 79 as a vocalist did co-write some tracks for them and produced Motivations album in 83, but this is with out any doubt his masterpiece. In 83 she came with another 12" release, "She said" once again on Arista but was not near the outstanding quality of the first track. In fact the instrumental version is better then the vocal here. But maybe it was because Bayyan and Toon wasn't involved anymore as I. Ross, F. Luis and H. Harris wrote the track this time. "She said" had much rock pop influences and was clearly flirting with the influences of the time but without any success. The producer was Reggie Andrew. After that mediocre release Candela disappeared

Deco is a group produced and under the power of Quincy Jones and includes Philip Ingram, younger brother of James Ingram and Zane Giles. The style of music they played was a mix of R&B interpreted in a kind of freestyle way. The hit "Fresh idea" is a direct dancetrack that tends to get better towards the second half of the song. Also "Let this be your night" is well worth looking for with it's rock influenced guitars that appears on the track. The album, that was released in 1983 have recently been reprinted on a Japanese label. Rumors has it though that the original release was withdrawn before hitting the shells, a fact yet to be confirmed. Deco split up after the release due to bad sales figures.

Daydreamin' 1986

Click on each albums cover for a full view


Out of control 1988

We all know Dynasty as a really great group so I'm not gonna write more about that. This story covers the confusing releases in 1986 and 1988 that the band did that is an unsolved and strange mystery indeed.

In 1986 the album Daydreamin' was released on Solar records (Alpha records in Sweden). The set included the following tracks (* indicating that the track appears on both albums):

Dynasty - Dayreamin' 1986

1. Cherry red bikini *
2. Way out *
3. Freeway lover
4. Everlasting
5. Personality
6. Daydreamin'
7. Tuff love *
8. Lock of love

In 1988 Dynasty released another album "Out of control" on Solar records once again that at least was printed in US. It was based on the 1986 release with the exact same front cover but otherwise with some substantial differences (see picture no 2). First of all the albums got two different titles, use of white text on "Dynasty" in 1986 and pink in 1988, another design on the back cover but foremost the different track choice. One third of the tracks in 1986 are present on the album in 1988! Why on earth release two different but still so similar albums? Were Dynasty or Solar desperately after some money? The 1988 release included the following tracks (* indicating that the track appears on both albums):

Dynasty - Out of control 1988

1. Don't waste my time
2. Out of control
3. Way out *
4. Give your love to me
5. Tell me (do u want my love)
6. One girl
7. Cherry red bikini *
8. Tuff love *

Are there anybody out there that can explain this and in addition got inside information about the reason to the differences between these two releases please feel free to write to: PSFS

Night force comes from Belgium and released their first and only album in 83. Their style can be described as a mix between French disco and R&B. On their likely debut from 83 entitled "Hold the night" printed on Carrere records the titletrack was a major hit with a really sensitive performance. It was written by F. Degryse and M. Costa. The LP also included some other nice fast as well as more slow tracks together with an exclusive remix of "Hold the night" on face B. The rare album was produced by Daniel Carrot for Daniel Carrot production. Big picture (178 Kb)

Per Tjernberg

CD cover from the 2003 compilation

Grandmaster funk

Per Cussion all stars' album "Don't stop" from 1983 is an ultra rare Swedish rap record and the first of its kind to be presented in Sweden. The Swedish percussionist Per Tjernberg left his old band "Dag vag", a famous group in Sweden, and went for NYC several times in the early 80s. There he discovered the breakdance and the early rap culture and did get so inspired so he brought home the idea to Sweden and put together some Swedish musicians. A friend also brought him together with an obscure rapper Grandmaster funk (later shortened to GM funk), originally from Brooklyn NYC, which worked as a breakdancer and rapper in Stockholm. His real last name was Michael White but he used to change his name all the time, just to give the person an even more mystic aura around him. To find GM funk was just perfect for Tjernberg though as everything was set for the recording of the album except finding a rapper for two of the tracks. The project was finally called "Per Cussion all stars". Per was a common Swedish name so the bands name was some kind of intern Swedish joke, that nobody else of course didn't understands. They released their first 12" "Don't stop" in 1983, which was the first rap ever recorded in Sweden. The track, and a video of it, got huge attention in Sweden and some attention outside as well. For example it was listed "recommended" in the Dance/Disco column in Billboard. One especially flattering story for Per Tjernberg was when Africa Bambaata, that he considered the high priest of hip hop, asked him if he could spare some copies of the 12" since he had worn his out when DJ-ing! It was released on several obscure labels like Virgin greece and ultra rare Black market. The latter reported the pretty impressive 15 000 copies sold, before going out of business. The 12" was followed up by the album with the same name in June that year. Both were released on the small Swedish production company Silence and their own label. The album was a well arranged and produced mix of funk and rap, the ladder presented for the first time in Sweden on this record. The set also included the ordinary "back-to-the roots" theme. The 12" however, together with the great tune "The warning" were definitely the two most interesting tracks but the rest of the set did show some other nice tunes. A rather scary story was when the American vocalist scared the Swedish audience during a live concert of "42nd street heartbeat" by suddenly picking up a gun (luckily fake!) on the stage to show the grim world of NY streets: "Cause I don't give a fuck about you - BANG - or you - BANG - or you - BANG! After the gig they decided to promptly lift that part out from the show because it was simply too realistic. GM funk was for sure a strange and mystical person that came and disappeared in the same rapid way. Per Tjernberg himself didn't know anything at all about his destiny until he happen to see a MTV rap video recently including him. The rap presented by Grandmaster funk is competent and tight album and got some resemblance with Grandmaster flash, the great influence at the time, but even more with Kurtis Blow. GM funk did four more rap sessions including three on Per Cussion all stars second and last album "Beatwave" in 84 that was entirely recorded at the Intergalactic studio in NYC. The last one, the highly competitive and very good "Snowblind" track, recording during the "Beatwave" sessions was released as a seperate 12" by Grandmaster funk in 84. I strongly recommend both Per Cussion all stars records if you're an old school rap and funk fan, it's definitely a fine and for sure very rare catch in your collection! And of course, do buy the 12" "Snowblind", great music although with strange lyrics!! If you want to buy the rare CD from 2003 containing the first album and 7 bonus tracks of the best from the rest including "Snowblind" try www.cdon.com where you can order it within the EU region. Here you can buy both the "Don't stop" double CD and "Universal riddim" as well. Note that the latter is world music and very different from "Don't stop" but still interesting if you have a broader musical wiev. If you live outside EU contact me for some arrangements at: PSFS or try www.gemm.com for second hand records.

Source: The CD booklet

Big picture (205 Kb)

Temper In 1984 Temper came up with their debut single on MCA including the big hit "No favors". The music was a harder disco funk freestyle inspired music with humorous lyrics and powerful direct feeling. It's definitely one of the better songs you can hear. The track that was released on the both 7" and 12" singles was written by Cleveland Wright III and Anthony Malloy that also produced the hit for Wright/Malloy production. On the 22th of September 1984 they reached the no one spot on Billboard's dance chart. They also did get quit a lot club play in 84. That same year they came with yet another release called "Fever (I sweat)". Like the first single this one was also released on both 7" and 12" on MCA once again. The track is more of a mid-tempo one compared to "No favors" and not as catchy as the first single but still a decent boogie track. Malloy that was the lead singer on both tracks later became well-known as lead singer in Anthony & the camp with hits like "'What I like". What happen after that is not known. [Special thanks to Star-One for details]

Three million, a studio group from New York that joined the club of those short lived popfunk bands that most likely only released two maxi singles. The first in 1983 was the funky "I've been robbed" that did have a huge potential but was badly arranged in my mind and way to long (9:38). The vocals were good but it seemed that the producer/arranger didn't know what to do with the track itself resulting in a too repetitive track that never really took off. The track was written by I. Butler, M. King and A. Jones (Allen Jones?). The producers Gene Lawson and Reuben Cross however were more well known. Both were veterans way back in time and Cross, the most know of the two, was the co-writer together with John Fitch of the smash hit "Shame" by Evelyn "Champagne" King in 1977. The two mix engineers were no bad names either. The track was mixed by legendary John Morales, the mix man behind such great acts like Inner life, Logg (the Head/Burgess hemisphere), One way, Universal robot band, Shalamar, Curtis Hairston and many many more, and his fellow man since 1982 Sergio Munzibai. The maxi single, that featured a 5:55 long instrumental version as well, was released on Cotillion records. The second, even more unknown track from Three million came one year later in 1984. The track, "I've got the hots (for you)", was released on the same label and this time written by the producer Reuben Cross from the first maxi. The poporiented and poorly 7:08 long dance track was once again produced by Lawson and Cross and mixed by Morales and Munzibai. The 12" also included a 6:00 long instrumental that in fact was more interesting than the vocal one. Both tracks were mixed at the Blank tapes recording studios in New York. After that the band disappeared like so many others that tried their luck in the musical business.

Unique This studiogroup came originally from New York with some good session musicians. Their incredible 6:36 long smooker "What I got is what you need" (no 27 on Billboards top 40 in 83) from 83 released on Prelude was a rocket on the charts. The song was written by D. J. Smith, M. Norris and D. Henry, mixed by David Todd and Nick Martinelli and produced by Deems J. Smith. Unique maybe released an album, but more likely two 12", because in 84 the came up with another track "I think I like it" which is not as good as "What I got is what you need" but it's a fairly good track in its own respect. What happen later is not known. Cover: Michael V. Krogh