Professor Eddy

Pexels Enjoy the Record World Disco File Top 40, dated on September 26, 1981!  In the 1980s the most authentic disco could be find on the Record World Disco File chart. Unfortunately the Disco File charts disappeared in 1982, while the Billboard disco dance chart became a strange mix of all kinds of genres over the decade. One of them was surprisingly British new wave. Names like Soft Cell, Simple Minds, Altered Images, Pete Shelley, A Flock Of Seagulls, Haircut One Hundred, Human League and Thompson Twins popped up. They were played a lot probably in the (alternative) clubs those days and although these acts recorded some very good songs, their music is neither disco nor dance.  On the Disco File Top 40 of September, 26 1981, electronics slowly took over the chart with acts like Lime, K.I.D, Kraftwerk and Patrick Cowley, which was a sign of things to come. Tracklist: Roger – So Ruff, So Tuff [Gazeebo Edit] Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Going Places [Zemix Version] Gwen M...

Nereyda Bird Some ballads here and there, but mainly quality disco on the Billboard soul chart at the end of August 1979. Enjoy the list from 30 to 1! 😊 Peaches and Herb were known as the sweethearts of soul during the 1960s and had a string of hits, most notably Let’s Fall In Love in 1966. When the hits dried up, they decided to quit the music business. Herb Fame became a police officer, but after a few years he started to record again with Van McCoy and a newly recruited Peaches, Linda Greene. Their first record flopped, but when Herb called his old friend Freddie Perren and asked him to make a record together, they hit the big time. Their first single, Shake Your Groove Thing , went gold peaking at number 4 on the soul chart and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1978. The follow-up single, Reunited , earned platinum status, holding on to the number 1 spot for 4 weeks on both the soul and pop chart. We've Got Love did best in the Netherlands, where it reached number ...

Enjoy the 30 most popular soul songs in the warm summer of 1981, according to the most popular music magazine at the time,  Billboard ! Very Special by Debra Laws was the title track of her first album, and features her brother Ronnie with call and response backing vocals. The song reached only number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it peaked at 11 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. On that chart, it ranked as the 64th biggest hit of 1981. The track has been most notably covered and/or sampled by Big Daddy Kane and Jennifer Lopez ( All I Have ), and has been the subject of lawsuits in this regard. Next up is a Mixcloud Exclusive for subscribers .  Tracklist: Unlimited Touch – Searching To Find The One [Edit] Phyllis Hyman & Michael Henderson – Can’t We Fall In Love Again Shalamar – This Is For The Lover In You Gino Soccio – Try It Out Klique – Love’s Dance Carl Carlton – She’s A Bad Mama Jama Strikers – Body Music Fatback Band – Take It Anyway You Want It Pointer Sis...

Enjoy the 25 best soul tracks on July 12, 1980, according to American music magazine Cashbox , the main competitor of Billboard back then. What I like about these kinds of charts, apart from the classics, are the surprises that are in between. For example, the songs from Five Special and Rockie Robbins were never released in the Netherlands at the time. And even the number 2 by soul legend Gladys Knight did not make it to the charts in our country. In this way, making this cloudcast became a very interesting journey of discovery. Next up a new part of Sunshine Radio !  Tracklist: Isley Brothers – Here We Go Again Five Special – Jam (Let’s Take It To The Streets) Teena Marie – Behind The Groove Commodores – Old Fashion Love Temptations – Power  Chaka Khan – Clouds George Benson – Give Me The Night Brothers Johnson – Light Up The Night Gene Chandler – Does She Have A Friend? Natalie Cole – Don’t Look Back [B-side] Stacy Lattisaw – Dynamite Fatback – Gotta Get My Han...

Pexels Enjoy this exclusive soul chart from 15 to number 1 on this weekend in 1986, based on  Billboard ’s survey of sales and broadcast play!  Cavin Yarbrough, one-half of the R&B act Yarbrough & Peoples, died at the age of 72 last week, due to heart complications. On this chart they are at number 7 with I Wouldn't Lie . The duo were one of the most successful acts of the 1980s, mostly known for Don't Stop The Music . Although their time at the top of the charts was somewhat brief, Cavin Yarbrough and his wife Alisa Peoples were surely pioneers of electronic dance music. For instance, contemporary R&B duo The APX definitely learned the trick from them. Tracklist: S.O.S. Band – The Finest Johnny Kemp – Just Another Lover Jeffrey Osborne – You Should Be Mine   Five Star – Love Take Over Tease – Firestarter  Run D.M.C. – My Adidas 52nd Street – Tell Me (How It Feels)  Meli’sa Morgan – Do You Still Love Me? Yarbrough & Peoples – I Wouldn’...

The American soul chart  from 15 to 1 exactly 40 years ago, according to Billboard . Enjoy! 😊 Freak-A-Ristic is an underrated, often forgotten, electro soul hit by Atlantic Starr that came out just before they began to shift more in the soft rock/adult contemporary vein. Released in 1985, from their LP As The Band Turns , the single  Freak-A-Ristic jumped into the R&B Top 10, peaking at #6 and even briefly made it into the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured the R&B ballads Silver Shadow and Secret Lovers that turned out to be perfect cross-over hits.  When Wham! background singer Shirley (one half of Pepsi & Shirley) dated Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet for the first time, she found out she had no make-up on at the very last minute. She became a bit insecure, but luckily, she explained afterwards, Martin had put up make-up for two 😊 Everything She Wants by Wham! is on this chart, originally the b-side of Last Christmas . Next up is a new part...

Pexels Enjoy the soul chart from 20 to 1 on May 31, 1980, according to one of the leading American music magazines at the time, Record World ! The chart is a mixture of oldschool soul, funk, disco and just a tiny little bit of electro soul (S.O.S. Band). A new decade did not bring a big shift yet.  Donny Hathaway was probably one of the greatest soul singers/musicians of all-time. His career took off in the early 1970s, but it never led to a big breakthrough, mainly because of his mental problems. His desperate situation led to his suicide by jumping of a balcony in 1979, after being  paranoid and delusional during a recording session with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Tracklist: Leon Haywood – Don’t Push It, Don’t Force It Brothers Johnson – Stomp! Con Funk Shun – Got To Be Enough [Edit] Jerry Knight – Over...

Pexels Enjoy the rundown of this week's most popular soul songs 42 years ago, according to Billboard online ! 1983 was the year that seemed to be some kind of renaissance year for soul music. Exciting new artists (D-Train, Jonzun Crew, Mtume) popped up, old ones returned refreshed (Cameo, Gladys Knight, Chi-Lites) and two soul artists turned into real mega stars (Prince, Michael Jackson). However, the first house records were already successful in the underground scene (but not charted yet), most particularly Clear by Cybetron and within a few years the musical landscape would change radically. A stain on MTV's reputation is definitely that they did not show a single black artist in their early years. They defended themselves by calling themselves a "rock station", which was only partly true. In an interview with MTV, David Bowie complained about this and the interviewer mumbled something completely incoherent. It was only when Michael Jackson became a mega-artist in...

Pexels Enjoy the Billboard Dance/Disco Top 20 from 20 to 1, dated on May 12, 1984! The name of this chart is a bit misleading, though, For instance, the tracks by new wave/electro pop bands Culture Club, Wang Chung and Talk Talk on this chart cannot be categorized as dance or disco. A better name for this hit list would have been “Disco, New Wave & Electro” chart.  The electro artists certainly dominated this week’s top 20 in 1984. Personally I love that specific mid-eighties sound, but it is hard to discover any other instruments than keyboards, synthesizers and electronic drums. So aren't there any guitars in it at all? Oh yes there are, exactly 18 seconds into this mix you hear the first one, a fantastic guitar solo in the intro of Laura Branigan’s Self Control . Luckily there are some others great guitar solos on this chart as well. Just check out Coming Out Of Hiding by Pamela Stanley! Tracklist: Laura Branigan – Self Control Womack & Womack – Baby, I’m Scared Of ...

Gideon Hezekiah Quite a soulful R&B Top 20 on April 18, 1981, according to billboard.com Enjoy! Aretha Franklin’s version of What A Fool Believes is nice and danceable, but for some reason it is not as intense and soulful as the one from Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, even though Aretha is known as ‘the Queen of Soul’. It was recorded in the early 1980s, when Aretha did not know where to go to with her career. Her voice was still great at the time, but she also seemed a bit uninspired.  Tracklist: Deniece Williams – What Two Can Do Kleeer – Get Tough Shalamar – Make That Move Aretha Franklin – What A Fool Believes Chaka Khan – What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me T-Connection – Everything Is Cool T.S. Monk – Bon Bon Vie Robert Winters & Fall – Magic Man Quincy Jones – Ai No Corrida Kool & The Gang – Take It To The Top Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio – A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do) Slave – Watching You Sister Sledge – All American Girls Atlantic Starr – ...

Pexels Enjoy the most popular disco tracks ranked from 20 to 1, according to Billboard on this day 45 years ago as a Mixcloud Exclusive ! The track by Janice McClain is a remix from DJ legend Larry Levan. It is the norm now, but at the birth of modern dance music in the 1970s, DJs, producers and remixers were rarely the same person. Tim Lawrence writes in his book Love Saves The Day about Larry Levan that he was the first well-known DJ to become a remixer and producer: "Even at the early stage of his remixing career the Garage DJ had created such an important canon that even when he wasn't spinning. it was more than likely that somewhere else he was being spun." Tracklist:  Shalamar – The Second Time Around Theo Vaness – I Can’t Dance Without You Rufus & Chaka – Do You Love What You Feel THP – Good To Me Spinners – Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl Phyllis Hyman – You Know How To Love Me Sylvester – Can’t Stop Dancing Trussel – Love Injection Janice...

Enjoy this week's Billboard soul chart from 1984, ranked from 20 to 1 as a Mixcloud Exclusive ! We are approaching the mid-'80s and almost all of the classic soul artists have disappeared from view, with the exception of one of the all-time greats, Patti Labelle. Her Philly soul ballad If Only You Knew is even at number 1 on the chart ! 😊 The list is dominated by a tight electronic sound. Some hip hop is also emerging with Twilight 22, still categorized as “electro” at the time. It was clear that some big changes in the musical landscape were going on. The track by Patti Labelle is from her LP I'm In Love Again that was released in November 1983. It received critical and commercial success after the album became LaBelle's first to chart the top 40 of the Billboard 200, peaking at number 40 and reaching number 4 on the R&B albums chart, her highest to date at the time. With sales of over 500,000 copies, I'm in Love Again was certified gold by the end of 198...

Pexels Enjoy the disco chart from 15 to 1 on the last day of January 1976, according to one of the leading American music magazines at the time, Record World ! In those days disco was essentially still a short term for upbeat soul and funk. The influence of discotheques grew strongly at the time. Almost half of the tracks on this disco chart were not released as a single yet, but dj’s already knew which songs from albums would become successful. Only one of them, Dance Your Troubles Away by Archie Bell & The Drells, would never see the light of day as a single, not even as a B-side. The infamous Salsoul label was founded by ex-MFSB vibe player Vincent Montana, Jr. He also led The Salsoul Orchestra. Their Ooh I Love It has been sampled in hip hop tracks, such as 50 Cent's Candyshop and Eric B & Rakim's Paid In Full , but most notably in Madonna's Vogue .  After playing in a band with Jimi Hendrix and a brief period as a schoolteacher, Hamilton Bohannon was recrui...

Enjoy the R&B Top 40 from 40 to 1, dated on January 16th 1982, according to American music magazine Cashbox , the main competitor of Billboard at the time. There are quite a few veteran artists on this chart, like Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight, but a new, more electronic oriented generation is already knocking on the door, most prominently Prince. In the aftermath of their dispute about their copyrights, Daryl Hall claimed in a recent interview that almost all of the Hall & Oates songs are his compositions. According to him only three songs were collaborations with Oates, She’s Gone and Out Of Touch being two of them. John Oates said that he had the initial ideas for both songs and that they worked them out together. Daryl Hall sketched out the basics for I Can’t Go For That one evening at a music studio in New York City, in 1981, after a recording session for the Private Eyes album. Being on his own he randomly switched on the Rock 1 knob on a Roland drum...

Burst Let’s end 2024 joyfully with a disco chart from December 1978! It is the Disco File Top 20 ranked from 20 to 1, according to one of the most popular American music magazines at the time, Record World . Peaches and Herb were known as the sweethearts of soul during the 1960s and had a string of hits, most notably Let’s Fall In Love in 1966. When the hits dried up, they decided to quit the music business. Herb Fame became a police officer, but after a few years he started to record again with Van McCoy and a newly recruited Peaches, Linda Greene. Their first record flopped, but when Herb called his old friend Freddie Perren to help them out, the duo hit the big time. Their first single with Perren, Shake Your Groove Thing , went gold and their follow-up single, Reunited , earned triple platinum status and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Peaches & Herb stopped working together in 1983, after their success had declined. Robin Thicke has already been convicted of copyright infr...

Pexels Enjoy this week's Billboard soul chart , ranked from 30 to 1 as a Mixcloud Exclusive ! It is funny to see that Lovely Day by Bill Withers, which is considered a soul classic nowadays, just slowly went to the top of the charts in 1977.  Bill Withers was a slow starter musically anyway. His debut album Just As I Am came out in 1971, when he reached already his mid-thirties. At that time he installed toilets in airplanes as a daytime job. After being in the music business for more than 10 years, Withers became fed up with executives telling him what to do. His last charting LP was Watching You, Watching M e, released in spring 1985. He then kind of retired, although his music became more and more influential. Bill Withers passed away in 2020. Next up is a special episode of Sunshine Radio for all listeners!🌲😊 Tracklist: Rose Royce – Do Your Dance Brothers Johnso n – Runnin’ For Your Love Heatwave – Boogie Nights Gladys Knight & The Pips – Sorry Doesn’t Always Make ...

Benedict George Enjoy the soul chart from 20 to 1 on the last day of November 1974, according to one of the leading American music magazines at the time, Record World ! In 1974 disco started to shine through the soul charts. For instance, disco pioneers like George McCrae, Hues Corporation and Barry White were in the R&B top 20 on the last day of November in 1974. Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas was not exactly disco nor soul, but some kind of novelty pop song. It was a worldwide hit for the singer who had not been very successful up to then. The track was meant to be the b-side of Gamblin’ Man and because of that the musicians tried to make Kung Fu Fighting as funny as possible with lots of shouts and silly flute parts. The record company soon realized that they had gold in their hands and turned it into the a-side. The single, which was inspired by then popular martial arts films, was such an enormous success that it overshadowed the rest of Douglas' career.  When you lis...

Pexels Enjoy the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, dated on October 25, 1975 and ranked from 20 to 1! There are quite a few pure soul tracks in this Billboard chart . An exception is Fly Robin Fly by Silver Convention that by today's standards is called 'disco' instead of 'soul'. The song was initially called Run Rabbit Run , but when German producers Silvester Levay and Michael Kunze heard a song on the radio called Run Rabbit , they changed it into Fly Robin Fly . The song with its sparse vocals, funky bass, hammering piano and repeating violins went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 5 in the Netherlands in 1975. After being a hit single almost everywhere, Levay and Kunze chose singers Linda G. Thompson, Ramona Wulf and Penny McLean to be permanent members of Silver Convention. The next year they had another huge hit with Get Up And Boogie . Then success started to fade. Tracklist: Joe Simon – Music In My Bones Labelle – Messin’ With My...

Pexels Enjoy the Cashbox R&B Top 20 from October 25 1975 as a Mixcloud Exclusive for subscribers ! Natalie Cole's career had a jump-start on Capitol Records in the mid-seventies. After years of failing sales and performances due to a heavy drug addiction, Cole re-emerged as a pop artist with the 1987 album Everlasting and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's Pink Cadillac . In the 1990s, she re-recorded standards by her father Nat King Cole, resulting in her biggest success, Unforgettable... With Love , which sold over seven million copies and also won Cole numerous Grammy Awards. Tracklist: Jeff Perry – Love Don’t Come No Stronger Staple Singers – Let’s Do It Again B.T. Express – Peace Pipe Aretha Franklin - Mr. DJ (5 For The D.J) Commodores – This Is Your Life Pete Wingfield – #18 With A Bullet Joe Simon – Music In My Bones Esther Phillips – What A Diff’rence A Day Makes Silver Convention – Fly Robin Fly Smokey Robinson – The Agony And The Ecstasy Impressions – ...

Unsplash Enjoy the most popular dance tracks in the epicentre of disco, New York, according to Billboard on the last day of September in 1978! In the series Disco: Soundtrack Of A Revolution Candi Staton told the BBC recently that the disco period was the best time of her life. Not only could she earn well, she could also sing about the topics she wanted to and not just about missing her man so much. After singing backup for artists like Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Solomon Burke and being a member of gospel band The Sweet Inspirations, Cissy Houston started a solo career in the late 1970s. Already in her forties, Whitney's mum made a couple of soulful, but not very successful disco LP’s with producer Michael Zager (best-known for Let’s All Chant ). After four disco albums she ended her singing career. Tracklist: Love Committee – Law & Order [A Tom Moulton Mix] Carol Douglas – Burnin’ John Davis & The Monster Orchestra – Ain’t That Enough For You Laura Taylor –...