The Brief: The sons of Eddie Levert, Sean and Gerald, along with Marc Gordon made up the group Levert which released its first album in 1985. Eddie, a native of Bessemer, Alabama, formed the O’Jays with Walter Williams, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell in 1958. In 1966 his son Gerald was born and [...]
Posted in FWV, Levert 
Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Atlantic Records, R&B, Reggie Calloway, Steve Beltran, Vincent Calloway 
12 Comments »
The Brief: Love Tractor is considered, along with The B-52′s and R.E.M., as one of the founders of the Athens, GA alternative music scene. The band formed in 1980 and began life as an instrumental outfit, only adding a vocalist with the release of their second album in 1983. Their 3rd album came in 1986 with [...]
The Brief: In 1987 the 3rd and final sequel to the 1979 blaxploitation movie Penintentiary was released. The soundtrack to the movie featured songs from such artists as Freda Payne, Yarbrough & Peoples, Midnight Star and The Gap Band. “Sweeter Than Candy” was The Gap Band’s contribution to the soundtrack and the song also appeared on [...]
The Brief: Guest Blogger: Ernest L Sewell, IV Proprietor of: www.ErnestRadioNetwork.com I’ve long said, and still say, that George Michael is still one of the top five voices in the industry alive today. People look forward to Michael’s smooth & heart-centered emotional ballads as much as they crave his dance songs. His unabashed truth telling [...]
The Brief: Last year Donna Summer lost a battle with lung cancer and left this world behind on May 17, 2012. As a son who lost a mother to this despicable disease, I was saddened by her death and for her family’s loss. Donna and my mother were the same age at the time of [...]
The Brief: For the release of “Some Kind Of Lover”, Louil Silas, Jr. was brought in to do the remixing for the single releases. This song is the third Watley/Cymone composition paired with Cymone/David Z. production and the 2nd Top 10 hit for that combination of writers and producers from the album. This post contains [...]
Posted in FWV, Jody Watley Tags: 10 Inch, 1987, 7 Inch, Louil Silas Jr, MCA Records, R&B, UK Pressing 12 Comments »
The Brief: The 12″ release of “Don’t You Want Me” features remixes by Francois Kevorkian and Michael Hutchinson. Jody co-wrote this track with Franne Golde and D.P. Bryant. Franne’s songs have appeared on records worldwide including The Pussycat Dolls – “Stickwitu”, Randy Travis – “A Man Ain’t Made of Stone”, Selena – “Dreaming of You” [...]
Posted in FWV, Jody Watley Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Francois Kevorkian, MCA Records, Michael Hutchinson, R&B 14 Comments »
The Brief: Today features the 7″ release of “Don’t You Want Me” which was Jody’s second Top 10 single (right Marc?) and the third single released from her self-titled solo LP debut. The song was number 55 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the year of 1988. Chic alumni Bernard Edwards was behind the knobs for [...]
Posted in FWV, Jody Watley Tags: 1987, 7 Inch, Francois Kevorkian, MCA Records, Michael Hutchinson, R&B, Timmy Regisford 4 Comments »
The Brief: The second single release from the ‘Jody Watley’ album was “Still A Thrill”. The Andre Cymone/David Z. produced song did not fare as well on pop radio as the first single. It failed to reach the Top 40 despite going Top 10 in the dance and R&B markets. Watley and Cymone share songwriting [...]
The Brief: Back in November I gave you guys a taste of my Jody Watley collection, we’re gonna take the next two weeks and visit the remaining records I have from her. Jody’s birthday is Jan 30, which is on Wednesday of this week so, this will be a mini Jody-bration! “Looking For A New [...]
The Brief: I posted the promo 12″ of this duet between Alexander and Cherrelle back in November of 2011. This is the commercial release with the extended version that was also included on the ‘All Mixed Up’ remixes album. I still have other Alexander O’Neal 12 inchers to ready for posting here but, this one [...]
Posted in Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, FWV Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Flyte Tyme Productions, R&B, Tabu Records 6 Comments »
The A Side: Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) (Special Extended Mix) 5:52 Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) (Full Force Naughty House Mix) 6:34 Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) (Single Edit) 4:20 The B Side: I Surrender (To The Spirit Of The Night) (Extended Remix) 6:35 I Surrender (To The Spirit Of The Night) (Single Edit) [...]
Posted in FWV, Samantha Fox Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Full Force, Jerry Peal, Jive Records, Pop, Tony Maserati 27 Comments »
The A Side: (Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance (Club Mix) 6:58 (Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance (Instrumental) 5:44 The B Side: (Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance (Radio Mix) 5:44 (Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance (The Shep Pettibone Mix) 6:53 The Brief: Shanice Wilson or just Shanice, is a Pittsburgh, PA born [...]
Posted in FWV, Shanice Wilson Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, A&M Records, Bryan Loren, Promo, R&B, Shep Pettibone 6 Comments »
The A Side: Milkshake (Vocal) 4:22 Milkshake (Instrumental) 3:40 The B Side: Overlapping Waist (Vocal) 4:00 Overlapping Waist (Instrumental) 4:00 The Brief: Bobby Jimmy is now the nationally syndicated radio host of the Russ Parr Morning Show heard weekdays by more than 3.2 million listeners in 45 US cities and he also hosts a weekend [...]
Posted in Bobby Jimmy and the Critters, FWV Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Macola Records Co., R&B, Rap 8 Comments »
The A Side: Hard Day (The Shep Pettibone Mix) 8:31 Hard Day (Radio Edit) 4:11 The B Side: Hard Day (The Shep Pettibone Mix) 8:31 Hard Day (Radio Edit) 4:11 The Brief: This promotional 12” of “Hard Day”, a track from George Michael’s 1987 album ‘Faith’, is a bit misleading based on the info on [...]
Posted in FWV, George Michael Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Columbia Records, Latin Rascals, Pop, Promo, Shep Pettibone 26 Comments »
The A Side: Eternity (Shep Pettibone Mix) 6:24 Eternity (Single Version) 3:50 The B Side: Eternity (Dub) 6:16 Shockwave 5:43 The Brief: The commercial 12” release of Sheena Easton’s “Eternity” features a mix, single version and dub by Shep Pettibone. There is also a non-album cut titled “Shockwave” written by Easton, Narada Michael Walden and [...]
Posted in FWV, Sheena Easton Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, b-side, EMI America Records, MPLS, Pop, Shep Pettibone 4 Comments »
The A Side: Eternity 4:14 The B Side: Eternity 4:14 The Brief: Welcome to Fun With Vinyl v2013! Well, not much has changed around here except we are now on a new host that, I hope, is working well for everyone without any issues. I had not planned to resume posting until next week but, [...]
Posted in FWV, Sheena Easton Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, EMI America Records, MPLS, Pop, Promo 6 Comments »
The A Side: My Hardcore Rhymes 6:10 Everybody Say Yeah! 4:25 The B Side: My Hardcore Rhymes (Instrumental) 6:10 Everybody Say Yeah! (Instrumental) 4:25 The Brief: Heavily sampling Stevie Wonder’s 1963 #1 hit “Fingertips”, Le Juan Love dropped “Everybody Say Yeah” on the rapidly expanding hip-hop audience in 1987 on Luther Campbell’s Luke Skyywalker Records [...]
The A Side: Rich Man (Club Mix) 7:40 The B Side: Rich Man (Radio Edit) 5:35 Rich Man (Instrumental) 6:20 Rich Man (A Cappella) 6:16 Rich Man (Bonus Beats) 6:46 The Brief: St. Paul’s self-titled solo debut was released in 1987, two years after the release of The Family LP. The album was produced by [...]
Posted in FWV, St. Paul Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Louil Silas Jr, MCA Records, MPLS, R&B, Tom T 6 Comments »
The A Side: Some Kind Of Lover (Extended Version) 7:18 The B Side: Some Kind Of Lover (Instrumental) 7:18 Some Kind Of Lover (Dub) 4:18 The Brief: “Some Kind Of Lover” got Jody Watley back on track on the pop charts as it earned her a second third Top 10 single. The Charts: Chart Debuted Debut [...]
The A Side: Still A Thrill (Extended Version) 8:39 The B Side: Still A Thrill (Radio Edit) 6:15 Still A Thrill (Instrumental) 5:16 Still A Thrill (A Cappella) 4:41 Still A Thrill (Bonus Beats) 4:34 The Brief: Jody Watley’s follow up to “Looking For A New Love” didn’t fare as well on the pop charts, [...]
The A Side: Heartache (Remix) 7:40 Heartache (Bonus Beats) 5:08 The B Side: Heartache (Original Version) 7:45 Heartache (7″ Edit) 3:32 The Brief: Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman were backing vocalists for Wham! before striking out on their own. The British duo released their debut album as Pepsi and Shirlie in 1987. It was [...]
Posted in FWV, Pepsi and Shirlie Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Phil Harding, Polydor Records, Pop, Promo, SAW 12 Comments »
The A Side: Keep Your Eye On Me (Extended Version) 5:53 The B Side: Our Song 3:54 The Brief: This record was pretty much already covered on the blog during the previous postings of Herb Alpert records but, I had it ripped and ready to go so, for completion’s sake, here’s the US release featuring an extended [...]
Posted in FWV, Herb Alpert Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, A&M Records, Flyte Tyme Productions, Jazz, R&B, Steve Hodge 9 Comments »
The A Side: Wild, Wild West (Special Extended Re-mix) 5:32 Wild, Wild West (Single Edit) 4:10 The B Side: Wild, Wild West (Instrumental) 5:00 Suckers 4:42 The Brief: A third single from Kool Moe Dee’s ‘How Ya Like Me Now’ LP was “Wild, Wild West” and it was the highest charting single from the album. [...]
Posted in FWV, Kool Moe Dee Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Jive Records, Promo, Rap, Teddy Riley 12 Comments »
The A Side: How Ya Like Me Now (Extended Mix) 6:19 How Ya Like Me Now (Single Edit) 3:55 The B Side: How Ya Like Me Now (Album Mix) 5:01 How Ya Like Me Now (Instrumental) 5:01 The Brief: The title track of Kool Moe Dee’s second album was released as a single with an [...]
The A Side: No Respect (Extended Version) 5:15 No Respect (Single Edit) 4:14 The B Side: Let’s Go 5:21 No Respect (Instrumental) 4:46 The Brief: I didn’t buy this record for the A Side. I bought it for the non-album track “Let’s Go” which was an answer track in the ongoing “battle” between Kool Moe [...]
The A Side: We Want Some Pussy! (Liberty Long Hard Mix) We Want Some Pussy! (Live In Berlin) The B Side: We Want Some Pussy! (The Classic) “Dance” The Brief: Another chapter in The 2 Live Crew’s book of raunch… This limited edition 12” features the “Liberty City Long Hard Mix”. <Sarcasm mode on> Surprisingly, [...]
The A Side: Jealous Fella’s (Vocal Mix) 4:22 The B Side: Jealous Fella’s (Wild Mix) 4:29 Jealous Fella’s (Inst. Mix) 4:22 The Brief: Eric Griffin was a former radio DJ in St. Louis, MO that moved to Miami, FL and began contributing to the Miami Bass scene. He was the in-house producer for the independent [...]
The A Side: Give It All You Got (Doggy Style) (Radio Mix) 4:36 The B Side: Give It All You Got (Doggy Style) (Dub Mix) 5:43 Give It All You Got (Doggy Style) (Inst.) 4:35 The Brief: A Miami Bass and Hip-Hop group, Afro-Rican released their 1987 hit “Give it All You Got (Doggy Style)” [...]
The A Side: House Calls 5:17 Must Be The Music 5:05 Cabbage Patch 4:20 The B Side: House Calls (Instrumental) 5:17 Must Be The Music (Instrumental) 5:05 Cabbage Patch (Instrumental) 4:20 The Brief: World Class Wreckin’ Cru were originally brought together by a Compton club owner Alonzo Williams as a mobile DJ crew. The group [...]
Posted in FWV, World Class Wreckin Cru Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, EP, Kru-Cut Records, R&B, Rap 7 Comments »
The A Side: Making Love In The Rain 5:53 The B Side: Making Love In The Rain (Remix) 5:50 The C Side: Diamonds (Cool Summer Mix) 6:16 Diamonds (Cool Summer Dance Mix) 5:51 The D Side: Diamonds (Instrumental) 5:23 Diamonds (Dub Version) 4:20 Diamonds (7″ Edit) 3:50 The E Side: Keep Your Eye On Me (Extended Version) 5:53 [...]
Posted in FWV, Herb Alpert, Janet Jackson, Lisa Keith Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, A&M Records, Flyte Tyme Productions, Jazz, John McClain, Promo, R&B, Steve Hodge 40 Comments »
The A Side: Making Love In The Rain 5:56 The B Side: Diamonds (Cool Summer Mix) 6:16 Keep Your Eye On Me (Extended Version) 5:53 The Brief: Once again, the team of Herb Alpert, Lisa Keith and Janet Jackson under the production of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis came up with a Top 40 hit. [...]
Posted in FWV, Herb Alpert, Janet Jackson, Lisa Keith Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, A&M Records, b-side, Flyte Tyme Productions, Jazz, John McClain, R&B, Steve Hodge 20 Comments »
The A Side: Diamonds (Dance Mix) 6:45 The B Side: Diamonds (Instrumental) 5:10 Diamonds (Beats Dubcappella) 3:10 The Brief: In addition to enlisting producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for his ‘Keep Your Eye On Me’ LP, Herb Alpert also called upon Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith to lay down vocals on some of the [...]
Posted in FWV, Herb Alpert, Janet Jackson, Lisa Keith Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, A&M Records, Flyte Tyme Productions, Jazz, John McClain, R&B, Steve Hodge 8 Comments »
The A Side: Games (Extended Version) 8:50 The B Side: Games (Radio) 6:08 Games (Instrumental) 6:10 The Brief: In 1986 Howard Hewett left Shalamar to pursue a solo career. Sidney Justin came in to replace him and the group put together their ninth studio album with the help of L.A. Reid & Babyface, Jerry Peters, [...]
Posted in FWV, Shalamar Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Babyface, John Gass, LA Reid, R&B, SOLAR Records 5 Comments »
The A Side: Baby Go-Go (Superstitious Mix) 6:47 Baby Go-Go (7″ Alge Mix) 4:08 The B Side: Baby Go-Go (Dub/Acappella) 6:24 Drive Me Wild (Single Version) 6:46 The Brief: Following up the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis produced “Why Should I Cry”, Nona Hendryx stuck with the Minneapolis formula and released the track “Baby Go-Go” [...]
Posted in FWV, Nona Hendryx Tags: 12 Inch, 1987, Chris Lord-Alge, EMI America Records, Flyte Tyme Productions, Mark Berry, R&B 7 Comments »
The A Side: U Got The Look 3:58 The B Side: Housequake (Edit) 3:24 The Brief: “U Got The Look” is the third single from the ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’ LP and the highest charting single from the album. Although she’s not listed in the credits, the song is a duet between Prince and Sheena [...]
The A Side: Turn Off The Lights (Vocal) 5:42 The B Side: Turn Off The Lights (Instrumental) 5:42 The Brief: In 1988 the World Class Wreckin Cru released “Turn Off The Lights” as a single. The song was written by the group’s founder Alonzo Williams who co-produced the track with Dr. Dre. Williams, Dre and [...]
The A Side: Still Waiting 3:40 The B Side: Still Waiting 3:40 The Brief: Denise Lorraine Davis is known by her stage name Rainy Davis. At the request of Amir Bayyan, (personal friend of the Jacksons), Rainy Davis wrote “Sweetheart” with producer Pete Warner for Janet Jackson. When the demo was finished all the songs [...]
The A Side: Love Overboard (Extended Version) 6:00 The B Side: Love Overboard (Instrumental) 6:00 The Brief: For their 1987 single “Love Overboard”, Gladys Knight and the Pips enlisted the masterminds of Midnight Star, Reggie and Vincent Calloway, to write and produce for them. The result was the first Top 40 hit for the group [...]
The A Side: Jump Start (Dance Mix) 7:15 Jump Start (Dub) 7:25 The B Side: Jump Start (Radio Edit) 4:18 More Than The Stars 4:34 The Brief: In November of 2010, I posted a 12” of “Jump Start” by Natalie Cole that featured “3 New Jump Start Remixes”. I’d had that 12” since 1987 and [...]
The A Side: (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me (Extended Club Mix) 8:33 The B Side: (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me (Radio Edit) 5:50 (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me (Instrumental) 5:50 (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me (Rushapella) 5:05 (You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me (Bonus Beats) 6:00 The Brief: Stephanie Mills’ 1987 [...]
The A Side: Weapons Of Love (Aggro Mix) 5:12 The B Side: Weapons Of Love (Single Version) 3:24 This Way Forever 3:28 The Brief: ‘Weapons Of Love’ was the second LP released on I.R.S. Records by The Truth. The album reached #115 on the Billboard 200. The title track was the first single released from [...]