my only knock on Cymande is that one singer with the more 'rock and roll' voice who takes the lead sometimes
on what songs?
'cause i possess all three of the janus LP's and no rock & roll voices come to mind
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
i bought the S/T cymande 3 blocks from my house and it was like going down a rabbit hole of musical appreciation. new depths and textures and feeling that i hadnt really heard before in music.
one of the band members was later involved with a group called View from the Hill. i tracked it down and it was not memorable at all.
Yeah, that was Patrick Patterson. They had a song called "No Conversations" that was on the radio quite a lot in the UK during the late 80's. I remember speaking to him around that time, and I was like, "Whoa, you were in Cymande?", and he just laughed. This was when the whole rare-groove thing was first blowing up, and he said he was getting that sort of reaction a lot back then.
Steve Scipio's daughter Rianna was the first ever black weather girl in the UK, and is now a well-established broadcaster with the BBC. Little bit of Cymande trivia for ya.
i bought the S/T cymande 3 blocks from my house and it was like going down a rabbit hole of musical appreciation. new depths and textures and feeling that i hadnt really heard before in music.
one of the band members was later involved with a group called View from the Hill. i tracked it down and it was not memorable at all.
Yeah, that was Patrick Patterson. They had a song called "No Conversations" that was on the radio quite a lot in the UK during the late 80's. I remember speaking to him around that time, and I was like, "Whoa, you were in Cymande?", and he just laughed. This was when the whole rare-groove thing was first blowing up, and he said he was getting that sort of reaction a lot back then.
The rare-groove thing obviously took a while to cross over Stateside. As late as 1992, I remember getting the first Cymande LP for a dollar in Chicago. Another five years and THAT wasn't gonna be happening anymore...
i find it for a buck regularly in philly. usually no tin the best shape[/b], but that was a big record around here
Yeah it is no challenge to find this record in VG (or worse). It can be a real tough catch if you are looking for an Ex-NM copy.
I guess for me personally, even though Cymande were a marginally-popular band in America, the one record of theirs I see the most is a 45 of "The Message" (which was one of their two hits). Between the three Janus albums, I don't see the OG's as much, but when I do, the s/t debut turns up before anything else.
i find it for a buck regularly in philly. usually no tin the best shape[/b], but that was a big record around here
Yeah it is no challenge to find this record in VG (or worse). It can be a real tough catch if you are looking for an Ex-NM copy.
I guess for me personally, even though Cymande were a marginally-popular band in America, the one record of theirs I see the most is a 45 of "The Message" (which was one of their two hits). Between the three Janus albums, I don't see the OG's as much, but when I do, the s/t debut turns up before anything else.
Just goes to show - their second record is the one that pops up more for me. Of course, I tend not to buy trashed copies of the S/T debut... so maybe that one turns up more but I buy it less.
The story I was told by Jared of TSL back in the day was this: their first record sold really well because of "Bra", which was a big hit. Hence, it turns up more often and also is usually well-used. Their second record sold well on the merits of the first, kind of a "well I liked their first LP I'll give this one a try" consumer attitude. But their second record - while perhaps their most adventurous and subtly beautiful - had NO hits on it and was probably a bit much for the record buying public. Their third LP could've probably spawned a few hits ("Brothers On The Slide" comes to mind) but people were so "over" it following "2nd Time Around" that nobody even bothered to buy it. Hence, "Promised Heights" is the toughest LP of theirs to find.
i find it for a buck regularly in philly. usually no tin the best shape[/b], but that was a big record around here
Yeah it is no challenge to find this record in VG (or worse). It can be a real tough catch if you are looking for an Ex-NM copy.
I guess for me personally, even though Cymande were a marginally-popular band in America, the one record of theirs I see the most is a 45 of "The Message" (which was one of their two hits). Between the three Janus albums, I don't see the OG's as much, but when I do, the s/t debut turns up before anything else.
Just goes to show - their second record is the one that pops up more for me. Of course, I tend not to buy trashed copies of the S/T debut... so maybe that one turns up more but I buy it less.
The story I was told by Jared of TSL back in the day was this: their first record sold really well because of "Bra", which was a big hit. Hence, it turns up more often and also is usually well-used. Their second record sold well on the merits of the first, kind of a "well I liked their first LP I'll give this one a try" consumer attitude. But their second record - while perhaps their most adventurous and subtly beautiful - had NO hits on it and was probably a bit much for the record buying public. Their third LP could've probably spawned a few hits ("Brothers On The Slide" comes to mind) but people were so "over" it following "2nd Time Around" that nobody even bothered to buy it. Hence, "Promised Heights" is the toughest LP of theirs to find.
The hell of it is, of those three the self-titled is my least favorite. After "Zion I," "Rastafarian Folk Song," "Bra" and "The Message," nothing else on that LP really does it for me. It's only on the other two where they really start getting into something.
(Funny, I feel the same way about Maxayn and Black Heat - their LP's follow a similar arc. Unremarkable self-titled debut followed by facemelting 2nd and 3rd elpees.)
my only knock on Cymande is that one singer with the more 'rock and roll' voice who takes the lead sometimes
on what songs?
'cause i possess all three of the janus LP's and no rock & roll voices come to mind
i mean he comes off most of the time, but like, 2nd album, first side, last song sorta gets on my nerves. where he's like 'Step in to my chariot' or something.
i also have to give it up for the clean guitar tone too (butter-related)
"The Message" was also popular enough to be included on a couple big-selling comps at the time, like the Soul Train "Hits That Made It Happen" LP, a great comp that must have sold near a million copies.
my only knock on Cymande is that one singer with the more 'rock and roll' voice who takes the lead sometimes
on what songs?
'cause i possess all three of the janus LP's and no rock & roll voices come to mind
i mean he comes off most of the time, but like, 2nd album, first side, last song sorta gets on my nerves. where he's like 'Step in to my chariot' or something.
Are you suggesting that it would be appropriate to deliver the line "step into my chariot" in anything other than a rock-n-roll voice?
"The Message" was also popular enough to be included on a couple big-selling comps at the time, like the Soul Train "Hits That Made It Happen" LP, a great comp that must have sold near a million copies.
to my knowledge also the only track that was covered by other groups and musicians... please correct me if im wrong!!
my only knock on Cymande is that one singer with the more 'rock and roll' voice who takes the lead sometimes
on what songs?
'cause i possess all three of the janus LP's and no rock & roll voices come to mind
i mean he comes off most of the time, but like, 2nd album, first side, last song sorta gets on my nerves. where he's like 'Step in to my chariot' or something.
Are you suggesting that it would be appropriate to deliver the line "step into my chariot" in anything other than a rock-n-roll voice?
naw i'm just suggesting that it doesn't sound that great. an example of maybe not their best material
oh and i know at least Bros on the Slide was covered by other people, right? help us out big dudes
Comments
on what songs?
'cause i possess all three of the janus LP's and no rock & roll voices come to mind
Yeah, that was Patrick Patterson. They had a song called "No Conversations" that was on the radio quite a lot in the UK during the late 80's. I remember speaking to him around that time, and I was like, "Whoa, you were in Cymande?", and he just laughed. This was when the whole rare-groove thing was first blowing up, and he said he was getting that sort of reaction a lot back then.
Steve Scipio's daughter Rianna was the first ever black weather girl in the UK, and is now a well-established broadcaster with the BBC. Little bit of Cymande trivia for ya.
The rare-groove thing obviously took a while to cross over Stateside. As late as 1992, I remember getting the first Cymande LP for a dollar in Chicago. Another five years and THAT wasn't gonna be happening anymore...
Yeah it is no challenge to find this record in VG (or worse). It can be a real tough catch if you are looking for an Ex-NM copy.
I guess for me personally, even though Cymande were a marginally-popular band in America, the one record of theirs I see the most is a 45 of "The Message" (which was one of their two hits). Between the three Janus albums, I don't see the OG's as much, but when I do, the s/t debut turns up before anything else.
Just goes to show - their second record is the one that pops up more for me. Of course, I tend not to buy trashed copies of the S/T debut... so maybe that one turns up more but I buy it less.
The story I was told by Jared of TSL back in the day was this: their first record sold really well because of "Bra", which was a big hit. Hence, it turns up more often and also is usually well-used. Their second record sold well on the merits of the first, kind of a "well I liked their first LP I'll give this one a try" consumer attitude. But their second record - while perhaps their most adventurous and subtly beautiful - had NO hits on it and was probably a bit much for the record buying public. Their third LP could've probably spawned a few hits ("Brothers On The Slide" comes to mind) but people were so "over" it following "2nd Time Around" that nobody even bothered to buy it. Hence, "Promised Heights" is the toughest LP of theirs to find.
My pops played this album on the regular when i was a kid.
The hell of it is, of those three the self-titled is my least favorite. After "Zion I," "Rastafarian Folk Song," "Bra" and "The Message," nothing else on that LP really does it for me. It's only on the other two where they really start getting into something.
(Funny, I feel the same way about Maxayn and Black Heat - their LP's follow a similar arc. Unremarkable self-titled debut followed by facemelting 2nd and 3rd elpees.)
i mean he comes off most of the time, but like, 2nd album, first side, last song sorta gets on my nerves. where he's like 'Step in to my chariot' or something.
i also have to give it up for the clean guitar tone too (butter-related)
on a couple big-selling comps at the time, like the Soul Train
"Hits That Made It Happen" LP, a great comp that must have
sold near a million copies.
Are you suggesting that it would be appropriate to deliver the line "step into my chariot" in anything other than a rock-n-roll voice?
to my knowledge also the only track that was covered by other groups and musicians... please correct me if im wrong!!
naw i'm just suggesting
oh and i know at least Bros on the Slide was covered by other people, right? help us out big dudes