As most of you know, music is a big part of who we are at Huckle. Here then is what October sounds like in the salon — our monthly playlist.
Plus, a few records we've had on repeat this month.
Enjoy!
Yvonne Archer - "Ain't Nobody" (Original 12 Inch Mix)
Most people know "Ain't Nobody" through Rufus and Chaka Khan, but Yvonne Archer's version places the song in a completely different world. Produced by John Rubie, it turns the 1983 funk classic into seven minutes of spacious reggae disco, with a slower pulse, deep bass and a relaxed lovers rock feel. For years it was an obscure twelve inch known mainly to collectors and DJs, until Isle of Jura reissued it in 2020 with edits and a dub. I love that it never competes with Chaka's extraordinary original. It simply changes the atmosphere and allows a familiar song to breathe.
Herb Alpert - "Rise"
Herb Alpert was already famous as the leader of the Tijuana Brass and cofounder of A&M Records when "Rise" unexpectedly reinvented him in 1979. His nephew Randy Alpert and Andy Armer originally conceived it as a faster disco track, but Herb slowed it to around one hundred beats per minute, wanting something couples could dance closely to at the end of the night. Recorded live at A&M's Studio D, its patient bassline, controlled drums and floating trumpet carried it to number one in America and won a Grammy. In 1997, its groove became the foundation of The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize."
Tullio De Piscopo - "Stop Bajon"
Tullio De Piscopo was already one of Italy's great drummers when his friend Pino Daniele wrote and produced "Stop Bajon" for him in 1984. Daniele also persuaded De Piscopo to sing for the first time, creating what has since been described as an early form of Neapolitan rap. The recording brought together musicians, including Rino Zurzolo, Joe Amoruso, Famoudou Don Moye and pioneer Don Cherry on pocket trumpet and African guitar. Its mixture of percussion, syncopated bass, Hammond organ, jazz, funk and Mediterranean melody became a European club success. Forty years later, it still refuses to fit into any genre.
Wang Chung - "Dance Hall Days"
"Dance Hall Days" has far more history behind it than its beautifully polished surface suggests. Wang Chung began in 1977 when Jeremy Ryder answered a Melody Maker advert placed by Nick Feldman. Ryder was studying classical composition at the Royal College of Music, with interests stretching from Mozart to Stravinsky. The band originally called themselves Huang Chung, meaning "yellow bell," the first note in the Chinese classical music scale. Ryder also adopted the name Jack Hues, a play on the French phrase "J'accuse."
The song itself was partly inspired by Jack's father, a musician who had played in old fashioned dance halls. Jack wrote its rhythm, opening chords and central melody during twenty spare minutes while waiting for a guitar pupil who never arrived. The band first recorded it as Huang Chung, before Geffen Records suggested changing Huang to Wang to make the name easier for American audiences to pronounce.
The version we know was rerecorded at Abbey Road with producers Chris Hughes and Ross Cullum. Its strange combination of precise pop, unusual rhythm and genuine nostalgia reached number sixteen in America and topped the Billboard dance chart. MTV placed the second of two promotional films into heavy rotation, earning Wang Chung a nomination at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. It remains a far cleverer and more musical record than the usual throwaway eighties label suggests.
If you want to know more about this incredible band and what else they were involved in during the eighties, hit the link below. Their story takes in classical music, major film soundtracks, The Breakfast Club and a complete score for William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A.