downtown.music wrote:

I figured I'd start a new thread since the Fusion label thread mentioned
an obscure Tower of Power release.

Everything I've heard by T O P is inna Funk/Soul Jazz-Funk flavor, and of course
the track that qualifies as "Disco", or that was popularized in discotheques and
danced to by disco-heads is "Squib Cakes", from the Back To Oakland LP.

Normally I don't rate an LP "5" on the basis of the strongest track,
but In this case, the LP is worth getting just on the strength of Squib Cakes...
it's that good.

Though I'm normally wary of bootlegs, Mr. K. has done an excellent job with
this release:
Deeper / Squib Cakes,
which sounds GREAT.
I don't know how he pulled it off if the original LP was used as the source:
it's the last track on the LP side and would normally exhibit inner-groove
distortion on most TT set-ups, plus there's a lot of music on that LP and the
dynamic range and cutting level are not so hot, pun intended.

And Squib Cakes is prominently featured on Francois K's notorious "X-medley",
(X Medley / Bad For Me), as well as "legally" featured in his Essetial Mix CD: Essential Mix

For those of you who don't mind CDs, it's easy to find a cheap used copy of the
Back to Oakland CD on the US Amazon site for $5 to $7:
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(The CD version is not on discogs yet)

If you're an analog / vinyl purist, I suggest the above mentioned bootleg,
or better yet, the original US vinyl pressing which is currently pending as
Back To Oakland
BUT
make sure your cartridge is properly aligned and set-up, to minimize that nasty
inner-groove distortion.

Here's a great DVD on how to set up your TT and cartridge for the best possible
sound:
auto-converted long url

LordMuck wrote:

Thanks Downtown.

I have the original US pressing of this (seem to remember I bought it when I visited San Francisco back in 1992) but - shame on me - I didn't realise there was a disco nugget on it (!) Will play it as soon as I get home...

LordMuck wrote:

Bloody hell!

What a stormer - defintely rooted in jazz/funk/fusion, but just disco enough to be Disco. Will check out that Mr K edit...

Thanks again!