Ten City – Goin' Up In Smoke

Admittedly, I was not the biggest fan of Ten City. I liked Devotion, but aside from that, I wasn't sold. Perhaps I just never had enough exposure to their material. Who knows? One thing is for cetain, this record here was a true vocal House banger. All of the version are solid, but my personal fav is the Roger S. Resurrection Dub. It starts out with a nice jumpy, jackin' House beat, then at the 1:22 mark, a nasty and very low bass line drops in. It breaks down a few second later with a nice and simple piano hook. Next up are the hands claps, and then the vocals drop in and bring it all together. This mix is purely masterful.

A great cover of Eddie Kendricks' classic. Byron Stingily's falsetto adds a very impressive dramatic touch to the song, and the production, while staying close to the original, is pretty good. But the hidden treasure on this release is, without a doubt, the mighty Resurrection Dub by Roger S, who was then in his golden age. Dark tribal beats, Silvester-like parts of Byron's chant, and, as always, the devastating keyboard skills of Mr James Preston Jr. In a few words, THIS IS WHAT HOUSE MUSIC IS ABOUT ! Everytime I listen to this song it makes me feel nostalgic of this golden era of dance music, when soul AND body were not disconnected. Today's producers (including those in the so-called 'soulful house' camp) should go back to basics and draw inspiration from this kind of masterpiece.