Clarence Reid – Miss Hot Stuff

Alston Records – 4600 * Vinyl * 7″ * USA * 1971

Released not long before the first Blowfly album and 2 years ahead of Blowflys, The – Funky In The Hole, this one sounds very much like the beginning of Reid’s well known alter ego. Somehow this record hasn’t seemed to be pressed in ammounts worth mentioning and therefore not too easy to purchase copies.

More in-depth info on Mr Reid on the great WBSS website

Discogs to search for the OG 7″ & more info
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Clay Tyson & James Brown – If You See A Ring Around Your Bathtub (Baby You Know I’ve Left You Clean)

I-Dentify Rdcords * 7″ * USA * 1972

Discogs to search for the OG 7″ & more info
Digital legal file on I-Tunes

Here’s  the flip-side of Clay Tyson’s “Man In The Moon” where James Brown & Tyson fool around (in a politically incorrect style), backed up with a proper JB’s / Fred Wesley arrangement. As it seems the commercial release had a very small count and the promo featured a stereo and a mono cut of “Moon Man” only. This record is rare. Fortunately there’s a German pressing from the same year that is much easier to get (check the Discogs link to find copies)

Cold Fire – Party Hardy

Soul Set – SS-107 * Vinyl *  7″ * 45rpm * USA * 1977

cold fire later got an album deal with capitol records with the single release h.f.r.s the producer of the recording, brad taylor was owner of the bay tone label, and some band members had another outfit called frisco, also on soul set records, that was distributed throuch la val records.

Discogs to search for the OG 7″ & more info
Digital I-Tunes * Spotify * Deezer

Cold Fire, Inc. – Kash Regiser

Kram Records ‎– LH-12039 7″ USA

Discogs to search for the OG 7″ & more info
Digital legal file on I-Tunes

An alias of the Kashmere Stage Band.

“In Houston, Texas, Conrad O. Johnson pursued a lofty goal with his stage band at Kashmere High School, a predominantly black school located in the city’s north end (referred to in Houston as “Kashmere Gardens”). He wanted to lead not only the best high school stage band in Texas, but the best high school stage band in the world. Our opinion is that he succeeded, and we’re thankful that he thoroughly documented his band’s progress, so that we can present to you the Kashmere Stage Band’s musical legacy.

In the mid ’60s through the ’70s, in Houston’s bustling metropolis, Johnson (known by many as “Prof.”) made a career of producing leagues of musicians capable of playing competitively with any band in the nation, professional or otherwise. More than simply a product of the big band era (his childhood friends and early musical peers included legends like Illinois Jacquet and Arnette Cobb), Johnson bestowed a living history to his young students. And while many band directors simply tolerated the use of popular rhythms in their stage bands, Johnson embraced the funk movement that enveloped his kids. He encouraged composition – both by writing original funk songs for his band to perform and by allowing the Kashmere Band to play songs written by band members.

Never one to succumb to novelty, Johnson didn’t simply throw funk beats beneath a jazz song to please his kids. He instructed his band to play funk because he respected the funk idiom in the same way he respected jazz. Nor did he simply borrow charts from progressive big banders such as Herman, as was common amongst high school bandleaders from the era. He arranged nearly every one of his band’s songs himself, and those that he didn’t arrange he allowed his students to arrange. He worked year-round with his eager charges, constantly pushing the limits as to what their band could accomplish. He built the Kashmere Stage Band from scratch and his winning combination of powerful funk rhythms beneath expertly executed jazz solos quickly influenced those bandleaders directly within his sphere and those he met – and almost always bested – in competitions across the world.” Now-Again-Records 2008