7"

If you are not a top end disco collector with deep pockets you won't know this record, it's as rare as its gets. The last clean copy went for $6373. My 'Gangster boy' odyssey started for me around 12 years ago, soul collector and D.J David Ripolles played an acetate at Prestayn soul weekender and it blew me away, I asked dave what it was, he said the acetate was credited to Wanda McDaniels.Myself and Malcom Catto (Drummer in excellent band the Heliocentrics ) started tracking the record and eventually got it touch with Co-Producer Ronald Crawley. We had the opportunity to do the record but the sticking point was nobody had a clean copy of the record to make a recording from and there were no tapes. Roll on 10 years and I secured a mint copy and got perfectly clean recording so here we are.The record was not performed by Wanda McDaniel's & Ultimate choice as it has been credited up till now. The sand was 'The Reality Band And Show' from Newcastle Pennsylvania. The backing band was Ultimate Choice and the backing singer was Wanda McDaniel's (Producer Ronald Crawley sister). The lead singer was called Gladys, what happened to her we don't know but what a voice. It was recorded in 1977 at Asterix Studios in Wilkinsburg Pennsylvania, 300 copies were pressed up to test the market response which surprisingly was lacklustre. So as these things go it was forgotten about and everyone moved on to the next thing.The Label owner of 'Appleray' and its parent 'Pittsburgh Music Industry's' Ray Mitchell is no longer with us and we did not manage to find any more members of the band or uncredited chief engineer Ralph Camino. Ray recorded a couple of other decent 45s on Appleray but nothing quite touches this Disco Soul Perfection.

DJ Fryer's Athens of the North label continues its relentless charge the annals of funk and disco, focussing attentions here on the mid '70s debut of Jeanie Tracy. Glance at the discography of the Houston-born singer and you are presented with a storied recording career that includes credits alongside Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin and Sylvester so it's little surprise to see that original copies of Making New Friends / Trippin On The Sounds rarely change hands below the $1000 mark. Originally released on Marvin Holmes' Oakland-based Brown Door Records around 1975, this Athens of the North edition is a must for any self-respecting 45 wielding selectors out there! The A-side is a recognised classic of the rare groove canon but it's "Trippin On The Sounds" that you need to hear; a glorious horn-laden deep funk nugget.

Jeanie Tracey's "Can I Come & Play With You Tonight?" should probably be considered something of an in-demand gem, seeing as copies of the original 1983 12" version go for significant sums online. Happily, the crate diggers behind the admirable Athens of the North imprint have decided to give it the reissue treatment, giving all of the chance to own a copy. The original is a sweet boogie killer, with Tracey's smooth vocal riding a backing track heavy with vintage synthesizers, snappy drum machine hits and elastic live bass. Flip for "Hot (For Your Love)", an end-of-night slow dance number smothered in evocative strings and Tracey's tear-jerking vocal.

"G.Q" stood for "good quality", they were not joking. As well as a few top 10 hits G.Q also had a wealth of brilliant disco bangers across their 70s output. Here we present 2 favourites of my own,k 'Lies' and 'is It Cool?' . Not only of mine buy clearly Theo Parrish's also as he featured both on 'Ugly Edits' over a decade ago, great as it saved me from playing the LP in clubs and fighting the feedback. These track have always sat next to the best rare modern soul and Deepfunk classics with ease, they are some of the best records in the Genre. To top it off we got a new perfect master from Sony and cut the 45 at Timmion cutting Lab in Finland and its sounds great. A personal favorite, im delighted to be able to put this out with the care it deserves. "See that there's a party going on...,...,"- Played By Theo Parrish- 2 Deep Disco Classics on 45 for the first time- Brand new master from Sony cut at Timmion Cutting Lab, Finland.

Limited 7"