"What It Is" #1 - 10/7/11

Right Click/Ctrl-Click to Download Soul Show #1 Here

What's up, funk muffins?

Guess who has two thumbs and did her first specialty show! This guy! Although DJing a soul show is not something that everyone does on their Friday night, I am convinced that it is the best way to spend a Friday night. I had a blast rifling through the CDs and records, and I've never gotten so many calls in one show. I also had the opportunity to dance and belt to soul all by myself in the studio.

While I was DJing I also talked to Manos (who DJ's Short Stack), and he said that he didn't know the soul CD collection very well, but he knows most of the soul stuff before 1980, whereas I've gotten to know a lot of the neo-soul, like The Budos Band, Bullfrog, Soul Investigators, what-have-you. I ended up showing him the Ike and Tina Turner Revue CD (which I play almost constantly), and he said that the Kent Records label (an offshoot of Ace Records) does a lot of Northern Soul music, which I've been trying to get at after watching the second episode of Skins US where Tea dances to some Northern Soul and it's just about the cutest thing ever. Here's a clip explaining a bit about Northern Soul music, and the style of dancing that goes along with it.



I also realized throughout the night that Daptone Records are the ones that put out a lot of the warm, buttery soul goodness that went into this show. I can't wait to get to know more of these labels so that I can have more assurance when I pull something off the shelves. As I've been doing my freeform show, I sometimes lean towards the soul section for some familiarity, so doing an entire show of soul music made me realize that I know the soul section pretty well now, and was able to call on a lot of favorites to play for you.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Earth Wind and Fire: Let's Groove - Raise!
2. Lon Rogers & Soul Blenders: My Girl Is A Soul Girl - Eccentric Soul 011
3. Janelle Monae: Cold War - The ArchAndroid
4. Rick James: Dance WIth Me - Street Songs
5. The Budos Band: Unbroken, Unshaven - The Budos Band III
6. Dyke & The Blazers: Why Am I Treated So Funky Bad? - We Got More Soul
7. Cookie and the Cupcakes: Mathilda - By Request
8. Bootsy: Yo-Mama-Loves Ya - What's Bootsy Doin'?
9. The Fifth Dimension: Workin' On A Groovy Thing - The Age of Aquarius
10. Bullfrog: Ya Ya - Bullfrog
11. Black Joe Lewis: Boogie - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is
12. Ike and Tina Turner: It's Gonna Work Out Fine - Ike and Tina Turner Revue
13. Diana Ross & The Supremes and the Temptations: Funky Broadway - Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations
14. Calypso King: Ma-Gee - Soul Strike
15. Joe Tex: Finger Popped Myself into the Poor House - He Who Is Without Funk (Cast the First Stone)
16. Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators: Invisible Man - Keep Reachin' Up
17. Charles Bradley: No Time for Dreaming - No Time for Dreaming
18. The Budos Band: Eastbound - The Budos Band
19. The Servicemen: Are You Angry (A Capella) - Meet the Servicemen
20. Parliament: Bop Gun (Endangered Species) - The Best of Parliament: Give Up The Funk
21. Sly & The Family Stone: Soul Clappin' - Dance To The Music
22. Spinners: Crossfire - Crossfire
23. Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens: What Is This - Daptone Gold
24. Andre Williams: Jail Bait - Mr. Rhythm
25. Hot Chocolate: Cicero Park - Cicero Park
26. ESG (Emerald Sapphire and Gold): Bam Bam Jam - Dance to the Best of ESG
27. The Ravens: The Cadillac Song - Rarities
28. Little Axe: Wake The Town - The Wolf That House Built
29. Frank Williams & The Rocketeers: Good Things Pt. 1 - Eccentric Soul 007
30. Cosmo: Hall of the Mountain King - Disco Single

Yo-Heidi-Loves-Ya':

1. Transitions in General: I don't know why, but for some reason all of my transitions were just ACE. It was so easy to feel the flow of how the songs went in and out, and it was easy to feel what to transition to as well.
2. Opening: I was talking to Manos as I was grabbing some records, and I knew in my heart that I needed to play Earth Wind and Fire for my first number. Right when I put it on, Manos was like, "That was a great way to open." I think it set up my groove for the entire set really well, and it kept me on my game.
3. Requests!: Very rarely will I get so many requests, but I had a lot of people listening, and a lot of people really enjoying the show. It was a great boost for my ego, and I think it really fueled the rest of the show as well. One guy called in for "Dance With Me" by Rick James, and some cats from the People's Food Co-op called in for "Bop Gun" by Parliament. Sometimes requests can throw off your groove, but when the listeners clearly love soul this much to request something specific, I have total confidence in them.

What's Heidi Doin'?

1. Forgetting how long my own show was: Um, wow guys. As I'm sure you'll notice when you listen, I forgot that my show was 2 hours instead of 1 hour. -_- Absolutely dumb mistake on my part. It didn't really affect my set, except that I had to play an extra long radio ID to find music. In some ways I think it helped, because thinking that my show was only an hour really kept me busy, and looking for ways to create a lot of variety.
2. Choosing a 5-min radio ID: I didn't didn't need 5 minutes to find a couple more soul CDs, and I think it broke up the set a bit weirdly. Note to self: just don't play 5-min IDs.
3. Last track ending: The last track I played was a single track, but on a full-size LP, which absolutely boggles my mind. I thought it would play for a good 10 minutes so that James would have time to load up some songs, but it ran out before the hour. Sorry James!

Bon appetit!