Near the end of the 80's and on into the 90's, that which we call New Jack Swing was in full effect. My mission given to me by some of my friends from around the US is to revisit that era, which took place more than 12 years ago. I present

Old School Wednesday: NJS, Volume I.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Bell Biv Devoe - Poison
02 - Timmy Gatling - Help
03 - Jade - Don't Walk Away
04 - Another Bad Creation - Playground
05 - Al B. Sure - If I'm Not Your Lover
06 - Today - Why You Gettin' Funky On Me
07 - Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel
08 - Christopher Williams - Dreamin'
09 - Samuelle - So You Like What You See
10 - En Vogue - Hold On
11 - Guy - I Like
12 - The Good Girls - It Must Be Love
13 - Troop - All I Do Is Think of You
14 - Johnny Gill - My, My, My

The film New Jack City was the impetus for this mix, as Christopher Williams' Dreamin' was requested. Based on this, Poison and Don't Be Cruel, arguably two of the most popular New Jack Swing cuts, had to be included. While Al B. Sure and the trio Guy were well known during this era, there were people like Timmy Gatling who were behind the boards for quite a few artists who didn't receive much airplay.

I went back and reached into the crates for Today (remember House Party?) , Another Bad Creation and Samuelle, made sure the ladies were represented by Jade, En Vogue, and The Good Girls, and slowed it down at the end with Troop and Johnny Gill who were just as good with slowing down the tempo as they were for speeding it up.

Many props to Bernie and CoachMVP for starting it up. Take it light.

The grooves just keep on comin'.....

Old School Wednesday: Out Of Thin Air, Volume VIII.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Phyllis Hyman - You Know How To Love Me
02 - Rene & Angela - I'll Be Good
03 - Skyy - Show Me The Way
04 - Portrait - Here's A Kiss
05 - Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out
06 - Deja - Heartbeat
07 - Rhonda Clark - State Of Attraction
08 - Nu Shooz - Should I Say Yes
09 - Karyn White - How I Want You
10 - En Vogue - Give It Up, Turn It Loose
11 - Lonnie Liston Smith with Phyllis Hyman - Obsession
12 - Kwick - Too Lonely To Be Alone
13 - Prince - When 2 R In Love

We've got Phyllis in two places: on You Know How To Love Me and Lonnie Liston Smith's Obsession. We're going from Rene and Angela to Deja to En Vogue. We even have Kwick and Prince by request. We even have one of my favorite cuts from Joe Jackson on here. A little something for everyone.

Take it light.

Hey, it might be cold outside but it's all about the warmess of the heart. It's:

Old School Wednesday: Valentines Day, 2007.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - GQ - Don't Stop This Feeling
02 - After 7 - Truly Something Special
03 - Chuckii Booker - You Don't Know
04 - Kenny Loggins - Love Will Follow
05 - Incognito - Spellbound And Speechless
06 - Maysa - Peace of Mind
07 - B Angie B - So Much Love
08 - Christopher Williams - All I See
09 - Carleen Anderson - Morning Loving
10 - Adriana Evans - Looking For Your Love
11 - Luther Vandross/Cheryl Lynn - If This World Were Mine
12 - Dave Coz f/Phil Perry- Tender Is The Night
13 - Jamiroquai - Everyday
14 - Dynasty - The Only One
15 - Bill Withers - Oh Yeah
16 - Heatwave - That's The Way We'll Always Say Goodnight
17 - Rodney Franklin - Song for You
18 - Cheryl Lynn - No One Else Will Do
19 - Ernie Isley, Chris Jasper, Marvin Isley - Givin' You Back The Love
20 - Carl Thomas - Hey Now

Last year's mix was a very good one, so this one was a little on the difficult side. No tracks used last year are on this one, and I tried to use tracks that were not played ofen. The tracks that were rarely played on the radio were B Angie B's So Much Love, Dave Coz' Tender Is The Night, GQ's Don't Stop This Feeling, and After 7's Truly Something Special. All of the other cuts always do something to me everytime I hear 'em.

But that's not all. I'm glad to be in the company of some musical geniuses here, who I'm blessed to participate in the Triple Play for Valentines Day....namely GrantLove with his mix here and T.Grundy who also has some great music waiting for you here. Definitely check them out, and please show your love!!!

I also have to thank CoachMVP, Qamar, Thierno, John K , and the one and only Prime for keeping me going. Special shoutouts to Nikki, Saga, nikki, VerbalEssence, and Lamonte. There are also others that mean so much to me that it's impossible to list them all- just know that my heart has love for everybody!

Happy Valentines Day! Take it light.

Come on, let's do this.

Old School Wednesday: Out Of Thin Air, Volume VII.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]


01 - Mocca Soul - Sleepless Nights
02 - After 7 - No Better Love
03 - Nu Colours - Love Unlimited
04 - Chuckii Booker - Turned Away
05 - Evelyn Champagne King - Love Come Down
06 - D-Influence - Sweetest Things
07 - Brothers Johnson, The - Strawberry Letter 23
08 - Patrice Rushen - Gotta Find It
09 - Jean Carne - Don't Let It Go to Your Head
10 - Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen
11 - Curiosity Killed The Cat - Red Lights
12 - Sade - Cherish the Day
13 - Mica Paris - I Can't Stop Loving You
14 - Chaka Khan - You Can Make the Story Right

There's so many good tracks here. There's non-melanin soul, like Steely Dan and Curiosity Killed The Cat. In addition to Curiosity, we've got 3 other acts from across the Atlantic- Mocca Soul, D-Influence, and Nu Colours.

Mocca Soul was a one-hit wonder from England, which had a song called Sleepless Nights off of the album Persistence Of Memory. After 7's cut No Better Love was produced by Randy Ran. Patrice Rushen's Gotta Find It is off of Now.

Take it light.