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And I'm back. My apologies for the mini-vacation, but I'm 95% better than I was. Without further ado, since tomorrow is Valentines Day, going to drop this a day early...it's the Cupid's Hunt podcast, bought to you by Mr. Todd Grundy:

Old School Wednesday: Cupid's Hunt - Valentine's Day, 2008
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01- Kashif - Stone Love
02- Lisa Stansfield - Real Love
03- Curtis Hairston - (You're My) Shining Star
04- Loose Ends - I Can't Wait (Another Minute)
05- Liz Hogue - Dream Lover
06- Chris Jasper - Like I Do
07- Ernie Isley - Love Situation
08- Mary J. Blige - Love No Limit
09- Loose Ends - Symptoms of Love (Interlude)
10- Bill Withers - Let Me Be the One You Need
11- Lakeside - I Want to Hold Your Hand
12- Earth, Wind & Fire - Sun Goddess
13- Pockets - You And Only You
14- R.J.'s Latest Arrival - Heaven in Your Arms
15- Shanice - Do I Know You?
16- Rene Moore - Never Say Goodbye To Love

To make this blend stand out, I wanted to ensure that none of the tracks here were in Valentines Day 2006 or Valentines Day 2007, were predominately from the 80s, and were not considered major hits upon their release, but were very memorable to me. For instance, not many people remember Curtis Hairston Liz Hogue or Pockets, but were vocalists in their own right. In addition, there were recording artists that were part of major acts that came out with their solo LPs, such as Chris Jasper, Ernie Isley, and Rene Moore. While all of these tracks are memorable, I've got to say that Bill Withers, Liz Hogue and Lisa Stansfield stand out in my mind.

There's more in the podcast of course , so if you're inclined, take a listen. Hope you enjoy. Stop by periodically, as the other podcasts that give homage to Valentine's Day will be listed here as they become available. For those who'd like to subscribe to my podcasts, enter this link manually into iTunes. If you have requests, questions, or suggestions, send an email to ejflavors [@] gmail [.] com. Take it light!

[Addendum #1: Today, 2/13, is GrantLove's birthday...show him some love!]

Valentine's Day Mixes as of 14 February 2008 09:36 AM:
1. Todd Grundy's Cupid's Hunt - Old School Jams Mix 1
2. Anjibee's Chillcast Cupid's Hunt Valentines Special
3. Liz Burr's Cupid's Hunt: Love 1994
4. Fave and Eve's Friday Favecast: The Cupid's Hunt Edition
5. Infinite Ink's Valentines Day Mix
6. DarrenKeith's MyLoveForMusic: Cupid's Hunt 2008
7. LuvSel's Cupid's Hunt - Love Is You
8. Fresh's :::Vibes N Scribes ::: >> Cupid's Hunt Valentine's Day 2008 - The Love Journey
9. KB's Cupid's Hunt: What Is Love (KB's Bleek Mix)
10. DJ DIVA's Cupid's Hunt: Sexy Music by Sexy Men
11. DJ GrantLOVE's GrantLOVE Presents: Would U Be Mine?
12. BSOTs BSOTS 060 - one for beth: a valentine's day blends session
13. i.am.anew.lis - Cupid's Hunt: Love Letter

It's been mad hectic lately, so I wasn't sure if I was going to get this up in time. However, someone came in and made it easier for me....

Old School Wednesday: Rollerskating Rink, Volume 2.
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01 - Full Force - Unfaithful
02 - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam & Full Force - I Wonder If I Take You Home
03 - Theresa - Last Time
04 - Ready for the World - Digital Display
05 - Jermaine Stewart - The Word Is Out
06 - Serious Intention - Serious
07 - Kano - I'm Ready
08 - Whodini - Magic's Wand
09 - Newcleus - Radio Activity Rapp (Let's Jam)
10 - LA Dream Team - Rockberry Jam
11 - Egyptian Lover - Egypt, Egypt
12 - Kraftwerk - Tour de France
13 - Newcleus - Set It Off

The story goes like this: I had gotten another CD from a group back in the day and had been playing them and coming up with this week's OSW. While I was coming up with the tracklist, I did a check for a duo named Theresa who had a slammin' single back in the day called Last Time. The track was a very popular track in 1987-1988 and was played in the rollerskating rinks and on the radio, and the video was in rotation BET. The duo's name was Theresa, consisting of Theresa King and Victor Porter. I remembered them because I had purchased two copies of their cassette, Broken Puzzle.

While my initial searches to find this kept turning up empty, I kept looking. After a couple of months of searching, I finally found a match- there was a reference of the album on MySpace. After a couple of messages later, not only was I able get a couple of tracks from the album, but I was also able to communicate directly with Theresa who had a request for this mix. I was glad to provide. She made my job extremely easy.

I know you remember these tracks from back in the day. I'm sure they will jog your memory. She's caused me to pull out songs I haven't heard in years. In fact, the next mixes that you'll hear this month are already on their way to being set up, thanks to her musical knowledge, so definitely stay tuned.

Take it light!

[Note - if you leave a comment, don't worry, I'll get to approving it - working on getting the kinks out for you to see them as soon as you leave them, so don't sweat it.]

I have theday off, and I hope you do too. Thanks to T. Grundy, I've got a little mix for the summer for you.

Old School Wednesday: Summer's Heat.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Sun - Sun Is Here
02 - Central Line - Walking Into Sunshine
03 - Heatwave - Send Out For Sunshine
04 - Grover Washington, Jr. - Summer Song
05 - Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince - Summertime
06 - Deee-Lite - Picnic In The Summertime
07 - TaMara And The Seen - Summertime Love
08 - Leo's Sunshipp - Give Me The Sunshine
09 - Ramsey Lewis - Sun Goddess
10 - Kool & the Gang - Summer Madness
11 - Rick James - Summer Love
12 - Real Thing - Rainin' Through My Sunshine
13 - Stevie Wonder - Summer Soft
14 - Teena Marie - Sunny Skies
15 - Phyllis Hyman - The Sunshine In My Life
16 - Twennynine & Lenny White - Morning Sunrise
17 - Chic - A Warm Summer Night

THe more Todd and I talked about summer songs, the easier it was to come up with some classic that emphasized the summer. We've got some songs that bring back memories, like Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince's Summertime and of course Heatwave's Send Out For Sunshine, there's even more stuff that I hadn't heard in a good while, like Teena's Sunny Skies, Chic's A Warm Summer Night, and Stevie's Summer Soft. While I was granted the great start-off track Sun Is Here by JRK, Todd jumped in and provided this wonderful track from Grover Washington Jr, Summer Song.

Along with two of the greatest instrumentals ever made (remember Sun Goddess and Summer Madness? Sure you do), Twennynine, Central Line, and Deee-Lite keep the pace and give something for everyone, while Phyllis, Real Thing, Rick James and Leo mellow you out as only they can.

I think the three songs that stand out to me the most are the Grover Washington, Jr. track for its nice buildup and the instrumentals from Kool and the Gang and Ramsay Lewis that constantly remind me how those days were. Happy Independance day to all! Take it light!

We're jumping from acid jazz and going into the skating rink. That's right, from acid jazz to rollerskates....

Old School Wednesday: Rollerskating Rink.
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Podcast/mix available here. [Click to play or right click-save as to download.]

01 - Vaughn Mason and The Crew - Rock Skate Roll Bounce
02 - Evelyn "Champagne" King - Love Come Down
03 - Meli'sa Morgan - Fool's Paradise
04 - Taana Gardner - Heartbeat [Club Version]
05 - SOS Band - SOS Theme Song
06 - Kool and the Gang - Straight Ahead
07 - Newcleus - Jam on It
08 - Whodini - Freaks Come Out At Night
09 - Captain Rapp - Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)
10 - Status IV - You Ain't Really Down
11 - Stevie Wonder - All I Do
12 - Michael Jackson - Rock With You
14 - Michael Cooper - Quickness
15 - Chic - M.M.F.T.C.F.

How many of these do you remember skating to back in the day? More details to come later today, along with an extra podcast...but for now, groove with this one. Take it light.

Back and in full force.

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

01 - (Featuring Jocelyn Brown) - Always There
02 - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
03 - I Love What You Do For Me
04 - Change
05 - Givin' It Up
06 - Step Into My Life
07 - Where Do We Go From Here
08 - Still A Friend Of Mine
09 - Deep Waters
10 - Where Did We Go Wrong
11 - Good Love
12 - Spellbound And Speechless
13 - Hold On To Me
14 - All That You Want Me To Be
15 - Labour Of Love
16 - Centre of the Sun
17 - Nights over Egypt
18 - Marrakech
19 - Magnetic Ocean
20 - Barumba

At first, when I started designing an OSW, I thought I would start out with a nice post-disco mix, but a friend of mine from Chicago, DJ, suggested (rather surreptitiously, I might add) that I do a mix with Incognito. At first I shrugged at the thought, believing that they they didn't have enough material to fulfill the OSW requirement. I was seriously mistaken. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that they had quite a bit of material before 1997. It was on!

I started asking friends what their favorite cuts were. James, the man behind J-Notes, asked about Inside Life, one of their first CDs, which is why Always There is the first cut in the mix. Among the acid jazz playlists I put together, Tribes, Vibes and Scribes was being played heavily while I was searching for more songs, which is why Change and I Love What You Do For Me were picked. It was all about the remake of Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing that made me take notice of the group. As I noticed, I wasn't alone.

As expected, the CD Positivity was the favorite among all the people I taked to, with the warm Still A Friend of Mine and the introspective Deep Waters being the two cuts that were on everyone's request list. Givin' It Up and Step Into My Life were tunes that I hear among clubs everywhere, "Step" being one of my all-time favorites, with Maysa's wonderful scats which would become her signature.

During 100 and Rising, Maysa went to pursue her solo career, which introduced Pamela Anderson-Lee (cousin of Jhelisa and Carleen Anderson) and Joy Malcolm. The same vibes present during the previous two CDs were present in this one as well, with Where Did We Go Wrong and Good Love starting out the album. Spellbound and Speechless is also a personal favorite of mine, having been used on OSW a couple of months ago.

During my time on the west coast, Beneath The Surface was released, signalling the return of Maysa to the fold. All That You Want Me To Be was the extra track on the CD that I kept playing continuously. Hold On To Me was another standout on the album, as was Labour of Love, sung by Chris Ballin.

Finally, I had to add tracks from the CD No Time Like The Future. I had to play Centre of the Sun, the melancholy love track and counter it with the great remake of Nights Over Egypt sung beautifully by Jocelyn and Maysa, and also add Marrakech, which gets us ready for the instrumentals to close out the set, Magnetic Ocean and Barumba.

Special thanks to the trio from Chicago, along with the music maestros T. Grundy, Todd Kelley and J-Notes for adding their thoughts into this OSW. Take it light.

We preempt Old School Wednesday this week for the special occasion known as Valentines Day, in a more comprehensive mix:

Old School Tuesday : Valentines Day 2006.
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01 - Alexander O'Neal - Do You Wanna Like I Do
02 - Quincy Jones featuring Patti Austin - Somethin' Special
03 - Loose Ends - Sweetest Pain
04 - Atlantic Starr - Send for Me
05 - Switch - I Wanna Be Closer
06 - Stevie Wonder - Ribbon in the Sky
07 - Heatwave - The Star of The Story
08 - Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack - You Are My Heaven
09 - Jermaine Jackson - You Like Me Don't You (Single Version)
10 - One Way - Lady You Are
11 - Deniece Williams - Free
12 - Anita Baker - You're The Best Thing Yet
13 - Skyy - When You Touch Me
14 - Sade - Kiss of Life
15 - Enchantment - It's You That I Need
16 - Etta James - At Last
17 - Phoebe Snow - Poetry Man
18 - Chaka Khan - My Funny Valentine
19 - Spandau Ballet - True
20 - Swing Out Sister - You Already Know
21 - Van Morrison - Someone Like You
22 - Gino Vannelli - I Just Wanna Stop
23 - Player - Baby Come Back
24 - The Art of Noise - Moments in Love
25 - The Time - Gigolos Get Lonely Too
26 - Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With You
27 - Prince - Adore
28 - Isley Brothers - Atlantis

I wanted to give a little of the old school staples, like Deniece Williams's classic Free, and Heatwave's Star Of The Story, one of my personal top 5 all-time classics. But I thought it be essential to pull out some of blue-eyed soul, like Player's Baby Come Back or some cuts that were played way back in the day, like Phoebe Snow's Poetry Man. Also, there is no way I could possibly forget my cassette tapes and 12 inch songs that I've bought at least 3 copies of, like Moments In Love and Gigolos Get Lonely Too, essentials for the cool dudes from around the way.

I consider myself one of "least romantic" people out there, as I told my homeslice PhillyKat better known as The Romantical Chick. She gave me that push that I needed. Enjoy it. Hey, and if Valentines Day isn't your bag, you could always do something like let EJ know what you think about him (snatched from George and Hopluv.) Don't be shy.

Happy Valentines Day to you and yours!