Top 20 Disco Import with Tony Prince

[fabio]

Hello there,
I'm back with the new year (HNY to everybody) and a new question for you my friends....
I found a note from back 1980 about a track i used to love. All i know is that it was number one in the April (1980) chart Top 20 Disco Import as played on Radio Luxembourg (Groove Chart with Tony Prince?).
The title sound something like "Freak you baby". I know it can be anything from "Freak to Freak by the Sweat Band" which §§charted in November in US to "Freakin Time by The Asphalt Jungle" which charted in April in US. Can anybody help me or does anybody have any copy of the Groove charts mentioned above?
Many Thanks

[QUINNY]

Was Chain Reaction - Dance Freak around at the same time? That certainly made a BIG splash in London when on import, whereas I don't remember the other two mentioned being quite soooo big.

[fabio]

Hello Quinny. Guess what? I had you in mind when i posted the question yesterday...
As i said the only reference i found was the "Freak you baby" on my list in April 1980. I don't remember anything else.
I don't know the track you mentioned but i will check it out. Thank you very much. xx

[iloveurobeat]

Hi,

I cant help you with the track you mention but i do remember the Groove charts very well! The earliest Groove chart NO.1's i can remember were Cuba Gooding - Happiness is just around the bend, Unique -What i got is what you need and Armenta - I wanna be with you etc...
Funny enough i found a Groove Records carrier bag in the loft the other day. I think i carried Class Action - Weekend home in it.
It was a great little shop that is now a sex shop!

It would be great if someone had some of the Luxembourg Groove chart recordings.

[fabio]

Thanks "iloveurobeat" for that extra information. If i am right the chart started around the middle of 1979. I remember listening to it almost every week but i was far too young and didn't know sufficiently the english language to understand the titles and the artists presented. It would be wonderful if someone has copies of the charts and even more wonderful if someone would have some original recordings. By the way what's happened to Tony Prince??

[iloveurobeat]

Originally Posted by fabio

By the way what's happened to Tony Prince??

I think Tony Prince still owns DMC but im sure he does not DJ anymore.
Check out Radio Luxembourg 208 © ~~~ Stephan Konrad ~~~ www.RTL208.com ~~~ where you can hear all the old jingles etc and read other info on Luxembourg 208.

[fabio]

Thanks for the link. I have just send Mr. Prince an email. Let's see if he answer....

[Vocoder Funk]

fabio that's definitely Asphalt Jungle cause the hook on that one goes "Can I freak you baby?...cause it's freakin' time" Would be great if anyone had some of those import charts! Best music ever!

[fabio]

Originally Posted by Vocoder Funk

fabio that's definitely Asphalt Jungle cause the hook on that one goes "Can I freak you baby?...cause it's freakin' time" Would be great if anyone had some of those import charts! Best music ever!

You know what? You're just the right size....I mean you are right! I heard the track by Asphalt Jungle and it is the one I was looking for. Incredible, after all those years. Many Thanks for putting me on the right direction.

Like you, I would love to find copies of that chart. I just wonder how many other jems I have missed out.

[Vocoder Funk]

No problem :) I used to have a lot of the charts that I wrote down when I was a kid listening, but as I found all the records after years of searching, I unfortunately threw them away..I do remember a lot of the records on the charts though, and will post some day when I have more time.

Like Quinny was saying I didn't think Freakin' Time was that big either, but then I remembered The Funk Fusion Band's Can You Feel It which was a dub version of Asphalt Jungle that came out about a year later, and that was no. 1 on the imports and pretty huge in the clubs back then, so I figured it must've been that one. Here's some cuts that made it to no.1 on the imports..

Maxine Singleton - Don't You Love It
Vicky D - This Beat Is Mine
Bootsy's Rubber Band - Bodyslam
Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt
Radiance - You're My Number One
Lavias - Do you Wanna Dance
Yvonne Gage - Garden Of Eve
Rockers Revenge - Walking On Sunshine
Letta Mbulu - Kilimanjaro
Arthur Adams - You Got The Floor
The Ritchie Family - I'll Do My Best
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 - The Message
Indeep - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Xavier - Work That Sucker To Death/Love Is On The One

ahh...what a great era in music, and what a show! :) Wish I had all the shows on tape actually...also it gave a pretty good indication to people outside the US of what the big records was in the US clubs at the time, and records would usually enter the import charts just one or two weeks after they were released in the US.

The charts were also printed in Blues & Soul magazine, so if you can find any of those from about 79-83 they should have the charts in them.

The Top 20 Disco Imports was really what kicked off the Disco Mix Club (DMC), and the world mixing championships, as Tony started playing mixes on the show. First it was Alan Coulthard from the UK who was labeled as the king of the Disco mixes, then DJ's from all over Europe started sending in mixes, so Tony started DMC and would send tapes with mixes to selected DJ's, and the name of the show turned from Top 20 Disco Imports to Disco Mix Express and was a combo of DJ mixes and the import charts before it became almost all mixes, which was kinda sad to me cause there was so much great music on the imports, but then again the era was over and Hiphop and House more or less took over, and there's no denying the impact of DMC on DJ culture and mixing skills worldwide, and all that started with Tony Prince and the Disco Imports show.

The first DMC DJ battle was actually in 1984 and was won by Sanny X from Sweden who would mix with 3 turntables and samplers, but the first official champ was DJ Cheese from the US in 1986. The first DMC convention was to my knowledge in 1983.

Another fun fact is that Groove Records that compiled the charts was run by an old lady named mrs. Palmer who would actually work in the shop, and who's knowledge of music ranging from Soul to Electro was incredible. Her son Chris Palmer ran the label Groove Records as well that would release such acts as Dr. York, K.I.D., Linda Taylor, and many more in the early 80's...some of their stuff was picked up in the US by labels like Prelude and such.

Tony also ran the Top 30 Disco Show on Radio Lux which was the top selling Dance tunes in the UK, and when American records were picked up by a UK label and released there they would be removed from the Groove imports, and enter the Top 30 instead.

[fabio]

I bow in front of your knowledge Vocoder Funk.
I see I wasn't the only one spending hours listen and writing the charts. I was only a little boy but i knew already what i liked. My problem was that being Italian i couldn't understand half of what was said, hence (in the case of Asphalt Jungle) “Freak You Baby” was the only thing i could catch and remember.
Thanks for the short list of number ones and i do really hope that you will find the time to write more titles. I will also try to get hold of copies of the magazine you mentioned.
I have found a version of the Funk Fusion Band: Can you feel it (1981) , on Norman Jay's Good Times vol II. And i can confirm that the version I have been looking for was The Asphalt Jungle version.... And the voice of that lady singing “You Know I do too like to love you like I do” is very difficult to forget!!!

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by Vocoder Funk

The charts were also printed in Blues & Soul magazine, so if you can find any of those from about 79-83 they should have the charts in them.

That's right, I think they were called the 'City Slickers' chart. Thank god for Tony on Luxembourg & froggy on Radio 1 'cos I was too young to go clubbing but I was hungry for the latest cool club sounds too. The early 80s was a very special time for dance music for sure.

[Vocoder Funk]

Fabio, no problem at all man, I love talking about it! :) I was into Disco before then but the Imports is what got me seriously into music in a big way..anyway...I know a guy in Germany too who is a fan of the imports..I'll pass him this thread because I know he has some charts..he's also posted one online here:

Radio Luxembourg Imports

It seems to be the same for everyone that we were just kids when listening and writing down the charts. Some of the titles I spent a long time just finding out what the hell I had wrote down..lol...It's kinda sad that Tony's shows don't get more props on the Radio Lux sites cause it was a very important era, the "after Disco" era in Dance music, but as Boogie is getting bigger and bigger nowadays, that fantastic music from the early 80's is now about to get the attention it deserves. It's SOLID music...and quality music...like that Funk Fusion Band / Asphalt Jungle, it's music you never get tired of.

Thanks for the info SandraDee. I wanna add Greg Edwards as well..he was on either Capitol radio or Kiss FM or maybe both. An early player on the UK Boogie and Electro scene for sure DJ'ing at the infamous club "Legends", I believe it was in Manchester. Maybe Greg will join us, I think he's on here too.

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by Vocoder Funk

I wanna add Greg Edwards as well..he was on either Capitol radio or Kiss FM or maybe both. An early player on the UK Boogie and Electro scene for sure DJ'ing at the infamous club "Legends", I believe it was in Manchester. Maybe Greg will join us, I think he's on here too.

Greg used to do a fab radio show on Saturday nights on Jazz FM about 6 years ago. His favourite record of all-time is 'Gone Gone Gone' by Johnny Mathis so he's OK with me.

[delboy]

Greg Edwards is on Gold Friday night 8-12,Saturday night 6-12.

He's still playing those great tunes.