Candido: "Dancin' and Prancin'" LP

[mr3865]

For those in the know, I'd like to ask how the songs from this album rate within the disco ethos. Where any of them monster dance floor smashes back in the day? Is this album considered a classic?

I got this CD from eBay and I can't stop playing it! "Dancin' and Prancin'" and "Thousand Finger Man" are phenomenal...

[QUINNY]

Jingo was ultimately the biggest cut from this album. A true anthem in the UK and originally released as the 'B' side to Dancin' and Prancin' on 12". However, when remixed in 1982, the track really took off and became embedded into everyones' minds (and into successive DJs and dancers for several years after).

Personally, I've never fully gotten into Thousand Finger Man, although I can see why it's obtained a cult status since. Slightly mesmerising chord sequence. Just wish there was more of the trumpet soloing and less of the (fifth dimension sounding) backing vocals.

[discokid1975]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Jingo was ultimately the biggest cut from this album. A true anthem in the UK and originally released as the 'B' side to Dancin' and Prancin' on 12". However, when remixed in 1982, the track really took off and became embedded into everyones' minds (and into successive DJs and dancers for several years after).

Personally, I've never fully gotten into Thousand Finger Man, although I can see why it's obtained a cult status since. Slightly mesmerising chord sequence. Just wish there was more of the trumpet soloing and less of the (fifth dimension sounding) backing vocals.

Ever see "Thousand Finger Man" b/w "Jingo" on a Canadian Salsoul 12" from 1979???? That 12" is hot........I am gonna post a scan of that 12" tonight...rare as hell......pressing is awesome too.....from the 1st generation master tapes...I have seen bootlegs of it and reissues, but nothing beats the pressing on this 12".

[billywho]

Agree about D&P - being of an age then where I followed the Top 40 charts but couldn't go to discos, Jingo was the song I most remembered from that era, but when I first heard Dancin' and Prancin' on the Salsoul Mastercuts CD several years ago there was no turning back. As you say, it's phenomenal, and for sheer rapturous danceability, knocks Jingo into a cocked hat.

[qdearl]

I have to second that motion, Even though I consider Jingo an ok song, It never stood a chance against Dancin' & Prancin" I would just listen to that one over and over again (I feel the same way about Mysteries of the World by MFSB, and Westchester Lady by Bob James) it's just something unique about that composition, that almost puts you in a groove trance when you listen to it, and you never want it to end.
Of course by DJing partner would tell me to blow it out my a--, as he thinks Thousand Finger Man is the "be all, end all" Candido cut :D

[RetroRuss]

The UK release of Dancin & Prancin and Jingo was very big BITD, particuarly in the clubs of London that I went to.

Both tracks are still tearing up the dance floor - during a set I was doing the whole dancefloor of 250 odd people were doing a sort of tribal 'line dance' to Jingo. It's a permanent feature in my boxes - I don't leave home without the 12"!

[mr3865]

Thanks for all the info.

[Greg Wilson]

'Jingo' is undoubtedly one of the biggest disco tracks I ever played. Even a few years on from its release it was just as popular as a classic oldie with an upfront audience as it was with the mainstream crowd. It was never a big UK hit, which kept it fresh, but it was one of those tracks that everyone knew.

The Shep Pettibone remix in 1983 gave it a new lease of life, but the original is regarded as the definitive version.

'Dancin' And Prancin'' was also fairly popular, although to nothing like the level of 'Jingo', but 'Thousand Finger Man' didn't really take off in the UK.

[QUINNY]

Jingo was the absolute 'banker' of all of Candido's tracks. Guaranteed to whip up a crowd any time, any place.

Gawd, how I came to resent that track at times, especially when other jocks would invariably give it a spin instead of something less safe/hot/new. I tried my hardest to resist playing it, once it was an oldie, but only succeeded maybe 50% of the time, but those other guys working the same venue ensured that it was requested and requested and requested.......... The most difficult times were when I doubled up with 'em. They'd play all the hits and I'd be left trying to keep the floor buzzing playing everything else. I always gave them some respect by mixing things up, but they used to crucify me at times.

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by mr3865

I got this CD from eBay and I can't stop playing it! "Dancin' and Prancin'" and "Thousand Finger Man" are phenomenal...

I love Thousand Finger Man. For me, that's the best cut on the LP. Jingo, not so much because I find it too jerky, if that makes sense.

If you guys like Jingo, there was also a release on 12" a few years ago of the track pulled apart into it's various parts - acapella, backing tracks, etc... The series is called DJ Tools from Salsoul, and they put out other tracks like My Love Is Free, Ten Percent, Love Thang, By The Way You Dance, etc... in similar format.

Disco Funk

[buckaroo]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

'Dancin' And Prancin'' was also fairly popular, although to nothing like the level of 'Jingo', but 'Thousand Finger Man' didn't really take off in the UK.

Two of the aforementioned are on a double LP I bought many moons ago called Double Deckers, which seems to have been aimed at the DJ. It has about 20 of the latest (for 1982) dancefloor tracks on it, including "Loc it up" Leprechaun, "Just an Illusion" Imagination, etc. "1,000 Finger Man" is so incredible. I'd love to get my mitts on a copy. :-?

[billywho]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

It was never a big UK hit, which kept it fresh, but it was one of those tracks that everyone knew.

Interesting that it was never a big hit, Greg. Like I said above, I was listening to mainstream chart radio at that time rather than visiting clubs, and I remember Jingo very well (but not Dancin' and Prancin' - I got to hear that years later), so maybe it got a lot of radio play even though it never became a hit.

[Videoskooter]

I adore "Dancin' and prancin'" and I love "Thousand finger man" and "Candi's funk" but when I first heard "Jingo", it blew me away and I never got tired of it. It was Santana drenched in Gucci! Mysterious slammin' and hypnotising.

It will always be one of my favos but...like I already mentioned in another topic, I fully disagree with Quinny on the remix version. The remix is never on my turntables since, for me, it lacks the underground punch. I have the '79 12" on the Excalibur label.

But Quinny's also right, the remixed version became a hit and the original was "only" a big club hit over here.

[QUINNY]

Artistically I didn't go for the remix as much as the original, BUT that remix gave the track SO MUCH BALLS, that it was irresistible. It toughened it up no end and was ABSOLUTELY right for the time it was made. Right on the money.

I still like the original Santana version the best in purely artistic terms. The guitar screams just oozed so much soul and the rhythm track was soooooo tough for 1969. Just watch 'em at Woodstock....they were one of the few bands that really stole the show.

Video: That Excalibur release was a re-release that I'd completely forgotten about. You could almost say that in reality, Jingo came and went without much of a fanfare in the UK, when it was tucked away as the 'B' side to Dancin' and Prancin'. Obviously, it then got up a head of steam as an in demand underground cut, wouldn't go away and that's when Excalibur stepped in.

[buckaroo]

Originally Posted by billywho

I was listening to mainstream chart radio at that time rather than visiting clubs, and I remember Jingo very well (but not Dancin' and Prancin' - I got to hear that years later), so maybe it got a lot of radio play even though it never became a hit.

It appeared on one of the legendary Streetsounds compilations, which were a good barometer for musical tastes in the clubs back in the '80s. Can radio really do that? Maybe in the past, but now, they concentrate too much on demographics and playlists. :-?