Claudja Barry LPs on CD, really existed?

[Westwood]

Ok I learnt about Claudja beginning with her "Best Of - Dancin' Fever " cd on Hot Productions. I have now finished getting all of her LPs and most 12"s-
On a disco spree last month I bought Arpeggio's "Love & Desire" (thanks Arpeggio, until you I though bad disco did not exist") and Carol Williams' "Reflections Of" cd from Hot Productions, issued both in 1994. Now, inside there is a page with other releases and I was completely floored when I read they apparently released basically, all of Claudja's LP's on CD!!!! But then why can't I find them on ebay, amazon, and also, why is crap like Arpeggio still available 12 years afterwards while classic Claudja isn't? Is it only due to the fact that obviously Arpeggio's is crap and is still not sold out and Claudja is?

[neonlights]

Yeah almost all of Claudja's albums were released on CD by Hot Productions. They were actually well done, apart from the hack job they did on some of the artwork, the sound quality is great on pretty much all of them (not counting the Greatest Hits CD).. Unlike many of those other Hot reissues, it seems like they actually used the master tapes for them. I just wish they would have reissued the US Tom Moulton mixed version of the "Sweet Dynamite" LP, the "No La De Da" EP from the early '80s and her later "I, Claudja" album on CD as well, but hopefully those will be done by someone else in the future..

I got all of them on eBay a few years back, so keep checking there, they do turn up from time to time.. If you like her albums, they're well worth tracking down..

BTW, how do you like the Carol Williams CD? I also guess this means I won't be buying any Arpeggio until I hear it first :lol:

[eddie]

About 3 months ago, I got that Carol Williams cd called Reflections and it was better than her Salsoul stuff. I always thought that "Love is you" was quite trite. This album sounds a bit later and is more soul oriented. It's not my favorite but worth having.

Try z shops at Amazon for Hot productions CDs which are rather cheap.

[Westwood]

Thanks guys I will keep on checking them.
As for Claudja's LPs, I have only listened to the frist two for now, cause she donesn't have many and I want to go through them one by one. I was pleasantly surprised that "Sweet Dynamite" is slower on the LP (love alternate versions). I think "Claudja" is better though, I love "Open The Door" and "When Life Was Just A Game" beside my super favorite "Johnny Johnny Please Come Home" and the other hits.
Now this reminds me I was about to write to eBay for suggestios. What is the most annoying thing when you do searches on eBay or amazon?? That you cannot search by album title and that the sellers do not have this option to use. This is a reason why it was such a task to aquire Claudja's LPs damn it. Her albums are called "Claudja" "Claudja Barry" "I, Claudja", I mean, come on guys a bit more imagination, give that most sellers are not smart enough to title their stock properly, you have to go through pretty much every title, and you cannot even trust the categories. Oh well, I'll keep on trying, in the meantime I bought the "Claudja" (aka The Girl Most Lilkely" cd from Brazil and it's fab.
Oh before I forget, I took a spin on the "The Girl Most Likely" gatefold LP (the Uk version, of the Claudja LP features the inner sleeve pic on the cover apparently, I lost out on it last month on eBay, darn it) and it sounds much different than "Claudja". SOme songs are speeded up dramatically and some seem to have backing tracks lowered in volume, like "Open The Door". Is this only on my copy? It's a Philips issue.
By the way, are Hot Productions still around? I was about to call the number on the cd then I realized in 12 years it probably is not valid anymore lol.

[Westwood]

Ah yes, I haven't listened to the Carol Williams cd yet. BUt I bought it because I love her "Love Is" and I have pretty much all the Salsoul Anthologies from the UK, they are a super job man.
Salsoul did great quality stuff.
Yeah I should give Arpeggio another try but really all the songs were like this: intros sampled other hits, then the actual base is pretty much lame, boring and uninspired, as the background vocals are. They sound like a 3rd rate thing. Amazed at how this ended up on cd lol.

[neonlights]

Oh before I forget, I took a spin on the "The Girl Most Likely" gatefold LP (the Uk version, of the Claudja LP features the inner sleeve pic on the cover apparently, I lost out on it last month on eBay, darn it) and it sounds much different than "Claudja". SOme songs are speeded up dramatically and some seem to have backing tracks lowered in volume, like "Open The Door". Is this only on my copy? It's a Philips issue.
By the way, are Hot Productions still around? I was about to call the number on the cd then I realized in 12 years it probably is not valid anymore lol.

Now that I remember, my Canadian pressing of that album (also a gatefold, and called "The Girl Most Likely") has a sticker-graphic on the cover saying it's "A Tom Moulton Mix." So, It seems unlike the "Sweet Dynamite" album, the Tom Moulton mixed version was released outside of the US.. I like that album too, except for her cover of "Take Me In Your Arms," never really cared for that one..

There was a thread a few years back about Hot Productions being bought out by a Dutch company named Jack White Productions.. I just checked their website, and it seems they recently relaunched Hot as Empire Musicwerks. It looks like they recently did some new disco compilations as well (greatest hits for Amii Stewart, Ish Ledesma, Midney etc..). Let's hope they have higher standards than Hot did..

Also, I gotta say, I love the "Reflections of Carol Williams" album. I love her voice, smooth as silk.. "Love Is You" is kind of trite, but it's for sure one of my favourites, a "happy song" if there ever was one.. I haven't listened to her Salsoul album in full yet; from what I've heard so far, "Reflections.." continues mostly in the same vein, though I agree with eddie, it seems to have a slightly more soulful sound..

[Westwood]

Well I don't have any other Carol Williams albums, but I'm sure her Salsoul ones will be top-notch. Among the Salsoul Anthologies put out by Suss's UK I take for example the ones for Inner Life Ft. Jocelyn Brown and First Choice. These have all their albums recorded for the label, and even though I have listented to them only once for now, I can tell you the production is top-notch. Too soon to tell say if the songs are great but the bases and the production are high, you cannot even compare these songs (even album fillers - if there are any) to let's say "Arpeggio's cd" lol.
I am planning to put all my Claudja LPs on minidisc and compaer editions are lenghts etc because I want all of her. Also thanks guys for the tips, I found all the cds on amazon marketplaces. They have always been there but since I remember at first I only bought the Best Of and the rest were OOP I didnt even bother to look them up cause I didnt know if I liked her enough and when I did, instinctively I went directly for the vinyls.
Does anyone know if there is any chance there will be a Salsoul Anthology for Claudja? As far as I know at least her first two albums were released on Salsoul at least in one market...

[neonlights]

Does anyone know if there is any chance there will be a Salsoul Anthology for Claudja? As far as I know at least her first two albums were released on Salsoul at least in one market...

I think the chances are a bit slim, since Salsoul didn't actually own the rights to her records, they were just licensed from her husband/producer's Lollipop label.

But maybe they might since Suss'd did include some of her Salsoul releases on some of their recent compilations. My copy of "Salsoul Presents.. Disco Funk Flavas Vol. 2" includes the Tom Moulton mix of "Dance, Dance, Dance," but the credits say it was licensed from Radikal Records. I'm guessing for the anthologies, they'll stick to the more primary Salsoul acts before they license an entire compilation's worth from another label, but who knows, they've done anthologies for most of the big name Salsoul acts already.. It would be a great way to have all those Tom Moulton mixes in one place..