Foxy's PARTY BOYS lp

[remicks]

*****

I'm looking at my Foxy PARTY BOYS album ....well listening to it too.
What a diverse group in sound ....too bad they got stuck being mostly associated with that kazoo sounding period of theirs .....

PARTY BOYS, the song itself , should have been huge across the board ....including radio ..... a well put together upbeat tune ... w/ its sort of a George McCrea vocal ...

But the album it's on ... oh brother, .... that cover :roll:!
Way too artsy fartsy and therefore dead in the water. A cover to lose sales by . ..the green closet and someone ... face not shown changing their dress ....obviously female legs ..... hmmm.... yet the shoes on the floor....all male ....
The image shot for some reason ( more artsy fartsy) thru a film of saran wrap... :-o ....

The back is worse ...some bulging ol' fart with cig in mouth pinching the ear of his Cindi Lauper "daughter" (?) ..that's as far as I want to get into it ... you'll have to see it to believe it .....


Also, I should mention, that adding to the mess ....is the "PARTY BOYS /FOXY" LP title block created (badly) with crayons... ( more artsy fartsy) ...
Then on to the inside sleeve ....Is that Ish crouched there ???? Must be .

The other members are well dressed with jackets and posing quite maturely. In stark contrast,
Ish is without a shirt, the only one , and looking most boyishly cute ..... & very .... well ..... party boy ... :-P .....

He' s also admiring a photo of someone ...but we are not allowed to see just who ......:roll::???:


******


.

[visuals]

Finally!!!! It's about time someone mentioned these guys on this site. For about two years (or maybe since I first became a member), I remember looking for posts on this group but no one ever seemed to care or know anything about them. I was always interested in this group as they had one album that I waited patiently to be reissued on cd and that album is....



I was about 12 or 13 years old when this one was released back in 78'. As a young lad, One of the ways I would get money to buy albums were to save my lunch money (especially at times when my allowance was already blown on buying other albums & 45's). This album was one of those that I starved myself to get ahold of. The hit "Get Offf" was a big hit on the radio and I remember the dj's spinning it every fri & sat night at the skating ring (this was the place for young teens back then).

I admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of disco, But if at any time someone asks me what disco group did/do I like, I give my top 3 picks...

Cerrone
Donna Summers
Foxy

Seems that this outfit was not very well known or maybe I just haven't looked in the right places. The only material that I know by them is the original album "Get Offf" and the 2nd album on this disc "Hot Numbers" which I am very partial of. Remicks, If you know any more about this group and where I can find other material on "CD" besides the one I posted above and the weak "Greatest Hits" sets that they have availible, Please let it be known.

Thanks for mentioning these guys. I would like to hear some of the stuff that's on the "Party Boys" album that you mention. BTW, exactly how many original albums did they cut?

[Mixmachine]

Visual, we discussed a bit about Foxy before but it is buried inside another thread.

Foxy started out as a Local Band in South Florida and they used to work the early Disco club circuit, I saw them a few times perfoming at a local club around '77 or so, Ish ledesma was the lead singer and great showman who went on to produce and write many other club hits for groups like Company B and Tiger Moon.

Their first self tittle Album produced the hit "Get off your Ahh and dance"
http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/7038_0_2_0_C/

someone told me recently there is a 12" but I don't recall..:roll:

[remicks]

Finally!!!! It's about time someone mentioned these guys on this site. For about two years (or maybe since I first became a member), I remember looking for posts on this group but no one ever seemed to care or know anything about them. I was always interested in this group as they had one album that I waited patiently to be reissued on cd and that album is....



I was about 12 or 13 years old when this one was released back in 78'. As a young lad, One of the ways I would get money to buy albums were to save my lunch money (especially at times when my allowance was already blown on buying other albums & 45's). This album was one of those that I starved myself to get ahold of. The hit "Get Offf" was a big hit on the radio and I remember the dj's spinning it every fri & sat night at the skating ring (this was the place for young teens back then).

I admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of disco, But if at any time someone asks me what disco group did/do I like, I give my top 3 picks...

Cerrone
Donna Summers
Foxy

Seems that this outfit was not very well known or maybe I just haven't looked in the right places. The only material that I know by them is the original album "Get Offf" and the 2nd album on this disc "Hot Numbers" which I am very partial of. Remicks, If you know any more about this group and where I can find other material on "CD" besides the one I posted above and the weak "Greatest Hits" sets that they have availible, Please let it be known.

Thanks for mentioning these guys. I would like to hear some of the stuff that's on the "Party Boys" album that you mention. BTW, exactly how many original albums did they cut?

So don't I win something !!!!:roll::lol:


With all the acts that were around back then .... it often times amazes me the many that rarely get mentioned here too. Also its interesting how strongly connected we each wound up being to certain songs or groups because of the way they impacted us along the way. Saving your money each week by skipping lunch to get that album gives it a hundred times more value to you personally .... than anything you will now get thru the process of just firing off 20 bucks when something sounds interesting on Amazon ....

The hit "Get Offf" was a big hit on the radio

I'll say ....it made the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 and it was #1 on the black chart for two weeks .


Ish was apparently quite an artsy guy .... notice on this album cover you posted Visuals .... it's just the opposite ...... this time Ish is the only one with his shirt not off *....



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :




Foxy is a Latin dance/disco group formed in 1976 in Miami, Florida.
The group consisted of Ish "Angel" Ledesma (vocals, guitar) (born October 5, 1952 in Cuba), Richie Puente (percussion), Charlie Murciano (keyboards), Arnold Pasiero (bass guitar) and Joe Galdo (drums). Richie Puente (who died on July 18, 2004 at age 51) was the son of the late-famous bandleader Tito Puente.
Their biggest hit was "Get Off" in 1978, which charted # 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 1 in the Soul category, for two weeks. It was their only release from the album Get Off, which was released in 1978.
Their follow-up single, "Hot Number", only charted # 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, and # 4 in the Soul category in 1979. It was their next release from the Hot Numbers album, which was released the same year.
Ish Ledesma later formed the groups Oxo in 1983 and Company B in 1986.


Discography

• Foxy (1976)
• Get Off (1978
• Hot Numbers (1979)
• Party Boys (1979)
• Live (1980)

I'd never heard of Ish being referred to as "Angel" before ....


*****

* ( guess he forgot to GET it OFF before the shoot :p:roll:)

[visuals]

Ish was apparently quite an artsy guy .... notice on this album cover you posted Visuals .... it's just the opposite ...... this time Ish is the only one with his shirt not off *....

Remicks..:icon_idea: ...That is a very good point you make as I have had this album for many years and never thought about it that way.

Also its interesting how strongly connected we each wound up being to certain songs or groups because of the way they impacted us along the way. Saving your money each week by skipping lunch to get that album gives it a hundred times more value to you personally .... than anything you will now get thru the process of just firing off 20 bucks when something sounds interesting on Amazon

How right again you are Remicks! Lots of freinds come over to my house to visit and when they see certain cover art or cd's that I have displayed I often get the questions "what the hell are you still listening to this stuff for?" or "man, are you stuck in the 70's or what?" What people don't realize is that for a REAL MUSIC JUNKIE such as myself, each cd,album,cassette or whatever holds a very important piece of our life's history that we tend to not so easily let go of. I would sooner part with my car than certain selections of my collection and that's no lie. To me, A car is a material item that can be replaced but my collection is a must-have nessessary that I will fight till the bitter (or bloody) end for.

I'd never heard of Ish being referred to as "Angel" before ....

Inside the liner notes of the 2-on-1 Foxy cd above and the Foxy's Greatest Hits cd I own, Both of them refer to him as "Angel".

Ish ledesma was the lead singer and great showman who went on to produce and write many other club hits for groups like Company B and Tiger Moon.

I never heard of these two other groups that you and Remicks mention. Did they contain some of the original "Foxy" members or did Ish just venture out on his own and start fresh? Thanks for supplying the link and all the much needed info. I am definately enjoying and retaining it all.;)

[needlefingers]

Company B is the girl group that had a big hit with the song Fascinated in the late 1980's.

I looked at the album cover and Ish wrote most of the songs, plays all the instruments and sings background vocals.

Nothing like a good comeback.

[Mixmachine]

I never heard of these two other groups that you and Remicks mention. Did they contain some of the original "Foxy" members or did Ish just venture out on his own and start fresh? Thanks for supplying the link and all the much needed info. I am definately enjoying and retaining it all.;)

Visuals, this groups started out as studio projects, the sound is 80's Techno house, the girls of Company B toured for a while around the club scene once "Fascinated " became a smash hit, and I could swear "Tiger moon" did also but not completly sure :roll:, I mentioned before , in the flick "Frantic" they use a small piece of "Something tells me" a very nice song that was a very popular club hit at the time.

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/770_0_2_0_C/

[discokicks]

The Party Boys album was always a favourite of mine. I first bought this album in early 1980 after reading a 'best of the month' album review in Stereo Review magazine.

Most of the cuts took the cue of present-day disco at that time to blend some rockin' guitars into them which at that time suited me just fine. Whilst all my friends were enjoying their Supertramp and Aerosmith, at least with my harder rockin' disco, I didn't feel quite so alienated....:razz:

The standout cut for me, other than the title track, is Let's Be Bad Tonight....an fun, energetic blast of dance-oriented rock with great Foxy vocals ("the cool air is blowin', the sex in me is flowin") ....and other than She's So Cool, which reminds me a bit of the Stones, that's about it for my liking on side one.

However, it's all about side two that impressed me. The opening cut is I Can't Stand The Heat...another party-rockin' slice of disco that abruptly ends to a quick segue of RRRRRRRRock...deliciously Wild Cherry-like funk (there was a 12" extend mix out of this)...then into Fantazy which is more raucously upbeat. The noisy fun ends when someone whispers 'be quiet' and we're into the soft Spanish guitar track Pensando En Ti. After that we end with the title track Party Boys with it's clean, "dance everyone"-type feel...a calm, refreshing bounce compared to the rock party that was going on previously and clearly demonstrating the maturity of the disco sound compared to rock.

And I love the cover! Strange, intriguing, cool....who'd-a thunk I was an 'ahtsy-fahtsy' type guy?! ;)

[remicks]

And I love the cover! Strange, intriguing, cool....who'd-a thunk I was an 'ahtsy-fahtsy' type guy?! ;)

Good review DK !!
Hey.... that wonderful cover .... have you noticed the shoe boxes were each painted the same bright bold colors as the bright bold shoes * themselves .... now that's cleverly pragmatic ahtsy-fahtsy ness !!

*( and why are they each stuffed with Saran wrap ?? )


Visuals .....your endearing story has changed my whole perspective about Foxy 8) ...now I'm on a mission .... to find album #1 !!!


By the way .... you 'll want to know this .... there's a solo album by ISH too ....

http://www.discogs.com/release/593270 ........ from 1979 .... 8-) ... (my avatar is the cover ....)

****

[nrgbeat]

Here's a picture of the front cover.

[remicks]

.

:-o Good gawd .... it looks like a hung body.... a ghoulish police shot from a freaky sex crime-scene :-o !!!!





_____________________

now in reality, her feet are firmly on the floor in high heels .... and this side of the cover alone .... I suppose ..... I might pick it up and check it out tentatively .....BUT .... once I turned it over ... and saw that accompanying backshot * .... back to the rack !! ....:-P

thanks for putting this up, nrg :D

*maybe someone can post that image .... of the backcover ????

(the inside sleeve too ... which is the most interesting and I'm guessing was the originally intended cover ???:roll: )


*****

[visuals]

All of this talk on Foxy lately has put me in the mood to listen to some of their stuff, Which I admit, I haven't done in a long time. While listening earlier this evening, I was browsing one of my favorite vendors trying to put together my next order and came across:

Ish/Foxy/OXO/Company B
Ishology - Miami Dance Classics {2cd w/ New & Unreleased Tracks}



Empire, 1970s/1980s/1990s (2CDs) Condition: New Copy
An anthology of material from Ish Ledesma -- including material recorded by Ish plus Ish-produced jams from Foxy, OXO and others -- and a sparkling batch of club soul from the Miami scene! Many of the tunes combine a Cuban percussive groove with the dazzle of the disco era -- with plenty of work from the 70s through the 90s! The first CD (retrospective) includes "Get Off, "Hot Number" and more by Foxy, "Don't Stop" and "You're My Only Lover" by Ish, "Through The Night" by Blue Modern, "Whirly Girl" and "Waiting For You" by OXO, "All I Want" by JJ Flash and much more! Disc 2 is an enhanced CD featuring new and previously unreleased tunes by Ish, including "That's Why I'm Gonna Stay In NYC, "She Left Her Rose", "Femininity", "Ya Se Esta Mojando", "Cruzificados", "I Hope I See Her Again", "Chela" and more -- plus videos for "Femininity" and "All I Want"! (CD contains bonus videos of 'Feminity' & All I Want'.)

I thought it might be cool to cop this set if only for the unreleased material & the videos.

Amazon-U.S. | Amazon-U.K. | Amazon-Germany | Amazon-France

Visuals, this groups started out as studio projects, the sound is 80's Techno house, the girls of Company B toured for a while around the club scene once "Fascinated " became a smash hit, and I could swear "Tiger moon" did also but not completly sure , I mentioned before , in the flick "Frantic" they use a small piece of "Something tells me" a very nice song that was a very popular club hit at the time.

Visuals .....your endearing story has changed my whole perspective about Foxy ...now I'm on a mission .... to find album #1 !!!


By the way .... you 'll want to know this .... there's a solo album by ISH too ....

http://www.discogs.com/release/593270 ........ from 1979 .... ... (my avatar is the cover ....)

Thanks for the links you both. I'm always grateful to those passing on what info they already know to those who dont. Now, Instead of being just a fan I am a wiser fan.Thx again. Hope you find that 1st one remicks*

[discorecordplayer]

I love an old song by them called

get off your ahhhh! and dance

I have it on a Lets Disco compilation, but unfortunately I dont have the whole original album.

I have the album w/ their song GET OFF, as its probably their most popular one.

[remicks]

..

Upon closer review ....I believe Ish is upside down ... his head is touching the guy in the shirt ......


*****

[Ray Martinez]

Remick, you are correct. Ish is upside down. The guy with the shirt is Carl Driggs, the lead singer. After Foxy, he went to Las Vegas and played until last year with the group "Paul Revere and the Raiders". Previous to Foxy, he was the lead singer for Kracker, a quasi-rock/funky group (which I was their original keyboard player). Kracker was signed to Polydor Records/ABC - Dunhill, and did a world tour opening for the Rolling Stones. Carl is one the greatest singers/showmen that I have ever seen. On that tour, he actually upstaged Mick Jagger. I produced an album for them in T.K. The material was too rock, and the record never got released.

The other guys on the cover are, counter clockwise from Carl:
Joe Galdo - drummer.
Arnorld Paseiro - Bass player. He was the reason as to why I brought Foxy to T.K. and produced them.
Ish - Guitar player, singer, and driving force of the group.
Richie Puente - Percussionist. Son of the great Latin star Tito Puente. Sadly, he was mugged in Miami several years ago and was never the same. He passed away last year from complications from his assault. We miss you Richie. Great friend and person.
Charlie Murciano - Keyboards.

[Greg Wilson]

Foxy's 'Get Off Your Aahh! And Dance' is included on June '76's Time Capsule: http://www.samurai.fm/timecapsule/

From text:
Foxy, led by Cuban born Ish Ledesma, were signed to Henry Stone's legendary Miami based TK label, with 'Get Off Your Aahh! And Dance', a latin flavoured Disco favourite, reaching the top 20 of the US disco chart, before being released in Britain on Jayboy. The TK label wouldn't exist in the UK until 1977 - before this, TK recordings, by artists like George McCrae and KC & The Sunshine Band, were issued here on Jayboy.

[discoadam]

Great discussion! I too am a long time fan of Foxy. Like many acts classified as "disco" by the masses, they never got their just as musicians. I lost my virginity after watching Foxy perform "Hot Number" on (I think) the Merv Griffin Show...heh, heh. So that tune in particular has a special place in my heart.

[Ray Martinez]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :

Foxy is a Latin dance/disco group formed in 1976 in Miami, Florida.
The group consisted of Ish "Angel" Ledesma (vocals, guitar) ...




I'd never heard of Ish being referred to as "Angel" before ....

I have known Ish since the early '70s as well as produced Foxy's first album, and I have never heard anyone, ever refer to Ish as 'Angel'. I just met yesterday with someone very close to him and who works in the studio with Ish and was with him last week, and asked him about the name 'Angel', and he said the same thing, that he never heard that name either.

[Ray Martinez]

I love an old song by them called

get off your ahhhh! and dance

I have it on a Lets Disco compilation, but unfortunately I dont have the whole original album.

Get Off Your Ahhhh and Dance was actually my first hit record on my own.
Thanks for liking it.

Foxy's first album, which I produced and co-wrote is titled "Foxy". It is a white cover album with an insert of an artsy cloudy picture of a girl in a green jump suit leaning against a car having a drink. I believe that it was their most pure 'Disco' sounding album. You can find it once in a while on eBay. I just bought one last month almost new.

[SkyHigh]

WOW! Just a few days ago,I ordered that 2-on-1 CD set that contains the 'Get Off' and 'Hot Numbers' albums on one disc.And now I come to this site and find that y'all are discussing them :D I love this site already!

[Ray Martinez]

Welcome. It is a "Great" site indeed.

[ol'skinflint]

Welcome. It is a "Great" site indeed.

Ray: are YOU aware of how awesome "If There's Love" is? How long did it take to record it? My guess would be about a month with all the horns and strings.....

[Ray Martinez]

Ray: are YOU aware of how awesome "If There's Love" is? How long did it take to record it? My guess would be about a month with all the horns and strings.....

Thanks for the compliment !!! You are about right, from beginning to end it was about a month. The actual track was done in Miami, in one evening (drums, bass, and piano). Then all the overdubs (guitar, percussion, etc.) were done probably during that same week. The vocals were done after that in one evening. I took about a week to write the strings and horns arrangements, and to book the session. Then I went to New York, and along with Ray Caviano, we listened to it for about a week or so, and decided to go for the final mix. Ray Caviano contacted Jim Burgess, and within two weeks, I went back to New York, and we mixed it at Sigma Sound in two days. It was mastered at Sterling Sounds in New York the following week.

So all in all, it was probably about 4 to 6 weeks. I also, during the sessions, do not work on one song at a time. When I cut the tracks and do all recordings whether tracks, instrumental overdubs, vocal, or string and horns, I work on several songs at a time. at least two per session, if possible.

By the way, the project was possible thanks to Ray Caviano. He was the one that really helped me convince T.K. on the 'Amant" idea. Without him, it would have probably never happened. "THANKS RAY !!!!!!"

Total time - 4 to 6 weeks.
Pre and post production time - about 30 hours.
Actual recording and mixing time - about 75 hours.

Fun and spiritual rewards (you enjoying it) - PRICELESS !!!!!!!

[SandraDee]

Having only ever heard 'Get Off' I was really surprised to hear 'Lets Love' from their 1st LP on the Henry Stone/TK compilation CD. It's so jazzy & laid back isn't it?8) BTW, it seems really bizarre but Foxy played on Abba's 'Voulez-vous' track from '79!:o Miami meets Stockholm!;)

[Ray Martinez]

Having only ever heard 'Get Off' I was really surprised to hear 'Lets Love' from their 1st LP on the Henry Stone/TK compilation CD. It's so jazzy & laid back isn't it?8) BTW, it seems really bizarre but Foxy played on Abba's 'Voulez-vous' track from '79!:o Miami meets Stockholm!;)

'Lets Love" was one of my favorite tracks on that album. Ish did a really nice and simple jazzy guitar solo on it.

As far as Foxy playing on Abba's track, please, let me know more. It is actually the first time that I hear about it.