A Bob Esty produced Pattie Brooks song

[remicks]

*****

For my liking ... we didn't get enough output from producer Bob Esty , so I'm always glad to come upon something he had a hand with . If you also like his full-bodied uncompromising ( and down right gorgeous ) sound as experienced on :

Donna Summer LAST DANCE
Cher TAKE ME HOME
Andy Williams LOVE STORY
Paul Jabara PLEASURE ISLAND

….then you'll also be happy , if you didn't already know , as to what I just learned is tucked within the
OUR MS. BROOKS LP amongst the rest of the cuts which are all produced by Simon Soussan ( his best ? ) . …… A tune called THE BACK UP SINGER that is a Bob Esty production and features the high standard in sound you‘d expect from him. Not quite disco … but could easily be played at a stand-up bar like Badlands .... maybe as morning music . Nice display of Pattie‘s vocal ability.... and would certainly be enjoyed by anyone who hears good things in Bob Esty's other works.


*****

[SandraDee]

Didn't Bob mastermind Barbra's 2nd attempt at disco, 'The Main Event'?

[ol'skinflint]

[quote=remicks;109580]*****

For my liking ... we didn't get enough output from producer Bob Esty , so I'm always glad to come upon something he had a hand with . If you also like his full-bodied uncompromising ( i.e. gorgeous ) sound as experienced on :

Donna Summer LAST DANCE
Cher TAKE ME HOME
Andy Williams LOVE STORY
Paul Jabara PLEASURE ISLAND

….then you'll also be happy , if you didn't already know , as to what I just learned is tucked within the
OUR MS. BROOKS LP amongst the rest of the cuts which are all produced by Simon Soussan ( his best ? ) . …… A tune called THE BACK UP SINGER that is a Bob Esty production and features the high standard in sound you‘d expect from him. Not quite disco … but could easily be played at a stand-up bar like Badlands .... maybe as morning music . Nice display of Pattie‘s vocal ability.... and would certainly be enjoyed by anyone who hears good things in Bob Esty's other works. Surely you're not referring to Badlands in San Francisco. That place and it's owner have soiled the entire City's party scene.....

[remicks]

*****

Surely you're not referring to Badlands in San Francisco. That place and it's owner have soiled the entire City's party scene.....

I surely was . :icon_rolleyes: Do tell more ...... ????

*****

[totouk]

I have heard most of the tracks off that album but never got to hear this song (which I knew was Bob Esty produced). As she was a back up singer for a lot of artists, I have always wondered about the lyrical content of the song - is it a kind of always there but never the star? I half expected it to be slightly torch ish, a ballad to finish off the album so was surprised when you said it was slightly morning music.

Bob Esty did do Barbra's Main Event and I have a great track called Night Dancer by Jeanne Shy which is produced by him. He also did Let Them Dance by DC LaRue and was arranger on Donna Summer's OUAT album.

The last I heard of him was a snippet in a magazine saying he was working with Jeff Stryker on a country music track!

toto

[SandraDee]

a great track called Night Dancer by Jeanne Shy which is produced by him.
toto

I've got that track toto. I got it from 'Beat'n'Rhythm' in Tibb Street here in Manchester in those 7" singles boxes where they keep all the Northern Soul stuff! I bet the 12" version is alot better isn't it?

[remicks]

I have heard most of the tracks off that album but never got to hear this song (which I knew was Bob Esty produced). As she was a back up singer for a lot of artists, I have always wondered about the lyrical content of the song - is it a kind of always there but never the star? I half expected it to be slightly torch ish, a ballad to finish off the album so was surprised when you said it was slightly morning music.


toto

Morning music might be a stretch since the tempo drops out repeatedly , then starts up again . It's breezy .....Grace Jones like ...La Vie En Rose .
Lots of LAST DANCE elements too .... without ever fully kicking in ....

Ya .... it's about waiting for her turn to be a star .... One clever element here is that the back-up singers on this song are just as prominent as Pattie herself .

"They just tell me to sing this way :
Ohh Baby Baby "
I sing for all the sessions : "I love You'
and made so many songs work
when they were stuck for something new ....

I wanna sing the melody
You know I'll sing my heart out

One line I'm trying to decipher is toward the end: the back up singers shriek "Don't call her prima donna " ........ hmmmmm : 'donna '
To which she responds using her highest reaches
"Don't make me say ____? " sounds like shard/sure ????


*****

[totouk]

I've got that track toto. I got it from 'Beat'n'Rhythm' in Tibb Street here in Manchester in those 7" singles boxes where they keep all the Northern Soul stuff! I bet the 12" version is alot better isn't it?

I think it was about 9 minutes long and is a great mix IMO. I must try and spend some time in all those Record Shops in the Northern Qtr, there seems to be so many!

toto

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Morning music might be a stretch

[/I]One line I'm trying to decipher is toward the end: the back up singers shriek "Don't call her prima donna " ........ hmmmmm : 'donna '
To which she responds using her highest reaches
"Don't make me say ____? " sounds like shard/sure ????

It's not Morning Music. It's simply an autobiographical ballad, that Aller & Esty wrote for Pattie..

The final lines are:
Call another for the back-up, a new girl for my part
I wanna sing the melody, you know I'll sing my heart out
Call some one for the back-up, some one who can blend
Don't call her prima donna, don't let this session end

[remicks]

*****

Wow !
There's one I wasn't holding my breath for the answer to !! :icon_biggrin:

Thanks Stephen ! :icon_biggrin: I appreciate it .

................. Obviously I wasn't going to figure it on my own .............

*****

[Cory Ander]

*****

For my liking ... we didn't get enough output from producer Bob Esty , so I'm always glad to come upon something he had a hand with . If you also like his full-bodied uncompromising ( and down right gorgeous ) sound as experienced on :

Donna Summer LAST DANCE
Cher TAKE ME HOME
Andy Williams LOVE STORY
Paul Jabara PLEASURE ISLAND

….then you'll also be happy , if you didn't already know , as to what I just learned is tucked within the
OUR MS. BROOKS LP amongst the rest of the cuts which are all produced by Simon Soussan ( his best ? ) . …… A tune called THE BACK UP SINGER that is a Bob Esty production and features the high standard in sound you‘d expect from him. Not quite disco … but could easily be played at a stand-up bar like Badlands .... maybe as morning music . Nice display of Pattie‘s vocal ability.... and would certainly be enjoyed by anyone who hears good things in Bob Esty's other works.


*****

Rems: I liked Esty's style also. But you could seek out some of his other productions with Cher, Paul Jabara, D.C. Larue, or the "Roller Boogie" soundtrack (I bought that one primarily because Esty's name was on it). Maybe we could persuade Dayna to try to make Esty one of her interview subjects.

[remicks]

Rems: I liked Esty's style also. But you could seek out some of his other productions with Cher, Paul Jabara, D.C. Larue, or the "Roller Boogie" soundtrack (I bought that one primarily because Esty's name was on it). Maybe we could persuade Dayna to try to make Esty one of her interview subjects.

The ROLLER BOOGIE soundtrack is one I pull out to play now and again ...for The Esty of it !!


*****

[totouk]

I noticed this thread and by chance started to play the Sleepless Nights album by Brooklyn Dreams. The second track called "That's Not The Way That Your Mama Thought You To Be" has almost the same string and percussion lines as Take Me Home or Main Event. According to discogs, Bob Esty produced the whole album.

toto

[kdavid13]

I noticed this thread and by chance started to play the Sleepless Nights album by Brooklyn Dreams. The second track called "That's Not The Way That Your Mama Thought You To Be" has almost the same string and percussion lines as Take Me Home or Main Event. According to discogs, Bob Esty produced the whole album.

toto

Yep Tony. Bob Esty produced,arranged and conducted the whole thing.
That's not the way... has always been my favorite on the Lp.
:icon_cool:

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

I noticed this thread and by chance started to play the Sleepless Nights album by Brooklyn Dreams. The second track called "That's Not The Way That Your Mama Thought You To Be" has almost the same string and percussion lines as Take Me Home or Main Event. According to discogs, Bob Esty produced the whole album.

Yep Tony. Bob Esty produced,arranged and conducted the whole thing.
That's not the way... has always been my favorite on the Lp.
:icon_cool:

I never knew anything that you're talking about!
Isn't "Sleepless Nights" the one with "Heaven Knows"(in reverse)???
Every DJ used it with the Donna version, at least once! :icon_razz:

But when I was done with "Heaven Knows", I was done with "Sleepless Nights".
I think the only reason I kept it was for the "Donna Collection".

[kdavid13]

I never knew anything that you're talking about!
Isn't "Sleepless Nights" the one with "Heaven Knows"(in reverse)???
Every DJ used it with the Donna version, at least once! :icon_razz:

But when I was done with "Heaven Knows", I was done with "Sleepless Nights".
I think the only reason I kept it was for the "Donna Collection".

Just curious Stephen...Did you ever play the Street Man 12" in your club ?? The 7'55 mix was dark,electronic and very exciting as well.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Just curious Stephen...Did you ever play the Street Man 12" in your club ?? The 7'55 mix was dark,electronic and very exciting as well.

Hmmm... "Street Man"...
Wasn't that the theme from the TV show, "Barretta"?
I had the promo 12" and I recall giving it a few tries. But it went nowhere.

The only Brooklyn Dreams track that had any success on my dance floors was the promo 12" remix of "Music, Harmony and Rhythm".

[tmob]

Hmmm... "Street Man"...
Wasn't that the theme from the TV show, "Barretta"?

No, that was "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" (a great proto-disco track by Merry Clayton, by the way). "Street Man" was taken from an episode of the "Police Story" TV series.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

No, that was "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" (a great proto-disco track by Merry Clayton, by the way). "Street Man" was taken from an episode of the "Police Story" TV series.

Aaaahhhh... Thank you.
I knew there was some label text, linking it to a 'Police' TV show.

[Chap2Power]

I remember "Street Man" from an NBC spinoff with David Cassidy of all people playing a cop.

From Wikipedia, because I forgot the rest:

In 1978, Cassidy starred in an episode of Police Story titled A Chance To Live, for which he received an Emmy nomination. NBC created a show based on it called David Cassidy: Man Under Cover but it was canceled after one season. However the format was used in a well-received Fox TV series 21 Jump Street (1987-1991), with Johnny Depp in the role Cassidy vacated.

I met Bob in Florida during a Winter Music Conference. I was there for a Tania Evans performance and he was standing to the side, pretty unassuming. I went over, looked at his badge, and I said, "Wow, how cool is this. I've played almost everything with your name on it", and started rifling off the names of many of the songs in this post. He was genuinely pleased, since us record types can be pretty jaded.

I never did mention that his name was the inspiration for giving Kim Stritzl a new name when I discovered her. So I looked at her said, "I'm taking your first two letters of your last name, and honouring a disco legend". And lo and behold, she became Kim Esty. No relation, but you now know where the lineage comes from !

During my RCA days, I almost had a Brooklyn Dreams reunion in my office: producer Michael Omartian, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano came in for a meeting. Same thing: I knew the songs and we just talked music. They were and still are, wonderful people.

And as for Street Dance, you could draw people on your floor easily by looping that intro like crazy, which I did my best to do...

[SandraDee]

I
During my RCA days, I almost had a Brooklyn Dreams reunion in my office: producer Michael Omartian, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano came in for a meeting.

I know nothing about Brooklyn Dreams (); was Michael Omartian a member of that group? I only know him for his production work for megastars like Donna & Rod Stewart.

[kdavid13]

Bruce Sudano,Eddie Hokenson and Joe Esposito were the 3 members of Brooklyn Dreams.

Bruce & Michael Omartian hooked up for the She works hard for the money sessions and kept on working together for years.

Michael Omartian produced Joe Bruce & 2nd Company album from 1987.
Joe Bruce & 2nd Avenue, 1987

Looking at the credits - it's filled with people Donna has worked with throughout the years !!!

[totouk]

Another track I found is Love Fire by Syreeta, I'm sure there is another track he produced on her 1980 album but I don't have it to hand to check.

toto

[kdavid13]

Another track I found is Love Fire by Syreeta, I'm sure there is another track he produced on her 1980 album but I don't have it to hand to check.

toto

Love Fire was written by Bob Esty & Michele Aller but produced by Richard Perry (who produced 4 tracks). The remaining cuts were produced by Jerry Peters (4),Billy Preston & David Shire (1) and Hal Davis (2).

[totouk]

When you listen to Love Fire it has all those light strings that are typical of so many of his productions. I always think of the strings as being a producer/arranger element that is added to a song rather than soemthing brought in by the writers themselves, that's why I thought he had produced it.

toto