Chart Hit [Level 6]
I'm enjoying a single of the Olympic Runners' "Keep It Up", on RCA, from 1977. I was wondering if this track appeared on any of their LPs, so I pulled out those I have: "Don't Let Up" (1976), "Dancealot" (1978), "Puttin'It Onya", "Out In Front" (1975), and "Hot to Trot" (1977). And it's not on any, although the B side track, "The Kool Gent", appears on "Don't Let Up".
Does anyone know why this track didn't appear on the same album, or the follow-up to it, the Puttin'it Onya/ Dancealot releases (or on any other, as far as I know)?
Or, if there's an extra LP I'm not aware of, its specifics?
...Boogie Boogie Boogie Boogaaaaaay.....
Platinum Record [Level 8]
I think all of their songs appeared on LP at one point or another, but I could be wrong.
There was an LP they released in 79 that featured the song 'Whatever It Takes', but I forget the name of it off the top of my head. I think it was called 'It's A Bitch', but I don't think Keep It Up was on it.
There was an LP called Keepin It Up from 77. I can't find the track listing for it.
Disco Funk
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Wow! When I discovered the group, I got so excited by their sound that I started looking them up all over, and buying whatever I could find... And somehow, never came across these, or even heard of them.Originally Written by Disco Funk
So I looked up the LP titles you gave me, and Shazam! They are mentioned in specialized web pages. You're right about "Keepin' It Up": it was released in 1978, and its tracklist goes as follows:
Solar Heat
Down to the Bone
Guacamole Getdown
Interference Free
Hash Browns
Keep It Up
Swamp Lizard
Boogie Line
The 1979 album with "Whatever it takes" was "Out of the Ground", with the following tracks:
Whatever It Takes
Back on the Track
Out of the Ground
Don't Let Up
Party Time Is Here to Stay
In the Can
Paca Paco Wa Wa
The Kool Gent
It seems they pulled the same trick here as with the "Dancealot" / "Puttin' It Onya" releases, taking an existing LP, replacing one of the tracks with a single success, and renaming the lot. In this case, "Out of the ground" is just the RCA UK version of US London's "Don't Let Up", with "The Runner's File" replaced by "Whatever it takes".
Anyway, thanks for the input, DiscoFunk... If I find a copy of "Keepin' It Up", I'll put it in the vault...
...Boogie Boogie Boogie Boogaaaaaay.....
Platinum Record [Level 8]
Hey, that's funny! A year or two ago I did the same thing - bought up every record I could find by them. I knew about them for over a decade because of the funk breaks on their first album 'Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is'. But then I discovered how good their later, disco stuff was, and bought up as much of the albums I could find.
I love the cover of one of their albums. I think it's Puttin it Onya with that woman covered in either whip or shaving cream. Hot!!!
Glad to be of help. As far as I can tell, they didn't have any songs that weren't on LPs. Also, none of 12"s featured any remixes from the LP versions.
Now if I can only find some Youtube performances by these guys!
Don't forget to look up 'It's A Bitch'. I think that's the 1979 album that doesn't feature any old tunes from the earlier albums.
Disco Funk
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Yeah! They didn't pick the dullest of chicks to model for their covers!
Well, I've been looking on & off for a video perf of theirs for ages, and apart from pages & pages of guys running around, haven't found anything relevant. I'll tell you what: if I do come across something, I'll post it here and let you know. I'm not "letting up" yet!!!
Right! That'll be my next purchase, along with "Keepin' it up".
The first record of theirs I came across was "Dancealot", which I picked up because the cover was screaming "late '70s disco!". That was a revelation. I'd never come across or heard of anything they'd done, and wasn't expecting anything half that powerful. I still don't understand why they're not better known...
...Boogie Boogie Boogie Boogaaaaaay.....
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Pete Wingfield was one of the great musicians in this studio band.
"No, there's no connection between the RUNNERS and my solo stuff - in fact the band's initial success was in 73, long before I signed as a solo act with Island Records in '75. The OLYMPIC RUNNERS were all session musicians, and the idea for the group name came up in 1972, when we were booked to play on an album at Olympic studios in London with bluesman Jimmy Dawkins, for Mike Vernon of course. Jimmy's plane was delayed, so we cooked up a funk track in the spare studio time and Mike managed to sell it to London records in New York. The first single, "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is", was something of an East Coast R&B hit, and from that point on we would meet up in the studio every eight months or so, think up a bunch of wacky ideas, and record them immediately (always at Chipping Norton studio, other than the first album, which was recorded during all-night sessions in Brussels, Belgium, for some reason that I can't remember!). Barry Hammond the engineer would always keep a 2-track quarter-inch tape running so as to catch us jamming between takes - then we'd use that jamming as the basis for the next track. It was painless, we made album after album that way, it only took a couple of weeks out of the year, and we were selling records! For the first few years the band were completely anonymous - people assumed we were a US act as the records came out on the London-American label here in the UK. Later on in the mid-late Seventies disco era, we stepped out a bit and did some TVs and touring behind hits like "Keep It Up" and "Whatever it Takes." I prefer the older, more 'outside' stuff though - and so do the hip-hop samplers..."
LET IT ROCK - Pete WINGFIELD interviews
Different eyes see different things. Different hearts beat on different strings. But there are times for you and me when all such things agree...Rush
Platinum Record [Level 8]
"She's a brick...house!" Damn that woman was hot! What I would have done to be one of the 'hands' on her. :)
Ha ha, yeah, 'don't let up-pahhh!'.
Well, I've been looking on & off for a video perf of theirs for ages, and apart from pages & pages of guys running around, haven't found anything relevant. I'll tell you what: if I do come across something, I'll post it here and let you know. I'm not "letting up" yet!!!
In addition to the mention of Pete Wingfield and his side project, I also have an album produced as a side project by the band's drummer Mike Vernon. It's by a Filipino group called Please and is called 'Manilla Thriller'. That LP is mainly funk, and features the breakbeat anthem 'Ego Trippin'. I was lucky enough to find it for just over $12 from one online retailer recently. Most sellers have it going for at least $30 or $40! And the copy I got was near mint.
It might have to do with them being British? Who knows. Perhaps their label wasn't interested in promoting them much back in the day.Right! That'll be my next purchase, along with "Keepin' it up".
The first record of theirs I came across was "Dancealot", which I picked up because the cover was screaming "late '70s disco!". That was a revelation. I'd never come across or heard of anything they'd done, and wasn't expecting anything half that powerful. I still don't understand why they're not better known...
The only performance I was able to find of theirs, which I found a few years ago, was on some Top of The Pops website that featured very brief clips of artists on the show. There was 30 second clip (probably shorter than that) of them doing 'Get It While You Can'.
A very underrated dance funk group that was eclipsed by their British contemporaries AWB, Hot Chocolate and Heatwave.
The Hip Hop samplers do prefer the earlier stuff. Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is was sampled on Rob Base & DJ Easy Rock's 'Joy & Pain'.
Disco Funk
Indie Release [Level 4]
Have the original 12" version in storage, among my "don't part with" file.
see attachment
disc jockey from the mid 70s to late 80s, and got free booze for it.
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