I Love New York - Metropolis

[crafty]

Hi everyone.

Just stumbled across this forum after a morning of casual surfing. Looks great!! Loads of good stuff here.

My older brother was a DJ in Bristol (England) in the late 70s. He would appear with bag full of new releases every saturday afternoon after spending the day hanging out in the record shops in town. I was in my mid-teens then and loved all the stuff he brought home. It was this and my earlier love of Jazz music that got me into playing the drums. I've never forgotten all the tunes and the great drummers who played on them (Gadd, Mason, Young, Gadson, Robinson etc). I've just spent many months moving mine and my brother's vinyl onto my pc (yawn). Almost done now.

I can remember certain records that really steered me into playing. Off the top of my head tunes like, 'A Real Mother For Ya' (JGW), 'Saturday Night' (EWF), 'Funk Factory' (Rose Royce), 'What Is Hip?' (TOP), 'Nights Over Egypt' (Jones Girls), 'The Whole Towns Laughing At Me' (Ted), 'Got My Mind Made Up' (IF), 'Dance Across The Floor' (Jimmy Bo Horne) etc..

With all this old stuff in my head I woke this morning with 'I Love New York' (Metropolois) going round in my head. You know how it happens...

Being a Salsoul release, I thought of Earl Young as being the drummer but it doesn't sound much like him. I read the rhythm tracks were recorded in Germany and then the brass and vocal parts dubbed in the US (Sigma??). A few searches revealed Keith Forsey as the possible drummer. I'm sure you'll admit, it's a great sounding cut, particularly the instrumental version.

If anyone has the original Metropolis 'Greatest Show On Earth' LP and the credits are printed somewhere on the sleeve, could you let me know the personnel on the record please??

Thanks in advance.
I hope to drop in regularly.

Ed

[needlefingers]

[crafty]

Thanks a million for the info, needlefingers.

Ed

[needlefingers]

You're very welcome.

There is also the Disco Vault here at discomusic.com and this lp, with some of the info you were asking for, is posted.

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/7408_0_2_0_C/

I posted the picture so that you, and others, could read the full credits.

Welcome to the forum.:icon_mrgreen:

[crafty]

Thanks.
It's interesting to see the brass parts were done by the same guy.
Great tune and great production.

My sources tell me Keith Forsey also played drums on the original Captain Scarlet theme tune. We-hey!

Ed

[Disco Funk]

There was another Metropolis that was based in Philly. I don't know if they named the Salsoul group after the other one. There was a single called 'We Are Metropolis' and the group was called Metropolis feat Sam Peake, who was a session lead saxophonist in Philadelphia. The groove is funky, and the instrumentation doesn't sound like the typical philly guys, so maybe even this production used musicians from overseas, if not from new york, LA, etc...

It's the first cut on this compilation:

We Are Metropolis

Because of the intro breakbeat, it's hard to find. The flip sounds similar, but with a less syncopated drum pattern. It was pressed on Mercury in '77.

Disco Funk

[crafty]

You're very welcome.

There is also the Disco Vault here at discomusic.com and this lp, with some of the info you were asking for, is posted.

http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/7408_0_2_0_C/

I posted the picture so that you, and others, could read the full credits.

Welcome to the forum.:icon_mrgreen:

Thanks for the welcome!!

Are you aware of any other Salsoul cuts featuring Keith Forsey on drums?? I'm wondering how fruitful the Salsoul/German relationship was..

Ed

[needlefingers]

He also did drums on the Claudja Barry album Claudja put out by Salsoul records.

[crafty]

He also did drums on the Claudja Barry album Claudja put out by Salsoul records.

Thanks again.

'Sing, Sing' by Gaz seems to come from the same stable. Can I chalk him down as on there too??

Ed

[needlefingers]

According to allmusic.com, he did.

You can read all his credits at allmusic.com ( a/k/a all music guide).

It's free to register, and it has a wealth of information.

[crafty]

According to allmusic.com, he did.

You can read all his credits at allmusic.com ( a/k/a all music guide).

It's free to register, and it has a wealth of information.

Thanks again.

[mikeellis]

Tom Moulton??! Didn't know he had a connection with GM, I still have a copy of 'Kebekelektrik' (sp?). That Forsey feller got around a bit.....:icon_rolleyes:

[Disco Funk]

I think the only reason there's a connection between Moulton and Keith and Salsoul is because a number of Salsoul LPs that were done using Euro artists were originally released over in Europe on a different label, and then remixed and released over in the USA under Salsoul. The Sweet Dynamite LP by Claudja Barry was released by Lollipop originally, and then by Salsoul, remixed by Moulton.

Other LPs and tracks Moulton redid for Salsoul:

Spring Rain - Bebu Silvetti (originally called World Without Words)
Orlando River Sound - Moonboots (originally on RCA, remixed for Salsoul)
D.R.U.M - Lullabye (originally on Mercury? remixed for Salsoul with a slightly different spelling)
Ronnie Jones - I can't remember exactly which tracks were remixed. I think Soul Sister got remixed. There were a few other 12"s that were released on Salsoul as remixes from his London record releases.
Claudja Barry had some other 12"s (and maybe another LP or two?) that were remixes from the Lollipop versions.

There were some euro Lps that didn't get released in alternate, 'original' Euro versions as far as I can tell, like the Gaz record. Although, my Best of Lollipop Records lists the track Sing Sing as being by M Machine. I don't know if that was a legitimate release or their way of getting around Salsoul's copyright to include it on the compilation.

Keith would have played on Claudja's and Ronnie's tracks. Pretty much anything out of Germany had him on drums. I think he was also on the Silver Convention & Penny McLean albums and also on the Jackie Robinson album with Pussyfooter. Not sure if he also played on the Frank Farian/Boney M projects.

Disco Funk

[needlefingers]

Yes he did play on some of the Boney M lp's.

And I agree that the connection was made because Salsoul Records was the US distributor for some of these European made records. Even adding remixing, possibly to make it appear as more of a Salsoul project.