Mtum "So You Wanna Be A Star"

**FrontPage22** · October 30th, 2003, 09:35 PM

:o JUST discovered this. Fabulous later era disco/80's groove. Very funky and great strings. I think 79 & 80 produced some of the tightest music for dancefloors.

Anyone else a fan of this track? I assumke it was released before Juicy Fruit.

**Bernie** · October 30th, 2003, 09:39 PM

Don't know if I have heard "So You Wanna Be A Star," but do check out "Give It To Me (If You Want To). A really good song that I only discovered recently.

**Forrrce** · October 31st, 2003, 01:52 AM

Passed it last night while looking for that Dan Hartman 12! It's on Epic 12" (AS 878) and is from the 'In Search Of The Rainbow Seekers' LP, their second from 1980. 'Give It Up (If You Want To)' is very good (it's backed with 'Mrs. Sippi' on 12") and 'Can't Wait For Love' from the LP is highly recommended, also. All tracks have that top-flight, airy Mtume/Lucas production sound from around the time (Phyllis Hyman, Gary Bartz, Stephaine Mills).

On a slightly trainspotting note, 'So You Wanna To Be A Star' is one of the few Columbia 'AS' promos I have which aren't 'special versions' - over the years I've found the majority of 12"s with this prefix to be remixed, even if they were never commercially released, while non-remixed promos have a standard matrix no. No doubt I'm missing something, though.

Quick 'nowhere' question...anybody know which jazz musician is James Mtume's father???

**K-Bee** · October 31st, 2003, 12:07 PM

I believe james mtume's father is one of the heath brothers. Unfortunately I dunno which one.

**martinus** · October 31st, 2003, 12:48 PM

This is one of my favourite tracks. I have it on Vinyl and CD.
The CD was a japanese pressing but not expensive.
Another favourite Mtume production is "You Can Get Over" by Stephanie Mills.

**Forrrce** · October 31st, 2003, 12:50 PM

Originally Written by K-Bee

I believe james mtume's father is one of the heath brothers. Unfortunately I dunno which one.

I didn't want to address the quiz to you directly, K-Bee - but I knew you'd get it! It's Jimmy Heath.
:D

**Giovanni** · October 31st, 2003, 05:17 PM

Originally Written by Forrrce

On a slightly trainspotting note, 'So You Wanna To Be A Star' is one of the few Columbia 'AS' promos I have which aren't 'special versions' - over the years I've found the majority of 12"s with this prefix to be remixed, even if they were never commercially released, while non-remixed promos have a standard matrix no. No doubt I'm missing something, though.

Interesting.....
My supposition was that the "AS" codes were real promos (not necessarily remixed) not to be released commercially, while the white label "demo not for sale" with commercial code were the promo pre-releases of records to be commercially released

**discosavvy** · November 2nd, 2003, 12:31 AM

"So You Wanna Be A Star" is one of my top 5 favorite disco songs of all time. I discovered it in, I believe, 2001. I'm glad that more of you are discovering it now. But as far as I know it still isn't on any CD except the Japanese release of the 1980 Mtume album itself. It deserves to be on disco and R&B compilations in place of some of the lesser-quality usual suspects, but because it wasn't a "hit" that may not happen. I never heard it on any radio station even once. "So You Wanna Be A Star" is the stand-out track of the album for sure; Tawatha Agee sang the sophisticated lyrics masterfully. "Give It On Up (If You Want To)" is catchy. But the other two disco songs from this group, "She's a Rainbow Dancer" and "Spirit of the Dance", do nothing for me. The costumes of the band members on the back of the album are really interesting and flashy, aren't they? BTW I like the song "Juicy Fruit" too.