Disco group - Ultimate (Touch Me baby)

**Voyage** · April 29th, 2002, 10:01 AM

I would like to have more information Ultimate. From which country were they from?

Also from which year is their song "Touch Me Baby"?

**Blaxman** · April 29th, 2002, 10:17 AM

TOUCH ME BABY by ULTIMATE was recorded in 1980. The producers are Bruce Weeden and Juliano Salerni(Probably Europeans but the album was recorded in Philly)

Blaxman

**Boodikka** · April 29th, 2002, 10:35 AM

"Touch Me Baby" was released domestically (US)in mid/late January 1979.

**sirius** · April 29th, 2002, 10:59 AM

Dear voyage!
I think they only released one album
in 1979 on Casablanca Records:
Side A:Love Is The Ultimate
Touch Me Baby
Dancing In The Night
(Medley)
Side B:Ritmo De Brazil
Music In My Heart
Take Me To Chinatown
This is a very fine and real classic Disco-
Album.
Cosmic Love & Kisses From SIRIUS & DARKTUNES

**BrunoRepublic** · April 29th, 2002, 12:29 PM

On 2002-04-29 11:59, sirius wrote:
Dear voyage!
I think they only released one album

There is a second Ultimate album, also on Casablanca, from 80 or 81, without Salerni. But don't bother looking for it... it's totally forgettable.

Also forgettable are the 12" mixes of "Touch Me Baby"... the album version is by far the best.

**Masdefi** · April 29th, 2002, 02:49 PM

The second Ultimate album is from Casablanca Records, 1980.
Side A:
-This time I'm in love
-Feel so fine
-Get to the top

Side B:
-Secret agent man
-Back together
-Now and forever

Produced by Michael Forte and Bruce Weeden for South Philly Productions.
The Lp is not so worth having it, but nevertheless "Secret agent man" is quite nice.

**MikeVice** · April 29th, 2002, 05:16 PM

Ah, the "Utimate Medley"--my THIRD favorite song of all time (after #2 Saturday Night Band's "Come On Dance Dsnce," and #1 Donna Summer's 18-minute version of "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It.") The "Ultimate Medley" is 14 minutes, 30 seconds and is divided into three sections, "Love Is the Ultimate/Touch me Baby/Dancing In the Night." It features lush mock-symphonic orchestration with glorious violin riffs and flourishes, female vocalists cooing sensuously "Do it...do it to me!" over a glissade of orgiastic strings.
Other songs on the group's self-titled first album include the sensual "Ritmo de Brazil (4 minutes, 50 seconds); the optimistic "Music In My Heart" (6 minutes, 38 seconds); and the Oriental-tinged "Take Me to Chinatown" (4 minutes, 58 seconds) which has a very odd ending.
The album bears mention for its cover art which so perfectly suits the sensuous songs--a nude blonde girl reclining with her head tipped back, eyes squeezed shut and lips gasping in orgasm, her left arm thrust forth, her right hand pressed against her forehead.
All the songs on this album were written by J. Salemi and are exquisite Eurodisco, the "Ultimate Medley" being the masterpiece. It was originally released by Casablanca in 1979 and was reissued on CD in the mid to late 1990's by Hot Productions in Miami, Florida (I snapped up 5 copies!)

**Voyage** · April 29th, 2002, 09:02 PM

Thanks a lot to all of you who cleared out my doubts

BTW Miami Vice The Ultimate Medley is also one of my all time favorite songs!!! Just love it! I have it on CD.

Ritmo de Brazil is also awesome. I'll chekc the other tracks too.

Voyage

**SandraDee** · April 30th, 2002, 02:36 PM

Did u realise that Juliano Salerni was the man behind Hi Gloss of 'You'll Never Know' fame. Hi Gloss were a sort of Change sound-a-like group from 1981 & I'm surpeised I've never heard them mentioned on this fab site B4. 'You'll Never Know' was a big cross-over hit in the U.K.

**ruoffended** · April 30th, 2002, 05:27 PM

Also from the team of BRUCE WEEDEN and JULIANO SALERNI are the albums of TANGERUE, ive got this cd recently it doesnt say but i have the feeling that 2 lp's are on that cd , first 4 tracks are produced by ED STRAUMAN and BRUCE WEEDEN and the other 5 are produced by JULIANO SALERNI for SOUTH PHILLY RECORDS this was recorded and mixed in the u.s. i like it pure disco..RU

**Bernie** · April 30th, 2002, 05:46 PM

Bruce Weeden of South Philly Pro also did Carol Lloyd's album with "Score" on Earmark which is a must listen to.

**markydefad** · April 30th, 2002, 06:49 PM

On 2002-04-30 15:36, Steely Dan wrote:
Did u realise that Juliano Salerni was the man behind Hi Gloss of 'You'll Never Know' fame. Hi Gloss were a sort of Change sound-a-like group from 1981 & I'm surpeised I've never heard them mentioned on this fab site B4. 'You'll Never Know' was a big cross-over hit in the U.K.

Hey Steely Dan,

"You'll Never Know" by Hi-Gloss is a big favorite of mine. Great morning music--slow, sexy and sensual. I can hear it right now being mixed into Herb Alpert's "Rise" at about 8:00AM on a Sunday morning in 1981 or thereabouts..... (pass me the poppers) AAAAHhhhh................................ Ok, back to reality.

Shakatak did a nice cover of this tune in the mid-90's. They took the tempo up to around 108 BPM's from approx. 99-100, and although it was only around 4:30 in length, it was a treat to my ears to hear this song again.

**mrbill** · May 1st, 2002, 10:20 PM

Quick comment about Carrol Lyodd (sic)...I remember picking it up for 50cents at the mamoth music mart about 10 years ago. I was totally amazed at the quality of the cut "score" and surprised how it never made a hit.

**SandraDee** · May 3rd, 2002, 03:52 PM

Wow I'd luv 2 hear those other trax by Messrs Salerni & Weeden As I'm such a fan of those Ultimste & Hi-Gloss albums from 79 & 81.
Yes Youll Never Know is great amyl nitrate disco! (the memories)

**The Lord of Flatbush** · May 13th, 2002, 07:21 AM

On 2002-05-03 16:52, Steely Dan wrote:
Wow I'd luv 2 hear those other trax by Messrs Salerni & Weeden As I'm such a fan of those Ultimste & Hi-Gloss albums from 79 & 81.
Yes Youll Never Know is great amyl nitrate disco! (the memories)

Sounds good!

Ultimate and Hi-Gloss album both were nice.

**JussiK** · May 13th, 2002, 11:04 PM

The Ultimate producers also put out an outstanding, lush orchestral lp Tangerue. EVERY NIGHT EVERY DAY has Spanish elements while the name track is in the Dr Buzzard/Tuxedo Junction vein.

**maarten** · May 13th, 2002, 11:27 PM

Stop - help. In one post, I find references to both Hi-Gloss and Carol Lloyd.

Hi-Gloss was a studio production along the lines of Change, as mentioned by Steely Dan. The singers are all US studio musicians, one of them being... Luther Vandross.

The album is excellent, and not all that sugary (is that English?). Not that I don't like "You'll never know" but the album also contains a great funk track called "Cash (in my pocket)" and some other gems (last track side 2, and I'll be damned that I can't remember the title right now!).

And Carol Lloyd. I only know "Showdown" and "Score" which are both from the same album refered to before (and which I have on tape only). Both tracks are beautiful disco tracks. Funny enough, I used the "Score" lyrics in one of the earlier lyrics-quizes.

I am looking hard for the Carol Lloyd album now. Doesn't seem all that common. Oh well... I am sure it is out there waiting for me somewhere.

One other piece of trivia. Bruce Weeden... wasn't he married to Donna Summer? And didn't he become the house engineer to all things Quincy Jones?

**sirius** · May 13th, 2002, 11:45 PM

Dear marteen!
I think, that Donna is still married to
Bruce Sudano(BROOKLYN DREAMS). Before him
she had Ronnie Wiliams, Helmut Sommer and
Peter Mühldorfer.
On my next Hot Disco Night I´ll play
ULTIMATE´s "Take Me To Chinatown"...which
is very funny but strange.
Cosmic Love & Kisses From SIRIUS & DARKTUNES

**maarten** · May 14th, 2002, 12:02 AM

You are right, Sirius. I had my Bruce's mixed up. But is Donna's Bruce da man on Quincy's productions, or Bruce Weeden... I need to read Quincy's bio - I got it for Xmas but haven't had the time yet...

_________________
"ON THE BEAT"

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: maarten on 2002-05-14 01:03 ]</font>

**mrbill** · May 15th, 2002, 09:14 PM

Maarten,
I can burn you CD with the albun and the 12" version if "Score" if you want it. Cost will be shipping (I have to finish off some old CD-Rs)

**SandraDee** · May 18th, 2002, 06:38 AM

[quote]
On 2002-05-14 01:02, maarten wrote:
You are right, Sirius. I had my Bruce's mixed up. But is Donna's Bruce da man on Quincy's productions, or Bruce Weeden... I need to read Quincy's bio - I got it for Xmas but haven't had the time yet...

________________

I think youre thinking of Bruce Swedian as the man on Quincy's productions. I made the same mistake b4.

**Jeff H** · June 2nd, 2002, 08:32 AM

At the risk of resurrecting a dead topic that no one cares about anymore

I just picked up a SEALED copy of the first Ultimate LP.

I have to admit I was ambivalent about this LP, and bought it mostly because it was sealed, but hearing Side 1 in its entirety really changed my mind. Wow--beautiful!!!

And the vinyl itself is so heavy! Just wondering if any of our experts here know if heavier vinyl makes for better or worse sound quality?

**usagi-san** · June 2nd, 2002, 05:55 PM

I love the first Ultimate album, especially side one, and have 3 copies of it. Someone posted something about the cover showing a nude lady in ecstasy. The cover is nice but I just want to let anyone who hasn't seen it but who may think from the description the cover is as great as the music know that it is not even quite as explicit as the album covers could sometimes get away with in those days. It is, how do I say it, red tint and not highly defined. I can't be disappointed in the cover though, especially not with the music like it is. The 2nd "Ultimate" album was a disappointment at first only because I was hoping for more like the first album...although with it being 1980 by then, I had some fears it would be a different style. It is less disco but thnking of it just on its own merits I like it more now. On the first album, what on earth are the lyrics of "Take Me To Chinatown" other than the title? I learned of Ultimate after buying The Casablanca Story 4 CD set which included "Touch Me Baby..." and a photo of the album cover. I love what some call anonymous high female vocals, producers' creations, the kind of stuff some people slammed disco for. SO I love that album like Graham Startdoes...although I also go for some stuff that is more "cheesy" than Graham goes for.

**BrunoRepublic** · June 2nd, 2002, 09:28 PM

On 2002-05-14 00:27, maarten wrote:

I am looking hard for the Carol Lloyd album now. Doesn't seem all that common. Oh well... I am sure it is out there waiting for me somewhere.

I picked this up recently. Very nice! I'm looking for the 12" versions; if I can find those I'll do the whole thing up as a project.

I believe this was one of only 2 LPs released on EarMarc, the other being The Duncan Sisters (a THP production).

**BrunoRepublic** · June 2nd, 2002, 09:35 PM

On 2002-06-02 18:55, usagi-san wrote:
I love the first Ultimate album, especially side one, and have 3 copies of it.

As do I

One Canadian copy I found sealed (great for the first 8 or so minutes on each side, then the sound turns to mud), 1 US copy, and the CD reissue, which sounds horrible. Also got the promo 12", and even the 7".

I learned of Ultimate after buying The Casablanca Story 4 CD set which included "Touch Me Baby..."

So did I. It's too bad they put one of the 12" mixes on the Casablanca set, because they're both terrible -- they lack the glorious lustre and over-the-top sound that defines the album; they sound like demos in comparison. I almost didn't buy the album because I figured it wasn't worthy. Was I ever wrong! With the exception of the inane closing track "Take Me To Chinatown", this album is sheer brilliance all the way through. I think "Ritmo De Brazil" could've been a big hit had it been marketed as a single... but then again, what do I know?