Foxy

In 1976 Ray Martinez (Amant, Passion) produced Foxy’s self titled debut Album (Dash 30001) and also co-wrote in cooperation with Foxy’s member Ish Ledesma this instrumental single that became the first of this group’s many hits to reach the Disco charts.

Part II contains only the extended portion of the great Latin Jazz flute solo work which is the same as the one featured on the Album’s full length version (5:12).

Producer, Ray Martinez was kind enough to talk with members of DiscoMusic.com (in particular Remicks) and field their questions. Here is some of that:

Remicks,

You have a really good ear for detail. Since I've been either blessed, or cursed with a photographic memory, here are my answers to your questions.

Remicks: GET OFF YOUR AHHH AND DANCE is such a clean and tight composition .... it really doesn't sound to me like a song that was the result of a group's effort .....this is more of a producer's record ..... all those strings and horns .... Is the flute playing by Foxy ? ...since it is the song's driving element ?
Are they playing bongos (as I call them ) ?

Ray: I handled this session as if it was any of my other projects. Ish brought in the song idea as an instrumental. I used Foxy's rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, percussion), for it was to be their first release. I wrote the strings and horns arrangements. The flute was played by a hired session player (part of the horn section).
The bongos, yes, they are bongos, as well as all the percussion was played by Richie Puente. A great musician, person, and friend. He was the one that when Foxy would start falling apart (pretty often), he would pull them back together with his sense of humor. He was the peace maker, always in a great, funny mood.

Remicks: Also , who came up with the name GET OFF YOUR AHHH AND DANCE ? And who is it singing this phrase ? I'm hoping it is Ish .....I really love the sinuous delivery ...who thought to do it that way .... sort of bedroom whispery .... ( typically band’s holler such lines as a group….. i.e. “pick up the pieces “)

Ray: As I mentioned earlier, Ish brought the song in as an instrumental. As producer, I decided that to have a chance at radio play, it had to have some lyrics, even if it was just one line. I came up with the name, and spelling of 'Get Off Your Ahhh And Dance', as well as the melody.
As for the singing, sorry, it is not Ish, it is me. Since the line implied a word different from Ahhh, I thought to do it as a whisper.

Remicks: How does one decide "OK, all this song is going to contain is this one line: ...."Get Off Your Ahhhh And Dance" ? Are more lyrics tried at first ? Didn’t FOXY want to be more vocal?

Ray: As I said, the song was suppossed to be an instrumental. No other lyrics were tried. It was my call as producer to have that one and only line.

Remicks: How is the length chosen? ....who decides "time to fade this one out" ...and how much more music get's dropped off when a song like this is faded out ? This version on Marlin's DISCO PARTY is 4:38 ...( the longest version ? ) Is that the length that you delivered to the label ...or do you deliver something longer and they then edit it as they choose ?

Ray: As for the length, again, as producer, it was my call. I faded the song right as the actual recording was ending on the master tape, so, nothing was really left on the cutting room floor. This was the actual length delivered to T.K., nothing was edited. I believe that the 12" version and the Disco Party version are the same. I barely recall having seen a 45 rpm somewhere, and I believe it was about 3:30.

Remicks: I , for the life of me, can't conclude what former song this most reminds me of . I know it is rare that songs emerge from a pure vacuum ....so would you be willing to reveal what music , what other song(s) most "inspired" this composition ? (You can be candid about it now, Ray ... some umpteen years later ....and you're amongst friends here !! )

(What I'm putting my finger on sound wise , I think I’m hearing Van McCoy's THE HUSTLE mixed with some Crown Heights Affair with a heavy dosage of MFSB 's TSOP ...... and without having it handy to refer to ....Herbie Mann's WATERBED is coming to mind ....definitely has a jazz flavor…. and with a samba like rhythm …… (?))

Ray: Remicks, I have always being candid and truthful, and will always continue being so. The song did indeed emerge, as you put it, from a pure vacuum. However, I did want it to have a jazzy feel, and I was thinking of Herbie Mann, hence the use of the flute. Perhaps, I could say that Herbie Mann did inspire the production of this song. Also I have always love the "Philly Sound" aka TSOP. Before being at T.K. I did go to Philly to meet and mingle with the Gamble and Huff crowd ... great, great bunch of people and musicians. With my original love for the "Philly Sound" (lush arrangements, strings, horns), I came to Miami with the idea of TSOM (The Sound Of Miami), of creating a sound down here. The same idea, but adding Afro-Cuban percussion as well, since it had not been done before. I kept pushing for the idea, but TSOM was too similar to TSOP. Eventually it all evolved into "The Miami Sound", which it really originated out of T.K.

Remicks: Occasionally some female do do do’s are sprinkled in …..I like this restraint and the timing of their inclusion ( is this one of those "final touch " elements that gets added in at the very end ? ) … ... its just a terrifically paced number .... the placement of the horns ( prominently used ,.. yet often subtlety recessed ) and the airy strings (seems like you really had fun with the strings ) ..... very confident .... remarkably smoooth , yet fast paced ..... There’s one moment there when all else fades out and its just T-Connection type bongos ….a very early application of the soon to be mandatory “break” …
This is a strong composition with thoughfully placed extras ( including that echoic “snap” sound (hollow sticks ?) that would later come to define songs like LOVE AND DESIRE ) . …..

Ray: The female voices (do do do's) was also my idea, as well as it is me singing them. In fact all the voices in that song were done my me during a late evening/overnight session, when I was alone at the studio.
I love writing for strings (as you can tell from my other productions), so yes, I had a lot of fun with them.
With the percussion break, it is sort of a trademark of mine. I have them in almost all my records. Like I just previously mentioned, I wanted to create a sound (Miami Sound), that evolved from Afro-Cuban percussion, mixed with R&B. I also like using effects such as echos and reverbs.

Remicks: GET OFF YOUR AHHH... is a wonderful hustle song that flows effortlessly ; it must have been a beautiful sight to witness couples swirling the floor to it……

Ray: I would go to clubs, and sit in the back, at the bar, or go to the DJ's booth, and I would love to see the couples dance. To me, it was an art to see the dancers dance, or should I say, perform. It is very thrilling to see people enjoy my music.

Remicks: Is this song a stand out/ different from the rest of Foxy’s LP, Ray ? Did you work on the rest of it too? I can’t wait to get my hands on it and listen to each of the compostions from that project.

Ray: This song is a little different from the rest of the LP. I did the same work on the rest of the album, produced, engineered, arranged the strings and horns, and pretty much gave it my all to sign the group to T.K, and promote it in the clubs and radio. Besides producing existing T.K. artists, Foxy was my first individual outside project for T.K. It was at that time, my "Baby". I humbly believe that there were several hits in that first album, and that it was their best one, as far as commercial material. When you listen to it, you'll see what I mean, and you can hear it has "my" sound. Sadly, for reasons that I would not reveal (egos, political,etc) I stopped working with the group, and my work with Foxy was limited to that first album, and having signed them to T.K.

Thanks for your questions.

Ray