ON THE TURNTABLE: Flaming Ember – If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)

Flaming Ember - If It’s Good To You (It’s Good For You)

Short, sharp and frank reviews from a confessed vinyl junkie. I’ll post my most loved records and recent purchases here for your perusal weekly.

I spent Sunday just gone in legendary Mancunian record shop Beatin’ Rhythm Records, carefully sifting through and listening to every single Funk 7″ they had in there. This was a labour of love given that Funk, for the most part, is my favourite genre of music. One of the things that struck me whilst doing this was just how many times I saw the words’ Holland-Dozier-Holland’ emblazoned on each disc.

We lost a King yesterday, not only in the world of Soul & Funk but in music in general. The songs Lamont Dozier has co-written are too many to list, but I’m sure many of you have some idea of his early work with the Motown label, for which he and the brothers Holland basically hand-reared from the early 60s until leaving in the late 60s. Lamont and the Holland brothers were lesser known for their work on the labels they owned after that, Hot Wax & Invictus, but they are equally impressive.

Having conquered that early Soul sound in the 60s, they concentrated on Funk in the 70s, both writing and producing monumental music from Freda Payne, Parliament, The Politicians, Chairmen of the Board and many more. If you don’t know much about the Invictus and Hot Wax labels, believe me, they’re worth looking into, including this banger in the photo.

I ended up spending a small fortune in that record shop on Sunday, and I’ll certainly be spending more in the future where this man is concerned. Thank you, Lamont, for making my life a brighter place, may your SOUL rest in peace. X

Xsnoize Author
Sean Crossey 86 Articles
Seán is based in Manchester; his favourite artists include James Brown, MF Doom, The National, Bon Iver, Radiohead, Eric B & Rakim, Aretha Franklin, Serge Gainsbourg, John Lennon and Public Enemy. Sean has also been a promoter, DJ and a failed musician. Nowadays he resides in the Northern Quarter of Manchester and is a vinyl junkie, sneaker collector and MCFC fan.

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