ARTIST PROFILE: StreetSounds
Posted by Radiocafé on 18 Oct 2009 at 11:48 pm |
Category: 4. Soul Sounds
Back in the early 1980s, a collection of soul LPs (and cassettes, but not CDs as they had not yet hit the shops) came along which, for many of us, changed our worlds forever.
Each StreetSounds edition was something to get truly excited about. Why? Because you could be certain that every release would contain all of the very best dance tracks of the day. Not the usual two-and-a-half minute album versions, either, but the full length, extended and often exclusive remix versions, some tracks running to over 10 minutes. Eight or so of these tracks, all for under a fiver. What value! Just take a look at the listings on our full review page, and you will see how many soul gems made their way on to these albums. A small taster of these can be found on the page, too.
Released every two or three months, always on a Friday and exclusively from Our Price (which even had a section whole dedicated to just StreetSounds) before all the other record shops, these collections of soul masterpieces were must-haves back then. And, in fact, they still are today.
In the eighties, things were a little less sophisticated than today. It was trendy to wear roll neck sweaters by “designer” labels such as Pierre Cardin and Lyle & Scott. Believe it or not, a yellow and pale-blue tracksuit top was the sought-after garment of the day, courtesy of tennis gear manufacturer Sergio Tacchini. Footwear was as important then as it is now, and apart from Kickers and Wallabees, the height of fashion was the Nike Bruin (similar to the Nike Wimbledon, but with a red tick), or if you preferred, the Adidas Gazelles. We all drove around in Escort RS Turbos and Golf GTI 16vs, or at least cars that looked like GTIs, watched Moonlighting, Highway to Heaven and Strike It Lucky, were into Eddie Murphy’s films and comedy, and clubbed at places like Crackers, Mingles, and Bagleys. Or if you went “Up West”, it might be to the Limelight, or Legends, or Shaftesbury’s. Charlie Nicholas and Leisure Curls (pronounced “leesha”, so said the ad’s) led the way for hairstyles. It was hip to wear braces with jeans.
While many of these trends thankfully haven’t survived the test of time, the StreetSounds compilations have become classics which represent the very best of a fabulous era, for music if not fashion. The fact that these albums maintain such a huge following today is testament to their creator, legend Morgan Khan.
The man behind these collections also created the incredible StreetWave record label, a couple of years earlier. This was responsible for many amazing artists during the 1980s. And the empire didn’t stop there, either. We also had a series of “The Artists” collections, which brought together the definitive tracks (or “cuts” as they were known then) on one LP, together with detailed artist info; “Slow Jams” and the “Love Ballads” collections, which provided a supply mellow sounds; the incredible “Dance Decade” box set comprised over 150 tracks; “The Anthems”, which gathered together cult dance-floor classics from the 70s and 80s; “Jazz Juice”, featuring some outstanding classics from the full jazz spectrum (Cybil Shepherd even featured); and, of course, the Electro and House collections that were equally pivotal in changing the face of music themselves. In fact, the Electro series was largely responsible for introducing hip-hop to the UK.
There were other collections too, including a Solar Box set and some spin off albums such as the “High Energy” series. Morgan also created the Westside label, which many consider gave birth to the house, acid and hip house revolution in the UK. Khan deserves great credit for his contribution to the UK music scene.
It is the StreetSounds collections, in particular editions 1-10 presented below, that we recall most fondly. Not only for the amazing soul music, but also some of the most creative and original cover artwork ever. In today’s world of plastic CD cases, the magic of the album cover has been lost. But the identity of the brand was established as much by the LP sleeves as the amazing music that filled them. These days, the covers themselves are sought-after and we know of many who have framed them as pieces of artwork.
But it would not have mattered if these records came in brown paper bags. On the dance-floors, in our schools, in our front rooms and in the cassette players of our Vauxhall Novas, these were the albums which we played to death. Anyone who wanted to compile a set of the definitive 12 inches of the mid 1980s need look no further than these StreetSounds gems.
In 1983, TV personality Kenny Lynch, a UK soul star of the 60s and 70s, was enjoying rising sales of his 1980s comeback single, “Half The Day’s Gone And We Haven’t Earned A Penny”. He told how, once the track appeared on StreetSounds later that year, sales of the single ceased almost immediately. Such was the enormous power these compilations yielded over soul music sales.
Today, many of you probably have at least one StreetSounds record, be it in the garage, somewhere in your loft, or if you are like me, as central part of a prized record collection. If you haven’t played them in a while, why not give them a whirl to remind yourself just how good 80’s soul is to this day. Or if you no longer own a record player, you can always ask a mate to tape it for you. Actually, perhaps best not to, in case home taping is in fact still killing music.
A clear sign of the popularity of these records was recently demonstrated by the positive response to the brilliant Soul AM show on Unknown FM. Soul legend Master J dusted down a vast StreetSounds collection, dedicating the entire two-hour show to these masterpieces. Numerous requests for favourite tracks flowed, and the special buzz of the mid 1980s returned once again to the airwaves. We suspect some of the listeners may have dug out their favourite Gabbicci sweater to mark the occasion.
Master J - Soul AM
A clear sign of the popularity of these records was recently demonstrated by the positive response to the brilliant Soul AM show on Unknown FM. Soul legend Master J dusted down a vast StreetSounds collection, dedicating the entire two-hour show to these masterpieces. Numerous requests for favourite tracks flowed, and the special buzz of the mid 1980s returned once again to the airwaves. We suspect some of the listeners may have dug out their favourite Gabbicci sweater to mark the occasion.
Marky Mark - Soul Motive
A futher trip down StreetSounds memory lane was served up by leading soul DJ Marky Mark on the amazing Soul Motive show on SSRadio. This show is one of the highlights on radio for fans of 80s soul. You will need to register to listen to the StreetSounds special: click here to visit the Soul Motive 26 October show, and here for a direct link to listen again.
If you have any memories of StreetSounds, or of this fabulous era for soul music, we would love to hear from you - please share them with us below.
StreetSounds Edition 1, 1982
Side A:
1. Do It To The Music - Raw Silk
2. The Message - Grandmaster Flash
3. Moment Of My Life - Inner Life
4. Tee’s Happy - Northend
Side B:
1. Dreamin’ - Greg Henderson
2. Shout For Joy - Dunn and Bruce Street
3. Let’s stay together - Kadenza
4. Don’t Make Me Wait - Peech Boys
StreetSounds Edition 2, 1983
Side A:
1. Keep The Fire Burning - Gwen McRae
2. Magic’s Wand - Whodini
3. A.M. - First Light
4. Step In The Light - Sunfire
Side B:
5. Heavy Vibes - Montana Sextet
6. Message II - Melle Mel & Duke Bootee
7. I Wanna Know - Rocket
8. Soul Makossa - Nairobi
StreetSounds Edition 3, 1983
Side A:
1. Outstanding - The Gap Band
2. Too Tough - Angela Bofil
3. Baby’s Got Another - Richard Jon Smith
4. Underlove - Melba Moore
Side B:
1. I Just Gotta Have You - Kashif
2. I’m Down For That - Jerry Knight
3. Do It Any Way You Wanna - Cashmere
4. Doin’ It - Gwen McRae
5. You Meet My Approval - Steve Arrington
StreetSounds Edition 4, 1983
Side A:
1. Young Free And Single - Sunfire
2. You’re The Sweetest One - Luther
3. Love Is The Key - Maze
4. Weekend - Class Action
5. Music - D-Train
6. In The Bottle / Smurf - C.O.D.
Side B:
1. Juicy Fruit - Mtume
2. Save The Overtime - Gladys Knight
3. Didn’t Know About Love - Lenny White
4. Daybreak - First Light
5. Groovin On A Groove - Ingram
6. Feel The Need In Me - Forrest
StreetSounds Edition 5, 1983
Side A:
1. I.O.U (Megamix) - Freez
2. Get It Right - Aretha Franklin
3. You Make It Heaven - Terri Wells
4. Half The Day’s Gone and We Haven’t Earned A Penny - Kenny Lynch
5. All Night Long - La Famille
Side B:
1. It’s Over - The Funk Masters
2. Get Down Saturday Night - Oliver Cheatham
3. I’m The One, You’re The One - MCB
4. Walkin’ The Line - Brass Construction
5. Can’t Get Enough Of You - Wickett
StreetSounds Edition 6, 1983
Side A:
1. Just In Time - Raw Silk
2. Out In The Night - Serge Ponsar
3. If The Feeling Is Right - Beverley Skeete
4. Do You Want Me - El Chicano
5. Tell Me If You Still Care -S.O.S. Band
Side B:
1. One Mind Two Hearts - Paradise
2. Street Justice - The Rake
3. Jingo - Candido
4. Give It Up - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
5. Jam On Revenge (Wikki song) - Newcleus
StreetSounds Edition 7, 1983
Side A:
1. Sound Of Music - Dayton
2. I Want You All (Tonight) - Curtis Hairston
3. Brighter Tomorrow - Tom Browne
4. Knockin’ - Jones Girls
5. I Want It - Lillo Thomas
Side B:
1. Superstar - Lydia Murdock
2. Don’t You - Second Image
3. Just Because You’ll Be Mine - Instant Funk
4. Respect - Billy Griffin
5. Talk To Me - Lew Kirton
StreetSounds Edition 8, 1984
Side A:
1. I Wanted Your Love - Luther Vandross
2. Never Too Late - Julius Brown
3. Hi How Ya Doin’ - Kenny G
4. Boy Where Have You Been - Roz Ryan
Side B:
5. Another Man - Barbara Mason
6. Serious - Billy Griffin
7. Just Can’t Get Enough - Lew Kirton
8. Give Me The Night (Medley) - Mirage feat Roy Gayle
StreetSounds Edition 9, 1984
Side A:
1. Someday - Gap Band
2. Don’t Make Me Wait - Carl Anderson
3. Night Stalkers - Ingram
4. Steppin’ Out - George Howard
5. Deja VU - A.B.’s
Side B:
1. Heaven Sent You - Stanley Clarke
2. Love Me Like This - Real To Reel
3. Keep It Comin’ - Jones Girls
4. This Time - Funk Deluxe
StreetSounds Edition 10, 1984
Side A:
1. Change Of Heart - Change
2. I’ve Been Missin’ You - Kashif
3. I Found Lovin’ - Fatback Band
4. Hot Hot Hot - Arrow
Side B:
1. Tender Lovin’ - Funk Deluxe
2. Partyline - Brass Construction
3. Shining Star - Precinct
4. Uphill (Peace Of Mind) - C.O.D.
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wow..this bought back memories!! Any idea if its available now on CD?
Tracey x
Thanks Tracey!
The main Streetsounds have never been released on CD, although some of the Anthems and other variations (e.g. Solar Box Set) were, and certainly some of the Electro and Jazz Juice were subsequently re-released on “shaving mirror”.
But we’d love to see these all come out on CD. Then again, CD size does not do justice to the fabulous covers of the LPs. Don’t worry if you don’t have a record player, these albums are worth buying for the art alone!
Paul
I started to purchase the Street Sound LP’s as well as the Electro LP’s. I have most of the Street Sound Collections. I also have the boxset of the Philly labels. Still hunting down the ones I have missed. All credit to Morgan Khan for creating the Streetsound label and getting the music to a wider audience and more importantly more affortdable rather than paying £5.00 for the imports which was a lot of money in those days. Where is he know?? Does anybody know?
I agree with Paul I’m as I type transferring Street sounds London edition which is rare on to CD from Vinyl directly as I have the gear without using a PC and then I put it on my Ipod and the sound of the 80’s on the pod is great. I was there I had an alfa sud I had highlites I went to ashtons I loved it and I’ve got most of my ss albums on my computer so I’ve got them when ever and ‘no ones gonns love you’ by the sos band has just come on and that’s a teaser of a track……
Guys,
Loved this stuff then and still love it today…
I have all the original SS Jazz Juice releases on vinyl and also the ones that were re-released as SS on CD.
I’m just in the process of transferring everything to the iPod and would love to know where I can get all the album art in order to have it showing when the tracks are playing.
If anyone knows, please let me know.
Keep On Funkin’
Cheers,
Dave…
Fantastic Description of what was at the time a must have for any teenager who wanted quality music and lived way too far away from anywhere hip ‘n happening to actually be in the thick of things.
I’ve somehow stumbled across this listing after attempting (for the umpteenth time I hasten to add!) to use my lunch hour searching for a copy of Street Sounds 14 (my personal favourite) on Compact Disc. While my coveted collection of Street Sounds albums collect dust in the attic and I pretend that my Ipod contains all of my favourite music of all time a small part of me knows that without Bernard Wright’s ‘Who Do You Love’, Starpoint’s ‘What you’ve Been Missing’ and even the Limited Edition Mix of Five Star’s (Thankfully this is a relatively anonymous confession!!) ‘Love Takeover’ I’ll never be satisfied with the Digital Music era - I’m way to technically challenged to transfer the vinyl into MP3 format!
These Albums introduced me to a world of music that I might have never discovered.
Cheers
Steve.
Thank you for this great info on StreetSounds. I LOVED all these albums and have most of them on vinyl. When i listen them to them now i get transported back to such happy times. The people, the music, everything felt really special and part of me still misses it. Does anybody know if there are any club nights around that still play great soul music like this??
Maybe I’m just too nostalgic..
Charlotte
Well, after this article reinvigorated my search for SS 14 I can happily announce that I now have procured the full compilation of Street Sounds Albms in MP3 format - it’s fantastic to listen to all the old skool (sic) tunes, Bernard Wright never sounded so good!
We’re surprised no-one has officially re-released this collection on CD.
Have to say that these tracks have survived the test of time, and sound as fresh today as they did back then. Why oh why is this kind of music not produced these days? The production qualities of Kashif, those early Luther tracks, and all the great SOS and BB&Q band items on these albums were as good as anything that has ever been produced. And what about Randy Muller’s productions on “This Time” and “Walking The Line” - amazing! Even towards the end of the 20 albums some real gems were only found on StreetSounds - how about Yasuko Agawa’s LA Nights? Incredible!
For those of us who bought them way back in the 80s, they really do help recall some fantastic memories. We’d love to track down all time hero Morgan Khan and see if we can get an interview with him on the Radiocafe site. In fact, perhaps we should start the campaign to find Morgan in addition to our find Robbie campaign?
Incidetnally, there are a few places selling the whole StreetSounds collection on CD/MP3 these days, which we’ve seen on eBay at decent prices (but of course the original artists don’t get their much deserved royalties for this). We hope someone will officially take on the task of trying to license an official re-release.
However - provided you still have something to play them on - there is nothing like hearing the real thing on original vinyl. Plus those fantastic sleeves and the pull-out insert with the latest Street Sales / Echoes charts on it too! Anyone remember the advent calendar on the last one? If you still have yours and it hasn’t got all the tabs pulled off, you are very lucky indeed.
For those trying to hunt down those rare records, Radiocafe has also set up www.FindThatRecord.Com, partly out of self interest (as there are so many places to go, we decided to put them all on one page) but also to try and promote access to real music as it was originally produced. On the main page, we’ve listed all the very best music marketplace search engines on one page, organised by category (currently we’ve only done GENERAL and SOUL); and then there is a simple message board for all of us to post our wants lists, which is fully searchable.
You can also post suggestions for other stores to be added to the site. Plus you can put your lists of items you want to sell on there too, and we are happy for any independent record sellers to post lists of items for sale. We’ll be nothing more than the middle man with no input or involvement in the sale at all (or fee!). So please spread the word, and do let us know what you think.
Again, this is a free service to promote out love of music how it should be heard, which is on vinyl - we believe records are all set for a revival this year. Personally, I spend a lot of my time trying to hunt down records which I couldn’t find/afford back in the days when I used to listen to them on Robbie’s and Greg’s shows, and virtually all of them are out there for sale somewhere. This will hopefully make it as easy as possible for me - and other like-minded vinyl junkies - to find those rarities and much sought after gems. So if you know of any other music enthusiasts, do spread the word.
Finally, for lovers of 80s soul, Master J’s StreetSounds special can still be heard on his site www.soulunique.net - scroll to the bottom of the shows panel and it is the first one there, click on and listen (Sundays 10-12am on Unknown FM features all the best this era had to offer).
We at Radiocafe love soul music, and are pleased to hear so many of you out there do too. Thanks to all for your support of the CAMPAIGN FOR REAL MUSIC!
Langers @ Radiocafe
StreetSounds’ visual presentation was in the hands of one man…John Carver.
Look at the credits and you’ll see COVER’S BY CARVER’S.
The design and art direction was ground breaking.
The Face magazine even copied the Electro style on one of its covers.
John took many of the cover photos himself and was the creative genius behind the look of everything from Hi Nrg to Electro to the main Streetsounds series.
Morgan depended wholly on John to deliver what would look just right.
John made the TV commercials,radio ads and did everything anyone saw anywhere.Funny Morgan never gave him credit or acknowledged his importance…
hi all want to know if anyone is interested in buying the streesounds electro box set in vinyl. I bought it a long time ago and it is catching dust in my loft. Email me if your interested thx.
Jason
How much do you want for your Electro Boxset?
Jas,
I’d be interested. Let me know your email address and I’ll send to you directly.
Will need them shipped to Sydney as well, but have someone in the UK that they could go to first.
Cheers,
Dave
I have now completed my collection of Streetsounds and now working on the streetsounds Electro
Yep they sound as good now as they did 20 years ago
Just can’t beat Quality
Yes we should set up a campaign to find Morgan
Cheers
Praf
please help me ,does any remember 2 dance mix soul LP,s from the early 80,s featuring Lew Kirton,LutherVandross,SOS Band,Jennifer halliday,etc Im Desperate to locate .
From memory it’s not a Street Sounds ’series’ album (ie number one onwards) however you could try searching on www.dicogs.com.
A quick search brought up the following which was released under the SS label as ‘Love Ballads’…
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Love-Ballads/release/1010727
…hopefully it’ll be a good place to start your search if you haven’t done this already. Good Luck.
Steve H
Isn’t it about time some credit was given to the man behind the sleeves,TV commercials and marketing of StreetSounds.Without John Carver StreetSounds wouldn’t have been visually iconic.John suggested the Electro idea to Morgan and came up with the name StreetSounds.Prior to this Morgan called it StreetMusic.Under John’s art direction StreetSounds became a force to be reckoned with.Shame no one gives him the credit he is due.Some people hog the limelight don’t they Morgan?
I loved Street Sounds. The main releases and the Jazz Juice releases were alway a highlight of the 80’s for me. However, I think vol 15 onwards got a little bit too pop and electro for my smoother tastes. I think 17 was the last one I brought.
I loved their Philadelphia story. That was fantastic. As well as the artist profiles…
Never touched any of the Electro titles or any of the weird eurobeat stuff….
But from the moment I was given Vol 1 in 1982 by my mum, my musical taste was cast in stone from there onwards….
hi.the dance mix soul lp’s were called dance mix dance hits. but i think there were about 4 or 5 of these released.mixed by alan coulthard..very rare
Construction BBC 35…
StreetSounds - Campaign For Real Music : Publication sur notre page Facebook et Twitter. Nous avons trouvé votre article très intéressant. MERCI pour ces infos. Cordialement, bonne continuation….
Hi all, not much time left, but BBC Radio6 Music had a retrospective of the StreetSounds albums on 6mix along with an interview with Morgan Khan… check it out on iPlayer (only 3 more days left!!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00stpnh
Enjoy!