First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder

SG 397

Right up there with James Brown’s Funky Drummer and the Amen break, this song is one of the most sampled in dance music history.  It became a hit in its original form and by the early 80’s, found its way on every Chicago DJ’s playlist.  The easy availability of its acappella version allowed it be reused and remixed with other songs live.  As more and more instrumental-only house tracks were created by DJs, this acappella ended up becoming the de-facto lyric sheet of an entire genre.  I would bet that just about any Chicagoan who listened to WBMX from 1981-1990 can still recite the spoken “rap” from the end of this song almost verbatim.  “Honey let me tell you something…”

The influence this song had on the development of House music cannot be overstated.  Just as Afrika Bambatta and Arthur Baker borrowed from Kraftwerk to produce Planet Rock in this time before music sampling was commonplace, early house music producers had a penchant for taking bits from their favorite tracks and simply replaying them.  Thus, the bassline from this song’s chorus found its way onto many DJ’s musical compositions, both officially released records and privately traded tracks.  Most notably, this bassline became the driving motif for Steve “Silk” Hurley’s Jack Your Body, the first House record to reach #1 on the UK charts.  Likewise, the distinctive synth/stings progression from the intro entered the common musical vocabulary of early house.  In addition to the music’s influence, Rochelle Fleming’s vocal delivery became the benchmark for House diva’s, both male and female, for years.

Let No Man Put Asunder was released in 1977 as the first single from the album Delusions on the Gold Mind label (distributed by Salsoul).  This was the third album by First Choice (Rochelle Fleming, Joyce Jones, and Annette Guest) who began their musical career in the early 70’s as a Philly Soul group.  Over the years, many different versions of the tune were release on Salsoul, Rams Horn, and a few smaller, semi-legit labels.  The versions here are from a Salsoul single released around 1983.  One side has been remixed by Shep Pettibone from NYC’s KISS FM and the other by Frankie Knuckles, the NYC to Chicago transplant who opened the legendary club Warehouse from which the name House music is derived.  This single still has 1977 printed on the label but this date is erroneous.

 

First Choice also had several other hits that became Chicago House staples, Dr. Love, Double Cross, and Love Thang.  The group officially disbanded in 1984 but Rochelle Fleming has continued to record as a solo artist and appear as guest vocalist for other House music artists.

Track List

Side A - A Shep Pettibone Mix for Mastermix Productions

1. Let No Man Put Asunder (vocal)

2. Let No Man Put Asunder (instrumental)

3. Let No Man Put Asunder (acappella)

Side B - Mix by Frankie Knuckles

4. Let No Man Put Asunder (vocal)

5. Let No Man Put Asunder (instrumental) 

Side A&B 

Jesse Saunders - On & On

JS 9999
How about a record that was actually made in Chicago?  How about something by one of the originators of House Music?  How about what is arguably the first commercially released House record?  Jesse Saunders’ On & On is it.

Jesse Saunders was already a well-known DJ when he laid these tracks down on wax in 1984.  Legend has it that Jesse’s signature record (a bootleg disco mix by MACH called On and On) was stolen so he decided to recreate the main loop on his own and thus was born Jesse Saunders' On & On.  I don’t know how true this is but it’s a good story.  I do know that when this record came out, DJ’s and fans alike went nuts.  Everybody had to have a copy of this single by a local boy we could relate to.

Musically, On & On was not especially groundbreaking to Chicago audiences.  Other DJ’s were also using the 909 and 808 to create their own beats and mixing them from cassette or reel-to-reel in their sets.  The handclap-heavy, four on the floor beat with incessant cowbells and rimshots was already in fashion in the Windy City.  Jesse’s innovation was to show that you could sell this music.  He proved that House music fans would support a thriving local scene that included record sales as well as club attendance.  This record's success also showed that pure drum tracks (what would later become known as DJ tools) could sell well to the general public. Pretty soon every DJ was putting out a disc of their "go-to" drum tracks.

The flip side of this record, five classically sparse Chicago House drum tracks, has what I consider to be the most significant track on this release: 119.  This “song” became an even bigger hit than On & On.  Jesse had been using this track in his sets long before the record came out (hence the parenthetical, 1984 in the title) and crowds knew it well.  They even knew it by name.  I remember hearing folks at the Playground (club) yell “119!” from the dancefloor as a way of requesting it.  I think it was named after it’s BPM but how everyone (my friends and I included) knew it’s name before the record came out remains a mystery.  After this record was released, every DJ in Chicago began including it in their sets and it remained a popular break long after On & On was considered a dated novelty.

Jesse Saunders continued to record music on his own Jes Say label, Mitchbal, Precision, and others.  His collaborator for On & On, Vince Lawrence, also continued to create music in collaboration with Jesse, on his own, with his band Z-Factor, and under the pseudonym, Virgo.

Track List

Side One
On & On

Side Two
119 (1984)
5A
1A
4A & B
Im the D.J.

Sides1&2

Massimo Barsotti D.J. - Whole Lotta Love

ZZ 20 005
When this song began getting play in Chicago, there was always a sense of heightened anticipation as the instrumental’s intro would start slowly sliding into a mix.  By the time the arpeggio began, dancers were halfway to a true frenzy.  The piercing lead synth that picks up a third of the way through the song simply sealed the deal.  The fuzzy bass drum that hammers alone relentlessly for 16 bars was an unusual sound for the time and probably influenced a lot of harder tracks to come later.  Speed it up to about 150 bpm and you’ve got a Gabber track.

I have to confess that I had been hearing this track in mixes and on the radio long before I realized it was a Led Zeppelin cover.  Granted the instrumental version is the one that got the most play but I was also pretty clueless about rock music back then.  When I finally bought the single, I recognized the names Page/Plant on the label credits but didn’t know why.  My buddy Todd, who was much more knowledgeable about rock (and all music for that matter), finally explained the history of the song to me.  It didn’t matter; THIS song was the one that mattered.  I think it was sometime in the 90's when I finally heard the Zeppelin version. By then I was SO familiar with this track and its nuances that it felt (and still feels to me) like Zeppelin was the doing the cover (and an awkward one at that).

One online review I found says that “while Robert Plant sounds like a dude who really needs to get laid, Barsotti sounds like that dude who got laid the night before, plans to get laid again that night and every night for the foreseeable future.”   Maybe that’s true but it might just be the accent.  I’m pretty sure Mr. Barsotti didn’t speak English when he recorded this but just tried imitating what he heard.  Sure Robert Plant slides words together just like any other rock singer but here the chorus literally goes “ah wanna walla la love.”

  

Really though, all of that is beside the point.  This song (especially the instrumental) is a driving, funky, dark, weird thing that is near perfect.  Even the record is gorgeous.  The Fuzz Dance label out of Italy released a string of singles with oversized, custom labels that look just great.  Alexander Robotnick’s Problemes D’amour (another great track) also got this packaging.  Take a look at the high-stepping girl on this label.  Is she scared? Excited? Crazy?  Whatever (it’s probably all three), she is DEFINITELY dancing to this song.

Track List

Side A
Whole Lotta Love

Side B
W.L.L. (another version)

WLL 

Klein & M.B.O. - The Most Dirty Talk

RAMSH5304
Maybe more than any other song, this track reminds me of those very early days of Chicago House. The Hot Mix Five were in full effect on WBMX but local DJ’s and producers weren’t really making tracks of their own yet. The House sound was defined by some older Disco tracks and imported singles from Italy and the Benelux primarily.

A lot of these imports would fall in the category of Hi-NRG but Dirty Talk was different. More “laid back and sexy” than “I'm so excited!”, this song really presages the sound of early DJ International and Trax Records releases from Chicago producers. Listen especially to parts like the intro to the first version of More Dirty Talk and the break around 3:15 on the USA Connection Instrumental. The stripped-down 909 8th note handclaps and syncopated rimshots with a bouncing bassline combo is a classic Chicago sound. One of Klein & M.B.O.’s other hits, M.B.O. Theme was the inspiration for Chip E.’s MB Dance, which appeared on his 1984 EP Jack Trax. This classic record also featured Time to Jack and It’s House. The first official release to use the term "House" on record. Let me know if I’m mistaken.


Due to its popularity, this song was released in many different versions on several labels. I believe it originated on Zanza Records in 1982 before Rams Horn started pumping out version after version in 1983 and eventually Atlantic Records here in the States picked it up. The versions here are from the 1983 (almost album-length) EP on Rams Horn called The Most Dirty Talk that culled together almost all of the versions from Rams Horn’s other 12” releases. I’m not sure who the Klein in this band is but one of the writers/producers behind this group was Tony Carrasco who had a hand in many hit Italian imports from this time period.

A side note: I think it’s sweet that a song called “Dirty Talk” has such innocent our-love-is-so-special lyrics. I doubt that would happen today. I used to love hearing the singer mispronounce “ecstasy” as “ek-tasy” and then sing later in the song about how “You laugh the way I sound”. That said, the instrumental versions are really where it’s at.


Track List
Side 1
1. Dirty Talk (USA Connection)
2. Dirty Talk (European Connection)
3. Dirty Talk (USA Connection Instrumental)
4. Dirty Talk (European Connection Instrumental)
Side2
5. More Dirty Talk
6. More Dirty Talk
7. Dirty Talk (Canadian Connection)
8. Dirty Talk (Reprise)

s1        s2