Montana Sextet - Heavy Vibes

PSW 10482
Vince Montana was old school even back in Disco’s heyday.  Born in 1928 in south Philadelphia, he began playing vibes and other percussion at an early age and at sixteen was playing in local jazz clubs reportedly sharing stages with the likes of Charlie “Bird” Parker and Sarah Vaughn.  By the early sixties, Montana was an established and sought after session player who recorded with scores if not hundreds of artists.  None of this really matters to the House fan.  What matters is that Vincent Montana ended up at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, the headquarters of superstar writing team Gamble and Huff and home of the “Philly Sound”. 

It was here that Montana helped form the basis of what would become known as Disco.  He was part of the pool of studio musicians at Sigma who were known collectively as MFSB.  This ensemble provided the backing for many hit acts including Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, The O’Jays, The Spinners, and The Stylistics to name a few.  In 1974, under their own name, MFSB recorded T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia) which became a number 1 hit and the long running theme song for the influential musical television series Soul Train.

Eventually differences with Gamble and Huff led much of the group to relocate to Salsoul Records and form the Salsoul Orchestra.  Much like MFSB, this group recorded backing tracks as the house band for the label in addition to recording under their own name.  Many hits produced by both MFSB and The Salsoul Orchestra carried over into the House era in Chicago, most notably, Love is the Message.  This song was a hit for MFSB and the Salsoul Orchestra produced a similar song with vocals called Ooh I Love It.  Both versions (actually many different versions with varied titles eventually appeared) were staples in early House sets.  The Salsoul version was sampled by Madonna for her 1990 hit Vogue.

Vince Montana continued recording with the Salsoul Orchestra while also branching out on his own.  Under the name Montana  as well as the Montana Sextet, he had his own success on dance music scene.  Heavy Vibes is probably his best known perhaps because it shares some musical similarities with Love is the Message/Ooh I Love it.  This version (on Montana’s own Philly Sound Works label) also includes the novelty song No Football No More which places tongue in cheek lyrics about the 1982 NFL players strike over an edited version of Heavy Vibes.

 
Track List

Side A
Heavy Vibes
No Football No More

Side B
Heavy Vibes (Club Mix) 

Side A&B 

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