dave cortez FUNKY ROBOT

another pick from austin, tx's BACKSPIN RECORDS, located in possibly the most ridiculous strip mall south of the mason-dixon.  i borrowed my friend's bike and quickly managed to snap one of the brake cables enroute.  rather than be a good guy and get this fixed, i opted for the above, admittedly of equal price to having the brake cable fixed.  was it worth it?  no, i'm not even that in love with this song.  but i digress.  what this single does afford us, though, is a look into one of the more promising "do the (x)" dance numbers.  i imagine this dance to be a discreet application of brownian motion performed, after a few cocktails, by buckminsterfuller and isaac asimov.

dave cortez was an organist who had some success in the late 50s and early sixties before joining ALL PLATINUM RECORDS, a humbly named, nj-based label run by sylvia robinson.  before launching the inimitable SUGARHILL RECORDS in the late seventies, robinson performed and wrote a number of interesting protodisco tunes, charting with her 1973 performance of PILLOW TALK, a tune she tried to sell to AL GREEN.  she is also credited with writing one of the first international disco hits, SHAME SHAME SHAME, for the group SHIRLEY & CO in 1974.  five years later, robinson released RAPPERS DELIGHT, bringing east coast rap to a commercial audience (worth exploring KOOL HERC in the future).