Sometimes it feels as if there is no end to the number of great slept on records from the past, but to say 'slept on' suggests people may have ignored said records the first time around, when in fact so much great music is lost because there was no budget to market the beast or even press that many vinyls up. Certainly now, we are also discovering any number of... I want to say 'amateur' Disco, Funk, Soul, whatever bands over the years who produced low budget records of immense grooviness, 'amateur' is the wrong word...
I recently discovered the brilliant 'Spaced Out' album by Thesda. I don't own a copy (yet!!!) and i certainly dont hold out any hopes of finding one of the few hundred that were made, but this highly sought after record is such a beauty that it definitely deserves a decent repress. Here's what I know about the band.... Hailing from Bethesda, Eugene Hagburg, then assistant to the Postmaster General, had a deep passion for music. He'd amassed a healthy sized collection of studio bits and pieces and created a dedicated space in his home to write and produce. Members of Thesda would come over in the evenings to explore their significant musical interests, without the worry of professional studio costs and limiting label bosses. Here they would record 'Spaced Out' for Hagburg's excellently named label Integrated Performance Systems International, later their horn player would go on to join Trouble Funk. Apparently vocalist Lateefah had no real training but her performances on the tracks are both mighty and mighty wonderful. The album is sought after not only because only a few hundred were pressed, but also because it's a complex, spacey and deeply soulful Disco tinged side. While there are many far more uptempo items on the record, here is the marvelous title track...
Thesda - Spaced Out
Italian musicians Franco Rago and Gigi Farina were known as Expansives, but they also worked under the names Decadance, Atelier Folie and Message From Future. If you're up on your Italo Disco then you know they released some great 12"s on indie labels like Leader Records, Proto, Durium and Blood Records. They would later find a new audience on labels like Viewlexx and Panama in the early/mid 2000's. Expansives 'Life With You' is exactly the kind of track that would have influenced Morgan Geist's Metro Area and is a phat slice of Proto House Electro Disco with just a touch of the Bee Gees. Originally released in 1982 this gem is now off the charts as far as cost is concerned, but if you dont know it, check it below...
