Killer synth-R&B-dance track from 1986.     Rumors… I can still take more more!

1986 was a great year for electronic R&B which incorporated the new urban sound, hiphop, funk, soul and dance music — a sound that later became known as the New Jack Swing in the late 80′s. New Jack Swing was pretty much hijacked by Teddy Riley [watch video] who took that genre to a whole new level. But Rumors was one of the very first tracks with that sound — a sound so poundingly raw, with a spine that keeps the drums, baseline and overall groove fused together as one. I remember this track hitting the top of the charts around the world. I bought a few different copies of the 12-inch records from Canada, USA and England.  I’ve also bought Rumors on Canadian-issued maxi-single cassette tape.  Why?  Because I liked the different artwork covers!

Almost every artist of this genre was utilizing the very latest electronic and groundbreaking musical instruments at that time.     E-mu SP12 [watch video] and Linn-9000 [watch video] were just the revolutionary sampling drum machines used in the industry. Their factory sound/samples that came with those two machines were legendary — practically used on thousands of tracks out there.  The SP12 had 24 onboard drum sounds plus 8 additional memory allocations for loading custom/user samples. Since the SP12 had no built-in floppy drive for backup, I am not sure how the user samples were stored. However, the SP12 was quickly superseded by SP1200 in 1987 which had a built-in 3.5″ floppy drive and more sampling memory.

Almost all the drum sounds on Rumors were from the SP12/1200. I recognize that snare very well to be from E-mu Systems’ factory sample collection. Just that snare alone could be heard on Jody Watley’s – Looking For A New Love,  Janet Jackson’s – Control by the two big-time producers Jam & Lewis, and even Kraftwerk’s – The Telephone Call… just as few examples.

The TR-808 drum sounds on Rumors, to my belief, were samples of the real 808 drum-machine loaded into the SP12/1200.  Most of the synth sounds, particularly the main melodic/stabby one, was from a Roland Juno-106 [watch video]. I know that Roland sound, because I, too, own a 106 and few other kinds.

Read more information on Timex Social Club here (wikipedia) –and– here (TSC official site).

Timex Social Club – “Rumors” (Social Club Mix)…

Artist: Timex Social Club
Title: Rumors (Social Club Mix)
Year: 1986
Label: AM Records
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

Timex Social Club – “Rumors” (Social Club Mix) (mp3)

Timex Social Club – “Rumors” (Social Club Dub)…

Artist: Timex Social Club
Title: Rumors (Social Club Dub)
Year: 1986
Label: AM Records
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

Timex Social Club – “Rumors” (Social Club Dub) (mp3)

Timex Social Club – “Vicious Rumors”…

Artist: Timex Social Club
Title: Vicious Rumors
Year: 1986
Label: AM Records
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

Timex Social Club – “Vicious Rumors” (mp3)

Synth Britannia – Part 1/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 2/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 3/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 4/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 5/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 6/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 7/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 8/9…

Synth Britannia – Part 9/9…

This is a very very RARE 12-inch gem indeed ….. New York Street Mix of “Say La La” by Pieces Of A Dream (1986). Good luck in finding this track anywhere on the net!  Not even on YouTube.  You may find the original-extended version of Say La La, but not this New York Street Mix, especially a good quality recording (high-resolution 320/kbs MP3). I just love the minimal approach to this remix which has a bassline to die for. Each bassline note sounds like staccato one-shot bass-stab thats deep. The drums are factory sounds that of an E-Mu SP12 drum-machine/sampler (picture & info further down below). Nice breakdown and build-up towards the middle and end with nice gradual fade-out. I’m gonna let the music do the talking. Have a listen. I hope you’ve got beefy speakers!

Pieces Of  A Dream – “Say La La” (New York Street Mix)…

Artist: Pieces Of A Dream
Title: Say La La (New York Street Mix)
Year: 1986
Label: Manhattan Records (via EM)
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

Pieces Of A Dream – “Say La La” (New York Street Mix) (mp3)

Pieces Of  A Dream – “Say La La” (Extended Album Version)…

Artist: Pieces Of A Dream
Title: Say La La (Extended Album Version)
Year: 1986
Label: Manhattan Records (via EM)
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

Pieces Of A Dream – “Say La La” (Extended Album Version) (mp3)

About Pieces Of A Dream…

Source of information (click here)

• Formed 1975, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
• Pieces Of A Dream are:
• Cedric Napoleon (bassist)
• Curtis Harmon (drummer)
• and James Lloyd (keyboardist)
• Pieces of a Dream were founded in 1975 in Philadelphia when the principal members were all teenagers.
• Originally somewhat jazz-oriented, Pieces of a Dream has mostly emphasized R & B although they usually include a few jazz numbers in their performances.
• Grover Washington, Jr., produced their first three albums (all for Elektra during 1981-83), they have since recorded for Manhattan.
• The group has also included Lance Webb (lead vocals), Randall Bowland (guitar), Vincent Davis (synths) and Norwood (vocals).
• Saxophonist Ron Kerber became a member in the 1990′s.
• Their albums included ‘Pieces Of A Dream’ (1981), including ‘Warm Weather’ featuring the vocals of Barbara Walker, ‘We Are One’ (1982) and ‘Imagine This’ (1983), including ‘Fo-Fi-Fo’, all were a fusion of R & B, jazz and soul.
• They continued this formula following their switch to Manhattan (via EM]) with ‘Joyride’ (1986), ‘Makes You Wanna’ (1988), including ‘We Belong To Each Other’, and the Gene Griffin, co-produced ‘Bout Dat Time’ (1989).
• Later releases concentrated more along the smooth jazz vein.

“Say La La” Performed by FAMU’s World Famous Marching 100 Band…

E-Mu SP12  Drum Machine/Sampler…

The E-mu SP-12 is the classic drum machine & sampler combo that paved the way for such greats as the E-mu SP-1200 and AKAI MPC series of sampling drum machines. Redesigned from E-mu’s original Drumulator drum machine, the SP-12 is a classic drum machine with built in sampling capability. There is a set of preset drum sounds including kick, snare, hihats, toms, cymbals, handclap and rimshot. These sounds can be mixed and edited using the sliders. Then you can add your own beats and drum sounds using the built-in 12-bit sampler. Sampling time is limited to only a few seconds and the quality is very lo-fi (a sound loved by lo-fi and trip hop). Store your patterns and link them into songs, there’s room for 100 of each! There are mono and individual outputs (no stereo). It’s been used by Madlib, Large Professor, Chicago, and DJ Premiere.

The SP-12 was quickly superceded by the SP-1200 in 1987 which was continuously reissued through 1997. The SP-1200 is undoubtedly the more popular of the two since it has added features and emphasized sampling by eliminating the preset drum sounds.

Source of information (click here)