No Condition Is Permanent

Pictured: Lakeside.

Sylvia Robinson staged the first of the breakthrough events on 11 March at the Ritz. The Funky 4 + 1 More set the Sugar Hill review rolling, the guys wearing white turtleneck suits and Sha-Rock dressed in fuchsia pants, a matching vest, and a ribbed sweater. Sequence, Spoonie Gee, and guest artist Coati Mundi followed in a parade of autobiographical boosterism. Then came [Grandmaster] Flash, who took to the stage dressed in a black cape, followed by the Furious Five, who wore swanky black and white outfits and executed Temptations- style moves that were so sharp the Sugarhill Gang’s finale turned out to be anticlimactic. Working the crowd between the acts and after the show, DJ Justin Strauss interspersed rap records with songs such as “I Hear Music in the Streets.” Fearful that “the trendists who sit in the trees of the music industry like vultures will soon be ready to swoop down on rap and pick it to the bone as they did with disco in 1978 and 1979,” Dance Music Report noted that the moment when Flash dedicated the evening to disco and the DJ’s was“exhilarating.” Even skeptics were seduced. “I still change the station when I hear a rap record on the radio,” Vince Aletti wrote in the Village Voice, having gone back to writing for music after he parted ways with Warner Bros., “but I haven’t had this much fun at a concert since I saw the old Motown Revue at the Brooklyn Fox.”

— Tim Lawrence, Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980-1983.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 339 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT:

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 339 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT BY CLICKING ON THE THREE DOTS /\

Here’s what we played in Ep. 339 of No Condition Is Permanent:

THE FIRST SET

Ohio Players — “Love Rollercoaster” — Honey

Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies — “You’ve Gotta Help Yourself” — Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor

Arvee Allens — “Fast Freight” — Surf’s Comin’

M. Ashraf & Noor Jehan — “Disco Dildaar Mera” — Disco Dildar

Chris Farlowe — “Everyone Makes A Mistake” — The Immediate Singles Collection

Los Kintos — “El Fiel Enamorado” — Los Kintos

The Liberty Bell — “I Can See” — Garage Beat ’66, Vol. 5: Readin’ Your Will!

Errol Brown and The Revolutionaries — “Ballistic Version aka Sly Special” — Tip Top Dub

IT’S MADISON TIME…

Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen — “Everybody’s Doin’ It” — Too Much Fun: The Best Of Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen

THE SECOND SET

Sonthaya Kalasin — “Best Friend and Best Friend (Instrumental)” — Classic Productions By Surin Phaksiri 2: Molam Gems From The 1960s-80s

The Tonettes — “I Gotta Know” — Basement Beehive: The Girl Group Underground

Black Savage — “Grassland” — Black Savage

The Detroit Emeralds — “Things Are Looking Up” — The Westbound Sound of Detroit: Sensational Motor City Groups 1969-1975

Fruko y Sus Tesos — “Bang Bang” — World’s Funkiest Covers

The Undertones — “Hypnotised” — The Very Best of The Undertones 1979-1983

The Upsetter Revue featuring Junior Murvin — “Rasta Get Ready (People Get Ready)” — Police & Thieves (Deluxe Edition)

The Moroccos — “Morocco Chant” — Rumba Doowop ’55

Los Ecos — “La Gran Pelea” — Psicofasicos de Bolivia

THE THIRD SET

Al Wilson — “The Snake” — Ultimate Northern Soul: 22 Classic & Rare Floorshakers!

Karl Hector & The Malcouns — “Koloko Pt. 1” — Sahara Swing

James Brown — “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” — Star Time: The Godfather of Soul

Takeshi Terauchi — “Ginza No Onna” — Nippon Guitars

Wesley Reynolds — “Say There” — Loc-A-Li & Eeny Meeny: Exotic Blues & Rhythm Vol. 11 & 12

Roland Louis Orchestra — “Play Up Play Up” — Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Vol. 2

Shoes — “She’ll Disappear” — Black Vinyl Shoes

The Uniques — “One Life” — Watch This Sound

THE FINAL SET

The Isley Brothers — “Wild As A Tiger” — R&B Humdingers 4

Ringo Star — “Ne Refuse Pas” — Ne Refuse Pas

Roxy Music — “She Sells” — Siren

Omar Khorshid — “Warakat Ya Nassib (Lottery Ticket)” — Guitar El Chark

Lakeside — “Fantastic Voyage” — Frankie Crocker: Do It Frankie, Do It To It!

The Prophets — “Ten To One (Version)” — King Tubby’s Prophecies Of Dub

The Bush — “To Die Alone” — Impossible But True: The Kim Fowley Story

LORD BUCKLEY’S WEEKLY BENEDICTION…

Burt Bacharach & Session Musicians — “Are You There with Another Girl?” — Bob Brainen’s Tracks