| Author | Message | ||
  here i am (here_i_am) 2-Debutant Username: here_i_am Post Number: 24 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 80.200.121.200 |
HI GUYS....i am a Philly soul music lover.....my fave are THE THREE DEGREES, but i also like FIRST CHOISE...those beautiful vocals from Rochelle Fleming.....can anyone tell us what she's up to, and does anyone has a contactaddress..SEE YOU ALL! | ||
here i am (here_i_am) 2-Debutant Username: here_i_am Post Number: 22 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 80.201.54.211 |
is there no one who can tell us about FIRST CHOISE'S lead singer Rochelle Fleming.....she' s such a good singer! ! ! | ||
Wonder B (wonder_b) 5-Doyen Username: wonder_b Post Number: 379 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 81.50.37.47 |
I will ease your mind while you're waiting for some info on her with this pic... LOL  Wonder B If you mess with the 'fro, you gotta go! | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 471 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.200.30.217 |
Rochelle is still working in the clubs and sounding just as great as ever. Several years ago I produced new versions of a lot of their Gold Mind stuff, with Rochele on lead, of course. but nothing ever came of it because of the company's tardiness. FYI..my late wife discovered them, and writer Bruce Hawes in a church rehearsal back in the day. Subsequently,W.D.A.S. radio DJ Georgie Woods got a hold of them and gave them to Norman Harris and Allan Felder, and the rest is history!! | ||
1wicked (1wicked) 3-Pundit Username: 1wicked Post Number: 70 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.126.64.72 |
I love First Choice...and their version of Stevie's "Love Havin' You Around" is, IMHO, the better version. | ||
paulie3$hoes (paulie3hoes) 3-Pundit Username: paulie3hoes Post Number: 31 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.200.30.217 |
i likded dat tune armed an ekstremly dangeras cuz it reminded me of ol' paulie(over here), catch my drift, eh??EH #@$%^&*() i likded dat part wit da sireens an s**t cuz it was like da feds wuz still after me, capice??@#$%^&*( | ||
Jimmy Mack (luke) 5-Doyen Username: luke Post Number: 211 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.198.48.201 |
I saw on a talent agency that First Choice could be booked---hmmmm--not sure about that--havent heard of a reunion. | ||
marv (marv) 3-Pundit Username: marv Post Number: 37 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 205.188.116.13 |
Rochelle did a club date here in New York (Queens,NY) just last spring. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1063 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
I'll tell you what should be reissued. The DJ Bobby Guttadaro 12" remix of Double Cross! That keyboard intro & the accapella/clap breakdown: "Love Stealing, Double Dealing, Two-Timing Lowdown Son-Of-A-Gun was fierce!!! I'm tired of them constantly reissuing the damn Shep Pettibone remix. I WANT THE DJ BOBBY GUTTADARO REMIX!!!!!! | ||
DyvaNaye (westside314) 6-Zenith Username: westside314 Post Number: 508 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 205.188.116.13 |
*You* want this: KABONGG!!! | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 4-Laureate Username: dvdmike Post Number: 122 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 65.208.234.61 |
To be honest, I was never crazy about those DJ remixes. They often had a tendency to ruin a record. It was kind of like painting a smile on the Mona Lisa or colorizing a black & white film. Every once in a while you might get a decent remix, one that didn't take away from the original idea that the producer had, but most of the time, they just wound up vamping you to death. | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 473 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.158.200.20 |
Mike, I totally concur with your thoughts. When I originally produced This Time Baby by Jackie Moore, we had what al of thought to be a great record, soulful, musical, great track played by Atlantic Starr. When I heard that remix I just cringed. They destroyed our record. Where's the fat snare, what's with that awful cowbell, etc... Of course, you can't argue with success, but they should have included the original mix on the 12 inch for all of the..ahem..."non club types who would enjoy it and also boost the sales of the record. I also DESPISE al of those remixes where those so called "producer-dj's" change bass lines, chords and other elements of a record with music that doesnt make any sense and bears absoloutely NO resemblence to the song and destroys it's musical integrity. Me, being a musician with very sensitive ears, It's like chalk on a blackboard. A good example is the remix of Luther's "Power of Love"....errrrggh!!!!! | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 4-Laureate Username: dvdmike Post Number: 126 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 65.208.234.61 |
I don't have a problem with the original producer doing a remix, because it's his or her work, but some DJ who probably never met the producer and doesn't know that person's music...no. Without naming him, there was a certain guy who did remixes back in the late seventies who used to screw the songs up. He had one big hit, but for every hit he remixed, he'd have about 8 flops. Some friends of mine had a group called Davis Import and recorded a song called "D.J. Devilish" back around 1979 or 80. The initial quick mix that Paul Serrano did was great, but this other guy got a hold of it and just mixed the life out of it. Took away the intro, had drums and congas soloed, but they weren't saying anything. The keyboards, which were instrumental in the song's chorus and hook were buried and he had the horns sounding like something out of Bozo's Circus and the congas sounding like coffee cans. As much as I always loved the Philly Sound, I thought those Salsoul remixes were putrid. But in the other hand, I liked the job that Tom Moulton did on the "Philadelphia Classics compilation for Philadelphia International." Moulton was one of the best remixers in the business in my opinion. | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 476 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.129.49.6 |
Hi Mike!! The reason Tom Moulton excelled at his craft,was for the most part, he was the MIXER and not the REMIXER, except of course on the Philly Classics album. He WAS Philly. He spent three quarters of the 70's in Sigma, studio one and knew the room the engineers, the musicians, singers, everyone on a personal level. I agreethat those Salsoul mixes that those other guys did were not so great. They werent even done at Sigma! Most of these "new flava" mixers should be put out to pasture somewhere on Fire Island and just left to self destruct. You NYC people know about Fire Island, dont you?? Tom Moulton got his start is the clubs there, but he left and developed his style in Philly. I talk to him and visit him when I can. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1069 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Mike, you mentioned Davis Import from the AVI label. Did you like their 1978 cut I'm Glad You're Mine??? I loved that song, used to play it & it was like I was the only one who liked it. Still do!!! Bobby, is it possible to find the original version of This Time Baby anywhere. Also, did you dislike the way that Bobby Guttardaro remixed Double Cross. He left the song pretty much intact. He just opened the song with a synthesized line & later in the break, he dropped out the instruments, left hand clap & the girls singing, "Love stealing, double dealing, etc. Do you remember that remix??? | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 480 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.200 |
Juice, I have tapes of the original TTB mixes. I just have to find them. Obviously there were some exceptions to my prior post, but most of those remixes just remind me of the aids epidemic and so many shattered lives and broken families. I have lost so many friends due to aids, that those kind of mixes remind me of those days that led to their demise. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1072 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Bobby, TOUCHE'!!!! | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 4-Laureate Username: dvdmike Post Number: 129 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.253.217.114 |
Yes Juice, they were the same guys. They were a group of four brothers. Bruce, Glen, Cameron and Doug Davis. Another brother Ray was in the group during their later days. They were the nephews of legendary Chicago Soul producer Carl Davis. Their dad George, Carl's brother, ran Carl's publishing house. Originally called Howwefeel, they changed the group name to Davis Import because they were born in different parts of the world. (Cameron, for example was born in Morocco.) Their dad was in the Air Force and got transferred quite a bit. "I'm Glad You're Mine", released in 1978 was their first AVI release. "Starchild", included on the EP was a real nice ballad featuring Bruce and Cameron on lead. It got a bit of local airplay. "How My Love Goes", also from the EP was later covered by Major Lance. They never released an album, only 3 EPs between 1978 and 1981. The second EP, "D.J. Devilish (Turn This Disco Out") was released in 1979. The last EP, "You're The One", another ballad was released in the early part of 1981. It didn't sell, but it got some local airplay. The group disbanded in the early '80s with everyone going their own way. Doug went off to law school at Georgetown (He's now a successful Los Angeles attorney and is producing films with his partner, actor Mykelti Williamson. He's also married and has a young son.), Glen left the business and Bruce and Cameron spent some time scoring porno films. Unfortunately, Ray passed away shortly after after having a bad reaction to his prescribed medication. He left behind a wife and two children. James Mack produced "I'm Glad You're Mine", "Starchild" and "How My Love Goes" at P.S. Recording Studios. The group with Sonny Sanders produced "D.J. Devilish", also at P.S. And the group and Tom Tom 84 produced "You're The One" at Brunswick and P.S. Bruce, the oldest brother recorded with Le Pamplemousse in the early '80s. He produced part of the "My Love Is Burning Up" LP, playing bass, keyboards and providing the lead vocals. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1075 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Mike, THANKS for that info!!! Brother, it is greatly appreciated. I never knew anything about the group at all. I knew that they were hooked up with AVI & I thought the The Dogs Of War had something to do with AVI at the time. I never heard the other songs, I guess that they didn't push them here in N.Y. Now when you say Le' Pamplemousse, you're talking about Rinder & Lewis & El Coco. Le' Spank, Get Your Boom Boom, Cocomotion, Just Be You & my all-time Disco favorite, Let's Get It Together. Those memories just made my day!!! Thanks Mike! | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 483 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 205.188.116.13 |
Hey Juice! It was great hanging with you this evening my brother!! Vonnie thinks that you are a great guy! FYI...AVI was owned by none other than LIBERACE !! Makes sense now, doesnt it?? | ||
dvdmike (dvdmike) 4-Laureate Username: dvdmike Post Number: 130 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.253.217.114 |
Le Pamplemousse, like El Coco was a Rinder & Lewis studio creation, there was no actual group. They worked out of Producers Workshop in Hollywood. | ||
1wicked (1wicked) 4-Laureate Username: 1wicked Post Number: 80 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.126.64.72 |
Yeah Mike...and I believe my (distant) relative Keg Johnson, Jr. worked on one or both of those as well. | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 1079 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
What up there Bobby!! For a minute there I was worried! When Vonnie went KABONNGGG, I kept looking out for Paulie, know what I mean??? Aww shucks, you flatter me too much! That's just the residual effects from the kabongingg. Seriously, Vonnie's good people as we used to say. You two are cool & fun to hang with. Brothers & Sisters of the Soul, know what I mean??? Y'all are good people & the lack of ego is cool. Oh, one thing though.....You've just got to hide that doggone mallet from her!!! You guys are funny as hell & down to earth. It was fun, now we got to get the rest of the N.Y., N.J., Philly connection together. LIBERACE???? Now that's something! They could have put a candelabra on the label or something. That's cool, I still liked Rinder & Lewis, El Coco & Le' Pamplemousse. Some of their stuff anyway! | ||
here i am (here_i_am) 3-Pundit Username: here_i_am Post Number: 33 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 217.136.65.202 |
Still waiting to hear about Rochelle....is she still recording and what are the other "FIRST CHOISE" members up to! |
