45 RPMs 55: Rick James - Super Freak 12" 45

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Rick James ~ Street Songs
 album front cover detail 

design by Ginny Livingston

logo design by Norman Moore 

photo by Ron Slenzak

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

 

 

Rick James was born in Buffalo, New York on this date in 1948; he was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known for his hit single, Super Freak. I remember dancing madly to it at discos in the early eighties.                 

 

 

Rick James ~ Super Freak 12" 45 

Side 1, in album sleeve 

photo by Styrous®

In 1981, James released his most successful album, Street Songs, which included career-defining hits such as Give It to Me Baby and this song, Super Freak, which became his biggest crossover single, mixing elements of funk, disco, rock and new wave.      

 

Rick James ~ Super Freak 12" 45 

Side 1, in album sleeve 

photo by Styrous®

James also had a successful career as a songwriter and producer for other artists including Teena Marie, the Mary Jane Girls, the Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson.        

Rick James ~ Super Freak Pt. 2 12" 45 

Side 2, in album sleeve 

photo by Styrous®

Rick James - 1984 

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

 

 

James' mainstream success had peaked by the ttime of the release of his album Glow in 1985 and his appearance on the popular TV show, The A-Team. His subsequent album releases failed to sell as well as their predecessors.      

Rick James ~ Super Freak Pt. 2 12" 45 

Side 2, in album sleeve 

photo by Styrous®

        

Rapper MC Hammer sampled James' Super Freak for his 1990 hit, U Can't Touch This which won Best R&B Song at the 1991 Grammy Awards. James received his only Grammy for composing the song. By the early 1990s, James' career was hampered by his drug addiction and he was embroiled with legal issues. In 1993, James was convicted for two separate instances of kidnapping and torturing two different women while under the influence of crack cocaine, resulting in a three-year sentence at Folsom State Prison. James was released on parole in 1996 and released the album Urban Rapsody in 1997. James' health problems halted his career again after he had a mild stroke during a concert in 1998, and he announced a semi-retirement.                             

 

 

Rick James 

photo by Mark Weiss/WireImage

 

 

On the morning of August 6, 2004, James' caretaker found him dead in his Los Angeles home at the Oakwood Toluca Hills apartment complex, just outside Burbank. He had died from pulmonary failure and cardiac failure, associated with his various health conditions of diabetes, a stroke, pacemaker, and heart attack.     

 

 

 

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Super Freak (Disco Mix) - 7:05

Side 2:

B - Super Freak (Pt. 1) - 3:18

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Motown Record Corporation
    Manufactured By – RCA Ltd.
    Distributed By – RCA Ltd.
    Published By – Jobete Music (UK) Ltd.

Credits:

    Arranged By – Rick James
    Arranged By [String] – Daniel LeMelle, Reggie Andrews, Rick James
    Executive-Producer – Alonzo Miller
    Producer – Rick James
    Written-By – A. Miller*, Rick James

Notes:     

From The Album "Street Songs" G8-1002M1

        

Rick James ‎– Super Freak
Label: Motown ‎– TMGT 1241
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1981
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco, Funk     

      

      

      

  

Viewfinder links:       

         

Rick James        

Smokey Robinson                 
The Temptations        
     
Net links:       

         

Global Grind ~ I’m Rick James B*tch: 6 of His Wildest Moments  

Rick James website        

RollingStone ~ From Dali to Bestiality: 10 Stories in Rick James’ Memoir     

udiscover music ~ Super Freaky: The Life Of Badass Rick James   

     

YouTube links:      

         

Music ~    

Rick James ~  

   Super Freak (12" Version)         

   Super Freak (live)        

   Give It To Me Baby (12" Version)                 

        

The Insane Story Of Rick James (documentary)    

        

        

         

        

        
        

 

 

 

              

      

Styrous® ~ Monday, September 7, 2020

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 51: Action Jackson & Vanity

Action Jackson soundtrack album 

cover photo by Peter Sorel

Copyright 1988, Lorimar Productions 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

I just discovered Vanity died yesterday. I was saddened to hear the news and began hearing her music in my mind. She only made two albums but she made an impression on me when she was in full swing.  

She was a model before Prince discovered her In 1980 and propelled her into the music scene. She met Prince at the American Music Awards. Prince renamed her Vanity because, he said, he saw his female reflection when he looked at her. She first sang backing vocals for his song Free on his 1982 album, 1999; she reappeared on his 1994 album, Come, in the song, Orgasm. In 1982, she sang on the album, Vanity 6, along with Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie, one of many projects produced by Prince. The hit song from the album was the funky, Nasty Girl, which was composed and written by Prince.   

Action Jackson soundtrack album 

back cover photos by Peter Sorel

Copyright 1988, Lorimar Productions 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid- to late 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). The word funk initially referred (and still refers) to a strong odor. It is originally derived from Latin "fumigare" (to smoke) via Old French "fungiere" and, in this sense, first documented in English in 1620. In 1784 "funky" meaning "musty" is first documented, which, in turn, led to a sense of "earthy" that was taken up around 1900 in early jazz slang for something deeply or strongly felt. It was a term used in the early sixties by the gay community; it was picked up by funk musicians in the late sixties.    

Due to its explicit lyrics, Nasty Girl met with resistance on mainstream American radio, peaking within the U.S. Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. It did, however, become a sizable hit on U.S. R&B radio and it hit number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart for four weeks in November 1982. The song was knocked off the number one position by Prince's 1999. Lead singer Vanity, who later became a Christian preacher, subsequently denounced the song and told members of her congregation who listened to the song to "keep praying for the Holy Spirit"  

Action Jackson vinyl LP 

photo by Styrous®

Vanity was born Denise Katrina Matthews on January 4, 1959, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Her mother is of Polish descent and was born in Germany and her father was African American. She won the Miss Niagara Hospitality title in 1977 and went on to compete for Miss Canada in 1978.

In 1980, Matthews had a small role in the horror movie Terror Train, which was filmed in Montreal a year earlier. She then went to Toronto to film the lead role in the B-movie, Tanya's Island. At the time of both film roles, she was billed as D.D. Winters. After her music career started, as Vanity she starred in a number of movies, including The Last Dragon, which featured her underground hit 7th Heaven. In 1986 she starred in Never Too Young to Die opposite John Stamos. The film also featured Gene Simmons. She went on to appear in 52 Pick-Up and 1988's Action Jackson, her highest profile role, in which she starred opposite Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, and Sharon Stone.

Action Jackson movie poster

Forgotten Flix

Vanity was linked romantically to Adam Ant and Billy Idol. In 1987, she stated that she and Mötley Crüe bassist, Nikki Sixx, were engaged; she joked that she would become Vanity 6 (Sixx) again.  

Action Jackson
vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

In 1994, Vanity overdosed on crack cocaine and suffered from near-fatal renal failure. She recalled that after being rushed to the hospital, doctors said she had three days to live while on life support. She said that Jesus appeared to her at this time and spoke to her, saying if she promised to give up her Vanity persona, he would save her. When she recovered, she renounced her stage name and career and became a born-again Christian. In 1995, she said, "When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ, I threw out about 1,000 tapes of mine — interviews, every tape, every video. Everything." She stated that she had chosen not to receive any further revenue from her work as Vanity, and cut off all ties with Hollywood and her former life in show business.      

Matthews suffered from sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, a rare complication of a peritoneal dialysis, and died in a Fremont, California hospital yesterday, February 15, 2016. She was 57.   

Action Jackson
vinyl LP label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

1 - The Pointer Sisters - He Turned Me Out - written by LeMel Humes, Mary Lee Kortes - Producer: Richard Perry - 4:25
2 - Madame X - Action Jackson - written by Bernadette Cooper - Producer: Bernadette Cooper - 5:01
3 - LeVert - For The Love Of Money - written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff & Anthony Jackson - Producers: Craig Cooper*, Gerald Levert, Marc Gordon - 5:24
4 - Vanity - Undress Me - written by Kim Cage & Jesse Johnson - Producer: Jesse Johnson - 4:10
5 - Herbie Hancock - Building Up "Action Jackson" - written by Herbie Hancock - Producer: Herbie Hancock, Co-producer: Michael Kamen  - 4:05

Side 2:

1 - Sister Sledge - Keeping Good Loving - written & produced by:  Kae Williams Jr., Kathy Sledge, Phillip Lightfoot - 5:24
2 -  Dave Koz & Vanity - Shotgun, Featuring Kareem - written by Autry DeWalt II - Producer: Jeff Lorber - 4:12
3 - Vanity - Faraway Eyes - written by Sue Ann Carwell & Jesse Johnson - Producer: Jesse Johnson - 4:24
4 -  Skyy - Lover's Celebration - Producers: Randy Muller & Solomon Roberts Jr. - 3:46
5 - MC Jam & Pee Wee Jam - Protect And Serve - Producer:  Stevie Salas - 5:05

Notes:
Some covers are gold stamped as promotional.  

Barcode and Other Identifiers:
    Barcode (Scanned): 075679088611  





Net links:
          
Action Jackson cast and crew on IMDb             
Action Jackson info on Forgotten Flix      
Action Jackson Roger Ebert review         
Yahoo Obituary           
CNN Obituary        
Rolling Stone Obituary         
Washington Post Obituary     
Variety Obituary        
NY Daily News Obituary           
        
YouTube links:  
         
Vanity - Faraway Eyes     
Vanity - Undress Me        
Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl          
Action Jackson Official Trailer         

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I started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. Inquire for information here.   

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Those far away eyes will be missed!

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, February 16, 2016 

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