TWO-FER TUESDAY: "FREAKY" OLD SCHOOL !

Word up, Dialophiles! Ya know, sometimes the Dial catches two signals at the same time, and each track is equally strong and deserved of the spotlight. When this happens, we serve up a little platter called TWO-FER TUESDAY! In this installment… “FREAKY OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP”, featuring Whodini and Midnight Star! 

“Freaks Come Out At Night” by Whodini 

“Discos don’t open ‘til after dark… and it ain’t ‘til twelve ‘til the party really starts… And I always had to be home by ten… right before the fun was about to begin.” 

Hailing from Brooklyn NY, Whodini were among the first hip-hop bands to break into the mainstream alongside early pioneers like The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force.

Comprising of lead vocalist Jalil Hutchins, John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, and Grandmaster Dee, the trio’s largest success was “Friends”, a US R&B #4 and US #87 hit, which through covers, samples, and remixes by acts including Will Smith, Bone Thugs N Harmony, MF Doom, and The Prodigy, has proven itself as an iconic hip hop classic.

However, our first spotlighted track, “Freaks Come Out At Night”, despite its catchy chorus and infectious beat, only peaked at #43 on the US R&B charts, and made no appearance on the hot 100 singles chart. However, 1985’s Escape LP, from which both “Friends” and “Freaks…” were extracted, made #35 on the album charts, a.k.a, the Billboard 200.

The first few times I heard “Freaks…”, I visualized iconic horror movie monsters like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Kruger stalking victims through the streets, and it wasn’t until a few years later that it clicked in my mind that the “freaks” spoken about are the wild revilers that often party after the sun goes down.

“The freaks come out at night… The freaks come out at niiiiiight”

 

“Freak-A-Zoid” by Midnight Star 

“Freakazoids… robots… please report to the dance floor.”

Midnight Star is a funk ensemble from Frankfort, Kentucky known for merging elements of soul, disco, early electronica, and what would become to be known as hip-hop. Their biggest hit was the 1984 classic “Operator”, which topped the US R&B singles chart, and hit a respectable US#18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other tracks like “Wet My Whistle”, “Headlines“, and “Midas Touch” achieved top 10 positions on the R&B charts, but charted very low as crossover hits.

“Freak-A-Zoid”, (correctly spelled with the two hyphens, and taken from the 1983 No Parking on the Dance Floor LP), was a US #2 smash on the R&B charts, but earned lower positions on the US dance chart (#44), and the Hot 100 (#66).

The group’s line up contained brothers Reginald and Vincent Calloway, (Star’s trumpeter and producer, and trombonist, respectively) who, during a hiatus from Midnight Star, charted highly in 1990 under the Calloway name with “I Wanna Be Rich” US #2, US R&B #5.

“Freak-A-Zoid”, at least lyrically, is your basic “party/dance song”, as Midnight Star orders the Freak-A-Zoid robots to stand guard as the band rocks the floor, which they won’t stop doing! However, there is an “adult” undercurrent to the lyrics, as female vocalist Belinda Lipscomb declares herself to be the one to take care of all your physical needs… although how and if the robots are involved is wholly left to interpretation.

Featured among both songs futuristic electronic rhythms, are cool “robotic” voices, probably made using a vocoder. I always felt these voices really tied in with that mid 80s “exciting technological age” mindset that was seen in the exploding popularity of items like home computers, video games, VCRs and laserdisc players, cable and satellite television (especially MTV), Sony Walkmans and Watchmans, the earliest CGI in movies, etc. Whodini and the Freak-A-Zoids are leading us into the future, even as they bring us to the dance floor.

“I’ll be your freakazoid… c’mon and wind me up”

 

I was introduced to both of these songs via Piccowaxen Middle School, in Newburg, Maryland, where dances were held in the gym, several times a school year. The cool thing, was that the dances were held during the school day. This meant that one or two class periods were eliminated on a dance day, allowing the students to bust it down to the latest hits. Both Whodini and Midnight Star’s tracks were played at these dances, and at the time, my friends and referred to these tracks as “breakdancing tunes”. (The term “hip-hop” had yet to make it to my part of Maryland.)

The ‘80s is by far my favorite era of hip-hop. Way before Auto-Tune, Gangsta Rap, and long before “East Coast vs. West Coast” feuds; rap music, at least those songs that gained mainstream acceptance, tended toward light hearted party music, with songs about dancing, and partying down. The songs are fun to listen to, and if you feel like getting up and “popping” your body… well, we won’t think you’re a freak. Unless you’re a robot… then you’re kind of a freak.

"Together in Electric Dreams" by Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder

What’s up, Dialophiles? Tonight, the Dial is receiving a signal transmitted from a vintage Pinecone computer located somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. This file, sent by someone named “Edgar” via the curious antiquity of a dialup connection, contains a classic 1984 pop track that is highly worthy of the Dial’s spotlight. So fire up your green monochrome CRT, and set your handset in the cradle of your acoustic modem coupler, so that you may enjoy Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder’s “Together in Electric Dreams”!

“I only knew you for a while, I never saw you smile, ‘til it was time to go… time to go away.”

Philip Oakey, The Human League’s male vocalist, (“Don’t You Want Me”, “Keep Feeling Fascination”), co-authored the track alongside producer extraordinaire Giorgio Moroder, among who’s many pop masterpieces are Irene Cara’s “Flashdance (What a Feeling)”, “Call Me” by Blondie, and Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”, and “Hot Stuff”.

An upbeat new-wave styled pop ballad, Oakey and Moroder’s collaboration served as the theme song to the motion picture “Electric Dreams”, a largely forgotten 1984 rom/com in which a love triangle develops between a desktop computer, its owner Miles, and his classical cellist neighbor Madeline. The film even indicates that the lovesick computer composes this very song in tribute to the human couple!

A quirky film with a lot of charm and heart, Electric Dreams also serves as an excellent time capsule of the mid 80s with constant references to the computer technology available at the time, and the dramatic MTV inspired visuals and filming techniques. Sadly, it has yet to be issued on DVD on America, as it only available as a Region 2 release for movie fans in Europe, the Middle East, and Japan.

“Sometimes it’s hard to recognize, love comes as a surprise… and it’s too late… it’s just too late to stay.”

Now, our loyal Dialophiles “across the pond” may be rather puzzled that we are spotlighting a major smash hit song here, a UK #3 at that, which in 2009 even served as the theme to the BBC Four “Electric Dreams” documentary series, and has been covered by many electro pop artists since, as well. The surprising reason, is that the single was not pushed to radio in the states, likely because the source film underperformed at the box office. This was a true missed opportunity for Top 40 fans, as Oakey’s angst-ridden baritone meshes perfectly with Moroder’s expert synth-pop. The opening notes float melodically around the listener as the guitar chords accent the feel of the track, then the soft drum machine loops bring the mid-tempo beat, which perfectly rounds out this true musical work of art.

The “Electric Dreams” soundtrack LP, released concurrently with the film, also contained tracks by Electric Light Orchestra bandleader Jeff Lynne, (“Let It Run”, and the US #85 lower chart entry “Video!”), Culture Club (“Love Is Love”, and “The Dream”), and Heaven 17 (“Chase Runner”). The theme song was also re-released the following year on the Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder LP, after which, Oakey resumed work with The Human League, and soon charted the smash hit ballad “Human”. Moroder would grace the airwaves once more with Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”, and Kenny Loggins “Danger Zone”.

“Because the friendship that you gave, has taught me to be brave… no matter where I go, I’ll never find a better prize…”

As an interesting aside, The Human League has frequently covered “Together…” in concert, adding Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley’s vocals to compliment Oakey’s lead, and a lengthy, instrumental opening. But as of yet, they have not released a live or studio version of their treatment of the classic track on any of their recordings.

So thank you… “Edgar”, whomever, (or whatever) you are, for tuning our receivers toward this classic 80s ballad. The Radio Dial sends you our sincerest thanks. May the rest of the New Year find you in proper working order. ;^) 

“We’ll always be together, however far it seems… love never ends… we’ll always be together… together in electric dreams”