Probably best remembered for their 1983 ‘disco-not-disco’ classic ‘Love Tempo’, Quando Quango released unique and influential records throughout the early eighties on Factory Records. The musical brain child of Mike Pickering and Hillegonda Rietveld, the band were formed in 1981 and quickly became one of label’s most revered and trailblazing bands.

With their abstract mix of disco, punk, new wave, world, jazz, reggae, they were dismissed by the UK music press for being too eclectic and weird. As with the yesterday’s SOTD, they first garnered attention from New York by none other than Larry Levan. The band was even invited to play at the Paradise Garage in 1983 (which they duly did but got a lukewarm reception).

In 1985, the band released their only album ‘Pigs & Battleships’ to some critical acclaim. With the tracks perfectly complimenting the forthcoming House explosion, as well as providing anthems for the Hacienda, for whom Pickering would later become synonymous with (we’ll gloss over the whole M People thing). The band’s influence across the board cannot be underestimated.

Anyway, ‘Genius’ is a mind-spinning party song. With Latino-flavoured percussion, upbeat pianos, as well as Fela Kuti-esque guitar flourishes, producer Mark Kamins harnesses the band’s distinctive sound and delivers a near-perfect, dreamy summer song.

Genius indeed.

Quando Quango – Genius

Ahhh, the summer. There’s nothing like the summer with a bit of Carly Simon. What’s Carly Simon got to do with the summer? I hear you ask. Well, my friends this timeless ‘Balearic’ classic will tell you ‘why’ (arf!).

Produced by the mighty Chic in 1982 for the flop movie ‘Soup For One’ (the soundtrack has been mentioned a few times on this website, notably here), it was considered a bit of late disco cash-in by the critics and the public alike (it reached a giddy #74 on the Billboard chart!). What did they know huh? ‘Why’ is by far one of the best pieces of work that Chic have ever done and the best song Carly Simon has ever done (it beats ‘You’re So Vain’ – who cares who it was written about? I still think its Warren Beatty btw Carly…). Tinged with melancholy, the song is an intriguing mix of reggae-lite disco and off-beat pop. Constantly enticing the listener with its bouncing rhythm and the simple vocal refrain of  ”la, di-da, di-da”, its clear why the record-buying public of 1982 didn’t get it. It was waaaay ahead of its time.

It was only in 1989 when the whole Hacienda/acid house/Ibiza/Balearic thing kicked off that the song started to get recognition. DJs such as Mike Pickering and Graeme Park reclaimed the song and turned into a Hacienda classic. Treating a generation of clubbers to the whole concept of mellow, feel-good sunny vibes.  When A Tribe Called Quest sampled the instrumental for ‘Bonita Applebum’, the tracks’ legacy across the emerging house and hip-hop scene were finally confirmed.

A bona-fide summer classic. Just don’t mention the 1999 Glamma Kid version…

Carly Simon- Why