01. Kid Creole And The Coconuts - There But For The Grace Of God Go I
(from 12", 1980 - Antilles)
(Nance/Darnell)

Tracklisting :
A He's Not Such A Bad Guy (After All)
B There But For The Grace Of God Go I

Welcome to August Darnell's second trip. This time, we want your ass to be trapped into rhythm. Let's go uptempo right away with this really strange self-cover of Machine's hit. Darnell has stolen back the song that made him famous as a disco producer, for his own project Kid Creole And The Coconuts. He gives it a french islands treatment (sounds like Kassav') and goes afro-beat in two legendary instrumental parts. The 'funny' singing can be a turn-off for some, but they don't know what they'd miss.

Notes:
Producer: August Darnell

02. Machine - Marisa (Extended)
(from 12", 1979 - RCA)
(Stovall, Darnell)

Tracklisting :
A Marisa
B You've Come A Long Way

This is the follower to Machine's hit, 'There But For The Grace Of God Go I'. Still disco, 'Marisa' ventures into lands of black rock and offers a spectacular guitar/keyboards instrumental dialogue which cries for a reedit. Definitely a dancer killer.

Notes:
Producer - August Darnell

03. Funkapolitan - Run Run Run (Instrumental)
(from 12", 1982 - London/Pavilion)
(Guirey/Dixon/Jones)

Tracklisting :
A Run Run Run
B Run Run Run (Instrumental Version)

Instrumental version of one of the three hits by this London posse who wanted to sound funkier than the Sugarhill Gang. Darnell found time to spend a few weeks in England (where Kid Creole was massive) to produce their 'Funkapolitan' LP. Check it and see where Wham! comes from. Play this tune and enjoy this fusion of latin funk and new-wave.

Notes:
Producer: August Darnell

04. Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9 - On A Day Like Today (Wedit)
(originally from 'Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9' LP, 1979)
(Darnell)

This Pierre Wax re-edit is only available on his personal computer. Let's hope a respectful bootlegger will release it someday.
You'll recognize here a couple of samples (our man Erik knows) and enjoy this kid melody supported by an early-house-like piano. Diabolic!

See track 09 for album details.

05. Cristina - La Poupée Qui Fait Non
(from 'Cristina' LP, 1980 - Ze Records)
(Polnareff)

Tracklisting :
A1. Jungle Love
A2. Don't Be Greedy
A3. Mama Mia
B1. La Poupée Qui Fait Non
B2. (Temporarily) Yours
B3. Blame It On Disco

Ze Records co-founder Michel Zilkha gave Darnell carte blanche to experiment everything with his then girlfriend Cristina Monnet. And Darnell surely did: jungle beats, disco-reggae, no-wave, weird mixing… It resulted in an album now officially labelled 'cult'. This latin-oriented cover of french singer Michel Polnareff, featuring french singer Gilles Riberolles (Casino Music), sounds like an obscure joke. Obviously it's also a dance maker.

Notes:
Producer - August Darnell
Arranger - Sugar Coated Andy Hernandez

06. Ron Rogers - Don't Play With My Emotions
(from 'Don't Play With My Emotions' LP, 1982 - Ze Records)
(Rogers)

Tracklisting :
A1. Don't Play With My Emotions
A2. Somewhere In Space
A3. Ya Ya
B1. Naughty Boy
B2. Loving You Made A Fool Out Of Me

Maybe the strangest album created by Darnell's team. Ron Rogers, co-author and/or co-producer of various Darnell's projects, goes solo on this and proves he belongs with the best (never made another record though). Synthetic funk and craziness are the keywords of this album. The title track featuring here sounds like what Sylvester should have sounded like in 82. Camp vocals, kind of soul rock feeling, great arrangements… and suddenly this unbelievable break that jumps twenty years later to create house music! Listen and be amazed.

Notes:
Producers - Ron Rogers, Vince Traina
Executive producer - August Darnell

07. Kid Creole And The Coconuts - He's Not Such A Bad Guy (After All)
(from 12", 1980 - Antilles)
(Darnell)

Tracklisting :
A He's Not Such A Bad Guy (After All)
B There But For The Grace Of God Go I

The Coconuts go WILD on that one! Imagine: a girlsband from the 50s with the sound New York was producing in the 80s. Looks like a nerd fantasy, sounds like a masterpiece! A bassline you can actually sing, hilarious lyrics, ferocious beats. The track to re-establish.

Notes:
Producer: August Darnell

08. Kid Creole And The Coconuts - Zoe
(from Soundtrack Album 'New York Stories' - 1989)
(Darnell)

Tracklisting :
A1. Kid Creole and the Coconuts 'People Will Talk'
A2. Pianosaurus 'Back to School'
A3. Carmine Coppola 'Twinkle Twinkle'
A4. Kid Creole and the Coconuts 'Zoe'
A5. Frankie Carle and Bernie Leighton 'I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)
A6. Wilbur de Paris 'In a Persian Market'
B1. David Rose 'All the Things You Are'
B2. Wilbur de Paris 'I've Found a New Baby'
B3. Procul Harum 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'
B4. Transvision Vamp 'Sex Kick'
B5. Cole Porter 'What Is This Thing Called Love'
B6. Bob Dylan & The Band 'Like A Rolling Stone'

This is the only post-83 track you'll hear on both our Darnell's mixes. This anonymous track from a dispensable soundtrack may not be a killer, its innocence and its daft production brings love in our heart. Darnell had to make it short for a specific movie scene (second segment of 'New York Stories', directed by Francis Coppola and co-written by a 10-something year old Sofia Coppola) so he put it all. So rich you can choke on it. But if you take it with care, you'll see parcels of true genius refusing to die.

Notes:
Producer: August Darnell

09. Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9 - Splendor In The Grass
(from 'Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9' LP, 1979 - RCA)
(Darnell/Brazine)

Tracklisting :
A1. Laissez Faire
A2. Splendor in the Grass
A3. You Can't Keep a Good Man Down / So So Celina
B1. Young Hearths
B2. The Lady From the Carribean
B3. On a Day Like Today
B4. Winter on Riverside Drive

Personal favourite, this only album by Gichy Dan (yet another occasion for August and Andy to write a lot of music) is something else in Darnell's discography. Passionately elegant, maturely written, really hard to find on ebay, this is the kind of record we wish to discover each month. This ballad should leave you with a relieving feeling of well-being.
Good night.

Notes:
Producers - August Darnell, Ron Rogers
Arrangers - Sugar Coated Andy Hernandez, August Darnell