Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tuesday 12-inch Flashback: ‘Don’t Push It, Don’t Force It’

Remember Leon Haywood? That was a funky dude.

For the past couple of decades, he’s been running his own label in South L.A., Evejim Records (releasing material such as this).

But funk fans know Leon best for “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You” and, to a lesser degree, “Don’t Push It.”

I never knew Leon Haywood also wrote “She’s a Bad Mama Jama.”

12 comments:

bklyn6 said...

“I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You”

Yes.

I totally forgot about "Don't Push It," but when I heard it I immediately thought about "You Can Do It" by Al Hudson & the Partners. Did Haywood write that too?

Geneva Girl said...

Serious flashback! Sort of my personal motto - without the innuendo.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Heh.

D W JazzLover said...

I was having a serious good time on the dance floor to this song and in my own world ! I met my love of 12 years that night! Thanks

Undercover Black Man said...

... but when I heard it I immediately thought about "You Can Do It" by Al Hudson & the Partners. Did Haywood write that too?

I don't know about that, bklyn6. But when I heard it I immediately thought: "Damn... Leon really ripped off 'Ladies Night' for this one, didn't he?"

Undercover Black Man said...

D W JazzLover: You're welcome. But all praise is due to the British cat who has uploaded so many of these tasty jams.

I've been riding his coattails for two years!

bklyn6 said...

"Damn... Leon really ripped off 'Ladies Night' for this one, didn't he?"

I didn't hear it at first, UBM. But I listened again and could hear it a little in the horns.

I did a google search for Hudson and Haywood. It lead me to a youtube "video" of "Don't Push It." It seems that a couple of people made the Hudson connection to this song too. "You Can Do It" even shows up in the related videos sidebar.

I love that you can search an old song and chances are it'll show up on youtube. :-)

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I hadn't remembered "You Can Do It," bklyn6. But now that I hear it, I think Al Hudson ripped "Ladies Night" as well. It's all about that two-chord electric piano hook.

bklyn6 said...

It's all about that two-chord electric piano hook.

Oh. I'm not that musically sophisticated. LOL

An aside.... I have a Bar-Kay's greatest hits cd. Some of their later songs sound like rip-offs. "Freakshow on the Dancefloor" sounds like Midnight Star's "No Parking on the Dancefloor."

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Although "You Can Do It" might've come out before "Ladies Night" in '79. So I'd better pull back my charge of thievery.

I do like doing DNA research on pop records, though. So thanks, bklyn6. I'm convinced that all three tracks share a common gene.

Undercover Black Man said...

I have a Bar-Kay's greatest hits cd. Some of their later songs sound like rip-offs.

My all-time favorite rip-off from that era? Jam & Lewis's "Just Be Good to Me"... which ripped Yarborough & Peoples' "Don't Stop the Music."

Even on a homemade pause-button mix tape, those two tracks blended like butter.

bklyn6 said...

^Maybe Jam & Lewis wrote both songs?

I think Chico Debarge's "Talk to Me" sounds a little like Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" I'm sure J&L wrote the latter. Maybe they wrote both.