Midweek Beats + Pieces vol. 39
Lisa Tomlins, G.C Cameron, Radio Active, etc
Selected Works is a regular newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter, and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell. Yes, that’s me. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.
WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON:
Over the last three and a half decades, Lisa Tomlins (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa) has established herself as one of the most versatile vocalists in the local music scene.
In that time, the Upper Hutt-based stage singer, studio recording artist, mentor, and vocal coach has fronted the Wellington disco-house-dub trio Ebb and sung with a who’s who of Aotearoa New Zealand bands, including Fat Freddy’s Drop, TrinityRoots, Little Bushman, The Recloose Live Band, Lord Echo, and L.A.B. “When you hire me, what you get is reliability,” she says. It’s a humble statement from an enduring talent with far, far more to offer to the world.
Last week, I profiled Lisa for Audio Culture - The Noisy Library of New Zealand Music. You can read the full story here.
In March this year, the London DJ, producer and NTS presenter Shy One visited New Zealand for the second time to perform at Friendly Potential’s Beacon Festival in Auckland. While she was here, I hooked her up with a folder of 90s Polynesian street soul and swingbeat, i.e. Semi MCs, Teremoana, Fuemana, Sisters Underground etc. A few days ago, I realised she’s been playing some of it on her weekly Soup To Nuts show on NTS, most notably Sulata, Teremoana and Ardjah. If you’re interested in hearing more, you can check out the show here.
On a similar note, if you get a chance to check the latest issue of Wax Poetics, the Scottish writer Maeve Hannigan has written a Re:Discovered piece on one of the classic South Auckland street soul/hip-hop tracks, ‘In The Neighbourhood’ by Sisters Underground. Order a copy here.
Last week, my newsletter was essentially a homage to the second rise of the unsung (but also somewhat sung) West African country/folk legend Peter One. Music critic Tony Stamp recently explained Peter’s new album Come Back To Me to Radio New Zealand’s Afternoons host Jesse Mulligan. This is wishful thinking, but I’m hoping the team from Womad were tuned in and might book Peter next year. Listen here.
In other news, on Saturday, 17 June 2023, I’m hosting The Late Late Breakfast Show on Radio Active 88.6 FM in Wellington, New Zealand from 1-4 PM NZ time. If you want to listen online, you can stream the station here.
Last year, I conducted an archival interview with the US musician G.C. Cameron, the vocalist singer of the legendary soul group The Spinners for Soundway Records. Earlier in the month, they released Live For Love, an EP of unreleased material from G.C’s late 70s disco-funk/modern soul era. You can listen to it below.
Hailing from McCall Creek, Mississippi, G.C. Cameron rose to fame at 22 years of age when he joined Motown Records to become the lead singer of The Spinners. After a string of well-received releases, including chartbuster ‘It’s A Shame’, co-written and produced by Stevie Wonder, Cameron left The Spinners to pursue a solo career.
It was a trip to Fantasy Studios, San Francisco, in 1977, where Cameron teamed up with Harvey Faqua, Greg Crockett and Elgie Stover to realise what is arguably his finest work. A full album was recorded, but only two tracks saw the light of day via the short-lived UK label, Flamingo.
Soundway’s Live for Love release comprises the two in-demand cuts previously released on Flamingo - the deep and dubby disco-workout ‘If I Love You (Instrumental)’ and the soul-drenched ballad ‘Live For Love’, coupled with two unreleased recordings rescued from the abyss after 45 years of collecting dust. The modern-soul-dancer ‘Thank You Baby’, backed by Jeanie Tracy and Martha Walsh, is a jewel that displays Cameron’s full range, whilst the vocal to ‘If I Love You’ elevates the recording to dance-floor-ready.
Here’s an excerpt from my conversation with him.
G.C Cameron: “I got to Motown, and I walked into the artist development department. That's where The Spinners were, the four of them, Bobby, Billy, Henry and Pervis. We were in front of the mirrors where Charlie Atkins and Mr Maurice King taught us the parts of the dance, the routine. Then there was Miss Powell, who was the ethic teacher. She taught us to speak, walk, talk, and present ourselves on a global stage.”
“What happened was I was there meeting the guys; about 10 minutes later, Marvin Gaye and Harvey Fuqua comes into the room while I'm with The Spinners, and we talk. This is all new to me. You know where I just come from, so I'm dealing with many things now. But now I'm focused on Marvin Gaye here in this room, and Harvey Fuqua, and we spoke for about five minutes. Marvin said to me, “Sing something.” I grabbed a Jackie Wilson song. I hit about a quarter of a note. He said, “He'll do. You guys sign him up right away.”
“That's the way it went down. I got with the cats, and the next day, we started rehearsing because the following month, we were opening up for Marvin at the Apollo Theater.”
FIN.