Stars 45

Stars - Dancin' People / Dancin' People Part 2

Musicians:  
Ray Cadle - guitar, lead vocals
Jules Cadle - bass guitar
Glenn Spann - drums
Charles Wingate  - Fender Rhodes
Regis (last name unknown) - synth solo
Steven Young - grand pianos, Clavinet
Percussion - Ray’s neighbourhood musician friends, names not remembered

Soul-Funk-Disco-grail officially reissued for the first time by Backatcha Records. Recorded and released in 1981 on the Cadle brothers Starbase Sounds label, Stars' core line-up consisted of the same rhythm section and keys player for the labels Aura and Freex Machine releases. “Stars was a band name and not a band”, explains musician Steven Young, a Queensbridge native who played keyboards and more, on all of the Starbase recordings. It was a studio group made up of (mostly) players from the group Hooker, Young's neighbourhood band made up of musician friends from Queensbridge and Corona, Queens. Hooker performed on the New York live circuit as a teenage funk band since the early '70s. At the helm of Starbase Sounds was multi-instrumentalist Young and the Cadle Brothers trio: guitarist, lead vocalist and producer Ray Cadle, bassist Jules Cadle, and an older brother Karim as executive producer. They released a total of four singles including 'Dancin' People', and three previous singles from The Freex Machine and Aura, all equally prized and sought after, now made available by Backatcha Records. For DJs and collectors, the backdrop to the Starbase Sounds releases has remained something of an enigma. The following Q&A with Steven Young offers a comprehensive insight into the makings:

What were some of your main influences as a young musician growing up in Queensbridge in the '60s and ‘70s?

Steven: My mother played the viola and classical piano at home on our baby grand. I loved to hear her practice, make mistakes, do-overs, it was amazing!  My father played piano, bought all sorts of Jazz albums. He had a wonderful hi-fidelity stereo system and he eventually started tuning pianos part-time, he had a popular band in NYC called Intensive Heat and played Vibes & Fender Rhodes. I listened to practically everything! Jazz... Cal Tjader, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter... There is not a jazz artist I did not listen to. Fusion... Chick Corea, Weather Report, George Duke, Flora Purim, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira. Smooth Jazz.... Roy Ayers, Angela Bofill, Pat Metheny, Quincy Jones, Bob James.  Going to Broadway Musicals ...Hair, The Wiz with Stephanie Mills, R&B... Rock, Soul... Everything! Every group, every band. I attended live concerts with Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, The Whispers, The Dells, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Patti Austin, Patti Labelle, Deniece Williams, Melba Moore, The Jackson 5, The Ohio Players, Brothers Johnson, Robert Flack, Aretha Franklin, Ashford & Simpson, Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Kool & The Gang, The Four Tops, ChiLites, The Temptations, The Isley Brothers, The Spinners. I listened to everything! Even TV commercials, TV show theme songs, movie music, Celtic, Hindu, Oriental music.

Have the keys always been your main instrument?

Steven: Yes. although, I have also played drums, the violin, vibraphone, percussion.

Tell us about your bands Hooker and Magnetic Force. When did that start, and how did that lay the groundwork for Aura, Freex Machine, and Stars?

Steven: The band Hooker was my third band and most semi-professional. It started about spring of 1973 (the horn section brought me in to the band). We recorded what could have been our first album, in 1974. I wish I could regenerate the cassette tapes I had of that session. It was amazing back then! We played all around NYC for all sorts of events, colleges, occasions, parties, celebrations, Circle Line cruise (around Manhattan, NYC). Then, we went back in to the recording studios, in NYC including Sigma Sound, Electric Lady Studio, Sheffield Recording Studio (Maryland) and a few others, I forget. This is when we recorded ’Last Stop’ and 'Sunshine Love’ between 1976-1977. That is when the band name was changed from 'Hooker' to 'Magnetic Force’, as they realised the name Hooker was not the best marketing name for a group that wanted to break into the music scene. The band name 'Magnetic Force' didn’t last long enough to stay for the 45 release of 'Sunshine Love' and ‘Freex’ which is when the name was changed to Aura. ‘Last Stop’ was done with the horn section. Ray Cadle decided to dislodge the horn section from the band abruptly and renamed the group to Aura. Last Stop was the only recording with the entire band (10-piece) but was remixed without the horn section. It was epic with the horns, but much smoother and faster without the horn section. Later, Ray, Jules and Villanueva K, decided to record ‘Freex’ in 1977. They decided to create the 45 rpm, ‘Freex' A-side and 'Sunshine Love' B side. After realising the potential of ‘Freex’, Ray and Jules remixed it into the 12-inch ‘Freex Funkatized’ and ‘Freex Party’, and capitalised on renaming the movement as ’The Freex Machine’ to release in 1979. There were also remixes stamped as master acetate records of ‘Freex Beat’ and ’Some More Freex’ using the group name as ’The Freex’. I think I have the only preserved pressings of those acetates, at this point. After those singles, Ray broke the group up as a band and just went from there. I was just 18 when the band broke up and did session work with Ray for the original 'Dancin’ People'. When Ray called me in to do it, that was when there was no real band, just musicians and his friends. Ray was spending lots of time in the studio doing remixes. That was the end when it was called Stars. No real band at that point in time between 1980-1981. Ray was about 4-5 years older than me. For 'Dancin People’, I was about 20-21 years old. I didn’t have a car at the time and had a bit of a time arranging to pickup my Farfisa organ and Leslie. Ray wound up selling my Farfisa organ behind my back. I knew who he had sold it to, but did not know how to reach out to the older pianist, Charles. I managed to get my Leslie back but didn’t have a keyboard so my music career ended abruptly. This was before cell phones and everyone I knew had gone off to college and was no longer reachable.

Whilst the Aura alumni only made a few records, the Starbase releases had a very distinctive sound. For instance,  ‘Freex’', ‘Sunshine Love’, ‘Last Stop’ and ‘Funkatized’... How did this sound compare to what you guys were previously doing with Hooker?

Steven: Hmmm... 'Last Stop’ were originally performed by the full band, with the horn section (from Hooker). Then, 'Freex Funkatized' and Sunshine Love'  was created without the horn section. That started the hard disco sound Ray and Jules were going for.

What inspired the Starbase Sounds name? Who came up with that?

Steven: Ray and Villanueva K created the name of the Record Company at that time. I was all in!

Did you design the Starbase Sounds logo?

Steven: Yes!

Please tell us about that, and your part in helping set up the label?

Steven: I completely designed the record labels. Layout, fonts, consideration of one-colour or two-colour press runs. Those were all my designs and they highly approved of them, without any changes. 'Sunshine Love’ and 'Last Stop’ were supposed to be released when the band was named ‘Magnetic Force’. I had gone through all of the sketches and prep to get the album cover done then, they changed the name and the whole theme of the ‘band’.

Who were the male and female vocalists for the records?

Steven: Ray Cadle was the lead vocalist on all of the songs. The female background vocals were the two background singers from the Salsoul Orchestra, Joe Bataan’s group in NYC.

Was the line-up generally consistent or did it change?

You played various key parts extensively on the records. Can you elaborate on the studio process of recording these?

Steven: All of the keyboard parts were all mine. I knew the songs and improvised for the extended passages and flourishes just to add some flavour. I’d do either the grand piano or Hammond with the band in the first take, then overlay the other keyboards one at a time. As much fun as it was to do all that, I was disappointed that the mix on the keys was never the best.

Who would write all the parts, or would it be more of a jam? Was it mostly using one take or overdubs?

Steven: Everyone wrote their own parts. Ray, or Ray and Jules wrote the songs, I played what came naturally  to me for those songs

Who played the vibes on ‘Last Stop’?

Steven: I played the vibes.  Musser One-Niter, I borrowed them from my dad.

Do you recall any of the releases getting any airplay at the time?

Steven: The releases never got real airplay. I think Freex 45 got a one-timer on one of the local stations. Mostly, the releases were never fully pressed for distribution, mostly promo copies and individual sales, like they used to do with CDs in the 90’s but using 45’s back then.

Being in bands since your young teenage years, alongside an abundance of creative talent, how important were New York’s school music and art programs in shaping the city's musical landscape in the 60’s and 70s?

Before DJs were a thing and when live bands were the heart of the party, were there a lot of young musicians in your neighbourhood?

Steven: In Corona, Queens, there weren’t many bands that made themselves known competitively. The massive talent in Jamaica, where Omar, Marcus, Tom Brown and the others were from was just amazing. I didn’t get much time to hang out there at all but knew of the pro-level musicians out there!

Corona was home to some of the finest jazz musicians of the bebop era. How much did that legacy impact your generation in nurturing local talent?

Steven: Louis Armstrong had a house nearby but by that time, he was either not there much or just keeping to himself. I knew of Earl Klugh but 'did not get the chance to meet him back then. I knew Roy Ayers, from my father, they were good friends. That’s how my dad decided to play the vibes. He let me play them first, in-concert at school, then when I was doing the recordings at Sheffield Recording Studio, in Maryland.

Similarly, Jamaica, Queens was home to Coltrane and Milt Jackson, alongside burgeoning talents like Weldon Irvine, Don Blackmon, Lenny White, Denzil Miller, Omar Hakim, Marcus Miller, Tom Brown, Bernard Wright and many more. What was it like in Queens being a young player amongst that backdrop?

Steven: It was amazing being in the city where so much musical talent and excellence was all about. Just amazing. Even in my High School, the talent was outstanding! Such a lovely place to experience the arts community with amazingly talented people, good friends and an honour to be amongst them. I wanted to become a professional studio musician but I could not get the training, techniques, lessons, and practice when I needed it most. That was heartbreaking. Several of my friends did well being a part of some popular music at that time. I missed out.

Jamaica, Queens, had an identifiable jazz-funk sound with many close-knit local players across a few generations. Did Corona have its own version of that?

Steven: No, our band was the primary band in that area. We were the best there, not the best in Queens though. That  goes to Jamaica, Queens. Outstanding talent there, Brooklyn, Crown Heights, etc.

How would you describe the sound and direction of your band in the ‘70s?

Steven: When the band was in its full form, it started out with 10 musicians. A 4-piece horn section ...5 musicians that handled 2 trumpets, 2 saxes, alto and tenor ...a baritone sax, trombone, flute and a 5-piece rhythm section ...Ray, Jules, Glenn, myself and, for a short while, a second drummer, Darryl.  It was amazing to have two drummers playing at the same time. We were quite a powerful ensemble. We played all of the great songs from the great bands, Kool & the Gang, Ohio Players,Tower of Power, Earth Wind & Fire, Average White Band, Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’, and many more of the popular radio hits of that time. Our original sound was like a funky, powerful band back then. I was a bit disappointed in the direction of how Ray depleted the band’s sound to something that just suited guitars, bass and metronomed-drums. It was like he was trying to capitalise on the disco era that needed to create an original sound that would work as a band, not a band of party people. The band lost its identity and character in the process.

Queens had so many bands. For your band, what audiences and venues did you mostly play for?

Steven: Colleges, weddings, family gatherings, neighbourhood outdoor concerts, circle Line cruises ...clubs. We were more focused on doing our own original recordings to see about getting them released on our own label.

Do you remember when live bands were replaced with DJs?  How gradual was this change?

Did you ever think that your Starbase recordings would have a resurgence with DJs and record collectors?

Steven: I never thought that the Starbase recordings were worthy of resurgence for DJs and record collectors. I always felt the recordings were not of great quality and Ray Cadle somehow felt a need to speed up the music ...like someone could actually dance to them for 10-minutes full-speed... Ha-ha! I thought they were not good enough to be that serious.

Did you perform on any other releases after the Starbase recordings?

Steven: No. My music career took a nose-dive without a keyboard, and at that time, synthesisers were becoming all the rage. I could not afford to pick one up on my income to justify getting one, and by the time I learn how to work it, something much better and more expensive would come out.

Can you tell us what current music projects you’ve been working on?

Steven: I have been writing many many songs ...over 100, that I would like to get produced, add vocals, add musicians as desired, with each song written by me. I would like to collaborate with a few of my old musician friends from Music & Art, who have been out there working the industry, and get the perfect feel and sound I hear in my head out to the world. I have a few funky ones and many others that could be likeable or eligible for licensing. Feel good, catchy songs, that have a lot of orchestration, layered keys that may get replaced by a guitar or so to lighten the load. I have a lot of my keyboard and composing ideas that come to me often enough to see some potential of someone liking a few of them ...somewhat jazzy, smooth jazz, light R&B, light pop-kinda stuff. I have a childhood friend that has been, and is very much still, a successful record producer and burgeoning multimedia mogul of sorts waiting for me to get together with him to get them done. As soon as I can get this life of mine into a more stable, comfortable place… somehow, I will pursue producing my catalog of music full force, when that time comes… possibly, within the next two years when I can retire from working full-time. And, I would love to get the chance to redo those Freex, Aura, and Stars songs in my style, and see about recovering the cassette recordings to repair, mix and update the original recordings of Hooker in the studio with the entire band. That band was a power house! It was quite a disappointment that no one has the original recordings, studio reels and or masters from all of that time. I would love to get a hold of them but with all of the key producers and writers of that material of those recordings gone, the remaining family doesn’t have any interest or care about any of it because it never really amounted to anything all this time. What a shame… but I will find a way to make it back to something to listen to in the future.