Ten City... Just Because! C/D?

I love the Bam Bam remix of "Devotion" on the first The Loft compilation.

I always wondered if Byron Stingily wrote the vocals for Ten City or if it was someone else because the songs he did with other people were never as good. Although I have a real soft spot for Ragtyme's "I can't stay away" because of it's abidingly odd lyrics:

I would wrestle crocodiles and I would tread... on a lion's tail

"Thats the Way Love Is" has a string melody that makes me weepy.

I feel similarly about "Break 4 Love" which just has this huge upwelling of emotion at its heart but tightly throttled back within the functionality of the record which only serves to make it more powerful.

I guess when we say Ten City is deep, one of the things that makes it that way is it seems to deal with the reasons WHY people would want to go out to a club and lose themselves in this music and not just WHAT the music needs to do to make that happen.

And agree completely - if someone thinks this is 'cheesy' or can't get over how '80s' it sounds then you know that they just DON'T GET IT on a fundamental level.

OTM. And I think there's a book in there somewhere about why so many hetero white men (like myself) find so much emotional depth & resonance in this supposedly "gay" music.

"devotion" is really great in that the most exciting part of most soul/r&b records throughout history for me is when the singer, after having run through the verse and chorus a few times, goes off, but since devotion is a house record, that "going off" period lasts for over half the record, instead of being relegated to the fadeout section of a 3 minute pop record. a great example of this is the extended mix of "hit and run" by loleatta holloway. (as a side note, i think most of the edge's best u2 guitar moments are during the fadeouts too.)

maybe its wishful thinking, but i feel like this music is less dependant on signs and symbols as other records or genres. it is designed to be purely affective, whereas most indie/experimental/etc is not. house is a feeling ;-)

I have to say their most overlooked single is "Superficial People" (from their 2nd album "State of Mind".) The extended mixes just bowls me over every time.

I downloaded and listened to Devotion because I respect the opinion of y'all. Just letting you know I am one of these people :)

SAM 'THE MAN' BURNS

With almost three decades working the turntables, Burns, right, has become synonymous with soulful house music in the District. His flagship party, "The Underground Soul Solution," has outlived two popular nightclubs, moving from the now-defunct State of the Union, to the recently shuttered Red, to its current home of Dragonfly. ...

...Hits : "Hate Won't Change Me," by Byron Stingily. "Someone may be going through a relationship problem . . . They may hear these words, and it gives them a sense of empowerment." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032301693_2.html

"The 15th Anniversary Party features Byron Stingily singing live, DJs Frankie Feliciano, Stacy Kidd, Lego, Michael Serafini, JustJoey, Uncle Milty and guest host Byrd Bardot at Green Dolphin Street, 2200 North Ashland, (773)395-0066 on March 20 from 9:30pm-4am. Hosted bar 9:30-10:30pm. $5 cover without RSVP to music-101.com."

Give it time! I don't know about you, but being told something is the best record ever usually turns me off to it. also, some drama in your personal life always helps!

I've struggled with this in my own musical endeavours. A decade ago I wanted to be the white equivalent of a Byron Stingily or a Robert Owens until I realized that I just didn't have the pipes. And it's not simply a question of vocal training - I can hit the notes, and indeed have a more than passable voice for pop and rock. But you're either born with a huge voice or you aren't, and after a time I realized I just wasn't cut out to sing those big deep house anthems.

No but I wish I'd known before the 20th! Actually I think I was in new york then. How is green dolphin street btw? I've gone by it so many times, one weekend i saw some huge line going around the block.

I would give anything to know how that record ended up in that shop.

This is probably the single most queer record I own. I think it beat out Sex Dwarf by just a few points.

(I assume it could also just be the old pigeonhole "house: too gay and flamboyant. techno: too hard and agressive.")

"Baby Wants To Ride" is queer in the "I don't care what gender you are as long as you're a freak in the bed" kinda way.

not that i consider you especially verbose, but Tim, this is one of the more efficient summaries of a record i've ever heard.

It's about policing how males (straight or gay) are supposed to behave. That's why i like that "Devotion" is about a woman...

P.S. thanx

this is why we have dub versions for Euro-weenies.

When I hear this record it just feel like the gender of the lyrics is abitrary. It is kind of like the male vocal version of Is It All Over My Face by Loose Joints. When taken with the overly comerical production aesthetic, and the fact that it was a pop house record on a major label it just seems like the gay content(much less the black content, and I am going to get in trouble for that one...it is a watered down record compared to other more "urban" M. Jefferson productions or his Chi contemporaries) was being *barely* kept latent in order to sell the record to a largely straight English audience.

That being said, I do not know about BS's sexual preference. He might very well be straight. It just seems very fem/gay to me in a way that the first Metallica records isn't.

PS I was using queer in a hate speech sense. I was using it the way Tim Finney would...

What makes you think the record was made specifically for a straight English audience?

who can tell me about the ibadan reissues? are they remixes or edits or what?

Anyone have the extended (Marshall Jefferson) mix of "Superficial People"? I feel the urge to transcribe a whole bunch of Ten City lyrics. "Haaaaaaaaa!"

Lot of good Ten City videos on YouTube, btw.

i think i managed to get my dad into house music by playing him a bunch of byron stingily/ten city youtubes. he likes dude's voice

late answer but: Ibadan issues are just reissues. But the originals should be easy to find and cheap, plus you get all of the different mixes.

this group is awesome. I want to leave the office and go home and listen to "That's The Way Love Is" right now. Don't care if I am fired. I have x000 other records to sell to pay rent, as long as I get to keep that one.

devotion <3 <3 <3

been listening to this constantly lately!

two people
don't get along
deeep down
both have feelings very strong
they try hard
to conceal it
their hearts burn
cos they booooooth know they feel it

god the 8 mins of ttwli is just the most incredible thing

RT if you're DJing on Valentine's Day and will be playing Devotion and crying quietly behind the decks.