I’ve liked Eddie Holman’s A Night To Remember for a long time, and I guess it’s familiar to me because it was one of the late Salsoul singles that contributed to a revival of interest in him. So when I spotted an original vinyl copy of the album that takes its title from this single in a bargain bin last week, I grabbed it with both hands. The tune A Night To Remember alone is worth a round pound of my money, or anyone else’s for that matter! And a quid was all I had to pay for a 12 inch 8 track vinyl trip right back to my last year at school. When Eddie Holman’s album was issued in 1977, I was 15 years-old and the more interesting girls in my class all had 17 or 18 year-old boyfriends, coz they wouldn’t consider dating a bloke who didn’t have a car. And while northern soul was the preferred musical subculture of male hipsters at my school, those older boys my female classmates were dating listened to more ‘sophisticated’ and contemporary grooves like this Eddie Holman album. So spinning this primo example of Salsoul heaven took me right back to Greater London Council (GLC) overspill estates, Ford Cortinas with furry dice hanging from the rear-view mirror, and dazzling white clothes lovingly washed by working-class mothers.
Every note of Eddie Holman’s album is unadulterated sonic pleasure, but nothing else on it matches the musical heights of the title track. As this smooth groove kicks in, the horns and bass line kinda remind me of Tears Of A Clown, and the repeated string hook later on is some distant and totally mellowed out relative of Bok to Bach by Father’s Angels, but when the divine vocal hits you, it’s immediately apparent you couldn’t possibly be listening to anyone but Eddie Holman: “I wanna feel your body pressed up close to mine… oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh I got a feeling, this’ll be a night to remember.” Definitely an all time love classic!
The album contains another 1977 single in the form of the opening track You Make My Life Complete, and that’s all that was familiar to me. But the other six tracks are just as good as the opener! Side 1: You Make My Life Complete; Time Will Tell; Immune To Love; This Will Be A Night To Remember. Side 2: I’ve Been Singing Love Songs; (Where Have You Been) All My Life; Somehow You Make Me Feel; It’s Over. Sadly Holman’s only 70s UK hit was with (Hey There) Lonely Girl, and while that is fabulous, the mellow groove on A Night To Remember makes this later outing even better! As The Cortinas sang on their single of that time Defiant Pose: “1977’s got a hold on me!” But it’s the Salsoul urban groove that’s taking me there, not punk rock!
And while you’re at it don’t forget to check – www.stewarthomesociety.org – you know it makes (no) sense!
Comments
Comment by Michael K on 2009-08-05 16:47:15 +0000
Macca is the only musician who is better than Eddie Holman, which means Eddie is Jesus!
Comment by The Real Tessie on 2009-08-05 19:35:00 +0000
Well I could certainly do with a night to remember! I’m fed up with being locked inside this wardrobe with nothing but a laptop to keep me entertained… A real plastic woman like me needs something considerably more physical!
Comment by raymond anderson on 2009-08-05 19:51:12 +0000
Bunny Sigler!
Comment by bongo herbert on 2009-08-05 20:02:53 +0000
keep it funky!
Comment by raymond anderson on 2009-08-05 20:07:13 +0000
A big fave on the Northern Scene and romantic Philly nights in, then he hits us with Instant Funk in the late 70s and is still going I hear.
Let’s Get Freaky Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFLHBF5Cyn0
Comment by Time on 2009-08-05 20:20:41 +0000
Eddie is my main man, all the Eddie’s – Eddie Holman, Eddie Harris, Eddie The Eagle, even Eddie & the Hot Rods. Eddie just plain rocks!
Comment by Díre McCain on 2009-08-05 22:02:30 +0000
I would have dated you, babyface, except I was only six years old at the time, and residing on a different planet. Uh oh, the phone is ringing, and it’s someone from Texas…
Comment by Tom on 2009-08-05 22:04:37 +0000
You are about to leave MySpace.com
In an effort to stop phishing, we are warning you:
DO NOT ENTER YOUR MYSPACE PASSWORD on this new website!
This page is not meant to keep you from going to the link you’ve clicked on. It is just a warning to not enter your MySpace password on this site, even if the page you visit looks like a MySpace login page. To go to the page, click the link below:
Follow External Link To:
http://stewarthomesociety.org/blog/?p=22 66
Tom’s Blog about Phishing
Tom’s Blog about this Warning Page
Go Back to MySpace
Comment by Paul McCartney on 2009-08-06 06:45:06 +0000
K’s right. I am God. Or at least I was when I was alive!
Comment by King Spam Bot on 2009-08-06 19:25:32 +0000
Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
Comment by gloria jones on 2009-08-06 19:30:41 +0000
eddie likes to boogie on a saturday night….
Comment by Facebook Help Centre on 2009-08-07 14:38:36 +0000
Well they’re both on the same IP address.
Of course the High Park, Toronto exchange might be based in the UK
😉
Do you want me to ban?
Comment by jennifer lopez on 2009-08-07 15:07:54 +0000
Hey Trip, Ben Myers has a new novel coming out called ‘Richard’. It’s supposed to be pretty dark..
I can’t wait to read it!
So, when’s you gonna write us a new one?
(claudia)
Comment by Smooth George on 2009-08-08 07:43:40 +0000
I like it smooth, just like Eddie!
Comment by Old Rope on 2009-08-13 10:36:41 +0000
Yo Trip, are you finally gonna get hip now your are all grown up (in body if not in mind) and get yourself some furry dice and a cortina? You’ve never experienced a true groove sensation till you have.
I call shotgun