Instant Funk – I Got My Mind Made Up / Wide World Of Sports

"Wide World of Sports" sounds like an energized, focused reprise to WAR - "The World is a Ghetto"

A side is easily one of the greatest disco 12''s ever produced, and it's cheap. No reason to not have this in the collection no matter what your tastes are.

Bruce Forest: “The original production of this song was done on 8 tracks and was a simple 3 minute R&B song. It was transferred to 24 track tape at Blank Tapes, NYC and work began on it by the producer Bunny Sigler and engineer Bob Blank. Among other things, Bunny brought in a woman to say 'say what?' throughout the record. Standing behind her, his directions ("scream") were amplified and used as part of the production. Remixing was done manually (no computerization) and was attempted by Walter Gibbons, Ken Cayre (the owner of Salsoul Records) and finally by Larry Levan. Done in Blank Tapes's old studio A, on a console that was not automated, the remixes were done with spicing tape, playing a small section of the music and then resetting the console, then recording the next piece. For the groove part that defines the song, 4 bars of groove section was edited in over and over to create the format of the song as it exists today. Bob Blank, the engineer for this production, estimates that it took over 60 hours of mixing time to create the versions that exist today.
In 1985, Salsoul Records removed all the multi-track masters from Blank Tapes (hundreds were stored in air conditioned storage areas in the studio) and destroyed them, except for some that were saved from destruction by John Morales. This master was among them.“

Jay Negron: “ Bruce, and the back story BEFORE Bunny brought it to Salsoul....the song was to be a solo track for Bunny's solo album for P.I.R but was rejected for being so raunchy & suggestive....Bunny was VERY specific about what he wanted her to do....way more X rated....the Salsoul was the PG version. (I don't mean Paradise Garage).”

I love that there is an Irish pressing of this record.

This was Larry Levan's second mixing credit, after the Cookie Monster mix that became a pretty popular break in early hip-hop routines. Walter Gibbons' faith was becoming very important to him, and was a big reason why he started to be very particular about the types of records he would work on. He worked on this mix for weeks with engineer Bob Blank, but went as far as to ask Ken Cayre to have the lyrics re-written, and when denied, abandoned the mix all together. It was at this point that Levan was brought in, and put the finishing touches on the mix, most notably extending it to nearly 10 minutes. Gibbons insisted that Levan take full credit for the mix. Although this account is disputed by Cayre, insisting that Gibbons was never apart of this mix. Sonically, it certainly sound more like a reel-to-reel edit that Gibbons would play at Galaxy 21, as compared to the then very young producer, Levan. Nonetheless, Levan would soon take over the lion's share of remix work for Salsoul, while Gibbons mixed a few more records for them before starting his own label, Jus Born Records, in 84.

(paraphrased from "Disco Madness: Walter Gibbons and the Legacy of Turntablism and Remixology" by Tim Lawrence)

Listening back on 'Wide World Of Sports' (?? never figured the name out) I was reminded of the genius 96' underground anthem 'We Are One' by Scotland's own Paul Flynn, aka DJ-Q: http://www.discogs.com/DJQ-We-Are-One-EP/release/18516
Now that's sampling....

For those of you who don't like your classics completely overhauled into something unrecognizable save for the vocal. The A-side of this 12" will be welcomed. Keeping all the original production intact, the person behind this mix makes a completely new remix for 1997 that will be immediately recognizable. He uses the original bass-line but loops it at certain points but that is about the most altering of the original recording except re-editing for a restructuring thus making it more accessible for DJs to mix into it's intro which consist of just the drums and production. As a stand alone, this mix sounds complete and refreshed for the late 90's and into the new millennium as an Old-School hit.

Track on Side B1 "World of Sports" the first Saxophone Strings was ripped off in the Mainpart on DJ Q's - We are one EP on Filter Records 006.