Funky Bijou
Tell Him / Ooh Baby

After a first edition acclaimed internationally, Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice finally follows-up to their French Disco Boogie Sounds compilation with a second volume!!Pursuing his fine work at digging rare music from around the world, DJ and collector Charles Maurice presents another brilliant selection of great music linked to France and French West-Indies: 12 hidden and forgotten titles, all produced between 1978 and 1985, whether in France, or by French artists abroad. This time again, he perfectly browse and defines the great energy and quality of this specific Disco/Funk scene at that time, both in the underground market, or through bigger labels.On one hand, tracks by Crystal, Jackie Esam, Ideku Dynasty or Marc Ashy, were produced by small artists and labels from the French Caribbean and African community and also filled with a raw spirit and some Tropical influences. On the other hand, tracks by Claude Morgan, Greg Smaha, Roots, or Black Bells Group, were released by major labels such as Phonogram, RCA, Derby, or Carrere, thanks to confirmed independent producers, acting not only in France, but also in Canada and the US.Today, Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice are very proud to unearth these 12 gems, with amongst them some very hard to find and almost unknown titles.

Thandi Zulu known as T.Z. Junior was a young girl from Soweto. Soweto became an independent municipality with elected black councilors in 1983. T.Z. Junior started her musical career with Peter Moticoe who produced "Love Games" with The Young Five on Heads label in 1984. Then, Peter Moticoe brought her to Phil Hollis at Dephon Entertainment who then teamed them up with Attie Van Wyk who was the producer for Yvonne Chaka Chaka at that time.Phil Hollis started Dephon Promotion (Dephon Entertainment) in the late 70's and developed into the largest independent record company in South Africa. He describes himself as the only person who has been involved in recording of major hit songs in nearly all genres of music in all the languages in South Africa. Phil Hollis was involved in all aspects of the Entertainment industry from production of recordings, recording company, distribution, marketing and promotion, events management, staging major events and filming. "Sugar My Love" and "Are You Ready for Love" were produced and arranged by Attie Van Wyk. “Back in the 80's I was a songwriter for a band called Ballyhoo when I got an offer from the Dephon Record Company to join them as a music producer. So I quit the band and joined them, producing records mainly for music targeted at the black market in those days,” he says. Between 1982 and 1992, Attie Van Wyk produced over 120 albums, including many for Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

Following the recent success of French Disco Boogie Sounds, DJ and producer Charles Maurice is back on Favorite Recordings, this time engaging a musical World tour, in the search of hidden productions with a touch of AOR style. The result is AOR Global Sounds, a new compilation made of 8 forgotten and rare tracks produced between 1977 and 1982 in all parts of the globe. At the end of the 70s, many artists over the world were deeply influenced by AOR’s famous stars such as Steely Dan and his classic Aja LP, looking to reach the same attention to sound production and details, and this specific Westcoast style mixing together Pop-Rock standards, with Soul (sometime Disco) and Jazz influences.From Erik Tagg in Netherlands, and Ulla in Poland, to Diane Tell in Quebec, and Nohelani Cypriano in Hawaï, Charles Maurice found a real link between these 8 great songs and artists, in their music clearly infused with this special AOR touch, in a Soulful and Disco way.This perfect soundtrack for the summer has been fully remastered from original versions, and is presented by Favorite Recordings in a deluxe vinyl version, housed in a tip-on jacket. A must have for rare-groove music collectors and many more…

Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart is one of the top producers of today’s groove music scene. After playing as a bassist and guitarist for various bands, he started producing in the mid-nineties and has kept on mixing today’s technologies with the raw spirits of House, Electronic, Disco, Funk, Soul, Reggae & Jazz music’s golden years since then.Following the trail of success left by his various projects as Patchworks, and under many aliases, he’s proved his musical ubiquity and unexpectedly stroke in various genres. Today, he’s back under the EDR Records’ umbrella, following up to his various EP for the label, and meanwhile pursuing a comeback to his early love for House music.Many House music diggers would indeed remember that before Favorite Recordings was launched in 2006, Patchworks and Pascal Rioux produced many deep-house tracks on the Rotax Disques imprint. Besides since the late 90s, Patchworks has also collaborated with labels such as Q-Tape, or Still Music, delivering many clubbing hits such as “Million Toes”, “Sugar”, or “Minautor”.On this 5 tracks EP, he delivers 4 killer tunes again, inspired by the Michael Jackson’s classic hit, “Rock With You”.

Voilaaa is one of the many projects led and produced by Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, who’s proven over the past 15 years, his place amongst the finest producers of groove music in all genres.This time exploring the wide spectrum of the African and Tropical Disco scene, he received a massive international support for Voilaaa’s first album, On te l’avait dit, released late 2015 on Favorite Recordings.Following to that success and pursuing the same direction combining of the festive, yet sometime futile nature of Disco, and the instinctive, deep, sometimes rough nature of African music, Voilaaa’s now presenting its 2nd efforts, Des Promesses.The 13 tracks of the album are again up to expectations, and Voilaaa has not finished feeding international dancefloors with heavy Afro-Disco music. Alongside Bruno at the production, singers Pat Kalla and Sir Jean are back providing their carefree lyrics and Afro vibes, and Senegalese artist Doctor Lass comes to extend the team, with 3 brilliant titles, including a great Funky cover of the classic “Mandjou” by Salif Keita and Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux..

Lucas Arruda’s born in 1983, in a Brazilian state called Espírito Santo, near Rio de Janeiro. Coming from a musical family (his dad and older brother are musicians) he started playing and listening to music very young. At the age of 13, he was also playing professionally already.After studying electric guitar and a few years spent playing in various bands with friends, Lucas passion quickly turned into Rhodes and keyboards, expanding his musical range of skills. At the same time he started a project called Du Black, with his older brother, Thiago, quickly receiving various local support from people such as Ed Motta, William Magalhães (Banda Black Rio), Robert Lamm (Chicago) or Hyldon (Brazilian soul legend).From the growing notoriety obtained with their first release, the band began to work with various other artists and singers such as Tamy Macedo, Idalina Dornellas, or Bossa Nova’s legend, Leila Pinheiro. Lucas also worked on the side for several other projects, which led him to build a recording studio with Thiago in 2011. This decision was a large step in his musical career and the next two years were indeed filled with great new collaborations alongside artists like Azee Project, Danny Perez (English producer), or Guida de Palma (Jazzinho). Now 2 years after he launched this home-studio, here comes “Sambadi”, first single and title of Lucas Arruda’s upcoming first solo LP!In Lucas’ words, Sambadi is highly inspired by Rio de Janeiro: “I’m living between two places, but my music and my heart are all in Rio”. As for the musical side, the album almost sounds like a tribute to his longtime heroes, with tasty influences by Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti amongst many others. And Lucas also humbly concludes: “With Sambadi, I really hope to honor all the guys who influenced me.”