Big Bank Hank, Master Gee & Wonder Mike aka the Sugar Hill Gang want their royalties (though some may be Chic's, one might imagine) … Can't wait to start reading (the paperback edition of) Nile Rodgers' autobiography (or memoir) "Le freak (an upside down story of family, disco and destiny", incidentally! And re: the gang's nightmare contracts, see also Roger Paradiso's documentary "I want my name back!" (2011).
http://www.factmag.com/2012/01/04/the-sugar-hill-gang-file-against-universal-for-over-40-years-of-unpaid-royalties/
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch_trailer_for_i_want_my_name_back_exploring_identity_theft_of_members_f
http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/nile_rodgers_le_freak_music_biography_of_the_year
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/books/201110/nile-rodgers-le-freak-book-excerpt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper%27s_Delight#Background
http://www.docnyc.net/film/i-want-my-name-back/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sugarhill_Gang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Rodgers
http://prince.org/msg/8/370093

What with Kate Bush releasing her first album in many years … here's a completely different act, viz. the Irish girl duo Clodagh Simonds & Alison O'Donnell (née Bools) of Mellow Candle! As for Kate … do check "Come back Kate", a compelling documentary (by Helena Muskens & Quirine Racké, 2007) on her cult following … the strangest of fans, really ;-)
http://www.janetrecords.com/mc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellow_Candle
http://www.irishshowbands.net/bgmellow.htm
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mellow+Candle
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=1586
http://dewerelddraaitdoor.vara.nl/Video-detail.628.0.html
http://katebushforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2248&st=160
http://www.idfa.nl/nl/tags/project.aspx?id=879462c2-56a5-4b41-8cb4-7faea9517203
http://www.nps.nl/page/programma/238/het-uur-van-de-wolf/aflevering/detail/6821345/come-back-kate
http://www.mediamatic.net/page/34920/nl

Songwriter Stephen Friedland was involved with the Tokens before he became Brute Force. His 1967 lp "I, Brute Force - Confections Of Love" has been reissued by Bar / None last year. But he's most famous for his "King of Fuh" single from 1969, one of Apple's rarest releases.
http://www.brutesforce.com/
http://www.razorfilmsla.com/#projects
http://www.wfmu.org/365/2003/038.shtml
http://www.bar-none.com/brute-force.html
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=2056
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/review/434/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute_Force_(musician)
http://www.applerecords.com/#!/memorabilia/KingOfFuh_UK
http://ashbeesfragment.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-brute-force-confections-of-love.html
http://www.scrammagazine.com/brute-force-speaks-an-interview-with-stephen-friedland-by-michael-lucas
http://www.examiner.com/beatles-in-national/apple-records-recording-artist-brute-force-tells-all-gently

Mark Landsman's 83' "Thunder Soul" documentary on Houston's Kashmere Stage Band (as produced by Jamie Foxx, 2010) isn't featured on Now-Again's 2cd + 1dvd package (NA-5085, 2011). But it does feature there's a 12' making of, footage of a 3' live version of "Makin' whoopee" (1972) and a 27' documentary by Charles Porter (1973 - check the KSB on holiday in Paris, Brussels, Louvain, Waterloo, Breda and Bonn). It's a mighty package with a 40 page booklet to boot … but it has only one flaw: there's no song author credits, making it difficult to find out which tracks are KSB originals and which are cover versions. Speaking of which: expect more "Shaft" covers in a future post + find a free download of Egon's extended edit of James Brown's "Super bad" (as featured on the 2005 US - but not Jazzman's 2002 UK - edition of "Texas Funk: Black Gold From The Lone Star State 1968-1975" v/a cd) via the Now-Again site:
http://www.nowagainrecords.com/tag/kashmere-stage-band/  [5 pages!]
http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2010-03-12/977581/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5599377
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/23/140539483/thunder-soul-70s-sensation-dusts-off-its-groove
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/28/140891879/summer-school-funk-five-tracks-out-of-1970s-houston
http://www.filmindependent.org/news-and-blog/mark-landsman-on-his-influences-and-thunder-soul/
http://edendale.typepad.com/weblog/2010/03/sxsw-2010-mark-landsmans-thunder-soul.html
http://stonesthrow.com/news/2011/06/kashmere-stage-band-thunder-soul-official-movie-trailer
http://www.indiewire.com/article/toolkit-case-study-the-long-road-of-thunder-soul
http://www.indiewire.com/article/interview_thunder_soul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmere_Stage_Band
http://funky16corners.lunarpages.net/?p=2009
http://stonesthrow.com/funky16/kash.html
http://thundersoulmovie.com/
http://kashmere.org/

A groovy 1969 B side version of "Daydream" by David Mahna MacKay, who'd produced the Wallace Collection's 1968 original … plus Franck Pourcel's take and Claude François' "Rêveries" remake (new lyrics by Jacques Plante, both from the same année érotique, and, finally, the Beta Band sampling it in 2001.

Piero Umiliani's classic track (1968), as made famous by David Mahna MacKay (in 1969 - more on him in the next post), Sesame Street (1969), Sesamstraße (?) and, last but not least, the Muppets (e.g. 1976) … Apparently, Jim Henson c.s. have recorded several versions, most of them by the character Bip Bippadotta ... but Sandra Bullock did her part too - see http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Mahna_Mahna_(song) for more on all that!

Hats off to brother Ray Charles (1930-2004), y'all! I was - once again - blown away by Mr. Charles' genius ànd life story on the occasion of seeing "Ray Charles America" (Alexis Spraic 2010). Still, I'm in two minds about Mr. Charles' cover version of John Lennon's "Imagine" … which was recorded for a tv commercial about a French bank, incidentally.
http://raycharles.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles
http://www.nichill.tv/projects/raycharlesamerica/
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/44220110
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19764/
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19765/
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19767/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2003/jan/09/artsfeatures.popandrock
http://www.hollanddoc.nl/kijk-luister/documentaire/r/ray-charles---het-genie.html
http://www.humo.be/tws/tv-tips/22417/het-uur-van-de-wolf-ray-charles-america.html
http://www.discogs.com/Ray-Charles-The-Definitive-Ray-Charles/release/2046938
http://books.google.com/books/about/Brother_Ray.html?id=YI9CR9R9vq8C
http://www.musicmelon.co.uk/gallery.asp?collectionid=6#
http://www.ritzwrites.com/books.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2108507/

RIP Larry Wild Man Fischer ! 1944-11-06 > 2011-06-16.
http://www.markprindle.com/fischer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Man_Fischer
http://mog.com/DashboardDJ856/blog/2823832
http://www.rhino.com/article/wild-man-fischer-1944-2011
http://php.indiana.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/fischer.disco.html
http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/the-legend-of-wild-man-fischer/417
http://www.cultusonline.be/index.php/muziekartikels/303-how-to-buy-wild-man-fischer.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/arts/music/wild-man-fischer-outsider-musician-dies-at-66.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wild-man-fischer-outsider-musician-who-was-discovered-by-frank-zappa-but-could-never-transcend-his-psychiatric-disorders-2318335.html
http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/the_fischer_king_rip_larry_wildman_fischer/
http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-larry-wild-man-fischer,57809/
http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=W
http://www.rhino.com/artist/Wild-Man-Fischer
http://www.derailroaded.com/

… a couple of Chapman updates … there's a documentary in the making (see links below), some touring going on, and a release on Ecstatic Peace upcoming … Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore had already interviewed Michael Chapman in Fretboard Magazine in 2009 … meanwhile the tracks below are off "Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010" on Tompkins Square (TSQ2530, 2011) … "Trying times" is a requiem for Jack Rose (1971-02-16 > 2009-12-05) …
http://michaelchapman.co.uk/news.htm
http://www.weirdwolf.us/?p=435
http://www.weirdwolf.us/?p=281
http://www.weirdwolf.us/?p=133

Jonny Trunk's documentary on library music for BBC Radio 4 starts at 0'40" via http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01061hr/Into_the_Music_Library/