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6 Degrees Entertainment

Title - Bees Knees & Chicken Elbows [Expanded Edition]
Artist - Blue Rondo

For those unaware, back in early 80’s Soho, Blue Rondo A La Turk defined cool. Singer/writer Chris Sullivan, guitarist Mark Reilly and vocalist Christos Tolera (with help from myriad talented personnel) married Latin jazz, R&B, Cuban and urban soul with a strong pop sensibility (witty lyrics, catchy melodies).

After singles such as the Top 40 hit ‘Me And Mr. Sanchez’ and the irrepressible ‘Klacto Vee Sedstein’ and debut album ‘Chewing The Fat’ in 1982, the team went their separate ways.

While Mark Reilly and others founded Matt Bianco, a new line-up of the original combo re-emerged in autumn 1983 with shortened name Blue Rondo. Accompanied by new singles ‘Slipping Into Daylight’ (a club favorite at the time) and ‘Masked Moods’ (revealing a mellower vibe than their earlier incarnation), Blue Rondo delivered a wonderful second album entitled ‘Bees Knees And Chicken Elbows’.

The LP landed during the height of what the press labelled ‘New Jazz’, with significant success for contemporaries such as Sade, Carmel and Working Week.

Some four decades on, Bees Knees And Chicken Elbows makes its debut on CD, overseen by Chris & Co. For this much expanded two-CD edition, original non-album tracks and alternative mixes are joined by host of hitherto unheard recordings fresh from the vaults, rescued by Chis from his extensive tape archive.

The package has also been annotated by Chris, who is still very active in London to this day as a writer, DJ, compiler and painter.

Disc One: (1984)
1. Samba No Pé
2. Slipping Into Daylight
3. Manifesto
4. Masked Moods
5. Smoking Dynamite
6. And Then The Rain Came
7. Hot Corner
8. Are You Satisfied
9. The Method [Bonus Track]
10. Heavens Revisited [Bonus Track]
11. Masked Moods [Bonus Track]
12. Hot Corner (Early Version) * [Bonus Track]
13. Samba No Pe – unreleased version [Bonus Track]
14. Slipping Into Daylight (Troglodyte Mix – alias Instrumental) (7” B-side) [Bonus Track]
15. Are You Satisfied (Instrumental) [Bonus Track]

Blue Rondo went through a pretty significant line-up change between Chewing The Fat and this album, so of course it’s going to sound somewhat different. That having been said, this is definitely Blue Rondo. Bees Knees & Chickens Elbows is a very worthy follow-up to Chewing The Fat and contains some very catchy tunes, with Slipping Into Daylight and Manifesto being two personal favorites of mine.

The opening track, Samba No Pe is a pretty solid piece too, and one of the better instrumental tracks I’ve heard on an art pop album. Maybe it doesn’t quite have the depth or diversity of Chewing The Fat, but this isn’t really a bad thing. I mean, Bees Knees is solid enough that it’s worth it for any fan of the first album to check out.

Disc Two:
1. Slipping Into Daylight (12”) 2. Samba No Pé (12” Remix - Geraldo D’Arbilly) 3. Love Let Me Lose You * 4. And Then The Rain Came (12”) 5. Slipping Into Daylight (The Crucial Cut – alias Dance Mix) (12” Bside) 6. Devil Doll * 7. Kool Aid * 8. Let It Go * 9. Let’s Get Real * 10. Mystery & Imagination * 11. This Song * 12. Dirty Games* previously unissued.

Official Purchase Link

www.cherryred.co.uk





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