Thursday, November 03, 2005

OK, Finally Here's the First Post (I Hope)!

Here's some soul to test this bad boy out ...

Lovin' Machine - Rodge Martin

I first heard of Rodge Martin through videos from the 1966 soul TV show "The Beat." His performance of this song on one episode remains my favorite moment from the entire run of the series (which are available in DVD format from Bear Family Records). As energetic as the record "Lovin' Machine" is, Rodge's live rendition of the tune is almost a definition of '60s soul all in itself. Rodge is in a black suit with the tie pulled down, bouncing like a rubber ball while tearing through the lyrics. At one point he does a dance he calls the "Rodge Martin strut" and, as the show's house band tears into the ad-lib portion of the tune Rodge lets out some screams that sound halfway between Bobby Bland's squall and a turkey gobble (lol). According to the liner notes for the DVD of the "The Beat", Rodge died of a heart attack in 1967 or '68 (I don't have the notes handy); it's too bad he didn't get the chance to break out of the minor leagues because he surely had soul to spare.

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