VAUGHAN MASON AND BUTCH DAYO – Feel My Love (2024 Reissue) – LP – 180g Vinyl

LP/Mini-Album – 180g Black Vinyl.2024 repress Mastered by Simon Francis and cut by Pete Norman and with lovingly reproduced artwork.

If ever an album could transport you to the hazy sunshine and imagined halcyon paradise of Southern California in the mid-1980s, could capture the early evening warmth of hanging at an inclusive boogie jam as it approaches magic hour in Santa Ana or Anaheim, then its Vaughan Mason and Butch Dayos Feel My Love. A brilliantly produced deep slung, low rider funk classic originally released on Salsoul in 1983. Its a masterpiece of funk love music.

Yes, this is indeed a perfectly formed five track mini LP of unparalleled heat, but theres one song here that, above the rest, represents Orange County boogie-funk. A straight killer beloved by all that have had the pleasure of moving to it. A track that can fill up a dance floor within seconds of its starting. That song is the eternal title track, Feel My Love.

This is a work of art that made people fall in love with the funk. It transcends the limitations of genre. Feel My Loves deceptive simplicity makes it perfect to drop during a house set, a classic funk party or at a west coast rap jam. Its sexy, deeply emotional, melancholic, hopeful, passionate and just radiates so, so much raw energy. This is music.

The rest of the record is hardly filler though. Opener Oh, Love is a dizzying, emotional slow jam. With heaven-sent vocals riding gorgeous, sweeping keys that alternate between sweet twinkling lines and funk-fuelled stabbing. Its sensational. A rollerskating jam named Rollalong Songs is an ultra-swish piece of dance floor dynamite. Its slick drums, staccato piano and neck snapping claps underscore Dayos buoyant vocals. Its essentially Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll Part II.

The flip begins with Party On The Corner. Smoother than silk vocals, day-glo synths, a bubbling bassline and guitar licks that surely received the Prince seal of approval. Its another example of how Vaughan Mason and Butch Dayo flirt with perfection so routinely. The most majestic closer, the kaleidoscopic, cow-bell-assisted synth-funk heater You Can Do It is a proto-rap groover that truly smokes.

This prized LP is a stone cold jam and finding original copies on vinyl at affordable prices has been tough for years. Mastered brilliantly by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and with lovingly reproduced artwork, this fresh Be With reissue ensures this legendary LP now sounds, looks and feels as sensational as it should.

Tracklist:

A1. Oh, Love [6:20]
A2. Rollalong Songs [6:30]
A3. Feel My Love [6:00]

B1. Party On The Corner [6:16]
B2. You Can Do It [7:16]