Track-By-Track: O/B #02
The producer behind this Armenta banger was Amir Bayyan, aka one of the Bell brothers from Kool & The Gang. He was a writer and producer for La Toya Jackson, Jimmy Cliff and even Vanessa Williams. According to one online comment, Amir and Armenta were married at one point, though the writer is careful to note that their relationship on this recording was strictly professional.
Not sure what that means, but in any case, the vocal version of 'I Wanna Be With You' (Part 1) is as loved up as they come. I first heard it played by Eloi and Yayo at El Cuerpo Del Disco in Berlin Club, Madrid, mistaking it for a Jackson 5 track I had somehow never heard before. It's just got that pizazz.
The instrumental version (Part 2) is a spectacular variation, starting off with that same ecstatic intro before taking a sudden left turn. Everything gets stripped back to the raw rhythm track and an utterly killer syncopated vocoder that you feel Daft Punk must have had in mind when making 'Harder Better Faster Stronger'.
One curious mystery is why the Armenta LP, which was only released in Japan, has Sophie St Laurent's 'Sex Appeal' appear on it. I guess this was a form of cross-promotion by Savoir Faire for the Japanese market, but i'd be interested to know how the album liner notes justify it, if at all (they're in Japanese). Safe to say people were spoilt in 1983!
Armenta - I Wanna Be With You (Part 2) (Savoir Faire, 1983)
(Discogs)
Note: this is an entry in the Track-By-Track series for my mix for O/B.
Track-By-Track is a series that looks back at records you will have heard in my mixes, one by one in the order they were played. Who made them, and when? How did I come across them? And what do they make me feel?