UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH 2012: STRATAVARIOUS
With the emphasis on singles though, early disco albums were often weak, and many disco artists were hard-pressed to even come up with a decent second single. The first disco/dance music album that I liked a lot was Dare by the Human League, which came out in 1981. That is not true of all of them though, and Stratavarious is one of the best 1970’s disco albums that I have ever heard. Released in 1977, the album has lush orchestral movements and beautiful vocals; and as far as I can tell, there isn’t a synthesizer in sight. The liner notes explain the name in this way: “strata; various, meaning multi-layered, with several layers and textures running parallel, but mixing at pre-determined points”.
The name of course is adapted from that of the famous violin maker Stradivarius (whose instruments are mostly over 300 years old now, believe it or not). Cream drummer Ginger Baker had previously released an unrelated solo album in 1972 under the name Stratavarious.
The label for the Stratavarious album is Roulette Records; back when, I loved the orange-and-yellow, roulette-wheel design of their record labels.
I guess I am stalling a little because no one seems to know much about Stratavarious, or their lead singer, who goes by the name of Lady. The band was put together by John L. (Johnny) Usry, Jr., who was the producer and arranger and also the orchestral conductor. He had previously worked with the Three Degrees, who one time provided the vocals on a new theme song for Soul Train. (The show’s long-time host, Don Cornelius died just last month). Public demand led to its release as a single; under the name “TSOP” by MFSB, it was a monster R&B hit in 1974. (The initials stand for “The Sound of Philadelphia” and “Mother Father Sister Brother”).
As an example of the mystery about the band, on one YouTube video, the band is listed as “Stratavarious a/k/a Johnny Usry”; while a short piece on a blog on the Internet says that it was an all-female disco band. (The latter gentleman mentioned that their hit was “Lady”, when that was actually the name of the lead singer; though to be fair, there is a track on the album called “Let Me Be Your Lady Tonight”). One of their releases, “I Got Your Love” was one of the first 12-inch singles to feature two bands; the other was Poison (not the same as the glam-metal band of the 1980’s, Poison).
One other thing. Stratavarious might fill an annoying hole in the roster of the Under-Appreciated Rock Bands: Nobody so far has been African-American. I do know that Johnny Usry is black, as is Poison. Also, most of the people that Usry has worked with over the years are African-American: Besides the Three Degrees, they include Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, and the O’Jays; however, that is not true of Air Supply. I have no photos so far, and the music itself could go either way, so I am still not sure.
(March 2012)
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Flashback: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month for March 2012 – STRATAVARIOUS
As the only UARB thus far to be a disco band, I was not surprised to find several tracks by Stratavarious; in fact, at least 5 of the 6 tracks on the album are given on YouTube. The full-length version of their hit “I Got Your Love” is available (all of these are audio only) at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07v4UNWVqkU . There are others for this song: “Part 1” and “Part 2” plus a “special disco version”. “Let Me Be Your Lady Tonight” can be heard – evidently as taken from the album – at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqKXY6VmUDE; this song also has a “disco mix” available. Here is one last song, “Touching” that has more tempo and mood changes than are normally encountered in the disco world, plus some lovely harp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8V9MJOvNc . As far as I know, there are no synthesizers on this album; these are all “real” instruments.
(March 2014)
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Items: Stratavarious
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PICTURE GALLERY: The Under-Appreciated Rock Band for March 2012 – STRATAVARIOUS
I sold this disco band short somewhat in my post. I was depending on the basic Internet info on the band that was repeated in a myriad places. But it wasn’t until a year or two later that I was able to locate a copy of the back cover of the Stratavarious album, where most of the best information and credits can usually be found. There I determined that the person so beautifully playing the harp on many of the songs is Erica Goodman, a renowned concert harpist. There is also nothing on the back cover about the lead vocalist going by the name of “Lady”, although she is listed this way on at least one of the 12” singles.
Additional credits given on the album include Guido Basso who is featured on the song “Nightfall” that opens Side 2; Tabby Johnson is the female vocalist on “Touching”, along with album mastermind John L. Usry, Jr. Both Basso and Johnson are Canadian jazz musicians that have Wikipedia articles. There are other songs with female vocals where the singer is not given, however.
This is the front cover of the Stratavarious album:
And the long-awaited back cover:
This is the only photo that I was able to find of John L. Usry, Jr., and I am not even positive about this one; it comes from a tribute video that I found online:
Here is a photo of harpist Erica Goodman:
(March 2015)
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Here is a rundown of the past year’s (2011-2012) Under-Appreciated Rock Bands and Rock Artists:
December 2011 – 1960’s pop-rock band THE MAGICIANS (retrospective album)
January 2012 – 2000’s rock singer-songwriter RON FRANKLIN (3 albums)
February 2012 – 1980’s punk/hip hop rock band JA JA JA (1 album)
March 2012 – 1970’s disco band STRATAVARIOUS (1 album)
April 2012 – 1960’s folk-rock singer-songwriter LINDA PIERRE KING (several songs on two compilation albums)
June 2012 – 1980’s new wave rock band WILD BLUE (2 albums, though 1 might be unreleased)
July 2012 – 1980’s punk rock band DEAD HIPPIE (1 album)
September 2012 – 1980’s new wave rock band CODE BLUE (2 albums)
October 2012 – 1980’s progressive rock band TRILLION (2 albums)
November 2012 – 1990’s-2000’s rock singer-songwriter THOMAS ANDERSON (5 albums)
(Year 3 Review)
