Take A Chance

This weekend it was a bit of an understatement to say that I found some great disco gems. At one of my favorite local record stores here in Seattle I found the TJM album that I posted about last week, plus two Queen Samantha LP's, 1978's The Letter and 1979's Queen Samantha 2. The best part was that I probably got all three for about $10. The reason for the cheap prices is because the record store that I often find many of these hidden gems isn't as knowledgeable when it comes to the "disco" genre, however it seems that they get all kinds of rarities every single month. Regardless, outside of already being excited about picking up a copy of the TJM LP, I pretty much lost my mind when I found the Queen Samantha records.

I first heard of Queen Samantha, aka Gloria Brooks, when I cam across her known Paradise Garage classic "Take A Chance". However, outside of "Take A Chance" I was unsure as to what, if any, other good Queen Samantha tracks were there. Well, I can say that yesterday I was opened up to many with these two albums. First, The Letter, which I kind of enjoy a little more than Queen Samantha 2, appropriately feature the amazing title track "The Letter" which was made famous later on in the mid-eighties by Joe Cocker. The four track record also features other solid cuts like "Singing Hallelujah" and "Don't Stop - I Feel Good". For many, Queen Samantha 2, could be considered equally as amazing with of course the classic "Take A Chance", as well as other great tracks like "Sweet San Francisco", "What's In Your Mind" and "The Look of Love" which many might know by Cerrone's rendition. Both records have that nice appeal to fans of that early pre-electronic sounding italo, very similiar to Tempest Trio's self-titled record.

Overall, it's safe to say, I had a productive day at the record store. I can't imagine another time in the future I'll pick three rare classics for ten bucks!

Queen Samantha - Singing Hallelujah
Queen Samantha - Take A Chance