And here we say goodbye to quite a rate discovery for yours truly! Before beginning the rate, I had never heard of this band or song and had to go on a discovery trip with
@londonrain to ensure we had enough bands to rate in each era, which brought us the 70s own
First Choice!
Armed And Extremely Dangerous did okay throughout the voting period, never landing too low, but also never reaching too high (nothing really above #25) so its finish of #32 gives a good representation of its overall performance here.
Armed & Extremely Dangerous is not just a bit hilarious a song title, it also packs quite an interesting lyric – considering most songs in this rate deal with love etc (especially the 60s/70s numbers). The tale is of
Dangerous Dan, a man wanted by the FBI and how (you guessed it) dangerous he is. The track sonically is quite pleasant but the concept screams
Boney M at me with their takes on ‘villains’ such as
Rasputin and
Ma Baker (in saying that,
First Choice predates
Boney M so A+ for influence!).
First Choice (initially
The Debonettes) were a female vocal trio from Philadelphia who formed in High School. They performed in clubs after school locally, and were eventually introduced to
Norman Harris (a record man) by
Georgie Woods (radio DJ). Harris produced their first single “
This Is The House Where Love Died” but their breakthrough came with
Armed & Extremely Dangerous, which made it qualify for the rate due to its #16 peak in the UK. Since then, they became mostly a force in the R&B genre charts while active, but their sound also included Soul & Disco in their reach. There have been line-up changes over time and the ladies still perform their old hits today in some capacity, including a mini reunion in 2014.
First Choice officially called it quits from an active status in 1980 (and hadn’t released any new music since) but in 1983
Sal-Soul Records (one of the labels they had been with) released ‘
Let No Man Put Asunder’ from their 1977 LP “
Delusions” which rose to #13 on the Billboard Dance Chart and has since become
First Choice’s signature song. It was covered by
Mary J Blige on her 1999 Album
Mary; and
First Choice’s version is still to this day a favourite in the House Music Scene. You can hear from the track here, this group was a great product of its time, combining the soulful qualities of the Motown-style sound with fun lyrics that helped them stand out. Maybe they were never true contenders for the crown here but they still provided a fun number for the list!
What did PopJustice think?
Ufint (7.5)
thought the same as I did! - Firstable, why do I hear M People in this? Second of all, it’s nice to hear some good Philly soul.
Iheartpoptarts (9.5)
needs you but if she doesn’t vote for me in PJ00s, don’t help her! - Someone tell me what the instrumental bit that accompanies the title line reminds me of. I’m going crazy trying to figure it out!
DominoDancing (4)
has taken his bitch pill today and I live! - Mediocre in every way.
Empty Shoebox (10)
is full of generosity, what is this?? - I'm not sure if this is disco or Northern Soul, but I love it. For consistency, I should be marking it down for being repetitive, but I never claimed to be consistent, or anything other than a mess.
Trouble In Paradise (8.5)
shows we have another Tati fan in our mix - The lyrics are a choice, but I enjoy the production and vocal delivery.
Filippa (6)
is also in a good mood! I tell you First Choice is an anti-villain band! - This song has a good energy! I like it.
Saviodxl (6.5)
is appreciative - Nice discovery!
All I can say at this point is poor Riiiiiiiii (9)! - Sexy discovery. These kind of song make me realize what a shame it is I never experienced the ’70s.
Kermit_The_Frog (10)
calls this a stand out! - First things first - I have about 8 x Salsoul Compilations but everyone on them is pretty faceless to me (Loleatta Holloway aside, for obvious reasons). Anyway, mere months after discovering that Double Exposure were a boy-band, I now discover that First Choice were a girl-group! Hooray! Further Listening: Let No Man Put Asunder.
Zar-Unity (8)
is still not a man of many words but this is a nice change from the typical 7 points - Charming personalities shown here! Tech: 5 Taste: 3 = 8 points