> I've been curious about the Rah Band for years, knowing only "Sam the > Samba Man" from one of the Beikoku Ongaku comps. I had the notion > that this track was taken from a reissue of sorts, and that this was > definitely vintage - probably 70's - easy/bossa/disco. So, TC, or > anyone else in the know, please spill the beans. Old or new? And > where do I have to go to get more? here's what i can gather, from poking around on the 'net. i can't find a single droplet of biographical info, but i do see evidence of a career stretching from 1976 to present time, with several years of trying to crack the british charts and finally doing so in 1985 with "clouds across the moon" (apparently a mainstream european hit). they were on a major label... mca, i think. yoshinori sunahara, who displays an a rah band influence in some of his work, covered "clouds" on his bungalow album "crossover." i can't find any of their releases in the hands of u.s. sellers... it all appears to be over in europe. at some online shops, their old 12" singles go for as much as 15 or 25 pounds sterling. i got pretty well trounced, trying to bid on a single of theirs on ebay. but i think it is definitely possible to get a greatest hits cd of some sort by the band for a more reasonable price. or if you're willing to pay a less reasonable price, they have a hits cd on trattoria, which includes "sam the samba man." http://www2. eccosys.co.jp/~kawakazu/menu/menu107.html they basically ARE a disco band. i've heard a few instrumentals that have the `70s easy/funk/disco sound with guitars/keyboard/horns, a couple that sound more r&b, and a song off a more recent compilation (early `90s, maybe?) that is full-on house music (with "house diva"- style singing). i'm pretty sure, though, that any best-of cd you get by the band would skip over that last bit and feature a pretty solid late `70s - mid `80s tracklist. and... i'm also really eager to hear some more and get hold of some of their releases, too. here are a couple links that might provide a vague idea of what their discography looks like, though both appear incomplete. i haven't been able to find anything to the tune of a page dedicated to any substantial rah band info, not at all, unfortunately. http://www.m365.com/blatpage.imm?Page=Artist&ArtistID=71057 http://www.hit-the-deck.co.uk/pop.txt (you'll have to scroll down on this one, as it's a shop's catalogue, but it does list a lot of their records) best wishes, t.c. http://pokoalpenheim.tripod.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +-------------------- new york, london, paris, tokyo ----------------+ +------------------ everybody talk about... popjourno! -------------+ +------------------- http://www.pulped.co.uk/popjourno --------------+ +--------- to send a message to the list, please address it to ------+ +----------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------+ +--------- declarations of love, presents, and otherwise saucy ------+ +-------- e-correspondence should be sent directly to the list ------+ +------------------- mummy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------+ +------------- popjourno currently has over 150 subscribers ---------+ +------------------------ (most of them lurkers). -------------------+ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
