BIOGRAPHY
Leg warmers, fog parties and hair spray at the ready…. Robert Strauss returns with his “house party” flavour to tickle the parts that other producers cannot reach. Following his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Quasars and Phasars’ (Freerange records, 2005) comes ‘Mr Feelings’: a timeless piece of intense soul music inspired by the golden age of disco boogie and glitter ball boogie. A homage to loose living and gregarious retro party animals – summing up the spirit of the underground disco movement in a totally modern context.
Support from music industry’s luminaries is deep and wide: Jazzanova, Joey Negro, Dimitri from Paris, Rainer Truby, Spiritual South, Prins Thomas and Yam Who? to name but a few have all expressed their full appreciation for the music of Robert Strauss, yet there can be no greater accolade for a musician trying to recreate and build on the more elegant sounds to come out of the 80’s than the involvement of the man himself: Leroy Burgess. For ‘Mr Feelings’, Leroy Burgess comes out of the woodwork to lend his vocal talent on ‘Hot like an Oven’.
Leroy is the unseen and unaccredited hero of the boogie sound and those in the know attribute him with being one of the founding fathers of house music. Whether it be as a vocalist, songwriter, arranger or musician - was the name behind the sound of artists such as Jocelyn Brown, Aleem & Herbie Mann – working alongside long term working partner Patrick Adams & Larry Levan. He is starting to get the props that deserves as documented by Waxpoetics, the Stateside music bible and also through his lectures with Red Bull Music Academy. Soul Brother Records have also released a two volume anthology of his work for that period. Despite being a reluctant star of the show and happier to sit in the background – The Universal Robot Band and Black Ivory – his own groups – are revered today as protagonists of the era.
This album has all the hallmarks of a future classic, and it makes BBE immensely proud to be part of the project. It has continued to be supported by radio & press as he rounds out thsis albums release with 2 x 12“s this summer with hot remixes from: Yamwho?, Elektrons, Joey Negro, Black Grass, Alex Phountzi (Bugz in the Attic), Alister Johnson and more...
