Gene Chandler "After The Laughter (Here Comes The Tears)" & Wendy Rene "After Laughter"

I apologize for the delay between the previous post and today's post. My work schedule and the fact that I still don't have internet in my apartment often makes it difficult to find the time to get to the coffee shop before they close. Anyway, I'm still here and to make it up to y'all I'm coming with two records today. Two very tasty records and an exciting announcement. First the news-- Ben Carey (co-creator of Hot Pants MN) and myself have teamed up to start a new, hopefully, monthly party in Brooklyn. For the time being we're tentatively calling it After The Laughter but it's possible that might be the permanent moniker. The information for the first party is on the flyer I posted above. Please come out if you're local, if we get enough support it'll be easier for use to convince the spot to allow us to keep throwing parties.

Now onto the tunes. These two records couldn't have any less to do with each other other than sharing similarly named song titles. Gene's song is a positively classy Northern record with a beat made for stomping around. Wendy's is heartbreaking ballad with her stunning vocals as a focal point. I believe it's honestly one of the finest vocal performances in the Soul canon. I don't know why some Stax 45s that look PRISTINE yet sound kind of crappy but this happens to be one. I'd also just like to point out a fun little fact about yours truly. The very very first piece of music I bought with my own money was Wu-Tang's Enter The 36 Chambers. My mom gave me twenty bucks one day when I went to the mall with a couple of friends and I bought the album on cassette from the wall. I remember playing that tape all day long, everyday. The reason I'm mentioning this story is because they sampled "After Laughter" on their song "Tearz". I still love Wu-Tang's take on the Stax classic and the more informed twenty-five year old me now has a profound appreciation for Wendy Rene's original.

Hope y'all enjoy the tunes and I hope to see some of you at the party next weekend.

Wendy Rene - "After Laughter"



Gene Chandler - "After The Laughter (Here Comes The Tears)"