East Harlem Bus Stop -

East Harlem Bus Stop was an American soul-funk band that released the 1976 album Get On Down! on D & M Sound.

Background

East Harlem Bus Stop emerged in New York City in the orbit of D & M Sound, the New York label formed by producer-label owners David L. Miller and Marty Wilson.

Miller and Wilson produced the group with rhythm-and-band arrangers Pete Terrace and Peter Phillips, string arrangers Colin Frechter and Pete Smith. D & M issued the twelve-inch “Get On Down” backed with “Let’s Get It On” before the six-track Get On Down! LP on DML 4.

Get On Down!

East Harlem Bus Stop released their sole album, Get On Down!, in 1976 on D & M Sound.

Get On Down! works from clipped backbeats, wah-wah figures, short brass lines, occasional string wash, and Latinized percussion. The six-track album contains four L. Mueller titles, plus adaptions of Herbie Hancock (“Watermelon Man”) and Ernesto Lecuona (“Malagueña”).

“Get On Down!” rides a choppy vamp while brass and guitar figures mark the beat. “Watermelon Man” snaps the familiar theme into a longer club-band treatment with brass up front. “Right On” rides the same hard-cut rhythm grammar with saxophone and trumpet lines over a tight band bed. “Let’s Get It On” locks its chant to congas, bass, brass, strings, and a breakbeat turn.

A1. “Get On Down!” (4:34) – Mueller
A2. “Watermelon Man” (5:37) – Hancock
A3. “Right On” (4:38) – Mueller

B1. “Malagueña” (5:33) – Lecuona
B2. “Let’s Get It On” (5:10) – Mueller
B3. “Bring It On Home” (4:23) – Mueller

Dave Miller and Marty Wilson co-produced Get On Down! in sequence with label titles by Camp Galore and The Vast Majority.

D & M Sound lifted “Get On Down” as a 1976 single (b/w “Let’s Get It On”).

Discography: