Back To Mine With Ronnie Herel

UK DJ Ronnie Herel is a true ambassador of Urban Music having had over a decade at the BBC, presenting The BBC Radio 1Xtra R&B Show and The BBC Radio 1Xtra Showcase on BBC Radio 1. He has interviewed some of the greats in the world of music like Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. Ronnie now presents #TheBigRnBShow every Monday night, #MiDrive weekdays and is Head of Music at Mi Soul Radio. His first release was a cover of Carole King’s, ‘It’s Too Late’ ft Dina Carroll (1989) as Quartz. More recently he released a cover of Luther Vandross’ ‘I Wanted Your Love’ with Brian Power, ft Ali Tennant, and ‘Another Way’ ft Dannis Winston, both winning great acclaim. As he drops his new single ‘A Night We Dream Of’ featuring UK Soul legend, Omar, on Quantize Recordings, DMCWorld goes Back To Mine with Ronnie Herel…

 Frankie Beverley & Maze – Before I Let Go

This is a sentimental record in more ways than one to me. I first heard it and taped about a minute of it on an old soul show when I was very young and later on in life, was taken to see Frankie Beverley and Maze at the then Hammersmith Odeon In the mid 80s which was my first ever concert. Needless to say, they were amazing and I’ve been a HUGE fan ever since. Check out the live at Hammersmith version of this record…It’s crazy!

 

The Stranglers – Golden Brown

This has always been a curveball favourite of mine. Even though the track is about taking heroin, the subtlety in which it is delivered across a 3 to the 4-waltz groove is just stunning. It’s a gorgeous, genius and compelling piece of music that I often have on repeat in the house or in the car.

 

Earth Wind & Fire – Side by Side

I’m a MASSIVE Earth, Wind & Fire fan and play a lot of their music in my soul classics sets but this track is one of their under played records from one of their later albums ‘Powerlight’ form 1983. This track is 6 minutes of bliss that has to be played from beginning to end to really appreciate the artistry of the late great Maurice White.

 

The Manhattan Transfer – Spice of Life

There are great producers and then there are legendary great producers and Rod Temperton was the latter. The killer keyboardist from Cleethorpes who went from his band Heatwave to become legend working with Quincy Jones, and Michael Jackson transformed The Manhattan Transfer’s acapella swing sound with one amazing record and this was it. One of the most soulful records from 1984 and it’s another record that I often play loud and on repeat.

 

Ronnie Herel ft. Omar – A Night We Dream Of

To do a track with such a soul music icon like Omar and to have it drop on Quantize Recordings is a dream come true, so ‘A Night We Dream Of’ is the perfect title of the track.

 

Stevie Wonder – As

This is my favourite record of all time, t’is all…

 

Loose Ends – A Little Spice

What can we say about the legendary Loose Ends? Well, this was one of the first British albums I bought and it’s a classic with standout tracks like ‘Dial 999’, ‘Tell Me What You Want’ and ‘Choose Me’ but the title cut always felt like the perfect track for the summer sunshine and it’s another 1984 banger that has always stood the test of time for me!

 

 The Police – I Can’t Stand Losing You

These guys have been one of my sort of guilty pleasures since I was a kid when I heard ‘Message in a bottle’. This one edges it in terms of a record I’d be listening to at home to flip it away from soul for a hot minute.

 

Foreign Exchange – Shelter

Not a lot to be said about this apart from with Foreign Exchange being one of my favourite groups period, I loved this record so much, I included it on my tracklist for a Neo Soul album I compiled for BBE records in 2020. This is a beauty and no home should be without it.

 

Common – Funky for You

On of my favourite hip hop albums of all time Is the J Dilla produced ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ and this is just a typical Dilla groove that never gets old. Sheer heavyweight production genius and definitely hip hop fused with soul for the home!

 

Ronnie Herel ft Omar ‘A Night We Dream Of’ is out now on Quantize Recordings.

https://www.traxsource.com/title/1849531/a-night-we-dream-of