The CB's

"Misdemeanor"

BY David DacksPublished Dec 15, 2009

TRACK OF THE DAY: Information about the CBs is hard to come by, but I'll pull a few lines from what's floating around every post about this outfit: they're a production crew; this is the first release on London, UK's Jam City Records; the vocals are by the "ever-incredible" Yolanda; and the remix is courtesy of Liverpudlians No Fakin.

Foster Sylvers (pictured), a young member of the post-Jackson 5 family band the Sylvers, recorded the original "Misdemeanor." Foster's MJ-like presence was the key selling point of the track (number seven on Billboard's R&B charts in 1973), but in time, the keyboard hook, glockenspiel and drum sound especially made it an enduring favourite among Britain's "rare groove" DJs. It was always in the crates of early hip-hop producers ― West Coast rapper the D.O.C.'s classic debut, No One Can Do It Better, features "Misdemeanor" sampled prominently in "It's Funky Enough."

Wobble bass is one of the great clichés of 2009, but it absolutely works in this remix, scooping out a massive bottom end to balance the candyfloss vocals. There's not much more to it, really. As so many artists this decade have realized, timeless pop is fundamentally about a good feeling, even when sliced up, filtered and reconstituted.

Listen to the CB's version here and a re-edit of the Foster Sylvers version with a longer, guitar-heavy outro here.

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