Stefanie & ORF Big Band – Compared To What/Feelin’ It – Record Shack AT 2×7″ DELUXE Set

Unearthed KILLER tunes from the vaults of Austrian Public Broadcasting Institution ‘ORF’ available for the very first time on officially released 7″ vinyl single format. Of course pressed in top HI-FI quality directly from the archive master recordings thankfully supplied by ORF. This here is the ‘ISSUE’, also strictly limited edition, check out our pressing variants and ORDER NOW!.

tracklist
A01 Stefanie & ORF Big Band – Compared To What Studio Version
B01 Stefanie & ORF Big Band – Compared To What Alternative Version
C01 Stefanie & ORF Big Band – Feelin’ It Studio Version
D01 Stefanie & ORF Big Band – Feelin’ It Alternative Version

*LIMITED EDITION OF 500 BIG HOLE 2×7″ DELUXE GATEFOLD SETS WITH EXTRA ENGLISH & GERMAN LINERNOTE BOOKLETS!*

This brand new banger on Recordshack label features two smashin’ “Austro Soul” marvels unearthed from the vaults of the Austrian Public Broadcasting Institution (ORF) available for the first time on official 7“ release. Studio versions have been out on rare Austrian LPs for 50+ years.

These only ever got noticed by a few deep diggin’ deejays & collectors in Europe & Japan keeping them more or less ‘secret’ in order to avoid losing exclusivity. Rare Soul and Funk 45 deejays naturally prefer to own their stuff on 7″, so this limited 500 copies affair makes it possible to have these TOP tunes on ‘OVO‘ (Original Vinyl Only) format without the danger of being ‘punished’ for playing reissues. On top of that there’s never before heard or even released alternative takes of both tracks sourced directly from the ORF archive masters.

And WOW! would anyone have expected an Austrian recording to be so very ‘funky’ as the ‘Compared To What‘ alternative take presented here? Why are these recordings so ‘tight’ and of such high quality? The answer is that the ORF Big Band was out on a mission to put Austrian ‘popular’ music on the international map supported by the government. That’s why they got to use the best studios and chose the cream of local musicians. Furthermore some of the international ‘big players’, top American Jazz musicians like Art Farmer got signed in to add some proper ‘grooviness’ to the whole project.

Apart from being highly collectable, internationally sought after, ORF Big Band Library LPs were mostly instrumental. However the tracks here were recorded in the early 1970s featururing the obscure Austrian songstress Stefanie. It’s obvious that she ‘felt the Soul’. In the 1960s she went to the US, returned to Austria right on time to be noticed by Erich Kleinschuster (the band leader & conductor) to lay down these tracks at the ORF studio.
Our ‘Compared To What‘ version actually has ‘harder’ lyrics than the Les McCann/Eddie Harris/Roberta Flack previous ones, which got partly censored (beeped for radio play) due to being critical of the US government.

Another level is reached through the ORF Big Band‘s hard hitting, tight funky rhythm section, those razor sharp horns plus a certain dash of Latin Jazz topped by that convincing, strong vocal delivery, all in four-beats-to-the-bar driving Motown arrangement take this version to another level. The tune oozes pure dancefloor bliss, which makes it perfect for Northern Soul floors and beyond.

‘Feelin’ It’ is more of a laid back Jazz-funky groover, reminiscent of the top library tunes through it’s full, well dosed instrumentation, a bit more like veteran ORF Big Band collectors would expect. Here we serve it for the very first time on 7” format backed with the unheard alternative take. The song was written by Stefanie who did not get mentioned on the band’s rarest demo-only LP, this gets corrected on this release.

These belters were sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on top-notch quality vinyl and it comes in a stunning gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes suiting the high quality of the tunes. This is a piece of pure Austrian underground Soul history on 45. We call it ‘Austro Soul!

You better be quick to grab your copy! This is a strictly limited release, that’s already causing big waves internationally. It got also featured as the first track on BBC6‘s countdown of the top 45s of 2024.

FURTHER INFO, QUOTES FROM ‘INTERNATIONAL TASTEMAKERS’ & MORE  >HERE