Be Be K'Roche Self-Titled Full Album from Vinyl
Channel: Will House
Date: 28/03/2024

Be Be K'Roche was a supergroup formed by artists in the Olivia Records collective. Their debut LP is a self-titled 1976 mix of soul jazz and funky goodness, mostly penned by songwriter/keyboard player/singer Virginia Rubino (who's still active in 2024!) The whole band, as detailed in the video and like Olivia Records in general, was entirely made up of women. I'm uploading a recording of my copy because it's quality music, and because it's also a very cool historical document.
Olivia was founded in 1973 to record and distribute music by women for women; they began as a group of 10 out lesbians who wanted to amplify the voices of their particular community and support other like-minded women across the globe. Olivia released roughly 40 albums throughout their 20 active years, initially on vinyl but then focusing on more easily distributed cassettes (which were also more easily hidden by any listeners still in the closet.)
This particular copy of Be Be K'Roche was originally spun by radio station KZAM (a Seattle indie broadcaster from 1974 to 1983,) which has an intriguing story all of its own due to having actually hired women DJ's for their day and evening programming. As evidenced by a card taped to the dust jacket, 'Kahlua Mama' was the track most played by KZAM; it was the B-Side for the single release of album-opener 'Hoodoo'd.' Olivia also released 'Strong and Free' as a single, backed with 'Gotta Make Something of my Life.'
The tracks are as follows:
00:00 HOODOO'D
05:59 GOTTA MAKE SOMETHING OF MY LIFE
10:30 UNDERSTAND
15:41 KAHLUA MAMA
19:30 STRONG AND FREE
23:39 I GOT THE RHYTHM
28:34 SMILE
33:43 ALONE
All music herein is the property of its creators. Listen while you can, if you can, and SUPPORT YOUR QUEER FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!