OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Rousing Rhonda Washington!

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Greetings, fellow hors and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with added mystery, since virtually nothing is known about the songstress DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning for you tonight at the Manor's "Pearl Splash!" bar and dinette. You know what's not a mystery these days? The weather, amirite? It's hotter than an INCELS sex potato (you know, when they heat up a potato in the microwave for 5 minutes, cut a hole in it, rub butter on the inside and fuck it) (ouch!). Someday someone smart will come up with a surefire way to instantly solve the climate crisis, but until then, we have music. Let's thank our lucky stars.


And let's thank those same stars for powerhouse performer, Rhonda Washington. Why isn't she more celebrated? Hailing from St. Louis, Rhonda joined "Hot Sauce," a short-lived, early-1970s, Southern Soul group which should have had a much longer run. But tragically, it was not to be. Can you guess why? Nope, it had nothing to do with the burgeoning rise of disco. Instead, it was a cruel combination of business factors, mostly involving money and IRS troubles on the part of their record company Volt, the R&B, soul and funk subsidiary of Stax Records. Once Stax collapsed, "Hot Sauce" and Rhonda were over. And this was after they'd recorded only 11 tunes. Incredibly, their songs, despite an aborted printing of a few singles, were largely unreleased for decades. 


Lucky for us, every single one of them is now available, and I swear there's not a dud in the bunch, mostly due to Rhonda's richly expressive vocals, be they tender or fiery. Not for nothing does "Record Collector" magazine call the 2012 CD release of their songs "a genuine lost classic." 

If I were pushed, I'd say "Mama's Baby (Daddy's Maybe)" is my favorite, as it's a classic combo of soul music with country music storytelling - along with, of course, a killer vocal from Rhonda. After the Vox debacle, she released a little-heard solo single, "What About Love," for the Sure-Shot/Peacock R&B/soul label based in Houston, Texas, then returned to her church and gospel singing. Lucky church! But after that - poof! - she vanished from music history. Completely. 


Ready for more Rhonda? I know you are. Oh, and Rhonda? If you're out there and reading this, Peckerwood Manor ❤️'s you. 


What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits: Getty Images, Vox/Stax Records/Fantasy Records

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