Diggin in the Crates: The Counts "Love Sign"

[Da' Hitman]

The Counts (originally known as The Fabulous Counts) "Love Sign" album dropped in 1973 on the Aware label and went largely overlooked, but there are some real gems in the album for crate diggers like me. Other albums from The Counts have been sampled before from artists like Eric B and Rakim, Queen Latifah, DJ Mark the 45 King, Snoop Dogg, Atmosphere, Gravediggaz, Dilated Peoples, Planet Asia, and more - but no samples have been credited to this album.

1. LOVE SIGN
2. TOO BAD (You Don’t Love Me)
3. JUST YOU JUST ME
4. RIDING HIGH
5. SACRIFICE
6. COUNTS MEDLEY

The title track starts the album off and sounds like something Prince might have used for inspiration and reminded me of the scene in Beat Street when "Kenny" hit the "Blackbird Fly" mix in his bedroom. "Just You, Just Me" reminds me a lot of the soul you hear in War's "World is a Ghetto". "Riding High" starts off with a dope guitar riff that would sound great if it was flipped in the classic Bomb Squad vibe. Listen to the funky flavor of the song "Sacrifice" and know that I will most definitely twist some of that in the mix. Go to the 1:47 mark of "Counts Medley" when the beat drops out and you hear "Play it again! Play it again!" then the funky drum roll...that is MOST DEFINITELY going to be a clip I use. I'm actually surprised that someone like Public Enemy didn't use the horn riffs at the 7:28 mark too. This album was a nice surprise for me and is one I sometimes just let ride when I'm at the house.



Liner Credits for anyone interested:
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals – Demo Cates
Arranged By [All Arrangements By] – Counts, The
Engineer [Remix Engineer] – Milan Bogdan
Executive Producer – Leroy Emmanuel, Marlin McNichols
Guitar, Percussion, Vocals – Leroy Emmanuel
Keyboards, Vocals – Mose Davis
Percussion, Vocals – Andreau Gibsont
Published By – Fudge Lips Music Co.
Published By – Act I Music Co., Inc.
Copyright (c) – GRC
Phonographic Copyright (p) – GRC
Manufactured By – GRC
Distributed By – GRC
Recorded At – The Sound Pit